international investigation. and tank shells hit a un facility sheltering tens of thousands of people in southern gaza — killing at least nine people. golden treasures — looted years ago by british soldiers are now heading back to ghana under a landmark deal. hundreds of thousands of workers have gone on strike in argentina in protest at the new president's radical economic reforms. the un security council is meeting thursday to discuss the mystery surrounding the shooting down of a russian military transport plane.

moscow says the plane was carrying ukrainian prisoners of war involved in a prison exchange. it has accused ukraine of deliberately ta rgetting the plane. ukraine says kyiv had not been advised, on this occasion, to ensure the safety of airspace where it happened. according to moscow, the military plane crashed about 44 miles north—east of the russian city of belgorod. there are said to have been 7a people on board, including 65 ukrainian pows. our russia editor steve rosenberg has 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 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 are being 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. live now to santa rosa in california where we can speak to military expert and former us marines chief of staff in europe, colonel brendan kearney. what your reading

of what has happened? i think it's a classic case of the ukrainians taken advantage of what they thought was an absolutely legitimate military target flying close to the ukrainian border over russia. and taking it down with some anti—aircraft missiles. unfortunately, it appears based on all the reporting that the passengers were ukrainian personnel. they were pows that were on their way to be exchanged for russian personnel. a sad situation that this is what the circumstances have been. this is what the circumstances have been-— this is what the circumstances have been. ., ., �* , . have been. you wouldn't expect ou to have been. you wouldn't expect you to take _ have been. you wouldn't expect you to take on _ have been. you wouldn't expect you to take on their _ have been. you wouldn't expect you to take on their own. - ukraine they weren't advised, on this occasion, to ensure the safety of airspace where it happened. how does such communication work? in this particular case it's my

understanding that there was a third party. i've heard it was the united arab emirates who made the arrangements, was involved in negotiations for this exchange. if that is the case it is the third parties responsibility to be informed. there is a requirement under the law of war that you have to go ahead and protect non—combatants. you have to remove them from risk. pows fall into that category. that being said, these type of incidents have occurred throughout the history of warfare. in world war ii american submarines inadvertently sunk a number of japanese ships that were carrying allied pows. the losses were in the thousands. it's a sad situation but this could have been avoided today with probablyjust a couple of phone calls, e—mails that would have precluded the launching of those anti—air missiles. the

have precluded the launching of those anti-air missiles.- those anti-air missiles. the un security council _ those anti-air missiles. the un security council is _ those anti-air missiles. the un security council is set - those anti-air missiles. the un security council is set to - those anti-air missiles. the un security council is set to meet l security council is set to meet today. what are you expecting today. what are you expecting to emerge from the meeting? nothing. there will be some rhetoric. probably some combination of a minor condemnation of russia for putting the pows at risk. but it will mostly be aimed at ukraine. sadly, that is the way the un has displayed the vast majority of its actions over the last couple of years as it relates to this conflict. where are they really want to try not to antagonize russia. no matter what comes out of it it's not going to impact the ukrainians, not impact the russians and for the rest of the world it will just be another one of those sad situations that we see literally all over the world these days when it comes to innocence, being killed during the course of conflict. we innocence, being killed during the course of conflict.- the course of conflict. we will have to leave _ the course of conflict. we will have to leave it _ the course of conflict. we will

have to leave it there. - the course of conflict. we will| have to leave it there. colonel brendan kearney, military expert, thank you. the united nations says israeli tanks have hit one of its buildings in southern gaza. at least nine people are reported to have been killed and 75 injured after two tank rounds struck the building that was sheltering 800 people. the un said the compound was clearly marked and its coordinates shared with israeli authorities. "once again they said we have seen a blatant disregard of the basic rules of war. the us state department said it deplored the attack on a un shelter. incredibly concerning, and we deplore today's attack on the un's khan yunis training centre. you've heard me say it before. you've heard the secretary say it before, but civilians must be protected and the protected nature of un facilities must be respected and humanitarian workers must be protected. it's been more than a century since treasures were looted by british soldiers from ghana — many of them hold huge cultural and

spiritual significance. now, in a landmark agreement, the victoria & albert and british museums in london are returning them, on loan, to the asante king. our culture editor katie razzall has this exclusive report. there is anger. people look at it in colonial terms, looting of items, precious items belonging to people, items that they don't easily forget. gold from the royal court of the asante kingdom, which was once one of africa's most powerful states. these objects, and many more, were looted by british troops in the asante capital, kumasi, in 1874, during the third anglo—asante war. now they're going back to ghana for the first time in 150 years, to kumasi's manhyia palace museum, in a landmark loan deal with the victoria and albert museum, which bought most of them at auction at the time. they're put on display

and they're displayed both as a work of incredible west african goldsmithery, but also as a sort of sign of british imperial and colonial power. i7 v&a items are returning, including a peace pipe used by asante kings, the asantehene, and heavy cast gold badges worn by courtiers tasked with cleansing the king's soul. the agreement is not with the ghanaian government but with otumfuo osei tutu ii, the current asantehene, who once worked for brent council, monarch for a people whose history is steeped in gold and wealth. the deal�*s chief negotiator is ivor agyeman—duah. there's so much interest in these items. these were objects that were created by the royal artisans for all sorts of ceremonial reasons. at least these objects will be home after 150 years. the british museum is also loaning 15 gold items, including a sword of state looted by british troops during the anglo—asante

war of 1895—86. british law bans some national institutions, including the british museum and the v&a, from permanently returning objects. in giving a piece back, you're also giving back a missing piece of history. nana oforiatta ayim is a special advisor to ghana's culture minister. she welcomes the loan deals with the ashante king — the ghanaian government could not have agreed to the terms. the metaphor is, you know, someone comes into your home and steals something from your house, keeps it in their house, and then x amount of years later comes and says, "i'm going to lend you your thing back." i mean, it doesn't make any sense. those objects, with origins in war, in looting, in military campaigns, we have a responsibility to the country's origins to think about how we can share those more fairly today. and it doesn't seem to me that all of our museums will fall down if we build up these kind

of partnerships and exchanges. have you felt ashamed that these items are here? i don't feel ashamed they're here. i feel they're part of a history of british—ghanaian interactions, some of which is around war, some of which is around slavery, some of which is an incredible creative ghanaian diaspora in the uk today. the v&a insists this is not restitution by the back door. for ghana, it's both a way forward and a way to bring the treasures back. hundreds of thousands of workers have gone on strike in argentina — in protest at the new president's radical economic reforms. the industrial action is being led by the country's biggest union, which has vowed a mass mobilisation againstjavier milei's campaign of deregulation and public spending cuts. president milei took office in december after a campaign in which he vowed to introduce sweeping reforms to tackle rocketing inflation and a struggling economy. my colleague sofia bettiza has

more on the background to today's action. this strike is a significant test for the president of argentina, javier milei, and that's because it comes only 45 days after he took office. now this what we can say here is just outside the national congress building in the capital, buenos aires. but this is notjust happening in the capital. there are thousands of people marching all over the country. so what do they want? well, they are mostly worried about this man. javier milei is implementing drastic measures to try and fix the economy. and the concern for many people is that those reforms will make it easier to sack people, which has already happened, and it will also cut benefits for the poor. now, the reason why a lot of people in argentina are worried is that the country is facing a profound economic crisis.

this is footage that we filmed in the south of the country in a slum. and i think it gives you an idea of how so many people are struggling and they're having to live in places like this. now, just to give you some numbers, the poverty rate in argentina is now more than 40% and the inflation rate is at a 221%. and that is a staggering number. it's one of the highest in the world. and the consequence of all of this is that two in five people now live in poverty. now, if we go back to that strike in the past in argentina, action like this, it's actually been quite successful and has stopped government reforms from from from happening. but in this case, javier milei has a lot of support. he says he won't back down and he really believes that his shock therapy, as he calls it, is

the only way to lift argentina out of poverty. i'm joined now by marcelo elizondo, chairman of the argentina committee at the international chamber of commerce. ba rely barely six weeks into the job why does javier milei feel he's able to take such drastic action? , . ~ able to take such drastic action? . ~ , action? javier milei is promoting _ action? javier milei is promoting a - action? javier milei is promoting a lot - action? javier milei is promoting a lot of. action? javier milei is - promoting a lot of strong reforms. he has the support of more than 50% of the population. not strong in congress, maybe not strong in the streets. we could see the strikes today but he has more than 50% of the support of the people. he is trying to implement not your strong reforms but fast reforms. taking advantage. is reforms but fast reforms. taking advantage.- reforms but fast reforms. taking advantage. is this cause of action merited? _

taking advantage. is this cause of action merited? well, - taking advantage. is this cause of action merited? well, i- of action merited? well, i think that _ of action merited? well, i think that javier _ of action merited? well, i think that javier milei - of action merited? well, i think that javier milei is l think that javier milei is trying think thatjavier milei is trying to negotiate with many opposition parties in congress. in fact, he is weak in congress. his party has not a strong position in both houses. he's also implemented reforms that may produce a lot of social impacts for the inflation and public expenditure adjustment. he is trying to deregulate and open the economy and liberate the economy. so in the short term he will introduce reforms for the social cause. he is trying to do it fastly. and then to take advantage of the effects of those reforms five, 67 months. it is a complex political and social problem. —— six or seven months. political and social problem. -- six or seven months. 4096 in poverty. — -- six or seven months. 4096 in poverty. 20096 _

-- six or seven months. 4096 in poverty, 20096 inflation, - -- six or seven months. 4096 in poverty, 20096 inflation, quitel poverty, 200% inflation, quite staggering. how dojavier milei's plan help those who are already struggling? fit, milei's plan help those who are already struggling?— already struggling? a lot of structural — already struggling? a lot of structural problem - already struggling? a lot of structural problem since . already struggling? a lot of i structural problem since many years. inflation, poverty and recession. so javier milei is offering strong reforms. reducing the publix sector expenditure, opening the economy, privatisation so it's notjust economy, privatisation so it's not just an economy, privatisation so it's notjust an organisation with some reform. it's a change of system. it will not be easy but javier milei is a strong leader and he will fight for that when he is fighting he is dividing society. that's the main problem in political terms. in other terms he's doing the right thing. argentina lost and the old system and must invent a new radical system. in political terms it will not be easy. political terms it will not be eas . ., , . political terms it will not be eas. ., , . ., political terms it will not be eas. ,. ., easy. you expect more protest in the street _

easy. you expect more protest in the street to _ easy. you expect more protest in the street to follow? - easy. you expect more protest in the street to follow? it - in the street to follow? it will in the street to follow? it will be probably more strikes. today's strike was organised by the labour unions. there are a lot of organisations that are trying to organise strikes. what we call social organisations, not hundred percent workers they represent a lot of people who are unemployed and receiving subsidy from government and they have some organisations and will probably organise strikes with the argentina is familiar with strikes and protests and this kind of political manifestations. it's something that is not unusual in argentina. the problem is not the protest about the problem is howjavier milei can get political support in congress. this is the place where he is facing basic challenges to implement the reforms. ., ~ challenges to implement the reforms. ., ,, , ., , challenges to implement the reforms. ., ,, , . reforms. thank you very much for our reforms. thank you very much for your insights _ reforms. thank you very much

for your insights about - developments in argentina. marcello is only international chamber of congress. the us supreme court has rejected a bid to stop the nation's first execution using nitrogen gas. kenneth eugene smith, who was convicted of murder in 1989, is due to be put to death in alabama on thursday. subject to a final appeal he will be killed by having an airtight mask strapped to his face and being forced to breath pure nitrogen the un has urged a stay of execution, saying the procedure could amount to torture. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. every morning i walk down here to record the rainfall about 9:00. since he was ten years old, tom bowen from anglesey has made the samejourney to the bottom of his garden every day without fail. we took the funnel out, which collects the rainfall. there's a bottle underneath

which collects the water its then put into a calibrated gauge and that's more or less one millimetre. the rainfall measurements tom takes are passed on to natural resources wales. it helps us with forecasting, with modelling and with water resources. the weather station he uses was built by his grandfather at the end of the 19th century. tom took over the responsibility of measuring the rainfall in 1948. how long do you think you'll keep going? as long as they can. as long as i can walk, hopefully. for more stories from across the uk head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. voters in the tiny pacific nation of tuvalu will head to the polls on friday. they will elect local mp s who will then come together to decide on a new prime minister. despite a population of less than twelve thousand people the result of the election

could have significant geopolitical implications in the pacific region — as tuvalu is one of the few countries that currently maintains diplomatic relations with taiwan, but local reports suggest that they could shift allegiances to china after this election. live now to sydney where we can speak to meg keen who is director of the pacific islands programme at the lowy institute. tuvalu is a uniquely small country, so vote counting shouldn t take long. but how does the process of this election work? it isa it is a small country, it's less than 12,000. but there are eight electrics spread across a wide number of disparate islands. —— electrics. first of all we go to elections, each mp is elected, less than 1200 people and then once we know who those mps are there's a little boat that comes around, picks up the mps brings them to

the capital and those 16 mps decide on who the prime minister is going to be. and then we have a new government. it's a little country but it's got really big decisions to make that are of global importance. there is a lot of our eyes on what is going to happen in tuvalu and beyond. 0ne happen in tuvalu and beyond. one of those questions revolves around the speculation that tuvalu could move to shift diplomatic ties to china. do you anticipate this might happen after new prime minister is installed? it happen after new prime minister is installed?— is installed? it might happen. china has _ is installed? it might happen. china has been _ is installed? it might happen. china has been out _ is installed? it might happen. china has been out a - is installed? it might happen. china has been out a bit - is installed? it might happen. china has been out a bit of. is installed? it might happen. china has been out a bit of a i china has been out a bit of a winning streak in this region. since 2019 three countries have shifted alliances to china. so now we only have three of 14 that still recognise taiwan for that still recognise taiwan for that they are going to be feeling the pressure. we know that there is some pretty attractive offers on the table from china. we don't know the details because of course china is quite secretive in its

offers and arrangements, at least in the pacific island countries. it will be quite tempting for them in the past china has tried to woo tuvalu to recognise it. and they have declined. in 2019 they offered to build artificial islands for hundreds of millions of dollars so on decided it would stay true to taiwan which it recognise independence for over 45 years. at the moment we know the leadership is a bit split on whether the national interests are to stay with the friends you know or to go with the bigger player that might offer you more opportunity. tough spot for any small nation. how can this election and a potential move from taiwan impact relations with australia and the region? de foreitn australia and the region? de: foreign minister is australia and the region? lie: foreign minister is on the record in australia to say that if tuvalu decides it wants to switch australia will not stand

in the way of that. really most countries do recognise china. this is not something that would be ground—breaking. the worry is not about the switch itself, the worry is about what follows the switch. and whether that recognition of china will start to affect the security of the region. for example, police training, which is normally done regionally and there is a very tight way of responding to crisis. port access, telecommunications access, maritime security, these are all issues that australia, united states, many traditional allies, if the switch happens will be watching very carefully to ensure their own but also the region security is not destabilised by the change of recognition. lotte destabilised by the change of recognition.— recognition. we will be watching _ recognition. we will be watching closely. -

joe lewis, the former tottenham hotspur owner, has pleaded guilty to insider trading and conspiracy in a manhattan courtroom on wednesday. the 86—year—old billionaire businessman and investor was accused injuly of passing on confidential information he had gathered in corporate boardrooms to friends, pilots and former love interests. this information enabled them to make millions of dollars in profits. joe lewis apologised, saying he was embarassed and knew what he was doing was wrong. 0ur north america business corresponednt michelle fleury follows the story and sent this update. mr lewis faces sentencing after pleading guilty to insider trading and conspiracy on march 28. this was part of a plea deal to settle charges brought by the us attorney here in new york last summer. which really are something of a black mark on the record in a remarkable career of mr lewis who rose

from being born and raised in a pub in the east end of london to be this billionaire and well—known investor. he shared the information that he gleaned from various boards with friends, we understand with employees and further to my former romantic partners for the two of those employees were in fact the pilots of his private jet. in fact the pilots of his privatejet. they in fact the pilots of his private jet. they also separately face charges. that is a separate case to what we're seeing here. as for mr lewis, this is trying to settle what could potentially have been a far worse outcome. lotte been a far worse outcome. we have more _ been a far worse outcome. we have more on _ been a far worse outcome. we have more on that story on our website. that is all for now. do stay with bbc news. hello. after two bouts of stormy weather so far this week, things are looking quite a lot calmer over the next few days. not completely plain sailing, they'll still be some rain at times. it'll be breezy, but less windy

and mostly fairly mild. now for thursday, we've got this frontal system pushing its way northwards and eastwards. this warm front, introducing cloud, introducing some outbreaks of mostly quite patchy rain, but this wedge of milder airflooding north eastwards across the uk. so for most a mild starts to thursday. still a little bit chilly in the north of scotland. here, though, we will see some early sunshine, but generally speaking, lots of cloud, some mist and murk, farquharson hills, some splashes of rain, a few brighter glimpses. and i think particularly in northern ireland, maybe the north—west of scotland, we will see a little bit of sunshine as we head through the afternoon. but those temperatures 9—13 degrees above what we'd expect at this time of year. now, during thursday night, we will see this band of rain sweeping its way eastwards. there's a short, sharp burst of heavy rain and some quite squally winds. clear skies following on behind. and while it will stay mild across the south—east corner, it will start to feel a little bit chillier further north and west because this weather

front here pushing its way eastwards is a cold front. it will introduce for a time at least some colder air, but with a little ridge of high pressure toppling through, some spells of sunshine on friday. now there will be some showers, particularly in scotland, some of these wintry down to, say, 100—200 metres for a time, although those snow levels coming up through the day as the air turns a little bit less chilly. temperatures in single digits for just about all of us on friday afternoon. but that slightly chillier weather will not last long because as we head into the weekend, mild air is going to surge northwards once again. we're expecting some pretty high temperatures, a lot of dry weather for the weekend as well. this is saturday's forecast. some spells of sunshine. the further north and west you are more cloud and some outbreaks of rain, some quite heavy rain actually in parts of north—west scotland, seven degrees for lerwick, ten for london and for plymouth. but as we get into sunday, those temperatures will be a little bit higher. we will see some spells

of sunshine, i think most places dry again, some rain in the north—west of scotland, maybe western parts of northern ireland, but highs of 12 or 13 degrees.

boeing faces questions over its mid air blow out, but regulators move to get the max 9 back in the air. and australia struggles

to persuade citizens to choose green vehicles over gas guzzling alternatives. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. we begin with some news just in the federal aviation administration in the us has said that airlines can begin returning grounded boeing 737 max 9 planes to services once they undergo inspection and maintenance. airlines has had to get its planes back in the air. this comes as boeing's boss faced questions from lawmakers in washington to explain the mistakes that led to a panel breaking off one of its planes this month. the bbc�*s erin delmore has more from new york. the boss of boeing said he understood the seriousness of safety questions facing the company as he was on his way to the senators on wednesday. lotte

the senators on wednesday. we believe the senators on wednesday. - believe in our aeroplanes.