this is bbc news. the headlines: labour distances itself from some facebook groups set up by jeremy corbyn supporters after anti—semitic comments were posted. comedian eddie izzard joins labour's ruling committee after a senior party official is forced to resign. heavyweight boxer anthony joshua beats new zealand'sjoseph parker with a unanimous win to add the wbo title to all his others. ifi if i was retiring on this high, i would be, like, yes, iam the man, but i have got to defend my throne again ina but i have got to defend my throne again in a few months, so i am balanced and we are still hustling. pope francis has delivered his easter homily from the balcony of st peter's basilica in rome. this is the scene live at the vatican. speaking without notes he referred to god's capacity to surprise. the royal air force is 100 years old today.

yes i am at an airfield where in about an hour's time a world war ii vetera n about an hour's time a world war ii veteran will be climbing into this spitfire behind me to part in a fly—past. and in half an hour, dateline london will be talking about those clashes on the gaza israeli border, where more than a dozen palestinian protestors have been killed. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. labour has sought to distance itself from some facebook groups set up by supporters ofjeremy corbyn

after it emerged members have posted anti—jewish, violent and abusive comments. the sunday times says it's uncovered more than 2,000 offensive messages. labour said it didn't run the groups or have any official connection with them and it had strict rules prohibiting abuse and discrimination. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who has been following this story for us. they have investigated what they say are the 20 biggest groups on facebook, which are set to support jeremy corbyn and his leadership of the labour party and combined there are about 400,000 people who are a member of one or some of these groups. the investigation has found around 2000 with various examples of different forms of abuse,

anti—semitism, otherforms different forms of abuse, anti—semitism, other forms of racism, misogynistic abuse against women, threats of violence, and the list goes on. it is really nasty stuff. the labour party is distancing itself from these groups. it has made clear in a statement that these are not official party groups, they have no direct link to the labour party in anyway and the statement goes on to say that the labour party is committed to campaigning against anti—semitism in all its forms. this is very damaging at the end of a very difficult week for labour after it has faced many accusations of anti—semitism and criticism ofjeremy corbyn‘s handling of the issue. they will presumably be more pressure on him not just to stay presumably be more pressure on him notjust to stay more, but perhaps to do more as well. jeremy corbyn has said time and again that he denounces all forms of racism and is, he wants to punish anti—semitism

wherever it exists within the labour party, but the trouble is his apologies, his denouncement and apologies, his denouncement and apologies have not gone far enough for many and in his passover message on friday, he admitted his party needs to do better in tackling anti—semitism, so there are many within the party looking to see what he will do next, and we saw that from a group of more than 40 mps and peers, who on friday wrote to the leader asking him to suspend christine shaw crossed, the senior official who has since retired from the party's executive committee. it should also be said that there are many within the party who believe these accusations are being used againstjeremy corbyn to destabilise him. joining me now from north london is cross bench peer lord carlile. good morning to you. good morning. just picking up this theme ofjeremy corbyn doing more as well as saying

more, if you were advising him, what would you say? i would say to him that he should tell the public that labour regards it as its duty to its members and it public, to root out all races within the labour party. i think he needs to apologise much more strongly for his own failure, his own reaction to the mural cartoon, was completely unbelievable and reasonable, and if the bbc news this morning and the sunday times are right, there are people in jeremy corbyn‘s close coterie and in john mcdonnell‘s coterie, who are involved in some of these groups, who are putting hate on the internet, and i think they should be rooted out of the labour party. i think the slow reaction to what christine shaw croft did was reg retta ble. christine shaw croft did was regrettable. i think the amazon —— anti—semitism report produced some time ago was pretty feeble, i feel

very sorry for those very able labour frontbencher ‘s in both houses of parliament, some of whom i know, who are debris in ballast by what has been happening. —— deeply embarrassed. i think it demonstrates thatjeremy corbyn is not to be trusted as a potential leader of this country, there are much better people available, and the labour party is in trouble because of his wea kness party is in trouble because of his weakness in dealing with this matter. just on labour's specific point with regard to jeremy matter. just on labour's specific point with regard tojeremy corbyn and john mcdonnell‘s offices, how much do you say a member of parliament can determine some of the minority unsavoury elements who might end up supporting them? well,

political parties have complex and very clear disciplinary procedures. those disciplinary procedures mean that every party has the power to investigate and, if appropriate, expel members of the party if they are behaving inappropriately. the labour party has a great tradition of being an anti—racist party, from the leadership ofjohn smith onwards. if you look at what tony blairand onwards. if you look at what tony blair and gordon brown used to say about these issues, nobody could be less racist than those two former labour leaders and prime ministers. and yet it all seems to be falling apart now because of a rather relaxed and negligent leadership. i go back to the mural and cartoon, what on earth wasjeremy corbyn thinking when he did not condemn that out of hand? it contains the classic anti—semitic blood libel, yet he apparently didn't understand

it. what confidence can we have in a potential prime minister like that? jeremy corbyn has in recent days been very explicit in his condemnation, notjust of racism but specifically of anti—semitism as well. on that, what more do you say he should be saying? look at what many of his labour mps are saying about him? they do not accept what he is saying. it is too little, too late. there are very senior people in the labour party who do not hold these views and would, if leading these views and would, if leading the party, have condemned them out of hand. christine shaw croft would not have spent two or three days deciding whether she should be replaced by eddie izzard, she would have been out immediately, if there was any determinism at the top of the labour party to get rid of this.

it is just unacceptable in whatever political party it appears in. the same would apply to any other party. this is not an attack to destabilise jeremy corbyn, save where he deserves to be destabilised. thank you. britain's anthonyjoshua has secured his third major boxing world title with victory over new zealand's joseph parker in cardiff. joshua now needsjust one more belt to be crowned the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. david 0rnstein reports. winning, and with each opponent comes danger. go, new zealand! go, joseph parker! never before had reigning heavyweight champions met on these shores but with two unbeaten records on the line, this turned into a cagey contest.

thouthoshua was the aggressor, joseph parker stood firm, and the briton would go the distance for the first time in his career. the referee was criticised for how often he stepped in, yet the judges unanimously ruled in joshua's favour. he now has three of the four recognised world championship belts. nobody has held all of them at once. that is the aim. i think 2018 was always a time to capture all the belts. we are one away now, and i think the sky's the limit for what we're trying to achieve. so a night that didn't quite deliver the drama so many wanted to see was no less significant for anthonyjoshua on his rise towards sporting greatness. a journey that shows no sign of slowing down. joshua's breakthrough came at the london 2012 olympics. he turned professional a year later. he collected his first major title with victory over charles martin. beating wladimir klitschko at wembley added a second crown

in spectacular style. now only deontay wilder can prevent joshua from becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. you see the good, the bad, the ugly. and long may it continue, i think. i'm not done. i think i have a lot of years left in me. if i can keep in control of fights like that, without taking too much punishment, i should be around for a long time. 0minous for his rivals, tantalising for his fans. joshua's star burning brighter than ever. david 0rnstein, bbc news. gareth davies is the boxing correspondent of the daily telegraph. how did you make that performance? it was a comfortable win. but i think as he himself admits and his coach admits, he is

still a work in progress, and because he won the world title in 2016, when there was an opportunity, he is probably still three fights ahead of where they would want him to be. in other words, are probably a yearand a to be. in other words, are probably a year and a half in advance of where he would like to be. so we do see frailty in him and weaknesses in him although he is this 17.5 stone adonis. the referee, i think, him although he is this 17.5 stone adonis. the referee, ithink, cast him although he is this 17.5 stone adonis. the referee, i think, cast a shadow over the fight. it was a very cagey chess match for the first half of the fight, joshua controlling it mainly behind his big ramrod jab, but the problem was, when the two men actually wanted to go into battle, the referee just would men actually wanted to go into battle, the refereejust would not let them fight. it was like watching an amateur bout in the olympics. he did not let them clinch or tidy up, so did not let them clinch or tidy up, so the fight never really ignited. there are still question marks about

anthonyjoshua even there are still question marks about anthony joshua even though there are still question marks about anthonyjoshua even though he is undefeated in 21 fights and holds three of the belts now. it seems strange to focus on those, given what he has achieved. what would you point to as those weaknesses and frailties? i think he should have gonein frailties? i think he should have gone in for the finish, he should have dominated more, and he should have dominated more, and he should have gone into range when parker was clearly exhausting towards the end of the fight. he was exhausted towards the end. it wasn't an emphatic performance in terms of the statement of his power as a boxer. yes, he looked to putting a better boxing performance but this is heavyweight boxing, it is all about knockouts, it is all about drama. these are the big men with big punches. and i do think that both tyson fury, who commented overnight, who beat wladimir klitschko back in

december 2015, sorry, november 2015, to scatter all these belts, and deontay wilder, they won't worry about the performance they sought last night. that was going to be my final thought. how likely is a fight between joshua and final thought. how likely is a fight betweenjoshua and deontay final thought. how likely is a fight between joshua and deontay wilder now? there is a reason why all four belts have not been won by anyone and there is huge politics when it comes to bringing all four sanctioning bodies together, different tv companies, promoters. joshua was the deontay wilder fight, the promoter says he wants it, but i suspect it will take a long negotiation and i would not surprise me if he fights someone else first and we see deontay wilder may be at wembley stadium in the middle of next year. thank you very much for your thoughts. let's ta ke

let's take you live to scenes in rome. there is pope francis delivering his easter homily from the balcony. he spoke earlier without notes, specifically about god's capacity to surprise. as you can see, there were thousands of people in the square below. let's listen in. let's listen in. translation: during easter... people from many parts of the world attending this morning. our correspondent david willey joins us now from rome. it isa

it is a traditional spectacle at easter when we get tens of thousands of foreign pilgrims and tourists coming to see the pope. it is one of the high points of the easter weekend. there was a lot of applause for the pope. he seems to continue to be one of the most popular pubs in modern times. in the fifth year —— most popular popes of modern times. in his message, he basically told heads of military and political leaders around the world that he wa nted leaders around the world that he wanted them to show a change of heart and to bring an end to the carnage, particularly in what he called the apparently endless war in syria. he also asked for reconciliation, he asked for prayers

and reconciliation in the middle east, particularly in holy the land. he did not make any particular mention of the latest troubles in gaza. he referred again to problems of conflict in africa, southern sudan, the democratic republic of congo, and he wished success for the forthcoming peace talks in the korean peninsula. again, not distinguishing between north korea and south korea. he gave a very finely crafted speech, as usual, and clearly he remains one of the most popular popes in modern times. thank you very much indeed. ceremonies will be held today to mark exactly 100 years since the raf became the world's first independent air force. it was formed by the merger

of the army's royal flying corps and the royal naval air service between them they had fewer than 200 aircraft at the start of the first world war. a number of events are being held across the country. chi chi izundu is at the wartime airfield of biggin hill. indeed, we are, and we are going to bejoined by squadron indeed, we are, and we are going to be joined by squadron leader alan scott in a second, but here at biggin hill it was the forefront of the battle of britain. a number of spitfires, arguably one of the most iconic planes to fly during world war ii, was stationed here. it was hit number of times by german luftwaffe. but we are joined by alan scott now because you were first station here... i was. then it was a grass airfield and when we were

scrambled you just took off straightaway. you didn't have to go to the runway. it was a wonderful airfield. and 100 years since the raf, how does it feel to be here? airfield. and 100 years since the raf, how does it feel to be here7m is rather good, isn't it? ifeel as ifi is rather good, isn't it? ifeel as if i have done 75 years of them. it is just if i have done 75 years of them. it isjust a wonderful if i have done 75 years of them. it is just a wonderful feeling. if i have done 75 years of them. it isjust a wonderful feeling. and you are taking part in today's fly past in this beautiful spitfire behind us. in this beautiful spitfire behind us. i always like to get back into a spitfire again. and you were decorated during your time. spitfire again. and you were decorated during your timelj spitfire again. and you were decorated during your time. i was, where i shot the five aircraft down. and it is fantastic to be here today as part of these celebrations. also, mary ellis, who was also a pilot. she is here today. she is a

wonderful person, really. alan, what is your best memory of all the planes that you flew? you did not just fly spitfire. no, i have flown more than 80 different kinds of aircraft but the spitfire was always my favourite because it got me out ofan my favourite because it got me out of an awful lot of trouble in combat. that was useful. in fact, to do three tours in a spitfire and not get a bullet hole in me is quite good. the spitfire is like an overcoat, you wear red. and you are looking forward to getting back into one. yes, always. fantastic. i hope you enjoy the fly past. that is happening in about an hour's time. there will be a westminster abbey

service, they will be a military parade and a fly past down the mall as well. that is onjuly the 10th. thank you very much. reports from syria say a deal has been reached to evacuate critically injured people from douma, the last rebel—held town in eastern ghouta. the syrian army's general command said the whole of eastern ghouta, with the exception of douma, was now under the army's control. lebo diseko reports. this is what is left in much of eastern ghouta, the last few civilians on the streets along with government troops. the suburbs outside damascus a shadow of their former selves. 0n the horizon, douma, the last rebel enclave standing in eastern ghouta. if the government takes it, this whole area will be back in president assad's control. for weeks, there have been evacuations across the area with thousands of civilians

and rebel fighters being allowed to leave. now russia says a deal has been made to get people safely out of douma. but forced displacement is what the rebels have called it. they say they've made no such deal. they accuse president assad of trying to change the demographics in this area in his favour. for the families ripped apart by the fighting in the area, the hope is that at least they can be reunited. translation: my hope is that my sons, who are in ghouta, get out and to bring my children together, so we all live together. for those who don't leave, syria's army has threatened a full—scale military offensive. and as the war here goes into its eighth year, it is difficult to know how much more people can take. lebo diseko, bbc news. tougher penalties for

littering come into force in england today. 0n—the—spot fines will increase from £80 to up to £150. authorities can also use the penalties to target vehicles owners if it is possible to prove rubbish has been thrown from their car. jessica parker reports. hitting litter louts where it hurts — their pockets. 0n—the—spot fines are nearly doubling, with the maximum penalty now set at £150. littering is of course bad for the environment. it's not good for the taxpayer either. the government says keeping the country's streets clean cost local councils nearly £700 million last year. that is money which could be much better spent on other services. we want to encourage people to litter less, but also to recycle more and make sure that they work with their communities so that councils can invest their council tax in services that truly matter.

it is also going to be easier to tackle littering from vehicles. previously officers had to identify exactly who threw litter from a car. now councils across england will only need to prove that rubbish has been dropped from a vehicle in order to fine the owner, even if it was discarded by somebody else. cracking down on culprits is, it seems, a popular idea. well, there's too much litter around. it's a mess. i think it's dangerous, throwing it out of a car anyway, because of the cars behind you. and just in general, walking around, it's awful sometimes. fines and punishments drive behaviour, so yeah, ultimately i think it is a good thing if we want cleaner streets. but ministers are warning authorities not currently, the average council only issues ten littering fines per week. if we are going to take advantage of

the new legislation, the potential revenues they can generate, this figure really needs to be increased. but ministers are warning authorities not to abuse the new powers, saying they should be used in a proportionate way. jessica parker, bbc news. workers receiving the national living wage will get a pay rise today as it goes up to £7.83 an hour. but the living wage foundation claims its still not enough to help low—paid workers make ends meet, especially for those living in london. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. the good news is that earnings are set to rise for two million people on low wages from today. the bad news, according to one charity, is that it still isn't enough to cover the real cost of living. the national living wage rises from £7.50 per hour for the over—25s to £7.83 from today. but the living wage foundation charity says the figure should be £8.75 outside london. inside london it believes the real living wage should be £10.20, to cover basics such

as rent and transport. we welcome any step to close the gap between the government minimum and the real living wage, which is calculated based on what people need to live. 5.5 million people in the uk are still earning less than the wage they need to live on. so for a full—time worker, on the minimum wage, they are earning £1,800 a year less than the real living wage. that is the equivalent of six months or a year's worth of gas and electricity bills, or three month‘ rent. the gap is biggest for people in london. the government said the increased national living wage would be worth £600 per year to those on lower pay. it also said that millions could also benefit from a higher personal allowance of £11,850, which also comes into force today. joe lynham, bbc news. the weather forecast now.

we have some dry and bright weather around because we are sandwiched between weather fronts. we have got isa between weather fronts. we have got is a wintry showers in the north, some showers to come across eastern areas, and this rain is marching in later in the day. but it feels a little better than yesterday. there is more sunshine, the winds are lighter. but stay with us because it remains potentially disruptive overnight. that is going to be a concern as it starts to pile up and as we go to easter monday, further northwards, into scotland, it grinds toa northwards, into scotland, it grinds to a halt. we are concerned that we are going to see several centimetres of snow across the pennine routes, into cumbria, and central parts of scotland. clearly, that will give us some potential disruption, and as well as that we have got the heavy

rain further south overnight. the showers that follow on to saturated ground so we could have localised flooding as well. the warnings are out there on the website. heavyweight boxer anthony joshua beats new zealand'sjoseph parker with a unanimous win to add the wbo title to all his others. pope francis has delivered his easter homily from the balcony of st peter's basilica in rome. this is the scene live at the vatican. speaking without notes he referred to god's capacity to surprise. the royal air force is 100 years old today. now, time for dateline london.