Police say suspect acted alone as death toll from shooting rises to 50, with 50 people injured
2.23am GMT
David Meates, the chief executive of the Canterbury district health board, has issued an update about those still in hospital following the attack.
We currently have 34 patients who were injured in the mosque attacks in Christchurch hospital.
Two were discharged late yesterday and we expect two more people will be well enough to go home later today. There are currently 12 people in intensive care in a critical condition. We expect a small number of these people to be well enough to transfer to other wards later today.
2.20am GMT
New Zealand Football has paid tribute to Atta Elayyan, a futsal player who was among those killed in Friday’s shooting.
Josh Margetts from New Zealand Football said: “To Atta’s family, we are deeply sorry for your loss. We can’t imagine what you are going through, but please know we love you and we are here for you during this incredibly difficult time.”
QUOTE | @NZ_Football Futsal Development Manager @margetts_josh: “To Atta’s family, we are deeply sorry for your loss. We can’t imagine what you are going through, but please know we love you and we are here for you during this incredibly difficult time.” #RIPAtta @MainlandFooty pic.twitter.com/tCcileWiUK
QUOTE: @MainlandFooty CEO Julian Bowden on @attaelayyan. "Atta was a popular member of the Canterbury United family. We are in a state of shock with this news. On behalf of everyone at Mainland Football, we reiterate what many have said that this is not our New Zealand.” #RIPAtta pic.twitter.com/MIWNIIR8VN
2.03am GMT
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, says the “full force of the law” should apply to Fraser Anning after he punched a 17-year-old boy who egged him at an event in Melbourne, Paul Karp reports
Speaking earlier this morning, Morrison also flagged a tougher approach to social media companies, urging them to boost capacity to stop extremist videos.
Related: 'Full force of the law' should apply to Fraser Anning after egging incident, Morrison says
1.58am GMT
The Otago Daily Times reports that the owner of New Zealand firearms chain Gun City, David Tipple, will hold a press conference tomorrow.
New Zealand’s gun laws have come under heavy scrutiny since Friday’s mass shooting. On Saturday the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the country would ban semi-automatic weapons.
1.45am GMT
Mahmood Kahn is from Bangladesh and is at Christchurch hospital to support the Bangladeshi community.
There is no consulate in New Zealand for Bangladesh. “So I am here,” he tells Guardian Australia.
Thread: "I am Mahmood Kahn, I am a captain of a ship. We were on our way here to Christchurch from Auckland and arrived at 1am this morning. I went straight to the mosque. I am just so very sad, we are all very sad. I needed to immediately go there and pay my respects." pic.twitter.com/uJNV9q7MHI
1.29am GMT
A 23-year old Queensland man has been arrested after he allegedly drove his car into the gates of a mosque and shouted offensive words at worshippers inside on Saturday.
Queensland police allege the man drove his car into the gates of the Baitul Masroor Mosque at Stockleigh, near Brisbane.
1.17am GMT
The New Zealand Herald has published a 12-second video of the moment the suspected Christchurch shooter was arrested by police officers.
Three police officers can be seen standing over a man laying on his back on the footpath. An officer drags him towards a second police car, before turning the suspect on to his stomach. The suspect, in handcuffs, appears motionless throughout.
1.12am GMT
Shonny Jones, 17 is with three friends at Hagley Park, holding signs that read “free hugs” and “we are one”. They are headed to the makeshift memorials, with flowers and cards still piling up.
“Some terrible things have happened lately and we need to spread positivity and get it out there. We can get through this and we are going to be OK,” Jones says.
These gorgeous kids are headed to the memorial sites to support the Muslim community pic.twitter.com/F3dXfLzXiO
1.03am GMT
Police in Queensland have arrested a man after he drove his car into the gates of a mosque south of Brisbane overnight.
Police allege that at 2.20pm on Saturday a 23-year-old man was stopped for a roadside drug test and was given a 24-hour driver’s licence suspension notice after he returned a positive result.
12.58am GMT
A few of the front pages from Christchurch, Australia and London today.
Christchurch front pages pic.twitter.com/ImwV4C734H
#Frontpages Sunday @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/6nMM1XCyox
#Frontpages Sunday @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/hB4w9glW0K
#Frontpages Sunday @smh pic.twitter.com/NGhZNhhBxY
The front page of The Sunday Telegraph: 'May begs 'patriotic' MPs to back deal' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/Ot0elx6URL
12.51am GMT
Jacinda Ardern placed a wreath at the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington a little while ago.
The crowd gathered at the mosque sang a Te Reo rendition of Hallelujah, per the New Zealand Herald. The prime minister embraced a crying man at the top of the steps before going inside the mosque to meet with Muslim community members.
12.47am GMT
At Christchurch hospital, the founder and chair of the Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre, Ahmed Tani, has not slept for days. His phone won’t stop ringing and family members of the dead and injured approach him outside of the hospital for support.
“I’m frightened and they are frightened,” he tells Guardian Australia. “They never thought something would happen like this and that’s why everyone is still afraid. Some of the community, yes, are frustrated. But the frustration they have is more that they don’t know where to go or what to do at first. Now that’s turning into gratefulness for the great support. The public, the New Zealand society, they have stood up to support [us]. And that has relieved a lot of their frustration.”
12.36am GMT
Who was Brenton Tarrant? Ben Smee has filed this piece from the town of Grafton, in northern New South Wales, where the suspected gunman grew up. Few could point to little other than a normal upbringing, Ben writes.
Related: Grafton was known for jacaranda blossom but mosque shootings have changed that
12.29am GMT
Robertson confirms an additional person who has entered intensive care since yesterday:
There’s an additional person who’s had further operative surgery and has come back to the intensive care unit. It’s a fairly fluid situation depending on where we think the patient is best managed. This stretches a lot of our resources. If we think they are in abetter situation or better managed in an intensive care location, that’s where they will go.
12.21am GMT
Robertson is being asked about the reaction of the staff at the hospital: “horror, stunned, anger,” he says.
It’s a bit challenging for people. You know, we’re all part of the community and we’re struggling with it as much as everyone else. This is not something that we expected to see in our environment. We do see gunshot wounds. We do see all these type of injuries, but, you know, 40 or 50 people in a day is more than what we should see ... Most people cope with things pretty well when you’re doing things. It’s when you go home and you think about it that that’s when the issues start to declare themselves.
12.18am GMT
Greg Robertson, Christchurch hospital’s head of surgery, is speaking to media now. He says another patient is expected to go home today.
There are 12 patients currently in the intensive care unit in a critical condition. We are expecting some discharges from the intensive care to the surgical wards today. In addition there is the young girl in Starship hospital. Her condition is still listed as critical.
11.58pm GMT
Founder and chair of the Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre Ahmed Tani has just spoken to @GuardianAus. Thread: he says: "Jacinda Ardern came to my office. She is a wonderful prime minister, very lovely. And parliamentarians." pic.twitter.com/239VTIg6rZ
11.56pm GMT
11.55pm GMT
The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, will lay a wreath at the Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington with the city’s mayor, Justin Lester, shortly. It will be followed by a meeting with Islamic community leaders.
Ardern is also due to hold a press conference at 4pm.
11.48pm GMT
Hundreds of protesters held a symbolic funeral in Istanbul on Saturday to mourn the victims of the two New Zealand mosque shootings, AFP reports.
The suspected gunman charged over the attack in Christchurch published a document online that Turkish media said contained specific references to Turkey.
11.38pm GMT
This morning outside the entrance to Hagley College, police armed with rifles have implemented a “zone of respect”; stretching 100 meters either side of the college and 60 meters across.
The zone or “boundary” of respect is sacred, a volunteer told the Guardian, and media and members of the public are being politely asked not to enter it, and allow the families peace and privacy, following complaints from grieving families that they were being “hounded” by the press.
11.32pm GMT
The New Zealand high commissioner in Canberra, Dame Annette King, has just spoken about the Christchurch terror attack.
King:
We want to express our deep sympathy, our sorrow and our aroha to the families, the people of Christchurch and those back home in New Zealand. Like many around the world we are shocked at what happened in Christchurch on Friday, because it was an unprecedented act of cowardly, unprovoked violence against innocent people including children who were at a place of worship and peace. As we heard this morning, the death toll is now 50.
These attack have affected us deeply, they have affected our migrant communities, Kiwis young and old ... Because we do see it as an assault on our home, on our way of life, on us. Those who do make New Zealand home – they are us. And as the prime minister [Jacinda Ardern] said: this is not who we are.
11.25pm GMT
Amid a steady downpour in Christchurch, a medical helicopter landed on a school sports oval on Sunday morning, where an ambulance was waiting. A patient was unloaded from the helicopter into the waiting ambulance, and what appeared to be a body was uploaded and taken away into the grey, darkening skies.
The tree-lined Hagley Avenue between Christchurch hospital, where 11 people remain in critical care, and Hagley College, where families search for loved ones and gather to swap news, has become the epicentre of the crisis as grieving families enter day three, and are still unable to claim their dead for burial. Despite the downpour the Muslim community is gathered under sopping trees and on park benches, and a bevvy of television cameras and media remain in place, their lenses pointed towards the doors of the hospital as the death toll from Friday’s attack continues to climb.
11.19pm GMT
The Catholic archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, has put out a statement in support of the victims in Christchurch.
Fisher will attend an interfaith service at St Mary’s in Sydney along with the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Sunday. He said Catholics “must also stand united with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and people of all faiths, in our commitment to peace”.
11.13pm GMT
New Zealand high commissioner praises the "sympathy and solidarity" of Australian mates. Re perpetraitors: "they are not us, they are not Australia either". #auspol @mmcgowan #ChristChurch pic.twitter.com/zS9boqbPl3
11.12pm GMT
The Sunday Times in the UK is reporting that security agency MI5 is leading an inquiry into the suspected shooter’s possible links to Britain.
11.06pm GMT
New Zealand police commissioner Mike Bush also said on Sunday morning that another person has been taken into custody, though he’s not believed to be linked to the attack.
I can also confirm that due to evidence collected during the investigation we have taken another person into custody. There is no information to suggest this person is linked to the attacks. Enquiries are ongoing in relation to this person and we will update you when we are able.
11.03pm GMT
New Zealand Police have confirmed they conducted a search of a property in Dunedin this morning, the city were Tarrant lived.
“A number of items of interest were located however no items that would present harm to members of the public were discovered.”
The search of a property in Somerville Street, Dunedin, has now completed.
A number of items of interest were located however no items that would present harm to members of the public were discovered.
10.56pm GMT
Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, will join politicians and religious figures, including the Grand Mufti of Australia, at a Sydney cathedral for an interfaith prayer for the victims of the Christchurch massacre on Sunday.
10.48pm GMT
We’re learning more about the victims of Friday’s terrible shooting. The places where they or their parents had started their lives included India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine and Fiji.
The first to be formally identified was Daoud Nabi, a 71-year-old who left his home in Afghanistan more than four decades ago. His son Omar said his father had described New Zealand as “a slice of paradise”.
10.37pm GMT
Hi, and welcome to our ongoing coverage of the fallout from Friday’s mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Continue reading... 
