our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in damascus. they‘ re now happening every few months, israel striking its neighbour, syria. but it comes at a time when israel grows ever more worried about the growing threat along its northern border with syria. and that is because that border has been largely controlled by syrian rebel forces, and they‘ re losing ground. and for israel, that means notjust that the syrian military is coming closer to its border, it's that two of syria's most important allies are also approaching israel, and they happen to be israel's against enemies in this region. so i think it's fair to say that the real target of these strikes is not syria, the syrian military. it is iran and hezbollah. and what we know of the strike — it hit arms depots north—east of damascus, which are used both by the syrian military and by lebanese hezbollah forces. now, israel never comments on these strikes, either to confirm or deny, but today, the israeli prime

lyse doucet will be here in about ten minutes, if you have questions about the situation in iran, sendhem my way, #bbcos is the hashtag. lawyers for president trump are trying to block the release of a book about him. it's called fire and fury: inside the trump white house, it's by michael wolff, it's not even out yet already, but he and his publisher have received this 11—page letter. it says the book contains "false and baseless statements" which give rise to "defamation by libel, inducement of breach of contract" — and much more besides. any number of things may have upset mr trump. this bbc article lists the most remarkable claims. top of that list is mr trump's former chief strategist, steve bannon, saying a meeting between the trump campaign and a russian lawyer was "treasonous". it also claims melania trump cried when it became clear her husband would win the presidency and that mr trump was "horrified". and that the president was upset so many a—list stars declined to attend his inauguration. a lot of interest in this book, the bbc can't back—up all of the claims, of course, bu

the area has been under siege for more than 4.5 years, as lyse doucet reports. lyse: the bombs fall every day now in eastern ghouta. rescue teams rushing to bring survivors out. for children trapped inside, not knowing where -- fighting to strike and children trapped inside, not knowing where to run or hide. this footage filmed by the western-backed white helmets. rubblee digging in the with whatever tools they find. often it is just barehands. the attacks by serious and russian warplanes -- syria and russian warplanes on this last rebel-held enclave intensified weeks ago. the attacks don't go only one way. rebel groups controlling this islamist hardline groups linked to al qaeda fired more than a dozen rockets in the heart of damascus yesterday. this is the face of a war now approaching its eighth year. this is the sound. these children in eastern ghouta have known no other life. they survived the latest airstrikes. blood being wiped away. the pain, nor the fear. already broken by years of a punishing siege. the history of syria is written here amongst these sto

lyse doucet reports. lyse: warning shots across the border.the target isn't really syria, it is a kurdish militia now controlling the land all too close to turkey. tanks and troops are also moving into position. the de facto start of a ground invasion. that is what turkey's defense minister calls this. their sights are set on afrin. syria's kurds have been in charge for the last five years. they are vowing to keep it. "we will fight to the last drop of blood," they declare. terrorists, them linked to its main enemy at home, the turkish kurds in the pkk. this is opening up another major crisis in syria's already tangled war. just to the south, the syrian army is pushing ahead with its own offensive to retake ground held by hardline islamists. as fighting intensifies, so, too, the humanitarian crisis. 200,000 people are now on the .un, heading north adding to pressure on turkey's border. got my kids and put them in the car, and we were off. we came here with nothing. in some places, they can't run away. there were more airstrikes today in a besi

lyse doucet is in damascus and joined us earlier. how unusual are these strikes that syria is blaming on israel? lyse: they are not unusual. they are now happening every few months. israel is striking its neighbor, syria. but it comes at a time when israel grows ever more worried about the growing threat along its northern border with syria, and that is because that border has been largely controlled by syria and they are losing ground. for israel, that means not just that the syrian military is coming close to its border, it is that 2 of syria's most important allies, iran and hezbollah, are also approaching israel. they happened to be israel's biggest enemies in the region. it is fair to say that the real target of the strikes is not the syrian military. it is iran and hezbollah. from what we know of the strike, it hit arms depots northeast of damascus which are used by the military and hezbollah forces. today the israeli prime minister happened to be speaking to nato ambassadors, and he emphasized that israel has a long-standing po

lyse doucet reported in the last days of fighting and has returned to see what has changed since. lyse: dawn was little fear now for the city of aleppo. gone are the warplanes, at least from here. a train now runs from east to west. aleppo is back in government hands. its tallest buildings leaves you in no doubt. nor do the songs schoolchildren sing in praise of the president, in an area once held by rebels. education, reeducation. a daily rhythm returns for this 12-year-old. her school was controlled by hardline islamist groups. >> i didn't go to school during the war because of the shelling, and there were armed men in the building. we didn't learn anything at all. lyse: this is what we saw here in the last days of battle. the smell of explosives still in the air. buildings flattened by syrian airstrikes. now safe enough for people to start coming back. one of the first on her street to bring her family home, like many others, she is returning from a government area to this small flat with no electricity, no running water. "it was so hard to see the damage," she tells me. "we are

lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus. you are watching newsday on the bbc. two journalists in myanmar have been charged under the country's official secrets act. they could face up to 1a years in prison. also on the programme: from taking up painting to cope with depression, to having your murals displayed across singapore, we will have one woman's artistic journey. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer, paul simon, starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these are

lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus.come: after days of heavy snow, trains finally reach the tourists trapped in the swiss resort of zermatt. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's

lyse doucet, bbc news, syria.look at some of the other stories making the news: the colombian authorities say that the number of venezuelans fleeing a severe economic crisis to take up residency in colombia has jumped by more than 60% in the last six months. migration officials said more than 550,000 venezuela ns are now living in colombia, mostly illegally. ajury in canada has returned not guilty verdicts for three men who were charged with criminal negligence following the lac—megantic rail disaster in 2013. 47 people died when a train carrying nearly eight million litres of shale oil came off the rails and exploded. the three former railway workers had been accused of leaving the train unattended, and allowing it to roll away without any control. two former us olympic gymnasts have been testifying in the case involving former team usa doctor larry nassar. the pair, who won gold at london 2012, are among more than 100 women to have accused nassar of sexual abuse. he's already facing 60 years in prison after plea

lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus.and other health facilities have become commonplace in syria, with less than half of the country's health facilities operating at full capacity. they're struggling to cope with the number of children seriously injured in the syrian conflict, which is now entering its eighth year. bbc news at ten has been following the story of two young girls, rahaf and qamar, who were badly burnt when a shell hit their home in syria six years ago. they've both undergone operations in jordan, where they now live. 0ur correspondent, caroline hawley, has been back to tojordan to see how they're both getting on. qamar barely remembers the day, six years ago, that changed the course of her life. she was only three when a shell hit the family home in homs, slamming into the children's bedroom, setting fire to qamar in her bed clothes. qamar‘s hands were so damaged, she needed help to feed and dress herself. she was so distressed by her appearance, she couldn't look in the mirror. her sister, rahaf, was also

lyse doucet, bbc news, damascus.alth facilities have become commonplace in syria, according to the children's charity unicef. they are struggling to cope with the numbers of children seriously injured in the conflict. bbc news has been following two young girls, rahaf and qamar, badly burned when a shell hit their home in syria six years ago. they have both had operations injordan, where they now live. caroline hawley has been back there to see how they are getting on. qamar barely remembers the day, six years ago, that changed the course of her life. she was only three when a shell hit the family home in homs, slamming into the children's bedroom, setting fire to qamar in her bedclothes. qamar‘s hands were so damaged, she needed help to feed and dress herself. she was so distressed by her appearance, she couldn't look in the mirror. her sister, rahaf, was also badly burnt, and when we first met the family, neither of the girls would go out of the house, but today they're on the way to school. it has taken immense st

lyse doucet, bbc news, aleppo. stay with us on the briefing.nd match at the australian open, butjohanna konta is knocked out. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would hav

lyse doucet, bbc news, syria.king place of a former doctor for the american gymnastics team who's been convicted of sexual abuse. what started out with 100 women telling larry nasser in harrowing terms how his abuse has affected them has now grown to 1110, and more women could yet come forward. today was the turn of the team's captain, aly raisman. she told how she had been sexually abused for a number of years, including at the london 2012 olympics. rajini vaidyanathan has been in court all week. they were nicknamed the fierce five, the gold winning american gymnastics team. but four of these women were hiding a dark secret. they say they we re hiding a dark secret. they say they were sexually abused by their team doctor, larry nasser, described as a monster in court. today, the team captain was the latest to share her story. you are so sick, i can't contemplate how sick i feel when i think of you. you manipulated me. you were touching an innocent child to pleasure yourself. seen at the london 2012 games, she was

lyse doucet, bbc news, aleppo. which depicts the norman conquest of england, is set to leave france for the first time in almost 1,000 years to be loaned for display in britain. it's thought that president macron will confirm the offer tomorrow when he meets theresa may, but some experts are already raising concerns about the very fragile state of the tapestry and whether it's wise to move it. 0ur correspondent, lucy williamson, reports. if anything puts current anglo—french relations in context, it's this — the bayeux tapestry, almost 1,000 years old, telling the story of the norman conquest of england and the victory of william the conqueror at the battle of hastings. a very different kind of anglo—french summit. now the french president has given approval for the 50—meter bayeux tapestry to leave french territory for the first time. but moving something this big and this old is no simple matter. it's difficult to imagine all the practical to put it in a case and show and to put it in a train or... no, we don't k

lyse doucet, bbc news, aleppo.sexually abused by larry nassar, former team doctor for usa gymnastics. he's admitted abuse and almost 100 women are giving victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing. he's already serving 60 years in jail for child pornography offences. our correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan, was at the court. it has been another very emotional day of testimony here at the court in lansing, michigan, as the survivors of larry nassar‘s sexual abuse have been speaking out as part of this sentencing hearing. i spent some time in the court earlier today. one thing i was struck i was the sense of collective empowerment that these young women now have, as they all come together and share their stories. the court was filled with some of these women who have 110w with some of these women who have now obviously grown up, they were supported by their husbands and their parents, as they all share their parents, as they all share their stories. some anonymously. their parents, as they all share theirstori

from inside syria, our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports.oss the border. the target isn't really syria, it's the kurdish militia now controlling the land all too close to turkey. tanks and troops are also moving into position, the de facto start of a ground invasion — that's what turkey's defence minister calls this. its sights are set on afrin. syria's kurds have been in charge for the last five years. they are vowing to keep it. "we will fight to the last drop of blood," they declare. "we will stand with afrin." turkey calls them terrorists, linked to its main enemy at home, the turkish kurds in the pkk. all this is opening up another major crisis inside syria's already tangled war. just to the south, the syrian army is pushing ahead with its own offensive to retake ground held by hardline islamists. as fighting intensifies, so too the humanitarian crisis. 200,000 people are now on the run, heading north, adding to pressure on turkey's border. these two are among them. translation: i got the kids and put them in the car and we were off. we

our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reported from aleppo in the last days of the fightingd to the ancient city to see what's changed since. dawn holds little fear now for the city of aleppo. gone are the warplanes, at least from here, and a train now runs from east to west. aleppo is back in government hands, its tallest building leaves you in no doubt. nor do the songs school children sing in praise of their president, in the area once held by rebels. notjust education, re—education. a daily rhythm returns for 12—year—old rayan, her school was controlled by hard line islamist groups. translation: i didn't go to school during the war because of the shelling and there were men in the building. we didn't learn anything at all. this is what with we saw here in the last days of battle. the smell of explosives still in the air, buildings flattened by syrian air strikes, now safe enough for people to start coming back. this woman is one of the first on her street to bring herfamily home. like many others, she's returning from a government area to this small flat with no electric

this is syria's deputy foreign minister with the bbc‘s lyse doucet. this is a very serious issue.merican troops on syrian soil would be considered as an aggression against the sovereignty of syria. it would be considered a violation of the united nations security council resolution. but what can you do about it? which always talks about the territorial integrity of the syrian people and their country. what we are going to do is a different issue. but when you consider such a presence as hostile, as aggressive, as against the territorial unity of as against the territorial unity of a country, then a lot of options are open before the syrian people and their government. the criticism for turkey is because of its offensive against kurds in afrin in north—western syria. these are the latest pictures we have. these are members of the free syrian army advancing into the area — they're rebels fighting the syrian government. but about 25,000 of their fighters are joining the turkish forces. here's the minister with lyse again. the turkish invasion is an open violation of the sovereignty o

plus, world affairs correspondent lyse doucet willjoin us, covering the iran protests and really anything