Transcripts For BBCNEWS The 20240703

Sensation , has died. He was 76 and had cancer. The African American running back was also a successful hollywood actor. But his fame turned to infamy in 1994 when he was accused of murdering nicole brown, and a friend of hers in los angeles. Journalist David Margolick covered the oj Simpson Trial for the New York Times he told me what that covering the trial had been like. Well, yeah, it was really at the centre of the world for several months. I mean, covering it was unlike any experience that i ever had before. Everybody was watching it. Everybody was talking about it. There was enormous pressure on covering it well and sensitively, and it was an enormous professional challenge to get through it. A professional challenge because in part it was so divisive, wasnt it, in the way that americans saw the case, the trial and indeed the verdict . Well, thats true. And i think that on the one hand, you could get buried in the testimony and the day to day challenges of covering a trial on the west coast for an east coast newspaper, which was the situation in my case. And at the same time, trying to weigh and describe the overall social implications of the case. And that was a continual challenge to me. I mean, it was very hard to see the Larger Forces at work while you were busy covering the day to day testimony and just trying to keep up to date with that. And when you were covering that day to day testimony, there was, looking back, a wealth of evidence against oj simpson. But when he was acquitted, what was your reaction . I mean, how surprised were you . Having heard all the evidence against him . Well, i think that the most surprising thing about it really was the speed with which he was acquitted. And i think that that reflected in a way, a great miscalculation or misunderstanding among many of us who covered the trial. I think that, you know, ill only speak about myself, but i remember very vividly that we had a pool in the press room about how long it would take the jury to come back and what the verdict would be. And we all decided there wouldnt be a verdict for a week. And, of course, they came back almost immediately with an acquittal. And i think that, speaking only for myself, it reflected a kind of naivety on the basic racial fissures in the United States that we really didnt understand what was going on in this case. And for that reason, were flabbergasted by the speed of the acquittal. I think people, there were there were debates about whether there was reasonable doubt or not. And i think people went both ways on how it was going to come out because the defence had done a good job of raising doubts about the handling of the evidence and the bias of the police officers. But it almost seemed as if that didnt matter in the end and that the trial, in a way, it was almost a sideshow and that there were basic, basic forces at play before a largely minorityjury that almost ordained the result from the very beginning. And the testimony was largely secondary, except insofar as it raised perhaps enough of a doubt for a fig leaf to justify an acquittal. That was a journalist talking to me about his memories regarding the trialfor oj simpson who has died about his memories regarding the trial for oj simpson who has died at the age of 76. A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of 27 year old kulsuma akter, who was stabbed in bradford at the weekend, as she pushed her baby in a pram. 25 year old habibur masum, from burnley, was charged after a three day manhunt ended in his arrest on tuesday. Alison freeman has more. Habibur masum was arrested on tuesday, three days after his wife was stabbed as she pushed her baby in a pram in Bradford City centre. Kulsuma akter was found with serious injuries at around 3 20pm in the westgate area and died later in hospital. The child was not hurt in the attack. This morning, the 25 year old defendant appeared at bradford magistrates� court charged with murder. He is also accused of possessing a bladed article. His appearance was brief, lasting only around five minutes. Cleanly shaven and wearing a grey tracksuit, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. After a nationwide manhunt, the suspect was detained by police in aylesbury in buckinghamshire in the early hours of tuesday, more than 150 miles away from where his wife was attacked. Four other men aged in their 20s from the West Midlands were also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and remain in police custody. Habibur masum will next appear at Bradford Crown court tomorrow. It has emerged that the metropolitan police first knew that suspected scammers were targeting westminster as early as october last year. An investigation was launched and House Of Commons Security Officials were informed, but mps, politicians and political journalists were not specifically told to avoid messages from two suspicious phone numbers. Many of those targeted in the alleged honeytrap scandal did not realise others had also been receiving messages until Media Reports in the past week. The Polish Parliament is starting a debate on liberalising the countrys abortion laws, which are some of the strictest in the european union. Abortion is only allowed when the pregnancy endangers the mothers health, or when it is a result of rape or incest. Our correspondent adam easton is in warsaw with more on the debate. A debate that has been described by the governments family and Labour Minister as unusually important. And one that polish women have been waiting for for 30 years, because this debate is about whether the state allows polish women to have abortion on demand up to 12 weeks, and longer in certain other circumstances, for the First Time Since 1993. As you mentioned, poland has one of the strictest regulations vis a vis abortion in the european union. In the previous right wing Law And Justice government, they presided over heightened restrictions, making it even tighter in 2020, when there was a court ruling which practically outlawed legal abortion in all cases, 98 of cases. So this is something that Opinion Polls suggest, or some at least suggest growing support for greater access to abortion for women, but the politicians up to now have been reluctant to heed those voices. That was adam easton in warsaw with his report on the Abortion Debate in poland. She was a Vietnamese Property Tycoon and a billionaire but now shes been sentenced to death in one of the biggest Banking Frauds the world has ever seen. After a five week Trial Truong Mee Lan Of Systematically Defrauding the Saigon Commercial Bank to the tune of 41; billion dollars over a period of 11 years. Shes one of very few Women In Vietnam to be sentenced to death for a white collar cirme. Our South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head has the latest it is spectacular, in fact i cannot find a case of fraud in westworld, bank fraud, where these kinds of money has gone missing, and in a country like vietnam, its a big chunk of money she has siphoned off. Its an unusual trial in that the communist authorities released lots of details about the case against her, and how she carried out the fraud, and encourage the vietnam media to report it, which is not typical in vietnam where media is tightly controlled, its not usual in meat vietnam, and she has not been given the most severe penalty, the death penalty, a severe example and a warning to others involved in fraud. A long chapter in an long running Anti Corruption Campaign Launched by the party eight years ago and certainly not able to remember a child like it before. That isjonathan had reporting on that trial in vietnam. Israels Foreign Ministry has strongly criticised the new Prime Minister of ireland, simon harris, over his inaugural speech in which he condemned israels actions in gaza. Mr harris said on tuesday that innocent people were being starved and slaughtered in the palestinian territory. The israeli statement said there were those in ireland who persist on being on the wrong side of history. It also criticised mr harris for not mentioning the plight of israeli hostages in gaza. Meta announces instagram will be testing new tools to protect users from what theyre calling sextortion. Its when someone uses intimate images to blackmail a person online. The new feature is a Nudity Protection Tool which will blur any naked images sent via dm to users under 18. Also, potential victims identified by instagram will be directed to websites for support. Kurt wagner is a Tech Journalist at bloomberg, he explains the challenges of cracking down on � sextortion�. Weve heard a lot about this, especially recently. You may recall that a number of ceos in the us of these big social networks, including mark zuckerberg, showed up at Congress Just a couple of months ago to hear all kinds of Horror Stories about young people in particular being attacked or abused on these networks. And so i dont have an exact number for you, but its something that a lot of people are familiar with and that congress here in the us is really starting to take a lot more seriously than it has in the past. So, as we mentioned at the beginning, there meta say theyre testing new features to safeguard teenagers in particular. Do you think those measures are sufficient . Will they work . I think theyre a good idea, right . I mean, the changes that theyre coming out with today are essentially warnings. So if someone is sending you unsolicited nude photos or videos, theyre going to be blurred out and there will be a warning, do you really want to see this . And alternatively, if you are sending an inappropriate photo or video, it will say, are you sure you want to send this reminder that someone could screenshot or someone could save it or keep it or spread it themselves. Right. So i think these are these are good steps, right . Just sort of reminding people of the consequences of this as theyre doing it. Nnow, sort of blocking this stuff entirely, which im not necessarily sure that that they can do and that people necessarily want meta to be blocking their messages. I think this is this is probably a very smart next step for them. People used to talk about social media, the online world being a kind of wild west. Do you think the tech giants are becoming more aware of that problem, trying to do more to counter some of the problems that have emerged . Absolutely. And its partlyjust because its being talked about more than ever before. There were so many years where the technologies were just simply heralded because they were growing quickly. These businesses were growing quickly. It was newer. But as we saw in the last couple of elections, as weve now seen with with child abuse and child abuse material on these services, people have stopped sort of celebrating these companies and gotten very, very critical over the last several years. And so thats why i think they have started to pivot their own attention and resources to some of these problems, because theyre getting hammered by them from politicians, the press and others more regularly than they used to be. That is kurt wagner, take during the bloomberg. The widow of the russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny says he wrote an autobiography before he died in prison in february. The book, titled patriot, will be published simultaneously in different languages in october. Yulia navalnaya said it would be a final show of defiance to the kremlin, and a testament to his commitment to the fight against dictatorship. The Penguin Publishing house said he began work on the memoir shortly after he was poisoned in 2021. Still to come on The World Today uncovered from the ruins of an ancient catastrophe, well take a peak at the artworks left buried for almost 2000 years. And, its a red carpet grand slam, as the actress and singer zendaya promotes her latest film set in the world of professional tennis. Around the world and across the uk. This is The World Today on bbc news. Finally this half hour zendaya hit the red carpet here in london last night. It was for the uk premiere of her new movie challengers a Tense Drama Set in the world of professional tennis. The actress who co stars in the film withjosh oconnor and mike also produced it something she says she relished. Its not necessarily a new hat, ive done it before, but i think every time that you do it you learn something new about yourself. You get to learn from your peers and grow and hopefully i think it allows for you to have a seat at the table to protect yourself and yourfellow actors and community members. But, yeah, im definitely proud of it. When the Mount Vesuvius volcano erupted nearly 2000 years ago it famously buried the city of pompeii in Southern Italy but also preserved it for posterity. Now, the ruined roman city is a huge tourist attraction. Excavation work continues and archeologists have now discovered a sumptuous villa with floor to Ceiling Frescoes and stunning mosaic floors. They believe a wealthy and influential man who may have run for Public Office lived there. They think he may also have been the owner of a bakery next door where slaves were probably kept in what was virtually a prison. Our Science Editor Rebecca Morelle reports from pompeii. So this is the black room. Its the salon in here. Hidden from the world for 2000 years, a new part of pompeii comes to light. This is the most beautiful one ive ever seen. Small, intricate paintings of greek mythical scenes stand out against the stark backdrop. This is a Banqueting Room where the wealthy owner once entertained important guests. There is an almost complete white mosaic floor. Why were the walls black . This room probably was used after sunset. The smoke from the lamps would deposit on the walls, so you would like to have them black so you wouldnt see this immediately. And then you have the light, the shimmering light of the lamps. And the paintings almost coming to life. Its just one part of the house thats been found, buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 ad. This internal courtyard gives you an idea ofjust how far down the team has had to dig. This whole area was covered in these Pumice Stones that rained down on the town for 18 hours during the eruption. And up at the top here there is this very dense brown layer. Well, thats evidence of the pyroclastic flow, this fast moving avalanche of gas and volcanic material that engulfed the town of pompeii, killing anyone who was left behind. The excavation, the biggest in a generation, has been followed for a bbc documentary series. A second room with rare full height frescoes appears from beneath the volcanic debris. Whoever lived here had high status. But its notjust the house. A number of buildings have emerged from the dig. This is a big excavation, so heres a plan of its layout. This area here in red is the grand residence, with these large, opulent rooms. And only part of it has been unearthed. In front of it is a commercial complex. There is a laundry over here in green, and next to that, a wholesale bakery. And archaeologists here think this whole thing could have been owned by the same person. In the bakery there are clues as to who this person might have been. We are standing next to probably our greatest clue of all. Its a red painted inscription on the wall. And we know who arv is, and we know him to be Aulus Rustius verus. And we know hes a politician. And maybe hes funding the bakery, this is his enterprise, but hes not going to be living here. This is far too a sort of impoverished little place for a grand politician. So we then, hopefully, maybe have the idea that he was living in this big, grand house behind us. The excavation is far from finished, and new discoveries are emerging here every day. Rebecca morelle, bbc news, pompeii. The legendary singer tony bennett died lastjuly at the age of 96. Now, around 700 items from his career are going up for auction. They include personal belongs, his original artwork and bits of memorabilia like microphones from the singer, whos best known for songs like i left my heart in san francisco. A quarter of all adults in england are unable to see an nhs dentist according to the british dental association. And large numbers of children are ending up in hospital because of tooth decay which should have been preventabe. Now, a specialist childrens dental team is offering free check ups during the easter holidays, with the help of a mobile dental bus. Anna collinson reports from newcastle. Can you point to the sore tooth for me . Rivers tooth hurts. Is that really sore . Shes missed six days of school, but she is one of a hundred children to benefit from seeing a Volunteer Paediatric dentist. A free checkup finds its infected. Weve got one abscess. The plan is to remove it today. One in three children live in poverty in the north east of england, which means poorer overall health. Youre going to have lovely teeth when you are older, are you going to look after them . Dr greg taylor says its harrowing how often he has to remove teeth which are meant to last a lifetime. We are taking out six or seven adult teeth. You are going, god, they are only 12, what are they going to be when they are 20 . If you dont make the differences in childhood, therelljust be this horrible cycle of decay, decay and decay. This dental bus has been based at Newcastle Food Bank all week. Youre doing amazing. A response to those desperate for urgent treatment. The average child seen here had three teeth affected. One had 19 decayed, filled or missing teeth. Open nice and wide for me. A leading paediatrician says Poor Oral Health in the young can be devastating. We have wards and wards of children who are being admitted and having l surgery for something you could avoid. That is shocking. Ithat is the price of a toothbrush, l toothpaste and a bit of knowledge. It is time for rivers tooth removal. Is it out yet . Not yet, but we will wriggle it out. That is a big tooth. It is hard to watch, let alone do it. It is the right thing for her to have that taken out. There is an abscess that is affected and she has been up for the last few nights. The government has said it will provide mobile dental vans, but this bus leaves tomorrow with no plans to return. River is home and happy. How are you feeling today . Ten out of ten. Anna collinson, bbc news. Its a big night for key players in the gaming industry, who are gathered in london for the bafta games awards. Top contenders include balder� s gate three, Spider Man Two and Dave The Diver who fishes by day and runs a Sushi Restaurant by night. Its thought to have been a particularly competitive year. Our Technology Reporter mark cieslak takes a look at some of the hits. Leading the bafta field, nominated in ten categories is baldur� s gate 3. Its inspired by the table top Role Playing Game dungeons and dragons, reimagined for console and pc. This is the game to beat. Lets make this interesting. Its closely followed in the nominations by Fan Favourite spider man 2. This is crazy. Also hotly tipped is nintendos incredibly innovative zelda tears of the kingdom. You are our final hope. The baftas are famous for confounding expectations, with indie games and smaller titles often taking home some of the big awards. So, Quirky Deep Sea Exploration sushi Restaurant Management sim, Dave The Diver, might snatch some silverware away from the blockbusters. Comedian phil wang will be hosting the event a task which always falls to somebody with proper gaming credentials. Growing up in malaysia, in borneo which is beautiful, but not so much going on video games were a real escape. Im really looking forward to celebrating the industry, the games industry, the creativity that goes into it, and i feel like it finally proves to my parent that games are art, just like i said, all those years when they were trying to get me to go for a run. Everyone, from developers to the actors whose performances appear in games, are hoping to take home a coveted golden mask. Samantha beart is nominated for their performance as Barbarian Karlach in baldur� s gate 3. Thats my reward for everything i suffered. This industry makes more money than film, tv and music combined, and yet its still seen as quite an underground thing and, yeah, having the academy itself, which is such a global brand represent that, its really something, its really special. The games baftas, now in its 20th year, offers this industry a much needed chance to celebrate its many creative successes. Marc cieslak, bbc news. Good luck to all the contenders, stay with us, right now we have the weather with chris. Hello there. The weather today has been very mild indeed. For april, temperatures reached 20 Degrees Celsius in parts of norfolk. Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, the 17 degrees were recorded here made it Northern Irelands warmest day of the year so far. We did have South Westerly Winds dragging in the mild air, but they also brought a lot of cloud to wales and southwest england. Whereas the best of the sunshine, really, was across the midlands, Northern England and into parts of scotland. Weve got a similar set of weather wise really into friday. The jet stream continues to drag up some very mild air from near the azores, moves it along into parts of the uk, and thats going to again boost the temperatures on friday into the high teens to low 20s. Aberdeen seeing temperatures seven Degrees Celsius above average. Now, before we get there, overnight tonight, were looking at a few patches of rain coming and going across Northern Ireland, scotland and Northern England. Therell be a few mist and fog patches around as well. The South Westerly Winds continue to bring that mild air across the uk. So a mild night, temperatures staying up into double figures in most places. Tomorrow, mild start to the mist and fog patches slowly lifting and clearing, but the chance of seeing sunshine and more sunshine across england and wales. Whereas the thicker cloud will be in parts of scotland, Northern Ireland and the far north of england, where well have a few patches of rain from time to time. 18 in aberdeen, top temperatures across Eastern England likely to hit around 21 Degrees Celsius, which is going to get close to the highest temperature ever recorded so far this year in the whole of the uk. All change, though, as we head into the weekend, well start to see some rain and cooler weather work into Northern Ireland, scotland and Northern England, holding on to something a little bit warmer again for parts of wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern counties of england. But the change will come. As we head into sunday and next week, the jet stream pattern changes completely and well start to get these north westerly winds dragging in much cooler weather conditions. And so, for the second half of the weekend, were looking at lots of showers for scotland and Northern Ireland. Some of those will have some hail mixed in, one or two showers for the northwest of both england and wales, still largely dry across east anglia and southeast england, but temperatures back close to average, whereas further north, the temperatures if anything could be a degree or so below average. What follows then, into monday is more general outbreaks of rain and quite a cool windy day. Sunshine and showers tuesday and wednesday, and then High Pressure bringing drier weather towards the end of the week. Hello, im lewis vaughanjones. Youre watching the context on bbc news. A very short statement from the family of oj simpson that reads, on april 10th, our father Orenthaljames Simpson succumbed to his battle with cancer. From an impoverished childhood, he had gone on to become one of the greatest american Football Players in history. But he will forever be remembered for his nine month televised trial for the Double Murder that transfixed america. It absolutely was the trial of the century. It also, very interestingly, really set us up for what is now called Reality Television here in america. The american Football Player oj simpson, who was acquitted of a Double Murder in one of the most high profile trials of the last century, has died. Also on the programme warnings iran could carry out a significant attack on israel. We look at what that could mean in the region