this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: the former labour foreign secretary, david miliband, says his party is now at its weakest in 50 years. jeremy corbyn insists his leadership is not to blame and his deputy says he needs to stay. this is not the time for a leadership election. that issue was settled last year. but we have to do better. we cannot sustain this level of distance from our electorate. oxfa m of distance from our electorate. oxfam says it is preparing for a huge influx of civilians fleeing iraq as forces push further into territory held by the islamic state group. the white house has excluded the bbc, the new york times and others from a media briefing. the block came just hours after president trump used a major speech to attack sections of the press. as you saw throughout the entire campaign, and even now, the fake news doesn't tell the truth. suicide bombers have attacked two security compounds

in syria's third city of homs, killing dozens of people. some reports put the number of dead at more than a0. also coming up: the national trust receives an unexpected gift. the island that inspired its creation. grasmere island in cumbria has been held in private hands for 124 years but has 110w private hands for 124 years but has now been gifted to the organisation ina now been gifted to the organisation in a will. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. good afternoon. the former labour foreign secretary david miliband says the party is the furthest it's been from power in 50 years. he was responding to labour's by—election defeat in copeland — in cumbria — where

the conservatives overturned a majority of more than two thousand to oust labour from a seat it had held for 80 years. jeremy corbyn has said he won't step down as leader. here's our political correspondent, matt cole. if these scenes in store, where labour held the seat, had been repeated there would be fewer questions forjeremy corbyn. but it was theresa may's tories as a celebrated an historic win in cumbria, turning this rock—solid solid red seat blue. for the first time in 80 years. not for the first time, labour's former foreign secretary have spoken his mind in a newspaper interview. david miliband said he feared labour is losing support in its key base and added he is busily deeply concerned that labour is further from power than at any stage in my lifetime. mr miliband is not the only one being critical of labour in print.

in an article for the new statesman magazine, dave prentis, the leader of the union unison, says copland was a disaster. and whilst not pinning the blame onjeremy corbyn, he does say that since his election as leader five months ago, he does say that since his election as leaderfive months ago, labour has not risen edge closer to setting up has not risen edge closer to setting up shop here in downing street. that said, for the most part the unions are still with jeremy said, for the most part the unions are still withjeremy corbyn. said, for the most part the unions are still with jeremy corbyn. this is not about one person. it is about as reconnecting with our grassroots. it is about getting the working class fought back and by defeating ukip in stalker, we have successfully done that because we we re successfully done that because we were told we could not. so, let us share our were told we could not. so, let us share oui’ successes were told we could not. so, let us share our successes work and get back into government where we should be. and labour's current debit leader says he does not agree with mr miliband either.

ido i do understand the point he is making, we are very difficult times and we need to change tack in order to make sure that we can build a winning coalition for the next general election, whenever that may come. stoke central has tempered the potential for other attacks on jeremy corbyn, and noticeably his strongest mp critics have held off calling on him to quit following the court, the copland catastrophe, which is probably just court, the copland catastrophe, which is probablyjust as well as he is insisting he is going nowhere. with me is our political correspondent, matt cole. a lot of people speaking about those comments by david miliband. how have they been received 7 from jeremy corbyn‘s perspective on those who support him, they will be thinking he would say that, would he not7 david miliband is the former labour foreign secretary, he is a man from very much the opposite side from jeremy corbyn. at one time, he was tony blair's policy chief, putting him into perspective. he ran for the leadership wants but got beaten by his little brother, ed miliband. it is not the first time that he has been critical ofjeremy corbyn. i think the reason he is speaking now, that defeat in copland is pretty historic. 80 years, since its inception that was liberty. the

swing of votes took a two thirds majority for labour and gave the tories 80,000 majority, if that were replicated across the country you could see the tories getting back in in the general election with 125 seat majority, labour sub 200 number of seats. clearly he is very concerned for the party for him he was once a frontbencher. but i think jeremy corbyn‘s people would say you would say that. they pointed to the fa ct would say that. they pointed to the fact they won in stalker, the seat they should have held, another succeed, but they will see this as proof they can still win and say they are moving forward and do not need to listen to mr miliband. mr bill malia 0bama has said he is not looking at his possession. where did the unions stand7 —— mr miliband. they play an important role. they have offered support to jeremy corbyn throughout. 0ne have offered support to jeremy corbyn throughout. one thing we probably want to watch in coming days, there is an election going on for the position of leading unite.

len mccluskey has been running that union, and is being challenged. now, the contention there is that len mccluskey, one of the big backers of jeremy corbyn, is too close to westminster politics. the challenge says we want to move away from that. if that does change, that could change the relationship between labour, jeremy corbyn and unions. but for now, i think, at the moment, broadly speaking we are seeing unions mostly backing jeremy corbyn, albeit some friendly criticism that he needs to do better because copland was a disaster. briefly, we'll be hearing from the scottish labour party on de two of the spring conference. indeed, up in perth. we have heard from tom watson, labour's deputy leaderfor the national from tom watson, labour's deputy leader for the national party. from tom watson, labour's deputy leaderfor the national party. he has actually been reflecting on the by—election defeat and saying we should not be pleased about holding on to or worrying about losing seats

that have always been hours seven yea rs into that have always been hours seven years into our time in opposition. he says they need to do better, but he too has made it perfectly clear he too has made it perfectly clear he does not think this is a a leadership elections. thank you, we will leave there. several news organisations, including the bbc, have been barred from entering a press briefing at the white house. president trump's spokesman said the administration would "push back" against what it sees as false reporting. 0ur washington correspondent laura bicker reports. president trump has stepped up his battle with the media. a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. they are the enemy of the people. because they have no sources, theyjust make ‘em up when there are none. he is angry at recent reports claiming his campaign aides had contacts with russian intelligence officials. the new york times used anonymous sources for their story. this should not be allowed, he said. they shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they

use somebody‘s name. let their name be put out there. this latest tirade during a speech to a conservative conference was 15 minutes long and just a few hours later things changed at the white house. this is the usual briefing by the white house press secretary, all accredited media can attend. instead a member of selected media groups were invited into sean spicer‘s office and others were barred, including the bbc. he was asked why. this ban saying cnn and others have been blocked from media briefings, are cnn and the new york times not in here right now because you are unhappy with their reporting7 why are they not in here? because we had a pool and we expanded it and we added some folks to come and cover. it is my decision to expand the pool. the president said, "we are going to do something about it," in reference to the stories that he says are false by the new york times and cnn and others. what is he talking about?

we are going to aggressively push back. we are notjust going to sit back and let false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts, get out there. the white house correspondents' association says it is protesting strongly and is encouraging those who were allowed in to share material. the bbc is also asking for clarification as to why it was barred. five teenagers from london have appeared at westminster magistrates' court today charged with terror—related offences. the boys, aged between 15 and 19, were arrested on tuesday, following a series of raids across the capital by the metropolitan police's counter—terrorism unit. we can speak to our news correspondent simonjones who is outside the court. simon, just what took place today? today in court we had the appearance ofa

today in court we had the appearance of a 15—year—old, a 16—year—old, 217—year—old and also a 19—year—old. to run you through the charges, the 16—year—old from lambeth is accused of preparation of terrorist acts. a 17—year—old from hounslow is also accused of preparation of terrorist a cts accused of preparation of terrorist acts and dissemination of terrorist publications. another 17—year—old, from burton, is accused of preparation of terrorist acts and the collection of information contrary to the terrorism act. we cannot name those silly because of their age, but we can name the 19—year—old who has been charged in relation to this. —— those three. he is charged with preparation of terrorist acts and also the collection of information. a magistrate has said the case wasn't so magistrate has said the case wasn't so serious that it needed to go to the central criminal court and there will be curing of that next month. when the arrests were made in london at the start of the week, the met police said it related to plans to travel to join police said it related to plans to travel tojoin a police said it related to plans to

travel to join a proscribed organisation. after this initial hearing of the four teenagers, there was then a separate hearing for the 15—year—old, where the court heard effectively became a youth court. the 15—year—old is from waltham forest. he is charged with collection of information and two accou nts collection of information and two a ccou nts of collection of information and two accounts of dissemination of terrorist publications. he has pleaded not guilty to those charges and his case will be heard later at the youth court. simonjones, the youth court. simon jones, thank you the youth court. simonjones, thank you very much. three men have been charged with slavery offences, following the discovery of a cannabis farm at a former nuclear bunker in wiltshire. they have appeared in court in swindon today, facing charges of conspiring to produce cannabis, and abstracting electricity without permission. 0ur correspondent andrew plant sent this update outside swindon magistrates' court. roger police have said this is one of the largest cannabis haul that they have ever read it in the county, giving it a street value of around £1 million. they say they

we re around £1 million. they say they were acting on information on a tip—off that they had received when they went to stake out a disused nuclear bunker that sets out in the wiltshire countryside. it was built by the ministry of defence back in the 1980s to house government officials in the event of a nuclear attack, no longer owned by the mod but clearly still intact. it has still got its impenetrable blast doors. police say they had to wait until those were opened late on wednesday night before they moved m, wednesday night before they moved in, arresting six people and finding inside, they said, 20 rooms across two different floors, all of which we re two different floors, all of which were covered in cannabis plants. three of those people that they arrested were released without charge but three others have appeared today at swindon magistrates' court. 0ne appeared today at swindon magistrates' court. one is martin celery, 45, somerset, the other is 30—year—old ross winter, from bristol, and 27—year—old plumber newman. all three have been charged with the same crime, conspiracy to

grow cannabis, conspiracy to hold another person in slavery or servitude and conspiracy to steal electricity. there were no applications for bill, it is an indictable offence and automatically they will be remanded in custody and event as i said to crown court. we are told they will next appear at salisbury crown court next month. andrew plant. iraqi forces have entered parts of western mosul in what is expected to be an arduous and dangerous battle to remove so called islamic state from iraq's second largest city. wyre davies reports from an advanced iraqi military base where american troops and advisers are proving to be a key part of the mosul offensive. the battle for mosul is in a critical phase. fierce clashes on the western edge of the city. fighters from so—called islamic state proceed into narrow streets but government forces will have to follow. but they are not alone. from a field just to the south,

these big american guns are why local commanders are confident they can finally drive ias from its last major stronghold in iraq. this is and overwhelmingly iraqi military operation but the role of american advisers and troops, puts on the ground, is critical. us artillery pieces pounding targets in mosul. us commanders are reluctant to divulge the most sensitive details, particularly about a special forces at the front line, but the american support can tip the balance. the fighting western mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world. so the iraqi army and iraqi federal police again will face a tough fight. but they will be a lot of house to house fighting. the enemy is cornered, they do not have any choice but to fight. the iraqis will certainly defeat isis in they

will certainly defeat isis in they will prevail. but in this brutal conflict, fighters will use every tactic began. this is video eulogises the use of commercially available crowd to drop bombs and grenades. they effects are terrifying. this woman's leg was shattered in a drone attack. translation: i was lying on the ground. there were people pointing to the sky from where the bomb came. this is pretty new for this conflict, but also for conflict all over the world. this matter can be very effective and the impact on the population will be really brutal. 750,000 currently trapped in western mosul, aid agencies are preparing for the worst. —— with 750,000 currently trapped. the headlines on bbc news: david miliband has warned that

labour is further than power than it has been at any time in the past 50 yea rs. has been at any time in the past 50 years. mr miliband was speaking after the party lost the copeland by—election to the conservatives. 0xfa m by—election to the conservatives. 0xfam says it is preparing for a huge influx of civilians fleeing western mosul as iraqi forces pushed further into territory held by the islamic state group. and the white house has excluded several major news organisations, including some it has openly criticised, from a briefing held by president trump's spokesman. mr trump has been angered by what he has described as the news items published by some media outlets. —— fa ke published by some media outlets. —— fake news. footage was released by west

midlands police in the hope that someone midlands police in the hope that someone will come forward with more information with regards to this accident. a girl was walking with her mother on the bromsgrove road at around 6:30pm on saturday the 28th of january. a car then around 6:30pm on saturday the 28th ofjanuary. a car then mounted around 6:30pm on saturday the 28th of january. a car then mounted the pavement. the teenager was taken to hospital in a serious condition and is said to be still recovering from her injuries. police want to trace the car, described as a dark coloured bmw five series. a 25—year—old man from liverpool has been detained on suspicion of perverting the course ofjustice. two people detained on thursday had been released pending further inquiries. walmsley went on the run when two armed men confronted prison guarding him into university hospital on tuesday.

0ver hospital on tuesday. over 40 people have died, including the head of the military security branch, after a suicide bombing in syria. the attack targeted security service headquarters in the city. reports say that five militants attacked two heavily guarded districts. 0ur correspondent rami ruhayem who's in beirut gave us the latest. it is quite a stunning blow to the regime, given the sensitivity of the targets. as you mentioned, two intelligence headquarters, one military intelligence and another state security intelligence, and from what we understand two of the attackers, at least, managed to get inside and blow themselves up. there we re inside and blow themselves up. there were also reports of gunmen who were also managed to infiltrate at least the area that of these headquarters. and among the casualties are senior

officers, senior intelligence officers. the attack was claimed by a group which used to be known as other names and is affiliated by al-qaeda. it has now cut its ties with al-qaeda, at least publicly and also merged with other syrian rebel groups. they issued, in the first statement, a denunciation of the talks underway in geneva and said that the only way for any kind of transition is to overthrow the regime of syrian president bashar al—assad by force. a syrian cameraman who worked on the oscar nominated documentary the white helmets has been blocked from travelling to los angeles to attend the ceremony on sunday. khaled khateeb was issued a visa to enter the usa. officials say they have found some "derogatory information" about him. the documentary follows three of syria's white helmet rescue workers from their training in turkey to their work trying

to save lives on the front line. malaysia police say they want to to sweep kuala lumpur international airport for toxic chemicals following the attack on kim jong nam. mr kim, the half brother of north korean leader kimjong—un, died last week after he was accosted by two women at the airport in the malaysian capital. tests show mr kim was killed with a highly toxic nerve agent which has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the united nations. the zimbabwean president robert mugabe has celebrated his 93rd birthday. with thousands of supporters attending a party outside the city of bulawayo. activists and opposition leaders have criticised the lavish festivities, which have been taking place all week, despite severe economic hardship in the country. mr mugabe has been in power since 1980 and says he will stand in elections next year. dozens of coptic christian families

in egypt have fled northern sinai after a number of killings this week by suspected islamist militants. at least seven coptic christians have been killed since the end of january. russell trott reports. an exodus of christian families taking flight from egypt's north sinai province after the so—called islamic state group killed the seventh member of their community in just three weeks. families gathered with their belongings at the evangelical church in the suez canal city of ismailia, with church officials saying up to three quarters of those living in northern sinai are now fleeing. more than 200 students studying in arish, the province's capital, have also reportedly left. sectarian incidents are nothing new in egypt. more than 20 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the coptic cathedral in cairo last december.

is said they were behind the bombing which killed mostly women and children. their tactics include everything from burning homes and crops to forced displacement. but many residents feel this latest campaign may be different. militants have circulated death lists online and on the streets, warning christians to leave or die. islamic state released a video on sunday threatening egypt's christians and vowing to escalate their attacks. 0rthodox copts, who comprise around 10% of egypt's 90 million people, are the middle east's largest christian community. they have long complained of persecution. more patrols and checkpoints have been brought in, but sinai's christians say that although the attacks may not yet have reached biblical proportions, the security forces are unable to protect them and are being overwhelmed by the militants. a man has been charged with killing a man from india and wounding two

others after he opened fire in a kansas bar — in what authorities believe to be a racially motivated crime. srinvas kuchibhotla died shortly after wednesday's attack, his friend alok madasani and an american were also hurt. the killing dominated news bulletins in india and on social media. witnesses say adam purinton who is 51 and a us navy veteran shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire. prosecutors in france have decided to open a full judicial investigation — led by a magistrate — into the alleged misuse of public money by the centre—right presidential candidate, francois fillon. he's accused of paying his wife, penelope, hundreds of thousands of euros of public money for very little work, while she was his parliamentary aide. mr fillon denies any wrongdoing. the united nations' climate chief has admitted that she's

worried about the election of president trump — because of his threat to pull the us out of international agreements. but patricia espinosa says she is confident that worldwide action to tackle the issue will continue, whatever mr trump does. she is travelling to the us this weekend and hopes to raise her concerns with senior officials. 0ur environment analyst, roger harrabin reports. donald trump will be the next president. much of america celebrated donald trump's election, but it was an environmentalists' nightmare, a president for fossil fuel, saying he would scrap rules on the industry and pull out of the un climate deal. the un's new climate chief was dismayed. i was very surprised. it felt like something was wrong. at the same time very quickly a reaffirmation of this is the more reason why we need to continue.

china's massive renewables programme was one sign of the world's determination to carry on tackling climate change. china says it will show leadership if the us does pull out of the un climate deal. but even the us itself has a boom in wind and solar power. the election of president trump is a setback for miss espinosa and the un, but she insists the momentum towards cutting emissions is now unstoppable. the only question, is it going fast enough? an island which inspired the foundation of the national trust, has been gifted to the conservation charity after more than a century in private hands. sitting in the middle of the lake district, grasmere island was left to the trust by its former owner in her will. dave guest has been for a visit. it is small but beautifully formed.

grasmere island lies at the heart of the lake district. wordsworth is said to have picnicked here frequently. but back in 1893 the island was put up for sale and the thought of this idyllic spot becoming private property outraged a local clergyman hardwicke rwa nsley. canon hardwicke rwansley had a deep passion that everybody needed access to nature and natural beauty. the journey to grasmere island is an idyllic experience in itself. back in 1893 the new owner decided to make a few additions which did not go down too well with the locals. mr bell erected a flagpole, he planted some shrubbery, which caused a lot of indignation. a respectful letter was written asking him to reconsider some of these changes. the reply was blunt.

if you and your friends felt so strongly about what happens to the island, you were perfectly competent to turn up to the sale as i did, and purchase it. i suppose really that is exactly the issue that rawnsley was concerned about, that bits of the lake district were being sold off to the highest bidder and they could do whatever they wanted with it. absolutely. he was passionate that ordinary people had access to natural beauty in nature. the loss of this island for public use proved the catalyst that inspired rawnsley to become a founding father of the national trust. but it is only now that the trust has been able to take control of the island. the last owner bequeathed it to them. so now this island belongs to the national trust, will it be overrun with hundreds of people? i don't think so. whilst we would never stop people from coming, the physical access to the island is difficult, which makes it a little refuge for nature. and as a conservation charity, that is important to us. this is quite an oak tree, isn't it?

it is wonderful. a veteran oak tree. heaven knows how many hundreds of years old it is. canon rawnsley spent his final years at allan bank on the shore of grasmere. from here he could view the island that inspired him to help create the national trust. now, at last, that island is part of the trust's portfolio, to be preserved and enjoyed by everyone for ever. beautiful views. let's have a look at the weather. cold this morning is all i am going to say, darren. if you think it was cold this morning, wait till next week! it is going to get much colder. you are such a lightweight, i do not know! we have had a milder south westerly wind today, believe it or not.

temperatures in double figures this afternoon. when using a touch at the moment. some late sunshine in northern scotland and perhaps northern ireland. two bands of rain quite a bit over the hills and bands over england and south wales. around this evening and overnight it will tend to beat out, the winds will drop away. turning drierfor a while but wet and windy weather arriving in the west later on. chilly enough for the risk of a frost in eastern scotla nd for the risk of a frost in eastern scotland and north east england. pretty mild elsewhere. most places dry to start the day. a hint of brightness but generally cloudy. for men developing in northern ireland, pushing into scotland and western parts of england and wales through the afternoon. heavy over the hills and around the coasts, some gales, maybe even the there grylls. pretty breezy further east but largely dry. you can see temperatures for most of us you can see temperatures for most of us in double figures. a bit chilly in scotland and northern ireland. it will feel colder early next week.