:00:07. > :00:10.This is BBC World News Today with me, Alpa Patel.
:00:11. > :00:11.The headlines: The offensive to reclaim
:00:12. > :00:13.the last Islamic State stronghold in Iraq intensifies.
:00:14. > :00:17.As security forces close in on Western Mosul,
:00:18. > :00:21.thousands of civilians remain trapped in the fighting.
:00:22. > :00:27.We talk to some of those who have managed to escape.
:00:28. > :00:31.Murder, rape and the destruction of villages - the BBC hears
:00:32. > :00:34.accounts of abuse suffered by Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim
:00:35. > :00:50.The deadly impact of ebola on gorillas -
:00:51. > :00:55.a third of the world's population killed by the disease
:00:56. > :00:58.And the pitfalls of working from home - see the moment a guest
:00:59. > :01:00.is interrupted by his children while giving
:01:01. > :01:28.It's also the so-called Islamic State's last major
:01:29. > :01:33.But Iraqi forces say they are within weeks of driving
:01:34. > :01:37.After five months of fighting there have been heavy casualties.
:01:38. > :01:40.But government forces now control the east of the city.
:01:41. > :01:43.Which is divided by the River Tigris.
:01:44. > :01:47.Now they're pushing into the west of the city,
:01:48. > :01:49.where hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped.
:01:50. > :01:51.And the militants are still deeply embedded.
:01:52. > :01:53.Our correspondent Orla Guerin and cameraman Nico Hameon
:01:54. > :01:59.are close to the front line and sent this report.
:02:00. > :02:07.They are fleeing on foot from western Mosul,
:02:08. > :02:15.Countless numbers are likely to follow,
:02:16. > :02:20.and imagine if this was all you could bring with you.
:02:21. > :02:25.Many waited 'til the fight came right to their door.
:02:26. > :02:43.At 76, forced to leave home for the first time in his life.
:02:44. > :02:47.He told us a mortar landed nearby, just moments before.
:02:48. > :02:50.His ten-year-old grandson and namesake, clutching his
:02:51. > :02:58.school bag, though his only lessons here were in war.
:02:59. > :03:01."I'd like to go back to school right this minute", he said.
:03:02. > :03:08.So-called Islamic State stopped him going years ago.
:03:09. > :03:10.Now, back in Iraqi hands, for what it's worth,
:03:11. > :03:26.It was just four days ago they were driven from here.
:03:27. > :03:31.This is the Engineering Department of Mosul University.
:03:32. > :03:35.On the IS curriculum, how to make chemical weapons.
:03:36. > :03:41.It was a source of pride for the people of Mosul.
:03:42. > :03:48.It was also a key strategic location for the so-called Islamic State.
:03:49. > :03:53.It gave them high ground to dominate the area,
:03:54. > :03:56.it was heavily defended by Uzbek fighters and this is just one
:03:57. > :03:59.of the areas that's going to have to be rebuilt
:04:00. > :04:02.when the battle for Mosul is finally over.
:04:03. > :04:05.Some Uzbek militants are still lying where they fell,
:04:06. > :04:10.no decent burial for those who terrorised a city.
:04:11. > :04:16.Nearby, a suicide belt they didn't manage to use.
:04:17. > :04:20.At dusk, troops gather for the next push forward.
:04:21. > :04:25.Increasingly, they strike under cover of darkness.
:04:26. > :04:35.Hunting for the extremists who once controlled nearly a third of Iraq.
:04:36. > :04:45.Some of the hardest fighting may be ahead in
:04:46. > :04:47.In the narrow streets of the old city,
:04:48. > :04:51.Beneath a sky lit only by embers of battle.
:04:52. > :04:53.In the pitch black streets, few signs of life, but hundreds
:04:54. > :04:55.of thousands remain in western Mosul,
:04:56. > :05:05.This lady and her family are sheltering in an abandoned house
:05:06. > :05:10.Three of her loved ones are in hospital,
:05:11. > :05:29.I lost my house, my children were injured.
:05:30. > :05:32.Her beloved Mosul will never recover, she believes.
:05:33. > :05:42.What future for a broken city in a fractured nation,
:05:43. > :05:46.even after the extremists are pushed out?
:05:47. > :05:48.There are fears that when Iraqis finish fighting IS,
:05:49. > :06:06.Staying in the region, the Turkish military say troops
:06:07. > :06:08.and Turkish-backed rebels have killed more than 70 Kurdish
:06:09. > :06:11.fighters in northern Syria, just in the past week.
:06:12. > :06:14.Turkey has threatened to attack the town of Manbij that is held
:06:15. > :06:19.The group is supported by the US, which sees it
:06:20. > :06:23.as the most effective force to launch a long anticipated attack
:06:24. > :06:28.on Raqqa, the IS de facto capital in Syria.
:06:29. > :06:33.It comes as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin has praised
:06:34. > :06:35.what he called the "unexpected level of contacts" that are developing
:06:36. > :06:38.between Russian and Turkish military agencies and special services.
:06:39. > :06:41.Following talks in Moscow with his Turkish counterpart,
:06:42. > :06:43.Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said the two countries
:06:44. > :07:01.were working energetically to solve the Syrian crisis.
:07:02. > :07:08.Moscow and Ankara concerning the future for Syria is the much
:07:09. > :07:17.different but it is different from the one that the United States have
:07:18. > :07:19.and it seems that for President Putin and President Erdogan it is
:07:20. > :07:25.easy to talk to each other than talk in that triangle involving the
:07:26. > :07:28.United States, Tokyo and Moscow. So Russia has already taken the grounds
:07:29. > :07:31.that it needs and they have the help to recapture Aleppo, they help to
:07:32. > :07:37.recapture Palmeiro, and Turkey tries to secure a buffer zone between
:07:38. > :07:41.Syria and its own borders. And they have much more grounds for
:07:42. > :07:45.cooperation and talks rather than each of them has with the United
:07:46. > :07:52.States because the United States is such a powerful player. The German
:07:53. > :07:57.car-maker Volkswagen has pleaded guilty in an American court to three
:07:58. > :08:00.criminal charges linked to the diesel emissions scandal. The plea
:08:01. > :08:06.as part of a deal with the US Justice Department, under which the
:08:07. > :08:12.company will pay fines of more than $4.3 billion. Volkswagen has
:08:13. > :08:15.admitted that, between 2009-2015, vehicles were fitted with illegal
:08:16. > :08:17.software allowing them to pass emissions tests whilst still
:08:18. > :08:22.producing high levels of pollution. It's something Myanmar's government
:08:23. > :08:24.doesn't want the rest of the world to know about -
:08:25. > :08:26.how it treats its About a million Rohingya live
:08:27. > :08:30.in Myanmar - but they're denied citizenship and the most basic
:08:31. > :08:33.of human rights. In the last six months,
:08:34. > :08:35.75,000 refugees have fled The BBC has heard numerous
:08:36. > :08:39.testimonies of rape and murder being committed
:08:40. > :08:41.by the Burmese security forces. Here's our Myanmar
:08:42. > :08:58.correspondent Jonah Fisher. We have been receiving shocking
:08:59. > :09:05.video from a part of Myanmar at this close to the outside world. The
:09:06. > :09:09.Burmese government is trying to keep what its soldiers of the to an
:09:10. > :09:15.unwanted Muslim minority a secret. So we have come across the border to
:09:16. > :09:20.Bangladesh. 75,000 Rohingya Muslims are fled here in the last few
:09:21. > :09:24.months. This is Muhammad. He says he left his village in November when it
:09:25. > :09:29.was attacked by Burmese soldiers. His elderly father was too frail to
:09:30. > :09:33.flee. Four days, Muhammad heard nothing. Then when the Army
:09:34. > :09:40.withdrew, he returned to a gruesome scene.
:09:41. > :09:53.TRANSLATION:... This extremely distressing footage
:09:54. > :09:56.was from Mohamed's village. He tells me he believes his dad was shot, and
:09:57. > :10:18.the body burn. -- burned. Mohammed's story is
:10:19. > :10:23.supported by a video that we have verified of helicopters overhead,
:10:24. > :10:29.burning homes and large numbers of burnt bodies. Rate has been alleged
:10:30. > :10:35.on a massive scale. This woman became famous in Myanmar when she
:10:36. > :10:39.bravely spoke out about the abuse of Rohingya were meant to a team of
:10:40. > :10:42.government investigators. Months later we found in Bangladesh. She
:10:43. > :11:08.told us what the soldiers had done to her.
:11:09. > :11:15.She says she had to flee Myanmar after soldiers printed out her
:11:16. > :11:20.picture and came looking for her. The sheer scale of what the Rohingya
:11:21. > :11:24.refugees are alleging, with hundreds still doubt been killed and many
:11:25. > :11:30.more abuse, has shocked this United Nations envoy. I would say crimes
:11:31. > :11:39.against humanity. Definite crimes against humanity. How much
:11:40. > :11:43.responsibility should the leader of Myanmar therefore this? At the end
:11:44. > :11:48.of the day it is the government, the civilian government, that has the
:11:49. > :11:55.answer and respond to these massive cases of horrific torture and very
:11:56. > :12:03.inhumane crimes that they have committed against their own people.
:12:04. > :12:11.Myanmar's form of democracy icon refused all our interview requests.
:12:12. > :12:16.The United Nations has accused this country of crimes against humanity.
:12:17. > :12:25.Do you have any response to that? We spoke to one of her closest aides.
:12:26. > :12:28.That she take on board what people are saying when they say that it
:12:29. > :12:35.does not seem like she cares about the human rights of the Rohingya,
:12:36. > :12:39.for example? Please change the subject. We do not talk about the
:12:40. > :12:44.Rohingya. Hundreds of them have been killed. That is why we are raising
:12:45. > :12:49.the issue. Not hundreds. It is almost one year since all San Suu
:12:50. > :12:52.Kyi took office. So far the price of power has been silence and the
:12:53. > :12:58.principles and values once synonymous with her name. Let's take
:12:59. > :13:03.a look at some other news. EU leaders have stressed
:13:04. > :13:06.the importance of unity at a meeting ahead of Britain's expected
:13:07. > :13:08.departure from the bloc. The president of the European
:13:09. > :13:10.Council, Donald Tusk, should be to strengthen mutual trust
:13:11. > :13:14.for the remaining 27 members as they discuss proposals
:13:15. > :13:19.for a multi-speed Europe. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux
:13:20. > :13:22.Nation and their supporters have marched through the streets
:13:23. > :13:25.of Washington to protest against the controversial
:13:26. > :13:27.Dakota Access Pipeline. Native American tribes say leaks
:13:28. > :13:31.from the oil pipeline will pollute water supplies and endanger sites
:13:32. > :13:38.they consider sacred. The Formula 1 world has paid tribute
:13:39. > :13:42.to the former champion racing driver and motorcyclist John Surtees,
:13:43. > :13:46.who has died at the age of 83. John Surtees is the only man to win
:13:47. > :13:49.World Championships Tens of thousands of South Koreans
:13:50. > :14:01.have come out on the streets of Seoul to celebrate a court
:14:02. > :14:08.decision to remove President Park
:14:09. > :14:09.Geun-hye from office. The court upheld a parliamentary
:14:10. > :14:12.vote to impeach Ms Park over her role in a corruption
:14:13. > :14:13.scandal involving one
:14:14. > :14:31.of her close friends. The friend is accused of using her
:14:32. > :14:35.presidential connections to pressure companies to give millions of
:14:36. > :14:39.dollars in donations to foundations she controls. She is now on trial.
:14:40. > :14:43.In December Parliament voted to impeach President Park with the
:14:44. > :14:49.final decision moving to the Constitutional Court. In February,
:14:50. > :14:53.the boss of Samsun became involved in the scandal. He was arrested and
:14:54. > :14:58.accused of making donations in return for political favours. His
:14:59. > :15:03.trial started on Thursday. Today comes the final episode, as the
:15:04. > :15:05.Constitutional Court rules to uphold the impeachment and President Park
:15:06. > :15:26.is ousted from power. The chief justice says that Park
:15:27. > :15:34.broke the law, and the trust of the people. Outside the court, pro Park
:15:35. > :15:37.protesters clashed with police. Officers struggled to stop
:15:38. > :15:49.demonstrators on the other side toppling a bus. Two protesters died.
:15:50. > :15:56.The night, anti Park protesters have been holding a victory rally. I felt
:15:57. > :16:00.shivers going down my spine and I'm sure I'm not the only one in South
:16:01. > :16:05.Korea today to feel this way. It is an extraordinary thing in the
:16:06. > :16:08.history of a country to see the president removed the democratic
:16:09. > :16:23.constitutional mechanism. There will be an election within two months.
:16:24. > :16:32.For three months, protesters have chanted that President Park must go.
:16:33. > :16:34.Tonight, she spent her last night in the Presidential Palace. She may yet
:16:35. > :16:41.end up behind bars. News about the recent outbreaks
:16:42. > :16:44.of Ebola in West Africa has centred
:16:45. > :16:46.on its devastating impact on humans. But gorilla populations
:16:47. > :16:48.are known to have suffered A third of the world's gorillas have
:16:49. > :16:52.been killed by ebola When a group is infected,
:16:53. > :17:04.around 95% of them die. With all four species of gorilla now
:17:05. > :17:07.critically endangered, researchers from Cambridge
:17:08. > :17:09.University want to immunize Our science correspondent
:17:10. > :17:14.Rebecca Morelle has more. In the African forests, an animal
:17:15. > :17:20.at risk of vanishing forever. Gorillas already face many threats,
:17:21. > :17:28.from poaching to habitat loss, but perhaps the most
:17:29. > :17:29.worrying is ebola. The deadly disease is thought
:17:30. > :17:32.to have wiped out many thousands So we put it on the sides
:17:33. > :17:41.of the nose This scientist has carried out
:17:42. > :17:47.a small trial on captive chimps, the last before bio-medical
:17:48. > :17:49.research on these animals He found a vaccine protected them
:17:50. > :17:54.against the virus and now he wants
:17:55. > :17:57.to use it on gorillas in the wild. Ebola and other diseases
:17:58. > :17:59.are a huge threat. If these were our children,
:18:00. > :18:01.we vaccinate our children, right? We vaccinate wildlife
:18:02. > :18:07.in the developed world. Why aren't we vaccinating our
:18:08. > :18:12.closest relatives in Africa? The deadly toll of ebola in humans
:18:13. > :18:17.is all too well-known. The 2013 outbreak in West Africa
:18:18. > :18:22.killed more than 11,000 people. Now, though, there's
:18:23. > :18:26.an effective human vaccine. Ebola in humans and gorillas
:18:27. > :18:29.is closely linked. The virus can
:18:30. > :18:31.cross between species. Some argue that gorillas should
:18:32. > :18:40.now be immunised, too. Gorillas are one of our closest
:18:41. > :18:42.relatives and saving is now a number one priority
:18:43. > :18:45.for conservationists and an ebola vaccine does offer
:18:46. > :18:48.some much needed hope, but there could be
:18:49. > :18:50.significant risks. Finding a method to get a dose
:18:51. > :18:53.of the vaccine into every
:18:54. > :18:54.gorilla would be difficult. There's also a risk that it
:18:55. > :18:56.could harm the animals, We, as great ape conservationists,
:18:57. > :19:03.are concerned about any unintended impacts on the health of the target
:19:04. > :19:08.apes, such as introduction of a disease that might spread
:19:09. > :19:11.amongst the intended population The future of these animals
:19:12. > :19:19.is hanging in the balance. The forests are currently free
:19:20. > :19:21.of ebola, but it's inevitable
:19:22. > :19:24.it will strike again. Conservationists need to decide
:19:25. > :19:27.whether the risk of vaccinating or not vaccinating is one they're
:19:28. > :19:32.willing to take. Absolutely stunning animals, aren't
:19:33. > :19:42.they? Have you ever wondered
:19:43. > :19:44.what infinity might look like? The 87-year-old Japanese artist
:19:45. > :19:47.Yayoi Kusama has pretty much captured the experience
:19:48. > :19:48.at an exhibition at the Hirshhorn
:19:49. > :19:53.Museum in Washington. The 87-year-old Japanese artist
:19:54. > :19:55.Yayoi Kusama has pretty much at the Hirshhorn
:19:56. > :19:56.Museum in Washington. It's become one of the art events
:19:57. > :20:00.of the year, with long lines to glimpse inside her
:20:01. > :20:01.so-called infinity rooms. Jane O'Brien went to see
:20:02. > :20:08.what all the fuss is about. It is easy to get lost in one of
:20:09. > :20:13.Yayoi Kusama's row in committee rooms even though they are
:20:14. > :20:18.physically quite tiny. Mirrors and lights warped perceptions of what is
:20:19. > :20:23.real and what is illusion. We are living in a time when almost
:20:24. > :20:26.everything we see and experience is through digital technology, through
:20:27. > :20:32.digital media, through e-mail and so on. That is so much a part of our
:20:33. > :20:38.lives and perception that she reminds us that there is this other
:20:39. > :20:45.aspect of experiencing space that sometimes is more tactile. To
:20:46. > :20:53.understand how Yayoi Kusama reached infinity, you need to step into her
:20:54. > :20:58.white room. As a child, Kusama had a vision of polka dots which led to an
:20:59. > :21:02.acute neurosis which she confronted by focusing on dots in her art.
:21:03. > :21:07.Visitors are encouraged to stick them everywhere in this room,
:21:08. > :21:11.eventually obliterating the white and leading to oblivion. Which
:21:12. > :21:16.brings us back to infinity. At first being in this room makes me feel
:21:17. > :21:19.incredibly happy, surrounded by glow-in-the-dark pumpkins, for
:21:20. > :21:22.goodness sake. But after a couple of seconds it becomes quite disturbing,
:21:23. > :21:27.because this is probably the closest any of us will come to seeing what
:21:28. > :21:31.infinity must look like, and once you grasp that, you realise how
:21:32. > :21:40.utterly insignificant you really are. Most people inside these rooms
:21:41. > :21:41.immediately reached for their are. Most people inside these rooms
:21:42. > :21:49.cellphones. This is, after all, the ultimate selfie. But, not so fast,
:21:50. > :21:54.says the museum director. If you are in this infinity mode room and you
:21:55. > :21:58.don't stop and put down your phone, you're not truly experiencing it
:21:59. > :22:04.because it is this moment when you are alone in the cosmos, in one of
:22:05. > :22:10.these pieces, and it is a very compelling, kind of poignant
:22:11. > :22:12.feeling. Get past the show stopping infinity rooms and there is plenty
:22:13. > :22:24.more to tickle the senses. Voluptuous sculptures, dots,
:22:25. > :22:27.appendages, dots and poor box. Yoyoi Kusama is arguably the most
:22:28. > :22:35.important contemporary artist in Japan. This exhibition reveals why
:22:36. > :22:43.her appeal is global. An absolute feast for the eyes, that one.
:22:44. > :22:46.Present Donald Trump has spoken to the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas
:22:47. > :22:51.by phone. It's the first conversation between them since Mr
:22:52. > :22:54.Trump took office in January. A spokesman for the Palestinian leader
:22:55. > :22:58.said the US president has invited him to visit the White House to
:22:59. > :23:01.discuss peace talks. His spokesman went on to say that President Trump
:23:02. > :23:05.invited the Palestinian leader to visit soon.
:23:06. > :23:07.A sea turtle in Thailand is recovering well after
:23:08. > :23:14.an operation to remove 915 coins from its stomach.
:23:15. > :23:22.The 25-year-old turtle, nicknamed Bank, for obvious reasons,
:23:23. > :23:25.in various currencies than 5kg of coins
:23:26. > :23:30.that tourists had tossed into the pond where she lived.
:23:31. > :23:36.Occasionally most of us are guilty of being hungry for cash and a sea
:23:37. > :23:41.turtle and Thailand is no different. She was brought from a pond in a
:23:42. > :23:45.small fishing village to bets in Bangkok to investigate a cracked
:23:46. > :23:49.shell. Attention soon turn to her extraordinary weight. An x-ray
:23:50. > :23:58.revealed the cause. This saw the mass that you can see in the stomach
:23:59. > :24:02.is in fact 915 coins. Now nicknamed Bank for obvious reasons, the turtle
:24:03. > :24:06.is lucky to be alive. The removal of the money took hours of emergency
:24:07. > :24:11.surgery, which Bank has certainly paid for, physically. The healing
:24:12. > :24:19.seems to be OK. There is no secondary infection, because we are
:24:20. > :24:22.using sterile sea water but the nickel concentration is very high
:24:23. > :24:28.and her, so that, we have to work on. The coins which were withdrawn
:24:29. > :24:32.from Bank are a variety of international currencies. Many
:24:33. > :24:37.tourists had tossed them into the pond to invite luck over the years.
:24:38. > :24:45.Luck which has certainly rubbed off on this fortunate creature. Now a
:24:46. > :24:46.reminder that BBC world News is brought to you live every day.
:24:47. > :24:49.Which means - on air - the unexpected can happen.
:24:50. > :24:53.Earlier today, our presenter James Menendez was interviewing
:24:54. > :24:55.Professor Robert Kelly, at his home in South Korea,
:24:56. > :25:04.He had some very important points to make - but I think it's fair
:25:05. > :25:06.to say you'll do well to remember them after this.
:25:07. > :25:13.He was overshadowed by his children. Scandals happen all the time. The
:25:14. > :25:17.question is how democracies respond to them. I think one of your
:25:18. > :25:22.children has just walked in. Shifting sands in the region. Maybe
:25:23. > :25:36.relations with North Korea change? I would be surprised if they do.
:25:37. > :25:47.Pardon me. My apologies! What does it mean for the region? My
:25:48. > :25:49.apologies. Sorry. South Korea's policies towards North Korea have
:25:50. > :25:56.been severely limited in the last six months... It is no wonder that
:25:57. > :26:00.that clip as one while. That is the nature of live TV. And Professor
:26:01. > :26:00.Robert Kelley made it through professionally. Goodbye for
:26:01. > :26:07.Robert Kelley made it through professionally. Goodbye for now.
:26:08. > :26:14.The weekend is looking pretty mixed across the UK. The best day of the
:26:15. > :26:18.weekend by far will be Saturday. Quite mild, particularly in the
:26:19. > :26:21.south. Sunday will bring some rainfall, not a lot but there will
:26:22. > :26:25.be some across the country. Right now it is overcast out there. There
:26:26. > :26:29.is a weather front approaching and it is going to bring some rain to
:26:30. > :26:30.north-western parts of the course of Friday