hello. this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: suicide attacks on two mosques in afghanistan have killed nearly 60 worshippers. brazilian police arrest more than 100 people, in the biggest operation ever against paedophiles in latin america. eu leaders agree to begin preparing for the next phase of brexit talks, covering trade. how much of a breakthrough is it? shocking footage showing sloths being dragged from the rainforest so they can be used in tourists‘ holiday selfies. and we get a preview of items from the ill—fated titanic, expected to reach record prices when they're auctioned off this weekend. hello, and welcome to the programme.

60 people have been killed in suicide bomb attacks on two mosques in afghanistan. the first attacker opened fire and set off explosives in kabul, so—called islamic state said it was responsible. in the second blast in ghor province, the bomber targeted a sunni mosque. anbarasan ethirajan has the latest. the massive suicide attack triggered a medical emergency in kabul. it was a race against time to save those caught up in the blast. a routine friday evening prayer at this mosque ended in a nightmare. the worshippers included women and children. after slipping through tight security, one man managed to walk right in the middle of the prayer hall. translation: people were praying. the attacker entered the mosque and detonated his explosives. many of the wounded tried to flee, fearing further attacks.

in a matter of seconds, a number of families were torn apart. around the same time, there was another suicide attack, this time in the central ghor province. a pro—government official and several other worshippers were killed in the attack on a sunni mosque. islamic state and the taliban have previously targeted shia sites in afghanistan. it has been a terrible week in afghanistan. more than 130 people, most of them soldiers, have been killed in targeted attacks. many hoped the new afghan strategy from donald trump would improve things. but now they are desperately hoping for a respite from the spiralling violence. let's take a look at some of the other stories

making the news. at least 35 members of the egyptian security forces have been killed in a clash with islamist militants in the western desert. the interior ministry said the militants fired on the officers as they raided their hideout in the bahariya 0asis. the us has called on the iraqi government to limit the deployment of troops in the north of the country to prevent unnecessary clashes with kurdish forces. on friday, iraqi troops engaged in a three hour battle with kurdish peshmerga forces to take control of the last remaining district of the oil—rich kirkuk province. the world health organization has appointed president robert mugabe of zimbabwe as a "goodwill ambassador" to help tackle non—communicable diseases. critics say that during president mugabe's 37—year rule, health services in zimbabwe have sharply deteriorated. forensic experts investigating the death of the left—wing chilean poet, pablo neruda, say he didn't

die of prostate cancer as previously thought. they believe he could have been poisoned and further tests will be carried out. the nobel laureate died less than two weeks after the military coup led by general augusto pinochet in 1973. police in brazil say they've arrested more than 100 people in the biggest ever operation against paedophiles in latin america. thejustice minister said those detained shared pornographic images of children through computers and mobiles. leonardo rocha is america's editor for bbc world service. he told me more about the operation. it involved more than 1,000 police officers, and they had been investigating it for about six months with the co—operation of the european union and also american immigration officials. they checked on the suspects, but also provided special software

to try to find those files on what is called the dark web, or the deep web, where those people were sharing images and also apparently producing images of children and teenagers. so, notjust sharing, but also producing. that's exactly... that's what the police found. initially, the investigation was focused on sharing. and when they went to investigate and started to see the images, and they actually interviewed some of the children involved and the teenagers involved, some of them related to the people abusing them, they realised there was a whole ring producing material, many arrested were in charge of football clubs, like, youth clubs, there were civil servants, retired policemen. it is a huge scandal. and for the brazilian government,

that might be the tip of the iceberg. now they're in a different stage of the investigation. they are trying to analyse these 150,000 images of children, very young children, very disturbing images, to find if they were operating in brazil or have a network operating with rings across the world in europe and other parts of the world. that is an extraordinary amount of images they had. this must have shocked the country. it has shocked the country. but i think, in many ways, brazil is in denial about the problem with paedophilia, they associate it with countries like belgium many years ago in europe. not only that has to be addressed, but also sex tourism, and considering the fact brazil has so many vulnerable people, and poor children. thank you very much. european union leaders have agreed to begin preparing for talks about a future trade

relationship with britain, but they say those negotiations can't start until more progress has been made on a financial settlement. the british prime minister said she remained "ambitious and positive," even the european council president sounded more upbeat. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has more. her report contains flashing images. final press conference. tick tock, tick tock. european leaders took 90 seconds today to decide that brexit talks haven't gone far enough to move on. time is pressing. they will start talks about talks. yet until the uk says it's prepared to pay, no bigger deal. i am ambitious and positive for britain's future and for these negotiations, but i know we still have some way to go. both sides have approached these talks with professionalism and a constructive spirit, and we should recognise what has been achieved to date. do you deny that you've made clear

to your eu counterparts that you are willing to pay many more billions than you've already indicated to settle our accounts as we leave? what i've made clear to my eu counterparts in relation to financial contribution is what i set out in my florence speech, which is that i have said that nobody need be concerned for the current budget plan that they would have to either pay in more, or receive less, as a result of the uk leaving, and that we will honour the commitments that we have made during our membership. now, there has to be detailed work on those commitments, as david davis has said. we are going through them line by line and we will continue to go through them line by line, and the british taxpayer wouldn't expect its government to do anything else. among the schmoozing, there are whispers she has said privately she's prepared to stump up billions more. number ten says there hasn't yet been the final word on the cash. and while things seem friendlier, eu leaders are clear theresa may has to spell out how much she's prepared to pay before moving onto the main

talks on trade and transition. and that means there's no deal yet on citizens‘ rights or northern ireland. there is an expectation they could shake on phase one by christmas, but until she budges, it's 27 against one. lonely arguments to make. the reports of the deadlock between the eu and the uk have been exaggerated. and while progress is not sufficient, it doesn't mean there is no progress at all. "there's nothing to say about brexit," says mrjuncker. cue a sigh of relief from the uk. but here's the man who has to try to make it work here. i'm sorry but i don't want to answer a question now. from the look on michel barnier‘s face, he knows it's not going to be easy. angela merkel said, "we hope we can move on in december, but it depends "on

the uk paying more". the french verdict, even more gloomy. "today, we are not even halfway there". did he mean we'd have to pay at least double the £20 billion? that's not yet clear. this was far from a brussels bust—up, though. number ten's encouraged that negotiations are at least moving. theresa may does not go home empty—handed. she can claim progress of a sort, but this fraught process has gone a couple of inches, and it's a journey of many, many miles. those 27 will decide their next moves without britain even in the room, while at home, the prime minister must calculate how much she can compromise to conclude the whole deal against the clock before we are out for good. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brussels. president trump has drawn fierce criticism by linking a recorded increase in crimes in england and wales to islamist terrorism.

critics said his post on twitter had misinterpreted the statistics which were released on thursday. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, reports from washington. it was just before dawn when most of america was still sleeping when donald trump suddenly tweets about the british crime rate. well, he called it the uk crime rate, as you say, it was about england and wales. but it was using quotation marks — quote — united kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of radical islamic terror — close quotes. the figures he referred to were, in fact, just for england and wales, and nowhere in the crime survey is the phrase used "radical islamic terror". nevertheless, his tweet will have a resonance for many people in the united states. because the president's ban

on people travelling from several muslim countries has failed again. it will have to come here to the supreme court to be resolved, after it was blocked by lower courts earlier this week. but in the last 2a hours, two former presidents, without mentioning donald trump's name, took aim and fired an unmistakable broadside. bigotry seems in emboldened. 0ur politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. we've got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry. to demonise people who have different ideas. to get the base all riled up, because it provides a short—term tactical advantage. and there was friendly fire, too. this is the republican speaker of the house, paul ryan, at a charity dinner. i know last year that donald trump offended some people. i know his comments, according to critics, went too far. some said it was unbecoming for a public figure,

and they said that his comments were offensive. well, thank god he's learned his lesson! the president wasn't there. it would have been interesting to see if he'd have laughed. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. stay with us on bbc news. still to come. the healing power of dance. how one ballet company in south carolina is bridging divides in the wake of tragedy. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock, older, slimmer and, as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night

on the plain outside korem, it lights up a biblicalfamine, now, in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion — in argentina today, it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies in the past with great britain but as good friends, we have always found a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service. an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: suicide attacks on two mosques in afghanistan have killed nearly 60 worshippers. brazilian police arrest more than 100 people,

in the biggest operation ever against paedophiles in latin america. king felipe of spain has again spoken out against the regional government in catalonia's plans to declare independence. on saturday the central government in madrid will announce what measures it is taking to impose central rule over catalonia, as tom burridge reports. zaragoza in aragon. catalonia is the region next door and plastered all over this city, among its old streets, a statement of spanish unity. luis's bar is a shrine to spain's national police force and its civil guard. "the spanish government should have intervened "long ago in catalonia", this former spanish soldier tells us. a group of tourists from andalusia in the south agree. "there's been too many concessions given to the catalan government",

thinksjose—maria. "it hurts me," she says, "because it's creating "an atmosphere of hate in spain." caught in the middle are officers patrolling barcelona's streets. they're part of catalonia's own regional police force, and madrid will set out its plan to exert more control, probably on them and other strands of catalan autonomy. translation: we are caught up in a political hurricane, but we are not politicians. we are policemen. after spanish national police disrupted catalonia's disputed referendum, emotions have been running high. we met beth comforting her mother the following day, now horrified that madrid might take control. i don't want violence, i don't want a war, but if i have to go to have a strike, i will do it. if i have to be days

on a strike, i will do it. idon‘t mind. it's my future, my parents‘ future, my son's future, you know? and we've been fighting for a lot of time for this. but the argument popular in places like zaragoza is simple. "catalonia is part of spain," says this university professor. madrid has to act. translation: catalan nationalists do not have the power to decide on the half of all spaniards that it's a foreign territory. i will never accept being a foreigner in catalonia. but a country whose regions have been glued together over the centuries is nervous. the spanish government has a strategy, but it risks further fractures within catalan society, and deeper divisions between many in that region and the rest of spain. tom burridge, bbc news, in spain. an animal welfare charity has released shocking footage of illegal

loggers cutting down a tree with a sloth clinging to its branches in a bid to stop people posting animal selfies. campaigners believe the growing trend for tourists taking shots alongside wildlife means more and more animals are being snatched from their natural habitat. briohny williams has more. terrified and clinging onto the top ofa terrified and clinging onto the top of a 100 foot tree, as illegal loggers cut it down. this undercover footage was captured in the amazon, in peru, and highlights the horrible method used to steal wild animals from their home. the sloth is forced into a bag and taken to the market, just so tourists can take photos with it. the social media photo

sharing programme instagram has seen nearly a 300% increase in wildlife selfies is 2014 from around the world and says it wants the craze to stop. world animal protection says many animals are kept in filthy, cramped conditions and treated extremely badly all for tourist entertainment. to tackle the issue, the charity is asking for those who wa nt the charity is asking for those who want a photo with an animal to make it cruelty free by keeping a safe distance from the creature, making sure it is free to roam in its natural habitat. to stop this... from happening. a letter, written by a passenger the day before the titanic struck an iceberg and sank, is expected to fetch up more than $100,000 when it goes under the hammer later. the rare letter, written by an american passenger,

was found on his body as he was pulled from the atlantic. it's just one of a number of items from the titanic being auctioned, as duncan kennedy reports. "wow! "this boat is a giant in size. "and fitted up like a palatial hotel. the words of oscar holverson, from a letter he never sent. dated april 13, 1912, it was written the day before the titanic hit the iceberg. mr holverson was travelling with his wife mary. they were first class passengers onboard the luxury liner. "so far, we've had good weather. "if all goes well, we'll arrive in new york wednesday am." but mr holverson never did. he died with 1500 others. quite simply, what we are talking about is the ultimate letter from the titanic. andrew aldridge, a titanic expert says the letter is unique because... it's the only letter written on titanic stationery to actually

have gone into the water. so it's bearing the scars from that immersion in the cold north atlantic. but the story didn't end there. 0scar holverson‘s body was recovered and his letter actually delivered to his mother. she wrote this note to her remaining son. "have you seen in the papers, what has happened to my dear son "0scar? "it was a dreadful shock to us all to think that he's gone "and we'll never see him any more in this world." but it's notjust the letter being sold at this titanic auction. this suitcase belonged to millvina dean, the youngest survivor of the titanic tragedy. and these keys belonged to sydney daniels, a first—class steward. these alone have a reserved price of between 50 and £60,000. in recent years, titanic artefacts have achieved huge auction prices, from this deckchair at £100,000 to this violin,

which made £1 million. this auction of oscar holverson‘s letter is one more page from titanic‘s enduring reach from history. duncan kennedy, bbc news. south carolina was shaken by the racially motivated shooting of nine people at a methodist church in 2015. with growing racial tensions across the united states, one ballet company believes that art is a way to unify people across those divides. their production is an attempt at healing the community in the aftermath of the tragedy. the gunman had been sitting inside this historic african—american church in charleston for an hour before standing up and opening fire. we're talking about a caucasian

killing blacks. we're tired! art can kind of disarmed people and open them up to have that discussion, to tackle stuff without necessarily being on the defence or offence. upon first hearing about the tragedy, it was i guess almost disbelief in the beginning. prayer vigils across the country honoured the nine lives lost after a shooting inside the historic church. racism is so rampant now, it's like it was in the 50s, so we're weeping all of those things all over again.|j in the 50s, so we're weeping all of those things all over again. i tried to make sense of the atrocity that happened at the annual church. i was so happened at the annual church. i was so overwhelmed at how forgiving the

families were and i wanted that to come to the forefront of the ballet and that that was such a powerful message. we already forgive him for what he's done. i'm a little better, but, you know, iam what he's done. i'm a little better, but, you know, i am overwhelmed with love. i went to the boundaries with them about where the ballet would go and how the families would be represented and really it was an homage to them. art is the greatest way to create change because it liberates and often things that can't be said or can't tentatively be communicated orally can be felt. we needed this. this healing tool. being kind of one of the only black girls ina being kind of one of the only black girls in a predominately white environment, it'sjust girls in a predominately white environment, it's just always girls in a predominately white environment, it'sjust always been very obvious that there is this tension. divide maybes little bit of a strong word, but there is tension, things we don't talk about. i think

the fact that you are seeing more and more people from both sides speaking out about it is almost in a sense stepping in the direction of unity and a unified fight against the people that do divide us.|j unity and a unified fight against the people that do divide us. i feel like everyone can take something different from the same performance, two people can have completely different you know analysis or feelings from it. i guess ijust hope people are open to speaking to one another and not at one another. that's just about it. listening is a difficult thing to do. it isa it is a powerful message, healing through art. let us know what you think. if you want to get in touch with us here at bbc world news, you can do so on social media. i'm @bbckasiamadera on twitter. as always, thank you very much for watching. hi there.

today's weather is brought to you courtesy of storm brian. let's take a look at brian then. over the last 24 hours it has rapidly developed as low pressure moves across the atlantic. the strongest winds have been out to sea and as the storm crosses the british isles it will gradually weakened. a slow process and the winds will remain pretty strong and gusty throughout saturday. we have a band of rain for the early rises. still lingering across north—east scotland. there or thereabouts towards the eastern coast of england. following that, plenty of showers out west and it is in this showery air mass that we will have fairly strong gusts of wind working in. given it's a blowy start the day, it will be mild. 10—13 degrees for early rises. some of the strongest winds through saturday morning will be targeting the coast of south—west england and wales. gusts of 50—60 mph, maybe a few isolated gusts of up to 70 mph. 0ne concern is that those strong winds bringing large waves

could coincide with high tides, so we could see some localised surface water flooding impacts. inland gusts more typically up to 50 mph. that will blow lots of leaves off the trees. maybe one or two smaller tree branches coming down. the winds picking up later in the afternoon and towards the evening time across north wales and north—west england as we see a lengthier spell of rain here. again the winds could reach up to 60 mph. perhaps a touch stronger in some of the most exposed areas. but for the most part on saturday, brian will bring fairly typical windy weather for an autumn day. heading through the night time, the low pressure works out into the north sea and we'll see showers or even lengthy spells of rain working particularly into north—west england overnight. still quite a blowy night. 9—10 degrees, something like that. for sunday, as brian works out into the north sea, over the coming days it will die. so that's the life of brian and looking on the bright side of life on sunday there

will be fewer showers. the winds turning lighter. but coming in from a north—westerly direction, so it's a cooler direction. temperature wise, between 10—14 degrees. but with fewer showers, you have a better chance of dodging the downpours and having drier spells of weather. the north—westerly winds are shortly. by monday, most winds back to the south—west, with the exception of the far north of scotland. south—westerly winds dragging in mild air. temperatures up to 16—17 degrees. that mild theme stays with us. the best of any sunny spells in north—eastern areas initially. that's your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: afghan officials say nearly 60 people have been killed in two separate suicide attacks on mosques. in the capital, kabul, a bomber set off explosives in a shia mosque, and in the second attack a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in ghor province. so—called islamic state has claimed responsibility. police in brazil say they have arrested more than 100 people in the biggest operation ever

against paedophiles in latin america. the justice department say the suspects, who were arrested in 24 states and the capital, brasilia, were accessed through the dark web. european union leaders have concluded their summit in brussels with an agreement to prepare for talks about a future trade deal with the uk. but the british prime minster, theresa may, was warned those negotiations can't start until more progress has been made on a financial settlement. now on bbc news, it is time for click.