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pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" . you are watching "the context.". >> a very short statement from the family of o.j. simpson it reads, on april 10, our father, orenthal james simpson succumb to his battle with cancer. >> from an impoverished childhood, he had gone on to become one of the greatest footballers in american history been he will forever be remembered for his nine month televised trial for the dble murder that transfixed america. >> it absolutely was the trial of the century. it also very interestingly set us up for what is now called reality television here in america. ♪

>> the american football player o.j. 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 program, warnings iran could carry out significant attack on israel. we will take a look at what this means for the region. plus, remarkable artwork from 2000 years ago uncovered in pompeii, the ancient roman city. an ai decoded, our weekly look at what is making news in the world of artificial intelligence. we will start with this news. in the last few hours, the death of o.j. simpson, one of the most divisive figures in modern america. football star turned movie star turned murder suspect in what became known as the trial of the century. his family said he died of

cancer wednesday, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. he was 76. o.j. simpson's trial of the murder of his ex-wife was televised around the world. when he was sensationally acquitted, many black americans celebrated, all many others were appalled by his exoneration. he was later found liable of nicole's killing in a civil case. >> watched by millions, o.j. simpson famously led police on a car chase through los aeles, after becoming the main suspect in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. from an impoverished childhood, he had gone on to become one of the greatest american football players in history and a hollywood actor. but he will forever be remembered for his nine month televised trial for the double murder that transfixed america.

accused of killing his former wife in a jealous rage, and one point o.j. simpson was shown struggling to try on a pair of gloves found at the crime scene. >> if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. >> the trial ended in a not guilty verdict, which racially divided the country. seen in some communities as a case of a white police force trying to frame the star. the journalist who first interviewed him dr. -- interviewed him after his acquittal said his life story continue to intrigue audiences long after o.j. simpson disappeared from public life. >> it is a bit surreal. we all could go at any moment, but to think about who o.j. simpson was, this star running back, arguably at his time the greatest running back of all time in the nfl, then to become a pitchman and movie star, and then the tragedy that befell the

goldman family. >> but later he did go to jail, having been charged with armed robbery after confrontation in las vegas with two sports memorabilia dealers. he was released in 2017 after nine years behind bars. his family wrote on social media that he died on cancer of wednesday, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. o.j. simpson will be remembered for his rags to riches story and tragic fall from grace which left the unresolved question and popular culture ever since over whether justice was ever truly served. >> the host of the podcast one degree of scandal h covered trials and scandals including the o.j. simpson trial. his cohost kate ocalan was a houseguest -- kato kaelin was a houseguest of o.j. simpson at

the time. we cannot quite hear you, but hopefully we will be able to with a push of a button. just give us your reaction to the news. >> i was surprised. actually, i was shocked. i knew that oj had cancer, but i kind of filed it away because there were not regular updates on it. so i was not expecting this. so when i woke up this morning, and my phone has been going kind of crazy all day. it has taken over the media and has taken over the consciousness of the world, just like it did 30 years ago. i was shocked and surprised. oj was so embedded into the psyche of pop culture, for a long time, for a lot of good reasons, and for the past 30 years, for a lot of horrible reasons. but it catches you off guard, i wasn't ready for it. now we are in the middle of it. it will be interesting getting

everyone's reaction who was so close to it for so long. kato lived in the house, he oj had.n an empty bungalow that kato's friendship went back with nicole. he was with her prior to moving in with oj, just as friends. i think he lived in her extra because sita that she had. -- her extra casita. kato was friends with nicole, obviously he was an acquaintance of oj from living there, but this was a dear friend of his that died. this is something, she was very close to him and her entire family. kato has this incredible personality that just came to life during the trial. it was the biggest story that we

have ever really experienced in the beginning of reality tv. kato was a big star it infamous our famous, however you want to describe it. he was probably one of the 10 most recognizable people in the world because he was in on the trial and he was just entertaining. his wholesomeness, honesty and integrity, all these great qualities he has were on display and people really gravitated to him. but he has been in the public eye for the last 30 years because of this and has handled it really well. >> you also have connections to oj. >> is kind of like dark comedy funny, all of these weird connections i have had with oj. i played football in college, and when i was in junior college, i broke o.j. simpson's junior-college record which had been standing since he was in junior-college in the 1970's.

there was a big story on usa today and around the country. i was probably 19 or 20 years old. he saw the story and congratulated me. then i worked for nbc sports for many years. i covered the bulls, and then covering sports for nbc, i was around oj. so i knew oj a little bit. then what is really crazy is, when he was in vegas and got arrested in 2007 and when he finally went to reason, i was in vegas, celebrating a birthday party. oj was following us around the whole weekend. he tried to sit with us at our dinner. he then tried to come into our party that night and actually not into the party. he had hired a camera crew because he was trying to pitch

and sell a reality show on himself. he was around us awkwardly that whole weekend, and then the next a is when he got arrested. then i do the podcast with kato kaelin and marsha clark, who was the lead prosecutor for l.a. county, she had a primetime drama called the fix. itas basically based on o.j. simpson, but it was fictional. so i have had these bizarre connections with oj. just like everyone else in america, i got swept up in it. it was mesmerizing. it's one of those surreal days today here in america. >> thank you for coming on and talking us through that. we will focus on that trial we were just referring to. thank you very much for coming on the program. what are your thoughts today?

>> it is an odd day, from a legal standpoint, there are few trials in american history that are as polarizing. we talk about things being black and white, that trial was black versus white. it was black and white. i will never forget the split screen showing the reaction of the african-american population to the verdict as opposed to the white population, their reaction to the verdict. that trial brought race to the forefront in the united states urtroom. it showed us what happens when a trial gets out of control because the judge is unable to control the courtroom. it showed us how resources, how money can make all the difference in the world.

the defense ran circles around the prosecutors. there was a level of the playing field, where normally it is a government with the unlimited resources. it taught us the importance about asking a question you don't know the answer to, which is don't put gloves on if you don't know whether or not they will fit. it took an american hero down, put that american hero back up for the moment when that verdict was announced, but his knife -- his life was never the saying and our lives were never the same. that is the trial that goes down in the history books. >> that was just a short summary of some of the impacts and some of the key points at sony people will remember. what do you think has been the everlasting impact, the legacy of that? >> from a legal standpoint, i will talk legal and practical. legal, as professor dershowitz who was involved in the trial

taught us, it taught us as trial attorneys, as defense attorneys. sometimes you try the government, the case is not about your client, it is about the government. and the government was put on trial. the fact that the government try to hide the ball by putting on an avowed racist and pretending that races didn't have an ax to grind, the fact that there may very well have been evidence that was planted and having the temerity to go forward and try the case anyway, thinking that an african-american jury would actually uphold it against an african-american defendant as opposed to siding with that african-american defendant, the advent of dna evidence, and seeing again the resources that the defense had, and having someone like barry scheck who would make full out of the prosecutors over the dna evidence.

so literally that case rocked our world. as a practical matter, again, it was black versus white. >> i'm afraid we have to leave it there. i really appreciate your analysis and your thoughts, randy zellen. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. ♪

>> next, we will turn to the middle east and the growing fears of reprisals from iran. iran's supreme leader has vowed that israel will be punished for the attack. it was a strike on iran itself effectively. iranian authorities have given notice to pilots to avoid the tehran area as rocket launches could be taking place between the 10th and 12th of april.

also possible attack on israel could come by arends proxy, hezbollah, with forces in lebanon. -- by iran's proxy. a senior fellow at the nonpartisan think tank, thanks for coming on the program. how real is the threat of a -- an iranian strike in israel? >> i think what we can assess from what we saw is that there will be a response. that response, however, will remain measured. i think the biden administration and clearly the iranians have wanted to avoid an all-out escalation in the region, a direct war between israel on one

hand and iran on the other. so whatever form this attack takes, whether it's a cruise missile, killer drone attack, or whether it's ballistic missile attacks directly from iran or from syria or even using some of the proxies you mentioned, my sense is that this will remain limited and it will be performative in nature, where the regime wants to be seen as having extracted a price. >> so escalation and more medium-term concerns you don't think are as likely. >> i think there will be an escalation. the wildcard, frankly, in this equation is really prime minister netanyahu who ordered the strike that flattened the consulate in damascus and killed several generals there.

the iranians much prefer an indirect warfare with israel using the various proxies it has in the region rather than provoking something that would have -- give netanyahu the pretext to attack directly. what he will do in response or in retaliation, that is more of a wildcard. >> thank you very much for coming on the program. we will turn to gaza, israel says it is constructing a new direct land crossing into northern gaza which will handle up to 58 trucks a day. a spokesperson said lessons were being implemented on how to better protect you many tearing agencies following the tragic killing of seven aid works -- workers. u.s. president biden increasg

pressure on the israeli government to do more to get more aid to the people in gaza. thank you very much for coming on the program. what is your assessment of the impact of these latest moves by israel to try and increase the flow of aid? >> i will believe it when i see it. much has been said about what is happening. were going to open a crossing, now we are hearing it is something different. what actuay matters is the impact that any changes might have on the ground. of course the situation in the north of gaza where there are 400,000 palestinians, including some of my own staff, is utterly dire. all are living in famine conditions. much of the north of gaza is destroyed. there are only two semi-functioning hospitals and the biggest hospital ball has

now been put completely out of action. so we need massive amounts of aid into the north of gaza and it has to flow freely. but we also need safe and unfettered access for aid workers. that is essential if we are going to be able to provide proper support to the north of as a. >> what impact did that israeli strike have on the -- on your workers and others trying to move around? >> what was done to the world central kitchen staff was absolutely horrific. it is important to note that so far there have been more than 200 aid workers killed in the last six months of israel's war on gaza. most of those have been palestinian. there was an israeli airstrike on our own compound back in january, and nothing was done about that. the problem is that israel continues to act with impunity,

attacking aid workers, almost 500 health-care workers he been killed soar. more than 100 ambulances destroyed. as long as these kinds of things go on with impunity, they ll continue to happen. we have continued to operate in gaza. i just returned from gossip myself yesterday and saw the horrific and terrifying situation there for myself. we are continuing to operate. it is very difficult and dangerous and unfortunately we fear it is likely to get much worse with the invasion of rafah as well. >> thank you for being on the program. artworks have been uncovered in a new excavation in pompeii, the ancient roman city which was buried when mount vesuvius erupted. frescoes including greek figures

including helen of troy are depicted on a wall. our science editor has more. >> hidden from the world for 2000 years, a new part of pompeii comes to life. >> this is the most beautiful one i've ever seen. >> small, intricate paintings and greek mythical scenes stand out against a start backdrop. there is an almost complete white mosaic floor. >> why were the walls black? >> this room probably was used after sunset. you would have them black so you wouldn't see this, and then you have the shimmering light of the lamps, and the paintings almost coming to life.

>> it's just one part of the house that has been found, buried when mount vesuvius erupted in 709a.d. -- 79 a.d. this hotel was covered by pumice stones that rain down for 18 hours. there is a dense brown layer, a fast-moving avalanche that engulfed the town of pompeii, killing anyone who was left behind. the excavation is being followed for a bbc documentary series. a second room with rare frescoes appears from beneath the volcanic debris. who ever lived here had high status. it's not just the house, a number of buildings have emerged from the dig. this is a big excavation.

this area in red is the grand residence with these large rooms. only parts of it has been unearthed. in front of it is a commercial complex. there is a laundry over here and to that, a wholesale bakery. the archaeologists here think the whole thing could've 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 is an inscription on the wall. we know who arv is. we know he is a politician, and maybe he is funding the bakery, maybe this is his enterprise, but he's not going to be living there, it is far too impoverished a living place for a grand politician. so maybe he was living in this

big grand house behind us. >> the excavation is far from finished, and new discoveries are emerging here every day. >> for viewers here in the u.k., you can see pompeii and also on bbc i play. the 20th edition of the bafta games awards, we have music awards, film awards and computer game awards. just to let you know, gaming here in the u.k. is a pretty big business. sales topped 4.7 billion last year, more than double that of the music industry. so these are significant awards. one of the favorites has won their first award. this is founder skate three, this game has just one best narrative. it is the first award of the

night for one of the big games, and the big awards are coming up. we are keeping an eye on them to see who wins what. spider-man 2, legend of zelda, and other big games we are keeping a big guy out on that. our main story this hour is the death of o.j. simpson. we hav these live pictures of his gated community where he lived. this is las vegas, this is where he died of cancer, age 76. a message on the social media posted by his family said he was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. more reaction to that later in the program. stay with us, and back in just a

couple of minutes. this is bbc news. -- i am back in just a couple of minutes. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive.