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and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> this is bbc worlds america. u.s. senators from both sides of the aisle grill the ceos of the biggest tech companies over kids' online safety. >> x believes freedom of speech and platform safety must coexist. we agree that now is the time to act with urgency. >> left with no family as a war around them rages on. the concern for thousands of young children in gaza. the bbc gains rare access to the workers of cambodia facing hot and toxic work conditions and climate change may make it

worse. ♪ >> welcome to "world news america." the heads of some of the most powerful social media companies came to congress to face a grilling in a senate committee hearing. politicians from both parties say big tech firms are not doing enough to safeguard children from online harm. in his opening remarks, republican senator lindsey graham took aim at mark zuckerberg. >> mr. zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, i know you do not need to be so but you have blood on your hands. [applause] you have a product that is killing people. >> putin was also -- zuckerberg was also questioned by josh hawley if you were asked if he would apologize to people

in the room whose children's killed themselves as a result of social media conduct. [applause] >> i am sorry for everything you have gone through. the things that your families have suffered. this is why we invest so much and will continue efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things your families affected suffer. >> our north america correspondent was at that hearing. i spoke to her earlier. >> i know you tried to put some questions to these tech ceos while they were walking in the room. they had some fiery exchanges with lawmakers. what stood out to you? >> the ceos did not answer any questions this morning. it was quite the hearing. just because of the extraordinary collection of

these big tech bosses but also the combative nature of the lawmakers. i think i have never seen republicans and democrats still united in recent years as i did today in terms of holding their feet to the fire. we saw meta's mark zuckerberg come under fire. what stood out to me was the presence of families. the families of children who they say lost their lives because of social media. they were inside the hearing room holding up pictures of their loved ones. as the ceos entered, they hissed at them. throughout testimony they would applaud, they would laugh when lawmakers commented. in some ways it fueled the tension between lawmakers and

the ceos and is sort of culminated in that dramatic moment. when mark zuckerberg got up and he faced the families and he apologized to them for their suffering and said the platform was trying to do more to try to combat harm online. that, by the way, when mark zuckerberg turned around, it was prompted by republican senator josh hawley, who was a fiery critic throughout the hearing. >> it was a dramatic moment, indeed. it is not the first time we have seen tech executives testifying in front of congress. what is this hearing expected to do in terms of concrete changes? >> you are right. even before the hearing began there was a lot of cynicism about, what will this achieve? we have seen hearings like this before and there is a certain choreography about it. lawmakers get angry and ceos try

to defend themselves. there seem to be an added sense of urgency and i think it has to do with the families being present. the fact is there are some bills at the moment going through congress, bipartisan bills, there is a real push my lawmakers to achieve something here. particularly when we look at bills like the kids online safety act, for example. what lawmakers want is for the ceos to commit to these bills, to endorse them. what was interesting was two of the ceos said they did back the kids online safety act, snap and x. they want all platforms to commit. this is an election year, which means things get slow down in congress in terms of bills getting past. that is what lawmakers ultimately want. concrete legislation about how quickly that will come but we do not know.

>> thank you for your reporting. norway is asking countries that have passed their funding to the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees to reflect on the wider impact of the cuts. the u.n. secretary general described the agency as the backbone of all humanitarian work in gaza. this comes after a number of donor countries providing most of the financial support suspended funding in response to allegations by israel that at least 12 staff members took part in the october 7 attack by hamas. he called on all countries to guarantee the continuity of the organization's work. >> the importance of keeping their vital work going. to meet the dire needs of civilians in gaza and to ensure its services to palestine refugees in the occupied west bank, jordan, lebanon and syria. >> israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu was calling for it to be shut down. in a statement he said it is time for the international community and the u.n. to understand thatunrwa's mission must be terminated. since october 7, around 20,000 children in gaza have lost one or both parents since the conflict started. aid workers say they are increasingly concerned about people with no surviving family members. a warning you might find some of the images to stressful. >> born amid the horrors of gaza's war, she has never known her parents' hug. she was delivered by c session after her mother was crushed in an israeli airstrike. she died before she could name her baby. >> we have lost connection with her relatives. nobody came. her mother was killed and we do not know what happened to her father. >> of the three months of

relentless israeli bombardments have not spared the youngest gazans. israel said it tries to avoid hurting civilians. more than 11,000 children have reportedly been killed. many more have seen their families taken away. >> the bomb fell on my mom's lap, he said. it took us days to take all her body parts from the rubble of the house. the sandy graves of some of the relatives and a school turn shelter, cousins of the family sit together in trauma and grief. each has lost one or both parents. every day is hard. >> it is not nice. there is no water, food or drink. everything is sad. >> all gazans now strive to find safety. and rely on aid handouts for the

basics of life. the u.n.'s children's agency said its biggest concern is for an estimated 19,000 children who are orphaned or ended up alone with no adults to look after them. >> for the youngest one, they very often cannot say their name. even the older one, they are usually in shock. when the extended family can be found, they also have their own children, so sometimes it is difficult, if not impossible for them to take care of those unaccompanied and separated children. >> with their lives shattered, unicef says nearly all of gaza's children need mental health support. even when the war is over, many will be left with terrible losses that they will struggle to overcome. bbc news, jerusalem. >> also in the region, the

national guard confirmed at least 41 guardsmen were injured in the attack on taber 22 in northeast jordan that killed three soldiers. the islamic resistance in iraq group was behind the attack and part of the group said it has suspended operations against u.s. forces to prevent embarrassment of the iraqi government. president biden previously said he has decided how to respond and jordan and said it will be in time and at a matter of our choosing. we can speak about that with james jeffrey, former ambassador to iraq and turkey. ambassador, ray to have you back on bbc news. i want to start by asking you about the white house seeing the islamic resistance in iraq is responsible for the attack in jordan. what can you tell us about this group? >> it is basically a terrorist

group, and so designated, that has various elements. they were active in various ways against us when we had military forces in iraq. they were mobilized against the islamic state in 2014 and they have been gaining an increasingly state-like role as an element of the iraqi security service and that is troubling. they are not totally under the command and control of iran but iran provides much of the money, weapons and strategic direction. they are part of the overall front led by iran that is essentially waging an irregular war on the rest of the region. >> ambassador, can i follow up on that point? we know iran has backed and funded these groups. at the same time, how much control does iran have over the

movements and actions over a group like this one does? >> i have seen iran shut these people down. it shut down an army into thousand eight, when it was clear they were losing against army forces. to be sure, i have also seen them in 2020 act against our interests in a limited degree when iran was urging them not to attack. it is not 100% but we should not fool ourselves. this is iran's tool to achieve essentially success, broadly in yemen, lebanon, iraq, in some degree in syria and their ally and in gaza against the united states, israel and the conservative arab states. that is their long-term goal. >> the u.s. has vowed a response.

what do you think it will be? >> i assume we will strike one or another target. it is complicated by the fact hezbollah has announced it will stop attacking us, thus if we now attack them, there is a risk that they will say, ok, we handed you peace and now you will attack us and we will start firing rockets at you again. it is important we reestablish deterrence. that involves hitting interests -- they do not have to be hezbollah -- they can be other iranian proxies in the region. we are also making clear to iran that if they want to go up and escalatory letter, at some point we will strike key iranian interests. in 1988, it worked against hostile soleimani. >> key iranian interests but no stripes on iranian government

interests for iranian government? >> at this point, no. but if the iranians think the matter what happens that will never occur, we will see more and more attacks. they have to know we will go up and escalatory letter and at the end of the day we will hit them hard inside iran. >> one last question, what impact would it possible cease-fire have on the situation? >> a permanent cease-fire at this point and an israeli withdraw with hamas being victorious would be a strategic win for iran, period. >> james jeffrey, always good to get your perspective. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> as the war in ukraine rages on, a town on ukraine's front line continues to be bombed relentlessly by russia. its prewar population was more than 30,000. now there are just over 1000

left. many fled and more were killed. especial police unit called the white angels go door-to-door, helping to evacuate the town's remaining civilians. they have shared their filming with the bbc and our correspondent has taken a look. >> this is a special police unit called white angels. they are the first responders to deal with the aftermath of bombings and airstrikes. their mission is to evacuate the wounded. they have to stop the bleeding fast. there is another problem. a russian drone is watching them. it drops a grenade but it misses. their journey is full of danger. guided bombs constantly explode nearby. this group of people has just been evacuated. after an hour's drive, they made

a quick stop and agree to speak to the bbc. >> my husband was killed when he went to get bread, says a 79-year-old woman. >> to escape from the human graveyard town, chances are rapidly shrinking. russian forces have entered the outskirts and evacuation from there is no longer possible. authorities say it was a small group that managed to reach the town. >> they did not enter with serious numbers. they had some success but what everyone is talking about, the street is under ukraine's control. we are pushing them out. >> ukrainian troops are fighting desperately. western weapons like this american bradley engaging a russian tank are vital for them.

stocks are low. $60 billion in military aid for ukraine is waiting approval from u.s. congress. as a result, there are massive shortages of ammunition, guns and spare parts. >> its main purpose is to vacate damaged armored vehicles from the frontline. its track and road wills are broken. because there are not enough spare parts, this group has to scavenge. they are taking the track from the other vehicle and putting it on this one. >> mechanics from the 47th brigade are now testing the american bradley they have just repaired. it is good to go back to the frontline. without new supply soon, it is likely to be out of action again. for now, the job to defend the area is only getting harder. bbc news, eastern ukraine. >> hundreds of prisoners of war

returned home today in an exchange between russia and ukraine. it is the first such swap since our plane was shot down the street carrying dozens of captured ukrainian soldiers. the russian defense ministry said 195 other soldiers were freed while ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said 207 people returned to ukraine. it comes as the united nations' top court dismissed much of ukraine's case against russia. the court did recognize russia violated the treaty by failing to protect education in the ukrainian language in crimea. russian president vladimir putin launched his presidential reelection campaign in front of an audience of sports stars, musicians, tv personalities and even a cosmonaut. the 71-year-old's victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion. he has been in party since 1999, either as president or prime minister.

thousands of workers in southeast asia are being forced to working condition so hot that their lives are being put at risk. that is according to u.k. research. a new study of these workers in cambodia highlights the risk climate change will pose to those already struggling in hot weather countries. the bbc discovered the conditions were even more toxic. waste from factories producing fashion for major brands were being burned in the kilns to save money. our correspondent gained rare access for this report. the names of the workers she spoke to have been changed to protect them. >> workers in cambodia's factories are trapped in a never ending cycle of heat. production rarely stops. researchers secretly recorded workers' body temperature. in some cases, it was life-threatening lehigh. >> heat in here is intense, it is oppressive.

the only way i can describe it is like being in an oven. the fire is just behind these bricks. they spent hours at a time. this is not just about the killed workers in cambodia. there are hundreds of thousands of workers who work in kilns across central and southern asia. a tiny degree in temperature change can mean the difference in life and death. >> >> it is like working inside a burning prison. it is so hot. it impacts our internal organs. i have to ask the owner to provide us with more -- they do not do it because they are afraid of spending on electricity. >> last year was the hottest on record. researchers fear climate change is placing the most vulnerable in an everyday state of emergency. >> the people who are 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 labor inequality and recognize labor exploitation is a major factor in the worst impacts of climate change. >> in cambodia, heat is not the only problem. a mother takes a mix of plastic, fabric and rubber to keep the kiln fires burning. some factory workers use piles of waste from the garment industry instead of wood to save money but the fumes are toxic. this is against protocols for major western brands. we found labels from the disney store, h&m, among others. all promised the bbc they would investigate. no matter how toxic or hot the kilns become, she could never leave. the owners paid off her debts so

she and her children are trapped. >> we have a debt with them. if we leave, we are afraid of being arrested and imprisoned so we must struggle here. if they ask us to enter the fire, we will do it. >> a majority of brick workers were farmers forced to migrate to the city after droughts devastated their crops, driving them into debt. they earn so little that the debt will never be repaid. the kilns of cambodia have said the construction boom. it is left behind those who helped build it. bbc news, cambodia. >> let's take a look at some other headlines from around the world. pakistan's x prime minister and a cricket star has been sentenced to 14 years in jail. it is the second sentence handed

to him in two days. he and his wife were convicted of illegally profiting from state gifts. the ruling comes a week before a general election in which he is barred from running. the city of portland has declared a 90-day state of emergency to tackle the use of fentanyl. portland is being damaged by open use of the drug. it is a synthetic painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin and blame for a rise in u.s. drug deaths. the county where portland is located said the number of overdosed ats involving fentanyl increased by 533% between 2018 and 2022. the federal reserve is holding interest rates steady but that could change if inflation continues to slow. at the policy meeting officials announced they are keeping the q rate at around 5.4%. chairman jay powell said the central bank will probably not begin cutting interest rates in

march but policymakers said they expect to cut rates later this year. u.s. media are reporting aid advisor will take over as u.s. climate envoy after john kerry steps down. he is currently an advisor on clean energy and previously served as campaign manager for hillary clinton's presidential bid back in 2016. tiktok might not have all the music options you are used to seeing going forward. that is because universal music is threatening to pull millions of songs by artists including taylor swift and drake from tiktok after talks about money broke down. the music giant says the chinese owned firm wanted to pay a fraction of the royalties other social media sites already agreed to. tiktok as described universal's position as follows. remember you can always find more on all the day's news at our website, bbc.com/news. to see what we are working on

any time, check us out on your favorite social media site. you can also download the bbc news app. thank you for watching "world news america." stay with us. [captioning performed by the narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

geoff bennett is away. on the newshour tonight. big tech executives are grilled by federal lawmakers, accusing them of failing to protect children online. as it prepares to strike back, the u.s. blames a powerful iran backed militia in iraq for a deadly attack on american troops. and a conservative critic of donald trump on what his possible renomination could mean for the gop and the country. >> the anger and rage, desire to target, willingness to use th