was an original i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines: international condemnation as turkey invades kurdish—controlled areas of northern syria. for civilians across the border on the civilian side, this is going to feel like one more round of battle in an agonisingly long war. a gunman kills two people near a synagogue in eastern germany while live—streaming his actions online. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: australia's young farmers share stories of the ways climate change is damaging their lives and livelihoods. and overcoming mental health issues

through art. we will be reporting from islamabad. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 6am in singapore, ”pm in london and iam in syria where turkey has launched a ground offensive in the north of the country, just hours after its warplanes and artillery began hitting territory held by kurdish—led forces. the move follows president trump's controversial decision to withdraw us troops from the area which is controlled by the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces. they played a leading role in the fight against islamic state, but are regarded as terrorists by turkey. turkey says it wants to set up a 30km "safe zone" along the border, to resettle up to two million syrian

refugees living in turkey. one monitoring group says that ten civilians have already been killed. the bbc‘s orla guerin is on the turkish—syria border with this report. in syria, a new round of warfare. the town of ras al—ain under heavy bombardment, one of several just inside the border in the kurdish—controlled north—east. it's the start of a turkish offensive that is alarming europe, has been condemned by america and is bringing fresh instability to the middle east. and, once again, syrian civilians forced to flee. a local journalist saw them go. thousands of people migrating to the south side. the turkish army are shelling by mortars everywhere. from across the border in turkey, we could see smoke rising

in the town of tal abyad. the bbc understands turkish troops are now on the ground there. well, here at the border, we have been seeing and hearing the opening salvos in turkey's assault on north—eastern syria. in the last half—an—hour or so, we've heard mortar rounds and artillery fire and there has been incoming mortar fire from syria. president erdogan is calling this operation peace spring but, for civilians across the border on the syrian side, this is going to feel like one more round of battle in an agonisingly long war. turkey says the aim of this offensive is to create a safe zone along its border and allow two million syrian refugees to go home. today, it was creating new ones. ankara also wants to drive out syrian kurdish forces it views as terrorists.

that area is needed for our safety and security for the syrian refugees to go back to, so they can go back to their normal lives and there is no vacuum to be filled by any terrorist network, and also to make sure that syria is not divided territorially. but turkey's assault on the kurds could be costly. they've been crucial in the fight against islamic state and are holding 10,000 is prisoners. now they'll have to focus on resisting turkey. tonight at the border, rockets in the night sky. the invasion is well under way, is worried nations look on. 0rla guerin, bbc news, near the turkey—syria border. a short while ago president trump explained why he withdrew us forces from the region ahead of this offensive. icampaigned on i campaigned on ending the endless

wars. all over the world, we are fighting and places nobody really knows what we're doing there and i feel we are doing the thing and i feel we are doing the thing and i feel the country — mixing leaf country feels that two. —— think the country feels that two. —— think the country feels that as well. earlier, president trump released a statement saying "the united states does not endorse the attack and has made it clear to turkey that this operation is a bad idea." but it was mr trump's decision to withdraw us troops from northeast syria that paved the way for this turkish offensive. there's been plenty of criticism of that decision, from both sides of the political divide. here's our north america editorjon sopel. if he thinks it is such a bad idea way on sunday night did he agree on a president with —— phone call with president erdogan and then put out a statement saying that american troop would not be in the way. all the time those trips were there on the ground there was not a chance the president erdogan would have launched this offensive with the risk that american blood may be

spilt. so very few soldiers keeping the peace and that is what has enraged so many republicans as well as democrats in washington. i have scoured social media define supportive comments for what donald trump has done and it is very difficult to find any. the talk is of betrayal, the talk is of what about our comrades in arms who fought with us? what happens to the prisoners? and also questions about the temperament of the president as well. what about the timing of this? what about consultation? why has donald trump done this after a single phone call and very little negotiation with his military chiefs? in response to the hostility, donald trump has said that if president erdogan goes too far then america will act and flatten the turkish economy. 0ne other quote from the president, just a short time ago in the white house here, he said of the kurds, a p pa re ntly here, he said of the kurds, apparently justifying here, he said of the kurds, apparentlyjustifying why here, he said of the kurds, apparently justifying why they here, he said of the kurds, apparentlyjustifying why they did not deserve total protection, that they did not help us in the second world war. they did not help us with

normandy. we will be getting more reaction from washington a little later on newsday. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. at least two people have been killed in a shooting outside a synagogue in the german city of halle. the attacker had tried to get into the synagogue, where worshippers were marking yom kippur, the holiest day in thejewish calendar. the suspect, a 27—year—old german who acted alone, live—streamed the attack online before being arrested. jenny hill has more from halle. calm, deliberate, shattering the peace of a quiet city. an eyewitness filmed as the gunman, dressed in combat gear, opened fire outside a synagogue in halle. he'd just tried and failed to shoot his way into the building. a woman was killed as she walked past. this man told us he came

face—to—face with the gunman. "i saw a man wearing army clothes, with a gun over his shoulder," he says. "he was throwing things over the wall of the synagogue cemetery, and then there were two explosions." but he wasn't finished. not far from the synagogue, he attacked a kebab shop, killing a man inside. the gunman is believed to be a german, in his late 20s. he wore a head camera and streamed footage online. it's yom kippur, thejewish day of atonement. halle‘sjews had to be escorted to safety. this evening, angela merkeljoined worshippers in berlin. there is anger that, unlike most otherjewish institutions in this country, there wasn't a police guard outside the building in halle. it's been a day of confusion and horror. people here have now been told they can leave their homes. the security services say these streets are safe. but after what happened here today, germany's jewish community may find that hard to believe. jenny hill, bbc news, halle.

also making news today: the former us vice president, joe biden, has made his most direct call for the impeachment of president trump. addressing supporters in new hampshire, the democratic presidential hopeful said mr trump had already indicted himself by obstructing justice. his comments came a day after the white house said that it would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. british prime minister, borisjohnson, is to meet his irish counterpart, leo va radkar, on thursday to discuss the border arrangements after brexit between the republic of ireland and northern ireland. meanwhile, the former uk foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has written an open letter to all 27 eu foreign ministers urging them to reach a compromise with the uk while they still can. mr hunt says if ireland choses, there's a deal to be done.

—— mr hunt says if ireland chooses, there's a deal to be done. this is a small tourist plane which was left dangling upside down after becoming entangled in the overhead cables of a ski—lift in the italian alps. the 62—year—old pilot suffered minor injuries but his passenger was unhurt. they were freed after a complex rescue operation at the ski resort, located near telio. there's an overarching pessimism as china and the us resume their long—running trade talks on thursday. despite earlier reports that china could be open to a ‘partial deal‘ sending global stocks climbing, beijing and washington have lowered their expectations of reaching any major breakthrough. it now seems as though the delegation could even leave

washington early. the next round of tariff hikes will take effect next tuesday. this is newsday on the bbc live from singapore and london. still to come, as turkey attacks kurdish led forces in northern syria we will get reaction from washington. also coming up, australia ‘s arm is face unprecedented stress from climate change. we will talk to one of them about how she plans to cope. —— australia ‘s farmers face unprecedented stress. this was a celebration by people who were relishing their freedom. they believe everything's going to be different from now on. they think their country will be respected in the world once more as it used to be before slobodan milosevic took power. the dalai lama, the exiled spiritual leader of tibet, has won this year's nobel peace prize. as the parade was reaching its climax, two grenades exploded and a group of soldiers jumped from a military truck

taking part in the parade, and ran towards the president, firing from kalashnikov automatic rifles. after 437 years, the skeleton ribs of henry viii's tragic warship emerged. but, even as divers worked to buoy her up, the mary rose went through another heart—stopping drama. i want to be the people's governor. i want to represent everybody. i believe in the people of california. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon, in singapore. i'm kasia madera, in london. our top stories: turkey has launched a ground offensive in northern syria, there has been brought international criticism of the turkish military assault on kurdish led forces in north—east syria.

a gunman has killed two people in eastern germany after attempting to enter a synagogue where people were observing a jewish holiday. modern mobile life would not exist without them. nobel prize in chemistry this year went to the three pioneers who developed lithium ion batteries. let's return to the air and ground offensive launched by turkey into north east syria. turkey says it wants to create a safe zone near the border between syria and turkey, by clearing kurdish militants, which turkey considers to be terrorists. chill kasapolu is from the bbc turkish service. it is important to explain that the turkish government see the pkk, the kurdistan workers party, as a terrorist group. it is on the eu ‘s

list of terrorist organisations but it isa list of terrorist organisations but it is a small element in what is a large region. yes. the pkk, the kurdish militant group in turkey have been fighting against turkish state for over three decades. in the syrian kurdish militants in that area where turkey has now moved its ground forces, they are closely linked to kurdish militant groups in turkey. and it has been almost intercepted. so turkey sees their existence as a threat to its national security. and is now the third incursion turkey has launched against these militants but they insist it is not against kurds but against kurdish militants. given that the pkk had previously launched attacks within turkey, what is the feeling within turkey itself about what is happening right now on the ground in this area? public opinion is divided. 0ne

ground in this area? public opinion is divided. one part says turkey has been traditionally fighting against the pkk for decades and it is an extension, they think it is an extension, they think it is an extension of the standard fight. so they approved. much of society also says was there an imminent threat to turkey ‘s national security? was it really necessary? people also questioned this. turkey is also going through a difficult economic time and this move comes with some consequences. can turkey leave east turkey in a position to afford this? that is a question critics are asking. thank you so much for speaking to us. from princeton, newjersey we're joined by elizabeth tsurkov, a fellow at the foreign policy research institute. i know you have had contact with some people on the ground in this

area suffering incursion. what are they saying? i speak to people on a regular basis in this area and i spoke to many people that today, both on border areas, where people are absolutely terrified and many have fled their homes as a result of the bombardment and airstrikes that are happening, they are moving further south in some thinking of crossing into iraqi kurdistan which is already hosting i.i crossing into iraqi kurdistan which is already hosting 1.1 million registered refugees and displaced persons from previous wars. people who live deeper, in areas who live in this area are also concerned about the possibility that the run and the assad regime will take over their areas from the stf. it is important to mention this is still

an area within an area arguably held by aside but arguably —— assad. what is the justification from turkey? the area we're talking about is about a third of syria control by the syria democratic forces whose lead component is the syrian affiliate of the pkk and that is the justification turkey is using for this incursion, claiming this militant group poses a threat to it. in reality, due to american redlines in part, these forces have never carried out cross—border attacks

into turkey, despite growing in strength and receiving american weapons, so therefore the claim that this poses this existential threat is largely incorrect and at the timing of the incursion is basically a result of trump allowing it to happen right now and not allowing it to happen earlier. we are hearing that the republican logician lindsey graham, who has been pretty vocal about this, who has recently been very supportive of donald trump is now critical of the decision to withdraw us troops, he says he has a bipartisan agreement to encourage severe sanctions against turkey for this invasion and he says, while the administration refuses to act against turkey, he expects strong bipartisan support. are you hearing

any support for what the president has ultimately decided to do? trump claims that he has public support and that basically that he is worried about the fate of the kurds. i think the american public could not locate syria on a map but people do know that and americans see themselves as people who pursue moral policy and what we're seeing right now is the opposite of that, it is basically a decision the us to abandon a partner, reliable partner that has helped fight isis, that has sacrificed 11,000 people to combat isis and clear large areas of syria from isis and i think this policy is a popular even among regular civilians but overall the american

public i would say is ignorant about the debate happening in washington. an interesting perspective. thank you so much. my pleasure. australian farmers are bracing themselves for another long, hot summer as rivers run dry and bushfires rage across the state of new south wales. up to 30 houses were destroyed or seriously damaged by fire this week. the situation is at crisis point, with 98 per cent of new south wales either in drought or short on water. but as we speak, young australian farmers are gathering at a summit to share their experiences and find some solutions. 21—year—old farmer sally downie is one of them and shejoins me from the town of trundle. thank you so much forjoining us. you have experienced many droughts while growing up. how different is this one from the others?” while growing up. how different is this one from the others? i guess it

is different in the sense that it just keeps going. we have been pretty much in drought conditions since 2017 and then really bad drought conditions since 2018 and it just keeps going so it is very hard to maintain and kind of plan and prepare for such a long period of drought conditions. it keeps on going and you have said, sally, when you look out your window, it can really be quite depressing. what kind of emotional toll is this drought taking on you and your fellow young farmers? it is a huge emotional toll. simply because, when you look out at the landscape, it is not how it should be. it is not green. we should be getting ready to harvest our green crops and most people will not get a harvest so the landscape looks entirely different because people have not been putting

crossing adult or the crops that have been put in have not reached the stage where they are able to be harvested. if the future of agriculture is sustainable, simply for the fact that the production is what you used to be seeing and it goes for the same when we are the stocking our sheep and cattle, you are used to having those out in the paddocks. i guess it is an emotional toll and quite depressing to see the land like it is but also a huge worry land like it is but also a huge woi’i’y on us land like it is but also a huge worry on us about our future in the industry. it is really a burden for young farmers like yourself. you are gathering with your fellow young farmers and there summit. what kind of solutions are you trying to come

up of solutions are you trying to come up with to be able to overcome this issue? i think it really the main thing is you want a stable drought policy. drought will come in a cycle, as it does in australia, we note we will face drought in the future but what we want is that when a drought comes everyone goes into crisis mode and the government dishes out funding but there is no plan or policy in place. we are not preparing for drought as well as we should be so that when they come could be... inaudible for that so they are some of the things we want to focus on so we are not coming back every drought and asking the same questions and facing the same problems so we can be proactive about drought and also comes with how we want to change the way drought is portrayed in the media because it can be quite damaging for the agricultural industry which is

oui’ the agricultural industry which is our future and we want to look at the communities because communities are affected, small business as, some of them have to shut down. we admire what you are doing and you are indeed a role model for many young australian farmers. thank you so much forjoining us. they say a picture paints a thousand words. and in pakistan, one artist believes just that. she is using art classes as a form of therapy, transforming the lives of women with anxiety and depression in a country where mental health issues are still a taboo. this group of women gather outside pakistan plasma capital for one reason, to create art. what makes this a studio different is how they use art as a form of therapy. translation: i lost three members of

my family translation: i lost three members of myfamily in translation: i lost three members of my family in a bomb blast. whenever i get depressed, i take my anger and sadness out on the canvas. the studio has been set out on the outskirts of the city. the students say provides a perfect backdrop which has helped them in their art therapy classes. the woman behind this initiative is a british asian artist whose paintings of queen elizabeth and prince philip hankin at windsor castle in the uk. she says art helped overcome hearing and speech difficulty. —— hang. you have been watching newsday. and i'm rico hizon, in singapore. i was going to say it is interesting

how can use art to heal. i'm kasia madera, in london. thank you for watching. wednesday has been a showery day particularly in western scotland with frame totals mounting up with flush flooding in places and surface spray on the roads. those that will stay pretty unsettled. we live through the day and another band of rain. this is the low pressure we have had for the last few days, clearing to the north—east. this new one for the north—west of the country bringing strong winds. thursday starts off fine and dry for many. lovely spell of sunshine up and down the country. a few showers across north—western scotland. the

band of rain pushing through northern ireland initially and then into scotland and the far north of england and it will turn very wet and we can see further issues with surface water flooding in western scotland. further south, although there will be cloud, could be quite a bit of dry weather with the top temperature of 17. through thursday night, quite blustery. further heavy showers and longer spells of rain in the north—west of the country. we will start to see persistent rain through england and wales. temperatures 12 — 1a in the south. 9-10 the temperatures 12 — 1a in the south. 9—10 the overnight low for scotland and northern ireland. as we had on intifada and this weather front will be part across england and wales bringing rainfall throughout friday. it will pile up into the hills of wales, perhaps the north midlands and northern england, particularly across the pete district. 50 — 70

millimetres of rain which could cause atrocious conditions on the road and surface water flooding. mild to the south of the weather front friday afternoon. 18 degrees the hi. 15-16 front friday afternoon. 18 degrees the hi. 15—16 on the weather front. sunshine and showers and cooler air, 14 sunshine and showers and cooler air, 1a degrees further north. showers in northern areas began to ease. a new renewed bit of rain starts to pushing into the south—west into the weekend. england and wales likely to seek most of the cloud and rain which could cause some issues. for scotla nd which could cause some issues. for scotland and northern ireland, slightly cooler air mass and a mixture of sunshine and showers some of which may be heavy and thundery.

i'm kasia madera

with bbc world news. our top story. there's been international criticism of turkey's assault against kurdish—led forces in northern syria. france, germany and britain have requested a meeting of the un security council. president trump described the attack as a "bad idea". a monitoring group says at least ten civilians have been killed so far. chancellor angela merkel has attended a memorial vigil in berlin for two people killed in an anti—semitic attack in the german city of halle. the attack took place on thejewish holy day of yom kippur. dramatic pictures released by italian rescuers are gettihng a lot of attention on our web site. a small plane was left dangling upside down after getting entangled in ski lift cables in the italian alps. the pilot sustained only light injuries when he was thrown out of the plane — and is now being treated in hospital. that's all. stay with bbc world news.