manbij was captured from is by us—led rebels last year. telephone to turkey's prime minister to try to calm a row between the two countries about next month's referendum on greater powers for president erdogan. ankara reacted angrily after rallies for turkish voters living in germany were cancelled by local authorities. a private team says it will continue the search for debris of the malaysian airlines flight mh three—seventy. the initiative is an effort for the relatives of the 239 people who died after the aircraft disappeared nearly three years ago. a multinational search for the plan ended earlier this year. the troubled centre—right candidate for the french presidency, francois fillon, has called on his supporters not to give up, in a campaign that he said was becoming an unusual battle. he's defied calls from some within his republican party to stand down, amid a scandal about payments he made to family members for parliamentary work they're alleged not to have done. they deny any wrongdoing. mr fillon will try to stabilise his camp

army rangers to the syrian city of manbij. liberated from isis back in august.is happening is a complicated picture. you are seeing syrian troops and russian allies moving in to close distance to the u.s. allies and turkey has their force in the region with a separate rebel group. not all the groups get along. the u.s. is bringing 100 troops to prevent clashes that could undermine the very critical assault on isis capital. >> ryan, thank you so much for that. bright and early in washington for us. >>> in the world of sports, tony romo. is he done in dallas? where will the all-time leading passing for the cowboys end up? andy scholes has that next in the bleacher report. hopefully he tells me he's going to denver. with the proven power of retinol. reduces wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena® i just want to find a used car start at the new carfax.com show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. >>> it's the end of an era in dallas. cowboys expected to release qua

manbij has become the focus of competing forces in northern syria.m is by us—led rebels last year. the german chancellor and the turkish prime minister have spoken by phone a day after a public row between the two countries over next month's referendum on greater powers for president erdogan. ankara reacted angrily after rallies for turkish voters living in germany were cancelled by local authorities. the wife of francois fillon says the work she carried out for him was real and that she wants him to continue his campaign. in a newspaper interview, penelope fillion says she carried out various tasks for her husband. francois fillon has called for his supporters not to give up in a campaign he said was becoming an unusual battle. he tried to stabilise his campaign at a rally, as we report. under fire but defiant. francois fillon takes to the stage at a rally outside paris. mr fillon enjoyed the backing of faithful supporters. but within the republican party, that support appears to be fading. translation: my friends, this campaign is a straight fight.

manbij has become the focus of competing forces in northern syria — it was captured from i—s by us—ledancellor and the turkish prime minister have spoken by phone, a day after a public row between the two countries over next month's referendum on greater powers for president erdogan. ankara reacted angrily after rallies for turkish voters living in germany were cancelled by local authorities. of the malaysian airlines flightm—h 370. the initiative is an effort to give answers to the relatives of the 239 people onboard the aircraft — which disappeared nearly three years ago. a multinational search for evidence from the plane ended earlier this year. the wife of the embattled french presidential candidate, francois fillon says that the work she had carried out for him was real and that she wants him to continue his campaign. in a newspaper interview, penelope fillon says she carried out "very varied tasks" as parliamentary assistant for her husband. francois fillon has called on his supporters not to give up, in a campaign that he said was becoming an unusual battle. he will try to stabi

manbij has become the focus of competing forces in northern syria — it was captured from i—s by us—ledpelled the north korean ambassador. kang chol is expected to leave within 48 hours, after criticising the investigation into the murder of the north korean leader's half—brother. relations between the two countries have deteriorated steadily in the last few weeks. tom sa ntorelli reports. the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur. in a little less than 48 hours it will need a new resident after this man pulled no punches in his criticism of the malaysian investigation into the brazen killing of the estranged half brother of kim jong—un. it has been seven days since the incident but there is no clear evidence on the cause of the death and at the moment we cannot trust the investigation by the malaysian police. the malaysian prime minister called the diplomat‘s words "undiplomatically rude". tensions between the two nations ramped up in the following days as malaysia recalled its ambassador from pyongyang and revoked a visa—free travel arrangement with north korea. but after the ambassado

manbij has become the focus of competing forces in northern syria.captured from is by us—led rebels last year. barack 0bama has issued a strong denial of allegations by president trump that the outgoing administration tapped phones at trump tower in new york during the election campaign. in a series of tweets, mr trump described the alleged surveillance as "terrible" and called his predecessor a "bad or sick guy," but he didn't offer any evidence to back up his claims. 0ur north america correspondent, nick bryant, reports. it was warm handshakes and friendly bonhomie on inauguration day as donald trump peacefully took power from barack 0bama, two men fiercely hostile in the election campaign, coming together in a show of presidential and personal civility. but early this morning donald trump launched the kind of public attack on a predecessor which in modern times is completely without precedent. "terrible," he wrote in a twitter tirade. a pro—trump rally outside his tower in new york, a skyscraper that donald trump claims was a crime scene. but he m

many of them are heading to manbij which is held by american backed groups.s — who have been forced to leave everything behind. you can find plenty more on assyrian —— the syrian conflict on our website. let's turn to some sport — where we start with the news that seven—time—winners chelsea, have beaten holders manchester united 1—0 — to progress to the fa cup semi finals. watching at stamford bridge was olly foster. manchester united fans have been coming to stamford bridge for over four years without any joy. as they were frisked for offensive items at the shed end, the united team bus was under just as much scrutiny. anything offensive on there, a striker, just one will do. marcus rushford off his sick bed to answer his manager's call. jose mourinho used to have that hold over chelsea's players, of course. john terry remembers the good old days, the new man isn't doing too badly either. they are lighting up the premier league. united were dazzled the last time they visited and if it hadn't been for their keeper, david de gea, the match could have been out

they're deployed near a town called manbij, that's north—west of raqqa.he reason for that deployment encapsulates the complexity of this conflict. liz sly, a washington post beirut bureau chief, calls it a mess. "us troops flying us flags in empty syrian villages to try to stop their allies fighting." what liz sly is talking about is that the americans are trying to stop the kurdish backed militia being attacked by fighters who are backed by turkey. bear in mind everyone i've mentioned so far wants to defeat is. one more consequence of this situation. a us military magazine says us and russia have found themselves teaming up for the first time in the war in syria against turkey. you might ask why all sides cannot unite to defeat is. nothing so simple in syria. here's edgard jallad from bbc arabic. it looks like in general terms, but if you look at where each party is coming from, it reflects the complexity of the war. as you mentioned, this town is the theatre of operations reflecting this complexity. there is an interest from the turkish to take this tow

turkey has threatened to attack the town of manbij that is held by a kurdish—led rebel alliance. the us, which sees it as the most effective force — against is when it comes to launching an attack on raqqa, the i—s de facto capital in syria. the is de facto capital in syria. well, it comes as the russian president, vladimir putin praised — the co—operation developing between russia and turkey over military operations in syria. it follows talks in moscow with turkish president erdogan. but as olga ivshina now reports — the to countries priorities differ when it comes to syria. moscow and ankara, considering the future of syria is very much different but it is also very much difference from the one that the united states have. it seems for putin and erdogan being two ambitious leaders, it is way easier to talk to each other rather than the triangle communities, turkey and moscow. they also have their own plans which seem to contradict those of the united states. usher has already taken the grounds it needs. they have the help to recover aleppo, and palmyra and turkey tries to secur

addition there in addition to several hundred rangers and special forces that are in the town of manbij5 kilometers northwest of raqqah. that offensive could take place within a number of weeks. there are 3,000 and 4,000 isis fighters in the city itself. the same officials say many of the isis leaders have left the city in anticipation of the offensive. when this offensive is going to begin is hard to say. it should begin soon. temperatures in the part of syria by mid-may to early june get quite high and difficult to launch a full-on offensive then. it will be a hard battle because of the isis fighters and the fact they had well over three years to prepare for this to dig in and prepare offensives that iraqi forces are struggling within mwit with in mosul. tunnels and booby traps and car bombs. the usual and particulars that isis gets up to. >> that is the beating heart of isis for the past several years. important. thank you, ben wedeman. >>> u.s. officials rejecting a chinese proposal aimed at diffusing tensions on the korean peninsula. called for north korea to freeze the nuclear pro

want to be seen, they are trying to prevent fighting from breaking out in this critical area called manbijof different forces there, the army rangers trying to keep it all calm. very different where the marines are in another location in northern syria. they are there moving in with their artillery. they are there to provide covering fire, will yif you wil locally u.s.-backed forces, arab-kurdish forces in the reason. that's a critical fight unfold because raqqah, the self-declared capital of isis, the u.s. trying to use local forces, this artillery, ramping up the pressure on isis in raqqah. by all accounts some of that is working. u.s. officials say, and it can't be independently verified, that isis is beginning to leave the city to some extent. but they are leaving behind explosive, trenches, ieds, very typical tactics, and civilian populations there could be facing considerable risk, kate. >> so there is the view from in syria right now. in iraq, ben, the major battle obviously has been against isis, to retake mosul. that continues right now as well. where do thinks stand from where yo

turkey has direct it is forces called a small town manbij, where american forces are.ble with the degree to which the white house has not fully turned its lights on yet. francine: are you uncomfortable with the possible relationship between donald trump and russia which, for the moment, has been friendly but could turn at any moment? charles: i am guessing the relationship with russia will remain in a pretty bad state, despite what the president has said about trying to create a better working relationship. we do not know what kind of information has yet to be disclosed. but the fact that multiple nots to the president have been truthful about their contacts with russia, the fact that the president himself denied or would not believe what the intelligence communities are saying -- this is strange behavior. but at the end of the day, russian troops are parked in the east of ukraine, they have annexed crimea, they are bombing indiscriminately hospitals in syria, they will make it very difficult for any president to work in a close way with vladimir putin. charles kupchan