this is bbc news. i'm ben bland. our top stories... the united states releases what it says is video evidence of iran's involvement in thursday's attack on two tankers in the gulf of oman. iran denies the claims. the world health organization has stopped short of declaring an international public health emergency over the ebola outbreak in eastern congo. days of heavy rain across southern china leave dozens dead — with tens of thousands forced from their homes the pope's message to big business on climate change, he tells executives urgent action is needed to limit global warming. translation: we have failed to listen to the scientific analysis and doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain.

and... it's paradise for a paleontologist — we go fossil hunting in search of the mysterious and monstrous megalodon. hello and welcome to bbc news. president trump says he's convinced iran did carry out thursday's attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman. that view is supported by the uk government. earlier, the us military released a video which it said showed iranian special forces removing an unexploded mine from one of the stricken ships. tehran has strongly denied any involvement in the attacks. here's our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. this morning, a first oil tanker is set ablaze, ignited by an explosion.

crew members on this norwegian vessel were rescued by a passing cargo ship. these scenes filmed by iran possibly may be. an later come in other tanker, japanese own, also hit by an explosion. it is still not clear what caused these latest attacks and one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes. today in washington, unequivocal condemnation of iran. these unprovoked attacks prevent a clear threat to international peace and security, a blade and so on the freedom of navigation and unacceptable campaign of escalating tensions bite he ran. the attacks took place close to the strategic strait of vital to world trade. where tensions had been nothing for months. between regional rivals. on one side, there are arab states, including key us allies in the go. on the other side, iran. at its narrowest point, the strait of

hormuz issues at 21 miles wide, and there are two lanes for tankers to pass us up in opposite directions. inafit pass us up in opposite directions. in a fit of the world possible oil exports, 19 million barrels a day almost, passes through. so a on tankers can threaten oil supplies, driver prices, and feel detentions and many worry could tumble towards war. this was meant to be a week of diplomacy. jim mann's prime minister is into rand, hoping to help ease tensions. only to see them escalate. —— japan's prime there. he tensions. only to see them escalate. ——japan‘s prime there. he met tensions. only to see them escalate. —— japan's prime there. he met the top leader in iran today. i ran because the timing of these attacks suspicious and rejects any responsibility. he ran is also blamed for this. in attack yesterday on airport in saudi arabia, 26 injured. humans rebels aligned to make it to say this was their work. two weeks ago, the king called arab

members really make arab leaders to mecca. —— yemen rebels aligned with the iran. they told me then they didn't want to wear but some sources spoke of a response. what is next? last month the us moved an aircraft carrier and bombers to the go. president trump says he want to talk to iran. they will not. not while he imposes crippling economic sanctions. everybody says they don't wa nt sanctions. everybody says they don't want a war. but everybody is on edge. our correspondent mark lowen is at a port in the united arab emirates on the gulf of oman with more. tension was already very high after four tankers were attacked were attacked here last month. it is easing slightly since then but it is ramping back up with the attack on these two tankers yesterday. one of the two tankers, the japanese owned one, is currently being towed here to be

assessed when it reaches the port. but even before that assessment, these barbs and accusations are flying between the two sides. all of this has exposed very clearly is the deep chasm and divisions in this region on the one side, you have the uae and saudi arabia backed up by the us. on the other, you have iran, backed up by russia and turkey. and, quite literally in the middle is the worlds oil industry. about a fith of the world's crude oil passes through these waters. today, the world's largest ship owners association warned that tension in this region is now as high as he gets without being an actual armed conflict. the world health organization has described the ebola crisis in the democratic republic of congo as "very much an emergency," but stopped short of labelling it a global threat. since august, more than 1,400 people have died in the drc, and this week cases have been detected across the border in uganda. the who said it was working with neighbouring countries to prepare for possible outbreaks.

our correspondent anne soy is on ugandan side of the border and sent this update from kasese. the people i have spoken to here today say they are very confident that uganda can control an outbreak of ebola. they went through a major test this week after the arrival of six family members from the democratic republic of congo. three of them had ebola. and they did not come in through an official border post, they came in through a back road. but somehow, they were detected, one of the children was very ill and they went to hospital, i have been to the hospital today. the health workers there were ready. they have been training for this for months. they quickly identified the symptoms of ebola and refer the family to an ebola treatment unit, which had been set up months in advance. uganda had close to 5000 health workers in anticipation of a

situation like this. however, the problem really is across the border in the democratic republic of congo, an area that has seen decades of conflict, and the community has been very hostile to the workers. they are saying they still need more international support to bring the ebola outbreak under control. let's get some of the day's other news. protests are taking place across brazil as part of a general strike against pension reform plans. striking public workers have created roadblocks in several major cities, while some public transport has been shut down. it's the first major strike since the far—right president jair bolsanaro took office in january. chilean search and rescue teams are trying to save three miners trapped below ground in the north of the country. firefighters say they know the three men are alive beacuse they communicate by tapping on boxes. local media say a giant rock has blocked the entrance to the mine a britishjudge has ruled that

julian assange will face a five—day us extradition hearing in february next year. the wikileaks founder is wanted in the united states on charges of publishing government secrets. mr assange spent seven years inside the ecuadorian embassy in london before being handed over to british authorities by ecuador in april. days of heavy rain and flooding in central and southern parts of china have killing dozens of people. thousands more have been rescued, with many more evacuated from their homes. catherine karelli has this report. this is the extraordinary moment when a landslide hit a road in the china southeastern province. rescue ci’ews china southeastern province. rescue crews managed to free a man who was trapped underneath, but he died on the way to hospital. they sever the list torrential rain have caused deadly floods, landslides and mudslides across the country. —— days of endless. over 60 people have died. more than 4000 people have

been rescued from floodwaters. over 20 promises have been affected. with the southeast hit particularly badly. nearly 9000 homes are thought to have been destroyed by the heavy rain. millions of hectares of farmland had been damaged by the rain. in some cases, crop fields have been completely submerged underwater. the direct economic loss is estimated to be nearly 3 billion us dollars. during the summer, china routinely suffered from floods in the south. but the countries meteorological association said that rainfall into of the affected provinces has at record high for june. meanwhile a bridge has collapsed in china's south—east, causing two cars to fall into the water. the incident happened in heyuan city which is part of guangdong province. the drivers of the two cars are still missing after the middle part of the bridge gave way early on friday morning. the 420 metre long bridge

was built in 1972. chinese state media says an investigation has begun. pope francis has told energy executives urgent action is needed to stem global warming. at the end of a two day meeting in vatican city, the pope criticised climate change deniers, and told oil companies they risked committing a brutal act of injustice on future generations. roger harrabin has more. an invitation to meet the pope at the vatican is a tough one to reject, even if you are about to be rebuked. the executives were castigated for continuing to seek even more fossilfuels when we've found much more than we can afford burn while keeping a stable climate. translation: today's ecological crisis, and especially climate change, threatens the very future of this human family, and this is not an exaggeration. for too long we have collectively failed to listen to the

fruits of scientific analysis, and doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. discussion of climate change and energy transition must be rooted the best scientific research available today. representatives of almost all the world's great oil firms were there for addressing down. translation: it is not right that our children and our grandchildren pay the cost of our irresponsibility. among the ceos was the head of bp. he appreciated the pope for creating space for this unique dialogue, he said. but he insisted that all sections of society must help tackle this urgent problem. but the pressure was on. translation: we do not have the luxury of waiting for others to step forward. or of prioritising short—term economic benefits. the climate crisis requires action from us here and now, and the church is fully committed to doing its part. the pope posed afterwards

with oil executives. can his moral power succeed where politics has failed? roger harrabin, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... earth's distant past on display — a new fossil hall at the smithsonian national museum of natural history takes visitors into deep time. there was a bomb in the city centre. a codeword know to be used by the ra was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect and when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population in the registration act. which for 40 years forcibly classify each citizen according to race. germany's parliament has voted by a narrow

majority to move the city government from bonn to berlin, berlin and celebrated into the night but the decision was greeted with shock. just a day old and the royal baby is tonight's sleeping in his car at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to the apartment in kensington palace. the realfocus of attention today it was valentina, the world first woman to go into space. what do you think of the russian woman in space? a wonderful achievement. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. president trump says he's convinced that iran carried out thursday's attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman. staying with that now: kamran bokhari — an intelligence analyst and middle east specialist—told me why the us believes the video proves iran's involvement in attacks.

i think confidence over the level of confidence is that for debate, but i think the united states government releasing this video does show that it is the islamic revolutionary guards engaged in the kind of activity that washington is claiming. obviously, it is grainy, and there are conflicting claims about whether it was a torpedo or a mind, but even the japanese owner of the tanker has said that his ship was swarmed by irani in small boats. if it was the iranian revolutionary guard, the elite corps, wouldn't they do it any more discrete way? yes. but this is part of the game. pa rt yes. but this is part of the game. part of the risk being involved. they know us satellites us drones

are monitoring and patrolling in the united states as the capability to monitor electronically, so obviously they would like to do it in a way that they don't get caught. but this is not an exact science. this is a hit and miss kind of thing. but sometimes you get away with it and nobody detection sometimes you do show up on the radar. —— nobody detection. if it turns out to be the case, iran still denies it was behind it, it if it was them, but what is most to be for stirring up this kind of instability in volatility in the region? —— what we re volatility in the region? —— what were their motives be? iran especially while because of the trump administration policies a maximum pressure and therefore, it does not want it though in the towel and negotiate on the terms being set by the chump white house. it was to negotiate but it will from a relatively strength and therefore it

is expected to counter us moves. —— trump's white house mussed up the iranians are basically saying to the us that if you apply maximum pressure on us, there is a cost and we can disrupt shipping. classics technically with the negotiations in the background. —— survivors of the grenfell tower fire in west london have been marking two years since the disaster. relatives and friends of those who died have also been at the events. 72 people were killed when a fire in a flat at the tower block spread rapidly, engulfing the building. lucy manning reports. in the shadow of grenfell, a community that fire ripped apart came together. tonight, grenfell marched silently.

appropriately, given they feel no one has been listening. the day had started as it finished, with remembrance. # ijust lift my head up to the sky # and say help me to be strong # ijust can't give up now #. zainab choucair. mierna choucair. 72 names. many whole families. bassem choucair. # i've come so far from where i started from.# the pain hasn't subsided, it'sjust lasted for longer and the sense of injustice has grown. we don't want to wait for justice, i don't know, certain years,

so it's still not possible we get the justice. two years on, no one held responsible, no one charged, no outcome to the delayed public inquiry. marcio gomes and his pregnant wife escaped that night but his son, the youngest of the 72 victims, killed two months before he was due to be born. lots of emotions. crying, anger, love, forgiveness, everything. and two years on has enough changed? no, no, not nearly enough. a lot more needs to be done. people need to feel safe at home. the grenfell families were promised everyone would be rehoused within three weeks. two years on, and 17 households still haven't found permanent homes. the country was promised every high—rise building would be made safe. two years on, 328 buildings are still with unsafe cladding, with tens of thousands of people still living in them.

the families feel that not enough has been done two years on, many people are still living in unsafe buildings. what's your response? well, today is very much a day for reflection and all of those who've lost their lives, and i very much recognise the calls for more action and that's what i think does need to happen. so i'm proud to be supporting this cookbook. survivor munira mahmud has raised money with a grenfell cookbook, but can't find peace. it's two years on and no one has been charged yet. they are walking freely, sleeping nicely, you know, and we are in a nightmare, the families, we lost families, we lost friends, we lost neighbours. they are dignified, they have refused to give up, but are still waiting. lucy manning, bbc news. protesters in hong kong say

they will go out on the streets again this weekend if the government refuses to withdraw a controversial extradition bill. if it became law, it would allow people in the territory to be sent to china for trial. hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated last weekend — and there were clashes with riot police on wednesday in the worst unrest there for decades. our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been talking to some of the protesters. crowd chants. "withdraw the bill, withdraw the bill." it is the chant that has echoed across hong kong this week. "evil police" is another. this level of hostility is something new for hong kong. the activists are younger, more determined, and more prepared to use violence than their predecessors. this young man is one of them. he's asked us to hide his identity. we have already know that if we just sat there doing nothing the government will not listen to us.

even i feel that1 million people protest, the government still does nothing, that is the thing, so we believe that we need to use more violent or aggressive ways so that the government will listen to us. these tactics may be working. one senior government adviser today told me he still supports the bill, but the violence means it's time for compromise. we maintain a different system and we have a different and independentjudiciary to deal with these things, and this bill will not enable the things which happen in china happen in hong kong. so if it isn't an issue, a legal issue, it is then a political issue, and this is about political discontent? that's exactly the point, so if we were to push ahead the voting on the bill as we already originally planned, i fear there would be more street violence. it's a long way from the day in 1997 when hong kong was handed back

to china by britain. then, many here felt a surge of patriotic pride. 68—year—old ivy has copies of every hong kong newspaper published that day. but 22 years later she no longer looks at them with any sense of pride. translation: i'm chinese, but i'm not communist. we have become a chinese colony. that makes me very sad. we thought when we went back to china we'd be happy, but now we are more and more unhappy. some of these young people are now calling for hong kong independence. it is a naive fantasy, but it shows how far beijing has gone in losing the hearts and minds of its hong kong citizens. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in hong kong. where can you meet a t—rex, a freeze—dried bison and the earliest forms of life on earth?

the answer of course is the fossil hall at the national museum of natural history in washington. it's just opened after a five—year face lift — and the exhibits take visitors back to our distant past. jane o'brienjoined the museum's director on a fossil hunt in maryland. this cliff is a agency bed. you can see layers above of their 10 million yea rs see layers above of their 10 million years ago, this part of the chesapeake bay was under the ocean. this was a fossil is just sitting there for a period the limit for a palaeontologist, this is as close to against for paradise. but we are not interested in seashells. kirk and i looking for evidence of the mega ladonna. this is what we are looking for. this animal had a massive bite force. —— megalodon. the eight wales. using information gleaned from fossils, scientists have created a life—size model of what

they think the megalodon to look like. in the millions of years ago, and probably swam right here when the site of the national museum of natural history in washington was pa rt natural history in washington was part of the sea bed. it is return is a bit ofa part of the sea bed. it is return is a bit of a homecoming. and there are other monsters waiting to be discovered in the museum new fossil hall. the exhibits tell the story of our planet, from the first signs of life through mass extinctions come to the rise and fall of the dinosaurs. and our own age of humans. just 28,000 years old, this extinct species of bison is one of the youngest fossils in the collection. it doesn't look like the other specimens because it is freeze—dried. other specimens because it is freeze-dried. we are lucky to have specimen with such complete structure to it, almost all areas of the body represent and accounted for. including some of the original horn material, the skin and muscle tissues and some of the first as

well. and like all fossils, it tell scientists a lot about the environment it lived in and the impact of climate change. they were gradual changes. life essentially had time to make adjustments to front that what we are seeing in the modern period of climate change is that this climate change is happening quickly, but the geological record offers is the best evidence to how life will be able to adapt or not. that is a story still unfolding on the chesapeake. check this out. you have one. a little tiny one. in a lot of different sharks here. notjust the big ones. just for comparison. i rather meet that than that. probably some little five foot long strike, no big deal. is that the same age? same age, same sea come in different sharks. the megalodon will never return to these waters, but is climate change causes sea levels to rise again, who knows what else and maybe one day emerge from the deep.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ benmbland. hello. the weekend is not looking as wet as it has been but there will still be some rain or showers around at times because low—pressure is still close by towards the northwest of the british isles and around that spiralling with some disturbances bringing bands of showers our way. it will be a fairly breezy and not especially warm weekend but a bit warmer than it has been for some. in northern ireland with rain towards western scotland and through parts of wales and western england.

this first disturbance moves east during the day and the showers will become more patchy as that happens but still the chance as it moves further east in catching one or two heavier ones. ahead, some sunny spells and maybe a shower and behind it some showers developing. breezy with 20 celsius in the warmest parts of eastern england but most will fall a few degrees sure of that. as we go through saturday evening, another disturbance bringing in some more showers and this time it looks like southwest england and wales. clear spells elsewhere and maybe the odd shower around northwestern parts of scotland as we go deeper into the night. chilly spots dipping down to a close to mid—cycle figures. that takes us onto part two of the weekend with another look at the big picture. deja vu, low—pressure still close by and no hurry to move away as we get these weather disturbances moving in from the west. the first of them with a few showers across northern england and especially the northwest into southwest scotland and pushing for the north across scotland and seem more developing with heavy downpours towards northern ireland and maybe into wales and the southwest as well.

a chance for a shower elsewhere but also some sunny spells around and anything sunday looks a bit breezy her. and anything sunday looks a bit breezier. still close to 20 across parts of eastern england and most of us around the mid to upper teens. take a look into monday, again showers around with heavy ones in scotland that may be thundery in a band of cloud and maybe the odd spot of rain trying to edge further east into east anglia and the southeast. if anything, it will be a few degrees warmer. the story of next week it is where things terminally drive for a time on tuesday and a bit warmer but then wetter again from midweek and then of the week, a few showers around and things will turn a bit cooler.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

iran has denied any involvement in attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman on thursday. the us has released a video which it says proves iran's involvement. the uk has said its own assessments have concluded that iran was to blame. the world health organisation says the ebola outbreak in eastern congo is not an international public health emergency. more than 2,000 people have contracted the disease since august last year. days of heavy rain and flooding in central and southern parts of china have killing dozens of people. thousands more have been rescued, with many more evacuated from their homes. events marking the second anniversary of the grenfell tower block fire have been taking place in west london. 72 people were killed when a fire in a flat spread rapidly,