Newshour

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)

After trading insults on social media, President Trump and Colombia's President Petro meet for the first time today, at the White House in Washington. We also report from Colombia, where our correspondent has been out with the anti-narcotics police, known as the Jungle Commandos.
Also in the programme: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of Libya's former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is reported to have been killed at his home in Zintan - we hear from a journalist who met him; as Sudan's army claims to have re-taken another besieged city, Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council describes a “forgotten horrific conflict” and a “starvation crisis beyond belief”; plus the Australian scientist who helped invent the cochlear implant which now allows hundreds of thousands to hear – and who has just won a prize for his lifetime’s work.
(IMAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro meet at the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 3, 2026 / CREDIT: Colombia Presidency/Handout via REUTERS)

We hear from a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal and also from one of the survivors of sexual assault by Jeffrey Epstein, Lisa Phillips who was a young model at the time.
 
Also on the programme: China bans hidden car door handles, and the heroic Australian teenager who swam miles to save his family.
 
(Photo: Former US President Bill Clinton and former US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrive for Donald Trump's inauguration Credit: Shawn Thew/Reuters)