Crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Bbc world news america. On the front line in the battle for raqqa. Forre there as the fight the stronghold of the socalled Islamic State enters its final stages. President trump says help is coming from puerto rico but on the ground, still a desperate need for aid. They told me today that it is more dire today than when the hurricane made landfall six days ago. Jane unearthing a treasure trove. A discovery in canada means old movies have been given new life. Jane welcome to our viewers on Public Television in america and around the globe. It is known as the last major stronghold for the Islamic State. Tonight, an exclusive report from the final stages of the battle in the syrian city of raqqa. The offensive, led by arab and kurdish fighters, along with american and british support, started in june. At that time, i. S. Controlled most of raqqa. The bbc is the only broadcaster to gain access to the heart of the stronghold in syria. Quentin sommerville and sentaman darren summer way this report. This is a war of annihilation, says the United States. Raqqa is the battleground and the victim. The Coalition Targeting fighters of the socalled Islamic State. More than 5000 hit raqqa last year alone. An entire city has become a no mans land. No life, no people. For years, i. S. Terrorized the streets. Now, hundreds of those who called raqqa home have been killed by coalition bombs meant to free them. The u. S. Led coalition disputes the figure and says this is the most precise Bombing Campaign in history. The men of the kurdishled Democratic Forces are winning. I. S. Promised a new empire would grow here. First mosul, now raqqa. Nearby, another corpse. The threat here is from snipers. The shot hits the wall to the right. Cornerser lies around and in raqqas shadows. I. S. Rarely come out and attack. They hide and weight. There are i. S. Fighters hiding near a mosque. The kurds throw everything they have at the government. I. S. Returned fire, all of this to take just a half a mile of road. [gunfire] quentin when all else fails, an airstrike on the i. S. Position might have done the trick. We wait for the all clear. The instructions are simple. Run that way and be quick. But, as i get to the end of the street, it is clear that the sniper is still there. He fires at us but misses. The shots ricochet off the wall by the camera. It hit right there. The deeper into the city, the greater the danger. Its an improvised war. Here, arab fighters have salvaged an i. S. Armored car. It is a prehistoric beast that ambles through a ruling ruined landscape. A commander knows that snipers only have a tiny window of opportunity. Even in captured ground, there is always the risk that i. S. Will appear from behind. Theyve dug tunnels all over the city. The armor shield us through yet another sniper alley. Theres a sniper just around that corner, just at the end of the street. We have to be very careful. This is the center of raqqa, the very heart, if you like, of the Islamic State. The roundabout is just a few hundred meters from here. Locals call it the circle of hell. For these fighters, it is. Ritical territory to retake their comrades were beheaded or crucified. When they take that territory, they say they will cleanse raqqa of the Islamic State. Before the cleansing, more blood has to be spilt. They are always in panic, desperate. Again, an airstrike is called in. This time, it works. Again, an airstrike is called in. This time, it works. Hes rushed to a field hospital. But he doesnt survive. His name was abu aziz. He was 21 years old. The fighters are exhausted. Theyve had too many days like this. We keep going. We will sacrifice our blood for the people because they are having a really tough time. Men dressed as women, big numbers, like 100. We thought they were civilians. They also had children with them. The children went to the side of the road and they started to fire. Quentin in the six days we were inside raqqa, we didnt see a single civilian. Thousands are still trapped in i. S. Areas. Raqqa, for them, is an ironclad deathtrap. They would have to go through all of this to escape. It is not clear who is friend or foe. Statess the islamic syrian capital. Sommerville, bbc news, raqqa. Jane dramatic scenes in that exclusive report. President trump praised his administrations efforts to help puerto rico after hurricane maria. It came after complaints that federal aid has been too slow and that his attention has been on Football Players instead of those suffering, charges he flatly denied. He had this to say. Pres. Trump we have had tremendous reviews from government officials as we have in texas and louisiana, and in florida, as you know, from governor scott, greg abbott, great governors. This morning, the governor made incredible statements about how well were doing. We understand its a disaster that just happened. The grid was in bad shape before the storm. Puerto rico got hit by two hurricanes. Jane despite those glowing those great reviews, many are complaining that aid isnt getting through. For a better sense of what is happening on the ground, katty kay spoke earlier with a cbs correspondent. That it is more dire today than when the hurricane made landfall six days ago. The mayor of san juan walked up to me in a hotel today and said mayday. People are dying. They are running out of diesel fuel here. The power grid is decimated. When it comes to fuel, it means life on this island. The mayor says, i told you five days ago that people might die. Today, im telling you that people are dying. Peoplecal hospital, two that were on life support died. Right now, the mayor and her staff are out knocking on doors, checking on elderly people. Some dont have food, water, they need oxygen, Blood Pressure medication. Im looking out at the water. Emergency hereht in puerto rico. Officials are telling us that it is getting worse, not better. Kathy what the disconnect . We heard the president saying they had sent massive amounts of food, water, and supplies into the island. Reporter the mayor said they have water and the mayor said today, where is it and where is it going . The governor saying the governor thanked fema. Afterwards, we wanted to talk to asking him how fema was doing. We take him at his word. What were trying to do is see where it is actually happening. So far, no one has been able to take us to an area and show us where the relief supplies are going to be put into the hands of the people who desperately need it. A look now at some of the days other news. The french president Emmanuel Macron has outlined his vision for europe with the francogerman alliance at the heart. In an impassioned speech in argued for a total integration of the french and german markets. The venezuelan opposition. On wednesday, aiming at finding a solution for the crisis. A palestinian Gunman Police opened firecker after being ordered to halt and was shot dead. They had talks aimed at reviving the middle east peace process. Women in saudi arabia will soon be given the right to drive. The law will now be changed next june. I spoke with our chief International Correspondent a short time ago. This has been a long time coming. Reporter quinn extraordinary that we should be talking about extraordinary event, that in our time we should be celebrating that women are allowed to drive. Small, braven a but vocal group of women who have taken to the wheel and filmed themselves and, some of them, ending up in prison. I think we have to see the fact that it is happening now as a much broader process of reform in the kingdom. I was there earlier this year and someone very senior in the kingdom told me that he was planning to make sure that the ban on driving would be lifted, but he cautioned that it had to be calibrated with the other measures being implemented, which include taking away perks, reducing salary, lifting subsidies. In other words, anticipating that there would be a push back for those who dont want the driving ban to be lifted. There would sort of have to be a calibrated system of easing the pain. For the women who have been campaigning to drive, this is a huge development. Jane how much Political Risk was involved . You talk about the reaction against this measure. Reporter power is a balancing act. Between the royal family, king family, andis conservative clerics in the kingdom. The conservative clerics usually push back against any kind of reforms like this. What we have seen particularly from the young 30something crown prince, he has been pushing for social reforms. He is part of a new younger generation. He was behind the establishment of a new Entertainment Authority which has brought huge musical shows to saudi arabia for the first time. A lot of them can only be attended by men. The national day, a few days ago in saudi arabia, was a mixed event for the first time. Lots of music, men and women mingling together. It may not sound like much for many of us watching this program but, in saudi arabia, it is truly revolutionary. Jane historic moment. Thank you for joining me. You are watching bbc world news america. Still do come, is the Energy Revolution changing americas place in the world . Supplys effects on geopolitics. A man who had been in a vegetative state for 15 years as consciousness thanks to an experimental therapy. It involves implanting a nerve stimulator in his chest. Experts say the results of potentially very exciting but more research is needed. Our medical correspondent reports. Reporter for 15 years, the patient in france had been completely unaware of the world around him following a car accident and severe brain injury , and till a medical team in lyon restored subconsciousness. They did it by stimulating the nerve which connects the brain to other organs. Surgeons implanted a nerve stimulator in the mans chest,. Inked by wire an electrical pulse was introduced. After treatment, the team reported that the patient was able to follow an object with his eyes and slowly turned his head when asked, though he remains largely paralyzed and unable to talk. He spent eight years in a vegetative state. He died after a judge agreed with the family that is feeding to should be withdrawn. This research could raise false hopes. Headlines reading the will say doctors have woken actually, toereas, say someone is now minimally a lot of people think being minimally conscious is worse. Reporter this Research Raises ethical issues about the longterm care of patients. A judge in london ruled that legal permission is no longer required to remove feeding tubes when doctors and relatives agree, a decision that is likely to be challenged. Boom in domestic oil and Gas Production combined with the growth in renewables, has allowed the United States to become more selfsufficient in energy in recent years. How does this affect geopolitics . It is a topic that author Megan Osullivan explores in her new book, windfall. Thanks so much for coming in. America has undergone a very rapid Energy Revolution. How has that changed its relationship, particularly with they used to depend on for energy . Megan i think the most common perception is that it has changed our dependence on the middle east in a number of ways. We used to be very dependent on imported oil, and a lot of it came from the middle east. That imports were still out about 20 , but thats compared to 60 10 years ago. Less thane changed to people have thought but still, the tenor of the relationship is different. Jane what about the economic advantage that america has over countries now like russia, who have seen a decline in oil revenue . Meghan one of the points i make in the book is that it is something about this Energy Revolution has to do with price, but it also has to do with the changes in the market. Russia has been affected by the way, particularly, natural gas markets work. Russia still can be a big exporter, but it is exporting on different terms, not just in prices, but it has less leverage over its consumers. That means it cant politicize that energy trade in the way it used to do. Jane is america taking advantage of what it has, making the most of what it now finds itself being able to do . Meghan you hear the Trump Administration talk about energy dominance. That seems to be conceived in a narrow way, talking about more production of fossil fuels. When i tried to argue is that, if we were taking advantage of this strategic moment, we would be thinking bigger, looking at all of our Foreign Policy, think ing about how nonenergy Foreign Policy affects our Foreign Policy at home. But also taking advantage of this new strategic environment. Jane i suspect that many people listening to this will want to know how it affects them, prices at the pump. Meghan i think weve really seen that over the past few years. Since the end of 2014, prices at the pump for gasoline have gone way down. If you heat your home with natural gas, your price has probably dropped considerably. The big question is where this goes in the future. For natural gas, there are a lot of sources that suggest that we will probably be in a low price situation for a long time. Oil will have some ups and downs. We have a situation in venezuela, libya, other places, but over the long run, were seeing fluctuations on a downward trend. Jane when we talk about energy, we tend to think primarily of fossil fuels, but what about Renewable Energy . Meghan right now, more than 80 of the Worlds Energy needs are met by fossil fuels. Renewables are growing in some cases but theres still but they are still a relatively small portion of the energy mix. I do anticipate that they will have an impact on geopolitics. Jane long before the days of the megamotion pictures, there was the modest silent film. A huge library of these movies was once housed in dawson city, canada, but it was eventually destroyed. In 1978, a small portion of well preserved reels from that collection were accidentally uncovered beneath a swimming pool. A man transformed it into a production called frozen in time. I first heard about it in the late 1980s and thought it would be a great story to tell. The irony is that getting rid of these films was an inadvertent act of presentation. Its a story about the recovery of these films but also a story principally about the town and the route it took to get there. Most archivists can recognize dawson city film collections because it has this white water damage on either side. Theres a sequence towards the end of my film where i cobbled together some examples where the character seems to be in some way reacting to the horror of this encroaching decay. I think it is a film that was at least 120 years in the making. We have footage from 1896, the same year that gold was discovered in dawson city. Theres the silent march of africanamericans 100 years ago down fifth avenue, protesting violence towards african americans. Mob violence, lynching. Theres the 1919 world series, which the Chicago White sox famously threw in exchange for some cash. Then come up through the silent era and going up through when the footage was discovered in 1978. It did take a long time to tell this story. Those reels sat in the archives for 38 years without anyone touching them. Its anybodys guess. I think there is still gold down there. Theres 533 reels that can be that, for the most part, dont exist anywhere else. Those represent 372 titles, and of those titles, i excerpt it i excerpted 124. One third of the titles that exist in the collection are glimpsed in my film. I havent even seen the entire collection myself. I leave my film here maybe as an arrow for future archivists or filmmakers who want to explore more. Jane Bill Morrison talking about that astonishing find. Thank you for watching bbc world news america. With the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle. You can stay uptodate with the latest headlines. Download now from selected app stores. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here, in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight, begging for help as millions of Puerto Ricans suffer without basic needs and dwindling supplies, the island reaches a state of crisis after hurricane maria. Then, the war of words takes on new meaning how the public battle between President Trump and north koreas leader exposes unexplored territory in Foreign Policy. And, the emotional debate over vaccines reaches the classroom as states tighten requirements for immunization in elementary schools. When children are in school, theyre in a setting where they are interacting broadly with one another. If you dont have a large percentage of the children vaccinated, then basically your s