The chief executive of TikTok has been defending the Chinese-owned video-sharing app in the face of hostile questioning at a US Congressional committee hearing. Shou Zi Chew denied TikTok is a national security risk and played down the company's connection to China. He insisted data would never be given to the Chinese Communist Party, but did accept that data is currently accessible to staff in China. The committee chair Cathy Rodgers described TikTok as a weapon of the Chinese Communist Party that ought to be banned. Members of Congress also accused TikTok of delivering harmful content to young people.

Also in the programme: A former Israeli Prime Minister tells Newshour that the government's plans for judicial reform have created the biggest crisis since the creation of Israel; and we report from the southern front of the war in Ukraine.

(Photo: TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew testifies before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing as lawmakers scrutinise the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. Credit: Reuters Evelyn Hockstein)