welcome to bbc news. our top stories: malaysia confirms that it was a chemical weapon that killed the half brother of north korea's leader. it was a lethal nerve agent. iraqi forces say they are back in western mosul for the first time, day after recapturing the airport from so—called islamic state. donald trump renews his attack on the media for claims america will be bigger and stronger than ever before, and he is pressing ahead with the mexico wall. we are building the wall. we are building the wall. in fact, it is go to start soon. way ahead of schedule. -- it is going to. and will hollywood be going la la for la la land? the countdown to the oscars ceremony. hello and welcome. police in

malaysia say that a highly toxic nerve agent, vx, has been found on the face of kim jong—nam. the murdered half brother of north korea's leader. he died last week after two women accosted him briefly in the check—in hall at kuala lumpur oi’ in the check—in hall at kuala lumpur or airport. the nerve agent vx is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the united nations. 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 xv — or 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. and now we know what was used to kill him — vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, a hundredth of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. 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. 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 tons 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 have a very serious serious nerve agent. they have shown that they want to be part of the weapons of mass destruction club and that they should be taken 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 that has been much vaunted in the public over 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 one of the alleged assassin‘s facebook page. nothing about her suggests she could be a killer. zefiéhe“. cage; 55:15— in; the?! meal-gee. oi’ zefiéhe“. cage; 55:15— in; the?! meal-gee. orany kind of zefiéhe“. cage; 55:15— in; the?! meal-gee. or any kind of informal capacity? they could try it, but they would probably kill themselves in the process. i see. it is probably kill themselves in the process. isee. it is so probably kill themselves in the process. i see. it is so harmful. 0ne tiny drop could kill, and has

indeed killed. what does this mean for the airport? would it need to have been properly decontaminated? has it been, do you know? we still don't know whether or not it was pure vx that was used. if it was, there would the sea have to be some decontamination. my hypothesis is that there was what they call a binary measure for using it. and what i mean by that is that the ladies, or the women who were attacking this man, on the one hand, they had one type of chemical that are not so toxic, and on the other hand, they had another chemical that is not so toxic, but when you put them together, in this case on the victim's face, that it becomes g;

1:7 it" of course , ”w i:, it" of course , w z. z: ; if and then it is of course very toxic and the person dies within a few minutes. let's turned to iraq where troops have entered western mosul for the first time. their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. mosul is the last isis stronghold, and they are surrounded by three quarters of a million citizens. the forces have encountered fierce resista nce forces have encountered fierce resistance as they fought into the city from the airport. we received this report. the so—called islamic state — breached. the very first iraqi government forces roll into west mosul, and into a firefight. is were waiting, and well defended.

iraqi forces are encountering heavy resistance as they move into west mosul. it has taken them less than a week to get this far, but this is a victory two years in the making after the humiliation of the islamic state sweep across iraq... that was an outgoing rocket there. for these men, they realise that beyond here, beyond this neighbourhood, they are likely facing the battle of their lives. the assault started in now practised fashion, armoured columns moving fast across open ground. these iraqi officers plotted the route — sniper, sniper — get down. the caliphate is shrinking,

and with few options for their escape, is is in a fight to the death. iraq's superior firepower hasn't prevented it from suffering high casualties at the hands of is. so while the attack was determined, it was cautious. standing at the breach, the iraqi commander in charge... translation: i don't know how long it will take to liberate this area. our humvees have now moved in, and we will open the road toward is. inside the city — signs of civilian life. but in the midst of all this, no—one dared leave their homes. there are three quarters of a million people in the streets beyond here, and a few thousand is fighters. distinguishing between the two will be very difficult. translation: when we liberated the last village we lost a few

people, but we overwhelmed is. we have taken this area in mosul, and we will protect it, and we will not leave until we beat terrorism. iraq is finally retaking mosul. it is the sixth day of the campaign, but in the words of one commander, it's only the first. the real fighting started today when they entered the city. quentin sommerville, bbc news, west mosul. the white house has banned several media outlets, including the cnn and bbc, from attending a press briefing. presidentjon said he was not going to allow inaccurate facts get out. but hours earlier, he spoke it -- told get out. but hours earlier, he spoke it —— told a group of conservative

that the fake media was the enemy the people. —— conservatives. the drum presidency has the feel of a continuous campaign. —— trump. his speeches are often improvised, rather than sticking to a script. and at this conservative conference in washington, he not only renewed his attack on fake news media, but escalated. his main weapon was the use of —— his main accusation was using false sources in stories. source says that donald trump is a horrible, horrible human being. let him say to my face! let there be no more sources. after is rated samiti

was over, his speech sought to underscore his america first agenda — the economic nationalism that lies at the heart of his presidency. there is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency, or eight globalflag. this is the united states that i am representing. i am not representing the globe. i am representing your country. —— a global. last year, he said away from this conference partly because his candidacy was considered so controversial by many conservative critics. today, though, he owns the room. i absolutely loved his speech. he has made promises and is keeping them. the past few days have shown. you might not agree with everything he says, you might agree with everything he says, but he does know

how to connect to people and find a way to talk to them on a common level. but his administration is not talking the press. this afternoon, the white house lied major news outlets such as the bbc and cnn. in his attack the media, president donald trump cited an article in the washington post quoted nine anonymous sources. but it was the story that led to the resignation of his former national security adviser, or fled. it his former national security adviser, orfled. it was real, not fa ke adviser, orfled. it was real, not fake news. and god bless the united states of america. —— mike flynn. fake news. and god bless the united states of america. -- mike flynn. he thrives on adulation, and he is clearly annoyed that he will not be getting that from the press. but in the words of the song that rang out as he left the stage, you cannot and a lwa ys as he left the stage, you cannot and always get what you want. —— you can't always get. and from washington, we heard a

little bit more about which media organisations were barred from the briefing. this is a briefing that happened several days of weak. —— week. —— that happens. sean spicer speaks to people on the record or off the record about what has happened during the day. what happened during the day. what happened today was unusual, because there was a prep reaching land. several outlets were told about it. —— press briefing plan. but then a memo came out and it said there was a change of plan, and they said it was good to be an expanded pool a journalist. everybody went to the briefing as they often do, as they really do, when they got there, only a selected few were allowed into the briefing. they were abc, fox news, breitbart, these

briefing. they were abc, fox news, breitba rt, these right—wing briefing. they were abc, fox news, breitbart, these right—wing news website. and the washington times. but others including cnn, the bbc, and the new york times, they were told that they were not there to be coming into the briefing. the white house has not said why that is. the bbc bureau chief here in washington has said that he is looking for clarity on that matter. but it is unclear at this point about whether this might happen again, whether this might happen again, whether this is a line that the white house is going to take, now, by not allowing certain news organisations into regular press briefing is, which then go on to tell people in this country and around the world what is going on at the white house. so it is a concern. but perhaps not enormously surprising, especially given what we heard this morning from the president. we heard there in the report that the president and busted the media. he went on for about 15 minutes talking about the dishonest media. called parts of the media be an emmy of the people. ——

lambast. he said the press should be using unnamed sources for stories that don't paint him or his administration in a good light. so this has been an unusual day and remained to be seen if this will happen again or this was a i—off. —— enemy of the people. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: yes, it is time to get ready, it is carnival time, we are in riojoining in the famous street parties. you're watching newsday on the bbc. our top stories: malaysia confirms it was a chemical weapon that killed a half brother of north korea's leader and was a lethal nerve agent. iraqi forces say that they are back in westernmost

law for the first time a day after recapturing the. a man has been charged with murder in what witnesses have described a racially motivated shooting in kansas city. on wednesday night and man walked into a crowded bar and opened fire, leaving one indian man dead and two other people injured. the fbi are investigating whether this attack is a hate crime after the bartender said that the shooter used racial slurs. ian greilot was among those shot and spoke from his hospital bed about what happened. i had got under the table when he first started firing. i thought i heard shots. expected his magazine to be empty. so i got up and proceeded to chase him down. i guess i miss counted. and i got behind him and turned around, he fired at me. we are looking if the crime was

committed via is motivation. i was just i wasjust doing i was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being. it is not about where he is from or his ethnicity, we are all humans. one of the gentleman that survived, he actually came in here today and it was the greatest thing. i can't even describe it. somebody was watching over me and him. well, i was planning on going and doing some fishing this weekend, but i don't think that is going to be happening right now, so that is my first thing to do, is to try to do a bit of fishing, and get together with the

gentlemen that i have now become best friends with after last night. incredibly brave. ian grillot speaking there. and in the last few hours the white house has said it's too early to speculate on a motive for the shooting but that it would be absurd to link it to any of donald trump's rhetoric. in other news: a french magistrate is to investigate allegations that centre—right presidential candidate francois fillon paid family members for non—existentjobs. mr fillon has acknowledged employing both his wife and his children while in office, but has denied any wrongdoing. and his lawyers have claimed the french left—wing is behind the claims. south african police have used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds at an anti—immigrant march in the capital, pretoria. president zuma said the protest was "anti—crime" rather than anti—foreigner. many unemployed south africans blame migrants for taking their jobs. revellers all over brazil are gearing up for parades,

balls and street parties on the first of five official days of carnival celebrations. the world famous party in rio de janeiro kicked off on friday afternoon with several street parties expected to draw tens of thousands. julia carneiro met some of the crowds. hundreds of people are taking to the streets of rio for carnival, kicking off with hundreds of street parades like this one to happen in the coming days. we are here at the hilltops of centre to raise awareness of traditional block or street parade happens every year —— sa nta street parade happens every year —— santa theresa. it is named after the order of nuns that have a convent here in the neighbourhood of santa theresa. we always see lots of people dressed up as nuns. this is a time of irreverence, partying, with

lots of irreverence in the country. there are lots of tourists here and ijust met this group, george is from austria. hike on the george. hello, how are you? is this your first time in brazil? no, second time. for carnival? yes, this is my second time here. how do you find it, how different is this from austria? well, you know, carnival should be really called there. so, you are kind of walking around having less clothes. so here it is good, you can enjoy having a good time, having sung, and i have to say every block or every party here is very different, so you can never say it is the same, it is always different. 0k, thank you, have fun. so, yes, traditionally, carnival is a time of year to forget about the countries and your own problems and to celebrate, and this is what we are seeing this year in rio and brazil, despite the economic recession the country is in an lots

of protests we have seen recently with the crisis, that the state is facing in rio, carnival is the same as it is every year. i million visitors are expected here. over three hundred st parades are to happen in the coming days. so a time of lots of celebrations on the streets. the big parades, the official carnival is that happen. this is just the official carnival is that happen. this isjust the rio part of it, there are also the festive ditties which happen across brazil, so there is not much board involved here this time of year. no, indeed. on sunday millions around the world will tune in to watch the oscars where la la land — a musical revolving around two la dreamers — is expected to scoop many of the big prizes. but the academy awards won't just highlight escapism. the ceremony will also showcase more earthbound movies with diverse casting — and may become an arena for political discontent. tom brook reports. top of the oscars heat is la la land

which seems to have won the hearts and minds of academy members. this musical has earned 11! oscar nominations, matching the record set by the picture is all about eve and titanic. the stars share the view it has revived the movie musical.m titanic. the stars share the view it has revived the movie musical. it is something we thought was gone, the old hollywood musical. it feels special that it has happened and i think that is the audience connecting with that. several of the other best picture nominees are less dreamy than la la land and when it comes to storytelling and casting a display diversity. lack of inclusion at the academy awards has been a big issue. last year the oscars was besieged by the oscars so why protest. this year there are films in the running like moonlight, fences, hidden figures, rooted in black experiences with largely black casts. in all, six black actors have been nominated for actors this year, as well as one with indian heritage. it is great we have had more black

nominees across all categories from the acting nominations to the cinematography, director and screenplay, but obviously oscars so white is not just screenplay, but obviously oscars so white is notjust about black nominees, it is about all different kind of nominees who are not white. you know, we still have a far way to go before we can say that oscars so white is obsolete. the us has witnessed protest after protest since president trump moved into the white house. oscar winners and presenters may possibly use the academy awards podium which reaches millions around the world to vent their discontent. this could be the most politicised oscars we have had because i think for the first time a mass number of actors feel that perhaps their role as citizens is more important and they will speak out. the protest extends beyond american shores. iranian film director nominated for his picture the salesman has decided not to come to the ceremony because president

trump's exec fought on immigration. many in the film industry are expressing their displeasure with the president. we are living in an unprecedented moment. especially with the awards we have seen, people have things they want to say. when they get a platform they are going to say it. what do you say to the people who don't think the oscars is the appropriate arena for expressing protest? i think art is inherently political and i think the oscars is a platform to honour the art and i think politics can also go with that art, soi think politics can also go with that art, so i don't it can be so... the white house suggested the president may already be in gauge on oscars night but that won't stop anyone at the podium who criticises him or his policies from receiving condemnation or radical by way of twitter. that is what happened to meryl streep after the golden globe awards and it could happen again on sunday night. and we will have all the courage from the ceremony right here on bbc news. —— coverage. well, friday was much quieter and

calm than what thursday brought, thanks to storm doris, but as we head into the weekend things turn u nsettled head into the weekend things turn unsettled again. we have lots of weather systems, weather fronts, i should say, bringing rain, and you will notice isobars tighten as we head into saturday. during the night it will turn much more wet, and windy, a across the uk. the rain eventually reaching the south—east at the end of the night. some of the rain across the western up slopes of the high ground will be heavy and persistent and the wind is a feature. gale force in the north and west. it is bringing mild south—westerlies across the uk. it will be mild this weekend. u nsettled, will be mild this weekend. unsettled, with rain at times. most of that in the north and west. it will continue to be blustery on saturday and sunday. there will be some sunshine in the forecast. on saturday the rain will move south and eastwards. it is heavy across the western up slopes, the

south—west of england, western wales and north—west england could see a lot of rain piling up in cumbria and lancashire. force ensure and eastern areas, rain will be light and patchy. a windy day for all, mild, double figures for all. and behind the rain band as it singh south, things will brighten up for northern ireland and scotland, with blustery showers and the winds a feature, and it is called behind the rain band, temperatures may be in single figures, with the sunshine to compensate. the weather front moves south and east on saturday night. heavy bursts across the high ground of the west before it clears away, then something dry to end saturday night. and it is cooler as well, certainly for northern areas, rural spots will be chilly, still mild in the south. here is saturday's when pushing to the near continent. here is sunday's weather sweeping into the north and west through the day and the isoba rs

the north and west through the day and the isobars will be squeezed together, so another windy day with severe gales in the far north. most of the rain on sunday will be across northern ireland, scotland, into north—west england and northern and western wales with the south—east holding onto some dry weather, and it will be mild through sunday. monday looks like it will be very blustery with heavy, scattered showers, turning cooler as well, temperatures pushing into single figures right across the board. and thatis figures right across the board. and that is the theme for much of next week. it will be cooler. windy at times with the risk of gales or severe gales, but there will be some sunshine in between the showers. we bring you up with our latest headlines. police in malaysia say a highly toxic nerve agent called vx has been found on the face of kim jong nam, the murdered half brother of north korea's leader kimjong un. the nerve agent, vx, is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the united nations.

iraqi troops have entered western mosulfor the first time in their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. west mosul is the last is stronghold in iraq. they're surrounded, along with an estimated three quarters of a million civilians. but government forces today met fierce resistance, as they fought their way into the city from the airport. now with a preview of this weekend's oscars, it is talking movies.