president zelensky says ukraine is in critical need of more air defences, after a barage of russian missles left more than 200,000 people without power. president biden says us defence commitments to the philippines and japan are ironclad, as he hosts the leaders of its two pacific allies at the white house. and coming up on business, we'll bring you the latest from the bafta games awards where baldur�*s gate iii swept the board with five wins, including best game. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the american football star oj simpson,

who was cleared of murdering his ex—wife and her friend in 1994, has died. he was 76 and had cancer. he became one of the most notorious figures in recent american history when his televised murder trial gripped the nation and the world. the acquittal came after a slow speed car chase by police when oj simpson fled on the day he was due to turn himself in. both the car chase and the murder trial were watched by tens of millions around the world at a time when rolling news was in its infancy. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy reports. this is one of those scenes that would only happen, honestly, here in southern california. tonight, oj simpson is a fugitive. watched by millions, oj simpson famously led police on a car chase through los angeles, after becoming the main suspect in the murder of his ex—wife and her friend. around the world, viewers watched the unfolding drama as people came onto the street cheering him on.

couldn't actually see oj, but we saw a guy driving past. that's oj, though. police attempted to apprehend him live on tv. he was eventually taken into custody at his california home. he was clearly the best running back of the �*70s. oj simpson had had a remarkable life. from an impoverished childhood, he had gone on to become one of the greatest american football players in history, setting records in the sport still unbroken today. ship? boat? that's right, a boat. his celebrity status didn't end on the football field. he later became a hollywood actor. drugs. hey, nurse, quick, give this man some drugs, quick. but oj simpson will be forever remembered for this nine—month televised trial, for the double murder that transfixed america. he was accused of killing his former wife and a friend in a jealous rage. nicole brown simpson had been murdered in a brutal knife attack outside her home

in a fashionable los angeles neighbourhood. gavel bangs known as the trial of the century, people tuned in from all over the world. at one point, oj simpson was shown struggling to try on a pair of gloves found at the crime scene, leading to his attorney's famous line. if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, orenthal james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder... the jury took just three hours to deliver their verdict. the oj simpson trial sparked deep public emotion in america, seen by some as a case of a white police force trying to frame the star, he was acquitted by a mainly black jury. but to this day, many people believe he simply got away with domestic violence and murder. oj simpson later did go to jail, having been charged with armed robbery after a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in las vegas. he was released in 2017 after nine years behind bars. in a seemingly twisted take

on reality, he published a book called if i did it: confessions of the killer. hey, let me take a moment to say thank you to all the people who reached out to me. seen little in public life in recent years, he'll be remembered for his rags—to—riches story and fall from grace, which left the unresolved question in popular culture ever since about whether justice was ever truly served. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. let's speak to jeanne wolf, a hollywood journalist who covered what has been called the trial of a century�* — shejoins us from los angeles. good morning, or rather good evening for yourself. you covered the trial abscess saturday. i covered the trial abscess saturday-— covered the trial abscess saturda . . ., saturday. i the trial and most --eole, saturday. i the trial and most

peeple. it _ saturday. i the trial and most peeple. it was _ saturday. i the trial and most people, it was just _ saturday. i the trial and most people, it was just must - saturday. i the trial and most l people, it was just must watch. people here and across the country and across the world watched every second of it. grocery store, dining — restaurants, people were talking about the oj trial, what they thought and what would happen.— what they thought and what would happen. what did you think of the _ would happen. what did you think of the trial? _ would happen. what did you think of the trial? when - would happen. what did you think of the trial? when you | think of the trial? when you came away from it, now, or rather... came away from it, now, or rather- - -_ rather... now, ithink that, number— rather... now, ithink that, number one, _ rather... now, ithink that, number one, his _ rather... now, ithink that, number one, his attorneys| rather... now, i think that, - number one, his attorneys were brilliant, maybe not always fair, but brilliant in how they treated him and i think that no—one expected the revelation of the sharp, sharp dividing line between black and white in los angeles. they thought "we are at the south, we don't treat blacks that way" but that is inherited up. the blacks cheered him on and wanted him to be acquitted whether he did

it or not. , ., ., ., it or not. there is a lot of talk about _ it or not. there is a lot of talk about that. - it or not. there is a lot of talk about that. it - it or not. there is a lot of talk about that. it was i it or not. there is a lot of- talk about that. it was almost like payback for the pain that the black community had suffered. he was a divisive character, though, wasn't he? he was very divisive at the end but during his football career, he was a hero, he was a superstar. people loved to watch him. they cheered for him. they were amazed by his sportsmanship and his ability and his — how he surpassed everything that had been expected of him. and then it is a very sad story for him to achieve what he really wanted, which was to be known, wanted to be loved, he wanted to be accepted. the thing that bothered him the most was any sort of smudge on his image and for him to have achieved that and then come to this sorry and was very tragic, a very sad story. was very tragic, a very sad sto . ~ , ., _ was very tragic, a very sad sto .~ t, story. when you say that was what he was _

story. when you say that was what he was hoping - story. when you say that was what he was hoping to - story. when you say that was l what he was hoping to achieve, at one point even cut himself away or cut himself off from the black community, saying he wasn't like, but simpson. his careerwent wasn't like, but simpson. his career went downhill so quickly. he spent time in prison, but not for the murders of nicole brown and goldman. == of nicole brown and goldman. -- wasn't of nicole brown and goldman. » wasn't black, he was oj simpson. nobody was good to hurry him after accusations. he spent time in an armed robbery in a nonsense thing that he did entering a hotel room where he said he wanted to retrieve memorabilia of his and then he was charged and went to prison and if you look at the present footage of his parole hearings, you hear him say he was cleaning the gym and then he was training other sports people. it was very, very sad. but till the end he was

charming, handsome, persuasive, and people remembered the heroic side of him from the rental car commercials where he was running through the airport and an old lady was saying "go oj!" at a lot of people were still go up oj. a lot of people today still say how sad it is and a of people out announce a good —— out and out say "good riddance." good -- out and out say "good riddance-'_ riddance." jeanne wolf, thank ou. ukraine's president has warned that the country is fast running out of air defences and artillery to fend off russian attacks. volodmyr zelensky warned that if us congress continues to hold up a multi billion dollar military aid package then ukraine will lose its war against russia. on thursday power plants were attacked in a russian bombardment with hundreds of thousands of people being left without power. our eastern europe correspondent, sarah rainsford, sent this update.

what we're seeing here now is clearly a sustained and deliberate assault by russia on ukraine's energy system and it started back in march, two massive attacks on this country with drones and but here in kharkiv, it destroyed all the power stations, essentially, leaving the city without power for some time. they worked to restore it, but there are rolling blackouts here, a real limit on the amount of electricity available. customers are urged to avoid using too much. there are generators everywhere you go on the streets. on thursday morning, in the early hours, we got this next huge attack, dozens of drones and missiles fired by russia that overwhelmed ukraine's air defences. in care of, a major power plant has been completely destroyed. i spoke to the boss of the company that ran the blade and he said they can repair it if they get the spare

parts from allies in the west, that in theory they could rebuild the powerstation and get it up and running again, but he asked me what the point would be if they come protected. and that is the problem. if there are new russian attacks, which looks like it will happen, in ukraine they are extremely stressed and it is very difficult to predict these these — these power plants. that is what we have heard from president zelensky, a plea to the west to help ukraine with its air defences. a sense of frustration about lots of promises being made but limited aid coming through, specifically in terms of our defences. i think that is important because it is quite clear russia is continuing these attacks and they aren't only becoming more intense, the attacks, but more accurate. and that means for ukraine they are more devastating. and that was sarah rainsford there. let's speak to victoria vdovychenko, programme director

for security studies at the ukraine centre for defence strategies. hello and welcome to the programme.— strategies. hello and welcome to the programme. good morning. this sounds _ to the programme. good morning. this sounds as _ to the programme. good morning. this sounds as if _ to the programme. good morning. this sounds as if it _ to the programme. good morning. this sounds as if it was _ to the programme. good morning. this sounds as if it was a _ this sounds as if it was a pretty significant strike by the russians. how much damage are they doing to ukraine's infrastructure, and what do you make of that strategy? absolutely it was one of the biggest strakes with 80 missiles and drones attacks that get out and destroyed a powerstation, as your journalist was referring to, and speaking about the kyiv region, and not only kharkiv but also kyiv region and kyiv in particular is under threat attack. and therefore both the president volodymyr zelensky, the minister for foreign affairs, the ministerfor foreign affairs, are asking and literally saying that these power stations would be attacked if ukraine had a lot of — or another of air defence systems, in particular now, of

course, with spare parts going to the powerstation, that isn't still enough, because when you aren't protected, you can't even with the spare parts to be efficient if that make efficient if that make efficient enough, and this is one of the biggest power stations in the kyiv region in particular. it supports kyiv and many other cities. victoria, i wanted to talk about russia's strategy at the moment and what it is doing to ukraine. russia likely to take advantage of this vulnerability, isn't it, the lack of aid?— vulnerability, isn't it, the lack of aid? putin has said that in such _ lack of aid? putin has said that in such a _ lack of aid? putin has said that in such a way - lack of aid? putin has said that in such a way this - lack of aid? putin has said i that in such a way this strikes on ukraine, on the civilian infrastructure, not only critical infrastructure, it is something that he said deem

militarisation is happening. it is one of the most cryptic moments for our country. the cities are under constant attacks. people are emotional and don't have enough effort to renew not only their buildings but also think about the future of the country, in particular. so the tactic or actually both the strategy to make the fear out of these civilians is something that the russian federation is trying to do with ukrainian civilians. hat federation is trying to do with ukrainian civilians.— ukrainian civilians. not only is there fair _ ukrainian civilians. not only is there fair in _ ukrainian civilians. not only is there fair in ukraine, - ukrainian civilians. not only is there fair in ukraine, but| is there fair in ukraine, but also fatigue, isn't there? the age of conscription, signing up, has been lowered, by president zelensky. that's ri . ht. president zelensky. that's right- how _ president zelensky. that's right. how has _ president zelensky. that's right. how has that - president zelensky. that's right. how has that been l right. how has that been received? _ right. how has that been received? will _ right. how has that been received? will it - right. how has that been received? will it work? | right. how has that been received? will it work? i| received? will it work? i wouldn't say it is fatigue, don't get me wrong, mostly in

the western media we hear this word, we don't hear it much in ukraine. but i understand what you mean. yesterday, indeed, in the second reading in the parliament, approved the law of conscription, or mobilisation, how we called it, and so starting from the age of 25 that now the people in ukraine can be conscripted, till 60. it also provoked a lot of a wave of not understanding, because not only in the uk but in ukraine, every law that is being passed should be communicated properly to the nation and one of the most sensitive moments, but it is still waiting to have the bylaws being passed, or another law, in particular, on demobilisation, so what it means is when the person is mobilised, it makes sure that when it wants to get out of the army for rehabilitation, for example, it has such a right and the legal effect of it is

binding. so this is the most sensitive moment in the passing of this law of conscription in particular, yesterday. therefore you heard a lot of talk in ukrainian media in particular that the law provides a lot of wave of dissatisfaction to some extent, which is absently understandable, because in every country, when there is — when attacks are happening and there is a war, the law on prescription can be perceived positively enough. fik. prescription can be perceived positively enough. 0k. victoria vdovychenko, _ positively enough. 0k. victoria vdovychenko, programme - positively enough. 0k. victoria - vdovychenko, programme director at the centre for security studies. thank you very much indeed. —— victoria vdovychenko, program director for security studies at the ukraine centre for defence strategies.

president biden has said us defence commitments to the philippines and japan are ironclad as he hosted the leaders of its two pacific allies at a summit in the white house. mr biden said washington was ready to defend manila from any attack in the south china sea. he'd been holding talks with japan's prime minister, fumio kishida, and the philippine president, ferdinand marcos junior. this trilateral summit is designed to strengthen ties and ensure security and prosperity. when we stand as one, we're able to forge a better future role, and that's what this new trilat is all about in my view — building a betterfuture for people across the indo—pacific and, quite frankly, beyond, around the world. so thank you both for being here and i look forward to this first summit an many more in the years ahead. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the us secretary of state has called on his counterparts in countries from europe to china to help dissuade iran from launching a retaliatory strike against

israel. antony blinken has asked them to make it clear to tehran that an escalation of the conflict in gaza is in no one's interest. fears are growing that iran could strike, —— from jerusalem, here's lucy williamson. the target was precise — a carefully calibrated strike. but the fallout from this attack may be much harder to control. iran's supreme leader has said israel must be punished for the strike on its damascus consulate that killed a top military general and six other people. israel has promised direct retaliation for any attack on its soil. it's worried enough to cancel leave for all combat units and call up its air force reserves. translation: we have - established a simple principle. whoever harms us, we will harm them. we are prepared to meet all the security needs of the state of israel, both defensively and offensively. a warning for iran that's also

being heard at home. we're always aware about something in the corner that maybe would come and surprise us, like in october. we've prepared a shelter, we've put some water inside and a transistor and a tv, so we can see what's the condition outside, what's happening. and we wish everything would be ok. israel has been fighting iran—backed groups like hezbollah for years, but a direct confrontation with tehran could bring the conflict right into the centre of israel. leaders both here and in the united states are watching to see what iran does next — and what iran does next will determine whether this becomes a much bigger war. neither side is seen as wanting all—out war right now, but the stakes of any miscalculation are high. when israel will be attacked, if it is attacked by iran, and depending on where that attack comes from and how

and what the target is, that will dictate for israel how it responds and retaliates, so a miscalculation, even when both sides want to keep this contained, can very quickly and easily lead to a larger and wider regional war. tonight, iran's foreign minister said his country did not seek to expand the conflict, but that, without international condemnation of the attack on its consulate, it was necessary to contain israel's aggression. israel, fighting on two of its borders and under attack from groups in syria, yemen and iraq, faces a dangerous moment in what is already a regional war. lucy williamson, bbc news, tel aviv. at the ongoing post office inquiry, the former managing director, david smith, has apologised for an email he sent, saying a pregnant sub—postmistress's prison sentence was brilliant news. seema misra, was jailed for 15

months in november 2010 — the conviction was quashed 11 years later in 2021. our business editor simonjack reports. david smith only ran the post office from april to october in 2010, but he was in charge when seema misra was convicted of false accounting and sent to prison based on records from the post office's horizon computer system. at the time, this is the e—mail he sent to post office lawyers. today, he had this to say. looking at it through their eyes rather than through mine, you can see that it may have caused substantial... ..upset, and i really do apologise for that. seema was a mother and pregnant when jailed. she didn't accept today's apology. they need to apologise to my ten—year—old. you know, they took his mum away on his birthday. i was eight weeks pregnant. so, you know, they need to apologise to my younger son.

it's terrible. i haven't accepted the apologies. you had to go to jail. should other people responsible for the scandal have to go to jail? post office, royal mail, each and every single person responsible for the scandal, you need to put them behind the bars. i was sent to prison without any facts and evidence. now we have a whole list of people with lots of evidence. what are we waiting for? david smith insists his brilliant news e—mail was because it was evidence that horizon was not the problem, but lawyers for the postmasters say it was evidence that there was a circular and cynical logic that court convictions prove that horizon could be trusted even when they knew it could not. you were deliberately closing your eyes to problems with the integrity of horizon data, weren't you? no. and you were encouraging your staff to pursue a trial as another method of shoring up a problem system which you knew had serious question marks over it.

mr smith, what do you say to the misra family? - david smith exited the stage today. up tomorrow, adam crozier, former chairman of the royal mail, which owned the post office at the time of the scandal. simonjack, bbc news, at the post office inquiry. let's return to our top story now and the death of oj simpson. the former sports star was a divisive figure, but by the end of the last century, he was also one of the most famous american faces in the world. john sudworth reports. oj simpson once personified the american dream — a black sporting star from the humblest of routes at the pinnacle of wealth and celebrity. but as that car chase came to an end, his arrest and trial held up a mirror to a different reality. i see no weapons drawn by the lapd. a country in which racial divisions and deep—rooted police discrimination were never far from the surface. the crowd is cheering. there he is.

it took place in the shadow of the rodney king case, the acquittal of four white los angeles police officers for the beating of a black man. questions of racism in that same police force became a highly effective part of oj simpson's defence. almost three decades later, reacting to news of his death, one of his lawyers are still questions the fairness of his eventual sentencing for robbery. the sentence that he received in that case was a payback for the acquittal that we obtained in los angeles. popular dramas have kept the story alive for a whole new generation of viewers, highlighting not only the issue of race, but of domestic violence, too. the star continued to receive lucrative media contracts despite the allegations and a conviction for the assault of his wife in the years before her murder. but perhaps the biggest legacy of the simpson trial is on the justice system itself,

ushering in the era of the television trial. because it was televised, it became a national obsession. everybody watched it. i mean, i meta guy in hawaii who told me he changed his whole work schedule so he could get up in the middle of the night hawaii time to watch the show. the boundary between entertainment and the law was blurring, and it could be exploited by those with access to the highest paid lawyers, sometimes regardless of the evidence. john sudworth, bbc news, new york. and you can read more on that story via the bbc news website. i will be back with you in a moment with all the top business news. you are listening — or rather watching - bbc listening — or rather watching — bbc news. hello there.

we still had the same southwesterly breeze on thursday but more sunshine led to a warmer day. the highest temperature in the sunshine was measured in norfolk with temperatures reaching 20 degrees. in northern ireland whilst it did cloud over later on and we got some rain as well, temperatures here reached 18 celsius — the warmest it's been in northern ireland so far this year. now, this is the temperature anomaly map. the red colour�*s showing that it's warmer than average across the whole of the uk. we'll get similar temperatures again on friday but then, over the weekend, it gets cooler from the northwest. that cooler weather arrives in the southeast by sunday. now, heading into early friday, we've got some sunshine to begin with in scotland. we've got these showery bursts of rain coming back into northern ireland, into cumbria and showers pushing into scotland. for england and wales, though, the cloud should be breaking up. we'll get more sunshine more widely, although some western coasts could stay a bit grey and cloudy. but in the sunshine, it's going to feel warm — temperatures in the southeast and east anglia reaching 20 or 21 degrees and again, in the north—east of scotland,

18 degrees, where we're missing those showers. but the weather starts to change into the weekend because we've got a few weather fronts coming down from the northwest, bringing more cloud, some rain and some cooler air, too. first weather front here is bringing this cloud and patchy rain across northern england and wales, pushing into the midlands and south west england later. and then, following on behind, a lot of showers for scotland and northern ireland, some of them heavy and thundery with some hail. the last of the warmth and some sunshine still across east anglia in the southeast — temperatures 20 degrees here — but elsewhere, those temperatures are going to be several degrees lower on saturday. now, we're replacing that warmer southwesterly wind with something much cooler — a westerly wind which will bring in more showers on sunday — and we'll see showers, particularly in scotland and northern ireland and just for a while, there could be a bit of winteriness over the mountaintops. there'll be a few showers coming in over the irish sea to north west england and north wales but further south and east, it may well be dry but it's certainly going to be cooler — we've got temperatures back down to 15 degrees, which is near normal

for this time of the year, but struggling to 10 or 11 across much of scotland and northern ireland. and here, we're going to find a lot of showers overnight and into monday. low pressure moving down across the uk. that's going to bring a stronger northwesterly wind and make it feel chilly on monday. but after that, the weather should improvejust a little with fewer showers and it won't be quite as windy.

recovering from recession. gdp figures could confirm the uk economy continued growing in february, but only just. also coming up, the tepid twenties. the world risks a decade of weak economic growth, says the head of the imf. but she warns central bankers not to be pressured into cutting the cost of borrowing too early. where necessary, policymakers must resist coles for premature rate cuts. plus, monster success. baldur�*s gate 3 sweeps the board at the industry baftas, with five wins including best game. but the industry faces its toughest level yet. and, backing the right horse. as the runners and riders gear up for the uk's most famous race meeting, we take a look at the muti—million pound finances of the grand national.