hello, this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: ukraine's president says russian forces have �*completely destroyed' the eastern donbas region and accuses moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. the us senate approves nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine, the largest aid package since russia invaded. the yays are 86 and the nays, 11, and the bill is passed. the us senate approves nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine — the largest aid package since russia invaded. this property is due to be harvested in over a month �*s time of the pharmacy have no idea how they are going to store it or get it out of the country. and i am karishma viswani live in sydney,

australia as voters headed to the polls to choose their next government. and the man behind film scores that mesmerised millions — composer vangelis has died at the age of 79. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. ukraine's president says russian forces have �*completely destroyed' the eastern donbas region, accusing moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. in another development, the international red cross says it's registered hundreds of ukrainian prisoners of war who've left the besieged azovstal steelworks in the ukrainian port city of mariupol.

russia says all those who have left will be treated in line with international standards — but there are fears that some could face prosecution by president putin's courts. from moscow — our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. tired and wounded. moscow released these images of ukrainian fighters leaving the steelworks they'd been defending in mariupol, giving themselves up to the russians. ukraine is hoping for a prisoner swap, but in russia there are calls to put some of the soldiers on trial for war crimes. they are killers, they are criminals, but we give them medical care. but your country invaded ukraine with more than 100,000 troops. that's aggression, isn't it? no, it's not an aggression. it's not an aggression. don't bully us. moscow tries to justify invading ukraine with a false claim — that it's gone in to fight nazis.

a war crimes trial could shore up an unconvincing narrative. the kremlin wants russians to believe that in ukraine their army is battling nazis, and nato, europe and america were all plotting away to attack and destroy the motherland. and there are many here who believe this parallel reality. not everyone does. dmitry sulikhin admits that his country, russia, is the aggressor. he is appalled by the bloodshed and once his whole town to know it. he has transformed outside of his shop into a message board with the names of ukrainian towns russia has attacked. kherson, irpin, kyiv. "peace to ukraine," it says. he has even turned his roof into the ukrainian flag.

translation: | thought| this would be a good way of getting information out, because for the first few weeks of the war our people didn't know what was happening. they didn't know that russia was shelling cities. some don't want to know. "traitor" has been graffitied on dmitry�*s door. and the police have been round. he's been fined for discrediting the army. "the front of a shop isn't for expressing opinions," she says. "he can say what he thinks," says anton. "i think attacking a neighbouring country is a strange thing to do." and in russia, protesting can be a dangerous thing to do. but dmitry is refusing to stay silent. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the us senate has approved nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine — the largest aid

package since russia invaded. meanwhile, the secretary of state antony blinken is warning the world is facing the �*greatest global food security crisis of our time as more than 20 million tonnes of grain is piled up in ukraine because of the war. he�*s called on russia to allow ships to leave black sea ports including the key city of 0desa with food and fertisiler. 0ur correspondent caroline davies reports from 0desa. ukraine�*s wheat helps to feed the world, but while its black sea ports remain closed, much of it is beyond the world�*s reach. over 3,000 tons of grain fill yuriy�*s warehouse, but because of the issues transporting it out of the country, no—one wants to buy it. translation: idon't| know who in the world to ask for help. we would like to be helped to sell this grain at any price, as long as the people don�*t go hungry. i think that all western countries should help us. you need to bang your fist on the table, open the ukrainian ports, stop the russian invasion and take out this grain. how do you feel knowing

that there are many people around the world that would be desperate for this crop? translation: there's a feeling of despair. i i�*m talking now with tears in my eyes. it�*s hard to say. yuriy�*s problems are faced by farmers across the country. this crop is due to be harvested in just over a month�*s time, but the farmers here still have no idea where they�*re going to store it or how they�*re going to get it out of the country. some goods can be taken out by road, others by rail, but not in the same quantities that used to be transported by sea. since russia began its invasion, ships can�*t move forfear of being hit. and the sea has also been mined, which could take months to remove. andrey stavnitser is the owner of one of the largest

ports in ukraine. we have about 80 ships that are basically ghost ships in ukraine right now. the crews have left them, some of them are full, some of them are empty, they�*re in the ports or outside the ports, they�*re standing idle, and for the crews to come back, their shipping companies have to get clearance from insurance companies, and these insurance companies are obviously not happy to allow this to happen because the sea is full of mines. how long do you think it will be until you can reopen the port again? we have no idea when we will be able to reopen the port. we are facing a disaster that�*s going to happen in the next few weeks when the new crop is here and the old crop is not exported. the un has warned that unless russia allows the ports to reopen, there could be mass hunger and famine for years. russia says sanctions imposed on it would need to be looked at if the world wants to solve the crisis. while many in the west will feel that russia is holding safe passage through the sea hostage, if no agreement is reached, ukraine�*s crop could rot while others starve. caroline davies, bbc news, 0desa.

it�*s now well in to friday in australia — and the final day of campaigning before australians go to the polls to vote for a new parliament, and a new government. 0ne party needs to win at least 76 of the 151 seats there to form a majority government. if it can�*t do that, it must try to win support from independent mp5, or those from minor parties and form a coalition. let�*s go live to sydney and join the bbc�*s karishma vaswani. what other main election issues people are about. good morning from an overcast sydney morning, i�*m infront from an overcast sydney morning, i�*m in front of the sydney harbour bridge, an iconic symbol, usually a picture postcard scene but today, it is this way but i have to say, one of the big issues i�*ve heard in the reporting i�*ve done while i�*ve been here for a lot of voters has been concerns over climate change and that has caused a

great deal of anxiety for some people and is certainly getting up people and is certainly getting up the charts there is one of the main issues for a lot of voters here, particularly in places like sydney where there have been discussions around of course, those deadly bushfires in the devastating floods that australia has seen over the last couple of years. the effects of global warming on the planet, front and centre for a lot of people here. the other issue courses been something we�*ve seen in other parts of the world, the cost of living. recently that�*s come up to a 21— year high here in australia, it�*s notjust fuel and food, it�*s things like housing as well. a lot of young australians are struggling to own their first home or rent a home out here. and that is becoming a key election talking point as well. away from that, there is also the politics of integrity which has increasingly come up as a discussion point and its contest is being trained as a

choice between character and experience because the people that we have on offer are some of the familiar faces out here in australian politics, incumbent, scott morrison and his rival, the main 0pposition leader anthony albanese seat and the independent candidates and the independent candidates and candidates from the minor parties as well. tell and candidates from the minor parties as well.— parties as well. tell us a bit more about _ parties as well. tell us a bit more about that _ parties as well. tell us a bit more about that because i parties as well. tell us a bit| more about that because we parties as well. tell us a bit - more about that because we have these traditional to big parties, scott morrison and his liberals and the labor party with anthony albanese but what role do the independent politicians play in this moment?— politicians play in this moment? ~ , , ., moment? well, they could play a really important _ moment? well, they could play a really important role _ really important role certainly, and they�*ve been galvanising a lot of support in places like sydney, for instance, because they�*ve come about with the sort of message of hope and transparency and clean government and they have chosen the colour teal for them, which is why some of them are being returned —— referred to the teal wave and many of them are women and they caught them are women and they caught the fact that for a lot of voters, they are feeling very

disenchanted with the traditional options on offer and they want something different and they�*ve talked about climate change, the treatment of women as well in australian politics and in the australian politics and in the australian workplace and it�*s become something of a real flashpoint here in the lead—up to the boat. it�*s been interesting to see just how much momentum these parties and these candidates have been able to galvanise ahead of the election. and if indeed there is a hung parliament, when you get around to the boat on saturday, they could play a really crucial part going forward. really crucial part going forward-— really crucial part going forward. ~ ., ., forward. we will have to live with air- _ forward. we will have to live with air. thank _ forward. we will have to live with air. thank you - forward. we will have to live with air. thank you very - forward. we will have to live i with air. thank you very much, karishma viswani in sydney. authorities in israel called an early close to a religious bonfire festival on thursday after dozens of ultra—0rthodoxjews rampaged against crowd—control measures. 0rganisers wanted to prevent a repeat of a crush that killed 45 people last year. mark lobel has more.

chaos, where thousands came to celebrate. a year after one of israel�*s worst civilian disasters, and now this. dissidents in response to safety standards being sharpened up by organisers and police. culminating in the event ending early. it began peacefully, lighting up the bonfire in front of mostly ultraorthodox jews for the joyous labour 0mar festival where a notable rabbi is buried. thanks lag ba0mer. last year �*s disaster was considered one of the worst in israel, a deadly crush in which 45 boys were killed. and around 150 more were injured. a tragedy that could have been prevented according to some. so this year

worshippers were under strict instructions to rotate in and out by bus on pre— issued tickets. police said they would limit the number 216,000 at any time, with each visit to four hours. ~ . , ., hours. where i am standing here, hours. where i am standing here. we — hours. where i am standing here, we would _ hours. where i am standing here, we would be - hours. where i am standing here, we would be on - hours. where i am standing here, we would be on the i hours. where i am standing . here, we would be on the roof. i�*m talking about 25 years ago, 30 years ago, we used to go up there but hey, this is what has to be done. we have to be safe and smart. to be done. we have to be safe and smart-— and smart. 8000 officers were delo ed and smart. 8000 officers were deployed to — and smart. 8000 officers were deployed to keep _ and smart. 8000 officers were deployed to keep order - and smart. 8000 officers were deployed to keep order but. deployed to keep order but tensions quickly rose, as dozens rampaged against the crowd control measures. a sorry end to a festival tinged with sadness. mark lobel, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the 0scar winning composer of some of the most famous film soundtracks, vangelis,

has died at the age of 79, this morning, an indian air force plane, carrying mr gandhi�*s body, landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi�*s final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so, it has become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far, - but suddenly, the police - are tear—gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, but just a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world�*s newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country, and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now, at least,

it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: ukraine�*s president says russian forces have �*completely destroyed�* the eastern donbas region, and accuses moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. it�*s the day before australians decide who will be their next prime minister, incumbent scott morisson or his rival labor leader anthony albanese. the number of people living in extreme poverty across latin america and the caribbean has risen, according to the united nations. in sao paulo in brazil, the homeless population grew by 30% during the pandemic. nearly 35,000 people in latin america�*s biggest city are homeless. a cold snap this week has pushed sao paulo�*s authorities to do more about the issue.

a warning, this report from our south america correspondent katy watson contains distressing images. julia makes the first early—morning pilgrimage day and day out, loaded up to feed the masses who have spent a long cold night on the streets. crowds of people that are getting bigger every day. but as we arrive, people are in shock. a man collapsed after sleeping rough. within minutes of arriving here, he was dead. fatherjulian knows, everyone father julian knows, everyone here fatherjulian knows, everyone here knows, that dying is a brutal reality. but when life is so hard, there is little room for reflection. the priority here find something warm to wear and some food to eat. shortly after, and walks a man with suspected hypothermia.

translation:— translation: people here wonder, will— translation: people here wonder, will they _ translation: people here wonder, will they be - translation: people here wonder, will they be next? | translation: people here - wonder, will they be next? the number of people who come here is striking. poverty is exhilarating. six or 700 people come here every day in the cold just make the situation worse by outside, the queue goes on. people with little resistance against the cold. this man has been on the streets for five months. he shows me his tent that he shares with his wife. translation:— that he shares with his wife. translation: last night the temperatures _ translation: last night the temperatures were _ translation: last night the temperatures were icy. - translation: last night the temperatures were icy. they| temperatures were icy. they made a fire _ temperatures were icy. they made a fire outside - temperatures were icy. they made a fire outside the - temperatures were icy. they made a fire outside the tent| temperatures were icy. they made a fire outside the tent to keep them warm. not far away, more shivering people waiting for food. more shivering people waiting forfood. authorities have put on a soup kitchen and are trying to give those on the streets shelter during the cold snap. the demand is high. the clock strikes six. a sense of relief for those in the queue stopping the government is running out of time, such as the scale of the problem. translation:— the scale of the problem. translation: . ., translation: the pandemic and economic crisis _ translation: the pandemic and economic crisis have _ economic crisis have exacerbated and that any quality is showing itself on

the streets of brazil�*s biggest city. the streets of brazil's biggest ci . , , , ., ., city. this queue gives you an idea of the — city. this queue gives you an idea of the scale _ city. this queue gives you an idea of the scale of- city. this queue gives you an idea of the scale of the - idea of the scale of the problem. the first night there were more than 800 people queueing but if you look down there tonight, they are expecting well over 1000. this woman says she hasn�*t been able to feed her kids today. she has six of them. one, a babyjust a few months old. they spent five months sleeping rough after she lost herjob as a cleaner. like so many, preparing for another night of cold on the streets of sao paulo. we�*ve been reporting regularly on how afghanistan is changing drastically under taliban rule. the lives of so many afghans have been turned upside down in the last ten months, including that of the former finance minister khalid payenda. he went from representing his country at global economic forums to driving a cab in the us to make ends meet. the bbc�*s laura trevelyan met mr payenda in his new home town of washington dc, as he

was behind the wheel. khalid payenda left afghanistan almost ten months ago. he was afghanistan�*s last finance minister before the taliban seized control. he met us outside the now in the afghanistan embassy. what is it like for you to be here, in front of the embassy? it is tou~h. front of the embassy? it is tough- we _ front of the embassy? it is tough. we have _ front of the embassy? it is tough. we have had - front of the embassy? it 3 tough. we have had great memories of herod, meetings, i used to come here at least twice a year. he used to come here at least twice a year-— twice a year. he was living with his — twice a year. he was living with his family _ twice a year. he was living with his family and - twice a year. he was living - with his family and afghanistan and resigned days before kabul fell to the taliban. it and resigned days before kabul fell to the taliban.— fell to the taliban. it was unbelievable. _ fell to the taliban. it was unbelievable. while - fell to the taliban. it was unbelievable. while i - fell to the taliban. it wasl unbelievable. while i left, provinces were still being taken, but my guess was that the capital would remain and fight for at least a couple of

years. is tragic. it is 35— 40 million people taken hostage by a phonetic group that does not believe in basic rights of people, basic rights of minorities, basic rights of more than 50% of the population, that is the women. it is completely reversing more than 20 years of progress that we made. than 20 years of progress that we made-— than 20 years of progress that wemade. ., ,, we made. despite that progress, khalid payenda _ we made. despite that progress, khalid payenda says _ we made. despite that progress, khalid payenda says the - we made. despite that progress, khalid payenda says the system | khalid payenda says the system was broken. for khalid payenda says the system was broken-— khalid payenda says the system was broken. for me, the biggest issue was incompetence - was broken. for me, the biggest issue was incompetence at - was broken. for me, the biggest issue was incompetence at key l issue was incompetence at key positions but also 20 years of corruption that eroded the pillars of democracy. payenda had plenty — pillars of democracy. payenda had plenty of _ pillars of democracy. payenda had plenty of time _ pillars of democracy. payenda had plenty of time to - pillars of democracy. payenda had plenty of time to process | had plenty of time to process how it all went wrong once he landed in america. he now drives part—time for a ride sharing company in washington dc. �* ., ., , sharing company in washington dc. ~ . ., , dc. after a few months you need to earn a living _ dc. after a few months you need to earn a living and _ dc. after a few months you need to earn a living and i _ dc. after a few months you need to earn a living and i did - dc. after a few months you need to earn a living and i did some i to earn a living and i did some driving. it surprisingly paid better than people expect.

payenda consults and lectures on afghanistan for university students in his new hometown. i think many people would find it difficult, because it is a huge trauma. i went through a tough time but at the end of the day you have to look at, how can you have to look at, how can you salvage a situation? and i think myjob has never defined me and neither did the ministry job nor will this current one. i think it was the first time they had to face such crisis and it has hopefully made me a better person that is more humble, but life goes on. you could either stay in the past, lament it or move forward and try to rebuild.— try to rebuild. the former aft han try to rebuild. the former afghan finance _ try to rebuild. the former afghan finance minister. try to rebuild. the former- afghan finance minister there. the greek composer, vangelis has died at the age of 79. he composed one of the best—known film scores,

�*chariots of fire�*. chariots of fire theme plays vangelis won an oscar for the soundrack in 1981. he also wrote music for many otherfilms including blade runner. and in 2001 his choral symphony mythodea was used by nasa as the theme for the mars 0dyssey mission. we can now speak to the musician, producer and artist james lavelle who is also the founder of the highly influential uk electronic band unkle. good to see you, thanks very much for being with us. we mention blade runner and chariots of fire there are, two of his perhaps most famous scores butjust give us a sense of the breadth of his work across the movie industry. he had been _ across the movie industry. he: had been making records for over 50 years and started in 67 with the greek progressive rock

band aphrodite�*s child and they were very influential at that period of time and became quite a soundtrack for a whole generation particularly with sample and dj culture, solar records like let it happen in 73 which was an amazing record, and just made these beautiful collages of what became sort of more electronic music with sort of classic melodies and stuff, i think came from that sort of period and created these incredibly unique records and obviously went on to do some of the greatest soundtracks, it created a list of blueprints of contemporary electronic music with the score for blade runner and his work then with things likejohn vangelis and even scored the music for, for stephen hawkins tribute as well which is quite amazing. meat;

which is quite amazing. away from the movie _ which is quite amazing. away from the movie industry, i which is quite amazing. away from the movie industry, butj from the movie industry, but with his influence on the rest of the music sector and on musicians like yourself with yellow well i think growing up as a kid, hearing chariots of fire, you forget that record was number one, and just the sonics of his record combined with, a film like blade runner was such a huge influence for my generation and many others before and after, and i think he created a sort of soundtrack for many of us that was just incredibly influential both technically and sonically. i think hiesler music more as science than and he had a kind of stickel approach to its and he kind of made incredible music with synthesisers particularly, which has been a huge influence for contemporary music like techno and modern

contemporary music and dance music. he contemporary music and dance music. : , contemporary music and dance music. :, , ., , :, music. he was the master of the yamaha cs-80. _ music. he was the master of the yamaha cs-80. what _ music. he was the master of the yamaha cs-80. what and i music. he was the master of the yamaha cs-80. what and what l music. he was the master of the i yamaha cs-80. what and what was he like as an _ yamaha cs-80. what and what was he like as an artist _ yamaha cs-80. what and what was he like as an artist because - he like as an artist because they believe he was quite a reserve person. he they believe he was quite a reserve person.— they believe he was quite a reserve person. he was quite reclusive. — reserve person. he was quite reclusive, not _ reserve person. he was quite reclusive, not a _ reserve person. he was quite reclusive, not a lot _ reserve person. he was quite reclusive, not a lot is - reserve person. he was quite reclusive, not a lot is knownl reclusive, not a lot is known about his personal life. there was a mythology to him, you know, which is also really interesting, i think with great artist, and the soundtrack for blade runner didn�*t come out properly for 12 years after the film and there was this sort of whole period of people trying to find this record because it was never released until the directors cut, so all of those things combined but i think he was definitely not into the trappings of rock �*n�* roll... i�*m sorry, we�*rejust running out of time. we will have to leave it there. thank you for joining us, i�*d appreciate it.

dojoin us next time, we will see you soon. hello there. the weather is certainly a bit up and down at the moment. we had a pretty good day on thursday with sunshine across much of the country, temperatures into the low 20s. but after a much quieter night, things will change again on friday with more cloud, it�*s going to be cooler and breezy, and there will be some rain around at times. now, we�*ve got a weather front approaching the northwest of the uk to bring some rain. we are also seeing more cloud moving up from the south across england and wales, starting to bring some rain by the morning. we will get wetter in the morning across the southeast of england, then into east anglia, some thunderstorms just across the channel. as it gets wetter here, we will start to see some sharp showers breaking out elsewhere, a spell of rain moves across northern ireland into western scotland and northwest england in the afternoon, by which time, we should see that more persistent rain clearing to the southeast, some sunshine and even a few showers here. so it will be a cooler day, could make 19 celsius

after the rain in the southeast, 14 celsius in the central belt of scotland. and we�*ve got a spell of rain in the evening running eastwards across scotland, northern england, once that moves away, we will have some clearer skies overnight with a few showers left over in western parts of scotland by saturday morning. by then, temperatures will be around 9—11 celsius. this is the pattern that we�*ve got as we head into the weekend. higher pressure to the south of the uk with a west—south—westerly airflow and some weather fronts approaching northern areas. so expect a lot of cloud for northern ireland. we may well see a little bit of rain here. a bight start, i think, in scotland, those showers in the west being replaced by thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain in the afternoon. england and wales, a good chance of staying dry, some good spells of sunshine coming through, and those temperatures reaching 21 celsius in the southeast, still only around 14 celsisus in the central belt of scotland. second half of the weekend, got to keep an eye on this weather front here, could bring some showers into the english channel, but otherwise, it�*s towards the northwest again that these weather fronts will bring in some more outbreaks of rain, particularly into scotland and northern ireland. a bit of damp and drizzly weather coming over the irish sea into western parts of england

and wales, but thorugh the midlands towards east anglia and the southeast, here it should be dry. this is where we�*ve got the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures, up to 23 celsius, but it should be a little bit warmer for many of us on sunday. things will change, though, into the beginning of next week, because lowering pressure means that is going to get much wetter once again, and those temperatures will be dropping away as well. goodbye.