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. the most seniorfigure in the us congress warns the uk that it will lose out on a free—trade deal, if it scraps post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland. i'm karishma vaswani in sydney australia, where voters are heading to the polls on saturday to choose their next government. cases of suspected and confirmed monkeypox are being investigated in a number of european countries, as well as the us, canada and the uk. 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. but not everyone does. dmitry skurikhin 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 speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi, has warned that american lawmakers won't agree to a free trade deal between the us and the uk if the british government goes ahead with plans to amend the northern ireland protocol which was agreed as part of the brexit deal with europe. in a strongly worded statement, ms pelosi expressed deep concern over british plans to override parts of the deal with the european union over northern ireland.

0ur north america correspondent david willis is in los angeles. the darkly did nancy pelosi say? it is as you say a strongly worded statement from i strongly worded statement from i of america's most powerful politicians, the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi. warning britain that any amendments to the northern ireland protocol could jeopardise lawmakers signing off on a uk — us free trade agreement. such an agreement has been much sought after by the british government of course and was touted as i of the main reasons for brexit. in this statement, nancy pelosi warns that i this statement, nancy pelosi warns thati of this statement, nancy pelosi warns that i of the cornerstones of the good friday agreement is the northern ireland protocol and anything that impinges upon that and could threaten what was achieved with the wood friday

protocol, would result in a rejection of any sort of trade deal that is preferred to congress by politicians here. it is a very stern warning, as it is a very stern warning, as i say, from i of the most senior politicians in this country. senior politicians in this country-— senior politicians in this count . , , country. david, this might seem like a niche _ country. david, this might seem like a niche technical _ country. david, this might seem like a niche technical detail- like a niche technical detail in this corner of western europe. ways the uso invested in this? ~ in this? well, the united states sees _ in this? well, the united states sees this - in this? well, the united states sees this as - in this? well, the united states sees this as a - in this? well, the united - states sees this as a landmark agreement. particular people like joe agreement. particular people likejoe biden, for example, like joe biden, for example, who likejoe biden, for example, who is of course himself of irish ancestry and played a part in getting resources and commitments to negotiate the good friday accords. he is somebody who has taken a very close attention to the whole concept of peace in ireland as indeed have many politicians of both parties here in the united states. it is seen as

remarkably incendiary, if you like, that they should be any post brexit deal that in any wayjeopardises post brexit deal that in any way jeopardises that agreement, the good friday protocols. david willis in la, thank you. authorities in israel called an early close to a religious bonfire festival on thursday after dozens of ultra—0rthodox jews 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 lagb0mar festival, where a notable rabbi is buried. but now one with a haunting past. last year's mount meron disaster was considered one of the worst to befall the state of israel, a deadly crush in an overcrowded passageway in which 45 men and boys were killed and around 150 more 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 to 16,000 at any time, with each visit capped to four hours. where i'm 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 now, hey, this is what has to be done. we have to be safe and smart.

8,000 officers were 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. 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 mps, or those from minor parties and form a coalition. let's go live to sydney and join the bbc�*s karishma vaswani. so what are the main election issues?

yeah, reach, it won't surprise you that the cost of living is a big issue out here in australia as well as it is in many other parts of the world. the pressures from the war in ukraine for instance, the slowdown we are seeing in china's economy, being felt here as we see prices are not just a food and fuel rise but also the cost of housing. there is a big issue for a lot of young tour struggling to get their ist young tour struggling to get their 1st home, to get a post home or to rent a place. it has become a key election talking point in fact as prices here, the cost of living soars to a 21 year high. neither party has really been able to come up, we have been told, with any concrete plans to address this because of course this is a global economic problem. the central bank in australia is trying to keep a check on prices while keeping growth steady here as well. the economy a big issue of course, but at the same time, climate change authority top of mind for a lot of australian voters,

certainly in places like sydney where i am, whether it is a big concern over how the planet is warming and what kinds of effects that is having on australia. who can forget the last couple of years, the deadly bushfires as well as those devastating floods. people here have been confronted 1st hand, up close and personal, with the effects of a warming planet. it is again that sort of divided nature of the country, where you are seeing people in urban areas like sydney worried about climate change but elsewhere in the country where jobs depend on the mining industry, they are more concerned about their livelihoods. it is a berry difficult balance, a delicate balance, and something that voters will be thinking about as they make their decision on saturday. as they make their decision on saturda . ., ., saturday. there are other additional _ saturday. there are other additional 2 _ saturday. there are other additional 2 parties - saturday. there are other additional 2 parties in - additional 2 parties in australia, the liberals under the encumbered scott morrison and the labor party under anthony albanese book to talk to us about the significance of independent politicians and the smaller parties in this election?—

smaller parties in this election? . , ., , election? rich, it is really interesting. _ election? rich, it is really interesting. they - election? rich, it is really interesting. they have - election? rich, it is really. interesting. they have been called the teal wave and that is because of the colour that many of them have chosen to represent them smells. largely made up of female candidates, what they are offering is a different vision but i think it is fair to say, of what is on offer in australian politics. as you pointed out, of course, the main parties are run by people who are very familiar to australian voters, the liberal—national coalition run by scott morrison and anthony albanese of the labour party of course. i think what the independent candidates are offering, certainly talking about climate change more than we are seeing from the traditional main parties. this contest has been described as a choice between character and experience. what the independent candidates are seeing is, look, rather, at the back that we have seen what experience has done. in australia, and now it is cyber gifford. they are still very much in the minority, reach, but a berry interesting group

of ideas and people that are coming to the port here. certainly lost to look out for. they give for the update. 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 world 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. the most seniorfigure in the us congress, nancy pelosi, has warned that the uk will lose out on a free trade deal if it scraps post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland.

cases of suspected and confirmed monkeypox are being investigated in a number of european countries, the us, canada, and australia. that's according to health authorities and local media reports. the disease is common in tropical rainforest areas, mostly in remote parts of central and west africa. monkeypox is usually mild but there different strains and different fatality rates, with statistics ranging from 1%—10%. so how does this disease spread? dr anne rimoin is a professor of epidemiology in the fielding school of public health at the university of california. monkeypox is a poxvirus. it is a cousin of smallpox, which was a cousin of smallpox, which was a terrible disease that has been eradicated from the planet. monkeypox spreads normally from contact with wild animals, typically found in the forested areas of central and west africa. i've spent my

career working in the democratic republic of congo where monkeypox is endemic and working on monkeypox. it's very rare to see this virus spreading outside of the african continent. so this out break all these several clusters of cases are very unusual. clusters of cases are very unusual-— clusters of cases are very unusual. ., �*, , ., unusual. you say it's unusual, but how concerning _ unusual. you say it's unusual, but how concerning is - unusual. you say it's unusual, but how concerning is this - but how concerning is this spread? but how concerning is this s - read? ~ but how concerning is this sread? ~ , ., but how concerning is this spread?— but how concerning is this sread? ~ ., , , spread? well, you know, because we eradicated _ spread? well, you know, because we eradicated smallpox's - spread? well, you know, because we eradicated smallpox's and - we eradicated smallpox's and stopped vaccinating against smallpox, now we have very little population immunity to this virus. so it makes sense that if people are exposed to poxvirus as we will see more cases. if we talked about this morning time, guess it is morning time, guess it is morning time, guess it is morning time your time, or last night your time, morning time your time, or last night yourtime, i morning time your time, or last night your time, i would have said i'm not extremely concerned about this, it makes

sense we see several cases here and there, but over the day we now seen clusters in many countries throughout the world and by myself, as a person who has spent my entire career studying pox viruses, am definitely perplexed and very interested to understand a lot more about the dynamics here. so am a very concerned? i'm concerned, i'm not alarmed, think it is important to understand how these cases occurred, what was the primary introduction, and how many secondary cases are there? going to be very important to understand how these cases occurred, if there are any ties between them, and if this is a result of any sort of common source, maybe a product or something else that has been contaminated, which was disseminated in a variety of places, or is this related to person—to—person transmission?

0nce person—to—person transmission? once we understand that we're going to really understand is a change in the virus, a change injust where it change in the virus, a change in just where it is now lodged itself and is starting to spread, or is there something else going on. dr spread, or is there something else going om— spread, or is there something else going on. dr anne rimoin from the university _ else going on. dr anne rimoin from the university of- from the university of california. let's get some of the day's other news. britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, will face no further penalties for breaking his government's own covid lockdown rules. police in london have now closed their investigation, having handed out a total of a 126 fines. mrjohnson was fined last month over a party at his office. sri lanka has defaulted on its debt for the first time in history, as the country struggles with the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. the central bank governor says the country is now in a "pre—emptive default". the 18—year—old white man accused of killing 10 people in a livestreamed shooting in a black neighbourhood in buffalo, new york, has appeared in court for the first time. the hearing lasted just a few minutes and the suspect payton gendron was ordered to remain in custody without bail. the shooting happened

at a supermarket last saturday. 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. fatherjulio makes the same early morning pilgrimage day in 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. fatherjulio 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 is to find something warm to wear and some food to eat. shortly after, in walks a man with suspected hypothermia. translation: people here wonder, willi be next? - the number of people who come here is striking. poverty is accelerating. 600 or 700 people come here every day and the cold just makes the situation worse. 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. "last night the temperatures were icy," he tells me. he explains they made a fire outside the tent to keep them warm.

not far away, more shivering people waiting for food. 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. the government is running out of time, such is the scale of the problem. translation: the pandemic and economic crisis have - exacerbated inequality and that inequality is showing itself on the streets of brazil's biggest city. this queue gives you an 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 1,000. 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.

she, like so many, preparing for another night of cold on the streets of sao paulo. katy watson, bbc news. the greek composer vangelis has died at the age of 79. he composed one of the best known film scores, chariots of fire. vangelis won an oscar for the soundtrack 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. well, earlier i spoke to the electronic music artist james lavelle and asked him to give us a sense of the breadth of his work in film and music. well, i mean, he had been making records for over 50 years and started in 1967 with

the great progressive rock band aphrodite's child and they were very influential in that period of time and became quite a kind of time and became quite a kind of soundtrack for a whole generation, especially with sample and dj culture, records like let it happen in 1973, an amazing record, and made beautiful collages of what became 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 he obviously went on to do some of the greatest soundtracks. creating the blueprints of contemporary electronic music with his score for blade runner and even did, he scored the music for stephen hawking's tribute as well, which was quite amazing. away

from the music— which was quite amazing. away from the music industry, - which was quite amazing. away from the music industry, whatl from the music industry, what was his influence on the rest of the music sector and musicians like yourself? i think, you know, growing up as kids, hearing chariots of fire, you forget that record was number one and just the sort of sonics of his records, a filmlike blade runner was such a huge influence on my generation and many others before and after, he created the soundtrack for many of us. it was just incredibly influential, both technically and sonically. i think he saw music more as signs of an art and he had a kind of mystical approach to it. —— science. and he made incredible music with, you know, synthesises particularly, which has been a huge influence on contemporary music like techno and modern electronic music and dance music. he, you know, was the

master of the yamaha cs 80, one of the most operated synthesises of all time, and really because of his work. briefly, what was he like as an artist, i understand he was quite a reserved person. i think he was quite reclusive. there is not known a lot about his personal life. there was a mythology to him, you know, which is also really interesting, think, with great artists. in the soundtrack for blade runner didn't come out properly for 12 years after the film, you know, there was this whole period of people trying to find this record because it was never released until the directors cut. so all of those things combined. i think he was definitely not into the trappings of rock �*n�* roll. positionjames trappings of rock �*n�* roll. position james lavelle trappings of rock �*n�* roll. positionjames lavelle speaking to me earlier. that is it for us. —— musician. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston.

thanks for watching, we will see you next time. 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 north—west of the uk to bring some rain. we're 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 south—east of england, then into east anglia. some thunderstorms just across the channel. as it gets wetter here, we'll start to see some sharp showers breaking out elsewhere. a spell of rain moves across northern ireland into western scotland and north west england in the afternoon — by which time, we should see that more persistent rain clearing the south—east, some sunshine and even a few showers here. so, it will be a cooler day — could make 19 degrees after the rain in the south—east — 1a 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'll have some clearer skies overnight with a few showers left over in western parts of scotland by saturday morning and 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 to 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 bright 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 degrees in the south—east. still only around 1a 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 north—west again that these weather fronts will bring in some more outbreaks of rain, particularly into scotland and northern ireland. a bit of damp, drizzly weather coming over the irish sea into western parts of england

and wales but through the midlands, towards east anglia and the south—east, here, it should be dry. this is where we've got the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures — up to 23 degrees — 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 it is going to get much wetter once again and those temperatures will be dropping away as well. goodbye.