the white house press secretary, sean spicer, has resigned, reportedly because he was unhappy with president donald trump's appointment of a new communications director. the new appointee, anthony scaramucci, a former wall street financier, denied there had been tensions over his appointment. the world health organisation has said the cholera outbreak in yemen is out of control, with over 300,000 people affected. the country has been racked by civil war and an intervention by saudi—led forces for the past two years. as a result, government health services have collapsed. the victim of an armed robbery in which oj simpson was jailed has told the bbc why he gave evidence at the former football star and actor's parole hearing on thursday. witnesses have been describing their panic after a powerful earthquake hit the greek island of kos. two people have been killed

and at least 100 injured. the quake, with a magnitude of 6.7, also caused floods in the streets of the turkish resort of bodrum. 0ur correspondent mark lowen reports from the aegean coast. 1:30am in the turkish resort of bodrum. a night out turns to panic as the ground shakes. footage from nearby shops showed the impact as the earthquake struck, measuring 6.7. the epicentre, the aegean sea between bodrum and the greek island of kos. as streets in bodrum were flooded, residents ran, fearing for their lives and for the after—shocks. but kos felt the worst of it. a turkish and a swedish tourist were killed as the roof of a bar collapsed and scores were injured, some jumping from buildings to escape. 200,000 holiday—makers were said to be on the island,

10,000 of them from britain. we were literally ripped from our sleep. the bed shook uncontrollably. the room shook from side to side. the noise was terrible. i actually thought that was it, i really did. at first light, the damage in kos was clear. parts of the cathedral were turned to rubble. it was rebuilt 80 years ago after the one that stood here was destroyed by an earthquake, nature striking again, crushing what lay in its path. the ground was unsteady, you could feel it. you could feel it moving. it was quite scary. we heard glasses coming off our shelves. we heard it in the bathroom, glass smashing in the living room. so we got up and you were swaying, literally. in bodrum, fishing boats were upturned by the tremor. power went out in both resorts. 200 turkish nationals were evacuated from kos,

including some of the injured, taken by ferry to bodrum and stretchered to hospital. the earthquake was shallow but was lessened by the sea, although it did cause high waves. greece and turkey are seismically active. both are on significant faultlines and have suffered huge earthquakes in recent years. this could have been lot worse. with the ferry port in kos damaged, the airport was under pressure, some taking refuge from the heat as flights were delayed. a holiday idyll turned to nightmare as dozens recover in hospital and greece takes stock of a traumatic night. mark lowen, bbc news, on the greek coast. now on bbc news, it's our world. in the syrian city of raqqa, islamic state is making a final stand. fighting them,

a fragile coalition... gunshots. ..of powers, great and small. of arabs and kurds. of men and women. the enemy they face has weaponised fear. but this is more than the final showdown with isis in its capital. it's also a battle for a kurdish state in northern syria.

there's something bigger than me. it's for people here, the women here and women in the middle east, and maybe potentially the world. it's a fight for territory, both physical and ideological. this story begins not in raqqa, but in kobane. what remains of this largely kurdish city stands as a monument to a brutal turning point in the war against islamic state. it was here that is reached its high water mark.

its territory extending as far as the turkish border. it was here it met its first significant defeat. the cemetery in kobane testifies to just how high a price kurdish fighters, men and women, have already paid in their war against is. for the kurds, this is part of a wider battle, for a long—held dream of self—determination. commander sonxuin is part of that battle. her nom de guerre means red blood. today, sonxuin commands around 1000

fighters on the raqqa front line. periods of intense fighting punctuate the mundane routines of war. together, these men and women make up the syrian democratic forces, or sdf. an alliance that includes arabs, but is led by the kurds. we're heading towards the centre of raqqa. islamic state fighters are holed up in the old city, just a few

hundred metres away. everyone is on edge. a sound overhead signals the presence of an attack drone. what's happening is we've just driven down these narrow side streets. suddenly there's gunfire overhead, everyone‘s looking up in the sky, searching for these is drones. this is urban warfare. there are no realfront lines. the kurdish—led sdf are not on their own in this fight. the americans have quietly built up a presence on the ground here in northern syria, providing weapons, training and firepower. with us help they've chased islamic state out of traditionally kurdish areas and beyond. expanding their control across the euphrates and into mainly

arab territory to the west. this is manbij. the syrian democratic forces took the city last august, after two and a half years under is rule. this building was their courthouse. here, islamic state would sit in judgment over people they deemed to have broken their laws. punishment would be meted out in the car park opposite. a local shopkeeper witnessed many of the gruesome executions. even though is is gone from here, he asked us not to reveal his identity, forfear of reprisals. down in the basement, their brutal legacy lingers, like a ghost. in this dungeon, is tortured its prisoners. a policeman showed us the cell

where his uncle was kept. barely big enough to contain a man. tiny air holes to keep him alive. when they let him out, after four days, they had to amputate his leg. in a vast graveyard in the centre of manbij, is fighters have smashed every single headstone. and even though islamic state has been chased out of this town, that doesn't mean its ideology has gone with it.

in manbij, a multiethnic military and civil council has brought life and stability back to this mainly arab city, under the auspices of the kurdish led sdf. the sdf and their american allies see manbij as a template for raqqa,

once is is driven out, but in the context of syria's ongoing civil war it is at best a temporary arrangement. from kobane to manbij, and now to raqqa, it has been a long road to the capital of the caliphate. commander sonxuin and her unit are on the western front. it's a tight squeeze in a home—made armoured truck with a couple of her fighters, driving towards the centre of raqqa. islamic state are supposed to be surrounded inside the old city, but is have dug tunnels.

and frequently, they pop up where you don't expect them. gunshots. these fighters, they are coming up against is snipers in all these streets around here. other than that, they've got drones, they've got suicide bombers. this is going to be a very hard fight into the centre of raqqa. back at base, sonxuin and her fellow commanders are having a strategy meeting. as the fight enters the narrow streets of the city, they are constantly having to adjust their tactics. as the sdf push forward, raqqa seems deserted. but the empty streets are deceptive. there are still people

here and they are desperate to get out. as we drive towards the centre, carts appear flying white flags. there are still tens of thousands of people in raqqa, trapped between the coalition air strikes on one side and islamic state on the other, who've been killing anyone who tries to flee. the problem for the sdf coalition is this — they don't know whether some of those fleeing could, in fact, be is supporters themselves. after screening, many of them end up at this camp. all have lived under the harsh regime of islamic state —

not all against their will. noor left raqqa for lebanon two years ago to join her husband, ajihadi. as the wife of a foreign fighter, noor was in a relatively privileged position. there were many women, especially yazidis, whose fates were much darker — women captured and sold between the fighters as sex slaves. she saw all this. those women are still there, in raqqa, prisoners of the caliphate. syria has been at war for more than six years now — longer than the whole

of world war ii. the fight against islamic state is but one facet of an ongoing conflict that is drawing in the world's big powers. from a hilltop overlooking the manbij countryside, a local kurdish commander showed me the point at which all these competing forces come face to face. 0k, well, it's a pretty complicated picture, but basically it boils down to this — from the west, all the way up to the north, up to the euphrates river over there, is controlled by the americans. from that same west point all the way to the south is controlled by the syrian regime. that describes the sort of d shape. in the middle of that is the pocket of the manbij military council, which is an arab—kurdish coalition, but is basically controlled

by the kurds. but in between all of that, there's a russian base just over there, an american basejust likm along from that, and surrounding all of it are fsa forces — free syrian army — that are basically sponsored by the turks. for now, the battle against islamic state provides a kind of common purpose. but once is is gone, the potential for conflict between these big powers is very real. the kurds‘ position is extremely fragile.

their fighters belonged to a branch of the pkk, considered a terrorist organisation by both turkey and the united states. for now, the syrian kurds have the backing of the americans but turkey, a nato ally, carries out sporadic attacks against them — that's because their fight against the islamic state is really about creating their own state. 0n the raqqa front lines, sonxuin‘s fighters are so close, they can hear is in the building across the street. for the kurds, this is more than a war. it's a revolution. and it's attracting its share of idealistic outsiders. there'sjust a million

ways to die here. it's notjust on the front. there's no front line. it's a huge space of war, that is like, even though it seems peaceful here, anything can happen. kimmie taylor is a former maths student. she is originally from blackburn in the north of england. she left behind a life of activism at home to come to syria to fight islamic state. what are the biggest worries, the biggest threats? 0n the moving front, where we are moving to take more space, it's snipers. and mines everywhere — there's mines everywhere and snipers everywhere. are you scared? uh, no. there is something bigger than me. it's for people here. it's for women here and for women all in the middle east, and even maybe potentially the world.

in a conservative society, this feminist revolution faces internal opposition, too, but this is a movement that tolerates little dissent. political opponents have been jailed. thousands of young people have fled conscription. but for sonxuin, a true believer, the fight against is is but one battle in a longer war to convert her own people to the cause. sonxuin‘s fighters face islamic state at perhaps its most dangerous — wounded, cornered, and with nothing left to lose. this is, of course, a battle for territory. they're fighting to take the capital of the caliphate. 0h, there's something happening here. everyone‘s just springing into action. they think they've got some isis snipers in the buildings around. we've got one, yes? yes.

let's go. what's going on? they are moving here. the fall of the islamic state is within sight. the question is, can this kurdish revolution survive in the face of syria's still unfinished war? after the soaking summer into a dream friday for the weekend '5 low pressure is close by but it's more ofa fun pressure is close by but it's more of a fun chimed in showers jewellery. show was could be heavy 01’ jewellery. show was could be heavy or thundery but again some sunshine appearing after they've moved on. as for the windy friday, by the wind and it could be gusty around some of the showers. the start, many of us will be private showers becoming quickly, the south—west england, wales, spreading north—east and some hefty downpours affecting northern england and scotland through the day, again with the chance of

rumbles of thunder and some hailed. northwest scotland, warm and sunny spells but bright and breezy and the odd shower in the northern island but not too many sunny spells among those islands of south anglia and east england in the evening but during that evening, the downfall is easing. part two of the weekend, sunday, sunshine and showers, still some heavy showers around and the more persistent rain effect in parts of eastern scotland. this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: president trump's spokesman quits as a new voice takes over white house communications. as the saudi—led coalition continues military operations in yemen, the country faces a massive epidemic of cholera. pockets of famine are growing, cholera is spreading, and civil servants, like the doctors and nurses, here, haven't received a salary in over ten months. the palestinian president freezes ties with israel as three palestinians are shot dead and three

israelis killed in an outbreak of violence. the victim of an armed robbery in which oj simpson was jailed tells us why he thought the former football star should be freed.