With a uk election expected six weeks today, politicians are already heading for social media to get their message across to as many of us as their message across to as many of us as possible. But, from the end of november, the ceo of twitter, jack dorsey, has said all political advertising will be banned. On twitter, he said that political message reach should be earned are not bought. Why, he asked . The answer, he said, it can be used to influence votes and effect the lives of millions. Some regard this move asa of millions. Some regard this move as a swipe at facebook, which recently ruled out a ban on political advertising. In the 2017 election, uk Political Parties spent £32 election, uk Political Parties spent £3. 2 million on facebook ads, and just £56,500 on twitter ads. Its not going to impact twitter massively, as weve seen. The amount of money spent on adverts on twitter is tiny, but this is a symbolic gesture, because we are all now focusing on the influence and power of paid advertising on social media. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he didnt think it was right for private companies to censor politicians or the news. Politicians, including the former home secretary amber rudd and labours david lammy have welcomed the ban, but Donald TrumpsElection Campaign team say it is yet another attempt by the left to silence the president. Ill get more on this story and the role of political advertising on social media from a tech reporter in california. That is in a few minutes. The us military has published the first images of the raid in which the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was killed. The footage depicts several phases of the Us Special Forces operation, culminating in the destruction of baghdadis compound. Here is our washington correspondent chris buckler. In the first Images Released of the raid, you can see us specialforces making way into the building where Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was hiding. As they flew into the area, the american troops were shot at by militants. Were 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, and 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 said he tried to escape through an underground tunnel. Now, about baghdadis last moments, i can tell you this. He crawled into a hole with two small children and blew himself up, while his people stayed on the grounds. You can deduce what kind of person he is based on that activity. So that would be just my empirical observation of what he did. Im not able to confirm anything else about his last seconds. Us soldiers gathered documents and electronic equipment at the compound before bombing it. It was completely levelled, to ensure it didnt become Something Like a shrine. This was a dangerous mission, and baghdadi was not alone in the building. Two people were taken into custody here and five others were killed, including four women. The other people that were engaged on the objective were behaving in a threatening manner, with suicide vests, approaching the raid force. And that causes you to make some decisions, particularly when they dont respond to arabic language commands to stop, warning shots, and the progression of escalation that our special operators are so very good it. Us military leaders say is as an organisation has been badly damaged by the raid, but they are concerned about the possibility of retaliatory attacks. Baghdadi may be dead and his hideaway destroyed, but the ideology of hate he helped inspire remains a threat. Chris buckler, bbc news, washington. Lets brief you on some of the other stories making the news here in the uk, an inquiry into the deadly blaze at the Grenfell Tower apartment block in london two years ago has issued a damning report. It has concluded more lives could have been saved if the building had been evacuated sooner, and found systemic failures in the london fire brigade response. Relatives and survivors have called it heartbreaking. A second earthquake has struck the southern philippines on the island of mindanao. The 6. 5 magnitude quake hit in the same area as the stong tremor that killed at least seven people on tuesday. The Us Geological survey says there is no threat of a tsunami. Officials in the philippines, however, have warned there are many injured from tuesdays quake, and that the death toll may climb. It has been a hugely busy 2a hours in the business world. The Federal Reserve has cut the cost of borrowing for the third time in four months, citing concerns about the Global Economy and the trade war dragging on between the us and china. But results from facebook to apple to starbucks have come in better than wall street was expecting, helping boost us shares to a new record high. So what is going on . With me in the studio is david buik, market commentator at the betting company core spreads. You are too kind, lovely to see you, and it is not true. A city veteran, i describe you as. Give us your take, then, on all the results we have been hearing, and also the fed and its decision to cut rates, as well. You have to put this in context, in my opinion, sally. This is the Third Quarter we are likely to see profit ability of the s p 500 companies lower. But you are saying, well, hang on a minute, you have the s p 500 at record levels. That is because alternate Asset Classes such as bonds, particularly in europe where they are a negative territory, are unattractive. When you are getting a decent dividend, why not stick with it and stay with the flow . Thats fine. About 80 of those companies that have reported so far, i think it is about 60 , have beaten expectations. Dont pay too much attention to that, because the expectations are always low, so they can say i am so clever, i have beaten expectations. Basically what youre saying is they have managed oui youre saying is they have managed our expectations, kept them low so they come in better than expected. Correct. But when you look at Companies Like facebook and apple, in terms of earnings . They are very sexy products, but if you come back to some of the hardcore ones like mcdonalds, slightly disappointing. We expected amazon to blaze the trail, they are having indigestion problems. They are down 6 . The three ms mining situation, bad, caterpillar not good. Financial markets as ever getting ahead of themselves. What about what the fed had to say when they cut rates for the third time in four months . You got impression from jerome powell, the boss, that he isnt too worried but has a few pre emptive strikes in their with cutting rates. Remember, he gets bullied and he says i am not listening to President Trump, i am my own man, i am in independent central banker, that is true. That is the third cut this year, down to 1. 75. This is helpful. Couple that with what you said, phase one of the trade war, perhaps having some kind of sensible outcome. You could have a bit ofa of sensible outcome. You could have a bit of a central rally. This time last year between october and december, the s p 500 and most us markets lost 20 in value. It was armageddon. I dont know if were going to get this this year, but there is still a lot of talk that china is going to take a long time to re galvanise itself, and the chances are recession could be with us chances are recession could be with us by the end of 2020. Sorry. Right dont worry, you are allowed. We will talk more about that and the other stories in the papers today. That fed decision, and Christine Lagarde, the new chief at the International Monetary fund, talking about how governments need to spend more. We will talk about that later. New york city has voted to ban foie gras. The dish is considered a delicacy, but there have long been concerns over Animal Welfare associated with making it. This report from rich preston. Made from the liver of ducks or geese, it is highly prized and not cheap. But attitudes towards foie gras have been simmering for some time. Animal rights campaigners say the process of reducing foie gras is cruel and painful. The animals are force fed grain to make their livers as large as possible. New york city officials have agreed, overwhelmingly supporting a ban on certain force fed overwhelmingly supporting a ban on certain force fed poultry products. Inner city home to hundreds of restau ra nts, inner city home to hundreds of restaurants, that decision isnt popular with everyone, and some argue the band threatens the citys entire food scene. Translation all Animal Breeding is inhumane to begin with. Why focus on a small subset. It is an important page of history. Of all these things that is going to be torn from menus in new york, it isa be torn from menus in new york, it is a bit ofa be torn from menus in new york, it is a bit of a shame, it is a huge shame, actually. A similar ban in chicago in 2006 was reversed, but abandoned california which came into effect in 2012 remains in place. New yorks ban is due to come in in 2022. Just to say, of course, Christine Lagarde is the boss of the European Central bank, not the imf. So apologies, especially if she is watching stay with us on bbc news. Still to come it is washingtons win. The nationals take baseballs world series for the first time in their history. Indira gandhi, ruler of the Worlds Largest democracy, died today. Only yesterday shed 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. Youre watching the briefing. Our 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 in which the leader of the Islamic State group was killed. Lets stay with our top story now. Amrita khalid is a Technology Reporter for quartz. Shejoins me from san diego. Welcome to the programme. Give us your reaction to this decision on the part of twitter. Is this the right decision . Its hard to say. I think it definitely caught everyone by surprise. Twitter Ceo Jack Dorsey announced it right before facebooks Earnings Call, and so it was definitely a decision that seemed to come out of nowhere. But i think reactions on twitter have been mostly positive for the most part. I think youll see journalists with reservations about how, for example, smaller candidates will too in a situation where they cant advertise on twitter. It will have repercussions and dorsey was the first to admit there will be some cons. I think for the most part, a lot is left to as far as what the effects will be. Forjack dorsey, though, the boss of twitter, they can make these decisions stop me they dont make a lot of revenue from political advertising, in the same way that facebook might in the future . Thats the funny thing about it stop it twitter made less than 3 million on political ads. Its not a huge loss for them in terms of bottom line about it. Loss for them in terms of bottomline about it. Mark zuckerberg recently was grilled about facebooks role in the run up to elections and was an rains to say we will allow political ads because we will allow political ads because we wa nt we will allow political ads because we want to protect freedom of speech. Its almost like these two big names in tech are going head to head. Yes. Facebook has been mired ina lot head. Yes. Facebook has been mired in a lot of controversy lately. Zuckerberg gave a speech before Georgetown University earlier this month, basically saying that he is a proponent of freedom of speech and he doesnt believe facebook as a platform has the responsibility to, kind of, police speech. Funnily enough, jack dorsey in his twitter thread today seemed to be of a similar mindset. He isnt of the belief that Tech Companies have the ability or responsibility to regulate speech. As far as doing eight well is concerned. It well. Their reactions are quite different. Facebook isnt going to fact check political ads. Even in their Earnings Call today, zuckerberg said they would be no change to their political ads policy. Even following the backlash and the grilling before the backlash and the grilling before the senate, it isnt going to fact check political ads. Jack dorsey on the other hand doesnt want to have political ads on its platform at all. Amrita, we are going to have to alleviate their. Apologies for interrupting you. Amrita khalid, Technology Reporter with courts talking about our top story today. We will look at your comments later as well. Courts. Ghana has declared 2019 the year of return and is encouraging the African Diaspora to visit the country. According to the countrys tourism board, from january tojune this year, there was a 20 increase in the number of americans visiting the country and an 11 increase in visitors from the uk. This was compared to the same period last year. But some African Americans have also decided to make the continent their new home, this year marks for hundred years since enslaved africans were first taken to what is now the us stapley garner has declared 2019 the year of return, and is encouraging the african diaster to visit the country. Angelo mathews, from california, is one of thousands of americans who have made the journey. I never thought i would make this trip, nether. My sisterand i i never thought i would make this trip, nether. My sister and i are the first generation to make it here. It isjust the first generation to make it here. It is just truly amazing. The first generation to make it here. It isjust truly amazing. Cape coast castle was a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade. Angela decided to visit after a dna test revealed she has ghanaian ancestry. Thank you. Im grateful to every a ncestor of thank you. Im grateful to every ancestor of mine. Thank you for being Strong Enough to make it. In our country, back in the United States, with our current president , it is significant to know where you belong and where you came from. Reuniting with my ancestors makes me feel at home. It makes me feel that im a part of a culture that i never experienced. I have a culture, i have a people, i belong. But for some African Americans, a visit to ghana is not enough. Go into africa. Five years ago, lakisha ford arrived into the country you to start a new life. She joined a number of African Americans who have emigrated to the continent. Any black person in the diaster, a trip needs to be made to the african continent. There is almost this, like, undefined closure that happens. You didnt even know you needed this, you didnt even need you closure in a certain light, but coming here you get it. For lakisha, this is about changing perceptions. This movie is not about racism, this movie is about the progress and the future that is africa. I dont see colour here because im a part of the majority, and i think thats a privilege and a luxury. That description as a black woman in ghana, theres no such thing. You area ghana, theres no such thing. You are a woman in ghana. Authorities estimate half a Million People will visit ghana this year, but its hard to tell what impact this will have on the future of the country. Elaine och erri, bbc news, acra. 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 7 game series 6 2 at the houston minute maid stadium. Joining me now for the latest is the bbcs tulsen tollett, who is in houston. Tolson, im guessing this was huge, the fact the Washington Nationals won . Sadly, it was huge and it was huge because this is the first time ina huge because this is the first time in a world series that has gone seven games and the visiting team has won all seven games. To give you some context on that, 11120 best of 7 series have taken place in major league baseball, in the nhl and the nba, and in that time, this has never, ever happened. It is very, very rare indeed. The astros got out toa very rare indeed. The astros got out to a good start in this game, up and in it at 2 0 but it really changed in the seventh inning because thats when anthony went down driving a homerun and how we can break picked up homerun and how we can break picked upa 2 run homerun and how we can break picked up a 2 run home, they went ahead 3 2 and then they pushed on and got three more runs to pick up their first ever world series title. They we re first ever world series title. They were the montreal expose that got relocated to washington, dc in 2005, so this is their first ever title. The last time a team ever won a title in washington, dc was the senators in 192a, and this is the first time they have been in a world series since 1933. You can see behind me, the players mingling around with family and talking away over there. We spoke to a couple of people earlier, ryan zimmerman, who plays for the Washington Nationals, we spoke to his father keith and his wife heather. Theres people Milling Around and watching whats going on and interviews being done with the local and national broadcasters, and the stadium here has got plenty around it. It is now 12 25pm local time and everyone is revelling in this and back in washington, dc, there is around 30,000 people at park for a watch party. Thats what they do over here, a watch party, they do over here, a watch party, they sit there and watch on the big screen what happens 1600 kilometres away. It sounds incredible and congratulations to the Washington Nationals. Tulsen, thank you very much, good to see you. England and south africa have named their sides for the Rugby World Cup final. The showdown is due to take place this weekend in yokohama. Englands side, which beat new zealand in the semi final, is unchanged and south africa has announced just one change. With more on this, heres andy swiss. England have not surprisingly named the same starting xv that beat new zealand so impressively in their semi final, undoubtedly their best performance of this world cup. No changes. That means george ford continues at fly half with captain owen farrell outside him in the centres. There is one interesting addition to the bench. Scrum half ben spencer. Spencer has onlyjust arrived here in japan. Ben spencer. Spencer has onlyjust arrived here injapan. He wasnt named in the initial squad but when there was an injury to willi heinz at the weekend, hes been called up as an emergency replacement and he could well make an appearance at some stage, so what a world cup debut it could be for ben spencer. As for south africa, they have made one change to the team that it wails in their semi final. Winger Cheslin Kolbe is back in the side in place of nkose. Kolbe missed the semi final with an ankle injury but hes established himself as one of the most exciting talents in world by, the most exciting talents in world rugby, so his return is a real boost to the springboks. England will start as favourites to win their first world cup since 2003. Plenty more for you in the briefing today. A packed Business Briefing with the results from facebook. Apple results as well. More discussion of the fed et cetera and their decision on interest rates. Youve been talking to us about your thoughts on twitter and its decision. A freefall is perfectly a cce pta ble decision. A freefall is perfectly acceptable as we think for ourselves, if the idea is to combat propaganda on twitter, you should close it down completely as it is full of bias. I will see you soon. Hello, good morning. South western reaches of the uk have had fairly relentless rain over the last few days. Cornwall and the channel islands, grey and dank. Paignton yesterday. The prospect for today looks drier although not necessarily brighter. The area of low pressure that has been parked to the south west of the uk will pull away southwards, taking the rain with it. More rain in the winds to come away for friday. Today, however, we begin with rain across the south coast, the south west, affecting parts of wales but come the afternoon are largely dry picture with a bit of drizzle around, the odd shower, lingering cloud but much drier. Plenty of sunshine further north and east. Still breezy, especially for some of the western coasts. Later on in the day, the cloud starts to build towards the west and skies become overcast for northern ireland. Temperatures reaching 11 in belfast with brightness for plymouth, losing that rain, 1a degrees. If you heading out in the evening for trick or treating, a fine story across central and eastern parts of the uk with the cloud thickening in the west to bring a patchy outbreak of rain at first and then some heavier rain by the time we get to midnight as that next area of low pressure starts to work its way in. It will also bring strengthening winds, and this low centre will stay with us for a while. Particularly on friday it will pull the air in from the south west of the uk, from the atlantic. And so yes, the rain will come down, but, actually, the temperatures on the whole will be going up. Some quite heavy downpours of rain at time and coming in showery bands. There will be some brightness in between the rain, and in that sunshine, 16 or 17 degrees across eastern england. Some more persistent rain, i think, for the south coast later in the day. Just nine or ten to the north across scotland. Now, that area of low pressure is key to the weekend. It will be staying with us. Exactly how it develops is open to some questions still at the moment. But if we do get this deep squeeze to the south of the uk it could be a very windy day across southern england, and particularly along the south coast. Never mind, really, though, where you are. A breezy and wet weekend basically in store. This is the Business Briefing, im sally bundock. 2. 8 billion forgiving friends. Facebook gets bigger, and richer, than ever, shrugging off concerns over privacy, misinformation and harmful content. Plus the fed cuts rates again, but signals that might be it for now. And on the markets, asian shares edging up on that fed rate cut, after the s p 500 closed at a new record high