israel has denied accusations that it hit a united nations facility in southern gaza, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 70. and some of ghana's crown jewels, stolen by british soldiers more than a century ago, are being returned on loan. hello. the emergency services in russia say they've found the black boxes from a military transport plane that crashed on wednesday near the ukraine border. moscow says it was carrying dozens of ukrainian prisoners of war — everyone on board was killed. kyiv says it has opened a criminal probe into the crash. the united nations security council will convene today to discuss moscow's allegations that ukrainian forces shot it down. ukraine has called on the un and the red cross to inspect

russian plane crash site. the bbc verified this video showing the moment of the crash. you can see the aircraft in the distance falling through the sky. (00v map)the crash took place in russia's southern the crash took place in russia's southern belgorod region, which lies along its border with eastern ukraine. the ukrainian authorities say 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 their relatives and with 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 has called for a meeting

of the un security council. 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 the latest developments from moscow. in the last few moments, dmitry pescov, vladimir putin's spokesman has made some comments about what happened yesterday. he has called this a monstrous action by ukraine. he has also supported the idea of an international investigation, but into the — as he puts it — the criminal activities of the kyiv regime. and he was asked about whether prisoner exchanges between russia and ukraine would continue after this.

he said he didn't know how this would affect future prisoner swaps. those comments coming in in the last few minutes from the kremlin. what we know is this military transport plane crashed in a field in southern russia. we cannot confirm who or what made the plane crash and who was on board. now, the russians say that on board were 7a people, including 65 ukrainian prisoners of war. moscow says they were on their way to take part in a prisoner swap. and russia has been clear, it says that ukraine shot the plane down. ukraine has not confirmed that. it hasn't denied it either. we heard comments there from president zelensky who has called for an international investigation and has accused the kremlin of playing with the lives of ukrainian pows. ukraine has confirmed that there was going to be

a prisoner exchange yesterday which didn't happen. interestingly, yesterday, the ukrainian general staff and military intelligence issued statements, carefully worded statements which, when you read them, appear to be an acknowledgement that ukraine may have shot down the plane. although they don't say that directly. and they don't talk about who was on board the plane. for example, the statements include the suggestion that these military transport planes, like the one that crashed, were legitimate targets because they had been delivering weapons, which were being used to attack ukraine. but, as i say, the position of moscow is that ukraine brought the plane down and an investigation, an international investigation is needed into the actions of ukraine. the us supreme court has declined to halt the execution of a death row

prisoner in alabama. kenneth smith is due to become the first person in the us to be executed using nitrogen gas. it's a method which the united nations has called cruel and inhuman. smith was convicted in 1989 of murdering a preacher�*s wife in a hired killing. tom bateman reports from atmore in southern alabama. a journey to the alabama jail where the first—ever execution by nitrogen gas is due to happen. kenneth eugene smith has spent three decades on death row. he's already dodged death once — his executioners botched an attempt to kill him by lethal injection. and now he faces suffocation by the state. opponents see this as a crucial test case and are urging alabama's governor to stop it — here led by smith's spiritual adviser, who will be in the execution chamber with him. so i need some assurance that this is safe.

so this right here is an invitation to governor ivey to accompany me into the execution chamber. it was two weeks ago today... smith was convicted in 1989 for his part in the murder of elizabeth sennett, the wife of a preacher who paid smith $1,000. the jury said he should get life injail, but thejudge sentenced him to death. 0ne medical expert against capital punishment explains that inhaling pure nitrogen will starve the body of oxygen, but could cause catastrophic mishaps. it's very likely if he doesn't die, he could be significantly injured by this experience. and for that matter, so could other people in the proximity of kenneth smith, because the nitrogen gas, some of it will be exhaled along with carbon dioxide. some of it may leak out of the mask. the victim's family backs the death penalty. alabama's governor's office claims the method has been thoroughly vetted, saying it is ready to move forward,

although the authorities haven't presented any plausible evidence of its safety. so far, urgent calls for a stay of execution, including from the un, have not been heeded. and smith, pictured on the left with his spiritual adviser this week, awaits death for a second time. many us states have been moving away from carrying out executions. alabama remains an outlier, and today's case is supercharging america's debate over state—sanctioned death. tom bateman, bbc news, atmore, alabama. israel has denied accusations that it hit a united nations facility in southern gaza on wednesday, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 70. the israeli military say the incident was not caused by an air or artillery strike by its forces, and that it's investigating whether hamas was to blame. the un training centre, in khan younis, was sheltering a large number of palestinians who had been forced

from their homes. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has the latest. first of all, this was a strike on a carpentry workshop inside the khan younis training centre, a facility that is run by the un agency unwra. and we're told there are about 30,000 people who've been sheltering in that facility because of the war and about 800 in this specific building, which was hit causing a blaze there. now, initially, when the un talked about the hit, it talked about how the building had been hit by two tank shells. that means it was implicitly blaming israel. now there's been a change in wording. it's talking about two shells having hit. so that does recognise that hamas or a palestinian armed group could have been responsible, firing mortar shells. we know that has happened in the area. now, after there was condemnation of what from condemnation from washington of this strike, we did have the israeli military saying that it

investigated and initially had found that its air and artillery forces were not responsible. it said it was continuing to look into the operations of its ground forces in the area and whether hamas might be to blame. and, tell us about the situation in khan younis in southern gaza, which very much remains the focus of the israeli military at the moment, doesn't it? indeed. so over the past couple of days, israeli forces have really pushed in to the west of khan younis. this is an area where a senior un official has really raised a lot of concerns in his latest statement, talking about how there were three hospitals in the area that have been badly affected. one of them in the al mossi coastal area, previously described as being a safe zone by israel, had to be evacuated overnight. and the israeli military said that it has encountered, it's killed a number of terrorists in that area, to use its words. but it also acknowledges that this is an area where there is a very high number of civilians because,

of course, in the early stages of the war, people were told to relocate from the north of the gaza strip down to the south. now you have actually a majority of the population of gaza, 2.3 million people are squeezed down into this area. khan yunis is the biggest city in the south. people have been trying to make their way. we've seen that this morning once again on the road from khan yunis going south towards rafah after israel issued new evacuation orders. but many people have been scared to leave because they say that there is just no such thing as safe passage with all that fighting that's going on. and when it comes to negotiations with the, regarding the return of the hostages, more than 120 still being held by hamas. of course, there were more protests in tel aviv last night, weren't there you land. is there any sign of any

progress being made between the all the parties involved in those negotiations? the latest protest involved thousands of people in tel aviv. and there's also been a smaller protest, once again near to kerem shalom, the main crossing between israel and gaza, where aid has been making its way through from egypt. families blocking the aid convoys as a mark of their desperation. they're really demanding that more is done by the israeli government. we have been told in recent days by the qataris, by media reports, that there was serious progress in indirect talks being mediated by both qatar and egypt trying to secure a new hostage release deal and ceasefire deal. but then there were reports also in the israeli media with briefings by israeli diplomats who weren't named, saying that there remained a very large gap. valdo calocane — a paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed 19—year—old university

students grace 0'malley—kumar and barnaby webber, and 65—year—old school caretaker ian coates to death in nottingham last year — will be sentenced in the next half hour. his plea of guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was accepted by the court earlier this week. 0ur correspondent navtej johal has been speaking to ian coates's family. stubborn. still stubborn in his old age! yeah. taught me to fish, but said i was absolutely rubbish. same. fishing, football, family. the things that ian coates loved most. he wasn't the one to constantly say i love you. but we felt that love in the family household. 0n the 13th ofjune last year, ian, a 65—year—old caretaker, was taken from his family in a morning of horror in nottingham that left three people dead. they can't forget the moment they learned the news.

i had to hold myself onto a lamp post to keep myself up because itjust — the whole world around me just disappeared. sorry. my daughter rang me. i just screamed. i couldn't believe it. how do you feel towards valdo calocane? hatred. he's, to me, the most evil person on this planet. he went out and brutally massacred three people, then attempted to kill another three, which, luckily, he was caught. calocane pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility resulting from a serious mental illness, and three counts of attempted murder. but the coates family are angry that he isn't facing a murder trial. it's calculated, premeditated, - and therefore it should be murder. he has to spend the rest of his life behind bars. .

otherwise, we have been let down once again by this country- and the judicial system. you're angry? oh, yeah, i'm super—angry. i'm trying to be as composed as possible, you know. the guy's a coward. the family also feel they've been an afterthought among the authorities and in the media coverage of the tragedy. it feels like he's the forgotten man because of his age and because of whatever circumstances, when he should be celebrated. it feels like we were left in the dust like he was. i he was a kind man and all he was doing was going to work. that's all he was doing. navteonhal, bbc news, nottingham. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news.

scotland's first minister, humza yousaf, will give evidence to the covid inquiry this afternoon. he's expected to face scrutiny over messages exchanged during the pandemic with scotland's national clinical director jason leitch, who'd advised the then health secretary that he could avoid having to wear a facemask at social events if he kept "a drink in his hands. scientists are warning that children who became overweight during the coronavirus pandemic could face life—long health consequences. the researchers say periods of covid restrictions saw a sharp rise in obesity among ten and 11 year olds in england. prolonged absence from school, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits have been blamed. a leading think tank says promises of tax cuts during general election campaigns may have to be rolled back as the economy faces some of its worst problems since the 1950s.

the institute for fiscal studies says, "tax cuts today add to the risk of tax rises or spending cuts tomorrow," and that politicians need to be honest about tough economic trade—offs. you're live with bbc news. here in the uk — the government is further clamping down on zombie—style knives by closing what it describes as a legal loophole. in comes as the latest police recorded crime figures for england and wales show that offences including knives or sharp instruments increased by 5% in the year ending september 2023. the weapons were first banned in 2016 — but tighter restrictions are now being proposed as part of a futher clampdown. earlier, i spoke with pooja kanda, her son ronan was killed in a knife attack in 2022. they wanted to kill another child but they thought my child was the intended target and without looking at his face they came from the back and stabbed him on his abdomen from the side. when he turnaround they

stabbed him in his heart 17 inches down through his heart. with a ninja sword. he tried to run back home but he didn't make it. he was only two doors away and he collapsed and died. we doors away and he collapsed and died. ~ ., y doors away and he collapsed and died. ~ ., , ., died. we are so sorry for your loss of this only _ died. we are so sorry for your loss of this only happened _ died. we are so sorry for your loss of this only happened in _ died. we are so sorry for your loss of this only happened in june - died. we are so sorry for your loss| of this only happened in june 2022, of this only happened injune 2022, didn't it? tell us a little bit more, it is difficult to ask this question but he was attacked with a ninja sword, wasn't a? yes. question but he was attacked with a ninja sword, wasn't a?— ninja sword, wasn't a? yes, he was attacked with _ ninja sword, wasn't a? yes, he was attacked with a _ ninja sword, wasn't a? yes, he was attacked with a ninja _ ninja sword, wasn't a? yes, he was attacked with a ninja sword, - ninja sword, wasn't a? yes, he was attacked with a ninja sword, 20 - attacked with a ninja sword, 20 inches down his abdomen and 17 inches down his abdomen and 17 inches down his heart. that went through his heart. it is absolutely horrendous _ through his heart. it is absolutely horrendous what _ through his heart. it is absolutely horrendous what you _ through his heart. it is absolutely horrendous what you and - through his heart. it is absolutely horrendous what you and your . through his heart. it is absolutely . horrendous what you and your family must be going through still. what do you make of the government's proposals, plans now to tighten up the laws around ninja knives? do you think that they do go far enough?

they haven't tightened the laws around the ninja sword but they have done the zombie knives. i don't think it is good enough, it is not. you can'tjust do two different types of knives but leave the others available. a south korean politician has reportedly been taken to hospital after being attacked on a street in seoul. the attack comes a month after the leader of the opposition party was stabbed in the neck while talking to reporters. bae hyun—jin, who is a member of the ruling people power party, was struck on the head with an object by an unidentified attacker, according to local media. her condition in hospital is described as non life—threatening. a man has been sentenced to death in japan following a deadly arson attack on an animation studio in kyoto, which killed 36 people. shinji aoba had previously admitted to setting the building on fire, in 2019.

his lawyers had sought an acquittal on the grounds of mental incompetence, but the judge rejected their arguments. the french president emmanuel macron has just landed in india for his two—day trip in the asian country. as you can see, a red carpet welcome including a parade of decorated elephants awaited macron after landing injaipur in rajasthan, where he will be hosted by prime minister narendra modi at a state banquet in a 19th—century maharaja's palace. 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 and albert and british museums in london are returning them, on loan, to the ashantee 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 ashanti kingdom which was once one of africa's most powerful states. these objects and many more were looted by british troops in the ashanti capital, kumasi, in 1874 during the third anglo—ashanti war. sold at auction then, now they are going back to ghana for the first time in 150 years to kamasi's palace museum in a landmark loan deal with the victoria & albert and the british museum. they're into the south kensington museum and they are put on display and they are displayed both as a work of incredible west african goldsmithery, but also as a sort of, you know, sign of british imperial and colonial power. 17 victoria & albert items are returning, including a piece used by ashanti

kings 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 the current asentehene who once worked for brent council. monarch for a people whose history is steeped in gold and wealth. the deal�*s chief negotiator is this man. there is so much interest in these items. these were objects that were created by the royal artisans for all sorts of ceremonial reasons. is the fact that you are taking them on loan a problem? it's not really a problem. at least these objects will be home. the british museum is also loaning 15 gold items including a sword of state looted by british troops during the anglo—ashanti war of 1895 to 1896. british law bans some national institutions, including the british museum and the v&a from permanently returning objects. in giving a piece back, you are also giving back

a missing piece of history. this expert is a special adviser to ghana's culture minister. she welcomes the loan deals with the ashanti king, the ghanaian government could not have agreed to the terms. the metaphor is someone comes into your home and steals something from your house, keeps it in their house, and then, you know, x amount of years later, comes and says, i'm going to loan your thing back. i mean, it doesn't make any sense. and so, in that way, i think it's going to be deeply problematic for a lot of people. but because i've been working, you know, with it, i know the kind of politics that surrounds it and also the kind of attachment to the idea of empire. those objects with origins in war, in looting, in military campaigns, we have 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 kinds of partnerships and exchanges.

have you felt ashamed that these items are here? i don't feel ashamed they're here. i feel they are part of a history of british—ghanaian interaction, 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. a loan is not a model that nigerians would accept for the return of the benin bronzes, nor the greeks over the parthenon sculptures, but with british law as it stands, for the asantehene, this deal is the best way to bring the gold home for now. a team of international scientists has blamed climate change for driving the worst drought in the amazon rainforest for at least half a century. the researchers described the dry conditions between lastjune and november as exceptional. they said higher temperatures had led to less rainfall, and warned that deforestation had made the soil less able to retain water.

in october, the rio negro — one of the world's largest rivers — fell to its lowest level on record near manaus in brazil. in australia — two statues of colonial figures have been vandalised — ahead of the country's contentious national holiday. a monument honouring the british explorer james cook, who mapped the east coast of australia and claimed it for britain, was cut at the ankles and defaced in melbourne. a statute of queen victoria was also splashed in red paint. the vandalism comes a day before the country's national day — which marks the arrival of the british fleet more than 200 years ago. for indigenous australians, it's a day of mourning — signalling the start of colonialisation, which saw first nations people massacred, oppressed and dispossed of their lands. thousands of australians are expected to attend protests across the country on friday — calling for the date to be changed — but many high—profile australians have spoken out in support of the current date. and before we go — this story

is one of the most—watched on the bbc news website. a woman has been rescued, after spending 15 hours trapped on the roof of her overturned car in california. the woman had been trying to drive across a flooded creek, when the strength of the water tipped her car over. she managed to get out, but had to wait on the car's roof until rescue teams arrived. parts of california have been hit by torrential rain, causing severe flooding in some areas. the woman was taken to hospital with minor injuries. stay with us here on bbc news. to date is going to be a cloudy day with some rain for some of us us and also some sunshine. we have two weather fronts crossing us but

in between we are pulling in some milder conditions with the wind coming up from the south—west and the mild weather moving across the country except for into the far north of the northern isles through the day. our north of the northern isles through the day. 0urfirst north of the northern isles through the day. our first weather front pushes north across scotland, clears the east of england, and the second one moves out of northern ireland into northern england and wales. ahead of it we will see some hazy sunshine and behind it, north—west scotland and north of northern ireland will see some sunshine. wherever you are, it is going to feel mild. this evening and overnight, the weather front pushes east, followed by a second one bringing heavy rain and behind it, the air turns colder as the wind changes from west to westerly. we will see some showers. it is cold for most, not quite yet in the far south east. that will happen as tomorrow, our weather front clears away, taking the rain, a ridge of

high pressure builds in and we are in the westerly flow. a lot of dry weather behind the rain, they will be wintry showers to start the day across the islands but they will move up into the mountains, then a return to rain showers across the west of scotland and the north of northern ireland. these are our temperatures, low art that we are looking at today. it will be breezy but windy in the north—west. as we head towards the it all changes. we have a southerly component to the wind, mild conditions across the board. during saturday, we have got rain across the north west of scotland, likely to be heavy at times, it is a waving front and will come further south and north, it could quite northern ireland, but a lot of dry weather iron, variable amounts of cloud in the west. 0n amounts of cloud in the west. on sunday, a weather front not too far away bringing in some rain, potentially gales across the north

west, and some rain in northern ireland. a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, the highs up to 13 celsius.

you are watching bbc news. it is a very busy morning of news this morning. very busy morning of news this morninu. , , ., , , morning. very shortly we will be takin: morning. very shortly we will be taking you _ morning. very shortly we will be taking you to — morning. very shortly we will be taking you to nottingham - morning. very shortly we will be taking you to nottingham to - morning. very shortly we will be l taking you to nottingham to bring you the sentencing of the killer who

pleaded guilty to manslaughter of three people including 219—year—old students. we have also been watching the live coverage from the scottish covert inquiry which has been continuing this morning with the questioning of les lloyd, the former chief of staff of nicola sturgeon. as i was saying, we are going to be bringing you the live my coverage of valdo calocane who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of three people in nottingham last summer. let's listen to the justice. nottingham last summer. let's listen to thejustice. in nottingham last summer. let's listen to the justice. in the early hours of the 13th ofjune, you committed a serious of atrocities in the city. which ended the lives of three innocent people. you went on to attack three more, fully intending but failing to kill