of the race before south carolina. and tank shells hit a un facility sheltering tens of thousands of people in southern gaza, killing at least nine people. new killing at least nine people. satellite pictures show previously new satellite pictures show for previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in antarctica. hello, welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. russia has accused ukraine of shooting down a russian military transport plane carrying 65 captured ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange. none of the 7a people on board are reported to have survived. the bbc has verified this mobile phone video which shows the aircraft falling through the sky in the distance and exploding on the ground.

russia's foreign minister has called for a un security council meeting,... as this happened during previous prisoner swaps. our russia editor steve rosenberg gave us the latest from moscow. caught on mobile phone, the moment a russian military transport plane fell from the sky. woman speaks russian "good god," she cries, as the consequence of what has happened becomes clear. the wreckage was strewn across the fields of belgorod region. not only did russia accuse ukraine of shooting the plane down, it claimed that on board were dozens of ukrainian prisoners of war who were about to be exchanged. translation: on board the plane, there were six crew members, - 65 ukrainian servicemen for a prisoner swap, and three russian military personnel escorting them. the crew and all the passengers on the plane were killed.

with this terrorist attack the ukrainian leadership has shown its true colours. over at the russian parliament, mps were quick to condemn ukraine and those countries who have been supporting kyiv during the war. but this is a war the kremlin began, with president putin's special military operation. moscow has made its position clear — ukraine is to blame, ukraine shot the plane down. now, we cannot confirm that here, but what is clear is that russian officials are using what happened today to try to discredit kyiv, to try to portray the ukrainian government as the aggressor in this war. but keep in mind it was russia, nearly two years ago, that launched a full—scale invasion of ukraine. these russian soldiers were part of the last prisoner exchange between russia and ukraine. it took place earlier this month. ukraine has confirmed that another

swap had been arranged for today, but it accused russia of deliberate actions to risk the safety of the ukrainian prisoners. the belgorod region where the plane came down has come under increased shelling and drone attack from ukraine. but the ukrainian authorities say that some of the attacks on their country have been carried out from this part of russia. and in the village near the crash site, a memorial service. amid the mutual accusations, more victims of this war. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. we can speak now to michael bociurkiw, who is a global affairs analyst and a nonresident senior fellow at the atlantic council's eurasia centre. welcome, thanks very much for being with us. from what you're hearing, what's your assessment of what's

happened today?— what's your assessment of what's happened today? what's your assessment of what's ha ened toda ? _, ., ., , ,, happened today? good to be with you. it's a fast-moving _ happened today? good to be with you. it's a fast-moving story, _ happened today? good to be with you. it's a fast-moving story, and _ happened today? good to be with you. it's a fast-moving story, and to - happened today? good to be with you. it's a fast-moving story, and to me - it's a fast—moving story, and to me it seems that the russians — if indeed what has been reported happened — is that they are playing fast and loose with protocols, because as the ukrainian side said in a statement a few hours ago, they were not informed that these pows weren't going to be moved. —— were going to be moved by air. and if they knew that and it indeed sent that missiles that way, they wouldn't have done so. i also have to remind people that almost ten years ago at the beginning of the first phase of this war, when mh 17 came down over eastern ukraine, at first the russians tried to blame the ukrainian side, then they denied shooting it down, then they literally covered up their tracks and manipulated radar data and things like that. so they are not to be trusted when it comes to big events like this. and the other

factor right now that we are faced with is western organisations, for example the osc, don't have access to the crash site, so it'll be difficult to verify what exactly happened to. 1milli difficult to verify what exactly happened te— difficult to verify what exactly happened to. difficult to verify what exactly hauenedto.~ , , ., happened to. will it be possible to verify crews _ happened to. will it be possible to verify crews on _ happened to. will it be possible to verify crews on board _ happened to. will it be possible to verify crews on board and - happened to. will it be possible to verify crews on board and whether| verify crews on board and whether those pows were actually and came down? ., ., , , ., those pows were actually and came down? ., ., ,, ., ., down? the head of russia today has issued a list — down? the head of russia today has issued a list of _ down? the head of russia today has issued a list of those _ down? the head of russia today has issued a list of those who _ down? the head of russia today has issued a list of those who were - issued a list of those who were allegedly onboard, the pows, and analysts say that some of those names were actually people who were treated before. so that's another piece of disinformation. the other thing that came out was the russian foreign minister gave a statement at the you just a few hours ago — of course, he's blaming the ukrainian side, calling for an amusement —— emergency meeting with the security council — but it's interesting that every time ukraine is accused of doing something in russia during a time of war, it's called a terrorist

act from the russian side — whereas when the russians strike, and by the way, they are in odesa here with drones, they hit hospitals, schools, apartment buildings, those are not deemed as terrorist attacks, in fact they deny them. this war is getting very ugly and it's sad that so many lives are being killed right now. this lives are being killed right now. as we all know, truth is the first casualty of war — how difficult is it to know what's really happening in this war, given the huge amount of russian propaganda? and i'm sure ukrainian, as well? we of russian propaganda? and i'm sure ukrainian, as well?— ukrainian, as well? we are in a different era _ ukrainian, as well? we are in a different era now— ukrainian, as well? we are in a different era now because - ukrainian, as well? we are in a | different era now because there ukrainian, as well? we are in a i different era now because there is so much data available, for example in rosenberg's report, the cell phone coverage. but it was shot down over tehran, there was cell phone data that back to the irradiance into a corner and they had to admit

it. so hopefully more evidence will come out over social media — of course russians need to be very careful with eyewitnesses, but that could help us to find out what exactly happened. the other things the russians could do right now for example is to allow the icrc into the crash site, because after all they do help facilitate these prisoner exchanges, and we could find out through them further information on what might�*ve happened. information on what might've happened-— information on what might've ha ened, ~ . ., ., ~' ., happened. michael, thank you for “oininu us happened. michael, thank you for joining us from — happened. michael, thank you for joining us from odesa _ happened. michael, thank you for joining us from odesa they. - joining us from odesa they. pleasure. more expensive stamps and fewer deliveries per week are all possibilities for the future of the uk postal service as a range of cut saving proposals put forward by regulators. the royal mail is required to deliver 93% of all first class mail within one working day. but last year, it managed that only for 73% of the total. the change in the last 12 years in the volume of letters written and sent in the uk has been significant, from more than 1a billion a year down to just over seven billion. the prime minister rishi sunak told

mps he's "absolutely committed" to retaining deliveries six days a week. here's our correspondent zoe conway. have you thought any more about making a hole in the wall... alison and chris young have been married for 52 years. for their anniversary, their daughter sent them a card. it was found in a nearby street, two weeks late. are you quite upset about that? very upset, because when you get to my age and my husband's age, anniversaries are very significant. to actually hold and have something she's gone out and bought with love, that's what post and letters and cards is all about. alison has osteoporosis. she says hospital letters are also arriving late. alison, talk to me about this envelope. it's important, isn't it? this letter is from the nuffield hospital, in oxford. it was posted to me on the 24th of november, first class.

and it arrived here on the 2nd of december. how would you rate the service that you're getting from royal mail at the moment? absolutely disgusting. royal mail desperately wants to be freed from its legal duty to deliver six days a week to every address in the uk because it's losing the company so much money. royal mail made losses of £419 million last year. what you want to do is make sure we can find a model that works for all our customers, our staff, and make sure we have a sustainable one price goes anywhere, universal service in the future. the regulator ofcom estimates royal mail could save up to £650 million a year if it cut letter deliveries to three days a week. something has got to give or the service willjust be too costly and either stamp prices will go up or it will become unsustainable, so we are opening up a debate on this today. we are not proposing a specific answer. what we want to do is hear people's views.

for the number of delivery days to be cut from six to five or even three days a week, will need a vote in westminster. and that's not going to happen anytime soon because politicians of all the parties know how much the post means to people, particularly the elderly, who are especially good at turning out to vote. don't cut it. sort it out. for alison, the post is an essential public service. but how does that square with royal mail's need to compete and survive? zoe conway, bbc news. donald trump has won the new hampshire primary — the second contest to decide who will be the republican nominee in this november's presidential election. he beat his last remaining rival, former us ambassador to the un, nikki haley, securing 54% of the vote. but she has vowed to fight on, despite the defeat. sarah smith sent this report.

nikki haley... cheering and applause when is defeat really a victory? nikki haley thinks it's when you lose by a bit less than the polls predicted. this race is farfrom over... despite losing in the state she had the best chance of winning, she insists she will battle on. well, i'm a fighter. cheering and i'm scrappy. and now, we're the last one standing next to donald trump. cheering and to the victor, sour grapes. donald trump is angry that nikki haley will not drop out, and that she's claiming credit for being his sole remaining competitor. this is not your typical victory speech, but let's not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. she had a very night. as the campaign continues nikki haley argues she is

the candidate best placed to beat joe biden later this year. the president, apparently agrees. he would far rather fight donald trump. after all, he's beaten him before, but it's a risky strategy. joe biden warns that mr trump poses a grave threat to america. joe biden is playing a very dangerous game. donald trump is the weakest candidate against him, but he would cause the most concern should he win. and joe biden, at 81 years old and clearly showing his age, is the weakest democrat. he is betting the house that he can defeat the most extreme republican and if he fails, he will never be forgiven. will you shut up, man. american voters don't want to listen to this all over again. they say they are depressed by the prospect of a rematch. yet that seems almost inevitable as donald trump looks all but certain to be his party's

candidate for president in november. sarah smith, bbc news, manchester, new hampshire. to get more on the results, earlier i spoke to dr leslie vinjamuri, who is the director of the us and americas programme at chatham house. i asked whether this is game—over for nikki haley. it certainly looks like donald trump is set to get that republican nomination, which i think for many people has been what they've expected — certainly that's been the headline. but, you know, a couple of things here. one is that that's very far from translating into a win in november. and i think what we saw in new hampshire were independent voters turning up voting for nikki haley, those who have been sceptical of donald trump turning up voting for nikki haley. so, you know, although it was a resounding defeat for her in that state, it certainly showed that there's still many voters who don't want donald trump.

and those are people that this former president will need to have on his side, if he wants to win in november. the other thing here is that we've got 30—some days, more than 30 days between now and south carolina. nikki haley said she's going to stay in the race — and she's clearly triggered something in the former president. and now, we will see a man who's expressing his contempt with very little sense of restraint. and that, in and of itself, could certainly depress the number of people who are willing to come out and support him. so do you think she actually still has any chance, as you said, south carolina some 30 days away — that's her home state, she was governor there — but she's been polling lower than donald trump consistently for a long time there. in fact, new hampshire was her greatest hope.

but you think she may still have some kind of chance to you? i think it's very slim. the delta amongst those people who vote in a republican primary in south carolina — remember, that's a very conservative state. the base of voters who turn out, many of them evangelical, are not representative of the broader voter in the general election. so getting through, despite the fact she was a popular governor in south carolina, getting through a republican primary with donald trump as her competitor will be very tough and very unlikely. but again, we're facing an election where if donald trump does, as expected, move forward, have that nomination — he's got 91 felony counts, he has four criminal indictments. he has a tough road ahead. and it's going to be highly volatile, marked by uncertainty. and so, having your name in the game, having your voice out there on the television sets of americans, you know,

being — either officially or unofficially — a back—up candidate is a significant thing. the other thing we're going to have to watch now is, what are the donors do? there were many very significant donors who, afterjanuary 6th, said they simply wouldn't support donald trump, and now there will be a moment of reassessment. we'll see where the chips fall when it comes to those people who really made his presidency, to some extent, possible and would have to decide whether they're going to support him again. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the body that looks into potential wrongful convictions was warned it could have missed important dna evidence in rape cases a year after first rejecting an appeal by andrew malkinson. his conviction wasn't overturned until a decade later, and his lawyers say the criminal cases review commission report means he could have been exonerated earlier.

police have shot a dog dead after reports of it attacking a man in hamilton, in scotland. officers were called to the tinto view area of the town on tuesday to deal with the "dangerously out—of—control" animal. the man was taken to hospital with "serious injuries" following the incident, which involved a "large bulldog—type dog". almost ten million people in england now can't access free earwax removal services on the nhs. the hearing—loss charity rnid warned that some people are resorting to "dangerous self—removal methods" if they can't afford to go private. the government says patients can still be referred by their gp if the problem is linked to hearing loss. you are live with bbc news. let's turn to northern ireland — where the democratic unionist party leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, said he has faced threats for engaging with the uk government

as part of efforts to restore power—sharing in the northern irish assembly. the stormont executive have not met in 23 months, and negotiations are under way to extend the deadline for restoring devolutiom. the dup leader said one person behind the threat did not even vote at the last election. because of the stirring—up that is going on, i was threatened — threatened — by those who have never put on a uniform! by those who never served their country. and when i checked out one of the people who threatened me, on the register — didn't vote in the last election! can't even come out to vote for ourfuture in the union, never mind do anything about it. and yet, they are threatening people like me who is working day and night to try and find solutions and to move northern ireland forward. let's speak to our ireland correspondent chris page from our newsroom in belfast.

welcome to you, remind us first of all what these issues are all about? the system for regional government here in northern ireland is unlike most places in the world. it's a power—sharing settlement — so for a government to be formed at all, unionists, who want northern ireland to remain in the uk, have to agreed to remain in the uk, have to agreed to enter into government with irish... so for the last two years, the dup, the biggest unionist group in northern ireland, has been vetoing the formation of a power—sharing coalition in protest of the trading agreements for northern ireland that were put in place after brexit — essentially the dup believes that checks on goods arriving here from england, scotland and wales, plus the fact that northern ireland is under different trading standards rules from great britain, means there's an economic border which separates northern ireland from britain, and therefore

undermines their place in the uk. so the dup leader, sir geoffrey donaldson, whom you heard from their speaking in london, has been in negotiations with the british government to try to come up with measures that would ease unionists's concerns then lead to the dup to lifting its veto and giving northern ireland back its government after, as i say, that period of 23 months where northern ireland has basically been run by civil servants, not elected politicians. there was a hope for a deal by the british government, that didn't happen. the legal deadline actually ran out last week, so the british government has now today tabled legislation in london to extend that deadline until the 8th of february. and it was in the 8th of february. and it was in the debate on that legislation that sirjeffrey gave that passionate speech which is being seen as a key moment as to where this all goes next. 50 moment as to where this all goes next. ,, ., moment as to where this all goes next, ,, ., ., moment as to where this all goes next. ., ., , ., next. so given that, does it feel to ou that next. so given that, does it feel to you that things _ next. so given that, does it feel to you that things are _ next. so given that, does it feel to you that things are shifting - next. so given that, does it feel to you that things are shifting in - next. so given that, does it feel to you that things are shifting in a - you that things are shifting in a certain direction?—

you that things are shifting in a certain direction? certainly that seech certain direction? certainly that speech has _ certain direction? certainly that speech has made _ certain direction? certainly that speech has made people - certain direction? certainly that speech has made people perk l certain direction? certainly that l speech has made people perk up certain direction? certainly that - speech has made people perk up their ears. he also thought of as being a slightly reserved character — a mode of speech is like that are not his style. so the fact he spoke in that manner and basically put it up to hardline critics within unionism who are discouraging him from doing a deal is seen as a firm statement of his intent to lead his party back into the regional government. a statement of intent that has been lacking, many would say, over the last two years. so people who want devolution back are now saying it looks like things are may be moving more in that direction. it's worth also saying that when the legislation was debated in the house of lords, the other members of sir jeffrey donaldson's party spoke who weren't quite as warm about the prospect of a return to a default government as sirjeffrey seemed to be. so the dup emphasising a deal with the government hasn't been done yet, there is still a way to go but now the focus very much will be on that deadline of the 8th of

february, and there'll be a countdown if you like to that point where people in northern ireland will be wondering if indeed government is about to come back after such a prolonged absence. chris, thanks very much for updating us from belfast. uganda has officially launched its first oil drilling programme with the aim of pumping oil as early as next year. despite discovering commercial petroleum reserves, nearly two decades ago in one of the real's most biodiversity regions, production delays have persisted due to a lack of infrastructure. the president has however held to develop and is a milestone. i spoke to the ugandan minister for energy who tell us more about the programme. who tell us more about the programme-— who tell us more about the rouramme. ~ ., ., ., programme. we have now reached a time where — programme. we have now reached a time where we _ programme. we have now reached a time where we have _ programme. we have now reached a time where we have the _ programme. we have now reached a time where we have the main - programme. we have now reached a time where we have the main steamj

time where we have the main steam infrastructure —— mainstream infrastructure. as i speak now, they've drilled 25 wells in the kingfisher area, they've reached about five wells. so they were with about five wells. so they were with a consortium... it expired injune last year, and we had to call for other provisional interests. we selected one which will develop. we have now negotiated with them,... we shall be seeing them on the ground. scientists believe they may have tracked down the last unidentified emperor penguin colonies in antarctica. the four previously unknown nesting sites were spotted by satellite — here marked in red.

the spots already known are marked in blue. asjonathan amos reports, penguins do move around in response to ice conditions — and that means vulnerability to climate change. emperors are among the hardiest animals on earth. they live life in the freezer, breeding and nurturing their young in temperatures as low as —60. but knowing where they all are on the continent that's so vast and remote isn't easy. it's why scientists have been using satellites. when the birds huddle together it's possible to see them. these are the four new colonies as seen from space. their locations have been found as they stain the ice with excrement. zoom in closer, the ice has turned a mucky brown. the discoveries bring the total number of colonies to 66 — there's perhaps 500,000 individual emperors on earth. but scientists are concerned for their future. the sea ice on which they live is becoming unreliable. we know that sea ice will decline

with warming temperatures and that's going to affect the chicks and the chicks will go into the water and not survive. so that's quite a grim scenario. what we hope is that they'll be able to adapt and they'll be able to move to more stable ice. if global warming can be constrained, say scientists, and other pressures, such as fishing are avoided, these iconic animals can find a resilient future. jonathan amos, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. i'll be back injust a i'll be back in just a few minutes with plenty more. hello there. as storm jocelyn cleared our shores, wednesday has been a day for assessing the damage that was left. but it was a slightly quieter story with the winds gradually easing down. we did actually see some brief

glimpses of sunshine, not a bad afternoon in hexham, northumberland. and as we go through the evening and overnight, the winds will continue to ease. we've got these weather fronts starting to slowly drift in from the west. they'll bring outbreaks of rain, but they will also introduce this south—westerly flow, which is driving milder air right across the country. so there'll be a lot of clouds to start the day on thursday. outbreaks of drizzle, misty conditions along west coasts and some rain moving out of northern ireland into northern scotland. but by the afternoon, most of the persistent rain will have eased away. it will stay damp and drizzly with a few showers out to the west. but an incredibly mild story for all of us. 13 celsius in london — at this time of year, we should be seeing temperatures around 7—8 celsius. there will be some showery outbreaks of rain into northern england. hopefully a brighter story into the afternoon for northern ireland. mild here, and still very mild particularly in comparison to where we were just over a week ago in scotland, highs of 10—12 celsius. now, through thursday

night into the early hours of friday morning, there'll be a spell of heavier, more persistent rain, as the cold front starts to push its way steadily eastwards. hopefully that will clear away from east anglia. here, it will be a mild start on friday morning. clearer skies, fresher conditions, 11—5 celsius in the far north and west. but that's where we'll have the best of the sunshine. and on the whole, a ridge of high pressure will build on friday, keeping things largely fine and quiet. a few scattered showers along north and west—facing coasts of scotland and northern ireland. a little bit fresher here, but generally those temperatures above where they should be for the time of year still, at around 6—12 celisus. into the start of the weekend, england and wales still under this influence of high pressure, quiet and dry. toppling across the high, we'll see weather fronts. so as we look further ahead, there's always the risk of some wetter and windier weather into the far north and west, nowhere near as severe as it has been. and on the whole, that mild trend is going to stay with us. the best of any sunshine certainly

across central and southern areas, but not a bad weekend ahead for most.

this is bbc news. the headlines... and tank shells hit a un facility sheltering tens of thousands of people in southern gaza — killing at least nine people. ussia accuses kyiv of shooting down

a military plane it says was carrying ukrainian soldiers — to a prisoner of war exchange. and — british singer—songwriter raye makes brit awards history — getting a record seven nominations in one year. returning to our top story now and russia has accused kyiv of shooting down a plane carrying ukrainian prisoners of war on their way to an exchange. all 7a people on board were killed. russia's foreign minister called it a "criminal" act by ukraine. kyiv says it had not been asked to ensure air space security around belgorod, as happened during previous swaps. a major incident involving a russian military plane in the past fortnight. we spent the day figuring out as much as we can about what happened.