this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines at 103m... president trump warns the us will have to release hundreds of islamic state fighters unless the uk and other allies can take reponsibility for those jihadists who came from europe. hundreds of passengers are left with worthless plane tickets — and hundreds ofjobs are at risk — as flybmi collapses. theresa may writes to every conservative mp urging them to put aside their personal differences over brexit — and come together in the national interest. a bbc investigation exposes films and photographs promoting animal cruelty and illegal blood—sports on social media websites. workers on auto—enrolment pensions will have to contribute 5% of their salary in april. the increase means take home pay may fall for millions of people. and coming up on inside out east at 10:30 — how to safeguard your home from hackers — and the vicar who's helping to protect suffolk‘s ancient churches. good morning and

welcome to bbc news. president trump has said britain and other european allies should "take back" more than 800 islamic state fighters captured in syria and put them on trial. mr trump said the united states would be forced to release the alleged jihadists unless they are taken into custody. the comments come as islamic state is facing the loss of its last stronghold in syria. just four years ago, is controlled vast areas of syria and northern iraq. it had taken control of raqqa and mosul. but the group's so—called caliphate has continued to shrink since then, and is now less than one small square kilometre on the euphrates river. the last militants there

are reportedly retreating and hiding among the local population. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. in a series of tweets, president trump said the caliphate was ready to fall and that american forces were pulling back after a 100% victory. but he warned that the united states will be forced to release islamic state fighters and that he didn't want to watch as they permeated europe. he said britain, france, germany and other european allies should take back over 800 is fighters and put them on trial. it is time, the president said, for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. captured is fighters are currently being held by us—backed kurdish—led forces. responding to the case of shamima begum, the british teenager who went to join is but now wants to go home, the uk government had said it will evaluate each case individually. peter bowes, bbc news.

the labour mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham has disputed president's trump comments. speaking to sky news, mr burnham said anyone who left the uk to fight for the islamic state group shouldn't have an automatic right to return. if somebody leaves this country and joins a if somebody leaves this country and joinsa group if somebody leaves this country and joins a group that is actively plotting to harm and kill people in this country, it surely cannot be right that people come and walk straight back in when it is convenient. i know some of those caught up in the attack feel very strongly in manchester about this situation because of the echoes with the situation that happened there. so, no, idon't the situation that happened there. so, no, i don't believe donald trump is right about this. i understand the legal complexities that the government will be facing but i would think the vast majority of people here in greater manchester

will think, no, if people here in greater manchester willthink, no, if you've people here in greater manchester will think, no, if you've left this country and walked away and joined a group plotting to harm us that you don't come back. how does the situation on the ground in eastern syria look like? charlie dagata from cbs news has more on the fight against islamic state. the final battle is in its final phase, with asus pinned down to an area of around a quarter square mile, that is the update we got from the commander of the us backed syrian democratic forces. he said the final asus village had not yet fallen but his ground forces were holding fire in moving forward cautiously because so many civilians remain trapped as human shields. military officials here say these have underestimated the number of civilians in the village when they launched the offensive to crush the last rem na nts launched the offensive to crush the last remnants of the so—called caliphate one week ago. first estimated to be around 1500 people,

more than twice that many have since plotted out this week, including many isis families. hundreds of isis fighters surrendered and militants have been thought to be making a last stand. when we last visited the front line on thursday, we found stf fighters on a more relaxed fittings in the final events began, apart from sporadic gunfire, a relative calm subject of the brutal last battle might be coming to an end. the commander vowed to broadcast to the world in the coming days a military end of isis. we stress a military end of isis. we stress a military end of isis. we stress a military end because even us officials have said isis will remain a threat in an underground uncertainty which raises the question exactly when america's 2000 troops will withdraw. donald trump's choice to be the new us ambassador to the united nations has withdrawn her nomination. in a statement heather nauert said that she believes the decision

is in the best interest for her family after what she describes as a "gruelling two months." she was due to replace nikky haley, who resigned from the position in october. stranded passengers are trying to find alternative travel arrangements, after the airline, flybmi, collapsed. in a statement, the company blamed rising fuel costs, as well as challenges created by brexit. the airline, based near east midlands airport, has told customers it will not be able to reschedule any flights. colin campbell has the details. with all flybmi flights cancelled, hundreds of passengers including families on their half term breaks have had their travel plans disrupted. others have been left stranded abroad. all the flights on the return home have been cancelled. they said they would not give me a refund. we are now off into austria for our skiing trip but there is a real concern as to how we are going to get home now

the company has gone into administration. based in the east midlands, flybmi operated 17 jets, flying to 25 european cities. the airline which has 376 employees blames its collapse on a spike in the price of fuel and changes in the cost of carbon permits. in a statement, the company said current trading and future prospects have also been seriously affected by the uncertainty created by the brexit process which has led to our inability to secure valuable flying contracts in europe. it's a horrible time to be any small airline at the moment. in europe, you have far too many seats, but too few customers and just looking at the numbers for flybmi, the average flight had only 18 people on it. passengers booked to travel with flybmi are being told not to go to the airport unless they have booked an alternative flight. the civil aviation authority say those affected should

contact their travel agent, credit card or insurance provider to see if they can get a refund. i'm joined now via webcam by victoria bacon — from abta the uk trade travel association. thank you for being with us. what is your advice to passengers? the main advice is, it depends how you booked your ticket. if you are booked directly with the airline, you should in the first instance to check with your credit card issuer to see whether or not you are eligible for a refund. if you booked through third—party agent, a travel agent or airline ticket agent, you should contact them in the first instance. if you are on a package holiday, you should contact the package organiser you are with you should be able to continue your holiday as normal or get a refund if

you have not yet travelled. it is quite complex. depending on how have travelled but there will clearly be people abroad already or people due to fly out, we are running into the first half term week as well. how long could all of this take? you are saying you can try to contact people but it is time consuming. it can be time—consuming, there will be thousands of people impacted, we don't know exact numbers, who have booked with the airline or due to travel in coming weeks, so it will bea travel in coming weeks, so it will be a case of waiting for that refund. if you are travelling abroad and our refund. if you are travelling abroad and oui’ overseas refund. if you are travelling abroad and our overseas already and not on and our overseas already and not on a package holiday, i am afraid that means you will need to look for alternative arrangements to come home, contact other airlines and book to come home and then claim your refund of the original flight when you get back to the uk. so,

shelling out the cash and and hoping to get it back at a later stage? yes, that's right. 0bviously to get it back at a later stage? yes, that's right. obviously in the situation, cash for a flight is one thing that the other side is if you are due to travel and have booked accommodation perhaps directly with accommodation perhaps directly with a hotel yourself, ithink accommodation perhaps directly with a hotel yourself, i think it is about having conversations with hotels and unfortunately you might not be eligible for a refund, most hotels would not offer your refund in this situation, so there will be a lot of people out of pocket. for those people unable to get a refund through their credit card holder, you may be entitled to claiming back something through your insurance, you would need to check your insurance terms, scheduled airline failure, some insurance covers that. many travel agents have that type of

insurance in place. white back some people might say, how can this happen? an airline can effectively go bust overnight without any warning? people are not given any heads up this is likely to happen? well, i think as your report said previously, it is a tough market for small airlines at the moment, fuel prices have gone up and the nature of when e—business goes out of business in any situation is u nfortu nately business in any situation is unfortunately people don't get a heads up. and therefore in this situation, as you can see, people going to have to sort it out themselves in terms of claiming money back. thanks for that advice. theresa may has called on conservative mps to put ‘personal preferences' aside and get her brexit deal through the house of commons. in a letter to all 317 tory members of parliament, the prime minister said ‘history would judge us all‘ over the handling of brexit. she also set out what the government would be doing in the coming days to secure a withdrawal agreement that will get the backing

of parliament. the brexit secretary, stephen barclay is due to be back in brussels tomorrow for a meeting with his eu counterpart, michel barnier. later this week, the attorney general, geoffrey cox is expected to make a rare speech in which he will outline how the government will eliminate any legal risk to stop the irish backstop becoming indefinite. and the prime minister is scheduled to have another meeting with the president of the european commission, jean claude—juncker as well. with me is our political correspondent, pete saull. what is the point of this letter to mps, some of whom we know are opposed to her deal as it stands, largely because of the backstop? there is not a great deal of new material, in terms of substance but i suppose it is a tacit

acknowledgement from the prime minister that tensions are growing in the conservative party, especially since the last vote in the house of commons on thursday. the government was defeated because of the abstentions of the european research group of pro—brexit mps and since then we have had lots of conservatives on the former remain side of the argument and attacking pro—brexit colleagues. theresa may is trying to calm things down through this letter and act as a bit ofa through this letter and act as a bit of a peacemaker. if we have a look at some of the quotes from the letter... "0ur party can do what it has done so often in the past: move beyond what divides us and come together behind what unites us; sacrifice if necessary our own personal preferences in the higher service of the national interest; and rise to the level of events in a way that restores the faith of the british people in our political process." so, she is basically saying, think about what is at stake, work in the

interests of the people you have been elected to represent and continue to back my efforts to renegotiate the backstop because she believes that is the way to get a deal through parliament and keep her party together. but this letter appealing for unity comes at a time when recriminations have been pretty strong, after that vote last week and especially the er g, jacob rees mogg and his fellow brexiteers, a lot of recriminations against them for a while abstaining on that government motion? two weeks previous to the last vote, 29th january, we saw a rare show of unity from conservatives, they were walking through the same lobbies as their colleagues, patting each other on the back, but that uneasy truce did not last long, the er g abstained on thursday and since then we saw the likes of the business minister, richard harrington, who has been very outspoken of the risks

ofa has been very outspoken of the risks of a no—deal brexit. he has suggested to colleagues they are no longer conservatives and should join nigel farage's new party. that's why the perimeter is acting like a teacher with a class of unruly schoolkids, trying to get them all back together. there are more talks, as ever, with the eu in the coming days? tomorrow, stephen barclay will hold talks with michel barnier, the chief negotiator of the eu, and then we will get a speech from the attorney general detailing what the government hopes to achieve. so that britain cannot be locked indefinitely into this arrangement, the backstop, to avoid a hard border on the island of ireland. clearly, these efforts will continue in the prime minister also says she hopes to speak to every single one of the 27 eu leaders. to try to make progress. these are talks, not

negotiations, that is a clear point coming from the eu at the moment, as far as they are concerned. they are not yet prepared to with opening the withdrawal agreement. the headlines on bbc news... president trump warns that the us will have to release hundreds of islamic state fighters captured in syria unless the uk and other allies can take reponsibility for those jihadists who came from europe. hundreds of passengers are left with worthless plane tickets — and hundreds ofjobs are at risk — as flybmi collapses. a bbc investigation exposes films and photographs promoting animal cruelty and illegal blood—sports on social media websites. sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. holly, newport could not quite do it against man city? i am afraid not,

the dream is over but that means city remain on course for what would bea city remain on course for what would be a historic four titles this season. it took them until the 51st minute to score, after that, two goals from phil foden and a fourth gave them a 4—1victory goals from phil foden and a fourth gave them a 4—1 victory to qualify for the quarterfinals. they are also top of the premier league and face chelsea in the league cup final and on wednesday they face shall keep —— fc shall keep. we will see in may andjune. we are in the champions league. what cani we are in the champions league. what can i say? thank you to the players.

the result will be in the end. brightener in the last eight of the fa cup after beating derby county 2-1. fa cup after beating derby county 2—1. anthony knockaert‘s score with that excellent finish. frank lampard says it is now time to turn attention on getting promotion to the premier league. we have had a nice run and two good games against southampton, difficult but interesting against accrington and now today we have shown ourselves in the second half. it sets us up quite nicely for the league, with clarity, we've had a decent run, we need to keep reproducing good form in the league to push promotion. and this goal was enough for millwall to beat wimbledon 1—0 and secure a spot in the last eight. it means the 2004 finalists are just one win away from a semifinal spot at wembley. rangers have missed out on the chance to narrow the gap on rivals celtic at

the top of the scottish premiership, isa the top of the scottish premiership, is a steven gerrard's team had to settle for a goalless draw over st johnstone, that means they are now five points behind and celtic could go eight points clear at the win at kilmarnock today. third placed aberdeen were also held at home by bottom side mirren and there were win? for her barely and aberdeen. —— wins for hibs and aberdeen. this athlete took five seconds, beating the record from 1988. it was the third quickest in history and laura muir is in great form ahead of the championships in glasgow next month where she is set to defend her 1500 and 3000 metres titles.|j where she is set to defend her 1500 and 3000 metres titles. i knew i was in great shape, it was just about winning the race. i want to run fast

and to get the opportunity to go for another record, i could not miss it. iamso another record, i could not miss it. i am so chuffed. in rugby union, saracens are top after a convincing bonus point win over leicester tigers, they scored four tries on their way to a 33—10 win. it keeps hopes of their unprecedented treble alive. saracens are level on points after 13 games in the season. neal robertson will face stuart bingham in the welsh 0pen final this afternoon. he broughtjoe 0'connor ‘s dramatic run to an end, the world number 103 had beaten ding junhui and higgins but it a step too far as he had a 6—2 defeat in the final begins at 2:30pm this afternoon. that's all the sport. more on the

next hour. studio: see you, holly, thank you very much indeed. videos and photographs promoting animal cruelty and illegal blood sports are being shared on social media, according to a bbc countryfile investigation. in response, facebook and youtube have taken down some of the content, but material celebrating illegal hunting and cockfighting is still accessible, as tom heap reports. from hare coursing to cockfighting, these are the cruelest of so—called sports with gambling at their heart. you may have thought these blood sports lived only in the past but today the power of the web has given them a new audience. we found evidence that some of the world's most popular internet sites like facebook and youtube are being used by illicit gambling rings to organise animal fights and also share disturbing and cruel images online with huge numbers of followers. it's about the money. it is purely about the betting. it is significant amounts of money made in this. bought for £25,000—30,000

for a hare coursing dog with good bloodline. they are making six figures annually. purely from hare coursing. and they can live stream to their friend the pub. we have infiltrated a number of closed groups on facebook, groups believed to be sharing illegal blood sport material. they may not be publicly accessible but they have huge numbers of followers. and it's notjust facebook. we also found videos being uploaded and shared on youtube. we showed them our evidence and facebook did take down one profile that had been up for several years but others remain. facebook told us that their content must respect local laws and that they rely on reports from appropriate authorities so they can take appropriate action. youtube also removed some material and said it had clear policies that banned graphic content and animal abuse. more on countryfile

this evening at 7pm. millions of workers could see their take—home pay fall from april when the amount they have to put into their pension pot increases. a bbc analysis of earnings suggests higher contribution rates for those in auto—enrolment pensions will hit pay packets, despite an imminent tax cut. rob young reports. building a pension pot, sacrificing part of our wages today to pay for a more comfortable retirement. since 2012, ten million eligible workers have been automatically enrolled in a workplace pension. from april, many of those employees will have to pay a bigger proportion of their pay into their auto enrolment pension pot. according to an analysis of earnings carried out for the bbc, the annual take—home pay of someone earning £15,000 a year will be £49 lower, someone on £30,000 will take home £253 less. in a few weeks, many workers

currently contributing 3% of their pay will have to put 5% in. this is a significant increase relative to what they have been paying to date and this will affect up to ten million people auto enrolled in the last few years. the potential impact of this change is substantial. the hit to net pay could have been bigger, a tax cut for most earners due in april will soften the blow. some in the industry worry the hit to pay could lead people to opt out of saving for a pension. speaking on a recent visit to this factory, the minister in charge said she hoped that would not happen. we need to encourage people to save more and employers to take more of a role. i think that's exactly what we are seeing and we are going to increase it slightly this year. the government has regarded auto enrolment as a huge success and will monitor what happens

in a few weeks' time. some in the industry say worker contributions may have to rise even further if they want a decent retirement income. rob young, bbc news. at least nine people have died after a fire swept through two hundred slum dwellings in southern bangladesh. the blaze broke out in the port city of chittagong. officials are investigating the possibility that a short circuit caused the blaze. more than 50 other people were injured. nine illegal gold miners have been pulled alive from flooded mines in zimbabwe but officials fear dozens more are still trapped. the men were rescued after becoming trapped on tuesday when heavy rains flooded mine shafts. more than 20 bodies have been recovered so far. the government has declared it a national disaster. us airforce transport planes carrying humanitarian aid for venezuela have landed at the colombian border where food and medicine is being

stock—piled for distribution. president maduro has refused to allow the aid in, accusing the us of trying to organise a coup. us officials say the aid had been requested by the venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, who declared himself interim president last month. jon ironmonger has the latest. it is an operation both humanitarian and highly political. arriving on the colombian border, three us cargo planes carrying food, medicine and clothes for the people of venezuela. this is not the first shipment, nor will it be the last, not only from the united states but we know many other countries are joining as well. aid packages are being stockpiled at the request of the venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, in colombia, brazil and the caribbean. speaking at a rally in caracas, the self—proclaimed interim

president appealed to new volunteers to help carry supplies over crossings next saturday. he restated an ultimatum for the armed forces to back down. translation: once again, the message to the venezuelan armed forces, seven days for humanitarian aid, a week for you to do the right thing and put yourselves on the side of the constitution. we are authorising the entrance of not only humanitarian aid but also humanity. us officials say venezuela is in the grip of an economic crisis, leading to widespread hunger and a critical shortage of basic medicines. according to the united nations, three million venezuelan migrants have fled the country since 2015. us aid drops are intensifying the stand—off with nicolas maduro, who has called the operation

a disguise for an invasion. he continued this week to stoke up hostility among the armed forces, saying, "yankee, go home!" juan guaido said he would announce further details on monday about his plan to get aid into the country, but it is a promise he could struggle to keep. maduro's still loyal military have barricaded bridge crossings and show no signs of giving way. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, the rain clouds this morning across western areas clear this afternoon. we will see showers across scotland and into parts of england this afternoon. thick cloud spreading to east anglia and the

south—east. north and west, more sunshine this afternoon. a stiffening southerly breeze which will touch gale—force across the north west. temperature is not as they were, but still well above where they should be for the time of year. tonight, more showers return across scotland, northern ireland and later in the western parts of england and wales. dry in eastern areas. generally clear of frost for most into monday morning. lots of showers on monday, if you in england and wales, cloud increasing and outbreaks of rain, and a bit of monday sunshine too. lauren hello, this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines... president trump warns that the us will have to release hundreds

of islamic state fighters captured in syria unless the uk and other allies can take reponsibility for those jihadists who came from europe. hundreds of passengers are left with worthless plane tickets, and hundreds ofjobs are at risk — as flybmi collapses. theresa may writes to all 317 tory mps urging them to put aside their personal differences over brexit — and come together in the national interest. a bbc investigation exposes films and photographs promoting animal cruelty and illegal blood—sports on social media websites. millions of workers could see their take—home pay fall in six weeks' time when the amount they have to pay into their pension pot increases. now it's time for inside out east.