welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is gavin grey. our top stories: the desperate plight of tens of thousands of iraqi civilians trapped in mosul, as they flee from so—called islamic state. we hear from some of those who've 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 photographs of female colleagues on social media. volkswagen pleads guilty to us emissions charges and agrees to pay fines of $4.3 billion. divide and conquer — with nine songs in the the uk's top 10 even ed sheeran says it's time to have a rethink about the charts. 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. fifty thousand people have fled the west of the city over the last fortnight alone. the iraqi army is now pushing deeper into the extremists‘ stronghold in the city. our correspondent orla guerin and cameraman nico hameon have 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. the us defence secretary has promised a full investigation into military personnel who shared nude photographs of female colleagues on social media. in a statement, james mattis said the practice was unacceptable, showed a lack of respect and undermined cohesion. andy beatt reports. the pentagon has been shocked and embarrassed by relations

of servicemen posing naked images of service women online. of servicemen posting 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, 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. but there is no honour in denigrating fellow marine. 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 notjust a violation of trust but a threat to their safety. multiple victims 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. a 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. 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. that is just the tip of the spear,

thatis that is just the tip of the spear, that is the marine term. i find it ha rd to that is the marine term. i find it hard to believe that it is only ten females encompassing this issue. many of these women that were shared on this website were fully clothed going about their daily duties and had photographs taken sir is —— unbeknownst to them. i think we definitely need to clarify these we re definitely need to clarify these were not simply nonconsensual newk photos. how did it all come to ught? photos. how did it all come to light? -- photos. how did it all come to light? —— nude. photos. how did it all come to light? -- nude. this issue has been known throughout the marine corps

and the department of defence for quite sometime. they have been dedicated journalists covering it for the past five — eight years so this is not the first time they have heard about this but this specific insta nce heard about this but this specific instance in regards to marines united was uncovered through the non—profit journalist thomas brennan with the warhorse and another report this past weekend. the most recent discovery that this is potentially across all military services through business insider last night. the reason you are driving forward with the group is because you yourself found pictures circulated of you, though not in the nude. found pictures circulated of you, though not in the nudelj found pictures circulated of you, though not in the nude. i was part of something similar when i was on

deployment in iraq. a marine obtained photographs of me off my social media account, downloaded them and was using them in what they called parties, talking in sexually explicit language, encouraging what marines would do to me in a demeaning and sexual way. india is to announce the results of a series of state elections. the most important one is in the northern battleground state of uttar pradesh. with its population of 220 million, it's the biggest democratic election anywhere in the world this year. let's talk now to our delhi correspondent sanjoy majumder. promises of growth, modernisation and rooting out corruption seem to be the main promises of the ruling party anyway? yes, there are are a

number of reasons these elections are significant. 0ne number of reasons these elections are significant. one of the states was uttar pradesh, the largest in the country in terms of population but also bellwether state all lawyers indicate which way india is heading. —— all ways. it is also an election which comes midway through the prime minister's term. he has over two years the prime minister's term. he has over two yea rs before the prime minister's term. he has over two years before the national election so this is almost a referendum on how he is governing india so far. last november he took a controversial decision to take out of circulation two of the highest valued currency notes which made up 80% of the total currency in circulation in a country that really depends on cash. it was very unpopular. but if you look at the

early results coming in, and it is still quite early, it looks like it made no difference because his party is poised to do quite well at least in uttar pradesh and a couple of other states. when will we expect to know who has won? you know, the amazing thing about indian elections — they are the largest elections taking place this year— but they ta ke taking place this year— but they take place really quickly because voting is done electronically so there is no physical counting of ballots papers. they come in very, very rapidly and we have seen the results coming in full but we are expecting a very clear indication of who has won possibly in the next two hours. thank you very much indeed. in other news: 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. 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. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: shaping the uk top 10 — sheer dominance for ed sheeran as he takes over the charts. 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 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. 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. the un's head of emergency aid operations says the world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945. stephen 0'brien told the un security council more than 20 million people are facing starvation and famine in yemen, somalia, south sudan and nigeria. unicef has already warned 1.4 million children could starve to death this year. mr o'brien said $4.4 billon was needed by july to avert disaster. speaking at the un security council, stephen o'brien said only money for aid and a political will to end the violence in conflict states will allow the un to get help to the most desperate. we stand at a critical point in

history. already, at the beginning of the year, we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the united nations. now more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine. without collective and co—ordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. all four countries have one thing in common. conflict. this means that we, you, have the possibility to prevent and and further misery and suffering. the united nations and its partners are ready to work together, but we need the access and the funds to do more. it is all preventable. it is possible to avert this crisis, to adverts these famines, to avert these looming human catastrophes. that was stephen 0'brien, the un

security council. the german carmaker volkswagen has pleaded guilty in an american court to three criminal charges linked to the diesel emissions scandal. vw has admitted that between 2009 and 2015 vehicles were fitted with illegal software allowing them to pass emissions tests while still producing high levels of pollution. sarah corker reports. 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 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. vw has admitted that worldwide 11 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. 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. 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 league finance and dig extraction. native nations have an international claim to protect the water and the lands, and right now, even though the oil company is announcing their plans to have oil flowing very soon, we still wa nted have oil flowing very soon, we still wanted to let the world know that the fight isn't over and we want to ca ptu re 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 protect our destiny, but to protect the land and the water. we are not against development, but we are not against development, but we are being asked to live in the sacrifice zone here, 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 ta kes ? fight on, what form will that fight takes? yes, there is a political fight that involves the trump administration and united states congress, and an international flight congress, and an international flight 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 forums. 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 is already 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 think 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. you would normally expect glitz and glamour at a movie premiere, but star—spotters at the premiere of the new king kong film had more excitement than they bargained for when a 5m—high model of the ape caught fire. the blaze in ho chi minh city was thought to have been caused by a discarded torch from a dance display. it's one of the first big hollywood films to be shot in vietnam. they might need to be more careful at the premiere next time, maybe. i shouldn't think the organisers were very happy. in fact, they might have gone ape. 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'll 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. fifty thousand 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. the former apprentice contestant and newspaper columnist katie hopkins has had to pay thousands of pounds in damages