To world news today. We start with the breaking news, that police in texas are saying that 27 people have been shot dead in a church in the town of Sutherland Springs. These are live pictures at the scene. Sutherland springs is a small rural town about 50 kilometres south east of the city of san antonio. This is the church where the shooting happened around midday local time. Police emerging from the building. A heavy Police Presence over the last hour. It looks slightly less so but we understand eyewitnesses say that about 20 shots we re eyewitnesses say that about 20 shots were fired in quick succession during the Morning Service at the First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs. Us media say that the gunman walked in and began shooting. The local sheriffs officers say that the gunman had been taken down by the gunman had been taken down by the police. Its being reported by local officials that 27 people have been killed and 25 injured but that hasnt been confirmed yet. There is still a heavy Police Presence with the area cordoned off. 0ne witness, carrie who works at a shop close to the church told cbs news what shed heard and seen. Im about 50 yards away. Theres a row of houses. We went running outside when we heard the shots and then we looked at each other and said im not going to be outside for bullets to fly because we heard ricochet. So we went back into the store and we had a couple of customers in there and we made sure that they were safe and everything. And then the owner decided to go ahead and close the store for a while just to make sure because he was on the run and we didnt want a situation here where the safety of our customers was jeopardised. Of our customers was jeopardised. President from is on the first leg of his asian tour but he has tweeted about the shooting president trump. Lets get more from our correspondent Barbara Plett usher whos in washington. What more details do we have . We are beginning to get a picture of what happened according to a witness from the petrol station across the street who heard gunfire at about 11 30am local time, roughly half an hour after the Church Service started. We understand the gunman just walked in and opened fire. Again, the witness said it sounded like a semiautomatic weapon. It seems to have a lot of damage. Local Officials Say 27 could be dead, 25 could be injured. This isa be dead, 25 could be injured. This is a very small church, people have said it doesnt normally have a convocation of much more than 50 a nyway convocation of much more than 50 anyway so if the numbers are correct, pretty much everyone who was present may have been killed or injured. Were waiting to get the official confirmation of that. We also understand there was a chase after the attack, the gunman took off in after the attack, the gunman took offina after the attack, the gunman took off in a vehicle with the police behind him. It was a short chase and he was killed. Its not clear if he killed himself or whether he was killed himself or whether he was killed by police. At the moment the police are only talking about one attacker but were waiting for details about who he was and what the motive may have been. Thank you for joining the motive may have been. Thank you forjoining us. Sue calberg is a reporter with san antonia television station kens 5. She is at the scene of the shooting. We know that there are multiple churchgoers dead and that the gunman is also deceased. Theyve established a perimeter at First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs and they are beginning the long arduous task of processing what is a very awful scene. The pastorfrom the church down the street says that when they were in church, thats when they were in church, thats when they were in church, thats when they got word that their friends had been attacked. He said that there was a deputy in the church, nurses, otherfirst responders, pagers and started going and they stopped what they were doing. Friends and neighbours, they ran to assist and found a scene of carnage which is when the ambulances first arrived. People from many amenities in the Wilson County area and the surrounding counties. They need is so great. The pastor says that the gathering here, family and friends, waiting for word and says that everyone in this Small Community is going to know the names of every Single Person who was killed. There are said to be numerous small children among the dead. A local reporter with the latest. Well return to that story later. Its one of the biggest ever leaks of offshore secrets. 13 million documents, mostly from an offshore law firm called appleby. They are known as the Paradise Papers and they reveal the tax affairs of rich and powerful people around the world. Theyve been obtained by the german newspaper Sudeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of investigativejournalists, including, in the uk, the guardian and the bbcs Panorama Programme. They show how the duchy of lancaster, which is the queens private estate, invested around £10 million offshore. Some of the money went into the off licence chain threshers which later went bust owing more than £17 million in tax. And a small amount went into brighthouse, the Hire Purchase company thats been accused of charging inflated interest rates. The leaked documents also reveal that this man wilbur ross, Donald Trumps friend and commerce secretary has business ties with russian allies of president putin who are subject to us sanctions. And they suggest Lord Ashcroft, the donor and former deputy chairman of Britains Conservative Party may have ignored rules around how his offshore investments were managed. Other papers suggest he retained his non domiciled status while in the house of lords, despite reports hed become a permanent tax resident in the uk. Its important to say that tax avoidance is not illegal, but it is controversial, and these latest revelations are bound to fuel the political debate around offshore tax havens and whether governments should do more to clamp down on them. Richard bilton from the bbc Panorama Team has this report. It is an island paradise but there is a lot more to bermuda than just beaches and the sun. It is a tax haven, secrecy and 0 tax rates. One of the worlds biggest offshore companies, appleby, is based here. 7 million documents have been leaked. For months, we had to carry out secret research. Thats the head office. We have to be very careful at this stage of the investigation. Appleby dont know that we have their data. But now we can report what goes on here. The leak is known as the Paradise Papers. It contains some of the biggest names in britain. Like the queens private estate. The queens investments are handled by the duchy of lancaster. Now, because of the files, we can see where some of the money was going. £10 million was invested in tax havens, with 7. 5 million in one fund in the Cayman Islands. It is perfectly legal and there is no suggestion tax was being avoided but should the monarchs cash be going offshore . If the money has been invested in a tax haven i would have thought it would be extremely embarrassing for the royal family. We expect Higher Standards of the queen in terms of where the investments are located. The duchy told us the Paradise Papers also expose a new link between president trumps government and the russians. You know who that is, right . Its wilbur ross, president trumps commerce secretary. This is in Gennady Timchenko, the sanctioned friend of president putin. We have found that these two men have a business link. Wilbur ross said that he cut ties with companies that could compromise his new role in the Us Government. Your service has resulted in your divesting yourself of literally hundreds of millions of dollars. You did it to avoid any conflict of interest, correct . That is correct. We dont think that is correct. We have discovered mr ross has a stake in a shipping Company Called navigator holdings. One of its major clients is sibur, a Russian Energy company. Gennady timchenko is a shareholder who was tangent by the us Gennady Timchenko is a shareholder who was sanctioned by the Us Government in 2014. You dont want to get known as somebody who plays footsy or walks up to the line with sanctioned individuals. If you know anything about the russians its that under the current system, its easy to get dirty. Dont go there, man, dont go there. Mr ross told us that none of the funds he managed ever owned a majority of navigators shares and he never met timchenko. There are revelations closer to home. I, michael, Lord Ashcroft, do swear by almighty god. Lord ashcroft was the tory deputy chairman and gave millions to the party but what we found in the files could leave him facing a tax bill of tens of millions. A series of payments totalling around 200 million were made to him from a trust in bermuda. To avoid tax, the trust, called punta gorda, must act independently, if Lord Ashcroft avoided the rules, he could face a big bill from the taxman. E mails seen by our suggest a rising sense of frustration from the trustees that Lord Ashcroft was not playing by the rules. It looks like Lord Ashcroft was controlling the trust and expecting trustees to rubber stamp his decisions. He didnt answer written questions, so i caught up with him at the tory conference. Did you have tens of millions in an offshore trust that you secretly controlled . Did that mean you could avoid millions in tax . Why dont you talk to me, it would be great to hear your view. It was the punta gorda trust. His lawyers made said that i had started shouting something at him by which time Lord Ashcroft had walked away and heard nothing of what i said. Weve done about a mile and a half, we could have been sponsored. Despite the questions, Lord Ashcroft wouldnt give us his side. Im not going to follow you in there, sir. About the leak, appleby said it does not specialise in tax, that these are sensitive documents relating to appleby and its clients. These are the first names from the Paradise Papers but there are more to come from this extraordinary leak. So what are offshore Investment Funds and why are they so controversial . Well our economics editor kamal ahmed now explains for centuries, britain has been a centre for global finance, focused here, on the city of london. That is seen here, on the city of london. That is seen as many here, on the city of london. That is seen as many by being good for our economy and the development of global trade. To support that we allowed companies to set up in the uk and not be taxed here. Our imperial past is also important. Crown dependencies overseas territories, places likejersey and guernsey and the isle of man, which have an arms length relationship with us and have based their economy on the low tax offers to companies and individuals, to hold some of their wealth there. Others are more far flung, places like gibraltar, as well as bermuda, the British Virgin islands, the Cayman Islands, and turks in chaos. The Cayman Islands, and turks and gaicos. Such places insist they are good for growth, as they allow firms and individuals to avoid being taxed multiple times by different countries. There have been a lot of new rules on transparency as well. But they are not criticised for being too secret. Too weak on regulation, and too open to corruption. Critics say the laws have also failed to keep up with Global Companies which can move vast amounts of money around the world at the touch of a computer key. We are not the only ones who have used tax competition and light touch regulation to lure companies to our shores. 0ther countries that have been criticised include switzerland, singapore, and america, which has low tax systems in many of its states. There is also an important distinction to remember when speaking about tax havens. Tax evasion is illegal, while tax avoidance is using legal structures to reduce tax levels. How much could tax avoidance be worth to the National Exchequers like the treasury . Well, globally anything between £75 billion and £180 billion. Many now believe that avoidance has become so controversial there needs to be a complete change to global tax laws, so the taxes are paid in the country where the firm or the individual is based. That would mean the total tax take would go up, which some might disagree with, but public controversy would probably die down. Im joined now by tom keatinge, the director of the centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at rusi. Thank you forjoining us. As we heard, nothing has been found in these papers that is illegal but to many tax avoidance is controversial. Do you think it is wrong . |j many tax avoidance is controversial. Do you think it is wrong . I think weve arrived at a place where perception is perhaps almost as important as the legal situation. The fact is that if you have enough money to pay expensive accountants, you can set up schemes to avoid tax as opposed to evade tax but thats not something that is open to everybody, not open to the man on the street or stop it is for people who campaign accountants and others to minimise the tax bill. Did anything change after the last set of papers, the panama papers, which revealed a certain amount of tax avoidance by people and companies . There was a lot of sound and theory but i dont think much has changed. The European Parliament conducted an enquiry but unless the big global governments, the uk in particular, get around the table and say that we wa nt to get around the table and say that we want to bring transparency to the operations of overseas territories and other places around the world, nothing will change. Places like the uk must take leadership. You would think that there is a big financial incentive for them to do that. Why dont they take more action . For the uk, the overseas territories represent a burden. This is Good Business for those territories and so business for those territories and so the question is, what would replace that business if it went away . Maiga would be that transparency doesnt mean the business must stop, it must be done ina way business must stop, it must be done in a way that everyone can see and understand. We know that the un have urged countries to get together. Do they need to take action . |j urged countries to get together. Do they need to take action . I dont think that the United Nations is the forum. In the tax world, standards that require sharing arbitration between countries to make sure you up between countries to make sure you up paying yourfair share, the 0ecd has taken the lead. It is the rich countries, the g20, that must show leadership here. Thank you for joining us. Stay with us on bbc world news, still to come. More on the Paradise Papers. Well hear how how Donald Trumps commerce secretary has business links with russian allies of president putin who are subject to us sanctions. The israeli Prime Minister yet sacrae bean, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. A 27 year old jewish man has been arrested and an Extremist Organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. At the polling booth to the country they voted an historic day for australia. The result was clear, the monarchy would survive. There was no sign of the hostages, they are being held somewhere inside the compound and student leaders have threatened that if america attempts rescue, they will all die. This has surpassed all expectations, voyager one is the most distant man made object anywhere in the universe and it seems to keep on going. Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the scale of our wealth barred from the scale of our wealth barred from the scale of our wealth barred from the enduring power of our ideals. But from. The latest headlines. Theres been a shooting at a church in texas where is believed as many as 27 people have been killed and 20 injured. Andy moore, our correspondent, joins us. What more details do we have . Reports that children are among the dead and injured. A two year old child is reported to be among the injured, a 14 year old girl, the daughter of the pastor, is said to be among the dead. Also among the dead, the gunman. There are reports he was killed after a police chase in a neighbouring county. We now hear that he was found dead in his vehicle, its unclear whether he had shot himself or was shot by police. He hasnt been identified. Theres no indication that terrorism is in any way. We expect an update from the department of Public Safety in texas. A response