iraqi forces launched an offensive to recapture mosul from so—called islamic state. save the children warn that 350,000 children are trapped in western parts of the city. the last city held by the islamic state, the assault on that last road out of the islamic state is now under way. president trump attacks the media again but made a robust defence of his first four weeks in office and has insisted that a new spirit of optimism is sweeping the us at a rally in florida. police in malaysia have named four north korean suspects in the killing of the half brother of the north korean leader. sinkholes, mudslides and deadly winds. the biggest storm to hit california for several years has left at least four people dead and around 150 thousand homes without power. and the magic of the fa cup continues for lincoln city — but who will they play next? their 1—0 over burnley yesterday, makes them the first non—league club to make it an fa cup quarterfinal for over a hundred years. the draw for the next round is at 6:30 tonight.

and in half an hour on dateline london. gavin esler discusses president trump and the middle east peace process — that's at 11:30 on bbc news. good morning and welcome to bbc news. thousands of prison officers in london and south east england are getting an immediate pay increase of between three and five thousand pounds. ministers have made the decision to try to boost recruitment and retain staff numbers in the face of increasing violence. but the prison officers association says it's a divisive quick fix and specialist and more experienced staff won't benefit. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds reports. they are on the front line of the troubled prison service. their numbers have been

falling in recent years. and now the government is putting in place a £12 million pay offer to keep them in theirjobs and to attract new people. but only officers in 31 prisons in london and the south—east, including this one, wandsworth, will benefit. they are the jails under the most pressure, struggling to maintain staff. the offer is for standard grade three prison officers, not more senior supervisors or specialists. each will receive at least £3000. the pay package for new recruits will be boosted by £5,000 to attract them into the job. but the prison officers association believes that this offer will not satisfy members its members. we're going to welcome additional money for our members, of course we are. but we do not think this goes far enough to solving the prison crisis. we believe it needs to be a national issue. we were not properly consulted on this either. we believe if the secretary of state wants to make these arbitrary decisions on pay,

she should consult us fully and we can point out the inconsistencies and problems that will arise as a result of this policy. the government is also increasing training, vital if it is to deal with the growing modern threats to order behind bars, mental health issues, along with what ministers describe as drugs, drones and mobile phones. speaking on the andrew marr show, the justice secretary liz truss acknowledged that prisons do need reforming. there is a very difficult situation in our prisons. i have acknowledge that. it has been building for a number of years. but i don't believe the people that say that things can't get better or that we need to suddenly release half of the people in prisons to deal with it. we do have a plan, we are recruiting more officers. for the first time ever, and this is what we are doing this week, we are going to be saying that

the purpose of prisons is, of course, about punishing people, but it also has to be about reforming them. at the moment, in legislation, as secretary of state, all i am responsible for its housing prisoners. i think that is wrong. you talk about violence, andrew, but thatis you talk about violence, andrew, but that is not the only problem. the other problem is we are not reforming people. within a year, half of those people will go out and commit another crime. that is a huge problem as well. we need to deal with both of those things. this is connected, because you have lost 6000 police officers... prison officers, sorry, since the government came into power, since 2010. you are recruiting 2500, but you will not get back up to the same numbers as 2010? no, the world has changed, we are digitising our prisons and running them in different ways. can i answer this specific point? what this will enable us to do is, for every prison officer, they will have a caseload officer, they will have a caseload

of sex offenders they are supervising, they are keeping them safe, but also encouraging them to do the english and maths they need to get off drugs, getting to a job and those things. i have visited 15 prisons, i have seen what goes on in prisons. what were you thinking when you saw the appalling scenes, prisoners running wings of the prison, drugs freely available, officers completely losing it? what we re officers completely losing it? what were you thinking? this is exactly what i thought when i arrived in the job injuly. what i thought when i arrived in the job in july. it what i thought when i arrived in the job injuly. it isn't good enough. that is why we are investing £100 million in more prison officers. that is why we have the prison and courts bill, so that we are reforming people in ourjails as well as housing them, which is incredibly important. but this will ta ke incredibly important. but this will take time. it's not something you can sort out in weeks or months. it ta kes can sort out in weeks or months. it takes time to recruit people, it ta kes takes time to recruit people, it takes time to recruit people, it takes time to recruit people, it takes time to bring those people on. iam takes time to bring those people on. i am absolutely determined to deal with that. your former colleague,

jonathan aiken, he has been a prisoner, he has been in charge of government departments. he says this crisis is caused by the treasury and justice secretary ‘s, who have made swingeing and unjustified cuts. if you look at the huge rise in prison numbers and fall in prison officers, the story is clear, you have cut too deeply. there has not been a rise in the number of prisoners. it has been 85,000 since 2010. the number of prisoners has stayed the same. iraqi forces have launched a major offensive to retake the western half of the city of mosul from islamic state militants. it's the last major is stronghold in iraq. government forces started their offensive in october — and last month secured the eastern part of the city after weeks of fierce fighting. the united nations has urged all parties in the conflict to do everything they can to ensure the safety of civilians. save the children say that 350,000 children are trapped in the area. bill hayton reports. shortly after dawn, but without any

apparent urgency, iraqi government artillery opened fire. in the distance, several kilometres away, smoke rose into the morning sky. the assault won't be a surprise to the population of mosul. after the capture of the eastern half of the city last month, it was only a matter of time before government forces advanced into the west, and the operation was announced by the iraqi prime minister. translation: i call on our brave forces to proceed with courage to liberate the other half of mosul and its peoples from the oppression of the islamic state group forever. it is believed there could be as many as 3,000 is fighters in the west, hidden among more than 600,000 civilians. in the densely packed streets the fighting will be intense. the united nations has called on government forces to ensure

the safety of those civilians is of paramount importance. the operation to retake the city began four months ago, and military commanders are warning that it could be just as long again, before it's finished. 0ur correspondent quentin sommerville is with the iraqi troops who are launching their offensive on western mosul. sikh iraqi special forces sikh iraqi specialforces police are moving forward. they have breached their own defences and they are heading towards the so—called islamic state, who lie just beyond that hill, about two kilometres away. all morning, coalition aircraft have been overhead, dropping very large bombs on those positions, soft in a manner so that these troops can go in. there is no real element of surprise in modern warfare. last night, the residence of western mosul, just over there, we re of western mosul, just over there, were warned in leaflet drops to stay

in their homes. but these men, let us in their homes. but these men, let us spin round and we can show you, they are lining up and getting ready for the battle. there is a tank coming in. these men are not expecting an easy time of it today. they know from drone footage that the islamic state have dug deep tunnels in the villages, just south and west of mosul, and they are waiting with car bombs and plenty of writers, a ha rd—core waiting with car bombs and plenty of writers, a hard—core of fighters remaining in western mosul, which is iraq's last city held by the islamic state. but the assault on that last rode out of the islamic state is now under way. malaysian police say they are seeking four more north korean suspects in connection with the death of kim jong—nam, the half brother of the north korean leader. police identified the four suspects, all men between the ages of thirty three and fifty seven, but say they have already left malaysia. police on saturday arrested a north korean man over the killing of mrjong—nam. he died shortly after being

sprayed with a chemical at kuala lumpur airport last week. malaysia police say they are trying to get the victim's next of kin to help identify the suspects. this is what they said at the press conference. the suspects named now, the north koreans, do you believe they have left the country? we have checked and i can confirm today that they left our country the very same day the incident happened. yes. we have international cooperation, especially with interpol. we have bilateral agreements and we will use all our resources. we are not interested in political...

whatever the word is. what we're interested in is why they committed such a crime in our country. 0k? you can put all politics aside because this is not ourjob. 0urjob is to reveal the truth together. the facts. to get the evidence and bring the perpetrators to justice. that is our responsibility. 0ur correspondent kevin kim says this is another twist in the murder investigation. according to police, the four suspects all had north korean passports and boarded flights out of malaysia on monday. that was immediately after the killing took place. authorities say they are still waiting for the toxicology report that will confirm whether mr kim was poisoned. kim jong—nam was waiting

at the check—in counter of the main airport in malaysia when two women approached him and sprayed him with the chemical. he sought medical help but fell unconscious and died hours later. the two women who were arrested told authorities that they were paid to take part in what they believed was a prank for a tv show. a 46—year—old man from north korea is also under custody. what is being made of it in korea, north and south, can you tell us? the south korean government has expressed grave concern over the recklessness and brutality of the assassination. the government in seoul is now pointing fingers directly at kim jong—un himself. meanwhile, in malaysia,

the north korean embassy they have been trying very hard to gain access to the body of kim jong—nam, but authorities said mr kim's body would only be released to his family members. earlier, north korean diplomats expressed their disapproval for an autopsy and said the north would not recognise any future announcement of the results. the government in pyongyang has been silent but other officials in the region will be waiting for the concrete evidence to back up their theory that the cause of death was poisoning and had been carried out by people with ties to north korea. president trump has made a robust defence of his first four weeks in office — and insisted that a new spirit of optimism is sweeping the us. speaking to supporters at an airport hanger in florida, he repeated his campaign pledges

to create jobs and improve the nation's security. mr trump again turned his fire on the media, accusing it of being dishonest about his administration. 0ur correspondent, laura bicker, reports from florida. if you thought the presidential campaign was over, then you would be wrong. afterjust four weeks in office, president trump is bidding forfour more years. the first lady also made a rare appearance, starting her remarks with the lord's prayer. 0ur father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done. but there is more to this rally. donald trump is trying to change the subject, after headlines of chaos and controversy in his administration. he is back where he appears to be more comfortable, behind a campaign podium rather than a desk in the oval office. i am here because i want to be among my friends and among the people.

he enjoys an audience and takes heart from his fans. 0ne even made it on stage after waiting since the early morning. when president trump promised all these things that he was going to do for us, i knew he was going to do this for us. he also had tough words for some of his alleged foes, the media. he has a new term for them — the enemy. these supporters are his people and this is his message. a chance to appraise his first month in office, the one he sees as a success. make america great again. that is what it is. he has kind of been up and down. i kind of feel like he is not 100% doing good but i want to give him more time. january 20th, 2017! 0ur presidency died. in new york, protesters held a fake funeral for the presidency. the political ideals of america seem

further apart than ever. this rally will be hugely popular with his voting base but won't help him in washington. if president trump is to push through his campaign promises, he might need to take his message to capitol hill rather than an adoring crowd. the headlines: thousands of prison officers in london and the south—east of england are to get an insta nt south—east of england are to get an instant pay increase of between £3000 and £5,000. ministers hope it will raise —— is pressure on the service. save the children say up to 350,000 children are trapped in mosul. donald trump has defended the achievements of his presidency so far at achievements of his presidency so farata achievements of his presidency so far at a rally for his supporters in florida. he also made another attack

on the media. now we are off to the bbc sports centre. non league side lincoln city are in the fa cup quarterfinal draw at 6:30 today — its live on sportsday. it's the first time in over a century a team outside the football league has made it this far, and there's more fifth round action later today. alex gulrajani reports. . .. lincoln have made history! this is one of the great shocks of the competition. burnley, the latest tea m competition. burnley, the latest team to be upset by national conference side lincoln city. a first fa cup quarterfinal for them weights and it is all down to sean raggett. 89 minutes on the clock when he popped up to keep lincoln's fa cup dream well and truly alive. what next? i would like to be at

home, or a really what next? i would like to be at home, ora really big what next? i would like to be at home, or a really big club where there is a big capacity and we are able to take all the supporters we would like to take. joining them in the quarterfinal draw later today will be millwall. they added to master's woes. a last—minute winner from shaun cummings booking their place in the last eight. that is where huddersfield hope to be as well. they will have to do it all again against manchester city after holding pep guardiola's side to a goalless draw. fulham will be looking for inspiration from those results later this afternoon as they welcome tottenham to craven cottage. the premier league side needed a last—minute goal of their own to beat wycombe in the last round. but fulham, pushing for a play—off spot in the championship, believe that they can cause an upset. we are a very confident team at home. hopefully against spurs it will be the same, try to dominate possession, dominate the ball. it's another level, a premiership team, but it doesn't change our play. blackburn rovers have more pressing

issues in the league, with a battle to stay in the championship on their hands. they saw off blackpool in the last round. fa cup holders manchester united will provide a different test today. we are underdogs, it has everything to gain for us. it doesn't matter who they are going to play, they are going to bea are going to play, they are going to be a well drilled outfit and we have two be on our mettle. hopefully they have an off day and come on the day, anything can happen. with lincoln and millwall pulling off shocks so far, maybe blackburn can stop this from happening again. coverage of today's games then. fulham entertain tottenham — that's on bbc one at two, while blackburn rovers welcome manchester united. tomorrow non—league sutton united will try to emulate lincoln city to reach the last eight when they face arsenal — again that's on the bbc, or you can listen to all three games on 5live sport. in the scottish premiership today, aberdeen will be hoping to cut celtics 27 point lead this afternoon when they go to kilmarnock. celtic beat motherwell

2—0 yesterday. rangers, who are in third place, play dundee. australian rugby union have confirmed this morning that former lock dan vickerman, who played for northampton saints in 2009, has died. he was just 37—years—old. vickerman played 63 tests for australia and featured in three world cups. he passed away at his family home in sydney and is survived by his wife sarah and two sons. no details of the cause of death have been disclosed. 0n social media northampton said: "our thoughts are with the family and friends of former saint dan vickerman. rest in peace". northampton play newcastle later today. there is british interest at the bobsleigh world championship, which is being streamed on the website. bruce tasker and joel fearon are a quarter of a second outside the medals, with one heat still to go in the two—man bobsleigh — they were ninth in the standings after the third run. britain's dave ryding is in with a chance of a medal

at the alpine world championships in st moritz in switzerland. after a strong opening run, he's currently in fourth place in the men's slalom. no british man has ever won a world championship medal. we will let you know what has happened in the next hour. lord mandelson, a former labour cabinet minister, has urged peers to not "throw in the towel early" when they debate the process of triggering brexit. the government has warned lords not to block the legislation which will start the uk's withdrawal from the eu. the house of lords will begin debating the article 50 bill tomorrow. with me is our political correspondent tom bateman. so, lord mandelson popping up now? absolutely. after this bill passed the house of commons, and remember it did so with overwhelming support of mps, a majority of 4—1, there was a sense that perhaps we could see a stand—off between the two houses of

parliament. 0ne government source warned that evening that if the lords did not see the bill through, it could face an extra ten —— threat to its existence, members of the public calling for it to be abolished. they are now saying absolutely not, there is no threat of the sort around this. i still think the passage of this bill from tomorrow, through the house of lords, will provide an interesting bit of context around what the opposition to the article 50 bill still is. i think some peers, particularly labour peers, think it is their constitutional place to try to amend this piece of legislation if they believe they want to. there are two areas where i think particularly liberal democrat and labour peers might enjoy some success , labour peers might enjoy some success, as far as that is concerned. that is calling on the government to have to go back to brussels if they don't get a deal as pa rt brussels if they don't get a deal as part of the article 50 process that parliament is pleased with. also,

the rights of eu citizens in this country. they might seek to amend this piece of legislation again. we heard lord mandelson talking about what he thought the chances were. heard lord mandelson talking about what he thought the chances werelj think what he thought the chances were.” think there's a strong body of opinion, cross—party and among independent peers as well, that both of these issues are very serious. of course, when it comes to eu citizens, the british government not negotiating with itself. there will be people, amongst member states, who say, no, we don't want to take this issue now. we will take it later on during the course of the negotiation because it is as much a negotiating gambit for them as it is for britain. could the lords change this bill? well, it is possible. the government doesn't have a majority in the house of lords. most of this will happen the week after next, when the so—called committee stage ta kes when the so—called committee stage takes place. that is when peers will have the chance to put amendments onto the bill and therefore vote for them. 0bviously,

onto the bill and therefore vote for them. obviously, the government still in a position where it thinks the house of lords, although it has the house of lords, although it has the right to talk about this and the right to push for what it once, that it should not be seeking to alter and frustrate the will of the people in the form of this article 50 bill. we heard this morning from the justice secretary, liz truss. the fa ct justice secretary, liz truss. the fact is, it was voted for conclusively in the house of commons. the leader of the lords said on your show last week that they wouldn't be holding it up, that they wouldn't be holding it up, that they were looking at scrutinising they were looking at scrutinising the fact is it is a simple bill, do we trigger article 50? the british people voted for that, they were clear ina people voted for that, they were clear in a referendum on the house of lords needs to get on with it, which is what i understand there will be doing, despite what peter mandelson claims. so, it gets going tomorrow, that so—called second reading of the bill in the house of lords. i think it will be the week after where we will see potentially some more of those political fireworks in the two houses, perhaps having more of an argument over this. the government, i think,

having more of an argument over this. the government, ithink, still hopeful and determined it will be able to trigger the article 50 process early next month. the biggest storm to hit california for several years has left at least four people dead and around 150 thousand homes without power. giant sinkholes appeared in some roads. a fire crew managed to get out of this engine before it was swallowed on the main motorway from los angeles to las vegas. this was another sinkhole in studio city where a woman was rescued from the roof of her car moments before a second empty vehicle was swallowed up. the chief executive of sainsbury‘s has joined the growing row over the re—evaluation of business rates — the commercial version of council tax. mike coupe says changes being introduced to reflect the value of property could leave high streets facing serious challenges and closures, while internet operations could see their bills cut. the government says the majority of firms will pay the same or less. the former boxer michael watson has

been injured during an attempt to steal his car in london. mr watson, who's 51, and partially disabled, had a substance sprayed in his face and was dragged along the road. he and a friend are recovering at home. the police have appealed for information. anotherfive pound note estimated to be worth £50,000 due to a tiny, engraved portrait of jane austen has been found. it's the third such discovery across the uk, meaning thatjust one more note is outstanding. the fivers are the handiwork of birmingham micro—artist graham short. he spent a note in each of the four home nations and said the latest find was in northern ireland. no note has yet been found in england. we are going to go across the newsroom for the forecast. for many it is looking dry, but

there are some exceptions. we have thickening cloud and spots of rain, quite murky across the north—west of england. expect some drizzle and the kind of conditions on this picture. the biggest cloud today will be across western parts. in the east, a little bit of morning sunshine. there will be a tendency for a bit more ina there will be a tendency for a bit more in a way of cloud to move in as we go through the afternoon. some damp weather across western coast sandhills. mild, temperatures up to 13 degrees in mildest spots. we have a band of rain pushing southwards across scotland into england and wales. the wind will become quite gusty over the tops of the pennines and east of the pennines overnight. look at these temperatures. they are above the kind of temperatures we would expect during the daytime, let alone the night. this is the picture over monday. watch out for gusty wind to the east of the pennines. 0utbreaks wind to the east of the pennines. outbreaks of rain to the north and west. across england and wales,

pretty mild. temperatures of 15 or 16 degrees. good morning. the headlines: thousands of prison officers in london and the south—east of england are to get an instant pay increase of between £3000 and £5,000. the justice secretary responds to criticism that it is simply papering over the cracks. this will take time. it is not something you can sort out in weeks or months. it ta kes sort out in weeks or months. it takes time to recruit people. it ta kes takes time to recruit people. it takes time to recruit people. it takes time to recruit people. it takes time to bring them on. save the children says there are around 350,000 children trapped in mosul as iraqi troops have started an operation backed by american air strikes to recapture the city from islamic state militants. president trump has attacked the media again at a rally in florida, where he defended his record in office, and labelled the negative coverage about him as "fake news." police in malaysia have named four north korean suspects who left the country the same day as the half brother of the north korean leader was killed at kuala lumpur airport last week. now on bbc news, dateline.

hello and welcome to dateline london. the trump white house is running like a "fine tuned machine"