you're watching bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. this is bbc news, our top the headlines: the battle to claim the last piece of territory held stories: by islamic state the battle to claim the last fighters has stalled, piece of territory held because thousands of civilians remain trapped inside. by islamic state fighters stalls because thousands of civilians us vice president, mike pence, remain trapped inside. the us says it says the united states will stay in the middle east to help will track down is. hunt down the remnants of the united states will continue to work with all our allies is. to hunt down the remnants of isis us military aircraft have begun delivering humanitarian aid wherever and whenever for venezuela to they rear their the colombian border. ugly head. president maduro has warned that aid us military planes carrying could be a us pretext humanitarian aid for venezuela for a military intervention. begin arriving at the border. 0pposition leader, juan guaido, president maduro calls called for demonstrations to persuade the it military a coverfor a to allow the aid us invasion. in. and mourners have been eight illegal gold miners have been paying their respects to footballer, pulled alive from flooded mines emiliano sala, in zimbabwe but officials in his home town in argentina. fear dozens more are still trapped the striker died in underground. a plane crash last month. more than 20 bodies have been recovered since the incident happened on tuesday night. the government has declared it a national disaster.

now on bbc hello and welcome to bbc world news. news, the battle to claim the last pocket the week in of territory from parliament. the islamic state group is being held up because thousands of civilians remain trrapped there. us backed kurdish forces launched an attack on is‘s last remaining stronghold last week. the american vice—president, mike pence says is in iraq and syria has been decimated. he told a security conference in munich that the final battle is now under way. the united states will keep a strong presence in the region. we recognise it will not be enough to simply reclaim the territory of the caliphate. as we enter this new phase, the united states will continue to work with all our allies to hunt down the remnants of isis whenever and wherever they rear their ugly head. well the cbs correspondent charlie d'agata is in syria and sent this report from the front line.

the final battle is in its final days, with isis pinned down to an area of around a quarter of a square mile. that's the update we got today from the commander of the us—backed syrian democratic forces, jia furat. he said the final isis village had not yet fallen, but his ground forces were holding fire and moving forward cautiously because so many civilians remain trapped as human shields. military officials here say they severely underestimated the number of civilians inside that village, when they launched the offensive to crush the last remnants of this so—called caliphate one week ago. first estimated to be around 1500 people, more than twice that many have since flooded out this week, including many isis families. hundreds of isis fighters reportedly surrendered this week, of the a50 or so militants who were thought to be making a last stand. but there's no fighting in here... and when we last visited the front line on thursday, we found sdf fighters

on a more relaxed footing since the final offensive began. apart from sporadic gunfire, a relative calm suggested that the brutal last battle might be coming to an end. today, commander furat vowed to broadcast to the world in the coming days the military end of isis. now, we stressed military end because even us—led coalition officials have said isis will remain a threat as an underground insurgency, which raises an important question about exactly when america's 2000 troops will withdraw. charlie d'agata, cbs news for bbc news, in eastern syria. us airforce transport planes carrying humanitarian aid for venezuela have landed at the colombian border where food and medicine is being stock—piled for distribution. president maduro has refused to allow the aid in, accusing the us of trying to organise a coup. us officials say the aid had been requested by the venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, who declared himself interim

president last month. jon ironmonger has the latest. it's an operation that is both humanitarian and highly political. arriving on the colombian border, three us cargo planes carrying clothes, medicine and food for the people of venezuela. this is not the first shipment, nor will it be the last shipment, not only from the united states, but we know that many other countries are joining as well. eight packages are being stockpiled at the request of the venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, in colombia, brazil and the caribbean. speaking at a rally in caracas, the self—proclaimed interim president appealed to new volunteers to help carry the supplies over crossings next saturday, and he restated an ultimatum for the armed forces to back down. translation: once again, the message to the

venezuelan armed forces, seven days for humanitarian aid to enter, a week for you to do the right thing and to put yourselves on the right side of the constitution. we are authorising the entrance of not only humanitarian aid, but also humanity. us officials said venezuela is in the grip of an economic crisis, leading to widespread hunger and a critical shortage of basic medicines. according to the un, nearly 3 million venezuelan migrants have fled the country since 2015. us aid drops are intensifying the stand—off with nicolas maduro, who has called the operation "disguise for an invasion". he continued this week to stoke up hostility among the armed forces, saying "yankee, go home." maduro: yankee, go home!

juan guaido said he would announce further details on monday about his plan to get aid into the country, but it's a promise he could struggle to keep — maduro‘s still loyal military have barricaded bridge crossings and show no signs of giving way. jon ironmonger, bbc news. eight illegal miners have been rescued from two flooded mines in central zimbabwe. at least 22 bodies have also been retrieved from the mines to the west of the capital harare. authorities believe up to 70 people were trapped underground, near the town of kadoma, when heavy rains flooded mine shafts on tuesday night. the bbc‘s zimbabwe correspondent shingai nyoka has the story. no—one expected there'd be survivors. families, mostly wives with young children, had camped on site for days, watching, waiting, hoping. an unusual, risky operation unfolded here. illegal miners working shoulder to shoulder with mining companies, police and

soldiers. in the background, the constant buzz of pumps draining the shafts of water. as the days wore on, hope was fading. translation: we have never experienced such floods in this area and it is so painful to lose our friends in such a way. but then this — one by one, some miners were pulled out of the shafts. muddy, exhausted, but thankfully, alive. their stories are harrowing. the lucky ones had found air pockets underground, but were neck—deep in water. the grim task of retrieving the dead continues. many bodies remain a0 metres below the ground, trapped in a vast labyrinth of tunnels the illegal miners had dug in their search for gold. many of the dead are young men. the tragedy highlights the dangerous conditions under which

small—scale miners here operate. the backbone of the gold economy, they produce more than 40% of the country's gold with little to no assistance. for now, the rescue operations continue, and the celebrations are intermixed with grief. the families hope the events of the last few days will force authorities to act to prevent future tragedies. shingai nyoka, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: the deactivation of a second world war bomb recently discovered in paris could cause major disruption to eurostar services on sunday. five trains between london and the french capital have been cancelled, one will be diverted, and others are expected to be delayed. the unexploded bomb was discovered during engineering work at the railway station served by eurostar. vandals in london have painted graffiti on the grave of the german revolutionary philosopher, karl marx, the second attack on his memorial this month.

slogans including "architect of genocide", and "terror and oppression" were daubed in red paint on the four—metre high monument. police have fired tear gas to disperse yellow vest protestors in paris, lyon and bordeaux, in the group's 14th straight weekend of street rallies. but support is dwindling for the movement. a new poll this week revealed more than half of those surveyed want the violence to stop. the protests started over fuel taxes but have morphed into a general revolt against the macron government. the uk government says its main priority has to be the safety of the public, when considering the case of a british teenager who who left the country to join the islamic state group in 2015. the family of shamima begum, who's now 19 and pregnant, say they'd welcome a police investigation into her actions but want the government to help bring her home. sophie long

reports. this is the al—hawl camp in northern syria where the 19—year—old from east london is living as she awaits the birth of her third child. shamima begum says both her son and daughter died, and she wants to come back to britain so her unborn baby does not suffer the same fate. herfamily, who had feared they would never see her again, have asked the government to help them get her home. but the justice secretary says there are risks to allowing people like shamima begum to return to britain, and they would look at her case very closely. what has to be the priority of the british government is ensuring the protection of the british people as a whole. we do have a number of powers in this area. we have to act within those powers. but we need to make sure that the british people are not put unnecessarily at risk. in a statement, shamima begum's family says:

shamima begum's case is not unique. some 850 people left the uk to join so—called islamic state. around half have already come back. some working against extremism say there needs to be more focus on what caused her to go, to prevent others from doing the same. i realise that she is a bit of a poster girl of that phenomenon of those young girls going off tojoin daesh. but if we take stock of what is happening, we need to see how she got there and we can stop other people from going down that route. the home secretary has said that he won't hesitate to prevent supporters of terrorist organisations from returning to britain. and, if they do make it back, they will be questioned and potentially prosecuted. it is unclear what that will mean for shamima begum,

who was just 15 when she left the uk for syria. but, if she is allowed to return home, she will have to answer for her actions. sophie long, bbc news, at the home office. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: his portrayal of adolf hitler in the film downfall earned him international acclaim. we look back at the life of actor bruno ganz. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. it has a terrible effect on the morale of the people, i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next.

as the airlift got under way, there was no letup in the eruption itself. lava streams from a vent low in the crater flowed down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they've called it mir, the russian for peace. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us vice president says america will remain in the middle east to help hunt down the remnants of so—called islamic state, even after the miltants‘s territory has been reclaimed. us military planes carrying aid for venezuela begin arriving at a colombian border city, where food and medicine

are being stockpiled. the british based flybmi airline has announced that it has ceased operations and is filing for administration. all flights have been cancelled with effect from saturday. the airline operates 17 regionaljet aircraft and covers routes to 25 european cities. the carrier had seen a dip in profits in recent months. our business correspondent rob young reports. flybmi, no longerflying. it has cancelled all flights with immediate effect. the company is also filing for administration. the carrier flew more than 500,000 passengers last year. its smalljets operated on routes from aberdeen, bristol, newcastle, east midlands, sta nsted and others, to 25 european cities. passengers who have been affected are anxious. i'm in belgium at the moment, and i just got the bbc alert that flybmi have gone

into administration. all the flights for me to return home are really expensive, and flybmi have said they won't return the £134 that i initially spent, so i don't know how i'm going to get back. flybmi, based here at east midlands airport, says its collapse was unavoidable. it's blamed a spike in the price of fuel and changes in the cost of carbon permits. it said these had undermined efforts to turn a profit. a company statement said: today's news was a surprise to passengers and staff, but the airline is just the latest carrier to get into difficulties. we are now most of the way through what's been a miserable winterfor a large number of airlines.

we've seen failures, including germania, small planet, cobalt of cyprus, primera air of iceland. all these small airlines have been collapsing, and i'm afraid flybmi has flown for the last time. passengers booked to travel with flybmi are being told not to go to the airport unless they have booked an alternative flight. with school holidays at the moment, the airline's collapse comes at an inconvenient time for many families. earlier, i spoke to aviation analyst sally gethin and publisher of gethin‘s inflight news. i asked her why flybmi had folded. it was starting to falter. and many of these airlines, especially smaller regional carriers, which flybmi was, are operating right on the end of those margins. and that's not sustainable going forward when you have a lot of turbulence, for example, with brexit, with a lot of downturn economically as well. europe and the middle east are slowing down in terms of aviation traffic. but overall, globally,

there is a growth, there is an incline going upwards in passenger traffic, according to iata, the international air transport association, which represents airlines. so, although it's worrying, the larger picture globally is still strong. now, the company has partially blamed brexit. is brexit to blame, or is it that the company was weak to begin with? it's both, really. the company was weak to begin with, and in a normal environment, without brexit, perhaps they could have overcome that, to some extent. oil prices haven't helped. they've been battling with higherfuel cost, like many carriers. any airline, like i said, right on the edge there is going to find it difficult. but i think this is like the markets themselves. they're subject to volatility, if there's a tremor, if there's worry.

so basically, the fearfactor around brexit has definitely played a part. it's this uncertainty. airlines can't necessarily calculate the impact of brexit. they want to plan, they're not sure where to put their bases. they have been assured by the british government that air service will continue as normal. but many airlines are having to stockpile a lot of components, a lot of parts, look at their resources, maybe build up more bases in continental europe. so these are large decisions, large movements, and they've got to plan ahead, and basically they can't plan ahead, and they're frustrated. obviously there are a lot of customers affected. what are people supposed to do if they're stuck somewhere and theirflight is no longer valid? unfortunately, in this instance, they're not covered unless they have their own cover with insurance, or perhaps when they booked through their credit card. certainly there is legal cover in this country for, in the uk, if you have paid by credit card. but the normal rules don't apply

because it's not a viable airline. it's not able to refund, it's not even able to re—book passengers at the moment. so they literally are stranded, and they can't get a refund off what was the former flybmi. a memorial service has taken place in argentina for the football player emiliano sala, who died in a plane crash last month. the 28—year—old was killed two days after signing for cardiff city, when his plane came down in the english channel. from progreso, natalio cosoy reports. applause emiliano sala's body leaves the grounds of his childhood football club, san martin in progreso, in central argentina. his relatives, friends and neighbours came to say goodbye to the local hero at a private funeral. translation: he never forgot his roots, and that means people have a very fond memory of the kid, of emiliano.

sala spent his early years developing his football skills here. he left, aged 1a, to pursue bigger opportunities. he was flying from france to cardiff when his plane disappeared over the english channel on 21 january. the bluebirds had paid a club record of £15 million for the player's transfer from ligue1 nantes. two weeks later, the wreckage was found, and shortly afterwards, sala's body was recovered. the pilot, david ibbotson, is still missing. representatives from his new club travelled to argentina for today's service. people say, well, he's never played for you, or... but he was my player, you know? and the feelings i had — you know, i chased him, wanted him. and he said to me, i will get you the goals that keep you up in the premier league, and i said, i know you will. the whole club feels very sad, and cardiff in general feels very sad after the incident. and today, i think it's good for the family to have some closure.

no cameras were allowed inside the building where the funeral took place. the mourners sat in front of emiliano sala's coffin. they were silent. some of them were praying. the coffin was surrounded by wreaths, and there was a banner that read, "your legacy will be eternal." ahead of today's service, sala's boyhoood club, san martin de progreso, posted a message on social media saying, "we are waiting for you, like the first day you left, but this time to stay with us forever, eternally in our hearts." natalio cosoy, bbc news, de progreso. bruno ganz, the swiss actor most famous for playing hitler in the film downfall, has died at the age of 77. it's believed he'd been suffering from cancer. the bbc‘s tim allman looks back at his life and career.

hitler's bunker, the dying days of world war ii, and the performance that showcased the power and talent of bruno ganz. this scene would go on to inspire thousands of internet parodies, but that shouldn't detract from what was a raw depiction of fury, delusion, and impending doom. despite winning numerous awards, ganz himself later admitted he was haunted by the role, portraying a madman, but a madman who was still human. i can't see you, but i know you're here. he was nothing if not versatile, though, here playing an angel who chooses to become mortal in wim wenders‘s wings of desire. this time, he was displaying sensitivity, vulnerability and compassion.

tributes were soon paid to the swiss actor. germany's foreign minister, heiko maas, tweeted: american filmmaker kevin smith said: and the organisers of the berlin film festival tweeted he was an... bruno ganz was born in 1941 and grew up in zurich. he decided to become an actor when a friendly lighting technician showed him round a local theatre. he worked both on the stage and the silver screen, in hollywood and in europe, an actor of nuance, of warmth and humanity. and, at germany's most prestigious awards ceremony, a standing ovation for bruno ganz, who, as the host put it,

is once more in the sky above berlin. bruno ganz, who's died at the age of 77. thousands of people have lined the famous canals of venice for the launch of the traditional carnival, which will run for two weeks. like previous years, the water—based parade produced a certain wow factor, which is unique to the floating city. the bbc‘s freya cole has more. g ra cefully to gracefully to the famed canals of venice, a woman performs an annual flooding parade. above her, the mysterious man on the moon, a symbol of this year's carnival theme, blame the moon, lasting 50 years since the first landing. the venice carnival tradition dates back centuries and is famous for the stylised masks donned by revellers. translation:

this event is wonderful because it isa this event is wonderful because it is a way to express yourself to bring joy and we really need it, all of italy needs it. we come from all over italy and abroad to come and attend the venice carnival and it is very beautiful. the performance is full of lights, fire twirling, music and theatrics. an elaborate display to celebrate the rich history and culture of the ancient lagoon city. translation: the relationship with water is a founding element of the city and of life too, and therefore we feel the need to represent on the water such an important event, the carnivalfor water such an important event, the carnival for the city of venice. locals and thousands of tourists will take part in the two week carnival, which ends in time for the christian celebration of land, a0 days before easter. —— lent. freya cole, bbc news.

still time to see it, stay with bbc news. hello. after hitting a high of 17 degrees on friday, saturday could only manage 1a. of course, it didn't help, it certainly felt cooler if your skies looked like this. but there's still some springlike sunshine to be found here and there. and in fact, parts of eastern england could be as high as 16 degrees during sunday, because we're all going to see a bit of sunday sunshine, either side though of an area of cloud, with a chance of rain spreading east across the uk. got low pressure to the west of us, you see the swirl in the satellite picture here. so it's this cloud which is going to move on through, but it is a weakening system, and some of us could welljust stay dry throughout. so this is how we're starting the day, nowhere particularly cold, and actually, for many of us, it will be a sunny start, but that's away from this area of cloud and some rain to the west. notice how narrow it is, though, as it moves into south—west england, into wales, knocking on the door of north—west england. most of its rain is now done from northern ireland at this stage, it's 9:00am in the morning.

there's still some heavier bursts affecting parts of western scotland. there is a stiff, southerly wind out of this, as well. it is going to be a windier day compared with saturday. so what we have, then, is a fairly thin area of cloud, and the chance of seeing some rain, that's gradually going to push its way further east. so gone from northern ireland, we'll soon have the sunshine back into western scotland, wales, and western england as well, and it'll be dry for much of the rest of the day, bar the odd shower. so cloud reaches into eastern scotland and into eastern england. it's really hard to pick out any rain, because most of it has just fizzled out. it's essentially dry. it is a windier day. these are average speeds, western scotland could be gusting up to around 50 mph or so going into the evening. it's a touch milder, though, through parts of eastern england, helped by some sunshine here. 16 celsius could well be seen. now, we could well hold on to a bit of cloud for east anglia and the south—east of england on through sunday night and into monday, delivering a bit of rain at times. still quite breezy, quite windy going into monday, so no frost, and further showers moving in towards the north—west. this line of showers just

pushing its way further south, as well, into parts of northern england and wales as monday starts. monday, many of us will get to see some sunshine, away from east anglia and the south—east of england, with thicker cloud at times and the chance of rain. plenty of showers on the brisk wind coming into the north—west. hail, thunder possible out of these, as well, may merge in western scotland to give some longer spells of rain. and temperatures are just taking a small step backwards, and another weather system coming in into tuesday could welljust keep that cooler feel going for a time, before it could well become very mild again later in the week.