welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: "horrific and unsubsta ntiated." 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. 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's just over four weeks since sergei and yulia skripal were found poisoned by a nerve agent on this bench in salisbury, four weeks during which the former russian intelligence officer and his 33—year—old daughter have lain critically ill, at times in a coma. but today, miss skripal revealed that she at least is on the mend. in a statement, issued on her behalf by the police, she said: today, russian television broadcast

an unverified recording of an alleged phone call between yulia skripal and her cousin, victoria. she's hoping to come to britain to visit miss skripal with the help of russian diplomats if british officials are prepared to risk giving her a visa. in london, the russian ambassador welcomed the news that miss skripal is recovering. i'm really happy and i hope that sergei skripal will also recover, and i'm quite sure that one day yulia will come back to moscow. but he once again denied any russian involvement in the attack. so amid the claims and counterclaims, what's the uk case? theresa may says the substance used is novichok, a type of nerve agent developed by russia. british scientists say this millitary—grade agent can only be made by a nation state but they don't say which one. instead it's secret intelligence that the government says implicates russia, a conclusion that has

the international support of dozens of countries. but russia rejects this and says britain lacks real evidence. it denies ever producing novichok, but says other countries could have done so. it's requested samples of the substance for testing and it's called for russian officials to be involved in 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 is based on the experience of tony blair. we have told our british colleagues that you're 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 way that russia seeks to undermine the international institutions which have kept us safe since the end of the second world war. this confrontation between britain and russia is not over yet, not by a long chalk. james landale, bbc news. for more international reaction to all this, our correspondents, steve rosenberg in moscow, leila nathoo in salisbury, and jon sopel in washington, dc. 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 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 theatrical 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 — sow doubt. here at an moscow they saw the un security council meeting as an important platform forairing 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 victim, not the perpetrator. the view from moscow tonight is that the

russians have the british authorities on the back foot. they point to political infighting in the uk over salisbury and with all the conspiracy theories bubbling up originating here, the theory is that russia is determined to keep denying culpability for the salisbury poisoning. now that yulia skripal is recovering at salisbury hospital, to the extent she is awake and talking aware 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 clearly hoping that yulia will be able to shed some light on her 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. leila nathoo, steve rosenberg, and jon sopel for us there. now let's quickly round up some of the other main news for you. brazil's former president has until friday afternoon to turn himself into police and begin serving a i2—yearjail term for corruption. ajudge has ruled that luiz inacio lula da silva cannot stay free while he goes through further appeals. he is 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 will still consider returning him to face corruption charges. spain accuses mr puigdemont of encouraging rebellion when he led 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. on board the presidentialjet air force one, mr trump also told journalists 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. 0ur correspondent in seoul, laura bicker, looks back at the downfall of a leader, and the extraordinary protests that led to being impeached. week after week the streets of seoul were bathed in candlelight. they gathered in their millions

to overthrow a leader involved in a huge corruption scandal. the peaceful movement gathered pace and strength, and proved too powerful for south korea's president. the charges facing park geun—hye are tied to her relationship with friend and adviser choi soon—sil. she used her presidential connections to pressure huge businesses, including electronics giant samsung, for millions of dollars in donations to foundations she controlled. president park apologised twice, but her approval ratings fell to just 5% and opposition leaders worked to gather votes to impeach her. they were eventually successful. her now dwindling number of supporters were distraught.

but most saw it as a victory for this young democracy. people power had finally cut all ties with authoritarian rule. park geun—hye was the daughter of park chung—hee, who seized power in a coup in 1961. he ruled for 18 years until he was gunned down in 1979. she entered the political arena amid the global financial crisis in 2008. a worried older generation craved stability and remembered her father's authoritarian rule. she won the presidency with a slim margin of 51%. her downfall has rocked the political elite in seoul, and stoked anger over ties between government and big corporations. it's hoped the verdict will help usher in a new era. if we're doing good then people power will back us,

they will be our allies, but if we are doing bad then they will punish us, and impeach us, and accuse us and criticise us. park geun—hye is unlikely to be in court four her sentencing, but it will be watched closely by those who have long hoped for justice. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. more on that to come 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 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. we will let you know what happens

there. 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. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: 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. let's stay with that story now. 0ur correspondent in washington, chris buckler, explained more about the significance of thursday's un security council meeting. there were these real literary references and then the threats from the russian ambassador. yeah, they wanted to take this opportunity notjust 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. there were these extraordinary moments in which you had preprepared statements in which insults and threats were thrown from one side to the other. russia, in particular, had a number of statements in which it is very clear they had worked out exactly what they wanted to say. i have 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 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 so 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 buckler in washington, dc. 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's 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 am the happiest man alive. i have suffered for ten years. i trust him and i believe him. this nation has come out of slavery, we have been in bondage

for the past ten years. today, we have been liberated by the great man, his excellency, the president, julius maada bio. two hours after the declaration of the results, came the somewhat strange and horrid swearing in. julius maada bio, do hereby in the name of god... it took place at a freetown hotel, not in the president's office. the dawn of a new era. the people of this great nation have voted to go in a new direction. cheering. mr maada bio, who is 53, has spent much of his life in the army, reaching the rank of 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 head of state, before holding elections and handing power to civilian. the new president now inherits a 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 as an educationist, i see that as a very important aspect of the development of our country. but the new president will have a tough time pushing through 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, vowing 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 are all one people. umaru fofana, bbc news, freetown. 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 than the hiv crisis did at its peak. earlier, i spoke to dr leana wen, baltimore city health commissioner and i asked her what she thought of the idea that more americans should carry the antidote. well, i agree with the surgeon general that we need to make naloxone part of everyone‘s medical cabinet and first aid kit, and i have done that in baltimore city and 2.5 years ago, i issued a standing order, which is a blanket description to every one of our 620,000 residents in our city and as a result, everyday residents of the city have saved nearly 1,800 lives injust two 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 the naloxone 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 we have to focus on saving lives and treating people with the dignity and compassion that they deserve. incarcerating people who 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 activists 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. if 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 defect, it was seen as a choice and therefore, if people ended up incarcerated or dead, it was seen as their fault. it's long past due 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 our history in order to fully address this issue and we had to say address this issue and we have to say that we owe an apology to generations of black and brown people who have been incarcerated for disease, which we would never do for any other disease. we don't say to somebody, you have diabetes, i am not going to give you medical treatment, i am going to tie you in jail but that 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 save their lives right now but then importantly, we also have to get them into long—term treatment because that works just like it does for other diseases. 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. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. this boy is eight years old and football 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 shirts might be a clue. i like mohamed salah, he says.

"he plays well, passes the ball on strike swell. the ball and strikes swell. "he has a lot of good moves. "i try to imitate him." he's not the only one. mo salah is more thanjust a football in egypt, he is an icon. born in a small village north of cairo, he has become the country's biggest sporting star. it is said in the recent election, more than a million people tried to vote for him as president. and now, european scouts are looking for more egyptian talent. but the focus is notjust what happens on the pitch. we want to try and develop them as people, as well as 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 yehir, but he is ambitious. he says he wants to be a professional player better

than mohamed salah. insha'allah. local media injapan are reporting that the renowned animator, isao ta ka hata, 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 5—time world darts champion eric bristow has died after suffering a heart attack. he was 60. bristow, known as the crafty cockney, dominated british darts in the 1980s and helped popularise the game on television around the world. he famously 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 are just a few. the five—time world champion from the netherlands, raymond van barneveld,

posted: "i am lost for words and really devastated! he was darts. he meant so much to me, i cannot believe it." the british two—time world champion dennis priestley said on twitter he was "absolutely devastated." he wrote "we shared some great times together and i'm so saddened that we won't get to share any more." and sports promoter and chairman of the professional darts corporation, barry hearn, described bristow as "a maverick, a legend and one of the main reasons darts is loved by so many people. we shall not see his like again." tributes to the world darts champion eric bristow, who's died today aged 60. a reminder of our 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 our website. thank you for watching. hello.

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 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 due to deliver its verdict 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. the government's tax on sugary drinks comes into force today. the cost of some drinks goes up by as much as 24p a litre.