this is bbc news. our top stories: president biden gives details of how the head of the islamic state group was killed during a raid by us special forces in syria. he chose to blow himself up — notjust with a vest, but to blow up that third floor rather than face justice for the crimes he's committed, taking several members of his family with him. let the games begin! the opening ceremony for beijing's winter olympics takes place on friday amid excitement and controversy. america says the kremlin has plans to broadcast fake images of the ukrainian army shooting russian sympathisers as a pretext for an invasion. and a rescue operation continues in northern morocco after a five—year—old boy fell into a well.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the united states says it did everything it could to minimise civilian casualties during a raid in syria in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. the president said that abu ibrahim al-qurayshi, also known as hajji abdullah, blew himself up, along with four members of his family, as us specialforces approached the building. 13 people, including children, were killed but no us casualties were reported. the bbc�*s state department correspondent barbara plett usher reports. in a corner of north—west syria, where a forgotten conflict simmers, america reminded the islamic state group that its leaders were still a target. the raid took place in the dead of night and lasted two hours. us special forces landed

in helicopters near the home of the is leader, hajji abdullah. those close by described a night of terror. translation: when we got out of the house, we saw aircraft - flying over our heads and after ten minutes, we heard them shouting, "give yourself up. "the house is surrounded." some civilians living in the same building were safely evacuated, but women and children were among the dead. us officials blamed the militants. they said hajji abdullah blew himself up, killing his family in the blast, and that his deputy barricaded himself on the second floor with his wife. both died in a gunfight. us forces were expecting the suicide bombing — it's happened before when a militant leader is cornered. as our troops approached to capture the terrorist, in a final act of desperate cowardice, with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up — notjust with a vest, but to blow up that third floor rather than face justice for the crimes he's committed — taking several members

of his family with him, just as his predecessor did. president biden monitored the raid from the situation room, like former presidents targeting formerjihadist leaders, getting reports in real time from his top military officials. hajji abdullah took over the islamic state group after its previous leader died in a us raid. he'd kept an extremely low profile but was accused of coordinating global terrorist operations. his death is a blow to the group, which had been trying to make a comeback in syria and iraq. the only american casualty was a helicopter. us forces destroyed it before leaving the area — they said it had mechanical issues — but otherwise, they're claiming this operation a victory in the forever war against islamist extremism. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. well, earlier, i spoke to one of america's leading authorities on isis, colin p clarke, who works as a counterterrorism analyst at the soufan group. i asked for his thoughts

on this particular targeted strike. it's an important strike on the part of the united states. hajji abdullah was one of the top, you know, most wanted terrorists in the world, but i would also caution against what the impact is going to be. i have been speaking about this all day and one of my messages is it is a tactical win but it is not a strategic victory, so we have to take it for what it is worth. it is important, but we also have to keep in perspective. this is a long fight against a really capable, both operationally and organisationally, terrorist group. you say "capable" — i would be really curious also for how you understand the state or the power of isis now because they did disappear from the headline somewhat in recent months? well, isis core has disappeared from the headlines but there

has been a steady up tick in attacks and operational tempo from isis affiliates in sub—saharan africa, including in the democratic republic of congo and in mozambique. there has been activity throughout the sahel in west africa. and, of course, we can't forget islamic state khorasan in afghanistan — the deadly attack against harmid karzai international airport this summer and the insurgency it is waging against the taliban. this is a global affiliate, to have disappeared from the headlines, but up until last week with the prison break and now the announcement of the death of the group's leader. i can't help but my eyes go towards the book after the caliphate behind you. do you think those all aspects of a caliphate — because that is what we first began to know is for, that they were trying to create this state. there were lots of consequences for that, people involved in it at the time. do you think that part of is is over? is it a different era we are in now? i do, i really do. you know, i don't see it anywhere on the cards for this group to reconstitute

large swathes of territory. bits and pieces here and there, small towns and villages as the group's power ebbs and flows but, you know, the anti—daesh or anti—is coalition has finally achieved some pretty major objectives and it is going to stay that way. that is in the middle east. i think we could see swathes of territory swallowed up in other parts of the world, but the key is going to be quick reaction and targeted strikes, like we saw with the us carrying out the group's top tier leadership. the winter olympics are getting underway in beijing with the opening ceremony in a few hours�* time. almost 3,000 athletes from 91 nations will compete across seven sports but the run—up to the games has been fraught with controversy. many countries have announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, citing human rights abuses in china. added to that, cases of coronavirus have been found inside beijing's olympic bubble. our china correspondent robin brant has the very latest. she is one of china's olympians

of tomorrow — maybe. she hadn't even been born the first time the olympics came to town. but now, the six—year—old skater is inspired by the games. translation: it's very - exhausting, but she presses on. she won't leave until she's learned how to do all the moves. she doesn't quit. she can't go to any of the events, though. she can't get close. the winter olympics is happening in beijing but almost everyone here is excluded from it. it's sad we can't go to see the games in person. we'll have to watch them on tv. china is in the middle of a renewed battle to try to maintain zero covid in this country, and it's decided not to sell any tickets for the games to members of the general public. so everyone who queues outside venues like this in the weeks ahead is going to be

hand—picked — a member of the ruling communist party or someone who works at a government—controlled company. it's notjust covid measures keeping people away — there's confrontation over china's human rights record. senior officials from the us, the uk and more than a dozen other governments aren't coming to the ice rinks. the olympics is just sport, though, say some looking on. translation: | think sports | are sports and they shouldn't be messed with politics. the games belong to everyone and we should all participate and watch. politics is just politics. this is the official slogan of the games, and these children are singing about it in this propaganda video, released last month by the government in xinjiang — a place where china denies it's committed genocide.

in the pregames period, i can feel it... a former olympian who's close to america's athletes this time told me why some of them are nervous about sharing this moment. i had one athlete tell me that they've had nothing in the lead—up to these olympics — they've had not a single team meeting about sport and about their athletic performance. every team meeting they've had has been either about covid protocols or about safety — athlete safety, personal safety in beijing. i don't think a single athlete is going to speak out at the games — and nor do i think they should. if i were there, i would be keeping my mouth shut because the risk is just too great. and this is really a failure of the international olympic committee. it's a failure of leadership that athletes are in this position. in many ways, this looks like a normal olympic games. there are updated rules in place to allow the athletes to express their concerns away from the tracks, slopes, rinks and podiums. but what is always a cold gathering feels much more frosty this time round. this is a games defined

by the big fissure on the world stage, with china on one side and the us and others on the other and, inside the bubble, athletes trying to get on with their sport. robin brant, bbc news, beijing. let's get some of the day's other news. police have arrested a drug dealer who sold adulterated cocaine to dozens of people, causing the deaths of at least 20 drug users in argentina. police sayjoaquin aquino, known as paisa, controlled drug trafficking operations in a shanty town of buenos aires, where the cocaine was sold. more than 100 people were admitted to hospital after consuming the drug, which had been mixed with an opioid. peru's new prime minister, hector valer, has rejected allegations of domestic violence amid calls for his resignation. he was sworn into office by president pedro castillo only three days ago. peruvian media have published details of a police investigation against him five years ago, with claims that he had kicked and punched his daughter and his late wife. mr valer strenuously denies the allegations.

nasa says the international space station will be taken out of service in 2030 and then will have a controlled crash into the pacific ocean in 2031. it has been in continuous use since the year 2000. its final resting place will be in a part of the ocean farthest from land, known as point nemo. let's turn to the ukraine crisis, and an american claim that russia is planning to stage fake events to justify taking military action. here's pentagon spokesman john kirby outlining the alleged plot. one option is the russian government — we think — is planning to stage a fake attack by ukrainian military or intelligence forces against russian sovereign territory or against russian—speaking people to therefore justify their action. as part of this fake attack, we believe that russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses

and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations as well as military equipment at the hands of ukraine or the west — even to the point where some of this equipment would be made to look like it was western—supplied ukrainian — to ukraine equipment. russia says it is not planning any false flag operations and has previously dismissed all suggestions that it's planning any military action. meanwhile, the us started making good on its promise to deploy additional troops to europe. these are some of the 2,000 soldiers who'll be heading to germany and poland, with others already in germany heading to romania. and in europe, there has been another flurry of diplomatic visits to kyiv and moscow. turkey's president erdogan was the guest of ukraine's president zelensky. the turkish leader said his country would remain neutral but offered to mediate with russia. meanwhile, vladimir putin hosted the president of argentina. moscow insists the build—up of russian forces is nothing more than military exercises.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come — spectacle and spice: sci—fi epic dune racks up the nominations ahead of the british bafta awards. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment — the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel.

two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: president biden gives details of how the head of the islamic state group was killed during a raid by us special forces in syria. let the games begin — the opening ceremony for beijing's winter olympics takes place on friday, amid excitement and controversy. now to events in britain where downing street is in turmoil following the resignation of four senior aides to borisjohnson. policy head, munira mirza, quit over the prime minister's false claim that the leader of the opposition

was personally responsible for the failure to prosecute notorious paedophile, jimmy savile, when he was director of public prosecutions. her departure was followed by three other aides. our political editor laura kuensseberg reports. applause. borisjohnson managed to keep a blackpool tram on track today. yet it's not clear tonight where his leadership is really going. "that went well, thank god for that," the prime minister said. he might need prayers to create a sense of stability in his government, though. the communications director, jack doyle, walked out of his job tonight. a major role in any number 10, but the message had gone badly wrong. the chief of staff, dan rosenfield, who was brought in to create order, is on his bike and going too. the third exit, martin reynolds, the prime minister's senior civil servant, who invited around

100 people to a garden party. and the explosive fourth exit, his friend and political confidant of more than ten years, munira mirza. chief of ideas, "boris's brain", one former colleague told me. she has notjust gone, but has left dynamite in her wake, slamming the prime minister's comments linking the leader of the opposition tojimmy savile early this week. she wrote: adding: this is what he'd managed to say. i'm talking not about the leader of the opposition�*s personal record when he was dpp. and i totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions. i was making a point about, erm, his responsibility for the organisation.

not an apology for the false claim he originally made on monday. this leader of the opposition, a former director of public prosecutions, mr speaker, who spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute jimmy savile, as far as i can make out, mr speaker! an untrue allegation that appalled victims and some mps on the prime minister's own side. keir starmer was the boss of the crown prosecution service whenjimmy savile was not charged. but sir keir had no individual involvement in the case. and unusually, the chancellor was happy to show a public split. being honest, i wouldn't have said it, and i'm glad that the prime minister clarified what he meant. who, as well as grappling with the economy, is grappling with the government's reputation. hi, laura, how are you? he lives and works under the same roof where lockdown gatherings took place. for the record, chancellor, you knew nothing of any of these gatherings? even when it happened outside that window, you knew nothing?

as i said — people think i'm standing here, looking outside that window, i spent half my time in the treasury, as well as working here. but what i was focused on at that time, you know, as were many people, is making sure that we could help the country through a period of enormous anxiety. you walked into the cabinet room at the end of borisjohnson�*s birthday celebration — did that not happen? you're asking about something that happened over two years ago. i walked into a meeting with a group of people, as i do all the time. do you worry, though, that this has damaged the public�*s confidence in the government that you're part of? yes, i think it has, and i can appreciate people's frustration. and i think it's now thejob of all of us in government, all politicians, to restore people's trust. some of your colleagues want the prime minister to go. if that were to happen would you run to replace him? no, that's not what i'm focused on, and of course... that's not my question — would you do it? some of your colleagues want you to. well, that's very kind of them to suggest that. but what i think

people want from me — and what your viewers will want from me — is to focus on myjob, and the prime minister has my full support. but support for the bigger of this double act may not last forever. chaotic days are one thing, a loss of credibility quite another. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street. the conservative party has won a by—election in the english constituency of southend west, in essex. anna firth was elected with just under 13,000 votes. no other main party took part in the poll — a mark of respects because the previous mp sir david amess was stabbed while he was meeting with constituents last october. turnout was less than 25% — the third lowest since the war. in northern morocco, efforts are continuing to rescue a 5—year—old boy who fell into a well. rayan has been stuck in a 32—meter deep water well since tuesday. aru na iyengar report.

bulldozers work flat—out in tamrout, in the northern tourist province of chefchaouen, racing to dig a 32—metre deep hole alongside the shaft of a well. waiting inside is five—year—old rayan, who fell in last tuesday, falling in after his father was repairing the well. translation: the closer we get, the well gets narrower, _ making it hard for volunteers to say the child. this is why we had to come up with another technique, which is digging. rescuers have been able to send oxygen and water to rayan through pipes, a tricky painstaking maneouvre. it is a long way down on the diameter of the water well with less than 45 centimetres. the plight of rayan has touched the hearts of moroccans. there has been an outpouring online with this hastag going viral across north africa. crowds have gathered at the site, anxious to hear the latest on the rescue.

translation: rayan is very much loved in the village _ notjust at home. i miss him, it has been three nights. but rescuers are working against the clock and conditions are difficult. they remain hopeful they can reach rayan and bring him to safety. aruna iyengar, bbc news. this year's bafta nominations for the film awards have been announced. the sci—fi epic dune leads the way, with eleven nominations including best film. the power of the dog, a 1920s western starring benedict cumberbatch, is also in the running for 8 awards. and belfast, sir kenneth branagh�*s semi—auto—biographical coming of age film, has six nods. our culture editor, katie razzall is in belfast, where she's been talking to one of the film's youngest stars. we all have a story to tell.

this story is kenneth branagh�*s, set in the city he grew up in. when i grow up i want to marry her. jude hill plays nine—year—old buddy who is a fictionalised version of the young ken, which could have been a challenge but clearly worked out. i don't think a lot of other 11—year—olds can say that kenneth branagh and judi dench and ciaran hinds are my best friends. some will see a snub in kenneth branagh missing out in the best director category. ciaran hinds wins a best supporting nomination, as does caitriona balfe, in a film set against the backdrop of the troubles. i didn't know what they were and a kid my age probably wouldn't know about them either unless their parents or grandparents were affected by the troubles in any way. so this city has its moment in the sun. for a film about the troubles, yes, but through the eyes of a child more focused on family and love. but it's sci—fi blockbuster dune that has the highest number of nominations, 11.

i wonder what little lady made these. period western the power of the dog, has eight, including best actor for benedict cumberbatch and best director forjane campion. half of bafta's directing nominees are women this year. i have to say, it's personally a real thrill to see so many women recognised across so many fields, and particularly, for example, in the best director category. this baftas aims to put rows over diversity behind it. you wanna show them how dangerous you are? yeah. will smith is nominated for the first time ever in king richard. but there are upsets too. nothing for olivia colman, nicole kidman or denzel washington. why don't you and my mom act like brother and sister? the youngest nominee is another 11—year—old woody norman for best supporting actor in indie road movie c'mon c'mon. it was like the biggest rush when he said woody norman, so me and mum just started screaming and jumping in the air. it was amazing. as for this 11—year—old,

he's just enjoying the ride. if it ends up getting some oscar nominations, what will your face look like then? probably the exact same way when i found out that i got the role. katie razzall, bbc news, belfast. what a face he is pulling! thank you very much to katie. for nearly two years now the world has lived under the shadow of coronavirus. the pandemic has instilled plenty of fear and anxiety but it has also inspired creativity. an exhibition of art made during lockdown has opened in sweden, showcasing the challenges people faced. the bbc�*s tim allman has more. getting a haircut during lockdown was hard enough but this is ridiculous. and how about this? a zoom meeting recreated in watercolour and

pastels. part that speaks of loneliness, of confinement and of time passing. it loneliness, of confinement and of time passing.— of time passing. it is a reaction _ of time passing. it is a reaction about - of time passing. it is a - reaction about the pandemic. it is a consequence of the pandemic. you work at home, you woke in the studio, you are not outside. fix. woke in the studio, you are not outside. �* ,. , ., ., outside. a sculpture of neon si . ns outside. a sculpture of neon signs from _ outside. a sculpture of neon signs from shops _ outside. a sculpture of neon signs from shops in - outside. a sculpture of neon signs from shops in malmo, | signs from shops in malmo, forced to close during the pandemic. but this is notjust about looking backwards, it is about looking backwards, it is about looking backwards, it is about looking forward as well. in this exhibition we can see some form of hope for the future so it is not closed down, it is something new that is coming up here.— is coming up here. more than 200 works — is coming up here. more than 200 works of— is coming up here. more than 200 works of art _ is coming up here. more than 200 works of art are - is coming up here. more than 200 works of art are on - 200 works of art are on display, each one a memory, a reminder of the past and a promise for the future. tim allman, bbc news. a reminder of our top story:

the united states says it did everything it could to minimise civilian casualties during a raid in syria in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. the president said that abu ibrahim al qur—ayshi also known as hajji abdullah — blew himself up, along with four members of his family. hello. we're seeing a real change in weather type at the moment, as a cold front is spreading its way across the uk, and that will be bringing us a colder and windier spell of weather into friday, with some wintry showers around, too. here's the cold air streaming in behind this cold front, which is working gradually south—eastwards. still bringing some rain, even some sleet and some snow on the back edge of that, too — particularly for the likes of the pennines, the peak district, and over the high ground of wales, as well. but mainly to the south of that, it's going to be falling as rain. but a cold morning friday morning across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. so, some icy stretches around and wintry showers falling on that cold ground. so, do be prepared for some icy stretches on any untreated surfaces during friday morning. but some sunshine working in across parts of northern england, wales,

and the southwest, and eventually that rain and sleetiness will clear away from the southeast, too. so, then, we're all in the clearer spells on friday — some sunshine, but also plenty of showers streaming in on that brisk wind. so, gusts will be about 30—110 mph, perhaps as high as 50 mph in the north—west. and wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland, northern ireland, and northern england in particular. temperatures between only about 4—9 celsius, and feeling colder when you add on the wind chill, as well. overnight friday night, we've got clearer skies, 1—2 wintry showers, some rain and hill snow working into the northwest later in the night. but under those clear skies, we'll be seeing quite a cold start to your weekend, with quite a widespread frost. so, heading on into saturday, then, after that cold start, the next weather front streams in from the atlantic — and you can see quite a long weather front here, the first area here bringing some wet and windy weather initially to the northwest of the uk on saturday, and this frontal system marks the divide between milder air in the south and colder conditions towards the north.

so, with the arrival of that wet and windy weather, there'll be some snow once again over the higher ground of scotland, patchy rain working slowly south into england and wales, but probably east anglia and the south—east remaining dry all day with temperatures around 10—11 celsius here, but turning colder with more snow showers packing in across the north. into sunday, and wintry showers once again across the northwest of the uk. early rain should clear away from parts of southern england to leave us all in sunnier skies, but feeling colder once again with that northwesterly breeze and highs around about 5—11 celsius on sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the biden administration says it did all it could to minimise civilian deaths during a raid in which the leader of islamic state group blew himself up. mr biden said he'd authorised an assault by special forces rather than an air strike, because the is chief surrounded himself with civilians. the winter olympics are getting underway in beijing with the opening ceremony in just a few hours' time, but the run—up to the games has been fraught with controversy. many countries have announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, citing human rights abuses by the chinese authorities. four senior figures at downing street have resigned, putting renewed pressure on the british prime minister borisjohnson. they include his chief of staff, head of communications and head of policy. several members of parliament from his own party have publicly called for the prime minister to resign. those are your headlines on the bbc. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.