hello and welcome to bbc news. broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. the desperate plight of tens of thousands of iraqi civilians trapped in mosul as they flee from the so—called islamic state. we hear from some who have escaped. translation: we got our freedom, but it cost us a lot. i lost my house and my children were injured. the pentagon promises a full investigation into military personnel who shared nude photograph of female colleagues on social media. volkswagen pleads guilty in an american court to charges related to its diesel emission scandal. and if you need to escape reality, step into infinity. we go in on a

journey of the senses. fears are growing for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the second city of mosul 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. 0ur 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. 0n 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. "0ne 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. 0rla guerin, bbc news, mosul. the us defence secretary has promised a full investigation into military ‘s personnel who shared nude photographs of female personnel on social media. in a statement, james matheson said that the practice was an respectable and undermined cohesion. the pentagon has been shocked and embarrassed by

relations of servicemen posing naked images of service women online. reports last week covered widespread photo sharing and cyber bullying by current and former marines on facebook. now, the bbc has seen evidence that the problem is far more extensive, involving personnel from other branches of the us military. in some cases, names, ra nks military. in some cases, names, ranks and contact information were also posted, together with a welter of offensive and demeaning comments. we claim that being a marine is a special title and something that you will earn. there is honour. we will be self—critical but we need to recognise that there is a problem and we need to work out how to solve

it. victims say that the posting of photos is not just it. victims say that the posting of photos is notjust a violation of trust but a threat to their safety. multiple victims and recently began speaking out about the unauthorised posts but they received threats and backlash in an attempt to quiet them. we will not be silenced. i can tell you that this exact behaviour leads to the normalisation of sexual harassment and sexual violence. facebook group called marines united with 30,000 members has been shut down and the ncis has launched an investigation. it has asked more whistleblowers to come forward with any information. 0nly whistleblowers to come forward with any information. only then will the full scale of the problem be known. earlier we spoke to a former marine who told me that she believes the scandal is much wider. as the general would refer to that,

just the tip of the spear, 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 the facebook page were fully clothed in uniform going about their duties and had photos taken surreptitiously of them and then shared on this site to encourage the 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 years who have written stories about this. it is not the first time that the department of defence has heard about this.

this specific instance in regards to marines united was uncovered through a 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 you, although not naked. correct. i was part of something similar that happened to me while i was on deployment in 2008. a marine obtained photos of me from my social media account, downloaded them and was using them in what they like to call tent parties or barracks

parties, talking in sexually explicit language, encouraging what marines would do to me in a demeaning and sexual way. the german carmaker 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. dashmac the scandal sparked a global backlash and the fallout continues. in detroit, the company admitted that for six years diesel vehicles were fitted with illegal software to cheat emissions tests. it is the first time they have actually pleaded

guilty and as they did so, they said it was because they are guilty. i 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 offence that 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 was part of a $4.3 billion settlement 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 emit up to a0 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. vw has admitted that worldwide ii 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 with us on bbc news because still to come— the fight to prevent the death of

gorillas in africa. the number of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced in with a dynamic figure sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. 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 led many of the protestors. he told me what he hoped to achieve in washington. today's gathering was another in a long—lasting struggle

against big finance and big extraction. native nations have an international claim to protect the water and the lands. and right now even though the oil company has announced plans to have oilflowing very soon, we still want to let the world know 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 politicalfight 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's 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 americans,

native nations, would in fact bear the risk of a potential oil spill at gunpoint — over 800 people have 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, an anglo community, was not going to be made 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's a sad day that we are being made to bear that risk while they don't have to. so we know it's going to leak. let's round—up some of the other

main stories: the un's head of emergency aid operations says the world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine. stephen 0'brien called for an immediate injection of funds for yemen, south sudan, somalia and northeastern nigeria. he said the situation was gravest in yemen, where two—thirds of the population need food aid. president trump has invited the palestinian leader, mahmoud abbas, to the white house. the invitation was made during a phone—call — the first contact between the two leaders since mr trump took office. the us president has spoken of wanting to facilitate a middle east peace deal. he met the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu last month. the us state department has instructed new york city's chief medical examiner not to disclose the cause of death of russia's ambassador to the united nations. pope francis has said he's willing to consider ordaining older 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 priesthood to all married men, or watering down the catholic church's commitment to celibacy. 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. 0ur 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. have you ever wondered what infinity might look like? well, the 87—year—old japanese artist yayoi kusama has pretty much

captured the experience at an exhibition at the hirshhorn museum in washington. it's become one of the art events of the year with long lines to glimpse inside her so—called infinity rooms. jane 0'brien went to see what all the fuss is about. it is easy to get lost in one of yoyo kusama's infinity rooms, even though they are physically quite tiny. the lights warp our perceptions of what is real and what is illusion. we are living in a time when almost everything we see is through digital technology, social media, e—mailing. so that is so much a part of our lives and our perception that she reminds us that there is this other aspect of experiencing space that sometimes is more tactile. to understand how kusama reached

infinity, you need to step into her white room. as a child kusama had a vision of polkadots. it led to a type of neurosis. visitors are encouraged to stick them everywhere in this room, completely obliterating the white and leading to oblivion, which brings us back to infinity. at first being in this room makes me feel incredibly happy. i am surrounded by glow—in—the—dark pumpkins, for goodness sake. but after a couple of seconds it becomes disturbing because this is probably the closest any of us will come to seeing what infinity must look like and once you grasp that you realise how utterly insignificant you really are. most people inside these rooms immediately reach for their cellphones. this is after all the ultimate selfie. but not so fast, says the museum. if you are in this infinity mirror

room and you don't stop and put down your phone, you're not truly experiencing it, because it is this moment in which you are alone in the cosmos and it's a very compelling and poignant experience. get past the showstopping infinity rooms and there's plenty more to tickle the senses. voluptuous sculptures, dots, appendages, dots and more dots. kusama is arguablyjapan‘s most important contemporary artist. this show reveals why her appeal is global. this is bbc news. it's a pretty quiet weather story

really into the weekend and the start of next week. 0ne things for certain, it's going to be pretty mild. many places will be dry. i think saturday looks like the driest day of the weekend for most places. 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 during saturday morning across northern ireland and scotland. i think most of the rain will be light and patchy, but there could be the odd heavy bursts in there, increasing breeze as well. elsewhere it will be dry, some mist and murk and hill fog. these are the temperatures to start saturday morning, 8—11 degrees. so across the north of the uk, then, 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 to saturday. a lot of cloud around, though, it could be quite grey. we could see a little bit of brightness to begin the morning across the south. temperatures here around 9—11 degrees. that's an improving picture i think across southern and south—eastern areas through the day. we import a little bit of dryer air off the near continent, so the cloud should break up and we should see some sunny spells. that will really boost temperatures up. further north as well, a bit of brightness across scotland and northern ireland. it's the central slice of the country will see the weakening weather front with outbreaks of rain. double—figure values for all, but we could see 17 degrees across the south—east. the weather looks fine as well for the six nations rugby back home and in italy, with some sunshine and temperatures of 15—16 degrees both in rome and back home. now, as we head through saturday night, this is where we start to see the change. the weather front moves in from the west, pep up that rain. it turns wetter in england and wales. a damp end to the night. sunday morning, it looks like it will be mild but there will be outbreaks of rain, some low

cloud and mist and murk. so, sunday is looking much wetter for many places, particularly england and wales. brightening skies, though, further west for northern ireland, maybe for western scotland, into wales and the south—west of england. one or two showers around. a couple of showers around. a little bit cooler and fresher. 10—11 degrees. maybe as high as 12—13 across the south—east. now, the wet weather eventually clears during sunday night. into monday and tuesday, a ridge of high pressure builds in, so it is going be fine and there should be a lot of dry weather around, but also a lot of cloud. we could see some rain getting to northern ireland and scotland on tuesday because of that weather front. so, quite a benign picture into next week. it will stay mild for many, alot of cloud around. but where the sunshine breaks through, then it will feel very mild. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm gavin grey. tens of thousands of civilians are trying to flee mosul, as government forces get closer to recapturing it from 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 photographs of female colleagues on social media. former and current servicewomen say they have had their photographs posted without their knowledge. volkswagen has pleaded guilty in an american court to three criminal charges linked to its diesel emissions scandal — the company will pay fines of more than $4.3 billion. prosecutors say the fraud went to the top of the organisation. a drug addict who crashed a car into a family during a police chase