i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore, the headlines. is the end near for islamic state's last syrian stronghold 7 as fighting continues, donald trump calls on world leaders to take back is members and put them on trial. we go inside venezuela as the standoff over humanitarian aid continues, and visit a town where the lack of food and medicine is claiming lives. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme... is this a #metoo moment for medicine in australia? the problems facing female surgeons, that could be forcing them out of the operating theatre. and preparing to make its asian debut, the multi—award winning musical, matilda, is opening in singapore. live from our studios in singapore

and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 9am in singapore, 1 in the morning in london and 3am in syria where reports say extremists have been blocking roads out of the last area held by the so—called islamic state, preventing hundreds of civilians from fleeing. u.s president donald trump has been predicting the final defeat of is on the ground. earlier he urged europe, and the uk, to take back hundreds of so—called islamic state members captured in syria and iraq and put them on trial. he warned that if nothing was done, america would be forced to release the is detainees. shaun hassett reports. this smoke is rising above the village, part of the last pocket of land still under the control of state. us air strikes are providing the assyrian democratic forces cover to clear out

the remaining militants. it is largely a ghost town but some civilians are still trapped inside. stf fighters say they are cautiously going from house to house looking for militants who say they are using civilians as human shields. translation: thanks to the efforts of our colleagues, islamic state is generally over, only a few number of houses remain, home is too many people, including civilians and iis militants. with total victory in sight, attention is turning to what happens next. earlier in a series of tweets, the us president donald trump urged britain, france, germany and other european allies... technically it would not be the us who releases them. that would largely fall to the kurdish authorities but with american forces withdrawing

they would struggle to cope. this is a big problematic issue because these prisoners, these is fighters prisoners are still pending here, they are european countries refused to take them back and at the same time the authorities don't have that capacity already to do trials for them because the region here is not stable yet. while islamic state might be facing military defeat, the legacy of its attempt to create a caliphate remains. the us president talked about 800 fighters, it is not only 800 fighters, there are hundreds of their family members in north syria. accepting fighters and their families back create security issues and is often unpopular. that is being underscored by the case of the british citizen who travelled to syria

four years ago. she now wants to return home and a lawyer for her family says she has given birth to a baby boy in a syrian refugee camp. they want the uk company to accept its responsibility to a one—day—old uk citizen and have that may be repatriated in the uk where it is safe, hopefully with the emergency travel documents. opinion is split as to whether mother and sun should be allowed to return. although it does admit some responsibilities. we are obliged at some stage at least to take them back. that doesn't mean we can put in place the necessary security measures to monitor their activities and make sure they are not misbehaving. with a campaign against islamic state almost over, european governments will have no shortage of complicated cases to deal with.

on the bbc news website we have an extended article detailing how different countries treat islamic state returnees. now an interview done on american television. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the former acting director of the fbi says the deputy us attorney general, rod rosenstine, considered measures to remove president trump from office in 2017. andrew mccabe told cbs television that mr rosenstein discussed with him how many cabinet members would support such a step after mr trump abruptly dismissed the fbi director, james comey. here's a bit of that interview. a discussion of the 25th amendment was simply rod raised the issue and discussed it with me in the context of thinking about how many other cabinet officials might support such an effort. rosenstein was actually openly talking about whether there was a majority in the cabinet who would vote to

remove the cabinet? that's correct. that interview aired on cbs television. also making news today... the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman is visiting pakistan where he announced investment agreements worth $20 billion, including an $8 billion oil refinery. he described it as just the start of an economic tie—up. the prime minister of poland, mateusz morawiecki, has cancelled a visit to israel in a growing row over anti—semitism. mr morawiecki was angered by comments from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, was quoted in israeli media as saying "poles co—operated with the germans" during the holocaust. he later stressed he was not referring to the polish nation or all polish people. british prime minister theresa may has called on conservative mps to put aside their "personal preferences" and support her brexit deal in the house of commons. her plans were rejected in a vote last week but one of her senior

ministers has indicated that there might be a solution to the disagreements within the party, that doesn't involve reopening the withdrawal agreement. protestors have been back on the streets of paris again, after police used tear—gas to try to control them on saturday night. the gilets—jaunes, or yellow vests, as they're called, started as a protest against high fuel prices. take a look at these pictures that a viewer, sarah church, sent us of a flock of starlings behind her house here in the uk. she said it was "an amazing natural event to behold". popular theories suggest flying like this is either a way to confuse and avoid predators; a way to keep warm; orjust a massive signpost in the sky for a safe place to roost. thank you very much for the video.

a fire has swept through more than two hundred slum dwellings in southern bangladesh. police and firefighters say at least nine people were killed and more than 50 others injured, in the city of chittagong. sodaba haidare reports. the fire broke out in the early hours of sunday morning when the slum dwellers were asleep. more than 200 shanty homes were destroyed, the houses of bamboo, tin and tarpaulin never stood a chance. these people are already among the country's poorest. now they have nothing. a mother shouts, everything is gone. they can only comfort each other. amongst the dead, four members of the same family. more than 50 others were injured.

the death toll is expected to rise. officials are investigating the cause of the fire but say it may have been generated by a short circuit. fires regularly break out in bangladesh's slums, where millions live in squalid conditions. safety regulations are rarely followed, and accidents like these kill hundreds every year. sexual harassment, bullying and a contempt for motherhood are driving aspiring female surgeons out of operating theatres. a new study has found that women account for just 11% of surgeons in the uk and australasia and a higher proportion are leaving the profession. the findings come as a young female surgeon made headlines last week, after exposing the treatment she endured in australian hospitals. dr rhea liang, is a surgeon based in queensland and has looked into the conditions for female surgeons working there.

she explained how the case of dr yumiko kadota is not unique... of course the case has really hit the headlines. she is not the only one. so her experience is certainly not the only one, or unusual. all our interviewees reported very similar experiences, many of them are gendered, to do with harassment and discrimination and beliefs about not being able to be a good surgeon if you became a mother. but actually a lot of the things reported affect everyone, notjust women, in terms of long hours of work and fatigue, and the efforts required to raise children while doing training. the long hours that were being explained during her blog did seem incredibly intense. there was one week when she was doing so many hours that it just seemed impossible for her to continue, which eventually she did leave. yes, and they have been traditional in surgery for a very long time. there has been a belief that somehow

toughening up people makes them into better surgeons but in actual fact recent evidence has shown that fatigue impairs your performance and makes it more likely to make an error, and that this impact on patient care. so there has been a great deal of effort by the college of sevens and australasia to put in place guidelines about safer working conditions. the difficulty is that this applies really only to our trainees, who fall under the governance of the college of surgeons, whereas this doctor was what we call and an unaccredited trainee, or what we might call a service trainee in the uk, and that is not under the governance of the college of servants. we would very much like for those guidelines to be applied to alljunior doctors, regardless of their level of training. you touched upon some of the abusive behaviour

as being gender specific, can you just elaborate? yes, so we found that surgical training is demanding by itself, but a woman had additional, that women had additional work to do to fit into the environment created for them, which is really very masculine because of course 89% of surgeons at the time of the study were male. so there was gender harassment and discrimination, things like pictures of sex positions put up on the walls of residents common areas. there were some disclosures of sexual assault, but other than those very extreme examples, there were a multitude of examples of things that might seem quite minor, but they do make a woman feel very much as though they are the other, a different person, little comments and discrimination about why you ought not be there or why you shouldn't have children.

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... as the musical matilda is set to make its asian debut in singapore, we speak to two cast members here in the studio. nine years at 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last of your trips are finally coming home, which are completed in good order but the army defeated at the task to be sent to perform. one who wonders who is next? as the airlift got under way, no let

up as the airlift got under way, no let up in the irruption its outcome a lot of streams low in the crater blow down to dc on the east of the island away from the town for the time being but it could flow again at any time. russians their new space station with a spectacular lunch. they called it the russian word for peace. welcome back, thank you for staying with us. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories. donald trump calls on world leaders to take back members of the so—called islamic state, and put them on trial. a fire in the south of bangladesh has swept through more than two hundred slum dwellings. police say at least nine people were killed and more than fifty others injured.

let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. we'll start with the international edition of the japan times which is covering china's rejection ofjoining the inf missile treaty between the us and russia. the paper reports that a request to join the pact, set up to curb a nuclear arms race, was turned down by china which said it would place unfair limits on their military. and the new york times is covering the apparent changing landscape of banking in europe in the face of brexit uncertainty. it reports, a number of wall street institutions are moving away from london, spreading across other eu financial hubs. and the south china morning post reports on some records broken by marathon runners. this years hong kong marathon took place over the weekend with record breaking times for both the men's and women's winners. humanitarian aid meant

for venezuelans has been arriving in us military planes on the colombian border. president nicolas maduro denies there's a humanitarian crisis, saying the relief is a cover for a us invasion, and his troops will not let it through. but venezuela's opposition leader juan guaido has called for crowds to converge on the border to collect the aid. our international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from yare where the lack of food and medicines are claiming lives. the eyes of the revolution are everywhere. president maduro's militia still trying to keep the people in line. and in the town of yare, locals queue to sign his petition against the us. many here have given years to the socialist cause,

and this was a venezuelan showpiece. but the facade is crumbling. if you need medical help in yare, you don't look to the government. it struggles to provide even a painkiller. you come here, to a clinic run by the catholic church, with support from the european union. outside, the local priest, padre pancho, tries to reassure his suffering flock, urging them to keep faith. translation: it's a catastrophe, a dictatorship. the people are on the verge of rising up. it's like gunpowder about to explode, because every day is more difficult. the padre says between ten and 20 babies are dying every month.

and when we asked who had already buried a loved one, here was the show of hands. this is just one street corner in one town. everybody here has raised their hands. every single one of these women say they have lost a relative in the last few years because of hunger or because of lack of medicine. and imagine that across the whole country — imagine how many people may have died needlessly. we went from the clinic to the cemetery, with lisette and her granddaughter winifer. it's a year since they buried winifer‘s cousin. they say the sweet natured, outgoing girl was admitted to hospital with a respiratory infection. there were no drugs to treat her. one day later, she was dead. "every time i remember her,

i feel like crying," says winifer. "she was just 22, just beginning to live, and she was studying." "my auntjust cries all the time." and the further you go, the more suffering you find. in the countryside nearby, a landscape of lush beauty — until you look closer. this putrid stream brings parasites and sickness to the village of tocoron. it's the only drinking water. sojusobele has to do this every day. her dream of being a doctor has been left behind. her family can't afford to send her to school. at 1a, her lessons are about hardship. "before, we never went

hungry," she told me. "we always ate well." "everyone is hungry now, and mums and dads have to stop eating so they can feed their children." her aunt, angie, is an example of that — going hungry herself to spare her children. her husband complained at work about how they have to live. the next day, he was dismissed from his governmentjob. her neighbour, esteban, also lives hand to mouth with his family. he can't let go of the dream of venezuela's revolution. but for others here, it's long gone. 0rla guerin, bbc news, yare. you can get more on the situation on

oui’ you can get more on the situation on our website. after 7 succesful yea rs on the stage in london, the multi—award winning magical tale, "matilda the musical" will make its debut in singapore. it's the first time the show, based on roald dahl‘s book about a little girl with special powers, has ventured to the continent of asia after touring australia and new zealand. but the lead actress is from much closer to home. singaporean sofia poston, who plays matilda, joined me earlier with bethany dickson, who plays miss honey. i began by asking sofia what it was like taking on such a big job. well, it is a very big role to be in, unlike last year, but it's really exciting and fun, and i just can't wait to start. wow, you say it's exciting and fun, but surely a spot of nerves too? how do you get over the nervousness of being on stage

doing such a big role? well, my grandmother said that you have to imagine everyone sitting on the toilet. laughter and does that help? yes. tell us what it is like playing matilda, do you have famous songs? i love naughty, because you have to be a little bit naughty, and i'm naughty myself, i'm a little bit naughty myself, but if you ask my sister, she will say i'm always naughty. so you've got to be naughty but you can't be too naughty, because you have to learn your lines for this, and that's really hard to do. tell us some of the challenges of being in a big musical show like this. well, it's hard, because some of the lines are really difficult to memorise, but all i do is ijust say them over and over again, and theyjust become part of me. right, bethany, you play miss honey, a really lovely character. you come from a theatrical family yourself, so tell us a little bit

about what started you in stage performing, and what do you make of matilda, particularly this asian version? yes, i grew up in a very theatrical family and it was a very natural thing for me to start doing with my life. my mother was on stage very much when i was little, so i always watched her and thought, i wonder if i will do that one day. and i've landed up being involved in this spectacular production of matilda. it's an incredible story, and basicallyjust brought to life onstage in a way that people can't quite believe, especially with a child like sofia, who is only nine years old playing this of mammoth character, this incredible body of work that she has to remember and pull off every night. yeah, so do you get quite protective? i mean, your character plays a very protective, supportive role to matilda in the play, so do you feel you are quite protected? what i think the most interesting thing now being a mum is not really

protection or feeling protective, its being amazed at what a child can achieve, and i mean, she's nine years old, my little boy is almost two, so in seven years' time, the thought my child could be doing something like that, it's an incredible thought. i feel a sense of pride for their parents. my child has a few words and i'm so proud of him. that's just it, your family will be there on opening night? yes, my grandparents are coming and my cousins, and my teacher. and they will all be cheering you on. how exciting. tell us a little bit about what it is like to prepare for opening night with all of your family and friends watching. how does that make you feel? well, it makes me feel nervous and excited. nervous—cited in fact,

a word that my sister tara made up. if you could wave your magic wand, what role would you like to take next? there are lots, but i want to be in the sound of music, and somebody should make a musical of bfg. and she is absolutely right, you have been watching newsday. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. i can't watch it as well. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us for womenomics. we will be seeing what it is and whether it's working forjapan. and we're going to leave you these pictures from japan, around 10,000 near—naked men have been scrambling to find two sacred sticks. it's not like spring and the last

two days with the temperatures going into the high teens, looks like they eased back down a little bit for at least two or three days, before they start rising once again, in fact, by the weekend, it could be exceptionally mild across the uk. in the short term, clouds are drifting across the country, the weather fronts and showers in the forecast as well, not a completely dry picture. in fact, showers are getting into the western parts of scotland, they could be short and sharp after the christ that monday but i think as far as early monday morning is concerned, many of us still having a lighted giant weather and monday morning 9 degrees, that's closer to the daytime temperature and back to the start of the day. so, monday life and showers i think across western scotland, a breeze here around the coast, hail and thunder possible and if you showers

possible further south, but further east, the better the weather will be, newcastle might stay dry and bright. tuesday, another way to approaching but had a bit winds blowing out of the southwest of a mild direction, and despite cloud and rain, it's still going to feel pretty mild in some western areas of the uk. i think it will eventually cried over and turned quite hazy, christ eastern and southern areas, but it will be dry here, temperature is getting up to 11 or 12 degrees but rain expected for belfast and western parts of scotland overnight and the list —— rain sweeps there. wednesday, the weather forecast you noticed the mild air reaching further north, so that means that the temperatures will start to creep back up oberg on wednesday, and the morning is looking a little cloudy and rainy, this picture here is in the morning and in the afternoon, the morning and in the afternoon, the weather front moves out of the picture, sky should clear up a little bit and that's temperatures

start rising, expecting 13 degrees maybe 1a in a few spots on wednesday. come thursday, that's when the wind really switches direction and sites coming from the south, so clouds will also break up and it'll start really warming up in fa ct, and it'll start really warming up in fact, likely by friday is temperatures will be in the needed teens and notjust in the fact that even finite that the uk, scotland to get up to 16 as early as thursday or friday, instead of friday into saturday seven jet stream extremely southern, skips up warm air and could get into 18 degrees. welcome to bbc news. our top story. presdient trump has called on world leaders to put so called islamic state members on trial. reports from syria sayjihadists are blocking roads out of the last islamic state stronghold. venezuela's self—declared interim leader, juan guaido, is calling for people to cross borders and bring humanitarian aid into the country next week. and this story is raising the odd smile, and eyebrows, on bbc.com.

around 10,000 near—naked men injapan, are taking part in a 500—year—old festival. they have to find sticks called "shingi" which are thrown into the crowd. those who grab one are believed to be the luckiest men of the year. that's all. stay with bbc world news. and the top story in the uk... shamima begum, the teenager from east london who ran away to join the islamic state group four years ago, has said she thinks