First for you, an exclusive report on the final stages of the battle for the syrian city of raqqa, last major stronghold of the Extremist Group the so called Islamic State. The current offensive by arab and kurdish fighters, with american and british support, started in june. Then, is controlled most of raqqa. Now, only a few hundred militants hold the centre of the city. The bbc is the only broadcaster to gain access to it. Our middle east correspondent Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway sent this. You may find some of the images distressing. This is a war of annihilation, says the United States. Raqqa is the battleground, and the victim. These are western coalition bombs, targeting the fighters of the so called Islamic State. More than 5,000 hit raqqa last month alone. An entire city has become a no mans land. Mile after mile, there is no life, no people. For years, is terrorised and controlled these streets. Now, hundreds of those who called raqqa home have been killed
Twitter rolls out an increase in the length of its messages, but will help the Company Finally post a profit . Hello and welcome to bbc news. First, an exclusive report on the final stages of the battle for the syrian city of raqqa, last major stronghold of the Extremist Group the so called Islamic State. The current offensive by arab and kurdish fighters, with american and british support, started in june. Then, is controlled most of raqqa. Now, only a few hundred militants hold the centre of the city. The bbc is the only broadcaster to gain access to it. Our middle east correspondent Quentin Sommerville and cameraman Darren Conway sent this. You may find some of the images distressing. This is a war of annihilation, says the united states. Raqqa is the battleground, and the victim. These are western coalition bombs, targeting the fighters of the so called Islamic State. More than 5,000 hit raqqa last month alone. An entire city has become a no mans land. Mile after mile, there is no
World business report. Keeping the French Economy moving. Emmanuel macrons government lay out its first budget, but will it bring prosperity to all . You can waffle on twitter. The mo characters rule has been relaxed, but will this help the flagging social media giant make a profit . Welcome to World Business report, im sally bundock. We will have more in the programme, including twitter expanding the number of characters, but i am still at 140, number of characters, but i am still at m0, i number of characters, but i am still at140, ican number of characters, but i am still at mo, i can hear you breathing a sigh of relief. Reforming the spluttering French Economy was one of the most important pillars of emmanuel macrons election campaign. Today his government gets the chance to flesh out some of those changes, with its first budget since he took charge of the worlds sixth biggest economy, and macron has a big task on his hands. France has a stubbornly high Unemployment Rate of 9. 5 .
Traffic is selling Baby Chimpanzees from west africa. The real tragedy of this trade is that to get one infant chimpanzee out of the jungle, all of the adults in its family have to be killed. In cardiff, leaders of the devolved governments of wales, scotland and Northern Ireland, meeting with theresa may, demand a greater say in the Brexit Process. And, true or false . Why mps have decided its time to tackle the phenomenon of fake news. And coming up in sportsday on bbc news. The lowest ranked side left in the fa cup, Sutton United of the national league, will host the 12 time winners arsenal in the last 16. Good evening. A state visit to britain later this year by President Trump will go ahead, despite mounting opposition. An online petition objecting to the visit has now attracted more than 1. 5 million names, and thereve been demonstrations in several cities this evening. The row was prompted by mr trumps decision to ban entry to the us for people from seven mainly muslim countries.
Story before 10am. It isa it is a must watch. And, a legal battle over the rights of parents to take their children out of school for holidays during term time reaches the highest court in the land today. Well speak to the father at the centre of the case. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11am. Throughout the morning well bring you the latest Breaking News and developing stories. And as always, really keen to hear from you. After 10am well be hearing how a Primary School in bournemouth has started allowing pupils to wear their comfy slippers in class, after Research Found it helps them to get better grades and generally improve their performance. If you work from home, you might already know thats the case. Do get in touch with your views. Use the hashtag victorialive. If you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. Our top story today. Donald trump has sacked the United States top Legal Advisor after she questioned the legality of his travel ban. Acting