from the organisation that runs the oscars — the academy said he no longer merited the respect of his colleagues. it follows a series of sexual assault accusations against the producer — including rape — some of which he has denied. mr weinstein has already been fired by the company he founded, denounced by many of the celebrities he launched to stardom — and called a depraved predator by his own brother. laura bicker reports from la where the meeting of the academy has been taking place. the glitzy veneer which has hidden hollywood's darkest secrets has now been peeled back. harvey weinstein was credited with over 81 oscar wins and over 300 nominations, awards which now seem tarnished. this is a key moment for an industry which stands accused of developing a culture which made women feel that exploitation was a price they had to pay to get a job. harvey is not in the academy because everyone thought he was a nice guy or even played fair, it's because he has been a genius at picking and promoting films and so in that way, he has helped a lot of filmmakers. now he's also proved that he had another life as a sexual predator. and that hurts so many people. harvey weinstein‘s brother, bob, has today called him sick and predator. he says they have barely spoken in five years and he is heartbroken for the women his brother had harmed and hopes he gets the justice he deserves. british actress alice evans is the latest star to claim weinstein propositioned her. they met at the cannes film festival in 2002. she says she asked her to go to a bathroom with him because he wanted to feel her breasts. she said no. she said that: the next time they met, she says weinstein ignored her. she was never considered for one of his films again, nor her husband ioan gruffudd. harvey weinstein‘s downfall has been swift. the new york times reported earlier this month. harvey weinstein apologised. but also said he would sue. as the claims continued, he was sacked by his own company. and just days later, 13 more women published their stories in the new yorker magazine. including three accusations of rape which he strongly denies. there is now at least a realisation in hollywood that if change is to come, simply shrugging or looking the other way is no longer enough. for more on the story, let's speak to our correspondent peter bowes in los angeles. 0nly only the second member of the academy ever to be ex— bells. they didn't have much choice, did they? —— expelled. didn't have much choice, did they? -- expelled. they were certainly under a lot of pressure to take this action. the huge amount of global —— publicity since these allegations we re publicity since these allegations were first made public. if they had taken a different decision, they would have been under the microscope like never before. it seems that yes, they had to make this decision. a p pa re ntly yes, they had to make this decision. apparently it was made with a very significant majority of the academy's governing body. it means that from now on, harvey weinstein will no longer have a say in their activities. he will no longer be able to vote in terms of nominations for the oscars themselves. he has been ostracised not only by this organisation, arguably the most influential film organisation in organisation, arguably the most influentialfilm organisation in the world but by just influentialfilm organisation in the world but byjust about everyone else in hollywood. this puts the academy in a difficult spot as well because many actors and actresses say this is the tip of an act —— iceberg. yes, you think of all cosby all roman polanski. the director who both members of the academy and action wasn't taken against them. in the case of roman polanski actually pleading guilty to a sex charge involving an underage girl and there we re involving an underage girl and there were allegations against bill cosby as well and they remain members of that organisation. the phrase i keep hearing is, "tip of the iceberg" there will most likely be more allegations over the coming days, weeks or months. many of those could well be members of the academy as well. this is our much wider story, of course, than just the oscars and the academy. they are very influential in this town that it affects all of the major studios, the current casting directors, screenwriters, the current casting directors, screenwriters, everyone the current casting directors, screenwriters, everyone involved in the industry has really been shattered by this. everything you are saying suggests this whole scandal, as it were, is going to last not just the scandal, as it were, is going to last notjust the coming days but weeks and months? i have been here a long time, 20 plus years, i have never seen a long time, 20 plus years, i have never seen a scandal at this that has plunged —— touched such a chord in every aspect of life in this town. what i keep hearing is that people knew, by and large, that this was going on. perhaps they didn't know the true nature of it or the extent of the details. but they had a hunch that something, maybe a little sordid, was going on involving harvey weinstein or others. there has been its veil of secrecy over others. there has been its veil of secrecy over this, behind this dirty little secret that hollywood has been keeping for so many years and this has blown it all out into the open and people are just wondering where the next story is going to come from. thank you. a canadian man who — along with his pregnant wife — was captured in afghanistan five years ago has been giving distressing details of the time they spent in captivity. joshua boyle and his wife, caitlin, were released earlier this week after being held hostage by islamic militants, linked to the taliban. mr boyle told reporters his wife had been raped, and that she had given birth to four children in captivity — one of whom, a baby girl, had been murdered. john mcmanus reports... afghanistan, parts of the country remain in the grip of islamist militants. canadian joshua boyle and his wife caitlin coleman, came here, he says, to carry out aid work. but instead the couple were kidnapped by members of a haqqani network linked to the taliban. over five years their captors attempted to use them as bargaining chips, released a series of videos. one of them showed their children born in captivity. on wednesday, the family were finally freed by pakistani forces. they arrived in toronto late last night where joshua boyle outlined their grim ordeal including the horrific murder of his daughter. the stupidity and the evil of this haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife in taliban controlled regions of afghanistan was eclipsed by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter. joshua boyle also said his wife was raped by the militants. the canadian government has welcomed the family's safe return home. i'm going to ask people to respect their privacy and understand that they have been through an extremely difficult period right now, but i can certainly say that we're pleased that the ordeal they have been through over the past years has finally come to an end. joshua boyle's parents described hearing his voice to the first time since his kidnap. we have had -- been told the wonderful news that the family has been rescued and we we re the family has been rescued and we were able to talk withjosh. it's the first time in five years. while both sets grandparents are undoubtedly relieved, caitlin coleman's father says his daughter should never have been taken to such a dangerous place. joshua boyle says he now hopes his surviving children can he now hopes his surviving children ca n start he now hopes his surviving children can start again. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. kurdish television says an iraqi government deadline for peshmerga fighters to withdraw from key sites in the disputed city of kirkuk has been extended by 2a hours. kurdish security officials had earlier said they were preparing to defend their positions in the city in the event of an attack by iraqi forces. there's been heightened tension in the region since last month's referendum in which kurdish voters backed independence. the us—backed coalition besieging raqqa in northern syria says that foreign fighters belonging to the islamic state militia must either surrender, or be killed. syrian members of is have now left the city in a convoy of buses, after reaching a deal with local officials — leaving only foreign extremists holding out. the coalition has said it expects to see more heavy fighting — but believes the city will be captured within days. meanwhile, syria has demanded the immediate withdrawal of turkish soldiers deployed in the north—west of the country. it described their presence as "flagrant aggression" and a violation of international law. turkey moved troops into idlib province on thursday, saying they were operating alongside syrian rebel groups to try to enforce a "de—escalation" zone. wildfires are continuing to ravage parts of northern california. 38 people have so far been killed in the past week and many more are missing. large parts of northern california, including sonoma and napa counties, and the city of santa rosa have been hit. from california, dave lee reports. these fires have choked california, displacing 90,000 people and destroying more than 5,000 buildings. sir, you've got to go! this footage shows a police officer's view on sunday. he was in the city of santa rosa helping terrified residents evacuate. the next day the city looks like this. we walk and see our neighbourhood, flattened. it looks like a bomb has gone off in our neighbourhood. it's so heartbreaking. the smoky air can be smelt as far as 100 miles away. this is our wine making facility. the harvest was complete. so all of our grapes were in. 0ver there is our press and our crush pad with the tanks and that was all outside. obviously, you can see it's completely destroyed. police are having to deal with looters seeking to capitalise on block after block of empty homes. some of the biggest fires are showing signs of being contained thanks to the efforts of more than 8,000 firefighters drafted in to help. these firefighters are bracing themselves, weather forecasts suggests more high winds are on the way. this is already the deadliest wile fire in the state's history and it is not over yesterday yet. here in the uk, tougher prison sentences are being proposed for people convicted of acid attacks. under the plans, anyone repeatedly caught carrying corrosive substances can expect a minimum six month jail term. attacks have more than doubled in britain in the past five years. there are some disturbing images at the start of alexandra mackenzie's report. acid attacks can have devastating consequences. there were more than 400 in the uk between november 2016 and april this year. the agony of the aftermath of an acid attack in east london injuly. delivery driverjaved hussain said it melted his motorbike helmet, which saved his face from long—term damage. he is calling for tougher sentencing for those involved. i started screaming. then i realised that's acid. i was just screaming on the street. crying forwater, like, getting more dry and getting more worse. and i thought my face has been destroyed. i think he should be punished for that, because he wanted to destroy somebody‘s identity, destroy somebody‘s face. the government wants to give police more powers to prevent such assaults. i think it's really important that we send out a very strong message that, you know, carrying a corrosive substance in a public place unless you've got a really good reason to have it isjust totally u na cce pta ble. speak to any victim of an acid attack and they'll be living with lifelong scars. it's absolutely right that we take this as seriously as any knife attack. under the home office proposals it would be an offence to possess a corrosive substance in public. there would be a ban on the sale of such substances to anyone under 18. and people caught carrying acid twice in public would receive a mandatory minimum six—month prison sentence if over the age of 18. what it'll do is allow us to bring more charges and convictions when it comes to carrying these substances even before they are being used. at the minute we have to prove the intent, the fact why you're carrying that substance. these proposals look to change that. the home office says victims and survivors are at the heart of everything they're doing to reduce the number of acid attacks. but some say the new proposals just don't go far enough and more needs to be done to bring those responsible to justice. london has been worst affected. and police are being issued with test kits to check the contents of suspicious bottles of liquid. they're also being given protective gloves and water bottles so they can treat victims quickly. together with the proposed new laws, officers hope it'll prevent more attacks. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: it is being described as the world ‘s most useless airport. parts of san francisco least affected by the earthquake are returning to life. but in the marina area, where most of the damage was done, they're more conscious than ever of how much has been destroyed. in the 19 years since he was last here, he's gone from being a little—known revolutionary to an experienced and successful diplomatic operator. it was a 20 pound bomb which exploded on the fifth floor of the grand hotel, ripping a hole in the front of the building. this government will not weaken. democracy will prevail. it fills me with humility and gratitude to know that i have been chosen as the recipient of this foremost of earthly honours. this catholic nation held its breath for the men they call the 33. and then... bells toll bells tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue and chile let out an almighty roar. this is bbc news. our top story: the movie producer harvey weinstein has been expelled from the film academy that runs the oscars, over allegations of rape and sexual assault. more now on that story. we can speak to the emmy award—winning entertainment journalist, kj matthews, who joins me from los angeles. thank you forjoining us. his films have been nominated for 300 oscars. he is 181. but really, the academy had little choice over this decision, didn't they? —— he has won 81. they did so they have not only 90 years. they revoked the membership of one of its members, harvey weinstein. there is any one other person that has ever had their membership revoked, and that was because that actor had violated academy status. but they released a statement saying they had no other choice, and that his behaviour merits it, and they could not have someone merits it, and they could not have someone be a part of their membership of their academy exhibiting this type of behaviour. they also said they wanted to send a message to those in power who may be exhibiting weinstein like behaviour that those days are over. but now there has been pushed back, because people say they can't believe they still have roman polanski, bill cos by, still have roman polanski, bill cosby, and even woody allen as members, but have revoked the membership of high —— harvey was in. that is what i was good to us. because there might be one or two others that are looking at their shoulders, worry. -- weinstein. it is an interesting case, because with bill cosby, he has been charged. roman polanski, as we know, he was charged. and yet harvey weinstein has not been charged. although there are investigations now by police department is obviously in london and new york that a same day ago to open up cases and investigate little bit more to see if there is something there. and he could possibly face charges. but as of today, he has not been charged with anything. these are mere allegations by more than 30 women, accusing him of sexual harassment as well as sexual assault. so do you think over the coming days, once harvey weinstein has slipped out of the headlines, other members could be pursued and expelled, as well? exactly. many people are silent. there are a lot of big actors out there, especially male actors, that have said nothing. or people have called their publicists and ages to see if they can get a response, or they will twitter me, and they have been silent. and i think what it is is that it is a watershed moment. women are feeling more comfortable, especially in this country, and stepping up and not remaining silent about what is happening to them with regard to sexual harassment. and there are many people out there who know what they have done and are really afraid great now, back into a corner, hoping that they are not found out. thank you forjoining us, entertainment journalist, found out. thank you forjoining us, entertainmentjournalist, kj matthews. there's lots more on our website. just go to bbc.com/news. there you can find the latest on the harvey weinstein revelations. you can also download the bbc news app. at least 30 people have been killed and more than a hundred injured in a massive bomb attack in the somali capital. a truck carrying explosives blew up outside a hotel in the centre of the mogadishu, destroying several buildings. police say two more were killed in a second bomb in another part of the city. eleanor griffith jones reports. a huge cloud of smoke thrown into the sky across mogadishu. it left behind seeds of devastation. a lorry, packed with explosives, detonated at the entrance of a popular hotel in the busy commercial pa rt popular hotel in the busy commercial part of the city. a second bomb went off in the medina district. eyewitnesses described it as a scene of war. dozens were killed and many more injured. emergency teams were overwhelmed. the head of the ambulance service said they lost track of the number of wounded. police are not sure who was behind this, but the somali capital is the scene this, but the somali capital is the scene of regular attacks from the al qaeda linked al—shabab group. with many more believed to be trapped beneath the wreckage, it is now a race against time to reach them. alan griffith jones, race against time to reach them. alan griffithjones, bbc news. —— eleanor. the british island of st helena used to be one of the world's most inaccessible locations. this map might give you an idea of why — previously, the only way to get to st helena was to take a ship from south africa, which only left once every three weeks. but today, it's welcomed its first commercial flight. it's hoped the new weekly service could help to boost tourism and make the island more self—sufficient. our correspondent alistair leithead was on the inaugural flight. he sent this report. the champagne was flowing for what was an extraordinary flight. after £250 million, months of delays, and a problem with high winds that labelled it the world's most useless airport, the first commercial flight finally touched down on st helena. the government paid for the new airport, to bring in tourists and give the subsidised economy a well needed boost. but then they discovered wind shear that made it too dangerous for passenger planes to land. the islands governor greeted the first passengers to arrive, now they have worked out a way round it. darwin came here in the 19th century and complained about the wind. the department for international development has been criticised for not realising. no, it is not a cock—up at all. this is a remote island in the middle of the south atlantic ocean. we have many, many challenges here. wind shear is just one of them and we have overcome it. well, standing here you can understand what the trouble is all about. this is a rock in the middle of the atlantic ocean. that gale that is blowing is just an average breezy day, and it is unpredictable. planes have been struggling to land. that is why they have the small aircraft to do the job. so, not quite as many tourists to take in the scenery and the history. this is where napoleon died in exile. his old house is now part of france. with a500 people, it is a close community. the average wage is just £7,000. british aid subsidises most things. what do you think about this flight that is coming in now? it is absolutely awesome, it is wonderful. it is popular, and you were up there yourselves today, and saw all the clapping. it is really an island event. after a lot of fuss and a lot of money, saints, as they are called, are hoping for a silver lining. alastair leithead, bbc news, st helena. before we leave you, some gorgeous pictures from the albuqerque balloon festival. that's in new mexico, the largest such festival in the world. there are races that are part of this event, and it takes place over several days. 500 balloons, or more than 500 balloons take part in the nine—day event. this is bbc news. good morning. well, after hitting category 3 status on saturday, a rarity for the eastern atlantic, hurricane ophelia here on the chart to the south of the azores will weaken as it pushes towards our shores in the next 2a hours. but it is already having an indirect impact. because to the west of it, whilst dragging cold air to the atlantic, to the east warm air is being pushed in our direction. muggy conditions out there at the moment. starting widely the teens. conditions still warmer than it should be at this time of year across the northern scotland. wet and windy here, with gales around the hebrides. windy start in scotland and ireland, with outbreaks of rain becoming more extensive throughout the day, but not as heavy as we start with. south and east, lots morning cloud, fog in the hills, but that will break up later. after the wet start it will dry up in the hebrides. the winds will ease down. across scotland, lots of cloud, with the occasional rain. same too in northern ireland. there could be a splash of rain in cumbria by the time we hit mid—afternoon, but much of england and wales will be dry. breeziest west, with nothing untoward at all. but cloudier compared to some eastern areas. where the cloud breaks, temperatures will be above what you see here. maybe as high as 23 celsius in one or two spots. that is where should be at the stage in october. by monday morning, hurricane ophelia is getting closer. no longer a hurricane, but will still be a substantial storm, the core of which likely to affect the republic of ireland. southern and western areas of the uk. we will see winds strengthen through the morning, particularly around irish sea coasts, celtic coast as well. the northern ireland secrecy damaging a destructive winds of 70 or even 80 miles an hour. later during the day, colder than the north. further east, a bit of a breeze, but not a bad day. temperatures could reach 23 or 24. monday night into tuesday, the centre of a low pressure system as it is scotland with heavy rain hit throughout the night. strongest of the winds in the south of scotland and northern england as we go to tuesday morning rush hour. that could have an impact. you can see that low pressure pushing eastwards throughout tuesday. so the rain eases off and brightens up. the further south you are, the more pleasant it will be. temperatures in the high teens. this is bbc news. here are the headlines. the movie producer harvey once deane has been expelled from the film academy that runs the oscars. after denying it numerous allegations including rape, he has been fired by his company, denounced by his peers and called abdul —— called depraved by his own brother. a man kidnapped in afghanistan with his pregnant wife has been giving disturbing details about their years spent in captivity. he said soldiers from the haqqani network had raped his wife and murdered one of their children. thousands more people in california have been forced to evacuate their homes as emergency teams continued to fight a series of wildfires. 38 people have been killed in the past week and many more are missing. large parts of the city of santa rosa and

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