Here are some of the key things we learned from officials speaking about a Tesla Cybertruck that blew up in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday:

• The FBI believes that the man in the Tesla Cybertruck was Matthew Alan Livelsberger - but they are waiting for DNA confirmation as the person's body was badly burned
• The 37-year-old was an active unit Green Beret in the US Army
• The person in the vehicle died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound
• Officials said they are still not sure of the motive in the vehicle explosion
• Two semi-automatic handguns found in the vehicle were legally purchased on 30 December
• Officials are looking into "strange similarities" between the deadly attack in New Orleans on Wednesday and the Las Vegas incident, but no link has been established.
• Both suspects rented cars through the same rental service both served in the US Army and were stationed in Fort Brag, North Carolina, though they were not in the same unit
• They also were deployed in Afghanistan at the same time - but not necessarily in the same unit or same region of the country

Still speaking at a news conference, officials say they still don't know the motive in the Tesla car explosion, but they are paying attention to commonalities between the New Orleans incident and the Las Vegas incident.

Both suspects served in the military at the same locations and rented cars from the same places.

"If these turn out to be simply similarities - very strange similarities to have," the Las Vegas police chief says.

Another official says it's "not lost on" police that the explosion took place in a Tesla car in front of a Trump hotel. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump are close allies.

Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are giving us some more details on the Cybertruck explosion incident yesterday at the Trump Hotel.

Officers have been investigating whether the two incidents are related.

The Las Vegas police chief says the driver of the Tesla electric vehicle was likely Matthew Alan Livelsberger - although the body was "burnt beyond recognition", making him difficult to identify.

He says there were several commonalities between the Las Vegas driver and the New Orleans suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar - though there is still no indication yet that they knew each other.

They both rented cars through the rental service Turo, the police chief says. And they both served in the US Army and were stationed in Fort Brag, North Carolina, though they were not in the same unit.

They also were deployed in Afghanistan at the same time - but not necessarily in the same unit, he adds.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

Bourbon Street has just re-opened for pedestrians - a few of whom are starting to trickle in.

Yellow barriers, designed to prevent cars from driving onto the pavement, are on both sides of the street.

There are 14 flowers laid against a wall at the spot where the attacker first drove into a crowd.

A fan of the Notre Dame college football team is yelling: "Go fighting Irish! We love life! So let's live!"

We are about to hear from officials in Las Vegas, Nevada, who will give us some more details on a separate incident that took place there yesterday, when a Tesla cybertruck exploded in front of a Trump hotel.

The driver of a Tesla Cybertruck was killed and seven other people were injured in Las Vegas after the vehicle - filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars - exploded.

Officials have said so far there is no link between that incident and the New Orleans attack.

You can watch the news conference live at the link above.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

New Orleans police chief Anne Kirkpatrick is now addressing reporters near Bourbon Street, which she says she feels is ready to open after a brief ceremony and a security sweep.

She says new yellow barriers would "slow down" anyone who believes they can reach targets on Bourbon Street.

"You're going to see an incredibly large [police] presence," she tells reporters gathered in the French Quarter. "We want our community to feel confident."

Earlier, Kirkpatrick participated in a brief ceremony with local religious leaders, who laid 14 yellow roses down for each of the 14 victims. They were accompanied by a jazz band.

"In our culture here in New Orleans, there's music," she tells reporters by Bourbon Street. Kirkpatrick adds that those killed yesterday "did not die in vain."

"We will be a safer city, and a safer country," she says. "We will return to normalcy."

Additionally, Kirkpatrick downplays suggestions that more could have been done to save lives, noting that the "terrorist was hell-bent on destruction".

"If it hadn't been on Bourbon, it would have been somewhere else," she says.

She finished her remarks by saying that New Orleans is "known for its resiliency", noting that the city is still dealing with the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as an example of this.

"This city knows pain," Kirkpatrick says. "But this city also knows how to recover."

We've just seen images from New Orleans of people queuing to donate blood at a blood centre, after the attack on New Year's Day.

Earlier today, we reported that emergency blood drives were being organised in the wake of Wednesday's attack. Now, dozens of people have responded to the urgent call-out to donate blood.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reute

Image source, Reuters

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

We've just heard from Jefferson County Sheriff Joseph Lopinto, who briefly addressed reporters near Bourbon Street.

He vows that today's Sugar Bowl, an annual college football match held in New Orleans, will be secure for fans who have come to the city.

"It's probably going to be one of the safest places in the country," he says. "If my kid wanted to come to the game, I'd have no problem."

Lopinto adds that while no preparations can be "perfect", the sheriff's office is using large trucks to help "harden" potential targets such as Bourbon Street ahead of the major sporting event later today.

As we've been reporting, federal agents have confirmed investigations are continuing at a home on Mandeville Street in New Orleans, where two laptops linked to Shamsud-Din Jabbar were recovered.

There were also reports of a fire at the property, widely reported to be holiday rental used by the attacker, yesterday.

Joshua Jackson, special agent in charge of the local division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), said the "working theory" now is that the "fire started after Jabbar was already deceased".

The federal agent said there were several different ways the fire could have started but officers are still "processing the scene" and more findings will follow.

The property on Mandeville Street appears to be an around 15 minute drive from Bourbon Street.

Image source, Getty

Image source, Getty Images

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr / BBC

The area around the entrance to Bourbon Street is all of a sudden a hub of activity.

In the last few minutes, a large motorcade arrived carrying Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and other officials.

They were accompanied by heavily armed tactical officers, wearing black and carrying rifles.

They've just walked past police vehicles and down Bourbon Street, alongside members of a jazz band who were carrying their instruments.

A small drone is also flying overhead, it's unclear who is operating it.

The area's perimeter has now collapsed somewhat, allowing reporters to stand in the middle of Canal Street - considerably closer than we were able to get earlier today and last night.

It is still - for the moment - still closed to the public, but a number of senior officials just entered the area.

A jazz band just started blasting music from behind police barriers on Bourbon Street.

From my vantage point, I can clearly see the band's tubas bobbing down the street, just a few meters from a green armoured vehicle and heavily armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security.

Stay with us for more updates.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

Since I arrived here in New Orleans yesterday, I've met several people who have expressed thanks that they were not caught up in the attack - including some who have had close calls.

A little while ago, I spoke to Jalen Dogan, a Mississippi man who travelled to New Orleans to celebrate New Year's Eve with a friend.

He left Bourbon Street about 03:00 local time (09:00 GMT) - roughly 15 minutes before the attack took place.

"It's kind of eerie, in hindsight," he tells me. "It wasn't a prediction, but I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen."

Dogan heard several shots and saw police cars speeding towards Bourbon Street as he drove away, but didn't understand the severity of the attack until he saw the news the following morning.

In social media footage, he recognised a young woman with whom he had been briefly speaking that night, when he and his friend encountered her friends at a bar.

She appeared to be seriously injured, with her friend waiting for first responders to help.

"I feel blessed today," he says. "There are a lot of scenarios that could have kept us on Bourbon Street. My friend wanted to stay later. Fortunately he listened to me. We were very fortunate."

After that update from officials, we are now able to better map out the path taken by the attacker.

We know that Shamsud-Din Jabbar swerved around a police vehicle as he entered Bourbon Street, killed 14 people before crashing into a vehicle and exchanging gunfire with police before he was shot dead.

He had earlier placed explosives further down Bourbon Street, as well as at an intersection two blocks away. These have since been safely removed by police.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from New Orleans

I've just arrived back at the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets - a few metres from the site the attack took place.

It's closed still, with a search and rescue vehicle sitting at the spot where the attacker's car turned onto Bourbon.

But otherwise, it's a remarkably different scene than the one I found here last night. Most of the police cars are gone, although dozens of journalists and camera crews have taken their place.

While access is generally restricted still, police are allowing workers and employers back onto Bourbon Street.

Earlier, officials suggested that the area might re-open at 14:30 local time (20:30 GMT).

I asked a police officer whether that was still the case.

"It'll be ready when it's ready," he told me. "But that will be today, I hear."

The news conference concluded in the last half hour. Here's a recap of the main news lines:

• The FBI's Christopher Raia clarified that 14 people were killed in the attack. Officials had previously said 15 people had been killed, but Raia confirmed this number included the attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was shot dead by police
• Raia also said the FBI now believes no one else was involved in the attack. Yesterday, the agency said it believed Jabbar did not act alone. But Raia said that after conducting hundreds of interviews, combing through Jabbar's social media posts and his electronic devices there was nothing to suggest he had worked with others
• Jabbar picked up the truck used in the attack on Monday in Houston, before driving to New Orleans
• On the drive, he posted videos online proclaiming his allegiance to the Islamic State group. Raia revealed Jabbar had said in a post that he originally intended to harm his family but felt this wouldn't have illustrated the "war between the believers and the disbelievers"
• Agents are currently searching a house in New Orleans, where two laptops linked to Jabbar were found. Three phones have also been found, Raia said

• Raia also said that while investigations are ongoing, there is currently no "definitive link" between the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas that killed one person
• Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said more than 1,000 law enforcement agents are "pouring over data and video"
• And officials confirmed the Sugar Bowl college football game will go ahead as planned today, with extra police and specialist explosives officers present

Raia is again asked about why the FBI now believes Jabbar acted alone.

Raia says that after conducting hundreds of interviews, combing through Jabbar's social media and his electronic devices there's nothing to indicate he worked with others.

Though officials caution it's only been 24 hours since the attack and the investigation is still ongoing.

And with that, the briefing has just finished.

Stay with us as we'll be bringing you a recap of the main news lines shortly.

Raia is asked about why Jabbar selected Bourbon Street as the site of the attack.

He says law enforcement assume it is because there would have been a lot of people out on New Year's Eve.

Raia says that in the coming days the priority for law enforcement will be to figure out the suspect's "path to radicalisation".

"He was 100% inspired by ISIS," Raia says, and the FBI is working with its partners to ascertain more about that

Image source, US POOL

Governor Landry is now asked whether temporary bollards will be used on Bourbon Street today and why they weren't used on New Year's Eve.

He says "we have reinforced the area" and deployed "additional assets", but did not mention temporary bollards.

Officials are answering questions from reporters now - one journalist asks them to clarify the number of people who died in the attack.

Raia, the FBI representative, says the death toll of 15 - previously given by officials - includes the suspect.

Fourteen people were killed in the attack, alongside Jabbar, they say.

Raia is next asked about the improvised explosive devices which we earlier heard were left in two locations in coolers.

He says they were left prior to the attack, at around 01:00 or 02:00 local time.

It's the working assumption of the FBI that the suspect left the IEDs, left the area, then came back to carry out the attack.

He also clarifies that there were early reports about extra people setting down coolers containing the IEDs, which had led to law enforcement thinking there were accomplices involved.

He says it turns out that members of the public had seen the coolers in the street and were looking at them, but that it took time to "track that down".

The authorities are now taking questions from reporters.

The first question is about how they said yesterday that multiple people might be involved and urged people to stay vigilant, but today, in the press conference now, they are stating they believe the suspect acted alone.

Christopher Raia says the FBI wants to be transparent with the public, and that means “unfortunately there are information we have to go back on”.

He explains that after about 24 hours of investigation, they are now confident there are no accomplices.

Image source, US POOL