this is bbc news with the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. ministers in the uk are strengthening legislation that will force global social media companies to take down harmful content more quickly. a parent whose daughter took her own life wants the heads of these firms to be held to account. this is talking about human lives and you can't excuse anything that doesn't prevent that. emergency workers in morocco inch closer to rescuing the five—year—old boy who's spent five days trapped in a well. here's the scene there now. according to the press association, prince andrew will give evidence under oath next month as part of the civil sex assault case against him. as another senior uk conservative mp submits a letter

of no—confidence in borisjohnson, cabinet ministers insist he still has majority support across the parliamentary party. the controversy over china's winter olympics intensifies as beijing is accused of using a uighur athlete as a propaganda tool. the uk government wants tougher laws forcing global social media companies to take down illegal content without having to wait for users to report it. it's an issue politicians across the world have been trying to deal with. last year, g7 leaders agreed a set of internet safety principles to improve online safety. here in the uk, the new legislation would compel the removal of material under a wide range of categories,

including drugs and arms dealing, and forums that encourage suicide. here's katie prescott. frankie was 15 when she took her own life in 2018. afterwards, her parents had her laptop forensically checked. and realised that, back earlier in the year, january, february, march of 2018, she had been accessing sites about self—harm, suicide. just appalling stuff. and we had no idea and the school had absolutely no idea. stories like these are behind plans to toughen up regulations online. tech companies will face fines of up to 10% of their turnover if they don't take down material relating to... those sending threatening messages, like the racist abuse of england's footballers last year, will face prosecution, as will people at the companies themselves.

the organisations will have to name | individuals who will be responsible | within those organisations - for complying with the legislation. if they continue to flout that - legislation, those named individuals will be responsible and could face up to five years' imprisonment. . social media companies have been tight—lipped about the changes today, but, in the past, facebook has said that it welcomes more guidance from government about what it should and shouldn't do, and that it also wants to see the internet become a safer place, while not losing the economic and social benefits that it brings. other important industries... experts say the challenge will be putting it into practice. on facebook platforms alone, people are posting more than 100 billion times a day. in 2017, facebook and instagram were taking down 35,000 posts a day about self—harm and suicide alone. so, this is regulation not at a minor scale,

but at an industrial scale. while there is criticism about whether the plans go far enough, they will mean a revolution in how the online world is policed. katie prescott, bbc news. andy burrows is the head of child safety online policy at the nspcc. we've seen that, until regulation is on the statute book, tech companies simply won't do enough to protect children, and we have seen the scale and complexity of online harms that children face continuing to grow. we know grooming and child sex abuse is are at record levels. we've seen growing problems with children being exposed to suicide and self—harm content. i think what's concerning is the legislation that dcms are pulling forward won't address some

of the dynamics of the problem we can see happening right now. for example, we know abuse and harm doesn't happen on a silo basis on one platform. we know grooming will start on a site like instagram or facebook and move across to encrypted messaging and lifestream. responsibility is on companies to work together to tackle the risks cross—platform. work together to tackle the risks cross-platform.— work together to tackle the risks cross-platform. what conversations have ou cross-platform. what conversations have you had _ cross-platform. what conversations have you had with _ cross-platform. what conversations have you had with social _ cross-platform. what conversations have you had with social media - have you had with social media companies?— have you had with social media companies? well, it's over four ears companies? well, it's over four years since _ companies? well, it's over four years since the _ companies? well, it's over four years since the nsp _ companies? well, it's over four. years since the nsp commitment companies? well, it's over four- years since the nsp commitment from the government. we've tried to hold the government. we've tried to hold the companies to account, but i'm afraid it's very clear that this is not something that the companies will do for themselves. far too often in the conversations we've had with these big tech giants, it's very clear that child safety is not a core part of their business model,

they're simply not prepared to do enough to identify the risks that children face on their platforms and to ensure they are reasonably mitigated. it's only if we see really tough regulation that has the teeth that's necessary to take on some of the largest companies in the world, that we're going to see this situation change. and we are talking about harm, abuse of children and young people that can be prevented. we shouldn't be fatalistic about this. this is harm that is taking place as a result of the poor design decisions of tech companies we've seen over many, many years should arents seen over many, many years should parents do? — seen over many, many years should parents do? well, _ seen over many, many years should parents do? well, parents - seen over many, many years should parents do? well, parents will - seen over many, many years should parents do? well, parents will be i parents do? well, parents will be concerned about _ parents do? well, parents will be concerned about the _ parents do? well, parents will be concerned about the scale - parents do? well, parents will be concerned about the scale and . parents do? well, parents will be - concerned about the scale and extent of this that children face. our advice to parents is very simple — try and have regular conversations with your child, work with them to understand the risks that they might face and given the practical tips. for example, how they have the highest privacy settings and are

safe as they possibly can be. here, we hear from safe as they possibly can be. here, we hearfrom children who perhaps haven't had those conversations and the worst does happen, and they don't feel they can disclose to a parent or to another trusted adult. unfortunately, that's where the very worst harms can unfortunately escalate. and he there. and if you're affected by any of the issues we've just been discussing, information is available from the bbc action line — that's at bbc.co.uk/actionline. rescue workers in morocco have entered a tunnel, through which they're hoping to reach a five—year—old boy, trapped in a well for the last five days. rayan awram is stuck 35m below ground. mechanical diggers have been working round the clock to try to reach him. but the narrowness of the well has been hampering efforts. the hole diameter is very small at just 25cm.

he's been trapped more than 30 metres below the ground. that's made it very difficult for adults to get down that hole. so, rescue crews have come up with another technique — digging a horizontal tunnel and clearing earth at the side of the tunnel pocket using bulldozers and front—end loaders. the final 2 metres are proving to be the most difficult because of the risk of landslides. let's have a look at some pictures now from the scene, where it is now past seven o'clock in the evening and dark, and you can see a number of workers there. we continue to monitor what's been going on, and when we've seen other shots, we've seen groups of dozens, perhaps hundreds of people there continuing to watch those efforts, which have been ongoing since rayan fell down the well on tuesday. i'm joined now by morrocan

journalist hassan alaoui who is following the story from the capital rabat give us what you know. yes. i am aware of this _ give us what you know. yes. i am aware of this report, _ give us what you know. yes. i am aware of this report, but - give us what you know. yes. i am aware of this report, but the - aware of this report, but the problem is fake news are flying around. lately, 20 minute ago, a senior member of the rescue team came to the media there and said there were hundreds ofjournalists working for media and abroad, and he told them everything you hear is just fake news. what i can assure you about is rayan has not been reached yet. we still have to dig 80 cm to reach him, so any news about him being seriously injured or having problems or anything like thatis having problems or anything like that is absolutely fake news. we haven't reached rayan yet, and when we reach him, you will be the first to know the truth and the whole

truth. . ~ to know the truth and the whole truth. ., ~' , ., to know the truth and the whole truth. ., ~ i. ., ., to know the truth and the whole truth. ., ~ , ., ., ., ., to know the truth and the whole truth. ., ~ i. ., ., ., .,, truth. thank you for that. that was information — truth. thank you for that. that was information given _ truth. thank you for that. that was information given to _ truth. thank you for that. that was information given to news - truth. thank you for that. that was information given to news about i truth. thank you for that. that was | information given to news about 20 minutes ago. you talk about that 80 cm, less than one metre. have the officials given any indication as to how long it will take them to get through that final 80 cm? it’s how long it will take them to get through that final 80 cm? it's very hard to tell — through that final 80 cm? it's very hard to tell people _ through that final 80 cm? it's very hard to tell people exactly - through that final 80 cm? it's very hard to tell people exactly how - through that final 80 cm? it's very hard to tell people exactly how far| hard to tell people exactly how far it would take, but they have to manage the work very, very carefully because as you said in your report, they are scared we may have landslides or we may harm the child there, so that's why this task is very difficult in the rescuers are very careful with this 80 cm. hopefully, they will finish this work tonight, and all the indications are that rayan certainly will be out of his hell tonight.

when exactly, nobody can say. tell us how- -- — when exactly, nobody can say. tell us how... there _ when exactly, nobody can say. tell us how... there is _ when exactly, nobody can say. tell us how... there is an _ when exactly, nobody can say. tell us how... there is an ambulance i us how... there is an ambulance waitin: us how... there is an ambulance waiting in _ us how... there is an ambulance waiting in a _ us how. .. there is an ambulance waiting in a helicopter— us how... there is an ambulance waiting in a helicopter waiting i waiting in a helicopter waiting nearby. just in case he needs medical assistance. tell nearby. just in case he needs medical assistance.— nearby. just in case he needs medical assistance. tell us how eo - le medical assistance. tell us how people have — medical assistance. tell us how people have been _ medical assistance. tell us how people have been following - medical assistance. tell us howj people have been following this case. ., ., y people have been following this case. ., ., , �* people have been following this case. ., .,, �* , case. not only in morocco, i've been watchin: case. not only in morocco, i've been watching international _ case. not only in morocco, i've been watching international news - case. not only in morocco, i've been watching international news media l watching international news media broadcasting about 2k hours, not only in morocco, the whole of the world, mainly the arab and muslim world, mainly the arab and muslim world, is following this story. everyone is praying for this child and everyone is hoping we will have and everyone is hoping we will have a happy ending for this story. everyone knows it's very difficult spending four days there under the

rubble in the dark, and it was not easy for this child. but still, lots of hope is around and lots of prayers and everyone is hoping that we will have a happy end for this difficult story.— we will have a happy end for this difficult story. thank you so much for “oininr difficult story. thank you so much forjoining us- _ a date has been set for prince andrew to give evidence as part of the civil case against him for sexual assault — that's according to the press association. pa reports that he will give a deposition to lawyers representing virginia giuffre on the 10th of march in london, in what has been described as a neutral location. the prince has denied the allegations against him. some breaking news — the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster steve barclay is to become the prime minister's chief of staff and guto harri his director of communications in a shake—up of no ten that borisjohnson said would "strengthen

the role of my cabinet and backbench colleagues and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country". you will of course remember that in recent days, a number of senior downing street staff resigned on thursday. one resigned in protest at some of the prime minister's recent actions. these appointments have just been announced. we will of course bring you more on this as we get it. senior conservative mps have insisted that the majority of their party supports boris johnson. it comes as another conservative politician called for borisjohnson to resign. former schools minister nick gibb is the latest to submit a letter of no—confidence in the row over parties held at number ten during lockdown. earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, helen catt. but we can never say for sure where we are. we know that nine mps have publicly said that they had submitted a letter. it is a secret process, so it is entirely up to an mp to say whether they have or they haven't. there's also no way of checking if someone actually has — so just worth throwing that

in there, as well. so, this is a secret process. we know nine mps have said that they have. the threshold for triggering a vote of confidence is 5a — that's15% of the conservative parliamentary party, 15% of conservative mps — so we know that hasn't yet been reached, or certainly not been announced it's been reached, because they haven't told us. so, we know we're not there yet, but, as you said, what we've seen over recent days is, sort of, a trickle of people coming forward and saying, "i've put of a letter in," the latest of which is nick gibb, and he's quite interesting. he's a former schools minister. he served under david cameron, under theresa may and then under borisjohnson until he was sacked in the reshuffle last year, but he's not exactly known as a firebrand rebel, rabble—rouser in westminster — he's quite, sort of, quiet, he's not in the papers all the time, so the fact that he has chosen to make it public feels quite, sort of, significant in itself. and he's also written an article in the daily telegraph which is pretty blunt, in which he says it was inaccurate

of the prime minister to tell the house of commons there was no party in downing street. he says his constituents in bognor regis and littlehampton are furious about the double standards, asking, "can we trust him?" and he ends this article with, "to restore trust, "we must remove the prime minister." now, we know that some of his other colleagues are mulling over whether they agree with that analysis. plenty of conservative mps do not. you know, either they want to keep borisjohnson in place, or they certainly don't want to get rid him now. have a listen to liam fox, the former cabinet minister. yes, you've got some unhappy mps, but, yet, they've not even reached the 15%. in other words, 85% of my colleagues are still willing to give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt. the fact we've lost some of these officials from downing street is actually an opportunity for a reset. liam fox there. helen, what happens on a weekend like this? it was a breakneck, what, four or five days during the week. is this a breather? are the whatsapp groups going crazy? talk us though this kind of weekend.

well, you do often get this, sort of, pause moment, don't you? when everyone has gone away from westminster. yes, i imagine the whatsapp groups are still pinging and people will be thinking about these things. so, the former minister stephen hammond has been talking to the bbc today, and he's been saying he will be thinking carefully about what he does next over the weekend. he has suggested some of his colleagues would be wrestling with their consciences. so, there is that, sort of, thinking time before everyone is back in the, sort of, white heat of westminster again next week and then we will see whether that trickle is turning into more of a momentum, or if, actually, they are waiting to see if the prime minister can do that they set liam fox was talking about, that he can make the changes he's promised and see if they will keep him in post. there i was saying it was a breather. steve barclay has tweeted...

the headlines on bbc news... ministers in the uk are strengthening legislation that will force global social media companies to take down harmful content more quickly. a parent whose daughter took her own life wants the heads of these firms to be held to account. emergency workers in morocco inch closer to rescuing the five—year—old boy who's spent five days trapped in a well. according to the press association — prince andrew will give evidence under oath next month as part of the civil sex assault case against him. borisjohnson has held a telephone call with the french president, emmanuel macron, about the situation in ukraine. downing street says the two leaders updated each other on their discussions with other international partners, including the prime minister's

visit to kyiv last week. they also agreed that nato must be united in the face of russian aggression, and a diplomatic solution to the current tensions must remain the overriding priority. staying with ukraine. additional us troops have arrived in poland as part of a new deployment to bolster nato forces as tensions with russia remain high. the soldiers from the 82nd airborne division of the us army landed in the south—east of the country not far from the ukrainian border. the biden administration announced this week it will send 3000 additional american soldiers to eastern europe. russia has massed more than 100,000 troops on its border with ukraine, but the kremlin denies it's planning to invade. adam easton has the latest. well, what we've seen so far is the first elements — actually, mostly equipment — for this deployment has arrived

in poland, and that's come from germany, from us bases in germany. the 82nd airborne division, which you mentioned, is based in north carolina, and 1,700 troops from that division will be arriving in poland over the coming hours and days. and this deployment, while that number, 1,700, is not particularly large if you compare it to the 100,000 russian troops that have massed on the borders with ukraine, it is a significant political gesture to send this many troops to poland, because it actually increases the number of american troops in poland by more than one—third, and if you compare that to 2014 when russia annexed the crimea, president obama then was thinking of sending just 100 soldiers to poland. so, this is 1,700, significantly more, so a significant gesture that's been welcomed extremely

by polish leaders. the polish prime minister mateusz morawiecki saying that this is an important signal of nato's unity against the threat of russian aggression. the controversy over china's winter olympics has intensified over beijing's decision to get a uighur athlete from xinjiang to light the olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. china has been accused of using the cross—country skier dinigeer yilamujiang as a propaganda tool to undermine criticism of its policies in xinjiang. beijing is alleged to have carried out human rights abuses against the region's ethnic uighur muslims. an international olympic committee spokesman has also commented. this is an athlete who is competing here _ she's competing as of this morning. she has every right, wherever she comes from, to compete

and she has every right to take part in the opening ceremony. i think it was a lovely concept. our analyst michael bristow says this is china's way of hitting back at the west's criticism. well, the response has been essentially, this is a political ploy by beijing essentially to cover up ploy by beijing essentially to cover up what it's doing in xinjiang. remember that it's being accused of really egregious you to human rights abuses against uighur people, put in camps. a whole series of other measures introduced against uighur minority there. without explicitly saying so, this is china heading back and saying, "look, we're a nation of 56 ethnic group, uighurs are among them, and this uighur

athlete taking part in this ceremony," that is their way of showing the world that uighurs are treated well. it's got to be seen in terms of the promotion by the chinese government because if you look on twitter, chinese diplomats overseas are promoting this and sharing videos of this athlete's family. back home in xinjiang, celebrating lighting the cauldron and the family being really proud of the fact she's part of the chinese nation and hoping she does well in the olympics. haifa nation and hoping she does well in the olympia-— nation and hoping she does well in the ol mics. ., ~ ., , , the olympics. how well-known is she in china? ithink— the olympics. how well-known is she in china? i think her _ the olympics. how well-known is she in china? i think her father— the olympics. how well-known is she in china? i think her father was - the olympics. how well-known is she in china? i think her father was a - in china? i think herfather was a national cross—country ski champion as well. national cross-country ski champion as well. ,, v national cross-country ski champion aswell. ,, �*, ,, ., national cross-country ski champion aswell. ,, 3 ~' ., ., as well. she's well known in china, but many famous _ as well. she's well known in china, but many famous athletes - as well. she's well known in china, but many famous athletes are - as well. she's well known in china, but many famous athletes are in i but many famous athletes are in china. she'sjust one but many famous athletes are in china. she's just one of them. i think the main point is that she was

the person with another athlete chosen to light the olympic cauldron. if you think about it, a moment where the olympic star, having a uighur athlete do that is really china saying to the world, "we really want to show you that uighurs are treated well in china and all the accusations and criticism that we face over human rights abuses really count for nothing." the comedianjimmy carr is facing criticism for a joke he made about europe's traveller communities being murdered during the holocaust. he made the joke in a comedy special released on netflix. travellers groups, mps and the �*holocaust memorial day trust�* are among those to express their disgust. former us vice—president mike pence has dismissed claims by donald trump that he could have stopped joe biden becoming president last year. mr pence said mr trump was wrong to suggest he had had the right to overturn the election. a mob stormed the capitol as lawmakers met to confirm presidentjoe biden's poll win

on 6th january last year. the queen has hosted a reception to mark her 70 years on the throne — a milestone she reaches tomorow. today's gathering was held at her sandringham estate in norfolk, where herfather, king george vi, died in 1952. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. the pace of her life is slower, now. her doctors want her to take things carefully. but on this weekend of private memories, of her beloved father and her late husband, the queen was meeting local people in the ballroom at sandringham, and the conversation flowed. probably be quite different because nowadays won't we do things quite differently? she move slowly and carefully now, steadied by a stick, but there were no hesitations on the exchanges with the guests. i was told it had to be upside—down for the press. they can see it. laughter. i don't mind! i don't matter. well, i think i can probably read it upside down, too. i think you probably can.

there was a jubilee cake, the first of many for the queen to cut, and a jubilee scroll congratulating her on the 70 years of her reign. 70 years. extraordinary, isn't it? it's incredible, isn't it? the queen seemed quite fit and well today, yes. she has actually had that little sparkle in her eye and, you know, her sense of humour was there, so, yeah, i'd say she was fine. little frail, but terrific sense of humour she's got, - which, you know, really stands out. and very bright, and her. memory must be fantastic! in the months ahead, the intensity of thisjubilee will be as great — or, one imagines, even greater — than previous ones. it is, after all, marking 70 years of the queen's reign. but the scope of her own involvement is inevitably, perhaps, likely to be rather less than it has been in the past. as she left to spend accession day privately, the band played "congratulations,"

a musical tribute to a monarch who's reigned longer than any other. nicholas witchell, bbc news, sandringham. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. there's lots of weather to talk about this weekend. rain for many, strong winds and also snow, particularly across scotland. it's all tied in with this frontal system. we have a cold front pushing its way southwards across the uk, colder air behind it, snow showers piling into scotland. notice the squeeze in the isobars, as well. the isobars as well. we keep those strong winds as we head through tonight and into sunday. we'll see more frequent showers passing into scotland overnight. coupled with those strong and gusty winds brings a risk of blizzards. further south, we have that band of rain continuing on its journey southwards, popping up through parts of wales, the midlands, south west england, some heavier rain here towards

the end of the night, but much milder compared to last night, away from scotland, where we will see temperatures close to if not below freezing, so a risk of ice here. also, we had a yellow warning from the met office across parts of northern and western scotland and through central belt for snow. 10—15 centimetres over higher ground, perhaps a couple of centimetres at lower levels — 3—5 centimetres, for example. we keep that risk of snow across scotland through tomorrow morning. some of those snow showers may push in to northern england. across the midlands, east anglia, south—east england, that morning rain will clear away to reveal some sunshine, but, really, it's a day of sunshine and showers for many of us, and those showers will be of snow for scotland and into northern england. still those gusty winds, so it's going to feel colder than these temperatures suggest, that colder air starting to push across much of the uk, may be 10 or 11 celsius across central and southern england. it may not feel that way given the strength of the wind. now, most of the showers will tend to fade as we head through tomorrow evening and the risk of snow diminishes across scotland, so some clearer skies. cold, frosty night for many, ahead of more cloud, and something milderjust

starting to push on monday. this is the bigger picture, if you like, on monday — this warm front pushing across the uk, with high pressure just to the south. looks like we probably won't see much if any rain across central southern england and south wales and the rain on monday perhaps across the north and west of scotland into northern england, maybe across north wales, some patchy rain for northern ireland. by and large, the further south and east you are should be drier, increasing cloud after a sunny, frosty start, and also a mild afternoon after that cold and frosty start. still some rain in the forecast on tuesday and wednesday, particularly the further north and west you are. further south, it stays dry for much of the week, and we'll all see something colder by the end of the week.

ministers in the uk are strengthening legislation that will force global social media companies to take down harmful content more quickly. a parent, whose daughter took her own life, wants the heads of these firms to be held to account. emergency workers in morocco inch closer to rescuing the five year old boy who's spent five days trapped in a well. prince andrew will give evidence under oath next month as part of the civil sex assault case against him iin the i in the name of starnes the bottom

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