rain will come in with it from the west. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump insists he has the "complete power to pardon" and attacks the media for its coverage of the claims russia interfered in the us election. next week, his eldest son and his son—in—law are due to testify before congress about their contacts with a russian lawyer. venezuelan soldiers have fired teargas at hundreds of protesters trying to march to the supreme court in caracas. the opposition group say president nicolas maduro is seeking to consolidate his power by re—writing the constitution. the hospital seeking to remove life support from the seriously ill baby, charlie gard, says doctors and nurses have faced abuse in the street and online. it comes as the high court considers whether charlie's parents should be allowed to take him to the us for experimental treatment. now on bbc news, 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

tojust 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, for fear 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 have 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, tojoin 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 basejust over there, an american base just four kilometres 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's 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. kimi 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, there's mines everywhere and snipers everywhere. are you scared? no. there's something bigger than me.

it's for people here. it's for women here and women 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 are fighting to take the capital of the caliphate.

there's something happening here. everyone is just springing into action. they think they've got... some isis snipers in the buildings around. 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? hello. saturday turned into the day of the downpour. not surprising when you see skies like this and many others from weather watchers. the heavens opened shortly after this was taken, and the area of low pressure producing those showers and outbreaks of rain on saturday. still close by on sunday,

so even if you have a dry start, be prepared for some showers as the day goes on. a lot of cloud around first thing, and perhaps still some outbreaks of rain affecting parts of the midlands, and northern england and eastern scotland, with low cloud. we will look at things in greater detail at 9:00am in the morning. there will also be, where we have had clear skies overnight, some mist and fog patches in wales and south—west england. they will clear. england, brighter spots, sunny spells. expect a fair amount of cloud to begin the day, and again some outbreaks of rain in the midlands, and it will clear into showers, as it will eventually brighten up. for northern ireland, bar the odd shower, dry weather to come. western scotland starting fine. but here in north—east scotland, we've got low cloud and a cool breeze. some outbreaks of rain. and that rain will go south during the day across scotland, avoiding the far north—west. it should brighten up again after moving through. northern ireland, the odd shower. dry weather, sunny spells. late morning, into the afternoon,

though, showers getting going in england and wales. catch one, it could be heavy. sunny spells in between. temperatures in the high teens and low 20s. so what does that mean for the final round of the open golf at royal birkdale? well, it could be a cloudy and damp start. 0vernight rain lingering. some showers. but an improving picture through the day, although it will be breezier compared to saturday. the women's world cup, sunshine in the morning, but in the afternoon, the increasing chance of a shower that could be heavy. and some of those showers will continue into sunday evening, before slowly fading. an area of rain then moving out of scotland into parts of northern england, and by the time we get to monday, that is only slowly clearing from parts of eastern england. a cool breeze with that. elsewhere, a dry and sunny day. temperatures in the west approaching the mid—20s. looking at the big picture for tuesday, by then we are in between weather systems. so most places will have a fine day.

but look at this. the next weather system is not too far away. so take advantage of the fine day on tuesday. some pleasantly warm and sunny spells. because by the time we get to wednesday, that system will come m, and more rain will come in with it from the west. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: president trump claims "complete power" to issue pardons as senators prepare to question his family's contacts with russians during the us election. venezuela's crisis intensifies as the military clash with protesters trying to march towards the supreme court in caracas. london's great 0rmond street hospital says staff have received death threats and on line abuse in relation to the charlie gard case. and victims of heroin in philadelphia. we'll hear from the people fighting an addiction, leaving them sleeping under

bridges and off the tracks. hello, and welcome to bbc news.