Keir Starmer's judgment is being questioned over his past appointment as ambassador to the United States of Peter Mandelson, a British peer with deep personal connections to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Can he survive as prime minister? We hear the latest from our reporter in parliament. And as Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer questions before the US House Oversight Committee, we catch up with the political reaction. Also in the programme: American tech giants Meta and Google go on trial in California - they're accused of harming children by knowingly creating addictive social media platforms. And the French government sends letters to every 29-year-old in the country, exhorting them to have babies while their biological clocks are still ticking.(Photo: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer leaving 10 Downing Street, London. Credit: James Manning/PA Wire)

Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon in Hong Kong, has been jailed for 20 years for colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law.Rights groups called it a death sentence for the 78-year-old, whose family has raised concerns about his health, but Hong Kong's leader said it was "deeply gratifying". We'll hear from Mr Lai's son about his father's situation.Also in the programme: We'll be reflecting on a historic election victory for the Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi with a member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party; how the DNA of identical twinas is complicating a murder trial in France; and we'll get the reaction to last night's half-time Superbowl show by the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, which has been criticised by President Trump.(Photo shows Jimmy Lai walking to a prison van to head to court in Hong Kong, China on 12 December 2020. Credit: Tyrone Siu/Reuters/File Photo]

Japan's governing coalition led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, is projected to have won two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives. Ms Takaichi sought and got a clear public mandate in a general election she called just four months after becoming leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.Also, the Iranian Nobel peace laureate, Narges Mohammadi, has received another prison sentence - for what the court said was "collusion to commit crimes"; And we speak to one of the Epstein survivors who had a relationship with him for two years.(Photo of Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi, who appeared at the LDP headquarters on Sunday night for the vote count. Credit: Franck Robichon/Reuters)

Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is projected to win in the snap election, while in Thailand a party calling for liberal change is challenging for power again. We report live from Tokyo and Bangkok. Also in the programme: a Russian soldier who fought in Ukraine, fled to Kazakhstan and now faces possible deportation back to Russia, tells us why he deserted; the chief executive of The Washington Post steps down after sacking 300 journalists; and sixty years after the Monkees were formed to rival the Beatles, we hear from the last surviving member, Micky Dolenz.(IMAGE: TV staff gesture in the direction of the cameras as Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), gives an interview at the LDP headquarters on general election day in Tokyo, Japan, February 8, 2026 / CREDIT: Kim Kyung-Hoon/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock (16528062x))

US President Donald Trump has set a deadline for the end of the war in Ukraine - June. President Volodomyr Zelensky has said he will be sending a delegation to Miami for US-brokered talks in Miami. We get a Ukrainian MP's reaction to the latest deadline and hear about life in Kyiv as Russia targets the country's energy infrastructure.Also in the programme: the rush to get key AI components into outer space; and the small change in French rural life that could be fuelling the rise of the far-right.(Photo: A person with a flashlight in a dark street during a power cut in Lviv, Ukraine. Credit: Mykola Tys, EPA/Shutterstock)

The UK’s former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who appointed Peter Mandelson as a cabinet minister, has called for an ethical shakeup in public life in the wake of the Epstein scandal. Mr Brown also defended Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a man of principle who could tackle the problem.Also in the programme: Russia attacks more energy infrastructure in Ukraine; political analysis of President Trump’s racist Truth Social post; and will the Japanese prime minister's decision to call a snap election pay off?(IMAGE: Former prime minister Gordon Brown speaks at a child poverty event, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Child Poverty Action Group (Cpag), at Somerset House, in central London, Thursday November 6, 2025 / CREDIT: James Manning/PA Wire)

Indirect talks between the US and Iran took place in Oman as the US seeks to curb Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. The talks were mainly procedural: was anything achieved? We hear from Iran nuclear expert Professor Sina Azodi, Director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Washington University. Also in the programme: a deadly suicide attack on a Shia mosque in the Pakistani capital Islamabad; the EU orders TikTok to redesign its 'addictive' features; and the opening of the 25th Winter Olympics in northern Italy.(Photo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visits Oman ahead of Iran-US talks. Credit: OMANI MINISTRY OF INFORMATION/HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock)

President Trump is seeking to curb Tehran's nuclear and missile programme; he has threatened to use military force if Tehran doesn't make big concessions.Also in the programme: Venezuela's parliament takes the next step towards an amnesty for political prisoners; and how babies can anticipate rhythmic surprises in music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.(Photo: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is welcomed by an Omani official upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, on February 6, 2026. Credit: Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA via REUTERS)

The agreement would re-establish high level dialogue for the first time since President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Also in the programme: cuts at the Washington Post; a rare Michelangelo is auctioned in New York; BBC Persian creates a 'face wall' of those who have died in the Iran protests; and the director of the multi-Oscar nominated Sentimental Value - Joachim Trier - talks to us about his new family drama.(Photo: Members of the U.S. delegation attend the second round of trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2026.UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Handout via Reuters)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to the victims of the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying he is 'sorry for having believed' his former US ambassador Peter Mandelson. Emails released in the US suggest Mandelson forwarded market-sensitive information to Epstein. The prime minister accused Mandelson of lying during the vetting process, saying he gave the impression he 'barely knew' the disgraced financier.Also in the programme: The second day of peace talks over the Russia-Ukraine war conclude with no sign of agreement; and a sketch of a lion by the Dutch grand master Rembrandt has sold at auction for $18 million. (Picture: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking during a visit to East Sussex. Credit: Peter Nicholls/PA Wire)

Ukrainian representatives at the talks with Russia on a possible end of the war have described the first day of negotiations as "substantive and productive". Newshour hears from injured Ukrainian soldiers and gauges public opinion inside the country.Also in the programme: the New START nuclear treaty expires; and iguanas on the menu in Miami.(Picture: An elderly woman pulls a sled with her belongings during the distribution of humanitarian aid brought by volunteers to a church amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, near the town of Popasna (Popasnaya) in the Luhansk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, February 4, 2026. Credit: Reuters)

Ukraine and Russia are due to hold two more days of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, which have been co-ordinated by the United States. Also on the programme, the war surgeon recently returned from Myanmar's civil war; and, the 66-year old man who fought off a shark. (Photo: World Central Kitchen staff hand out free soup in a neighbourhood that experiences electricity and heating outages following recent Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure during subzero temperatures in Kyiv, Ukraine February 3, 2026. REUTERS/Thomas Peter)