this is bbc news. i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. three years after he was sent to prison for sexual assault, the american entertainer bill cosby has his conviction overturned. dozens of canadians die in north america's heatwave, president biden says the climate threat is now critical. these are live pictures in beijing. the 100th anniversary of the ruling communist party in china is celebrated. and we look at the legacy of former us defense secretary

donald rumsfeld who has has died at the age 88. the american entertainer, bill cosby, has had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by the supreme court of pennsylvania. mr cosby, who's 83, has served more than two years of his sentence at a state prison near philadelphia. he had originally been found guilty of drugging and molesting a woman in 200a. but dozens of other women had also publicly accused him of sexual assault, but no further action was taken against him. michelle fleury reports from philadelphia. this is the moment bill cosby left present a free man. he had

served two years of a 3—10 year sentence. his fall from grace was sealed in 2018 after he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault for drugging and molesting andrea constand in 2004. in molesting andrea constand in 200a. in a stunning reversal, pennsylvania's highest court said the entertainer should never have been charged. in a split ruling, judges found that it should not have gone ahead because of an immunity deal he had struck with a previous prosecutor. he cannot be retried. his heart was racing. he couldn't believe it. he says they were knocking on their walls. he was saying, look, you are free, get up! get up! he was like, whatare are free, get up! get up! he was like, what are these guys talking about?

bill cosby became known as america's dad for his role as cliff huxtable in the 1980s hit sitcom the cosby show. his conviction was seen as proof that even when the accused is one of the most famous people in the world, the voices of the victims of sexual assault could be heard in the usjustice system. now, he has a chance to restore his reputation. michelle fleury, bbc news, pennsylvania. 0ne one of bill cosby�*s lawyers has told us that it was about due process. it was a strong contention he never should have been prosecuted as a result of an agreement he made with prosecutors, an agreement on which he relied when he waved his fifth amendment right to remain silent and sat for four daysin remain silent and sat for four days in the deposition, a deposition that the prosecution ultimately used against him. there were significant

constitutional implications of those decisions, and this case really is about prosecutorial misconduct. we can now speak to michelle thomas, a divorce and trial lawyer. shejoins us thomas, a divorce and trial lawyer. she joins us from washington. good to have you with us. what do you make of this decision by the court? it was definitely unexpected. i don't think any of us expected mr cosby to walk free to go, by the supreme court had to balance his constitutional rights, and the fact that mr cosby waved his fifth amendment constitutional right against self—incrimination, with the belief and expectation of that criminal charges would not be brought against him. and that is what the supreme court focused on, the fact that this case should never have been brought in the first place because of the deal that he entered into with the initial prosecutor, and it was inherently unfair, which is what the court focused on it — fairness. forthe what the court focused on it — fairness. for the second prosecutor in a fit 2015 to bring these charges back and to

unseal the deposition transcript, and that is the crux of this issue. how unusual is this? this is getting a lot of attention obviously because of the profile that bill cosby has, but is this unusual for a court to do something like this? it is not unusual for a to do something like this? it is not unusualfor a supreme court to focus in on the constitutional issues and whether they have been violated. in our case like this, mr cosby�*s decision to waive his fifth amendment right against self—incrimination, and then have the on the basis on which he waved it overturned and used against him for criminal charges, that is unusual i believe. i don't think that is very common. so, the supreme court had to do exactly what it did, which was balance the fact that there are certainly alleged victims in this case, and did not reach the point of necessarily completely vindicating or addressing the actual allegations, but it focused on the constitution, and that is

what has to happen in a case like this. when a right has been violated, that is what you expect the court to do. what happens around the issues, the substantive issues in the case itself? is this the end of the legal line? is this case closed, matter over? here is the thing, certainly the prosecution, they could file motions to reconsider. they could try to re— appeal the case. but, given that the supreme court of pennsylvania issued a 97— page opinion that was well thought out, well articulated, the odds of the prosecution filing some sort of motion to reconsider and prevailing on it is probably ready low, so the expectation that they are going to do that is probably pretty unlikely, so with respect to this particular case, this is probably the end

of the road for the prosecution. but, that remains to be seen. as of right now, it would appear that this is the end of the road and mr crosby is a free man at this time. 0k, michelle thomasjoining us from washington. many thanks indeed. thank you for having me. china's communist party is marking the 100th anniversary. events are taking place in tiananmen square, president xi jinping is expected to give a keynote address. let us show you some of the live pictures from beijing. as you can see, there is a display of the country's military might, something that has developed significantly under the president xijinping. the chinese communist party was founded in 1921 after radical ideologies like marxism gained traction among chinese intellectuals. it grew quickly and by 19119 and meet the

kuomintang's nationalist government in the civil war, leading to the establishment of the people's republic. the ideas of the commonest party has since undergone many enormous and sometimes drastic changes. we are nowjoined from sydney by a professor of pacific security studies at macquarie university, australia. good to have you with us. this is, really, a chance for the chinese communist party to put on those sorts of displays to say to the audience at home and abroad that it audience at home and abroad thatitis audience at home and abroad that it is very much in power and stronger than ever. yes, indeed, this is an historic moment for the party, something they have been playing up to for many, many years now, culminating in this day. it is really a lookahead, in many respects. it is 100

years, a remarkable achievement for a authoritarian leninist party like itself, but in many ways this is the chance for xi jinping to underscore his message to china and the world that china is entering a new error under his leadership, and that we should come to expect them to remain in power, and his demands for respect and even approbation that he wants all of us to try and secure for him and the party. the party, as china itself has changed quite dramatically since its founding years ago. you have been watching it throughout your entire career. what would you say are the ideologies and principles that still remain from when it was

founded? 0f founded? of those that still remain, i guess the single most important one is that the party has always been a leninist style party, that is to say central control of a self appointed elite, which claims to have some sort of special vision or understanding about the historical tides, understanding about the historicaltides, overwhich understanding about the historical tides, over which it is going to remain in power. so that hasn't changed. what has changed remarkably, of course, is that it started as a peasant party, a party of the workers, if you well. that has dramatically changed. the people who run china now are by and large the very wealthy, very well—placed, very privileged. the party now at 95 million members, the largest political party in the world, yes, but still only representing a small fraction of the overall population of

china, so that stays the same. central leadership, no dissent under xijinping central leadership, no dissent underxijinping in central leadership, no dissent under xijinping in particular, under xi jinping in particular, further centralising under xijinping in particular, further centralising that power. further centralising that ower. ., , ., , ., power. the communist party of china today. — power. the communist party of china today. it _ power. the communist party of china today, it is _ power. the communist party of china today, it is very - power. the communist party of china today, it is very much - china today, it is very much outward looking, beyond its own borders, looking to influence outside china, much more so thanit outside china, much more so than it did even within recent decades. ., ._ than it did even within recent decades. . ._ , than it did even within recent decades. . , ., ., decades. that may be one of the most interesting _ decades. that may be one of the most interesting aspects - decades. that may be one of the most interesting aspects of - decades. that may be one of the most interesting aspects of xi i most interesting aspects of xi jinping's leadership. you would have to go back to some of the more radical revolutionary policies of muzzy dong to get something even close in comparison. —— mao zedong. the party is trying to extend its image, extend its influence abroad in ways to garner

respect, generate respect for the party, for its governance, but more importantly to try and leverage the country's power in a way to get other countries to accept the party and, more importantly, the national interests of china. it is not so much to explore the chinese system. i didn't think that is what is going on here, but rather to get the world to and allow for it as a 1— party authoritarian dictatorship to live in peace and pursue the interests of china as they see it. ok, many thanks indeed. 0k, many thanks indeed. thank you. president biden has warned that the western part of the united states is facing more danger from wildfires this year than ever before. the area is experiencing an extreme heatwave, which has led to record temperatures along the coast. yesterday temperatues hit

a new record, reaching 49. 5 degrees in british columbia in canada. dozens have people have died as a result of the conditions. 0ur science editor david shukman reports. a sign of trouble in a world that's getting hotter — an emergency cooling centre in a region that normally never needs one. the western united states and canada are experiencing heat they're just not used to. i think it's incredibly important that we set up these spaces so people can come in, feel taken care of, feel safe, get cool and get some water and a bite to eat if they need it. you know, the hotels seems to be sold out as well because people are running away. they need to go somewhere cool with ac. it's just unbearable. it's impossible to be out. it's most dangerous for the homeless. helping them with shade and water is essential. in canada, which is famous for its cold, the heatwave has been blamed for more than 100 deaths. it's the elderly, who are less able to regulate their body

temperature, who are most vulnerable. whether you have heart or breathing problems, or even if you're an elderly person, sometimes you just don't cope quite as well in the heat and sun. and the hotter it gets, the more wildfires are likely to start. this one was filmed in california a few days ago. president biden has warned that the rising temperatures bring all kinds of dangers. the extreme heat we're seeing in the west is not only a risk amplifier for wildfires, it's a threat in and of itself. people are hurting. it's more dangerous for kids to play outside. roads are buckling under the heat, and again, i need not tell all of you. so, what's causing this heat? well, there's a vast dome of high pressure above western canada. it's like a lid in the atmosphere, trapping warm air and pushing it down where it gets even hotter. and the heat is held in place by the path of the jet stream, so temperatures have

kept climbing. and this is really unusual. the dark red area is far warmer than average. and scientists say that it's human activity, the burning of fossil fuels, that's made this far more likely. our analysis of the temperatures that we're seeing in the western side of north america just wouldn't have been feasible in the natural course of events. we've analysed the climate that you would expect without emissions of greenhouse gases, and you just don't see these sorts of extraordinary temperatures that we're seeing at the moment. the next big worry is farmland, and whether crops will survive the punishing temperatures. the heatwave won't last forever, but it is a reminder of what climate change can really mean. david shukman, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, this is the scene live in beijing, we will have more on the celebrations from there as china marks the

hundredth anniversary of its ruling communist party. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations — a huge fireworks display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. i for the first time in 20 years, i russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit - at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. cheering and applause. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 3h years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: three years after he was sent to prison for sexual assault, the american entertainer bill cosby has his conviction overturned. dozens of people died in canada in a heatwave seeing temperatures hit nearly 50 degrees celsius. let's return now to events in tiananmen square, china's communist party is marking its 100th anniversary. 0ur correspondent, stephen mcdonelljoins us now from beijing. and this is a party that celebrates 100 years in very robust health, i suppose it is

fair to say, stephen? absolutely. it is a normal work day here in beijing and so you will see resident of the city heading off on their morning commute behind me, but those loyal party cages have been lucky enough to get a ticket are in tiananmen square watching a big marking 100 years since the chinese communist party came into being. at all kicked off at the beginning with xi jinping being. at all kicked off at the beginning with xijinping and the other members of the committee coming out onto the tiananmen gate and speaking across the square. people who know history will know that this is reminiscent of when mao zedong was up on the same date, declaring that the new china had arrived and even xijinping

was wearing clothes similar to what mao war, so there is an attempt to connect the party of now to the party of the past, the communist party has presided over some great successes and some absolutely dismal failures like successes and some absolutely dismalfailures like in successes and some absolutely dismal failures like in the great leap forward when tens of millions of people starved to death in the cultural revolution with that chaos and persecution and the cult of mao but once mao died and china was able to open up, connect with the rest of the world and change the party's ideology, thatis change the party's ideology, that is when the real success has happened for the party in terms of lifting up millions of people out of poverty and giving them a much better standard of living here. find standard of living here. and china today _ standard of living here. and china today under _ standard of living here. and china today under the communist party, much more assertive beyond its own borders besides

perhaps the founders of the party ever dreamt it would be? yeah, i mean, now one of the two great economies in the world is here and the leaders in high—tech, look at the size of the chinese military, and all of that has also been on display this week, of course, and various events, the hundred year anniversary of the party, so yes, a very confident china we are seeing now, and depending how you look at it, thatis depending how you look at it, that is either a good thing or a potentially threatening thing for some other countries, and so other nations which in the 70s would have dismissed china as something of a basket case in a way, now they are coming with their begging bowl at times to china asking for assistance and investment in this type of thing, so a very different china. they will

still have these difficulties, i suppose i can put it that way. china in recent times has faced criticism of massive human rights abuses and shenyang and hong kong and it is having to deal with these calls for a boycott of the winter olympics because of these human rights abuses, and yet, you also have, it is a very paradoxical place, country, whether communist party, while i think is pretty clearly in certain places has abused people's human rights has also delivered in terms of giving the vast majority of the population here a much better standard of living. like i was saying, in the 70s, people were all equal but had not very much at all, in dire poverty. now they've got their mobile phone apps and their electric bikes and other electric goods and they are sending their kids off to top universities, even to study overseas, so a very different china today under the communist party and these other

types of things that the party would like people to focus on, really, ratherthan, would like people to focus on, really, rather than, as a say, those accusations of human rights abuses or something like that. is rights abuses or something like that. , , . ,, , that. is very much, stephen mcdonald — that. is very much, stephen mcdonald there _ that. is very much, stephen mcdonald there in - that. is very much, stephenj mcdonald there in beijing's. donald rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the invasion of iraq in 2003, has died at the age of 88. he served as secretary of defense under president george w bush and his leading role in promoting the bush administration's so—called �*war on terror�* has been heavily criticised by many. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has more. we can now speak to allan lichtman who's a professor of us political history at the american university. good to have you with us, professor. what do you think the most enduring aspect of donald's legacy will be? he was a dedicated _ donald's legacy will be? he was a dedicated public _ donald's legacy will be? he was a dedicated public servant - donald's legacy will be? he was a dedicated public servant for i a dedicated public servant for five decades, member of congress, chief of staff twice, secretary of defence and ambassador, but what everyone is going to remember is he was

complicit in some of the worst decisions with regard to foreign policy and human rights in the history of the country. he began talking about invading iraq right after the 9/11 attacks even though iraq had absolutely nothing to do with those attacks. he was central and cherry picking and distorting intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in iraq that led to our disastrous war, and iraq the cost so many lives to seemingly no end whatsoever. he didn't put enough troops into iraq to do thejob. he had way too much faith in these exiles and their intelligence and ability to stabilise the situation in iraq and of course he was complicit in the use of so—called enhanced interrogation, really, torture, in iraq, and the

abuses of the prison camp. unfortunately, that is what he is going to be remembered for. he is also the epitome of the deep state. donald trump would have you believe the deep state as some bureaucrat buried in the bowels of the department of homeland security. no, the deep state is people like donald rumsfeld who interchanged between government and the highest levels of business, serving big companies, and serving big companies, and serving both big corporations and their interests and the us government. that is what the deep state is all about. i deep state is all about. i wonder if you perhaps consider we can draw a dotted line from the policies that donald rumsfeld was espousing and promoting, and ultimately the direction of the republican party, turning to trumpet and becoming much more, i suppose, domestic —looking rather than trying to exert america's influence and flex its muscle

around the world? i influence and flex its muscle around the world?— influence and flex its muscle around the world? i think you are riaht around the world? i think you are right on _ around the world? i think you are right on with _ around the world? i think you are right on with that - are right on with that supposition. i do think the disasters that donald rumsfeld was involved in did lead to a republican party that turned its eyes backwards to the republican party of the late 19 30s and very early 1940s before pearl harbour and that is an america first, isolationist oriented foreign policy and i think that is what you saw with donald trump, staring up domestic divisions, pitting americans against one another, while at the same time, really ignoring the alliances that have made us safe since the end of world war ii and ignoring any kind of cooperative diplomacy and really in fact other than projecting himself on the stage and promoting people like kimjong—un. qm. people like kim jong-un. 0k, many thanks _ people like kim jong-un. 0k,

many thanks indeed. - and thank you for watching. we will be back soon with headlines. you can find me on social media in the meantime. goodbye for now. hello there. the first couple of days ofjuly look pretty similar to how we ended the month ofjune on, and that's with quite a lot of dry weather around with some sunshine. but there will be some showers around, too. generally isolated, but they will be quite heavy and slow moving where you catch them, as there will be very little wind to move them on. that's because we're in between weather systems, as you can see here, this weak area of high pressure building in. this is the area of low pressure which has brought a lot of grey, damp weather across eastern parts of the country throughout the week so far. it will still be close enough to bring further grey, damp, drizzly weather from east anglia up towards northumberland, but a much drier and brighter

day, i think, for the southeast of england. elsewhere, early cloud clearing to allow for some sunny spells, but we could see a few isolated showers here and there. perhaps a bit of low cloud and mist lapping on to western england and west wales' coastline. and it will be warmer where you have the sunshine — low 20s celsius — but cooler along the east coast. so a better looking day for wimbledon for thursday and friday. more sunshine around. it'll feel warmer, but it does turn more unsettled as we head on into the weekend thanks to a new area of low pressure. through thursday night, any showers should tend to fade away. and again, we'll see variable amounts of cloud, a bit of mist and fog here and there and some clear spells. and for most of us, i think those temperatures holding in double figures, the odd single value there under clear skies and some of the glens in the north. so to end the week, again, a similar pressure pattern, but this area of low pressure is heading towards our shores just in time for the weekend. so for friday, then, there will be variable cloud to start with, a bit of mist too, but it looks like that will melt away. we should see some good

spells of sunshine. the thinking is now we could see a few more showers around on friday, pretty much anywhere, but especially across central and southern scotland. it will be heavy, and with light winds, they will be slow—moving as well. but top temperatures, again, 22—23 celsius. then into the weekend, low pressure takes over, it becomes more unsettled for all of us. and you can see it moving here from the southwest. could bring a spell of more prolonged rain across england and wales on saturday. further north could see some heavy, slow moving showers. into sunday, it looks like the whole of the uk will see a mixture of sunny spells and heavy, perhaps thundery showers. so temperature—wise, because there will be more cloud around and showers, not quite as warm as how we've ended the week — temperatures ranging from high teens to the low 20s.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the american entertainer bill cosby has had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by the supreme court of pennsylvania. mr cosby has served more than two years of his sentence at a state prison near philadelphia. he had originally been found guilty of drugging and molesting a woman in 200a. officials in northwestern canada and the us are warning of the threat of wildfires, following several days of record—breaking high temperatures. british columbia, in canada, reported a hundred excess deaths, thought to have been caused by the heat. dozens have people have died as a result of the conditions. china's communist party is marking its 100th anniversary. events are taking place in tiananmen square and president xijinping is expected to give a keynote address. the party was founded in 1921 by chinese intellectuals. exhibitions are expected to take place around the country for the rest of the year.