this is bbc news. the headlines: hundreds 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 left the village on saturday. western—backed syrian democratic forces are poised to resume their final push on the area. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in venezuela on a day welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers of rival demonstrations. in north america and around the globe. police used pepper spray my name is lewis vaughanjones. against supporters of the opposition our top stories: leader, juan guaido, in the capital caracas, while a huge number hundreds of civilians flee the last of pro—government demonstrators also stronghold of the islamic state gathered in the city. group ahead of a final assault by western—backed forces. and r kelly has been released from prison after the payment thousands join rival rallies of more than $160,000 in venezuela in support of both the president and opposition leader in overdue child support. the singer has previously spent as the country's crisis continues. three nights in jail rescuers find the bodies of two climbers missing for almost after being charged a fortnight on a mountain in four sex abuse cases — allegations he denies. in the himalayas. and american singer r kelly is released from jail in chicago after the payment of $160,000 owed in child support.

hello and welcome to bbc news. more civilians have emerged from baghouz, the last village still held by the islamic state group in syria. at least four trucks carrying people left the village on saturday. over the past six years, the is caliphate has shrunk from the size of britain to less than a square mile on syria's border with iraq. the syrian democratic forces are poised to resume theirfinal push on the area. lebo diseko reports. they have left the final stronghold of the so—called islamic state. women and children evacuated out of bagouz now searched as they arrive in territory held by the us backed

syrian defence forces. the western backed kurdish and arab fighters are poised to launch the final assault in the tiny enclave which is all thatis in the tiny enclave which is all that is left in is control. but they have been waiting for the families to live. thousands have done so in recent days with more reported to have left on saturday, loaded onto a lift for trucks. the same fighters waiting to begin their final assault on what is left of is land are also those trying to get civilians to safety. translation: we are now at the end of bagouz, the euphrates river is 700 metres away from us, the is one kilometre behind us, you are trying to evacuate most of the civilians after sunset. we are evacuating hundreds, hundreds civilians —— the camp. evacuating hundreds, hundreds civilians -- the camp. those who make it out of bagouz will be sent here, with a detention and refuge centre in northern syria. it is run by the us backed syrian kurdish

fighters but aid workers have been allowed in to help. tens of thousands of people are now here with more than 10,000 coming in recent days. the few facilities available were struggling, even before the increased arrivals, now eight workers warned our overwhelming. so far we have 106 people dead. they are coming in poor condition and more than 50 kilometres in a harsh winter with cold to some of them are so weak when they arrive at any complication in their condition may end in a fidelity. it is not clear how many civilians are still left in bagouz, nor how long the stf fighters will be willing to wait for them to leave before making that final push —— sdf. lebo diseko, bbc news. rival protestors took to the streets in venezuela on saturday. at a rally, president nicolas maduro

thanked the army for staying loyal, saying they had defeated an opposition coup attempt. meanwhile, police clashed with supporters of opposition leader juan guaido at their rally in caracas. 0ur correspondent will grant is in caracas. a little earlier, i asked him about the significance of the military‘s support for president maduro. yes, i mean, certainly, the military are absolutely key to the future of venezuela and, obviously, to the future of president nicolas maduro. but also, the other factor that's sort of currently going on, beyond whether or not the army stay loyal, isjust the tension being ramped up by the very widespread national blackout — there's been a power cut that's gone on for over two days now. in some areas, some parts of the country haven't had any electricity for more than 48 hours, and it's only because i'm staying somewhere that there is a generator that i'm even able to talk to you.

most of the country is in complete darkness again now, despite the efforts that were made to bring it back online. so, that caused a lot of anger and it was very, very noticeable at the opposition march that people were furious about that situation. so where do you think that anger, that frustration, takes us next? well, it's hard to say. eventually, it's going to need some kind of outlet. mr guaido, when he reached the supporters and spoke to them on a megaphone, announced a national tour and that he is going to be going down to the different regions, the 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, to make life so difficult for him that, eventually, something has to give. exactly what that something

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

past few weeks. will grant willgrant in will grant in caracas for us there. let's get some of the day's other news: a plane has crashed in central colombia, killing all 12 people on board. the pilot reported technical problems before losing contact with air traffic control. the twin—propeller aircraft was located an hour later near the city of villavicencio. the authorities in colombia say three crew members and nine passengers died, including the mayor of the small town the plane departed from. north koreans go to the polls today for an election in which there can be only one winner as only one name appears on the ballot paper. voting for the supreme people's assembly is mandatory, and any kind of dissent is unheard of. turning up early to vote is seen as a sign of loyalty. 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. rescuers in pakistan have found the bodies of the two missing mountaineers, briton tom ballard and daniele nardi, who was italian. contact was lost with the pair almost two weeks ago during an ascent of one of the world's highest mountains, nanga parbat, in the himalayas. mr ballard is the son of alison hargreaves, who died on the mountain k2 in 1995 — the same year she became the first woman to conquer everest unaided. sarah campbell reports. tom ballard was among the world's best and most fearless climbers. he specialised in taking on the most dangerous ascents in winter. joining him on what would be

his final challenge, italian climber daniele nardi. they'd waited weeks for a weather window before setting off to climb nanga parbat, also known as ‘killer mountain'. an international search was launched after contact was lost with the pair two thirds of the way up a particularly treacherous route. and almost two weeks after they went missing came the news that their bodies had been spotted. 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. i mean, anybody who went off thinking that, you know, there was a high chance they wouldn't come back, i think, it's a very unfair thing 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. fellow climbers, friends and family are now having to come to terms with tom's death at the age ofjust 30. 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's gone to meet his mum anyway, let's say. this is just so sad. it's 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. r kelly has been released from prison after paying more than $160,000 in overdue child support. the singer has previously spent

three nights in jail 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. —— the state has yet to give us one single piece of 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 tunisian health minister, abderraouf cherif, has resigned following the deaths of 11 newborn babies at a hospital in the capital. the babies died of septic shock within a 24—hour period. the country's prime minister, youssef chahed, visited the maternity unit as the government

announced inquiries are being conducted into the state—run facility's medical, pharmaceutical, and hygiene practices. 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 re—negotiated or scrapped in favour of projects the country needs more. translation: we should continue to work until 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.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: from the beach to below zero, warming up ahead of the snow volleyball championship. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this the worst terrorist atrocity on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison

in an eight—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know, really — i've never been married before. this is bbc world news. our main headline: hundreds of civilians have left the last stronghold of the islamic state group ahead of a final assault by western—backed forces. well, one of those who is now in a camp, having left the islamic state enclave, is the british teenager shamima begum, who joined the group when she was 15. the british government has been facing criticism over the decision

to revoke her citizenship to stop her returning to the uk, after her baby son died in a syrian detention camp last week. 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 islamic state group fighters with their wives and 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, who lives 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 her son to return to the uk. but that could have proved deeply unpopular. in a statement, a spokesman said that 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. now, british media is reporting that two more british women who went to live in islamic state—controlled areas have also been stripped

of their citizenship. according to the sunday times newspaper, reema iqbal and her sister zara travelled to syria in 2013, and are now in the al—roj refugee camp. with me is our news correspondentjohn mcmanus. john, what do we know about these assistance? well, the sunday times says that the two sisters travelled from london to syria to join so—called islamic state a few years ago. now, one of the sisters, zara, had already had a son in london when she travelled to syria. she gave birth to two of the children subsequently, while also has two sons, one of whom was born in

britain. that means between them they have five children. now, if this story is correct that the british government has strip them of their citizenship, the question is what happens to the children. the home secretary, sajid javie, has been very clear that when he makes this decision to revoke citizenship of those who have gone to join islamic state, he says their rights are unaffected and preserved, but if these children need to come back to these children need to come back to the uk, as their mothers want them to, how is that going to be done if the two sisters, their mothers, i know longer british citizens? are they split from their mothers does they split from their mothers does the government actually say in this case we will allow the mothers to come back as well? well, clearly these are complicated and difficult issues but the government's policy and strategy here is under criticism. that's right, and this really ca m e criticism. that's right, and this really came to light a few weeks ago the case of shamima begum, a 19—year—old woman also from east london who travelled to syria and married a dutch jihad london who travelled to syria and

married a dutchjihad is fighter and has had three children, two of whom u nfortu nately has had three children, two of whom unfortunately died. ms begum spoke to the bbc a few weeks ago and said she also wanted to return to the uk for the health and of her unborn child, but the home secretary revoked her citizenship, making that pretty difficult for her. subsequently she gave birth, and we found out two days ago that that child had died of pneumonia. the conditions in these camps are absolutely atrocious. so the government, the home secretary, has been under a lot of pressure because of that, with some opposition politicians actually saying that he

is responsible for the death of that child. it is a very tricky line for the government to walk. it wants to somehow deal withjihad the government to walk. it wants to somehow deal with jihad is, the government to walk. it wants to somehow deal withjihad is, people who have gone to join somehow deal withjihad is, people who have gone tojoin islamic somehow deal withjihad is, people who have gone to join islamic state, who have gone to join islamic state, who have gone to join islamic state, who have either already returned to the uk, it monitors those and tries to make sure that they are not a danger to uk citizens, but it also wa nts to ta ke danger to uk citizens, but it also wants to take action about those who are still in syria in these camps. i have to say, there wasn't much public sympathy for shamima begum when her story first came out, mainly because she wasn't particularly repentant mainly because she wasn't particularly repenta nt about mainly because she wasn't particularly repentant about what she does, and i think it is fair to say that the government perhaps is not too worried about being criticised by the public over this. but of course, when it comes to the deaths of babies, that is very different. thank you very much for bringing us up to speed. despite the ceasefire agreement in eastern ukraine, the frontline remains an active combat zone. thousands have been killed and more than a million have fled their homes since 2014. those who stayed had to learn how to survive. people remaining in the conflict zone have to deal not only with shooting and explosions, but also with loneliness and depression. but it is not all that grim, and there are inspiring cases of people coping with these problems. the bbc‘s abdujalil abdurasulov reports. traditional singing in unusual circumstances. this choir performs just 10 km away from the front line in eastern ukraine. the conflict between russia—backed rebels in ukraine that started

in 2014 has changed the lives of everyone living near the front line. zoltare means "golden" in ukrainian, but today, this village can hardly live up to its name. many people have left the village since the start of the conflict. this woman stayed, but for her, like for many others who remained, it was the loneliness and not shelling or shooting that became the biggest fear. translation: when you retire, you remember everything, everything. you just remember only the good thing. of course it's very sad when we separate.

you go home still alone in your apartment, and think about all the troubles in your life. the choir had to stop rehearsing when the clashes started. yet no risks could match the depression these women faced, so the group reunited two years later. translation: every woman here is very lonely. their children and grandchildren live somewhere else, not here. these people need interaction, so that they won't be tempted to commit suicide. the choir received a grant from the un development programme to continue performing. now, they want to give concerts in nearby villages and towns. the women hope to lift the spirit of other people and help them to overcome the hardships of the conflict.

as karate, skateboarding and surfing prepare to make their debut in the summer olympics in 2020, there may be a new contender waiting in the wings for winter. snow volleyball looks a lot like its beach cousin, only colder. gail maclellan explains. warming up may be a challenge, but cooling down shouldn't be a problem. sweden's snow volleyballers, in competition for a spot at the european championships, to be held in austria in april. the spectators may resort to jumping jacks to stay warm, and the beverage of choice might be hot soup, but there is still enthusiastic support for this new sport. those who know their beach volleyball will have spotted there is an extra player. three, instead of two. and playing barefoot is not really an option. to stop them from slipping, and developing frostbite, the players wear football boots.

for some, the freezing temperatures and thin mountain air are an advantage. i think it's a great future, especially here in sweden, because we have eight months of winter. so we're not really a beach volleyball cou ntry, so we should be pretty 0k. we're used to the snow and the cold. we are prepared for this. players say it is easier to jump on compacted snow than it is on beach sand, so height is less important. the game originated in austria, and this year will see the second european championship. the sport's governing body hopes it will soon be included in the lineup of the winter olympic games. instead of a celabratory dip in the sea, the winners will warm up in the courtside hot tub.

and this collection of paintings will be auctioned. estimates at christie ‘s range from £400 to £1.5 million, with the money raised going to charity. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. 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 that's 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 winds 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 some sunny spells coming through, but windy with it. gusts of winds 50—60 mph, that's going to 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, and there'll be a scattering of showers around as well. so monday on the whole, though, will be a largely fine and quiet day in comparison to what we've 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's another area of low pressure moving in that will bring yet more wet and windy weather. just look at the isobars squeezing together. gale—force gusts of winds are quite likely, and some of that rain will really 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.