welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: details emerge of a threatening letter president trump sent to his turkish counterpart, as democrats and republicans in the us house of representatives vote overwhelmingly to condemn his decision to pull american forces from northern syria. meanwhile the fighting in syria continues. russian and syrian government forces have advanced into positions once held by the american forces. frantic efforts are still underway to reach a last—minute brexit deal on the eve of a eu summit in brussels. the pro—independence leader of catalonia condemns violent protests by fellow separatists that have rocked the spanish region for a third night in a row.

the consequences of president trump's decision to pull us troops out of syria, effectively giving the green light to turkey to send troops across the syrian border, have been deadly on the ground. and they are becoming difficult for him in washington. 129 members of his own party voted with the democrats in the house of representatives to condemn his syria decision. a bizarre letter has emerged, from mrtrump, urging turkey's president not to "be a tough guy". and a white house meeting between mr trump and senior democrats ended with the democrats walking out. here's our north american correspondent peter bowes. president correspondent peter bowes. trump under fire frorr directions president trump under fire from all directions over his decision to pull us forces out of syria. the house of representatives voted overwhelmingly to condemn mr trump's actions in the strongest terms. the president impulsive decision to leave is there

without end of deliberation has ignited a conflict in one of the most volatile regions in the world. more than 100 republicans voted with the democrats, although the president did have some support from his party. the blood of america's patriots is among our nation ‘s most sacred currency and it must be spent only when absolutely vital to protect american interest. we are not the world ‘s police force. protect american interest. we are not the world 's police force. one of the president closest ally, lindsey ally, says mr trump has made a grave error. to suggest that it is safer, it is delusional. if you say that you do not understand what is going on in syria. the president and it the dailies of the vote in congress and started by defending his decision and criticising the curse, america's one—time allies. the pkk, which is a part of the kurds, as you know, is probably more

ofa kurds, as you know, is probably more of a terrorist threat in many ways than isis so it is a very semi— complicated, not to implicated if you are smart, semi— complicated problem and it is a problem we have very nicely under control. —— not too complicated. in a letter written before the offensive, mr trump urged recep tayyip erdogan to work out a good deal. he said history would look on you favourably if you get this right... the president is under intense pressure from his critics, leading democrats walked out of a meeting with mr trump at the white house after they say he had a meltdown. i think that vote, the

size of the vote, more than two to one of the republicans voted to oppose what the president did, probably got to the president because he was shaken up by it and thatis because he was shaken up by it and that is why we could not continue in the meeting because he wasjust that is why we could not continue in the meeting because he was just not relating to the reality of it. with president trump distancing america from the conflict between and syria, vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo are heading into it, en route to ankara, to try to broker a ceasefire. of course, while the politics rages on in washington dc, the fighting and dying in syria goes on. syrian government troops, backed by russian forces, have advanced into positions once held by americans. turkey invaded northern syria to drive the kurds it regards as terrorists back from the border and create what it describes as a "safe zone" on the syrian side. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, is on the border. urban warfare in northern syria.

fighters backed by turkey still battling for control of the border town of ras al—ain. they are facing fierce resistance from the kurds, women fighting alongside men. it's rare to get a glimpse of this side of the battle. but one week into turkey's invasion, president erdogan has taken a swathe of territory from the kurds and says he won't stop until he completes his so—called safe zone. translation: operation peace spring will last until we reach a depth of 30—35 kilometres from manbij to the iraqi border. there is no doubt or hesitation about this. and here is an image that shows the new order in the strategic town of manbij...

flying the flag for president putin. his forces had a clear run here after america's hasty retreat, moscow eagerly filling the power vacuum. the russians, who back president assad, are patrolling between the syrians and the turks, keeping them apart and offering to mediate. as president erdogan fights on, the fallout is spreading and american foreign policy in the middle east is certainly a casualty. well, turkish forces are continuing to pound targets across the border in syria, and the battlefield there has changed rapidly. american forces have surrendered much of their leverage. the russians have increased theirs. for president assad, it's a win, and for those opposing him in syria's long war, it's a bitter pill to swallow.

and here's another one, us forces pulling out of northern syria today, most now gone from the region. the kurds see this as a massive betrayal. for donald trump, they already sound like history. 0ur soldiers are not in harm's way, as they shouldn't be, as two countries fight over land that has nothing to do with us. and the kurds are much safer right now, but the kurds know how to fight, and as i said they're not angels, they're not angels. those staunch us allies dismissed so casually were burying more dead today. here, two fighters and a local journalist. but there are reports that around 70 civilians have been killed since the invasion began. turkey's safe zone is becoming a burial ground. 0rla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border.

let's get some of the day's other news: bulgarian police have arrested six people suspected of involvement in racist abuse against black england football players on monday evening. a further nine men have been identified and are under investigation by police authorities. the bulgarian commissioner for the interior has said bulgaria does not tolerate such behaviour. qatar has announced plans to scrap completely its restrictive migrant permit system. it's long been criticised by human rights activists as a form of modern slavery. qatar's labour minister says a minimum wage will also be introduced, from 2020. under the current system, migrant workers have to obtain exit permits to leave the counry, and are blocked from changing employers without the employer's permission. officials in california are investigating how two tanks full of ethanol exploded, at an energy facility near san francisco. the local fire department has been working to prevent the flames spreading to other tanks. the duke and duchess of cambridge have spent the third day of their tour of pakistan

in the foothills of the himalayas to see how climate change is causing glaciers to melt. william and kate were shown how the chiatibo glacier had retreated rapidly in recent years due to global warming. with a crucial summit of european leaders due to begin thursday morning, negotiations on a last—minute brexit deal continued into the night. high—level sources on both sides are telling the bbc that most issues between the uk, the european union and ireland have been settled, in principle, but nothing is finalised until everything is. "difficult but possible" is the phrase being used to our correspondents. and still, any deal has to get through the british and european parliaments. this from our political editor, laura kuenssberg, there is flash photography. he is in a rush, a terrible rush. keep working, he says. eu leaders will be there in the afternoon, and the negotiators on both sides will have to give their verdict to their political masters. the big players in europe desperately want this all to come to a conclusion.

everyone understands english, but nobody understands england. laughter. and these negotiations are taking part somewhere in this not—very—beautiful building. can there be a new understanding, after so many confusions along the way? it matters most for the prime minister, who swept into office with a promise to fix this, his fate bound up with what happens next on brexit. and, just like theresa may, he has a party and parliament that is divided, brexiteers whose votes he needs. he must keep them all on board. 0bviously, standing here, hoping to be able to vote for a deal which amounts to a brexit worth having. but as i've said elsewhere, you know, there's thousands of people counting on us to make sure this really is a brexit worth having. they have been in and out of number ten, just like earlier. the dup, johnson's northern irish allies... well, we're continuing the discussions, and no doubt we'll say something later on today.

..who are nervous about what comes next, reluctant to give away too much in a compromise over customs, with worries about the union in the future. and, believe it or not, secrecy about the deal is so tight that even the cabinet don't really know what is next. it's all going marvellously. but, in the morning, it is the continent's opinions that matter. france and germany would give any draft deal the same inspection. can brexit happen soon, without too much disruption for them? "i want to believe we are finalising it," the french president said, "we'll talk about it tomorrow." angela merkel more convinced in recent days it can be done. but, to use the irritating but helpful old adage, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. the two sides seem closer tonight to a deal than they have been for months and months,

but sources in the dup believe there still are gaps there, and if one thing goes wrong, it could all go wrong, horribly and fast. good sentiments tonight do not mean signatures on a page tomorrow. and, if borisjohnson manages to clinch it and play the hero, in parliament, swathes of mps are ready to stand and fight. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. a vast website selling images of child abuse has been closed down, and more than three hundred people arrested around the world. investigators describe the site as one of the world's largest child porn marketplaces. with me is our reporter rich preston. a huge operation? significant. 337 people arrested across 38 countries,

including in the uk, the us, canada, germany. significantly, it includes charges against a 24—year—old south korean man who ran the site. when investigators accessed the website, they found more than 200,000 videos showing abuse of children and toddlers. eight terabytes of data we re toddlers. eight terabytes of data were seized by investigators so a major international law enforcement investigation. unfortunately not the only child pod marketplace in the world but one of the biggest?m only child pod marketplace in the world but one of the biggest? it was found on the dark web, an encrypted area search engine would not be able to get you there. despite having a warning on it saying do not upload, aduu warning on it saying do not upload, adult material, absolutely no doubt anyone accessing the site would have known. they were using it coin so

extremely hard to claim. —— bitcoin. ina extremely hard to claim. —— bitcoin. in a press conference in washington on wednesday local time persecutors said they were able to protect more than 20 children from active abuse cases. the site has been closed down but it was closed out last year, why are we hearing about it now?m but it was closed out last year, why are we hearing about it now? it was during a british investigation into a british paedophile revealed the website. we are only hearing about it now because the indictment against the 24—year—old south korean man had only just against the 24—year—old south korean man had onlyjust been unsettled and made public. he's actually already in prison for various charges. i spoke to the usjustice department couple of hours ago and they could not confirm to be why they have only just been unsettled and that investigations are still ongoing. thank you for being with us. stay with us if you can.

still to come: how celebrities and politicians have become victms of the damaging use of deepfakes on the internet. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life, but in the marina area where most of the damage was done, they are more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20—pound bomb, which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then, bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chile let out an almighty roar.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: details have emerged of a threatening letter president trump sent to his turkish counterpart, as democrats and republicans in the us house of representatives vote overwhelmingly to condemn his decision to pull american forces from northern syria. let's get more on this now. with me live now is white house bureau chief of voice of america news, steve herman. he is in our washington bureau. steve, what do you make of all this? well, mike, as far as the letter goes, one imagines that a century from now historians will be talking about it and studying it, perhaps to

point out that what happened at a particularly dangerous juncture in global history in the 21st century. we always say it is a remarkable day at the trump white house. there is so much that goes on, so much hyperbole, so much friction. but today was especially contentious, with the revelation of this letter, and also the conflict with the senior leadership of the democrats walking out from this meeting with the president in the cabinet room at the president in the cabinet room at the white house. it is particularly extraordinary, isn't it? as one a nalyst extraordinary, isn't it? as one analyst put it, he was not the only one to make this point but he put it there is white house official turkey policy, just recently, first of all turkey can go ahead and invade syria, then turkey should not invade syria, then turkey should not invade syria, then turkey is being sanctioned for invading syria, and

now who cares if turkey invades syria? yes, that's one way to sum it up, and the president was asked directly at a news conference that he held with the italian president today in the east room about him green lighting this invasion as a result of that phone call with president erdogan. trump took umbrage with that, saying flatly that he did not greenlight this invasion, talks about the strong sanctions he has threatened erdogan with, but also says he doesn't want to get in the middle of a war between turkey and syria. with all this, of course, as we were saying, on the ground in syria and elsewhere in the region, the fighting and the dying goes on stop how much globally, in terms of the big picture, does this matter, and how much might stick and damage the president? that is the big question, mike. the president does not want to be seen as having blood on his hands asa

be seen as having blood on his hands as a result of what what happens there. the language in the letter he sent to erdogan, which is dated nine 0ctober, sent to erdogan, which is dated nine october, is indicative of that. and that's also why he has sent the vice president, mike pence, and the secretary of state, mike pompeo, they are on a plane right now to ankara to talk to president erdogan to try to achieve a ceasefire. but the turkish president has made it very clear that he is not going to give in. also, there is a perception that trump has thrown a key ally in the fight against the so—called islamic state group to the wolves, the kurds saying that one particular kurdish militia was perhaps even worse than isis. so a lot of allies around the world of the united states are looking at this, wondering and worrying if possibly they could be next. thank you very

much. catalan protestors seeking independence from spain have clashed with police in barcelona for a third day. officers in riot gear responded with rubber bullets as protesters set fire to bins and cars, according to witnesses. nationalists are angry over the long prison sentences given to nine catalan leaders who led a failed bid to secede from spain. damian grammaticas reports. cata la n catalan anger, for the third day in a row. tonight, their target was the interior ministry. protesters dumped piles of toilet roll to signal their disgust at the authorities. when they threatened to break through the barriers, police patients snapped. riot officers drove the crowds back.

there had been perhaps 10,000 on the streets, may be more. tempers have been boiling here all week. fury at the jail sentences spain handed down on monday. nine catalan political leaders imprisoned for up to 13 yea rs leaders imprisoned for up to 13 years each. 0rganising the failed independence bid for the region two yea rs independence bid for the region two years ago. every time the police moved forward to try to take a bit more of the streets here, the protesters get pushed back. the police are using their baton rounds, there riot control weapons, and the protesters are responding with bottles a nd protesters are responding with bottles and stones and fireworks. the anger on the streets doesn't seem the anger on the streets doesn't seem to be subsiding. the protesters improvising shields from skateboards set fires on the streets. for them,

their jailed set fires on the streets. for them, theirjailed leaders are political prisoners. but not everyone agrees with their tactics. we are pacifists, she shouts from the balcony. spain's government has said it will deal with this unrest firmly. but these aren't the only protests. there are more in other cities in catalonia. demonstrators are marching on barcelona from around the region. and a general strike is planned for friday. a woman from west london has been charged with an islamic state group bomb plot. she is 36. she appeared in custody at westminster magistrates court on wednesday. she is alleged to be a is supporter. she was arrested on suspicion of

preparation of terrorist acts. legislators in california have made it illegal to create or distribute so—called deepfake images in the run—up to an election. deepfake technology can be used to manipulate images to make it look as if a person said or did something that never happened. it is increasingly used in pornographic material. as part of the bbc‘s 100 women series, paying tribute to inspiring and influential women from around the world, megha mohan spoke to the former disney actress bella thorne. at a party in beverly hills, the hollywood actress bella thorne is raising awareness of mental health for a generation growing up online. a recent worry is deepfake technology. she has seen her likeness used in hundreds of online, non—consensual pornographic films. deepfake videos are when someone's image can be manipulated to generate convincing representations of acts that never happened. we need to be more vigilant with what we trust from the internet. this is an extreme form of deepfake, because, first of all, it's real—time. yeah. and the second thing is that ijust

need a single picture of that person. in seconds, computer scientist hao li can be anyone, from china's president, xijinping, to scarlett joha nsson. deepfake technology is becoming easier, and it is most commonly used for pornography. actress bella thorne, who starred in films like blended, has seen a video of her crying over the death of her father cut into a pornographic film. and then i'm, like, saying, something, something, but i miss him. 0bviously my father's dead. and then they put that together with a girl masturbating, and this video's going around, and everyone really is thinking that it's actually me. i don't know how we regulate apps and things like that, because it's not going to just be your favourite celebrity or your favourite this person or this person that you want to put in this app. because you can do it to your best friend in school, if you decide you hate them so much. you can send it around to this person, you can do it to a famous

politician, this or that... it's a concern shared by the former head of security at facebook, alex stamos. he worries the software may be widely used within the year to target non—celebrities, the likes of you and me. the executives at these platforms have realised that the people who've been saying our tools are being used for harm are starting to win out, that they were right, and that there needs to be more investment. this is going to be another field where people are going to specialise, and spend years of their career trying to figure out how to stop it. developers say, as the technology improves, deepfa kes will become more prevalent. in raising awareness, they hope to make us question the authenticity of what we view online. megha mohan, bbc news. briefly, that may news again. details have emerged of a threatening letter president trump sent to the turkish leaderjust as emigrants and republicans in the house of representatives joint together to vote overwhelmingly to

condemn the president's decision to pull american forces from northern syria. that's it for now. thank you for watching. hello, good morning. wednesday started on a dull and damp note for many parts of the country. once that rain cleared away, though, we did see some sunshine. a chance to dry off, though, although a lot of the ground is still saturated, and there are a couple of flood warnings still out there. but following the sunshine, the clearer skies have meant it's turned quite chilly, particularly for the eastern side of the uk. where we had that cloud earlier on, we've now got the clearer skies, but looking out to the west, you can see that swirl of cloud there. it's producing showers or longer spells of rain. it marks the position of what is at the moment quite a deep area of low pressure. that's drifting towards the uk, already arriving in western areas. further east, though, with those clearer skies, temperatures may be low enough in eastern scotland to give us a touch of frost. further west, it will be milder, but you've already got

a few showers. the breeze is picking up, and we'll see more and more showers arriving across the western side of the uk, blown in by some strong and blustery winds, which will also push the showers through the english channel and then move them inland, into the south—east of england and the midlands. but i think, for north—east england and north—east scotland, it should be largely dry. should be some decent sunshine. a much better day in north—east scotland than it was on wednesday. 13—15 degrees, that's near normal for this time of the year. so, through thursday, increasing numbers of showers. those showers will continue during thursday evening and thursday night, some of them heavy, accompanied by some rather blustery winds, which will keep the temperatures a bit higher. it should be a milder night, typically 6—8 degrees. we may stay in double figures across more southern parts of england. more sunshine and showers to come on friday. a good deal of them around coastal areas to begin with, but we'll see them developing inland, and some fairly frequent showers getting blown in on the strongest of the winds in the south—west of england and wales. 12—15 degrees, so those numbers at the moment not really changing

a great deal. let's head into the weekend, and remember, at the moment, low pressure is about here. but, as we move into the weekend, the low pressure is moving right across into the uk. it's not as deep an area of low pressure, but it will continue to bring sunshine and showers or longer spells of rain. longer spells of rain certainly blown in across scotland. the bulk of the showers further south, around coastal areas, developing inland, and with the low pressure right over england and wales, some slow—moving heavy and thundery downpours possible. quite windy and feeling cooler, i think, for northern scotland and for northern ireland. the highest temperatures in the south—east of england. so a lot of showers to come on saturday. through sunday, the showers become fewer. but, with that northerly breeze, it will turn a little bit cooler. for many of us, though, the start of next week should be dry, with some sunshine.

this is bbc news. the headlines: as details emerge of

a threatening letter president trump sent to his turkish counterpart, the house of representatives has voted overwhelmingly to condemn president trump's decision to withdraw american forces from north—eastern syria, leaving the kurds to face a turkish invasion. more than 100 republicans voted with the democrats. british and eu negotiators are still trying to hammer out the legal text for a brexit agreement, but say the outlines of a deal have now emerged. eu leaders are meeting later on thursday for a two—day summit. if no extension is agreed the uk is due to leave the eu at the end of october. the leader of the spanish region of catalonia has called for an immediate end to the violent street protests by catalan separatists that have shaken barcelona for a third night. quim torra, who wants independence from spain, said the movement should remain peaceful and there was no excuse for burning cars.

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