this is bbc news. the headlines: in thailand, voting is under way in the country's general election. it's the first since a military coup in 2014. hundreds of thousands of people have marched through central london, demanding that the uk holds another vote on its membership of the european union. there've been celebrations across syria after the so—called islamic state group was defeated in its last stranglehold, baghouz. hello and welcome to bbc news. after weeks of brutal fighting, curtis led forces declared victory over the hardline group. forces declared victory over the ha rdline group. they forces declared victory over the hardline group. they had been holed up hardline group. they had been holed up in the town of burroughs. syrian democratic forces had besieged the town for weeks while planes conducted extracts. thousands of people forced to flee. aleem maqbool sent this report from northeastern syria.

it is the syrian democratic forces who raise their flag over baghuz today — the final sliver of territory recaptured from the islamic state group. undoubtedly a moment of triumph for the local forces who've sacrificed so much in the fight. "we are gathered here, sons of this great country," says kino gabriel from the sdf, "to confirm our total victory over the islamic state group and their fall." but throughout, while marking the significance of the achievement, have been the voices of caution. we still have much work to do for an enduring defeat of isis. we have been clear that the campaign is not over. isis or daesh remains a significant threat in the region, the united states, our partners, and our allies. the land has been won back after a major offensive earlier this

week with syrian forces advancing on the ground backed by air strikes from the us—led coalition. in the end, this is what the so—called caliphate was reduced to. un—used suicide vests, crumpled flags, and the squalid remains of a pitiful camp. well, there have been parades and cavalcade is in towns and cities up and down this region on the news. but it has all come at a huge cost to people here. and while they celebrate now, they also recognise thatjust because the territory has been taken back from the islamic state group, that doesn't mean the fight is over. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in qamishli in northern syria. polls have just opened in thailand, where voters are casting their ballots in the first general election since the military ousted the civilian government of yingluck shinawatra in 2014.

nick beake is in bangkok for us. tell us about the atmosphere and how many people are expected to vote. good morning from the centre of bangkok, where there is a great deal of anticipation. you can see the people queueing up. it hasjust gone eight o'clock, they have waited for eight o'clock, they have waited for eight years to cast their vote in a general election. for the past five yea rs general election. for the past five years a militaryjunta has been impower. expect the turnout will be extremely high ——in power. lots of different candidates. this has been considered a vote for the status quo oi’ considered a vote for the status quo or some of the opposition parties, who have been restricted in their capability in terms of how well they can do in this particular election. they are hoping to get their message across to the voters and they won't change. they say they have had enough of the status quo and they wa nt to enough of the status quo and they want to form a fresh government. of course, we have to see how these

voters cast their votes today. there has been a message from the king, can you tell us what it said? yeah, that's rate. this is an unprecedented message from the king on the eve of a general election. he sent a message from the palace last night saying he was concerned about the security and also the happiness of his people, that was his key priority. he also urged voters to remember that there are good people and bad people in this world and he said everyone's responsibility is to ensure the good people are in power and kept from power are the bad people who would do the country l. that was the message from him last night. —— ill. people will be thinking about lots of things as they cast their ballot. we think about 1000 people are eligible in this particular area. theyjust picking up the ballot papers now. they will be casting their votes and we expect to get some sort of result later tonight. nick beake, will we wait for those results. thank you

very much. ——we will wait. an operation to rescue over a thousand people from a cruise ship in trouble off southwest norway is set to continue through the night. more than a hundred passengers have so far been airlifted to safety by helicopters in high winds. the ‘viking sky‘ sent out a distress call after suffering engine failure on a notorious stretch of coast. daniel mckerrel has more. off the coast of norway, the viking sky, a cruise liner with 1300 people on board, began drifting towards rocks after engine failure. with the storm raging, the crew sent out a distress signal and managed to steer the ship to an anchorage two kilometres from shore. two rescue vessels were forced to turn back by the severe weather conditions. so in their place, a team of helicopters have been airlifting passengers to safety, hoisting them one by one from the deck. with winds gusting at 38 knots and 20 foot waves smashing into the hull of the ship. for passengers still on board, rescue could not come soon enough.

below deck, hundreds more passengers in life vests were waiting their turn. translation: they have started to evacuate. there are hundreds of people on board. both passengers and crew. they are being flown to hustad on the mainland, about two kilometres from the ship. rescuers say eight people have been treated for minor injuries but no one is thought to be seriously hurt. very frightening. we went up on a helicopter to with a sling for two hours together. it was very scary. the viking sky remains at anchor along a stretch of coast known for shallow waters and dangerous reefs. with the majority of its passengers still trapped on board, the rescue effort will continue into the night and, unfortunately, so will the storm. daniel mckerrel, bbc news.

0rganisers of a march in london to demand another eu referendum claim more than a million people turned out. a petition calling for brexit to be stopped has now been signed by approaching five million people — making it the most popular ever submitted to the parliament website. it's believed theresa may is coming under increasing pressure to announce her resignation. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. brexit is at a crossroads. no support yet for theresa may's deal but no agreed alternative. the organisers claim that a million people took to london's streets to call for a new referendum. the people's vote campaign says this will bring the country together but their opponents believe it will only deepen divisions. i think the government needs to listen and give people a chance to vote now they know what is actually happening. some people are worried it will be very divisive given the state of the country? and it's not now?

what, divide the country? we weren't told what brexit would actually look like because they didn't know what brexit would look like. we want to have a referendum so people can voice their latest view. would you accept other options, a softer brexit, some people call it? i think anything is better than the current option of either theresa's deal or no deal. i bring with me today solidarity from scotland. the snp and most opposition leaders at westminster have publicly pledged support for a new referendum. jeremy corbyn isn't here, but has said it's an option the labour leadership will vote for in parliament. and the party's deputy leader said he could back theresa may's deal but with a rather large and important caveat. i will help you get it over the line to prevent a disastrous no—deal brexit. booing. but i can only vote for a deal if you let the people vote on it too.

theresa may isn't yet confident enough to guarantee that she'll bring her deal back to parliament for a further vote next week. and campaigners here hope that will give them an opportunity to push their case for a new referendum. but that decision won't be taken by thousands of people on the streets. it'll be taken by fewer than 650 mps and so far, they've resisted all calls for a public vote. mps are likely to discuss alternatives to theresa may's deal next week. some want a closer relationship with the european union — similar to norway. 0thers back a more distant free trade agreement like canada's, and some say no deal could still be the best option. but these campaigners are being accused by long—standing

leave supporters of trying to stop brexit altogether. this march pretends to be in favour of a second referendum but that is only a means to an end. this is a march to try and stop brexit, to reverse the decision the majority took in 2016. politicians haven't exactly been in harmony over brexit. amid deadlock, campaigners are still hoping the government might change its tune on a public vote. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. well, if theresa may wasn't aware of the protestors outside parliament today then she'll take little comfort from the battles within her own cabinet. most of the sunday papers are speculating about her future the prime minister is pictured alongside her deputy, david lidington, on the front of the sunday times. it reports senior ministers say may's days are numbered and he is named as an option to replace her. the mail on sunday says that ministers are plotting to install environment secretary michael gove in number 10 to save brexit. and that is echoed by the sunday telegraph which warns the cabinet must step up to oust may

in order to rescue brexit. we spoke to nigel nelson, the political editor of the sunday mirrorand political editor of the sunday mirror and asked him what he made of the headlines about the prime minister. it is now not a question of if theresa may goes, but when. there was a material change in the house of commons this week. we have known she has been in different crises before and she somehow escaped out of them. this week felt completely different, all down to the fact that her tv address to the nation on wednesday went so completely wrong. so it's no surprise that tomorrow's papers will be filled with the speculation about her going and how she will go. so the idea being she will go as soon as this coming week.

david lidington, her de facto deputy, could be installed as an interim prime minister. then there could be jockeying between the cabinet. david lidington would have to accept he would never be leader, he would just stand in, and the others would stand aside, get over this emergency part of brexit, and do a proper leadership election in the summer. an attack on the fulani ethnic group in central mali has left more than a hundred people dead. local officials say armed men dressed as traditional donzo hunters surrounded a village in the mopti region before attacking people in their homes. senior un officials have visited the country — calling for an immediate end to the violence. translation: we clearly and firmly condemn these attacks against civilians. in the face of this unspeakable tragedy i personally, as

a secretary general special representative, call for sran and to the spiral of violence. as part of oui’ the spiral of violence. as part of our mandate to protect civilians, as $0011 our mandate to protect civilians, as 50011 as we our mandate to protect civilians, as soon as we learned of this attack we sent un peacekeeping force as to the scene of the incident. the us attorney general, william barr, has spent the day at the department ofjustice examining the report by the special counsel, robert mueller, into russia's role in the 2016 presidential poll — when donald trump was elected. mr barr is considering whether to release the main findings to congress on sunday. republicans claim it vindicates president trump. here's our north america correspondent chris buckler. for months, the special counsel robert mueller has been investigating the election of a president to the fury of donald trump. but, as he made his way to the golf course today, mr trump's mood seems to have improved considerably. it is now known that robert mueller has not recommended any further indictments and the president's supporters seem to be celebrating and taking that as backing for what he has always claimed. there was no collusion, no obstruction, everybody knows it. everybody knows it is a hoax, one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on this country.

during the 22 months of robert mueller‘s investigation, there were prosecutions and convictions. traitor, traitor. of among others, the president's former campaign chairman paul manafort, the former national security adviser michael flynn, and mr trump's one—time personal lawyer, michael cohen. but none of those cases directly address the key questions of whether the president tried to obstructjustice and whether russia colluded with the trump campaign in the 2016 election. i don't know what's in the report, nobody does. democrats already have their eyes on 2020 and those out campaigning to become mr trump's opponents in next year's presidential election have a new rallying cry.

that report needs to be made public. the american people have a right and a need to know. the decision about what is released rests in the hands of this man, the us attorney general. bill barr went to work this morning with the intention of publishing the main findings of the report before the end of the weekend. but while the special counsel's probe is at an end, other investigations are still taking place and democrats are determined to push their own inquiries here at congress. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. this is bbc news. the headlines: voters in thailand are casting their ballots in the first general election since the military coup. world leaders welcome kuridsh forces' victory over the islamic state group in syria.

let's get more now on the report by the special counsel, robert mueller, into russia's role in the 2016 presidential poll. it's more than 2a hours since it was delivered, with many wanting to know what it says. harry litman is a former deputy assistant attorney general. he is now executive producer of the podcast talking feds. he's in sarasota florida. first of all, you have worked in the department ofjustice. can you give us an department ofjustice. can you give us an idea of what the us attorney general will be doing? he has worked over the weekend, what will he need to do, what kind of conversations is he having? i worked in the department ofjustice, i worked for the previous attorney general, but it arms me less than i might like with precise knowledge of your question, because this is somewhat unprecedented. this is a report that i believe he has probably seen before friday and deciding what

principal conclusions that will remain, he will turnover. inaudible. the principal decision is concerned, to prosecute or not prosecute people, are a bit perplexing, or limited, because the charge that robert mueller had concerned a lot of investigation rather than just criminal indictment for what happened. and what that part of the report consists of and whether it will be turned over is, for now, mysterious. william barr has said he wa nts to mysterious. william barr has said he wants to be transparent but is constrained by rules and laws. some a nalysts constrained by rules and laws. some analysts have said he has quite a bit of leeway as to what he releases. so, which is it? low it is among those latter analysts. the

administration gives some feeling but it is far from administration gives some feeling but it is farfrom inaudible.. i think there is a mechanism for providing for certain leaders in congress. he will also have to think about material that was part of the grandjury about material that was part of the grand jury that normally remains secret. but there is a mechanism for giving that over to the public with provisional approval. i take him at his word that he will be looking to use it. that in his letter suggested thatis use it. that in his letter suggested that is not what is happening this weekend, but in consultation with the deputy attorney general and robert mueller himself. the democrats have said they want to see

all of it, the report and the supporting evidence. is there a scenario where we may not get all of the talking points? could that happen? it certainly could, but it isa happen? it certainly could, but it is a very foreboding, even terrifying possibility. it seems to me imperative, even greater than bringing the wrongdoers to justice, that the nation know what happened and to what extent a hostile former —— foreign power was able to intervene with the 2016 election. i think in the long run it will all be revealed, the question will be inaudible. under the direction of the president, or the other sort of inaudible. harry lipman, former deputy attorney general, and we apologise for the quality of the line. a teenage boy has been stabbed to death in isleworth, in west london. the 17—year—old was given first aid

but died at the scene. following the attack, police in the area have been given increased powers to stop—and—search anyone they suspect of carrying a knife. ben ando reports. inch by inch, brick by brick. searching for clues and answers, after another teenager is stabbed to death in london. the youngster involved, who's not yet been formally named, was with friends in nearby syon park. police say a car pulled up, a gang of men got out and gave chase. the youngster ran into this residential estate and was stabbed by the front door of one of the blocks. one woman said at least one of the gang was wearing a mask. the first police officers to get here say they found the boy still alive, barely conscious and unable to speak. they carried out cpr and tried to save his life, but they were unable to, and he died at the scene. in isleworth, shocked residents woke up to the news that london's stabbing crime wave has reached their doorsteps.

we just came down and they said there'd been a serious assault, and obviously woke up this morning and it was a fatal stabbing. when i looked out and heard the screaming and saw the lads run away, whatever, i did think, i was worried for how my wife would have been if she was out there at the time. i wouldn't expect this, especially in that type of estate, so, yeah, we are alla bit shocked and terrified about our children and ourselves. recently, the government responded by pledging £100 million to the police to pay for extra officers and for multi—agency violence reduction units, based on schemes that halved similar crimes in scotland. in this part of west london, the police have been given temporary additional powers to stop and search. those have now been extended to early tomorrow morning as the investigation into the capital's latest knife killing continues. ben ando, bbc news, west london.

0ne one of britain's most wanted fugitives has been arrested in romania. he is wanted for the murder ofjosh hansen, who was stabbed to death in a bar in 2018. the mother ofa death in a bar in 2018. the mother of a woman whose body was found in the humber estuary has issued a statement, saying nobody should have to go through what she has. the 21—year—old's body was found 7 weeks after she went missing, following a night out on the 1st of february. humberside police is treating her death as a "potential homicide". writing on facebook, libby's mother, lisa squire said she'd lost one of the most precious things in her life, and that her heart is broken.

an investigation is under way following another attack on a mosque in birmingham. police are examining cctv footage after criminal damage was caused to a window of the building in the balsall heath area. detectives don't believe the incident is linked to five other attacks on mosques in the city. luke hanrahan reports. in the early hours of this morning yet another attack on a birmingham mosque, a window smashed, part of a hammer left behind. hassan who did not want his face shown on camera lives inside the building, clearly shaken by the ordeal. my mum woke me up and said the window has been smashed. it could have been a lot worse, like they could have thrown something and lighted a fire and run off. for the muslim community here in balsall heath it is an unpleasant reminder of increasing islamophobia and hatred on the streets of birmingham. the behaviour is wrong, it should not happen and the hatred they have in their hearts is not right. it is just two days since the witton islamic centre had its windows smashed in. we have never seen anything

of this scale before. one of five mosques to be vandalised on thursday. jawad khan is chairman of the birmingham council of mosques and says it has frightened people. we have seen in friday prayers there was less numbers. it is more the younger, inbetween sort of ages, that attend that are capable. but the vulnerable stay at home and gave this week a miss, especially the friday prayer. a man arrested yesterday in connection with thursday's attacks has been detained under the mental health act. meanwhile this afternoon in central birmingham... we will never allow this racism to be normalised in society. people gathered to show solidarity to stand up to racism. a russian man has been arrested in bali, accused of trying to smuggle a young orangutan out of indonesia. the two—year—old ape was allegedly

found drugged inside a basket along with two live geckos and five lizards in other bags. tiffany wertheimer has the story. safe in the arms of a safari park vet, this two—year—old male orangutan has had quite an ordeal. on friday night, to the surprise of security at bali's denpasar airport, he showed up on the xray machine, as they checked passangers luggage. translation: last night, when we found him still sleeping, we did not know if he had been anaesthetised or given sleeping pills. but finally we found some sleeping pills. security officials stopped and detained 27—year—old russian national andrei zhestkov, who was flying home to russia. he told officials the animal was a gift from a friend, who had bought him at a java market for $3,000, and convinced him it was ok to take the ape home to russia, and keep as a pet. but orangutans are a protected species,

and mr zhestkov could now face up to five years in prison and a $7,000 fine if he is convicted, although the exact charges he is facing are still unclear. two live geckos and five lizards were also allegedly found in his luggage. illegal wildlife trade is rampant in indonesia, despite efforts to crack down on smugglers. for now, this young orangutan is safe. translation: we will continue his treatment here at the safari park, until he finishes at the quarantine facility. whether he's ever released into the wild will be up to indonesia's conservation agency. tiffany wertheimer, bbc news. hello there. this weekend isn't looking too bad pretty much for all of us, but for scotland it will be quite showery and even windy, as we head through sunday. now, the wet and windy weather across the north is attributed to this deep low pressure which is skirting to the north of scotland.

and on its southern flank, we are seeing those gales. so the winds continuing to pick up during the early hours of sunday. lots of showers, some of them merging together, to produce longer spells of rain. yes, there will be some wintriness over the high ground, too. but the further south that you are, closer to the area of high pressure, lighter winds and clearer skies. so it's going to be a chilly start to sunday. temperatures in low single figures for many. and out of town, across central northern areas, there will in fact be a touch of frost in places. so sunday will be a chilly start, but many places starting dry and bright and plenty of sunshine. but there will be showers from the word go, windy conditions across scotland. some of these showers pushing their way southwards but i think through the afternoon, the showers becoming a bit more scattered so there should be some sunshine inbetween. but it will be very windy, with gales and quite chilly, 6 or 7 degrees across the far north. a few showers oushing into northern ireland and into northern england. but south of here, it's actually a glorious afternoon. more sunshine than what we had on saturday. same too for the channel islands, temperatures ranging between 12 and 1a celsius.

as we head on into next week, this area of high pressure really exerts its force across the uk. slap bang on top of it, in fact. a few weather systems trying to skirt around it, may affect northern scotland at times, with a little bit of rain. but for most places throughout next week, it is going to be largely dry with variable cloud and some sunshine. we could see quite a bit of sunshine in places. but nights will be chilly. also with this area of high—pressure, as it moves a little bit further eastwards, it starts to scoop up some milder and brings it, towards our shore and that will be quite noticeable across southern and eastern parts of the country later in the week. for monday, this is the picture, again, it's another chilly start. we shouldhave plenty of sunshine around. a bit of cloud just toppling around the area of high pressure, into the north and the west of scotland. perhaps a spot of rain or two on western hills. those temperatures reaching double figures across the north. a little bit milder for scotland, on monday, closer to 12—13 degrees across the southern parts of the country. into tuesday, it's a similar picture. plenty of sunshine around, after a fairly cool start.

could see a little bit of cloud just bubbling up into the afternoon, but it should be fairweather cloud. and this weather front may bring a bit of rain, more of a breeze to the far north of scotland. those temperatures creeping up across the south — 13, maybe 1a celsius. and in fact, as we end the week, it looks like it could turn very mild again across southern and eastern areas. you could be looking at the high teens celsius. but nights will continue to be cool with a bit of mist and fog.