plus, the tempest in a tea cup. how one professor's suggestion of adding salt to your daily brew has purists up in arms. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. the united nations security council will meet on thursday to discuss moscow's charges that ukrainian forces shot down a russian transport military plane, killing everyone on board. russia has said ukrainian prisoners of war were being flown for a prisoner exchange. the bbc verified this video showing the moment of the crash. you can see the aircraft in the distance falling through the sky. the crash took place in russia's southern belgorod region, which lies along its border with eastern ukraine. the ukrainian authorities said the prisoner exchange was due to take place on wednesday, and that it's now been cancelled.

none of the details surrounding those on board can be independently verified. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has demanded an international inquiry into the incident. translation: it is obvious. that the russians are playing with the lives of ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of the relatives and the emotions of our society. we need to establish all the clear facts as much as possible given that the downing of the plane occurred on russian territory, which is beyond our control. russia says its radars detected the launch of two ukrainian missiles before the crash. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was the one who called an emergency meeting to be held immediately. translation: ukrainian prisoners of war were - transported to the belgorod region for the next exchange agreed upon between moscow and kyiv. instead of this exchange taking place, the ukrainian side from the kharkiv region launched an anti—aircraft missile attack on this plane,

which became fatal. our russia editor steve rosenberg has been following the developments from moscow and gave us this update. 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. ukrainian military intelligence issued a statement saying it doesn't have any reliable information about who exactly was on board the plane. however, it says this can point to russia's deliberate actions aimed at putting the lives and safety of the pows under threat. our eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford has the latest from kyiv. but we now have a couple of statements, and together,

i think they amount to an implicit acknowledgement from ukraine that, in fact, it was a ukrainian missile that brought down the russian transport plan. but we don't have is a statement openly saying that and there is no official information that there were any ukrainian prisoners of war on board that russian plan. of course, that is what russia has been claiming all along and it is what ukraine is saying it cannot officially confirm. but it has said, though is that there was a prisoner of war exchange planned for today and did not happen. it also said that it got no information from russia on the kind of transport or route it was planning to use, which is what it would normally get and, therefore, there was nothing to imply that there was any risk to any prisoners in the belgorod region. so lots of questions still today. the general staff has said that when it is firing at a transport plane, it was justifying that kind of attack saying that

in fact those planes are carrying the missiles that are fired at ukraine in russia's war in ukraine particularly in kharkiv in the northeast of the country where there had been major attacks recently and many civilians injured and killed. i think the one thing to remember in all of this, the big question is were there prisoners on board the plane? and that's important more than anything for the families of ukraine's prisoners of war who are still in russia, many thousands of them and their families here in ukraine really need to know whether or not their relatives are safe. that was sarah rainsford. turning now to the middle east, and the united nations says one of its large compounds in gaza sheltering displaced palestinians was struck by tank shelling, killing at least nine people. the un said the attack hit a vocational training centre housing 30,000 displaced people in khan younis, southern gaza's main city. the director of gaza affairs for the un palestinian refugee agency said 75 were wounded, in addition to those killed. he warned that the death

toll would likely rise. the head of the un palestinian refugee agency, philippe lazzarini, called the attack "a blatant disregard of basic rules of war." the us responded with a statement from a national security council spokesperson saying: khan younis continues to be at the heart of the violence. 0ur correspondent mark lowen has more from jerusalem. now, this is a city in southern gaza where authorities have issued evacuation orders for three parts of the city thought to contain more than 500,000 people and there is intense fighting around three hospitals

in khan younis, the aid agency doctors without borders says that 850 medics and patients and thousands more staff, people sheltering in the grounds of nasser hospital can't leave because of the intensity of the fighting. israel believes that khan younis is where top hamas commanders are holed up in or beneath the city, it is the birthplace of the leader of hamas in gaza, yayha sinwar, israel's most wanted, and more than three months in to this war, israel is under mounting pressure to show tangible progress for the war, and they've got about 100 hostages back on the deal back in november. there is still 130 that are not back, possibly 30, says israel. crucially, they have not yet killed or captured any top hamas leaders so they there is growing pressure to rectify or show that to israeli people and the israeli authorities believe some of those top leaders could be indeed in khan younis.

as mark alluded to the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate — particularly at hospitals in khan younis. the bbc spoke with tommasso della longa of the international federation of red cross a short time ago. they are continuing to live a constant nightmare i would say. what we have seen now in khan younis and what we saw sadly almost two months ago in gaza city when we had to close after ten days of siege, no food, water or medicine, we had to close the hospital and evacuate people from there. we hope we will not arrive at this point but even in the hospital, medicine is running out, fuel is already almost running out so there are only some areas of the hospital served by electricity where there is a life—saving activities and there is an issue of food and water for the patients, for the people seeking refuge, but even doctors and nurses who are affected themselves by this conflict,

so the situation is really dire. that was tommasso della longa. well, earlier i spoke about all of this with tal heinrich, a spokesperson for the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i first want to get your reaction to the un saying that one of its facilities sheltering palestinians was hit by tank shells and that this killed at least nine people. thank you for having me on. i don't have details about this particular incident. i know that the idf is investigating. they are also not ruling out the option that this was hamas fire. as you know, since the war began on october 7, more than 2,000 hamas rocket fire fell short inside the gaza strip, causing damage and casualties and the bbc has reported about such incidents, so we will have to wait and see when more details about the incident emerge. but we don't target civilians or civilian infrastructure.

we only target terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in gaza. right, but you just mentioned that, and we've also just heard my colleague mark talk about the fact that one hospital in particular, the nasser hospital in khan younis, is surrounded by fighting to the point that people who are sheltering there and patients are unable to leave. what is your response to that? as you know, hamas unfortunately uses hospitals for its protection. they're using hospitals as shields for their war machine. again, i'm not talking about specific military activity, operational matters that are happening on the ground right now, but since the war began on october 7 and the idf has put forward much evidence of hamas's cynical use of clinics and hospitals to serve their war machine with tunnels underneath, unfortunately, this is what they've done for 16 years, embedding themselves in and underneath civilian

population, they think that hospitals will give them community. israel, on our end, we're doing everything humanly possible to avoid civilian casualties, minimised them and also minimise the civilian suffering in gaza as we progress in this war and towards the goal. your response to the statement from the us, though, saying that it's been urging israel to avoid civilian casualties, that's something that presidentjoe biden and prime minister benjamin netanyahu have been having sincere discussions about, haven't they? indeed, we talked to our best friends in washington, jerusalem and washington has no daylight between us in the goals of the war, the mission statement as we defined it on october 7, rather october 8, i should say is to eliminate the hamas terrorist regime and bring hostages home, to make sure gaza will never pose a terror

threat agian, and while we do it, to also minimise the collateral damage to the possible extent. of course, every civilian tragedy in gaza is a terrible tragedy that we want to avoid, but hamas is doing exactly the opposite — they want to maximise the civilian suffering and casualties, they want israel to take the fire for their sick methods of war. sorry to interrupt, we don't have much time, but you say there is no daylight between the us and israel. i want to ask about the fact that president biden is pushing and has insisted on a two—state solution for postwar gaza. what does your government believe that presidentjoe biden has got wrong about that? president biden has got it right actually. he said just over the weekend that there are different types of two—state solution. we on our end say no to the type which means that it will imperil israel's security. peace with the palestinians

or a full palestinian sovereignty down the road cannot mean a collective public suicide of israel. that is not peace, and we say that for the near future, israel will have to retain the security... sorry, you said "collective public suicide". what do you mean by that? the palestinians — do you agree they should have a say in what that two—state solution or solution should look like? first, let me say this. hamas does not want a two—state solution. he just sat in a podcast, the leader a few days ago said — he said hamas does not want us to state solution, they want a final solution like the holocaust. what happened on october 7... it was a tragedy. and hamas waged brutal attacks. i just wonder what you think about the palestinians having a say in what post—war

gaza would look like? so, the right conditions have to be in place before we can seriously talk about a durable peace. now, what my prime minister has said, not only before 7 october and after 7 october, and the principle has become very prevalent and popular among many, many israelis. the overwhelming majority of is rarely supported and that's that the palestinians should have all of the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten israel, because think about it, what would it look like, full sovereignty for the palestinian people, should leaders from iran be able to touch base on palestinian soil and hezbollah training camps, let's say... i do apologise. unfortunately, it's a live tv and we run out of time, but i do appreciate your time. thank you.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some news from the natural world. scientists have used satellite imagery to identify four new emperor penguin colonies in antarctica. it brings the number of known nesting sites there to 66. with the discovery, scientists believe they now know the whereabouts of all the world's remaining breeding pairs. emperor penguins mate, lay and hatch eggs on the sea—ice connected to the coast, so—called "fast ice". that means they are considered acutely vulnerable to climate change. we know that sea ice will decline with warming temperatures and that will affect the chicks and the chicks will go into the water and not survive. it is quite a grim scenario and what we hope is they will be able to adapt and move to more stable ice. emperors are the largest species of penguin, standing at overi meter tall, or more than three feet. they live in extreme conditions, gathering together during the height of

the antarctic winter to breed. you're live with bbc news. it's been more than a century since these 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 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. 17 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 0tumfuo 0sei 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 0foriatta 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. katie razzall reporting there. let's turn to some other news from around the world. tens of thousands of people

have gathered outside congress in argentina's capital buenos aires to protest against dramatic economic reforms proposed by president javier milei. the country's largest union had called for a 12—hour strike against the measures. it's the biggest show of opposition to milei's spending cuts and privatisation plans since he took office last month. argentina is suffering from massive inflation and crippling national debt. the us supreme court has refused death row prisoner kenneth smith's appeal for a stay of execution on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment. the state of alabama plans to execute him with nitrogen gas — a previously untested method. smith was sentenced to death for murder in 1988. the execution is planned forthursday, butjudges in a lower court could delay it. us aviation officials have cleared boeing to allow grounded 737 max 9 planes to return to service. but that's only after a thorough inspection and maintenance process. boeing also won't be allowed to increase production of its max planes. the federal aviation agency halted boeing 737 max flights

injanuary after a portion of an alaska airlines jet blew out mid—air. comedianjon stewart is returning to the anchor desk at the daily show — nine years after leaving the topical talk show. he'll host each monday night's broadcast during the us election campaign. stewart took over comedy central�*s late night slot in 1999 and turned it into one of tv�*s most influential shows. he left in 2015. stewart's successor, trevor noah, stepped down in 2022 and producers have not found a permanent replacement. and finally, it's the story that has raised eyebrows and stirred up strong emotions among tea drinkers around the world. a chemistry professor here in the us has recommended adding a pinch of salt to your brew, claiming it enhances the flavour. purists would call such a thing blasphemy. it's prompted the us embassy in london to post

on x saying: well, i tested it out with the person who recommended the pinch of salt, michelle francl, professor of chemistry at bryn marr college, whojoined me a short time ago. professor, thank you so much forjoining us. i am going to try your recommendation, i haven't done it yet, and you can't tell that i and wearing a white top so why am really taking a risk here, so why am trusting you. can you tell me exactly how it should be doing this. iii exactly how it should be doing this. , ., ., ., ., ., this. if you want to add a little pinch _ this. if you want to add a little pinch of _ this. if you want to add a little pinch of salt - this. if you want to add a little pinch of salt purity, the best thing to do is to add a tiny amount. if you've added so much you can taste... i so much you can taste... i can't tasted. they still have to be honest, they will have

difficulty adding salt regularly. they gather you have gotten a lot of e—mails about it. i gotten a lot of e-mails about it. ., ., ., ., ., it. i have gotten a lot of e-mails _ it. i have gotten a lot of e-mails and _ it. i have gotten a lot of e-mails and a _ it. i have gotten a lot of e-mails and a loss - it. i have gotten a lot of e-mails and a loss of. it. i have gotten a lot of i e-mails and a loss of flak it. i have gotten a lot of - e-mails and a loss of flak from e—mails and a loss of flak from people beyond the us embassy, but it has a long traditional history, there is an eighth century chinese manuscript that advises adding salt to the water for tea. advises adding salt to the waterfortea. in advises adding salt to the waterfor tea. in the advises adding salt to the water for tea. in the science really shows that for both coffee and tea a little bit of salt and take away some of the bitterness. he salt and take away some of the bitterness-_ salt and take away some of the bitterness-— bitterness. he said something about lemon _ bitterness. he said something about lemon as _ bitterness. he said something about lemon as well, - bitterness. he said something about lemon as well, didn't i about lemon as well, didn't you, which are spread smart also have a little bit of a problem with.— also have a little bit of a problem with. right. that is really advice _ problem with. right. that is really advice for _ problem with. right. that is really advice for the - problem with. right. that is really advice for the us, - problem with. right. that is really advice for the us, if. really advice for the us, if you make your tea in the microwave, the way the us embassy suggest, you sometimes get a film on top that is called tea scum, you can get rid of that with a little bit of lemon. rid of that with a little bit of lemon-— rid of that with a little bit of lemon. ~ ., ., , ., of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave _ of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave as — of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave as well? _ of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave as well? no, - of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave as well? no, i - of lemon. wait, so do you use a microwave as well? no, i don't, i'm really _ microwave as well? no, i don't, i'm really more _ microwave as well? no, i don't, i'm really more british - microwave as well? no, i don't, i'm really more british than - i'm really more british than american when it comes to my tea, loose leaves, a kettle, no, no lemon, usually. br; tea, loose leaves, a kettle, no, no lemon, usually. by this fascination _ no, no lemon, usually. by this fascination with _ no, no lemon, usually. by this fascination with fatigue? -

no, no lemon, usually. by this fascination with fatigue? in . fascination with fatigue? in art fascination with fatigue? in part because they have drunk tea my whole life, but during the pandemic i wrote a small essay about tea and someone asked me if i turn it into a book and it was fun to think about what's inside of my cup of tea as a chemist would see it and to share that with people who are not chemists. and what is your message, finally, we only have a few seconds, what is your message to the people of the uk might have been offended by the solder buckle? i have been offended by the solder buckle?— have been offended by the solder buckle? i would say channel your— solder buckle? i would say channel your inner- solder buckle? i would say| channel your inner scientist and experiment, give it a try. thank you so much your time, really appreciate it, and thank you for the tip, may be able use it sometimes. that's all from the team here in washington. i'm azadeh moshiri. thank you for watching. 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, there will 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 air flooding northeastwards across the uk. so, for most, a mild start 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 northwest of scotland, we will see a little bit of sunshine as we head through the afternoon. but those temperatures 9 to 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 southeast 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 — tome 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 northwest scotland. 7 degrees for lerwick. 10 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 northwest of scotland, maybe western parts

of northern ireland, but highs of 12 or 13 degrees.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour,

straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. a interview with a guest from 2014 whose remarkable story earned him accolades all around the world. certain swinton who died a year after i spoke to him help to rescue mostly jewish children from nazi persecution in czechoslovakia. he hated being labelled a hero but he was proof that individuals can make an extraordinary difference and now a major film extraordinary difference and now a majorfilm one extraordinary difference and now a major film one life extraordinary difference and now a majorfilm one life based on his story has been released. i travelled to his home in the english countryside to ask what had motivated him.