welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: a verdict is due for yingluck shinawatra. thailand's former premier could face jail if she's found guilty of authorising illegal subsidies. rescue workers intensify their efforts to find eight hikers missing in a landslide in the swiss alps. geologists are warning more could follow. billionaire samsung boss lee jae—yong's corruption trial reaches a conclusion as he awaits a court verdict. the biggest single win in american lottery history, a hospital worker from massachusetts scoops $750 million on the powerball. in the next hour, thailand's supreme court is expected to rule on a case that's lasted 18 months

and could put one of the country's most popular politicians in jail and knock her out of politics for life. former premier yingluck shinawatra is accused of criminal negligence over a costly rice subsidy policy. her opponents say it was in effect a bribe to her supporters. she could face a decade behind bars. she insists she's innocent and has asked the court for kindness. from bangkok, the bbc‘s karishma vaswani reports. this was yingluck shinawatra six years ago, a political novice bringing her brother's party to victory in thailand's general elections. she's no longer in power and is now standing trial on a charge of negligence for a controversial rice subsidy scheme. if found guilty, she could face ten years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics. seen here at the start of her trial, yingluck appeared confident. but her critics say she's guilty

of implementing a controversial rice subsidy policy that benefited only her party, her thai, and that cost the government billions of dollars. the scheme was part of yingluck‘s winning manifesto, a generous promise to buy rice farmers‘ entire crop for much more than the market price. but it was also expensive and wasteful. some of those losses, it's alleged, were also due to corruption. the military used corruption as one of the justifications of the coup against yingluck‘s government. but many thais believed the coup was about knocking out the shinawatra family as a political force. this trial is about much more than a controversial rice scheme. whatever happens to yingluck shinawatra at the supreme court,

it will be used by both opponents and her supporters to gauge what kind of role thailand's most popular political party will be allowed to play in the future, and whether the military wants reconciliation or victory over the government it ousted three years ago. and karishma joins us now from bangkok. just four more context we should say this is a party that has won elections in thailand for 15 years orso, elections in thailand for 15 years or so, she is still a very popular and important figure. you're right, mike, i'm standing in front of the supreme court where we expect yingluck shinawatra to appear any minute and that every appearance the crowds have grown bigger. people have come up to her and handed her flowers a nd have come up to her and handed her flowers and there's a strong feeling and centreman for her among that crucial rural bank. protesters of

yingluck shinawatra haven't been allowed into the area i'm standing in —— sentiment. they have been cornered off 300 metres away from here and in the lead up to this verdict, to give you a sense of how much it's been anticipated and how much it's been anticipated and how much tension there has been surrounding this verdict, there have been checkpoints across the city of bangkok, police have been telling rural heartland people in the farming areas not to come to the city, they have said they will take legal action against any people transporting those people into the city but we still expect there to be a strong support base for mrs yingluck when she arrives in court because this is the common of an 18 month long trial that could effectively end with her behind bars and certainly if she is found guilty with a lifetime ban from politics i with a lifetime ban from politics ——, nation of. with a lifetime ban from politics --, nation of. on that point, we expect to see her when she comes in

to court. if she is found guilty will her supporters see her then all will her supporters see her then all will shejust disappear will her supporters see her then all will she just disappear straight to jail? she has the right to appeal, mike, although that law has yet to be ratified. we expect her to depart from this court room and both times when she has appeared in court before her departure and arrival has been greeted by supporters who have been greeted by supporters who have been very sympathetic of her case. as you and i were saying a little earlier, she was an extremely popular figure earlier, she was an extremely popularfigure but she's earlier, she was an extremely popular figure but she's also very divisive. while the rural heartland feels very strongly about her, partially because of the rice subsidy scheme that's because of this trial, they felt that she listen to them, they felt as a result of the rice subsidy scheme farmers‘ woes were attended to but of course there's another side to all of this and that side, the ruling elite, the people against yingluck and her family, ruling elite, the people against yingluck and herfamily, say ruling elite, the people against yingluck and her family, say the rice subsidy scheme was expensive,

it was wasteful, it's alleged it was all so corrupt and mismanaged and that's what she's standing trial for and getting a verdict for today, whether or not she is guilty of negligence in this corruption case in the rice subsidy scheme. we will be back there when that story breaks. thank you very much for now, karishma. the united nations has called for a humanitarian pause to help civilians escape the fighting against the extremist group, the so—called islamic state, in its syrian stronghold of raqqa. the un estimates about 25,000 people are still trapped. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in homs and sent this update. there's no doubt that a pause, a humanitarian pause is desperately neededin humanitarian pause is desperately needed in the fighting for raqqa, which is the self—styled capital for is in syria. amnesty international reported earlier today that more

than 20,000 people are trapped in what they described as a deadly labyrinth. they tried to escape from the city where the fighting has intensified in the past two months and they've come under sniper fire from is or come and they've come under sniper fire from is 01’ come across and they've come under sniper fire from is or come across booby—traps and is wants to keep them there to use them as human shields. even those who managed to escape are coming underfire those who managed to escape are coming under fire from those who managed to escape are coming underfire from us led coalition aircraft, they're mistaking them either for is targets 01’ mistaking them either for is targets or they're taking the same kind of boats across the euphrates river that the is is using to transport fighters and ammunition into raqqa, where they're making their last and. the un's humanitarian envoy has urged and pleaded with the united states not to target the boats. what does the united states do? they believe they're in the last stages of finally pushing is out of raqqa, which is a key stronghold for is. do they stop the fighting at this critical hour? how do they stop it knowing that is will be listening to

the united nations. they've never listen, there's no contact with the united nations. sadly throughout the syrian war people been used as weapons in this war. time and again, year after year the un has caused for a pause in the fighting to allow food and medicine to go in and for people to get out. time and again the warring sides, be it the syrian opposition or the syrian army backed by russian and iranians, they simply haven't been listening. 0ne hopes against hope they have parties on the ground this time that will listen but one fears that they won't. the us defence secretary says sanctions against russia will stay in place until it returns crimea to ukraine. at a meeting with the ukrainian president, jim mattis said moscow wasn't respecting international treaties or talk. the visit was timed to coincide with ukrainian independence day and mr. mattis also announced he is actively reviewing the idea of sending lethal weapons to the country. we do not and we will not accept

russia's seizure of crimea and despite russia's the miles we know they are seeking to redraw international borders by force, undermining the sovereign and free nations of europe. the us and our allies will continue to press russia to honour the minsk commitments and oui’ to honour the minsk commitments and our sanctions will remain in place until moscow reverses the actions that triggered them. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a ferry has capsized off the north—eastern brazilian city of salvador, killing more than 20 people. the authorities say more than 100 were rescued. it's the second major boat accident in brazil this week. a ferry sinking on tuesday killed at least 19 people. florida state prison has executed mark james asay, the first white inmate to be put to death in florida for killing a black man since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1979. he was killed by a lethal injection that included a drug never used before in the us.

asay was sentenced to death in 1988 for the killing of two men in separate incidents on the same day a year earlier. india's supreme court has ruled that individual privacy is a fundamental right. the landmark judgement has implications for india's massive biometric identity card scheme in which almost all indians are now enrolled. it was conceived as a voluntary system but is mandatory for many services. swiss police say eight people are missing following a landslide in the east of the country. rescue operations are being intensified and geologists are warning that further landslides in the remote alpine valley, which is popular with hikers and climbers, cannot be ruled out. imogen foulkes reports. on wednesday morning, 4 million cubic metres of mud and rock poured down the mountain, destroying farmhouses in its path and ending up right on the edge of the tiny village of bondo. residents were evacuated immediately.

helicopters plucked hikers from alpine huts. at first rescue workers thought everyone was safe. translation: overnight we received reports of missing people. we intensified the rescue effort, an army helicopter was sent out. unfortunately, up to now, we haven't found anyone. police have now confirmed that eight people known to have been in the region at the time of the landslide are officially missing. over 120 rescue workers are now searching on foot and with specialised helicopters which can detect mobile phone signals. these remote steep sided valleys are popular with climbers and hikers but they are also known for the risk of avalanche and rock slides. some communities here have already invested millions in protective barriers. geologists are warning that in the coming days further landslides cannot be ruled out. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva.

danish prosecutors investigating the death of a swedish journalist say they plan to charge submarine inventor peter madsen with her murder. the dismembered body of kim wall was found off the danish coast after she was taken out to sea in a submarine built by mr madsen. he denies killing her. tom donkin reports. the grim search continues for what remains of kim wall. after confirmation on wednesday that hers was the torso found washed up on denmark's coast, police now scour swamp and see for any further sign of the young swedish journalist. this is the last image of her alive. is august the 10th and kim is on board the you see three nautilus, the world's biggest home—made submarine. she was writing a profile about the man who built it, danish

inventor peter madsen, who took her out to sea and was the last person to see her alive. the only suspect in her death, danish prosecutors now said peter madsen will face a murder charge when he appears in court next month. he denies killing kim wall and his account of events have changed since police rescued him from his sinking submarine just hours after kim had been reported missing. initially saying he had dropped her off a live near copenhagen, he later explained her death was an accident. translation: he's explained that an accident happened on the submarine that has caused the death of kim wall and that afterwards he buried her at sea. in new york, students of columbia university remember kim, who graduated here in 2030. they celebrated the life of a talented journalist who travelled and reported from around the world but met her gruesome end so close to home. so, as the investigation continues, this is a case that keeps

growing up more questions than a nswe i’s. growing up more questions than answers. and with the absence of witness testimony, much of the physical evidence now watch, washed away, there could be a long wait for friends and family to know exactly what happened to kim and why. tom donkin, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: tackling the rising violence in rio dejaneiro a year on from the olympic games. he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts exactly 45 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls tonight, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange, glowing disc that's brighter than anything our neighbouring planet, mars. there is no doubt that this election

is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it'll take months, and billions of dollars to re pair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years, so it was with great satisfaction that clockmaker john vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a verdict is due for yingluck shinawatra, thailand's former premier could face jail if she's found guilty of negligence. rescue workers intensify their efforts to find eight missing hikers following a landslide in the swiss alps. the billionaire head of south korea's samsung group is just hours away from finding out whether he's been found guilty of corruption.

for the last six—months jay y lee has been on trial accused of giving inappropriate donations to a friend of the country's former president park geun—hye, a charge that helped trigger her dismissal from office. mr lee has pleaded not guilty. the bbc‘s yogita limaye joins us live from seoul. samsung is an enormous samsung is an enormous concern samsung is an enormous concern of course in south korea. more than just electronics. that's right. this company accounts for nearly one fifth of the economy here. it's a huge group, a global technology giant, and that's why this verdict is being watched so closely. but it's also not asked about this one company. large conglomerator is dominate the economy here. —— hong kong routes. there have been accusations of corruption against the heads of many of these companies. in the past, even when they've been convicted, they've been pardoned because the government said

there would be an economic impact of there would be an economic impact of the country if they go to jail. so it is very significant if we get a strong sense of it today and if he is found guilty because now they are the new government, which won elections, saying it will clean up corruption and there will be no more pa rt corruption and there will be no more part of this for the head. this is only the start. the former president who was impeached is also facing trial. that's right. the verdict that comes out here today will be an indicator of what the former president might have to face. this isa president might have to face. this is a huge scandal that is triggered mass protest here, demanding the removal of the former president. she is accused of allowing her close friends to accept donations from these large conglomerates. the president, the new president of this country, has vowed to take on large conglomerates and this government is saying the verdict here today will send a strong message, that these

political and business links can't continue and this is a turning point for south korean business and politics. thank you very much. we will be back there of course when that news breaks. forecasters in the united states are expecting hurricane harvey to hit the coast of texas on friday night. the state governor has already declared a state of disaster for 30 counties and the national hurricane centre has warned that torrential rain could bring life—threatening flooding to houston and other cities. the mayor of corpus christi gave this warning to residents. we are up to and almost at the threshold of mandatory evacuation. we are not going to cross that line right now. we are going to, in the strongest possible terms, encourage the residents in low—lying areas to, as they say, get out of the dodge. this time last year rio dejaneiro was basking in the glow of the olympics. but as the world's focus has moved on the brazilian city is facing challenges on several fronts. the investments made to reduce violence and ensure the games went

smoothly appear to be failing. and last year rio declared a state of financial emergency. as katy watson reports, it's a crisis with often deadly consequences. gunfire on the streets of rio. every day brings new shootouts and new victims. according to the state security ministry, nearly 3500 people were murdered in the first six months of this year. the number of people killed by police in shootouts rose by 45%. thousands of soldiers have been deployed on the streets in recent weeks. a show of force, but with an economic crisis and police budget cuts not everyone is convinced they will make a difference. translation: the violence has increased a lot in the last year and i think it's because the state of rio is in crisis. that

affects the people and unemployment, which increases the number of criminals on the streets. translation: things are out of control here. we don't even want to leave the house because we don't feel safe. in my neighbourhood yesterday, eight vehicles were robbed and now the crossfire can be heard everywhere. insecurity is everywhere. every day the newspapers have new headlines, as the number of victims rises. somejournalists are calling this a war in rio and this newspaper has created a wall section, dedicated to covering the violence. —— war. amid the violence, some friends came up with a bright idea, and up informing people about shootings. it started as a personal project but now has hundreds of thousands of followers. the government isn't doing anything. nobody knows how many shootings and robberies there have been and we are showing this, so we are exposing the violence at this point in time. this

former police commander says rio's problem lies in bad government policies towards tackling violence. translation: when a brazilian dies every nine minutes, when 10% of the homicides in the world happen here, there's something deeply wrong. despite being one of the largest economies in the world, there is a brutal inequality. historically we've tried to solve the problem of violence, especially in the poorest areas, exclusively with the police. not enough is being done to make this poor and violent parts of the city safer places to live in. —— these poorer. the story of this woman and her baby arthur shocked eve ryo ne woman and her baby arthur shocked everyone here. she was nine months pregnant when she was hit in the stomach by a stray bullets, injuring the baby too. she and her partner should have been enjoying the first weeks of parenthood, instead they held a funeral for baby arthur

earlier this month. grieving for their baby, the youngest victim of rio's violence problem. now it's a figure too big to comprehend, $758] million. but mavis wanczyk has beaten all the odds to win the biggest single jackpot in american history. just to give you an idea, the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292 million. david willis takes up the story from washington. $1 million to the numbers that made a middle—aged hospital worker one of the richest people in the world. mother of two mavis wanczyk from massachusetts has since told her bosses she won't be at work tomorrow 01’ bosses she won't be at work tomorrow or the next day or any other day after that. her $758 million prize is the largest single ticket jack what in american history. last night it was kind of like... i didn't

really believe it. today, i'm still like, this is untrue, it can't be. now it's like... uh... i am a winner and i'm scared. i'll be ok. us lottery winners have the choice of taking the jack watt as a lump sum 01’ taking the jack watt as a lump sum ora taking the jack watt as a lump sum or a series of annual payments, spread over the course of 29 years. —— jackpot. mavis has opted for the former. even after paying $300 million in taxes, it will still leave the wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. another more modest beneficiary is the convenience store where she bought the winning ticket. they are donating their $50,000 prize to charity. we just all happen to be the lucky people that's all and we are glad to be able to pass it on. mavis said she always dreamt of retiring early and now that dream has come through. in media plans

include paying off her car. but before that she says she will be hiding in her bed, trying to take on all the excitement. here in the uk, the keepers at london zoo have begun their annual weigh—in. that's a weigh—in for the animals, not the keepers. it's done to check the health of all the zoo's inhabitants. the results are recorded on a database that's shared with other zoos around the world. the bbc‘s tim allman reports on all creatures great and small. when you are weighing someone, this is not the sort of thing that usually happens. the squirrel monkeys of london zoo, a little reluctant to co—operate. every year, around 200 animals get put on the scales. these baby penguins, a little more docile, but not all of the zoo's inhabitants are willing to play ball. some are definitely less cooperative and it's not even about being less cooperative sometimes, some of them think it's a game. primates in particular and young animals are very inquisitive when you go in and they think think

it's a game and they are more interested at picking at the scales, looking at the gloves the keepers are wearing, or running off with some of the food and not getting on the scales at all. it's not just weight, other vital statistics are of interest too. a giant ruler being used to measure the height of these lions. a sack of meat encouraging them to stand on their hind legs to get the most accurate figures. all this information helps the zoo monitor the animal's health and well—being. all this information that is then shared with other zoos around the world. from the smallest to the largest, every animal takes part, whether they want to or not. much more on that and all the news on the bbc website. and you can reach me and all the team on twitter. thanks for watching. hello there.

there's not much movement of our weather at the moment, so it's a familiar theme as we head to the end of the week. the best of the weather towards the south—east of the uk, where temperatures should be a bit higher than they were on thursday. head towards the north—west and here it's much more unsettled, showers and maybe some longer spells of rain. as a result it will be a bit cooler too. the wetter weather is in the north—west because we're closer to this area of low pressure. now, eventually that will push across scotland out into the north sea and take the wetter weather away this weekend. but for the moment we've got more rain to come both overnight and into friday across northern ireland and into western scotland. some showers further east across scotland, one or two for northern england and wales as the cloud increases, sunnier skies further south and east. so a lot of cloud to come across northern ireland, already we've had some flooding earlier on in the week, this rain isn't going to help.

a lot of cloud across scotland and if we get some sunshine in the north—east of scotland that could trigger one or two heavy showers in the afternoon. by then a little more cloud coming into northern england and perhaps some showers here, one or two in wales. most of wales will be dry, we will see the cloud increasing here and in the south—west. the sunnier skies through the east midlands, east anglia and the south—east were temps are a bit higher, probably around about the mid—20s. it's not going to be as warm as that in headingley. it will feel quite chilly actually as the cloud increases through the day and there's just the small chance of one or two like light showers. most of the wet weather continues to be further north close to that area of low pressure, and that will push the wetter weather generally clear from northern ireland across scotland. further south, some drier conditions, one or two showers perhaps and temperatures of 1a to 16 degrees. into the start of the weekend then and we've got rain mainly in scotland but it's going to be pushing out to the north sea, it's going to take a while for things to improve across eastern scotland but a much better

day in western scotland and northern ireland, generally dry with some sunshine. some sunshine for england and wales, maybe one or two more showers drifting further south and you can see the difference in temperatures, again peaking in the south—east around about the mid—twenties. a lot of those showers will have moved away as we head into the second half of the weekend. so if you do catch a shower you're going to be quite unlucky, a lot of dry weather around and some sunshine at times and temperatures near average for the time of year. as we head into monday, a bank holiday for many, we're back into the north—west south—east split with weather fronts driving into the north—west together with some stronger winds. so rain for scotland and northern ireland but the wind will move things on into northern ireland and wales later. to the south—east, it's going to be sunnier here and also warmer. this is bbc news, the headlines: thailand's supreme court is preparing to rule

on whether former premier yingluck shinawatra is guilty of negligence over a costly rice subsidy policy. if she is convicted, she could face up to a decade behind bars. she has always denied the allegations against her. swiss police say eight people are missing following a landslide in the east of the country. rescue operations are being intensified, and geologists are warning that further landslides in the remote alpine valley, which is popular with hikers and climbers, cannot be ruled out. the united nations has called for a humanitarian pause in fighting for control of the syrian town of raqqa, a stronghold of so—called islamic state. un agencies believe up to 25,000 civilians are trapped in the city, caught between is fighters and heavy bombing by coalition forces. now on bbc news, stephen sackur reports from eastern libya in hardtalk on the road.