aa 44a 4,-4 4~a aa 55: éiiizfiiéf'fel/eéléaiiliizilieaa ,,,a ”aaa territory from is as they advance on the city of mosul. the town of abu saif is under attack. it's all that lies between these men and mosul city proper. but they are running into stronger resista nce but they are running into stronger resistance and roadside bombs. we'll bring you the latest. also tonight... theresa may perches on a step to keep an eye on the house of lords brexit debate. famine is declared in south sudan — a country devastated by three years of civil war. this is largely man—made. we do have famine, and food insecurity has worsened in many parts of this country, largely because of this u nfortu nate conflict. an increase in council tax in nearly every authority in england — but it's still not enough to pay for social care.

and the dream is over for sutton united as arsenal head to the quarter—finals of the fa cup. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news, the five sports that lost their olympic and paralympic funding have had their appeals rejected by uk sport. good evening. there's been ferocious fighting between iraqi forces and so—called islamic state as troops battle their way towards the city of mosul. their helicopter gunships now control the skies, but the road to is‘s last stronghold in iraq is littered with roadside bombs. to win back mosul is crucial as it's iraq's second largest city.

an offensive on the east of mosul began last october. now iraqi troops, supported by british and american special forces, are trying to take control of the west, where 750,000 people and thousands of is fighters remain. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville and cameraman nikki millard are the only international journalists embedded with iraqi forces. their report contains some graphic images. iraq says its mosul operation is the dawn of victories and on the second day of their offensive, its troops again prepared to face the so—called islamic state. an armoured force, set on the city's west. yesterday, iraqi forces moved like a blitzkrieg through this terrain. today, it's a bit slower. the reason being, all along this route, there are suspected roadside

bombs laid by islamic state. slowed to a crawl at times, bomb disposal technicians inched along the road. but above, they have full command of the skies. in their sights, a small is—held town, abu saif. emptied of people, every home there became a target. the town of abu saif is under attack. it's all that lies between these men and mosul city proper. they managed to get here in record time and now, from the air, and from land, they're trying to take abu saif. and here's why. for the first time, these forces have sight of mosul. for colonel fallah ali wabdan,

it is an important prize and critical to the campaign. translation: abu saif is very important for us because it's on high ground and that is very good in helping us win control of the airport, which is below us. iraqi forces are using the latest warfare tools. filmed this morning during the battle, watch as this gunship strikes. american and british special forces are a mostly unseen hand helping along. the results are deadly. this motorbike was cut in half by an air strike. the corpses, believed to be two is fighters, lie in the dirt. by the afternoon, abu saif was back

in government hands, but it hadn't slipped fully from the militants‘ grip. they struck back, killing at least two soldiers. and the day ended as it began, with is home—made bombs. so these tactics are designed to slow down the advance of the federal troops. is are using them in greater concentration, in bigger towns and villages, so as these troops move forward, they will experience better defences and more resistance, and that could mean more casualties. and others were badly injured.

theresa may sat in on the session, the first time in nearly 20 years that a prime minister has done so. downing street denied her presence was a form of intimidation, but peers were warned not to try to stop brexit from taking place. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar has more. blue lights flashing, theresa may was determined not to miss this. she'd already sent peers a clear message while out campaigning. brexit is coming — get out of the way. properly, there will be debate and scrutiny in the house of lords but i don't want to see anybody holding up what the british people want. prime ministers scarcely ever appear here, perched by tradition on the steps of the throne. as the pm watched, reported threats to abolish the lords if peers blocked brexit were dismissed to herface. we will not be threatened into not fulfilling our normal constitutional role.

and neither will we be goaded into acting irresponsibly. if we ask the house of commons to look again at an issue, it is not a constitutional outrage, but a constitutional responsibility. 190 peers wanted to speak, a modern record. labour's former trade secretary was scathing about government claims that britain could keep its trading rights. not, he said, if the uk-_ we will not have the samefidk we will not have the equal benefits. and to say otherwise, my lords, is a fraud on the public. the lib dems want a second referendum, although no one now thinks they will get one. for many of us, the approach being adopted by the government is little short of disastrous. for those of us, and there are very many in your lordship‘s house, for whom europe has been a central theme of our entire political lives, to sit on our hands in these circumstances is both

unthinkable and unconscionable. these eu migrant workers protesting today want their right to live but here were over 50,000 letters demanding the law to get brexit started should be passed quickly with no changes, an argument supported by some who had campaigned against it. i voted to remain in the european union, but i support this bill because i believe the referendum was decisive. a former chancellor said no deal was better than a bad one. as soon as it is clear that sadly, our european union partners won't accept our offer, we should move on. there is nothing to be gained by protracted and doomed negotiations. peers are just getting warmed up.

they will be talking until the early hours and tomorrow until midnight. then next week, the government may just lose votes on migrant rights and on the right of parliament to demand a better deal. but when it comes to a test of who backs down, theresa may and her ministers won't. peers spotted borisjohnson in the house, too, a show of cabinet defiance. the betting is that lords won't defy the elected mps or the referendum. ministers mean to keep the final say on brexit and start divorce talks on time next month. there's more wrangling to come. council taxes in the coming year to provide care for the elderly or disabled. from april, council tax could rise by nearly 5% in the majority of authorities. but the local government association says that still won't be enough and warns there will have to be deep cuts to other council services. there are 151 councils in england. 1147 of them plan to raise council

tax specifically to pay for social care provision. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports from surrey. hello, margaret. how are you? i'm bored. you're bored? this is where the pressure on the social care system can at times be seen most clearly. i know you're desperate to go home. yes, indeed i am. 81—year—old margaret williams has been in hospital since she had a fall, but is waiting for the care she will need to help her cope at home. and it is social workers in surrey who are trying to arrange that for her. because i've been in here for how many weeks? so obviously, i'm going to be weaker. yeah, so we think you need someone to come in at least four times a day. yes. in a busy hospital, she knows her bed is in demand, but for the council, finding funding and companies to provide home care can be difficult. when i met her, she had been in hospital for more than a month.

just before christmas. and then they sent me home, but i had to come back in two or three days and i've been here ever since. i'm just phoning up regarding margaret williams, which we are waiting for thejoint funding. social workers were able to get her the care she needed a few days later. but according to today's local government survey, most councils are struggling with the sheer demand for this sort of support for people in care homes or their own homes. in surrey, they say it is relentless. i've worked in adult social care for 20 years and i've never known the pressure that we have got now. and there's no simple solution to it. people are getting older. people are living longer, and their needs are increasing in complexity. and surrey‘s chief executive believes they have no choice but to raise council tax to meet the growing costs of social care. we are struggling to balance next year's budget and we are really struggling to balance and make it sustainable over the next two or three years. i think our services

are at breaking point. surrey‘s conservative—led council abandoned plans to ask voters for a 15% tax rise after what were described as government reassurances. but like most authorities in today's survey, council tax here is likely to rise by nearly 5%. and many councils warn that other services like bin collections and road mending will still face cuts. there has been a united voice of local government to say that they need to have more funding into social care and that the crisis social care is immediate, now. i've got to get up? yes, and you'll be fine. but the government says extra money is already being put into social care, particularly services like this, which help people regain some independence. it also says local authorities will soon be able to keep all the money raised by council tax and business rates, giving them more control over their spending.

alison holt, bbc news, surrey. meanwhile, nhs managers in england say winter pressures, including an unexpected number of hospital admissions and a&e patients, have contributed to an overspend that will see the trusts collectively miss the national financial target. 0ur health editor hugh pym is here. talk us through the figures. nhs finances have been under pressure for some time. the government says it has helped by helping hospitals reduce their agency staffing bills and that has had an impact. even so, figures are worse than expected. last november, the regulator, nhs improvement, predicted a full—year deficit for trusts in england of £580 million. it has now had to revise that up to a new figure of up to £850 million for those trusts over the year. to put that in perspective, that is against a total budget of 80

billion. what other reasons? the first lies in a&e. between 0ctober and december last year, the numbers of patients going into a&e were up by 200,000 over the same period the previous year, more than expected. that costs hospitals money. another reason is difficult it is discharging patients back into the community because of social care problems. that means hospitals are close to being full. they have had to cancel routine surgery and operations. that costs them money, because they don't get the income if those operations are cancelled. 0nce again, that is social care affecting nhs finances. so all eyes are on the budget now. ministers say they are coming up with a package of measures for social care in england. nhs leaders will be watching closely to see whether they make a difference thank you very much. footage has emerged of the moment the exiled brother of north korea's leader, kim jong—un, was attacked last week at an airport in malaysia. the cctv images appear to show a woman walking up to kim jong—nam and holding something over his face.

he died a short time later and so far, four people have been arrested. 0ur tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. these are the last moments of kim jong—nam's life as he walked into kuala lumpur airport a week ago today. suddenly, a woman in a white top grabs him from behind and places something around his face. she then calmly walks away. the whole thing has taken less than five seconds. moments later, kimjong—nam can be seen seeking help from airport staff. he told them he'd had something wiped on his face and was feeling dizzy. these final images show him being led to the airport medical centre. a short time later, he collapsed and died. efiarsegpzegeafi §§3’§‘7*§”2< 4 4 4 44 4 44

we cannot trust the investigation by the malaysian police. malaysian police now have four suspects in custody. th??? ffifi fiffifififi “35 lfiafifiisé of carrying out the attack. they claim they had no idea what they were doing, that they were paid to take part in what they thought was a television show prank. then on saturday, police detained a 46—year—old north korean man called rin jong—chol. but four other north korean suspects appear to have got away, flying to jakarta on the day of the murder. the malaysians still don't know what was on the cloth that was wiped across kim jong—nam's face. a second autopsy has now been ordered to try and identify the toxin that killed him. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news. a state of famine has been declared in parts of south sudan,

the first to be announced in any part of the world since 2011. the government and the united nations report that around 100,000 people are currently affected, and just underfive million people, 140% of the country's population, are in urgent need of food. south sudan is the world's newest country, having gained independence from sudan six years ago. but hopes of prosperity have been shattered by three years of civil war and economic collapse. alistair leithead sent this report from the capital city, juba. when famine hits, the smallest suffer. there's acute malnutrition here in the children's hospital in the capital, but it's far worse upcountry, where the fighting goes on. symptoms of hunger. malnutrition is really bad because it has increased. it has been here for some

years, but this year, it is really increased. the rate has increased. hadiya gets one or maybe two meals a day. her mother, mary, can't afford to feed her, amid the economic chaos that civil war brings. this is unity state, a rebel stronghold where100,000 people now feel the effects of famine, and 1 million more are on the brink. some aid has been delivered but not enough. famine is not declared lightly, only when help doesn't reach, and when large numbers of people are starving to death every day. the real tragedy is that this is largely man—made, and we do have famine and food insecurity has worsened in many parts of the country, largely because of this unfortunate conflict.

because of fighting, because of insecurity, because of access challenges, also because of attacks on humanitarian workers and sometimes looting of assets, we have not been able to provide assistance as we would certainly have wished. for more than three years, a civil war has been fought across south sudan, largely along ethnic lines. we are calling on the population... the former vice president and president salva kiir, in the hat, are from the two main tribes. their political spat tore the country in two. well over 3 million people have been forced from their homes by the fighting. hundreds of thousands of them are in camps set up by the united nations, across the country, for their own protection. 1.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries, creating one of the worst refugee crises in the world. towns have emptied here in the crop—growing south of the country, adding to the food shortages.

in the last six months, 450,000 people have fled to uganda. thousands still cross the border every day, and describe atrocities, rape and murder, by soldiers from both sides. the un has warned of the potential for genocide and now a deepening famine, unless the war is stopped. alastair leithead, bbc news, south sudan. we can speak to our un correspondent nick bryant, who's in new york. now the un has declared a state of famine in south sudan, what difference will that practically make? the declaration of a famine by itself does not automatically trigger a heightened international response. what the united nations is hoping for is that it will focus more global attention on the crisis in south sudan and also get more local access on the ground for relief agencies who are trying to

feed these are starving people. unicef has more than 600 feeding stations in south sudan right now but it can't reach the famine affected areas because it is simply too dangerous to go into them. one official i spoke to a few moments ago said he hopes this declaration offamine ago said he hopes this declaration of famine will bang heads together of famine will bang heads together of some of the warring factions, so they will grant humanitarian access. global attention is a key problem as well, especially at the time when so much international diplomatic bandwidth is ta ken much international diplomatic bandwidth is taken up by countries like syria and yemen. to give you an illustration of the problem, the united nations has appealed this yearfor $1.6 billion to help united nations has appealed this year for $1.6 billion to help the situation in south sudan. as of tonight, it has received less than 196 tonight, it has received less than 1% of that figure. despairingly, a senior un official said to me tonight, that is part of a larger problem. the international humanitarian system is just being com pletely humanitarian system is just being completely overwhelmed right now. it

cannot cope simultaneously with these crises in syria, yemen, south sudan and other countries as well. the un to night is considering declaring famines in three other countries, northern nigeria, somalia and yemen. what is so frustrating is that these famines ahmad made. yes, they are exacerbated by drought and crop failures, but primarily, they are caused by conflict and war. nick brya nt are caused by conflict and war. nick bryant at the un in new york, thank you. after one resignation and one refusal, president trump has now named his latest pick for the role of national security advisor. general hr mcmaster replaces general michael flynn, who was forced to step down earlier this month after making secret phone calls with russia and misleading the vice president about it. mr trump has just been speaking about why he made his latest choice. he's a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience. i've watched and read a lot over the last two days. he is highly respected by everybody in the military, and we are very honoured to have him.

let's talk to our north america editorjon sopel. so who is general mcmaster and is president trump likely to have more luck with him? welcomer if you had general mike flynn here, conspiracy theorist, controversial, mcmaster is on the other side of the scale altogether. he is mainstream, a soldier's soldier, described as the us army's for most warrior intellectual. he has written a very good book on vietnam in which he criticised the way the government handled it. he has also been closely involved in the campaign in iraq and afghanistan and saying they did not do enough about counterinsurgency. under the 0bama administration, he was also brought in to look at the kind of hybrid warfare being waged by russia and the lessons that needed to be learned and the threat posed by russia. a very different kind of

individual. a lot of people are saying, frankly, donald trump could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had appointed general mcmaster in the first place. his appointment has been welcomed by some of the mainstream republicans, also, interestingly, the vice president mike pence had a say in who should be appointed. what we don't know is whether he has got the autonomy to appoint his deputies. that was a controversial matter with regards to rex tillerson, the secretary of state who couldn't. we will have to see over the coming days. just one other thing to bear in mind, you talked about the one person who rejected the president, there was some talk that may be donald trump would struggle. general mcmaster is a serving military officer — he couldn't say no. jon sopel, thank you very much. here, there have been protests in several cities around the uk over mr trump's planned state visit to the uk. the biggest, in london, saw thousands of demonstrators gather in parliament square. it coincided with a debate in westminster following a petition

signed by nearly 2 million people calling for the visit to be downgraded. the government says the state visit will definitely go ahead, but that didn't stop mps from clashing over it. what are we contributing to by allowing president trump to continue in that rhetoric which divides people and tells us that muslims are the enemy, that the muslims are the enemy within? that is me as a muslim in this house. i am not an enemy to western democracy. double standards. we can refer to all the things about donald trump, as some people have, even though he is democratically elected. xi jinping was here last year. where were the demonstrations then? while we have been on air, the metropolitan police has confirmed that five teenagers have been arrested in london on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts. the arrests are understood to relate to plans to travel to join a banned

organisation. uk sport has rejected appeals by seven sports that won't receive funding ahead of the 2020 tokyo olympic and paralympic games. archery, weightlifting and wheelchair rugby won't get any money, and badminton, which secured a bronze medal in rio, has been stripped of its funding, too. 0ur sports editor dan roan sent this report from the national badminton centre in milton keynes. public money has transformed britain's olympic and paralympic fortunes, but as well as winners, there are losers. these are among the seven sports that today learned their desperate appeals against funding cuts have been rejected. perhaps the unluckiest, badminton, which had £5.7 million wiped out despite meeting its rio medal target with this bronze in the men's doubles. the woman who controls the purse strings told me she stood by the decision. badminton and wheelchair rugby and other sports have got medal potential, but it is not strong enough for it to be higher in the meritocratic table. we have just run out of resources to be able to reach that far. but here at the national badminton centre in milton keynes,

they are reeling from a decision that threatens jobs as well as future medal success. absolutely devastated. i'm gutted. from a player point of view, you need that funding to help you get in the best shape possible, to go out there and win a medal in the olympic games for team gb. that is what it is about. and knowing that you haven't got that support from uk sport just means that everything is hard work, everything is an obstacle, everything is just that bit tougher. but with falling ticket sales hitting all—importa nt national lottery funding, uk sport says its resources are being stretched. uk sport's no—compromise approach has helped transform britain into an olympic and pa ralympic superpower. but for the first time.— 44 the approach that we take has worked and it will continue to work as long as we are not deviated from it by a generalfeeling that there might be in the general

public that actually, the resources should be spread across more athletes and more sports more thinly. actually, that will compromise the results and we will do less well in the olympics and paralympics in 2020. £350 million is being invested in a bid to better britain's triumph in rio but for those sports cur adrift, the future in rio but for those sports cut adrift, the future tonight is uncertain. dan roan, bbc news, milton keynes. the journalist and broadcaster steve hewlett has died from cancer at the age of 58. the former bbc panorama editor and presenter of radio 14's the media show had movingly documented his final months in a series of radio interviews. the bbc‘s director—general tony hall said steve hewlett had been a trusted voice who embodied the best of public service broadcasting. football, and the dream is over. in

united. the non—league club had hoped cause a major upset tonight and secure a place in the quarterfinals of the fa cup. but in what was the biggest match in the club's history, they were beaten 2—0 by arsenal. our sports correspondent natalie pirks was watching. sutton united are not used to seems like this, the arrival of arsenal through gander green lane into temporary chaos. as the premier league stars battled their way towards the dressing room, sat in united's fans dreamt about what might be. we have to be careful because they don't play an artificial grass. —— they have to be careful. it will be harderfor them. we have home advantage as well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam ne advantage as well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but ldvantage as well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but -- antage as well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but -- win ge as well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but -- win but is well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but -- win but if well. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h. beam but -- win but if we i. we careful. it will be harderfor them. we h beam but —— win but if we gete could beam but —— win but if we get beaten 5—0, nick scruton has been beaten 5—0. nick, scrutbn has been the goldfish bowl of amazing. tfi tfie fietéfiefi bait efi tiny amazing. ta tba aaafiaa bait afi tiny ground, one manager was ‘ more the under far more pressure than the other but for the part—timers, who once had top—flight dreams, to night with their showcase, particularly the ones who used to play for arsenal, like roarie deacon. but as

the 12 time fa cup winners got to grips with the plastic pitch, they began to grow in confidence. they began to grow in confidence. they began to grow in confidence. they began to find the gaps. lucas perez‘ classy crosscourt at the south londoners. a pub of the fists to lift the early tension. but if arsenal needed a reminder they were still in a game, they quickly got one, a crunching one. ospina could have done with a wake—up call, too, his mistake almost leading to a his mistake almost leading toa equaliser. but quality 7577 w% find a - up for theo in arsenal red and white. walcott in arsenal red and white. arsenal‘s longest serving current player with a century for the club. that would be that, surely, wouldn‘t it? sutton had other plans. it was sufficiently worrying enough for arsen wenger to centre the crowd pleasing cavalry. here comes alexis