this is d.w. news live from orlando clouds of the perfect storm gathering over the last rebel stronghold in syria the united nations warns of a bloodbath that syrian government and russian forces prepared to take it live problems. also coming up german foreign minister heikal mosse traveling to turkey today high on the agenda is the release of seven german citizens from a turkish jail they were arrested after the failed to two years ago and a nation mourns the loss of its priceless treasure searchers through the ashes that

are a massive fire that's brazil's national museum but some promising signs hint that all may not be lost. i'm sara kelly welcome to the program we begin with what may be the final showdown in the seven year war in syria the united nations is warning of a bloodbath if syrian and russian forces move in to take the last rebel held province of idlib monitor groups say that shells have been launched today on rebel positions the leaders of iran russia and turkey are set to gather on friday in tehran for a summit that could determine the scope of this offensive and the u.n. security council is also set to meet amid fears that the assaults could put major world powers on a collision course. a demonstration in

a against the assad regime in defiance of the looming government offensive what these people turned out voluntarily or were forced to by rebel forces is unknown. propaganda is dominating the calm before the storm on all sides the syrian army displaying its hardware and saying it's ready to move in. we're still observing the other side but when we see something there we fire on anything that moves. for the first time in weeks russian airplanes attacked rebel positions in italy on tuesday some thirty targets were hit say the rebels russia says its patience with the anti-government forces is limited. but the rebels are also rattling their sabers many of them of former al-qaeda fighters at least ten thousand parties are in the enclave these propaganda images give the impression these men can hardly

a wife becoming bloodbath. but hand we will defeat any attack and destroy our enemy we're ready for a pair of those. at least three million civilians including many refugees are trapped inside this suffering is already appalling but we have it's a daily struggle for survival it's terrible i can't give my children anything to eat. and the turkish army has been moving additional hardware to the syrian border it's supposed to block another mass influx of syrian refugees if and when the offensive goes ahead. and joining me now here in the studio to discuss this is middle east analyst good morning to you good oh i'd like to begin by asking you because this is really the battle that everyone has been fearing three million people estimated to be in this area the u.n. warning of a bloodbath what do you think we will see in it. if the offensive starts we will

see a. magnitude of what is happening is greater than anything we have seen in recent years the population of east aleppo for example was. about one hundred fifty thousand people and here in italy we talk even if the numbers seem to be a little bit exaggerated of up to three million people who for the time being are not able to escape to turkey so now we have the leaders of iran russia and turkey there said to me and tehran on friday coming up with a plan a strategy what do you think that we will see from them i. really don't know it might be the last chance to avoid this big offensive because the russians have been putting pressure on the turks. pressure on the new stuff from the leading jihad is the leading rebel organization. stop its attacks on him a map or to

a big russian help or close to the coast they have made other demands and if the turks can offer something i have a slight hope this offensive will at least be postponed a little bit meantime we also speaking about putting pressure on you know various factors here at the u.n. appealing specifically to russia and turkey we know to help try and find a solution to onkar and moscow how how much did their priorities differ from those for example syria. turkey has been the main. main supporter of the rebels in recent years and they try to save the last bridgehead in the country but turkey is very much focused on the containment of the p.k. k. the kurds in syria that's more important for them russia has made tremendous efforts to rehabilitate the syrian government and to get money for the for the

record. struction of the country so there might be a chance that these two two states will be ready to find a negotiated solution the problem is that the syrians and iranian allies seem to have to decided to stop this. there are so many factors here that have not yet been calculated of course we know that u.s. president actually warned assad on monday to not recklessly attack it live and the white house strongly cautioned him again reiterated that on tuesday the u.n. security council is also set to me do you see world powers here the various forces at play potentially on a collision course no i don't i don't because the american declarations. of president secretary have been relatively weak and it shows that the u.s. doesn't have any influence on the situation in this part of syria although american troops are still active in the eastern part of the country we do see that iran

russia turkey and the syrian government are calling the shots. that's not only sad it's dangerous the west has lost all its influence on the situation in syria you don't what is it about province in particular that makes this situation so dire first it's big we do talk about nearly three million people who are who don't have any. possibility to escape and secondly this might be the major and the last battle of the civil war between the syrian government and the sunni rebels there are other conflicts which might follow but this is the decisive battle in this civil war kato steinberg middle east analyst thank you so much. now it's got a quick check of some other stories making news around the world authorities in japan have begun evacuating hundreds of people stranded at consol airport which was flooded in the wake of typhoon gebbie at least ten people were killed and hundreds

more injured by the storm it was the strongest typhoon to hit japan in twenty five years. an operation is underway to clear a collapsed motorway bridge in the indian city of krakatoa at least one person was killed after several vehicles including a bus plunged thirty meters when a section of the overpass caved in on tuesday it was the second major road collapse in this area in recent years. a new tell all book by veteran washington post reporter bob woodward quotes the top aide calling president donald trump an idiot and alleges other senior figures were moved to sensitive documents to stop him from making a false the decisions trump has dismissed the book on twitter as a con on the public's. german conservative manford verba has announced that he wants to succeed john clune younger when he steps down as president of the european commission next year. would be the first german to take the helm of the powerful

brussels institution in more than fifty years his candidacy now has to be endorsed by his center right european peoples party. brazilians are hoping to recover some of their national treasures from the ashes of a huge fire that gutted brazil's national museum it's thought that as much as ninety percent of latin america's largest collection of historic artifacts may have been destroyed in the blaze firefighters combing through the charred remains have already made some promising finds. all that's left of brazil's national museum and. millions of historic items now turned to ash. destroyed by a fire that is rich through brazil's history and its culture. but its hopes that all is not lost among items firefighters have already found of

fragments of bone it's hope to skull one of the oldest fossils ever found in the americas maybe among them. bones were found but we still don't know if it's the skull of lutea we're waiting researches also managed to rescue some items and there was great excitement when a security guard found this document across the street. but nothing can replace what's been destroyed and although the government has promised money to shore up what's left of the museum many feel successive governments have simply neglected this brazilian treasure house of germany and turkey kicked off a series of high level visits today relations between the two countries have soured in recent years of human rights and other issues germany's foreign minister will meet with turkish president wretch of type there to one in ankara later today i

only get gender for the german government is the release of seven german citizens from turkish jail they're being held on political charges after the failed coup two years ago turkey will be looking for support for its weakened economy the lira has tanked in recent weeks. for more let's bring in our correspondent dorian jones who is standing by for us in istanbul so story first and foremost how important is this visit for turkey. well this visit is very important it is part of this approach between. relations until recently were absolutely at rock bottom but now there is have thought by both sides to improve ties before mrs visit comes to lay the groundwork for the turkish president's state visit to berlin later this month that is seen as extremely important from chris point of view given that . to get these major state visits in new york given the country's poor human rights

record a lot of forethought in the post on the fact that those goals of being open by burl into the turkish president and the issues that you see him as part of this process to lay the groundwork for the. good of. ok we were talking with our correspondent dorian jones there in istanbul telling us a little bit more about this meeting between the german foreign minister and the turkish president but as you can see we have some audio problems so we apologize for that we'll try and connect with story and perhaps in a later bill attend but in the meantime we're going to turn to some sports news now and defending men's champion rafael nadal has survived a nearly five hour five set match at the u.s. open to advance to the semifinals the doll lost the first set six low but came back to beat austrian dominic team at two in the morning new york time he'll play one martin del potro next and meanwhile women's champion sloane stephens is out she was

beaten by luck he was honest. so i still go on now meet serena williams in her first ever semifinal a flushing meadows. it's germany's women's soccer team have made it to the twenty nineteen world cup in france the two time world champions had difficulties in qualifying but an eight victory in the faroe islands put them in the tournament. the germans knew only a win would guarantee qualification an interim coach horst rebus was quickly put the team by later sure getting up to just three minutes the fair was defense offered little resistance and the passing was set for the match even the unusual artificial turf in football so the germans even mccool of making it to now. soon after the only my after the surgery before the half time whistle. was brought in with the sudden chaos in march but it will stop now beckons carlene see mongols in a free kick. and it felt like

a training game from their own golden seam on covering their second goal germany was scoring it will. sound double completed the routes. germany had to the finals on a high. while group bash now heads off into retirement. one now a fitting footnote so to speak to end the show a piece of classic hollywood memorabilia has been found by the f.b.i. thirteen years after being stolen the sequin ruby slippers worn by judy garland her here as dorothy in the wizard of oz were matched from a u.s. museum over a decade ago they were treated in a sting operation in july and experts have now confirmed the authenticity of the shoes but the case isn't quite closed the f.b.i. says that the thieves are still on the run. you're watching

news we have more coming up at the top of the hour my colleague sunni so let's kind of will be joining you that's it for me sara kelly here in berlin thank you so much for tuning in don't forget in the meantime you can always get the very late. on our website. com or you can follow me on social media have a great day. to. make your smart t.v. even smarter more flimsy believe. what you love what you want to live up to date. extraordinary. decide what's on. sunday at the w.