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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". sumi: i am sumi soman washington, and this is "bbc world news america." the u.n. is investigating after two deadly airstrikes hit northeastern ukraine with children among the victims. u.s. president biden and china's president xi might meet face-to-face at the summit. it would be their first such meeting in a year.

a look at the life of the jailed human rights activist who won this year's nobel peace prize. ♪ welcome to "world news america." we start with the aftermath of a devastating attack in ukraine. the united nations as they are sending a team of investigators to the small village in the harkey region that saw the deadliest attack in the country in more than a year. a missile strike killed 52 people. every family in the village must affected. there appeared to be no military targets. the local prosecutor says the attack was deliberate. the kremlin insists russia does not target civilians. ukraine says a separate russell -- russian missile attack targeted that. the interior ministry said a 10-year-old boy was killed. our bbc's ukraine correspondent has more on the thursdays attack. reporter: a memorial has been

set up in the middle where this missile hit yesterday. we are in a playground where most of the bodies were recovered. nearly, the swings and the slide are still standing. this is a tightening settlement. it feels strange to be stood in such destruction in somewhere so small. you can see vehicles have been caved in by the sheer force of the blast. such is the power generated. it is not immediately obvious what was hit. a lot of the debris has been cleareaway to the side. you can see a fridge, air conditioning units, twisted metal. all of these signatures signs of a missile strik and then here you have the building that was directly hit. a cafe/shop where a funeral wake was taking place yesterday for a

ukrainian soldier. as far as the prosecutor for this area is concerned, it was a deliberate attack by moscow. use of a ballistic missile, which are fairly active -- fairly accurate, reinforces that claim. for now, you have a scene like this in a village of 300 where 51 people have been killed. it impacts everyone here. it goes far beyond this scene of devastation. where once again, we see civilian areas, civilians themselves targeted by russian missiles. there is debris like th dotted around. you can tell it is from a missile because it is heavy. it is dense metal. it is quite a sight for a village so small. sumi: james waterhouse reporting there. in syria, funerals are being

held for the victims of friday's drone attack on a military academy. the syrian army has blamed what it calls terrorist groups for the attack that killed at least 89 people and left hundreds injured. 50 civilians are thought to be among the dead. our middle east correspondent tells us the government's response to the attack. reporter:reporter: it is a big day of mourning in syria. the government has announced three days of national mourning. we have seen parades of funerals taking place yesterday. . and today as well. it is still hard to pin down who is behind this attack. the government, obviously, pointed fingers at what it called terrorist groups. no group has come out to claim responsibility. the government immediately launed a full-fledged attack and bombing on opposition areas in the northwest, and idlib especially, which it clarifies for them as they opposition that they are accusing.

although none of the groups have come out to announce any responsibility. there is a question to be raised about the minister of defense who was at the ceremony, wanting to attend the graduation, but left shortly before the ceremony starts. and the attack takes place, which really raises an eyebrow on the reasons why he left at the time. had he received a warning or not? we are not sure. this is not something strange for the syrian regime. some analysts are saying it could be an inside job or some of the allies. always busy with different parties while controlling the different parts of syria. you have the iranians and the russians. and for civilian forces that sometimes are competing against each other inside syria. the fact that the government said these are drones loaded with explosives, wonder if the

opposition will have this capacity of having drones flying over 100 kilometers to reach this area. in the past, they did actually launch attacks using drones in the city of let tacky a, specifically. the town of the president. but the distance is far shorter than the distance we artalking about here. these questions will remain unanswered for the moment. sumi: the united auto workers and the u.s. says it will not expand its strikes against detroit automakers this week. this comes after general motors union by allowing workers to be covered by a labor agreement. uaw president sean fain said the strikes were working but that the parties have not reached a full resolution yet. the uaw went on strike with detroit automakers to demand

better wages, pensions, workhours, and retiree benefits. plans are reportedly underway for a face-to-face meeting between president biden and china's leader xi jinping next month, according to the washington post. speaking to porters friday, biden said no meeting was set up but remains a possibility. if it takes place, it would happen during the asia-pacific economic cooperation conference in san francisco. it would be the latest attempt to stabilize troubled relations between the two superpowers. tensions have risen in recent years over military trade and economic relations. the last time biden and xi met was on the sidelines of the g20 conference in november 2022. attempts to reignite conversations between the two countries have accelerated with four top biden administration officials traveling to china for talks. i asked conger met -- a congressman, the ranking member on the house committee select of china, to weigh in on the reported meeting. >> it is a good meeting.

and think president biden should tell chairman xi very clearly that the more they engage in aggression, whether it is economic, military, or technological aggression, the harder it becomes for the rest of the world to engage with chin and the harder it is for the chinese communist party to help repair the damage that has been done from past economic policies that is materializing now in a rapid slowdown of the chinese economy. on the other hand, if they curb their aggression and to start to play by the rules of the road, economically and militarily and otherwise, i think it will be good, not only for the rest of the world, but it will be good for china as well. sumi: president biden continues to face mounting criticism from republicans and democrats after his administration announced new border wall construction in texas. on wednesday, homeland security secretary waived more than two

dozen federal laws to expedite the construction of border barriers. move prompted criticism as it appears to contradict biden administration's stance on border policy. they say it does not change the administraon's policies to the southern border. speaking to reporters cannot buy it president biden defended his decision. pres. biden: i was told i had no choice. congress passes legislation. to build something. whether it is an aircraft carrier, a wall, or provide for a tax cut. i can't say i don't like it, i'm not going to do it. >> you said yesterday you tried to re-appropriate the funds. pres. biden: we tried to ask congress to consider changing the law. to reappropriate. to not use it for another purpose, give me more technical

capabilities. that is what i wanted to do. sumi: the announcement comes as e u.s. faces an increasingly difficult situation at the southern border with border patrol agents registering 210,000 apprehensions in the month of september. the highest number recorded in 2023. u.s. authorities have detained more than 2.2 million migrants along the u.s.-mexico border since last october. for more perspective, i spoke to janet napolitano, former secretary of homeland security under president obama. thank you for joining us on bbc news. you were the governor of arizona. you were also the secretary of homeland security the obama administration that oversaw the construction of hundreds of miles of order barrier. what do you think of the biden administration's new policy of expanding the border fence? ms. napolitano: i tnk it was a

difficult decision, obviously, we. and i think it is important for the president to clarify that we are not going to so our immigration issues at the border with a wall. or a fence. the issues are more complicated than that. it requires a more holistic approach. putting up some physical structure in some areas of the border where it is determined that that could really help with the traffic, that is a tactical decision that the border patrol has made in the past. sumi: beyond those physical barriers, because the border is some 2000 miles long, put more is needed? -- what more is needed? ms. napolitano: could be a combination of things. i think of it as a three legged stool. one leg is physical infrastructure, fencing or a wall. one leg is technology, sensors,

drones. and the third leg is manpower, making sure you have enough agents on the ground, particularly between the ports of entry. to do the apprehension. all three of those need to be in balance with each other to really have what i think of as a holistic approach to the border. sumi: what about the eight organizations at the border who say the construction of the wall is not the answer? ms. napolitano: it is not in and of itself t answer. i would agree with them on that. the question is, what is the answer? toe, it is the three leg stool i just described, combined with a seous effort at immigration reform. that of course has to be done by the congress. our congress is a little discombobulated these days. but that is really what needs to happen. sumi: i will ask you about reform in congress in moment.

we spoke in may about the lifting of title 42. you pointed to the measures the biden was putting in place. tougher consequences for crossing illegally, increasing awful pathways, working with local communities. why hasn't that worked to stop the rising numbers of people crossing? ms. napolitano: it did for a while. the numbers immediately after title 42 was lifted went down. it has only been in the past month or so that they have begun coming up again. a lot of that is fueled by immigration from venezuela. which remains a source of outmigration from that country. not just to the united states, but to other countries in south america. many of the venezuelans flinging that country are making their way to the u.s. border. one of the last things the biden administration did was to extend temporary protected status to venezuelans already, who were

already in the country by july 31 of this year. that allows those venezuelans to not only pursue their asylum applications, but to get work authorization. that is something that many mayors particularly in big cities, where many of these immigrants have ended up, have been crying for. saying, these people want to work, they need to get authorization. sumi: we spoke to congressman henry cuellar yesterday. . he told us this. >> look at whapresident obama and president trump did in 2015 and 2019. when the numbers went down in those years, they got mexico to do more. they got mexico to do more. you stop them before they come to our u.s. border. that is why 2015 and 2019, use on numbers going down. sumi: as the biden administration failed to work or engage with mexico more deeply on this issue? ms. napolitano: no, i think they have been engaging. in fact, just yesterday, the

secretary of state, the attorney general, and that secretary of homeland security, were all in mexico city to have a series of high-level meetings, including with president obrador. representative cuellar's is exactly right. if you can start -- stop the migration before it reaches our border, that is a much better policy outcome than waiting until people arrive here. sumi: when you see record numbers of people fleeing, poverty, violence, suppression, are these solutions going to be enough? ms. napolitano: it is hard to say. it takes so much. people don't pick up and leave their homes just for the heck of it. they are usually in desperate straits, poverty, joblessness, high crime, violence, lack of civil institutions in their countries of origin.

all of those go into that a very difficult decision to leave. and of course, one of the prime motivators is they want to help provide a better life for their children. now we see more families with children, trying to escape to the united states. it requires a whole host of things. it requires diplomatic outreach, it requires investment in other countries so that we can put away the incentive to migrate. it requires a strong border security. and effective enforcement of our immigration laws, which need to be amended and reformed. sumi: that brings me to my final question. we have seen successive administrations, sessions of congress, unable to pass sensitive bipartisan immigration reform. both sides agree it is necessary. what needs to happen? ms. napolitano: it is really difficult to say how the

partisan divide is crossed over in this particular congress. perhaps one approach would be, rather than trying to have a comprehensive immigration reform, the whole kit and caboodle, is to pick a few areas that are very popular, have brought bipartisan -- broad bipartisan support, and see if you can get at least something done. sumi: thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today. ms. napolitano: thank you. sumi: top contenders in the race for the u.s. speaker of the house are emerging, as other republicans consider throwing their hats in the ring. representatives jim jordan of ohio and steve scalise of louisiana are set to be the front runners to replace former speaker kevin mccarthy. former president donald trump, who had teased he would accept the job in the short-term, endorsed representative jordan early friday. another contender,

representative kevin hart of oklahoma, is reportedly a popular choice among the hard-line house freedom caucus. news outlook fox news announced it would hold a televised forum with those three representatives, but the plaintiff quickly fell apart after backlash from gop members, with turn releasing a statement saying, i have not made a decision, that i know one thing for sure. i will not be participating in the televised debate. we need to make this decision as a conference, not on tv. the republican conference needs a family discussion. the gop conference will meet next tuesday for their internal candidate forum, followed by an election to determine their nominee for speaker on wednesday. nobel peace prize was awarded to jailed iranian human rights activist narges mohammadi. she is being honored for her fight against the oppression of women and iran, where she has played a leading role in criticizing the mandatory wearing of he jobs for women. caroline hawley has this report. >> narges mohammadi is a woman,

human rights advocate, and a freedom fighter. her brave struggle has come with tremendous personal cost. altogether, the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison, and 154 lashes. ms. narges mohammadi is still in prison as i speak. >> she has not seen her husband and children, now in exile in paris come in years. her son told the bbc she has -- she is always in his heart. >> i'm happy and proud of my mom, just like i'm always yesterday and the day before that. this award belongs to iranian people.

reporter: the nobel committee said the prize was also for the hundreds of thousands of iranians who have demonstrated against the regime's oppression against women. this uprising, spearheaded by women, began last september after the death and police custody of a young woman detained for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. 20,000 people were detained in a brutal crackdown, which was condemned behind bars. they welcomed the award, saying it was for all women facing injustice. bbc persian has been monitoring the response on social media to today's announcement. >> after a year of protests, and over 500 people were killed, bad news after bad news. this nobel prize was the first piece of good news the iranians heard for over a year. that is probably going to embolden iranian women in their

fight for democracy and freedom. reporter: the fate of the 16-year-old girl underlines the frightening reality for women taking a stand and iran. earlier this week, she bravely tried to get on the tehran metro with her hair uncovered. allegedly beaten by police, she is now in a coma. the awarding of the nobel peace prize to narges mohammadi sends a strong message that the world is watching the iranian regime. caroline hawley,. -- caroline hawley, bbc news. sumi: kaiser permanente health care workers entered their third day of a planned 72 hour strike on friday. strikes are taking place in california, oregon, washington state, colorado, virginia, and the district of columbia. workers are demanding safe staffing levels and better working conditions. bargaining sessions were scheduled but union officials say it is possible for a ten-day strike notice to be issued after saturday. a report bthe u.n. children's agency unicef says more than 43

million children were displaced between 2016 and 2021 because of extreme weather events like floods and fires. that is an average of 20,000 children displaced every day. the court found children living in the horn of africa or small island nations are most vulnerable. u.s. labor department released september's drop report on friday. u.s. employers added 336,000 jobs in september, double what economists forecast. the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 3.8%. simone biles has added another all-around gol medal to her collection, breaking her own record. the superstar's win marks or 27th world metal and breaks the record for total world and olympic medals combined. she is a six world all amount -- all around gymnast. her victory comes 10 years after she won her first world title at the age of 16. she also qualified for all four event finals, giving her a

chance to duplicate her 2015 world champions feat. a tropical turtle that was found washed up on a beach in scotland has been released into the atlantic ocean. when the turtle was found off the island, she was malnourished and dehydrated and not expected to survive. grand central tells her remarkable story. reporter: i another turtle, these her final moments in captivity before being released into the wild. she is alive because of the kindness of strangers, and has come on a remarkable journey to get to this point. the turtle was found in january la year, covered in sand, she was dehydrated, malnourished, barely alive. jane can lynn gave her the name iona, the island off the west coast of scotland. she was taken to the sea life center in loch lomond where a team of experts started her recovery. she was moved to scarborough where she made a gradual and steady progress, putting on more

than 10 times the weight she had when she was found. most turtles start theirife in the gulf of mexico. it is thought iona they have been carried on the gulfstream. after spending time at sea life centers in scotland, and then in scarborough, this week, she was flown to the atlantic to be released into the wild. on the quayside, time for one last quick clean, before being taken onto a small boat and fitted with a tracking device. and then finally, the moment of freedom. >> the second it went back in the water, in the ocean, it was back to doing it's absolutely natural behavior. and we were ecstatic to see that. to see how well it adapted instantly. >> it was a really lovely feeling to see her go off into the big blue. i think the biggest thing, the

apprehension of what will happen to her, where she will go now. i know the part that we played has given her the best chances we can do in the wild. reporter: iona was the smallest turtle to be found alive in the u.k. today, thanks to a small army of helpers, she is fully grown and back in the wild. sumi: lovely story. i am sumi somaskanda. thank you for watching "world news america." stay with us. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this pgram is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on "the newshour" tonight... the united states adds far more jobs than expected in september, but questions remain about the overall health of the economy. immigration again becomes a political flashpoint after the