hello, i'm caitriona perry. the heads of five of the world's biggest social media firms faced nearly four hours of aggressive questioning at a us senate hearing on child safety online. senators accused the companies of providing platforms for sex offenders and failing to protect minors. meta's mark zuckerberg and his peers insisted that they already have robust protections in place and are investing billions of dollars in safety features. it was a rare chance for us senators to question the tech bosses. but while it created an opportunity to air grievances and offer strident defences — there's been little sign of concrete progress on the issues at play. the bbc�*s technology editor zoe kieinman has more. 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. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for the passage of the kids online safety act — also known as kosa. the bill puts in measures to tackle online bullying and sexual exploitation against minors. if passed, it would also provide safeguards to restrict companies from collecting personal data and allow parents or guardians access to children's privacy and account settings. one of the tech bosses at the hearing, snap�*s evan spiegel, broke ranks with the company's trade group to support the legislation. kosa's co—sponsors, democratic senator richard blumenthal and republican senator, marsha blackburn — have applauded mr spiegel�*s endorsement. none of the other tech execs have come out in support of the bill.

for more on this, i spoke to lori schott. she attended the senate hearing, and has been fighting to hold social media companies accountable after losing her daughter — annalee — to suicide in 2020. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i know it can't be easy and we appreciate you coming in to talk to us about your lovely annalee. you lost her, she was just 18, tell us about her? she was beautiful, tiny, little petite powerhouse. she had joy wherever she went and a pep in her step. she was adored by many, she was very much an old soul. you believe she took her own life because of what she was exposed to online? absolutely, don't hesitate. annalee took her life on 15 november, 2020 and after i heard and read about the whistle—blower

reports, my sons said "do you think that had anything "to do with her demise?" and i got the courage to go down and read herjournals. in herjournals, she had quotes from tiktok, "i might as well "just kill myself," and things about comparing herself to others, "how can, when i look at other girls' "profiles, how could somebody love me when i am this ugly?" i sit there, and it was more content of anxiety and depression and pro—suicide when we were able to get into her phone and her platforms. what are you trying to do to change, to make sure no other parent or family has to go through what you are? i want to be a voice for anna but also other parents who were devastated by what has happened to their children, whether fentanyl poisoning, annalee�*s was more related to mental health, and i think acting upon the online safety act has got to pass. we have to carry this over the finish line. litigation, legislation,

we need to pass kosa. do you think these big tech companies understand the power of what they have and the power it has on young people? i think they know but i think they're hiding behind legal shields because they're afraid of the outcome. i also think that their bottom dollar is more important than our children. our children shouldn't be some product of a click. i think they don't understand the full extent of the pain, until today, when i felt that some of the comments from the senators were harsh and forward and direct were exactly what was needed to be said to them. we saw mark zuckerberg stand up and address you when other families that were there. what did you make of his remarks? i thought it was hollow. i will say a time and time again, it wasn't sincere, spoken as we have lost our most precious asset. he knew what was going on, there was documentation, he knew what was going on and did not stop it. anna might still be here today,

be alive and flourishing, if we were to know what we know now. and what would you say to the members of congress again? they are there today, and the broader group who have the power to pass the act to do something? no more meetings. no more collection of data. no more research. we know what is happening. we need to pass this legislation immediately. no more children deserve to die. will that be enough, the passing of the legislation? it needs to be. if not, litigation. something needs to make them realise our children don't have a price on the head. if there are other families and parents tuning and now in the may have concerns about their sons and daughters, what would you say to them? now that we know as a family what anna was exposed to, i think every parent needs to take notice of a child, their mental health wellbeing, look at their front, realise the depth of what can happen on these platforms.

to see a live suicide on tiktok devastated my daughter. to me, every time i want to get motivated to speak to people like you and the media, i just look at annalee�*s tiktok page in the depression and anxiety posed re constant feed. —— post are just a constant feed. does it give you — it will never replace her, but does it give you any comfort to know you can fight this in her name, a tiny legacy for her? absolutely. her, other children around the world, i don't care, it needs to stop. i can't realise an industry could be so unregulated when other industries like agriculture and energy are regulated. why? why do they get a free pass to do whatever they want for profit? clearly you would like to see them do more themselves, not just this act. sit down at the table. like they said, do you want to interview the parents that were there today and what they went through? make it crystal clear that this is what is hurting our children. every single day. and the grasp on them and their mental health and the addiction they have is devastating.

i never looked at it as a physical addiction but it is a physical addiction, and their algorithms are powerful and dark and evil. thank you so much for coming in to talk to us about the fight about your beautiful annalee. i know it is not easy, and we do appreciate it. thank you so much. and if you want to read more about wednesday's hearing — including those comments by meta's mark zuckerberg — please log on to our website. that's bbc.com orfind us on our app. turning to events in the middle east, and the houthi movement in yemen claims to have struck a us merchant ship in the red sea. us officials have not confirmed the attack. meanwhile, american warplanes have reportedly launched further air strikes in yemen, targetting ten drones that us officials say were preparing to launch. it's the latest in a series of us strikes against houthi fighters, who consider all israeli, us and british ships as legitimate targets, amid israel's war in gaza. this comes against the backdrop of rising tensions in

the broader region — following a deadly drone strike in jordan on sunday. the white house says it blames the iran—backed umbrella group, islamic resistance in iraq for the strike which killed three us troops. president biden says he's decided on a response, but the world is waiting on what form that response will take, and when. to break this all down i spoke with ambassador nathan sales — a former us ambassador—at—large and coordinatorfor counterterrorism who is now senior fellow at the atlantic council. we heard from the president has taken action, this happened on sunday, it's now thursday in the region, would you have expected something before now? these sorts of operations take a better time to put together, you don't lash out emotionally,

you don't lash out emotionally, you react patiently and strategically, but four days is not fully long time and particularly when the message that we've been hearing from the white house is we don't want to escalate, we will respond proportionally, it considered against the backdrop of the other responses against the administration to previous strikes, 165 attacks on american soldiers in the past several months. one begins to wonder, are we going to see a robust response or is it going to be more of the same? what we've seen so far has been typically pinpricks strikes on abandoned facilities in the desert or unattended munitions the pose, not the sort of robust response that's really going to impose meaningful costs on the off of these attacks which is warana. irate costs on the off of these attacks which is warana. we had from the national _ attacks which is warana. we had from the national security - from the national security council today that warning what you see first will be the last action talking about

multifaceted, multi— state responses, what do you think — should look like could look like? ~ ., ., like? above all, we need to seak like? above all, we need to speak the — like? above all, we need to speak the language - like? above all, we need to speak the language that. like? above all, we need to| speak the language that you like? above all, we need to - speak the language that you run understands and you run will not be determined by strikes on proxies, terror proxies that are regards dispensable. —— iran. they hide behind because it does not want to risk open warfare with the united states, with the west, with israel so the most important thing wanted to see from the biden administration is to pierce the veil, to reject the notion that these proxy groups are themselves responsible or are themselves responsible or are themselves acting independently instead, we need to be clear that we hold iran responsible, what that looks like in practice, there will be dozens of options presented to the president and he will have to make a decision about which targets to approve, but they have to be iran. it means, for example, that iranian terror

organisers, for example, in the islamic revolution guard club, they should be targets at the top of the list. there anna rainey and spy vessel does collecting intelligence information that's passing on to the cooties for use of real—time targeting. i don't know what that ship still selling. iii know what that ship still sellina. , ., .,, selling. if they target those sort of iranian _ selling. if they target those sort of iranian owned - selling. if they target those l sort of iranian owned iranians controlled targets, is that increasing the risk of the us being drawn into an all—out conflict with iran? being drawn into an all-out conflict with iran?- being drawn into an all-out conflict with iran? the greater erfihood conflict with iran? the greater likelihood is _ conflict with iran? the greater likelihood is that _ conflict with iran? the greater likelihood is that this - conflict with iran? the greater likelihood is that this kind - conflict with iran? the greater likelihood is that this kind of l likelihood is that this kind of robust response, we established as a deterrent. we can look at history to see how iran response with confronted with powerful displays of american and western military strength, in 1988, ronald reagan sank half of the iranians navy because they have laid minds that ended up damaging an american warship. what they have done now is far, far more escalatory than what they did in 1988, how did iran respond?

timidly, we didn't hear very much after the ships took a troop to the bottom of the ocean. in 2020, the trump administration eliminated terrorist mastermind and after iran lashed out with mrs strikes, it was quiet for a period of time so i think the less we can draw from this is, iran doesn't lash out in response to american strength, it response to american weakness and if we want to restore deterrence as we must, because you want to avoid getting dragged into another war, the way that we do that is the territorians. i5 war, the way that we do that is the territorians.— the territorians. is there a rest for — the territorians. is there a rest for civilians _ the territorians. is there a rest for civilians in - the territorians. is there a rest for civilians in all - the territorians. is there a | rest for civilians in all this? as the beautiful thing about targeting irg see leadership in the region. there are terrorist training camps, they are weapons the poet, not a lot of civilians are common a lot of civilians are common a lot of civilians on iranian warships so obviously, any retaliation by the us want to make sure that we are precise and targeted, not bring iranians civilians into harm's way, you

can do this in a way that targets only the resume elements responsible for this campaign of terrorism. we will wait to see _ campaign of terrorism. we will wait to see what _ campaign of terrorism. we will wait to see what president - wait to see what president biden and his team have decided to do, because a much for joining us. and in another development in the region, israel's prime minister has called for the shutdown of the un agency for palestinian refugees. benjamin netanyahu says the agency, known as unrwa, should be replaced by other aid organisations. unrwa sacked members of its staff following accusations from israel that some of its workers took part in the hamas october 7 attacks. a number of donor countries, the us and uk included, have suspended their funding of the agency. the un has urged that funding to resume. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at a top story in the uk: the british government revealed details of its deal with the democratic unionist party to restore power—sharing to northern ireland.

it will reduce checks on goods moving from great britain to northern ireland — the dup�*s major sticking point after brexit. our correspondent tomas morgan has the view from belfast. so many people working in public services across the country have seen staging strikes over the past few months due to pay conditions. so that was something that was much—needed and what many people here across northern ireland were hoping for. there will be a sense of relief. but there are some critics. some people here, some hard—line unionists, say that this deal has not gone far enough, that what they read between the lines, this is not exactly what they wanted — but nevertheless the leader of the dup, sirjeffrey donaldson, says, well, we have the deal through, it was worth fighting for two years, two years of a cellmate meant that no government has functioned here for two years, two years of a stalemate meant that no government has functioned here in northern ireland and he believes it was worth fighting for this deal and now potentially government will be back in force by friday or saturday. you're live with bbc news.

25 years — that's how long vladimir putin has been in power in russia — either as president or prime minister. and on wednesday, he launched his presidential re—election campaign — in front of an audience of sports stars, musicians, even a cosmonaut. the 71—year—old's victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion — even though he's not running unopposed. our 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's what we're 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'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. 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. he isn't the only candidate in this election. but it's widely believed that 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, russia. meanwhile, russia and ukraine exchanged another large number of prisoners of war on wednesday. ukraine said 207 of its personnel had been freed. while, russia's ministry of defence said it was a straight swap of 195 people from each side. it's the 50th prisoner exchange since russia's full—scale invasion. and it's the first since the crash of a russian military

plane that moscow said was carrying ukrainian prisoners. the cause of that crash remains unknown. now to the front lines of the russia—ukraine war, and in particular the ukrainian town of avdiivka. few people remain there after relentleess bombing by russia. its pre—war population was more than 30,000. now, there arejust over 1,000 people left. many have fled and many have been killed. a special police unit called the white angels goes door—to—door in avdiivka, helping to evacuate the town's remaining civilians. they've shared their filming with the bbc — and our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov has been looking at it. gunfire evacuation from avdiivka is literally a matter this is a special police unit called white angels. they've been turned into first responders to deal with the aftermath of bombings and air strikes. gunfire their mission is to evacuate a wounded woman. they have to

stop the bleeding first. but there's another problem... explosion expletive! . ,, ., ., expletive! ..a russian drone is watching — expletive! ..a russian drone is watching them. _ is watching them. gunfire it dropsa gunfire it drops a grenade aimed at their car, but it misses. explosion their journey explosion theirjourney is full of danger — guided bombs constantly explode nearby. this group of people has just been evacuated from avdiivka. after an hour's drive, they made a quick stop and agreed to speak to the bbc. "my husband was killed when he went to get bread," says this 79—year—old. opportunities to escape from the human graveyard town of avdiivka are rapidly shrinking. russian forces have entered the southern outskirts, and evacuation from there is no longer possible. authorities say that it was only a small

russian sabotage group that managed to reach the town. translation:— managed to reach the town. translation: , �* translation: they didn't enter with serious _ translation: they didn't enter with serious numbers. _ translation: they didn't enter with serious numbers. they - translation: they didn't enter with serious numbers. they had | with serious numbers. they had some certain success, but what everyone is talking about — it's under ukraine's kangaroo control. we are pushing them out. ~ . . control. we are pushing them out. ~ ., ., ,, ., out. ukrainian troops are fiuuhtin out. ukrainian troops are fighting desperately - out. ukrainian troops are fighting desperately to i out. ukrainian troops are i fighting desperately to stop russian attacks around avdiivka, and weapons like this american bradley engaging a russian tank are vital for them. but stocks are worryingly low — $60 billion in military aid for ukraine is stuck and waiting approvalfrom aid for ukraine is stuck and waiting approval from the us congress. as a result, there are massive shortages of ammunition, guns, and spare parts. this is a german tank, and its main purpose is to repair damaged vehicles from the front line. 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.

mechanics from the 47th brigade are now testing their american bradley they have just repaired. it's good to go back to the front line — but without new supplies soon, it is likely to be out of action again. for now, thejob to to be out of action again. for now, the job to defend avdiivka is only getting harder. abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, eastern ukraine. let's turn to some important news around the world. in argentina, protesters have clashed with riot police outside the congress building. legislators inside were debating radical economic reforms proposed by presidentjavier milei. the measures include cuts to public spending and the privatisation of state—owned companies. opposition leaders say they would harm the poorest in society. mr milei argues the reforms would be argentina's best opportunity to reverse decades of economic decline. witnesses in south london have described a "horrific" scene after a mother and her two

girls were doused in their car with a "corrosive substance". three responding police officers and two others were taken to hospital after the attack in clapham on wednesday. one witness told the bbc the mother cried out that she couldn't see. police are searching for the suspect. actor alec baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer halyna hutchins. she was shot dead on the set of the western film rust in 2021. baldwin had been practising firing a pistol for a scene. charges against him were dropped last year, but have been refiled after prosecutors received a new analysis of the gun. before we go, we have the story of what could be the world's most prized — and expensive — napkin. that's because this coveted piece of cloth is where then—13—year—old lionel messi signed his first contract with football club barcelona. it's set to go to auction, with a starting price of $380,000. one month after signing the napkin, messi made his debut

for barcelona. the argentine went on to become the club's record holder in goals scored, and has since been immortalised as one of the best footballers to ever play the game. beautiful game indeed... that's all from the team here in washington, i'm caitriona perry. thank you for watching. do stay with us here on bbc news. take care. bye—bye. 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.

welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. the conflict in sudan that broke out last april has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. about 11 million people have been forced to flee their homes, and more than 13,000 have died. the fighting continues between the sudan armed forces, which is headed by general abdel fattah al—burhan, the de facto president of sudan, and his erstwhile

deputy general, mohamed dagalo — better known as hemedti — who heads the rapid support forces militia, the rsf. my guest is the former prime minister abdalla hamdok, who is playing a significant role in the negotiations. he has signed a deal with hemedti, so does this mean the rsf has effectively won the war? hi, zeinab. abdalla hamdok in abu dhabi, welcome to hardtalk. nearly half of sudan's 49 million strong population