after a wave of russian missile and drone attacks hits civilian infrastructure, leaving many without power. former football star oj simpson, who was acquitted of his ex—wife�*s murder in one of america's most high—profile trials, dies, at the age of 76. we examine what voters in the battleground state of pennslyvania care about in the run—up to the 2024 us election. and a stunning discovery reveals remarkable artwork from 2,000 years ago uncovered in pompeii, the ancient roman city. hello. i'm carl nasman. russia's bombardment of ukraine continues after more than 80 missiles and drones targeted critical infrastructure. five regions were hit thursday, leaving more than 200,000 people without power. almost a third of the strikes made it through ukraine's air defences.

president volodmyr zelensky again called for more air defence supplies, urging the west not to turn a blind eye to russia's continuing attacks. russian president vladimir putin has hosted talks with the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenko. putin said that the latest attacks on ukraine are part of an effort to demilitarise ukraine. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford, reports from kharkiv. here in kharkiv there was just another air raid. and those are happening almost every day now. we heard the sound of explosions and that's when metro stations like this one become a shelter for people. people head underground to hide from those missiles, because itjust takes a few seconds before they reach this city from russia, which is around about a0 kilometres away. now, we don't know what was targeted this time, but we do know over overnight here in ukraine, there was a massive attack by russia on the energy infrastructure right across the country, from west to here in the northeast. and here in kharkiv, $300 missiles were fired.

they destroyed a power substation, electricity substation, and they damaged yet another power plant here. and the city is struggling. you know, the metro is up and running, but there are long gaps between trains. people are facing blackouts in the electricity supply to their houses, shops, businesses, industrial production, of course, are all affected. the city is going on, though, you know, life is kind of normal. out and about on the streets between the air raids. it's a hugely sunny day here, lots of people around and about. but across ukraine, these attacks are becoming very serious. the energy infrastructure is under sustained and deliberate attack by russia. and just overnight in kyiv, kyiv region, an entire power plant was destroyed. i spoke to the boss there. he said 100% of their electricity generation has now been wiped out. they need parts, spare parts from western allies. but what they really need here in ukraine, he said, is air defence protection, because without that, he said, we can do the impossible, we can rebuild, but if we can't protect these energy power plants, these power plants, then russia will attack again and ukraine will be left without power.

sarah rainsford reporting there. ukraine's parliament has approved an army mobilisation bill to boost troop numbers in the fight against russia. it toughens punishments for draft dodgers and is designed to boost recruitment. but the legislation also prompted some anger, in particular the removal of a clause that would allow long—serving troops on the frontline to return home. president biden says the united states is ready to defend the philippines from any attack in the south china sea. the white house hosted philippines president ferdinand marcosjunior and japanese prime minister fumio kishida in a first of its kind trilateral summit on thursday. the three countries expressed — quote — "serious concerns" over what the three countries call china's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the south china sea. there've been repeated confrontations between chinese and philippine vessels in waters off disputed islands and mr biden said any attack on philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces would invoke the mutual defence treaty.

earlier, japan's prime minister fumio kishida emphasised the us' role in international affairs in the first speech to a joint session of congress by a japanese leader in nine years. mr kishida praised the japan—us alliance for upholding peace in the asia pacific region, but he warned that ukraine today could be east asia tomorrow, telling lawmakers that without us support in ukraine, the result there could embolden china. the leadership of the united states is indispensable. without us support, how long before hopes of ukraine would collapse under the onslaught from moscow? how long before the indo—pacific would face even harsher realities? oj simpson, the american football star who was controversially acquitted of double murder, has died, at the age of 76. using his account, the simpson family announced his passing on x, asking the public

for "privacy and grace". in 1995, he was cleared of the murder of his ex—wife nicole brown and herfriend ron goldman, after a televised trial that became a global sensation. but he was later found liable for the deaths in a civil suit brought by the victims�* families. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy reports. this is one of those scenes that would only happen, honestly, here in southern california. tonight, oj simpson is a fugitive. watched by millions, oj simpson famously led police on a car chase through los angeles, after becoming the main suspect in the murder of his ex—wife and her friend. around the world, viewers watched the unfolding drama as people came onto the street cheering him on. couldn't actually see oj, but we saw a guy driving past. that's oj, though.

police attempted to apprehend him live on tv. he was eventually taken into custody at his california home. he was clearly the best running back of the �*705. oj simpson had had a remarkable life. from an impoverished childhood, he had gone on to become one of the greatest american football players in history, setting records in the sport still unbroken today. ship? boat? that's right, a boat. his celebrity status didn't end on the football field. he later became a hollywood actor. drugs. hey, nurse, quick, give this man some drugs, quick. but oj simpson will be forever remembered for this nine—month televised trial, for the double murder that transfixed america. he was accused of killing his former wife and a friend in a jealous rage. nicole brown simpson had been murdered in a brutal knife attack outside her home in a fashionable los angeles neighbourhood. gavel bangs known as the trial of the century, people tuned in from all over the world. at one point, oj simpson was shown struggling to try

on a pair of gloves found at the crime scene, leading to his attorney's famous line. if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, orenthal james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder... the jury took just three hours to deliver their verdict. the oj simpson trial sparked deep public emotion in america, seen by some as a case of a white police force trying to frame the star, he was acquitted by a mainly black jury. but to this day, many people believe he simply got away with domestic violence and murder. oj simpson later did go to jail, having been charged with armed robbery after a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in las vegas. he was released in 2017 after nine years behind bars. in a seemingly twisted take on reality, he published a book called if i did it: confessions of the killer. hey, let me take a moment to say thank you to all the people who reached

out to me. seen little in public life in recent years, he'll be remembered for his rags—to—riches story and fall from grace, which left the unresolved question in popular culture ever since about whether justice was ever truly served. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. live now to linda deutsch. she's a former ap special correspondent who covered the oj murder trial. great to have you here. i was in fifth grade and my teacher world in a tv set so we could watch live as the verdict was announced. did you have that same sense of history when you were covering the trial?- were covering the trial? well, i didn't realise _ were covering the trial? well, i didn't realise it _ were covering the trial? well, i didn't realise it was - were covering the trial? well, i didn't realise it was a - were covering the trial? well, i didn't realise it was a huge, | i didn't realise it was a huge, international sensation, and i figured that whatever the verdict was was going to be the top story of the day, everywhere. i don't know that any of us could have predicted

how long the case would continue to dominate american culture, and that's because they were two more trials, the civil trial, in which he was found liable for the killings, and then there was a strange kind of kangaroo court trial in vegas in which he was alleged to have tried to hold up some people, memorabilia dealers, who had bought his memorabilia, and he wanted it back. and for that trial he ended up going to prison. d0 that trial he ended up going to rison. ,, ~' that trial he ended up going to rison. ,, ~ ., prison. do you think that, then, prison. do you think that, then. will— prison. do you think that, then, will be _ prison. do you think that, then, will be his - prison. do you think that, then, will be his lasting i then, will be his lasting legacy? he was a sports star, an incredible figure of the 19705, but ended up going to jail. 1970s, but ended up going to “ail. , ., ., jail. he did, but for a weird reason- — jail. he did, but for a weird reason- i — jail. he did, but for a weird reason. i mean, _ jail. he did, but for a weird reason. i mean, during - jail. he did, but for a weird| reason. i mean, during that jail. he did, but for a weird i reason. i mean, during that - jail. he did, but for a weird - reason. i mean, during that - i reason. i mean, during that — i covered all those trials. i was just talking to a friend who said i was probably the only

person who covered all three oj trials, and i did, from beginning to end. during the trial i have a vivid memory of a tape being played of two detectives who were looking through the evidence in this memorabilia case, and one of them said to the other, well, they didn't get him in la, so we will get him here. and that seemed to indicate that he was set up in one way or another, and it was possible. but he had and it was possible. but he had an odd defence with an odd lawyer and he was convicted. looking back to the first trial and what you mentioned about the feelings that oj might have been set up, there was real suspicion of the los angeles police department at the time. this was a time just a couple of years after the rodney king beating, the beating court on tape by police officers on a young african—american man. what did you make of the way race factored into the trial?

you know, oj was an interesting celebrity. he transcended race. he once said "i'm not black, i'm he once said "i'm not black, lim oj-i' he once said "i'm not black, i'm oj." and it was sort of true, people didn't think of them that way, everybody loved him. the whites and the blacks, he was an attractive figure who spoke well and, you know, was on commercials, in movies, was on commercials, in movies, was on tv doing, jerry. all of this after an absolutely remarkable sports career. so he was someone very special to everybody. and — and he was just, you know, you talk about cases that are a fish out of water. he was the least likely person to ever be charged with murder. , ., person to ever be charged with murder. ,., , ., , murder. there were some people who believed, _ murder. there were some people who believed, you _ murder. there were some people who believed, you know, - murder. there were some people who believed, you know, he - who believed, you know, he assembled this all—star cast of defence lawyers, that it might have shown that the american

justice system, at least at the time, you could wriggle your way out of legal trouble, so long as you had the money to pay for someone like a johnnie cochran. i pay for someone like a johnnie cochran. ~ ., ., , cochran. i know that is the common — cochran. i know that is the common view, _ cochran. i know that is the common view, but - cochran. i know that is the common view, but i - cochran. i know that is the common view, but i will. cochran. i know that is the i common view, but i will point out something very different to you. which is that until the day he died there was a huge number of the public who believed he had been convicted. he was acquitted. when you are a celebrity and you go through big trial, often nobody notices that a jury found that you didn't do it. last year, robert blake died, and he — he had a big trial which i covered. and a lot of people called me and asked "is he still imprisoned for the killing of his wife? " i said no, for the killing of his wife? " isaid no, he for the killing of his wife? " i said no, he was acquitted, he was never found i said no, he was acquitted, he was neverfound guilty of i said no, he was acquitted, he was never found guilty of the crime. people didn't remember that. all they remembered that he was charged with a terrible

crime. and that clings forever to a celebrity.— to a celebrity. linda deutsch, who covered _ to a celebrity. linda deutsch, who covered all _ to a celebrity. linda deutsch, who covered all three - to a celebrity. linda deutsch, who covered all three oj - who covered all three oj simpson trial is with the associated press, we thank you forjoining us. associated press, we thank you forjoining ve— around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some stories making news in the uk. more than £34,000 of uk taxpayer money has been used to cover the cost of legal fees for the science secretary michelle donelan after she falsely accused an academic of extremism. the government defended using public money to pay the bill, claiming her comments had been made "in the course of her ministerial duties" but labour has called for her to pay the money back. a former uk sub—postmistress who was wrongly jailed while she was pregnant has rejected an apology by a former post office boss who congratulated the team behind her conviction. david smith apologised to seema misra at the inquiry into the post office scandal. she was eight weeks pregnant and sentenced to 15 months in prison.

baldur�*s gate iii has won big at this year's bafta games awards in london. the game by larian studios picked up five awards, including best game, best narrative, and player's choice. alan wake 2 and viewfinder won two awards each. a0 games were nominated across 17 categories, this year. you're live with bbc news. turning now to the race for the white house. vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump will be in pennsylvania in the coming days, trying to shore up support in the battleground state. presidentjoe biden won pennsylvania in 2020, while his likely opponent, mr trump, won there in 2016. polls this year have the candidates neck and neck. our chief presenter caitriona perry has been traveling to some of the most critical battleground states in the country, and she is in pennsylvania for us with more.

we are travelling through battleground states. these will most likely determine the president in november. we have been taking temperatures of voters this removed from the election. erie, pennsylvania, formerly a rustbelt hotspot as jobs left, so did the people. the population has declined by 40,000 since the 19705. the cost of living a problem as food prices have risen by almost 25% in four years — rising faster in pennsylvania than in any other state this year. erie is a swing county in this swing state. as presidents battle to win it, some local people battle to survive. we had hard times

with president trump, and, you know, we are still struggling with president biden as well. charities step in to help those struggling. quite the ideal. —— ordeal. megan is 31 and has eight children. she comes to this food pantry several times a week and couldn't survive without it. it is a godsend and we are blessed to have home house here. i do get food stamps and medical — i don't get cash. so ijust survive on that, work when you can, and it is hard to work a lot, because of all the children and it's a struggle to stay afloat, but god has been blessing us. we have been doing it. she's not alone. demand has risen dramatically for the services of this home house of erie. oh my goodness, it has

increased tremendously. particularly this year. and i've seen unemployment drop. however, there has been an increase when it comes to the food that is in the supermarkets and whatnot, the prices have gone up. it does matter. it does matter who's in the white house. if you're asking me to be personal, it'll swing to the republicans. much of the food comes from the second harvest foodbank, which 9.5 million meals each year in this area. latest government figures show one in eight people in erie don't have enough to eat. for children, that's one in six. a quarter of the people helped by this service our children. we have seen about a 33% increase in neighbours in need, looking for assistance — food assistance. in the last four years, the current time period we are in is the highest number we have seen needing assistance from our foodbank.

during covid, people had supplemental food stamps and extra benefits that made it easier for them to stretch a dollar. those sorts of things have been removed and people have been really feeling the increase of inflation, the cost of gas, the cost of rent. joe schember is mayor of erie. typically they say that pennsylvania goes whichever way erie goes. i hope that we support president biden and get him in for another term. yeah, we were just talking about... the trump operation here is small. biden has already opened several campaign offices. the chair of the republican party, tom eddy, says a recent law extending mail in ballots could boost that. the republicans are against it.

the democrats, i'm not saying they are bad people, accepted it. most of our effort is to get republicans to realise that it is better to vote than not. and if it means you have to use the mail—in ballot, use it. with such narrow margins, every vote will count, as well every appearance. president biden has already visited the state four times. donald trump will visit a third time to the keystone state thatis that is key to the white house. early polling here in pennsylvania as it said to be a close race indeed. joe biden ahead in some polls, donald trump ahead and others, but with narrow margins between both. both men want to win in pennsylvania and need to read in pennsylvania. this is the state that put donald trump into the oval office in 2016 and did the same forjoe biden, and did the same forjoe biden, a proud son of scranton, in 2020. but voters here have issues like voters across the rest of america and they want to know what these two presidents will do for

them if granted a second term. our chief presenter caitriona perry there. the polish parliament held a landmark debate on whether to liberalise the country's abortion laws, which are some of the strictest in the european union. abortion is only allowed when the pregnancy endangers the mother's health, or when it is a result of rape or incest. our correspondent adam easton is in warsaw with more. the debate that has been described by the governments, family, and labour minister is unusually important, and one that polish women have been waiting for for 30 years, because this debate is about whether the state allows policewomen to have abortion on demand up to 12 weeks, and longer in certain other circumstances, for the first time since 1993, and, as you

mentioned, poland has one of the strictest regulations vis—a—vis abortion in the european union. in the previous right—wing law and justice government, they presided over heightened restrictions, making it even tighter in 2020, when there was a court ruling which practically outlawed legal abortion in all cases — 98% of cases. so this is something that opinion polls suggest, or some, at least, suggest, there is growing support for greater access to abortion for women, but politicians, up to now, have been reluctant to heed those voices. let's turn to some important news around the world. the widow of the russian opposition politician alexei navalny says he wrote an autobiography before he died in prison in february. the book, titled patriot, will be published simultaneously in different languages in october. yulia navalnaya said it would be a final show of defiance to the kremlin. the us department of justice is charging a man

with fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from us baseball star shohei ohtani. ippei mizuhara served as an interpreterfor the la dodgers player. officials say mizuhara impersonated ohtani in conversations with banks, in order to cover gambling debts. mizuhara faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. the ancient roman city of pompeii, which was buried in a volcanic eruption almost 2000 years ago, has revealed more of its treasures. stunning artworks depicting mythical greek figures have been uncovered in what was a banqueting hall. it's thought shimmering candlelight would once have brought the paintings to life. our science editor rebecca morelle went to pompeii to see them. so this is the black room.

it is a new room that has only been revealed to the world this morning, after lying hidden for 2,000 years. and it is absolutely extraordinary. small, intricate paintings of greek medical scenes stand out against this dark backdrop. this is a banqueting room where the wealthy owner once entertained important guests. there is an almost complete white mosaic floor. why would he walls black? this worm probably was used after sunset. the smoke from the lamps which deposit on the walls, so you would like to have them back so you wouldn't see this immediately. and then you have the light, the shimmering light of the lamps, and the

paintings almost coming to life. the excavation, the biggest in a generation, has been followed for a bbc documentary series. a second room with rare full—height frescoes appears from beneath the volcanic debris. who ever lived here had high status. and it isn'tjust the walls that were lavishly painted. so they were on the ceiling? yes, very high. this is plasterwork from an upper floor with exquisite detail. you can see all that remains of of a lavish life. not only some fragments, but they are houses, they are objects. for this reason, pompeii is unique. but the grand residence is part of a bigger complex, with a laundry, a bakery, and a darker side to roman life. a bakery would have been one of the worst places to have been a slave. the intense heat from the oven, they would have been flour everywhere, making it difficult to breathe. in here, they would have been squeezed in with animals, donkeys, turning these big millstones to grind the ancient wheat. the team has also discovered that living quarters in the back. and they say there were bars on the windows and on a skylight above. it would have been impossible to escape. like a prison, really. the buildings seem to

be owned by the same person and there are clues about who this might be. we are standing next to probably our greatest clue of all — it is a red painted inscription on the wall. and we know who arv is and we know him to be aulus rustius verus, who we know to be a politician. he might be funding the bakery, but he is unlikely to be living here. this is far too impoverished for a grand politician. so we then, hopefully, maybe have the idea that he was living in this big, grand house behind us. the excavation is far from finished, and new discoveries are emerging here every day. rebecca morelle, bbc news, pompeii. an amazing discovery there. stay with us. plenty more coming up on bbc news. hello there. we still had the same south—westerly breeze

on thursday, but more sunshine led to a warmer day. the highest temperature in the sunshine was measured in norfolk, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees in northern ireland whilst it did cloud over later on and we got some rain as well. temperatures here reached 18 celsius, the warmest it's been in northern ireland so far this year. now, this is the temperature anomaly map. the red colour�*s showing that it's warmer than average across the whole of the uk. we'll get similar temperatures again on friday, but then, over the weekend, it gets cooler from the northwest. that cooler weather arrives in the southeast by sunday. now, heading into early friday, we've got some sunshine to begin with in scotland. we've got these showery bursts of rain coming back into northern ireland, into cumbria and showers pushing into scotland. for england and wales, though, the cloud should be breaking up. we'll get more sunshine more widely, although some western coasts could stay a bit grey and cloudy. but in the sunshine, it's going to feel warm. temperatures in the southeast and east anglia reaching 20 or 21 degrees and again, in the northeast of scotland, 18 degrees where we're missing those showers. but the weather starts to change into the weekend because we've got a few weather fronts coming down from the northwest, bringing more cloud, some rain and some cooler air, too. first weather front here is bringing this cloud and patchy rain across northern england

and wales, pushing into the midlands and southwest england later. and then, following on behind, a lot of showers for scotland and northern ireland, some of them heavy and thundery with some hail. the last of the warmth and some sunshine still across east anglia in the southeast — temperatures 20 degrees here. but elsewhere, those temperatures are going to be several degrees lower on saturday. now, we're replacing that warmer south—westerly wind with something much cooler — a westerly wind which will bring in more showers on sunday — and we'll see showers, particularly in scotland and northern ireland. and just for a while, there could be a bit of winter illness over the mountain tops. there'll be a few showers coming in over the irish sea to northwest england and north wales, but further south and east, it may well be dry, but it's certainly going to be cooler. we've got temperatures back down to 15 degrees, which is near normal for this time of the year, but struggling to 10 or 11 across much of scotland

and northern ireland. and here we're going to find a lot of showers overnight and into monday. low pressure moving down across the uk. that's going to bring a stronger northwesterly wind and make it feel chilly on monday. but after that, the weather should improve just a little with fewer showers and it won't be quite as windy.

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which is straight after this programme. i wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. they very nearly ruined my life. i have certainly seen how they have ruined the lives of others. it's really difficult for me to sit here and talk about this because the whole point of fighting these newspapers is because i was so keen to have my privacy. i feel a sense of duty to expose them, as they've exposed us. prince harry and sir eltonjohn have launched legal action against the publishers of the daily mail.

action is being taken- against the sun newspaper.