welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: fierce fighting as turkey continues its offensive against kurdish areas in northern syria — in the us bipartisan efforts to launch sanctions against ankara get underway. fears that the chaos and fighting could mean escape for thousands of islamic state fighters imprisoned in the region. two businessmen, reportedly with ties to rudy giuliani, charged with violating campaign finance laws. japan braces for the strongest typhoon this year — the authorities warn of severe weather and widespread destruction. and the iranian women attending a football match for the first time since the islamic revolution.

around 60,000 people have been forced from their homes in north eastern syria, on the second day of a major air and ground assault by turkish forces. there've been several civilian deaths. turkey's president claims at least a hundred kurdish fighters have been killed. they are long—time american allies in the fight against the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, but the turks regard them as terrorists. turkey is trying to push back the kurds and seize land just inside the syrian border, to create what it calls a "safe zone" to resettle some of the millions of syrian refugees who sought shelter in turkey during eight years of war. our international correspondent 0rla guerin sent this from near the border.

she has just lost one of her legs in an attack that killed her 12—year—old brother. sara is one of many casualties in hospitals 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. as his party rallied around him, he threatened his critics with a flood of syrian refugees.

translation: hey, european union. get a hold of yourself. look, i'm telling you again — if you described 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've captured. president erdogan is making military gains but diplomatic losses. and here are his targets — syrian kurdish forces he views as terrorists, desperately outgunned and up against nato‘s second—largest army. they led the battle against is. now washington has left them to their fate.

but the kurds hit back today, causing terror and casualties as we were a block away. this is the main street in akcakale, a turkish border town. police trying to clear the area after what appeared to be mortarfire. well, we've just had two major explosions here in the space of only a few moments. the blast seemed to be inside this building. but then we were moved back amid fears of more incoming fire. turkey's offensive across the border in syria is now hitting home. this amateur video appears to show some of the casualties today. child screams. 0fficials here 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 and there are announcements being made here on loud hailers telling civilians to take shelter and get off the streets. air strikes continued through the afternoon. on 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 mourning. turkey's assault on syria has been met by a chorus of condemnation but here, we found staunch support

for the military offensive. translation: we are sending our soldiers there is if we are sending them to a wedding. we're so proud of them. we set off fireworks last night to celebrate. but this is the night sky inside syria. towns and villages under fire, and the un says hundreds of thousands of civilians are in harm's way. 0rla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. there is international concern about the onslaught against the kurds, and moves from both parties in the us congress to put pressure on turkey, by imposing economic sanctions.there are fears too that the turkish offensive could lead to captured islamic state fighters escaping and regrouping. the kurds are holding thousands of extremists in prisons in north east syria, with theirfamilies in separate camps. in one prison, our correspondent quentin sommerville has been speaking to british men accused of fighting for is.

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. there is a piper to a possible deal and brexit according to senior source in downing street. they talked more than two hours at an english country manor house about how to avoid a hard body in ireland when the euchre leaves the european union. he wouldn't elaborate on what had changed, he said at this point the less said, the better. had a very good meeting with the pan— minister and our teams together, very positive and very promising. i am now perhaps convinced that both ireland and britain wanted to be in agreement, that isn't ——in the interests of ireland and the united kingdom, as your pathway towards an agreement in the coming weeks.

japan is bracing itself for what is predicted to be the biggest and most violent typhoon of 2019. strong winds, rough seas, and heavy rain are forecast as typhoon hagibis gets closer to the capital tokyo. safety concerns have already forced the cancellation of two matches in the rugby world cup and the formula one grand prix could also be affected. matthew cappucci is an atmospheric scientist. thank you very much for your time. 0utside, thank you very much for your time. outside, the rugby world cup, possibly the country, but in they we re possibly the country, but in they were from this? it's an extremely impressive strong, it is a category five hurricane, it's a typhoon for the pacific but it intensified early sunday night to monday morning. in just 204i was commitment from a 120 just 2041 was commitment from a 120 kilometre per hour strong to 200 and 65 kilometres per sea rchable kilometre per hour strong to 200 and 65 kilometres per searchable the rate of what we need to classify as

intense. it's in a week and said, the winds at 200 colleges and ours moves towards tokyo. things will start to wind down over the next couple of days but tokyo could still see winds gusting in acts of all hundred and 50 kilometres per hour, 7-15 hundred and 50 kilometres per hour, 7—15 millimetres of rental, storm surge of two people stop there are other warnings, those high buildings, bother not funnel the wind that could increase? very much so, i'm really worried about that, we have to give in mind this is all within the eye wall ofjump on it, it's about 80 kilometres wide right now, if it shifts further west to east, the eyeball could spend our time together west of the impact. if it's going what is forecast to write

up, they could see the worst of it right in downtown and likely set, the wind could have a funnelling effect to the skyscrapers in addition, you could have fallen glass, storm surge, all that stuff in them the downtown area, with 9 million people, a recipe for bili badges. just briefly, what factors are at play here? it does seem that climate change in particular, blessing storms, the intensity of storms increase much faster than it used to. exactly. seymour storms undergo rapid intensification, rapid and has a vocation means it is increasing 55 monitors per hour or more in 24 hours. this then tripled up. we are seeing more and the strong chassis with climate change and answers are becoming more frequent but the strongest storms will become even stronger thanks to the added moisture, back to the warmer waters and thanks for changing the dynamics of the atmosphere is. thank you so much for your help on this. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: three decades after the fall of the berlin wall — a special report on russia's bold moves — to reclaim its role as a superpower. this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be

respected in the world once more as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded and a group of soldiers jumped from a military truck taking part in the parade, and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeleton ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but, even as divers worked to buoy her up, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

the turkish offensive against kurdish fighters in north—eastern syria is continuing with more than 60,000 people now reported to be fleeing the danger. japan is braced for the strongest typhoon this year — authorities are warning of severe weather and widespread destruction. it's 30 years since the tumultuous events of 1989 when the berlin wall fell and the soviet empire began to crumble. it ended the decades of russian domination in eastern europe, which followed world war two, and started a process which led, just two years later, to the break—up of the soviet union itself. 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 that 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 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. two american businessmen connected

to president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, have been arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations. igor fruman and lev parnas, seen here with donald trump last year, are both born in the former soviet union, one in belarus, one in ukraine. and are accused of being part of a scheme to funnel foreign money to us political candidates to buy influence. chris, give us an idea of what is going on here? they were both seen as being very important donors to the republican party. that was by republican leaders and donald trump himself. they were given access to the white house and indeed donald trump's mar—a—lago resort in florida. the big questions about where exactly those contributions came from, and prosecutors have now arrested them and charge them, arguing the money came from foreign sources and that they were essentially laundered through an

energy company that the two men sat up energy company that the two men sat up in florida. 0f energy company that the two men sat up in florida. of course that has raised a lot of concerns. president trump has been saying, however, as far as he is concerned, they only had limited access, playing that down. they were personal associates of his attorney rudy giuliani, but he says he has done nothing wrong.|j don't know those gentlemen. it's possible i have a picture with them, i have a picture with everybody. i have a picture with everybody here. maybe it was a fundraiser or somewhere? i have pictures with everybody. mr trump of course. chris, at this time there is potentially quite a headache for mr trump and the republicans? yeah, you mentioned that one of them came from ukraine. this is going to be one of the questions that the democrats ask about what exactly were the links here? some of that is going to focus

on rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney. he has been pushing and trying to talk about the potential ofjoe biden, the potential ofjoe biden, the potential as a dental candidate and one of his big brothers in 2020 having being involved in some business dealings, or his son being involved in business dealings in ukraine. there have been unsubstantiated allegations made by both rudy giuliani and mr trump. mr trump did ask the ukrainian president to launch an investigation intojoe biden, and it seems really giuliani was also involved with conversations with ukrainian officials, it seems these two men actually help temples that they introduced him to a former ukrainian prosecutor. you can imagine democrats are going to be asking a lot of questions about these men who we re lot of questions about these men who were arrested as they try to board a flight were arrested as they try to board a flight to vienna on apparently a 1—way ticket from washington's

dulles airport, they are now expected to appear in court next week. chris, thank you very much for that. let's get some of the day's other news. the man accused of shooting dead 22 people at a walmart store in el paso, texas, in august, has pleaded not guilty on his first court appearance. patrick crusius may face the death penalty if he is convicted. police say he drove more than ten hours to el paso with the clear intent of killing mexicans. indigenous protesters in ecuador have publicly paraded eight police officers they have taken hostage in the capital, quito. they say it's part of a nationwide demonstration against the removal of fuel subsidies. at least five people have been killed in more than a week of violence. president lenin moreno is refusing demands that he step down. women in iran have been allowed to attend a football match in large numbers for the first time since the islamic revolution 40 years ago. authorities in tehran have been under some pressure from fifa, the governing body of world football.

more than 3,000 women, sitting in segregated areas, saw iran demolish cambodia 14—0 in a world cup qualifier. gareth barlow reports. it was a historic night on the terraces of tehran‘s azadi stadium. female football fans attending a match for the first time in four decades. the band, arguing clerics should have women shielded from semi— clad men, after a woman set herself on fire after being refused attendance to a match. tragedy was replaced with joy. is they set we're very excited. we have been wanting to go to the stadium to on our country for years. this is the first time women are able to enter the stadium infour time women are able to enter the stadium in four decades. they set we're here to see iran play, we have waited so long and feels absolutely

great. over 3500 women were in the stadium that cedes over 70,000, a token number and a cynical start according to amnesty international. football's governing bodies as it will stand firm on equal rights. until then, a win on the pitch would bea win until then, a win on the pitch would be a win for women. gareth barlow, bbc news. a brief reminder of the main news item, the circus fight against curtis —— the fight against curtis fighters, and we were talking about the most powerful typhoon this year in the region ofjapan. the most powerful typhoon this year in the region of japan. saturday's practice and qualifier forjapan‘s formula 1 grand prix has been cancelled. world cup qualifying matches have also been cancelled as well. there is more news for you anytime on the bbc website. thank

you for watching. hello. so far 0ctober has been a very wet month for some of us. now, as you can see in this forecast, it takes us all the way through the weekend, we're not done yet. and during friday there will be more heavy rain across parts of england, wales and scotland, especially in the west with heavy showers here mostly to the north of glasgow. let's take a look at the big picture, the set—up takes us through the weekend. this weather front, hanging around parts of england and wales for much of the weekend. a feed of showers running into western parts of scotland. then we go on through into sunday, this weather front will eventually start to pull away, but we'll see more heading in from the atlantic. yes, it is staying unsettled even into next week, as well. this is how we start friday, you can see the areas of heavy rain

into parts of england and wales, further heavy showers than into western scotland. a dry start to northern ireland with some sunshine, very blustery up there as well. i just want to focus in on some of the wetter areas greater risk of disruption and the met office has yellow weather warnings in force for rain for much of wales, the peak district into the pennines, higher totals here to higher ground, quite widely15—30 millimetres, difficult driving through that. and the showers rattling into western scotland, north of glasgow, giving fairly high rainfall totals again, especially for the higher ground, some difficult travelling conditions. giving an indication of where we're going to see some of the stronger wind gusts as well, this area of heavy rain feeding further south across england and wales, quite squally in nature as the day goes on. brightening up for some, north wales, northern england as the day goes on, sunny spells, the odd shower for northern ireland, one or two reaching into eastern scotland, it's not a washout everywhere! this is the picture friday night into saturday morning, still the cloud and some outbreaks of rain.

the further south you are in england, still the chance of a show in northern ireland, or especially in northern and western parts of scotland. the lower temperatures will be where you do have some clear spells. now, as saturday begins, we still have this weather front close to parts of southern england, but elsewhere, there will be some sunny spells to be had, yes, there's a chance of catching one or two showers, but it's not going to be a disaster of a day. there will be lighter winds than we have had recently, temperatures mostly in the mid—teens, but it looks like later some of this rain towards south—west england, maybe south wales as well will begin to turn heavier, certainly more persistent, too. so that's how saturday is shaping up. as we go into the second half of the weekend, overnight heavy rain across parts of england and wales, rain falling into the north sea. it looks like another area of raining cloud was spreading from the western zone more of scotland wetter on sunday. some uncertainty about the detail, though, so keep on checking back if you've got weekend outdoor plans. that's your forecast.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the turkish offensive against kurdish fighters in north—eastern syria is continuing with more than 60,000 people now reported to be fleeing the danger. efforts are getting under way on capitol hill to introduce legislation threatening sanctions against turkey. there's been widespread international condemnation of turkey's actions. two foreign—born men who are associates of president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, are charged with violating campaign finance laws. they are reported to have helped mr giuliani in his attempt to investigate the family of former vice president, joe biden. japan is braced for the strongest typhoon this year, with the authorities warning that there could be widespread destruction, particularly over the weekend. japan airlines is set to cancel more than 90% of domestic flights to and from tokyo's main airport. several sporting events have already faced disruption.