welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: is this their final battle? kurdish fighters in north—eastern syria launch a major assault against what remains of the islamic state group. elizabeth warren makes it official, launching her bid for the white house, promising to champion ordinary, working people. prosecutors are appealing against the acquittal of 27 suspects in tunisia's 2015 terror attacks. seven men were jailed for life. the queens husband, the duke of edinburgh surrenders his driving licencejust weeks after a crash that injured two women. welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad.

our top stories: is this their final battle? kurdish fighters in north—eastern syria launch a major assault against what remains of the islamic state group. 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 i—s caliphate could be announced in the coming week. but as sebastian usher reports, the threat still remains in the region. the us backed sdf has played a key role in the war against is in syria. its biggest victory was to drive the jihadists out of their de facto capital, raqqa, in the past few months it's picked off one town, village, or hamlet after another in the corner north—eastern of syria to which is fighters have been driven. all that's left for the jihadists there are a few square miles next to the iraqi border. a far cry from the caliphate

the group once declared across huge swathes of syria and iraq. the sdf delayed its final attack until thousands of civilians in the area could get out. now they say a decisive battle is under way. the united states military, our coalition partners, and the syrian democratic forces have liberated virtually all of the territory previously held by isis in syria and iraq. last week, president trump said the total defeat of is could be defeated within days. that certainly suits his agenda of withdrawing all us troops from syria. but he's been criticised before for declaring final victory over is prematurely. caution is still needed. is holds other sliver of territory in syria further west. while its sleeper cells remain active. and it's the same story in iraq. the group's ability to continue a guerrilla insurgency persists. the fate of his hostages, such as the british journalist john cantlie, remains unclear, as does that of its leader,

abu bakr al—baghdadi. its most effective foe, the sdf, faces an uncertain future, if and when its us backers leave. sebastian usher, bbc news. much more on the website explaining that battle against islamic state. 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. here's chris buckler in washington with more on elizabeth warren's campaign strategy. she is trying to set herself aside

from donald trump. trying to present herself as someone of the working people, she stepped on the stage with the working women's anthem of nine to five. choosing a turn to show again that she was alongside those people who had fought for workers rights and pay. i think we have had this antagonistic relationship between her and donald trump. he has referred to her time and time again as pocahontas. it comes from her claims that she had in her past native american heritage. how she has use of a claim isa heritage. how she has use of a claim is a very controversial. he encouraged her to take a dna test. that immediately had a response from

the cherokee nation and that was a bad idea. they have been critical about how she claimed native american citizenship in the past for university. but truthfully, there is no front—runner as things stand. harris has had a very good start. she was very articulate when she spoke to people who were potential voters. cory booker is out on the campaign trail in iowa. 0thers voters. cory booker is out on the campaign trail in iowa. others are expected to announce their campaign tomorrow. senators who potentially have a chance of winning that democrat nomination. joe biden is another one to mention. he has not

announced whether he will make a run. he could be a leading candidate if he decides to run. at the moment there is no front—runner and that is why we are seeing all these candidates trying to gain attention. 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 8—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. pakistan's federal investigation agency says it's arrested a well—known journalist for posting anti—government comments on social media. but the family of rizwan razi say he was seized outside his home in lahore by unidentified men, who beat him and then bundled him into a car. 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. untill 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. 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 8—storey building. 1a people are said to have been injured and the country's president visited some of the victims in hospital. recep tayyip erdogan also attended the funeral of nine members of one family who lost their lives. on saturday, violence erupted in france during another set of demonstrations by the country's yellow vest movement. 0ne protester lost his fingers during clashes in paris. it's the 13th week of marches, which began in mid—november. caroline rigby reports. seen here in black, holding his arm and running the shelter, his fingers we re and running the shelter, his fingers were blown off by a grenade which

exploded in his hands when he tried to throw it away. according to eyewitnesses, the man had been trying to take beaches of demonstrators taking down barriers outside the national assembly. thousands of demonstrators once again took to the street of paris. police responded with tear gas and antiriot munition. what began as a protest over fuel tax in antiriot munition. what began as a protest overfuel tax in november has broadened into a sustained revolt over the rising cost of living and the policies of the macron government. translation: we have seen elected representatives not working for the people. working for lobbies and other interests. translation: when i see politics in france, whether it be sarkozy or

others, i say to myself, we must act. elsewhere, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned up in other cities. according to french government figures, more than 51,000 people joined the protests on saturday, 4000 in paris but that number is down on the nearly 59,000 of the last weekend when more than doubled took to the streets of the capital. the representatives from the yellow vest dispute the figures, claiming the turnout was high. in britney, an arsonist attack. it is not clear whether it was linked to the latest protests. in response emmanuel macron tweeted. .. nothing justifies violent against an elected official. there looks to be little

chance of a rapid and to the country's longest running protest in decades. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: would you buy so—called works of art by a fascist dictator? we'll find out what happened to these paintings at auction. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier.

because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: us backed kurdish fighters say they are launching a major defensive of what remains of the so—called islamic group. elizabeth warren

launches a campaign as democratic leaderfor launches a campaign as democratic leader for 2020. 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. our reporter andy moore gave me more details. it is an admission that he feels he is not safe to drive. we understand ron sauce that it is a decision he took himself. he just felt it wasn't right. we know that about five days after the accident he sent a letter

to one of the women involved, and he said he is very contrite about the consequences. he was dazzled by the low sun. it was an admission he had been at fault. you may also remember that 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 for that. maybe it is a combination of both. a little bit of bad pr and at the age of 97 he has realised that perhaps it is not safe for him to drive, and there are plenty of other 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 —— 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 be a prosecution if the driver surrenders his licence, as the duke has done. andy moore, thank you very much. the head of nasa says they plan to send humans to the moon again, but that this time, they'll 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. i asked space journalist dr ken kramer to tell us more about nasa's plans. it's been 50 years. we want to go back to the moon. we're developing an sls rocket and the orion capsule to do that, and we're also developing a mini space station at the moon that they will launch to, and that is called the gateway. we want to launch the first element of the gateway in 2022, then we'll send an astronaut to go into lunar orbit around 2023, and then we want to test

a human lander in 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. now, as you say, it's 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, unfortunately, the politicians 50 years ago ended the apollo programme. both of the bushes wanted to return to the moon, but the congress didn't quite agree. now, there seems to be a consensus among many nations, us, europe, russia, china, that it's important to go back to the moon, so there's 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? oh, absolutely, and i'm really glad china's pursuing their luna dreams, because that's what's going to spur the western countries into action, i believe. so i'm all for china going to the moon, and definitely a little bit of competition is absolutely good. hopefully, we'll 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's stuff we've read about and seen in science fiction. just briefly, what is it going to look like? well, it would look a lot

like antarctica research station, which europe is involved in. so, everybody has antarctic research stations, and that's pretty much the model that we're hoping to build. and that, again, with international resources, 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's 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 you 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. five paintings said to be by adolf hilter went under the hammer in nuremberg on saturday, but failed to sell. 26 pieces of art were pulled from the sale because suspicions were raised they could be fakes.

the auction sparked outrage with the city's mayor calling it in bad taste. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. five entirely unremarkable watercolours. that is until you take a look at the signature. these paintings are claimed to be the work of adolf hitler. aspiring artist and one of history's greatest villains. a planned auction failed to a single buyer. they were frightened away by the police and security forces, i guess, and because of all the news that all these watercolours and oil paintings and drawings would be fakes. this isn't the first time doubts have been cast over art attributed to the former nazi dictator. last month, three other watercolours were seized by police before a planned auction in berlin. hitler was a prolific artist in his youth. in his

book he claims to have produced as many as three paintings a day. most of them were destroyed full top so, how many fakes are we talking about? maybe 500 to a couple of,000. that isa maybe 500 to a couple of,000. that is a ridiculous amount. as you know, after the second world war, only 30 somethings survived. whether these we re somethings survived. whether these were fa ke somethings survived. whether these were fake or not, the sale of hitler's paintings is hugely controversial. his shadow looms large. even when it comes to art. lindsey buckingham is recovering from open heart surgery. his wife said he had damage his vocal chords. he wrote songs that had huge success in 1970s and 80s. his writing credits include some of the band's s known songs, including go your own

way. she said husband bob is doing fine. she says the damage to his vocal cords will not be permanent. when bbc correspondent frank gardner lindsey buckingham was paralysed in 2004 after being shot six times, skiing was one of the joys he did not want to lose. he's filed this report from the italian alps on how he skis now, 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, if 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's 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, ok, how do you get on and off the chair lifts? and, yeah, you're right, it's 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. and very skilful ski out. much better than i am. —— skier. and, finally, i want to show you some pictures we've had in from chile, which has been hit by heavy rain in the past few days. this is the moment a waterfall was reactivated by a torrent of rain. the atacama desert is normally one of the driest places on earth and the 60—metre waterfall had run dry for ten years. stay with us here on bbc news. there is much more on the website on our top story, including what has been happening in north—eastern syria. they say the launches are launching their final battle against islamic state. well, the weather is in the process of calming down after all of that

storminess we've 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 6:00. 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. now, notice how all the while it's sunny across eastern and central scotland. 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. so 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 out, 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 skies 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. 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. shejoins a growing list of democrats keen to take on republican president donald trump in 2020. 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. now on bbc news, it's time for inside out. this week, we're in the west midlands, reporting on birmingham's red light district and whether it's time for a regulated zone