finally, on sunday night, quentin sommerville reported on three children the bbc had found in a campo are believed to be from london, and whose parents had been killed in fighting afterjoining the islamic state group. his powerful report had a big impact on those watching. as turkish forces advanced on the camp, security was breached today and hundreds escaped. british women and children may be among them. the whereabouts of amira, heba and hamza — and the 21 other orphans — is unknown. syria was never a safe place to take detainees, especially children. now, they may be lost forever. and somewhere in london, there's a grandmother waiting, not knowing if they're alive or dead. the following day, quentin sommerville reported that the three siblings he'd featured in that report had been rescued and were with the save the children charity, prompting chris lindsay to tweet... and lucy hancock described the reporter as... thank you for all your comments this week. please do get in touch with your opinions about what you see on bbc tv news online or bbc social media. you may even get to ap

quentin sommerville in beirut. one of its biggest stars, sulli. she was found dead in her home in seoul and was just 25 years old. police are working on the assumption that she took her own life. sulli was regarded as a powerful feminist voice and had more than 5 million followers on instagram. she was a former member of the band fx until she left in 2015 to focus on her acting career. some believe the artist, whose real name is choijin—ri, stepped back from her k—pop work after struggling with online abuse. people have taken to social media to pay tribute to her and express hope that people can be kinder online in future. bbc‘s seoul correspondent laura bicker has sought to spread awareness on suicide prevention. to europe, and spain's supreme court has sentenced nine catalan to between 9 and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in the 2017 independence referendum. protestors clashed with riot police at the city's main airport following the sentences. this spain's acting prime minister pedro sanchez sai

quentin sommerville, bbc news.cism over his decision to withdraw us troops. 0ur north america editor jon sopeljoins me now. as the fighting intensifies, so does the criticism of donald trump. yes, last night we had donald trump putting out a statement that he thought the incursion into northern syria was a bad idea. what has emerged today as there was a furious internal row within the administration over the wording of that. the department of defence thinking there should be something much stronger, more threats to president erdogan if he went ahead. donald trump insisted that wasn't up for grabs donald trump insisted that wasn't up forgrabs and so donald trump insisted that wasn't up for grabs and so the criticism from some of his most loyal supporters has, as you say, intensified. senator lindsey graham who is normally a cheerleader for donald trump tweeting this morning, mr president, your decision regarding syria is having grave consequences to our national security and that of oui’ to our national security and

quentin sommerville, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news., 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 10 hours to el paso with the clear intent of killing mexicans. india's prime minister, narendra modi, will host the chinese president, xijin—ping, in the city of chennai shortly at a two day informal summit. there have been tensions between the two countries since india decided in august to revoke the special status of indian—administered kashmir. earlier this week, china called on india and its strategic ally pakistan to resolve their differences over kashmir through dialogue. india warned china not to interfere. high winds in california have forced energy companies to shut down power lines fearing they could be damaged and cause wildfires. hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses could be without power for days. some home owners in the san francisco bay area were ordered to leave by police, as fast—moving wildfires spread

quentin sommerville, bbc news.sible 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 atm

quentin sommerville, bbc news. trump's personal lawyer arrested. a law professor at the university of minnesota joins me. foreign interference in the 2016 campaign and a ready serious concerns, dismissed by many people, certainly by president trump but at this particular time, this could be a headache for mr trump, this particular time, this could be a headache for mrtrump, mr giuliani and other senior republicans?m certainly could be. it is clear there was russian interference in there was russian interference in the 2016 election. that is undisputed and laid out clearly in the first part of robert mueller‘s report. the question is whether the collaboration with the tram campaign was criminal or not and robert mueller conclude that no criminal charges will be brought against americans in connection to what happened in 2016 but donald trump claiming he is exonerated in the russian investigation turned around and did the same thing with ukraine. he is now approaching the ukrainian government and he had really giulia

quentin sommerville, in beirut.cision to pull out all of its troops from the region is a major turning point in the war. on one side is president erdogan, and turkey, with the aim of forcing kurdish borderforces and turkey, with the aim of forcing kurdish border forces from the area. and now following a deal with the assad regime syrian government forces are helping the kurds. and the assad regime is backed by iran and russia. our middle east editor jeremy bowen is in erbil in the kurdish region of iraq. how significant a moment could this turn out to be? it has been a very significant seven days, only that time since the first announcement by president trump that he was going to pull out american soldiers. in that seven days the warm up of syria has been transformed. the americans have dumped their allies the syrian kurds as well as that they have been opportunities for the turks, for the regime in damascus and its backers, russia and iran and as well as that the jihadists of islamic state. they wa nt to the jihadi

finally, on sunday night, quentin sommerville reported —— finally, on sunday night, quentin sommervilleoup. his powerful report had a big impact on those watching. as turkish forces advanced on the camp, security was breached today and hundreds escaped. british women and children may be among them. the whereabouts of amira, heba and hamza — and the 21 other orphans — is unknown. syria was never a safe place to take detainees, especially children. now, they may be lost forever. and somewhere in london, there's a grandmother waiting, not knowing if they're alive or dead. the following day, quentin sommerville reported that the three siblings he'd featured in that report had been rescued and were with the save the children charity, prompting chris lindsay to tweet... and lucy hancock described the reporter as... thank you for all your comments this week. please do get in touch with your opinions about what you see on bbc tv news online or bbc social media. you may even get to appear on our programme. you can e—mail... or you can find us on twitter... you can call us on... and do have a loo

quentin sommerville reports. beyond this fence, the lost children of the caliphate.before the turkish advance. the children's only sin? their parents supported the islamic state group. many of their parents died fighting for is. this group are all orphans. countless childhoods violated and put on hold. it's here that we found amira earlier this week. a little girl who almost forgot who she was. this is her brother, hamza. and here her sister, heba. amira was taken from britain when she was just five years old. now ten, she struggles to write in english. the words "london, the uk" don't come easily. but the memories of the life that she had taken from her shine brightly. i go to park. her kurdish guardian says amira is british, but after the trauma of the last five years, she can't even remember her grandmother's name. this is no place for children. they need to be rescued. many are sick or injured. amira's sister, heba, is eight years old. her body bears the marks of an almost unimaginable horror. it's too upsetting for them to describe. the mental scars of the last

quentin sommerville has this report. you might find some of these images distressing.this fence are the lost children of the caliphate — thousands locked up and abandoned in camps across northern syria. their only sin — their parents supported the islamic state group. they came from across the globe, leaving schools and homes and safety behind and are now stranded on syrian soil. countless childhoods violated and put on hold. their parents died fighting for is. this group are all orphans. it is here where we found amira, a little girl who almost forgot who she was. this is her brother, hamza. here is her sister, heba. amira was taken from britain when she was just five years old. now ten, she struggles to write in english. the words "london", "the uk", do not come easily but the memories of the life that she had taken from her shine brightly. go to a park, i go to a funfair. i go to a centre and go to my grandmum's house. her kurdish guardian says amira is british. but after the trauma of the last five years, she can't even remember her grandmother's name. this is no p

unaccompanied children were transferred to raqqa, where they are being looked after. 0ur correspondent quentin sommervilleeally plucked out of the fire right at the very last minute, just as the camp they were in was about to be overwhelmed by turkish forces. the un got in there, extracted the children. in the last few minutes, must few hours, i should say, we have received a statement from save the children. it says they were moved into the care of a local agency in ain issa. but they were really in the heart of a maelstrom, with turkish forces moving on from one side and of course the regime are now moving into that area, their children removed to raqqa with 21 other orphans. it is worth remembering what these children have been through. they have seen their pa rents been through. they have seen their parents die in front of them. they have witnessed the most incredible atrocities. and they have suffered under the islamic ‘s tape propaganda for many, many years. these children are victims, and while they are in a safe place at the moment, syria is not safe at all. so it is very important that we learn a

quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut.orrespondent orla guerrin sent this update from the turkey/syria border, just a few miles from where al—baghdadi died. the night—time raid, which donald trump has described as a daring mission, took place very close to where we are now. clearly there were a lot of moving parts. it looks like the syrian kurds may have played a key role, and they're certainly an irony in that. today, donald trump was thinking them — three weeks ago, he was clearing the way for a massive turkish assault against them. the syrian kurds are claiming there were five months of joint effort before this raid, and that they were tracking al—baghdadi's whereabouts. all this led to donald trump to claim a symbolic victory, to snatch that victory from a potential foreign policy disaster. it doesn't change the dynamics in this region. most us troops have been pulled out of syria, which means most cooperation and information sharing will be difficult. islamic state cells remain in the region. few believe that the deat

quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut.isjenna jordan, an associate professor at georgia tech and author of a book about the targeting of terrorist leaders. what impact will this have the tool on is? thank you for having me. my book which came out yesterday examines precisely this question, whether or not decapitation which includes killing terrorist leaders, does it make it weaker or because its demised, or even resulting consequences? certainly the death of al—baghdadi is a tactical victory, but looking at 1000 cases, certain kinds of groups tend to be resilient, and isis is characteristic of this group, they are religious, separatist groups and large groups are the most resilient they argue that this finding can be explained by two main factors, the first of bureaucracy, and ifind that bureaucratic organisations that have diversified functions and standard operating procedures, succession procedures have these things in place. isis is no exception, they developed a very institutionalised bureaucracy in order to manage th

our correspondent quentin sommerville has the latest, from beirut. out of the fire right at the very last minute just as the camp they were in was about to be overwhelmed by turkish forces. the un got in there, extracted the children. in the last few minutes, last few hours, i should say, we have received a statement from save the children. it says they were moved into the care of a local agency in ain issa. but as they troops advanced, they were really in the heart of a maelstrom, with turkish forces moving in from one side, and of course the regime are now moving into that area. the children removed to raqqa with 21 other orphans. it's worth remembering what these children have been through. they've seen their parents die in front of them, they've witnessed the most incredible atrocities, and they've suffered under the islamic state propaganda for many, many years. these children are victims, and while they are in a safe place at the moment, syria is not safe at all. so it's very important that we learn as much information as we can about their rel

quentin sommerville reports. beyond this fence, the lost children of the caliphate.he children's only sin? their parents supported the islamic state group. many of their parents died fighting for is. this group are all orphans. countless childhoods violated and put on hold. it's here that we found amira earlier this week. a little girl who almost forgot who she was. this is her brother, hamza. and here her sister, heba. amira was taken from britain when she was just five years old. now ten, she struggles to write in english. the words "london, the uk" don't come easily. her kurdish guardian says amira is british, but after the trauma of the last five years, she can't even remember her grandmother's name. this is no place for children. they need to be rescued. many are sick or injured. amira's sister, heba, is eight years old. her body bears the marks of an almost unimaginable horror. it's too upsetting for them to describe. the mental scars of the last days of the caliphate in baghuz run even deeper. the onslaught in baghuz saw hundreds die as coalition bombs set off

our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, met the children in the camp and discovered they'dthey now? well, these children, and meera, heba and hamza, they had a last minute escape —— amira.just hamza, they had a last minute escape —— amira. just before the detention camp was breached, turkish troops we re camp was breached, turkish troops were advancing. the un got in there and scooped up the kids, along with 2a other unaccompanied minors, another 2a orphans. those children have now all been taken to the city of raqqa. one of the options of getting them out of there, as you just heard in the report, things are absolutely chaotic in syria at the moment. well, in the past, the option might have been british special forces, they are option might have been british specialforces, they are in option might have been british special forces, they are in that area but british special forces, like american special forces, are 110w like american special forces, are now in the process of withdrawing. all of that area is now under the control of the regime. damascus has, in the past, allo

our correspondent quentin sommerville reports, the ferocious sound of the firefight was held from. ——e firefight was heard for miles. us forces dropped from helicopters and surrounded a compound. a brutal killer who has caused so much violence and death has been violently been eliminated. he died like a child. he died like a coward. the world is a much safer place. this man told the bbc what he saw. at around 11 o'clock they started shooting the house. the house was com pletely completely destroyed. he had a guest. the house was completely destroyed. we recovered seven bodies from under the rubble, and two others on the main street. it's thought that the guest was the world's most—wanted man, abu bakr al—baghdadi, the leader of the islamic state group. he was last seen earlier this year in a rare video, very much still in command of is. it's been a terrible yearfor the group. their last remaining territory was lost in a bloody battle in the spring, leading to the capture of thousands of its supporters and their families. but the leadership of is fled before the attack began. leading t

quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut.ernational correspondent orla guerrin gave me this update from the turkey/syria border, just a few miles from where al baghdadi died. the night—time raid, which donald trump has described as a daring mission, took place very close to where we are now. it was about six km or3.7 where we are now. it was about six km or 3.7 milesjust across where we are now. it was about six km or 3.7 miles just across the border inside syria, in a village called berisha. clearly there were a lot of moving parts. it's a very crowded arena there. you have turkish forces and syrian forces, and russian forces. for example, the turks have said they were proud to have played a part, although they are not telling us what part they played. they said they had advance knowledge and said there was an exchange of information and coordination between the militaries of both countries. interesting details coming from the syrian kurds, though. the way they are portraying it, it seems like they had a major part to play i

quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut.ur security correspondent, frank gardner. inevitably there's been some skepticism in political circles about the timing of this operation. but presumably the hunt has been going on for a long time? for years. the man had a $25 million, £19 million bounty on his head. at the time, he was the world's most wanted for fugitive entire rest, time, he was the world's most wanted forfugitive entire rest, which is how the fbi referred to him. this is someone how the fbi referred to him. this is someone who has been on the run more 01’ someone who has been on the run more or less since 2010. he was a key figure in notjust the so—called islamic state, but also of the islamic state, but also of the islamic state, but also of the islamic state in iraq. it was born out of al-qaeda, he galvanised what was left of al-qaeda in iraq, he had the religious credentials for this but he presided over the most disgusting, brutal, sadistic campaign of beheadings, torture, rape, abduction, sex slavery — you nam

here she is talking to the bbc‘s middle east correspondent quentin sommerville in febuary of this yearal babu, who's a former met chief superintendent, who tells us exclusively that shamima begum now says leaving london was a huge mistake. what else does she say? she is full of regrets. she was a 15-year-old individual and she was groomed. she was on the internet and she was taken in by isis and the whole story. she realises now that it was all a load of rubbish and she was conned into going there. she went out there and in three years she had three babies. she was married to a man almost twice her age within days of arriving there. the sham marriage. she was 15 and he was in his mid—20s. she was sexually abused and she is in a very fragile state. her solicitor is very concerned about her welfare and so it is her family. there will be a suspicion from some watching you now that she is saying this now because she wants to return to britain. she wants to win this appeal against her british citizenship being removed and that is why she is saying it is a huge mistake. when you have individ