i'm martine croxall. the headlines at eight. iraqi forces seize several villages on the first day of their renewed offensive to re—take mosul from so— called islamic state. it's iraq's last city held by the islamic state, but the assault on that last redoubt of the islamic state is now underway. the american company, kraft heinz, withdraws its proposed takeover of anglo—dutch rival unilever. 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 the president prompts a storm of confusion — after apparently referring to a security incident in sweden that hadn't happened. either arsenal or the fellow non—league sutton united will face

lincoln city in the fa cup quarter final. and later on bbc news, a chance to see the vast ancient ruins of sudan. that's in the travel show, coming up at eight thirty. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a 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 frontline 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. i've been speaking to tom robinson,

the emergency team leader at oxfam. we are looking at an approximate population within mosul on the western side of 750,000 civilians and planning figures at the moment are approximately 250,000 that we are expecting 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 they will be in? the civilians are fleeing very horrific conditions. they are having to cross frontlines from within mosul to is controlled territory and quite often they are coming out with nothing more than the clothes on their back, very much caught up with the crossfire from is and the iraqi security forces as well. it's a very dangerous situation for civilians to be fleeing and arriving in a state of real desperation, so a lot of work for the humanitarians on this front. yes, what sort of preparations are you making? at 0xfam what we are focusing on is the positioning

of the emergency stock, making sure we have a supply of goods and services in place for when they flee from mosul itself. and the humanitarian community on the whole, as well as with the iraqi government, are preparing camps for displacement, purpose—built to house the civilians fleeing mosul. we are also trying to support some of the key infrastructure within strategic locations in order to make sure that services can be provided to displaced people. what sort of medical aid will you need to offer them as well? we are not really dealing with medical aid, but one of the biggest concerns is the initial trauma of the civilian population. they are fleeing a battlefield, quite often there is a grave threat with isis in relation to improvised explosive devices. they are using a nasty and intricate means of causing civilian casualties, so all kinds of trauma and that is followed by secondary support in hospitals as well. tom robinson from 0xfam speaking to

us tom robinson from 0xfam speaking to us earlier. 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. a little earlier i spoke with our business correspondent, joe lynam. he started by telling us about the reactions to kraft‘s bid on friday. that took a lot of people by surprise not least of all unilever. who promptly rebuffed the offer, by saying basically, it completely undervalues the company and the cultures were very different. i'd stand the bosses of both companies,

both quite famous executives, spoke over the weekend, and that it was pate ntee over the weekend, and that it was patentee clear that if craft hinds we re patentee clear that if craft hinds were to pursue this, they would have to go hostile, there had to go over the heads of the management to the shareholders and it could end up being very expensive for kraft—heniz so, within 52 hours of submitting the bid, they have withdrawn the bid. and it has been done amicably. i would say in a friendly way, but also this is slightly face—saving on the part of kraft—heinz. basically the part of kraft—heinz. basically the two cultures couldn't fit, kraft—heinz are controlled by a private equity group from brazil called sg private equity group from brazil called 36 and warren buffett and they are there to make money and they are there to make money and they have a history of cost cutting, jobs and factories. unilever on the other hand have a very different

culture, they are very corporate socially responsible, they value the environment, the chief executive has a particular be in the bonnet about the amazon. but those two together and they may not have been a fit. basically neither the companies would have fitted culturally, it would have fitted culturally, it would have fitted culturally, it would have been too expensive for kraft—heinz to proceed. would have been too expensive for kraft-heinz to proceed. unilever, how much is it worth? they were worth £100 billion on friday morning and by friday afternoon they were worth 115 billion. because the company shares rose by 15%. those shares tomorrow i suspect, there will be a lot of selling simpler because the company will go back to where it was on friday morning. still the third—largest company listed on the stock exchange, a giant ofa listed on the stock exchange, a giant of a company. most households have some of their products. at least 30 people have been killed and dozens others injured

in an explosion in a market in the somali capital mogadishu. the car bomb ripped through shops and stalls in the madina district. it comes days before the country is due to inaugurate the new president mohamed abdullahi mohamed. no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. 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 an hour later. his family have been informed. 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 offers as 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. here in wandsworthjournal in south london, officers will benefit. the offer is limited to prisons in the capital and the south—east. the divisive move called by the prison officers association, compared it to try and put plaster over a gaping wound. we have got to welcome additional money, we don't think it goes far enough to solving the prison crisis, and it needs to be a national issue. the offer is for standard grade three prison officers, not for more senior supervisors or specialists. each will receive a pay hike of at least £3000. for new recruits, their pay packets will be increased by 5000 as

a sweetener. panorama you recently went undercover, 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 announced for him or his collea g u es more money announced for him or his colleagues here. thejustice secretary liz truss has already announced plans to boost officer numbers. it is not something that you can sort out in weeks or months, ta kes you can sort out in weeks or months, takes time to recruit people, to bring those people on but i am absolutely determined to deal with that. but prison reform campaigners including those who have been inside say that has to be more focus on holding onto experienced hands. there is a peculiar invisible chemistry of weary neutral 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 quite understand that you don't need to take out your truncheon necessarily to sort out a fight between two prisoners. eventually the planet for two and a half thousand extra officers in england and wales but they won't all be in place until 2018. 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. up to 480 police investigations could be reviewed after a criminal investigation 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. phillip norton reports. the testing services analyses hack, blood and saliva samples for traces of drugs, and alcohol for police forces in england and wales and the results are used in court proceedings. but 500 results since november 2015 may have been compromised after what the laboratory described as manipulation of data which supports test results. an internal enquirer led to police investigation being launched by greater manchester police. a list of cases has now been sent out to police forces across the country. randox testing services say there is no evidence that samples themselves have been tampered with but says that where possible they will rea nalyse to that where possible they will reanalyse to provide robust

uncompromised results. two men have been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course ofjustice and had been released on police jail. —— bail. the headlines on bbc news: iraqi forces seize several villages on the first day of their renewed offensive to re—take mosul from so— called islamic state. the american company, kraft heinz, withdraws its proposed takeover of anglo—dutch rival unilever. thousands of prison officers in london and the south east of england are to get an instant pay increase of between 3 and 5 thousand pounds. sport now, a full round—up from the bbc sports centre, hello. hello, good evening. the draw has been made for the quarter—finals of the fa cup and lincoln city after that giant—killing against premier league side burnley yesterday. they could face arsenal at the emirates stadium if they can beat another non—league side, sutton united, tomorrow. well, here's the draw in full — jose mourinho and manchester united return to the scene of a 4—0

trouncing earlier this season as they visit premier league leaders chelsea. middlesbrough host the winner of the replay between championship side huddersfield and manchester city. there's another london derby for spurs, who host millwall and confirmation of what could be in prospect a trip to sutton or arsenal for lincoln city. so, time for a look at the games from today. holders manchester united had zlatan ibrahimovic as a substitute in their visit to blackburn rovers. in the end his introduction was the difference as they came from behind to beat the championship side by 2 goals to 1. patrick gearey watched the action. 0nce once upon 0nce upona once upon a time not so very long ago blackburn rovers were the best tea m ago blackburn rovers were the best team in the country, better even than manchester united. when you are lower down the beanstalk it must seem

lower down the beanstalk it must seem like a fairy tale story. how about this for a modern twist. two danny graham. it is a great chance and a cracking goal. you know it is good when evenjose mourinho think so. good when evenjose mourinho think so. it is easier to be generous when you have riches to fall back on, henrikh mkhitaryan ‘s's pass allowed marcus rashford to balance the accounts. no wonder he wanted to crack on, a replay would add to the already crowded calendar, but they we re already crowded calendar, but they were able to even frustrate all frightened. in the second half mourinho showed his respect not by clapping but by changing, zlatan ibrahimovic and paul pogba, on 75 minutes, one found the other. ibrahimovic! wonderfulfinish! the plan worked, but blackburn didn't give up trying to get a possible counterpunch. the site, anthony stokes. the yellow flag finally prompted blackburn's one. and they

made it through the storm. more than good, they gave us a hard game, congratulations to them because their approach was brave and strong. very correct game, martin had his game in his hands easily. but they had a brilliant attitude and if we didn't have this professional attitude with everybody, playing with focus and responsibility, we would be in real trouble. well, tottenham hotspur booked their place in the last eight with a comfortable 3—0 win over fulham. the premier league title chasers played a strong side. striker harry kane scored a hat—trick against the championship side. fairy good, obviously, we have not had a few great results recent recently wanted to come in today and get a

recently wanted to come in today and geta win recently wanted to come in today and get a win and we've done that. playing very well, comfortable, probably should have added a few more goals, a great game all of the way around. in the scottish premiership, second—placed aberdeen came from behind to beat kilmarnock 2—1. trailing with less than ten minutes to play, goals from substitutes jayden stockley and peter pawlett saw them snatch the win. celtic‘s lead is back down to 2a points. in the day's other game, third—placed rangers lost to dundee 2—1. wigan have won rugby league's world club challenge for a record fourth time. it's the annual match bewteen the superleague winners and australia's nrl champions. the warriors were facing the cronulla sharks at the dw stadium, they led 10—0 at halftime and though sharks mounted a comeback, joe burgess's third try secured the win, 22—6. wigan the first english team to lift this trophy in five years. pleased with that, we have got

widnes on friday and i want us to perform really well, it is not the coaching staff, the players have so much desire and guts and determination to get these winds. this win is all for them. in rugby union, the premiership leaders wasps lost for only the third time this season. and on a day of hatricks, denny solomona crossed over three times in the first half for sale. they remain 10th in the table despite the 34—28 win. wasps are 6 points clear at the top. in today's other match newcastle beat northampton to jump above them into seventh. there's a high quality welsh 0pen final with world number 2 stuart bingham facing judd trump, the world number 4. we can go live to cardiff. bingham started very strongly, he raced to a 4—0 lead, trump as you can see has fought back to make it

6-5, it is can see has fought back to make it 6—5, it is the first 29 victory, you can watch that much on the red button, bbc two wales on the bbc sport website. that's all from me for now. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you very much, i'm now being let loose on a football story. there have been celebrations in lincoln, after the non—league side discovered who they could face in the next round of the competition. yesterday the side beat burnley to secure a place in the quarterfinals to become the first non—league team in hundred and three years to reach the last eight, they now face a trip to the emirates to play arsenal if the premier league team can overcome sutton tomorrow evening. 0n the line isjohn vickers, the club secretary at lincoln city football club.

congratulations first of all, are you having to pinch of salt? yes. i think we are all trying to stay, and see what has happened. 103 years, the first time a non—league side has done this, is it a sense of nervousness or relation? it has got to be elation, a reward of hard work for a lot of people. it is just a fantastic reward, for a massive team effort by everybody involved. what has been different, why the success this year rather than any other? i think, the cowley brothers have come in at the beginning of the season. they have brought in their work ethic, hard work brings results, that has paid off whether it is on the field or off the field. and so

far, it is safe to say that things are going right. what are the pros and cons and think arsenal also happen? the pros for arsenal is that it isa happen? the pros for arsenal is that it is a fantastic choice, for a day out, a celebratory day out. and for sutton, than for the whole football world. it is a fantastic chance, to get through the semifinal of the cup. brilliant. how many more fans have you acquired. i have acquired a few more friends. but the football clu b asta na few more friends. but the football club astana of, the fantastic fan base. reigniting the whole city of lincoln. the average gates are right. could have sold twice as many tickets for burnley yesterday. heat is as if somebody has just flicked a

switch. and the football club. is as if somebody has just flicked a switch. and the football clubm is as if somebody has just flicked a switch. and the football club. it is amazing how that happens to a place. in terms of finances, would you be better off if you had played arsenal. yes and no, it is purely down to if you look the other way, you have got a great chance of reaching the fa cup semifinal. it is wings and roundabouts on that one. either way, we are there and there on merit and that is fantastic. the best of luck, john vickers the club secretary with lincoln city football club. 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. asked whether he agreed with mr trump's remarks, generaljames mattis said he did not share the president's view. 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. speaking to nbc‘s meet the press, the white house 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. meanwhile, comments made by donald trump at a rally

in florida last night have sparked confusion in sweden — after the president appeared to suggest there had been a terror incident in the country. 0ur correspondent david willis is in washington, and earlier he explained what the fallout from the remarks had been about. this was president trump addressing a campaign rally in florida last night and he got onto the subject, a pet subject for him, of greater immigration control. he talked about the european policy of open borders which he said had 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. mr trump actually 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 eurovision song contest coming up.

so this baffled the swedes. it led to a lot ofjokes and ridicule at mr trump's expense on social media and now the swedish embassy here in washington is asking the us state department to please explain what on earth the president of the united states was talking about. we also have james mattis saying he doesn't have a problem with the press, so how significant is that apparent contradiction of what donald trump has been saying? well, it is simply this, that donald trump believes that the media is to blame for the problems, or the perceived problems, surrounding the first four weeks of his presidency. there have been leaks all over the place, there has been the departure of the national security adviser, michael flynn, and there have been all sorts of rumours about links or otherwise to russia.

mr trump blames the media for all of that. he says everything is going swimmingly, his administration is like a tightly oiled machine if you like. but meanwhile there are those who say he does not really mean it when he attacks the media in this way. we are seeing a pattern here because the president says something odd tweets something and then his lieutenants, his aides, are left to mop up after him if you like. we saw this with nato. he said it was obsolete, they are now saying they remain committed to it. we saw it in regard to relations with russia and so on. now people are distancing 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 interviewing candidates this weekend, the president is at his weekend retreat in florida, and they include the man who is heading the agency at the moment on an interim basis, following the departure of general michael flynn, that is army lieutenant general keith kellogg. they are also apparently going to be interviewing john bolton, the former us ambassador to the united nations. some other names on the list, hr mcmaster and lieutenant general robert caslen, but they had the candidate they wanted only for him to slip through theirfingers and that was robert harwood, a former navy seal. he served both in iraq and afghanistan and he was the top pick after general flynn, but he said thanks, but no thanks. more than 5,000 people have

travelled on the first timetabled steam train service on the settle to carlisle railway line in half a century. tornado, the newest steam locomotive in britain, pulled 12 northern services between the 14th and 16th of february. northern rail said the event as "a remarkable success" and has not ruled out running similar services again. the three day event was part of celebrations to mark the upcoming reopening of the line after landslides closed a long stretch. we should watch that again without me speaking over those incredible noises. now the weather. we have had some decent weather. it certainly has not felt like winter. it isa certainly has not felt like winter. it is a springlike field because of this