hello and welcome to bbc news. broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe.. fears are growing for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in iraq's second city of mosul as government forces try to recapture it from so—called islamic state. our correspondent speaks to some of those who have managed to escape. translation: we got our freedom, but it cost us a lots. i lost my house and my children were injured. the pentagon promises a full intervention into military personnel who shed nude photograph of female collea g u es who shed nude photograph of female colleagues on social media. volkswagen pleads guilty in american court to charges related to its diesel emission scandal. prosecutors say that the fraud went to the top of the organisation. popstar ed

sheeran achieves nine songs in the british top ten. even he says it is time to have a rethink about the charts. and the pitfalls of live tv. the moment a guest is art stayed upstaged by his children, right here on bbc world news. to serve. fears are growing for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the second city of mosul iraq as government forces tried to reca ptu re iraq as government forces tried to recapture it from so—called islamic state. 50,000 people have fled the west of the city over the last fortnight. the iraqi army is now pushing deeper into the extremist stronghold in the city. our

correspondent has just sent this report from the latest areas to be taken back from is control. escaping the battleground and the terrors of the caliphate. fleeing western mosul on foot during a lull in the battle. countless numbers are likely to follow, their life reduced to a few bundles. streets, now liberated, but deserted, many didn't leave until the fight came right to their door, like abdul razsack. at 76, forced to leave home for the first time in his life. he told us a mortar landed nearby, just moments before. his ten—year—old grandson, and namesake, clutching his school bag though his only lessons here were in war. "i'd like to go back to school

right this minute", he said. so—called islamic state stopped him going years ago. now back in iraqi hands, for what it's worth, several more neighbourhoods. troops remain watchful. the militants are about a mile away. explosion. they were driven from here just four days ago. this is the engineering department of mosul university. on the is curriculum here, only fanaticism and death. well, this was a place of learning, it was a source of pride for the people of mosul, and you can see what's become of it. it was also a key strategic location for the so—called islamic state, it gave them high ground to dominate the area. it was heavily defended by uzbek fighters

and this is just one of the areas that's going to have to be rebuilt when the battle for mosul is finally over. some uzbek militants are still lying where they fell, no decent burial for those who terrorised a city. nearby, a suicide belt they didn't manage to use. at dusk, iraqi forces gather for the next advance. armoured vehicles give some protection against car bombs, but they won't fit in the narrow streets of the old city. troops move under cover of darkness and this time on foot. hunting the extremists, who once controlled almost a third of iraq. some of the hardest fighting may be ahead, going house to house and street to street beneath a sky lit only by embers of battle. in the pitch darkness

few signs of life, but hundreds of thousands of civilians remain here, running low on food and water. shagri abdullah and herfamily are sheltering in an abandoned house because theirs was destroyed. three of her loved ones are in hospital, victims of a mortar attack. she shows us how they hid when is fighters stormed in to use them as human shields. "one went to the roof", she says, "and he started to shoot. he attacked the army and we escaped from this door. later we found another is still hiding here and they came and shot him in the head." shagri's neighbourhood has been

reclaimed from the militants, but her life is changed utterly. "we got our freedom", she says, "but it cost us a lot. i lost my house and my children were injured." her beloved mosul will never recover, she believes, not even in 30 years. what future for a broken city in a fractured nation even after the extremists are pushed out? there are fears that when iraqis finish fighting is, they may begin fighting each other. orla guerin, bbc news, mosul. let's round up some of the other

main story is this our while. the head of emergency aid operation for the un says the world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945 with over 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine. stephen o'brien called for an immediate injection of funds for yemen, somalia, north—east nigeria and south sedan. he said the situation was greatest in yemen where two thirds of the population need food air. donald trump has invited mahmoud abbas to the white house, the invitation was made during a phone call, the first contact between the two leaders since mrtrump contact between the two leaders since mr trump took office. he met the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu the israeli prime minister benjamin neta nyahu last month. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu last month. and pope francis has said he is willing to consider all in gaining old married men as priests in isolated communities as part of plans to tackle the growing shortage of clergy. but speaking to a german

newspaper he ruled out opening the restored to all married men or watering down the commitment to celibacy. the pentagon has pledged a full investigation into a nude photo scandal hitting the american armed forces. it began when nude photos of female marines were published online bya female marines were published online by a male colleague. general robert nella said he hoped more women would come forward to help the investigation. i'mjoined come forward to help the investigation. i'm joined now by the former marine who recently founded a group dedicated to sharing incidents of sexual harassment. thank you for joining us. so far it is said that they have been only ten or fewer female marines who have come forward to make a complaint. you believe that to be the tip of the iceberg? as the general would refer to that, just the tip of the sphere, a marine

corps term. yeah, ifind just the tip of the sphere, a marine corps term. yeah, i find that hard to believe that there are only ten females who are encompassed by this issue. this issue is not necessarily nude photos. many women shared on this website and facebook page were fully clothed in uniform going about their duties and had photos taken surreptitiously off them and then shared on this site to encourage the rock retreat and sexual assault type language. i think we definitely need to clarify that these were not simply nonconsensual nude photos. how did it come to light? well, truthfully, this issue has been known throughout the marine corps and the department of defence for quite sometime. there had been dedicated journalists covering the military for the past five or eight yea rs military for the past five or eight years who have written stories about this service is not the first time that the department of of defence

has heard about this. this specific insta nce has heard about this. this specific instance in regards to marines united was uncovered through the non—profit journalist with the warhorse and a freelance journalist this weekend. and the most recent discovery that this is potentially dod wide across all military services through business insider last night. and the reason you are driving forward with your group is that because you yourself had pictures that you found were being circulated of view, although not make it. correct. correct. -- not naked. i was part of something similar that happened to me while i was on deployment in 2008. a marine obtained photos me from my social media recount, it downloaded them and was using them in what they like to call and parties or barracks

parties, talking in sexually explicit language, encouraging what marines would do to me in a demeaning and sexual way. thank you very much for explaining that. the german carmaker will volkswagen has pleaded guilty in an american court to three criminal charges linked to the diesel emission scandal. vw has admitted that between 2009 and 2015, vehicles were fitted with illegal software, allowing them to pass emissions tests while still producing large levels of pollution. the scandals barked a global backlash and the fallout continues. in detroit, the company admitted that for six years diesel vehicles

we re that for six years diesel vehicles were fitted with illegal software to cheat emissions tests. it is the first time they have actually pled guilty and as they did so they said it was because they are guilty. i think it was also interesting that thejudge said he think it was also interesting that the judge said he wanted some time to review the fines which are something like $4.3 billion, they could have been far more without a settlement. prosecutors did not hold back, describing the emissions scheme as a planned defence and went to the top of the organisation. the scandal first broke back in september 2015 when us regulators confronted vw about the results of its testing and the emissions of its diesel vehicles. the guilty plea as pa rt diesel vehicles. the guilty plea as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the us authorities to pay civil and criminalfines. with the us authorities to pay civil and criminal fines. vw with the us authorities to pay civil and criminalfines. vw admitted to installing illegal software in half a million vehicles. the devices enabled its diesel models to meet up

to 40 times the legally allowable level of pollution. in total, the scandal will cost the company as much as $25 billion in the us alone including compensation to owners and dealers. but it is far from over. including compensation to owners and dealers. but it is farfrom over. vw has admitted that worldwide 11 million vehicles had the secret softwa re million vehicles had the secret software installed. in germany, an enquiry is looking into what the german government and the chancellor knew about breaches of emissions standards. vw is now embroiled in investigations across the globe. in the us, however, it is looking to steer away from its troubles. they will be sentenced in april. stay which is on bbc news because still to come— and a new vaccine combat the deadly impact of a bowler on gorillas? the disease has left all

four species of the eight critically endangered. —— of the primate critically endangered. the number of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 24 hours the soviet union lost an elderly sikh leader and replaced in with a dynamic figure 20 years hisjunior. we heard these gunshots. then they started firing at our huts and we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he is 90. he travelled from memphisjail to nashville prison in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. will it change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really, i've never been married before. this is bbc news.

i'm gavin grey. the latest headlines: tens of thousands of civilians are trying to flee mosul as iraqi forces reclaim the city block by block from islamic state militants. the pentagon promises a full investigation into military personnel who shared nude photographs of female colleagues on social media. many hundreds of people — members of the standing rock sioux nation and their supporters — have marched through washington to protest against the controversial dakota access pipeline. native american tribes say leaks from the oil pipeline will pollute water supplies and endanger sites they consider sacred. chase iron eyes with the lakota people's law project joins us from washington. thank you very much indeed for your

time. the various companies involved believe it is just a matter of weeks 110w believe it is just a matter of weeks now before some 550,000 barrels of oil at begin flowing through the pipeline. what were you hoping to achieve with the protests? today's gathering was another in a long—lasting struggle against big finance and deke extraction. native nations have an international claim to protect the water and the lands —— big. and right now even though the oil company has announced plans to have oil flowing very soon, we still want to let the world know that the fight isn't over and we wa nt to ca ptu re that the fight isn't over and we want to capture the world's attention to share our message and to bring to light the fact that we have an original and inherent authority to not only determine our

destiny but to protect the lands and waters. we are not against development but we are being asked to live in a sacrifice zone here, and so we want the world to know that we will not back down. and when you say you will fight on, what form will that fight take? yes, there is a political fight that involves the trump administration and the united states congress, and an international fight that involves bringing our struggle to the international arena as well as a legal fight both domestically within the united states and internationally in other legal form. and the various companies involved in the project say this is a safe project, that they will secure the safety of the environment. clearly, you are worried about that but also say the land itself is sacred? that is correct. if you take a look at a

map, initially the capital city of bismarck north dakota was supposed to be south of the proposed pipeline route. but it was soon determined that native american native nations would in fact bear the risk of a potential oil spill at gunpoint — over 800 people had been arrested out there. corporate sponsored state executed violence has been inflicted on unarmed water protectors or protesters. but it was clear that native nations were going to be forced to bear the risk of an oil spill and that a non— native american community, and anglo community, was not going to be made to bear the risk. so they are asking us to bear the risk. so they are asking us to indeed forsake our children's future for the sake of an oil

pipeline when we know that it is not a case of if a pipeline will leak but when. and it is a sad day that we are being made to bear that risk while they don't have to. so we know it is going to leak. obviously, the engineers are denying that, but thank you for your time. thank you. news about the recent outbreaks of ebola in west africa has centred on its devastating impact on humans. but gorilla populations are known to have suffered from the disease for some time. a third of the world's gorillas have been killed by ebola in the last 30 years. researchers from cambridge university now want to immunise gorillas in the wild. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. in the african forests, an animal at risk of vanishing forever. gorillas already face many threats, from poaching to habitat loss, but perhaps the most

worrying is ebola. the deadly disease is thought to have wiped out many thousands of these great apes. now a vaccine could be the answer. so we put it on the sides of the nose and they got under the tongue. this scientist has carried out a small trial on captive chimps, the last before bio medical research on these animals was banned in the us. he found a vaccine protected them against the virus and now he wants to use it on gorillas in the wild. ebola and other diseases are a huge threat. if these were our children, we vaccinate our children, right? we vaccinate our pets. we vaccinate domestic livestock. we vaccinate wildlife in the developed world. why aren't we vaccinating our closest relatives in africa? the deadly toll of ebola in humans is all too well—known. the 2013 outbreak in west africa killed more than 11,000 people. now, though, there's an effective human vaccine.

ebola in humans and gorillas is closely linked, the virus can cross between species. some argue that gorillas should now be immunised, too. gorillas are one of our relatives and saving them from extinction is now a number one priority for conservationists and an ebola vaccine does offer some much needed hope, but there could be significant risks. finding a method to get a dose of the vaccine into every gorilla would be difficult. there's also a risk that it could harm the animals, instead of helping them. we, as great ape conservationists, are concerned about any unintended impacts on the health of the target apes, such as introduction of a disease that might spread amongst the intended population that we're trying to protect. the future of these animals is hanging in the balance. the forests are currently free of ebola, but it's inevitable it will strike again.

conservationists need to decide whether the risk of vaccinating or not vaccinating is one they're willing to take. rebecca morelle, bbc news. ed sheeran has made music history with his third album, divide. every track has entered the uk's top 20 as a result of downloading or streaming — his songs also account for all but one of the top 10 singles. the album has already gone double platinum, becoming the fastest—selling record ever released by a male artist. here's our arts editor will gompertz. ed sheeran, singing, shape of you, now in its ninth week at number one on the uk's official chart, which, as of today, is dominated by the 26—year—old singer—songwriter from suffolk. in an unprecedented one—man takeover of the singles chart, all 16 tracks from his new album, divide, are in the top 20. let's be clear, ed sheeran would have had a storming week

whatever system the official chart company used. the big difference now is not how many people buy a single by download or in physicalform, but how many people listen to it through streaming services, such as spotify and apple music, which also goes towards his chart position, by using this formula: 150 streams of a track equals one sale. so this week, ed sheeran had 110 million streams of tracks from his new album, which, divided by 150, represents 733,000 sales, plus 164,000 downloads, and that was enough to give him 16 songs in the official top 20. i don't know if there's some weird things that spotify and apple music are going to have to change now with streaming, but i never expected to have nine songs in the top ten ever in my life, so i don't know. something's gone wrong. but i am very, very happy about it. so he thinks something has gone wrong with the singles chart system.

i wonder, does the man responsible for compiling it agree? the charts have changed dramatically in the last five or ten years, as we have incorporated downloads, and we have also incorporated streaming now, and we are constantly reviewing the way that we count those different ways of consuming, and we will continue to do so. the question and concern for the music industry is whether this is a one—off week or the shape of things to come, because the singles chart, historically, has been a platform to promote a variety of new music, notjust one album. if that does become the case, the chart risks becoming irrelevant, and, quite possibly, redundant. will gompertz, bbc news. well, they do say you should never work with children and animals. a south korean expert professor robert kelly certainly

added weight to at least half that argument. during a live interview on bbc world news he manfully soldiered on despite a couple of unexpected and energetic intruders. the question is how do democracies respond to those scandals. and what will it mean for the wider region? i think one of your children has just walked in. i mean, shifting sands in the region. do you think relations with the north may change? i would be surprised if they do. the... pardon me. my apologies. what is this going to mean for the region? my apologies. north... sorry. north korea... early bedtime for some, i think. this is bbc news. a pretty quiet weather story into the weekend and the start

of next week. one things for certain, it will be pretty mild. many places will be dry. saturday looks like the driest day of the weekend for most places and that's because england and wales are close to the high pressure. whereas further north and west there'll be a weather front slowly makes inroads on saturday morning across northern ireland and scotland. most of the rain will be light and patchy, but there could be the odd heavy burst. elsewhere it will be dry, some mist and murk and hill fog. these are the temperatures to start saturday morning, 8—11 degrees. outbreaks of rain and this will eventually clear through much of scotland, lingering in the northern isles and the north—east, leaving a legacy of cloud and a few spots of drizzle and a little bit of mist and murk. the same too for northern ireland. but for the bulk of england and wales, it should be a dry start. a lot of cloud around, though,

it could be quite grey. a bit of brightness to begin the morning across the south. temperatures here around 9—11 degrees. that's an improving picture across southern and south—eastern areas through the day. we pull a bit of dryer air off the near continent, so cloud should break up and we have sunny spells. that will boost temperatures up. further north, a bit of brightness across scotland and northern ireland. the central slice will have the weakening weather front with outbreaks of rain. double—figure values, up to 17 degrees in the south—east. the weather looks fine for the six nations rugby back and in italy, with sunshine and temperatures of 15—16 degrees in rome and back home. now, through saturday, we start to see the change. the weather front moves in from the west, strengthening the rain. turning wet in england and wales. a damp end to the night. sunday morning, it looks like it will be mild. outbreaks of rain, low cloud and mist and murk. sunday looks much wetter for many places, especially

england and wales. brightening skies further west for northern ireland and western scotland. a couple of showers around. a little bit cooler and fresher. 10—11 degrees. maybe as high as 12—13 across the south—east. the wet weather eventually clears during sunday night. into monday and tuesday, high pressure builds in, so it will be fine and there should be dry weather around, but also a lot of cloud. you could see some rain getting to northern ireland and scotland on tuesday. quite a benign picture into next week. it will stay mild for many. a lot of cloud around. where the sunshine breaks through, it will feel very mild. the latest headlines from bbc news. tens of thousands of civilians are trying to flee mosul as government forces get closer to recapturing it from the so—called islamic state. 50,000 people have fled the west of the city over the last fortnight

alone. the iraqi army is now pushing deeper into the city. the pentagon has promised a full investigation into military personnel who shared nude person to make photographs of female colleagues on social media. former and current service women say they have had their photos posted without knowledge. and vw has pled guilty in an american court to three criminal charges linked to its diesel emission scandal. the company will pay fines of over $4.3 billion. prosecutors say that the fraud went to the top of the organisation. now it is time for a look back at the week in parliament.