of thousands flee their homes. fierce clashes with kurdish fighters in syria as turkish forces continue their advance across the border bombarding towns with air strikes and artillery. civilians have been killed on both sides of the border and dozens have been injured after two days of attacks. well, we've just had two massive explosions here in the space of only a few moments. the blasts seem to be inside this building. man shouts. fears that the chaos and fighting could mean escape for thousands of islmaic state fighters being held in prisons in the region. we'll the latest on the situation from the border.

also tonight. a pathway to a brexit deal is still possible say borisjohnson and his irish counterpart leo veradkar after more than two hours of talks. nissan warns that a no—deal brexit would threaten the future of its car plant in sunderland, the largest in britain employing 6,000 people. three decades after the fall of the berlin wall, a special report on russia's bold moves to reclaim its role as an international superpower. and the queen of gymnastics — america's simone biles seals her place in history as she becomes the first woman to win 5 all round world titles. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news. can northern ireland hold on to shock the netherlands in rotterdam, as michael 0'neill‘s men bid for euro 2020 qualification?

good evening. around 60,000 people have fled their homes in north eastern syria on the second day of a major air and ground assault by turkish forces. there's been heavy fighting in the central border region. some civilians have been killed and dozens more have been injured on both sides of the border. turkey's president erdogan regards the kurdish fighters in syria as terrorists. he claims more than 100 have been killed. turkey is trying to seize land just inside the border to create what it claims is a "safe zone" in syria, to settle some of the millions of syrian refugees who have fled the eight—year war. our international correspondent, 0rla guerin, is in turkey near the syrian border.

tu rkey‘s turkey's president has been defending his invasion of syria, even as the criticism grows. there is international concern about the humanitarian cost and about the danger that islamic state could benefit from the offensive. a top syrian kurdish official said that the kurds have fewer guards for is prisons and he warned this could result in a two result in a jailbreak. it's been a day of bloodshed on both sides of the border and my report contains distressing images of. turkey says it's creating a safe zonein turkey says it's creating a safe zone in syria, but take a look at five—year—old sara. she hasjust lost one of her legs in a rocket attack that killed her 12—year—old brother. sara is one of many casualties in hospital in the kurdish town of qamishli today. victims of a new chapter in an old

war. her uncle mohammed told the bbc there was no military base nearby. the military base is this child, he said. but president erdogan is making no apologies for his offensive, far from it. making no apologies for his offensive, farfrom it. as his party rallied round him, he threatened his critics with a flood of syrian refugees. hey, european union, get a hold of yourself. look, i'm telling you again. if you describe our operation as an invasion again, we'll take the easy road. we'll open the doors and send you 3.6 million refugees. his forces are now moving

deeper into syrian territory. here, rebels backed by turkey occupy a border village, one of several they have captured. president erdogan is making military gains but diplomatic losses. here are his targets, syrian kurdish forces he views as terrorists, desperately outgunned and up against nato's second largest army. bay led the battle against is, now washington has left them to their vote —— they lead the battle. but the kurds he had backed today causing terror and casualties, as we we re causing terror and casualties, as we were a block away. this is the main street in akcakale. police tried to clear the area after what appeared to be mortarfire. we'vejust had

two massive explosions here in the space of only a few moments. they seemed to be inside this building. but then we were moved back amid fears of more incoming fire. tu rkey‘s fears of more incoming fire. turkey's offensive in syria is now hitting home. this amateur video appears to show some of the casualties today. 0fficials here in akca kale casualties today. 0fficials here in akcakale say three people are confirmed dead and two of them were children. well, we were expecting a response from the turkish authorities and it hasn't taken long. we've been hearing explosions in the last few minutes and on the horizon you can see the dense black smoke, that is the aftermath of a series of air strikes, syrian positions just across the border are being pounded now. there are announcements being made telling

civilians to take shelter and to get off the streets. the air strikes continued through the afternoon. 0n both sides of this border now there are families grieving and the offensive is only in its second day. at the local mosque, a special prayer, said in times of war and times of morning. turkey's a sort on syria has been met with a chorus of condemnation but here we found staunch support for the military offensive —— turkey‘s assault on syria. we are sending our soldiers as if we are sending them to a wedding. we are so proud of them, we set off fireworks to celebrate. but this is the night sky inside syria, towns and villages under fire and

the un says hundreds of thousands of civilians in harm's way. there are fears that the turkish offensive could lead to captured islamic state fighters escaping and regrouping. the kurds are holding thousands of islamic state extremists in prisons in north east syria. 0ur correspondent quentin sommerville has been to one prison and spoken to british men accused of being former is fighters. the islamic state group was born in the shadows. prisons were its breeding ground, its recruitment centres. thousands of its supporters are now jailed in north—eastern syria. as turkey advances, still locked up but in harm's way. the conditions are appalling but these are the best prisons the kurds have. for years, they've told the west to take back theirjihadists.

few countries did and now the prisons are overwhelmed. escape is a growing threat. in one crowded cell, we were told we would find ishant mustafi from east london. he is part of a gang thatjoined is from westminster university. he is accused of being a committed jihadist who fought with is until the very end. he claims, like others, to have been tortured in prison. we have demands, demands as humans. there's, you know, stuff that needs to be provided as rights as a prisoner. we are under the coalition, true? we are under the coalition. but british and american troops are pulling back to avoid clashes with their nato ally, turkey. so the men and boys of the islamic state sit and wait. the kurds are left to contain this threat alone, while fighting for their lives. the prisons, now undermanned,

are a secondary concern, they warn. some of these jails will fall into turkish hands. one has already been shelled. in another prison is ibrahim akbal from bradford. facebook posts show him armed and dressed for combat. he came as a teenager. his uncle was killed fighting for is. 18 members of his family joined the cause. he wants to go home, but says is is still waiting to strike. i think they will come back, to be honest with you. they will come back. they have enough territories till now. they have territories. they are in the deserts in iraq and i believe, whenever they have a chance, they are going to come out and probably do something even worse. outside the prisons are camps for is women and their children. allahu akbar!

this is al hol. extra guards were sent here this week after a number of women escaped. some were recaptured but others are still on the run. it took an international coalition and thousands of kurdish and arab lives to put these men behind bars. but the west has abandoned them. this is a counterterrorism crisis. these men aren'tjust prisoners, they are an islamic state army, waiting to rise again. quentin sommerville, bbc news. president trump has faced criticism over his decision to withdraw us troops. 0ur north america editor jon sopeljoins me now. as the fighting intensifies, so does the criticism of donald trump. yes, last night we had donald trump putting out a statement that he thought the incursion into northern

syria was a bad idea. what has emerged today as there was a furious internal row within the administration over the wording of that. the department of defence thinking there should be something much stronger, more threats to president erdogan if he went ahead. donald trump insisted that wasn't up for grabs donald trump insisted that wasn't up forgrabs and so donald trump insisted that wasn't up for grabs and so the criticism from some of his most loyal supporters has, as you say, intensified. senator lindsey graham who is normally a cheerleader for donald trump tweeting this morning, mr president, your decision regarding syria is having grave consequences to our national security and that of oui’ to our national security and that of our allies. not satisfied with that he went on to say, isis will return and president assad of syria and iran will go stronger to the detriment of us, israel and the world. donald trump has been speaking to us a few moments ago as he flew out of the white house and said he hopes to be able to broker a

deal between the kurds and the turks. he also said he will flatten the turkish economy if they go too far. i met a senior military commander today and said, what does t4 commander today and said, what does ta mean? he gave me a facial expression which was roughly, haven't got a clue —— what does too far mean? borisjohnson and his irish counterpart leo veradkar have said they can see a pathway to a possible brexit deal. after more than two hours of talks at a country house on the wirral, the two leaders said a deal was in everybody‘s interest. mr varadkar said he thought it was still possible that a deal could be done by the end of october but he declined to say what had changed. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. off to work. a private plane for the irish leader. a speeding limousine for the prime minister. the two of them heading to an encounter that could change things for us all. tucked away at a country house

on the wirral, a private moment of massive public importance. could they shake on a deal? after a couple of hours of talks, there wasn't white smoke but an official statement. the two men "agreed they could see a pathway to a possible deal." "their discussions concentrated," not surprisingly, perhaps, "on the challenges of customs and consent." in other words, it's not on nor is it off. i think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty agreed to allow the uk to leave the eu in an orderly fashion and to have that done by the end of october. but there's many a slip between cup and lip and there's lots of things that are not in my control. the two men talked for nearly three hours, with time one—on—one. it's a different tone, certainly, from the last few days, but whether they understand each other is one thing.

johnson out! finding a way out of a fundamental clash is another. the uk wants a brexit deal where there would be different custom systems on either side of the irish border. stop brexit! ireland wants the system north and south to stay the same. the conversation between the prime minister and leo varadkar, they were cordial, they were constructive, they were open and they say that there's going be progress. the opposition is sceptical whether an agreement can really happen. we are in for a few days of shadow—boxing by boris johnson. at the moment, his behaviour and the language he has used suggest that he's not going to an agreement with the european union. that he's not going to reach an agreement with the european union. despite some better vibes today, a deal‘s a long way from lined up. around the continent, leaders are preparing, too, for the process to end with no agreement. "we want to reduce the negative effects if there is a disorderly brexit," angela merkel said.

remember, this is urgent, very urgent. the summit where a deal was meant to be finalised is a week today and any big compromises the prime minister were to give would make things harder here in westminster. there may have been progress of a few paces today, but the two sides were miles apart. leo varadkar might have got back on his plane feeling more hopeful. borisjohnson arrived back home with a sniff of progress in the air. has there been a breakthrough, prime minister? there are still problems to solve and other political partners to satisfy. 0n brexit, this prime minister cannot please all of the people all of the time. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the chairman of the car manufacturer nissan warned that a no—deal brexit would threaten its european business model and the future of its large plant in sunderland.

the japanese car maker employs 6,000 people at the factory and supports a further 2a,000 people in the supply chain. our business editor simonjack reports. the nissan plant in sunderland is the crown jewel of british car manufacturing. 30% of all the cars made in the uk are made right here, and 70% of them are exported to the eu. leaving the eu without a deal would see tariffs applied to components and 10% added to the finished product. those sums don't add up to a sustainable future. if we will have to sustain 10% export duties on the vehicles that we export from the uk to the eu, knowing that those vehicles represent 70% of the total production, the overall business model won't be sustainable. that means potential closure, and union leaders were clear exactly what impact that would have here. what would that mean to the north—east? it would be catastrophic, because you've got to look at what's happened in the last 20, 30 years.

we have lost, the demise of the shipbuilding, the coal mines and steelworks in the north—east. now, the sunderland area, durham heartlands, along with gateshead and newcastle, depends on this work. and that is not lost on the next generation. all my mates' wages come from nissan and, like, they work long hours. it will be sad to see, like, honestly, it will be sad to see. families destroyed, obviously, because they are going to have to go and find a load ofjobs and there's not that manyjobs around here. this isn't the first warning from nissan but it is the starkest. there is new management injapan and job number one is cutting costs. this plant has already seen one proposed model pulled and an overnight production shift cancelled. it means it is running under capacity and that makes it vulnerable, which means that the unthinkable a few years ago is now a clear and present danger. the chances of this plant eventually having to close has gone from the possible to the probable

in the no—deal brexit scenario. 33 years ago, a previous conservative prime minister sold the uk to japan as the perfect launch pad into european markets. but the industry is undergoing massive change and brexit is not helping the uk's bid to be part of the future. there are other forces at work. japan's new trade deal with the eu will see tariffs on cars made injapan drop to zero over the next seven years. the government says it continues to work to support the car industry to prepare for all brexit outcomes, but nissan were clear today that "no deal" could close the door on uk production. simonjack, bbc news, sunderland. let's take a look at some of today's other news. levels of severe obesity among children in the last year of primary school have hit an all—time high in england. in total, more than a million children are now obese. the latest figures show that in a class of 30 10—11 year olds, one third are now overweight or obese.

that's twice as many as 30 years ago. one in four children are severely obese in the poorest areas of england, which is more than double that of the least deprived parts of the country. a climate change activist has climbed on top of a plane at london city airport, as protests continue over global warming. the man was identified as the paralympian cyclist james brown. police say they've now made more than 1,000 arrests since extinction rebellion began protesting on monday. a court has heard that the hillsborough match commander david duckenfield made "extraordinarily bad failings" which led to a fatal crush at the fa cup semifinal in 1989. mr duckenfield denies the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool supporters, who died at sheffield wednesday's ground. the inventor sirjames dyson has scrapped his £2.5 billion project to build electric cars. dyson, best known for vacuum cleaners, had been planning to develop the cars in the uk and build them in singapore.

it abandoned the project because it said it was not "commercially viable". it's 30 years since the tumultuous events of 1989 when the berlin wall fell and the soviet empire began to crumble. it brought an to end to decades of russian domination in eastern europe which had followed world war ii. and it started a process which led to the break—up of the soviet union itself just two years later. but in recent years, russia has been pushing to restore its lost power, as our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. bells chime. moscow is a city that oozes empire. but then, for centuries, russia has had an unswerving belief that it is great. and that great powers must have influence. you can feel that in the kremlin. look at this. this says power, omnipotence. this says empire.

that's why, for russia, 1989 was so traumatic. cheering and applause. 30 years ago, people power swept away the iron curtain and with it, moscow's domination of eastern europe, russia's empire. today's russia wants to forget about 1989. it was the period of backtracking, surrender, defeat. across eastern europe are ghosts of the fallen empire, shards of a former superpower. soviet army bases lie abandoned. this is wunsdorf, near berlin. moscow had 800 military garrisons in east germany alone. when the berlin wall fell, it withdrew all its troops. anton was the commander at wunsdorf,

and the last russian soldier to leave germany. translation: when we left, politicians in the west cried from the rooftops that nato wouldn't take a single step to the east. but today, nato hasn't only reached our borders, it's come right up to our fence, to our gates. but 30 years on, it's russia that's flexing its muscles. we saw this display of strength in crimea, ukrainian territory russia annexed in 2014. the collapse of the iron curtain had brought hope of partnership between moscow and the west. that's gone. what we see is a pattern of behaviour, where russia is responsible for aggressive actions against neighbours. that reflects that the main problem with russia is they still believe in the idea of spheres of influence.

in response, nato is boosting its defences near russia's borders. in estonia, we were given rare access to nato's cyber troops training to repel attacks by aggressive nations. and it's notjust cyber. nato's expanded its air policing mission here to intercept russian military aircraft. moscow denies it's a threat. the baltic has become one of the front lines of what feels like a new cold war between russia and the west. to moscow, the presence of nato troops near its border is a direct threat to russia's national security. bell tolls. perhaps the cold war never really ended. but how does a modern russia see itself? as an empire, a global player, or a superpower? this is my chance to ask the president.

i asked vladimir putin, "is russia a superpower again?" translation: we are not seeking this status. we don't want to return to how it was when the soviet union imposed a way of life on neighbours. but some of our partners in the west haven't learned from that sad experience. they are making the same mistakes. they are the empires. it is one of the lessons of 1989, that it's easier to destroy an iron curtain than it is to build trust between russia and the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. football, and three of the home nations, scotland, wales and northern ireland, have all been in action tonight in the euro 2020 qualifiers. jane dougall has been watching the action. the last time northern ireland played the netherlands here in rotterdam, george best was in the side. the travelling fans hoping that might inspire their boys in blue.

and in the second half, josh magennis delighted them. magennis scores! sensational! but moments later, the netherlands equalised, then two more goals in added time brought northern ireland back to earth, slipping out of the qualification spots. wales' global star was in their starting line—up but it wasn't gareth bale who scored against slovakia. a first international goal for kieffer moore putting them ahead. but early in the second half, slovakia equalised. qualification for wales now a daunting task. in moscow, as the temperature dropped, so did the tartan army's hopes. this, the second of four goals for russia, confirming scotland will not automatically qualify. an icy stare from the manager, as getting to a major tournament still seems far away. jane dougal, bbc news. america's star gymnast simone biles hasjust won her 16th world gymnastics title

at the championships in stuttgart. the 22—year—old was also crowned the best all—around gymnast for a record—breaking fifth time. natalie pirks was there. it's the hardest move in women's gymnastics, and yet, she makes it appear effortless. today, simone biles dazzled yet again with her new signature move. to put it into context, when simone does the triple—double, everyone in the gym, from coaches to gymnasts, stops to watch her because it is just that hard. it is jaw—dropping in its complexity. launching into the air at around 13 mph, she's up there for a little more than a second. it means biles has to move quickly to perform her two somersaults while twisting three times simultaneously. the records just keep tumbling. when the usa took their fifth straight team title on tuesday, biles became the all—time leading female gymnast, with 21 world medals. today, she was at it again, winning her 16th world championship gold.

pint—sized perfection. but not content with merely winning, the texan wants to create a legacy, and just two more medals here this week would ensure she's the most decorated gymnast overall in world championship history. she's actually got four more chances. whilst making history, though, biles is also healing. she's a survivor of prolific sex offender larry nassar, the former team doctor given multiple life sentences last year after decades of abuse. she has spoken out and become a role model for millions, something she is now realising the importance of. in the moment, you don't really feel the impact until afterwards, but it's definitely rewarding. you're so utterly dominant. is this where you expected to be at your age? not necessarily. ifeel like a little bit, we peak when we are a bit younger so i feel like i'm kind of ageing like a fine wine, um... so, i can't be mad about it! with her last 0lympics on the horizon, enjoy her brilliance while you can. applause.

commentator: it's gold again for simone biles! we may never see such domination again. natalie pirks, bbc news, stuttgart. incredible! hello, welcome to sportsday. i'm holly hamilton. coming up, double and injury —— leisure time damages northern ireland ‘s dreams of your 2020 competition. sweet 16 for simone, the usa superstar claims another world title in stuttgart. and there is a storm brewing in japan but just how and there is a storm brewing in japan butjust how much damage will it cost scotland at the rugby world

cup? hello and welcome to the programme. thanks forjoining us. you could almost hear those 3500 northern ireland fans in rotterdam tonight whenjosh mcginnis ireland fans in rotterdam tonight when josh mcginnis put ireland fans in rotterdam tonight whenjosh mcginnis put his men 1—0 up whenjosh mcginnis put his men 1—0 up in theireuro whenjosh mcginnis put his men 1—0 up in their euro 2020 qualifier. the subregions didn't last long. it took them less than five minutes to equalise but it was after the 90 minutes the dutch really added insult to injury time. lydia campbell was watching. northern ireland know that the four points for the next two games would save their place at next year prosser world championships and for the three and a half thousand travelling fans, they got to see their side limit the dutch to just one chance and target in the first

half. under their coach, the steam a lwa ys half. under their coach, the steam always have a chance and