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 the us house of representatives votes 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.

hello to you. 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 the backlash from his own party is growing in washington. 129 of them voted with the democrats in the house of representatives to condemn him. then a letterfrom mr trump came out, urging turkey's president not to be a tough guy. and a white house meeting with senior democrats ended with an exchange of insults and the democrats walking out. here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. 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's impulsive decision to leave syria without any deliberation has ignited a conflict in one of the most volatile regions on earth.

more than 100 republicans voted with the democrats, although the president did have some support from his own 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 interests. we are not the world's police force. but one of the president's closest ally, the republican senator, lindsey graham, says mr trump has made a grave error. to suggest the kurds are safer, is really delusional. if you think the kurds are safer today than they were when they were partnered with us, you just do not understand what is going on in syria. the president ended the day losing the vote in congress. he started it by defending his decision and criticising the kurds, america's one—time allies. now, the pkk, which is a part of the kurds, as you know, is probably worse at terror and more

of a terrorist threat in many ways than isis, so it's a very semi—complicated, not too complicated if you're smart, but it's a semi—complicated problem, and i think it is a problem that we have very nicely under control. the president was widely criticised for, in effect, giving the green light to turkey to move into syria. but, in a letter written before the offensive against kurdish fighters started, mr trump urged president erdogan to work out a good deal. he said: 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 that's 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 turkey and syria, the us vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo are heading into it, en route to ankara, to try to broker a ceasefire. peter bowes, bbc news. 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. our international correspondent, orla 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—35km from manbij to the iraqi border. there is no doubt or hesitation about this. and here's 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. our 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. orla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—syria border. let's get some of

the day's other news. more on that to come a little later. bulgarian police have arrested six people suspected of involvement in racist abuse against black england football players on monday evening. another nine men have been identified and are under investigation. 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. a warning, there is flash photography in this report. he's in a rush, a terrible rush. keep working. "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's 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've been in and out of number 10, 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's 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 300 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. this does seem to be a huge? yes, a really significant operation. let's look at some of the numbers involved here. 337 people arrested across 38

countries, including here in the uk, ireland, the united states, germany, united arab emirates and canada. significantly, it includes charges against a 23—year—old south korean man who ran the site and it had more than 200,000 videos on it showing the abuse of toddlers and children, and there were 8 terabytes of data, so and there were 8 terabytes of data, $03 and there were 8 terabytes of data, so a massive law enforcement operation. almost certainly, sad to say, there are more out there but this one of the largest marketplaces? it's on the largest marketplaces? it's on the dark web, your regular search engines don't point you there and it was called welcome to video and the site said don't upload adult material. there was no doubt why people were accessing this website.

images and videos were bought using the digital crypto currency bitcoin, which is hard to trace and authorities put a closing image on the side when they took it over, saying this site has been sealed down. in a press conference on washington, dc on wednesday, officers said they had rescued 20 children from what they called active abuse cases. you made the point the site was shutdown, in fact it was last year, why are we hearing about it now? it was shutdown in march, 2018 and it was discovered after an investigation into a british paedophile and that first tipped off detectives that the site existed and gave them the information they needed to go on and that prompted this wider investigation we are hearing about now. details are coming out now because the indictment against the south korean man have only been unsealed and made public in the united states and i spoke to the us department for justice earlier. they haven't said

why the indictments have only been unsealed now, only that investigations are ongoing. rich preston, thank you very much. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: scientists in paris are going to present a mysterious creature to the public, which they named ‘the blob'. 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, our top story: 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 stay with that story. live now to washington dc, robert malley is president and ceo of international crisis group.

and robert, i know you served in very senior roles, advising the 0bama and clinton administrations on the middle east. i would assume, i think viewers could assume you aren't a fan of president trump. what you make of the current situation, though?” think it'sjust a the current situation, though?” think it's just a matter of seeing people who have supported president trump who are befuddled not so much by the decision to withdraw troops from syria, it is that he did nothing since december. his team did nothing since december. his team did nothing since december to prepare and then all of a sudden he announced it, it has to be done in com plete announced it, it has to be done in complete chaos and without any preparation, leading to the outcome that we see today. this outcome was predicted, predictable and avoidable. one particular thing, given the trump letter that has now emerged, how difficult is the pence pompeo mission? to a large extent

the us has lost control of events in northern syria, it is now in the hands of turkey, syria and russia, which may now be able to broker some sort of arrangement because it has good size with turkey, the syrian regime and the kurdish rebels that are now being attacked by turkey. they could play a role, others could play a role. the us could put pressure on turkey, although that has become quite difficult. 0n the one hand, president trump gave a green light to president erdogan, and is now threatening sanctions rather than taking that action. so vice president pence and secretary pompeo are being sent to say he is doing something, but to a large extent the story is being written without him. the bizarre and unprecedented in this presidency have become expected and every date you just wait for the next thing.

but international politics and diplomacy has often been cynical, erratic and unfair, cruel, even. does it really matter in the long—term? does it really matter in the long-term? it's not the first time that the us has betrayed its partners, and particularly the kurds, it's not the first time we've seen impulsive decision—making. but this does rise to the level i have never december four, and this does rise to the level i have never decemberfour, and is this does rise to the level i have never december four, and is what most people who have studied the president here would say. it's not so president here would say. it's not so much the outcome in the end that the us deciding it doesn't want to be involved in the war in syria and that it wants to leave it to others. that can be defended. but what is ha rd to that can be defended. but what is hard to defend is the way it was done, the impulsiveness, the chaotic nature of it and that nobody in the administration seemed to see this coming and was able to prepare for this. we are seeing the pictures coming out of syria, the reports of places being abandoned people having to run out. and the town kurds who would have had 8— nine months to

prepare for this date but were told repeatedly by members of the administration, don't worry, the us is here to stay. now we see consistent, with sparse statements, but no—one seems to believe, does my past statements, acts by the us that have been less than immoral, less than perfectly planned and have taken their partners by surprise. as i say, this seems to be quite unprecedented in terms of the level that it has reached. on that point briefly, if you don't mind. i'm sure the president and his supporters would say to you 0bama administration had no great su ccesses administration had no great successes in the middle east and a whole bunch of american voters do wa nt whole bunch of american voters do want american forces out of foreign wars. i think two things are true. the analogous part of the 0bama administration, we did not have a

stellar record, and there is also a legitimate case to stop its military intervention in the middle east. all thatis intervention in the middle east. all that is true, and yet the way in which president trump has done it was the most reckless way one could imagine, though he is given a bad name to what could be two very wordy cases to make. a critique of the 0bama administration and the access of us intervention, but this was not a way to address those issues. robert malley, very good to talk to you. thank you very much. thank you. 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 cata la n leaders who led a failed bid to secede from spain. damian grammaticas reports. 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 patience snapped. riot officers drove the crowds back. there had been perhaps 10,000 on the streets, maybe 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 years each for organising the failed independence bid for the region two years ago. every time the police moved forward to try to take back a bit more of the streets here, the protesters get pushed back. the police are using their baton

rounds, their riot control weapons, and the protesters are responding with bottles and stones and fireworks. the anger on the streets doesn't seem to be subsiding. the protesters, improvising shields from skateboards, 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 zoo in paris will be unveiling something a little different this weekend, a mysterious creature known as ‘the blob'. it is a bright yellow slime that has no brain but is capable of problem—solving. it can apparently be found all round the world — but this is the first time it will be seen in captivity. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this is not an alien being. despite appearances, this isn't a creature from a 1950s sci—fi movie. this is the blob. 0ne from a 1950s sci—fi movie. this is the blob. one of the strangest life forms on earth. translation: the blob is a living being that is one of nature's mysteries. we don't really know what it is. even today we don't know if it is. even today we don't know if it is. even today we don't know if it is an animal or a fungus. it is

not a plant, we are sure about, but is it somewhere between a fungus and an animal? what we do know is it is pa rt an animal? what we do know is it is part of the maximising family, a kind of slimy mould. it doesn't have a mouth, stomach or eyes, but it can detect, and consume food, usually bacteria orfungi. detect, and consume food, usually bacteria or fungi. and detect, and consume food, usually bacteria orfungi. and it can move to, slowly, very slowly, almost creeping, in fact. translation: we see evolution, but we don't see it growing directly with the naked eye. you have to come back two hours or even four hours later to see the evolution. if you cut in half, it can repair itself within minutes. a fascinating and creature. —— and mysterious. who knows, maybe one day we will discover the secrets of the blob? tim allman, bbc news.

that's it for now. thank you so much 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. 129 members of his own party voted with 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 also wants independence from spain, said the movement should remain peaceful and there was no excuse for burning cars.