House on wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill that could force tiktok� s chinese owner to sell their stake in the platform, orface a nationwide ban. President joe biden urged the senate to take swift action to pass the bill. Lawmakers say the app poses a National Security threat as its Parent Company, bytedance, is based in beijing and is subject to a law requiring it to share data with the Chinese Government. Tiktok has told lawmakers that it has taken steps to ensure the data of american users isnt compromised by employees in china. Nevertheless, the legislation should head to the senate next. Its fate there is uncertain. Following the house vote, tiktok urged its 150 million users in the us to lobby against the bill by calling on them to contact their members of congress. Tiktok influencers also protested against the bill outside the white house. Heres what they told our correspondent. I am aware that im giving my data, right. Im aware. Im ok with it. Let me make that decision, you dont need to make that for me. You know, thats where i stand. To be quite honest, everything on the internet is a Security Risk and so, this may be have a Parent Company that is foreign, but we have just as many Security Risks with Domestic Companies as well, and so i would love to see our lawmakers spend this much time and energy to pass more Data Protection overall, for all americans, on all platforms, on everything. Democratic congressman seth moulton co sponsored the bill. He told the bbc that he isnt trying to ban the app, but instead explained why he wants it out of chinese control. We have already heard instances of people being banned from tiktokjust because they talk about the genocide going on with the uyghurs in china. Thats just one example of how china can control what americans see. And this gets a lot of users. There are 170 million americans who use tiktok. About 45 of the country gets its news on tiktok. I do not think that in the height of the cold war that britain would have agreed to sell bbc to the soviet union, right, or cnn to the soviet union. We would not allow that. It is really the same situation here. Seth moulton there. To get an idea of the bills fate in the senate and whether it could be signed into law, i spoke to ashley gold, Technology Policy reporter at axios. Very good to have you with us here on bbc news. So this legislation has passed in the house. If its taken up by the senate, what fate do you think it faces there . It has a lot more momentum in the senate than i was originally expecting. You have a lot of lawmakers that do see tiktok as a threat, they see the influence of china as a threat, and they want to get something done and it seems like this is something that they could pass and get signed by the president , but theres still some pretty notable opposition in the senate, and Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer has not committed to putting it on the floor so, its really up to him and if he sees this as a valuable use of floor time, and if this is something the senate should be doing so, and im watching cautiously but its the most momentum ive seen for a piece of tech related legislation in a long time. Lets talk about china then. The tiktok ceo has released a video. In it, he says that, over recent years, weve invested to keep your data safe. So talk to us a bit about these National Security concerns, is there concrete evidence essentially that china is being given this data from us users . So, what there is concrete evidence of is that the Chinese Government has used social media platforms like tiktok to spread divisive messages to the American People but what i personally have not seen evidence of granted, im nota member of the Intelligence Community is that they are using american user data from tiktok to do so. Manipulating americans on social media is something any tech company can be subject to. We saw this happen with meta in the 2016 election with russia. So these connections to the Chinese Communist party and whether tiktok is actually handing over data to them, tiktok vehemently denies that. We have seen evidence here and there of instances where the border between us data and chinese engineers working for bytedance back in china is porous, but i personally havent seen a Smoking Gun Report that says, you know, Chinese Communist party or even Chinese Workers at bytedance are accessing us user data on any sort of significant scale. Lets talk about the impact on young people incredibly popular. Influencers, of course, using this as a source of income, revenue do you anticipate resistance if this were to go further . Court battles . Absolutely. There was a Couple Dozen Tiktok creators and influencers on capitol hill yesterday. They had meetings with lawmakers and told them how much the app meant to them, how it helped them find community, how it helps them start a business and sustain their families, and now that its passed the house and this is getting even more national attention, i think youre going to see a very Loud Community of tiktok supporters rallying against this bill. Again, going back to hypotheticals lets just say it passes the senate, gets to the president s desk. To avoid a ban, essentially what we are seeing here is bytedance having to arrange a sale, guaranteeing that tiktok is not under the influence of what is being referred to as a foreign adversary, within six months. That seems pretty challenging is it . It is challenging. Not only is tiktok not interested in a sale they have said as much it would be really hard to find a buyer that, one, can afford it its a very valuable company and also one that would stand up to antitrust scrutiny. Here in the us, increasingly, the environment around Big Business Mergers And Acquisitions that our current Government Administration is pretty sceptical so the buyer would have to be someone thats not already in tech, that doesnt already have a Big Social Networking Platform so as not to raise any antitrust in competition flags. I think tiktok is seeing getting a buyer as essentially an Impossible Task and thats why they are calling it a ban. Ashley gold, tech policy reporter at axios, thank you for being with us. Israel says its investigating an attack on a United NationsFood Distribution center in rafah that killed at least five people including one unrwa staff member. These are pictures verified by the bbc filmed at a nearby hospital, where casualties were taken. The us and several eu countries are among those urging israel, not to launch a full scale assault on rafah, where more than a million palestinians are sheltering. Here are images of the warehouse taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack and this is the scene inside some of the images are too graphic to broadcast. Tensions are also high in the occupied west bank and in Occupied Eastjerusalem where five palestinians were reportedly killed on tuesday night by Israeli Security forces, including a 12 year old boy holding a firework. The bbc� s mark lowen sent this report from jerusalem. Its been a day of violence inside gaza and beyond with the un In Gaza Reporting that one of its Distribution Centres in rafah in the southern tip of gaza was struck with at least one member of staff of the un killed and more than 20 people injured, takes the total numbers of staff killed to 165. Meanwhile in eastjerusalem, near a refugee camp, a 12 year old boy who was holding a firework was shot dead by an israeli police. The police say he was aiming the firewood towards them and theyve been hit by Molotov Cocktails and rioters and the family of the 12 year old say he was just a kid and this firework in the air and presented no threat at all but the policeman has been congratulated by israels far right National Security ministerfor in his words, defending israel from terrorists. On the aid front, it is a slightly more positive note with six trucks from the u. N. World Food Programme managing to reach northern gaza, an area that has not received any food aid at all since the middle of february and theyve taken a route for the first time allowed by israel since this war began. Now, the food aid has been slow and ineffective in coming in over ground, israel has been holding up trucks consistently since this war began so that is why western countries are having to resort to air drops but a maritime corridor coming in from cyprus with a ship thats making its way from cyprus to gaza carrying 200 tons of aid which is said to be offloaded onto a temporaryjetty thats been built. Theyre having to resort to maritime routes, air drops because the overland routes have been so slow and the needs on the ground are dire with the un warning that a quarter of gazas population are at imminent risk of famine. Mark lowen there. And now, five months on from the attacks that triggered this latest, deadly conflict, we are learning more about happened on the 7th of october. 18 year old itay regev and his sister maya were kidnapped by hamas from a Music Festival in israel, and were then held for sa days. Itay has been describing in detail what happened to him, his sister and his best friend after they were taken hostage. His friend is still being held, along with more than 100 others. Itay spoke to our special correspondent lucy manning. Itay regev is free, but all he thinks about are the hostages he left behind. The teenager was at the nova Music Festival with his sister maya and friend 0mer when hamas attacked. Translation we started hearing shooting, and terrorists were surrounding the whole party area. Lots and lots of people started running in all directions. I hear shooting going past my head. I heard people screaming. I saw people falling down. A lot of bodies. We were confronted by a van of terrorists spraying our car with bullets without any mercy. I got shot in my leg. My sister also got shot in her leg seconds after me. This, the moment they were tied up and taken. Translation we entered gaza, and the terrorists started shouting and screaming and celebrating. It was as if it was a big party. Itay says they were taken to a house with a shaft, then through a tunnel and driven to a hospital. Translation they threatened my life. | they looked at me doing this, that they are going to kill me, that they are going to behead me. I still had a bullet in my leg. They put the forceps into my leg. They pulled out the bullet without anaesthetic. They told me to keep quiet because if i wont keep quiet, theyll kill me. It was a day that i thought i wouldnt come out of alive. I came to terms with the fact that i wasnt going to live. I see my sister, maya, injured and crying. Maya also said her goodbyes and told me if i come out of this alive, to tell our parents that she loves them. What were the conditions like where you were being kept . Translation you dont really know if youre going to wake up in the morning, if a missile is going to fall on you, if theyre going to come in with a kalashnikov and start spraying us with bullets. The conditions are very, very difficult there. Sometimes no water, and the hunger was very, very difficult. Hamas wants a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of the troops for the hostages to be released. Do you think that israel should agree . Translation i think we should do anything we possibly can to get them out of there, whatever the cost. We need to do anything that will bring the hostages out of there. You cant put a price on it. Its peoples lives. Itay says he must now shout out in the name of all the hostages who cant be heard. Translation i was there for two months, and every day felt like an eternity. To be there for five months, its horrible, and they are really going through dreadful things and dreadful feelings. In november, maya was released and reunited with herfamily and is learning to walk again. Itay was freed a few days later. 0mer, theirfriend, and around 130 others are still held. Itay says the world has forgotten the hostages. Lucy manning, bbc news. This is bbc news. Lets look at a top story in the uk. Britains Prime Minister is resisting pressure for the conservatives to return £10 million, or about 13 million that was donated by the businessman frank hester, who allegedly said the mp diane abbott made him want to hate All Black Women and should be shot. Rishi sunak told the commons that the alleged remarks were racist but that mr hester� s apology for making rude comments should be accepted. Heres our Political Editor chris mason. The governments current position is this, they say that the remarks were racist, the alleged remarks were racist but that doesnt make mr hester himself racist. If you take half a step back, it is a position in which he says there should be a tolerance to an articulation of alleged intolerance as long as there is some contrition. Meanwhile, ms abbott was not called on during wednesdays Prime Ministers questions. Thats despite standing up 46 times. A spokesperson for the speaker said he Ran Out Of Time to call on her. Youre live with bbc news. The United Nations says its started evacuating its non essential staff from haiti although workers who carry out Life Saving Activities will remain. Political leaders are negotiating the formation of a Transitional Council set to take over after the Prime Minister, ariel henry, stands down. Theres hope that following henrys resignation, the violence in haiti will recede. But in the meantime, the humanitarian situation there is worsening. At least four Million People are facing severe food insecurity. Gangs are in control of roughly 80 of the capital Port Au Prince, and injust the last couple of weeks, more than 15,000 people have been forced to leave their homes to escape the violence. Meanwhile, the un is setting up an air bridge from the Dominican Republic to help deliver aid. The bbc� s Central AmericanCorrespondent Will Grant is in the Dominican Republic by the haitian border, and sent this report. Life at the Border Crossing between the Dominican Republic and haiti is taking on a certain rhythm that every day, throughout the day, several trucks carrying undocumented haitian migrants come to this point and deport those migrants back into the country. They are being deported into an impoverished nation facing its biggest crisis in over a decade. Now the situation in the capital, Port Au Prince, remains critical the Food Security situation, of course, the Gang Violence on the streets, the problems in the hospitals and schools being closed it is as bleak a picture as at any time since the 2010 earthquake, in the haitian capital. There is, for example, the effort by the Us State Department and Member States of the Caricom Group of nations to see an interim administration take power in the coming days, but thats running into difficulties because the gang members themselves, the powerful gangs that are in control of much of the capital, dispute who will be in that council, and may well want representation themselves, for example, in search of an amnesty. So it is an intractable situation for the time being, it may take several days from this point onwards to resolve, and in the meantime, ordinary people in the streets of Port Au Prince are simply trying to make a living, make ends meet amid the violence. Will grant there. Russian president Vladimir Putin has reiterated his position that hes ready to use Nuclear Weapons if russias sovereignty or independence is threatened. The comments came just days before the countrys president ial elections in a wide ranging interview with Russian State Television released on wednesday. Mr putin also said russia will deploy troops and Strike Systems near the border of finland and sweden, which have eachjoined nato. The russian president singled out neighbouring finland, arguing its accession to the Military Alliance was at odds with the countrys own interests. Translation why they needed this, ifrankly dont understand. This is an absolutely meaningless step from the Point Of View of ensuring their own national interests. But nevertheless