this is bbc news. have patronise a property tycoon has been sentenced to death as one of the biggest frauds in his pupils up there was a mere cycling around commanders. president biden says support for israel is anchored. two former post office managers will give evidence to anchor an inquiry on the decisions which led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of people who ran. it is in the uk. and coming up we have an exclusive look at stunning new discoveries in the ancient city of pompeii. hello, welcome to this hour. in the past two minutes are in vietnam has sentenced a wealthy property developer to death for defrauding a bank of billions of dollars. the 67—year—old was found guilty of

embezzlement, bribing state officials and violating and granting regulations after she used her hidden ownership of the saigon commercial bank to channel a0 $4 commercial bank to channel a0 $a billion of loans to her own companies, it has been described as one of the greatest bank frauds in history. for more on this we can go straight to bangkok and join our south—east asia corresponding jonathan head. first of all, if you could tell is a bit more about what the court said today and the background to this case. the court has been giving — background to this case. the court has been giving enormous - background to this case. the courtl has been giving enormous amounts background to this case. the court - has been giving enormous amounts of detail about this case so it's five weeks. everyone in vietnam knows a lot about it, that is quite unusual there. they have wanted the public to know about this case. it is extraordinary, the amounts of money are absolutely staggering, talking about a significant chunk of vietnam's gdp this woman was able to siphon off over 11 years through these secretly channelled loans that

went through a hole bunch of front companies and proxies to her own companies, the prosecutors believe of that aa billion, perhaps $27 billion may never be recovered. that is a staggering loss and will be very tough for the state bank to make up in terms of saving the bank. the authorities have blamed truong my the authorities have blamed truong my lan and talked about the way in which she was bribing officials and the sophistication of this network. it is part of an ongoing anti—corruption campaign that has been going several years led by the communist authorities who say they are determined to stamp it out, but it raises a lot of questions. i was at this very high—profile woman, she is one of the biggest property owners in vietnam, how was he able to do that for ii owners in vietnam, how was he able to do that for 11 years? officially the authorities say she was paying off this person and hiding this and that but it is extraordinary it went on for ii that but it is extraordinary it went on for 11 years without being stopped and those questions still

hang over whether the vietnamese authorities are capable of reining in this kind of fraud. you authorities are capable of reining in this kind of fraud.— in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial— in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that _ in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that was _ in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that was followed - in this kind of fraud. you say this was a trial that was followed by i in this kind of fraud. you say this. was a trial that was followed by so many people in vietnam and truong my lan is a well—known property developer in the country, but now she faces the death penalty. that itself is she faces the death penalty. twat itself is extraordinary. normally the death penalty is not usually hunted down on women but i think this case was so exceptional in terms of its scale and the damage it has done to the vietnam finances, they probably felt a need to make an example of her. they might also be trying to encourage her to give as much money back as they can get to do. this is something the 80 defendants in court have largely done today. they are more minor but all people accused of conspiring with including a chief inspector at the state bank was bribed $5 million according to prosecutors in order to look the other way. they have all pleaded guilty and offered to bring back as much money as they can. i think the state believes that truong

my think the state believes that truong my lan must have far more assets that you can return to the state to try and make up this massive hole in this bank's finances.— this bank's finances. jonathan head in bangkok. — this bank's finances. jonathan head in bangkok, watching _ this bank's finances. jonathan head in bangkok, watching that - this bank's finances. jonathan head in bangkok, watching that trial- this bank's finances. jonathan head in bangkok, watching that trial and| in bangkok, watching that trial and the verdict, thank you. he has written analysis piece on the website with more background, so check that out. we will take you to a story we have been watching closely on bbc news. now to what's been described as one of the worst miscarriages ofjustice in british legal history, the post office scandal. the inquiry has live pictures here. an inquiry is examining how the faulty it system, known as horizon, led to hundreds of people who ran post offices being wrongly convicted of theft and fraud. today we are hearing from more people in the inquiry. you can see the live feed there is that inquiry continues in central london. we are hearing from two former senior

managers of the post office about decisions they made which may have led for so many people being wrongly prosecuted. though speaking today include david smith whojoined as managing director in 2010 when those problems with the computer system were first coming to light. earlier in the week, one of the scandal�*s victims — alan bates — told the inquiry that the post office had lied about errors in its accounting systems. let's have a quick listen in to that inquiry as it has just begun today. it is to reflect the exact date, i think that would be better. can i ask ou think that would be better. can i ask you please _ think that would be better. can i ask you please to _ think that would be better. can i ask you please to turn _ think that would be better. can i ask you please to turn to - think that would be better. can i ask you please to turn to page 35 of your statement? do you see a signature, — your statement? do you see a signature, is that your signature? it signature, is that your signature? it is _ signature, is that your signature? it is. ,, , . ., signature, is that your signature? itis. ,,, . ., .,, it is. sub'ect to the clarifications ou it is. subject to the clarifications ou have it is. subject to the clarifications you have just — it is. subject to the clarifications you have just made _ it is. subject to the clarifications you have just made the - it is. subject to the clarificationsj you have just made the contents it is. subject to the clarifications i you have just made the contents of the statement true to the best of your knowledge and belief? yes, they are. that statement _ your knowledge and belief? yes, they are. that statement stands _ your knowledge and belief? yes, they are. that statement stands is - are. that statement stands is evidence of— are. that statement stands is evidence of inquiry _ are. that statement stands is evidence of inquiry and - are. that statement stands is evidence of inquiry and i - are. that statement stands is evidence of inquiry and i willl are. that statement stands is i evidence of inquiry and i will ask you some — evidence of inquiry and i will ask you some questions about it other

matters _ you some questions about it other matters. dealing very briefly with your professional background, you qualified _ your professional background, you qualified as a chartered accountant in 1989 _ qualified as a chartered accountant in 1989. , qualified as a chartered accountant in 1989. yes. and youjoined qualified as a chartered accountant in 1989. yes. and you joined royal in 1989. yes. and you “oined royal mail in1989. yes. and you “oined royal mail arou- in 1989. yes. and you “oined royal mail group plch in 1989. jazz and you joined royal mail group plc in august in 1989. 123 and you joined royal mail group plc in august 2002. in 1989. yes. and you joined royal mail group plc in august 2002. . i mail group plc in august 2002. . your mail group plc in august 2002. your prior mail group plc in august 2002. . your prior bird experience before joining _ your prior bird experience before joining royal mail was being finance director_ joining royal mail was being finance director at _ joining royal mail was being finance director at two other companies. excuse _ director at two other companies. excuse me. _ director at two other companies. excuse me, yes. we director at two other companies. excuse me, yes.— director at two other companies. excuse me, yes. we will leave that the are excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for — excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for the _ excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for the moment _ excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for the moment but - excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for the moment but if- excuse me, yes. we will leave that they are for the moment but if you | they are for the moment but if you would like to follow david smith, the former managing director of the post office, he served between april and october 2010, when some of those problems in that computer system first came to light, you can scan the qr code if you are watching in the qr code if you are watching in the uk and that will bring you the live stream which is on the bbc�*s iplayer and if you want to follow that around the world there is plenty of analysis on the live page running on the bbc news website, full and comprehensive coverage of

the ongoing inquiry. president biden has promised israel "iron—clad" united states support amid fears that iran could launch reprisals for an attack that killed senior iranian commanders in damascus. the president warned iran is threatening to launch a "significant attack" after israel struck the iranian consulate in syria ten days ago. mr biden was speaking hours after the iranian supreme leader again said israel would be punished for the strike on its consulate. meanwhile, the hamas political leader says there'll be no change in the group's demands for a permanent ceasefire in gaza, despite the killing of three of his sons in an israeli airstrike. israeli media is reporting that the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu had not been briefed in advance of the attack. this video is believed to show ismail haniyeh receiving the news in qatar, where he lives in exile. israel has confirmed the strike, describing his sons as "hamas military operatives". he's been actively involved in negotiations to broker a ceasefire with israel — demanding a permanent end to the fighting.

we'll assess the implications of the killing of his sons in a moment. first, here's president biden on the threat posed by iran in the region. we also want to address the iranian threat, to launch a significant... they're threatening to launch a significant attack on israel. as i told prime minister netanyahu, our commitment to israel's security against these threats from iran and its proxies is ironclad. we say it again, ironclad. we're going to do all we can to protect israel's security. let's speak to bbc security correspondent frank gardner. it is always good to talk to you on the bbc news channel. let me ask you about what we heard from president biden. in your assessment what does ironclad mean and what does it look like in terms of possible action? you have to divide up, there are two

different aspects to the us and israel relationship. there is us growing disapproval of israel's actions in the gaza strip and its failure to protect civilian lives. there is quite a lot of bad blood between president biden and prime minister netanyahu over that. they have had some pretty tense words but when it comes to israel's security against external threats from iran, it is exactly has he says, ironclad. in practice that means the part of the us department of defence deals with the middle east will put at around's disposal much of its assets in the region. air defence, warships, etc. iran will have spent the last ten days regulating how it will respond to the attack on its consulate in damascus. i say consulate in damascus. i say consulate but it was basically a military base next to the iranian

embassy in damascus on april the 1st that killed 13 people including a number of senior iranian revolutionary guard commanders. iran feels it has to respond to that otherwise it looks weak in the region but it has a calibrated very carefully. it does not want to get into full—scale war with israel. if it fires for example ballistic missiles from iranian soil at israel, probably israel will be able to shoot them down and the us may help it on that but israel has made it very clear it will respond with direct attacks on iran and then bang, you have got a full—scale middle east war. iran has a lot of ballistic missiles so the gulf arab states are extremely nervous about this. saudi arabia, qatar, uae and iraq have all passed messages to iran saying please don't retaliate in a big way. clearly you need to be seen to do something but don't go

and antagonise the beast as they would put it. that is really what is going on behind—the—scenes. there is no direct information to say iran is just about to launch something but clearly the us will have intercepted come some kind of messages and i think there is probably a bit of internal dialogue going on between those who say we must show force, we have to really punish israel for this, by the way israel has never claimed responsibility for the attack on april the 1st on the iranian consulate in damascus but everyone assumes it is. on the other hand the hawks are saying we need to exercise strategic patience and do our retaliation at the time of our choosing. our retaliation at the time of our choosina. ~ . ~ our retaliation at the time of our choosina. ~ ., ~ ., choosing. when we talk about the chan . in: choosing. when we talk about the changing nature _ choosing. when we talk about the changing nature of— choosing. when we talk about the changing nature of warfare - choosing. when we talk about the changing nature of warfare there l choosing. when we talk about the i changing nature of warfare there has been some speculation that some sort of iranian response could come in the form of a cyber attack. but of iranian response could come in the form of a cyber attack.- the form of a cyber attack. but is alwa s the form of a cyber attack. but is always possible. _ the form of a cyber attack. but is always possible. iran _ the form of a cyber attack. but is always possible. iran has - the form of a cyber attack. but is always possible. iran has a i the form of a cyber attack. but is always possible. iran has a very i always possible. iran has a very highly developed cyber capability. some years ago there was a very

successful sabotage attack on its nuclear process. a lot of states in the region suspect iran is secretly trying to at least get to the stage where it could build a nuclear bomb. iran denies this. but there was a virus essentially inserted into a round's system. iran retaliated with its own cyber attack that crippled temporarily saudi arabia's oil company, crippled their computers. it has got ability. jeremy bowen our international editor was told by one expert but that is a likely way iran could respond. iran tends not to do the obvious. some years ago, four years ago, when qasem suleimani was

assassinated on president trump's orders injanuary assassinated on president trump's orders in january 2020, assassinated on president trump's orders injanuary 2020, iran vowed a huge response but in the end it was a calibrated response. it hit a us base in iraq but it gave a warning in advance to the us that it was going to do this, so no personnel were killed. iran i think will want to calibrate this very carefully, that it doesn't get drawn into a full—scale war which it would probably lose but it will be devastating for the region. iran has a very large extensive ballistic missile first. if such a war was to cross the gulf and extent and draw in the arab gulf states, most of whom if not all of them host us bases you would be looking at hits on desalination plants, petrochemical refining facilities, this is not what anybody in the region once. i this is not what anybody in the region once-—

region once. i want to ask you before we _ region once. i want to ask you before we were _ region once. i want to ask you before we were to _ region once. i want to ask you before we were to go - region once. i want to ask you before we were to go about i region once. i want to ask you | before we were to go about the killing of its mile hannah yea, and of his three sons and what the fallout might be. he of his three sons and what the fallout might be.— fallout might be. he was extraordinarily _ fallout might be. he was extraordinarily calm i fallout might be. he was extraordinarily calm to i fallout might be. he was - extraordinarily calm to somebody fallout might be. he was _ extraordinarily calm to somebody who has just been told of that hit. ismail haniyeh said the blood of my sons and grandchildren is no more valuable than that of other palestinians who have been hit and it will not derail the peace talks, ceasefire talks which seem to be going nowhere. the fundamental problem is that hamas's demands and israel's demands are still too far apart so i don't think that hit however tragic it is for his and his family and however calibrated it was by israel, it won't affect things i don't think. figs by israel, it won't affect things i don't think-— by israel, it won't affect things i don't think. . , . , , don't think. as always your insights are invaluable _ don't think. as always your insights are invaluable and _ don't think. as always your insights are invaluable and thank— don't think. as always your insights are invaluable and thank you i don't think. as always your insights are invaluable and thank you for i are invaluable and thank you for joining us. around the world and across the uk.

this is bbc news.

china is accused of flooding britain with counterfeit stamps. there are calls for royal mail to investigate after customers — who received letters with the fake stamps on them — were then given a fine. a senior conservative mp has told the bbc he's certain the counterfeits are coming from china. ben boulos has been investigating. have a look at this. can you tell the difference between these two stamps? in this case, the one on the left was fake, the one on the right is, the one on the right isn't a fake, it is genuine, but even a senior boss of royal mail admitted it is difficult to spot a fake. barcoded stamps were introduced in 2022 to cut down on the sale of fakes, but recently people around the uk have been getting caught out and being charged £5 to collect their post because the stamp on the envelope isn't actually valid. there are now claims that china

is behind the counterfeits, with reports people are unknowingly buying defects from chinese firms through various online marketplaces. the senior tory mp iain duncan smith has told breakfast this morning he believes that china is behind it and one national security think tank added, "we don't know the extent to which the chinese government is involved but we do know that chinese firms are," and questioned why the chinese communist party would be allowing it to happen. speaking to bbc watchdog last night royal mail's david gold said the chance of getting a counterfeit stamp is still low. people should understand that the overwhelming majority of stamps on sale are legitimate. in fact since we introduced bar—coded stamps, which means that every stamp is unique, we have cut the number of counterfeit stamps coming through the network by 90%. and that means the number of stamps

that we are spotting account for less than 0.1% of the total stamps going to the network. even so watchdog spoke to people who ended up with counterfeit stamps, despite buying them at the post office counter in their local convenience shops. there are things to look out for which could show that a stamp is fake. if you look carefully, strange perforations around the edge, a shine to the surface, or the colour looking slightly off. now to the war in ukraine and i have been several loud explosions in kharkiv in the east of the country. the mayor says it has come under missile attack. more blackouts for households and businesses have been asked. russia is targeting ukraine energy system. nbn at the emergency watchdog will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss group during attacks on the russian occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

the criminal claims the strikes were carried out by ukraine. kyiv has denied resource ability and blames moscow. the iaea has not iterated blame but the director—general said the attacks were reckless and must stop. with more on that story we can hear prompts raynsford our european correspondent. russia is deliberately and systematically targeting the ukraine energy system and this was another massive attack was not in the early hours of morning more than 80 missiles and drones targeted sites right across the country. almost a third made it three ukraine air defences. in the north—east kharkiv�*s power plant suffered major damage in late march and the region has been hard hit again. we mayor there describes a situation as very difficult announcing even more blackouts for households and businesses. the metro has stopped running to save power. it is operating now only as a shelter from it is operating now only as a shelterfrom incoming missiles.

president zelensky has condemned what he called a heinous attack and has called once again for more air defence systems from western allies. the russian strikes are now far more accurate and more devastating and ukraine are struggling to cope. in the west of the country at least two more thermal power plants suffered significant damage overnight facing even more rain on electricity supply nationwide. the d tech power company was already down to 20% capacity after repeated attacks. the situation now is even worse. for more on this we can speak to vitaly shevchenko. we have heard from president zelensky this morning as well. it president zelensky this morning as well. . . �* . president zelensky this morning as well. . , �* ., ., ., president zelensky this morning as well. �* ., ., well. it wasn't a good morning in ukraine, well. it wasn't a good morning in ukraine. yet _ well. it wasn't a good morning in ukraine, yet again, _ well. it wasn't a good morning in ukraine, yet again, it _ well. it wasn't a good morning in ukraine, yet again, it came i well. it wasn't a good morning in | ukraine, yet again, it came under well. it wasn't a good morning in i ukraine, yet again, it came under a massive wave of russian missile strikes. according to the ukrainian president, a0 missiles were launched

at ukraine overnight. russia managed to completely destroy one of the biggest power plants in ukraine located outside of kyiv, the main supplier of electricity to three regions in central ukraine including the ukrainian capital. in kharkiv 200,000 people were left without electricity after ten missiles were launched at kharkiv which is ukraine's second—largest city. this is pretty big pretty bad. other cities came under attack as well ranging from zaporizhzhia in the south—east to lviv in the very west of the country. the kenyan president has repeated increasingly more desperate appeals for more air defences, he is saying —— the ukrainian president. but if ukraine

doesn't get more air defence systems this would amount for a licence to russia to carry out terror. bill this would amount for a licence to russia to carry out terror.- russia to carry out terror. all this comes as nbn — russia to carry out terror. all this comes as nbn at _ russia to carry out terror. all this comes as nbn at the _ russia to carry out terror. all this comes as nbn at the un's - russia to carry out terror. all this | comes as nbn at the un's nuclear watchdog is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the attacks on zaporizhzhia at the weekend. the zaporizhzhia at the weekend. t'u2 zaporizhzhia at the weekend. t'u2 zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is europe's biggest six reactors. they are currently idling because the power station is quite literally on the front line. it has been coming under attack for the past two years. it is not exactly clear who is carrying out these attacks, there are conflicting names and counterclaims. it doesn't appear as though a major nuclear accident is imminent, because it is reasonably robust. it was designed to withstand all sorts of attacks. but nonetheless the situation is very threatening. russian forces are

using it to shelter its troops and ammunition and personnel carriers, so it is definitely an object of much interest to both militaries and clearly this is an alarming situation.— clearly this is an alarming situation. ., ,, ., , , situation. thank you for bringing us up-to-date — situation. thank you for bringing us up-to-date on _ situation. thank you for bringing us up-to-date on developments. i next to pompeii — the southern italian city famously buried in an eruption from mount vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago. stunning artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation of a previously undiscovered part of the ancient site. our science editor rebecca morelle is in pompeii with more on the remarkable new finds. i am standing in the black room. it is a new room that has only been revealed this morning after lying hidden for 2000 years. it is absolutely extraordinary. to give us a little look around i am joined by dr sophie hay,

an archaeologist at pompeii. it is a wonderful room, and big. such a privilege to be standing in it and feeling that sense of space because the walls are towering above us. you get a really lovely impression of how this room would have built. the artworks here are absolutely beautiful, so you have these big, high, black walls and then these quite small intricate paintings. here we have apollo with his lyre and he is consulting with his priestess cassandra and they seem quite small in the wall but we have to imagine this is a winter dining room so the light would have been very low, room lit by oil lamps. i think the flickering of the oil lamps would have animated these as if they are dancing a little bit. they would be much more visible than we are seeing them now. sort of shimmering. the oil lamps are a reason why this room is painted black

because there is so much colour here in pompeii but there is a good reason. the romans think of everything. they know soot comes off these oil lamps and because they are burning so many in winter they paint their walls black in order to catch the soot so you don't see it. pre—empted it. in contrast to these beautiful black walls you have this floor here. this gorgeous white mosaic floor. you have lots of pattern floors here but this is plain. it is but there is a good functional reason, any light there is will reflect off it and this mosaic floor is all white, i think 3 million tessera, but it will reflect up the light so it has a good functional use. i willjust head over here and see another artwork. this is so pretty but i think my favourite thing is the dog, the expression.

he looks a bit grumpy but i love the fact that he has kind of broken through the fourth wall and he is staring out at you. he captures your gaze. i think for us as well it draws us into the painting and gives us a really good connection with the artwork. and for viewers in the uk, you can see pompeii: the new dig on monday 15 april at 9pm on bbc two and also on the bbc iplayer. 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 o'connor and mike faist, also produced it — something she says she relished. that is out for this half hour. plenty more on other news on the website. you can also watch the post office inquiry, streaming the iplayer. say what is the cmb was in use.

hello again. it's been a fairly cloudy start to the day, but the cloud breaking up for most of us away from the english channel and irish sea coasts, where we'll hang onto some murky conditions through the day. but for most, it's going to feel warm, and we're looking at spells of hazy sunshine. but if you have an allergy to tree pollen, particularly birch, maybe a bit of plane as well as some ash, these are the pollen levels today, moderate to high across most of the country. now, we've had a weather front which has pushed southwards through the morning, but what it's going to do is start to retreat northward. so it's going to bring some patchy rain back through the south—west and also wales. but for most of us it's dry. it's going to be sunny, albeit hazy at times. one of two showers, western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, the pennines. but temperatures today potentially up to 20 degrees — somewhere in eastern england is most likely for that. so as we head through the evening and overnight, our weatherfront pushing northwards will bring some heavy rain across northern ireland and central southern scotland,

where of course the ground is already saturated. it's going to be a mild night, temperatures eight to about 12 degrees quite widely. so it's a mild start to the day for friday. and on friday, what you'll find is it will be a fairly cloudy start across england and wales. most of that cloud breaking up and it will develop into a warm day. but around the coasts once again we'll hang onto murky conditions, whereas for northern ireland and scotland it's going to be cloudy for you with rain at times and gales developing across the northern and the western isles. temperatures 11 in the north to potentially 21 in the south. and as we head into saturday, once again, we'll start off on a cloudy note across england and wales. that will break up. we'll see some sunshine, but some heavier rain moving in across scotland and also northern ireland. a blustery day, too, with temperatures still on the high side, 20 in london, but starting to cool down in the north. and you can see that illustrated

here as we go into the weekend and the early part of next week, as the yellows and ambers are pushed away by the blues, indicating that the temperatures are on the slide. so the outlook from sunday to thursday remains changeable. it will be windy at times. there will be some rain at times, some showers, wintry in the mountains in scotland. but there'll be some sunshine too.

this is bbc news. the headlines... a vietnamese property tycoon has been sentenced to death after one of the biggest fraud trials in history. two former post office managers will give evidence to an inquiry, on the decisions which led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of people who run post offices in the uk. fake stamps circulating in the uk originate from china, a senior minister of parliament has told the bbc. and coming up, we have an exclusive look at stunning new discoveries in the ancient city of pompeii. (pres) now to what's been described as one of the worst miscarriages ofjustice in british legal history — the post office scandal. today, we'll hear

from two former senior managers of the post office about decisions