of civilians still living in desperate conditions. you have blood on your hands. you have a product... cheering and applause us politicians accuse some of the world's biggest social media bosses of not doing enough to protect chidren online. and still on the run — the missing monkey in the highlands spotted by a thermal imaging drone. on newsnight at 10.30 — the people of northern ireland should soon have their assembly back, but will the electorate ever forgive and forget two years of stagnation and delay and who will pay the political price if they don't? good evening. scotland's former first minister nicola sturgeon has appeared at the uk covid inquiry in edinburgh to answer questions about how her government handled the pandemic. she became visibly emotional as she admitted that at times she'd felt overwhelmed.

she rejected claims that the decisions she made were politically motivated to try to advance the cause of independence. ms sturgeon also admitted deleting whatsapp messages from her phone. outside the inquiry — some of those bereaved during the pandemic accused nicola sturgeon of crocodile tears. our scotland editor, james cook, is in edinburgh. yes, this was nicola sturgeon as we have rarely seen her before, recalling her role running scotland's government during the pandemic was a raw experience for her. it pandemic was a raw experience for her. . , , ., ., ., ., ., her. it appeared emotional and traumatic times. _ her. it appeared emotional and traumatic times. but _ her. it appeared emotional and traumatic times. but there - her. it appeared emotional and| traumatic times. but there were still some tough questions for to answer. shouting. 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, 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. so nicola sturgeon also talked about her regrets, regrets she said, that perhaps she could have saved more lives during the pandemic and in

particular, regrets about the hundreds of deaths which happened in care homes. and, she also talked about her concerns about her overall approach to covid, whether she could have done anything better. she was really quite reflective in her evidence today, but those questions still remain for her. lots of difficult questions outstanding and for her critics, they say, look, if you didn't have anything to hide, why were those messages deleted? she insists she didn't have anything to hide, but it is hard to prove that when the messages are gone. james cook, thank — when the messages are gone. james cook, thank you. _ russia's president putin has launched his election campaign today, which could see him stay in power until 2036. the election in march comes as the war in ukraine continues. today, russia and ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war, with both sides returning around 200 soldiers and some civilians according to authorities there. in a moment we will have a special

report from our correspondent with the latest from the front lines in eastern ukraine. but first, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, was invited to today's presidential campaign launch in moscow, a star—studded affair near the kremlin. 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's what we're asking for. and we insist that an international investigation is carried out. but there are no international

organizations willing to do this. there were pop stars and cosmonauts, vips for vladimir. their chance to praise putin. he's extraordinary leader, extraordinary. and an opportunity to attack the west. stop picking on us. trying to... ..trying to dissolve russia, trying to destroy russia. i 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. but 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're either in exile or in prison. former tv journalist yekaterina denisova had tried to get on the ballot to challenge president putin. she was calling for peace in ukraine, the release of political prisoners and a humane russia. the authorities barred her from running, claiming her paperwork wasn't in order. translation: i think the political system here sees me as an alien l object and doesn't know what to do with me. because i appeared out of the blue, the system doesn't understand who i am. so it was decided to keep me out of harm's way. ekaterina lives 140 miles from moscow.

many here tell me they see no alternative to vladimir putin. the kremlin has helped engineer that by removing any potential rivals, any real challenges from the political stage. "a new president," ilya says, "might not cope with the burden of governing. but someone experienced like putin could develop our country even in the difficult situation we're in." "there's no one else," says lidia. "maybe putin will find someone sometime, but he'll be ruling for a long time yet." perhaps that's why there's little excitement here about the election. there will be other candidates, but russians already know who will come out on top. steve rosenberg, bbc news, russia. well, intense fighting conitnues in ukraine along the sprawling frontline. for months, russian forces have been trying to capture

this strategic town, avdiivka, near donetsk in the east, a town that ukrainians see as a symbol of resistance. it's severly damaged, yet hundreds of civilians remain there, living in desperate conditions under relentless russian bombardment. a special police unit is trying to help the last people out, many elderly women. from that town, our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov has this report on the evaucation attempts. gunfire. evacuation from avdiivka is literally a matter of life and death. policemen are running out of time to save this wounded woman. and not only because she is bleeding heavily. explosion. she screams. bleep. a russian drone drops a grenade aiming fortheir car. it just misses. "hurry up — a drone is hovering above," an officer shouts. gennady and dmitri'sjob is to help

civilians facing daily bombardments and air strikes. they are the white angels, a special police unit in avdiivka, a front line town in eastern ukraine. they gave me their footage from the past month inside the town. it shows how people survive in desperate conditions. the town is being razed to the ground, and yet some residents are still willing to stay. gennady begs this old lady to leave the town. this is her answer.

"let me die here," she says. in some cases, they use the help of a person's relatives, and sometimes it works. "we've come here and they're refusing to go," he says. "mum, please go," the voice on the other end begs the woman. "what if dad dies after we leave? "what will i do?" she asks. eventually, the woman's daughter manages to convince her to leave. opportunities to escape are slipping away. small russian groups have already entered the southern outskirts of the town and evacuation from there is no longer possible. ukrainian troops are desperately trying to stop russian attacks around avdiivka, but they are running out of supplies as military aid has decreased. as a result, there are huge shortages of ammunition, guns and spare parts. this is a german bergepanzer, and its main purpose is to evacuate

its track and road wheels are broken. but because there are not enough spare parts, this group has to scavenge. they're taking the track from the other vehicle and putting it on this one. for now, the ukrainian forces are holding on in avdiivka, but those residents who refuse to leave the town may soon no longer have a choice. abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, eastern ukraine. the heads of some of the world's biggest social media companies have been grilled by politicians in the us senate, who've accused them of not doing enough to protect children from harm online. one senator told the heads of meta, tiktok, x, snap and discord that they had blood on their hands. the head of meta, mark zuckerberg, insisted they were investing billions in safety and trust. here's our technology editor, zoe kleinman. today's vast social media empires are managed

by a handful of big names — meta, snap, tiktok, discord and x. their bosses faced angry lawmakers in washington for a tense grilling about why children continue to be exposed to harm on their platforms. as a mother, this is personal and i share the sense of urgency. words cannot begin to express the profound sorrow i feel that a service we designed to bring people happiness and joy has been abused to cause harm. it may have been heartfelt, but the senators weren't buying it. mr zuckerberg, you and the companies i before us, i know you don't mean it i to be so, but you have blood on your hands. _ mark zuckerberg from meta, which owns facebook and instagram, came under the heaviest fire. these results may contain images of child sexual abuse, and then you gave users two choices — get resources, or see results anyway.

mr zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking? all right, senator, the basic science behind that is that when people are searching for something that is problematic, it's often helpful to, rather thanjust blocking it, to help direct them towards something that could be helpful for getting them to get help. i understand 'get resources'. in what sane universe is there l a link for 'see results anyway'?! while tiktok�*s shou zi chew faced tough questions about china. your platform is basically an espionage arm for the chinese communist party. why should you not be banned in the united states of america? senator, i disagree with your characterisation. many of what you have said, we have explained in a lot of detail. tiktok is used by 170 million americans. also in the room were devastated parents who'd lost their children to online harms. mark zuckerberg stood to address them. continue doing industry —leading efforts to make sure that no one has

to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer. for ages, the us has had plenty of proposed legislation aimed at tackling the problem, but none of it's got over the line. it's clear that the tech firms' toolkits aren't working well enough either, and parents are struggling to cope. one parent summed up to a senator how helpless they felt. "it's like a tap is overflowing and all we've got is a mop." zoe kleinman, bbc news. a ali—year old man has been charged with the murders of two teenagers in bristol. anthony snook will appear before magistrates tomorrow. 15—year—old mason rist and 16—year—old max dixon were killed in the knowle west area of the city on saturday. this evening, members of the local community gathered to release hundreds of balloons in memory of the boys. the number of confirmed cases of measles in the west midlands has doubled within three weeks, according to the latest figures. the region is experiencing its worst outbreak of the disease in three

decades, and it accounts for three quarters of all confirmed cases in england during this latest outbreak. phil mackie has been speaking to one couple about how measles affected their son. this is how measles can affect a little child. ezra barrett is just four months old. you ok? he coughs. this was him three weeks ago. he probably caught measles during a trip to a soft play area. he was so young, he hadn't been vaccinated. he spent six days in hospital. his parents said he looked like an octopus, with all the wires coming out of him. his temperature was up all the time. he just wasn't himself, he was crying a lot. wasn't feeding, temperature was high. obviously looked very ill because of his skin. quite scared, really, because,

you know, with him being so young, and we were just worried that, you know, was he strong enough to kind of fight it off? thankfully, ezra's fine now. like most people who get measles, he has made a good recovery. efforts are being made to persuade vulnerable groups to get protected. the outbreak is worse in birmingham, where the vaccination rate for under fives is just 75%. ideally it should be over 95. in most parts of england there have been a handful of cases. there has been a small outbreak in yorkshire, a slightly bigger one in london, but by far the biggest is in the west midlands, where 75% of all confirmed cases have been. so these two are a really good example of why the vaccine is important. ezra was too young to have the firstjab, he caught measles and was very ill. noah, being a little bit older, had had the firstjab. even though measles is incredibly infectious, he didn't get it. it's why their parents want to share what happened. we want other people to, you know, understand that this

is kind of a growing thing, especially in the west midlands, where it's at its highest, and we just want parents to take it seriously, because it's notjust affecting your child, you could affect other families. just trying to get your children vaccinated if it is possible, just because when children are together it is so contagious. although measles can lead to serious complications, ezra is back to being a happy smiling baby. phil mackie, bbc news. the 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 made after brexit. our political editor, chris mason, has been looking at detail and joins us now from westminster. chris.

good evening point of this boils down to the complexities of northern ireland politics colliding with the complexity is a brexit point of the peace process demands an open border, a soft border, between northern ireland in the uk and the republic of ireland in the eu but brexit is all about different rules and borders, so this long—running row is all about trying to square that circle. four years ago tonight, the uk left the european union. brexit happened. you're looking right now at one of the flashpoints ever since. the brexit deal led to complications for trade within the uk, between northern ireland and england, scotland and wales. this evening, the dup leader and the northern ireland secretary have been giving the latest plan to sort it out the big sell. the government is committed to delivering this deal swiftly so that we can build a brighter future for northern ireland within the united kingdom.

it's now time for elected representatives in northern ireland to come together. this agreement is something we have worked hard to deliver for the people of northern ireland. this is our achievement after two years of hard work and negotiation. so, what is in this new plan for bringing power—sharing back to stormont? safeguarding the union is an 80—page deluge of attempted reassurance for those who worry that brexit has diluted northern ireland's place in the uk. making trade easier is the core promise. there'll be no routine checks on goods crossing from great britain to northern ireland and a guarantee northern ireland goods can be sold in great britain in all circumstances. a so—called east—west council will be set up to try to bind northern ireland into uk—wide trade and co—operation. and uk law will be tweaked to emphasise that changes to eu law

that impact northern ireland can be scrutinised and voted on by stormont. earlier, mps debated the plan and look at this — labour has worked with the government on it 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. i this is a result of this i spineless, weak—kneed, brexit—betraying government, refusing to take on the eu - and its interferencej in northern ireland. and some conservative mps still have concerns, too. there will be much to welcome in the papers published today and we'll need to scrutinise them carefully in the 30 or so hours before we're going to be

asked to vote on them. but one thing we know that they don't contain is a removal of northern ireland from 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'm very glad to see it. i also think we're about to see something very significant. we'll have the first ever 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. first, more debate here tomorrow and those changes in the law and one final thing, those changes in the law and one finalthing, northern those changes in the law and one final thing, northern ireland is in a closer relationship with the eu than the rest of the uk and that

will prompt debate and discussion and argument for years to come, with or without devolution. chris mason, thank you. while we've been on air the london fire brigade has said it's dealing with a serious incident in south london in which nine people — our correspondent, ellie price, is here. we have heard from the metropolitan police that a suspected corrosive substance was to honour people in lambeth and there were three victims, a woman and two young children have been taken to hospital for treatment and three other people, all adults, for treatment and three other people, alladults, have for treatment and three other people, all adults, have also been taken to hospital with injuries they sustained when they came to their aid. we don't know any update on their conditions but they say that three police officers have been taken to hospital as they responded to the incident. the police are calling it a horrific incident which took place in lambeth shortly before 7:30pm this evening. no arrests have been made so far and the national police air service, we are told, is

assisting in the search for the perpetrator. are not many details at the moment but nine people have been taken to hospital, of which a woman and her two young children who were allegedly attacked by a suspected corrosive substance thrown at them in south london. the drone footage of the monkey on the run in the highlands has been released. strong winds today hampered the ongoing search but this is what was filmed yesterday by the thermal—imaging drone. it spotted the japanese macack which escaped from a highland wildlife park at the weekend. it was seen just south of aviemore, but evaded capture. keepers at the highland wildlife park are hoping the monkey will make its own way home soon, to rejoin the troop. dry january is almost over. if you're one of a growing number of drinkers who's been taking part, you can finally have a drink tomorrow. unless, that is, you've been converted, like many others, to alcohol—free drinks. danjohnson has been

investigating the trend. 7 are you ready. yes! _ fantastic. if you found dry january an endurance test... these keys will unlock your escape door. - ..try the challenge at this bristol escape room. push open the door! a different kind of lock—in. who is trying dryjanuary? and who doesn't drink anyway? these work colleagues are bonding but not drinking. idid it. you did it? i have done the whole 31 days, so i am going to celebrate tomorrow with a drink. what have you got in mind? prosecco, always prosecco. cut the alcohol out, maybe lose a bit of weight with it because it is quite... but i haven't seen any difference there at all! this is my fifth dryjanuary. ijust woke up one morning and said, that's it, no more, _ and i haven't had a drop since. i see a lot of people with problems with alcoholism so to me, i think it is a brilliant idea, if people can do it and stick to it

because it is hard to do, isn't it? personally, i have had more of a dampjanuary but if you have seen it through, well done, not long to go now. but it has meant many pubs have been pretty quiet. clear head, is that a promise? it is a promise, it will guarantee you a clear head. but there is hope. as more of us choose low and zero alcohol options, sales are up. about double the amount of pints injanuary compared to 2023. so it looks like the real thing, tastes like the real thing? tastes like the real thing. brewed actually with more effort and more time than any other beer we make. so finally, freedom. i am never doing that again, never, ever. i it is easier to do it as a group, you know, if you have got people who want to give up as well, then you can kind of do it as a team. it has been a long month, yeah! it is easier when you have got - someone to do it with you, i think. but you are not carrying on?

no, no, definitely not! that would be silly! danjohnson, bbc news, bristol. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. it looks like it is going to be a wet february whether you are drinking or not! we wet february whether you are drinking or not!— wet february whether you are drinking or not! wet february whether you are drinkin: or not! ~ . ., , ., ., drinking or not! we certainly had a wet end to — drinking or not! we certainly had a wet end to january _ drinking or not! we certainly had a wet end to january for _ drinking or not! we certainly had a wet end to january for some, - drinking or not! we certainly had a wet end to january for some, very| wet end to january for some, very wet end to january for some, very wet in the north of uk and also very windy in parts of northern scotland with guts close to 80 mph however thatis with guts close to 80 mph however that is nothing compared with the winds have seen further north than that opened this is the culprit, this cloud which is storm ingunn, named by the norwegian weather service because of the effect it will have in norway but in the faroe islands today we had gus over 120 mph, reports of gusts up to 150 mph and right now, as that storm moved to the west coast of norway, a short time ago we had a gust of 115 mph so the weather here looks positively tame in comparison. and through the night, we will lose the rain from

the south, a few wintry showers in the south, a few wintry showers in the west of scotland, a touch of frost for some with temperatures getting close to freezing but tomorrow we start the day on a pretty quiet note, some good spells of sunshine around. expect layers of high cloud in the sky, turning the sunshine hazy and some thick cloud in northern england, northern ireland and scotland in the afternoon, reigning western scotland and again but not as windy yesterday. temperatures up much of a muchness, 8—10 . the rain in scotland comes courtesy of this warm front which will push its way north—eastward and on friday we will be in what we call a warm sector, essentially a wedge warm or at least very mild airand essentially a wedge warm or at least very mild air and not only will be mild but also very moist point of this south—westerly direction, expect a lot of cloud, some bits and pieces of rain, the best chance of any breaks in the east to the east of high ground where the winds will also be quite gusty but look at temperatures, 1a degrees so certainly a mild starting february and staying very mild as we head

into the weekend, highs of 15 degrees from often cloudy with a little bit of rain at times. thanks, ben. and that's bbc news at ten. newsnight is just getting underway on bbc two, with kirsty wark. on bbc one, it's time tojoin our colleagues for the news where you are. goodnight.