hello, i'm sally bundock, welcome to the programme. 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. lori scott lost her daughter, annalee, to suicide in 2020, and has been fighting to hold social media companies accountable ever since. she attended the senate hearing and told my colleague, catriona perry, how it went. 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 we saw mark zuckerberg stand up and address you and 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. you knew what was going on, there was documentation, you 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. live now to michael malone, veteran silicon valley journalist and host of the silicon insider podcast. good to talk to you. for viewers in the uk, they would remember the case of molly russia, 14 years old into thousand i7 russia, 14 years old into thousand 17 she took her life and her parents have been

campaigning for changes. ——in 2017. molly was looking at lots of things on instagram about suicide etc. what did you make of this hearing?— of this hearing? note that day, 2017 and nothing _ of this hearing? note that day, 2017 and nothing has _ of this hearing? note that day, l 2017 and nothing has happened. in fact, mark zuckerberg has beenin in fact, mark zuckerberg has been in front of congress eight times now and this is the first times now and this is the first time that i felt it did not make a full out of the congressmen because senators finally came prepared but until now, they really had not understood the technology or its impact or its underlying philosophy. this time they came loaded and if they brought with them parents, parents who had suffered deeply, who had their children's lies ruined or even ended, because of the nature of social platforms. people forget, these things were designed to monetise human beings. they are not there to

help you... beings. they are not there to help yom - -— beings. they are not there to help you... the question is, it was extremely _ help you... the question is, it was extremely powerful - help you... the question is, it was extremely powerful as . help you... the question is, it| was extremely powerful as you said, these bosses were grilled for more than four hours in what was unusual is we saw the senate in unison on the fees. no matter the political party they were representing. ——0n they were representing. ——on this. we have seen on the uk that services act come into force, in europe as well, helping to protect users whether children or adults. what about in the us? i think the only thing that will change is when these folks get hung from the congress. they always seem to add a few more protections right before their appearance, which hasjust appearance, which has just happened appearance, which hasjust happened in the last couple of weeks. will congress do anything? it is interesting that we saw a bipartisan

response, that is a pretty rare, so something could happen and this is an election year and this is an election year and both parties are trying to get signal legislation passed in order to the good among voters, but for now, unless users actually fight back more, i am not sure anything will change very quickly. mark zuckerberg apologised to parents but he did not agree to make any changes. find parents but he did not agree to make any changes.— parents but he did not agree to make any changes. and also when he was grilled _ make any changes. and also when he was grilled about _ he was grilled about compensation, he did not have an answer to that either. good to get your take on this. michael malone, thank you. just to say, in our business coverage we will look at this in more detail, to what extent the business model of these huge tech giants could be impacted or changed as a consequence of what we just saw. all that coming a little later.

police are still searching for a man accused of attacking a family with a corrosive substance in south london. multiple people were taken to hospital after the attack in clapham on wednesday evening. witnesses say a man fled the scene after throwing the substance into a car. our correspondent ellie price has been at the scene. the metropolitan police here in london have described this as a horrific incident. what we understand happen is that a woman and her two young children had a suspected corrosive substance thrown at them. you can see behind me, it happen down the street at about 7:30. a witness said he had a car pull up, some shouting and then some screaming. he ran out and he says the suspect ran away. eyewitnesses followed him but he could not keep up with him because he was wearing just slippers. the women and two

children were taken to hospital. 0ther children were taken to hospital. other people who tried to help were also taken to hospital, having suffered some minor injuries and three police officers were also taken to hospital. in what has been described as a suspected corrosive substance thrown at these people. ellie price reporting. the us military says it's destroyed ten attack drones and a ground control station in its latest operation against the iranian—backed houthi movement in yemen. us central command said the drones presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the us navy ships in the region. it's as the houthi movement in yemen claims to have struck a us merchant ship in the red sea in a fresh attack targeting commercial shipping. it's named the ship as the koi, which it said was us—operated. the maritime security firm ambrey said a vessel operating south of the yemeni port of aden had reported an explosion on board but did not specify whether it was the same vessel.

the white house has blamed an iran—backed militia for a deadly drone strike on an american base injordan. national security council spokesmanjohn kirby said us intelligence believed the islamic resistance in iraq was responsible for sunday's attack. the strike killed three us soldiers — all from the state of georgia. the national guard confirmed at least 41 guardsmen were also injured in the attack on a us logistics support facility in northeast jordan. presidentjoe biden says he has decided on what the us response will be to the deadly strike. with me is bbc arabic�*s mohamed taha. good morning to you. let's just start with what we have been hearing about what has been going on in yemen. as ever, it

is a little bit unclear. the war is still _ is a little bit unclear. the war is still intensifying. l is a little bit unclear. tue: war is still intensifying. the americans hit ten yemeni drones and some ballistic missiles and also they targeted a military post and in sanaa in retaliation of us ships being targeted. there are exchanges between both parties. the international alliance led by the us and the yemeni authorities led by the houthi stop there was expectation of possible deal which would bring a pause to hostilities. exchange of hostages with prisoners in israeli prisons. where are we at with that? how

where are we at with that? now there are some _ where are we at with that? ttrm-h" there are some contradictions in statements related to that truth. the statements coming from the united states were that kantari and americans have been negotiating indicating if this truth is eminent. qatari. that both parties are in agreement of this truth, that it would last for two months and that there would be exchange of israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners and during these two months there would be talks regarding long—term truce or a ceasefire even or even a longer solution to the conflict in the middle east. however, benjamin netanyahu last night came and said that any solution would not include the withdrawal of

the israeli forces from gaza, would not increase the release of any palestinian prisoners, would not include the end of the war, which is contradicting the war, which is contradicting the core values of any prospective truce and analysts are saying that he is saying that to save his government as the right wing ministers would not accept these conditions. thank you very much. around 900,000 children are thought to be internally displaced in gaza, that's according to the charity save the children. lama jamous, known as gaza's youngestjournalist, is among them. but following the start of the war, she's been documenting her journey and the stories around her as they've unfolded. 0ur reporter yasmin khatun dewan has been speaking to her and has this report. this is lumbar. she has

acquired a huge following, posting snippets of my life in gaza and her aspirations to become a journalist. we caught up become a journalist. we caught up with her whojoined us become a journalist. we caught up with her who joined us from gaza, close to the rafah crossing. what made you want to do this? translation: , ., dothis? translation: , ., ., translation: they want to document — translation: they want to document the _ translation: they want to document the world - translation: they want to document the world we - translation: they want to document the world we go l document the world we go through so the world can see it. all we want is to go back to our school to seek education. even our school became a place for displaced people. became a place for displaced ..eole. ., , ., became a place for displaced n-eole. ., ., , became a place for displaced people. lama's father has been helinu became a place for displaced people. lama's father has been helinu the became a place for displaced people. ., ., , helinu the nine- ear-old helping the nine—year—old document herjourney, navigating the changes around her as the family were displaced from their home in northern gaza. she told us so much in her life has changed — though her dream is to continue the work she's doing now. translation: i the work she's doing now. tuna/mom— the work she's doing now. translation: , translation: i wish when the war ends i _ translation: i wish when the war ends i can _ translation: i wish when the war ends i can turn _ translation: i wish when the war ends i can turn into - translation: i wish when the war ends i can turn into a - war ends i can turn into a greatjournalist and war ends i can turn into a great journalist and work so i can grow more and more.

as lama continues to find comfort in sharing the stories of her community, her portfolio just keeps on growing. yasmin khatun dewan, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a man has been charged with the murders of two teenagers in bristol. anthony snook is accused of the murders of mason rist and max dixon, who were killed in the knowle west area of the city on saturday. avon and somerset police said a total of eight people have been arrested as part of the investigation. a police chief has warned the ban on xl bully dogs, which comes in force from today, is logistically challenging for officers. mark hobrough, from the national police chiefs' council, said the ban could spark higher demand for kennel space before court decisions. the government says police

will be supported and officers given extra training. a bbc investigation has uncovered a legal scam which targeted vulnerable people with court hearings that never happened, fake documents, and a non—existent social worker. craig johnson promised award—winning legal services to his clients, but dozens of people say that they paid him thousands of pounds for services that didn't happen. there's a lot more detail on that story and the others on our website — do take a look — and the bbc news app. you're live with bbc news. intense fighting continues 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 severely 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 evacuation 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. 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's job 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 damaged armoured 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. 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. eu leaders will grapple with hungary's prime minister viktor orban at a crunch summit meeting later today to try to overcome his veto on 50 billion euros in financial aid for ukraine. mr orban angered his 26 counterparts in the bloc by thwarting a deal in december to keep the funds flowing to kyiv nearly two years into moscow's invasion. meanwhile, as farm protests

continue in several european countries, farmers in belgium will be holding a rally in brussels outside the eu leaders' summit. several hundred farmers plan to converge their tractors to bring the agriculture protest movement to the eu's doorstep. europe's farming crisis is not officially on the agenda of the summit, but it's likely to be discussed. the commission has suggested plans to limit farm imports from ukraine and to ease some green regulations. we'll be across all those developments today here on bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now: the director of the fbi has warned that chinese government hackers are targeting america's infrastructure in preparation for a potential future conflict. christopher wray was speaking after the fbi announced that it had dismantled a cyber hacking network which it said was planting dangerous software for beijing. the actor alec baldwin has pleaded not guilty

to a new involuntary manslaughter charge over the death of cinematographer halyna hutchins, who was shot dead on the set of a film they were both working on in october 2021. similar charges were dropped in april, but new mexico prosecutors say there is new forensic evidence. protesters have clashed with riot police outside the argentine congress where the radical economic reforms proposed by presidentjavier milei were being debated. officers fired gas canisters to force the crowd back from the building in buenos aires, while protesters hurled bottles and stones at the security forces. the uk government will aim to fast—track two pieces of legislation through parliament today to deliver on the commitments made in its package aimed at restoring power—sharing in northern ireland. yesterday, the government published details of its deal with the democratic unionist party of how this will be achieved.

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. tomas morgan has more. early wednesday afternoon, the northern ireland secretary met with the leader of the dup, sir jeffrey donaldson. they held a press conference here in belfast. we didn't learn an enormous amount more about the deal, but i think the most significant thing really was the much—talked—about £3 billion financial package that would go to the devolved northern ireland government as soon as that was back in place, which might be around the end of the week now. that will go towards funding public services here in northern ireland. so many people working in public services across the country have been striking for the past few months due to pay and

conditions. what many people here across northern ireland were hoping for — there will be a sense of relief that the government here will be back, functioning in the very near future — hopefully by the end of the week, now this deal is backin of the week, now this deal is back in place. i think it was a photo opportunity to show that bond between the unionist party here and the conservative party in westminster — but there are some critics, some people here, some critics, some people here, some hardline unionists, who say that this deal hasn't gone far enough, and that when they read the between the lines, this isn't exactly what they wanted. nevertheless, sir jeffrey donaldson, leader of the dup, says they've got the deal through, and two years of a stalemate meant that no government was functioning here in northern ireland, and he believes it was worth fighting for this deal. now, potentially, the government will be back in force by friday or saturday. there's a lot going on today. that was tomas morgan there, of course. also on the agenda — the bank of england is meeting,

its first meeting of 202a. and there are high expectations that the uk central bank, this year, will start to reduce the cost of borrowing, which will impact many households and the bills they face. so we'll be talking about that — rates expected to stay unchanged today. more 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 i20mph. 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, ia. 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 11; celsius. into sunday, mild air, ifanything, pushes northwards again. a lot of clouds and bits and pieces of rain. highs of ia.

live from london, this is bbc news. are cheaper borrowing costs on the way? the bank of england won't cut interest rates today but it could signal when they might start coming down. meanwhile — fed up! traders�* hopes of a us rate cut next month are dashed by the chair of the central bank. the committee does not expect it would be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%. also coming up — a nation on the rise.

but what does india need to do to keep its economy growing and its young people in work? it's budget day in delhi — we will be live with our correspondent there. plus, thinner patients, fatter profits — how weight loss treatments made a danish drug maker europe's most valuable company worth half a trillion dollars. good to have you with us. if you just joined good to have you with us. if you justjoined us, you are in the nick of time for the money stories. we start here in the uk with the cost of borrowing, because in a few hours time the bank of england makes its first decision of the year on interest rates. it's widely expected to leave them unchanged today, but investors and borrowers will be listening to every word from bank of england governor andrew bailey about when they might be coming down.

here's where the bank's base rate stands at the moment —