this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines... labour's newest nec member, comedian eddie izzard, says the party must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community. it comes as labour distances itself from some pro—jeremy corbyn facebook groups featuring anti—semitic and abusive comments. anthonyjoshua moves a step closer to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, after beating new zealand's joseph parker. if i was retiring on this high i'd be like, "yes, i'm the man". because you retire on a high. but i've got to kind of defend my throne again in a few months, so i'm kind of balanced. we're still hustling. pope francis has called for an end to what he says is carnage in syria and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach the vulnerable. i'm shaun ley, and in the next hour.... happy centenary, raf. ceremonies have been taking place around the country as the queen pays tribute to the skill and sacrifice of the men and women of the royal air force who, she said,

had gallantly defended freedom. and laura kuenssberg listens to a panel of voters as they discuss their views on brexit. that's in half an hour, here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the comedian eddie izzard, who has just been appointed to labour's governing national executive committee, says the party must stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community. it follows the resignation of his predecessor, after complaints she'd offered support to a council candidate accused of holocaust denial. our political correspondent chris mason has been following the story and joins me now. chris, this story feels like it has

been running for weeks. one of the great challenges for any political party when it has negative publicity is to change the narrative, as they say. how will do that? it is the big question, the narrative is not shifting. it is well over a week since this row first made news the backlash to that pretty historic remark thatjeremy corbyn made about that mural and the potential for a mural to be whitewashed, a mural widely seen to be anti—semitic. luciana berger, a labour member who is british, said thatjeremy corbyn must distance himself from these remarks. it has not shifted since —— a labour member who isjewish. jeremy corbyn said he would not defend in any instance any incidents of anti—semitism, and yes there are those within the party who would shift the dial on this. in the last weekjeremy corbyn has not publicly given a round of interviews, for

instance, which i guess would give him a chance to be... what did tony blair call it, the masochism strategy, being dustup in our political interview to prove that you know people are hurting about an issue and you are willing to grasp that. i wonder if he will do that after the easter recess. eddie izza rd after the easter recess. eddie izzard has become a member of the executive committee, the governing body of the labour party, replacing christine shawcroft after her resignation last night. eddie izzard in his statement is trying to bind the party back together, to keep its eye on the horizon. when he was defeated in the nec elections earlier this year he said the party needs to have much more focus on taking on who they see as their political opponents in the conservatives rather than fighting amongst themselves. in the last week it is striking that we feel like where we are back to where we were before the general election, where labour was squabbling publicly with itself. a

lead had been put on that and it seems to be back in the open. owenjones seems to be back in the open. owen jones was seems to be back in the open. owenjones was on the programme a couple of hours ago saying more or less the same, this has been used as a stick to beatjeremy corbyn with by those who do not like him as leader and did not want him in the first place. that may be one element, but is it a sufficient explanation? i think it is part of it. when you speak to those loyal to jeremy corbyn they observe that the most prominent and vociferous critics of him in this last week we re critics of him in this last week were pretty prominent in the server is suggesting he was useless before the general election. —— they were pretty prominent and vociferous in suggesting he was useless. but that does not mean they are wrong on the issue of anti—semitism. what is interesting with this, is that when you speak to labour party members and mps around this issue of anti—semitism, plenty will say this has been a problem brewing for a while and it was going to take a

moment where it would become headline news. there has been concern among critics ofjeremy corbyn that he has never treated anti—semitism as seriously as they think he should. that is absolutely denied by mr corbyn, who says he recognises it is vile. with one thing after another, from the mural to those protests outside parliament last monday, to the row around christine shawcroft at the council candidate, it has been brought to a head. but coming back to the central question of a few minutes ago, how does the party move on with local elections in a good number of english cities coming upon this dominating the headlines? we are pretty close to those local elections and presumably what labour wa nted elections and presumably what labour wanted to do was take an offensive to the government, the conservatives. they have had a field potential open gold is likely problems in northamptonshire, they say we can't run councils but they can't. they have what looks like an

open goal in london in terms of the elections, most conservatives privately say we know this will be a very difficult set of local elections. presumably labour must be worried it might blunt their offensive? it is impossible to tell what if any impact it will have, if you are in labour hq and writing the script for the local election campaign he would not have added this if you had complete control over what was going to happen. before this rally emerged, labour was on the offensive, they launch their local election campaigning greater manchester, —— campaign in greater manchester, it has been a conservative counsel for many years, chartered, and it could fall to labour. it gives you a sense of how optimistic labour work despite the last time that these seats were fought, the then labour leader ed miliband did pretty well. it was quite a good period for labour in local government but they still feel, or they did, that they can

advance. you wonder the extent to which this could impact. the election is about five weeks away, the beginning of what is now next month, the first week of may. you can only imagine that mr corbyn and his team will be desperate to try to be seen to be taking this on, taking it down and getting it out of the news. but you wonder how they will do that. thank you very much, chris mason. the british boxer anthonyjoshua has won his heavyweight title unification fight in cardiff against new zealand'sjoseph parker. the judges unanimously declared him the winner on points after 12 rounds. he now adds the wbo belt to his wba and ibf titles. david ornstein reports. # oh, anthonyjoshua. .. he's one of the biggest stars of british sport. but for that star to continue rising, anthonyjoshua must keep 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, like, 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 and 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 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 on controlling fighters like that, without taking too much punishment, i should be around for a long time. ominous for his rivals, tantalising for his fans. joshua's star burning brighter than ever. david ornstein, bbc news. britain's largest teaching union is warning that a growing number of children with special needs are being left without suitable school places. last year, more than 4000 children with the most severe needs were not offered places. the union has accused the government of starving local councils of funding. but the department of education insists that local authorities now have more money for every pupil, in every school.

0ur education correspondent marc ashdown reports. like all schools, here in south gloucestershire, the aim is to offer every child a place in the classroom alongside their peers. but the reality is a growing number of the most vulnerable pupils seem to be disappearing from the system. government figures obtained by the national education union show that in 2016, 1700 children in england with special educational needs or a disability didn't have a school place. but, last year, that figure more than doubled. more than 4000 send children are now without a place. can you imagine the torment that a parent goes through, a parent of a child with special needs, where we aren't educating them at all? those increases in numbers are something the government needs to look at really seriously. and there needs to be a huge cash injection into the special needs, high needs, budget immediately. local authorities are allocated money to spend on children with high needs. recent figures suggest there was a £400 million shortfall in funding last year which, unions say, has led to dozens

of councils asking for permission from the government to raid their wider schools budget to meet costs. well done. for schools already struggling with tight budgets, it's an added pressure. it would be really sad for me if i ever got to the point where i said we don't want to take children with additional needs for financial reasons. i suspect there are schools and trusts who are looking really closely at the level of needs that a child comes in with and the amount of funding that will be attached to that and making very difficult decisions. mehreen is a special needs teacher in south london. she's worried about the longer—term impact on the lives of vulnerable children. the danger for our children is that they disappear from society. that we are... that they will come to a school to a certain extent, they won't be then able to access the wider community they live in. the department for education says it's investing a further £270 million over the next two years

to ensure every child has the best opportunities, regardless of their needs. marc ashdown, bbc news. two people have been arrested after a nine—year—old boy from northern ireland died in hospitalfollowing a hit and run in tenerife on thursday. carter carson, from newtownabbey, was leaving a shopping centre with his family in adeje in the south of the island on thursday when he was struck by a car. he died in hospital on friday. it's believed a car that was involved was found abandoned a few miles from the scene. the foreign office says it is providing assistance to the family. the first of two aircraft carrying expelled russian diplomats home from the united states has arrived in moscow. a second aircraft is expected later today. in all, 60 russians were sent home by washington in response to the poisoning of a former russian spy in britain almost a month ago. earlier, a spokeswoman for the russian foreign ministry blamed the uk and the us, saying they're trying to sabotage the upcoming football world cup by implicating moscow in the incident.

pope francis has used his easter message to call for dialogue on the korean peninsula, and peace in syria. thousands of people gathered in st peter's square in rome in bright sunshine to hear him speak from the balcony of the adjacent basilica. he said the power of the christian message gave hope to the deprived, including migrants and refugees who were so often rejected by what he called today's culture of waste. his blessing included a call for peace across the world. translation: today we implore fruits of peace upon the entire world. beginning with the beloved and long—suffering land of syria, whose people are worn down by an apparently endless war. this easter, may the light of the risen christ illuminate the consciences of all political and military leaders so that

a swift end may be brought to the carnage in course, that humanitarian law may be respected and that provisions be made to facilitate access to the aid so urgently needed by our brothers and sisters, while also ensuring fitting conditions for the return of the displaced. pope francis speaking with his traditional easter address. in syria, a deal has been reached to evacuate critically injured people from douma, in the eastern ghouta region. rebel fighters have stayed in the town, although there are reports in syrian state media, that they too have agreed to leave douma. several hundred civilians, mostly women and children, are among the latest evacuees. in all, over one—hundred—and—fifty—thousand civilians have now been evacuated from eastern ghouta. the region was a major

opposition bastion — but most of it has been recaptured by the government in recent weeks. lebo diseko reports. this is what is left in much of eastern ghouta, the last few civilians on these 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 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. the headlines on bbc news: comedian eddie izzard joins labour's ruling committee — and says the party must stamp out anti—semitism. it comes as labour denies having any official links to facebook groups forjeremy corbyn supporters, where anti—semitic comments have been posted. pope francis has called for an end to what he says is carnage in syria and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach the vulnerable. now with the fallout from anthony

joshua's victory in cardiff and all of the other sports news, we go to the bbc sports centre. we will start of the premier league and arsenal made 11 changes to their side, but still managed to beat stoke city at the emirates. there was precious little for the sparse crowd to cheer in the first half, they even booed the players off at half—time. arsenal made the breakthrough after half—time when they were awarded a controversial penalty. pierre—emerick aubameyang scored from that spot and it was him against that made it 2—0 to arsenal. alexandre lacazette was fouled and he then made the game safe with another pet city —— penalty for

arsenal. stoke are second from bottom, three points from safety. in the first half we were too slow, in the first half we were too sloppy, not sharp enough. not mentally switched on quickly enough in every situation of the game. the second half was much better and we played with more dynamic, more pace, against a good stoke side, i must say. i am surprised when you see the quality of what they have shown today that they are down there. we took control slowly made the difference. champions league places are being fought over with fourth placed totte n ha m fought over with fourth placed tottenham away at fifth place chelsea. it has been over 28 years since spurs beat chelsea at stamford bridge, they havejust since spurs beat chelsea at stamford bridge, they have just scored, alonso with the goal for chelsea in the 18th minute. it hasjust alonso with the goal for chelsea in the 18th minute. it has just been ruled offside, actually. it is still sero— zero. harry kane has been named on the bench, he has recovered

from an ankle injury. it is still sero—0 in that game. hearts have all but secured a top six finish in the scottish premiership after 1—1 draw against struggling dundee. hearts struggling dundee. h ea rts we nt struggling dundee. hearts went ahead, but the home side equalised eventually with a converted cross. dundee are still third from bottom, four points above the relegation zone. anti—women super league i and arsenal women hosted table toppers chelsea ladies in a 1—1 draw earlier. —— on to women's super league. fran kirby scored. beth mooney dram from the halfway line to score a remarkable solo effort for arsenal.

arsenal. arsenal remain in force. negotiations for a world heavyweight title unification fight between anthonyjoshua title unification fight between anthony joshua and title unification fight between anthonyjoshua and deontay wilder could start as early as next week, according to the promoter barry hearn. joshua added the wbo title to his ibf and wbo crowns with a unanimous points win overjoseph park on saturday. david ornstein has more details. this is one of the most eagerly anticipated boxing matches in many yea rs. anticipated boxing matches in many years. although it's perhaps did not quite deliver the drama many wanted, it was no less significant for anthonyjoshua on his path toward sporting greatness. there were 80,000 spectators inside the principality stadium and he has now sold out three stadium fights in the past 11 months, with a total attendance of around a quarter of a million people, an indication of josh wood ‘s wing appeal. he walked out againstjoseph park last night

ina out againstjoseph park last night in a white robe, inspired by the great muhammad ali and perhaps shows where joshua sees great muhammad ali and perhaps shows wherejoshua sees his own career going. it was a cagey affair bertie won, the first time he has gone the distance in his career. he holds all but one heavyweight title, the remaining one is held by american deontay wilder and accepted the potential of a super clash to determine the disputed heavyweight champion of the world. england are on top in the second and final test against new zealand in christchurch. the visitors had a 29 run first—innings lead. england's opening batsmen, alastair cook, fell cheaply again but the rest of the top order steadied the ship. england lead by 231 runs. it is the first women's major per year, keep an eye on the bbc sport

website. charley hull and jodie shedd offering contention, four shots of the lead of lindbergh. plenty more for you at around 5:30pm. studio: sounds like a busy afternoon, thank you. ceremonies are being 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. a number of events are being held across the country, including a fly past at biggin hill in kent where three world war 2 aircrafts took to the skies watched by veterans. 0ur correspondent robert hall has been at stow maries great war aerodrome in essex where he's been speaking to people involved in today's celebrations. few better places to be on this milestone day for the raf, because stow maries is the last intact first world war aerodrome in europe. intact because lots of people, many of them volunteers, have worked here for quite a few years to get it back to something resembling what it

would have been in 1918. behind me the flagpole where the raf standard hasjust been raised to replace the unionjack, representing the royal flying corps which went before it. if that sounds confusing, let's explain. ian flint is the chief executive of the stow maries trust. why is stow maries an iconic place for the raf, today and back then? it is the only one left, as far as we can see. this was genesis, where the royal flying corps on the 1st of april turned into the raf, absorbing the royal naval air service, the royal air corps and becoming the first truly independent air force in the world. there is nowhere we can still fly aircraft that is not a commercial aerodrome, a housing estate, has not been redeveloped for farmland. this is it. i made reference then to the fact that if i had come five or ten years ago it would have looked very different.

what have you achieved and what do you want to achieve? a true commemoration to the amazing work done here during the great war. we have been super successful over the last three years, there has been lots of very, very dedicated people. we have rescued five buildings from the heritage at risk register, there are about ten more to do and we are doing everything to save those. it will take about ten years and about £24 million but the end result will be a centre of aviation history for europe, a fantastic reproduction of the 1918 royal flying corps and royal air force base and a place to learn about some of the most important history we have in our country. thank you and congratulations, it has been a splendid event. taking part in the event was, perhaps, who knows, the raf for the future. i will get your names in minute, this is all about commemorating and inspiring. cadet warrant officer cheyenne holmes.

what was it like standing here and thinking back? just spectacular. to be where we are now is where they effectively were all those years ago, it is fantastic, there is no place like this left in the world, probably. i can't... there are not enough words. what is your name? cadet warrant officer thomas russell. you are from the digital age, we are talking about pilots who were very much them and the machine and that was it, very much on their own. can you make any connection in your mind between the raf you know today, dealing with satellites and drones etc? definitely. visiting raf stations with cadets and looking at places like this, you can see the similarities. you make a link but then you think about the stuff that has come

about in our generation and the previous with the technology and how the raf has integrated that into the aircraft is fantastic to see how the aircraft had developed into extraordinary vehicles which can do extraordinary jobs. i am cadet warrant officer carmina popa. it is all about inspiration, what do you think you can take from the courage... these were aviation pioneers, the men who flew here? as you said, they are incredibly brave and courageous. coming into air cadets, everybody comes in may be shy, they are introverted, lots of people. part of the air cadets is to grow. one of them is to become more brave and courageous. one of those comes into today, what we have done. i don't think we could have done that without the organisation,

but we have that example from the royal air force. it is an amazing example. you all look brilliant, all of you. i don't know how many hundreds of you there were. we ask the experts all the time, the raf of the future, your future, what will it look like? we know what it looked like in the past and now, what do you think? oh... will there be planes at all? of course. i don't think you could have the royal air force without aviation. digital age, what do you reckon? i reckon it will be a lot more automatic fighting, a lot more drones and a lot less pilots. are we losing something because of that? potentially you are losing the human element and the human interaction side. i feel like that is what makes the royal air force so special.

when we go to raf stations they are so welcoming and talkative and want to inspire us, it would not be the same without them, if you had computers. there speak three of you from the computer age that is coming. thank you very much indeed. that's it from stow maries for the time being on a day when this airfield and the raf, those services and other ceremonies across the south and south—east of england, have looked back to the great milestone on april 1st 1918. an hour ago i came to a premature end, the hour before that philip avery vanished without trace. third time lucky, at the weather map is philip avery! thanks forjoining me, it is time we update you on how the weather will change quite dramatically across parts of the british isles over the

next 24 hours or so. wet weather into the south—west, as it runs into cold air across the heart of the british isles there will be a transition of rain into snow, which is why we have real concerns. as we push this weather ever further north during easter monday, once it gets over the high ground in northern ireland, southern scotland and across the pennines, significant snowfall will build up and begin to live. five to 15 centimetres perhaps across the high ground of the pennines, temperatures are that bad. further south, no issues with snow because the temperatures will be pushing to around ten, 11 or 12 degrees. for easter monday, a significant risk of snow for some. 0n risk of snow for some. on tuesday the cloud and rain pushes further towards the north, following behind is a mixture of sunny spells and showers on what will be a pretty mild today. —— mild day. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. labour's newest nec member, comedian eddie izzard, says the party must

stamp out anti—semitism and rebuild relations with thejewish community. it comes as labour distances itself from some pro—jeremy corbyn facebook groups featuring anti—semitic and abusive comments. anthonyjoshua moves a step closer to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after beating new zealand's joseph parker. pope francis has called for an end to what he says is "carnage"