russian missiles and drones hit ukraine's energy supply — we have a report from one of the affected cities. as iran vows to punish israel for an air strike killing its commanders — president biden says us support for israel is "iron—clad". a vietnamese property tycoon has been sentenced to death, after one of the biggest corruption trials in history. and we have an exclusive look at stunning new discoveries in the ancient italian city of pompeii. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. russia has launched a series of raids on ukraine's energy system, firing more than 80 missiles and drones across the country. almost a third made it through ukraine's air defences.

this is some of the latest video that's come into the newsroom — showing a major coal power plant near kyiv after it was hit by russian air and drone attacks. in the north east, kharkiv�*s power plants suffered major damage in late march — and the region has now been hard hit again. the mayor has announced yet more blackouts for households and businesses. in western ukraine, at least two thermal power plants suffered "significant damage" overnight — placing even more strain on the electricity supply nationwide. and in the southern city of mykolaiv, four civilians have been killed in a russian attack involving ballistic missiles. our eastern europe correspondent rainsford is in kharkiv. in kharkiv, another air raid and they have been happening pretty much every day now. there's just been another air raid, the sound of more explosions in the city, which is when metro stations like this one become a shelter and people head underground not to get a train,

but to make sure they're safe from the missiles. we don't know what was targeted but overnight in ukraine, there was a massive attack by russia on the energy infrastructure, right across the country, from west to hear in the country, from west to hear in the north—east, and here in kharkiv they destroyed a substation, and another powerpoint, and the city is struggling. the metro is up and running but people are facing blackouts and problems with their electricity supplies and shops and production is also affected. life is kind of normal between the air raids, and it is a sunny day here, a lot of people around and about, but across ukraine at these attacks are becoming very serious and the energy infrastructure is under sustained attack by russia and just overnight in kyiv, the kyiv region, an entire power plant was destroyed. the boss

there said 100% of their electricity generation has been wiped out and they need spare parts from western allies but what they really need in ukraine is a defence protection because without that, he said, we can do the impossible and rebuild but we cannot protect these energy power plants and therefore russia will attack again and ukraine will be left without power. ukraine's parliament has approved an army mobilisation bill to boost troop numbers in the fight against russia. 283 deputies of the aso—member parliament voted for the bill, which toughens punishments for draft dodgers. the law is also designed to boost army recruitment but has caused some anger in a nation exhausted by more than two years of war. it comes a day after a clause, allowing long—serving soldiers to return home from the front, was scrapped. now to the middle east — and the growing fears of iranian reprisals for the killing of senior iranian commanders in the syrian capital damascus. iran's supreme leader has vowed that israel will be punished

for the attack, which he said was a strike on iran itself. bbc verify has found evidence the iranian authorities have given notice to pilots to avoid the tehran area — as rocket launches could be taking place — between the 10th and the 12th of april. it's 5 also possible an attack on israel could come via iran's proxy — hezbollah — which has forces in lebanon. president biden has pledged "iron—clad" support for israel over iran — even as he criticises its policy in gaza. in the past couple of hours, uk prime minister rishi sunak has commented on iran's threats. here's what he's said... the threats from iran are unacceptable and we, like the americans, fully support israel's right to defend itself against that. we've already highlighted iran as a significant risk to regional security, and we've always said that we'll support israel's ability to defend itself. and we've taken action ourselves to make sure that we can protect

the uk against threats that emanate from iran. top us commander has arrived in israel to meet senior officials according to reports. today, israels prime minister benjamin netanyahu has repeated that the country will respond if attacked. from jerusalem, our middle east correspondent hugo bachega reports. this was the attack last week that escalated tensions in the middle east even further. a strike that killed several iranian military advisers, and iran blames israel and says the attack was equivalent to a strike on its own territory. it has vowed to respond. the iranian supreme leader have this statement to make... israel must be

punished, and it will be punished, he said. in israel, the army is on high alert, and the promise of a significant response, or even an attack on israel, comes from iran itself. translation: we attack on israel, comes from iran itself. translation:— itself. translation: we have determined — itself. translation: we have determined a _ itself. translation: we have determined a simple _ itself. translation: we have determined a simple rule, - itself. translation: we have - determined a simple rule, whoever harms us, we will harm them, we are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the state of israel both offensively and defensively. american officials have said any iranian retaliation is a matter of when, not if. we iranian retaliation is a matter of when. not if-— iranian retaliation is a matter of when, not if. ~ ., ., ., ,, when, not if. we want to address the iranian threat — when, not if. we want to address the iranian threat to _ when, not if. we want to address the iranian threat to launch _ when, not if. we want to address the iranian threat to launch a _ iranian threat to launch a significant attack on israel. as i told benjamin netanyahu, our commitment to the security of israel against these threats from iran and its proxies is ironclad. let me say its proxies is ironclad. let me say it again, ironclad.— its proxies is ironclad. let me say it again, ironclad. president biden is tellin: it again, ironclad. president biden is telling israel _ it again, ironclad. president biden is telling israel that _ it again, ironclad. president biden is telling israel that despite - it again, ironclad. president biden is telling israel that despite the i is telling israel that despite the differences over gaza, the countries remain strong allies, and to run it

as a warning and perhaps an attempt to change whatever the country is banning today —— and to iran. iran is already in conflict with israel through its proxies in the region and hezbollah has hit israel almost every day. but even those attacks have been calibrated to avoid a major confrontation. i have been calibrated to avoid a major confrontation.— major confrontation. i think all sides have _ major confrontation. i think all sides have an _ major confrontation. i think all sides have an interest - major confrontation. i think all sides have an interest to - major confrontation. i think all sides have an interest to keep| major confrontation. i think all - sides have an interest to keep this contained and to keep the lid on bass from spiralling out of control. but when israel will be attacked, if it is attacked by iran, and depending where it comes from and how and what the target is, and how many people are killed or hurt or what is destroyed, that will dictate for israel how it responds and retaliates, and that response will draw potentially another response. neither iran or israel seems interested in a regional conflict. this is a dangerous moment but it doesn't mean it will inevitably go to war.

let's speak to yonahjeremy bob, author of �*target tehran' and senior military correspondent at the jerusalem post. it is accepted israel was behind the attack on the iranian consulate in damascus, killing several iranian generals, so what is the strategy for israel? i generals, so what is the strategy for israel? ., generals, so what is the strategy for israel?— for israel? i saw a classified briefin: for israel? i saw a classified briefing a — for israel? i saw a classified briefing a few _ for israel? i saw a classified briefing a few months - for israel? i saw a classified briefing a few months ago, | for israel? i saw a classified - briefing a few months ago, israel has an immense capability against iran and if you think the distraction we have seen of the military of hamas in gaza with all of the problems, israel has pretty much destroyed the capabilities of hamas militarily but what it could do to iran is even greater. what i have seen, and i cannot disclose everything, is a much wider response, so we are at a dangerous point, since the 7th of october, of a potential regional war but i will say probably it will not happen

because iran has so many other possibilities on their menu, a targeted missile strike, hezbollah attacking any more targeted way, and i hope none of these things happen but probably one of them will and all of those could stop short of a regional war. all of those could stop short of a regional war-— all of those could stop short of a regional war. regionalwar. the israeli defence minister said _ regionalwar. the israeli defence minister said it _ regionalwar. the israeli defence minister said it would _ regionalwar. the israeli defence minister said it would respond i regional war. the israeli defence l minister said it would respond with a direct attack on iran. what is the potential tipping point for a wider regional conflict?— potential tipping point for a wider regional conflict? again, you have not to regional conflict? again, you have got to look _ regional conflict? again, you have got to look at _ regional conflict? again, you have got to look at where _ regional conflict? again, you have got to look at where the _ regional conflict? again, you have got to look at where the attack . regional conflict? again, you have got to look at where the attack is| got to look at where the attack is and how many people are killed, so until now, the attacks, hezbollah had been limited to within a few kilometres, but what if it fires missiles at the third largest city in israel? if they fire rockets and they cue a large number of people, 50 people, 100 people, that could lead to a greater retaliation which could roll into something else ——

they kill a large number of people put up but if they fire rockets into another city and any life of —— life lost is terrible but if it is only five people, then you would see a calibrated serious israeli response but not regional war. what calibrated serious israeli response but not regional war.— calibrated serious israeli response but not regional war. what would it take to de-escalate _ but not regional war. what would it take to de-escalate the _ but not regional war. what would it take to de-escalate the situation i take to de—escalate the situation which is at a very critical moment? there's going to be punches thrown. israel took up the highest—ranking iranian member of the revolutionary guard, since 2000, this was the person who was directing terror against israel in both lebanon and syria for years, a very high ranking officer and so for iran, they have got to hit back, they can't not, so it is a question of when and will they be smart enough to go below the level that would force israel to retaliate hard and if they go below

that level, israel's retaliation will be restrained because they do not want a regional war either but if they go too far, israel has immense capabilities to respond including in iranian territory itself. ., . , itself. how much concern is there in the israeli population _ itself. how much concern is there in the israeli population about - the israeli population about possible retaliation from iran and a possible retaliation from iran and a possible escalation? right possible retaliation from iran and a possible escalation?— possible escalation? right now the israeli population _ possible escalation? right now the israeli population it _ possible escalation? right now the israeli population it is _ possible escalation? right now the israeli population it is even - israeli population it is even more concerned than it needs to be, i would say, one reason or another, the israeli spokespeople sent out messages that they were serviced for the iron dome that were being kept on instead of being able to go home —— that the reservists. other messages have been sent out, the head of the military intelligence said the worst of what we have seen including the 7th of october may not have happened, these messages have got people in israel very much on

edge. they are prepared for something and people are probably even more afraid than what iran will probably do in the end.— probably do in the end. thank you for our probably do in the end. thank you for your analysis. _ around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

now to vietnam, where a court has sentenced a wealthy property developer to death for defrauding a bank of billions of dollars — in one of the biggest corruption cases ever. 67—year—old truong my lan was found guilty of embezzlement, bribing state officials and violating bank lending regulations, after she used her hidden ownership of the saigon commercial bank to channel $41; billion of loans to her own companies.

our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, has more from bangkok. it is extraordinary. the amounts of money are absolutely staggering. we're talking about a significant chunk of vietnam's gdp that this woman was able to siphon off. it isa it is a very unusual trial. the authorities released a lot of details about the case against her and they have encourage the media to report it, which is not typical in vietnam where the media is tightly controlled. they have made an example of her and she is getting tremendous coverage and she has now been given the death penalty, the most severe penalty, as an example and a warning to others involved in fraud. it is the latest chapter in a long—running anti—corruption campaign that was launched by the communist party, eight years ago, and certainly i don't think anyone can remember a trial like this. there were 85 other defendants with her and the communist authorities are hoping they can channel public anger about corruption in general at official levels which is very high in vietnam, to truong my lan and

make an example of her and show they are doing something about it, and thatis are doing something about it, and that is why this case is such a high—profile case. she was the only one of the 86 defendants who denied the charges to the very end but she can now appeal against the death sentence and may get leniency if she follows the court injunction, the court has asked to find and give back a lot of the money that is missing, around $27 billion is unaccounted for.— unaccounted for. what is the reaction to — unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her— unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her being - unaccounted for. what is the reaction to her being given i unaccounted for. what is the i reaction to her being given the death penalty? the reaction to her being given the death penalty?— reaction to her being given the death penalty? reaction to her being given the death enal ? ~ ., death penalty? the likelihood of it bein: death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried _ death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out _ death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out may _ death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out may be - death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out may be low- death penalty? the likelihood of it being carried out may be low but l death penalty? the likelihood of it i being carried out may be low but the reaction to her getting it in the vietnamese public is pretty high, there is a huge amount of public frustration over deeply entrenched corruption and corruption at the highest levels of the party. the communist party has a lot of power and control over access to land and decision—making and corruption, as the vietnamese economy has grown, it

has worked through the whole economy, and the communist party chief stated he believes corruption and anger about it is an existential threat to the communist party osment hold on power, which is what he says it so important to fight it —— communist party's hold on power. experts are asking, can you rein in corruption in vietnam and still keep up corruption in vietnam and still keep up this impressive economic growth which has been so admired around the world and brought the us to the door of vietnam is a trading partner? many people say the corruption is a part of the breakneck growth anything, and it's —— and if they try to stamp down on this, it may affect the growth as well. to south korea next. the liberal opposition party has won a landslide majority in the country's general election — which was widely seen as a referendum on the country's president yuun. the result is a blow to the leader — and many of his senior officials

offered to resign, including his prime minister. even though mr yoon has been unpopular, few observers expected him to suffer such a punishing defeat. although these were parliamentary elections and they don't decide the president, the way the campaign has played out here is very much that this was a mid—term referendum on the current president yoon suk yeol who has been in office another two years. he has been an unpopular president from the very start. his approval ratings have hovered between 30 and a0%. people have bristled at what they see as quite a confrontational political style, but also he has been accused of mishandling the economy. so when we spoke to people at polling stations yesterday, they were telling us that they were worried about the rising cost of food or how difficult it is to buy an apartment here and they didn't believe that mr yoon had a vision for this country and was going to be able to fix these problems. but even so, i don't think either side was expecting him to be

punished quite this much. this is a landslide for the opposition party, and it does dent the president's authority. when it comes to the day—to—day politics, it means that it will be more difficult for him to pass laws and pursue his agenda because now the opposition in the smaller parties are going to be able to come together to block the laws that they don't like. that means that there is going to be more gridlock going forward. we've already had two years of gridlock because the opposition controlled the parliament before, and it means that the president might leave office with very little to show for his time other than his foreign policy achievements. because foreign policy is more divorced from the parliament. mr yoon has more autonomy here. and over the past couple of years he has made some pretty radical changes to south korean foreign policy. he has strengthened his relationship with the united states and with japan in order to counter china and north korea. but he had the authority to make these changes because he had just won a presidential election. now he has in effect lost an election, it is going to make it more difficult for him to pursue foreign policy that doesn't have public support here in south korea.

china is accused of flooding britain with counterfiet 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 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 got a 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. stunning artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation at pompeii — the ancient roman city which was buried when mount vesuvius erupted in ad79. archaeologists have uncovered a sumptuous house with floor to ceiling frescoes — mythical greek figures including helen of troy are depicted on the walls of a banqueting hall. experts believe a rich influential man may have owned the property. the bbc has been given exclusive access to the site — our science editor rebecca morelle has this report.

so this is the black room. it's the salon in here. hidden from the world for 2,000 years, a new part of pompeii comes to light. this is the most beautiful one i've 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 wouldn't see this immediately. and then you have the light, the shimmering light of the lamps. and the paintings almost coming to life. it's just one part of the house that's 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, that's 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 it's notjust the house. a number of buildings have emerged from the dig.

this is a big excavation, so here's 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. it's 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 he's a politician. and maybe he's funding the bakery, this is his enterprise, but he's 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. 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. the legendary singer tony bennett died last july 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, who's best—known for songs like i left my heart in san francisco. among the items — a letter from martin luther king, which is expected to fetch up to $30,000. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. the weather we have got over the next couple of days is quite unusualfor april. if we take a look at this anomaly chart they read of the colours, the more unusual the heat is and as you can see, we're towards the top end of this scale. how warm is it going to get? well, some places could see temperatures around 21 degrees celsius. for example, around greater london. temperatures for quite a few areas will be around six or seven degrees celsius above average for the time of year. and the reason we've got this mild flow of air is down to the jet stream pattern, which is bringing mild and quite humid air up from near the azores. now, it might be mild, but it's not necessarily sunny. the best of the sunshine today has been across the midlands, northwards across northern england into scotland. however, it stays pretty cloudy for southern and western wales, southern parts of england

with occasional spots of drizzle around, particularly towards coastal areas. and for northern ireland, some thicker cloud is on the way. outbreaks of rain here to end the day. the rain probably turning quite heavy. but whether you've got cloud or the sunshine doesn't really make that much of a difference for the temperatures. it's very mild nationwide. now, overnight tonight, that rain in northern ireland moves northwards to reach the far north of england and across parts of scotland for a time as well. temperatures stay mild, 11, 12 degrees celsius. there will likely be some mist and fog patches around towards the end of the night. and so for some, it's going to be quite a grey start to the day on friday, perhaps a bit more rain for a time in northern ireland moving back towards scotland, this time across most southern regions of england and wales, you've probably got a better chance of the clouds thinning and breaking to give us some sunshine. and those temperatures still well above average for the time of year. 18 in aberdeen, we're up to 20 or 21 across parts of eastern england. saturday is something of a transition day. again, there'll be some mist and fog patches around. we keep the mild air across southern and eastern parts of england, but the north west of the uk we're getting some heavier outbreaks of rain moving in and the weather will be turning significantly cooler

along with that rain for northern ireland and for scotland as well. and that's just the first day of the change because as we head through sunday and into next week, we've got a ridge of high pressure to the west of the uk that's going to send down a northwesterly flow of air across the country. that will reduce temperatures probably even a bit below average in places and will bring us a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers.

holding off, for now. the european central bank keeps interest rates on hold for the fifth consecutive time, leaving the rates at a record high of 4%. and it's time to roll out the red carpet — the bafta gaming awards take place tonight in london. welcome to world business report. i'm ben thompson. we begin in europe where, in the last hour, the european central bank has announced it will be keeping interest rates where they are at 4%. they hinted that a cup interest rates is coming soon if inflationary pressures continue to fall. here is

a little of what christine lingard