this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. iraqi forces say they have captured several villages on the first day of their offensive to re—take western mosul from so called islamic state. iraq's last city held by the islamic state, but the assault on that last redoubt of the islamic state is now under way. the american company, kraft heinz, says it's withdrawn its proposed takeover of unilever — a joint statement between the two companies said the decision was "amicably agreed". thousands of prison officers in london and the south east of england are to get a pay increase of up to five thousand pounds. also coming up — donald trump renews his attack on the media. but there's consternation in sweden as the president cited a non—existent incident in the country as evidence that the usa needs tighter immigration controls. and look who they will meet — number one — lincoln city. lincoln city will face either arsenal or the fellow non—league sutton united in the fa

cup quarterfinal. good evening and welcome to bbc news. major new offensive is underway in iraq against the so—called islamic state group — with security forces trying to regain full control of mosul. the city was seized more than two years ago — as is took control of northern and western iraq. iraqi forces launched their main offensive in october. and last month they recaptured the eastern part of mosul. but around three quarters of a million civilians remain in the western half — where there'll be stiff resistance from is. our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, and cameraman nik millard are the only television journalists on the front line with the iraqi forces.

just after sunrise, iraq began what it hopes is its last major battle against the so—called islamic state. thousands of men and hundreds of armoured vehicles in a line of attack that spread for miles. the iraqi army are starting their assault on western mosul. they have reached their own defences. armoured vehicles are lining up, getting ready for the islamic state. they are only a couple of kilometres over that way, and they know these men are coming. they are dug in, the assault in western mosul has started. leading the attack, iraq's emergency response division, police special forces. some of these men were surrounded by is two years ago. theyjust escaped with their lives.

today, they threw everything they had at is. gunfire. we are now above the village which is their main target. they are laying down fire. they are about to call in some artillery strikes. the captain tells me there are three is fighters in a yellow building down there and car bombs were targeting them now. there were four car bombs in total, but soon government forces were inside. they killed 13 is fighters without taking any casualties. here they discovered is weapons. this village is small, but it's important, it's

the gateway to mosul proper and the city's airport. hidden inside another house, away from surveillance aircraft, another car bomb disguised as an ambulance. the bomb inside was still live. in these streets, though, a critical advantage — no civilians. in western mosul there are three quarters of a million people and thousands of is fighters. it took these men just six hours to take this village. they made good progress but with overwhelming force. beyond here is another town and another village. that town overlooks mosul airport and the city itself. from here on in, the going will not be nearly so fast. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening

in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are broadcaster natalie haynes and the independent‘s political editor rob merrick. the us company kraft heinz has "amicably agreed" to withdraw its proposal for a merger with unilever, according to a joint statement issued by both companies. unilever owns many familiar brands, including household names such as marmite and persil. with me is our business correspondent joe lynam. what is the background to this? on friday, the biggest ever bid for a british company was submitted by kraft heinz, for unilever. £115 billion, that took a lot of people by surprise, not least of all unilever. they promptly rebuffed the offer by saying basically, it com pletely offer by saying basically, it completely undervalues the company and the cultures were very different. i understand that the bosses of both companies, both

famous executives spoke over the weekend and it was patently clear that if kraft heinz were to pursue this, they would have to go hostile. they would have to go over the heads of the management and appeal to the shareholders and it could end up being expensive for kraft heinz, so, today, within 52 hours by i reckon of submitting the bid, they have withdrawn the bid. and it has been done amicably as i failed to say clearly earlier. and it has been done amicably as i failed to say clearly earlierlj would say a friendly way but i suspect this is slightly face saving on the part of kraft heinz, kraft heinz area on the part of kraft heinz, kraft heinz are a giant american company. the two cultures couldn't fit. kraft heinz are controlled by a private equity group called 3 g and warren buffet. they are there to make money. they have a history of cost cutting, unilever have a very different culture, they have

corporate socially responsible company, they value the environment, the chief executive has a particular bee in the bonnet about the amazon, so bee in the bonnet about the amazon, so put those two together and they may not have been the fit. basically, neither companies would have fitted culturally, it would have fitted culturally, it would have been too expensive for kraft to proceed but it's a surprise. unilever, how much is it worth, if that was undervaluing it? well, they we re that was undervaluing it? well, they were worth £100 billion on friday morning and by the afternoon they we re morning and by the afternoon they were worth 115 billion. the company shares rose by 15%, yesterday, mark those shares tomorrow, i suspect there will be a lot of selling tomorrow morning, because the company will go back to where it was on friday morning. still, the third largest com pa ny on friday morning. still, the third largest company listed on the british stock exchange. you name some of the brand, most households have some of their products. thank you joe. thousands of prison officers atjails in london and south—east england are to get a pay increase of between three and five thousand pounds. ministers want to try to boost

recruitment and retain existing staff at prisons under pressure from shortages and violence. but the prison officers association dismissed the pay rise, saying it won't help a system in meltdown. here's our home affairs correspondent, june kelly. this is how many officers it takes to contain one violent prisoner. every working day, staff are fighting simply to keep control. the £12 million in extra pay announced today is aimed at bringing in new recruits and paying some existing staff more. here in wandsworth jail in south london, officers will benefit. the offer is limited to prisons in the capital and the south—east. a divisive move, according to the prison officers association, who compare it to trying to put a plaster over a gaping wound. we're going to welcome additional money for our members, of course we are. but we don't think this goes far enough to solving the prison crisis. we believe it needs to be a national issue. the offer is for standard grade 3 prison officers. not for more senior supervisors or specialists. each will receive a pay

hike of at least £3,000. for new recruits, their pay package will be increased by £5,000. the sweetener to bring people in. the panorama programme recently went undercover at northumberland jail, showing inmates high on drugs. and on the floor, a prison officer suffering a seizure after accidentally inhaling the synthetic drug, spice. there is no more money in today's announcement for him or his colleagues here. the justice secretary, liz truss, has already announced plans to boost officer numbers. it's not something you can sort out in weeks or months, it takes time to recruit people, it takes time to bring those people on. but i'm absolutely determined to deal with that. but prison reform campaigners, including those who have been inside, say there has to be more focus on holding onto experienced hands. there is a peculiar, invisible chemistry of wary mutual

respect between experienced prison officers, who know how to keep difficult prisoners under control, from inexperienced prison officers, who don't quite understand that you don't need to take out your truncheon to sort out a fight between two prisoners. eventually, the plan is for 2,500 extra officers in england and wales. but they won't all be in place until 2018. june kelly, bbc news. the chief executive of sainsbury‘s has called for "fundamental reforms" to business rates, amid concerns increases could spark high street store closures. mike coupe called the system — which is pegged to property valuations — "archaic" and ignored the rise of online shops based in out—of—town warehouses. from april the effects of the rate revaluations will be felt and business groups have been asking for help. the government says the majority of firms will pay the same or less. authorities in scotland and wales have also undertaken revaluations,

the effects of which will also be felt in april. the us defence secretary has said he doesn't have any issues with the press — nor does he considerjournalists the enemy of the american people. the comments by james mattis come after president trump used the phrase to describe some us media organisations, which he accuses of broadcasting fake news. i've had some rather contentious times with the press, but no, the press as far as i'm concerned are a constituency that we deal with, and i don't have any issues with the press myself. however, speaking to nbc‘s meet the press, the us chief of staff reince priebus defended the president's statements about the media, insisting that mr trump believed in a free press. i can assure you this, chuck,

and everyone in your business. the president believes in the first amendment, he believes in the free press. i believe in those things. we don't believe everyone is lousy in the media, we don't believe everything is bad, but there are some things that are a really bad. and we've tried... he categorizes that as fake news. what we have been through over the last ten days has been unbelievable — the leaks, the fake stories, the anonymous accusations. that stuff is bad. the president an poored to suggest there had been a terrorist incident in sweden. our correspondent david willis is in washington. never a shortage of things to talk about. tell us, what is the fall out been from this rally, in which this

so—called attack in sweden was mentioned. never a dull moment. this was president trump addressing a campaign rally in florida and he got on to the subject, a pet subject for him ofa on to the subject, a pet subject for him of a greater immigration control, he talked about the european policy of open borders which he said has contributed to terrorist attacks in a number of different places, among them paris, nice, brussels and sweden, well, that came as news to the swedes, who mrtrump that came as news to the swedes, who mr trump mentioned an incident the previous night, friday night, and the only thing in the newspapers and on the news, in sweden on friday night was a festival to choose the pick for the european song contest. it baffled the #1w50eds and led to jokes at mr trump's expense on

social media and now the swedish embassy in washington is asking the us state department to explain what on earth the president of the us was talking about. we also have james mattis saying he doesn't have a problem with the press, how significant is that apparent contradiction of what donald trump has been saying? it is simply this, that donald trump believes the media is to blame for the problems, or the perceived problems surrounding the first four weeks of his presidency. there have, of course, been leaks all over the place, there has been the departure of the national security adviser, of michael flynn and there has been all sorts of rumours about the administration's links or otherwise to russia, mr trump puts those, blames the media for of that, he says that everything is going swimmingly, his administration is like a tightly

oiled machine, if you like. but meanwhile, there are those who say he doesn't really mean it when he attacks the media in this way, and we are seeing a pattern here, because the president says something 01’ because the president says something or tweets something and then his lieutenant, aides are left to mop up after him. we saw this with nato, he said it was obsolete. they say they remain committed to it. we saw it in regard to relations with russia, and so on. regard to relations with russia, and so on. now, people are distancing themselves from the contention of themselves from the contention of the president, that the media is the enemy of the american people, a very serious claim indeed, of course. you mentioned the departure of mike flynn after a very short tenure, so, the trump administration needs a new national security adviser, who are the options? yes, they are interest viewing candidates this weekend, the president is, at his weekend retreat

in florida, and they include the man who is heading the agency at moment, on an interim basis, following the departure of general michael flynn and that is keith kellogg. they are also apparently going to be interviewing john bolton, the former us ambassador to the united nations, some other lists mcmaster and robert caslen. but they had the candidate they wanted only for him to slip through theirfinger, they wanted only for him to slip through their finger, that was robert harwood. former navy seal, he served in both iraq and afghanistan, he was the topic, after general flynn but he said thanks but no thanks. thank you david. see you again later i hope. save the children say that 350,000 children are trapped

in western mosul as iraqi troops, supported by american air strikes, have begun their assault to recapture the city from islamic state militants. the american company, kraft heinz, says it's withdrawn its proposed takeover of unilever — a joint statement between the two companies said the decision was "amicably agreed". thousands of prison officers in london and the south east of england are to get an instant pay increase of between three and five thousand pounds. ministers hope it'll ease the pressure on the service. more now on the situation in iraq where a major offensive is under way in mosul against the so—called islamic state group. the continuing u nrest islamic state group. the continuing unrest is of course sparking concern for the humanitarian situation in iraq, joining us now from irbil is tom ronnen son. how many people do you expect to need to help coming out of western mosul? thank you for having me, that isa mosul? thank you for having me, that is a good question. we are looking

atan is a good question. we are looking at an proximate population of 750,000 civilians, and the sort of planning figures are approximately 250,000, that we expect to be displaced from mosul itself. having seen people flee from eastern mosul, what sort of indication does that give you of the kind of help they will need and the condition that they will be in? the civilians are fleeing horrific condition, they are having to cross front lines from within mosul to isf controlled territory, they are often coming out with nothing more than the clothes on their back, very much caught up in the cross fire from is and the iraqi security forces as well, so it is very dangerous for civilians to be fleeing and arriving into a state of sort of real desperation, so a lot of work for the humanitarians on this front. yes, what sort of preparations are you making?- oxfa m preparations are you making?- oxfam the emergency stock, making

sure we have a supply of goods and services in place for when they flee from mosul itself. the humanitarian community as well was the iraqi government preparing camps for displacement, so purpose—built to house the civilians fleeing mosul. we are trying to support some of the key infrastructure in certain locations to ensure services can be provided to displaced people. what sort of medical aid will you need to offer them too? i mean, we are not really dealing with medical aid, one of the biggest concerns is initial trauma of the civilians, they are fleeing a battlefield, often there isa fleeing a battlefield, often there is a great threat with is in relation to improvised explosive devices, they are causing civilian casualty, so all kinds of trauma, and then that is followed by secondary support from hospitals as well. we wish you you and your

collea g u es well. we wish you you and your colleagues the were best of luck with that. the body of a missing two—year—old boy has been found in a river in perthshire. he was reported missing from a property near the bridge of cally shortly after eleven this morning. an air and ground search was launched and the child was found close to the property, in the river ericht, an hour later. his family have been informed. our correspondent huw williams has been covering this story and sent this report from the bridge of cally. it was quarter past 11 the alarm was raised. emergency services we re alarm was raised. emergency services were told a two—year—old boy has gone missing from milton down the river and across the valerie from where i am at bridge ofically. a full scale search was launched involving the police scotland helicopter and scottish fire and rescue crews. at 1235 an hour an 20 minutes after the alarm had been raised the boy was found in the river. he was rescued from the wear

the terse and treated at the scene by paramedics who arrived in the air ambulance but police scotland say tragically he did not survive, they say his family is currently being supported by police officers, milton isa supported by police officers, milton is a very small area, and in fact, a lot of the access is currently cordoned off by police scotland. as you imagine, in a ruralarea like this, in rural perthshire people wa nt to this, in rural perthshire people want to pull together and support one another, rather than talking to us, but deputy first minister of scotla nd us, but deputy first minister of scotland john swinney who is msp for perthshire north has expressed his sympathy for family. tweeting heartbreaking news my deepeth sympathy for erne have toed and the local councillor liz grant says this is devastating for the family and the community, she says the river is fast, all the rivers are fast coming through that area, particularly at this time of year. the supermarket chain morrisons has recalled a meat product

after it was found to contain traces of listeria. it's removed from sale its ready to eat peppered beef slices in a 150—gram packet, which may cause flu—like symptoms among vulnerable people. the affected product has a use—by date of this tuesday. up to 480 police investigations could be reviewed after a criminal probe was launched into the actions of two people at a forensics laboratory. randox testing services, based in manchester, analyses samples for drugs. two men who worked at the laboratory have been arrested. earlier i spoke to our reporter phillip norton, who's in manchester. an internal inquiry led to a police

investigation being launched by greater manchester police, a list of cases which may have been affected has been sent out to police forces across the country. randox testing services said there is no evidence that samples themselves have been tampered with but said where possible it will reanalyse them to provide robust uncompromised results. two men have been arrested on suspicion of perverting the coarse of justice on suspicion of perverting the coarse ofjustice and have been released on police bail. 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. malaysian police are hunting for at least four more suspects in the death of kimjong—nam, the half brother of north korea's leader kim jong—un. he died on monday after apparently being poisoned at kuala lumpur airport. four people have already been arrested over the death but many questions remain unanswered, including what will

happen to his body. celia hatton reports. the assasination of this man appears to have involved a widening cast of characters. four have already been detained in the poisoning of kimjong—nam, including a woman holding a vietnamese passport who could be this person from the crime scene, and this woman who says she was tricked into participating. she says she thought she was on a television prank show. one north korean citizen is in custody, thought to be the man escorted here by malaysian police. and now the authorities have asked for interpol‘s help to find at least four more north koreans, who all entered and exited malaysia using regular passports. i can confirm today they have left our country the very same day the incident happened. and more suspects are also wanted. people of interest who might

know how kim jong—nam's killing was carried out. four suspects has been identified, which could assist us very much on the investigation. still the question of what will be done with. kim jong—nam's body. malaysian law requires his family to come in person to claim his corpse. the next of kin has to come forward. i have given a time frame. if still they don't come forward, we have to look for the next option. for the next option. i don't discuss it at the moment. we wait and see. it is unclear whether mr kim's children could travel to the morgue, but the autopsy was conducted. or perhaps the law requires the presence of this man, the victim's half sibling north korean leader kimjong—un. south korea's unification ministry

say they believe pyongyang orchestrated the poisoning of kim jong—nam. the man once poised to rule north korea before falling out of favour with his father. while kim jong—nam was alive the thinking goes he remained a threat to his half brother and to kimjong—un's fragile grip on power inside north korea. a rocket has blasted off from the historic launch pad at the kennedy space centre in florida for the first time since the space shuttle programme ended six years ago. the private spacex falcon rocket is carrying cargo to replenish supplies on the international space station. launch pad thirty—nine—a first became famous in the 1960s for the giant saturn five rockets nasa used to carry astronauts to the moon. poetry‘s normally associated with the written word — but a new project is giving walkers the chance to hear six new verses as they make their way around northumberland's national park. "poems in the air" was the

brainchild of poet simon armitage. people can access his work at certain locations via an app on their phones. alison freeman went to see if she could track them down. wind out of the south—west scalped the ridge, careens up the spine of the hill, and over the ramparts between cairns. even on good days, the strewn boulders pierced with toothache. words to reward the hardiest of walkers on the bleakest of days. northumberland national park has worked with acclaimed british poet simon armitage to create six poems which can only be heard via an app using gps at the places which inspired them. and on a day like this, when the visibility is not so good, they can help to bring the landscape to life. starting to show that we are getting really near the point

where the poem will unlock. we're at this one. we are doing the proposal stone. why is it you can't hear them until you get near the place? well, that was the poet, simon armitage, he really liked the idea of poems that do not really exist, they're not written down anywhere. it is going to where simon was inspired, listening to the words and going, i get it, i can see how he was inspired. so it's kind of like your own personal performance, i guess? exactly, it's like it's right next to you. this poem is about the proposal stone at a point in the park called simonside, discovered by a ranger five years ago. it bears a neatly inscribed marriage proposal. stand next to me now on this altar stone, its threshold just one step from the rest of our lives. you've got 360—degree views.

it's a special place. and we have other stones on simonside that are carved, names and dates etc, but this was just that bit different. you know, somebody had gone to the bother of etching it into the stone, which i thought was quite something. who carved the stone remains a mystery, and the park is keen to know if they ever made it down the aisle. now all of england has gone down on one knee, listening, hoping you will say yes. the hike to each poem is fairly long, and walkers are recommended to seek them out on different days. it is the influence of the atlantic

wind flow that has kept us some mild this weekend, and kept us with a lot of cloud. you can see weather fronts lining daisy—chain into the atlantic. that is the setup for the week ahead, with a view significantly wet and windy spells. the rain peters out as it heads southwards. we have a breeze coming in off the atlantic. with the cloud and the breeze it will be a mild night, pretty wet for the far north—west of scotland, and also increasing amounts of coastal and hill fog to contend with as we head towards dawn on monday. rain to start with a monday morning, gusty wind accompanying the hill fog and the rain across eastern part of the pennines, the rain easing away from scotla nd pennines, the rain easing away from scotland later on. slightly fresher, but brighter weather here. even where we have the cloud, it is ten 01’ where we have the cloud, it is ten or11. where we have the cloud, it is ten or 11. stilljust where we have the cloud, it is ten or 11. still just about as where we have the cloud, it is ten or 11. stilljust about as mild on tuesday, at least in the south. wet and windy on