this is the briefing — i'm ben bland. uh date invested thinking and time into. we have been quite focused our top story: along the operational issues, of as new zealand mourns course, decision—making around the christchurch attacks, policy changes and so on. we have the prime minister pledges gun law reforms will be announced certainly raised our areas of "within 10 days." concern around the spreading of m essa 9 es concern around the spreading of messages and videos and so on and will continue to do so, but we simply have a look beyond that at this point. i will take the last question. inaudible. yes, i have spoken to him there've been more moving tributes to the victims, with hundreds of schoolchildren performing the traditional maori haka. since then. right, thanks everyone. could it be third time lucky for theresa may? despite two defeats, her brexit deal is still you've been watching the new zealand on the table. prime minister cffr update. after she met with her cabinet. they were due to meet today to talk about gun control, what her party and her

government wanted to do about gun control going forward in the wake of friday's terror attacks. we did miss some of it, but she had a bit to say. she said that cabinet was united in how they wanted to go forward on gun control, but she said she couldn't give us details on that, and she was asked about australia's example, that australia took 12 days after the port arthur massacre in the 90s to implement gun control and gun control changes, which included a buyback scheme and other gun control measures. presumably she will continue to talk to her cabinet, she suggested there might be some more details that we would get on those gun control changes before her cabinet meets next week. she did also talk about other issues as she was being

questioned in that news conference. she was asked about whether she had had any further update from facebook. there have been a lot of discussions around the live stream of the attack that went out on facebook and was then repeated many times on social media, and she said she had no further update. we have missed a little bit of that news conference, so missed a little bit of that news conference, so we missed a little bit of that news conference, so we just want to bring you some of what she had to say. conference, so we just want to bring you some of what she had to saylj had some initial proposals for cabinet to discuss today. i don't wa nt to cabinet to discuss today. i don't want to pre—empt that discussion but ican want to pre—empt that discussion but i can assure you that our gun laws will change. i know that there is understandably both grief into new zealand right now, but anger as well. there are questions that need to be answered, and that we are looking for is well. we need to provide assurances to the public

that everything that could have been done has been done, but whether or not more could and should have been done. we will be putting in place what needs to occur to those questions. there are ways that we can bring in effective regulation of firearms that actually target those that we need to target, and that is oui’ that we need to target, and that is our focus. i that we need to target, and that is ourfocus. i think that we need to target, and that is our focus. i think what the public, rightly, are asking right now, is why is it and how was it that you should and are currently able to buy military style semiautomatic weapons in new zealand? that is the right question to ask. i think i am just feeling exactly the same way that all new zealanders feel right now, eve ryo ne all new zealanders feel right now, everyone is grieving and i'm grieving with them. they also have a very important job to grieving with them. they also have a very importantjob to do. i need to ensure that we are looking out for those who are affected, that they have ongoing support, notjust in the coming days but the coming

months and years, and that is why i am incredibly focused. i have a job to do. the new zealand prime minister, jacinda ardern, speaking in an interview she gave earlier in the day, giving some details on how she was thinking about gun control. she has now given a news conference after her cabinet discussion on gun control. we didn't get a lot of details on what kind of reforms they are looking at, but she repeatedly said that cabinet was absolutely united as a cabinet and the deputy prime minister, who was with her, also said that. she had a few other things to say, she was asked a number of questions. she did talk about the fact that there would be an enquiry, the cabinet has made a decision to have an enquiry into what happened in those terror attacks. they haven't chosen the sort of enquiry that they will hold,

oi’ sort of enquiry that they will hold, or they have made a decision to hold an enquiry, and she also talked about there being a national commemoration service but they can't give a date on when that will happen because they want to ensure that the families of the vic rooms will have time to bury their loved ones before that commemoration service happens. there is a lot more coming up here on bbc news, and we also expect things another news conference from the police commissioner in new zealand, so we will bring you that when it happens. do stay with us, here on bbc news. let's get you some other news now, what has been happening around the world. rescue workers in papua province in papua new —— indonesia have rescued a child after torrential rain swept through the region. many areas still

remain inaccessible as rescue teams struggle to search for survivors. they don't know his name, but his rescue was a small miracle. the baby was pulled out alive after being trapped for six hours under the damaged house of his parents. their whereabouts are unknown. the army has been mobilised to join the search and rescue efforts in the town of sentani, near the provincial capitaljayapura. they are battling mud, rocks and fallen trees, looking for survivors. the death toll, however, is expected to rise. more than 4,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas. heavy torrential rain caused flash

floods and landslides late on saturday. hundreds of houses and three bridges were badly damaged by the floods. the government has announced a 14—day state of emergency in papua. flooding is common in indonesia, especially during the rainy season from october to april. officials have warned that widespread deforestation is aggravating the risk of floods. the philippines has become the second nation after burundi to formally withdraw from the international criminal court. the court undertook an investigation into president duterte's deadly drug policies, and he has now claimed he

will not co—operate. protesters around the presidential capital in belgrade, attempting to block the entrance as the president was due to deliver a speech. 0n entrance as the president was due to deliver a speech. on saturday, opposition supporters stormed a state—run television studio, citing autocratic rule, which was rejected by the president. the us senator, kirsten gillibrand, has become the latest democrat to announce that she's running to become the party's candidate for president. in an online video made to announce her candidacy, ms gillibrand, who is from new york, made it clear that she saw the battle as one against the values of president trump. she is the 16th person to seek the democratic nomination. a commander of the kurdish forces fighting islamic state militants in their last stronghold in eastern syria has told the bbc their operation has been prolonged to protect civilians. although tens of thousands of people have fled the enclave in the last

two months, it's thought there are still large numbers of civilians inside. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool reports from the frontline in baghouz. in baghouz, the final battle ground, is fighters have been blasted into retreat, building by building. they've been rained on by missiles, from the us—led coalition. but we're taken right to the front line, through the desolation, by the local forces on the ground, still in combat with them. so, these positions here were occupied by islamic state group fighters in just the last few days, they've been beaten back.

their ever shrinking so—called caliphate state is nowjust a small area just around the corner of this building. if you peep around the corner, you can see the buildings they still occupy. but even though... even though they've been bombarded and pushed back and given lots of opportunities to surrender, it's very clear that there are some fighters who just won't lay down their arms. we got a sense of the squalor in which the is fighters and theirfamilies have been living, before they were forced on. the pitiful remnants of a new territory that attracted thousands from around the world and brutalised so many others. everywhere was evidence of the battle that raged here. even explosives the militants never had the chance to deploy. with local forces, we went to a point where we could see movement and activity in what remains of the is camp. we saw militants in the tiny domain and riding motorbikes but we also saw families and young children. a kurdish commander told us he feared they were also

still hostages being held inside the besieged camp. these men still go out in shifts of the front line and keep giving is fighters chances to surrender. let's look at some of the day's other news. two people have died in northern ireland after reports of a crush at a hotel hosting a st patrick's day event. two others have been taken to hospital following the incident at the greenvale hotel in cookstown, county tyrone, after the ambulance service responded to calls on sunday night. one is stable while the other is in critical conditions. the exact circumstances of the incident are still being investigated, but it is known that under 18s were in attendance at the event. residents near an oil refinery in houston, texas, are being urged by local officials to stay at home after a tank caught fire.

it's the second fire in two days at a houston petrochemicalfacility following on from one that was put out at a nearby exxonmobil refinery on saturday afternoon. police in serbia have used tear gas against anti—government protesters who surrounded the presidential building in the capital, belgrade. it marks an intensification in opposition demonstrations, which have been taking place for a number of months in the balkan state. caroline rigby has more. the message was clear. thousands gathered outside the presidential palace in belgrade to demand the resignation of serbia's president and his allies. at times using force, they clashed with police. inside, the president made a defiant address in an effort to demonstrate his control. although rather than being broadcast on state tv, his message was posted on instagram.

translation: dear citizens of serbia, i am forced to address you in this way. especially to the thousands and millions of people who are worried about the situation in our country. to all of you who defy the pressure of the fascists who want to ruin our country. as you can see, i am still at my workplace in the presidency building. i am not going to flee anywhere. but serbia's premier is under mounting pressure as calls for fairer elections and greater media freedom grow louder. on saturday, ten protesters were detained after forcing their way into the state television building. the break—in marked an intensification in the protests that began in november and have, until now, remained largely peaceful. but some fear the movement is changing. because, alongside the students, actors and centrist politicians, the leader of an extreme right wing

party has become a prominent voice. translation: we demand resignation of alexander vucic. we want a free election and before that, a minimum of 6—9 months of media freedom. these are our demands and we will not back down. we will not retreat. president vucic insists he is not afraid but after months of protest which appear only to be gaining momentum, some will question how long he can remain in charge. senior cabinet ministers, including the chancellor philip hammond, have said theresa may's brexit deal won't be put to the vote again in the commons this week if she can't pursuade enough mps to change their minds. he said attempts to win over critics, including the democratic unionists, were still work in progress. 0ur political correspondent ben wright reports.

the nose to the left, 391. the noes have it, the noes have it. 75 tory mps rebelled. with days to go until the uk is meant to leave the eu, the government will try again probably. we will only bring the deal back if we are confident that enough of our collea g u es we are confident that enough of our colleagues and the du p are prepared to supported so that we can get it through parliament, and we're not going tojust keep through parliament, and we're not going to just keep presenting through parliament, and we're not going tojust keep presenting it through parliament, and we're not going to just keep presenting it if we haven't the dial. the government needs to persuade dozens of tories and the dup to back the deal. some conservative mps have changed their mind. the rest are being warned of the consequences if they don't. clearly, if we don't get this deal through, we are almost certainly going to have to fight a european parliamentary election, almost certainly going to have to have a longer extension. labour looks likely to back a plan to make its mps' support for the deal conditional on it being put to a public vote.

theresa may's deal has now been rejected twice by parliament. rumour has it that she's bringing it back on tuesday for a third time. if that fails, a fourth time after that. this is ridiculous. this thing has been defeated comprehensively and she has got to recognise that we have got to do something different. parliament is where the national arguments and agonies over brexit are playing out. it's a struggle testing the unity of the government and the two main political parties. theresa may hopes that one more heave might get this deal over the line. but some tories are losing patience with the prime minister. it will be a failure of the prime minister if we end up fighting these european union elections. she promised to become prime minister to deliver what17.li million people voted for. that is what she has to deliver, and if she can't do that, she has to go. 0utside parliament, there is little sign of compromise. but inside there is, with some tory mps talking to labour

about an alternative to mrs may's deal if it cannot pass. my sense is that they want to see a sensible, soft brexit deal that is based on full membership of the single market and a customs arrangement that secures a frictionless trade and no border in the island of ireland. division — clear the lobby! the house of commons is charged, frenzied and tense. and what unfolds on these green benches in the coming days will shape the country for years. let's ta ke let's take you to wellington where we have a news conference with the police. the police commissioner is giving a briefing on those terror attacks. i will do my best to answer. the first point i want to make is to advise you that this criminal investigation is the largest one ever undertaken by the

new zealand police in terms of the number of investigators that we have conducting this investigation alongside a number of specialists. we have 250 detectives and specialists right across the country conducting this investigation, and in fact, it is an international investigation with jurisdictions right around the world assisting us with those enquiries. we have on the ground here in new zealand other law enforcement jurisdictions assisting us, we have the fbi, we have the australian federal police and of course we have oui’ own australian federal police and of course we have our own partner agencies working with us. the next point i want to make is to be quite definitive. we have spoken about this before. but i want to

definitely state that we believe that there was only one attacker responsible. for this horrendous event. there were two scenes, as you know, and again, i would like to state that we believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this. that doesn't mean there weren't possibly other people in support, and that continues to form a very, very important part of our investigation. i also want to say that the threat level in new zealand remains high. and you will continue to see, for weeks to come, hypervigilance high

visibility from the new zealand police and our emergency service partners to ensure that everyone in new zealand feels safe. the last point i would like to make is that i wa nt to point i would like to make is that i want to thank the public for their absolutely overwhelming positive support to members of the new zealand police and our emergency services and other partners who have committed themselves to this response and this investigation. it has been absolutely heartwarming, the commentary that we are getting about our people, myself and the other heads of those organisations could not be more proud of our people who work every day and every night to keep our communities safe. i will finish as i always do with a

message to the public in terms of if you see anything, please say something. ring the police if you believe it is urgent, ring 111. if it is not urgent, continuing to ensure that you get in touch with us and pass on whatever information you may have. thank you. inaudible. we have been working since friday to confirm that absolute point, i think it is really important to assure the public whether or not there was one or more persons responsibility, so i think the public really need to know that we believe definitively that there was only one person, and as you know, one person has already been before the court, charged with murder. are you actively investigating other groups?

we have a very comprehensive and wide reaching investigation involving 250 detectives and specialists, we will reach into every corner to ensure that there are no further threats, and we do this with our partner agencies and other law enforcementjurisdictions. how concerned other law enforcementjurisdictions. how concerned are other law enforcementjurisdictions. how concerned are police about the threatening messages online? could you be more specific? there has been a spike on social media... inaudible. is that concerning? threats against our community? absolutely concern us. everyone of those that comes to our attention, we are following up. that is why we do need to ensure that we have resources committed to this investigation. a police equipped to dealing with this? yes, we absolutely are. as i say, we are dedicating our resources to this matter and i can assure people that

whatever arises, we will be dealt, dealing with it, it will be met. i can also tell you i have so many offers of support from also other law enforcementjurisdictions, and ifi law enforcementjurisdictions, and if i felt the need, i would encourage them tojoin if i felt the need, i would encourage them to join us. at this point, we have sufficient resources. has anybody from the new zealand police... inaudible. people have volunteered to do that, iam aware people have volunteered to do that, i am aware of at least one. we have spoken to them obviously, butjust in terms ofjust keeping in touch, we have a network of communications across that sector, so we have been talking to them. but they are, the ones that are volunteering have done so themselves. what is your message... inaudible. iam also what is your message... inaudible. i am also aware of the announcement the prime minister has made today, so we stand ready if people would

like to bring in their firearms and surrender them to us, we are just resorting that up at the moment, but we stand ready for that. inaudible. i have no information to suggest that we received complaints about the person currently before the court, but we are exploring a number of suggestions so that i can answer that unequivocally. inaudible. actually, they are mostly from the media, like yourself, suggesting that things have occurred. i have seen media commentary want to follow—up on all of those things. inaudible. would you say that again? inaudible.

we are watching a news conference with the police commissioner of new zealand, mike bush, about the events happening. he said there are 250 specialists across the country conducting the investigation. interestingly, the fbi is assisting police there as well is the australian federal police, and he reiterated very strongly that they believe there was only one attacker, it doesn't mean there were not possibly other people supporting that attacker. but mike bush says they believe there was only one attacker. and you can find out more about any new developments on the bbc website — that's all at bbc.com/news, or you can download the bbc news app.