the sdf has made rapid advances towards the centre.thin a few hundred metres of the old city. islamic state is hemmed in here, almost surrounded, and they're fighting back. sniper. snipers, booby—traps, suicide bombers. is has weaponised here. they have done this perhaps more successfully than any other group. but these fighters seem immune to terror. this war has been going on for longer than world war two. this is about as far forward a position... gunfire. ..about as far forward as they have managed to hold but as you can see there's still sniper fire going on here. welcome to raqqa, the capital of a caliphate under siege. among the kurds, men and women fight alongside one another. even on the front lines there are no distinctions. delilah is 22 years old. she was studying to become a nurse but here she's found her true calling. returning from the front, fighters describe intense all—night battles as islamic state uses its network of tunnels to stage sneak attacks behind the sdf lines. this is going to be a long, hard fight. if is l

the sdf has made rapid advances towards the centre.upport from american air strikes and artillery. but now they're within a few hundred metres of the old city. islamic state is hemmed in, almost surrounded, and they're fighting back. sniper. snipers, booby—traps, suicide bombers. is has weaponised here. they have done this perhaps more successfully than any other group. but these fighters seem immune to terror. this war has been going on for longer than world war two. this is about as far forward a position... gunfire. ..as far forward as they have managed to go but as you can see there is sniperfire going on. welcome to raqqa, the capital of a caliphate under siege. among the kurds, men and women fight alongside one another. even on the front lines there are no distinctions. delilah is 22 years old. she was studying to become a nurse but here she has found her true calling. returning from the front, fighters described intense all—night battles as islamic state uses its network of tunnels to stage sneak attacks behind the sdf lines. th

the sdf has made rapid advances towards the centre.ikes and artillery. but now, they're within a few hundred metres of the old city. islamic state is hemmed in here, almost surrounded, and they're fighting back. snipers, booby traps, suicide bombs. is has weaponised fear. they've done this perhaps more successfully than any other group. but these fighters seem immune to terror. this war has been going on for longer than world war ii. this is about as far forward a position... explosion. about as far forward as they've managed to hold, but as you can see, there's still sniper fire going on here. welcome to raqqa, the capital of a caliphate under siege. among the kurds, men and women fight alongside one another. even on the front lines, there are no distinctions. delilah is 22 years old. she was studying to become a nurse, but here, she's found her true calling. returning from the front, fighters describe intense, all—night battles as islamic state uses its network of tunnels to stage sneak attacks behind the sdf lines. this is going to

the sdf is going after raqqah. they're going after the isis strong hold there. they're backed by us. they are actually the american boots on the ground. that's the way we structured this. on the syrian regime side, they're trying to push past raqqah further to the east to relieve the pressure on their area. it is a city in eastern syria surrounded by isis. it's been under siege by two years. they've been kept alive by air support. syrians are trying to push through and get. there they've been cooperating. they're operating on tracks. there is no reason to fight each other when the goal is further to the east. so this is really strange that this is happening today. i think when the analysis all done, somebody on one of these sides made a mistake. they didn't mean to pick a fight with the other guys. but once that fight ensues, the sides have to defend their positions. >> and that raises greater concerns because it's a first in the skies over sear yachlt how do you see the syrians responding? >> you know, i don't see the syrians responding very much at all. they'r

that, of course, is a next her problem for the sdf fighters trying to conquer it. we were inside the city today. around the old city, not inside it. but the situation there is extremely confused, extremely violent. there is a lot of gunfire. there are coalition bombings going on, many, many bombings. we witnessed a few of them. a situation -- like we saw cityians coming out of the , father and his son on a motorbike. df forces, that s they managed to make it through. they wanted the rest of the family to follow, 22 other people. forces were saying to this man, do not go back now. he said, "no come i want to go back in any case, and i will try to come back with the rest of my family." he went off on his motorbike and we don't know what happened to him. given the intensity of the fighting, it would be incredible if you made it back into the islamic state-health part of the city. a lot of confusion and a lot of violence. laura: now to a problem that is growing around the world. despite scenes like this, business is booming for global drug cartels. in burma and thailan

the sdf is advancing on three sides. as they pushed forward, carts emerge, waving white flags. some of these families have spent years trapped inside a nightmare. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> there are tens of thousands of people still in raqqa, hostages, essentially. i.s. has been killing anyone caught trying to leave. they've made rapid advances toward the center. they have support from american airstrikes and artillery. but now they are within a few hundred meters of the old city. islamic state is hemmed in here, almost surrounded. and they are fighting back. >> sniper. >> snipers, booby-traps, suicide bombers. i.s. has weaponized fear. they've done this perhaps more successfully than any other group. but these fighters seem immune to terror. this war has been going on for longer than world war ii. this is about as far forward a position -- about as far forward as they have managed to hold, but as you can see, there is still sniper fire going on here. welcome to raqqa, the capital of the caliphate under siege. among the kurds, men and wome

the sdf includes some syrian arabs, but a predominately consists of kurdish militia, known as the ypgturkey, that is a problem. anakararuse them a as terrororis and has condemned the u.s. for partnering with them. today was no different. this was turkish prime minister addressing deputies of the ruling party. >> a as you know, the raqqa operation, which the united states carries out with terrorist elements in the area, is underway even though we have warned them many times. unfortunately, our ally and friend cooperated with terrorist groups thinking they can destroy one terrorist organization with another. >> he also said ankara would retaliate immediately if the u.s. led operation in raqqa posed a threat to turkey.y. >> for more on this story, we are joined by the journalist in istanbul and why our washington correspondent. good evening to both of you. turkey is angered over u.s. support for the syrian kurds. now we have turkish president threatening to retaliate. what could retaliation look likeke? >> well, as you h heard, the ise is a fundamental one. turkey thinks that the kurdish

from this base, they support their own forces and arm the sdf, the coalition of arabs and kurds who aren raqqa. all of this infrastructure has gone up in a really short space of time, and it has coincided with rapid advances by the anti—is coalition. but the question is, what happens when the caliphate falls? as we know from afghanistan and from iraq, it's always easier to get in, than it is to get out. already, they are looking to a future post caliphate. here to meet local leaders in waiting, the us envoy. the american presence here has been growing quietly. if you look at the record to date, we have now coalition backed operations in iraq and syria which have cleared out 60,000 square kilometres of territory. we have liberated over 4 million people. as the coalition advances into raqqa, families are fleeing. many end up in this camp. all lived under the harsh rule itself islamic state. not all against their will. one corner of the camp and children of is fighters. this woman left lebanon for raqqa two years ago tojoin her husband, a jihadi. when he was killed, she married a tunisian

from this base, they support their own forces, and arm the sdf, the coalition of arabs and kurds who well, all of this infrastructure has gone up in a really short space of time and it has coincided with rapid advances by the anti—is coalition. but the question is, what happens when the caliphate falls? because, as we know from afghanistan and from iraq, it is always easier to get in than it is to get out. american troops in syria number in the hundreds. they won't say exactly how many. their special forces are involved in the fighting on the ground. their planes are bombing raqqa from the air. isis is certainly not defeated. when mosul is liberated or raqqa is liberated, there's a lot of hard work left to do. do you know where abu bakr al—baghdadi is? man, i was hoping you knew! if you know, please tell me, and we will kill him, forthright. at least once a month, we have someone claiming to kill baghdadi, and the latest one has been made by the russians. i wish them well. i hope that they did. i'll be happy to hear the news if they did. i suspect they did not. for now, russia and th

watched a syrian aircraft once again bomb the sdf. at that point, the u.s. cleared the aircraft to fire, and for the first time in almost 20 years, the u.s. has scored an air to air kill against a syrian aircraft. >> this has the potential to seriously escalate the conflict, right? >> yes, the u.s. finally pushing back. best case, it sets limits and it gets safer. worst case, mr. putin turns it into a potential confrontation between u.s. and russian forces. >>> we want to turn next to new questions with president trump and the investigation into possible obstruction the team sending mixed messages, one of his lawyers now contradicting president, saying he's not under investigation. and now the clock is ticking for the trump team to meet a congressional deadline. here's david wright. >> reporter: tonight, the president, back from camp david, is girding himself for another week of battle. his first tweet this morning, defiant. "the make america great again agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the witch hunt," he insisted. but on the sunday show

forces, and armed the stf, the coalition of arabs and kurds who are leading the assault on raqqa —— sdff this infrastructure has gone up in all of this infrastructure has gone upina all of this infrastructure has gone up in a really short space of time and it has coincided with rapid advances by the anti—is coalition. but the question is what happens when the caliphate falls? because, as we know from afghanistan and iraq, it is always easier to get in that it iraq, it is always easier to get in thatitis iraq, it is always easier to get in that it is to get out. american troops in syria number in the hundreds. they won't say exactly how many. their special forces are involved in the fighting on the ground. their planes are bombing raqqa from the air. isis is certainly not defeated. when mosul is liberated or raqqa is liberated, there is a lot of hard work left to do. do you know where al-baghdadi is? i was hoping you knew. at least once a month we have someone claiming to kill al—baghdadi and the latest one has been made by the russians. i wish them well. i hope that they did. i'll be ha

said it had started to provide small arms and vehicles to kurdish fighters in a rebel alliance, the sdf the post cyclone operation in bangladesh, as ngos and the government and try to help over 300,000 people affected by storm mora. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juventus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 11,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. ahhhhh! i don't believe it! she's the

the other side says it wasn‘t and it was actually an area where the forces that they support, the sdfgeted last week by iran with a missile. as it is crowded on the ground, it is now also crowded in the airand the ground, it is now also crowded in the air and the fear is it will become more complicated, the rules of engagement will be all mixed up. explain this channel between the americans and the russians which the russians are now saying we are not doing any more. despite the russians‘ reaction, it seemed to be very immediate and strict but actually it is not. the russians usually react to such attacks by forcing a counterattack or a reply immediately. this didn‘t happen. what happened was that there was a promise there is no immediate military action but it was a promise that anything west of the river will be targeted by russia as targets. this is another threat, halting communication with the united states would supposedly prevented incidents in the air. it is all talk but nothing actually took place on the ground or in the air. let's also talk about raqqa, the de facto capital

said it had started to provide small arms and vehicles to kurdish fighters in a rebel alliance, the sdft posthumous gay wedding, a french policeman, who was killed in an attack by an islamist militant, has been married to his partner. xavierjugelay was shot dead on the champs—elysees last april, shortly before the first round of france's presidential election. lebanon has banned the new hollywood film, wonder woman, because its star, gal gadot, is an israeli who served in her country's army. the film was due for its lebanese premiere, but the interior ministry has decreed it should not be shown. there's been a campaign for a boycott in lebanon, which is still officially at war with israel. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: why nasa is setting its sights on the sun, with plans for the space agency to fly a probe directly into the star's fiery atmosphere. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of qu

the sdf has made rapid advances towards the centre.re within a few hundred metres of the old city. islamic state is hemmed in, almost surrounded, and they're fighting back. sniper. snipers, booby—traps, suicide bombers. is has weaponised here. they have done this perhaps more successfully than any other group. but these fighters seem immune to terror. this war has been going on for longer than world war two. this is about as far forward a position... gunfire. ..as far forward as they have managed to go but as you can see there is sniperfire going on. welcome to raqqa, the capital of a caliphate under siege. among the kurds, men and women fight alongside one another. even on the front lines there are no distinctions. delilah is 22 years old. she was studying to become a nurse but here she has found her true calling. returning from the front, fighters described intense all—night battles as islamic state uses its network of tunnels to stage sneak attacks behind the sdf lines. this is going to be a long, hard fight. if is loses raqqa it wi

end up handing over strategic territory to our own allies, whether arabs or most likely the kurdish sdfluding water and oil resources. now that the regime stabilize ttd west enough to be able to have forces elsewhere, and iran as well, then we're coming in our direction and don't have a long-term plan for that. >> woodruff: i want to ask you both about that. andrew exum, i was struck today the russians came right out of the box, they were saying they're now going to target any u.s. plane -- i'm sorry -- any plane by the u.s. coalition that goes into a certain area. is this just rupe for either another strike or miscalculation? >> yes, and no. yes, of course, this is worrying. i think it's going to be a real concern to our coalition partners. it's a robust interdefense air system over most syria and that the not a good thing the to fly around and through. the air defenses are not as strong in h the east. russia cut off the deconfliction hotline, which is in the interest of russia as much as the united states and coalition partners. i suspect once the temperatures cool, the deconfliction

just very intense fighting and the sdf, and they're the ones that are knocking on the front door of roccaver valley is where most of isis is. this is about a week old, so don't hold me to this. 2,500 fighters in the city of rocca. few thousand more all along the euphrates valley. where whennia look at where isis might go a series of towns that we'll all get to know. our geography tends to improve all along the euphrates valley. >> the other issue, of course, is that russia is basically saying that that area, they're going to enforce, not really no-fly zone because the syrians will fly there but brings up this whole conversation of a no-fly zone. a lot of people who have said that the united states should impose a no-fly zone over syria. neither the syrians or russians can fly their planes over it. >> establishing a no-fly zone over syria would cause, this is always been the line for the pentagon. that involves a massive air campaign knocking out a lot of air missiles and they have russians there helping them. you know, one of the things we're learning about this conflict last night when t

stop attacking our allied forces, the sdf. the syrian democratic forces. the partner forces that are going against isis. hallie, without getting too much into the weeds, the significant aspect of this russian warning is saying that they're going to take out and treat as targets any plane west of the euphrates river. you know, every morning we get strike updates from the pentagon, and they have a bunch of towns. one thing with this war we have gotten better on our geography in syria. a lot of the towns that the u.s. takes strikes on overnight are west of the euphrates river. a couple months ago they did a helicopter insertion of coalition troops. that was on the southwest side of the river. so, if this russia threat is real and the deconfliction line is, in fact, dead. and the russians aren't picking up their end of the phone line, this is a serious matter and it could make a very, very complicated part of the world even more complicated. hallie? >> a couple ifs in what you jt said. the deconfliction lines shut down, when do they turn into reality or not re

hotline and said stop attacking, minutes later a syrian jet rolled in and it continued to attack the sdf forces on the ground. >> reporter: the u.s. military said the shootdown was justified as part of the collective self-defense of coalition partner forces fighting isis but further complicating u.s. relations with russia which is backing the assad regime. >> the best case here is that the syrians and the russians say, okay, we've pushed the u.s. as far as they can go and they've drawn a line and we're not going to cross this again. on the other hand if mr. putin decides to escalate it it becomes a potentially very dangerous confrontation between the u.s. and russian military forces. >> reporter: and this morning, the russian foreign ministry is responding calling this an act of aggression by the united states and a direct breach of international law. david, this is something to watch carefully in the coming days. >> you'll be watching it, martha raddatz, our thanks to you. >>> the search for answers after a deadly coalition at sea between a u.s. navy destroyer and a cargo ship that kill

partner forces, the sdf, our allies there, came under attack. they warned them with a flyover. and then they used the deconfliction line with the russians to say stop firing on our forces. after that warning to the russians who are in contact with many of the pro-regime forces, that's when there was a jet from the syrians sent up almost immediately. an f-18 from the u.s. side shot that jet down. this isn't the first time we've been having tension between the pro-regime side and u.s. forces. earlier this month they shot down a drone, the u.s. side. real quick statement for you indicating just how serious this is. this is from centcom down in florida. the coalition does not seek to fight syrian regime. russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them. but will not hesitate to protect forces from any threat. this is a complicated part of the world that just got more complicated. >> hans at the pentagon. thank you very much. appreciate it. >>> there's more coming up this week. president trump hosts the leader of pap panama at the white house today. they will discuss organized crime

partner forces, the sdf, our allies there in fighting isis came under attack.sdf, they warned them with a fly o or and then they used the the deconfliction line with the russians to say stop firing on our forces. after that warning to the russians who are in contact with many of the pro regime forces, jet from the syrians sent up. they shot that jet down.been this isn't the first time we're having some sort of tension between the pro regime side and the coalitionpr forces. just earlier they shot down a e, drone. u real quick statement four indicating just how serious this is, this is from the centcom down there in florida saying the coalition doesn't seek to fight the syrian regime. not russian or pro regime forces part nerd withth them but will t hesitate to defend po coalition forces from any threat. this is a complicated part of the world that just got more complicated. >> and a scary es ka operation lt thank you very much, appreciate it. h >>s thissa i lot more going non washington this week. let's walk you through some of the highlights. president trump hosts the leader of panama a