a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories: osama bin laden's son, hamza, chosen successor to lead al-qaeda, has reportedly been killed. it's unclear if the us played a role in his death. ten more democratic party hopefuls are going head to head in a second televised debate. the victor earns the right to take on president trump next year. president putin orders the russian army into siberia to help fight the wildfires raging across the region. a rare original copy of the first harry potter book sells for almost $35,000 at auction in the uk.

intelligence officials in the us are claiming that hamza bin laden, son of the founder of al-qaeda, has died. hamza bin laden, thought to be 30—years—old, had released audio and video calling for attacks on the us and other countries, to avenge his father's assassination by american special forces eight years ago. the us had offered $1 million for information on him and saudi arabia stripped him of his citizenship in march. chris buckler is our washington correspondent. chris, what more do you have on this? yeah, us media reports are saying that they have now confirmed military officials that hamza bin laden is dead, however, there has been no official word from the pentagon and what we don't know is how or where he died. although there are some suggestions that happen during what the pentagon is

describing privately as an operation. certainly there have been attem pts operation. certainly there have been atte m pts to operation. certainly there have been attempts to find hamza bin laden in recent months. five months ago us officials offered $1 million for information that led to his capture. and that signified two things about hamza bin laden, first of all, they we re hamza bin laden, first of all, they were concerned about him, that is because as far as they were concerned, he was emerging as a key figure within the current leadership of al-qaeda. but beyond that, they also felt that he was seen as a significant figure for propaganda purposes for al-qaeda and that is of course because of his father. he was responsible for the notorious timber 11 attacks that caused so many deaths and so much destruction in america, 2001 —— september 11. and some of the messages that have been put onto video and audio sites in recent months, there have been attem pts recent months, there have been atte m pts to recent months, there have been attempts to try and get supporters to attack americans and some of its

western allies with a specific aim from hamza bin laden‘s view to avenge his father's death. chris, it is quite common, isn't it, for leaders of terror groups to be reported killed, but quite often those reports turn out to be wrong. what credence are you giving to this report? yeah, i have to say in recent months it isn't the first time we've had private conversations in which some people have said they believe there is going to be information coming out about hamza bin laden very soon and there have even been reports that have suggested this is a confirmation of his death and that perhaps it may have happened some time ago. at this stage we simply do not know. but it does reflect that as far as the americans are concerned, that they have been doing their best to try and get information about hamza bin laden and his been a figure who has been very clearly on their radar,

and soul of this gossip and speculation about him in recent months. and certainly, if you take a look at 0sama bin laden and the attacks on 9/11, hamza bin laden would have been a child at the stage. if you listen to the legends from al-qaeda, they say he was by his side at this time, but he was a child nonetheless. 0sama bin laden did say, and some letters were found in the compound back into thousand and 11 when he was killed, that he was grooming him to succeed him in the leadership of al-qaeda stop we should also emphasise even if it does prove that hamza bin laden is dead, that doesn't take away from some of the threats that are still existing from the extremist group. chris, thank you very much for that. we'll have more and thatjust a little later in the programme. the democratic party's contenders to fight donald trump for the us presidency next year have begun the last in the current round of debates. so far the candidates including frontrunnerjoe biden and kamala harris, who clashed with him at their last meeting,

have discussed healthcare and migration. they all agree with the need to provide access to healthcare for everyone, but are unclear on how to do that. another series of debates in september will whittle the candidates down to ten. well, the candidates are of course vying to take on donald trump in next year's presidential election. one of mr trump's key allies in his campaign was steve bannon — the former executive chairman of breitbart news. he's been taking to our north america editorjon sopel, we'll bring that interview to you later in the programme. a delegation from the us congress, led by speaker of the house nancy pelosi, has ended a 3—day visit to ghana. she spoke with evident emotion to the ghanaian parliament, recalling the horrors of the slave trade, on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved africans arriving in america. she also paid tribute to the contribution african—americans have made to the united states. thomas naadi reports from accra. this trip has been about what makes the united states and ghana ——

unites, friendship but also its dark past. it has been 400 years since the first africans were sent across the first africans were sent across the atlantic, the start of a trade that would claim millions of lives and shake both countries forever. this is the main exit to which thousands of enslaved africans were forcibly shipped to america and the caribbean to live a life of slavery. visiting the council clearly had a profound impact on the us lawmakers. as speaker policy told the ghanaian parliament. we saw the dungeons where thousands were grotesquely tortured. we stood at the door of no return, where countless millions took their last glimpse of africa before they were shipped to a life of enslavement. being here has been a transformative of enslavement. being here has been a tra nsformative experience of enslavement. being here has been a transformative experience for all of us. for garner, 2019 has been

celebrated as the year of return, a call for african people everywhere to connect with their ancestral roots. for many, it has reminded them of the way the country's past has shaped their future. it is offering awesome moments of sober reflection to get to know the things our forefathers went through. we we re our forefathers went through. we were sold by our own sheaves, our owfi were sold by our own sheaves, our own uncles and our own fathers and we should stop blaming people and those things. we should concentrate on working hard, looking after ourselves. 400 years down the line, remembering how they were taking off oui’ remembering how they were taking off our shores, a privilege to be alive today. nobody, no-one will be left behind because of their race, colour or background. the trip finished with a conference at the us embassy.

it has come at a time of racial tensions in the united states, a reminder that the legacy across the atla ntic reminder that the legacy across the atlantic is still felt to this day. thomas naadi, bbc news, accra. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states has imposed sanctions on iran's foreign minister, javad zarif. the sanctions freeze any assets of mr zarif in the united states. in response, mr zarif tweeted that the us consider him as a threat to its agenda. north korean state media has commented for the first time about wednesday's launch of two ballistic missiles from its east coast. the official news agency said the military had successfully tested a new type of large calibre guided rocket system. the north korean leader kimjong—un is said to have personally supervised the operation. the israeli government has given rare approval for the building of 700 palestinian homes in the occupied west bank — along with permission for another 6,000 homes forjewish settlers.

some israeli media suggest it's an effort to smooth the way for president trump's peace plan, with his envoy about to visit the region. russia's siberia region has been hit by devastating fires and floods caused by unseasonable weather. people living in the region of irkutsk are experiencing their second wave of floods in a month, while president putin has ordered troops into action to tackle fires that have produced days of toxic haze in the centre and east of the country. john mcmanus reports. summerfires summer fires are common summerfires are common in russia, but not on this scale. around 3 million hectares of land in the centre and east of the country are on fire. the flames triggered by dry thunderstorms and temperatures above 30 celsius and fanned by high winds. workers with russia's forest protection agency are monitoring the blazes from the air in an attempt to contain them. but it does make a

hugejob, the majority of contain them. but it does make a huge job, the majority of the fires are in remote and inaccessible locations, the authorities are relu cta nt to locations, the authorities are reluctant to tackle them due to the cost. translation: the smoke they are producing is drifting across inhabited areas, the effects graphically illustrated by videos posted by residents. and after days of complaints, a petition with more than 800,000 signatures, president putin has now awarded the military tojoin the putin has now awarded the military to join the thousands of firefighters on the ground. don't let there is a lot of moss, a lot of new growth, so the virus spreads really fast. 0f new growth, so the virus spreads really fast. of course, the weather has an effect as well. the russian branch of greenpeace as nearly 12,000 hectares of forest has been incinerated this year, meaning even more climate changing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. and alongside the fire, there is also floods, some of them in the same region, which was first ina them in the same region, which was first in a month ago. 25 more settle m e nts first in a month ago. 25 more settlements are now underwater of the river levels rose by metre

following a cyclone six days ago. emergency services have delivered aid to villages, others have been evacuated. this may be the new normal. russia's meteorological services want these effects of climate change are likely to worsen every year. john mcmanus, bbc news. only one month ago, who declared the outbreak of ebola a national emergency in the democratic republic of the congo. more than 1,800 people have died from the disease. on wednesday, a second, eventually a third death case of ebola was detected in the drc‘s city of goma, on the border with rwanda. it isa it is a very crowded city. i am nowjoined by benjamin neuman, associate professor for biology at texas a&m university. what do you make of the news?” think there are worrying similarities to the outbreak in

western africa. goma has been the centre of armed resistance against the government since the 1990s. and you have non—compliance in the form of there have been attacks against doctors without borders and some of the other aid workers that are there, that is not vacating the problem. how likely would you say is a further spread and what can you do to combat it? so, if we look back at the last outbreak, the last big outbreak, right now we're seeing about 100 cases week in the democratic republic of the congo. by the time we hit 100 cases per week in the three countries in west africa, that was the point at which it really started to get out of hand. now, that thing that was my positive for this outbreak is we have the vaccine now and there have been about 1 million have the vaccine now and there have been about1 million doses manufactured in about 100,000 of those shipped out to the democratic republic of congo. there was into

vaccinate more people and hopefully that will be the answer, but there is not enough vaccines for everyone. so, how hopeful are you? we are a lwa ys so, how hopeful are you? we are always hopeful. these are good people and they are brave people on the ground doing their best. but this is a particularly difficult situation and the worry years the virus from here could spread, perhaps across the border, and perhaps across the border, and perhaps into uganda. it is a delicate situation, certainly. and more resources need to be poured into this right away, i would say. that was a very expressive sigh, professor. thank you for your insights as well. thank you. thanks to you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a rare original copy of the first harry potter book sells for almost $35,000, at auction in the uk. cheering

the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh. once an everyday part of the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own, in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why people should wander in and say, "you're doing something wrong." six rare white lion cubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and, already, they have been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah. really sweet. yeah, they were cute.

this is bbc news, our top story: 0sama bin laden's son, hamza — chosen successor to lead al-qaeda, has reportedly been killed — it's unclear if the us played a role in his death. let's stay with that story. colin clarke is a senior research fellow at the soufan centre. he's in carlisle, pennsylvania. thank you very much indeed for your time, i need have extensive experience in counterterrorism, what do you think has happened here, if indeed anything has happened? early reports are that he has been killed and not by hearing on the status of the us government did play a role, what role, we still don't know although if you think about the possible countries that have been named where bin laden could have been, we've heard iran, we've had

syria, with heard afghanistan, we've had pakistan, the fact that the us government was potentially involved, rules out hereon. that's an operation that would bubbly — i probably escalate tension. probably not a bond back in my opinion, maybe even syria. intelligence sources have been talking to journalists for some time about the possibility of news about bin laden, i think the pentagon is seen, some kind of operation took place. are you thinking a drone attack? it could have been a drone attack or it could have been a drone attack or it could have been a special operations force similarto have been a special operations force similar to the attack that killed his father. the long—time leader and founder of al qaeda. do you think he actually is dead? because there are reports of leaders of terror groups being killed but they turned out to being killed but they turned out to be wrong. this is quite useful to a

terror group as well for there to be some confusion, isn't there? it helps operations. of course. that is exactly into the purpose of the group. it's hard to say with certainty, and indeed as you point out, they have been numerous insta nces out, they have been numerous instances prior to this were terrorist group leaders have been reported killed only to disprove that after—the—fact. the one—time leader of al qaeda has more lives than a cat and this guy has been reported dead about a dozen times except he constantly resurfaces. it's really ha rd except he constantly resurfaces. it's really hard on these hours and days to work out exactly what's going on, the taliban leader was dead for a long time before we recognise that he wasn't. if an item is dead, what is the likely impact of that, would you say? suddenly it is symbolic because he carries the

bin laden name, for sure, it perhaps is less of an impact operationally because he wasn't a hardened competitor, he wasn't a veteran leader like someone with more experience was not if it's true he was being groomed to take over the organisation, that certainly is of low to group morale, and in many ways to al qaeda ‘s ability to compete with the islamic state for recruits. ies has done a much better group —— much betterjob to reaching out to the young generation, and the propaganda videos tend to be long boring religious elements which is not necessarily appealing to this kind of next—generation. not necessarily appealing to this kind of next-generation. thank you very much. 0ne architect of the trump victory in 2016 was steve bannon — and though he's now out of the white house, he's working

from the outside to get mr trump re—elected next year. he's been actively promoting causes dear to the far right outside the us as well. 0ur north america editorjon sopel spoke to him in new mexico, at a meeting for supporters of the border wall. but they talked first about recent upheavals in the uk. steve bannon, what do you make of, odd question to start with when we're sitting at the border of mexico, but i want to talk about events in the uk and borisjohnson, your friend, another prime minister. what do you make of it all?” your friend, another prime minister. what do you make of it all? i think it was inevitable. when theresa may and the team came over earlier in the administration, they looked at brexit as an obstacle to be overcome, not an opportunity to be ground. if you look at 16, exit on the trump election or industry —— an extra can be linked. here we are, two and a half or three years later on brexit, you are still not out was

not a no you have a hard deadline on the october 31. british people have not seen, i think even the beginning of the turmoil. the beginning of the turmoil is about to start or stop with a hard brexit? i have set from the beginning, no deal hide out is the beginning, no deal hide out is the way to go. you're about to go in to what we call in football, the red zone, what's going to be tough and choppy and true leadership is going to come to the forefront. everyone in the united kingdom, all the voters, even people that i remain people, saying that 0ctober voters, even people that i remain people, saying that october 31 is a ha rd people, saying that october 31 is a hard date and will have to see what happens or stop i need to tell you, if you're not out, i think it fundamentally changes british politics. let's talk about the wall. here we are with the privately built well. donald trump came to power on the powerful slogan of build the wall. he has been in office 2.5 yea rs wall. he has been in office 2.5 years and is responsible for next to nothing being built. he has been

fighting for this four day one but remember it's the class he has been fighting, the courts he's been fighting, the courts he's been fighting, the courts he's been fighting, the progress of democrats very open bottle taps, really understand this is going to be centred to the 2020 election so they followed him centred to the 2020 election so they followed hi m every centred to the 2020 election so they followed him every step of the way. the other charge made against the president is the way he does this is racist. i think that's the mainstream media blowing it up. if you come down here, talk to the local people, it's the crime that's been brought here, it's the competition forjobs been brought here, it's the competition for jobs that's been brought here, it's the competition forjobs that's been brought here, it's antiracist. what president drop is trying to do is protect african—american and hispanic workers and people in this it is. so when the president then talks to four american congresswoman who have got backgrounds from abroad and says, you should go back to your own country, is it racist?” and says, you should go back to your own country, is it racist? i think what he says is you should go back... here's the thing. he was making a point that was not racist. his making a point particularly for the stronger seven, one of them,

what she says is what she says and we should beat her at the polls, someone we should beat her at the polls, someone should run against her and beat us was to suspect someone is to run againstan beat us was to suspect someone is to run against an beat of adoption is very anti—american. the president of the united states has his own house style. i want to bring about 2020 are you going to be back in 2020? i'm back now. i've got much more opportunity on the outside, that's why i love the white house. i would never accept a never go back. everything that i do, everything that i work on is in support of president from three election was a present drop save the united states of america when he won. hillary clinton is a globalist, we now have an populist in office was not it is important to us, just its vitally important to us, just its vitally important that boris johnson important to us, just its vitally important that borisjohnson and nigel virage and those leaders are populist leaders in the uk are successful also. it's imperative

that he is re—elected for everything ido, that he is re—elected for everything i do, everything i do seven days a week to support that i don't need to be in the campaign. i worked for yea rs be in the campaign. i worked for years on that project. before i was brought in from lost 88 days. i worked years on this, seven days a week. a first edition copy of harry potter and the philosopher's stone bought forjust £1 20 years ago has sold at auction in the uk for more than £28,000, a world record for a jk rowling first edition. back in 1997, she struggled at first to find a publisher and 300 copies of the book were sent to libraries. laura may mcmullan was at the auction. this is it. it's wonderful to handle something so rare, that in time will be an investment beyond any investment, i'm sure. from humble beginnings to a global phenomenon, it wasjk rowling's original novel, harry potter and the philosopher's stone, which captured the imagination of audiences all around the world, through literature, and later

on a blockbuster film. i can start this book at £12,000. and so bidders from every continent competed this morning at hansons auctions in staffordshire, all hoping to snap up a rare copy. this first edition is more than 20 years old, and was stocked by one of the staffordshire libraries. it was then purchased in a tabletop sale forjust £1. this is the genesis of the entire harry potter phenomenon. long before harry potter world and all the movies, jk rowling famously couldn't get a publishing deal. when she finally did, only 500 were produced. and it's actually on the back of the title page, that magic number -10987654321-blast-off. that is the number that seals the deal. are you bidding for that today? afraid not.

it is a children's classic, isn't it? it's the next big landmark after tolkien, i guess. £28,500. fair warning, it really is yours. congratulations. knowing the interest this book would create, it was a real find. it was like a willy wonka's chocolate bar with that golden ticket, and it's a world record price for a harry potter first edition. possibly made even more spellbinding for the uk buyer on the day ofjk rowling's birthday. turning to darker things, the reminder of the top story, us media are quoting intelligence sources saying that bin laden, the son of the late al qaeda leader, 0sama bin

laden is dead. the pentagon has not given any information, officials are talking about some kind of operation. much more for you anytime on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello. in the last couple of days, some of the showers that we've seen breaking out across the uk have been nothing short of vicious, leading to disruption to transport and localised flooding. in the next few days, not an entirely dry story, but far fewer showers, and they should also be less aggressive. the reason being the culprit for all of the showers in the last few days, this area of low pressure, pulling out into the north sea. still close enough by, though, on thursday to exert some influence. quite gusty winds along the north sea coasts, thicker cloud piling in here at times too. and there will be some showers on the outer periphery of the low, if you like, stretching probably in a line, most likely from the north—west of scotland down into east anglia.

plenty of sunny spells, however. the sunshine itself, though, could produce a few homegrown showers, for example across the north—east of scotland. one or two of the showers, again, could be heavier. i can't rule out thunder and lightning entirely, but it should be nowhere near as extensive as it has been in the last couple of days. just a chance of a few showers developing across dorset, devon and cornwall come the afternoon. up to 25 in what should be a sunny london. there's a slim chance of one or two showers breaking out across the midlands through the afternoon. we may see some evidence of those for day one of the ashes at edgbaston, but i think hopefully we're going to get away with it here, with some sunny spells and highs about 20—21 degrees. through the evening and overnight, many of the showers clear as the low pressure centre whirls across towards the netherlands. we're left with quite a bit of cloud, though, and in some spots, with just light winds, it could turn misty and murky. 0vernight lows in the mid—teens. as for friday, well, the lows away to the east. not a bad day, i think, in the making, again with a little

bit of help from the sun, though we could see one or two showers just brewing up, probably somewhere across northern england through into the midlands. but for the majority of the uk, light winds, sunny spells, and temperatures in the low to mid—20s. for the weekend, that little bit of ridging that calms things down for friday hangs on in there on saturday. but by sunday, it looks like we'll see a weather front starting to approach, so that will bring an increasing chance of rain into western areas through the course of the day on sunday. just how far east that rain makes it is somewhat uncertain at the moment, but it does look like once those fronts start to push in on sunday, they will really work their way through across the uk as we go into the following week. plenty more showers, unfortunately, in our longer—term forecast.

this is bbc news. the headlines: media outlets in the united states are quoting intelligence sources that say hamza bin laden, the son of the late al-qaeda leader 0sama bin laden, is dead. the pentagon has not given any information about how or where the death took place. ten more democratic hopefuls are going head to head in a second televised debate in detroit. the candidates have discussed healthcare and immigration. another series of debates in september will whittle the candidates down to ten. the ultimate victor earns the right to take on president trump next year. the russian president vladimir putin has ordered the army to help tackle massive wildfires raging in siberia and other regions in the east of the country. so far about 3 million hectares have been affected. many local residents say not enough is being done to tackle the fires.