lorna, thank you very much, lorna gordon reporting.estigation into the downing of a russian military plane, which moscow says was carrying 65 ukrainian prisoners of war. it's not yet clear why the aircraft crashed yesterday in the belgorod region of south—west russia, which borders ukraine. moscow has accused ukraine of shooting it down. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford is in ukraine. so many questions about this. yes, hue so many questions about this. yes, huge number _ so many questions about this. yes, huge number of _ so many questions about this. 1a: huge number of questions of course. picking your way through the information coming out is something of a complicated task. certainly the claims from moscow have been the red and they have been strong from the very beginning —— the central one is a plain, a russian transport plane they say was carrying reliable information about ukrainian prisoners of war being on the plane and usually when there is an exchange planned, russia gives ukraine information about the kind o

lorna gordon reports.mpact of a pandemic that affected so many. mr; pandemic that affected so many. iji husband pandemic that affected so many. ii husband had pandemic that affected so many. ii1 husband had just turned 53, died at the start of the pandemic. key worker, an amazing role model, an ordinary, everyday man. this worker, an amazing role model, an ordinary, everyday man.— ordinary, everyday man. this is really important _ ordinary, everyday man. this is really important for _ ordinary, everyday man. this is really important for all - ordinary, everyday man. this is really important for all of - ordinary, everyday man. this is really important for all of us i ordinary, everyday man. this is really important for all of us in | really important for all of us in scotland — really important for all of us in scotland who lost family members and loved ones _ scotland who lost family members and loved ones to covid. we are relying on baroness — loved ones to covid. we are relying on baroness hallett to co

live now to our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. thank you so much forjoining.ferent in this election year? you can they expect anything different in this election year?— can they expect anything different in this election year? you heard in that speech _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some - in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of- in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of thej that speech there are some of the themes that are likely to emerge in any general election campaign ahead. in effect, he was setting out his stall as to why people here in scotland should vote snp. the snp has been a dominant party here in scotland for more than a decades.

live now to our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. thank you so much forjoining. the snp had quite a rough year in 2023, can they expect anything different in this election year? you can they expect anything different in this election year?— can they expect anything different in this election year? you heard in that speech _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are _ in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some - in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of- in this election year? you heard in that speech there are some of thei that speech there are some of the themes that are likely to emerge in any general election campaign ahead. in effect, he was setting out his stall as to why people here in scotland should vote snp. the snp has been a dominant party here in scotland for more than a decades. their reason, independence, is the fault line in scottish politics than polling would suggest that opinion on that issue is more or less evenly divided. however

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh.ry from our correspondence very shortly. i want to go back to another of the top stories today, the government has published the details of the deal it struck with the democratic unionists to restore power in northern ireland. devolved government at stormont has been suspended for almost two years because of a boycott by the dup obara post brassart trade arrangements. the party leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, says the new deal will end checks on most goods entering northern ireland from great britain. chris heaton—harris said that sticking to the deal will guarantee the free flow of goods across the united kingdom. flow of goods across the united kinudom. ., ., flow of goods across the united kinadom. ., ._ ., flow of goods across the united kinadom. ., . , , , kingdom. today i am publishing the details of the _ kingdom. today i am publishing the details of the deal, _ kingdom. today i am publishing the details of the deal, but _ kingdom. today i am publishing the details of the deal, bu

north, fireworks and celebrations kicked off 2024 in edinburgh where our scotland correspondent lorna gordondeal — traditionally bigger than christmas. you can see the fireworks behind me above edinburgh castle. it is a magnificent setting for a fireworks display. and here enjoying it all is some of the 50,000 people who've lined the street in the centre of the city. they're having a hooley — a scottish word for a party. all sing: # i'm gonna be, - i'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you. all enjoying themselves! down on the main stage, we've the british band pulp have been on headlining tonight. they're gonna come back when the fireworks display is over but this is four days of celebrations here in scotland's capital. started with a torchlight procession on friday, carries on tomorrow with what's called first—footing. at night, though, the main party, a big night of celebrations and fireworks — a ton of them — going off above the party. so, that's the view from the uk. our correspondent sean dilley wraps up how some of the other major cities of the world have been ringing in 2024. cro

lorna gordon, bbc news.na life from the inquiry later on. sally will tell us what else we need to know this morning. the bbc has released around 3,000 e—mails, linked to its handling of the martin bashir scandal, in response to a freedom of information request. it comes after an independent inquiry three years ago found mr bashir had been deceitful and had faked documents to secure his famous interview with princess diana in 1995. 0ur media correspondent david sillito reports. panorama theme music. the e—mails are all from a few weeks in 2020 when questions emerged about martin bashir�*s panorama interview with princess diana. the thousands of e—mails released include one to the director—general from earl spencer, calling for a full independent inquiry, a discussion of the whereabouts of a crucial missing note from princess diana, and communications with martin bashir, which reveal his belief that this was being driven by professional jealousy that a second—generation immigrant had landed such an interview.

lorna gordon there in edinburgh.ls about its agreement with the democratic unionist party, which has persuaded them to return to power sharing in northern ireland. yesterday, the dup accepted a deal which it says will remove physical checks on goods moving between great britain and northern ireland. there's been no fuctioning government there for nearly two years. in a moment we'll speak to our ireland correspondent chris page at stormont, but first to our political correspondent damian grammaticus at westminster what more have we learned, what is in this deal?— in this deal? this dropped in the last half hour _ in this deal? this dropped in the last half hour or— in this deal? this dropped in the last half hour or so. _ in this deal? this dropped in the last half hour or so. 80 - in this deal? this dropped in the last half hour or so. 80 odd - in this deal? this dropped in the i last half hour or so. 80 odd pages of information. it is not the actual legally detailed text, but has the explanation of it. it set out a

yousaf, who was health minister at holyrood for some of the pandemic. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordonburgh. first time the uk covid inquiry has sat outside of london and on this, the first day of 12 days of hearings here in edinburgh, we heard lots of facts, figures, statistics and also a detailed timeline of how the pandemic unfolded here in scotland. we also got a sense of some of the themes that might be explored in the coming three weeks. the lead counsel in this phase of the inquiry, jamie dawson casey, recalled earlier evidence that relations between the scottish and uk government in the lead up to the pandemic were unusually poor. he said some of the areas that they aim to explore would include whether the scottish government had acted quickly enough to contain the disease and also whether the government had enough freedom to act. the lawyer representing the scottish covid bereaved group said some of the politicians who had earlier given evidence in london had deliberately avoided answering questions clearly. king's counsel, claire mitchell, appealed to those who will appear at

wear a face mask at social events if he kept "a drink in his hands." 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordonf was justice secretary, then health secretary during the pandemic. he's handed his informal messages from that time to the inquiry here. and from one of them that's already been submitted and heard about, we heard an exchange between mr yusuf and jason leitch, in which the then health secretary asked for advice about wearing a mask at a social occasion, and in which jason leitch advised him that if he had a drink in his hand, he would be ok. you're live with bbc news. israel has denied accusations that it hit a united nations facility in southern gaza on wednesday, killing at least nine people and wounded more than 70. we will hopefully speak to our correspondent soon. it's been more than a century since treasures were looted by british soldiers from ghana — many of them hold huge cultural and spiritual significance. now, in a landmark agreement, the victoria and albert and british museums in london are returning them, on loan, to the ashantee king. our culture editor katie razzall ha

absolutely huge into scotland. 0ur correspondent who has been there all evening enjoying the party is lorna gordon what 0h, absolutely fantastic here in edinburgh, you couldn't ask for a better backdrop for a fireworks display. you couldn't ask for a better backdrop for a fireworks display.— for a fireworks display. you could have lost it _ for a fireworks display. you could have lost it like _ for a fireworks display. you could have lost it like the _ for a fireworks display. you could have lost it like the one in - for a fireworks display. you could i have lost it like the one in london, i'm feeling competitive of course, but traditionally, hominy has been a big celebration here in the centre of edinburgh packed with people, 50 thousands of them, singing auld lang syne, dancing with strangers, and across their pulp of course headlining, they are on the stage in the street gardens, a big loud ellipses the last time they played here was over 20 years years ago. they decided to come back in this 30th year of official hogmanay celebrations here in scotland. about a third of them from the city, a thi

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh.t they are united in terms of what they perceive as a threat to youngsters online through those platforms and they have been grilling those checkboxes about what they're actually doing to protect children. more from washington in the next little while and take you to hillsboro castle is expected in the next couple of minutes that news conference and of the democratic unionist partyjeffrey donaldson, they're going to talk to the media there after the british government publish details of the plan to bring back power—sharing and in this half—hour, cingular is a sell—out in that it was very much a minority force, we will hear from that press conference coming up in the next few minutes. do not go away. hello there. we've seen some very strong winds across northern areas of scotland today. and with those severe gales came some pretty big waves pummeling the coastline of shetland. but it wasn't shetland where the strongest winds in this storm were. no, they were in the core of storm ingunn

lorna gordon, bbc news. released around 3,000 emails, linked to its handling of the martin bashir scandal in response to a freedom of information request. it comes after an independent inquiry three years ago found mr bashir had been deceitful and had faked documents to secure his famous panorama interview with princess diana in 1995. 0ur media correspondent david sillito reports. panorama theme music. the e—mails are all from a few weeks in 2020 when questions emerged about martin bashir�*s panorama interview with princess diana. the thousands of e—mails released include one to the director—general from earl spencer, calling for a full independent inquiry, a discussion of the whereabouts of a crucial missing note from princess diana, and communications with martin bashir, which reveal his belief that this was being driven by professional jealousy that a second—generation immigrant had landed such an interview. this freedom of information request grew out of a suspicion that the bbc was purposefully withhold

let's get more from our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon who's in glasgow. tell us more.9 _ tell us more. yes, during one of her regular covid-19 briefings _ tell us more. yes, during one of her regular covid-19 briefings in - tell us more. yes, during one of her regular covid-19 briefings in the - regular covid—19 briefings in the midst of the pandemic nicola sturgeon gave assurances that all correspondence, including messages, would be kept for any future inquiry. but the uk public inquiry, which is sitting in scotland at the moment looking into covid decision—making here, has found that thatis decision—making here, has found that that is not going to happen. the former first minister has deleted all her whatsapp messages from the time. why does this matter? some argue that whatsapp messages that were unearthed by the inquiry before christmas shone a light on relationships between politicians and advisers at westminster. and what they really thought of each other and how the good relationships or the dysfunctional ones played into pandemic decision—making there. the sco

let's go to our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. a busy day.rmer first minister. this is the first time we _ to the former first minister. try 3 is the first time we will hear from a member of the scottish cabinet during the pandemic and the first time we will hear from liz lloyd, the chief of staff to nicola sturgeon. she was nicola sturgeon's right hand woman during the pandemic

let's go to our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. a busy day. humza yousaf will give evidence this afternoon. talk to us about liz lloyd and her relationship to the former first minister. this is the first _ to the former first minister. this is the first time _ to the former first minister. this is the first time we _ to the former first minister. ti 3 is the first time we will hear from a member of the scottish cabinet during the pandemic and the first time we will hear from liz lloyd, the chief of staff to nicola sturgeon. she was nicola sturgeon�*s right hand woman during the pandemic and for many years prior to that. the inquiry is likely to examine what role she played in terms of guiding, in terms of helping nicola sturgeon, nicola sturgeon has been clear in a statement that was submitted to the inquiry that we have heard about from other witnesses, we haven't seen the statement ourselves, but other witnesses have spoken about nicola sturgeon saying that politicians made the decisions and advisors advised. but i think the inquiry will be

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. in the way he did and why he kept messages when others did not. they may also ask about the exchange with jason leitch in which the national clinical adviser told him when he thought he could and couldn't wear a mask at a social occasion.— social occasion. strictly speaking, that was breaking _ social occasion. strictly speaking, that was breaking the _ social occasion. strictly speaking, that was breaking the rules. - social occasion. strictly speaking, that was breaking the rules. it i social occasion. strictly speaking, | that was breaking the rules. it was during _ that was breaking the rules. it was during a _ that was breaking the rules. it was during a dinnerand that was breaking the rules. it was during a dinner and on occasion with, _ during a dinner and on occasion with. a — during a dinner and on occasion with, a social occasion, and therefore _ with, a social occasion, and therefore i thought it was legitimate and he was asking precisely that scenario. you used the phrase

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been following the proceedings.e messaging to the public here in scotland. what the public here in scotland. what the inquiry will be trying to get to the inquiry will be trying to get to the bottom of it is the scenes. it's an attempt to try and get a complete picture of what drove the decision making here in scotland. and what made the decisions about when they diverged and when they converged on policy, as opposed to westminster. who was making the decisions? why would they making those decisions? and what drove the timing on them as well? those are the kinds of questions professor leitch will be asked today. thank you very much. survivors of the grenfell tower fire say they will be a voice for the 72 people who died, as they share the impact the 2017 disaster has had on them during a new four—day event. grenfell testimony week is part of a settlement agreement and campaigners say they'll use it to call for change. it is completely independent of the ongoing grenfell tower inquiry which is due to publish its repo