good morning. this is bbc news. president trump say‘s he won't be attending the white house correspondents dinner this year. the yearly event traditionally features a humourous speech by the sitting president. the white house has been asked to explain why it barred reporters from several news organisations — including the bbc — from a briefing on friday. from washington, laura bicker reports. this seems to be a further deterioration of his relationship with the press. this event is a start studded, glittering event. accou nts start studded, glittering event. accounts for the president to put any animosity aside and president trump has decided this year, he will not attend. 15 presidents have been to this dinner and it's only been skipped on three occasions. president nixon in 72, president carter in 78 and ronald reagan in 81 and ronald reagan couldn't go because of an assassination attempt and he even phoned in. that is how

rare it is for a president to step aside and not attend that it comes after a number of stepping up of the attacks on the media. president trump has described some outlets as they can use and says that fake news is the enemy of the american people and then on friday at a white house breathing —— briefing certain selected members of the media were not allowed in. cnn and the new york times and bbc are among others. our editor is still asking for an explanation as to why we were not allowed in and we are not sure whether this will continue. what this message that president trump has put out on a tweet is clear is that his animosity and his relationship with the press is not going to get any better. meanwhile democrats have elected a new national chairman. tom perez is a former member of barack obama's cabinet. the role is seen as key when it comes to driving the party's message and criticising president trump. here's what mr perez had to say after his election. some day they are going to study

this era in american history and study it alongside the know—nothing movement and will ask when we had the worst president in the history of the united states? and we will all be able to say, whether you are sitting here, outside, or whether you are looking across america, we will be able to say, the united democratic party led the resistance, ensured that this president was a one—term president and elected democrats across this country. in iraq, troops are pushing deeper into western mosul in their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. this area of mosul is the last is stronghold in iraq. the militants are surrounded, along with an estimated 750,000 civilians. 0ur correspondent wyre davies is at an advanced iraqi military base where american troops and advisers are a key part

of the offensive. this woman is a victim of islamic state's latest tactic in its desperate bid to avoid defeat in mosul. the 55—year—old mother of seven from the eastern part of the city was hit in a drone strike. her leg shattered. "i was lying on the ground and people were pointing to the sky from where the bomb came", she told me. one of dozens of drone attack victims they've treated at this hospital. this is pretty new for this conflict but also for conflicts all over the world. these mortars can be very effective and the impact on the population really, really brutal. this is video eulogises the use of commercially available drones to drop bombs and grenades. an organisation which governs according to brutal feudal codes, adapting modern technology to lethal effect. drones are yet another threat

for government troops now pursuing fighters from so—called islamic state into the narrow streets of mosul. after days of fierce clashes on the edge of the city. but from a field just to the south, big american guns are helping to sway the battle perhaps decisively in the government's favour. this is an overwhelmingly iraqi military operation but the role of american advisers and troops, so—called boots on the ground, is also critical. us artillery pieces pounding targets in mosul. american commanders are reluctant to divulge too many sensitive details, but say us military support will be decisive. the fight in western mosul would be a tough fight for really any army in the world. so the iraqi army, the iraqi federal police again will face a tough fight.

it will be a lot of house—to—house fighting. the enemy is cornered. they don't have any choice but to fight. a kurdish reporter, shifa gardi was killed today covering the government advance into mosul. a handful of refugees fled in the opposite direction but there are an estimated 750,000 civilians still trapped inside the besieged city. wyre davies, bbc news, northern iraq. it is worth keeping up with him on twitter for his updates. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: all aboard for a unique big screen experience. we meet the kids testing out a cinema on wheels. tom watson — labour's deputy leader, has said the party must change tack and do better at winning over voters but he has said that now is not the time

to change leadership. here's our political correspondent carole walker. jeremy corbyn has made it clear he has no intention of stepping down. he was in stoke yesterday where labour saw off the challenge from ukip to win the by—election. but he's facing questions about the party's defeat in copeland. what about copeland, mr corbyn? the tories were jubilant after seizing the seat which had been in labour's hands since it was created. labour's deputy leader told his party's scottish conference he was hugely disappointed at the result. 0urjob at the next general election is to gain over 100 seats, keeping what we have is supposed to be the easy bit. this is not the time for a leadership election. that issue was settled last year. but we have to do better. we can not sustain this level of distance from our electorate, from our natural supporters, so things do have to change. even mr corbyn‘s most outspoken critics at westminster are not

contemplating a leadership challenge, they fear he would be re—elected and returned in a stronger position. but many of his mps are deeply concerned that under his leadership there's little prospect of the party regaining support amongst the wider electorate. david miliband, the former foreign secretary, who now runs a charity based in new york, said he feared labour is losing support in its core base. he said, "i am obviously deeply concerned that labour is further from power than at any stage in my lifetime". his supporters sayjeremy corbyn is not the problem. this isn't about one person. it's about us reconnecting with our grassroots. it's about us getting the working class vote back and, of course, by defeating ukip in stoke we successfully have done that because we were told we couldn't do that. so, let's share our successes, let's work and build upon it and let's get back into government where we should be. but in scotland, where labour is struggling to recover, party members are concerned

at the scale of the problems. can't help but think that the leadership at uk level is partly to blame for that. i thinkjeremy corbyn is our leader, he has the absolute support of the entire labour party because we've got to get on with it, we can't keep talking amongst ourselves. jeremy corbyn has said he is proud to continue as leader and he's not given any indication that he will be changing his approach in order to rebuild support for his party. carole walker, bbc news. the indian embassy in washington has expressed deep concern over some breaking news. we're getting reports that about a dozen people have been badly injured in new 0 rlea ns a have been badly injured in new 0rleans a car ploughed into a crowd who are watching a parade as part of the city's mardi gras celebrations. new the city's mardi gras celebrations. n ew 0 rlea ns the city's mardi gras celebrations. new orleans department spokeswoman is quoted as saying that initial reports say about a dozen people are in critical condition. it is thought the driver of the vehicle has been

arrested. we will give you up—to—date with that as soon as we get any more. the indian embassy in washington has expressed deep concern over the killing of an indian man in kansas. another man was injured in the shooting. more than 100 people gathered at this vigil honouring the victims in what the authorities suspect could be a hate crime. srinivas kuchibhotla died shortly after the attack on wednesday in austin's bar & grill. the suspect — adam purinton, a white, navy veteran has been charged with first degree murder. 0ur correspondent rajini vaidhyanathan, joined us from outside the bar where the shooting took place. srinivas and alok had both moved from hyderabad in india to gar, kansas. they both worked for the tech company, alok. both of them decided to come here for a drink after work on a nice evening. they often did. they have been friends

for a long time. through the course of that evening, things got tense after a man approached their table and started talking to them and by the end of the evening, both were victims of a gun attack in which srinivas was killed. alok survived that incident. his leg was injured and he is still recovering at home and he is still recovering at home and he is still recovering at home and he did speak to me earlier today and he did speak to me earlier today and told me a little bit more about what happened. he came up and started pointing fingers. obviously he was sitting closer to srinivas's table. we knew something was wrong. the way he started the conversation and the way he was pointing fingers, that's not something you see every day, so we knew something was wrong. what did he say? he came towards me and said, which country are you from? are you here here illegally? now, police are investigating the possible motives, including the possibility that this was a hate crime. other witnesses in the bar have

reported that the attacker said "get out of my country". that's what is being investigated at the moment. srinivas wife, sunayana dumala, is performing his last rites in india. i did speak to her yesterday and she told me a little bit about her fears about hate crimes in united states. when the recent elections happened, he was watching it so closely. i was so worried. i just couldn't sleep. i was talking to srinivas and i was like... srinivas, will we be safe in this country? i'm so worried. i think these hate crimes will be more open now. will it be safe for us to go to a mall? will it be safe for us to go to office? i am so worried.

he hugged me and he said, "don't worry, we should be ok. "we should be ok." srinivas loved america. this was a country that he loved living in, he loved working here. sunayana told me he was a really hard worker and would leave the office late everyday. he was dedicated to this country and she says when she comes back from india she wants to come back to america. she loves this country, despite the concerns she expressed. malaysian security officials say the airport terminal where the half—brother of north korea's leader was murdered, is safe. earlier, police searched the building in kuala lumpur looking for traces of the deadly nerve agent, vx, or other toxic chemicals. 0ur diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports. a departures hall usually bustling with travellers.

at the scene of the crime, the security services came kited out against chemical weapons. they were looking for traces of deadly toxins, including the nerve agent vx, an internationally banned weapon. the malaysian authorities announced yesterday that it was vx that killed kim jong—nam and they've been under pressure to reassure the public that kuala lumpur‘s second international airport, known as klia2, was safe. we confirm, number one, there is no hazardous material found in klia2. number two, klia2 is free from any form of contamination of hazardous material. thirdly, klia2 it is declared a safe zone. the victim, kim jong—nam was the exiled elder half—brother

one from vietnam, one from indonesia. indonesian diplomats who've now visited her said she had been paid about $90 to take part in what she thought was a reality show prank. she apparently told them she had no idea what she was handling. translation: she only said she was given a kind of oil like baby oil. this is the other suspected killer. the vietnamese government said she too thought she was taking part ina prank. in the real world the malaysian authorities are still investigating kim jong—nam's extraordinary murder. a north korean diplomat wanted for questioning has yet to come forward. and for more on the airport terminal in kuala lumpur being given the all—clear, go to our website at bbc.com/news. you'll also find further background on the investigation into kim jong—nam's death. this is bbc news.

the headlines: donald trump says he won't attend this year's white house correspondents' dinner. and an exodus of civilians from western mosul, as iraqi troops push deeper into territory held by islamic state militants. more now on president trump saying he won't be attending the white house correspondents dinner this year. joseph uscinski is a politics professor from the university of miami where he joins us from now. this is just indicative of how badly the relationship between the press and donald trump has broken down, isn't it quite yellow it has been going on for a long time. —— it? donald trump thinks the media will not give him a fair shake. most of these outlets came out with hillary clinton. most of the campaign coverage of him was absolutely

terrible. not much - changed terrible. not much has changed since he won. the press is very antagonistic against him. even when it does something right he gets not much notice of the here. the fact he doesn't want to attempt this then makes perfect sense. and, you know, as much as he is not getting along with the media, it works perfectly in this favour and in favour of the media. it seems the strategy is to cut the media out. does he need them? with twitter, he has a perfect getaround. he can tweak people and getaround. he can tweak people and get his message out very easily and simply. —— tweet. most people do not use the media on his side anyway. republicans do not read the york times. surely he needs to speak to people that are the ones you already

support him. he will have a hard time doing that through the new york times and the washington post so he has given up on those kinds of papers. look at the coverage of them. all of the mainstream outlets are playing to their base. they have many liberal readers who are more than happy to read terrible things about donald trump and his administration, because that is what is selling right now. the headlines are always catastrophic, the end of the world is coming because of something donald trump did. at some point the world will not end and people will calm down and realise these headlines are out of proportion. so you are saying this works both for the media and donald trump? of course. donald trump need somebody to beat up on. and republicans already do not like the media so it is a perfect scapegoat. and the media do not like him and have a lot of people who are right

110w have a lot of people who are right now very nervous in this country and scared about what is going on. they are happy to hear news that plays to their fears. let us talk about the democrats briefly, because they have had an election. it is rare we care about who runs the dnc and the rnc in this country, but this has been a protracted discussion with the dnc. pa rt protracted discussion with the dnc. part of this comes out because of the scandal last summer were the cherokee dnc, we found out she had herfinger cherokee dnc, we found out she had her finger on cherokee dnc, we found out she had herfinger on the scales cherokee dnc, we found out she had her finger on the scales against bernie sanders and in favour of hillary clinton. —— with the chairman of. so now you have these factions within the democratic party which are fighting it out. we saw that happened today. there was more than one vote that had to take place. and the person who won is more of an establishment person. the second—place winner has been placed

as the vice—chair to placate people. 0k, joseph, thank you very much for your time this morning. let's round—up some of the other main stories. the un's peace envoy for syria says suicide attacks on two government compounds in the city of homs were designed to derail peace talks taking place in geneva. at least 35 people were killed and dozens injured in the co—ordinated bombings a 73 year old man has died after being severely injured when a man drove his car into pedestrians in the city of heidelberg, in south—western germany. police say the driver was a 35 year old german, armed with a knife. he was arrested shortly after the incident. the motivation for the attack is still not known. riot police and protesters have clashed in the city of nantes in france. over 2,000 people gathered to demonstrate against the far—right national front leader and presidential candidate, marine le pen, ahead of her rally on sunday. french police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

leicester city's former manager, claudio ranieri, has paid his last visit to the club's training ground. he was sacked on thursday, just nine months after the team unexpectedly won the premier league title. leicester has been struggling this season and risks relegation. ranieri told reporters he wanted to say goodbye properly to the players. i don't speak with anybody, just to say thank you to the fans, they were fantastic, thank you. claudio, how do you feel? i feel good now. you really... you feel good? yes, of course. because what we achieved in leicester i hope could happen again, but it will be very difficult. was it emotional with the players in there? no, no, no, it was normal. do you feel stabbed in the back, claudio, do you feel badly treated? take care. nothing beats a trip to the cinema to see the latest films, but a family outing

can get quite pricey. now, a young entrepreneur has come up with a new idea to fix that. she's converted a bus into a cinema to screen films to children in deprived areas of the uk. caroline davies went to have a look. it doesn't look like a normal bus, does it? and it isn't. this is the movie—mobile. any parent knows just how expensive it is. i live on a housing estate. i thought, wouldn't it be great if a cinema rocked up? using funding from croydon council and a start—up loan, kerry kitted out an old bus, even down to a popcorn machine. this is the bus‘s first school group. it's so exciting. i like eating popcorn. i like watching the video. it's really cool. it is amazing. it is exactly what i've been waiting for.

it is just incredible. i am overwhelmed, actually, seeing them jumping around. it's perfect. the aim is to reach children whose families might not be able to afford to take them to the cinema. she plans to fund it by renting the bus to corporate companies, or for private parties. i think it can open up their imagination, it can inspire them, it can educate them. nothing can beat the magic of the cinema. it'sjust one bus now, but kerry has plans to turn it into a fleet, so this could be coming to a street near you soon. well, this weekend's 0scars in los angeles will showcase more breakthrough movies with diverse casting in its history. however, the event is likely to feature a lot of political debate. keith adam reports. it is 0scars weekend and the red carpet has been rolled out to signal and is expected to come away with a raft of major prizes. but politics is expected to loom large this year.

on friday, a demonstration took place in support of immigrant rights, where the crowd was addressed by the actors michaelj fox and jodie foster. there are people giving up everything. they have lost everything they have and are struggling to keep their families alive and to keep food in their mouths and keep diseases from their bodies, and taking tremendous risks to get here, to get to this country, and then we... we say no? it is our time to tell our elected officials to do theirjob. that we will not tolerate chaos, ineptitude and warmongering. there is also expected to be a political mood surrounding the event, with many anticipating acceptance speeches with an anti—trump message.

one of the nominated films, the white helmets, has been dragged into the political frame. the documentary is about rescuers on the journey through training to the syrian front line. its cameraman khaled khatib has been barred from travelling to los angeles for the ceremony. officials say they have found what they called "derogatory information" about him. sunday's ceremony is sure to have the glitz and glamour you would expect, but this year look out for more political digs than usual. breaking news. around 1000 people have been critically around 12 people have been injured.

around 12 people have been injured. a car crashed into the mardi gras at new orleans. a truck whisked one person a foot away after she was walking through an intersection. it is not thought to be terrorism related. we will keep you up—to—date as soon as we find out more. it is time for the weather. this is another named storm — ewan, named by the irish met service. it will come across the northern part of the uk and bring windy weather and rain but it will be a notch down on doris. the warning is there on the website. ahead of it, some drizzling rain left from saturday's weather system at the far south of the country, hill fog first thing. relatively mild weather because of the strength of the wind holding the temperatures up.

we could have a touch of frost as we head into sunday morning for northern and eastern areas but already we have the rain gathering across the north—west of scotland and northern ireland. as it comes eastwards, there will be snow over the hills. it will feel cold as the rain comes down with the snow over the hills and not a great day across scotland. rain in northern ireland. ahead of that, across much of england and wales, we will start to feel the effects of rain coming in off the irish sea but despite the gloomy, great start, hopefully things will improve. bright weather coming through. the winds will be strengthening further west, gales, possibly severe gales through the irish sea. perhaps 70 miles an hour around the coast. 50—60 inland. there could be consequences. the wet weather combined, they will be snow over the hills, it will be particularly unpleasant for parts of scotland. it clears to cold and showery weather into northern ireland as the rain comes

in the western parts of england and wales. for central and eastern areas, it should stay largely dry with some dank whether later. relatively mild as well, 11 or 12. as the six nations rugby continues with england taking on italy at twickenham, there could be drizzle later on. that all clears away through the early hours of monday morning and behind it, much colder air. snow showers across parts of wales, down towards the south—west. certainly further north. much, much colder weather on monday. widespread night—time frost, ice becomes a real issue as we go towards monday morning's rush hour and there could be some more potently windy weather. the warnings are on the website, stay tuned. much, much colder weather on monday. widespread night—time frost, ice becomes a real issue as we go towards monday morning's rush hour and there could be some more potently windy weather. the warnings are on the website, stay tuned. the latest headlines from bbc news.

i'm lebo diseko. donald trump says he won't attend this year's white house correspondents' dinner. on friday a number of news organisations were excluded from a briefing by the presidential spokesman. the president's called some sections of the press enemies of the american people. in iraq, troops are pushing into western mosul in their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. the militants are surrounded, along with an estimated three—quarters—of—a—million civilians. around a dozen people have been critically injured after a car ploughed into a crowd watching a mardi gras parade in new orleans. a police spokeswoman said that the number injured could rise as their investigation continues. the driver of the vehicle has been arrested. new orleans police chief says terrorism was not suspected. now it's dateline london.