the white house is the death. the white house is the islamic resistance _ death. the white house is the islamic resistance and - death. the white house is the islamic resistance and arrival. islamic resistance and arrival carry out the drone strike that killed three us soldiers in jordan we look at what the us response might look like. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. we begin in washington where the heads of some of the world's biggest social media companies were grilled by politicians in the us senate. they've accused the internet bosses 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 before us, i know you don't mean it 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 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. victoria elliott at a wired magazine in new york told me more about the questions faced. a lot of the senators took the opportunity while they were grilling their ceos to highlight the various legislation that they themselves are backing, whether themselves are backing, whether the online safety act or the attempts to repeal section at 230 which is the law that allows tech companies do not be

held liable for user generated content on their platforms. i think you are correct that so far we have not necessarily seen legislation across the line but none of the ceo is necessarily are willing to see the outright oppose them that they are willing to work with senators to try to make them more feasible, more incommensurable, and i think part of that is issues across the political spectrum are part of it is also that i think many times when these pieces of legislation are being written, they are not necessarily done with an eye towards the systems that the companies had in place and how they might be implemented and that is partly because a lot of the ways these companies way, it is a black box, the systems are algorithms that do not necessarily make them public. it is hard to scrutinise them. one of the proposals i did here today was for some sort of oversight body for some sort of oversight body for these companies that might actually be able to better understand these types of systems that the platforms have

in place. no, nothing has gone over the line yet and i think despite a lot of the public pressure, that may still be unlikely. pressure, that may still be unlikely-— pressure, that may still be unlikel. ., ~' unlikely. moving to tiktok, the ceo said his — unlikely. moving to tiktok, the ceo said his company - unlikely. moving to tiktok, the ceo said his company had - unlikely. moving to tiktok, the ceo said his company had not. ceo said his company had not been asked for any data by the chinese government and they never provided it. what is the main concern the committee has with tiktok and its relationship with china? obviously, bytedance is a chinese company and there was concern that us user data could be used by the chinese government, the fact that in china, the relationship between business and the government is much more fluid than other countries. that is obviously a concern. tiktok has for its part, that it is setting up separate centres within the us were not of the us user data will be mingled, the ccp will have access to it. whether or not that is true or whether or not that is true or whether or not they will be visible in the long run moraines to be seen. i

do think that — we have seen also that tiktok has staffed up also that tiktok has staffed up a lot of its roles, probably to handle communicating with legislators and dealing with possible regulation that they may face because they are chinese company and because many us legislators perceive it as a security risk. just quickly. _ as a security risk. just quickly, there - as a security risk. just quickly, there are - as a security risk. just i quickly, there are many families inside the room is their loved ones were harmed by social media. what impacted their presence have a proceedings? fix, their presence have a proceedings? their presence have a -~roceedins? ., , proceedings? a really arresting moments was _ proceedings? a really arresting moments was in _ proceedings? a really arresting moments was in one _ proceedings? a really arresting moments was in one of- proceedings? a really arresting moments was in one of the - moments was in one of the senators asked mark zuckerberg to turn around and apologise to these families. obviously it is a moment of political theatre but also sort of a very symbolic moment in one of the things that legislators really did do a good job of it is these companies like to talk about how their products do not necessarily cause harm on population levels, seeing based on our data, we are not seeing

real harm to 99%, 95%, very large percentage of users, but i think there is something incredibly powerful about seeing a movie on a population level, and a global level, we are not seeing harms as a degree that might be as a massive percentage that michael is concerned but that doesn�*t change the fact that even if it is a small percentage of users who were harmed, those are real people and those are real lives, and i think having the families in the room was probably very salient to the point. probably very salient to the oint, ., ,., , ., probably very salient to the oint. ., , ., ., ~ , point. thousands of workers in south-east _ point. thousands of workers in south-east asia _ point. thousands of workers in south-east asia being - point. thousands of workers in south-east asia being working i south—east asia being working conditions are so hot that their life to be put at risk, according to uk research. the study of workers in cambodia, the first was canon the bottom highlight the risks they climate change will post to those already struggling in hot countries. the bbc also discovered that conditions in cambodia is kilns are even more toxic. our correspondent gained a rare access to the industry for this report. the names of

the workers she spoke to have been changed to protect them. workers in cambodia was a red factories are trapped in a never—ending cycle of heat. production really stops. researchers secretly recorded workers a body temperature, in some cases, it was life—threatening lehi. here is intense, it is oppressive. the only way i can describe it as being an oven. the fire isjust behind these bricks. they spend hours at a time. this is not just about brick kiln workers here cambodia, there are hundreds of thousands of people who work in kilns right across and southern asia. for whom a tiny degree of temperature change can be in the difference between life and death. translation: it between life and death. translation:- between life and death. translation: , ~ ., ~ translation: it is like working as a burning _ translation: it is like working as a burning prison _ translation: it is like working as a burning prison and - translation: it is like working as a burning prison and it - translation: it is like working as a burning prison and it is - as a burning prison and it is so hot. it impacts our internal

organs. i have asked of the owner to provide us with more, but they do not do it. they are afraid of spending on electricity.— afraid of spending on electrici . , ., electricity. last year was the hottest on — electricity. last year was the hottest on record, _ electricity. last year was the hottest on record, and - hottest on record, and researchers fear climate change is placing the most vulnerable in an everyday state of emergency. in an everyday state of emergency-— in an everyday state of emergency. in an everyday state of emeruen . , .,, ., ., emergency. the people who are most vulnerable _ emergency. the people who are most vulnerable socially, - most vulnerable socially, economically, will tend to be the people who are also most vulnerable to climate change. what we need to do is consider how climate change impacts people through the lens of labour and inequality, and recognise that labour exploitation is a majorfactor in the worst impact of climate change. in in the worst impact of climate chance. ., ,., ., in the worst impact of climate chane. ., ,., ., ., in the worst impact of climate chance. ., ,., ., ., , change. in cambodia, heat is not the only _ change. in cambodia, heat is not the only problem. - change. in cambodia, heat is| not the only problem. mother change. in cambodia, heat is i not the only problem. mother of two scoops up a mix of fabric, plastic and rubber to keep the fires burning. some are factory owners use piles of waste from

the garment industry instead of wood to save money. the fumes are toxic. this is against protocol major western brands. we found labels from the disney store, h&m, among others. all promised the bbc would investigate. no matter how toxic or hot the kilns become, this woman can never leave. the owners paid off her debts as she and her children are trapped. translation: we she and her children are trapped. translation: we have a debt with them. _ trapped. translation: we have a debt with them. if _ trapped. translation: we have a debt with them. if we _ trapped. translation: we have a debt with them. if we live, - trapped. translation: we have a debt with them. if we live, we - debt with them. if we live, we are afraid of being arrested and imprisoned. we must struggle here. if they ask us to enter the fire, we will do it. a. to enter the fire, we will do it. ~ ., ., y to enter the fire, we will do it. ~ ., ., , ., to enter the fire, we will do it. a ma'ority of brick workers were it. a majority of brick workers were farmers, _ it. a majority of brick workers were farmers, forced - it. a majority of brick workers were farmers, forced to - it. a majority of brick workers i were farmers, forced to migrate after drought devastated their crops, driving them into debt. they earn so little that the debt will never be repaid. the

kilns of cambodia have fed the capitals construction boom, but as the capital register was this guy, it has left behind those who helped build it. vladimir putin has a phrase a group of russian veterans who have reached the outskirts of the heavily damaged town near ukrainian city of unesco. hundreds of remain there, living in desperate conditions under relentless bombardment. a special police unit is trying to help the last people out, merely elderly women. from our town, our correspondent has this special report. it is literally a matter of life and death. policemen are running out of time to save this wounded woman. not only because he is bleeding heavily. a

russian drone drops a grenade, aiming fortheir carand russian drone drops a grenade, aiming for their car and just misses. translation: aiming for their car and 'ust misses. translation: hurry up! these man's— misses. translation: hurry up! these man's job _ misses. translation: hurry up! these man's job is _ misses. translation: hurry up! these man's job is to _ misses. translation: hurry up! these man's job is to help - these man�*sjob is to help civilians everything delhi by barbers and air strikes. they are the white angels, a special police unit. they really frontline town and is ukraine. they gave me the footage from the past month inside the town. it shows how people survive in desperate conditions. the town is being raised to the ground and yet some residents are still willing to stay. they beg this old lady to leave the town. this is her answer. in

some cases, the use the help of the persons relative and sometimes it works. we have come here and they are refusing to go, he says. mum, please, 90, to go, he says. mum, please, go, the voice on the other end bags. what if they die after we leave? what will i do? she asks. eventually, her daughter manages to convince her to leave. opportunities us gave us slipping away. small russian groups have already entered the southern outskirts of the town. immigration from there is no longer possible. ukrainian troops are desperately trying to stop russian attacks. they

are running out of supplies as military aid has decreased. as a result, there are shortages of ammunition, guns and spare parts. this tanks main purpose is to vacate damaged vehicles from the frontline. it�*s road wheels are broken. because there were not enough spare parts, the group has to scavenge. they take meechai from the other vehicle put it on this one. from the other vehicle put it for now, the ukrainian forces are holding on in avdiivka, avdiivka, but those residents who refuse to leave the town may soon no longer have a choice. abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, eastern ukraine. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news.

scotland�*s former first minister nicola sturgeon fought back tears at the uk covid inquiry in edinburgh, admitting that at times she�*d felt overwhelmed during the pandemic. nine people, including a woman and her two young children, have been taken to hospital after what police called a "corrosive substance" was thrown in south london. a man was seen fleeing the incident in lambeth. three police officers, who responded to the incident, sustained what are believed to be minor injuries. scotland�*s former first minister nicola sturgeon fought back tears at the uk covid inquiry in edinburgh, admitting that at times she�*d felt overwhelmed during the pandemic. 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. the first 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 macaque which escaped from a highland wildlife park at the weekend. it was seen just south of aviemore, but evaded capture. you�*re live with bbc news.

the white house says the drone strike carried out which killed us soldiers... the us department said actions speak louder than words. the us has hinted an armed response may come in several waves. earlier i spoke to a senior fellow and director of the iran programme. i asked him why this militia is committed to not attacking us forces anymore. i committed to not attacking us forces anymore.— forces anymore. i think the reason is — forces anymore. i think the reason is they _ forces anymore. i think the reason is they fear - forces anymore. i think the reason is they fear major . reason is they fear major american retaliation. they basically promised to suspend these attacks which have been going on since october 18. to date we are talking about 166

attacks in iraq and syria but this time, as we just heard, you had three american soldiers killed, so we entered a new chapter, essentially and that is why there is an element of panic, notjust among the iraqi militants behind the attack but also, if you will, the islamic republic of iran which seems to be responsible and behind many of these groups. the iranians are busy distancing themselves from these groups. help are busy distancing themselves from these groups.— from these groups. help us understand _ from these groups. help us understand the _ from these groups. help us understand the term - from these groups. help us understand the term to - from these groups. help us understand the term to the | understand the term to the embarrassment of the iraqi government?— embarrassment of the iraqi government? embarrassment of the iraqi covernment? ., , government? that could well be the case but _ government? that could well be the case but the _ government? that could well be the case but the reality - government? that could well be the case but the reality is - government? that could well be the case but the reality is the i the case but the reality is the iraqi central government is a relatively weak one. these militant groups and there are a number of them in iraq are within the iraqi state and they have plenty of independent

process with armed branches with political agendas. that could be the case. the iraqi government however is not in a position to override what the iranians regime wants to achieve in terms of using these groups in the region. principally israel but also the united states. the decision is more likely to reflect the run�*s wishes to de—escalate and not invite american retaliation. —— iran. not invite american retaliation. -- iran. do you think the — retaliation. -- iran. do you think the biden _ retaliation. -- iran. do you . think the biden administration will believe this statement? it has promised a response to the killing of the three us soldiers?— soldiers? the biden administration - soldiers? the biden administration has| soldiers? the biden l administration has no soldiers? the biden - administration has no choice but to do something. president biden is already in an election cycle and plenty of critics saying if he had acted earlier,

this would not have happened under three soldiers would be alive today. as they have been escalating since october in terms of pushing gradually in various theatres from the red sea with the actions of the houthi, so this is an important point, politically speaking president biden is in an awkward position and needs to retaliate. the reality is, he does not really want to go to while with iraq and so when they make that claim, it is genuine. ——to walk with iran but you have to create deterrence, you cannot have american troops being targets for militants. the american public opinion will not stand for it and it would force any american president to take forceful action otherwise they would be in trouble, regardless of you that president is in the white house.

the bill will mean much of the argentinian state will be privatised. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has called for the main un humanitarian relief agency for palestinians to be shutdown. he told visiting delegates unrwa should be replaced by other aid agencies. israel has accused at least 12 staff members of taking part in the hamas attacks on 7 october. the un has fired several members of staff in response to the allegatins and says an investigation is under way. youtube has terminated the channel of an evangelist after weeks of investigations by the bbc and open a democracy focused on widespread sexual abuse and torture by the preacher. the church is not commented but says previous

allegations of wrongdoing have been unfounded. a court in india has given permission for hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the northern city of varanasi. hindu activists, who are supported by the prime minister narendra modi, believe the 17th century mosque replaced an earlier temple dedicated to the deity shiva. it�*s the latest example of hindu groups claiming access to muslim sites of worship they say were built over ancient temples. myanmar�*s miliaryjunta has extended a state of emergency for six more months, delaying the promised elections by another six months. the acting president said the extension was so that the junta could continue combating what he called "terrorists". myanmar�*s military government has been severely weakened by a series of victories scored by armed ethnic groups in recent months. scot marciel, former us ambassador to myanmar, from stanford california. i spoke to him earlier and he told me why he�*s not surprised ijy told me why he�*s not surprised by the state of emergency the

country. what you have seen since the military coup three years ago is what i would call a national uprising. where the overwhelming majority of the population which hates the military, has been working to force the military out of power. some with weapons, some with other means. i think initially people thought the military would quickly suppress it, but as it turned out, the military has struggled. it seems to be in retreat, morale is low. the economy is very bad. there is a dollar shortage banking crisis and the resistance seems to have the momentum. the resistance made a variety of groups, ethnic groups, international unity government is working hard to try to increase cooperation and coordination among themselves, including with a very important statement issued by the national unity government into three of the armed resistance groups just today. while internalforces in myanmar try to unify,

is there more the international community could be doing to build bring more stability to myanmar? yeah. first recognised the military junta is incapable of bringing stability to the country. that has been proven. the only hope is for the military to be forced out of power. what the international community can do is double down on efforts to squeeze the military financially, to pressure the military into making huge political concessions and offer more support for the forces that are trying to build democracy and federalism, including financial assistance, but also diplomatic support. what are your views on the responses from china and the us to this crisis. arguably, china could have potentially the most influence on what happens in myanmar. tight, i think china has so far back to the militaryjunta although i do not think it is wedded to them in any way. i think there is increasing

signs of the militaryjunta, that china is concerned about their inability to restore stability. so one would hope that china would back away from supporting thejunta. the united states has been rhetorically and to some extent diplomatically very supportive of the resistance, but has not actually put a lot of effort or resources and, to its credit, it has imposed a number of sanctions against the military, but i think there is more it could do. now for something completely different. 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 thousands of people to unload their woes on elmo, saying they weren�*t ok at all. the character responded he is glad he asked. if you like to know more about the responses

coming in to elbow, head over to our website. you can even see responses from the cookie monster as well as a president joe biden. back in a moment. hello. a powerful storm passed to the north of the uk on wednesday — storm ingunn, named by the norwegian weather service. across the faro islands, it brought wind gusts in excess of 120mph. then it slammed into the west coast of norway with gusts of more than 100mph. there�*s our storm system moving away as we head into thursday. now, across shetland, we saw wind gusts of 78mph, but even those winds have been easing a little. and through thursday, it�*s a quieter day ahead. some hazy sunshine, dry for many, still quite windy up towards the north, but not as windy as it has been. some wintry showers across

the northwest of scotland. and a touch of frost for some of us first thing. for the majority, we�*ll see spells of hazy sunshine with high cloud streaming across the sky. thicker cloud into northern england, northern ireland and scotland, with rain returning to the northwest of scotland later. temperatures across the board, eight, nine or ten degrees. now during thursday evening and overnight, we�*ll see this band of rain pushing across the north of scotland. behind that, we see lots and lots of cloud filtering in from the west. it�*ll turn really misty and murky for coasts and hills, some spots of drizzle. but look at these temperatures by the end of the night, by the start of friday morning, some spots up in double digits. that�*s because we will be between these two weather fronts — between this warm front and this cold front in what we call a warm sector — a wedge of very warm or at least very mild air. but these south—westerly winds, not only mild, also laden with moisture. so, a lot of cloud on friday, some mist and murk for western coasts and hills, where there will also be some bits and pieces of rain.

best chance of any sunshine to the east of higher ground, although the winds here will be pretty gusty. but look at the afternoon temperatures — 13, 1a. we may see highs of 15 celsius. now during friday night, we see a weak cold front pushing its way southwards. that will bring a lot of cloud. it will bring some bits and pieces of showery rain. nothing much, really, on this weather front to look at for saturday. to the south of it, we�*re still in that very mild but rather cloudy and damp regime. to the north of the weather front, something a little bit brighter, but with some showers still not particularly cold. temperatures north to south, 7 to 1a celsius. into sunday, mild air, ifanything, pushes northwards again. a lot of clouds and bits and pieces of rain. highs of 1a celsius.

an interest rate cut is coming but notjust yet. the us federal reserve pours cold water on the hopes of rate—weary americans. plus... mr zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, i know you don�*t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. social media bosses face the heat in a senate hearing on child safety online. we�*ll have the details. hello and welcome to asia business report. i�*m steve lai. we begin in the us where

the federal reserve held interest rates steady leaving them at a 23—year high. with inflation cooling and solid economic growth, the question on the minds of many economists, consumers and businesses was when the central bank might start cutting rates. but the guidance offered by the fed chairjerome powell disappointed those on wall street who were hoping for a rate cut as soon as march. powell�*s warning that it is unlikely the central bank will be in a position to lower borrowing costs at its next meeting sent shares lower, with the dow losing more than 300 points and the nasdaq down by more than 2%. from new york, here�*s the bbc�*s north america business correspondent michelle fleury. the fourth meeting in a row, the federal reserve did not raise interest rates. this is the longest pause since policymakers began their aggressive rate campaign to tame inflation back in march of 2022. but for rate weary americans, well, they will likely have to wait a few more months to see any relief,

given these comments by the federal chair.