welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a special report from yemen, where millions face starvation because of a saudi—led blockade. president trump wants afghan security forces to lead the fight against the taliban, but how ready are they to do that? as suspects in the barcelona attack appear in court, police reveal much bigger assaults were being planned. "numb and confused": princes william and harry talk to the bbc about the days after their mother's death, 20 years ago. hello. leaked documents from the united nations, obtained by the bbc, suggest both sides in yemen's war are violating international law. they say that both parties

are killing and maiming children and that the saudi—led coalition is blocking the delivery of food and medicine. yemen is now in its third year of war, which has created the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis. the bbc‘s nawal al maghafi reports from the houthi—held area of hudaydah. a warning, you may find some of the images disturbing. many of yemen's children have only ever known war. child coughing and hudaydah central hospital is full of them. victims of a conflict that has left their country battered, broken and starving. i first met dr abdullah al zuhayri a year ago. he tells me things are now much worse. translation: we have started to see so many more cases of malnutrition.

now, it's not only the poor bringing their children here, we are seeing cases of severely malnourished children from middle—class families too. he takes me to meet boy, just three years old, his immune system is failing. he needs intensive care, but there are no beds available. his family stay by his side. as we talk, the doctor interrupts us. a bed has been freed, and he is rushed to intensive care. this is one of the area's last functioning hospitals, but it's on the brink. all these people have spent all the money they have

to get this far. now the electricity is off, so all the machines are off, all the incubators are off, all the oxygen has stopped. and this happens all the time. the war between the saudi—backed government and the houthi rebels is now in its third year. the region's richest nation bombing its poorest. it's killed thousands and left millions homeless. we head across town. wherever you go, displaced people line the streets. with all borders closed, there's no escape. even the refugee camp offered no protection for mohammed and his family. hudaydah is yemen's main port city —

it should be a lifeline, but now it's barely operating, after the saudi coalition bombed the cranes and blocked their replacements. food should not be a weapon of war, food should be a weapon of peace. 95% of all the food that we need to feed the innocent people comes through this sport. if this port is bombed and completely made useless, literally hundreds of thousands of children will die and millions of people will die along with it. but it's notjust starvation that the war is causing. yemen now faces the worst cholera outbreak in the world has seen in decades. this 13—year—old caught it

along with 18 members of his family. in the intensive care unit, we get a desperate call from his mother. he's taken a turn for the worse. we arrive, but it's too late. as his father says goodbye, the family asks us to carry on filming, to show the world these heartbreaking images. another child born into a war that

has now taken his life. nawal al maghaf, bbc news, yemen. america's secretary of state has acknowledged that the united states may not be able to win the war in afghanistan, in contrast to president trump's speech on monday. rex tillerson told reporters in washington the taliban couldn't win either and at some point there would have to be peace talks. he said pakistan could play an important role in bringing the taliban to the negotiating table, but would have to change its own long—standing policy. i think the president was clear: this entire effort is intended to put pressure on the taliban, to have the taliban understand, you will not win a battlefield victory. we may not win one, but neither will you. and so at some point, we have to get to the negotiating table and find some way to bring this to an end. we have witnessed terrorist organisations being given safehaven, inside of pakistan, to plan and carry out attacks on us

servicemen, us officials, disrupting peace efforts inside of afghanistan. pakistan must adopt a different approach. well, in his speech on tuesday, president trump declared there would be more onus on the afghan government to improve, both in civilian and military terms. but the government barely controls just over half the districts in the country, and the taliban are gaining ground. it's estimated 31 afghan security force soldiers are being killed every day, along with civilian deaths. from kabul, here's secundar kermani. this is the kabul military training centre, one of the largest of its kind in afghanistan. in a few months, many of the young men here will be on the front lines of the fight against the taliban. for the past two and a half years it's been afghan soldiers, as opposed to international forces, that have taken the lead

on the battlefield. there's no doubt that they've sacrificed a lot, thousands upon thousands have lost their lives. yet they've been unable to stop the level of violence in the country from rising. in the first half of this year alone, over 1600 civilians have been killed, whilst the government only controls just over half of the country. so the commitment by president trump not to allow afghanistan to fall to the taliban has been widely welcomed by authorities here. translation: the message is that the us will stand with the afghan people forever. and the tougher stance on pakistan was also well received. translation: our neighbour has been given a clear message — that he cannot shelter terrorists. explosion afghan security forces have long claimed that attacks like this one

are masterminded in neighbouring pakistan. that's always been flatly denied by authorities in the pakistani capital, islamabad, who point of the country's losses in their own war on terror. pakistan has suffered. it has suffered casualties, 30-40,000, and i think wounded is over 100,000, and we've lost manpower, and we are losing them on a daily basis. we have lost civilians, and they say we haven't done enough. i think this is grossly unfair. president trump today seemed to recognise there was no military solution to the conflict, and instead there would be some kind of settlement with the taliban. for the moment, though, many more young men like these will go out to fight, and many will never return. secundar kermani, bbc news, kabul. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.

the us navy says divers searching for ten american sailors missing since their warship collided with a merchant tanker near singapore have found human remains. they were in sealed compartments of the ussjohn 5 mccain, which was nearing port on monday when it collided with the tanker. copenhagen police say a headless and limbless corpse found in waters off denmark was deliberately mutilated, but can't say yet if it is the remains of swedish journalist kim vahl. she was last seen alive on august 10th, leaving on a trip with submarine inventor peter madsen, who's now been charged with negligent manslaughter. the venezuelan president is seeking an international arrest warrant for the former attorney general, who fled the country last week. nicolas maduro claims luisa 0rtega, who was once a government loyalist, was involved, with her husband, in serious crimes. the couple face court action in venezuela which they say is politically motivated. terror charges including murder have been filed against two

of the suspected islamists captured after last week's attacks in and around barcelona. one of the suspects told a closed court hearing in madrid that the jihadist cell had been planning a much larger assault targeting monuments. tom burridge reports from barcelona. in the wake of the deadliest terror attack in spain in years, four men moved from barcelona last night. one by one, they were led into a high—security prison outside madrid. the four men in court today are all linked in different ways to last week's attacks and a wider plot. mohamed houli chemlal, this morning taken to court in his hospital pyjamas. last wednesday, he was badly injured in an explosion in the town of alcanar. he admitted in court the group was planning a larger attack. he will remain in prison, and faces terrorism charges. driss 0ukabir‘s passport was found in the rented van which was driven with such deadly effect down

las ramblas the following day. he has also been imprisoned and charged. the man driving the van, younes abouyaaqoub, was shot dead by police yesterday in countryside outside barcelona. another suspect, salah el karib. he owned an internet cafe in ripoll and tonight remains in custody pending further enquiries. there have been police raids tonight in ripoll and elsewhere. and the fourth man in court, mohamed aalla. he denied being the owner of the audi a3 used in the attack in the coastal resort of cambrils on friday morning. today, he has been released without charge. it's now been confirmed that a speed camera clocked four of the attackers as they drove to paris in that very car a week before the attacks. police in catalonia say their investigation is far from over. in las ramblas, five days on, there is a palpable sense of defiance. spain is a country where much of life is lived outdoors, and no amount of terror will change that. but, of course, many lives have been cruelly touched forever.

brave british tourist, harry athwal, held a young boy after he had been hit by the van. i was afraid for the boy at that point. when i looked at his injuries, they were severe. i was actually quite emotional as well, because i knew straightaway this boy had to be seven or eight years old, and that's the same age as my son. and, like i said, due to the injuries, i was quite upset. but the first thing i tried to do was just to check his pulse to see if he was alive. his hairwas similar to my son's hair. it's a little bit shorter than my son's now, but it was brown, thick beautiful brown hair. and i stroked it as i kept trying to talk to him. as more facts are revealed about the perpetrators of this, questions hang in the air. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the curse of harry potter? in indonesia, the hugely popular

books have created a demand for wild owls as pets and created a real problem. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today, in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we're all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people, in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us,"

chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: more than seven million people are facing starvation in yemen's war. leaked documents from the un suggest both sides are violating international law. the american secretary of state has said the us may not win a military victory over the taliban in afghanistan, but he claims the taliban can't win either. rescuers in italy have freed three young brothers trapped under rubble by a deadly earthquake on the island of ischia. the last of the boys was pulled to safety more than 16 hours after the quake hit. at least two women died and 39 people were injured. greg dawson reports. the earthquake struck

late in the evening, with many people in their beds. rescuers survey the damage, three young boys are missing. pasquale, a seven—year—old, mattias, an eight—year—old and the eldest, 11. each of them buried under the rubble of what was their home. after several of digging, fire crews say they can hear the faint sound of crying. at aam, applause and relief as the youngest, pasquale, is brought out alive. his parents know a least one of their children is safe, but their and the rest of the town's attention focuses on the two others. they are trapped under a bed. they were pushed under as the building began to crumble. they have been using a broom and tapping fallen masonry to let rescue teams know where they are. after 1a hours, mattias is freed. with one more life to save, rescuers talked to try

and keep him awake. they promised to buy him pizza as soon as he is out. after hours of careful digging in the heat, he is dragged from the dark. all three brothers, alive and unharmed. nobody more relieved than their father. it was simply awful. i wanted to die. they were trapped and i was outside of the house. i would have died to save them. the family are among 2600 displaced while safety checks are carried out. the damage will take months to repair, but this community can share a sense of relief that the death toll was not higher. for the first time in 38 years, angolans will soon have a new president.

jose eduardo dos santos is the world's second longest serving president, but at 7a, is standing aside through ill health. angola has been suffering an economic crisis for two years after the slump in global oil prices. and many people have been feeling the pinch, as mayenijones, from focus on africa, has been finding out. almost goodbye as the president carries out one of his last appearances as head of state. there is an issue everyone is talking about, the economy. this candidate has vowed to tackle corruption. the leader of the main opposition party has promised to reduce unemployment and opened the economy to more foreign investment. what is considered one of africa's miracle growth stories, the angola dream has come to a crashing end.

90% of the country's exports come from oil, and it has been hit hard by the global drop in price. the effects on the economy can be seen in the rwandan skyline. we have come to rely on it in almost everything, in imports. we need to sell oil in order to get enough dollars to be able to sustain our imports. with the sharp decrease of oil prices, we need an increase in prices, the cost of living in angola is much more expensive. the reliance on imports means many businesses have run out of stock. it has led to job losses. one in four people is currently unemployed in the country. we are starting to fire some people, which, i think we were able to stop it, to sustain it as we are now. today, from 1500 workers, we are now 1017 workers nationwide. there were new divisions that were meant to start, they did start, but we need to close them down because there is not

enough currency to import goods to cover those divisions. the economic crisis has had an effect on businesses as well as individuals. people in one of the most popular markets here say that every month, the price of food keeps climbing. this is one of the most common foods here, cassava. a year ago, one piece cost 200 kwanzas, almost $1. now it costs 300 kwanzas, or almost $2. the angola population is growing. economists say whoever wins the election on wednesday will have to invest in people. this will be essential to maintaining social stability in future elections. in a new bbc documentary, princes william and harry have been

recalling the seven days between their mother's death and her funeral. they describe how they were left "numb and confused" by the first news of diana's death, and their gratitude for the seclusion of balmoral castle in scotland. of the decision to walk behind their mother's coffin on the day of the funeral, both say it was a collective, family decision. here's more of what they had to say. when you have something so traumatic as the death of your mother when you are 15, as, sadly, many people have experienced... ..nobody wants to experience it. it leaves you, it can either make or break you. and i wouldn't let it break me. i wanted it to make me. i wanted her to be proud of the person i would become. i didn't want her worried or her legacy to be about, you know, william and/or harry, that we were devastated by it. that all the hard work and love and energy that she put

into the world would go to waste. i think that one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car. umm, and william and i know that, we have been told that numerous times by people that know that was the case. she'd had quite a severe head injury, but she was still very much alive in the back seat. and those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying on the back seat. and then those photographs made their way back to news desks. the princes, harry and william, with some uncomfortable truths. and viewers in the uk can see diana: seven days, on sunday night at 7:30pm on bbc one. has the worldwide popularity of harry potter cursed indonesia's owls? the wide—eyed birds feature prominently of course in the books and films, and it appears that many

people now want them as pets. the number of wild owls sold in indonesia's notorious bird markets have risen dramatically in the past decade. this from our indonesia correspondent, rebecca henschke. yes, people say i look like harry potter, and now even more with my owl. he paid $100 for this owl. it was this owl that looked like harry potter's snowy white owl. my owl is the same colour as harry's. lots of owls are being sold in indonesia, it is easy to get one. the word for owl in indonesia is ghost bird. there is a growing number of people inspired by fiction to take a wild owls as pets. someone whose job is to go out

into the jungle and find them. he helps us find and catch them. we don't really know how they do it, we just get the owls. researchers say they are usually taken as babies from their nests and brought here to be sold in this huge bird market. it was very rare to find owls on sale here previously, but we quickly found this store. this owner rushed out the back to get this beautiful bird that he thought i might be interested in. it has a huge impact on the wild population of owls. they are very important in keeping the ecosystem in balance. by removing so many owls, to be sold on the bird markets, it is very concerning. there is only one type of owl

on the protected species list in indonesia. activists want that changed, to lift the harry potter curse. and just before we go if you're feeling peckish, this next story might be of interest to you. the world record for the largest samosa has been smashed in london. a dozen volunteers from a muslim aid charity cooked the giant snack in a custom—built fryer at a mosque in east london. the samosa weighed more than a 150 kilos. that's nearly 340 lbs. it was then cut up into portions and given to the homeless. hi there.

yesterday was a pretty humid day, wasn't it? we did have some sunshine coming through. the best in southwest england, temperatures climbing to 25 degrees in bute. it was not sunny everywhere, a couple of inches of rain in northern ireland, 15 millimetres in just four hours in county tyrone. rain not just heavy but also thundery. thunderstorms rumbling north—east across northern ireland through the night. to the start of friday, the band of rain has moved away from northern ireland and into scotland. a soggy start with some wet weather swinging into north—west england. mild and muggy to start for many of us, 16—17 degrees. wet weather still with us for a good part of the morning across scotland. for eastern areas, low cloud with fog patches around the coast and hills. an improving picture in northern ireland. cloud breaking to give some sunny spells. starting to see things a bit brighter nibbling in across south—west of wales and south—west england as well. time to see what happens

through the rest of wednesday. this area of cloud and rain is tied in with this weather front. slowly pushing eastwards across the country. ahead of that front, warm and muggy air across east anglia and south—east england. if the sunshine comes out through the cloud, it could become very warm. generally, the weather turning a bit fresher from the west as the day goes by. temperatures getting into the low 20s, perhaps even mid— 20s in the warmest areas in the west. further east, we could see highs of 27. to get that, we need some sunshine. 27 would be the hottest day of august so far. wednesday night, rain taking a while to clear from north—east scotland. through the night, showers from north—western areas. a fresh night, temperatures 13—14 fairly widely. the picture through thursday, a north—west, south—east split. a flat ridge of high pressure in the south, keeping weather largely dry

for southern areas on thursday. close to the low pressure in the north—west, seeing a number of showers affecting northern ireland, scotland and the north—west of england. at times, those showers could merge in northern ireland, becoming a long flow with the winds. could be lengthy in places. friday, chances of rain across the west of the uk. the driest and sunniest weather across southern and eastern areas. that's your forecast. the headlines: a bbc investigation has revealed the scale of suffering in yemen's war. around 17 million people are hungry and 7 million are starving. leaked documents from the united nations suggest both sides are violating international law, killing and maiming children and that the saudi—led coalition is blocking delivery of food and medicine.

the american secretary of state has played down president trump's assertions on monday that the united states will win the war in afghanistan. mr tillerson told reporters in washington that the us might not win a military victory over the taliban, but the militants couldn't win either. charges including murder have been filed against two of the suspected islamists captured after last week's attacks in and around barcelona. a third suspect is being held for a further 72 hours for questioning, while another has been released while investigations continue. now on bbc news, hardtalk.