hello. you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." i'm lucy hockings. our top stories, the campaign to degrade and destroy islamic state. president obama delivers on his promise and launches strikes on i.s. targets in syria. 14 early morning coordinated strikes launched from the gulf. five arab allies now joining the fight. the main target, the city of

raqqa. we'll look at how much these strikes will have weakened the militant stronghold. syria gives its response. it claims it was warned of the attack by a letter and says it will cooperate with everybody in the fight against islamic state. also on the program, marian joins us to look at what's happening in business, and a big meeting in new york today. >> absolutely. sustaining the environment. that is the main focus, as business leaders, politicians and environmentalists come together for the u.n. summit on climate change in new york. we'll have the latest on what's been discussed. it's midday here in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 2:00 p.m. in syria, where for the first time, the u.s. and its regional allies have launched air strikes against islamic state militants. 14 strikes are reported to have destroyed or damaged i.s. training compounds and command

facilities in northern and eastern syria. these attacks, all part of president obama's pledge to degrade and destroy i.s., which has taken control of large areas of iraq and syria, imposing a harsh brand of islam. since august, the u.s. has launched around 190 air strikes in iraq, but the militant group is most prominent in syria. the cia says there are around 31,000 i.s. fighters. 2/3 of them are in syria. many of these strikes hit raqqa province, where the i.s. has its headquarters. the syrian government saying it was told of the strikes hours before they happened. nato saying it was not involved. here's our security correspondent. >> reporter: tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a u.s. warship in the red sea, targeting jihadist positions in syria for the first time. this is a major escalation in the u.s.-led campaign against

the so-called islamic state. this was the aftermath from one position in northwest syria. at least 50 militants are reported to have been killed. the u.s. says it's disrupted plans to attack western interests. islamic state is continuing with its media campaign aimed at western public opinion. it's put up another hostage video of a captive british journalist speaking under duress. >> u.s. politicians seem content to call the islamic state nasty names, an insult to our values. but such petty insults don't really do much harm to the most powerful jihadist movement seen in recent history. >> reporter: on the streets of the iraqi capital baghdad, the air strikes drew a cautious welcome from some. >> translator: definitely such a thing pleases us.

we want the united states of america and western countries to take part in striking strongholds of terrorists and criminals who are trying to destabilize the situation. whether they are in syria or in iraq. >> translator: the report about the syrian government, it says it was given notice, though it did not take part. >> translator: yesterday, the foreign minister received a letter from his american counterpart john kerry, in which he informed that the united states would target isis in syria. >> reporter: five arab states also took part in some form, according to the u.s. it's not yet clear to what extent. the participation of predominantly sunni arab countries is significant, although no one knows how long this coalition will hold. >> everybody can agree on one thing, which is that isis is a threat to almost every country in the region, and from that perspective at least, they've decided this is the number one threat, we'll get back to

squabbling amongst ourselves after this has happened, but for now we need to deal with this. >> reporter: meanwhile, on the ground in northern syria, the battles continue. these are kurdish fighters. islamic state forces are advancing. kurdish refugees are fleeing. it's clear that air power alone will not end this conflict. frank gardner, bbc news. >> let's take you straight to washington. we can join the bbc's barbara plett usher. barbara, the intensity of these attacks so much greater than what we've seen so far in iraq. quite clear it seems that washington did want to strike a very definite opening blow. >> yes. but it wasn't like the opening blow of the iraq war in 2003 that sort of shock and awe approach, but it definitely was more than what the americans had been doing in iraq. it was a multi-targeted, carried out by fighter jets as well as missiles fired from warships. and a coalition, not just the

united states, but five arab countries involved in some way, including, we understand, some of them actually taking part in the air strikes. so it was definitely a decisive -- meant to be a decisive blow to open what looks to be a long campaign, a rolling operation where we expect air strikes to continue in syria as well as iraq. >> barbara, thanks for that tr washington. we have been reporting that jordan's government has confirmed it took part in the strikes in order to ensure the stability and security of its borders. the u.s. also saying saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar, and the uae also took part in the attacks. although they didn't specify in what capacity. the strikes were launched from warships in international waters in the red sea and the north arabian gulf. let's talk now to one of our security correspondents. do we know any more about how these arab states participated? >> no, we don't. we don't have the exactly details of that yet. we knew the uae had already said it would, was willing to take

part in air strikes. saudi arabia said it was willing to train opposition forces. we know they're part of this coalition involved in these strikes but we don't have the details yet of exactly in what way. >> how much do you think these strikes will have weakened islamic state? >> i think there's already been a campaign of air strikes in iraq, and at times, they've had a difference tactically, particular battles. you've seen an impact. these seem larger and their desire to hit some training, supply facilities, leadership facilities, finance facilities. it's still hard to see, though, whether air strikes alone will be able to really degrade and destroy islamic state as president obama said his strategy is to do. it will require shifts on the ground. it will require sunni tribes in iraq to take them on. will require the training of forces in syria to fight against this group. i think air strikes play a role, but i don't think they're going

to change the whole situation suddenly overnight. >> into the mix as well, we are now hearing details from the pentagon about these strikes on the khorasan group, separately to the attacks on islamic state. tell me what we know about the khorasan group. >> it does appear the u.s. has used the opportunity of hitting i.s. to target this other group which is not part of i.s. the khorasan group is a faction, a part of another syrian group fighting president assad, but which is linked to al qaeda. the khorasan group is thought to be the one which is involved in plotting against the u.s. and other countries. particularly there have been worries for months about them developing concealed explosives, for instance, which has led to some increased security at airports and the like. and it's thought the u.s. was seeing signs of plotting from this group. they talk about imminent plot. we don't really know how imminent, but that's led them to take the opportunity for the u.s. to also attack the khorasan

group as well. >> but are we talking about an imminent plot on u.s. soil, rather than just u.s. interests? >> that's what's interesting. president obama has said there isn't that much evidence of i.s. being able to or wanting to strike in the united states. but the khorasan group is one group which is thought to have more capacity and more intent to try and do that, and that's why they've taken this opportunity to attack them, even though they're not actually far of the i.s. >> okay, gordon, thanks for that. we've got some pictures that have just come into us here at the bbc. you can see u.s. planes launching from the flight deck aboard the uss george h. w. bush. they're about to carry out air strikes on i.s. targets. gordon is still with me. interesting, gordon, to start getting some of these pictures. we are, it seems, getting more detail about how exactly these strikes took place. and the hardware that was used as well. >> we're getting a bit of a

sense of the scale of it and the size of it. i mean, clearly, this is a step up in the campaign, obviously because it's going to syria, obviously because the amount of strikes in one night that we've seen. how sustained it will be, i think that's going to be interesting to see. is this going to be the pattern night after night? or was this just going for some of those targets? we also knew that i.s. was expecting something. they will have moved some of their key people in preparation for this. it will be interesting to get a sense from the u.s. as well about how much damage it really thinks it's done. >> okay, thanks very much for joining us. one other development to bring you from the middle east this hour is that israel has shot down a syrian war plane that it says strayed into its air space in the golan heights. they believe the plane's mission was to attack rebels in syria, not israel. syria as well confirming one of its fighter jets had been brought down, calling it an act of aggression by israel. we haven't seen a downing of a

plane like this for many decades in that part of the world by israel, so another development there for you from the middle east. much more on all these stories for you on our website. there you'll find all the latest developments and background, including the analysis you can see right now on the legalities of these strikes on islamic state. what force is allowed under international law, it's a question being raised a lot today. the russians are raising that in particular. that's all at bbc.com/news. well worth going on. some great maps for you there as well, just looking at where these air strikes took place in the region. time to bring you up to date with some other news. israel says its special forces have killed two palestinians suspected of the abduction and murder of three israeli teenagers in june. these were the killings that triggered a chain of events that led to the recent conflict in gaza. the two men were killed in an exchange of fire in the west bank city where they were

hiding. a court in china has sentenced this man, a prominent scholar and champion of the rights of the uighur people, to life in prison for separatism. he has spoken out against beijing's policies towards the mainly muslim uighur minority. united states, the european union, and several human rights groups have called now for his release. this was the scene in hong kong today where students have taken their protest to government offices in the center of the city following a mass rally on monday. they're protesting china's plan. a larger pro-democracy demonstration planned for next month is threatening to block the financial district. do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come, away from islamic state, world leaders will meet today in new york to discuss another global threat, climate change. we'll take a look at the latest summit and just what it hopes to achieve.

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let's bring you more on our top story now. the united states along with five arab allies has attacked strategic targets belonging to islamic state in syria overnight. let's talk more now about the role that these five arab allies are playing in this offensive by the united states. we can take you to bahrain and speak to the editor-in-chief of our arab news channel. thank you very much for being with us. can you tell us specifically in terms of saudi arabia what role they played, what participation they had in these strikes in syria overnight? >> the only information we have today is from the pentagon. but there were no statements knead saudi arabia. but saudi arabia made a

commitment to support an alliance against isis, and what happened last night, suspicion of that commitment. >> we know that saudi arabia said they would train moderate syrian opposition fighters, but it is also clear that they've got this powerful air force. would you expect them to help the u.s. in using their air force as well? >> yes. i think saudi arabia will do everything. sort of sending ground troops. so they will use air force. and because we see isis as a threat internally as much as externally. isis is a threat on iraq in syria. it will be a threat, even locally. >> what about relations at the

moment between saudi and iran? there have been obviously decades of suspicion that needs to be overcome between these two countries, but we did see the foreign ministers meeting in new york. are we about to see a new chapter in relations between iran and saudi? do you know what was discussed in new york? >> there's a lack of trust. the iranians always sweet talk saudi arabia, but underground, they do what they see fit. saudi arabia wants action on the ground. iraq, syria, yemen, lebanon. we haven't seen that yet. what we saw yesterday and the day before, i think it was just a meeting, nice talk.

but it doesn't present a major shift between both countries. >> you're speaking to us from bahrain. over the past few years, we have seen the gulf state supporting different factions in syria. is that going to end now? are we going to see a sort of more coming together and a unified policy between the gulf states over what's happening in syria? >> we must do that. we must do that. the regime of syria must be ousted. this conflict has exposed us to saudi arabia, to jordan. now we begin to approach that. >> i'm sorry to interrupt.

we're having a few problems with your line, but thank you so much for joining us with those insights. now the rockefeller family that made its vast fortune from oil has announced that their multi-million-dollar fill lan tlop call organization is planning to sell and reinvest in clean energy. the rockefeller brothers fund is the most significant organization to join a campaign to reduce investments in fossil fuels because of concerns about climate change. the announcement came on the eve of the u.n. climate change summit, which is taking place in new york today. >> reporter: the warnings get louder, but emissions keep on rising. the u.n. is pledging to curb the greenhouse gases that have warmed the atmosphere and made the seas more acidic. one solution may lie in future cities. an extra billion people will be moving into urban areas.

a report says cities in developing countries must be densely built, like european towns. london's an example, public transport is clean. and you have to pay to drive in the center of the city. the suburban trains are massively improved, too. this line runs from the east of london, right out to the leafy suburbs of the west of london. it doesn't go anywhere near the central business district at all. but it's cheap, it's quick, and typically it's packed. but big infrastructure costs money. and rich nations haven't kept their promises to transfer finance to poor countries so they can develop more cleanly. there is some good news. the cost of renewable energy are plunging, since subsidies created a mass market. but reducing the overall risk to the climate will be very hard. roger harabin, bbc news. >> thank you for being with us

here on "gmt." we have seen lots of talk about climate change and many are saying not enough action. why is there not a specific goal in new york? >> because you cannot have six heads of state negotiating things in only one day. i think that here deliberately, the focus has been more on exactly as you just described it, the solutions. that the solutions are there. that it's about the whole way we grow our economies. that is what has to change. i think the interesting thing in new york is also, just referring to some of those who are now divesting in fossil fuels. that's the sort of big company contributions to another kind of world economy that is very, very interesting. it means a lot that 126 heads of states have prepared now, already now. what are they going to say in paris next year? that is the big thing here

today, that they are now having to have done their homework. >> many activists are saying there should be a goal that holds current rises in temperature to about two degrees. are we close to getting commitment from some leaders on something like that, on a goal like that? >> but that is already accepted. that was accepted back in 2009 in copenhagen, so that is sort of the thing that the world leaders have already agreed to. we must stay below the two degrees. now the whole thing is about to say okay, we know where we are going. how do we get there? because we know that china and india and africa and many others need a lot of growth, so the whole idea is about how to stay below the two degrees and still have the growth that we so badly need and therefore the focus will very much be on solutions. >> so how do you get a framework that feels like it's fair for all countries? >> yeah, that is the old

discussion and the challenging discussion. of course, i believe that those living in the developed world. we will have to set a good example. that is why i hope that already next month's europe will agree its next set of climate and energy targets. the 2030 targets. but we also need big economists, like, for instance, china, to do part of the lifting. we had the report yesterday that the average per capita emission of china is now surpassing that of the average european per capita emission. that just shows that you cannot make this whole equation unless china and other big emerging economies, they are also doing their fair share. of course, those of us who are rich, we will have to do more than those who are still developing countries. but the whole point is all of us will have to pursue a more smart growth model, a growth model less based on fossil fuels. >> the news from the rockefeller

foundation was interesting. but it seems that you've got all these countries coming together. business needs to be targeted as well. because surely it's one thing to have countries greey ies greeyi you don't have business falling into line, these targets will never be met. >> i agree very much. business is waiting for signals from politicians and politicians cannot agree on business targets until they know that business can deliver the solutions, and that is why it's important that here in new york today, business will meet politicians, and that is also sort of a constructive approach into this, and i must say that when a foundation, a company conglomerate like rockefellers yesterday announces, now we stop sort of investing in coal and oil, that sends a very, very strong signal to others to follow that very good example. >> thank you very much for joining us from new york. marian has more on this meeting

taking place on climate change in new york at the united nations a little later here on "gmt," so do stay with us for that. but for now, let's return you to on top story. the u.s. has launched a series of air and missile strikes against islamic state targets in syria, and these are the latest pictures that we have for you. these are u.s. planes launching from the flight deck of the uss george h. w. bush. what we understand is they are about to carry out air targets on i.s. targets. they are fa-18 hornets and ea-prowler aircraft that are taking off under cover of darkness. part of the operation of training camps and supply depots in syria. the latest pictures coming to us there. do stay with us on "gmt." we'll have more coming up for you. more on the unfolding military attack on i.s. militants. we'll be live, take you live to the turkey-syria border, where

we now understand 130,000 syrian kurds have fled advancing i.s. militants. the u.n. has said they're making plans for up to 400,000 people to cross the border. we'll also bring you some insights at what life is like in raqqa. do stay with us here on "gmt." plenty more to come.

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in this half-hour, as the u.s. and its allies launch air strikes against islamic state in syria, we'll have a look at the humanitarian side of the crisis. the u.n. says up to 400,000 syrian kurds could make their way into turkey to escape i.s. >> i'm mark lowen on the turkey-syria border where i've been hearing the reaction of the refugees to the start of those air strikes. >> miriam is with us with news

of a new way to deliver goods. >> it may be possible to make door-to-door delivers nonstop. the self-driving truck, a vehicle which drives on the motorway all by itself at a speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour. we look at how the concept will work. welcome back to "gmt." let's return to our top story now. the u.s. has launched a series of air strikes against islamic state targets in syria with the help of five neighboring arab nations. the attacks we understand destroyed i.s. training compounds and command facilities in the eastern city of deir al-zour, and also in the city of raqqa, where i.s. has its headquarters. in northern syria, the militant group has been advancing toward the city of kobane. around 130,000 refugees have now

crossed over into turkey in the last few days. let's take you straight to the bbc's mark lowen who is live for us on the turkish side of the border. mark, what sort of stories have you been hearing from refugees there? >> reporter: i just spent the day very close to the border, a little town there where a lot of refugees are taking shelter in the nearby park. and they have welcomed these air strikes with relief and really with joy. one english teacher i spoke to from the town of kobane said we've been waiting for this moment for such a long time. he said, we are humans just as president obama is a human, and we've called on these air strikes because islamic state have beheaded our people, they've killed our people, burnt our homes and we want to be able to go back. so there is a lot of relief for this air campaign has finally got going. i suppose the question, lucy, is whether the massive refugee influx here in turkey and the fact that islamic state have had this lightning advance toward

the turkish border is the thing that have spurred these air strikes. turkey a vital nato member. so perhaps seeing islamic state militants so perilously close to the turkish border, that finally gave washington is final push it needed. >> how well prepared is turkey to cope with this influx of refugees? >> reporter: well, refugees here is not a new phenomenon. turkey already has a million refugees. hundreds of thousands are also in big cities like istanbul. but it is struggling to cope with this huge wave. 130,000 that have come in since friday, of course, would overwhelm any country. when i was down in this park, a local humanitarian agency has set up a kind of ad hoc medical facility to try to cope. i spoke to the doctor there and i said do you fear diseases and that sort of thing to spread? he said, well, every immigrant who comes in is vaccinated, so

we don't really fear the disease, but of course, we are really stretched. he said yesterday there were two doctors here. now there are six. and of course they do not expect the refugee wave to abate any time soon. so it is placing pressure on the turkish resources. it's also creating tension between turks and kurds, who of course fought a civil war here for over 30 years. so political tensions and the pressure of the refugees combine to make a very difficult situation indeed for turkey. >> mark, could we look more widely at the political and diplomatic situation as well? can we presume that president obama has been talking to mr. erdogan, urging him to join this coalition of regional allies and what would turkey's view be of that? >> there was quite a lot of pressure on turkey to try to take an active role. we had chuck hagel, the u.s. defense secretary, and john kerry the secretary of state in turkey the last two weeks to try to push turkey to play an active part in the coalition. at the time, turkey said no.

mainly because it had 49 hostages, turkish hostages who were kidnapped by islamic state in iraq in june. they were freed on saturday, so ostensibly, that obstacle to turkish involvement has been cleared, but the turkish prime minister has made clear that turkey is not going to play an active military role. it's not going to allow its bases to be used for air strikes. not going to take part in a role in the operation. it is going to only support the humanitarian part of the operation. it has a long, porous border with syria and iraq, a vulnerable border. it will choose its fights very, very carefully indeed. >> okay, mark. thanks very much for updating us there. mark lowen in the turkish side of the syria border. the white house has announced that president obama will make a statement about the air strikes on tuesday at around 1400 gmt. we will, of course, bring that to you here on "bbc world news" just as soon as it happens. for now, though, let's take you

through some of the social media reaction to those air strikes. they have, of course, been a huge amount of social media comment, even before any bombing had been announced. it's understood there were tweets from inside syria saying that there were explosions. so although this is unverified, here is one person who has been widely shared and bloelieved to have tweeted from inside raqqa. saying, breaking, huge explosions shock the city in what might be the beginning of u.s. air strikes on isis headquarters. a different group that claims to be inside raqqa has also been tweeting about the air strikes, saying 18 air strikes on raqqa city from four different u.s. war planes. those tweets unverified, but it starts to give us some insights into what's happening in raqqa. let's talk now to chris doyle, the director of the council for arab-british understanding. chris, what's life like in raqqa right now? who controls it? how do things work? >> well, hitherto, it's been

controlled by isis, and in a formidable fashion. it's been under isis control, at least exclusive control since the middle of january of this year. and you see courts being set up, police. you also see religious police. and basically, i think the population of raqqa have been intimidated by these extremist militants who are imposing upon them the most severe and most literal interpretation of islam, if you can call it that. now, with these u.s. and arab strikes on raqqa and its surrounding areas, it's created confusion. what is going to happen? how long do these strikes go on for? what will happen to the services, power, electricity that they need to survive? so we are seeing already quite a large number of people trying to flee raqqa, to get away from the strikes. of course, they don't know where to go, because syria is a country racked by civil war. the uncertainties are acute.

can they go into iraq? no. that will be very problematic. so they're going to have to look for safety elsewhere. >> and are they, of course, worried about what i.s. might do now in reaction to these strikes, that there might be more kidnappings, more beheadings? >> well, islamic state, as they call themselves, of course, have benefited from these kidnappings. they've drawn a huge amount of international attention to the beheadings, particularly of the american hostages and also british. so one would expect that in response to these attacks, that they will carry that out. but there may be other things. notably jordan was a participant in these strikes. now, that's a neighbor to syria, and it could be vulnerable to some attack by isis. they're not going to have been shocked by these strikes. after all, they've been well-advertised that they were going to happen at some stage. and i think that they would have been preparing for this.

they would have also been preparing by ensuring their key facilities were probably out of the eye line of american fighter planes. >> and you do have these five other arab states now supporting the u.s., but surely they'll be watching closely to see if there are any civilian casualties, for instance. do you think we could see i.s. going to ground, so to speak, making it even more difficult to know where they are, for instance? >> well, up until now, they've been going around in their hummers and tanks. they are exporting oil quite openly. you can see that. that, of course, now really is no longer practical. so one would assume that they're going to get rid of all their insignia, that they're going to go to ground and they will find it easier to hide in urban or mountainous areas from where they can conduct operations. now, those operations, we don't know what they may be. it may be against neighboring states or key infrastructure targets, but this is a very well organized group, and we shouldn't underestimate them. they've been prepared for this.

they're well-resourced. they've got a lot of finance behind them and it's beginning to be a very protracted struggle. it will protest above all not so much the military capabilities of the americans, but their intelligence capabilities. do they know where these guys are and who they are? can they identify a sufficient number of high quality targets, so that it can really degrade isis, and its capabilities. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. let's bring you up to date with business in a moment, but also just to quickly remind you that that statement from president obama that we are expecting, we will bring it the you here on "bbc world news." what we are hearing is that it will come to us about 1,400 gmt, that's in about one and a half hours time, and of course, much more on the website on the story for you. all the latest developments and background analysis, as you can see here, on the legality of these strikes. it's bbc.com/news. miriam joins us now.

we've been talking about this climate change meeting in new york. >> lots of business leaders there. it's a high-profile event. it's attended by political and business leaders. this tuesday, the united nations summit on climate change gets under way in new york. but leaders from two of the world's biggest polluters, china and india, are skipping the event. so will the calls from those who took to the street to demand change go unheeded? michelle farrior reports now from new york. >> reporter: the big apple knows how to put on a big show. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon in the blue cap and former u.s. vice president al gore joined hundreds of thousands on the streets of new york. the idea was to help those with momentum for a climate change treaty to be signed in paris next year. >> i think it sends an incredible message and it's a very powerful one, that people really should be taking climate

change seriously. >> the climate is a very important thing. we've got a few years left to solve it and the governments aren't doing anything at the international level. it needs people globally to put pressure on them. >> reporter: unlike the march which brought people together, economist jeffrey sax is less confident of any consensus among politicians. >> it's wonderful to see that kind of show of profound concern, and that was all over the world. but i don't think the political leaders yet are there. this is still a world dominated by the geopolitics of fossil fuels. >> reporter: once america's richest man, john d. rockefeller made his fortune from oil. now his descendents say it's time to move away from fossil fuels and to invest in clean energy. a view shared by a growing number of companies, including whole foods. >> you actually don't hear anything from the wind turbine. >> reporter: the company helped

build the solar roof and small wind turbines dotted around this whole foods car park. >> this project right here at whole foods is a great demonstration of so many different technologies that are all cost-effective right now. once businesses try it out, adopt some, show their neighbor what is they're doing as well, then a lot of other companies will catch on and do the same. >> reporter: the success of businesses like the one run by nick reflects a change in the way companies think about climate change. more and more firms are taking into account the financial cost of doing nothing. still, some blame corporations for putting profits before the planet, and on monday, wall street was once again filled with protesters. michelle flurry, bbc news, new york. we've all heard of driverless cars, but what about a driverless truck? the first autonomous lori has

been dropped. it drives all by itself at a speed of up to 80 kilometers peter how. >> it's a very simple thing. the driver goes on to the freeway, pushes a button and then lets go of the steering well, pushes back from his seat, goes into a comfortable position and the truck will take over and drive itself, taking care of obstacles, taking care of the traffic, making sure it stays properly in the lane. and that's very good because that is important because many of those drivers are very, very boring, monotonous driving at night, where they are distracted, where they get tired. all those things are gone now because this system is always 100% sharp. it's always fully online. and it's much, much safer than all the human error that comes in to play. so with this truck in the

future, our streets can be safer and we can save a lot of fuel. the shoe brand jimmy choo has announced a $45 million share sale on the london stock market. the brand made famous by "sex & the city" is just one of the couture brands to move into the fashion market. keeping the luxury edge can get harder the bigger the business. >> well, it's a huge change for a company like jimmy choo, which has been taking along this authenticity of a small brand that started out of east london, and therefore i hope they can preserve some part of this small brand, niche brand and characteristic they have. there are so many luxury conglomerates that have lost this luxurious feel, where you know there are so many stores there are so many pieces produced, and therefore it slightly loses the edge of being exclusive. >> that's a round-up of all the business from me. >> do you have a pair of jimmy

choos? >> of course. i have a whole collection. >> a whole wardrobe. thanks, miriam. we wish, huh? do stay with us. still to come, we'll be speaking to survivors from last week's mediterranean boat disaster, which claimed the lives of hundreds of refugees. they say they were deliberately targeted. the u.n. says it's a crime that cannot go unpunished. of course, whatever you need. carl, send me that link. ok gary. yes!!! that's not on my script. a few more years... and i'll make junior partner. dramatic music plays as stunning car arrives..? let's go. thanks. carl? carl!!!!!!!!!! wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman

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i'm lucy hockings. our top stories this hour. the united states and its arab allies have launched a series of air and missile strikes for the first time against islamic state militants in syria. as reports come of residents leaving the i.s. stronghold of raqqa, the u.n. says up to 400,000 syrians could be making their way to turkey.

two palestinian survivors of last week's refugee boat sinking have told the bbc they saw people smugglers deliberately ram the boats, and then attack those who clung to the sides of the vessels. the maltese prime minister says it is a mass murder. peter hunt met some of the survivors and heard the story. >> reporter: this is a detention center, not a dream destination. it's where those rescued can end up. and despite the trauma of an uncertain future, they are fortunate. thousands have died in unsafe and overcrowded vessels. the bbc was allowed to meet three survivors of what's being called mass murder, a crime the u.n. says that cannot go unpunished. earlier this month, ibrahim and

mohamed paid smugglers $4,000 each. they left gaza, boarded a boat in egypt, and then in the mediterranean, they were ordered to switch to a smaller boat. when the captain refused to stop, he tells me the smugglers rammed their boat. it sank in 30 seconds. around 150 people below deck drowned straight away. when someone tried to cling to the smugglers boat, mohamed says, they hacked at his hands with a knife. they also, these men say, laughed as the boat went down. this grim account of lives lost at sea has been backed up by the handful of other survivors who are now in greece and in italy. what they say happened has been judged to be credible by the united nations and by the maltese government. day in, day out, year in, year out, the maltese military is having to rescue migrants from the inhospitable scene.

the government in malta wants a response to people smuggling following this latest tragedy. >> that's something you wouldn't even imagine in a movie, let alone in real life, but it's happening. it is happening each and every week over here. >> reporter: and this is murder at sea? >> it is, definitely. of the worst kind. >> reporter: back at the detention center where their freedom is on hold, those who cheated death at the hands of smugglers live with the horror of what they witnessed while hoping for something better. >> i want to live. i want to live my life. i want to go to sweden. i have some of my family there. i want to go and study, work, help my family in gaza. we have no home there. just i want to live.

>> reporter: idyllic and alluring for holiday makers, the mediterranean sea is improving increasingly treacherous for those seeking sanctuary. there are more migrants. there are more deaths. there are no easy solutions on the horizon. peter hunt, bbc news, malta. first thing in the morning, are you one of these people who enjoys the sound of this? [ birds chirping ] you might be lucky enough to hear birds singing in the morning, but in singapore, this is something of an obsession. local bird enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars on birds and cages and bird singing as a competitive sport. we went to meet a bird singing enthusiast to find out more. >> i have 15 birds. my wife, she don't agree when they start to make noise, you

know? especially when they start making noise at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. but she understands. this is how men's hobbies are. i start repairing cages four years back. i got to know friends. and they start to spread out that i have interest in the cage. years gone by, i think i like the job. that's my favorite. it's very noisy. it's like, we human, we think friends. you start meeting friends, you know, you talk a lot. >> as they say, birds of a

feather get together. these owners, they do come together over a cup of coffee to discuss the birds. get advice on others. to make the birds sing better and so on. i think they are lesser and lesser bird collectors because of limited space. but this area here is actually the largest in singapore. and it can be probably up to more than a thousand cages. >> there is something you will not get bored. you will see them sing and they are considered very beautiful birds. let me tell you frankly, taking

care of birds, more than taking care of my children. like what my wife told me is your birds come first, your children. >> he and his birds there in singapore. just to bring you the very latest that we're getting on our top story that u.s. and its arab allies have launched air strikes in syria. the pentagon spokesman john kirby has just been speaking to the abc's "good morning america," and he says they consider the strikes to be a success so far. >> we're still assessing the effectiveness of the strikes that took place over several hours last night, but all indications are that we were very, very successful in hitting what we were aiming at. >> what did you take out? >> well, we took out command and control facilities, the supply depots, some training areas, some vehicles and trucks, that kind of thing.

mainly what we were going after is this group's ability to sustain itself, to resource itself, and to frankly command and control and lead their forces. >> john kirby there from the pentagon saying the strikes have been a success. we are expecting to hear from president obama at around 1400 gmt, in around two hours time. we will bring that to you live here on "bbc world news." teacher of the un-teachable. you lower handicaps... and raise hopes. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (pro) nice drive. (vo) well played, business pro. well played. go national. go like a pro.

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