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 nerve agent 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, viktoria. 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. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has this assessment of russia's reaction to the latest developments at the united nations. here in 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've 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. certainly the view from moscow

tonight is that the russians have the british authorities on the back foot. for example, they point to political infighting in the uk over salisbury and with all the conspiracy theories bubbling up originating here, certainly the feeling is that russia is determined to keep denying culpability. our correspondent in washington, chris buckler, has more on the significance of thursday's un security council meeting. moscow had called for this meeting because 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 on a former spy, and using the nerve agent novichok, something which is extremely serious. as you rightly say, 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 was very clear they had worked out exactly what they wanted to say. although, i have to say, walking away from that whole session at the un, i'm not sure a lot of the countries who've backed the uk, and there are dozens of them, will have necessarily changed their mind. there was a lot of heat today but there wasn't 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's currently looking at the specific evidence but it's 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 are. 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. 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. 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 porn 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, hoped for justice.

laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. and i asked laura what we should expect when the court meets. well, i think it's one of those verdicts that will be watched very closely by the millions of people who took to be streets of seoul for 17 weeks solid. i mean, seoul wasjust 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. heraccomplice, herfriend who she's 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's unlikely she'll

walk free from court. and i think, as i mentioned, it will be important to the people who took to the streets to see thatjustice is done. extraordinary scenes there, of course. she's the 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, wasn't it? this is a turning point. it is the end of an authoritarian rule. park geun—hye 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 her father, 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 wants a change. that is one of the reasons why they voted for the current president, moonjae—in, who was elected on a wave of anti— corruption. it's 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. 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 a hundred films. 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. (pres) stay with us on bbc news — still to come... from the streets of cairo

to the football stadiums of europe, 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. 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. 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.

well, joining me now for more on that story is drjeffrey singer, at the senior fellow at the cato institute. asa as a doctor, what is your response to this initiative? i couldn't agree more with the surgeon general. this is not a controversial decision in the medical community, it's been known to use that naloxone is a very effective antidote. it's been available in this country for years, since 1971 on for several years, it's been given to first responders in many states to rescue overdose victims in an emerged —— an emergency. the fda still schedules it as emergency. the fda still schedules itasa emergency. the fda still schedules it as a prescription drugs and it's only available by prescription. most

states have come up with workarounds so states have come up with workarounds so what they've done in most cases, they buy the legislated that the pharmacist can be the prescriber or in other cases, the chief medical officer of the state department of health has issued what they call a standing order where naloxone can be distributed to people going to a pharmacist but that turns out to be, it makes things less than ideal. the number of patients who want to get naloxone, there is such a stigma attached to opioid abuse, they are relu cta nt to attached to opioid abuse, they are reluctant to drop to a pharmacy counter and give an explanation to a pharmacist. in addition, some states, third parties are not allowed to get the prescription. if you have a loved one who you know has a drug problem, in case you walk into the house and find a person needs to be rescued, in some states, you have to be the actual patient. and finally, in many situations,

pharmacists have not wanted to co—operate. many have refused to give it because they feel like they are enabling the persons drug addiction. the best way around that is for the fda to reclassify naloxone is over the counter. it for that very reason that in australia, they made it over the counter in 2016. since the 1990s in italy and other countries. interestingly, the fda is on record in 2016 as saying, this might be suitable to make available over—the—counter and we urge manufacturers to request that we review its status. we would even help them with the application. there is probably a disincentive for manufacturers to request because onceit manufacturers to request because once it becomes over—the—counter it gets subjected to more competition and prices come down but besides that, if you look into the regulations, there are other ways in which it can be reclassified. the

commissioner can order a review for reclassification or, it says in the regulations, that any interested party ca n regulations, that any interested party can request a review. i have been urging for quite some time that state legislatures, by resolution, 01’ governors, 01’ even congress request that the fda review for over—the—counter status and now that i read today that the surgeon general rutley is proclaiming all the advantages of naloxone disk —— distribution, i thought, the advantages of naloxone disk —— distribution, ithought, why the advantages of naloxone disk —— distribution, i thought, why doesn't the surgeon general request that you become over the counter? it shouldn't be too hard for the surgeon general to locate it. shouldn't be too hard for the surgeon generalto locate it. we shouldn't be too hard for the surgeon general to locate it. we are tight time but very briefly, if you don't mind, it's a reflection on how bad the situation is that this is deemed necessary, isn't it? when we

are seeing semi— people dying from overdoses, a sad thing to surgeon general needs to alert people about the benefits of having naloxone available but the sad thing is that everybody is dragging their feet and making —— in making this available over—the—counter because people could be availing themselves of it. we could be saving lives that are not saved if we knew people could discreetly go into the shore and dash into the store and purchase of off—the—shelf. nobody has to know there are private business. we would save a lot more lives if we did that. doctor singer, thank you very much indeed. on tuesday night, liverpool striker mohamed salah scored his 38th goal of the seaon 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. yehia 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," yehia says. "he plays well, passes 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 yehia, but he is ambitious. he says he wants to be a professional player better than mohamed salah — insha'allah. tim allman, bbc news. the renowned japanese 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: 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 to the world darts champion eric bristow, who's died today aged 60. let's just bring you these

pictures from brazil, we believe in sao paolo, where there is a pro—lula rally being held. the former brazilian president has until friday afternoon to turn himself into police and begin serving a 12—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 from prison. he has long been a favourite to win. this protest in sao paulo. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. 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, 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. you're up to date with the headlines. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.