of catalonia condemns violent protests by fellow separatists. in business, the not—so—special relationship. uk firms face a nasty hangover as the us hits europe with billions of dollars of import taxes. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme: celebrity backers of extinction rebellion admit hypocrisy, but say we are stuck in a fossil fuel economy and call on the media to focus on the more urgent story. get in touch. can you back a cause but not adhere to every detail? tell us what you think, hashtag #bbcthebriefing. we begin in brussels. that is where british and eu negotiators are still trying to hammer out a brexit deal. a crucial summit of european leaders is due to get under way there in a few hours. 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 that nothing is finalised until everything is. "difficult but possible" is the phrase being used to our correspondents. here is rich preston with the latest. negotiations between britain and the eu continued into the night, and are resuming this morning. they are trying to hammer out the legal text of the brexit deal that they can present to euro‘s leaders. they are arriving in brussels for what could be prime minister borisjohnson‘s last eu summit. but, whatever happens in brussels is only one stage in the process. written‘s divided parliament and government without a majority still has to vote through the deal, with a special session on saturday —— written‘s. the prime minister is relying on votes from brexiteers within his own party, who said they will not give a final commitment until they have seen the legal text of any deal. obviously standing here hoping to be able to vote for any deal that amounts to a brexit worth having. but as i said elsewhere, there's thousands of people counting on us to make sure this really is a brexit worth having. northern ireland's democratic unionist party also need to sign up to a deal. sources in the party made clear there were still gaps in what was on offer, and talks with number ten are now likely to continue into a fourth day to day. and, whatever the deal, it is unlikely the opposition labour party will back it unless they can add their own conditions as well. boris johnson may be closer than ever to a compromise in brussels, but there is still lots of work to do closer to home. my colleague nuala mcgovern is in brussels. so talk us through the day ahead. right, well, ithink so talk us through the day ahead. right, well, i think the first thing to be watching for is at 8am, michel barnier, who is the eu's chief negotiator, he is expected again to meet with eu leaders, to talk through what has been agreed so far. is that line that you used, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, it is something to keep in mind. we were really watching here last night in brussels for perhaps some draft text to be released, but it didn't happen, and we were told that they would be no deal before what they were hoping to get done, which is the summit which is going to be taking place in this building over the next two days. that's when the 27 leaders of the european union come together, and they want to see, can they agree with the uk on how to go forward with a brexit deal? now, as you were mentioning earlier, sally, it does look like they have put the foundations in place. but the one word i would come back to again and again for our viewers is theissue again and again for our viewers is the issue of consent. it is a rather complicated term, but as they might know, the uk government, they are dependent on dup, which i democratic unionist party members, ten of them, in northern ireland in a confidence and supply arrangement. so it is very important for their government that they have the support of the dup. and when it comes to a brexit deal, it very much could come down to those ten members as well. we need to see today whether, if something is released in the coming hours, whether the dup is also on board with it. because as our viewers will remember, a huge sticking point in the last three yea rs has sticking point in the last three years has been about the so—called backstop, the guarantee for not having a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. and, with this new draft agreement that they are talking about, there is going to be a new arrangement that would be at updated version of that. but will it be palatable to the dup is the big question? and it is important you say that, because i would imagine that those leaders who are meeting later today in the building behind you, the 27 members of the european union, they don't want to agree on something that is then rejected in westminster again. exactly. there is a couple of things. we might have also seen the french leader, macron, meeting with chancellor merkel of germany. coming from them, it was very much that they didn't want to be rushed either. if you take even one aspect of this deal, it is technically so complicated when it comes to customs arrangements, for example, it is not something that can be speed read and then decided on in short order. so even among these members here, before it even gets to this idea of parliament, and we do hear that borisjohnson has been speaking with his backbenchers, the 1922 committee. what did he say to them, exactly? people have been pretty tightlipped. but what he is going to be looking for is to see if he can have a majority if he brings back this deal. that is what the eu leaders, as you mentioned, are also looking for. but it is strange bedfellows, perhaps, that we have backin bedfellows, perhaps, that we have back in the uk, that may be coming together. he will be looking for a lot of, perhaps, labour mps to vote his way. and what about those tory rebels, the ones that were kicked out when they didn't vote the way he wa nted out when they didn't vote the way he wanted them to? we will have to wait and see exactly how that uk parliament and those votes are lining up. thank you, for now. with a very busy day ahead. we shall be discussing this further later in the programme. in the news briefing we will look at how the press is covering this both in europe and the uk. 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 is 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. 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, "history will look upon you favourably if you get this done the right and humane way. it will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen. don't be a tough guy. don't be a fool!" 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 couldn't 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. the us vice president, mike pence, and secretary of state, mike pompeo, have left for ankara to try to seek a ceasefire, one week after turkey's invasion of north—eastern syria, following president trump's decision to withdraw us troops from the area. clashes have continued across the region, with kurdish fighters in the border town of ras al—ain digging in against a ground offensive by turkish—backed syrian rebels. kurdish forces, men and women, have been engaged in fierce street battles there. the un refugee agency, meanwhile, says over 1,000 displaced people have now arrived over the border into the kurdish region of northern iraq since the turkish operation began. kurdish forces have been crucial in the fight against islamic state in the region. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: ajury in the us has awarded nearly $500,000 in damages to a man whose son was killed in the 2012 sandy hook school shooting after he sued a conspiracy theorist. leonard pozner, whose six—year—old son noah died in the massacre, filed a defamation lawsuit against james fetzner, the co—author of a book titled nobody died at sandy hook. noah was the youngest of the 26 victims of the sandy hook shooting. boxer patrick day has died aged 27, four days after suffering a brain injury in a fight against charles conwell. the american was put into a coma on saturday after he was knocked out in the fight. his promotor said he died surrounded by his family and close friends. after a third night of protests, the pro—independence leader of catalonia condemns violent protests by fellow separatists. police 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. 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. well, 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're 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. damian grammaticas, bbc news, barcelona. stay with us on bbc 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. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: the british prime minister, borisjohnson, is due to head to brussels as efforts continue to secure a last—minute brexit deal before a the summit of eu leaders. the family of the man who invented the plastic bag say he'd be shocked and upset to see how his invention is treated, as his design was supposed to help save the planet. the son of sten gustaf thulin says they were designed to be re—used to stop trees being cut down to make paper bags. laura foster reports. it was once a symbol of convenience but now the plastic bag is considered to be an environmental curse, as receive more and phone away, more people are realising the problems they can cause the planet. they end up in the stomachs of sea creatures. they are being dumped and harm the ecosystem. they are a waste of time. but according to the family who invented the plastic bag, sten gustaf thulin, this pollution problem was never supposed to happen. the earlier to my dad that people would throw this away is bizarre. sten gustaf thulin came up with the idea in sweden in the 19505, with the idea in sweden in the 1950s, after seeing how many trees we re 1950s, after seeing how many trees were cut down in order to make paper bags. he always carried one in his pocket, folded up. it was something he just pocket, folded up. it was something hejust had pocket, folded up. it was something he just had with pocket, folded up. it was something hejust had with him. which is what we are encouraged to do today, take you back to the shop. he was doing that back into the 70s and 80s naturally because, why wouldn't you? i think he would have been shocked at how wasteful we are now. bags like this were never meant to be single use but it is humans that throw them away rather than reusing them and recycling them that is causing the problem. the research shows that when these are recycled, they are better for the planet than they are better for the planet than the alternative cotton and paper bags. people are rushing to use paper bags or paper bags. we think these substitutes are better because they are biodegradable. they use a lot of energy to produce, more water and they are heavier. there is an extra environmental impact of transporting them to the shops as well. a paper bag list to be used at least three times while cotton bags need to be used 131 times to have the same environmental impact as a single use plastic one that has been recycled. the most environmentally friendly thing to do is to keep reusing a bag you already own. sten gustaf thulin received a small bonus for his invention which she thought would help change the world, not knowing what it would become. —— which he thought. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm marc edwards, with your thursday sport briefing. la liga has asked for el clasico on 26 october to be switched from barcelona's nou camp stadium to real madrid's bernabeu, over fears of civil unrest. there have been days of protest in barcelona after nine catalan separatist leaders were jailed on monday. la liga have now made the request to the spanish football federation, and both clubs will be asked for their opinion. el clasico is more than a football game. they will be a demonstration in barcelona rejecting the sentence of the nine leaders. there are some big names in the mix as the full list of players in the pot at the inaugrual draft of the hundred has been revealed. the brand new 100—ball competition, which will be contested by eight city—based teams in england and wales, takes place next summer from 17thjuly to 16 august. steve smith and david warner, who helped australia retain the ashes earlier this year, are among the most expensive players listed at the top reserve price of $160,000. the likes of chris gayle, shakib al hasan and andre russell will be among a total of 570 players in the draft, including 239 overseas players and 331 domestic players. barcelona are in action in the women's champions league later on thursday. last season's runners—up are at home to minsk from belarus, in the first leg of their last 16 tie. meanwhile, the holders lyon look well—placed to qualify for the quarter—finals. ada hegerberg scored twice as the defending champions thrashed fortuna hjorring in the first leg of their last 16 tie in denmark. eugenie le sommer scored the other two in a 4—0 victory which should make the return leg in france a formality. tennis, and the top two seeds are both in an action at the european open in antwerp, on thursday. gael molfils takes on the the italian wildcard, jannik sinner, and david goffin plays the frenchman ugo humbert. but the 2017 champion, and number 6 seed, jo—wifried tsonga is out after losing in straight sets to his compatriot, gilles simon, but they were two hard —fought sets. simon — ranked 47 in the world — came through 6—4, 7—5, and he'll now face the number 4 seed stan wawrinka in the quarter—finals. and finally, it's probably fair to say that sports fans everywhere love a worldie — you know a world class goal sometimes struck from absolutely miles away. well, this is surely the case even if its done on sand in bare feet. we're at the world beach games in doha, it's brazil vs russia, the samba boys leading 8—3 when defender lucao did that. let's look at a different angle. he blasts it from the end of the world back of the net! you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. thanks to mark and the team for that. a zoo in paris will be unveiling something a little different this weekend, a mysterious creature known as the blob. it's a bright yellow slime that has no brain, but is capable of problem—solving. 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. 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 an animal or a fungus. it is not a plant, we are sure about that, but is it somewhere between a fungus and an animal? what we do know is it is part of the myxomycetes 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. and it can move to, slowly, very slowly, and it can move too, 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 it in half, it can repair itself within minutes. a fascinating and mysterious creature. who knows, maybe one day we will discover the secrets of the blob? tim allman, bbc news. i would love to hear your comments about that. do you remember the robbie williams film? that came to mind. celebrities backing the cause but admitting that carbon footprint is not to be desired. sean says i have solar, i do not drive, i buy electricity from a company that invests in renewables and donate to greenpeace but myjob in western lifestyle still polluted. only governments can fix the problem. other viewers have been in touch, marshall says we are taking it too much like it is someone's job. marshall says we are taking it too much like it is someone'sjob. it marshall says we are taking it too much like it is someone's job. it is going to take global participation, government, corporate or not. i will see you soon for business briefing and keep your views coming. we saw some sunshine on wednesday and we will see some today but accompanied with rain. this is the cloud of ban that brought the rain on wednesday but look at this swell of cloud, producing showers. pushing towards western parts of the uk. further east, clear skies for longer. already quite chilly in temperatures low enough in eastern to give us a touch of frost. one or two showers here. developing western areas on thursday. heavy with strong blustery winds. showers through the english channel and then inland into the south—east of england and the midlands. across the north—east of england and scotland, dry with plenty of sunshine. temperatures 13— 15 degrees are near normal for this time of the year. increasing numbers of showers and they will continue through thursday evening. some will be heavy and some blustery winds as well. because of all that, it should bea well. because of all that, it should be a milder night. six — eight degrees, may be double figures in the south of england. friday, another day of sunshine and showers. developing more widely through the day. frequent flowers blown in from the stronger winds to england and wales. some sunshine between the showers. numbers are not changing very much at the moment. remember, right now the low pressure is sitting about here by the time we get into the weekend, it is moving right across the uk. it is not as deep or strong that it will bring sunshine and showers. most of the showers away from northern scotland to start the day but they will build for the day with the low pressure setting right across england and wales with slow—moving and heavy thundery showers. showers to scotla nd thundery showers. showers to scotland and northern ireland. it will feel cooler as well, 15 degrees in the south—east at the highest temperatures. on sunday, the showers become fewer but with a northerly breeze it will probably turn cooler. early next week most places dry with some sunshine. this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the uk and eu edge towards a brexit agreement, as warnings mount about the consequences of no—deal for the business world. plus: not so special relationship. uk firms face a nasty hangover, as the us hits europe with billions of dollars of import taxes. and on the markets, this week's rally in global shares fizzles out, as weak us retail sales re—awaken fears about the health of the world's biggest economy. sterling remains volatile with brexit talks on a knife edge.

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