this is bbc news. the headlines... a death row inmate in alabama is due to become the first person in the us executed using nitrogen gas — after losing last—minute appeals. families of three people stabbed

to death in nottingham say they've been let down by police after their killer is given a hospital order for three counts of manslaughter by diminished responsibility. russia says missile fragments and black boxes have been found at the sight of a plane crash which has said to have killed tens of ukrainian prisoners of war. nhs consultants reject a new pay offer — with 51% of union staying with the issue of capital punishment — and according to amnesty international, the number of executions is rising globally, despite many countries abolishing the use of capital punishment. according to the latest figures, in 2022, 55 countries had the death penalty. one of those is japan, where a man has been sentenced to death following a deadly arson attack on an animation studio in kyoto in 2019 —

which killed 36 people. shinji aoba had previously admitted setting the building on fire. his lawyers had sought an acquittal on the grounds of mental incompetence, but the judge rejected that argument. our tokyo correspondent shaimaa khalil has more the blaze is one of japan's greatest mass murderers. today the perpetrator has been sentenced to death. his lawyers had argued for his acquittal based on mental incompetence, but thejudge rejected that. late last year, he had pleaded guilty, admitted that he sent the building ablaze. he said that he was sorry for what he'd done and that he had no idea so many people would die. today, thejudge spoke had no idea so many people would die. today, the judge spoke about though is deceased. 36 people, mostly young animators died in that

incident and thejudge mostly young animators died in that incident and the judge spoke of the pain and the fear of those who died but also the colleagues who had to watch them set ablaze without being able to do anything and suffering psychologically. the prosecution said that he had falsely thought that the company that the studio had plagiarised his work, a story that he submitted and while the judge acknowledged the dilution of plagiarism, he said that he knew exactly what he was doing when he walked into that building in 2019, poured petrol on the ground floor and set it ablaze while shouting drop—dead. ijust want i just want to bring you ijust want to bring you a breaking news that turkey's president has now signed off on turkish parliament's ratification of sweden's membership of nato, the military alliance. now sweden has been in the running for anita membership ever since the

russian invasion of ukraine, but member of the military alliance requires permission from all current members and turkey and hungry held out on that. sweden's prime minister has responded with a message on x saying this is a key milestone on the path to membership. 0ne saying this is a key milestone on the path to membership. one of the reasons tricky how that is because they accused sweden of harbouring kurdish militants who they accuse of being terrorists. hungary is still blocking the move, it is still vetoing sweden's membership and earlier on, the hungarian parliament said it would not be calling a special session on the matter and would instead be meeting as normal in february. now, to the man who's plan to take on vladimir putin in russia's presidential election. he stands no chance of winning — but given what has happened to many other opposition politicians, it's a move that carries significant personal risk. we'll hearfrom boris nadar—zin — a prominent ant—war campaigner — in just a moment, but first

0lga mal—chevska — in the newsroom — can tell us more about how he's managed to get enough support to mount his bid, in a country where criticising russia's �*special military operation�* in ukraine can result in a jail sentence. this is yakutsk city in northern russia. it is —43 celsius and people are queueing to pledge their support to the opposition candidate, boris nadezhdin. now, such queues have been seen across russia and he has to gather 100,000 signatures to be eligible to stand against vladimir putin in the next presidential race. what do we know about boris nadezhdin? currently, he is one of the most prominent critics of putin and his war in ukraine. on his official website, he says putin made a fatal mistake by starting the special military operation. that is how the war in ukraine is known in russia. now, people who give their signatures for boris nadezhdin

are also at risk because it's not only the signatures, they also have to provide very sensitive personal data, including their address and passport numbers. and let's look what happens to other prominent opposition leaders. boris nemtsov was murdered in 2015. alexei navalny was poisoned and jailed. earlier i spoke to boris nadear—zin and started off by asking him why he's standing against vladamir putin. my aim is to change russia. maybe i will not be elected as president on the 7th of march this year, but i should have the best result because i know exactly... atjust15% or 20%, that was who opposed the special military operation but now much more, the majority of russians, they want peace. the majority of russians want peace, absolutely. i speak with people.

i have visited many cities in russia and a lot of people come, big crowds of people, speaking with me, on the street, in meetings etc. final question, then. you say you hope this will start the process of bringing change. what change do you actually want? and a final point because vladimir putin has been in power since 2000. he would argue he has restored the russian position in the world as a global power, real influence. how would you describe where vladimir putin has taken russia? i have already said that putin has made a lot of mistakes, and by the way not only with a special military operation but practically he destroyed the institutions of modern government, of modern state in russia, like parliament, the courts, etc. so myjob will be to restore these institutions, to restore them. i have a document called the plan of nadezhdin, what i will be doing on the first

day of my term, the first week, first month, first year, etc. and my firstjob will be to stop the conflict with ukraine, then to restore normal relations between russia and the western community including the united states, great britain, france, germany, the european community etc. and then i should restore the normal institutions, the normal elections, the normal parliament, and by the way the media... i have a lot ofjobs. but my aim is to make russia great, peaceful and a free country. just ten seconds, if you would, if putin wins, as everyone expects, what then? i am not sure that i will win this time but i am absolutely sure that putin will not rule russia another six years, absolutely sure, because more and more people each day understand that he has dragged the russians into this track of militarism,

authoritarianism, isolation. this track killed the russian empire in 1917. it killed the soviet union in 1991, and more and more people understand we should move away from this track to the wide road of normal life. in other news from russia, a court in moscow has sentenced the russian nationalist, igor girkin, to four years in prison for inciting extremism. the ex—militia commander — who previously used the nom de guerre igor strelkov — has repeatedly criticised president putin and the conduct of the war in ukraine. he had publically entertained ideas about running against president putin in the march presidential election. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg was at the court. i'm outside moscow city courthouse where a few moments ago the hardline

nationalist was convicted on extremism charge certain charges and as you can see, some of his supporters have gathered outside the building. it is quite a story and mr girkin was in the russian military service. recently he's been a pro blogger not hard enough, in his view. ——not hard enough, in his view, but his problems began when he began to publicly criticise vladimir putin. he described the russian president as a nonentity and a cowardly waste of space. a few days later, he was arrested. now, this is the man who in 2014 played a key role in the fighting in the donbas region of eastern ukraine, a conflict engineered and orchestrated by moscow. mr girkin organised and commanded pro—russian militias there, and in 2022 he was convicted in absentia by court in the hague over the shooting down of

the malaysian airlines boeing flight mh17 and sentenced to life imprisonment. so mr girkin will be going to prison, but not for life and not for that crime. and a young russian woman has been jailed for 27 years for killing a pro—war blogger last april. vladlen tatarsky died when a bomb concealed in a statuette of himself went off as he was giving a talk in a st petersberg cafe. he'd been handed the statuette by 26—year—old darya trepova. she said she'd been set up and thought it contained a listening device, not a bomb. she told the trial she was acting on the orders of a man in ukraine who had been sending her money and instructions. it's one of the harshest sentences imposed on a woman in russia's modern history. former us president donald trump is in court for the first time since winning the new hampshire

primary, to face a defamation case. these are the courtroom sketches of mr trump listening to testimony today. the case is a civil suit brought by writer e jean carroll who is seeking more than $10 million in damages for defamation against him for comments he made in 2019 after she accused him of raping her in the 90s. in 2022, a new york court found him liable for the rape. find nine and half thousand dollars, he had refused to comply with a subpoena from the house committee investigating that january six attack on congress, saying he was shielded by executive privilege. federal prosecutors said he, "chose allegiance to former president donald trump over the rule of law." his lawyers have appealed against the conviction.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing the different stories from across the uk. - usually sorting a day out takes gary flint a lot of planning. but he has not had nearly as much work to do in castleton. normally i would have to do a bit of research online, or quite extensive research online to actually make the day pleasurable for myself and any family member that i will be with. it's because a new map has been produced. on it is clearly marked where facilities are for disabled people, like accessible toilets, special parking and where wheelchair hire are. the park authorities teamed up with accessible uk to produce this map. it's not rocket science. that's the big thing that we need to get across,

this is quite basic information. there is hope that castleton can become an example to other places. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. - you're live with bbc news. good to have your company. here in the uk, the government is introducing plans to crack down on so—called zombie—style knives and machetes in england and wales. a zombie knife is a large bladed weapon that has increasingly been linked to gang crime and violence in the uk. the blade will typically will have a serrated edge on one side and a smooth, sharp edge on the other. they are inspired by the kind of weapon used in zombie movies. the actor idris elba has campaigned extensively for the ban of zombie knives — speaking to the bbc he praised the move but warned that it may not go far enough. this is symbolically a step in the right direction. it is only a step in the right direction because there is such a long road to go. there's so many facets of this issue that need to be addressed. but banning

them outright, the sale and manufacturing of ending our country as a step in the right direction. i feel that's a good step. i think it's definitely at least a small win for the families, the victims that are sitting there wondering why our government hasn't done something like this earlier, even though they have done it before, they let so many loopholes that allowed the sales to continue. so this feels a lot more sort of robust, put a lot of thinking into the banning of it. hopefully there aren't any loopholes. 0f hopefully there aren't any loopholes. of course, you know, swords in that span are not covered here and that is a big issue. i think that is a loophole. there are a few reasons swords have not been included, because some swords are considered collectors items, some swords have historical value, but overall, we believe that if you have a sword then it is a family heirloom or a historical value to you, have a licence for it. furthermore, i think any swords in our country are not

needed on the streets. the any swords in our country are not needed on the streets.— any swords in our country are not needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed — needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed to _ needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed to move _ needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed to move to _ needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed to move to a _ needed on the streets. the -- will be allowed to move to a regular i be allowed to move to a regular prison following a core drilling. courtney ben bridge has more from our newsroom. it is courtney ben bridge has more from our newsroom-— our newsroom. it is a case that shocked the — our newsroom. it is a case that shocked the world _ our newsroom. it is a case that shocked the world and - our newsroom. it is a case that shocked the world and remains our newsroom. it is a case that - shocked the world and remains one of the rest in austrian history. in 2009, yes it was jailed for life or abusing his daughter over a 2k years along with the children he fathered with her as he held them captive. 0ne with her as he held them captive. one of the children died shortly after birth. at the time, neighbours spoke of their shock that this could happen undetected for so long, and a lodger who had spent some time living in that home spoke to the bbc. transition right below my room, bashing, knocking basis. 0ne bbc. transition right below my room, bashing, knocking basis. one time i asked him what it was he bashing, knocking basis. one time i asked him what it was— bashing, knocking basis. one time i asked him what it was he told me was cominu asked him what it was he told me was coming from — asked him what it was he told me was coming from the _ asked him what it was he told me was coming from the gas _ asked him what it was he told me was coming from the gas eating _ asked him what it was he told me was| coming from the gas eating from down below _ coming from the gas eating from down below. ,, . ., , , below. since then, he has been held in a high-security —

below. since then, he has been held in a high-security institution - in a high—security institution for mentally disturbed offenders, but a recent psychiatric report found that he no longer poses a threat to the public. he is 88 and has dementia. end of court —— a court has ruled that he's able to be moved to a regular prison. thejudges did reject another proposal to have him moved to a care home. here is what his lawyer said. moved to a care home. here is what his lawyer said-— moved to a care home. here is what his lawyer said._ he l his lawyer said. translation: he was close to tears — his lawyer said. translation: he was close to tears during _ his lawyer said. translation: he was close to tears during the _ close to tears during the hearing and once — close to tears during the hearing and once again described how terrible — and once again described how terrible his deeds wear. he said he is unbelievably sorry for his victims _ is unbelievably sorry for his victims. he would love to undo everything he did. he repeatedly said he _ everything he did. he repeatedly said he would like to give his life to undo— said he would like to give his life to undo everything. the said he would like to give his life to undo everything.— to undo everything. the court's decision is _ to undo everything. the court's decision is subject _ to undo everything. the court's decision is subject to _ to undo everything. the court's decision is subject to an - to undo everything. the court'sl decision is subject to an appeal, to undo everything. the court's i decision is subject to an appeal, a process that is expected to take up to a fortnight and fritzl will remain where he is until that plays out. scotland's first minister humza yousaf has apologised for his government's failings in handing over messages to the covid inquiry. the hearing, which is currently sitting in edinburgh, also heard that the former first minister, nicola sturgeon, sent expletive laden whatsapp

messages during the pandemic about the then prime minister borisjohnson. 0ur scotland editorjames cook reports from the inquiry. for years, liz lloyd was either at nicola sturgeon�*s side, or one step behind. as chief of staff, the inquiry heard, she was one of the former first minister's closest confidantes, but this morning it was ms lloyd who took centre stage, alone. can we go back to your whatsapp messages? this time, my lady, i wanted to give a warning that there will be some bad language in some of these. i'm used to it. the inquiry saw exchanges between the two women. in messages relating to the uk government's announcement of a second lockdown in england, nicola sturgeon wrote, "this is bleep excruciating, their comms are awful", accusing borisjohnson of "utter incompetence". the prime minister, she concluded, "is a bleep clown". it was evident in his exchanges with the scottish government, with the first minister,

and i think with the other first ministers, because we would be on the same call, that he didn't want to be on those calls. he wasn't necessarily well briefed on those calls and he wasn't listening to the points we were making on those calls. so i think engagement with him came to be seen as slightly pointless during this period. ms lloyd was then questioned about her whatsapp messages and why those from the first six months of the pandemic were missing. for the record, i regret not being able to give the inquiry those messages. i thought i had them. i have sourced them, i have done everything i am able to do, as faras i can, to find them. i thought i had retained them, and they're not there. questions for the scottish government at this inquiry revolve around notjust the decisions that were taken, but the record, or otherwise, of those decisions. humza yousaf can expect to be asked about both in the next few minutes. i swear by almighty god. minutes earlier, the first minister

had announced an external review of the scottish government's use of mobile messaging apps. let me unreservedly apologise to this inquiry, but also to those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, that was bereaved by covid, for the government's frankly poor handling of the various rule 9 requests in relation to informal messages. there's no excuse for it. we should have done better. 0utside, relatives of some of those bereaved in the pandemic were unimpressed. they want more detailed answers from nicola sturgeon when she appears here next week. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. continuous coverage of chris of the uk covid inquiry on the bbc news website. —— of course. here in the uk, tomorrow sees the series finale of the traitors — a reality tv show which has gripped millions of viewers as they watch

the mindgames and intrigue among 22 contestants in a castle in the highlands. before this series is over, it's already been commissioned for a third. so why has it proved such a hit? 0ur media correspondent david sillito has been talking to the producer behind it — butjust a warning, if you're still catching up with the series on iplayer, you might find there are a few spoilers coming up. been very strange, because obviously, you're walking down the road and people recognise you. it has, for ash bibi, been a life—changing moment. when you got in, what were your feelings? i was ecstatic. i couldn't believe it at first, actually, when i got that phone call. if you've been watching, you will know all about her time as a traitor and her nemesis, paul. i voted for you, ash. i think you're behaving like a traitor. iam... of course, she knew what she was letting

herself in for, but not the scale of it. ..a traitor. in the past, reality tv was a cheap way of filling airtime. this has a budget closer to prestige drama, with all its attention to detail. how many people are involved? how big is the crew? the crew is really big. i think it's 200+ people on location up there. everything is thought about, isn't it, to create a mood? yes. we always make sure the log fires are burning within the castle, because it generates that sort of smoky, murder mystery smell within it. when the players into the roundtable, we always play the same piece of music to them. it sort of gets them in the mood and sets the tone. and the company behind it, studio lambert, who brought us channel 4's hit gogglebox and bbc two's race across the world, all shows with an eye on what media buyers and analysts want in 2024 — buzz. the watercooler moments,

the social media conversations, content that captures the imagination and gets people talking. it's worth betting big on those types of shows. traitors is a perfect example. take another studio lambert show, squid game: the challenge. it has a56 contestants. this is a new era of prestige reality. do you think this is a moment where perceptions of reality tv have changed? i think reality tv really has grown up. i think people thought of it as something cheap and cheerful, and now, the best reality tv shows sit happily against the best dramas. i'm a traitor. all cheer. like mr bates vs the post office or i'm a celebrity, when it comes to creating something that gets talked about, old—school broadcast isn't dead yet. i love this game. david sillito, bbc news.

now it seems even the most successful actors can suffer from an imposter syndrome. the british actor, tom hollander, that can go as far as being mistaken for a completely different and far richer star. speaking on american tv, the 56—year—old actor said he was once accidentally sent a box office bonus meant for the 27—year—old star of the spider—man movies, tom holland. he said the pair briefly had the same agent and the 7—figure sum was sent to him by mistake by the accounts department. when the stars of the new hollywood movie gathered to promote their movie committee probably did not expect to be upstaged by a supermodel and her cat. claudia schiffer, whose husband directed the film, appeared on the red carpet with her cat chip in a custom—made, argylle patterned cat backpack with a perspective dome — complete with plenty of air holes. chip stars in the movie

and the photos from the night were later uploaded to instagram for his 13,000 followers. police in thailand have arrested a woman after her pet lion was seen riding in the back of a car. the bentley with the lion on the back—seat was spotted in the southern city of pattaya and was being driven by a sri lankan man who has fled the country. owning a lion is legal in thailand — but this animal was not properly registered and the woman could face up to a year in prison. that is it from me. don't go anywhere. ben thompson is here next. hello there. today has certainly been a quieter, calmer weather story, but also quite cloudy with it as well. take a look at pateley bridge from earlier on in north yorkshire. misty, murky conditions here, and there has been quite a lot of low grey cloud for many of us. now, we will see a change tomorrow

because of this cold front that's moving through overnight tonight. change of wind direction, stronger winds will help break up that cloud. there'll be more in the way of sunshine. but it does mean through the night tonight, there's another spell of rain, some of it heavy for all of us at some point. that will drift its way south and east. clearer skies, a few wintry showers to higher ground behind low single figures in scotland. but a mild start in the south—east with that weather front still lingering, that will ease away, and for many of us, dry, settled and sunny. gale force gusts of wind driving in some showers across the far northwest. so after that mild start, actually temperatures may well fall away across central and southern england. so into the afternoon, we're looking at highs of 8—9 celsius, but there will be some sunshine to help compensate for that. that extends perhaps towards the scottish borders, and northern ireland showers should be few and far between, but there will continue

to be a rash of showers, wintry flavour perhaps to higher ground, but rain at lower levels. now, as we move out of friday into the start of the weekend, that high pressure is going to continue to dominate for much of england and wales. toppling across the high is always the risk of some weather fronts here. so here, temperatures will hold up, 7—8 celsius first thing on saturday. but clear skies, touch of light frost first thing in the morning across the southeast. that's where we'll start off with the best of the sunshine into the weekend. once again, there's the risk of further wet and often windy weather at times, just brushing northern ireland and the northwest of the great glen. temperatures peaking between 9—10 celsius. that's still pretty good, really, for this time of year. now, as we continue to look further ahead, this area of high pressure will continue to dominate across much of europe, but always the risk of further areas of low pressure trying to topple in. will take its time in doing so, so we're going to start off the new week with some sunshine coming through. there's a risk of things turning a little more unsettled by the middle of next week.

hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. he has already been found to have defamed the formal lady, how much

will he pay and damages? and how much a staunch of using his presence and record to rally his base? donald trump took the witness stand to defend himself against a lawsuit claiming he should pay millions of dollars for defaming and sexually abusing carol. testimony that lasted just four minutes, also tonight come his former trade adviser is chilled forfour months for his former trade adviser is chilled for four months for ignoring a court subpoena in investigating alleged efforts to overturn a 2020 election results and a convicted murderer in alabama will be the first person executed in the united states using nitrogen gas. a method that they have likened to torture. artificial

intelligence, will explain