aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles.ing through iran have been released with all charges against them dropped. jolie king and mark firkin were arrested and held in a tehran prison after reportedly flying a drone without a permit. a new sculpture by the american artistjeff koons has been unveiled in paris. the ‘bouquet of tulips' was intended as a gift to the city in memory of the victims of 2015 terror attacks. but there's been a lot of criticism of the design with opponents saying its inappropriate and the connection to the attacks isn't obvious. there was also a 3—year dispute over its location. it was feared the sculpture would interrupt views of the eiffel tower. hrag vartanian is an art critic and editor—in—chief of hyperallergic. so why all the controversy about the sculpture? well, people were really confused why there wasn't a public process to this sculpture. and try to understand why the victims themselves were not consulted or asked. and so people were wondering why it was placed near the art museum as opposed

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in northern syria. let's take a look at some of the day's other news.e been working through the night as the true scale of the damage caused by typhoon hagibis becomes clearer. huge swathes of land in several prefectures remain under water after record rainfall caused rivers to break their banks. more than 30 people have died, and many others are missing. our correspondent rupert wingfield hayes travelled north of tokyo — where rescue efforts are still under way. this is a town in the japanese ups, much of it enveloped by a brown dirty floodwater. on saturday night the levees burst, unable to withstand the onslaught from the typhoon. although the military has been racing to pluck her stranded from grooves and balconies. it is a story that has been pitted over and over. this afternoon we made it north of tokyo, to the rivers have burst their backs. what's really remarkable about this typhoon is that it scale. there are floods and rescues like this going on at least eight different privileges right across the main island ofjapan. people we talk to a shock

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles. here's sport.chips were despite being a short today, there has been plenty of drama. a new world record. ace cessation of... from the khalifa international stadium, here's the action. mohamed is having the season of her life. she broke the season of her life. she broke the world record at the american trials and the olympic trials came here to qatar to win the one... a rising star in the sport. but beaten twice on the diamond week circuit. she had a slight lead off the last hurdle, it was like mclaughlin would close down but she held on for victory. bowing her own record of 50.216. and earning herself $100,000. a good atmosphere in the stadium, some 20,000 people showed up stadium, some 20,000 people showed up including the royalfamily in the highjump. up including the royalfamily in the high jump. her first go up including the royalfamily in the highjump. herfirst go —— his first gold medal and this from man who is injured premature season. there was a good finish in the 3000 metres. the defending

aleem maqbool reports. gunshots.rnment demonstrators took to the streets of baghdad in their thousands. surging towards the green zone. but as they did, they were met by tear gas and clashes with the police. the violence marked exactly one year of the current government. another year filled with economic hardship for iraqis, spiralling unemployment, and poor provision of basic services. already this month, nearly 200 protesters have been killed across the country in a brutal response by the state to the demonstrations. he was standing next to me when he was attacked by the security forces, says this man. and they attacked him. these are the most violent days in iraq since the country declared victory over the islamic state group two years ago. but the frustration has built up through years of broken promises of a better future. many were killed and vast numbers injured in these latest clashes. but they vowed to keep taking to the streets until they see change. aleem maqbool, bbc news, northern irag. huge crowds have

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.s our middle east regional editor sebastian usher. events a re events are moving very rapidly on this fifth day of the turkish operation and what is interesting is the way the dynamic in the region is changing as well? yes, what we were hearing there is how the turks are continuing, you know, strong progress taking more towns and more villages. in response to this, essentially we have seen the us up the timetable of its withdrawal of troops. the us defence secretary said their situation was no longer, they could no longer guarantee the safety of the troops and that has to be the first priority for the americans. he is saying up to 1000 will be pulled out as soon as they possibly can. as we know, already the kurds felt abandoned by the americans and that emboldened the turks to move in. talks have been going on, we know, for some time between the kurds. they said this is one of the cards we are playing. if we have to, we will go to damascus. they have done a deal with president assad. w

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles. let's get some of the day's other news.or police have taken over an investigation into a knife attack at the police headquarters in paris on thursday. four police employees were killed by a worker, who was shot dead at the scene. the european commission says britain's latest proposals for leaving the eu do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement. meanwhile, uk government papers submitted to a scottish court suggest that prime minister boris johnson will ask for a delay to brexit, despite mrjohnson repeatedly promising he'd never do such a thing. the former assistant of robert de niro is suing the actor for what she claims are years of gender discrimination and harassment. graham chase robinson claimed the star was verbally abusive and subjected her to unwanted physical contact and sexually—charged comments. mr de niro's lawyer has said the allegations were "beyond absurd". hong kong's entire metro system has been shut down following violent demonstrations by thousands of protesters, who defied a newly—imposed ban on

aleem maqbool, bbc news.istration to hand over grand jury evidence from the mueller inquiry into russian election meddling. democrats in congress have been demanding the documents as part of a growing impeachment inquiry. let's go live to our north america correspondent david willis. david, tell us more about this judge's ruling. david, tell us more about this judge's ruling. well, it's significant, duncan, for two reasons. it is established ——it establishes the legitimacy of the ongoing impeachment investigation in the house of representatives, despite the fact that president trump and republican party... apologies. i think we havejust trump and republican party... apologies. i think we have just lost the line to david willis in los angeles. we will try to get him back inafew angeles. we will try to get him back in a few moments' time and continue the conversation about developments in washington. moving on now. a monthly arts night in new york has apologised for letting harvey weinstein attend. the hollywoo

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.former member of the turkish parliament for the opposition republican people's party — he's now a senior fellow at the think tank foundation for defence of democracies in washington and hejoins me now. good to have you on the programme. the evacuation of ras al—ain is only the start of what president erdogan wa nts, the start of what president erdogan wants, a wide safe zone. do you expect he will get it?” wants, a wide safe zone. do you expect he will get it? i think there has been some two digit ambiguity in the ceasefire agreement between the us and president are to one —— president erdogan. the sdf is agreeing to a much more limited withdrawal, not entirely across the border, and i think this is really going to be decisive whether a limited safe zone will be ok for turkey for the time being, or whether there will be a further push beyond that, and i could determine the extent of fighting —— and that could, and what the us congress will do to push against that and what assad and vla

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria. how will these latest developments media by the trump administration, in particular the unintended consequences of people escaping from the camps? i do not think president trump will be fees by this news. rather the pressure is building in congress and in the media. it is becoming a verdict on the inadequacies of president trump's foreign policy— making and inadequacies of president trump's foreign policy—making and the theory of his administration in city. as that pressure builds in congress and the media, he may be forced to perhaps impose sanctions on turkey or talk tougher against turkey. i do not think he is bothered in particular about the news of the atrocities or the casualties or even of the prison breaks. even though there is concern that those held in these camps could regroup and mount another offensive along the lines of what we saw from the islamic state over many years? yes, but i think he had thought about this before making the decision, he thinks that turkey ultimate

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.aykan erdemir a a senior fellow at the thinktank foundation for defense of democracies in washington if he thought the withdrawal from ras al—ain would be enough for turkey. i think there has been some strategic ambiguity in the ceasefire agreement between the us and president erdogan. the sdf is agreeing to a much limited withdrawal, you know, not the entire a50 kilometres across the border, and i think this week is really going to be decisive, whether a limited safe zone will be ok for turkey for the time being, or whether there will be a further push beyond that, and that could determine the extent of fighting, and what the us congress will do to push against that, and also what assad and putin will see as an opportunity to intervene. you say a limited safe zone may be more realistic, but president erdogan has promised people in turkey that he is going to get the entire safe zone. surely people will say to him, you haven't achieved what you you wanted if you only get a limited zone?

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in northern syria. is ceo of an organistaion that promotes muslim american civic engagement and political mobilization, and a professor at georgetown university school of foreign service. he joins us from washington. these reports are saying the kurds have done a deal with the assad regime. if that is the case, how significant would it be? quite significant, potentially. it would enable the syrian regime to move into areas it has long sought to reclaim its control over. quite frankly, it hands the regime the areas on a silver platter because those are the areas that the international community and other countries fought a very hard to liberate from isis. we have heard from the commander of the kurdish lead syrian defence force, saying that a compromise was preferable to the genocide of the kurdish people. how likely do you think a genocide could be? from the perspective of the ypg, these kurdish militias, one can sympathise with their view is that this could be a genocide against them, their fighters, t

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in northern syria.ning law and justice party looks set to stay in power following a general election. exit polls give the conservative nationalist party 44% of the vote, enough to take a majority in the lower house of parliament. my colleague kasia madera is in warsaw for us. what is the latest? as you say, we are working off exit polls still but these are late exit polls so we're not expecting the situation to change. law and justice are calling this a victory and by all accounts, with 239 predicted seats, they have certainly got enough to form yet againa certainly got enough to form yet again a majority. is only the second time in polish history since the fall of communism that any party has formed a majority government, so justice should be feeling pleased with themselves, but the leader of that party in his press conferences throughout the night has been saying that he was disappointed because he didn't get the two—thirds majority that he needs to bring and full constitutional changes. let's discuss

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles. just to bring in some breaking news in iran. released from detention in iran and all charges against them have been dropped. apparently, you might remember the couple were detained, they are from perth. they were detained in tehran for several months after they were arrested for reportedly flying a drone but we are hearing that they have now been released. we will of course keep across that on bbc news for you. facebook is under fire for plans to extend encryption across all its messaging services. critics claim the move will make it harder to fight online crime, including child abuse and terrorism. the us, british and australian governments have joined forces to raise serious concerns about the plans. 0ur security correspondent, gordon corera, reports. i believe that the future is private. earlier this year mark zuckerberg announced plans to use what is called end—to—end encryption on all of facebook‘s messaging services. this would mean only the sender and recipient of the message could read it. so even if law enforcement agen

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in los angeles.ed at the age of 84. she starred in the 1960s tv showjulia, the first us sitcom to feature a black woman in the lead role. she was also the first black woman to win a tony for best actress in 1962 for the broadway musical no strings. in the 1980s, she went on to play the scheming dominique deveroh in tv hit, dynasty. a french man has been able to move all four of his paralysed limbs using an exoskeleton suit controlled by his mind. the 30—year—old was paralysed from the neck down after falling 15 metres in a night club four years ago. he said using the exoskeleton made him feel like being "the first man on the moon." here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. this is mind controlling machine. thibault, who was paralysed in all four limbs, is sending instructions to his exoskeleton suit using brain signals. the movements may bejerky, but it is a significant technological achievement. the study in the journal lancet neurology explains how thibault had surgery to place two 5cm implan

pkk leader zagros hiwa speaking to aleem maqbool.o come: wimbledon champion simona halep and elina svitolina in action in the wta finals in shenzhen, and more, in our sport briefing. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. every drop of my blood would contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: britain's prime ministerfails to get mps to agree to hold a general election. he'll try again later today. that's with a different method. wildfires i

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.ds of pro—democracy protesters have clashed with police firing tear gas and using water cannon. shops, banks and metro stations have been vandalised. mass protests began back injune against proposals to allow extradition to mainland china. critics worried the move would undermine hong kong's autonomy. the city's chief executive put the plans on hold but the protests developed into wider demonstrations forfull democracy and an inquiry into alleged police brutality. then last month the extradition bill was finally withdrawn, but protestors continue to march, despite restrictions. our south east asia correspondent, nick beake, has the latest from hong kong. they were told they weren't allowed to march today. they were threatened with prison if they wore a mask. and they were warned by china's leader there would be broken bones for those who try to break up his country. but this is a pro—democracy movement that believes the world is on its side and it's not backing down. we are here to fig

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in northern syria. find much more on our website, including this article, which explains the history of mistrust and violence tween turkey and the kurds. just log onto our website. —— between. there's been more violence across hong kong for a 19th consecutive weekend with protesters smashing buildings and clashing with the police. disturbances were not on the scale of previous pro—democracy demonstrations, but still, dozens of arrests were made. in a highly symbolic move, a group of protesters have dragged a large statue depicting a masked demonstrator onto a famous outcrop overlooking hong kong. the 3—metre tall lady liberty, a key fixture of the huge anti—government protests, now rests on lion rock. the authorities say one officer was injured during sunday's protests when he was slashed in the neck. a warning — you may find some details in nick beake‘s report distressing. with no organised mass rally in hong kong today, the hardcore took matters into their own hands, trying to add fuel to a protest mo

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.has seen the prime minister, justin trudeau, fight a fierce battle to cling onto power. as leader of the liberal party, he took office four years ago but has recently been implicated in a series of scandals that have left him neck—and—neck in the race with the opposition conservative party. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from the campaign trail. the big smile, the style that shot a political star into power and onto the world stage. but now it's back to basics. justin trudeau, cradling babies as he fights for his political life. why is it so much harderfor you, prime minister trudeau, this time, than it was four years ago? what went wrong for you? i would tend to disagree. four years ago a 79—day campaign was extremely difficult. and campaigns should be difficult. this is an opportunity to get out and speak with as many canadians as possible. his conservative challenger, andrew scheer, calls him a fraud. on the left, the ndp's jagmeet singh is trying to cla

aleem maqbool has more from the syrian—iraqi border.is currently under syrian kurdish —controlled but the way things are looking in the coming days, or hours, even, who knows. this is going to revert to syrian regime control. that is just one of that innocuous events that people here have found so difficult to grapple with. just over one week ago, the white house, in effect, endorsed a turkish invasion plan, since then, we have seen an assault from turkey, many kurdish deaths, we have seen destabilisation, we have seen islamic state group fighters escape when the facilities that were holding them were shut. in this extraordinary turn of events, we have seen the kurdish administration, that has been in control of some territory since the end of 2011, small pockets, that expanded to cover around one quarter of the country, they have now said, because the us troops are leaving, they want the syrian regime to come m, they want the syrian regime to come in, fill the void, and take on the fight against turkish forces. and, syrian kurds have b

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria. they have held constructive discussions with the eu this weekend but there is still a significant amount of work to do to achieve a brexit deal. intense negotiations have been taking place between british and european officials in brussels. our correspondent gavin lee says talks will continue tomorrow. we've had roughly 1a hours of talks this weekend between the british civil servants and the eu side as well. michel barnier, the chief negotiator for the eu, has been in and out of those talks. we're told there were several rooms with a dozen on each side on a technical level. the terminology, we've been told, it was an intense technical discussion. what's it all achieved? a short while ago michel barnier drove into this building. we think he was avoiding the press because usually he walks across and gives us a brief soundbite, nothing. we've had what they call a read out from the eu side in the last half an hour. a quick update which says talks will continue but a lot of work needs to

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria. state department official specialising in turkey. now a seniorfellow at the atlantic council. i asked for his assesment of donald trump's policy regarding turkey. i think president trump's policy has been ill formed or amorphous. number one, he wants a good relationship with president erdogan. he likes a fellow strongman and that is president erdogan. number two, he does not want to impose sanctions on turkey. he wants a good relationship with turkey so i think a week ago today, when president erdogan said we are going in. president trump said ok, i respect that and we are going to get out of the way. i think president trump did not think through what the consequences would be. in other words there is no real policy. he was i think taken aback by the strong reaction against his moves, including by senate republicans. i will also say, my understanding from my visit to washington a week ago, the us and turkey were very close to an agreement on a safe zone in northern syria. the turks wa

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in north—eastern syria.'s leader at westminster said he plans to move ahead with a parliamentary vote of no confidence in boris johnson. our scotland editor sarah smith reports. the snp have arrived in aberdeen ready for battle. they want to fight a general election as soon as possible, and are preparing to try and make that happen. daring labour and make that happen. daring labour and the lib dems tojoin them in a vote of no confidence against the government. jeremy, jo, the clock is ticking. the snp is ready to act. are you? the snp leadership open election will leave them holding the balance of power. if so, they won't consider keeping the tories in office, and will only support a labour government if it allows another referendum on scottish independent. say this to jeremy corbyn or any westminster leader who is looking for the snp for support. if you don't accept scotland's right to choose our own future at a time of our own choosing, don't even bother picking up the phone to me. the snp are hugely buoye

aleem maqbool, bbc news, los angeles.ada: time for a quick look at cot documents show bis johnson will comply with t law and ask for a brexit extension if there is no deal in the next two weeks. a seni source told the bbc that the law can be interpreted in differein ways. johnsosisted that britain will leave the eu 31 october ithout delay. iraq's most senior shiite cleric ayneollah sistani has condem the violence linked to protests and or public sees..lessness, he cricized security forces and demonstrators. at least 44 people have been killed across the country during four days of unrest. hong kong's public transport systems pu suspended for the first time tonight to try to quell increasing violence o-democracy demonstratio taking place. people are banmad from wearing s while protesting, but that did not stop thousands from showing up on the streets again. rupert wingfield-hayesldeports from hong kong. rupert: hong kong's chief executive made her whole cabet stand with her to face the cameras together, visuallyg declareir

are now reported to have left ras—al—ain, on the syrian side of the border. 0ur correspondent aleem maqboolammed is numb. she's been that way since seeing in the morgue the mutilated body of her daughter. the brutal killing of havrin khalaf, a kurdish politician, by turkish backed militants, is now being investigated as a war crime. "i feel i want to burn down this home", she tells me, "because the memories of my daughter are everywhere, and it's too hard to bear. her whole life is playing like a movie in my mind." she told me she blamed turkey and america for her loss. it was the announcement of the withdrawal of these american troops from northern syria that precipitated this crisis and, in effect, gave turkey the green light to invade. that us withdrawal is now very much in motion, a sorry end to what had been an effective partnership that won back all the territory controlled by the islamic state group. kurdish forces lost thousands of fighters in that campaign. now, some of the same combatants who survived the long battle against is are dying at the hands of turkey. i think we managed

we'll have a special report on the plight of children there in a moment, but first, aleem maqbool insideern syria. the anguish that only comes from loss. this brother and sister mourn theirfather, who was killed in the shelling by turkey of their residential neighbourhood. the kurds here have already suffered so much, and every day of turkey's offensive brings new chaos. these are thought to be just a handful of the hundreds of women and children who, as turkey's attacks got closer, escaped a kurdish camp that held them. most were relatives of islamic state group fighters. it is not the first massive security breach brought on by the turkish aggression. five captured is fighters escaped from a prison here, too, after it was shelled. we found it abandoned, the remaining prisoners moved into other already overwhelmed facilities. the authorities here say they are already struggling with the resources to hold many thousands of what are among the most dangerous prisoners in the world, from the so—called islamic state group. what they warn is that with any further destabilisation caused by thi

aleem maqbool reports from california on how both sides are reacting to recent events. applause. many on the left in america hopeful donald trump could be removed from office. at a town hall meeting in california, democrats gathered to hearjohn dean, the whistle—blower who helped bring down president richard nixon. this president is making richard nixon look like a choir boy. the idea of donald trump's impeachment appears to be galvanising grassroots democrats. calling another world leader and asking them to interfere with our election, it is disloyal and unpatriotic. it makes me worried and angry for our democracy. for me and i think all the other people here today, my neighbours and friends, we really want to see impeachment move forward. you have to wonder why the leftist dems are pushing so hard to impeach. the media forgets that they have been screaming for impeachment since the election... the impeachment issue appears to be energising those on the right as well. this is a meeting of trump supporters in beverly hills angry about the impeachment inquiry. i think most people

for the latest on this here's aleem maqbool in irbil in iraq. you are right to say that by the introductionn that they withdrew from this conflict zone of rome 120 km. so they felt they had already done that with this new agreement between russia and turkey says is that there will be patrols right along the turkish syria border and next week, the kurdish forces will have to withdraw from those areas as well. so i was inside that part of syria couple of days ago and spoke to members of the kurdish forces there and they felt resigned to doing essentially anything they were told right now simply to give civilians some respite from the terrible violence that they faced over the last week or so. so they have already withdrawn from those areas and it feels like they will withdraw from other areas as well. essentially they feel that turkey is getting their very objectives it sent out when it started its offensive into syria and the kurds feel that the international currency is reinforcing perky‘s ames. feel that the international currency is reinforcing perky's ames. more background on the syrian