it s wednesday, 31st january. our main story. scotland s former first minister, nicola sturgeon is due to give evidence about the decisions she took during the pandemic, when she appears before the covid inquiry today. ms sturgeon, who led the scottish response to the coronavirus outbreak is expected to face questions surrounding lockdowns, and missing whatsapp messages as the inquiry continues sitting in edinburgh. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. 1,044 positive cases were reported yesterday. nicola sturgeon was at the helm throughout scotland s pandemic response. as head of the scottish government, she was the key decision maker and first in the firing line when things went wrong. we will have made mistakes on all aspects of the handling. now about to be questioned on that handling and how decisions the truth, the whole truth. the former first minister s closest political ally amongst those who admitted texts between the pair no longer exist. are those t
45, just concluded. nicola bulley was a5, she vanished back injanuary. of course, you remember that massive search in lancashire and at the north of england. we are expecting to hear from the family. let me dish out the live pictures from the coroner s court. we are expecting to hear from the family in the next little while. as soon as that starts we will carry that life here on bbc news. whilst we wait for that, let s turn to the situation in russia and the aftermath of the mutiny by wagner paramilitaries. president putin has said the authorities will now miss you how money paid to the missionaries was spent. early he thanked his security forces, silently stopped a civil war. vladimir putin told troops gathered in the kremlin that they stood up to turmoil which would have let to chaos. he led a minute s silence for pilots killed during that mutiny. the fsb has confirmed that a criminal case against the wagner group has now been dropped. the defence ministry says that the gro
the final two candidates should be known by the end of next week. the government is refusing to let parliamentary time for labour s notion of no confidence. they are choosing to play politics with the wedding of the notion and could be debated as the business of the day. let s speak to steve reid, the shadowjustice secretary. very good to have you here on bbc news. i am curious as to the timing of this no confidence motion, why table this vote of no confidence in the government under borisjohnson after we know that borisjohnson is resigning? why didn t labour tabled this before? we resigning? why didn t labour tabled this before? ~ ., ., , , ., this before? we have only ust found out that the this before? we have only ust found out that the conservative this before? we have onlyjust found out that the conservative party - out that the conservative party intends to prop up in office, for another two months, a prime minister who they have now admitted is unfit for office,
whether the parkland school gunman, who killed 17 people, should get the death penalty. after being closed by the kremlin in the early days of war, russia s last remaining independent tv channel makes a defiant return to the airwaves. and could you soon be allowed to get wed in your back garden? a change in the law is set to give couples more say over wedding venues and ceremonies in england and wales. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. europe is facing another day of brutal heat and the reality of a fast changing climate. in france, several towns and cities recorded their highest ever temperatures on monday. the uk experienced its warmest ever night last night and is expected to register a0 degree plus temperatures for the first time later today. the met office here has an extreme weather warning in place for large parts of the country. and wildfires are having a devastating impact across the continent, with spain and portugal being parti