hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. the battle against the spread of the so—called islamic state has raged on for years — but now a spokesman for the kurdish—led alliance in north—eastern syria says its forces are launching their final battle against the group in the tiny pocket of territory it still holds around the village of baghouz near the iraqi border. the announcement comes just days after president trump said he believed the end of the self—declared is caliphate could be announced in the coming week. but as sebastian usher reports, the threat still remains in the region. the us backed stf has played a key role in the war against eye tests in syria. its biggest victory was to drive the jihadists out of there de fa cto drive the jihadists out of there de facto capital, rafa, in the past few months it has picked off one town, village, or hamlet in the north—eastern corner of syria to

which islamic state fighters have been driven. all that is for is a few square miles left to the —— next to the iraqi border. a far cry from the kalak that they once declared across huge swathes of syria and iraq. pat mcafee. the stf delayed its final attack and took thousands of civilians in the area could get out. —— sdf. they said as i said battle is under way. the united states military, our coalition partners, and the syrian democratic forces have liberated virtually all of the territorian previously held byicesin of the territorian previously held by ices in syria and iraq. last week president trump said the total defeat of eye tests could be defeated within days. that cities agenda of withering all us troops from syria. he has been criticised before for declaring final victory over eye tests prematurely. caution is still needed. i as holds other

territory —— islamic state. it is the same story in iraq. the group's ability for a gorilla group that is. the fate of those such as the british journalist the fate of those such as the britishjournalistjohn hadley remains unclear, as does that of its leader. it's most effective though, the sdf, faces an uncertain future, if and when it is us backers leave. sebastian bat —— sebastian usher, bbc news. in tunisia, state prosecutors have appealed against the acquittal of 27 suspects who stood trial for the 2015 terror attacks. 60 people were killed in those attacks, most of them british. it comes as a court sentenced seven people to life in prison for their involvement in the attacks. the first one hit the bardo museum in tunis. the second targeted tourists at a beach resort near the town of sousse. bbc world affairs correspondent richard galpin reports. the mass trials here at the courts in tunisia began more than a year ago. now more than a dozen militants have been sentenced to prison, some for life.

but many others have been acquitted. gunfire. it was back in 2015 that tourists were targeted in two devastating attacks claimed by so—called islamic state. the attack here in the popular resort of zeus was the most deadly. a lone gunmen armed with a kalashnikov and explosives running along the beach, killing holiday—makers at random and doing the same inside a large, crowded hotel. 38 people, most of them british, were killed. police who were nearby failed to intervene and tell it was too late. just three months earlier there had been a very similar attack at the national museum in tunis. this time two gunmen rampaging through the building, killing more than 20 tourists and a security guard. following this incident, there were many questions why the tunisian authorities did not do more to ensure holiday—makers would be safe in the country. given the clear threat from islamist militants.

as a result, the country's vital tourism industry plummeted and it was only in 2017 that it began to pick up again after security at holiday resorts and other popular areas was improved. richard galpin, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. activist groups outside china are reporting the death of a respected uighur musician in a chinese detention camp. he is believed to have been serving an eight year sentence. a un panel said last year that more than a million ethnic uighurs — including a number of artists and musicians — were being held in detention. turkey has also condemned china's treatment of its uighur people, calling it "a great embarrassment for humanity and urged china to close the uighur camps. pakistan's federal investigation agency says it's arrested

a well—known journalist for posting anti—government comments on social media. it said rizwan razi was being investigated for what it described as "defamatory and obnoxious" comments about the judiciary and intelligence agencies. but his family said mr razi was seized outside his home in lahore by unidentified men, who beat him and then bundled him into a car. us senator elizabeth warren has officially launched her bid to become the democratic presidential nominee. shejoins a growing list of democrats keen to take on republican president donald trump in 2020. the massachusetts democrat made the announcement in the working class city of lawrence. the man in the white house is not the cause of what is broken. he is just the latest and most extreme symptom of what's gone wrong in america. a product of a rigged system that props up the rich and the powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else. the cost of college

has nearly tripled. and 40% of americans couldn't find $400 to cover an emergency. that is millions of hard—working people in this country whose lives would be turned upside down if the transmission fell out of the car or somebody got sick and missed a week at work. the middle—class squeeze is real and millions of families can barely breathe. it is not right! cheering. elizabeth warren. you are watching bbc news. the duke of edinburgh has voluntarily given up his driving licence. in a statement buckingham palace said that prince philip had made the decision "after careful consideration". it comes after the 97—year—old duke apologised over a car crash last month, near the sandringham estate in norfolk, in which his vehicle

landed on its side after a collision with a car carrying two women and a baby. with me is andy moore. to tell us more about this. is this an admission that prince philip is not safe to drive or is it an admission they did not handle bpr well after this accident was yellow according to the one line statement, it isa according to the one line statement, it is a decision taken by the duke after careful consideration. it is a decision taken by the duke after careful considerationm it is a decision taken by the duke after careful consideration. it is an admission he feels he is not safe to drive. we understand from palace sources that it is a decision he took himself, that he just felt it wasn't right. we do know that about five days after the accident he sent a letter to one of the women involved in the incident and he said he was very contrite about the

consequences. he said he had been dazzled by the low sun. it was basically an admission he had been at fault. you may also remember that at fault. you may also remember that a few days after the accident he was seen a few days after the accident he was seen with another car, he was driving around sandringham without a seatbelt and he took a lot of criticism over that. maybe it is a combination of both. a little bit of bad pr and perhaps at the age of 97 he has realised it is not safe for him to drive and there are plenty of people who can drive him. does this and the matter or is there an ongoing investigation into that accident? there is an ongoing investigation. he could face a charge of driving without due care and attention. rolfo police have completed their investigation. they have sent a file to the crown prosecution service —— rolfo police. the crown prosecution service say they will deliver their verdict in due course. they say they will take into account the decision to

surrender his licence. there are some experts in the field who say there is less likely that there will bea there is less likely that there will be a prosecution if the driver surrenders his licence, as the duke has done. andy moore, thank you very much. the government's under fire with calls for the transport secretary to resign after it cancelled a multi million pound contract awarded to a company in the event of a no deal brexit. seaborne ferries won the deal to ensure ferries would keep crossing the channel in the event of the uk leaving the eu without a deal — but there was widespread criticism after the bbc found the company did not actually have any ships and had never run a ferry service before. our business correspondent rob young reports. preparations have been under way for weeks. dredging started at ramsgate port at the beginning ofjanuary. seaborne freight was due to run regular services to 0stend in belgium in the event of a no—deal brexit, once it got hold of some ships. but the company has now been stripped of its contract. the £14 million deal

was controversial from the start. the contract‘s cancellation has intensified the criticism of ministers. we first flagged problems with seaborne freight in april of last year. and we've been tracking it since then both in terms of its attempts to find vessels, which have all failed without exception, largely because this port is very small. the government has defended the checks it carried out on seaborne. it says the company's main backer, arklow shipping, has pulled out, meaning seaborne could not meet its contractual requirements. it wasn't paid any public money. ferries haven't operated at ramsgate since 2013. the government hopes new services from here could help reduce congestion at dover if there are delays come the end of march. but there is now a big question mark over whether ramsgate will be used if there is a no—deal brexit.

the department of transport says it's in advanced talks with other companies to supply freight services, possibly from ramsgate. with less than two months to go until brexit, timing is tight. it is a disappointment. i don't know the commercial reasons why arklow have pulled out. but i want to make sure this port is ready for brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authority is considering a cut to the port's funding which might prevent a ferry service starting in the future. rob young, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster — he explained what the political fallout has been. i guess, if you could award a contract to a ferry company that has got no ferries of its own this was always going to be politically contentious, but labour are calling for chris grayling to go this evening and privately some conservatives mps agree with them. nonetheless downing street says that the prime minister still has full confidence in the transport secretary. but i think this whole episode is once again putting a spotlight on the government's

preparation for no deal. for example, the independent institute for government has suggested that now the effect of no deal cannot be simply limited to minor disruption. so there's going to be a renewed attempt to try to get a deal, by government ministers. the brexit secretary is off seeing the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, next week. there is also going to be a whole range of other government ministers meetings thi continental counterparts. i think the difficulty is this though, basically the kind of unofficial deadline of the end of the month to try to get the revised deal but as the clock begins to tick down, more attention is being paid to what happens if we leave without a deal at all. the home office says it's concerned about the large increase in young people who are becoming victims of knife crime. figures from nhs england show the number of people aged between ten and 19, who've been admitted to hospital with stab wounds, has gone up by more than 50 % over the past five years. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, reports. the youngest victim to die

in a knife attack this year. jayden moody was stabbed to death after being knocked off a moped. an 18—year—old man has been charged with murder. jayen was just 1a. doctors say they are treating increasing numbers of people for knife wounds and the victims are getting younger. what has changed is that we are seeing a lot more adolescents and young people that have had severe injuries, and that used to be an occasional occurrence and that is now the norm. i expect to admit somebody of school age under care fo our service this week, as a matter of course. the figures for hospital admissions for injuries from knives or sharp objects showed there were almost 5000 people treated for stab wounds last year. over 1,000 of them were aged 10—19 — that's a rise of 54% compared with five years earlier. another trend doctors have observed is that more girls are involved in knife crime. some victims faced threats that footage of their stabbing will be posted online. there is a shift in what we are

seeing, in that i am seeing young women who have come in having had their mobile phone taken off them in an attack and having their attack filmed as sort of part of a humiliation, you know, this is what's going to happen to you if you say anything, we'll put it on the internet. doctors say the rise in knife crime is putting extra pressure on emergency services. the home office has set up a serious violence strategy to tackle the problem and has launched a review of the links between violent crime and the trade in illegal drugs. danny shaw, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: the final battle. kurdish fighters in north—eastern syria launch a major assault against what remains of the islamic state group. seven extremists are sentenced to life in prison in tunisia over attacks that killed dozens of people in 2015. the head of nasa says they plan

to send humans to the moon again, but that this time they will stay. the space agency will start with an orbiting lunar outpost designed to send astronauts to the surface, and then build a more permanent structure on the moon. to tell us more about it, we arejoined by dr ken kremer, a space journalist. thank you very much for your time. so nasa wants to go back to the moon, can you explain their plan a little bit more? shaw, thanks for having me. yes, nasa wants to... it's been 50 years, we want to go back to the moon, we are developing a rocket and the orion capsule to do that, and we are also developing a mini space station at the moon that they will launch through, and that is called the gateway. we want to

launch the first element of the gateway in 2022, and we will send an astronaut to go into lunar orbit around 2023, and then we want to test the human land around 2024, and then hopefully, if that all works out, we will send the first humans back to the moon in 2024... i'm sorry, 2028. and hopefully europe is going to be part of that, because europe is a big part of the orion capsule programme that will carry the humans to the moon. as you say, it has been almost exactly half a century since the moon landing. why the sudden interest now in going back? well, there's been a developing interest. you know, u nfortu nately developing interest. you know, unfortunately the politicians 50 yea rs unfortunately the politicians 50 years ago ended the apollo programme. both of the wishes wanted to return to the moon but the congress didn't quite agree —— bushes. now there seems to be a consensus among many nations, us, russia, china, that it is important

to go back, so there has been a change in the political mindset about it. and that's what it takes, because we have the technology. what we need to go to the moon is political willpower and the funding. and so that's what seems to be changing now. we've been hearing a lot about china's expedition to the dark side of the moon. is there a little bit of competitiveness here, with the united states wanting to keep up? absolutely, and i am really glad china is pursuing their lunar dreams, there is that is what is going to spur the western countries into action, i believe. so i am all for china going to the moon, and definitely a little bit of competition is absolutely good. hopefully we will also work with them, because if we can work together as humanity it will cut the cost down and we can use the resources from each country to land there, and probably send an international crew when we do land on the moon. it's a pretty extraordinary idea that people might actually be living on the moon. it

is stuff we have read about and seen in science fiction. just briefly, what is it going to look like? well, it would look a lot like an antarctic research station, which europe is involved in. so everybody has antarctic research stations, and that's pretty much the model that we are hoping to build. and that, again, with international resources, would cut the cost down, and it would cut the cost down, and it would also make for a bigger station. so we would set that down on the moon, perhaps near the south pole where there is a lot of water, and you can then live off the land, so to speak, mine the water that we know is in those craters, that will give us hydrogen and oxygen, so we can breathe the oxygen and you can use the hydrogen and the oxygen also to create rocket fuel. so international participation like antarctica really would be an ideal way to go. science-fiction coming true, thank you so much. thanks for having me.

turkish officials say 18 people are now believed to have been killed after a apartment block collapsed in istanbul on wednesday. rescuers are still continuing their search for survivors in the rubble of the eight—storey building. 14 people are said to have been injured, and the country's president visited some of the victims in hospital. recep tayyip erdo an also attended the funeral of nine members of one family who lost their lives. he pointed out some of the construction was illegal, and said lessons would be learned. thousands of women in the uk are not receiving treatment for a debilitating and life—changing condition because in many cases it is being misdiagnosed as obesity. doctors and researchers say lipedema causes swollen limbs, pain and immobility. but the treatment needed, liposuction, is wrongly classed as a cosmetic surgery and therefore rarely funded by the nhs. alexandra mackenzie has been speaking to women struggling with the disease. this is basically the bottom half of a lipoedema leg.

it's all swollen, very, very cold to touch, and it bruises really easily. anne noticed there was something wrong when she was just 17. she is waiting for liposuction on the nhs in scotland. it is a treatment for lipoedema that is rarely available in the uk unless it is done privately. they estimate that there'll be about 5.5 litres of excess fat removed from each leg. despite countless doctors' appointments, 30 years passed before anne was finally diagnosed. i think i've been overlooked. and i think there's thousands of women with lipoedema being overlooked. we're being categorised as obese. these are typical images showing lipoedema that has progressed. the legs have become deformed by deposits of irregular and painful fat. it also affects the arms and hips. this shows just how much it can alter a woman's body shape.

experts say it is usually only women who are affected. it is not known how many, but they say it could be thousands in the uk. researchers here at st george's hospital in london are working to discover what causes this genetic condition. it is believed it could be triggered at times of hormonal change, like puberty, pregnancy, or the menopause. doctors are also calling for more nhs funding for liposuction operations. for select patients, there will be a real benefit, and it's incorrect to say that liposuction for lipoedema is a cosmetic procedure. it is a treatment for this disease. kate paid almost £5,000 for private surgery in germany. her mum's life has been severely limited by lipoedema, which is thought to be hereditary. i had surgery because i was afraid. i was afraid to turn into my mum.

i was really afraid about that negative future, and the difficulties that some of the friends i know with lipoedema have. there is one nhs surgeon in the uk currently performing this procedure. he recently met women from across the country here at the scottish parliament, but acknowledges he cannot help everyone. women are clamouring for treatment on the nhs. nhs, as i say, i don't think has the resources to support that. and i think women have got to understand it will only be a minority that may get that opportunity. as anne waits for her operation, she hopes more can be done for the next generation of young women to prevent further lives being blighted by lipoedema. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. a man has been killed while kite—surfing in high winds in north devon. he was pronounced dead in hospital after being airlifted from saunton sands.

the accident happened as storm erik brought gusts of more than 70 mph to parts of the country. thousands of bus routes in england are under threat because councils say they can't afford to pay for them. they say they are having to fill a gap of over £650 million in funding for the scheme, which provides free bus passes for elderly people, and that the situation is unsustainable. councils in england subsidise 44% of all bus routes, and say without extra funding some could be cut. police in hull have been given more time to question a 24—year—old man arrested in connection with the disappearance of the missing student libby squire. the 21—year—old university of hull student vanished over a week ago after a night out in the city. when bbc correspondent frank gardner was paralysed in 2004, after being shot six times, skiing was one of the joys he did not want to lose. he has filed this report from the italian alps, and despite the challenges,

he makes it look easy. so how do you still ski if you can't use your legs or, like me, your legs are partly paralysed ? it was the one thing i didn't want to give up after i got shot several years ago. so the answer is in something called a sitski, which is this thing here. the first challenge is getting into this thing. so i'm really tightly squeezed into this here. it is almost like i'm in a kind of giant ski boot, and the whole idea of that is that every movement i do, i'll be able to direct myself. the principle i think

is the same as normal skiing, but you're kind of shifting your body weight from side to side. and you have these things, called outriggers, the germans call then flip flaps, and you use them to balance yourself one way and the other. so, yeah, let's try again. so you're probably thinking, 0k, how do you get on and off the chair lifts? and, yeah, you're right, it is quite a feat. you have to get two people to help you. but they slow down the lift, the chair lift just slots in underneath your seat, and off you go. and the thrill of being out in the snow is the same. you're up here in the alps, breathing this incredible fresh air — it is such a buzz. so, even though i'm not using my lower half of my body, i'm getting all the thrill of skiing, despite that. the weather now, with tomasz shafernaker.

well, the weather is in the process of calming down after all the storminess we have had in the last few days. and as storm erik pulls away, out into the norwegian sea, behind it, it leaves a legacy of changeable weather. we have got some rain out there right now. it's pretty damp across some central and southern parts of the uk, brought by this area of cloud here. this is a weather front which will be sliding across southern and central parts of the uk. all of this cloud here to the north, actually, that's the remnants of storm erik that we've had in the last couple of days. so here's the forecast through the early hours. bits of pieces of rain across central and southern areas of the uk. clear for scotland and much of northern and north—eastern england there. in fact, a touch of frost first thing on sunday morning, and pretty chilly in belfast as well, around 2 degrees at 6:00am. so what can we expect then on sunday? well, the morning is looking cloudy and damp for many of us across the southern half of the uk.

but this weather front will be swiftly moving away towards the east, so the weather will improve. but it's going to be a slow process for places like lincolnshire and east anglia. some of that rain could last into lunchtime. notice how all the while it's sunny across eastern and central scotland. a beautiful day, i think, for edinburgh, for newcastle, aberdeen too. but showers are expected to push into northern ireland by the time we get to lunchtime and then these showers will sweep across other parts of the uk later on sunday. so hence the mixed bag on sunday. now, as we head into monday, high pressure starts to build from spain and portugal. in fact, it's going to establish itself across much of western europe, which means that the weather will start to settle down from monday onwards. and any weather fronts that do come close to our neighbourhood will actually be diverted towards the north. this is where all the weather fronts will go. we are in this window of much drier weather. temperatures of 10 degrees on monday in london. and it's relatively mild.

you can see how the jet stream actually meanders around the uk, in fact, at times even north of iceland, into scandinavia, and to the south of that, that's where we start to see the high pressure building, and with the winds blowing around in a clockwise fashion, the warmer air will be reaching the uk. so the summary for the week ahead is a lot of dry weather, or at least mainly dry. there might be some sports of rain in north—western scotland. mild by day, but the nights with the clearer sky will be chilly, and there might be some fog around too. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines: kurdish—led forces in north—eastern syria say they're launching their final battle against the islamic state group in the tiny pocket of territory it still holds near the iraqi border. the announcement comes just days after president trump said the end of the self—declared is caliphate could soon be announced. seven men have been sentenced

to life in prison for terror attacks in tunisia that left nearly 60 people dead. the attacks in 2015 were claimed by the islamic state group. the first one hit tunis' bardo museum. the second targeted tourists at a beach resort. us senator elizabeth warren has formally launched her bid to stand for the white house in 2020 with a speech in which she promised to tackle economic inequality.