this is bbc news. theresa may hails an historic victory, as the conservative's win a seat in cumbria held by labour for more than 80 years. this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every pa rt working for everyone and for every part of the country. seeing off a challenge by ukip. it isa it is a message about the economy, it's a message aboutjobs, it's a message about this country. but, above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over here. —— fear. the half—brother of north korea's leader was killed by a substance classified as a weapon of mass destruction, according to malaysian authorities the new research into diabete, claims a special type of fasting could reverse symptoms of the disease. and in the next hour — claudio ranieri says his dream has

died following leicester city's decision to sack him yesterday. is there anything you would like to say to the fans? i am very sad for them. i wish you all the best. he guided them to the premier league title nine months ago. the club say that the decision was not down to a player revolt. and stepping out into the open, a ia—week—old polar bear cub meets the public for the first time atan cub meets the public for the first time at an animal park in germany. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the conservative party has won a historic by—election victory in copeland. it's the first time a party in government has taken a seat in a by—election for 35 years, and it's a major political upset. theresa may said her party had

secured an outstanding victory. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described their defeat as very disappointing. but he said he wouldn't be standing down. labour has held copeland since 1935 but the conservatives overturned a labour majority of more than 2,500. in a second by—election in stoke—on—trent central, labour saw off a concerted challenge from the ukip leader paul nuttall — with a reduced majority. in a moment, we'll have a full report from stoke, but first our deputy political editorjohn pienaar reports from copeland. sometimes party leaders seem to grow a little after a win. theresa may's victory appearance here today told you that she'd use the tories winning copeland to claim she could reach people and parts of britain no tory leader has won over since margaret thatcher. this truly is a government that is working for everyone

and for every part of the country. as for the idea that the tories could win too big, that good government needs good opposition, try telling them that — or her. does britain need a strong opposition to hold you to account over brexit? the opposition will do what they will do, what i'm concerned about is what the government does, what the conservative government does. we are working for a country that truly works for everyonem not just the privileged few. that's the message that people here in copeland have heard. did you think that copeland would vote tory in this way? no. we could dream of it. i've been a councillor for 20 something years and we dreamt one day it would. nothing like this has ever happened. the conservative party candidate, 13,748. cheering and applause. it was a big win. the first win in a by—election by any government over its opposition in 35 years, and in a place that's been labour since 1935.

it's been very clear, talking to people throughout this campaign, thatjeremy corbyn doesn't represent them. and this is tory territory now, labour folk don't like it and some feel they know a reason why. copeland depends on sellafield, jeremy corbyn has opposed nuclear power. the nuclear probably had quite a lot to do with it, because jeremy corbyn said he didn't want it. he did do a u—turn on that, but who knows. the men have done no good when they've been prime ministers, so maybe a woman changes everything. i don't think there's any hope. no hope for labour underjeremy corbyn? i don't think so. i have to back him, because i am a labour man. i'm a member of the labour party. and you're telling me it's hopeless? i think it is. he's not strong enough. stoke had been a safe seat for labour butjeremy corbyn turned up keen to celebrate holding out against ukip. it's a message about the economy,

aboutjobs, about this country. but, above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. what about copeland ? he had already been dogged by that defeat all day. 0ur party mentorship is in good heart, it is very large, very strong and we will be out again tomorrow, and every other day, campaigning to get the message across of socialjustice in britain. yet beating ukip in stoke was a big relief to labour and a painful blow to ukip and its defeated candidate and leader. this seat was number 72 on our hit list, there's a a lot more that will happen, there's a lot more to come from us. we're not going anywhere, i'm not going anywhere, so therefore, we move on and our time will come. paul nuttall may not be on his way out as leader but, his campaign wobbled and then failed and the question's being raised,

when ukip lost nigel farage, did it lose its way? those are beautiful! just now theresa may looks the biggest winner, ruling her party against weakened and divided opponents with an assurance that's almost regal. well done indeed. i will see you on monday. back to business means back to brexit and there's nothing easy about that. john pienaar, bbc news, copeland. asjohn mentioned, it wasn'tjust labour who suffered defeat in yesterday's by—elections — ukip struggled too — a fact particularly marked in stoke on trent, which had voted overwhelmingly for brexit. so, what next for ukip and their leader paul nuttall? alex forsyth reports. the morning after a hard—fought campaign brought dawning realisation for ukip. they'd been rejected by voters. the party had hoped for a big win. in stoke, more than two thirds of people voted to leave the eu, but even where brexit proved so popular, ukip suffered defeat. people may have voted

brexit but brexit just doesn't mean ukip. no, it doesn't and that's what we think ukip is all about, brexit. they've got no coherent policies whatsoever, whereas labour have. stoke has long been a labour stronghold, a collection of west midlands towns with a rich industrial heritage. a prime target for the ukip leader, who is keen to prove that the party can win over working people. but paul nuttall had a tough campaign, forced to correct claims he had lost close friends at hillsborough. senior figures say that did play a part, but insist he's still the right man to lead ukip. was this a ukip failure or a paul nuttall failure? this is a party failure. we haven't won. that is a party failure. winning by—elections like this takes time and people have to get used to you as a party. you have been around for years! we have been around for years, as a party.

yes, focused on one single issue, getting britain out of the european union and we are now evolving into something bigger and we have to get that across to the electorate. this was a significant defeat for ukip, instead of proving it can win over disillusioned labour voters, it is left struggling to explain what it stands for beyond brexit. its former leader said the campaign failed to cut through on key issues. there is a debate in ukip as to how strong we should be on the immigration issue. i personally feel we should own it. we will have to look at that and think. were we tough enough and clear enough with the electorate? in stoke, local ukip members who were on the doorstep admit that the party has to broaden its appeal, particularly given that the conservatives in government have promised to deliver brexit. there's no point in trying to dress up as reasonable what was a defeat, compared with expectations. we need to press on. 0ur number one target was to get the uk out of the european union, that is what we campaigned for, but that was only the first goal.

we have to move on and get our message across to people on issues other than the european union. having failed to do that here in stoke, ukip is once again searching for direction. alex forsyth, bbc news, stoke—on—trent. let's speak to dr chris prosser from the british election study. hejoins us from our studio in oxford. good evening to you. striking that normally governments find themselves in the situation of saying, well, by—elections don't matter much. here we have... well, the word historic is not overused in this case, a great day for the tories? yes, very unusualfor great day for the tories? yes, very unusual for the government in power to increase its share of the vote in by—elections, let alone win a seat from the opposition. do you think we should separate copeland and stoke completely? 0r should separate copeland and stoke completely? or do you see themes?m

some respect, there are similarities. 0ne some respect, there are similarities. one of the striking similarities, although they had different outcomes in terms of who ended up being the mp, the labour share of the vote in copeland and stoke was almost the same. they both got about 37% of the vote. what was really different about stoke and copeland is the way the non—labour votes split. and copeland it was more strongly concentrated in the conservatives, and the uk share of the vote fell considerably from the 2015 election. in stoke, it was split quite neatly between the conservatives and ukip. even though both of them increased their share of the vote since 2015, labour was able to come away with the seat. lot of commentators thought the tories had a chance, the conservatives had a chance in copeland. but ukip, their challenge

in stoke rather melted away? well, it did. to be honest, i think the ukip performance is only bad, relative to the very high expectations. maybe it was those expectations. maybe it was those expectations that were slightly wrong, rather than ukip has done particularly poorly. if you look at the national poll, ukip have lost voters since the referendum. a lot of ukip voters have gone back to the conservatives. but ukip did increase its share of the vote in the by—election, relative to its performance in 2015. so, although people were perhaps expecting more from paul nuttall, i think he hasn't done that badly. what about the position ofjeremy corbyn? it is said so often, well, while he is leader they don't stand a chance. but he is very robust today. he said that people voted for hope over fear. there was no sign that the labour party will want a new leader any time soon, is there? well, i

can't speak for the internal politics of the labour party. i think corbyn is being very optimistic. labour's share of the vote declined in both elections, when they are the main party of opposition. i think it is hard to spin the results in both places as anything other than a disasterfor labour. i think labour supporters can breathe a massive sigh of relief that they got the seat in stoke, but it is not painting a rosy picture of labour support across the country. we are swinging backwards and forwards between the places, but copeland very much depends on sellafield. there is a nuclear discussion always to be had. that distorts that result a bit, it must do, mustn't it? it probably does. as somebody that works with survey data, iam reluctant somebody that works with survey data, i am reluctant to give a concrete a nswer data, i am reluctant to give a concrete answer to something when i don't have good individual level evidence for what is going on.

certainly, people on the doorstep, from what i have heard, were talking about sellafield. it certainly would not have helped labour's position, it is fairto not have helped labour's position, it is fair to say. we are very grateful to you, thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are ben chu, economics editor at the independent and alex deane, a public affairs consultant. a woman who died after being hit by debris in wolverhampton city centre during yesterday's storm has been named as tahnie martin. she was 29 and from stafford. storm doris brought winds of nearly 100 miles per hour. it caused power cuts and travel chaos as flights were grounded and train services disrupted. a man has beenjailed for six years for killing an innocent bystander with a single punch in an unprovoked attack. trevor timon, who's 31, admitted the manslaughter of oliver dearlove in blackheath

in south—east london last august, but was cleared of murder. the judge said the "senseless" attack had caused "untold misery" for mr dearlove's family. police in malaysia say a highly toxic nerve agent called vx has been found on the face of kimjong nam — the murdered half—brother of north korea's leader kimjong un. mr kim died last week after two women accosted him briefly in a check—in hall at an airport in kuala lumpur. the nerve agent, vx, is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the united nations. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports from kuala lumpur. last week at kuala lumpur airport someone chose to attack kim jong nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. it is the vx nerve agent,

which is a chemical weapon. kim jong nam was walking across this busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. now we know what was used to kill him, vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, one hundredth of a gram would have been enough to kill him. convention, yet someone vx is also banned under international convention, yet someone decided to use it here in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless with, the feel of engine oil. it is so deadly it is classified by the united nations as a weapon of mass destruction. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and has up to 5000 tonnes of stocks. north korea's young dictator kim jong un already has nuclear weapons.

some think he is now sending a chilling new message, by killing his older brother with the world's deadliest nerve agent. what they have demonstrated is that they do have a weapon of mass destruction, vx, which has the potential to kill many thousands of people. they have shown that they want to be part of the weapons of mass destruction club and that they should be ta ken seriously. and if we do nothing, then we're going to be in a very difficult position. this is probably far more dangerous than the nuclear weapons programme which has been much vaunted in public in the last 12 months. the more we learn, the more bizarre this story becomes. this is one of the alleged assassins taking part in a vietnamese tv talent show. this is her facebook page. nothing about her suggests she could be a killer. about the only thing we know for sure is that kimjong nam must

have died in excruciating pain. his body convulsed, his lungs gasping for air. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur. richard guthrie is an independent expert on chemical and biological weapons. hejoins us from our bristol studio. good evening. do you agree with what we heard in that report, that this is more worrying, in many ways, than anything north korea is doing on the nuclear front? it is hard to compare the two. it is worrying in its own sense. the assassination by poison, it has been a long tradition, but sometimes it is done very discreetly, to make it look like natural causes, in order to hide what you are doing. assassinations by poison in a very overt manner, normally a signal of power, to convince people of the things you can do. that sends worrying signals to the rest of the world, whether

they are intended by north korea or not. do you think it is north korea's own stocks we are seeing used? do they come from somewhere else? have they ever been deployed anywhere else? vx as a chemical weapon, it is the most toxic of the chemical weapons. so toxic that even a droplet smaller than you could see with the naked eye on your skin would eventually kill you. it has been deployed as a chemical weapon. it has never been used on the battlefield. it has been released by accident in the past, and either killed people or killed livestock, in particular in the united states, when some leaked. many countries, a number of countries, have had it in the past as a chemical weapon. we 110w the past as a chemical weapon. we now have a global chemical weapons convention that is working towards a chemical weapons free world. 0nly about five countries are outside of that, north korea is one of them. it is very disturbing that they feel able to utilise this as a poison to

assassinate, or perhaps do more in the future. we saw pictures of one of the people who apparently was involved in this attack, a young woman. she must have travelled from north korea, probably not directly, but travelling around, being in the airport, other places as well. could this poison be lurking in other places now? that is a very difficult question. the amount of poison needed for this is very small. it could be put together in a relatively well—equipped laboratory. so, a container, something the size ofa so, a container, something the size of a pen could have been brought from wherever this material was created. as to the perpetrators, there are interesting questions that arise. vx is so poisonous that whoever was using it would have to be very careful not to poison themselves. if some of the people involved were stooges, as might have been implied, they might not have been implied, they might not have been warned how poisonous it was. a range of questions about how the people using it protected themselves

are importantand people using it protected themselves are important and they do raise questions about how this incident was carried out. do you think there is any prospect at all, you mentioned five countries including north korea who do not subscribe to any thought of a worldwide ban, do you think there is any chance that there will eventually be a worldwide ban, or could it be the reverse and it will become more and more of a danger? that has been this concern since the chemical weapons use in syria that the global taboo, that has held for a number of decades, remember the iran— iraq war, and the use of chemical weapons against kurds in the 80s, after that there was no use until syria. that taboo is very valuable and hoping to reduce that. if you weaken that, and it is seen as acceptable to poison people, that is very dangerous for the future. i have confidence that, with most countries in the world,

within the chemical weapons convention, including the two biggest previous possessors, the us and russia, they are in the process of destroying all of their chemical weapons stock. we are moving towards a chemical weapons free world at the moment. president trump has promised to carry out what he called one of the greatest military build—ups in american history. in a speech to conservative activists, he said nobody would dare to question american military might ever again. we are also putting in a massive budget request for our beloved military. and we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military. offensive, defensive, everything. bigger and better and

stronger than ever before. and, hopefully, we will never have to use it. but nobody is going to mess with us, folks. nobody. the president also again railed against what he calls the "fake news media" but he said his criticism didn't apply to all journalists. and he questioned the use of unnamed sources, saying the practice shouldn't be allowed. i'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources. they shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody‘s name. let their name be put out there. let their name be put out. a source says that donald trump is a horrible, horrible human being. let them say it to my face. the former ukip leader nigel farage is also in washington and has been addressing conservatives at the cpac conference. i had been fighting against britain's membership of the european

union for 25 years. 25 years! if you've endured abuse, if you've been called deplorable, you've only had a few months of being abused. i've had 20 years of it! well niall sta nage is the while house columnist at the hill political newspaper, and hejoins me now from our washington studio. where shall we start? let's go back to the business of the president and the media. when he says people should not quote unnamed sources, we are getting into quite a tricky area. but his audience seemed to love it, as ever? absolutely. president trump has obviously decided to keep throwing punches at

the media. he truly sees a political benefit in that. the audience absolutely lapped it up. i do think there is a strategic wisdom to that approach. it is better politically for president trump to have that argument than it is to address some of these issues that are in the atmosphere right here at the moment, things like russian involvement in the election, russian ties to his campaign. there is a method to his madness, for sure. when he attacks the media, he does have a lot of people thinking that he has got something, there. but there is no sign at all that those attacks are going to slacken. we have the oscars ceremony coming up, we can't help thinking we are going to hear something from some of hollywood's names on the subject of their new president. absolutely. meryl streep, of course, the golden globes, she made a strong attack on him, and he

shot back with his twitter account. from trump's perspective, he can paint the media and what he would call the hollywood elite as an opposition to the forgotten men and women who he claims to speak for. again, those attacks are likely to come on sunday at the oscars, but not necessarily all that damaging to donald trump with the people that support him. he talked today also, we did not hear it there, but he was talking again about the wall that he wa nts to talking again about the wall that he wants to build on the border with mexico, or extend the border extensively. he talked about beefing up extensively. he talked about beefing up the military, that went down extremely well with his audience. it is an odd question that has been around since got to the white house, how realistic it that he can pledge 01’ how realistic it that he can pledge orfind the money how realistic it that he can pledge or find the money for such how realistic it that he can pledge orfind the money for such huge projects, even if he thinks mexico is going to pay quite a big bill in the end? there will definitely be a challenge in finding the money, just to ta ke

challenge in finding the money, just to take the border wall as an example, the cost of that is projected to be around $21 billion. that money would have to be appropriated by congress for that purpose. 0n the one hand, president trump asa purpose. 0n the one hand, president trump as a republican congress that is eager to work with him. on the other hand, the republican party has a significant number of fiscal conservatives who are likely to be sceptical of writing a cheque for $21 billion. thank you very much indeed. past problems are continuing to haunt the royal bank of scotland. the bank — which is over 70% owned by the government — warned today that it made a loss of nearly £7 billion last year. that's three times more than the loss they made the year before. our business editor simonjack takes a look at what's happening at rbs. not so much a lost decade, as a decade of losses. 2008 was the big one — £24 billion. since then, 4 billion, 1 billion, 2 billion, 6 billion, 9 billion,

3 billion, 2 billion and — today — 7 billion. £58 billion in total. for the ninth time in a row, fines and compensation for sins of the past have laid waste to any profits made and further cost—cutting means more pain ahead. there will be job losses. i haven't put a number out, and i won't put a number out. my view is always talk to our people first, where they're affected, and there will be job cuts in this organisation. there has to be, given that over the next four years it will take £2 billion of costs out of this organisation to reshape it, to be a really good bank. but that is not going to happen quite yet. it's not over yet, there is a really big fine from the us to come. there's going to be more job losses but that will be common across the banking industry as digitalisation takes place. but it is hiding a pretty decent performance from the high street bank. but, unfortunately, it is going to take some time before that really shines through.

i stood right here in 2008, i did not expect to still be here in 2017 reporting on yet another multi—billion pound loss. it wasn't supposed to take this long to fix and the fact that it has shows that no—one really knewjust how big a mess the world's biggest bank at the time had got itself into. in 2008, the government of the day announced an emergency £45 billion bailout to prevent a complete collapse. could things have been done differently? with the benefit of hindsight, it should have been fully nationalised, then broken up and used in the national interest. but the taxpayer is now stuck with the losses and it will be some years before it can be returned in a way that taxpayers get their money back. the bank is much healthier today but, with more losses yet to come, it seems certain we'll be marking a full decade in the red this time next year. tomasz has the weather.

well, finally we have got a spell of good weather. some sunshine around. the weekend is going downhill. we have some rain on the way. it is going to turn blustery, but at least it is going to be on the mild side. let's see what happens this evening. most of the rain will continue to move most of the rain will continue to m ove a cross most of the rain will continue to move across northern and some western areas, the further east and south—east you are the drier the weather will be tonight. i suspect places like kent might be getting away with the rain. very mild. 10 degrees in plymouth. this is first thing on saturday. even in northern scotland, six or 9 degrees. tomorrow, turning windy, particularly around the east coast. the western isles, around the irish sea. there will be rain on and off through the course of the day. later in the day, brightening up across scotla nd in the day, brightening up across scotland and maybe northern ireland just before sunset. some showers. further south, it stays grey, with

rain on and off. comparing saturday and sunday, a mixed bag. at least the temperatures are into double figures. breezy. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the tories celebrate their by—election victory in copeland — an area labour represented for more than 80 years. theresa may said the result was an endorsement of the government's performance. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. labour leaderjeremy corbyn said labour won because people came together with a message. the malaysian authorities say the half—brother of north korea's leader was killed by vx nerve agent, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. the woman who died in wolverhampton yesterday after being hit by debris that came loose in storm doris has been named as tahnie martin. addressing american conservatives, donald trump takes another swipe at the media, and says plans

for his mexican border wall are way ahead of schedule. royal bank of scotland reports a loss of seven billion pounds for 2016, far worse than the previous year's figure, and the ninth consecutive year of losses for the bank. claudio ranieri has spoken about his abrupt sacking by leicester, saying "yesterday my dream died." ranieri led leicester to the premier league title just nine months ago. but he was dismissed last night after a string of poor results, that has left the side just one point above the relegation zone. our sports editor dan roan reports from leicester. there is still some loyalty here in leicester. claudio ranieri remained

in demand this afternoon as his city came to terms with his dismissal. the miracle worker out of work.|j wish you all the best. emotions running high. having mastered the most biggest triumph in the premier league he has become the victim of a controversial sacking. nine months ago, he was the toast of leicester. the phase has long gone. today's press conference flats. the man who stood alongside him in the dugout left to describe his mood. a bit shocked. his tone was no different. very level—headed. could you categorically say he had not lost on some parts of the

dressing room? pure speculation. but i would say there's a lot of frustration. but he had lost the dressing room. but the ruthlessness of the disposal has shocked those having spent a lifetime in the game. lineker did notjust presents him with an award, but paid a public price for doubting the team's success and he is angry. to toss that away over a premature decision and a disloyal and in many ways lack of gratitude is quite gobsmacking. i am not ashamed to say last night when the news broke that i shed a tear. i shed a tear for when the news broke that i shed a tear. i shed a tearfor claudio ranieri and for football and for my club. claudio ranieri barely believable triumph one admirers worldwide. but since then, the euphoria has evaporated and the champions are languishing one point above the relegation zone. they said their club is above the relegation zone. they said theirclub is in above the relegation zone. they said their club is in crisis premier league survival on the line, decided to act. the are divided. 5096 of fans

wa nted to act. the are divided. 5096 of fans wanted him sacked because of results, but i would have kept him. after what they did last year, it is disgusting. there was also support from former rivals. the decision has everybody in football united, because it is something very, very difficult to accept, but at the same time, it is good for all of us to accept and realise this. not long ago, he helped bring this city to a standstill. many wanted him to stay fairthan standstill. many wanted him to stay fair than the journey has ended faster than anyone imagined. and we'll have a full round—up from the bbc sport centre at 8.15. in the meantime, you can get the latest online at bbc.co.uk/sport. more now on the outcome of yesterday's to by—elections in copeland and stoke—on—trent. the former, a safe labour seat seized by the conservatives, the latter, a labour hold which saw off a challenge from the ukip

leader, paul nuttall. but both results have raised more questions about jeremy corbyn's leadership of labour after copeland was lost for the first time in 80 years. let's discuss this more with lucy fisher, senior political correspondent at the times. shejoins me on webcam from west london. having degree it is astounding, normally government say, oh, by elections do not matter. but when they win one, it is terribly important! absolutely and that is the case today. it was good timing for the prime minister, she went to address a conference and she told them the forthcoming county counsel and mayoral elections coming up in may, the aim is to crush labour and following from this historic by—election, win. she is driving up that rhetoric and looking to capitalise on today's victory. but

copeland is a special case, isn't it? sellafield is the biggest employer locally and labour's views on nuclear or, well, depends who you talk to. so the tories did have some important help there? yes. but you could also say that copland is the seatin could also say that copland is the seat in which there are credible cuts to the nhs and there are plans to move a local maternity unit 14 miles to carlisle and the same time, labour are miles to carlisle and the same time, labourare campaigning miles to carlisle and the same time, labour are campaigning on the strong suit for local health services and so their defeat, it's still very worrying for the people in the party. we keep on about jeremy corbyn's leadership being under threat and he said today he was carrying on and on. do you think there may be some serious repercussions this time for him well he just carried repercussions this time for him well hejust carried on repercussions this time for him well he just carried on the way it is?|j think he just carried on the way it is?” think he will carry on. he has showed himself impervious to pressure other normal political

rules. we saw that last summer when 170 plus vote of no confidence in him from his own backbenchers, the cascade of resignations, that did not persuade him to quit. so i think there may be movement, certainly in westminster, sessions are going on about a possible successor to the left—wing candidate would be, whether angela rayner, the shadow education secretary, clive lewis, who recently quit the shadow cabinet, because he did not want to vote during article 54 various other names. “— vote during article 54 various other names. —— article 50. but i don't think he'd stepped down without a firm succession plan in place that would entail changes to labour's constitution which would need to happen later this year. meanwhile, stoke—on—trent and uk's dreams shattered there. yes, disappointing results for ukip. and stoke is known

as brexit city. i think there are big existential questions for ukip now. if they can't pick up labour votes or make any dent in their majority in such a eurosceptic city, all pick up any conservative votes, then how are they going to win any elections? and yet another leader perhaps under threat. paul nuttall ‘s are not logged in the job, perhaps under threat. paul nuttall ‘s are not logged in thejob, but ukip seems go through readers rather quickly. is certainly outlasted diane james. he's not planning to step down though, he says he's only beenin step down though, he says he's only been in the 12 weeks and will expect a break. it is not a promising start. nigel farage has been making comments and said he thought that paul nuttall‘s message on immigration could not be clearer. so having sideswipes is hardly helpful for him. thank you.

could fast images diabetes? following this kind of diet appears to reboot the body. the impact of diabetes on humans in the uk is very significant. there are currently around three and a half million people diagnosed with diabetes in the uk, that is one in 16. the cost to the health services around £10 billion a year, or 10% of its total budget and all works out at around £1 million an hour. largest proportion of that is treating the complications of diabetes which can include amputation, blindness, kidney failure and stroke. every single day, 65 people die

prematurely those complications. well, joining me now from los angeles is the author of the latest report. thank you very much for joining us. could we be clear, is a fasting or dieting that we are looking at? fasting sounds dramatic. we are talking about reducing the intake. we are talking about the specific diet. it's been developed in the last decade to give people up to 1100 calories a day for five days. it was on mice, the experiments. how much can you draw parallels between what happens in those tiny animals and human beings? 0ne those tiny animals and human beings? one in those tiny animals and human beings? 0ne ina those tiny animals and human beings? one in a hundred people in the

trial, the results were published last week. people who had high levels of glucose showed a reduction in the fasting glucose after they follow this diet for once a month for five days. does sound as if it could be an important breakthrough? no, i'm afraid we have lost him there. a blind man has been tasered after police in manchester mistook his folding cane for a gun. the man was eventually released once officers realised their error. greater manchester police say they regret the weapon was used on an unarmed person — and the force says it will review training following the incident. from manchester, here's our correspondent yunus mulla. this shopkeeper today described a

dog barking and armed officers shouting to a man to lie down on the ground. the man, who was blind, had been tasered after police mistakenly took his folding walking cane for a gun. the shopkeeper said the man was distressed. he was in the state of confusion. it was a bit dark, but i could make out that he was probably quite worried and in the state of panic. what about the police officers? they were trying to calm him down. they had realised... from a distance, i could make out that it was a case of mistaken identity. one armed officer went into the shop to buy a armed officer went into the shop to buya drink armed officer went into the shop to buy a drink which was later given to

the man. police were originally called following reports of a man with a gun. greater manchester police said today that officers responded quickly to the incident to ensure the safety of the community. in 2012, a blind man was tasered lancashire after his white stick was mistaken for a samurai sword. he was walking in chorley town centre on the way to meet friends. police say this latest incident will be referred to greater manchester police's professional standards branch for a full investigation. the headlines: the tories celebrate their by—election victory in copeland — an area labour represented for more than 80 years. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. the malaysian authorities say

the half—brother of north korea's leader was killed by vx nerve agent, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt's ended the day. and in the the united states. this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. there are growing calls from patients, experts and nurses for better training and awareness of sickle cell disease. it's an inherited blood disorder that affects thousands of mostly african and caribbean people in the uk. during a so—called sickle cell crises or episode, red blood cells change shape, causing intense pain and organ damage — and sometimes even lead to death. and as noel phillips reports, just having the condition can make other illnesses much worse. kavele was six when he died from organ failure, sepsis

and sickle cell disease in 2015. he just kept saying "mum, i just want to lie down." simonne called 999 and told operators her son was vomiting, had a temperature, as well as sickle cell. over the next hour, his condition worsened. what happened on that day... i don't feel it was treated urgently enough, when that person on the phone told me i'd have to probably wait up to 45 minutes for an ambulance. two ambulances and a rapid response unit were dispatched, but then cancelled and sent to more urgent cases. but shortly after paramedics arrived, kavele went into cardiac arrest. i was a little bit panicked, but i wasn't trying to show that i was panicked. but i was... it was serious then. lola 0ni is one of the country's

most senior sickle cell nurses. you combine the vomiting, the diarrhoea, the fact that the mother said the child had a fever, 0k? you combine those things together with the fact that the child has sickle cell disease, and that should be a trigger sufficient to say that that child needs attention. in a statement, the london ambulance service apologised for the delay in getting to kavele. the medical director added that over the last few years they had worked closely with the sickle cell society to improve care to patients. they regularly audit the care they provide, and sickle cell training is given to all their ambulance crews. it's like you're getting stabbed all over your body, and while you're getting stabbed, someone's pouring acid on you. kehinde is one of 15,000 people in britain living with sickle cell disease. it causes crippling pain, but kehinde claims he has had to wait hours in hospital for treatment. sickle cell patients can't be

waiting in a cubicle for two plus hours, while under a sickle cell crisis episode, to get treated. jo howard is a sickle cell consultant. in a recent report she says that staff shortages mean patients are not getting the right care. patients shouldn't be left in pain. patients should be treated within 30 minutes. i think that is an absolutely reasonable thing that we should be doing for every patient. i think all trusts, really should be aiming to do that. growing up with it, i've had to teach the doctors about it. davinia has been living with the disease for 30 years. the understanding and the care is not there. nurses don't learn while they are training, they learn on the job. nhs england told us they are committed to providing patients with the highest standards of treatment care and support. but davinia says the condition remains largely overlooked and life for sickle cell sufferers will remain difficult. plans have been announced for more

universities in england to offer two—year degree courses. in return, they'll be able to increase annual tuition fees to more than £13,000. the minister for universities, jo johnson, told university leaders that charging three years' fees for a two—year course was fair. he said it was not fewer credits, or lower quality of provision, but the same standard, the same quality, but in a compressed period of time and that involves an increase in resources, which needs to be recognised in the fee structure. he went on to say there were clear advantages for the student. 0n the line now is maddalaine ansell, the chief executive of university alliance. please tell us what you are the airlines do. you concentrate on

vocational universities, people stay for specific jobs rather than general degrees? yes. we represent 20 universities, most are very large and they actually offer quite a wide variety of different degrees and postgraduate courses. they also get involved in quite a wide range of research. but there is also definitely an applied and professional nature to it. what you think of these proposals?” professional nature to it. what you think of these proposals? i think that for many students, they would prefer the traditional three year undergraduate living away from experience, there is a set of stu d e nts experience, there is a set of students who might be mature stu d e nts students who might be mature students who might be mature students who may already be working, who may have care and responsibility, who will be very attracted by the possibility of doing their degree in two years rather than three. this puts pressure on the students. but that would be their own choice. would it not put enormous pressure on university staff and make the teaching process more difficult?m depends how it is organised. they

we re depends how it is organised. they were built at the university to resource the teaching of these courses so that staff were able to manage it and that is just about managing —— making sure you have enough staff to cover the teaching that needs to be done. what about the fee level being quoted, £13,000 a year? that sounds, in the light of the arguments about the £9,000, it does sound like a lot of money.“ the arguments about the £9,000, it does sound like a lot of money. if a student was doing the course over three years, they may pay up to £27,000. this new proposal does not suggest they would ever pay any more than that. i think it is actually possible that some universities will be able to find efficiencies and be able to reflect that in the pricing. for some students, it may be less than £27,000 and of course, they would not have to spend so much money on maintenance or forego the earnings from work for so long. of

course, there's no such thing as a typical degree, particularly in vocational areas. what about the pressure on students? people might go into it thinking this is going to bea go into it thinking this is going to be a good thing, but might some people not find it too much of a strain, especially if they are also working at the same time? we do find that with some students, but most universities will make arrangements. so if they wish to move to a more traditional three year model, it is possible. they can keep the credits they have earned through the modules they've completed, but move onto this timetable if they prefer that. thank you. america's homeland security chief has moved to reassure mexico that the us army won't be deployed to deal with illegal immigrants. john kelly made the pledge during talks in mexico with the country's president and other senior officials. concerns were raised after president trump spoke about a military operation to deport criminals. 0ur correspondent dan johnson reports. there's already been a change on mexico's border with the usa.

a new flow of people heading back south. these mexicans were sent home because america says they were living illegally. translation: in portland, oregon, as i was coming out of the court when i went to pay my ticket that i owed, they were waiting for me outside. that's the new reality under what president trump calls a military operation. you see what's happening at the border. all of a sudden, for the first time, we're getting gang members out, we're getting drug lords out. we're getting really bad dudes out of this country. and at a rate that nobody‘s ever seen before. and they're the bad ones. also crossing the border, rex tillerson, the secretary of state from texas, year to talk to his counterpart and forced to listen to mexican concerns. translation: it is a fact that is obvious that mexicans are worried, irritated, before what is perceived as policies that might be harmful to our national interest and to mexicans

in mexico and abroad. inconsistency in tone is an early feature of the trump administration. the secretary of state took a much softer line than his boss. two strong sovereign countries, from time to time, will have differences. we listen closely and carefully to each other as we respectfully and patiently raise our respective concerns. there were discussions with the mexican president, too. promises of closer cooperation and reminders of the cultural bonds across the border. figures do show the number of mexicans leaving the us in recent years actually outstripped new arrivals. protesters have called for bridges to be built instead of walls. translation: i think there couldn't have been a better symbolic protest than burning trump's wall, because there shouldn't be barriers among nations. the us president disagrees.

he intends to deport more people he considers a threat, and build his wall to keep them out. dan johnson, bbc news. prince charles is reported to back new plans to sterilise grey squirrels in a bid to protect native reds. the proposals would see grey squirrels given an oral contraceptive — hidden in chocolate spread — which would last several years. the wildlife trusts are having their biggest—ever recruitment drive to help protect red squirrels. conservation charities say the population could disappear from england, wales and northern ireland within 40 years. aisling mcveigh reports. red squirrels were once a common sight across much of the uk. the introduction of their grey cousins 141 years ago spelt disaster for the red population. carrying a disease which killed reds, the greedy grey squirrel dominates our landscape more than a century on, with more than 2.5 million of them around. there arejust 140,000

reds in comparison. but in recent years efforts to protect reds have had some success and now for the first time the wildlife trusts are combining to recruit 5,000 volunteers to help with these conservation efforts. people will be asked to monitor and record data and, if they're willing, they'll be given training on how to cull grey squirrels humanely. they're hoping the red squirrels united project will not only maintain but maybe even increase numbers. we can train people to help with the monitoring, using cameras and tubes, we also need people to record their sightings and report them to us and also help with grey squirrel control. it's a really great opportunity for people to get involved in a large—scale conservation project at a local level and really make a difference. this map shows how many squirrels

we re this map shows how many squirrels were around in 1945 compared to 2010. it will focus on places where there are fewer red squirrels. the volunteer project will also get underway. most of us will never get this close to a baby squirrel. rachel is nursing this one back to health. with this campaign, there is the chance to make sure this native species survives and even flourishes once again in the uk. finally tonight, some lovely pictures from germany, where a 14—week—old polar bear cub has made herfirst trip outside at an animal park. the cub, which is yet to be named, ventured out into the open under the watchful eye of her mother. for the past few weeks the cub has been living in a special enclosure at the

hellabrunn animal park in munich. she's the third cub to be born to parents yoghi and giovanna. time for a look at the weather, with tomasz. finally, we've got a spell of good weather. sunshine. but the weekend, going downhill. there is rain on the way and it blustery, but at least it will be on the mild side. let percy what happens this evening. rain will continue to move across northern and western areas and further east and south—east, the dry the weather will be. kent may just south—east, the dry the weather will be. kent mayjust get away with the rain. very mild, 10 degrees in plymouth. even in northern scotland, around 6 degrees. tomorrow, turning windy. particularly on the east coast. 0ver windy. particularly on the east coast. over the hills there will be rain on and off through the day.

later in the day, brightening up across scotland and northern ireland just before sunset, but also showers. further south, just before sunset, but also showers. furthersouth, grey, with rain and armed., bearing saturday and sunday, well, it is a mixed bag. but at least the temperatures in double figures. but breezy. this is bbc news. i'm nicholas 0wen. the headlines at 8.00pm: theresa may hails an historic victory, as the conservatives win a seat in cumbria held by labour for more than 80 years. this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. meanwhile labour does hang on to its seat in stoke central, seeing off a challenge by ukip. and a message aboutjobs, and about this country —— ekiza message. —— it is a message.

but above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over fear.