welcome to newsday, i'm katie silver. more than a million people are without power after russia's strikes on ukraine's power grid on wednesday night. russian forces launched 90 missiles and 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 people could be without electricity for days. the attack is a massive blow to ukraine's energy system which is crucial to both frontline 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 translation: we will use the means at our disposal the means at our disposal against significant targets. against significant targets. we did not exclude the use we did not exclude the use of oreshnik against of oreshnik against the military, military industries facilities over the military, military industries facilities over decision—making central after the attack. decision—making central including kyiv stop betting including kyiv stop betting in mind that the kyiv authorities in mind that the kyiv authorities continue to attempt to strike continue to attempt to strike at our vital facilities at our vital facilities including st petersburg including st petersburg and moscow. ukrainian officials called and moscow. ukrainian officials called mr putin's claim ridiculous. mr putin's claim ridiculous. president volodymyr zelensky president volodymyr zelensky said russia used cruise said russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions missiles with cluster munitions to specifically target energy to specifically target energy and civilian infastructure. despite the wide range and civilian infastructure. despite the wide range of russia's overnight attack, of russia's overnight attack, reports suggest reports suggest no—one was killed. no—one was killed. inna sovsun is a ukrainian inna sovsun is a ukrainian member of parliament. member of parliament.

she described the situation she described the situation after the attack. i'm sitting out of my home right now, i don't have electricity right now, i didn't have it from the early morning and i came back home in the evening and i didn't have electricity.

very strict limits as to how much electricity is in the system and majority of the people don't have electricity in their homes. two bulgarian men have pleaded guilty to spying for russia in the uk. orlin roussev from great yarmouth and biser dzhambazov from london have admitted conspiracy to spy. their guilty pleas can be reported for the first time after a jury at the old bailey were told about them at the start of a trial of three other alleged spies. daniel de simone reports. (n0 audio). a russian spy cell operating in the uk. prosecutor alison morgan kc said the defendants had engaged

in high level espionage, put lives at risk, and sought to gather information for russia, an enemy of the uk. jurors heard the group was directed by orlin roussev, who took instructions from a russian agent abroad, with people and places then targeted for surveillance. this great yarmouth guest house occupied by roussev was packed with technical equipment, the court heard, including gadgets used to steal data from phones. the female defendants were envisaged as a honey trap, jurors were told. sexual bait for their targets. both women were in relationships with biser dzhambazov, the other man who has admitted being a spy. when police raided katrin ivanova's london flat, they found a range of false passports under fake identities. investigative journalist christo grozev was one alleged target. his work exposed russia's role in the salisbury nerve agent attack. the court heard the alleged spy cells leaders and the russian

agent who directed him from abroad had discussed potentially kidnapping christo grozev and taking him to moscow, or even killing him. the three defendants are alleged to have followed people throughout europe, and targeted a us military base in germany. they deny all the charges. daniel de simone, bbc news, at the old bailey. riot police in the capital of georgia, tblisi, have used pepper spray and water cannon against protesters where a tense stand—off is continuing. demonstrators have taken to the streets after the government suspended moves tojoin the european union. they have been setting up burning barricades. and it's notjust the capital. demonstrations erupted in several cities after prime minister irack—li kohbak—hidzer announced he would not pursue eu membership until 2028. this was in response to a european parliament resolution which rejected the results of last month's election, citing irregularities. brussels had already suspended the membership process because of what it calls democratic backsliding by the ruling georgian dream party. this is the scene

now live in tbilisi. this has been continuing overnight, it looks relatively calm there at the moment but a lot of people there, six o'clock in the morning there. this all comes after the government as well saying that it would refuse any budgetary grants from brussels. they have accused the opinion union a block of a cascade of insults. six o'clock in the morning there are with ongoing protest and riders out looking, the moment but we have had reports of teargas earlier. 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 thier homes. 0ur 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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's take a look at another major story in the uk. it's the first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years and researchers are describing it as a "game—changer". the study suggests that offering patients an injection is more effective than the current steroid tablets. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson has more. the results published in the journal found a failure rate of 74% when taking

the current treatment of steroids but that dropped to 45% with a new therapy, benralizumab, significantly reducing hospital admissions and fatalities. home treatment is the possibility for the future but those behind the trial believe they had a real breakthrough. researchers say next year a larger trouble began aimed at confirming their success of this treatment. plenty more on that new treatment on our website — bbc.com/news. you're live with bbc news. 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 $19.5 million australian dollars — that is 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. mr speaker, i want young australians to grow up happy, active and safe. playing outside with their friends. off their phones and on to the footie and cricket field, or indeed, just engaging with each other, on a face to face basis. i'm joined now by our correspondent in sydney phil mercer. thank you forjoining me, this past very late in the day in australia, marathon vote in the senate, tommy will lawmakers defied — divided on this? there's been an enormous amount of the vision, not only in australia politics but in australian society as well. two major questions persist is a

ban of this kind visible and how will it work? the prime minister, mr r beteasy, says that this is pioneering legislation, that it is required to protect australian children for cyber bullying. —— anthony albanese. and also the exposure to violent misogynistic and pornographic content. critics believe that the reforms have been rushed and we've heard earlier today from tiktok, one of the technology companies involved in this ban, saying that the safety of young people on its platform is a priority and it believes that the government's reforms the van that's been introduced, it's been rushed and is flawed.— introduced, it's been rushed and is flawed. -- phil. i'm joined now by university of sydney digital communication professor terry flew.

first of all, what do you make of this legislation? as an expert, how do you see it? there are divisions among experts on that, there is evidence of division in the parliament honoured. it would appear to majority public support about 60 — 70% public support, judging by opinion either going to be — are these giants g( judging e able to either going to be — are these giants g( judging by ble to either going to be — are these polls and i think he would giants g(judging by opinion support, judging by opinion polls and i think he would respond to what is a very respond to what is a very strong perception of the strong perception of the failure of self—regulation in failure of self—regulation in australia that rightly or australia that rightly or wrongly, those of you that wrongly, those of you that social media platforms have had social media platforms have had two decades to sort out age two decades to sort out age verification issues and manifestly failed to do so and verification issues and manifestly failed to do so and this legislation gives a very this legislation gives a very strong nudge to those platforms strong nudge to those platforms to put in much more robust age to put in much more robust age verification measures or to verification measures or to develop platform models that develop platform models that are designed to for young are designed to for young people. people. are designed to for young --eole. . , are designed to for young neale, ., , ., are designed to for young --eole. . , are designed to for young neale, ., , ., are designed to for young --eole. . , people. he has a practical, either going _ people. he has a practical, are designed to for young --eole. . , people. he has a practical, either going _ people. he has a practical,

either going to _ people. he has a practical, either going to be - - people. he has a practical, either going to be - are . people. he has a practical, i either going to be - are these either going to _ people. he has a practical, either going to be - - people. he has a practical, either going to be - are . people. he has a practical, i either going to be - are these either going to be — are these giants going to be able to either going to be — are these giants going to be able to introduce legislation like this or how can be achieved? it will be a lot of— or how can be achieved? it will be a lot of devil— or how can be achieved? it will be a lot of devil in _ or how can be achieved? it will be a lot of devil in the - be a lot of devil in the detail, no question, in particular the whole question of age verification comes up and while there are facial recognition trials going to happen over the course

the attention of young people. mentioned tiktok and instagram being on the list but i was surprised to see gaming platform is not on the list. are they a big offender when it comes to young people using them? at comes to young people using them? �* ., ., comes to young people using them? ., ., , , them? a lot of young people use aaamin them? a lot of young people use gaming platforms _ them? a lot of young people use gaming platforms and _ them? a lot of young people use gaming platforms and i - them? a lot of young people use gaming platforms and i think- gaming platforms and i think there are some questions you raised. that social media and constitute social media. 0ne raised. that social media and constitute social media. 0ne platform that was removed from platform that was removed from the legislation was in fact the legislation was in fact youtube and this is apparently youtube and this is apparently on the basis of lobbying from on the basis of lobbying from the wiggles who i'm sure some the wiggles who i'm sure some of your viewers are familiar of your viewers are familiar with but it's been coming for with but it's been coming for about a year, there was a major about a year, there was a major social media summits held in social media summits held in ireland. media and australia in august and the australia in august and the testimony of people such as testimony of people such as facebook with the whistleblower facebook with the whistleblower being influential and i know being influential and i know that there are other that there are other jurisdictions that are jurisdictions that are considering measures along considering measures along these lines including italy, these lines including italy, spain, france, south korea, the spain, france, south korea, the czech republic, germany and czech republic, germany and

ireland. , ., ~ ,, czech republic, germany and ireland. , ., ~ ., ireland. terry, thank you for our ireland. terry, thank you for your insights. _ ireland. terry, thank you for your insights. it'll _ ireland. terry, thank you for your insights. it'll be - your insights. it'll be interesting to see how it develops and unfortunately, i'm very much in the error of too much wiggles in my life. —— era. more now on our top story — more than a million people are still without power after russia's strikes on ukraine's power grid.

is two things — are facing is two things — right now, the military outlook for ukraine in my view is grim and secondly, how much longer ukraine can kyiv going on is uncertain. don't get me wrong, i'm not predicting the collapse, they've done extremely well but the answer to your question is — it is barbaric, the situation that the people of euchareena been put into as rightly as you say, winter and serious winters is on its way. the second thing is vladimir putin will not give up, the question my mind, are these increased deliveries are weapons which putin says in reaction to an non—nuclear country called ukraine being

given missiles by her nuclear country called the united states and his reserve the right to make a judgement about whether this will be a conflict with nato and by the united states. now, is a lot of speculation and he uses this maliciously about the potential use of nuclear weapons. it is true that russia has 2000 tactical nuclear weapons and as you said, it has intermediate range with a range of the 5000 kilometres. which means the whole of europe but not america. that is within range. when will you use nuclear weapons if he does? an easy looking at the upcoming president trump mark to which putin believes, i think, that

trauma from his point of view is going to be a soft arch, that he can manipulate? can i ask you. _ that he can manipulate? can i ask you, briefly _ that he can manipulate? can i ask you, briefly before - that he can manipulate? can i ask you, briefly before i - that he can manipulate? can i ask you, briefly before i let i ask you, briefly before i let you go, washington allowing the use of atacms, the long—range missile strike inside russia's territory, what more could biden do in the last two months in office to substantially impact this war?- in office to substantially impact this war? look, i'm no loner impact this war? look, i'm no longer a _ impact this war? look, i'm no longer a detailed _ impact this war? look, i'm no longer a detailed expert - impact this war? look, i'm no longer a detailed expert on i longer a detailed expert on american nuclear weapons, the height of the cold war, i was, however, responsible for the australian policy on america's enormously powerful intelligence facility in the centre of australia. which could detect all soviet ballistic missiles launches and trajectories. so, ithink ballistic missiles launches and trajectories. so, i think that, to completely answer your

question, putin will not go nuclear easily but i think what he thinks he can do with president trump mark to was keen to do what he calls a deal, you have to remember that this will establish just how far trunk and go with putin. he proclaims the following two or three things. there is no such countries in ukraine, no such language in ukraine, he does not recognise there is a state of ukraine and more than once he said he will not talk to president zelensky so, good luck to president trump and his advisers but this is not going to be easy and the rumours coming out of washington that there is going to be a trade of territory with the so—called peace deal wreaks to me of a inaudible. peace deal wreaks to me of a inaudible-— peace deal wreaks to me of a inaudible. ., ~ a, ., _, inaudible. thank you for coming on the programme _ inaudible. thank you for coming on the programme and _ inaudible. thank you for coming on the programme and giving - inaudible. thank you for coming on the programme and giving us. on the programme and giving us your insights there. mr; your insights there. my pleasure. _ your insights there. my pleasure, thank - your insights there. ij�*i

pleasure, thank you. ina in a statement, she said she was telling police that she lost her phone during a market on a night out in 2013. 0ur correspondent sean dilly has the latest. louise haigh, the transport secretary, has admitted when she was asked about the 2014 conviction, the circumstances that she said then she in 2013, she had been 1534 00:21