this is bbc news. i'm monika plaha. our top stories: donald trump's facebook and instagram accounts have been reinstated by meta, two years after he was suspended for praising the us capitol rioters. ukraine's president zelensky has welcomed the decision by the us and germany to send advanced tanks to ukraine. america is united and so is the world. these tanks are further evidence of our enduring and unflagging commitment to ukraine and our confidence in the skill of ukrainian forces. a plea for a truce from peru's president after deadly clashes between police and protesters. we just like to have fun on

�*sesame street�* and we like to learn and play. and you know cookie monster, cookie monster... and cookie monster... tributes to the man that made learning fun, sesame street co—creator lloyd morrisett, who�*s died aged 93. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. meta has announced it will reinstate donald trump�*s facebook and instagram accounts, two years after he was suspended, following the capitol riots. nick clegg, the president of global affairs, has laid out the reasons for the decision on the meta website. he says: and that: well, the former us president has also given his reaction

on his own social media platform, truth social. saying that: our north america correspondent peter bowes has the background. this all goes back to january 6th, 2021, this all goes back to the january 6th, 2021, the riot at the us capitol. and it was during that time, in fact, on the day that donald trump was posting to facebook and instagram, including in one case video, he was supporting some of those people who were attacking congress. he also posted to talk about — and we�*d heard this many times before from him — the unfounded claims about fraud during the 2020 election. and it was immediately after,

in the days afterjanuary 6th that facebook decided to ban the president, as he still was then, from its platform. initially indefinitely. that was revised to two years, when the situation would be reviewed and as we now heard, that situation has changed because meta has decided that donald trump�*s account no longer proves to be a risk to the general public. but it comes with caveats. it comes essentially with a warning to the former president that if he is to post again and if he posts things that go out of line, if he posts untruths, if he posts misinformation again, there is a possibility that those posts will be taken down and that he will be removed from the platform from as little as months, to up to two years again. and on that, peter, what has been the reaction to all of this news, especially from facebook users because there are fears, aren�*t there, that donald trump�*s

return to meta could actually lead to further misinformation but meta say that the public should be able to hear what politicians have to say. yes, and that is the debate that meta clearly believe that politicians — and remember that donald trump has announced that he is standing for the white house again, he is seeking the republican nomination for the election in 2024 and therefore that puts him in the category of a politician who deserves to be heard, as they say. and there are many people on facebook and the wider world who believe that, we believe that element of freedom of speech in social media. equally, and this is a very divided country in this area, there are many who believe that because of what donald trump has done in the past, and the potential that he could do it again, the he should not be allowed anywhere near platforms like facebook and instagram. that was peter bowes. earlier, i spoke to robert pape,

who is professor of political science at the university of chicago. he has been studying the american insurrectionist movement and he testified at the january the 6th hearing. i asked him if he was concerned about meta�*s decision. yes. this is risky and it is notjust the past, it is the present. we conduct national surveys of violent sentiment in the united states. as of today, there are approximately 15 million american adults who have support — violent support — to either restore donald trump to the presidency or against a prosecution for trump in the future. 40% of those 15 million get their main political news from mainstream social media — facebook, instagram etc.

so what this means is that by giving donald trump access to the largest social media platform in the world, he has the most access that he�*s had since before january 6th, for calls to action, and this isjust simply a risky move with someone who has never apologised forjanuary 6th, and onjanuary 6th itself he said that people who stormed the capitol, he loved them. do you think that donald trump will actually use it, meta, facebook and instagram, because the same thing happened on twitter, didn�*t it, but he�*s yet to use that platform? that�*s right, but this is not about what is going to happen tomorrow. i know the news media wants everything to happen tomorrow, but what we�*re doing is we�*re giving him options and he is going to go

through — we�*re going to go through a very tumultuous election cycle in 202a. no—one has a crystal ball to know what is going to happen three months from now, let alone 18 months from now, and this is just simply a dangerous move to grant access. further, the specifics matter and meta or facebook is not really telling us that. so, what we really want to know from the facebook leaders is the answer to a very simple question — on december 19, 2020, donald trump issued the key tweet, the social media post that mattered the most forjanuary 6th, where he called his followers to come to washington and said it would be "wild". well, is that a violation that would be enough to get him knocked off again or not? that was the critical social media post in this whole episode. let�*s have some discussion of specifics, instead of vague generalities

like we have guardrails and we are going to monitor — this does not mean very much. that was robert pape. he isa he is a professor of political science at the university of chicago, speaking to me earlier. president zelensky has warmly welcomed the decision by germany and the united states to send tanks to ukraine. but in his nightly address, he said the speed of delivery and the number of tanks were key to his country�*s defence against russia. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports. the most serious armed conflict in europe since world war ii. an attempt by russia to upend a sense of security across the continent. but today saw an offer of help kyiv has long been crying out for. translation: we will now be sending our leopard 2 - battle tanks to ukraine.

we are doing this after intense discussion with our international partners and allies. it was right not to hurry this decision. actually, mr scholz�*s allies had fast been losing patience. lots of european countries own these german—produced tanks. they�*re stable and reliable. but berlin has all export rights, so countries like poland, desperate to send this powerful help to ukraine, couldn�*t, as long as germany dithered. now kyiv could eventually receive dozens of tanks, though its soldiers first need to be trained how to use them. wary of moscow, chancellor scholz was keen for the us to send some of its mighty abrams tanks to ukraine, too. as if on pre—agreed cue, president biden promised 31 vehicles for kyiv. putin expected europe and the united states to weaken our resolve. he expected our support for ukraine to crumble with time.

he was wrong. he was wrong, and he was wrong from the beginning and he continues to be wrong. we are united. washington�*s announcement and berlin�*s u—turn are a wish come true for ukraine�*s president, who turned 45 today. translation: the key now is speed and volume. - we have to form a fist of tanks, a fist of freedom, which will not allow tyranny to rise again. these soviet—era tanks are on permanent display in the german capital. while many celebrate 0laf scholz�*s decision on tanks, others, including powerful voices in his own party, warn this conflict could now escalate, threatening lives beyond ukraine. katya adler, bbc news, berlin. earlier, i spoke to nina khrushcheva a professor of international

affairs at the new school and also the great granddaughter of the former soviet leader nikita khrushchev. she explained what the russian response is likely to be. this is, as they see it, the sign of escalation, and obviously they, at least fornow, are saying and obviously they, at least fornow, are saying they are not backing off, in fact they are going to then increase sought of their force, and their fight against ukraine, and we saw already once it was announced, the tanks were announced, we have already seen a new round of bombings around ukraine, and in particular around kyiv, so that is the response and i believe it is going to get even more forcefulfrom russia. and what has been the response here from nato partners in all of this as well, because there was this hesitation from berlin to provide the tanks in the first place? well, but we do know

that they have been, germany has been shamed for some days especially by poland, that they have these weapons that in fact we know germany changed the ministry of defence to be able to sort of push the new minister of defence was able to push that forward. and also what i was reading in analysis, there are properly going to be, if other countriesjoin, most likely they will join, probably there will be over 100 tanks that they can supply for ukraine, which is a rather large number. once again, the question is how soon they are going to be there, how quickly they will be trained, and that is what the russians are discussing, is thatjust giving the tanks really would be not enough to somehow change the battlefield situation, because people need to be trained, but also with there be

enough ammunition? so it doesn�*t seem that russians, i mean, russians as i said i going to fight further, but it doesn�*t seem that they are too nervous at this point, because they still don�*t know how well it is going to play out in the field. yes, lots of questions there. now i know that this is such an open ended question, but what do you think it will take now to end this war, and what is the solution here? well, i don�*t see with the tanks particularly and we heard from joe biden that the resolve hasn�*t changed and in fact putin made a mistake, so the more putin is being told that he has made a mistake, the more putin is going to prove that he hasn�*t made that mistake. so basically the escalation, i see the escalation on all sides, because, and the reason i don�*t think it is going to end soon, also because ukraine — putin is not winning enough. i mean, there has been some

progress in recent weeks and months for putin, but russia is not winning enough, and ukraine is not losing enough, and now with the tanks, it may be losing even less, although i don�*t really see exactly how soon, if ukraine is to win, how it is possible. but also now it is a matter of pride for the west, i believe, because they really went in very deep right now, so imagine that putin will be winning. that would be a problem, and so i believe that it will be a continuation of the war. that was nina khrushcheva. a professor of international of affairs at new school. still to come:

the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift—off. there were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman schoolteacher. all of them are believed to have been killed. by the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. the earthquake - singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. _ tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing| desperation about it as the hours pass. l the new government is firmly in control of the entire republic of uganda. survivors of the auschwitz concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary of their liberation. they toured the huts, gas chambers and crematoria and relived their horrifying experiences.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: meta says it will re—instate donald trump�*s facebook and instagram accounts two years after he was suspended for praising the us capitol rioters. ukraine�*s president zelensky has welcomed the decision by the us and germany to send advanced tanks to ukraine. well, let�*s stay with that story, and it�*s notjust president zelensky that�*s greeted the news of the tank supplies with relief and gratitude. 0ur correspondent andrew harding has been talking to people in the city of zaporizhzhia — not far from the front line. explosion ukrainian tanks, half a century old, battling near the front lines. in this area, close to the donbas town of bakhmut, russian forces are slowly gaining ground. and when we visited this tank unit last week, the mood seemed

close to despair. both sides have heavy losses. but we need more equipment. we need more weapons. we appreciate the support of our partners, britain, usa and european. no surprise, then, today, to find many ukrainians celebrating the news that modern western tanks will soon be on their way here. at the bus stop in the front line city of zaporizhzhia, vasily tells me, "russia has "better weapons than we do, so this is good news." a pensioner called viktoria isn�*t so sure. "you start with tanks," she says, "but then it escalates. "i�*m afraid this will end in a nuclear war." but when another woman, elena, overhears that, she comes over to disagree. "we need any weapons from any countries to help us "kick the russians out of here

and protect our borders." moscow�*s forces are not far away from here. 0n the road towards the front line, we pass tank traps, ready to help block any new russian advance. both the ukrainians and the russians have made it pretty clear that they are planning to launch a major new offensives, perhaps within a matter of weeks. the question now is whether these new, western tanks are going to arrive soon enough and in large enough numbers to make a real difference in this next phase of the conflict. for now, ukraine continues to fight with what it has. and a senior officer, who agreed to meet as close to the front, said victory was certain, with or without foreign help. translation: the russians keep attacking as in human waves, -

and suffer enormous casualties. i believe we can withstand this. it�*s just a matter of time before we win. ukrainian tanks charge forwards. but it may still be a while before modern western machines are fighting alongside them. andrew harding, bbc news, ukraine. now to south america, where the president of peru, dina boluarte, has called for a national truce after clashes with the police led to more than 50 deaths. for the past few weeks, people have been protesting and demanding the resignation of ms boluarte, who came to power after the former president of peru was impeached in december. sofia bettiza reports. these images have become all too common in peru. people have been demonstrating forweeks, demanding the resignation of the president, dina boluarte. these protests have cost the country more than $1

billion worth of economic losses, and have even forced the government to close machu picchu, a world tourist attraction. so on tuesday, the president called for a national truce. translation: 50 people have died amongst these acts - of protest and violence, and it pains me. this isn�*t a peaceful protest. this is a violent action by a group of radical people. i call my dear homeland for a national truce to set up a dialogue. she apologised for the killings, but once again refused to resign. which is why, only hours after she pleaded for dialogue, thousands of people marched in the capital, lima. translation: we are not terrorists. | we are not criminals. we are peasants who seek justice and peace in our country. protesters throwing rocks. police responding

with tear gas. some shouting, "boluarte is a murderer," referring to the brutality of the police. this is mostly people in poor, rural areas. they felt that the former president, pedro castillo, cared about them. but when he tried to dissolve congress, he was impeached and imprisoned. and many feel that his replacement, ms boluarte, is aligned with the elite. and as she refuses to step down, a truce seems a long way off. sofia bettiza, bbc news. now, the cast and crew of the pioneering american children�*s tv show sesame street have paid tribute to its co—creator, lloyd morrisett, who has died, aged 93. they praised his kindness and wisdom. lloyd morrisett came up with the idea of using tv to teach young children basic skills like counting

and recognising letters. hollywood journalist genie wolf explained the impact that sesame street had. a very important show, and it taught the rest of us what kids can learn from tv. lloyd morrisett had this idea — he was working for the carnegie corporation — and he was doing research into education and communication, and they noticed that preschool children of underprivileged homes were getting to school way behind the other kids, and what he wanted to do was come up with some way to teach preschoolers before they got to school. now, of course, he gets the idea because his own three—year—old daughter is watching tv in the morning, and she is singing jingles from the tv, and she�*s just riveted, and he begins to think,

"if we could combine the sort of addiction—forming aspects of tv with learning, look what we could have." he goes tojoan ganz cooney and the rest is fantastic history, they had no idea this would work. what they realised is that young people, if you get their attention, and if you repeat, and make it fun and exciting, they will learn. along comesjim henson and his puppets, and the show was imaginative — it became a worldwide sensation — and it shaped the way of childhood education, it changed the way they presented to kids on tv. it really did change the way we thought about childhood education and it was a show that was really regarded as ahead of its time when it came to diversity and inclusion with all the characters. why was that so important to lloyd? well, it was important to lloyd that — that originally that preschoolers and originally disadvantaged

preschoolers — then it went to everybody — understood more about the world, were going to school more prepared, and that the show, along with abcs and little songs, refined ideas about the world and that�*s what the show did. and if you remember, after a while it become so popular, all these famous people — billy crystal, mariah carey, julia roberts — would go on and be with 0scar the grouch and the cookie monster and and ernie and bert. and i will bet you know people still now who can still sing the songs still remember things that they learnt from sesame street. of course, many of us up watching and learning so much from sesame street. and just briefly, what legacy does lloyd leave behind — especially in the world of children�*s tv?

he leaves behind a legacy of experimenting with an idea and spreading it around. he tells a story that he knew it was going to be a success when he went to the bank after the show was on the air and in the lines in the bank he could hear people talking about sesame street. he could hear people singing the songs. and he realised. he had gone to commercial television — they weren�*t interested. public television was. and he reset and helped reset the idea of how you can teach kids and how tv, which up till then had the bad reputation of being a babysitter and people would just sit in front of it and stare, how he turned tv into a positive learning tool for kids.

you are watching bbc news. you can reach me on twitter. i�*m @monikaplaha. hello. after a week of weather contrasts so far, thursday brings a bit more evenness to the weather across the uk and most will be dry. some decent sunny spells as well, particularly in the west. now, the reason for the change is that the weather fronts, which brought the heavy rain through the evening across east anglia and southeast, will have cleared into france overnight, allowing this ridge of high pressure to even things out. now, it doesn�*t mean we won�*t be without frost and ice, particularly across central and western areas, but temperatures still will be nowhere near as low as they have been through recent nights. a few mist and fog patches in the west, too, but for the vast majority, it is going to be a dry and sunny day.

northern scotland will see a few showers and across south east scotland into eastern england, this is where we�*ll see some showers come and go throughout the day. not everyone will see them. many will stay dry and still a lot brighter across east anglia and the south—east compared with the grim conditions of wednesday. but here and across many eastern counties, it will be quite a blustery day. but temperature—wise, as i said, we�*re evening things out. 6—9 degrees across much of the uk, which is not far off where we should be for this stage in late january. now, as we go into thursday evening and overnight, there will be some showers across eastern england, perhaps tracking a bit further westwards, especially for northern england, most of them will be dry. partly clear skies, a chance of some fog across scotland, northern ireland and north—west england, and it will be a little bit colder as well. more widespread frost to take us into friday morning with a risk of ice where showers have continued. but if anything, friday should be another pleasant day for most patchy cloud across england, a bit more in the west compared with thursday. and then later on, northwest scotland and northern ireland will see cloud increase, some rain into the western isles before the day is out. and temperatures similar to thursday�*s values with lighter winds. into saturday, though, more cloud on the scene. there will be sunshine in particular eastern scotland,

southern counties of england. but this sort of cloud here with patchy rain, this is a weather front which is just toppling round our area of high pressure, and because it�*s within the area of high pressure, not much in the way of rain on it. it will clear through off into the near continent. but another batch of more active weather fronts into sunday will push into the north—west. we start with the frost again, particularly across some southern areas. but sunday, there�*ll be some sunny spells across england and wales especially, but increasing cloud to scotland, northern ireland, heavy rain and strengthening winds. gale—force winds, if not gusts of wind in excess of 60 miles an hour by the end of the day, will lift temperatures up, though, compared to the next few days, but it will feel cooler in that breeze.

this is bbc news, the headlines: meta has said it will reinstate the facebook and instagram accounts of donald trump. he was suspended two years ago over posts praising the us capitol rioters who attempted to overturn his election defeat. mr trump says such a ban should never happen to a us president. president volodymyr zelensky has warmly welcomed the decision by washington and berlin to send advanced tanks to ukraine. in his nightly address, he said speedy delivery and sufficient numbers were key to his country�*s defence against russia. the cast and crew of the pioneering american children�*s tv show, sesame street, have paid tribute to its co—creator, lloyd morrisett, who has died aged 93. they praised his kindness and wisdom. lloyd morrisett came up with the idea of using tv