this is bbc news. the headlines: thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in venezuela on a day of rival demonstrations. police used pepper spray against supporters of the opposition leader, juan guaido, in the capital caracas, while a huge number of pro—government demonstrators also gathered in the city. dozens of civilians have been evacuated from baghouz, the last village still held by the islamic state group in syria. at least four trucks carrying people hello and welcome to bbc world news. left the village on saturday. western—backed syrian i'm lewis vaughan jones. democratic forces are poised to resume their final thousands of people have taken to the streets of venezuela as part push on the area. of two rival demonstrations. at his rally, president nicolas and r kelly has been released maduro thanked the army for staying from prison after the payment loyal, saying they had defeated of more than $160,000 an opposition coup attempt. meanwhile, police clashed in overdue child support. with supporters of opposition leader juan guaido at the the singer has previously spent three nights in jail after being charged in four sex other rally in caracas. abuse cases, allegations he denies. will grantjoins me now from caracas. a surprising sight of these two

rallies going on at the same time, but has nicolas maduro highlighted the key factor here, which is as long as the army stays loyal to him, it is difficult to see how anything changes? yes, certainly the military are absolutely key to the future of venezuela and the future of president nicolas maduro. but also the other factor that is currently going on beyond whether or not the army stays loyal is just attention being ramped up by the very widespread national blackout, there has been a power cut that has gone on for over two days now in some areas, in some areas of the country they have not had any electricity for more than 48 hours and it is only because i am staying somewhere that there is a generator that i am even able to talk to you. most of the country is incomplete darkness despite the efforts made to bring it

back online. that caused a lot of anger and it was very noticeable at the opposition march that people we re the opposition march that people were furious about the situation. where do you think that anger, that frustration takes us next? it is ha rd to frustration takes us next? it is hard to say. eventually it will need some kind of outlet. mr guaido, when he reached the support and spoke to him ona he reached the support and spoke to him on a megaphone, announced a national tour and he is going to be going down to the different regions, different states, gathering people together, travelling with congressmen from his side and then bringing people back to caracas where he intends to hold another big day of demonstrations in the near future. that is all intended i think to just make venezuela increasingly ungovernable for president nicolas maduro, make life so difficult for him that eventually something has to give. exactly what that even when it

happens, whether or not the military will be on board were how it plays out is very difficult to say. nicolas maduro has of course that core support, but how popular is juan guaido around the rest of the country? there was a poll undertaken in venezuela by one of the more reputable polling firms here that gave him around 60% popularity rate, ifan gave him around 60% popularity rate, if an election was held tomorrow, he would win by upwards of 70 to 75%, which is obviously a huge margin. i think the thing is that nicolas maduro can count on the key support that the late venezuelan leader a lwa ys that the late venezuelan leader always had, which is somewhere around 20% of the elect to perhaps, but that big chunk that always supported him has fallen away in these six year that mr maduro has beenin these six year that mr maduro has been in power, and a lot of them had clearly swu ng been in power, and a lot of them had clearly swung towards mr guaido in

these past few weeks. thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. the mexican navy says it's seized six tons of illegal drugs in operations off the coast of the state of sonora in north—west mexico. a mexican sailor descended from a helicopter onto boats that had been hidden under camouflage. night vision released by the navy also shows sailors boarding a boat allegedly carrying an illegal haul of marijuana, methamphetamines and heroin. nigerians are voting to elect governors in most of the country's 36 states. turnout is reported to be low so far. two people were killed and 35 vehicles destroyed in violence between party supporters in lagos state on the eve of the election. almost 90 passengers have been injured after a ferry hit what appears to have been a whale in the sea ofjapan. there were 125 on board at the time and at least five people are said to be in a serious condition. the ferry sailed to its destination

after the collision. the singer r kelly has been released from prison after paying more than $160,000 in overdue child support. the singer has previously spent three nights injail after being charged in four sex abuse cases. allegations the singer denies. i promise you we're going to straighten all this stuff out. that's all i can say right now. i promise you. i love my fans. thank you, guys. his lawyer also spoke to reporters outside cook countyjail in chicago. so, we're going to focus on the evidence. we're going to fight the case in the courtroom. the state has yet to give us one single piece evidence. we haven't seen an interview, we haven't seen a police report, we haven't seen a videotape.

when we get those things, we're going to fight this case like we fight any other case — in the courtroom, based on the evidence. the italian government has ordered a halt to further work on its side of a controversial high—speed rail link to france after a dispute between the two populist parties in power. the prime minister, giuseppe conte, instructed the engineering company running the project to stop issuing tenders temporarily due to rising costs. italy's coalition five star party say they want the project scrapped altogether in favour of projects the country needs more. translation: we should continue to work so we can restart the discussion of the whole infrastructure project. with dialogue which respects the french position. we also need to work to avoid tying up italian money on a project that needs to be reconsidered. more than 200 works of art belonging

to the singer george michael will go on auction and exhibition in london this week. the performer, who died in 2016, had a huge personal collection, including works by tracey emin and damien hirst. estimates on the paintings being auctioned at christies range from £400 to £1.5 million with the money raised going to charity. tributes are being paid to two mountaineers briton tom ballard and italian danyaylay nardi —— daniele nardi after their bodies were found on the notorious nunga parbut, one of the world's highest mountains. contact was lost with the pair in pakistan almost two weeks ago. mr ballard is the son of the accomplished british mountaineer alison hargreaves, who also died in the himalayas in 1995. sarah campbell reports. for me, it's very, very natural to be in the mountains. i mean, they're my life. i don't really see myself anywhere else. tom ballard was among the world's

best and most fearless climbers. tom wants to try some wall hangings. wow! great, man. here he is, passing time in the himalayas as he waited for a weather window to start his ascent. alongside him, daniele nardi. they chose a treacherous route up a peak dubbed ‘killer mountain'. a search was launched after contact was lost. yeah, this is the spot. rescue was always going to be difficult as this is an area prone to huge avalanches. almost two weeks after they went missing, their bodies were spotted. daniele was 42. tom was just 30 years old. he respected mountains and he felt that a mountain would allow you to climb it, or not, and you had to read it. now, tragically, sadly, in this case,

i'm not saying he read it wrong, but mountains are unforgiving things, and he knew that. he knew the deal and he knew that he was always going to be at risk. tom, as a youngster, looking for a reassuring cuddle from his mum, alison hargreaves. in 1995, she became the first woman to climb everest without oxygen or assistance. when we go climbing, we obviously minimise the risks, and if we thought it was that risky, we wouldn't go climbing. anybody who went off thinking that, you know, there was a very high chance they wouldn't come back, i think it's a very unfairthing to do, especially with a young family. that same year, she died while descending from the summit of k2, the world's second highest peak. 24 years later, fellow mountaineers and friends are mourning the loss of her son. he wouldn't have remembered his mum that well. he was five when she died, but he was aware of what a great lady she was and a great climber she was herself. i have to say, i'm not that religious, but if i was, i'd like to think tom has

gone to meet his mum anyway, let's say. this is just so sad. it's just repeating. he was just a fine young man, really, tom. daniele nardi also knew the risks. his family released a written statement today, which included a message he'd left for his son should he not return. "don't stop," he told him. "don't give up." climbing was all tom ever wanted to do. he died doing what he loved. sarah campbell, bbc news. the government faces fresh criticism over the decision to revoke the citizenship of shamima begum following the death of her baby son in a syrian detention camp. ms begum left london to join the islamic state group when she was 15, and now at 19, had wanted to return to britain. labour said the decision to prevent herfrom doing so was "callous and inhumane," while charities say the life of her child wasn't sufficiently taken into consideration. but the government insists it was acting in the national interest. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports.

babyjarrah and his mum, 19—year—old shamima begum. she gave birth in a camp used to hold people from the islamic state group and their children. at less than three weeks old, her son has died from pneumonia and is buried here. the shadow home secretary diane abbott said leaving the two of them in a syrian refugee camp was "morally reprehensible," and "a stain on the conscience of this government." shamima begum is one of around 50,000 people, mostly women and children, living in this camp in north—eastern syria. both a refuge and detention centre, those who chose to join is are now fleeing the fighting and ending up here. charities say the government had an obligation to step in. today is a national tragedy, because this is a shared sorrow about the death of a british newborn child. so, whatever we think about the behaviour and choices of the child's mother, a baby not yet three weeks

old has died of pneumonia. last month, the home secretary, sajid javid, confirmed the baby was a british citizen and said he had considered the child's interest when deciding to take away ms begum's british citizenship. but the central question now is could the life of an innocent child have been saved? as somebody who has served in the home office, i can tell you factually the home secretary will have made a decision based on what he believes in the best interest of the security of the people of the united kingdom. the duty of a home secretary in this country is to keep british people safe, and he made a decision based on the advice he had about keeping british people safe. meanwhile, shamima begum's family are still fighting for her to be allowed back to the uk. just before it was announced his grandson had died, ms begum's dad, in bangladesh, begged for his daughter to be forgiven. translation: shamima was a teenager. she has done wrong, and as her father, i apologise to everyone in britain.

i'm asking the british people to forgive her and take her back. being in government often means making difficult choices. ministers could have allowed shamima begum and herson to return to the uk. but that could have proved deeply unpopular. in a statement, a spokesman said the death of any child was tragic, but said that for the last eight years, the government has consistently advised against travel to syria. the case of shamima begum and her son is but one of thousands, and a dilemma for many governments around the world. what to do about those who left home to join an enemy and now want to come back? chris mason, bbc news. let's take a look at some of today's other news. a man has been remanded in custody by magistrates in east london, charged with murdering the teenager jodie chesney last week. the 17—year—old was stabbed in the back while listening to music with

herfriends in a park in romford. manuel petrovic, who's 20, will appear at the old bailey on monday. a second suspect remains in custody. the supermarket chain asda has said it will remove all single kitchen knives from sale because of concern over the use of knives in violent attacks. the company says it has a responsibility to try to help in the work to bring violent crime under control. this is bbc news. the headlines: thousands of anti—government protesters have ta ken to the streets in venezuela on a day of rival demonstrations. police used pepper spray against supporters of the opposition leader, juan guaido. dozens of civilians have left the last stronghold of the islamic state group ahead of a final assault by western—backed forces. a hospital in california has been criticised for its use of a video link to inform a patient that he was dying. the granddaughter of the man, ernesto quintana, said she was shocked when a video

screen was rolled into the intensive care unit. a doctor then appeared on the screen to say mr quintana was likely to die from lung disease within days. he died the following day. the hospital says it regrets falling short of the family's expectations, and it will use this as an opportunity to review how to improve patient experience with tele—video capabilities. steve pantilat is the chief of the palliative medicine division at university of california, san francisco, and hejoins me now. steve, thank you very much for being with us. this is a challenge, now, isn't it? we have patients who expect the human touch, but this use of technology is only going to increase. how do we get that challenge right? part of it is understanding when to use the technology and how best to use the

technology, and to ensure that doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, are well versed in how to use the technology, and frankly how to communicate clearly and compassionately and kindly, especially when they are giving very serious bad news. yes, is there a problem with expectation here? possibly a general generational thing, as well? you are so vulnerable and sensitive at that time when you are receiving the worst news. you just expect a human being to be in that room with you, giving you that news. if the choice is between having the doctor and patient in the same room or being on video, i would certainly want to be in the room with my patient when i'm delivering that news. but if the choice is between video and not being there at all or not being able to share the news in an expert way, i guess i would choose the video and try to do that in a way that is as

compassionate, kind, empathetic as possible, knowing that even in my practice, even with many of our older patients, they really appreciate being able to have those video visits so that they don't have to travel far, especially when they are sick. yes, ijust want to travel far, especially when they are sick. yes, i just want to to travel far, especially when they are sick. yes, ijust want to pick up are sick. yes, ijust want to pick up on that. what are some of the advantages for patients of this new use of the technology? so for one, give them access to expertise that may not be available locally. i can see patients and care for patients all over california, for example, from my office in san francisco. and for people who are very sick and for whom it is hard to travel because they have equipment or because they have trouble just getting around and getting out of the house, it really allows me to see them and our team to see them and provide care for

them. and for many of our patients, even ones who live in san francisco, it can be really hard to get out of the house, to come all the way to the house, to come all the way to the medical centre. and this gives us an the medical centre. and this gives us an opportunity to care for them, to develop relationships over time, and to be able to provide that kind of expertise. and i wonder, do you notice any difference in reaction between the generations? the only thing we find is that, for some of oui’ thing we find is that, for some of our older patients, just getting the technology to work, you know, loading the app, can be challenging, but that is not universal. but once they have the app loaded, it is really quite simple to use, and as long as they have a smartphone or a pad or a computer with a video camera, it works really well and is really quite easy to use. and people really quite easy to use. and people really appreciate the opportunity to have that kind of contact. yes, it isa have that kind of contact. yes, it is a fascinating issue that we will all have to deal with at some point, iam sure. all have to deal with at some point, i am sure. thank you very much for your expertise and for your time, thank you. thanks a lot. now to nicaragua, and a case of sexual abuse that first surfaced more than two decades ago involving president daniel 0rtega and his step—daughter, zoilamerica narvaez. in march 1998, zoilamerica shocked the central american nation when she publicly accused the former revolutionary leader 0rtega of having abused her since she was a child, accusations that he has consistently denied. 0ur colleagues at witness history have been speaking to zoilamerica

about her disturbing story. translation: for 12 years i lived with physical sexual abuse. then another eight years with sexual harassment. all i wanted was to make it stop once and for all. the abuse began between 1977 and 1978, when i wasn't even ten years old. at the time, daniel 0rtega was one of the main leaders. the guerrillas fighting the nicaraguan dictator. we just saw him as my mother's

boyfriend. it began with him touching me, and invading my privacy asa touching me, and invading my privacy as a little girl. i remember my reaction, to protect myself, was a lwa ys reaction, to protect myself, was always to stake quite still and pretend to be asleep. —— stay quite still. i quickly learned that i couldn't stop him. in 1979, the dictator was overthrown by the sandinistas, and daniel 0rtega became head of the governing jointer, with even more power. —— junta. the sexual abuse was always accompanied by profound psychological abuse. when he raped

me, he told me that i was by then ready for it, because my body was 110w ready for it, because my body was now developed. because he always made me feel responsible for what was happening, i was scared to tell my mother. i heard my mother berating daniel 0rtega about what was going on. it shows she knew from early on, but perhaps she never found a way of stopping him. today, i have decided to make it public that i am bringing a legal case against daniel 0rtega. my mother and daniel 0rtega immediately denied all the accusations i had made against him.

from that moment, they began attacking me, accusing me of being mad, a habitual liar, a nymphomaniac, part of a political conspiracy, a cia agent, and they even said i was incapable of looking after my own children. daniel 0rtega appeared three years later in court, when he felt in complete control of the judiciary. the court ruled that the judiciary. the court ruled that the statute of limitations had run out, but that doesn't mean that he was innocent. for me, he will always be the abuser, and she will always

be the abuser, and she will always be the abuser, and she will always be the mother who was his accomplice. as we have been saying, there are just four days to go until parliament takes part in a series of crucial brexit votes. yet how and when britain will leave the eu remains uncertain, and many key questions, for instance on border checks and tariffs, remain unanswered. our business editor simonjack has been speaking to small business owners in north wales to find out about the challenges they face. this tranquillity seems a long way from the brexit war of words, but it is the deafening silence from westminster that is bothering small businesses like seiont nurseries and its manager, neil alcock, who counts on frictionless borders, and he wants answers. it takes two days to ship these into holland. any delays at the port and we'll extend that. we could have deaths of plants on the trolleys, because it's a living product, after all. so basically, we need answers. we need something sorted as soon as possible, so we can plan our business for this year

and next year and beyond. so a three—month delay doesn't really necessarily mean that much? no, it buys a bit of time. but it doesn't answer the big questions? no — no, not at all. so these are corydlines. a plant like this starts life in china. it is flown into the netherlands, shipped within 48 hours to the uk, grown here under eu licence, then shipped back to the eu. now, whether there is a delay to brexit or not, some big questions, like what licences will i need, how long will the transport take, what checks will be involved, what tariffs will i have to pay — those questions are still unanswered, crucial ones to businesses like this. two minutes down the road, the owner of this nursery for rare plants said her european customers have been rushing to place orders ahead of the march deadline. well, 60% of our business is in europe and we supply a lot

of the big botanic gardens, research and private customers as well, but since december, it's probably up to 95% because people are panicking. they want their plants before 29 march. so what impact is this uncertainty having on the business? well, i'm hoping we can ride the storm. but, i mean, it could close us. i don't know. hopefully we'll pick up extra business in this company. i mean, we do have a big following in this country as well. but it's the unknown, i mean it's the unknown for my staff, too. they're just such worrying times. so the political landscape may have changed. a brexit delay is possible, some would say even likely, but on the ground, the questions facing businesses have not fundamentally changed. what is it i'm planning for, a deal or no deal? and that uncertainty hasn't gone away. businesses are incredibly frustrated at government and at parliament. they don't see where the consensus is, they don't see where the agreement is, and they don't know how to plan and organise themselves. all the time, politicians are out

chasing different ideas, refusing to lead, refusing to come up with a compromise, and businesses just don't know what to do. as we count down the days to brexit, it's still unclear whether we get deal, no—deal, a delay of unknown length and uncertain outcome, and those future doubts are stunting business growth now. simon jack, bbc news, gwynedd, north wales. the weather now, with louise lear. good morning. it's a pretty messy sunday story across the country. we've seen some heavy overnight rain gathering from this area of low pressure and that's moving its way across england and wales, but as that clears out of the way over the next few hours, it's going to be replaced by this little fella, which will introduce more of a wintry flavour as it bumps into cold air sitting across scotland. so early birds may well start off with some rain around across northern england, a wintry flavour across the pennines. but that drifts off into the north sea,

and then behind is more of a significant chance of seeing some snow across scotland. now we will see several centimetres perhaps accumulating to higher ground, and some slushy deposits at lower levels, accompanied with gusts of 45—55 mph. a scattering of wintry showers as well through northern ireland and north—west england for a time. and after that rain moves off into the north sea, for the rest of england and wales as we go through the day it's a slow improvement with sunny spells coming through, but windy with it. gusts of winds 50—60 mph, that will make it feel quite cool. we keep the showers into the north and it will be a cool day with those wintry showers going 3—5 celsius at the best. highest values further south of 7—11, but you've got to factor in the strength of the wind. it's going to be a little disappointing. now, through sunday night into monday, we see this little ridge of high pressure building. that'll quieten things down for a time, but not really for long. and, with some clearer skies and lighter winds, we are going to see those

temperatures falling away. so it's going to be a chilly start to monday morning, with temperatures close to freezing in many places. there will be a scattering of showers around as well. monday, on the whole, though, will be a largely fine and quiet day compared to what we have seen over the weekend. highest values of 9—11 degrees. but don't get too used to it, because as we close out monday into tuesday, there is another area of low pressure moving in that will bring yet more wet and windy weather. look at the isobars squeezing together, gale force gusts of wind are quite likely and some of that rain will be quite heavy indeed. that slips its way through the south and east during tuesday, leaving a trail of wintry showers following in its wake behind, but also some sunny spells. but it's not going to feel particularly warm with the strength and the direction of the wind. highest values of around 7—9 degrees. so our week ahead looks pretty unsettled, i'm afraid. so if you do have outdoor plans, it's worth bearing in mind. unsettled, with rain and gales at times, but also a little bit of sunshine for some.