hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. turkey's military offensive in northern syria has begun there have been airstrikes and artillery fire in an operation turkey says will create a "safe zone" cleared of kurdish militias. and just in the past hour, a ground offensive has been launched. when those mortars are landing, we could see very clearly was a residential area and we could see the high—rise blocks that were clearly apartment blocks. turkey says the kurds in syria are terrorists. but they're allies of the west and the uk, germany, france, and russia are all condemning the operation. president trump — who gave turkey the green light, now says the operation was a bad idea.

we'll report from the turkey—syria border, and have analysis from our turkish service and washington. also on outside source — at least two people have been killed in what's being seen as an anti—semitic attack in the german city of halle. it happened on yom kippur, the holiest day in the jewish calendar. and — running street battles in ecuador‘s capital — protestors are angry about the government's austerity policies, in particular a 100% increase in the cost of fuel turkey has begun an offensive in northern syria. it's seeking territory currently controlled by kurdish fighters who, until the start of this week,

american troops had supported. but donald trump has pulled those troops out of northern syria — and turkey, which sees the kurds as terrorists, is going in. president erdogan tweeted... we should be clear though the primary group holding the territoru turkey is atacking is the sdf which is kurdish led. it's not the the pkk which is based in turkey, and it's not the ypg either. also it was the sdf which was central to defeating is — and had been armed and supported by

america. they will not see these developments as a ‘peace operation‘. well, here's president erdogan speaking to his defence minister ahead of the turkish offensive on the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces known as the sdf. he's calling this operation peace spring. he says he wants to create a safe zone south of the turkey syria border, where some syrian refugees in turkey can move to. now, these are the latest pictures. this is the moment several hours ago that the operation began. turkish jets headed for northeastern syria. this video shows explosions hitting a small compound on the syrian side of the border. there are also reports of turkish artillery hitting kurdish military bases and ammunition stores. large convoys of buses carrying turkish troops have

also been arriving along the border with syria. and this shows residents fleeing a syrian border town called ras—al—ain. in the last couple of hours the white house has released this statement — sounding a little like a parent telling off a child. "the united states does not endorse this attack and has made it clear no news on what it's actually going to do about it. next, here's international correspondent orla guerin is in the turkish town of san—liurfa near border. well, we havejust left the border area, where we were able to see and hear the beginnings of that turkish military bombardment. and just across the border wall, we were able to see smoke rising from the kurdish town. that was from a turkish mortar. we heard about two rounds of artillery fire, and there

was also incoming mortarfire from the kurdish side. now, i should say that where those mortars were landing, we could see very clearly it was a residential area. we could see a high—rise block that were clearly apartment blocks, and we know from the information that's coming out from inside syria that civilians are already, once again, having to flee. i mean, who knows how many times these people have had to pick up their bags and go. and while turkey is describing this operation as the springs of peace, certainly, i think for the syrians who are trapped on the other side, side, this is one more round of battle in what has been an agonisingly long war. now this is simply the beginning. what we are seeing now is strikes taking place from the air. turkey has made it clear though, this will also be a land assault. we expect to see that coming in the next few days, and there are grave warnings and concerns from the international community about what this will mean in the humanitarian side of it, for all the refugees and syrians

who are trapped there, but also that key question... could it undo progress that has been made in the global battle against islamic state? let's take in detail on the territory in northern syria. this area marked in orange is currently controlled by the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces. it's played a leading role in the fight against the islamic state group, but turkey sees it as a terrorist organisation because of its ties with the kurdish separatist pkk party which has carried out attacks inside turkey since the 805. the territory in red is held by syria's government — while syrian rebels hold the area marked in yellow. now turkey says it wants to create a 30km deep "safe zone" to secure its border with syria. it would for almost 500km. here's president erdogan‘s special adviser, ibrahim kuh—lun.

establishing a safe zone by your own means and we do not foresee or want to have any confrontation with anybody there, so they had better pull out of this area and there is a president trump decided after the phone call with our president last sunday. tukey has made it clear that one of its objectives is to return some of the estimated 3.6 million syrian refugees who fled the syrian civil war since it started in 2011. here's mr kuh—lun again explaining how this might work. we want to create conditions for them to go back to where they come from, to their own towns and villages. we are not going to force anybody to go anywhere they don't want to go. and we are not interested in changing the demographics in the east of the euphrates or any part of syria. in fact, it was pydypg that changed the demographics by occupying our villages and towns. in fact, by forcing other kurds who do not subscribe to pkj's ideology. some of them fled to turkey, some had to go somewhere else inside syria, so we

want to correct it, and make sure that they go back to their own villages and towns and cities, voluntarily and safely. on reuters — britain's foreign secretary dominic raab said on wednesday he had "serious concerns" about turkey's offensive in northeast syria. "this risks destabilising the region, exacerbating humanitarian suffering, and undermining the progress made against daesh, which should be our collective focus," raab said in a statement. the british pushing back from this happening. the british pushing back from this happening. the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces or sdf has asked the us to help establish a no—fly zone in the area "to stop the attacks on innocent people". no sign of that happening. kino gabriel is from the sdf and joined us from northern syria.

of course, since 4pm today, the turkish military started the military operation in order to occupy this part of syria. we have seen air strikes, and we have seen artillery shelling over several thousand villages on the border area, and in some occasions, found inside the area controlled by us. the towns and villages are mostly inhabited by civilians, and the most damage happens so far to civilian property, the towns and villages are mostly inhabited by civilians, and the most damage happens so far to civilian property, and the majority of the casualties, either killed or wounded, were also civilians. we had several civilians killed, including kurdish and syrian christians, and we have also seen more others that

are wounded by those attacks made by turkey. of course, if you allow me, i have listened to the programme, and i would like to say that this attack and this invasion and this operation made by turkey is completely against humanity, and it is completely against peace, and against democracy, and i think the best interest of turkey for this operation is to have a demographic change in the area. to strengthen its ties to our country... the war that has already been going for eight years. sir, do you think it would be your intention to fight turkey if turkish troops arrive, will kurdish troops fight back, or will you cede the territory?

well, i think our response is going to apply for whatever situation is going to happen later, but we are almost sure that turkey is going to attempt to invade north and eastern syria, and sdf and syrian democratic forces, we are going to defend ourselves and defend ourfamilies and defend our people in the area here. the area here and basically the sdf is not only kurdish, ijust want to clarify that. the sdf is compliant, or is made of kurdish syrian christian fighters who are fighting together and living together during the last few years... but sir... let me interrupt you a moment. turkey says it's carrying out this operation with the support of the syrian government. at the moment, you are in control of what is syrian

territory. what is yourjustification for controlling a large section of an independent nation state like syria? basically, we are notjust occupying this area, we are a part of it. it is our country. we are syrian citizens who have lived through this warand citizens who have lived through this war and have lived through different stages, starting with the regime and later the different radical and extreme groups and eventually with isis, we needed to protect and defend ourselves and ratified a lot of work to create the syrian democratic forces and managed to

liberate syria from isis with the support of the international coalition. so it is not an area that we occupy. this, we are the people of this area and we are seeking democrats here and we are seeking a new society and system for our country and that is the system we are working on. there will be many americans watching this on bbc world news. what is your message, what is your emotions towards their government and their president this week? basically, i cannot say we we re week? basically, i cannot say we were disappointed by the us government regarding withdrawal groups from the border area. the united states and turkey and alongside the sdf agreed to a deal almost a month ago regarding the

security of the area in the sdf is applied to the responsibilities regarding this agreement. will come back to this turkish attack on kurdish forces in a little while law. stay with us on outside source — still to come... two people are dead after a gunman targetted a synagogue in germany. the parents of 19—year—old harry dunn, who was killed in a car crash involving the wife of a us diplomat, have met the foreign secretary dominic raab to discuss the case. the government has urged american officials to waive the diplomatic immunity granted to the suspect, anne sacoolas, who has since returned to the u—s. the family is now preparing to take the case to washington. harry's mum, charlotte charles, gave her reaction after the meeting.

just disgusted. let down by both governments and i can't really see the point as to why we were invited to go and see dominic. we are no further forward than we were at the same last week. part of me is feeling like he isjust a publicity stu nt. feeling like he isjust a publicity stunt. on the uk government's side to show that they are trying to help. but although he is engaging with us, we have no answers. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is? turkey has launched a ground offensive in northern syria, hours after its warplanes and artillery began hitting territory held by kurdish—led forces. some of the stories from bbc world

service. the president of ecuador, lenin moreno, has defended the austerity measures that have provoked mass protests against his government. tens of thousands of people from indigenous groups and trade unions have converged on the capital quito. mr moreno told bbc mundo his decision to cut fuel subsidies was designed to benefit poor ecuadorans. three scientists have been awarded the 2019 nobel prize in chemistry for their development of lithium—ion batteries. john b goodenough, m stanley whittingham and akira yoshino have all worked on the batteries over the years — they power everything from mobile phones to laptops to electric cars. world service english. italian mountain rescue have released these pictures of a plane, which was left dangling upside down after crashing into ski lift cables in the alps, on sunday. the incident happned in prato valentino. the pilot was thrown out of the plane but only suffered light injuries. the only passenger on board was unharmed.

there are up to 35 million people kurds living across the middle east. the areas marked orange are where you'll find the biggest populations. the article on the bbc website on kurdish history is invaluable. it tells us, "they make up the fourth—largest ethnic group in the middle east, but they have never obtained a permanent nation state." and turkey's conflict with the kurds goes back to modern turkey's creation in the 1920s. up to 20% of the turkish population is kurdish. and in 1978, abdullah ocalan established the kurdistan worker's party, known as the pkk. it called for an independent kurdish

state within turkey. and six years later, 1984, the group began an armed struggle. this bbc interview from earlier is a good representation of the turkish government's view of the pkk. it is listed as a terrorist organisation in europe in the united states and the parts of the world. the pkk wants to create a state of their own and we cannot let that happen. these are, is a terrorist organisation that is been fighting against us, we cannot allow them or any other terrorist network that some kind of state structure right at our border. ourfight is some kind of state structure right at our border. our fight is against the terrorist, not against the group. the kurds. there are dr kalin said that the pkk is considered a terror organisation in europe and the us,and he's right.

web this is the european union's list oof terror organisations — and it includes the pkk. we know the conflict between the pkk and the turkish authorites has killed more than 40,000 people — and hundreds of thousands displaced. in the 19905 the pkk did roll back its demand for independence — instead demanding greater cultural and political autonomy. and it continued its fight. in 1999, abdulla ocalan was jailed — and he's still in prison. and there was a ceasefire in 2013. but that collapsed in july 2015 after an islamic state group attack in the kurdish town of suruc — near the syrian border. the pkk accused the turkish authorities of complicity and attacked turkish soldiers and police. i have lots of questions but first of all for the relationship between the pkk and the turkish government,

i suppose he did not improve after that moment thousand 15. killa make no, after the peace process collapsed, it hasn't been like before doing the peace process during the months in 2015 and 16, there have been fears clashes in turkey northern syria and the existence of the military, they are closely linked to the pkk and the syrian kurdish forces. they are closely linked in the exists and the militants across these borders that ci’oss militants across these borders that cross them as a threat to security. there are closely linked to do they share a goal? does the sdf and the pkk, do the all want the same thing?

wanting autonomy because from our sources, former diplomats, this is what is happening now here. i am waiting for a new dialogue between the syrian government and the syrian kurds there as well. the rather talk about ontology and independence is a step forward, but they're not doing it. talking to a new person just now, seeing them as rivals, working with syrian rebels in this great offensive has just started and those rebels are often against the president. help us understand how those things fit together. it is a very complex tale, turkey was always opposing from the very beginning uprising against asad's presence.

isis, seeing kurdish militants have been strong and significant ally to the us in the fight against isis. some other sunni militant groups still fight against the president. but now, the main goal is, the used to bea but now, the main goal is, the used to be a presence there years ago during the bouts of government. so the turkish government accuses the syrian militants to change this demography and destabilising the social fabric of this region. thank you, you're going to help us out as we work our way through this. multilayered story, if you still have questions i would happen, the hashtag in the e—mail or on the screen. we will move away from that.

american airlines says it plans to restart flights of boeing's troubled 737 maxjet injanuary. the plane has been grounded since march — following two deadly crashes — which killed almost 350 people. vivienne nunis in new york. has american got information that other airlines do not have? this is only a decision that american airlines could make. it says it is in close talks with the aviation administration about the software update that they have been doing before it can be assessed as being safe to fly again. we are working a few more clues that they may be nearing the end of their safety assessment process. not only has american airline said it plans to bring them back to service next year, united airlines another big airlines here want to have the plaintiff needs schedule and boeing

has said is expects it to be by the end of the year. the 737 might be up in the sky again in the next few months. i have another stray to ask you. —— story. beijing has criticised apple for allowing an app that helps protesters track the movement of police in hong kong. the iphone maker is the latest foreign firm to rattle china. leisha santorelli has more. this app is called the hong kong map life, and a crowd sources the location of hong kong police, as well as all the demonstrations. it is continuously updated, and it's displayed on a map of hong kong island. and it basically is crowd source. so its user generated. i think it's quite fair to say that it's proving useful to people who live and work in hong kong, because the protests in hong kong have become increasingly violent. and so by using this app, they can take a look and decide whether to avoid certain areas, ortojoin in. apple has not yet commented on the chinese editorial published in the people's daily newspaper, which is a state owned mouthpiece, basically.

and in this editorial, it's because this particular app poisonous, and "a betrayal of the chinese people's feelings", and so these companies basically have to be very aware of what these sensitivities are, and it's ensnared a lot of companies beyond just apple. do not worry, we are going to give you a full update with the help of the bbc in westminster at the moment, there's this big final push to see if against all of the arts, the eu in the uk can find enough common ground to get some type of deal in place to be approved at the summit of the european union that begins next week. does look very, very difficult and with their help i will take you through the stories in

three minutes' time. see you then. good evening. it's that time of night when we take a look at some of the big world weather stories. and i think the biggest of all over the next few days could well, courtesy of this beautiful swirl of cloud on our satellite image. now this is violent typhoon, hagibas. you can see in the centre of the storm, the eye becoming increasingly well defined. wind gusts in the centre of the storm a short time ago were around 170 mph. and while the storm will weaken a little as it drifts northwards, it is heading towards japan. southern portions of japan, including close to tokyo could see it flooding rain and damaging winds from this typhoon. during the start of the weekend, and that could have an impact on the rugby world cup match between england and france. certainly on current forecast, it looks very wet

and very windy indeed. for the japanese grand prix, by race day on sunday, i'm hopeful that things will be drying up and brightening up a little bit with some spells of sunshine coming through. now, to north america, on the satellite picture, you can see this stripe of clouds. this is a weather front. it's bringing some outbreaks of rain and sleet, increasingly some snow. this is today's weather charge, you can see that snow pushing its way southwards. but ahead of it, it's as if summer has been holding on. denver, colorado, around about 28 celsius through wednesday afternoon. but notice some much colder air waiting in the wings up to the north. now, let me show you what happens over the next 2a hours. we push this band of rain, sleet, but increasingly snow south eastwards. in some spots across the north of the usa could see around 30 cm of snow will stop and look what happens to the temperature in denver. no more high 20s. we may not get above freezing

in denver tomorrow afternoon. extraordinary swings and the temperature, and then those temperatures bounce back again through the weekend and into next week. we can see big temperature swings in the us at this time of year. that is exactly what we've got. elsewhere, in boston, an area of low pressure, bringing wet and blustery weather. dry and rather windy conditions in california, bringing the potential for significant wildfires. now closer to home, this is how things look in europe, on the recent satellite picture, you can see some shower clouds swirling across the mediterranean through malta and southern italy. still summer thunderstorms here on thursday, drifting towards greece and the balkans. generally speaking, the further south you are though, there is a lot of dry weather to be had. some spells of sunshine, not too bad for an october break in iberia. temperatures in madrid around the middle 20s. but it is much more unsettled across the northern half of the continent, and that includes the british isles. for the uk over the next few days, it will be breezy, rain at times, some sunshine too, but more details

coming up in half an hour.

hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. turkey's military offensive in northern syria has begun. there have been airstrikes and artillery fire in an operation turkey says will create a "safe zone" cleared of kurdish militias. and just in the past hour, a ground offensive has been launched. where those mortars were landing, we could see very clearly it was a residential area, we could see the high—rise blocks that were clearly apartment blocks. turkey says the kurds in syria are terrorists. but they're allies of the west and the uk, germany, france, and russia are all condemning the operation. president trump — who gave turkey the green light— now says the operation was a bad idea. we'll report from the turkey—syria

border, and have analysis from our turkish service and washington. also on outside source — at least two people have been killed in what's being seen as an anti—semitic attack in the german city of halle. it happened on yom kippur, the holiest day in the jewish calendar. eu leaders have again been criticising boris johnson's brexit proposals — the british prime minister says he remains "cautiously optimistic" about a deal. two people have been killed in shootings in germany. this happened in the city of halle. this more detailed map highlights the two locations.

one woman woman died close to a synagogue. i will turn to that in a moment. one woman woman died close to a synagogue. a jewish leader says cctv shows a man trying to shoot off the doors of the synagogue while people gathered for yom kippur. and a man died at a nearby kebab takeaway. we have this image of the suspect wearing a helmet and shooting into the street. witnesses have described a gunman wearing military camouflage and carrying several weapons. here's one man who saw what happened. translation: the man approached the kebab shop, i noticed immediately that something was wrong, because he was wearing a helmet and had an assault rifle. then he threw something that looked like a hand grenade with tape, which bounce back from the doorframe, and did not land inside the shop. i and all the other customers around me started running. ithink all the other customers around me started running. i think we might have been 5—6 customers inside. the

man behind me seems to have died. i hid in the toilet. this is germany's foreign minister tweeted says the attack at a synagogue... "hits us in the heart. we all have to fight against anti—semitism in our country. " authorities say the suspect had a far—right, anti—jewish motive. jenny hill has more from berlin. after a day of horror and confusion here in halle, we are starting to get a better picture of the man that the security services here believe may have been behind this attack. let me just first of all recap, as you say, two people were killed during attacks here, as the day went on, one woman one man following an attack on the street outside a synagogue, not far behind me here, and a few streets away inside a kebab shop. plenty of footage has been circulating during the course of the day, and a man wearing what appeared to be combat clothing emerging from a car in broad daylight, lifting a shotgun, and firing it down the street.

pausing very calmly in an apparent attempt to reload the weapon then firing again and again. this in a street outside a synagogue. this is the day yom kippur, the jewish day of atonement, the holiest day in thejewish year. the security services, according to widespread media reports here in germany, are now saying that they believe counter to what they might have said earlier in the day, which was that they thought a number of suspects may have been involved, that this is likely to have been the work of a single perpetrator. and the suspect they say is a german man in his late 20s, who has been named, according with german privacy laws as stephan b. germans don't tend to release the surnames of suspects. because of those privacy laws. and we are also hearing, of course, from the interior ministry that they are now, at this stage of the investigation are working on the assumption that this was an act of anti—semitism. let's look at that.

more of that story online if you would like it. turkey is launching and offensive. here isjeremy cutting straight to it. us middle east policy once again in chaos. the reason he says that is of course all of the events that are we're seeing in northern syria are connected to donald trump's decision to pull american troops back, so they are no longer supporting those kurdish fighters, leaving the path clear for turkey to move in and take them on. now the white house has put out a statement on what's happened today. let me read it to you in full. trump says...

especially those that don't benefit america he goes on... well, there is a few things to get through in that statement, because we can draw a direct link between this turkish offensive and donald trump ozment decision to pull american troops back from the border area. remember, we showed you these pictures on monday, showing american armoured vehicles withdrawing from the area that turkey is now invading. that decision was seen as an abrupt shift in policy by the white house and drew a lot of criticism in washington as a betrayal of america's kurdish allies. bearing in mind that america had

armed these kurdish fighters. president trump has been speaking in the last few minutes about the withdrawal of american troops from north—eastern syria. we have been talking to turkey for three years, they have been wanting to do this for many years, as you know. they have been fighting each other for centuries. they have know. they have been fighting each otherfor centuries. they have been fighting each other for hundreds of yea rs. fighting each other for hundreds of years. this has been going on. we we re years. this has been going on. we were put into this battle interjected, it was supposed to be a 30 day period, and we have been there for many, many years. and it's time to get out. speaking to both sides, we have told president ehrlich on how we feel, but we are speaking to both sides, and we are seeing what can be made out of a situation. but we have no soldiers in the area, you know? we are getting out of the endless wars. gary o'donoghue is in washington. i guess the is is telling the president what he feels about this operation, but the operation is happening anyway. yes, and really,

he was asked whether what he would do if the turkish army started to wipe out the kurds in this area. he said he would wipe out the turkish economy, but that's very much if and bought. he doesn't seem to be that wound up about this particular occasion happening right now. he says the turks have made promises to look after humanitarian situations there, and he said at the turks are responsible for making sure is fighters don't get out of the prison camps, etc. but he's not very wound up camps, etc. but he's not very wound up about this. he made quite an extra in your commentjust a little bit on the line from what you are seeing there, where he was talking about you know, the kurds wanting help and he said, well, look, the kurds didn't help us in normandy. sorry, i'm just taking that in. that being a reference to the second world war. that being a reference to operation overlord, presumably, the invasion of france in june overlord, presumably, the invasion of france injune of 19114. overlord, presumably, the invasion of france in june of 1944. right... wasn't expecting that one, but ok, if that what the president is

saying... i suppose the broader point in that statement that he's expecting turkey to take full responsibility for is never coming backin responsibility for is never coming back in any form. and i haven't heard any thing from the turkish government that they are willing to oversee something that would include going deep into syria. yes, i mean it, turkey's primary motivation, obviously, i mean it's a public primary motivation, certainly, is to sort out its refugee problem. it has 2 million plus arab refugees inside turkey from the syrian conflict. it wa nts to turkey from the syrian conflict. it wants to create this space to get these people back, in many cases, where their homes. however, we know that the syrian kurds do claimant this area as their own part of the world. but there is also this third factor of the is fighters, notjust in the camps, but in the community as well. we have already heard the stf in that area saying they are not going to enforce or continue in their sort of hunt down of is fighters that are on the loose. that

is very, very worrying, i think, for the coalition in particular. and whether or not turkey is going to chase these fighters down the country, i very much doubt. it's interested in a narrow security band, along its northeast —— south eastern border. gary, thank you very much indeed. so for those of you watching, you are probably digesting that as well. bear in mind, that america has used these kurdish fighters to take on the islamic state group. it's funded them, it's armed them, now when asked whether he's exploiting those same fighters toa he's exploiting those same fighters to a turkish offensive, president trump says, well they didn't help us in normandy in 1944. now, in a few minutes on the programme, we are going to update you on brexit, plenty to talk about as boris johnson, about as borisjohnson, lee of radtke and others try and fashion a deal on the uk's exit of the european union when it's looking decidedly difficult. i don't imagine

you've missed this. coleen rooney — wife of former england captain wayne rooney has claimed that someone using rebekah vardy‘s account has leaked stories about her to the sun newspaper. rebekah vardy, the wife of england and leicester strikerjamie vardy, denies the allegation. here's our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba. both have become big celebrity figures. rebekah vardy has taken part in the reality show i'm a celebrity get me out of here. now earlier today, kalina posted on social media that she had been concerned about private stories leaking out to newspapers, one newspaper in particular, and she'd come up with a plan to see if she could figure out where this was coming from and she restricted on her instagram account only one other account being able to view those particular stories, and

then seeing if they ended up in a newspaper. none of her other friends, even though it was a private accountant who could see all the other stuff, only one person's account could see these stories she was posting from and what she said, then later ended up in the newspapers. and she said that that account belonged to rebecca vardy. and surprisingly lots of people on social media have interpreted that as being rebecca vardy herself, but of course rebecca vardy has made clear ina of course rebecca vardy has made clear in a reply, also on social media, that she absolutely denies that she's been passing any kind of stories about rooney to the newspapers. she said she's heavily pregnant and upset that she has to even come out and deny this. she would never do this. she says that over the years, lots of people have had over the years, lots of people have ha d a ccess over the years, lots of people have had access to her social media accounts, and passwords. the assumption being that she's saying it's somebody else who has had access to her account, and not her.

and she feels it's unfair that she is, by many, being blamed in this particular way. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is? turkey has launched a ground offensive in northern syria, hours after its warplanes and artillery began hitting territory held by kurdish—led forces. now, as promised, let's update you on brexit. remember, it's due to happen on 31 october and there's still no agreement between the uk and the eu. various developments to tell you about. first of all, the uk parliament will convene for a special sitting on saturday october 19. that date is significant — it's the day after an eu summit at which any deal needs to be signed off by eu member states. and it's the date when a law called the benn act would instruct the prime minister to request a brexit delay if there's no—deal. and a deal looks difficult.

yesterday a downing street source said angela merkel had made "unacceptable demands", including keeping northern ireland in the eu's customs union until a new trade deal is done with the uk. the reliability of that briefing has been widely questioned. today the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, criticised the leak. obviously aware of the various, various anonymous briefings that we are reading about in the papers. anonymous briefings about me, about ireland, about chancellor merkel, and to be honest, i don't want to give much response to anonymous briefings of that nature. i don't think much of anonymous briefings. whether they come from downing street, or whether they come for my own ranks, quite frankly. i think very little

of an anonymous briefing. if people want to breathe, they should do so, and should do so publicly, and openly. there hasn't been any change to the negotiating position. we decide our guidelines in the council meetings, they haven't changed, and they certainly cannot change until the summit next week at the very earliest. but as far as the irish government is concerned, we do want a deal, we are willing to work hard to get a deal, we will work until the last moment to get a deal, but certainly not at any cost. and we are absolutely open to proposals that will take into account the democratic wishes and the views of the people of northern ireland, in relation to consent and relation to democracy. but we need to make sure that any such arrangements are workable. leo varadkar, the irish leader is expected to meet with borisjohnson tomorrow. we will see how they get on. downing street too says it wants to keep negotiating. we are also told that angela merkel and emmanuel macron will meet in the coming days as well — ahead of next week's eu summit. and make no mistake all sides are tense.

emanuel macklin has been clear, he says the uk needs to come back with changes to his proposals by friday, and it's very clear that europe as a whole does not like the current form of the proposals. here's chris mason. as you can tell from the tone, the vocabulary, the demeanour of hammett, they don't like the look of the current ones. and so it's looking now, vanishingly unlikely that there can be a brexit deal in time for the uk's scheduled departure injust a time for the uk's scheduled departure in just a few weeks' time. that's one question, there are lots of briefings and downing street, but i haven't seen much today, what are you hearing? not a lot today. so we saw a video posted on twitter by the british prime minister, boris johnson, in which he talked about having a small amount of optimism, but frankly, not a lot of optimism, as far as getting a deal is concerned. so, the talking continues, but nobody is now seriously contemplating the likelihood of a deal anytime soon.

chris, i was interested in that tweet from donald tusk, letting some of the emotion and pressure show in a way that you doesn't normally do. in westminster, the screws beginning to turn from our people feeling it? yeah, they are, but the screws have been pretty tight for a long time here. the members of parliament are very aware of the weight of decisions they are being asked to make, conflicted sometimes by party loyalty, versus the views of their constituents. conscious that a british general election looks very likely, very soon from a potentially before christmas. but i think as well are resigned to the reality that unblocking this impasse will not come quickly. and frankly, it's not likely to come in the next couple of weeks. thanks very much to chris, let's tax back to our lead story. tricky invading the north of syria, looking to clear territory held by kurdish fighters, close to the turkey — syria border. and of course, to do this, they are having to invade a different country. syria. and the so—called

safe zone that president erdo an would like to set up, which would run along the border to the south, well, that would have to be in territory which is not turkey's, but of course the situation in syria is not in any way normal. it's been ravaged by over eight years of civil war, but despite all of that, and the terrible loss of life, the president is still in power. he is still supported by russia and iran, and he could still control the majority of the country. now turkish forces entering syrian sovereign territory are saying, the president has approved this, but let's get more analysis on his position from alanjohnston. the big picture here is that the kurds of northern syria really worked the chaos of the civil war to their own advantage. they managed to carve out almost a mini state of their own, began to run their own affairs. the region slipped out of the control of the syrian government.

but it is just possible that what is happening at the moment, this oncoming turkish onslaught will drive the kurds back into the arms of the government in damascus. that would be economically advantageous for the government of the northeastern region to get a foothold back there would be a rich agricultural area. rich in oil. at the same time, it is is possible that what we're seeing at the moment speed up will speed up america's departure from northeastern syria. we know that president trump would like to go and if the americans did depart, of course the syrian government and the russian idolise —— russian allies would like to see that happen. on the other hand, the syrian government would be appalled of the idea of the turks managing to occupy a chunk of northern syria. this is actually the third time they're carried out an operation like this in the last three years on the fringes of northern syria. president asad in damascus is wedded to the idea of when they can regain

control of every inch of syria and he may find that it is hard to shift the turks once they get settled in. there is another concern, the so called islamic state group took over large sections of syria during the civil war, and kurdish forces were instrumental in defeating them. the sdf says that it is holding more than 12,000 men suspected of being is members in prisons near the turkish border. and it warns they may have to abandon the prisons in the face of the turkish advance. this graphic gives you an idea, it shows its members, and family members to come of their enormous, some of them holding over 10,000 people. some are close to the turkish border to the north, and some across as well in the east coast to iraq. here's alan johnston again, on what will happen to those camps.

those were at the forefront of the great fight at root of the islamic state group in northeastern syria and you're right, there are tens of thousands of fighters and theirfamilies being held in camps, detention centres, prisons run by the kurds and in the mayhem of a turkish offensive will be the fate of those camps. will the security regime, the guarding regime be kept in place? as they translate from kurdish control to turkish control? the biggest camp, 60,000 people in it and it is deep in the region and unlikely to fall into the turkish occupation zone, but will the kurds be able to continue to guard it safely? they've often said there's a danger of security breaking down into break—out from the camp which at the very least would be a huge morale boost for is and the outside world europeans especially will watch nervously as we watch what happens to those camps in the days

and weeks ahead. we had warnings in washington, allen, that are stronger than this just being good morale boost to the islamic state group. we have warnings of a resurgence, realistically given the decline of the group in syria and iraq, could this shift in northern syria really affect the dynamic of the whole group? i think we definitely do need to keep boring —— worrying about the islamic state group. yes, they were uprooted, routed from town after town in hard grinding battles with the kurds, who had the support of the us and the western powers as they fought. is was uprooted in territorial terms, but certainly did not disappear. the militants no doubt formed sleeper cells, they have gone off into more marginal areas. they definitely remain a threat and when president trump suggested that his mission is accomplished with regards to is, my feeling

is he is very much most mistaken and i ask of washing the event today and delighted to see that formidable kurdish enemies with a problem of their own. ther kurds are fully engaged now and need to confront the turks and is will only welcome that. thanks for alan, we are forever indebted to the bbc world service expertise, we've just seen a statement released by the stf saying they have repelled the turkish advance in one town. we are not able to confirm that. is it the same with the bbc turkish? well, yes, it is ha rd to the bbc turkish? well, yes, it is hard to confirm now what is happening on the ground, but syrian kurdish militants have always said that they would stay there, and they would protect and defend their region. and yes, they are now confronting turkish armed forces as well, but turkish armed forces are not alone. they are moving in with a syrian rebel allies. this conflict

proves that alliances are needed. in turkey did that in its previous two incursions as well. do we have any idea of the scale of this? how many turkish troops are involved, or at least on the border? there are actually more questions than answers now. because we also get bits and pieces of information from the defence ministry. now we don't have an exact number of troops, or to what extent, and how far they will 90, what extent, and how far they will go, but this will definitely determine what the future of this scale of this incursion will be. and whatever its scale, this is a high—profile significant military operation that president erdo an has ordered. does he have public support behind him? while there are some question marks. public opinion is a divided split. some believe that there is not an imminent threat to tu rkey‘s there is not an imminent threat to turkey's national security, and it was really needed. on the other hand, tricky‘s fighting the kurdish militants in its own country since

20... it is divided. but on the other hand, turkey is tired. people in turkey are tired, and the war a lwa ys in turkey are tired, and the war always comes with consequences. the burden economically as well. and now that turkey is going through a difficult time economically, some question the relevance of this war and this move into northeastern part of syria. thank you very much indeed, we appreciate all your help across the last hour. if you want more background on any of the stories we are covering, you will find them online on our website. i will see you tomorrow at the same time. bye—bye. hello there. there are no large—scale changes in the weather pattern coming up anytime soon. and that means we're going to continue to see a mix of rain showers that we have had over recent days. thursday, area of low pressure coming off the atlantic, this one's going to be spreading a warm front across the country

with rain and south—westerly winds, bringing milder air. now for many of us, it is going to be a sunny start to the day, quite chilly first thing, showers for western scotland but then this area of rain, this warm front will extend across northern ireland, northern england and scotland where the rain is going to become heavy and persistent through thursday afternoon. southwards and eastwards of this, there is not a great deal of rain for the southeast of england staying largely dry breaks most of the day highs up to 17 degrees. through thursday evening and night—time, that area of low pressure will continue to feed plenty of downpours across western scotland. rainfall really mounting up, so we could see some localised surface water flooding issues later in the night, we will start to see some rain returning to england and wales. a sign of whether to come for friday. here is friday's charts. low pressure firmly in charge and we've got this long weather front and notice the winds are really blowing across the front, they're running more or less parallel to it that means the front is becoming

very slow moving. friday, every persistent rain is in the forecast for the hills of wales grounded peaks with the mets office warning in force. 50 to 70 mm of rain, enough to cause some localised surface water flooding, no huge amount of rain over the southeast of england, a big dampness at times. it will be quite mild to the south of our front with highs of 18 degrees, further north of got the fresher air with temperatures 12 to 14 celsius. this weekend, we have a mixed weather fortunes, generally an unsettled pattern, but england and wales will see the wettest of the weather. scotland and northern ireland having more of a mixture of sunshine and showers. saturday's weather charts shows weather front across the uk, this is the same front that is been bringing the rain through friday. still there through friday night, still there into saturday. so, more wet weather to come but this time across southern areas initially, through the day, that rain will start a journey back northwards across wales, back across the midlands into northern parts of england by the end of the day. scotland, northern ireland, brighter skies, sunshine with a few

heavy and potentially thundershowers through saturday. the second half of the weekend shows more rain around, again, notice, some dry weather with scotland and northern ireland give you that mixture of sunshine and showers, motocross across the southeast with heights up to 18 degrees and across the far north and west of the uk, that is for the cooler air is, 11 or 12 and aberdeen. and into monday, any big changes, not really. and area of low pressure, more rain again, looks like england and wales will see the wettest weather but northwest scotland seeing some the driest conditions and looking quite cool across northern areas with temperatures easing across east anglia and south east england. 14-15d, 14—15d, not quite as mild as it has been. looking at the jet stream pattern, this is the family brought some early season snow across the united states, part of the trough causing that cold air outbreak splits apart and ends up in the mid atlantic. what that does is it encourages this trough to develop and it is

that pattern in the jet stream that forms areas of low pressure, so well into next week, what that means for our weather is that it is going to be no significant change. more rain, more thundershowers on the way.

tonight at 10, turkey takes military action against kurdish fighters in northern syria. president trump says it's a "bad idea". the turkish government says its aim is to create a so—called "safe zone" cleared of kurdish fighters, who they regard as terrorists. that area is needed for our safety and security for the syrian refugees to go back to, so they can go back to their normal lives and there is no vacuum to be filled by any terrorist network. many kurds were seen to flee the area. we report from the syrian border on the turkish assault. in the last half an hour or so, we've heard mortar fire and artillery rounds and there's been incoming mortarfire from across the border. the kurds say they've been betrayed by the americans, their allies in the fight

against the islamic state group.