welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: ‘horrific and unsubstantiated.‘ russia once again denies any involvement in the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter. south korea's ousted president awaits her fate. a court is due to deliver its verdict on corruption charges. tackling america's opioid crisis — the us surgeon general urges new measures to fight the deadly epidemic. and one of bollywood's favourite bad boys is behind bars. a court finds salman khan guilty of poaching. in a dramatic session at the un security council in new york, russia's ambassador has made a strongly worded speech, describing claims moscow was behind a poison attack in the uk, as "horrific and unsubstantiated".

russia has accused the uk of poisoning its relations with other countries. the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were poisoned about a month ago in the english city of salisbury. in her first public statement since the attack, she has said she's getting stronger by the day. james landale reports. it is just the four weeks since sir gay and julia scrabble —— sergei skripal and his daughter will poison. they have lent critically ill, at times in a coma. 2g she revealed that she at least was on the mend. in a statement issued on her behalf by the police, she said this. today, russian television broadcast

an unverified recording of an alleged phone call between yulia scribal and her cousin. she is hoping to come to britain to visit her with the help of diplomats if british officials are happy to risk giving her a visa. in london, the russian ambassador welcomed the news she was recovering. i am really happy. she was recovering. i am really happy- i she was recovering. i am really happy. i hope sergei skripal will also recover. i am happy. i hope sergei skripal will also recover. i am sure happy. i hope sergei skripal will also recover. i am sure that one day yulia will come back to moscow. he also denied russian involvement in the attack. amid the claims and counterclaims, what is the uk case? theresa may says it is not a shock ofa theresa may says it is not a shock of a nerve agent develop by russia. british scientists say that it can properly only be met by a nationstate, but they do not know which one. instead, it is secret

intelligence that they say implicates russia. the conclusion that has the international support of thousands of countries. russia rejects this. it says other countries could have produced it. it has requested samples of the substance were testing and has called for a joint investigation. at the united nations this evening there were smiles between ambassadors, but not for long. as russia accused britain of fabricating intelligence to question the legitimacy of the russian state. translation: couldn't you come up with a better fake story? we all know what the worth of british intelligence information it is during the experiences of tony blair. we have told our british collea g u es blair. we have told our british colleagues that you are playing with fire and you will be sorry. britain in turn accused russia of playing fast and loose with international security. we cannot ignore what has

happened in salisbury. we cannot ignore russia turning a blind eye to the use of chemical weapons in syria and in salisbury. and we cannot ignore the wake of russia seeks to undermine the international institutions which have kept us safe since the end of the second world war. is confrontation between britain and russia is not over yet, not by a long shot. and for more on the reaction to the latest developments at the united nations, our correspondents steve rosenberg in moscow, leila nathoo in salisbury, and jon sopel in washington have this analysis. the russians had a straightforward agenda, where there was clear water, money, where there was clean air blow smoke. the russian ambassador used ridicule and sarcasm to pick holes in the british case and said where it was the evidence? he also portrayed russia as a victim in all

of this. he said it was part of a conspiracy to discredit moscow. from the british ambassador it was a less the british ambassador it was a less the ethical performance. a recitation of the facts, if you like. russia has said it is not going to accept the conclusions, because they are not part of the investigating team, to which the british ambassador said that would be like asking an arsonist to investigate his own fire. the agenda for the russians can be summarised in two words today — so doubt. for the russians can be summarised in two words today - so doubt. here at an moscow they saw the un security council meeting as an important platform for airing their views and for deflecting criticism and undermining britain's accusations. we have seen a russia doing a lot of that in recent days, publicly promoting its narrative that the russian state is the victor

may not the perpetrator. the view from a moscow tonight is that the russians happy british authorities oi'i russians happy british authorities on the back foot —— victim. they pointed political infighting in the uk over salisbury and with all the conspiracy theories bubbling up originating it, the theory. that determined to if; she is 5:54: she is awake and talking the extent she is awake and talking unaware of what has happened to her, it is clear she will central to both the diplomatic tussle and the police investigation. today we had the russian ambassador to london saying he hoped yulia would be able to provide some answers, stressing again that moscow wanted consumer access to her. the foreign office meanwhile saying that offer had been conveyed to yulia who is able to make her own decisions now, but it has not yet been accepted. police are has not yet been accepted. police a re clearly has not yet been accepted. police are clearly hoping that yulia will

be able to shed some light on her father's movements, herd movements oi'i father's movements, herd movements on that day a month ago, how they became exposed to that military grade nerve agent. yulia making better progress than her father. sergei skripal is in a critical condition. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: brazil's former president has until friday afternoon to turn himself into police and begin serving a i2—yearjail term for corruption. on wednesday, a judge ruled that luiz inacio lula da silva cannot stay free while he goes through further appeals. he's still hoping to register as a candidate and compete in october's presidential election from prison. he has long been favourite to win. a court in germany has released the ousted catalan leader carles puigdemont on bail, saying it cannot send him back to spain to face rebellion charges. it said it would still consider returning him to face corruption charges. spain accuses mr puigdemont of encouraging rebellion when he lead catalonia's push for independence last year. president trump has denied knowing that his lawyer paid the pawn star

stormy daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with mr trump in 2006. speaking to journalists on board the presidentialjet air force one, mr trump said he did not know where his lawyer michael cohen had obtained the money. in just a few hours, a court in seoul will sentence the former south korean president park geun—hye for her part in a corruption scandal which led to her being removed from office. she faces 18 charges, including bribery, abuse of power, and coercion. prosecutors have demanded 30 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $150 million. our correspondent laura bicker will be at the court. shejoins me now. how do you think this is going to turn out? i think it is one of these verdicts that will be watched very closely by the millions of people

who took to be streets of seoul for 17 weeks solid. seoul was just packed in 2016 to try to get rid of president park. it is important that justice is seen to be done. that is one of the reason is that it is being televised. prosecutors wanted 30 years. her accomplice, being televised. prosecutors wanted 30 years. heraccomplice, herfriend who she has been accused of working together with use their presidential power to extort millions of dollars from big companies, she got 20 years in prison. what will she get? who knows? i think it is unlikely she will walk free from court. as i mentioned, it will be important to the people who took to the streets to see that justice the people who took to the streets to see thatjustice is done. those extraordinary scenes. she is the daughter of a man who came to power ina coup, daughter of a man who came to power in a coup, ruled for 18 years, in a sense, quite apart of a victory from

people power, this was the end of an era. it is the end of an authoritarian rule. park was democratically elected by a very slim margin, 51% of the vote. she was elected during the global financial crisis by an older generation who were worried, who saw in her links to herfather, perhaps, a more stable regime. so when it comes to that older generation there are still a number of people who support president park and i expect them to be outside court today. the majority of people in south korea wa nts a majority of people in south korea wants a change. that is one of the reasons why they voted for the current president, moon jae—in, reasons why they voted for the current president, moonjae—in, who was elected on a wave of anti— corruption. it is important when i talk about a turning point that people here are asking for changes within government and within these big corporations. they want to see

not only the link cut between south korea's authoritarian rule, but the link cut between power in this country and big corporations. thank you very much. we will be back to that story in the next few hours. one of bollywood's biggest stars, salman khan, says he'll appeal on friday, after being sentenced to five years in prison for poaching rare blackbuck antelope. the case dates back to 1998. khan, who's 52, has appeared in more than 100 films. from delhi, rajini vaidya nathan reports. he's one of the world's highest—paid actors. salman khan is known as the bad boy of bollywood, both on and off—screen. today he was in court, after a judge found him guilty of killing two blackbucks, an endangered breed of antelope. the case dates back to 1998, when he was shooting for this film, hum saath saath hain. few celebrities are as worshipped or idolised as salman khan is here in india.

his cult status is so huge, that it's unlikely that this conviction will dent his popularity or damage his career. this isn't his first brush with the law. in 2015, he was found guilty of killing a homeless man near his house in mumbai in a hit—and—run, but was acquitted later that year. salman khan's lawyers say he'll appeal the sentence and apply for bail, but tonight, one of bollywood's biggest stars is behind bars. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: from the streets of cairo to the football stadiums of europe, the young egyptian players hoping to hit the big time. 25 years of hatred and rage as theyjump up on the statue.

this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's works were beautiful, they were intelligent, and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. very good to have you with us on bbc news.

the top story: the russian ambassador to the un has warned britain it is "playing with fire" in accusing moscow of poisoning the former double agent sergei skripal and his daughter. more on that now. our correspondent chris buckler is in washington. this was a bizarre session at the united nations really, considering how serious the issues were. there we re how serious the issues were. there were these the real literary references and then the threats from the russian ambassador. he said borisjohnson is playing with fire and will regret it. yeah, they wa nted and will regret it. yeah, they wanted to take this opportunity not just to make threats but also to raise questions and fundamentally, plant doubts in the minds of other countries that russia was involved

in this attack on sergei skripal in salisbury, and using the nerve agent novichok, something which is extremely serious. you had preprepared statements in which insults and threats were thrown from one side to the other. russia, in particular, had a number of state m e nts particular, had a number of statements in which it is very clear they had worked out exactly what they had worked out exactly what they wanted to say. what i had to say walking away from that whole session at the un, i'm not sure a lot of the countries who have backed the uk, and there are dozens of them, will have necessarily changed their mind. there was a lot of heat today but there was not an awful lot of light, in that the two countries we re of light, in that the two countries were not providing evidence of exactly what has happened. we may get more evidence in the weeks to come because there is this investigation taking place by the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, and it is currently looking at the specific evidence but it is clear already that russia, who wanted to be part of that investigation and was denied

that right, is not going to be prepared to accept whatever its findings at. i think we're going to continue to have this stalemate with russia on one side and the uk and a whole range of other countries on the other. chris, thank you very much without. —— for that. sierra leone has sworn in a new president. julius maada bio narrowly defeated samura kamara from the apc party in saturday's run—off election. the apc was the ruling party, and mr kamara says he'll challenge the result. it is the first time in a decade that a candidate from the slpp has won the presidency. umaru fofana reports from freetown. chanting his name, julius maada bio's supporters thronged the streets as soon as the result was announced. i'm the happiest man alive. this nation has come out of slavery. today, we have been liberated by the great man and the

president, julius maada bio. after the announcement of the results, camea the announcement of the results, came a strange and horrid swearing in. i do hereby in the name of god... it took place at a freetown hotel, not in the president's offers. the people of this great nation have voted to go in a new direction. mrjulius maada bio, who is 53, has spent much of his life in the army. reaching the rank of brigadier general. in 1992, he was pa rt brigadier general. in 1992, he was part of a group of young officers who helped overthrow the government and then in 1996, he briefly became military and state for holding elections and handing power to civilian. the new president now inherits the country with a week health—care system and poor education, and his supporters want these to be addressed. one of his

flagship policies in his manifesto is talk about free education, and i see that as a very important aspect of the development of our country. but the new president will have a tough time pushing to his agenda as he lacks a parliamentary majority. sierra leone is also sharply divided along ethnic lines, plus his presidential rival samura kamara has already challenged the result, violent to go to court to have it overturned. but the new head of state has pledged to bring unity, the country needs it now more than ever before. we are only one country, sierra leone, and we 41 people. —— are for. the doctor at the head of the us public health system says more americans need to carry a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, such as heroin. surgeon generaljerome adams said 115 americans die from an overdose every day and the drug epidemic

is now killing more people that the hiv crisis did at its peak. for more on that story, i'm joined by dr leana wen, baltimore city health commissioner. commissioner, thank you very much for giving us some of your time. what is your response to this in all your experience? well, i agree with the surgeon general that we need to make the locks on part of everyone's medical cabinet and first aid kit, andi medical cabinet and first aid kit, and i have done that in baltimore city and half years ago, issued a standing order, which is a blanket description to everyone about 620,000 residents in our city and as a result, everyday residents of the city have said nearly 1800 lives in just two will years. the problem is though that it is notjust about policy, we also need resources and in baltimore, wejust do not have enough money to purchase than locks and that is needed to save lives.

the president seems to be presenting this as an issue of crime and punishment, it is clearly more than that. addiction is a disease, that is what science shows us to be the case. actually, the research is unequivocal that addiction is a chronic brain disease, that treatment exists and recovery is possible. there are millions of people in the us alone who are in long—term recovery and to have their lives back. we had to focus on saving lives and treating people with the dignity and compassion that they deserve. incarcerating people have a disease just will not work. as you say, not enough is being done. you'll hear, you have heard i am sure, black activist saying rather cynically that this only seems to be noticed in high places, this epidemic, since white people started getting into opioids. it has been a black problem for years. started getting into opioids. it has been a black problem for yearsm you look at our city in baltimore, people have been dying from the

crack epidemic, the heroin epidemic, the decades and it does need to be said that until it was white people in wealthier areas who were dying, that addiction was seen as a moral defects, it was seen as a choice and therefore, if people ended up incarcerated or dead, it was seen as theirfault. i incarcerated or dead, it was seen as their fault. i need incarcerated or dead, it was seen as theirfault. i need is long and past view that addiction is seen as a disease and still, we need a lot more treatment than currently is available but we do have to recognise the structural racism of oui’ recognise the structural racism of our history in order to fully address this issue and we had to say that we are an apology to generations of black and brown people who have been incarcerated for disease, which we would never do for disease, which we would never do for any other disease. we do not say to somebody you have diabetes, i am not going to be medical treatment, i am going to tie you injail but not going to be medical treatment, i am going to tie you in jail but that is what we have done for so long and thatis is what we have done for so long and that is why we have to get naloxone first and foremost, because if someone is dying we had to say their

lives right now but then importantly, we also had to get them into long—term treatment because that works just like it does for other diseases. thank you very much indeed. on tuesday night, liverpool striker mohamed salah scored his 38th goal of the season in his side's 3—0 win over manchester city in the uefa champions league. salah has been a sensation since joining the english side last summer and he is a huge star in his native egypt. many clubs are now scouring the country, trying to find the next mo salah. bbc‘s tim allman has more. this boy is eight years old and full all crazy. he has come with his father to this suburb in cairo, to improve his skills and live his dream. who is his favourite player, you might ask. well, the colour of the shirt might be a clue. translation: i like mohamed salah. he plays well, passes the ball on

strike swell. he has a lot of good moves. i try to imitate him. strike swell. he has a lot of good moves. itry to imitate him. is strike swell. he has a lot of good moves. i try to imitate him. is not the only one. mohamed salah is more than just the only one. mohamed salah is more thanjust a the only one. mohamed salah is more than just a football in egypt, he is an icon. water in a small village north of cairo, he has become the country's biggest sporting star. it is set in the recent election, more than1 million is set in the recent election, more than 1 million people is set in the recent election, more than1 million people tried to is set in the recent election, more than 1 million people tried to vote for him as president. an hour, european scouts are looking for more egyptian talent. but the focus is not just what happens egyptian talent. but the focus is notjust what happens on the pitch. we wa nt notjust what happens on the pitch. we want to try and develop them as people, as well as develop their football skills but life skills as well. and we want to give them confidence to not be afraid to make any mistakes, and to try everything that they practise in training. footballing superstardom is a fair way off for this boy, but he is ambitious. he says it wants to be a professional player better than

mohamed salah. mohamed salah. —— insha'allah. local media in japan are reporting that the renowned animator, isao takahata, has died at the age of 82. ta ka hata was co—founder of the famous studio ghibli. he was probably best known for his work — grave of the fireflies — a harrowing account of two small children trying to survive injapan during the second world war. the five time world darts champion eric bristow has died after suffering a heart attack. he was 60. he was known as the crafty cockney. he dominated british darts in the 1980s and helped popularise the game on tv around the world. famously, he mentored and supported phil ‘the power‘ taylor, who was to go on and become world champion himself by beating bristow in the 1990 final. tributes have been pouring in from around the world on social media. here's just a few. the five—time world champion from the netherlands, raymond van barneveld, posted: the british two—time world champion dennis priestley said on twitter

he was: "absolutely devastated." and sports promoter and chairman of the professional darts corporation, barry hearn, described bristow as: tributes there to the world darts champion eric bristow, who's died today aged 60. much more for you on all the news any time on the bbc website. yyou can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @bbcmikeembley. we are expecting that sentence shortly from south korea for the former president park toohey. thank you for watching. —— park geun—hye.

thursday always was set to be one of the best days of this week and so it proved and our weather watchers were very much out in force, probably encouraged by the fact that it was such a glorious day all the way from scotland to the south coast and across the irish sea and into northern ireland, but that's really rather cruel to use that particular picture to bring you the message that it will be on friday another glorious day for many parts of the british isles because, i'm afraid to say, that belfast and indeed much of northern ireland, it won't be that way for you, and the seeds of the destruction of your glorious friday were there being sown on thursday with this veil of cloud moving in from the atlantic and as we get into the first part of friday, well, the rain will already be there, and how, across northern ireland, and it may already be flirting with the western side of scotland as well. but at least underneath that veil of cloud, it won't be such a cold

start to friday in the west as it will be in the east because your skies will be that bit clearer. and it's still that sort of time of the year where if the skies are clear, the heat will dribble away and you'll start off with a pretty cool start to your day. there, the bigger picture, one of the benefits of having that low pressure out towards our west, is that on its eastern flank, we're sucking up all this mild air from the western part of the mediterranean and from iberia. so eventually, as you will see, our temperatures really will respond to that. but, i'm afraid, out towards the west, there is no disguising the fact that once the rain has set in, it will probably keep on coming across northern and western parts of scotland. certainly for the greater part of the day for northern ireland and for the western fringes of wales. here, the temperatures may struggle, just about getting into double figures. but further towards the east, somebody is going to see 16 or 17 degrees somewhere across the south—eastern quarter. from friday into saturday, we'll push that initial pulse of rain away. but we've still got a linkage, actually, that frontal system

bringing the prospect of yet more rain, somewhere across central and eastern parts of the british isles in the first part of the day. i think northern ireland, central and southern parts of scotland, maybe the western fringes of wales and the south—west, could get away with a dry day. there is some uncertainty, but i think one of the things that we can say about the weekend is that the temperatures for many of us, because of that essentially southerly flow, will stay in double figures and again, there isjust this prospect on sunday of a little bit of rain for some, but many could well stay dry. and, as i say, on the mild side. this is bbc news. the headlines: russia has accused britain of inventing a fake story by blaming moscow for poisoning the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in the english city of salisbury last month. the russian ambassador to the united nations said the uk was playing with fire and would be sorry. a court in south korea is expected to deliver its verdict later on the former president, park geun—hye, who was forced from office in a corruption scandal last year. prosecutors are seeking a 30—year

prison term and a fine equivalent to more than $100 million. the doctor at the head of the us public health system says more americans need to carry a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. surgeon generaljerome adams said 115 americans die from an overdose every day, and the drug epidemic is now killing more people than the hiv crisis did at its peak. those were the headlines. now on bbc news it's time for hardtalk.