live from washington, this is bbc news. a fresh wave of russian attacks on ukraine, as president putin threatens to hit the capital kyiv with moscow's new ballistic missile. the ceasefire between israel and hezbollah is holding despite reports of violations. and in a world first, australia votes for a sweeping ban on social media for children under 16.

i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. more than a million people are without power after russia's overnight strikes on ukraine's power grid. russian forces launched 90 missiles and some 100 drones in an attack that lasted for more than nine hours, according to kyiv�*s military administration. ukrainian emergency workers are servicing at least 1a affected regions — including kyiv, odesa, kharkiv and sumy. authorities say residents could be without electricity for days. the attack is a massive blow to ukraine's energy system, which is crucial to both front line troops and civilians as winter approaches. during a visit to kazakhstan on thursday, russian president vladimir putin said the strikes were in response to ukraine using american and british long range missiles to hit targets in russia. he warned that should ukraine retaliate further, russia will use its new ballistic missile to hit ukrainian sites including what he described as "decision—making centres" in kyiv. translation: we will use the means at our disposall

against significant targets. we do not exclude the use of oreshnik against the military, military industry facilities or the decision—making centre, including kyiv, bearing in mind that the kyiv authorities continue to attempt to strike at our vital facilities, continue to attempt to strike at our vital f. cut :ies, continue to attempt to strike at our vital f. cut power supplies attacks have cut power supplies to many people across ukraine overnight. what is the situation right now across the country? l.

situation right now across the count ? �* , ., , i am sitting at my home right now. i don't have electricity right now. i did not have it from the early morning, and i came back home in the evening and i did not have electricity, and unfortunately that is the situation for, ithink, a majority of the ukrainians right now. unfortunately, this night's attack had drastic effect on the energy system, and unfortunately there are people who did not have even a single hour of electricity supply to their houses. the attack took place, to a very big extent, on the west of the country, but unfortunately it's a unified energy system, so it means that there are outages all over the country. so it's not in a specific city, they hit the system itself, so unfortunately all of the country basically is under very strict limits as to how much electricity is in the system, and thus the majority of people don't have electricity in their homes. combined with that attack, we

have also heard comments from russian president vladimir putin. he has threatened to attack decision—making centres in kyiv, or you are, using that new ballistic missile system from russia, the oreshnik. when you speak to people, how concerned are they about that? i think they are much more concerned about the situation with energy supply, truth be told, because that is something critical and that is something that does influence the lives of everybody, every single ukrainian. to threats to attack the decision—making sites, the decision—making bodies in ukraine, it's something we did here before as well, it might happen, unfortunately that is part of our reality will that materialise or not, i don't know, but he deftly already did a lot of damage to the energy system and to the well—being of the people —— definitely already did. that is something

everybody is discussing. his threats, whatever he may do, is less of an issue here. president lex donald trump has elected keith callaghan is this pic for special envoy to ukraine. he has proposed ukraine. he has proposed ukraine would only receive further us aid if kyiv participated in peace talks with moscow. what do you make of that? what do other ukrainians make of that? fin of that? what do other ukrainians make of that? on the one hand. _ ukrainians make of that? on the one hand, there _ ukrainians make of that? on the one hand, there is _ ukrainians make of that? on the one hand, there is some - ukrainians make of that? on the one hand, there is some sort - ukrainians make of that? on the one hand, there is some sort of| one hand, there is some sort of relief about that point our appointment. —— about that appointment. —— about that appointment. we feared much worse could happen. we heard some comments from people close to trump that were much more troublesome, but we understand this will be the position of the due administration in washington, dc, we still don't have a understanding as to the most important question, what the position position of the new administration with regards to

ukraine membership in nato would be, and that is the thing that unites all ukrainians. we cannot agree to any deal without nato membership and real security guarantees that come with that, so that is still something that we are trying to figure out. maybe the administration of the president lex also is trying to figure that out. —— president elect. the uk, europe, they will have to pitch in and to provide more support. that will be equal to the level of threat, they are under, because of the russian front to the civilised world. we hope that if the us will change its policy, after all, the uk will step in and continue support to ukraine and not force us into the deal that will notjust not force us into the deal that will not just violate not force us into the deal that will notjust violate our interest but will violate the basic principles of the international law. when you look at the _ international law. when you look at the situation - international law. when you look at the situation on - international law. when you look at the situation on the | look at the situation on the battlefield, there have been months of russian advances in

the east. you still believe ukraine can win this war? we have also _ ukraine can win this war? we have also seen _ ukraine can win this war? - have also seen a month of delays in supply of weapons to the ukrainian army, and those two are very closely connected. i still believe ukraine can actually win in this war. it's only a question of, will it the supported needs? just like the uk in world war ii, it would not have won without the american weapons, but it did win. with partners and with the american weapons. the same as for ukraine. we do have up to all this year of up to all the exhaustion, the most professional army in europe, people are willing to fight, they have proved that many, many times, all they need is the weapons. the ceasefire in lebanon appears to be largely holding for a second day, although authorities there say israel committed several violations. israel has again imposed a curfew for southern lebanon. earlier, it fired at border settlements, in what was seen as a warning for people not to return to their homes. our security corrrespondent

frank gardner is injerusalem and has sent the latest. well, it's only day two of a 60—day ceasefire, and so far, it is largely holding up. neither side is looking to back out. but it would be an exaggeration to say that this has been a perfect ceasefire so far. it hasn't, because the israeli military, their tanks have fired several rounds towards lebanese villages and towns in the south of lebanon — they say, to warn off villagers who were coming back too soon. israel has imposed a curfew, an overnight curfew, on the area of southern lebanon between the litani river and the israel border. and they don't want to see any movement in that space during that time. remember that this is still very early days and it's a phased withdrawal. hezbollah are due to move north of the litani river. israeli forces are supposed to move south of the border. now, the lebanese army has accused israel of "multiple violations",

in their words. israel says that its warplanes struck a hezbollah weapons dump containing medium range rockets. but so far — at least in theory — it is holding. no—one is talking about pulling out of the deal, because the penalty for that would just be so big. nobody wants to see a resumption of these massive air strikes on beirut and baalbek and southern lebanon. they want this deal to work, to hold. of course, none of this resolves what's going on in gaza, and really, that is where the push is now, because the humanitarian situation there is atrocious, it's really dire. winter has set in. there's poor conditions pretty much up and down the gaza strip, with massive displacement of people, and there doesn't appear to be a plan in place for how israel is going to hand it over, if at all, to any kind of civilian authority — preferably a palestinian authority, the americans say.

but there doesn't seem to be any sign of that. there isn't even a sign of a ceasefire at the moment, although a lot of people are talking about it. that is the situation across the region at the moment. our security correspondent frank gardner in israel. earlier, a reporter in beirut, richard salame, told me what's been happening in lebanon over the last couple of days and explained how people were feeling. people are returning to their homes in beirut�*s southern suburbs in the south of the country, in areas that were largely depopulated by the israeli offensive, and air strikes, and there's been heavy traffic along the main coastal road to the south for the last two days now. and the atmosphere is one of excitement. hezbollah considers this a victory and most of it supporters seem to agree. for others, it's perhapsjust a relief that the war might be ending. there is of course anxiety around what the future

will bring the cease—fire will hold and what the postwar might look like, especially under the terms of this cease—fire, which gave israel freedom of action that it previously did not have. ., ., ., , have. so he mix of emotions, understandably, _ have. so he mix of emotions, understandably, they're - have. so he mix of emotions, understandably, they're on i have. so he mix of emotions, l understandably, they're on the ground. also reports of israel still firing on some hezbollah targets. what more can you tell us about that? 50 targets. what more can you tell us about that?— us about that? so israel has been chilling _ us about that? so israel has been chilling in _ us about that? so israel has been chilling in the - us about that? so israel has been chilling in the border. been chilling in the border villages with artillery overnight and continuing into today —— shelling. they also launched their first air strikes since the cease—fire came into effect this afternoon in an area north of the river, which as your viewers may know, the area south of the litani river was predominantly the topic of un secured council resolution 1701 and he cease—fire negotiations. these strikes are concerning here in lebanon. the lebanese army has protested them and said they are violation of the cease—fire

agreement. twojournalists have also been fired upon by israeli forces. as far as we understand. so, there are indications that israel is acting upon its claim that it will continue to act unilaterally inside lebanon whenever it perceives that there is a threat from hezbollah.— there is a threat from hezbollah. �* , ., , , hezbollah. and 'ust lastly, overall, just _ hezbollah. and 'ust lastly, overall, just to b hezbollah. and just lastly, overall, just to kind - hezbollah. and just lastly, overall, just to kind of - hezbollah. and just lastly, overall, just to kind of get | overall, just to kind of get yoursense overall, just to kind of get your sense overall how stable or precarious, do you think, this cease—fire feels right now, and this presence of peacekeepers there on the ground, the lebanese military as well, and how they could, should be acting as a check on both hezbollah and israel? 50. both hezbollah and israel? so, under the _ both hezbollah and israel? so, under the terms _ both hezbollah and israel? $57, under the terms of the cease—fire agreement, the lebanese army and unifil are both responsible for ensuring that hezbollah does not conduct any stress against israel, and israel in exchange promises not

to conduct offensive military operations in lebanon. the cease—fire to my mind is quite precarious, not least because of the fact that it seeks to exclude hezbollah from area south of the litani river, where many of the fighters, who may be full—time professional fighters or reservists, pa rt—time, fighters or reservists, part—time, people have dayjobs and live in these communities, will be seeking to return to their homes, and it's unclear whether the israelis will seek to prevent people from returning to their homes if they currently or previously carried arms for hezbollah. it's a deeply integrated organisation in the communities of the south and in the lebanese government and the lebanese government and the lebanese political system, so to separate it out and put it on one side and then asked the lebanese government to effectively either or marginalise it substantially is going to create a number of political problems inside

lebanon that it is unclear if the lebanese army is going to be able to achieve, and it is unclear if there's going to be the political will to achieve that, so i would say that the cease—fire is predicated on a vision that acklin is more or less outside of the lebanese scene —— hezbollah is more or less. where i think the problems will appear as it becomes clear that hezbollah is 94 and volley 11 on, is a focal part of the lebanese situation —— hezbollah is... rebel forces have launched an offensive in north—west syria, taking territory from government forces for the first time in years. the islamist militant group hayat tahrir al—sham and its allies say they have taken control of several towns and villages in the aleppo and idlib provinces since wednesday. syria's military says it is fighting what it calls a "large scale" attack.

more than 180 fighters on both sides have been killed, according to a uk—based monitoring group. it said at least 19 civilians were killed by syrian and russian air strikes in opposition—held areas. more than half a million people have been killed in syria's civil war, which erupted after the government cracked down on peaceful pro—democracy protests in 2011. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. it's the first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years and researchers at king's college london are describing it as a "game—changer". 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson has been looking at the research. the results, published in the lancet respiratory medicinejournal, found a failure rate of 74% when taking the current treatment of steroids, but that dropped to 45% with the new therapy. benralizumab, significantly reducing hospital admission and fatalities. so how does it work?

if somebody gets a flare up of their symptoms and they end up in hospital, that injection can be given there. but there is hope that, potentially, it's something that you can give to yourself at home. now, home treatment is only a possibility for the future at the moment, but those behind the trial believe they've had a real breakthrough. researchers say, next year, a larger trial will begin aimed at confirming the success of this treatment. you're live with bbc news. riot police in the georgia have used pepper spray and water cannon against protesters who took to the streets after the government suspended moves tojoin the european union. a tense stand—off is continuing in the capital tblisi, with demonstrators setting up burning barricades. demonstrations erupted in several cities after the prime minister announced he would not pursue eu membership until 2028. he was responding to a european parliament resolution rejecting the results of last month's election,

citing irregularities. the uk transport secretary louise haigh has admitted pleading guilty to a criminal offence relating to a police investigation over a mobile phone she had claimed was stolen. in a statement, ms haigh said she told police she had lost her phone during a mugging on a night out in 2013 but later found it had not been taken. 0ur correspondent sean dilley has the latest. louise haigh, the transport secretary, has admitted, when she was asked about the 2014 conviction, the circumstances... she said that she in 2013 had been out on the streets, she had been mugged, items were missing. she said she reported all of those items to the police, including her work phone, which she said she thought

had been taken. her account is that time passed, she found her work phone hadn't in fact been stolen. when it was turned on, this attracted police attention. police had invited her in for what they call in the united kingdom an interview under caution, so it's a little bit like miranda rights where they come in and read her rights. after that, that went to prosecutors, she appeared in magistrates�* court, and upon legal advice, she pleaded guilty, but it is not totally clear what offence she's pleaded guilty to. we asked for information from the secretary of transport. she has been quite a high flyer in her early career as the new transport secretary under the new labour government since they were recently elected, but can she survive potentially being convicted of a potentially serious offence? we are bringing you those details throughout the night, and for the moment, louise haigh does say she appeared before

the magistrates�* court and they accepted her mitigation, and she received what was known as a conditional discharge, where the court found her guilty of whatever the offence was but didn't impose significant punishment. australia will become the first country in the world to ban social media for under—16s. it is one of the toughest crackdowns on the likes of tiktok, instagram and facebook. the new law forces tech giants to stop minors logging on to their platforms or face fines of up to $49.5 million australian dollars — about 32 million us dollars — if they don't comply. the ban will not take effect for at least a year. australia's prime minister anthony albanese says the legislation is needed to protect young people from harm and encourage them to be more active. earlier, i spoke to dr monique ryan, an australian independent mp who voted against that bill. quite broad support for the bill. just 13 mps voted against it. you were one of them. why was that?

iama i am a politician nowadays to but i used to be a peterson and i'm also apparent. i have a lot of concerns. the first is we don't have any real clarity around how privacy considerations will be respected by this bill. 0bviously respected by this bill. obviously there will be age verification required in order to keep the under—16s off of social media, but the government has not legislate how it is going do that, it has left to social media. presumably they have to use some sort of official verification software or the like. ithink verification software or the like. i think there are real privacy concerns. all of us know who are parents know the harms of social media, and we know young people using more and more, and in some cases increasing use of social media has been correlated to increasing risk of mental health issues and young people, but we also know that taking a lot of young children who rely

on social media, for a lot of people they rely on it. people don't make children who are lgbtq ia find places online —— children who are. it can damage them. finally, there's the risk that the digital platforms enforce a ban and the kids get around it, which they almost inevitably will. there is no way to increase the further young people acting in those places. they need to increase their possessions across the board. i increase their possessions across the board. i wonder if ou across the board. i wonder if you think — across the board. i wonder if you think that _ across the board. i wonder if you think that without - across the board. i wonder if you think that without that i you think that without that kind of tough approach this bill puts forward that social media companies will actually necessarily cooperate, because they also have business interests in this? i they also have business interests in this? i think we do need — interests in this? i think we do need to _

interests in this? i think we do need to improve - interests in this? i think we do need to improve social. interests in this? i think we - do need to improve social media protections, and there's a lot of activity in this space from the experts. i was a medical researcher before a camera politician, and i have a lot of contact in recent times with medical, psychologists, academics, experts in this space, including some from oxford, who have all said we do 0xford, who have all said we do need to increase protection on social media for young people, but this is not the way to do it. a blanket ban is not the best way to do it. it needs to best way to do it. it needs to be evidence—based, it needs to improve protections for kids, and keep them safe in the space while they learn to operate safely within it. saying, go for gold, when they are 17 does not extend. for gold, when they are 17 does not extend-— for gold, when they are 17 does not extend. how do you do that, how do they _ not extend. how do you do that, how do they improve _ not extend. how do you do that, how do they improve those - how do they improve those protections?— how do they improve those protections? the first thing is to create a — protections? the first thing is to create a digital— protections? the first thing is to create a digital duty - protections? the first thing is to create a digital duty of - to create a digital duty of care, and that is something one of the other independents in this parliament and i've moved a piece of legislation about this week which the government did not take up, but the

experts have all sentiments start with the digital duty of care, but it is also for the government to increase the objections across the board for all people active in that space. and go from there in terms of enforcing that with bands or penalties or whatever for those digital pot forms which don't insure that all people are operating in that space that are being kept safe —— insure that all people operating in that space are being kept safe. you need protections for children but also their parents and tim's of how they engage with social media. the analogy a lot of us used in australia is that we don't let our kids go out and surf beaches when they are 17. we get them out to swimming pools and monitor their activities and they learn how to engage in a speech which can be really fun but can also be really quite dangerous over a period of time and with supervision, and that's what we should be doing with social

media as well. keepers at a zoo in england have helped teach a baby penguin how to walk. flop's mum died when she was just a few days old and she lost the strength to hold herself up. but handlers have got her back on her feet — with the help of a penguin called flap. ben sidwell has the story. it's been a tough start to life for flop the penguin. after her mother died when flop was just a couple of weeks old, she became really ill, leaving her unable to stand, walk or even eat. with the threat of having to put her to sleep, over three months, the team of bird keepers at dudley zoo worked day and night in an attempt to save flop's life. for her to be unable to keep herself, her body supported, it definitely could have been life—threatening. so they started to think outside the box and tried anything and everything to help. we actually developed a little baby bouncer that would support her body weight, with her feet just touching the floor, and we was able to feed her in this. while desperately searching

the internet, they discovered another penguin called flap from toronto zoo in canada who had exactly the same condition. we spread around the whole zoo. we were so happy that flap was able to, you know, - reach out and help - another penguin in need. happily, all the keepers' efforts worked and flop is now back on her feet and looking forward to living her best penguin life. ben sidwell, bbc news. five and a half years after the devastating fire, paris's notre dame will open once again to visitors on friday. the cathedral�*s re—vamped interior has been kept under wraps, but president of france emmanuel macron will conduct a televised tour of the renovations as part of the reopening. mr macron is expected to thank around 1,300 craftsmen who helped with the renovation, costing £700 million. let's just take a look at the scene briefly now in beirut,

the skyline they are, where we know it is day two of that cease—fire between israel and hezbollah, and it does appear to be holding. you are watching bbc news. we will be bringing you more on that story and plenty others at the top of the hour, so dojoin me then. bye for now. hello there. for most of us, it's been a dry but cold day today after that widespread frost. but things over the next few days are going to change. temperatures are going to be rising. the cold air that we've had underneath the high pressure is getting squeezed away, weather fronts just waiting to bring some rain in from the west. but this evening, there may well be an early frost across eastern scotland, the midlands and eastern parts of england, where we've got clearer skies and also lighter winds. but temperatures will rise overnight. in the west, we've got most of the cloud. the rain that was in northern ireland will head its way up

towards northernmost parts of scotland, and temperatures by the end of the night in western areas may well be in double figures, and further east, temperatures will have lifted above freezing by the morning. still a chilly start here, mind you, but for many central and eastern parts of england and perhaps eastern scotland, should be a dry day with some sunshine. stronger southerly breezes out to the west, where the cloud will thicken to bring rain back into northern ireland in the afternoon, western scotland and later over the irish sea. but for all of us, temperatures tomorrow are going to be higher than today — 12, maybe 13 for the western side of the uk, further east, 8 or 9 celsius. so things are turning milder because of this weather pattern — low pressure to the west of the uk, high pressure with the cold air to the east of us and a southerly breeze is arriving. that's lifting the temperatures. may be bringing a little bit of rain on friday night. that should have cleared away by saturday morning. and for many of us, it will be a dry but quite cloudy picture on saturday.

there could be a bit of rain around some hills and coast, particularly western scotland, bit of sunshine over the moray firth east of the pennines and in north wales, but it's going to be a mild day everywhere — temperatures 13, perhaps even 14 celsius. so quite a change for the eastern side of the uk. there is a bit of rain just waiting in the wings out to the west. this weather front will push some wet weather eastwards on saturday night. that rain soon clears away from scotland, but we'll see this rain moving into england and wales, so much more unsettled, i think, on sunday. the rain followed by some sunshine but also some showers. sunday, of course, is the first day of meteorological winter, but it's not really going to feel particularly wintry at all. it will be a mild day on sunday, temperatures again around 13 celsius. but that mild weather is unlikely to last into monday. the wind direction changes. instead, we get a northerly wind, and that will drop the temperatures during the day.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. the uk parliament is considering landmark proposals to legalise assisted dying

in england and wales. it would, if approved, establish the right for some terminally ill people to choose a medically assisted death. several european nations, canada, and a number of us states have already gone down this road, much to the consternation of my guest today, the actor and disability rights campaigner liz carr. is the focus on a good death detracting from the right to a good life?