accused of failing to protect children from online abuse. the bbc releases thousands of emails, linked to the controversy about how martin bashir secured his interview with princess diana in 1995. we'll speak to andy webb,> the journalist who exposed mr bashir. pakistan's former prime minister imran khan is sentenced to m years in prisonjust a day after being handed a ten yearjail term in another case. the uk government has published details of its deal with the democratic unionist party to bring back power— sharing to northern ireland. it will mean no routine checks on goods crossing from great britain and staying in northern ireland. the dup has boycotted stormont for almost two years in protest at trade arrangements after the uk left the eu — leaving northern ireland without a government.

within the uk. between northern ireland and england scotland and wales. in the last 30 minutes of the dup leader and a northern ireland secretary have given the new plan the big sale. the secretary have given the new plan the big sale-— the big sale. the government is delivered to _ the big sale. the government is delivered to delivering - the big sale. the government is delivered to delivering this - the big sale. the government is| delivered to delivering this gives for a fee for a brighter future for northern ireland within the united kingdom. it is now time for elected representatives in northern ireland to come together. this is this agreement is something we have come hard to work together to deliver for the people of north island. it's our achievement after two years of hard work and negotiation.

safeguarding the union is an 80 peerage valued for those who worried that there's been diluted. making the core premise that there be no checks on goods going to northern ireland and i guarantee that goods can be sold in northern ireland and knows all circumstances. i counsel be set up to try to bind northern ireland into newquay white trade. uk law will be tweaked.— law will be tweaked. earlier mps debated the _ law will be tweaked. earlier mps debated the plan _ law will be tweaked. earlier mps debated the plan and _ law will be tweaked. earlier mps debated the plan and look- law will be tweaked. earlier mps debated the plan and look at - law will be tweaked. earlier mpsl debated the plan and look at this. labour has word with a government on its and is full of praise for ministers.

i would like to thank the secretary of state for his tireless efforts that have brought us to this point. his is a great achievement. but not all democratic unionists are happy. in northern ireland there are still eu manned border posts being built, which will create a border within our own country. this is a result of this spineless weak kneed brexit betraying government refusing to take on the eu and its interference in northern ireland. and some conservative mps still have concerns too. there will be much to welcome in the papers published today, and we will need to scrutinise them carefully in the 30 or so hours before we are going to be asked to vote on them. we know they don't contain a removal of northern ireland from the single market legislation. sinn fein who want to see a united ireland don't take their seats here but fellow nationalists do and look forward to a sinn fein first minister. this is a very good day for the people of northern ireland, i am very glad to see it. i think we are about to see

something significant. we will have the first nationalist first minister, the first ever nationalist leader of the opposition and i wish them all well. and yes, within days, devolution could return to northern ireland. power decision making scrutiny happening at stormont again. joining me now is david graham who is a former dup special adviser. i don't know if you could hear some of the report there but we heard strong words from dup mp sandy so weak moved by the brexit government? i think he is from a certain wing of the dup, they like any of his co—party in the world have various wings and some people will be stronger and in some issue than others, some he has been clear in his position regarding the european union for well over a decade and he

is very much a exit purest. i think he was in his rights to highlight —— brexit purest, i think was interesting in that sound bite to see that the company granted his own party leader surferjeffrey donaldson on the gains he made so ultimately no one is ever 100% satisfied in politics, there are compromises every day postop so like the former secretary of state highlighted, perhaps there is a bit of a feeling of being bounced into things as they are literally down to just over a day to scrutinise the paper which is aided pages in length, which is only the instruction manual. it’s length, which is only the instruction manual. 3 ., , , instruction manual. it's not 'ust us about being — instruction manual. it's not 'ust us about being 10096 i instruction manual. it's not 'ust us about being 100% happy, _ instruction manual. it's notjust us about being 10096 happy, isn't - instruction manual. it's notjust us about being 10096 happy, isn't it? | about being 100% happy, isn't it? does he make a fair point when he talks about there was so the eu will mind border posts being billed and

the tuv leaderjim alastair also criticised at to say northern ireland is still under the eu custom code which treats great britain as a foreign country, so as notjust a bit of resentment towards compromise, is it? i bit of resentment towards compromise, is it?- bit of resentment towards compromise, is it? bit of resentment towards comromise, is it? ~ , ., compromise, is it? i think they are very much — compromise, is it? i think they are very much a _ compromise, is it? i think they are very much a legitimate _ compromise, is it? i think they are very much a legitimate position, i very much a legitimate position, there is a bigger picture going on here as well, there will be no unionist 100% satisfied with the outcome. neither it —— someone interested in brexit, and it's important to look at the irish government will not be hundred percent satisfied either but it's a good day for northern ireland with the government up and running again, almost kind of an indictment on our country since its two years since we had that want since the last seven years we've only had it for roughly about four, from a wider point of view for unionist, it's difficult to sell the benefits of northern

ireland as part of the uk if you don't have a functioning government, so in and around overall it's a positive day for northern ireland. thank you so much, we have to leave it there, i'm sure we could talk much longer about it but thank you for your time. much longer about it but thank you foryourtime. former much longer about it but thank you for your time. former dup special adviser david graham there. the bbc has released around 3,000 emails linked to its handling of the journalist martin bashir — who became famous after his interview with princess diana in 1995. an independent inquiry in 2021 found that he had been deceitful and had faked documents to secure the interview. the corporation has now been compelled to release thousands of pages of correspondence revealing how it dealt with it all. earlier, i spoke to andy webb, journalist and film—maker who initially exposed martin bashir. i asked about the significance of these emails. i want to understand. i want to understand what exactly what happened at the very moment that what we can call the bashir

scandal came to light. i'll try and keep this very, very brief. but the bbc on october 19, 2020 decided to put into the public domain by actually releasing direct to me the an extraordinary allegation about earl spencer, diana's brother. it was alleged that he had actually co—conspired with martin bashir to produce the infamous bank statements that was put into the public domain. at the very same time, the bbc most signally did not put into the public domain a particular document, an eight page memo, which, when one reads it, sort of walks you through the cover up that took place back in1990, 1996. and i say a cover up as determined by lord dyson. the question i wanted to answer is, hang on. "what happened there" ? "why release document x and not release document y"? and so i sought the emails for a three month period

around that event. yesterday, i get 10,000 pages of data. andy, can i put to you now what the bbc has said in response to those points? the bbc says that "throughout this process we've taken our responsibilities to comply with the directions of the tribunal extremely seriously". and the bbc says, "there's nothing to support the allegations that the bbc acted in bad faith in 2020". and it goes on to say, "we maintain this suggestion is simply wrong". and you mentioned lord dyson there, and it says the bbc says far "from attempting to conceal or cover up matters, the bbc commissioned lord dyson to conduct an independent investigation, which was published in 2021, and the bbc provided all relevant documentation that was in the bbc�*s possession to the lord dyson inquiry". absolutely. what if somebody once said, "well, they would say that, wouldn't they"? let's look. as you just quoted,

i got the statement here, "far from attempt," the bbc�*s words, "far from attempting to conceal or cover up matters. investigation." that is absolutely disgraceful what in fact happened and would be people sitting a few floors above you in the building there who know exactly what happened. and that is that the bbc was dragged kicking and screaming to the edge of a precipice over which they very, very nearly fell. and to avoid falling over it, they were rushed into appointing lord dyson. earl spencer himself privately offered to talk to the director general, tim davie, to make plain to him what bashir had done last winter had gone to his archives. he's got all his notes. he privately approached tim davie to say, look, something very, very bad has happened here. this has got to be sorted out. it's the sort of email when you get it.

all you do is stay. you say stay there. i'm getting in an uber. far from that. mr davie, by his chief of staff, mr phil harrell, emailed back eventually to say, "well, thank you very much, very, very in effect. thank you very much. very, very interesting. we have a different version of the story. we don't buy yours in effect. take a hike". and when earl spencer was told that instead of taking a hike, he went, as it happens to the daily mail with his data. they began to publish the extraordinary series of front pages, which we've seen and, which we saw at the time, and that that is that is why the dyson inquiry was commissioned, not because the bbc had any desire whatsoever for openness and disclosure. again, mrwebb. one of the things that i must put to you is what the bbc said, "which is that any suggestion that it acted in bad faith was simply wrong,

and it said that it has made redactions," this is in the emails, " made redactions where necessary, consistent with the freedom of information act". and it points out that the latest disclosure includes many hundreds of pages of duplicates and material that wasn't related to the 1995 panorama, but was nevertheless caught by the electronic searches. and hence, they've made redactions where necessary. absolutely. and of course, i wouldn't challenge the necessity of redactions on occasion. you mentioned there, because it is in the bbc statement, "good faith". i've got to say to you that this is where we're at now

because of an appeal process before tribunal. that's a judge and two assessors in the most blistering, blistering ofjudgements in which the judge directed the bbc against the bbc�*s will to hand this stuff over. the judge actually raised in a very delicate way, as judges do, the question of good faith and bad faith. and he went as far as to say that not the exact words, but in the course of this whole process, the way the bbc has behaved might possibly lead someone like him. he's a judge to possibly question that good faith. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. - this is flag football, the american football version of touch rugby. and these kids at ling's primary school in north hampton are the best in the uk. they started playing two years ago, thanks to their teacher, tom, an nfl addict. he took a coaching course and soon had 70 children here wanting to play. it's become the school's most popular sport. last summer, lings won the national

title at tottenham hotspur stadium. their prize a trip to orlando, florida, to face schools from around the world. it was crazy. it didn't feel real at first. but i think when we got on that plane, it's going to finally hit be like, yeah, this is real. ever since i got into it, ijust loved it and can't wait for more training and games. two years ago, these kids had never heard of flag football. now they're flying the flag for it. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. - you're live with bbc news. he has been in power since 1999 — either as president or prime minister. today, vladimir putin launched his presidential re—election campaign — in front of an audience of sports stars, musicians, tv personalities and even a cosmonaut. the 71—year—old's victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion, even though he's not running unopposed. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg,

was at the event in moscow. applause. for vladimir putin, a standing ovation was all but guaranteed from an audience packed with supporters who want him re—elected russia's president. we were allowed in to watch the campaign event. mr putin used the occasion to claim that it was a us—made missile that had shot down the russian military transport plane last week in southern russia. translation: the ukrainian authorities had mentioned i that they want an international investigation into this. that is what we are asking for, and we insist that an international investigation is carried out. but there are no international organisations willing to do this.

there were pop stars and cosmonauts. vips for vladimir. their chance to praise putin. he is extraordinary leader. extraordinary. and an opportunity to attack the west. stop picking on us. trying to... ..trying to dissolve russia, trying to destroy russia. isee... the west is not trying to destroy russia, and the west did not invade ukraine, it was russia that took the decision to attack ukraine. the west doesn't want bad relations with russia. you are so old, and so naive, or you're lying. i suspect that the idea behind all of this, and all this celebrity support, is to show us that candidate putin is in a league of his own. premier league putin. keep in mind, he runs the league. this is his political system. his rules of the game. vladimir putin's most vocal critics have long been relegated. they are either in exile or in prison.

he isn't the only candidate in this election, but it is widely believed it's the kremlin who decides who can run, and who can't. little wonder, then, that a putin landslide seems all but inevitable. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. pakistan's former prime minister, imran khan, and his wife have been sentenced to 1a years in jail in a case related to the illegal selling of state gifts. (box gfx)the sentencing, at a hearing in the capital the sentencing, at a hearing in the capital islamabad, comes a day after mr khan was handed a 10—yearjail term in another case in which he was convicted of revealing state secrets. earlier we heard from our pakistan correspondent caroline davies with the latest from islamabad. over the course of two days, two very significantjail sentences for imran khan.

this particular case has been referred to as the tosha khana case. now, this is an accusation that imran khan has now been found guilty of purchasing state gifts, but undervaluing the value of those gifts and then selling them on for a profit. notjust imran khan, but his wife bushra bibi as well. both of them have been sentenced today to 1a years in prison. they have also been both told that they will be barred from holding any form of public office for ten years and being given a fine of about 1.5 billion rupees. now, that is about $5.3 million or £4.2 million. we understand neither of them were in court to hear their sentencing and their lawyers were not in court at this point. we know about this because local journalists were able to sit in during the court proceedings and heard the judge giving the sentence. as i mentioned, imran khan was previously sentenced yesterday to ten years in prison, that was in a case referred to as the cipher case. these prison sentences are expected to run concurrently at the same time so that means this new sentence is longer than the existing one. the backdrop to all of this

is that pakistanis do to have a general election injust over a week. the 8th of february. imran khan had already been disqualified from running in the general election but there are people standing that have the backing of his party. the big question now is going to be whether or not this new sentencing is starting to break the morale of the pti party and the supporters or if this will mean a boost in their numbers and they will be more voters for imran khan's backed candidates for in the election next week. that is what we are waiting to see. youtube has it comes out that went by an investigation by the bbc, focus on allegations of widespread

sexual abuse and torture. emanuel tv. a key role in his rise from global posture to local star having half a million followers on youtube and hundreds of millions of views, the church hasn't commented on the removal but says allegations of previous wrongdoing have been unfolded. she rejected claims the decisions she made were politically motivated to advance a cause of independence. she admitted deleting whatsapp messages from her phone, also the inquiry some of those bereaved during the pandemic accused her of crocodile tears are scotland editor reports from edinburgh.

in the darkest hours of the pandemic, many people in scotland turned to nicola sturgeon. now, the country has questions for her. i do solemnly... the former first minister described the early days of covid to the inquiry in strikingly personal terms. i was the first minister when the pandemic struck. there is a large part of me that wishes i hadn't been. but i was, and i wanted to be the best first minister i could be during that period. it is for others to judge the extent to which i succeeded. faced with what she called a threat, a risk, a catastrophe, she spoke of her fear. i felt an overwhelming responsibility... ..to do the best i could. and that's. .. so the idea that in those horrendous days, weeks, i was thinking of a political opportunity, ifind... well, it just wasn't true.

she made that point several times, denying playing politics with the pandemic. i have been in politics for 30 years. i have been a lifelong campaigner for independence. i don't think in my entire life have i ever thought less about politics generally and independence in particular than i did during the course of the pandemic. ms sturgeon was also asked about this. can you guarantee to - the bereaved families that you will disclose e—mails, i whatsapps, private e—mails, if you have been using them? i think if you understand statutory public inquiries, you would know that even if i was not prepared to give that assurance, which, for the avoidance of doubt, i am, then i wouldn't have the ability. this will be a judge—led statutory public inquiry. however, now, she says, she noted key points from her whatsapps and then deleted them. i was very thorough, notjust in the pandemic but in all my work in government to ensure that things

were appropriately recorded, but in line with the advice i had always been given since my first day in government, probably, was not to retain conversations like that on a phone that could be lost or stolen and therefore not secure. but did you delete them? yes. but others have provided whatsapps. the inquiry was shown messages for october 2020 in which ms sturgeon told her chief of staff, "i'm having a bit of a crisis of decision—making in hospitality, not helped by the fact i haven't slept". after discussing the possible restrictions on pubs and restaurants in detail, ms sturgeon concludes, "it is all so random but i think we need to be prepared for a bit of a backlash". but critics, including some of those bereaved in the pandemic, want to know what was in the whatsapps which we haven't seen. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh.

the sesame street character elmo has become the internet�*s therapist... after posing a casual question on x — formerly known as twitter — asking how is everybody doing? that was enough to prompt the thousands of people to unload their woes on animal, saying they weren't 0k at all. 0ur reporter, courtney bembridge, has more from the newsroom. it's a simple question, but it's hit a nerve online. almost 180 million people have seen this post on x from elmo, and thousands of users have unleashed their grief and despair on the small red muppet, as the new york times put it. elmo asked an innocuous question. elmo was not expecting to open a yawning chasm of despair, and someone else posted this image with the caption elmo after seeing the replies. but there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to elmo asking about everyone's emotional well—being. the un posted

elmo, thanks for checkign in the world needs more kindness. you're always welcome in our press briefing room. and even nas said, thanks for checking in, elmo, reminding you all that you're made of star stuff alongside this image. even the us president has weighed in saying "0urfriend elmo is right. "we have to be there for each other. "offer our help to a neighbour in need and above all else ask for help when we need it". elmo's co—stars on sesame street have also weighed in. the cookie monster, saying, "me here to talk it out whenever you want me will also supply cookies". and that will go quite nicely with the warm cup of tea that bert is offering. well, elmo has responded to all of this saying, "wow, elmo is glad he asked. "elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they're doing," but he also said he'll be taking a little break, but he will be back to check in on all of us again soon. stay with us on bbc news.

hello there. we've seen some very strong winds across northern areas of scotland today. and with those severe gales came some pretty big waves pummeling the coastline of shetland. but it wasn't shetland where the strongest winds in this storm were. no, they were in the core of storm ingunn and that runs straight across the faroe islands to our northwest. now, landsverk is the public authority that runs the infrastructure in the faroe islands. they reported a gust on one of their weather stations of 155 mph. in relatively well sheltered torshavn, we had a top gust of 120 mph there in the capital of the faroe islands. thankfully, those really powerful winds stayed well away from our shores. we had a top gust of 75 in lerwick and not far behind that in the highlands and the hebrides. now, overnight tonight we've got a band of rain, a cold front pushing southwards across england and wales, bringing some rain that will clear later in the night. and with clearing skies and lighter winds, one or two mist and fog patches possible, there's also likely to be one or two patches of frost around as well as we head into the first part of thursday.

now storm ingunn will be bringing some very strong winds to norway on thursday, gusts over 100 mph, blizzard conditions with lots of snow. 0ur weather is going to be a good deal quieter than that. you'll be pleased to hear. we've got a ridge of high pressure and that means for many of us, it's a bright start to the day. should stay sunny for the most part across england and wales. further north, it will tend to turn cloudier through the afternoon, with outbreaks of rain arriving across the north and west of scotland through thursday afternoon. with the wind strengthening, it won't be quite as windy as it's been though today. but friday, a lot of cloud around. best of any breaks in a cloud across eastern areas will continue to be quite windy generally. some rain across the north and west of scotland. we may see a fern effect set up across the north east of scotland. if that happens, we could see temperatures go as high as 16, but otherwise 1a in aberdeen. well, that's still a good seven or eight degrees above average at this time of the year. it stays mild as well for most of the country on saturday, but particularly so for england and wales. still quite a lot of cloud around. gusty winds on into the east of the pennines, a mixture of sunshine and showers for scotland and northern ireland.

top temperature around 1a degrees for east anglia in the south east, but even 10—11 for scotland is still well above average as we head into february. into sunday and next week, generally it's going to stay quite wet and windy across northern areas. the quietest weather will be in the south.

hello, you're watching the context on bbc news. musk was already a billionaire, already— musk was already a billionaire, already had billions of dollars of total shares, they didn't need to .ive total shares, they didn't need to give him — total shares, they didn't need to give him another 55 billion to be successful— give him another 55 billion to be successful in the eyes of the judge. you can'tjustify a salary of that size. could you say that again? you said you can'tjustify... well, you can't, because it's a huge amount of money elon musk has hit back, never ever register— elon musk has hit back, never ever register a _ elon musk has hit back, never ever register a company in delaware where the court _

register a company in delaware where the court was based, this biggest paid row— the court was based, this biggest paid row in— the court was based, this biggest paid row in history may have further issues _ how much is too much? when it's $55.8 billion. a judge scraps elon musk�*s record breaking pay day — one that made him the world's richest man — saying the company's board had been "swept up by the rhetoric". also tonight — how to protect children online. bosses of the world's biggest social media firms faced a grilling on capitol hill — about what they're doing to prevent the spread of indecent images. the orphans of gaza — a special report on the 20,000 children who've lost one or both parents — as the war rages on and aid agencies say they're running out of time. and why eltonjohn, taylor swift and the beatles could soon fall silent on tiktok amid a row over payment rights on the social media platform.