area this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: social networking giant twitter announces a global ban on all political advertising — beginning next month. the us military publishes the first images of the raid in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. raging wildfires in california — but the ronald reagan presidential library is now said to be out of danger.

and washington win‘s baseball's world series. twitter has announced a global ban on all political advertising on its site. the social media company says — it wants to prevent potential problems with unchecked information and fake news. the policy comes in on 22 november, so it'll affect the uk general election and next year's us election. our media editor amol rajan has this assessment of how the fight for voters‘ attention is increasingly being waged online. recognise any of these? in the coming weeks, brace yourself for a further onslaught of adverts in your social media feed. elections used to be all about the ground war and air

war, leaflets through the letterbox or party political broadcasts. today there is a third front, the cyber war, and this digital blitzkrieg is the most complex and controversial of the lot. data from the electoral commission shows the proportion of campaign money going to digital advertising is growing fast. the issue isn't just political parties. it's anyone with a political message to sell. there's potential for a lot more money to be being spent here. we don't know necessarily who is spending this, what the content of this advertising is, and that's a really big problem for us in terms of working out if there needs to be regulation here. it's in response to these concerns that the boss of twitter announced there would be no more political advertising on twitter globally. but, despite what might seem like a significant shift, political ads on twitter have a fraction of the impact of those on facebook. in the 2017 election, uk political parties spent £3.2 million on facebook ads and just £56,500 on twitter ads. in any case, the vast majority of what cuts through on twitter is shared content, rather than paid—for ads. free speech is a pillar

of our democracy, but it only works if you and i know who is doing the talking. alas — when it comes to social media platforms, sometimes we don't. for instance, we often don't know who's ultimately paying for this marketing. it could be foreign or malign actors, who deploy social media precisely because regulation is so weak. and of course, amid all the clamour and propaganda online, it's those who engage our emotions rather than appeal to reason who find their messages cut through. digital campaigns have no beginning or end. they are constant, it's just the volume is turned up or down according to political need. in the coming weeks, the noise will be deafening. amol rajan, bbc news. daniel kreiss is associate professor at the hussman school ofjournalism and media in north carolina. he gave me his thoughts on twitter‘s announcement. i think it is an extreme move by twitter. ultimately i think there's going to be a lot of unintended consequences. and i think that they went the exact opposite of facebook, where facebook said they will allow everything, and twitter said we will allow nothing. and there is a middle ground here.

but let's be clear. this isn't a huge part of twitter‘s business, is it? so it is not a huge sacrifice. it's not, and it's not really a business concern. it seems driven more by their public profile as being a company that is seeking to improve democratic conversation. what do you think about this as far as facebook goes? this could be taken as a bit of a dig on facebook‘s approach. i mean, it could be. i think the tragedy here is that on one side, twitter is saying that no political ads, even by entirely legitimate political actors, will be permitted. and facebook takes the other extreme, and says we're going to allow everything. and nobody, ithink, addressing the real issues with targeted digital political advertising. so what are some of those issues? is it just the fact that people can say one thing to one audience and maybe something contradictory to a different audience, or is it that things can just

be fake and made up? that's exactly right. so the primary issue here is one with the data and targeting mechanism of politics, that allows politicians to very finely craft a message to a very narrow slice of the electorate. i think if facebook and twitter were to add more friction into their systems, to make it harder to only say things on a personalised basis to a very small group of people, then candidates would be forced to craft broader messages that reach more of the electorate, and by consequence they would be less extreme. i see. and i want to be clear, just for people watching, if they're just kind of tuning in now, we're not saying, twitter isn't saying, that politicians can't use twitter. it is not saying that people can't go in and use the site to publish their political point of view. so twitter will still be full of political messages, some of which will be true and some of which will be false. exactly, so this only applies to paid political content.

and i think this really matters because a lot of the candidates who engage in paid political content might be those who don't get a lot of free media, might be those who are challengers to important incumbents, so they find paid political advertising an important way to get their message out to a public that might be very fragmented and very inattentive. and that is why this really matters. so it only affects those paid advertising policies on twitter. the us military has published the first images of the raid in which the leader of the so—called islamic state abu bakr al baghdadi was killed. the footage depicts several fazes of the us special forces operation, culminating in the destruction of baghdadi's compound. the pentagon also warned the jihadist group may attempt a ‘retribution attack‘ in the wake of their leaders death. chris buckler reports. in the first images released of the

raid, you can see us special forces making way into the building where abu bakr al—baghdadi was hiding.- they flew into the area, the american troops were shot at by militants. we are not showing the next portion of this video but in it, they strike back, killing many of those on the ground. baghdadi was the leader of the islamic state group in the united states have been searching for him for years. in a graphic description of his last moments, president trump claimed he was crying and whimpering. the pentagon could not confirm that but they do say he tried to escape through an underground tunnel. now about baghdadi‘s last moments, i can tell you this. he crawled into a small hole with two small children and blew himself up while his people stayed on the ground. you can determine what kind of person he was after that, that is my empirical observation but i can‘t confirm anything else about his last seconds. us soldiers gathered documents and applicable ——

electronic equip it on the compound before it was bombed. it was com pletely levelled before it was bombed. it was completely levelled to ensure it didn‘t become something like a shrine. this was a dangerous mission and baghdadi wasn‘t alone in the building. two people were taken into custody here in five others were killed, including for women. the other people that were engaged on the objective were behaving in a threatening manner with suicide vests approaching the raid forces, that gives you some decision when they don‘t respond to arabic language to stop, warning shots and progression of escalation which our operators are so progression of escalation which our operators are so very good it. us military leaders say its as an organisation has been badly damaged by the raid they are concerned about the possibility of retaliatory attacks. baghdadi may be dead and his hideaway destroyed but the ideology of haiti helped inspire remains a threat. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. firefighters are continuing to battle raging wildfires in california, as powerful

winds threaten to make the situation worse. a new blaze in southern california threatened to engulf the ronald reagan presidential library but officials now say the building was out of danger. meanwhile thousands of residents have been evacuated, as the wildfires continue to threaten homes and lives. the bbc‘s sophie long has more. another day, another fire. california continues to burn, as the hot, dry weather delivers the fires forecasters feared it would. this time, the strong santa ana winds whipped flames through the simi valley. among the buildings evacuated is the ronald reagan presidential library, home to millions of historical documents, and the resting place of the former president and first lady.

they‘re calling this the easy fire. putting it out is proving anything but. we‘re just on the hill by the presidential library, where there is a massive effort to get this blaze under control. they‘re fighting it from the air and from the ground, but the wind is blowing very strongly. and it‘s the wind that is their greatest enemy. it is ferocious here, with gusts of up to 70mph. it‘s propelled the fire through more than 1,000 acres in just a few hours. the winds down south are going to be very serious. it‘s a very serious fire danger situation developing across southern california, and i am concerned for southern californians down there. this is just one of many fires burning across california, where a state of emergency has been in place since sunday. they are dangerous and they are disruptive. hundreds of thousands of homes have been evacuated, and many more are without power. roads are closed, so too are the schools and businesses. and the hot, dry conditions are expected to continue to combine with the strong santa ana winds

for another 2a hours at least. sophie long, bbc news, simi valley. the second earthquake struck the philippine island of mindanao. us geological survey says there is no threat of a tsunami. philippine officials have warned that the death toll may climb. an enquiry into the file —— into the fire at the g re nfell tower file —— into the fire at the grenfell tower buyer is issued a damning report. 72 people died in the fire injune 2017. the report concluded more lives could have been saved if the building had been evacuated sooner — and found "systemic failures"

in the london fire brigade response. the us federal reserve has cut interest rates for a third time this year. policy makers are trying to keep the economy on track, in the face of ongoing trade wars and possible head winds from brexit. fed chairjerome powell suggested he does not expect the bank to change rates again unless economic conditions worsen unexpectedly. there‘ve been violent clashes at anti—government demonstrations in iraq, leaving several people dead. it‘s being seen as an escalation in a series of protests against the country‘s current political system. rich preston has this report. a strict curfew did not deter these crowds. baghdad‘s tahrir square, also known as liberation square, where thousands gathered for a sixth day, unhappy with the economy, corruption and the political system. in the middle, a memorial to the more than 200 reported killed

in demonstrations since the start of the month, thousands more wounded. these latest clashes near the green zone, home to foreign embassies and government buildings, governments many here point the finger at. translation: iraqis refuse the political blocs in the green zone. they have failed for 17 years to build a national project that serves the iraqi people, but they succeeded in stealing the money of the poor and the iraqi people. 0n the sidelines, volunteer medics come to treat the injured. translation: we are coming every day, all day, to tahrir square to treat the injured protesters. translation: we have formed medical groups in this camp. we gathered in this tent to treat the protesters affected by teargas. there are lots of people coming together to donate different types of medicine. they are coming to us daily, asking about their needs for medicine. these protesters don‘tjust want those in charge to resign. they want the entire political structure reformed. it is unlikely the protesters

will get their way, but for now, they say they are watching, waiting, and not going anywhere. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: unveiling the graveyard of the future. the underground resting place for the dead ofjerusalem. indira gandhi, ruler of the world‘s largest democracy, died today. 0nly yesterday she‘d spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. every drop of my blood would contribute to the growth of this nation". after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty

of what each day might bring. mission control: booster ignition and lift—off of discovery, with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: social networking giant twitter announces a global ban on all political advertising — beginning next month.

the us military publishes the first images of the raid more now on the wildfires in california. a little earlier we spoke with los angeles resident troy pade who was forced to evacuate his family and is now taking refuge in malibu by the coast. probably the most frightening experience of my life. i was awoken to the sound of helicopters running very low, startled out of bed and i immediately looked on social media to see if anything was going on and a resident, neighbour, posted they smelt smoke coming through the bedroom window so i immediately looked out the living room window and saw smoke on the horizon. i drove down the road to how close it was and i was barely ten houses down the street when i saw the glowing smoke coming over the ridge, and i immediately turned around and started alerting my neighbours and my husband that fire was imminent. we actually had a head start on our evac because of the noise.

so we were about 15 minutes before the texts started coming through from the city letting us know there was imminent danger. wow! so you got out and escaped, so now it‘s a waiting game? you don‘t know what your house is going to be like and if and when you go back? yeah, the aerial shots that we have been able to ascertain off—line... 0r online, we noticed our canyon was spared. unfortunately the canyon adjacent to ours, kempner, the fire did come through. you‘ve heard about tiger tale road, that sits atop one of the adjacent canyons. we were about two miles from where the fire was put out, but still too close. absolutely. to sport and and the biggest event

in the baseball calender. the washington nationals havejust secured their first ever world series win with victory against the houston astros. the nationals won the final winner—takes—all decider of the seven game series 6—2, at the houston minute maid stadium. joining me now for the latest is the bbc‘s tulsen tollett who is in houston. quite the result. it was a remarkable performance. in this series, all seven games have been w011 series, all seven games have been won by the visiting team. 6—2 this evening for the washing nationals. they began a series winning their first two games. when they return to washington they lost the three there and you thought it would be the astros who won in 2017, that they would make it two in three years. no—one gave that script to the nationals. this game, 2—0 down early

on when they picked up three runs. and kendrick, the designated hitter, he also got a homerun which put his tea m he also got a homerun which put his team ahead. was a little unfortunate on zach binky, the opening picture —— picture. the first time ever the washington nationals have won. the last time washington won in world series was in 192a when they were the washington senators. series was in 192a when they were the washington senatorslj series was in 192a when they were the washington senators. i saw you earlier being mobbed by fans. what is the reaction there?” earlier being mobbed by fans. what is the reaction there? i am a man of the people. the reaction is incredible. we spoke to a few supporters who said that they were booking flights at 1am last night and five in the morning this morning to come down here on two flights to secure tickets. they said it was cheaper to get tickets here than in washington. i can also tell you that

30,000 people at the nationals park where there for a watch party. that is what they do. they have watch parties. they sit there and they watch their team and just behind me, i don‘t know if you can see, this is where the celebrations are taking place they had the trophy lifted a moment or two ago. the player of the series, the mvp was stephen strasberg. he pitched in game six yesterday and in game two. he went up yesterday and in game two. he went up against one of the games greats and defeated him in the second game in the sixth game and was a serious saviour. 11120 series, best—of—7. this is the only one where at least six ln seven games went to the visiting teams. if it ever happens again, ithink visiting teams. if it ever happens again, i think it will be after my time. we will let you get back to the celebration. thank you.

south africa has imposed emergency measures and is declaring several regions disaster areas, in response to the worst drought in living memory. some areas have gone without substantial rainfall for up to 5 years. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports from one small town graaf—reinet which lies at the heart of the crisis. in a lonely corner of south africa, a small town is starting to wonder if it has a future. no water. it hasn‘t rained here, not properly, for five years now. and the local dam is — well, ask the fish. there have been droughts here before, but none this ruthless. the suffering is stark. a gift of hay may save these cattle, but it comes too late for half the herd. i‘ve lost nine cattle,

not — only myself. nine dead? nine dead. from starvation? from starvation, from drought. this vast region depends on farming. not much left here, and this is from the five years of drought. but even the biggest farms are being pushed towards the brink. if this drought persists for another two years, i don‘t think there are going to be many people left here. in town, a local charity hands out bottled water, but it‘s hardly a long—term solution. who do you blame? who? who else but the government? you think they should have planned for this? they should have made a plan. they knew this was going to happen. the local authorities say they have tried.

they have dug wells, enough to keep some water flowing some of the time, but this has been a wake—up call. i was very sceptical about it, almost saying it‘ll never happen to us, but it‘s happened, it really happened. and what we‘re seeing now is part of climate change. and people are just going to have to — even countries where they have lots of water, they have got to start realising the situation is changing drastically. the reason why what‘s happening here today matters to all of us is because this region is currently warming up at about twice the global average — two degrees already, perhaps five or six degrees within a matter of decades. which means that what we‘re seeing here today is, if you like, a glimpse into the future. and it‘s not looking promising. the lessons from here are urgent and familiar — plan earlier, adapt faster. andrew harding, bbc news,

in graaff—reinet, south africa. a huge new underground burial site has been officially opened injerusalem. the cemetery took several years to build and was dug inside a mountain. it will eventually house the remains of more than 20,000 people as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. injerusalem, space can be an issue, for both the living and the dead. this is said to be the first of its kind, a modern solution to a timeless problem. a giant underground complex providing a final resting place for the people of this city. translation: nowadays, there are no burial caves anymore. making this cemetery is really innovative. we don‘t want to waste living territory above ground. this is constructed for eternity. this will never change and will remain a burial place.

a burial place and an engineering marvel. they excavated tons of rock, creating more than a mile of tunnels 50m underground. above, an existing cemetery, but one that had become increasingly full. this is seen as a sustainable and ultimately sensitive solution. translation: all that you see now was built in a bit less than three years. there was a mountain here before. you‘re standing inside a rock. we think this is an environmental solution, but it also incorporates tradition, and therefore fits many places in israel. the first 8,000 graves are expected to be available for burial in the coming months. the rest of the site will be occupied in the next two years. as graveyards go, this is something new and something impressive — eternal rest beneath the feet of the city.

tim allman, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i‘m @lvaughanjones. hello. south—western reaches of the uk have had relentless rain in the last couple of days — cornwall, the channel islands and devon. this was the scene sent in from one of our weather watchers from paignton yesterday. fairly solid, grey cloud and outbreaks of rain on and off throughout the day. still wet weather around here at the moment, but the low pressure centre responsible is going to be pulling away to the south of the uk as the day pans out. so we‘ll see things becoming drier, not necessarily brighter, and then we await our next weather system, this time coming from the atlantic, that will bring rain to all areas for friday. for today, though, a lot of dry weather to be had. the best of the sunshine to the north and east. the rain clearing from the south—west. quite a bit of cloud hanging back, though, across southern wales and the midlands, and the cloud thickening in the west later

in the day as that next system approaches. another breezy day, particularly around western coasts. temperatures — well, we could get up to 1a in plymouth with a bit of brightness and some drier weather. we‘re typically looking at around 9—10 as we cast our eye further north towards scotland. if you are heading out this evening to trick—or—treat, well, central and eastern areas faring pretty well, with a dry story, just one of increasing cloud. further west, patchy rain to start with but turning heavier and more persistent as we get towards midnight. that, of course, is because our next weather system is starting to work its way in. this low pressure centre is going to stay with us notjust on friday but on to the weekend, swirling bands of rain our way. it is, though, also going to bring some much milder airfrom quite a way south in the atlantic our way on a south—westerly wind,

so the temperatures will start to go up even though the rain is coming down. some quite heavy rain at times on friday, tending at first to come in showery bursts, then perhaps some more persistent rain running into the south later on in the day. there will be some brightness in between the showers, and with that sunshine, we could push temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees across eastern england. we‘re still talking about nine or ten at this stage in scotland. friday into saturday, here‘s our low pressure system with us. some question as to exactly how this picture will evolve. if it goes like this, and we get this deep squeeze to the south of the low running to the south of the uk on saturday, it could be a very windy day, particularly for south coastal regions of the uk. either way, it looks like a pretty windy story really for many of us on the weekend, and outbreaks of rain on and off for both saturday and sunday too. the temperatures slide down a little as well.

this is bbc news, the headlines: social networking site twitter says it‘s decided to stop carrying all political advertising from next month. in a series of tweets, its founder and chief executive jack dorsey said the reach of a political message should be earned by gaining followers, rather than being bought. the us military has published the first images of the raid in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. the video shows troops targeting militants on the ground as they flew towards the compound where abu bakr al—baghdadi was hiding — before they moved in. firefighters in the suburbs of los angeles are battling a new wildfire that erupted early on wednesday. the blaze in california‘s simi valley tripled in size in around two hours and almost engulfed the ronald reagan presidential library. its director said the building was out of danger.