this is bbc news, the headlines... israel denies accusations it hit a un building sheltering 800 people in gaza. at least 12 were killed.

an exclusive interview with the anti—war campaigner who's planning to take on vladimir putin in russia's presidential election. he tells this programme there is growing opposition to russia's special military operation in ukraine. i special military operation in ukraine. . ., , ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time _ ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time but _ ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time but i _ ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time but i am _ ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time but i am absolutely i ukraine. i am not sure i will win l this time but i am absolutely sure putin will not rule russia for six years more, absolutely sure. here in the uk the families of three people stabbed to death in nottingham say they've been let down by the police after their killer is sentenced after admitting three counts manslaughter by diminished responsibility. and some of ghana's "crown jewels" stolen by british soldiers more than a century ago, are being returned on loan. sport and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. gavin, where rb with england against

india, the first of what should be a really good series? we should get to that in a moment, england have some work to do but we will start with tennis. aryna sabalenka will face china's zheng qinwen in the final of the women's singles after they both came through their semi—finals in straight sets. sabalenka saw off coco gauff, taking the first set on a tie break and then the second set 6 games to 4 to gain revenge over the american who beat her in the final of the us open last year. sabalenka, yet to drop a set, and with the chance to defend her title. the key thing was i was able to stay focused no matter what, no matter what the score was, i just kept trying my best, kept fighting for it and of course i'm super happy to be in anotherfinal of a and of course i'm super happy to be in another final of a grand slam and of course i'm super happy to be in anotherfinal of a grand slam and hopefully i can do a little bit better than i did last time. zheng on the other hand is through to her first grand slam final ending ukrainian qualifier

dayana yastremska's incredible run with a 6—4, 6—4 win. zheng is aiming to become the second chinese woman to win the australian open singles title 10 years after li na's famous victory. a spanishjudge has proposed that former football federation president luis rubiales should stand trial over the women's world cup kiss involving captain jenni hermoso. mr rubiales grabbed ms hermoso's head and kissed her during the presentation after spain's victory in australia. she said the kiss was "not consensual", a statement denied by mr rubiales. ajudge has found there is enough evidence for the matter to proceed to trial. at the afc asian cup, south korea avoided a round of 16 clash with four—time winners japan after a dramatic 3—3 draw with already eliminated malaysia. son heung—min�*s 94th minute penalty looked to have won the match forjurgen klinsmann�*s side as they came from 2—1 down, to lead 3—2 in stoppage time in group e. son heung—min�*s 94th minute penalty looked to have won the match forjurgen klinsmann�*s side as they came from 2—1 down, to lead 3—2 in stoppage time in group e. but there was to be a final sting in the tail. in the 15th minute of stoppage time,

romel morales grabbed a dramatic equaliser, to earn malaysia's first asian cup point in 44 years. meanwhile, in the other fixture in group e, bahrain sealed top spot and a meeting with japan after they beatjordan i—o. abdulla yusuf helal with the only goal of the game in the 34th minute. two remaining fixtures in the group stage in qatar, which are underway — saudi arabia will face south korea in the last 16, if they avoid defeat to thailand. it is goalless but lots going on in the match with saudi arabia missing a penalty. and oman must beat kyrgyzstan to have any hope ofjoining them in the knockout stages. and they are currently leading i—o. to cricket, where india trail england by 127 after a brilliant unbeaten innings from yashasvi jaiswal after day one of the first test in hyderabad. the tourists won the toss and elected to bat. and once again were indebted to ben stokes. the captain came in with england in trouble at 121—4. from there, he struck 70 off 88 balls to help england to 246 all out —

eight of the wickets falling to spin. in reply, jaiswal finished the day 76 not out at more than a run a ball, as india reached stumps 119—1. captain rohit sharma the only wicket to fall, dismissed by jack leach for 24. the west indies showed their resolve on day one of the second test against australia as they aim to level the two—match series. the windies won the toss, and chose to bat first at the gabba and ended the day 266—8. kavem hodge and joshua da silva put on 149 for the sixth wicket after they had been 6a—5. mitchell starc the pick of the australian bowlers with four wickets. charles leclerc has signed a contract extension with ferrari ahead of the new formula one season. the length of the deal has yet to be confirmed by ferrari — his previous deal had been set to expire at the end of the upcoming season. leclercjoined ferrari back in 2019 and has won five races in that time. team—mate carlos sainz is reportedly in talks to extend his deal with the italian constructors. and that's all the sport for now.

we will be back with more later. as we've been saying, questions remain over the shooting down of a russian military transport plane — which moscow blames on kyiv — and says it was carrying ukrainian prisoners of war. ukraine's security service has opened a criminal probe and the government has called for the united nations and red cross to have access to the crash site. our verify team has been analysing the latest footage to shed a light on the causes of that crash. here's olga robinson. it's been more than 2a hours since a russian military plane crashed in the belgrade region and there is still a lot that we don't know including what exactly caused the plane to come down. now, just to remind you, the plane crashed in this area, russian territory not far from the ukraine border. russia claims that the plane was carrying 65 ukraine prisoners of war as well as several russian crew members and military personnel. they say there are no survivors.

ukraine says it has no reliable information about who was on board exactly. yesterday we showed you this video about the plane crash into this plume of smoke you can see here in the air. experts told us this was consistent with an aircraft being shot down. since then we have verified this video of the crash site. it was filmed in a field not farfrom a village site. it was filmed in a field not far from a village where the plane was seen shortly before it came down and we can say that because of details like this, the tree line that match the area. now, here is another video we have also verified earlier, and we see here the puncture holes along the side of the plane. two experts we spoke to believe the damage is consistent with an aircraft being shot down by a surface to air missile. they say

the dozens of holes on the fuselage you can see here in the footage are the result of a warhead exploding. but we still don't know the exact type of missile that may have been used. earliertoday type of missile that may have been used. earlier today the headlines like this appeared on russian media saying that possible missile debris had been found at the crash site. we can't independently confirm this because russia has not released any pictures so far and we can't see any missile debris on the footage we have verified. we also still can't independently confirm whether there have been any prisoners of war on board. the verified footage from the crash site shows a couple of bodies but it's not possible to identify who these people are. we have contacted experts who have experience in aircraft investigations to see if there are any further clues in the crash site footage. we will bring you updates when we can.

the hamas—run health ministry in gaza says 20 people have been killed and 150 injured by an israeli strike, while queuing strike, while queueing forfood in gaza city in the north of the enclave. in the southern city of khan younis, fierce fighting has led to hundreds of people desperately looking for shelter. israel has denied hitting a un facility in the city, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 75. let's go to our correspondence in jerusalem, mark lowen who can bring us up to date. jerusalem, mark lowen who can bring us up to date-— us up to date. there is still disagreement _ us up to date. there is still disagreement and - us up to date. there is still. disagreement and argument us up to date. there is still- disagreement and argument over the responsibility behind that attack on a un training centre in the area of khan younis in southern gaza yesterday that has killed at least a dozen people and left about 75 people injured. the un agency for palestinian refugees said the building was clearly marked un and the coordinates were shared with israeli authorities. israel has said it is investigating the incident and

said its forces were not involved and they suspect it could have been and they suspect it could have been a hamas hit. they say hamas has command centres and outpost near the building. but very much showing once again how various different civilian facilities are being caught up in the fighting in khan younis, particularly around three hospitals. one of the three hospitals has now had to close. the un says women who had to close. the un says women who had just delivered babies through cesarean section were forced to evacuate in the middle of the night. that hospital has now closed leaving two more partly operational. the world health organization has said two thirds of hospitals right across gaza are completely out of operation so it is a desperate situation for those in the south now. so much focus on hospitals. _ those in the south now. so much focus on hospitals. interesting i those in the south now. so much focus on hospitals. interesting in the last half an hour or so with israeli officials accusing the world health organization of colluding with hamas. yes

health organization of colluding with hamm— health organization of colluding with hamas. , ,, ., ., , with hamas. yes indeed. strong words from the israelis _ with hamas. yes indeed. strong words from the israelis towards _ with hamas. yes indeed. strong words from the israelis towards a _ with hamas. yes indeed. strong words from the israelis towards a un - with hamas. yes indeed. strong words from the israelis towards a un body i from the israelis towards a un body that they feel has not sufficiently made clear its condemnation of the hamas attack on israel that sparked this whole conflict and left around 1300 people killed and 240 taken hostage, the worst attack in israel's history. there is a general feeling here that public opinion does not sufficiently recognise or sufficiently remember the start of this conflict and that as we are now almost four months into the conflict and the numbers of palestinians killed has risen dramatically to over 25,000 according to the local health officials in gaza, international public opinion has turned against israel in many circles. i think that while israelis... it is very complex story here but a lot of israelis from the

tv do not get images of what is happening in gaza, the extent of destruction death there. israeli tv is largely focused on the hostages which of course is a source of national trauma but israel feels in the court of international public opinion the hostages have been largely forgotten in favour of the deaths on the palestinian side. it is complex and goes back decades of course, to a sense of victimhood here, but it may come to a head tomorrow, friday, when the international court ofjustice in the hague is going to deliver preliminary conclusions about the case south africa has brought against israel, accusing israel of committing genocide in gaza. full live coverage of that on bbc news. mark lowen, thank you. now to the story of an israeli teacher who was fired from job and jailed for criticising the idf. meir baruchin, who teaches history and civics in tel aviv, was arrested and held in solitary

confinement, after a series of facebook posts he'd made about palestinian civilians being killed in gaza, criticising the israeli military, and warning against wars of revenge. a court has ruled the dismissal "wrongful" and ordered his reinstatement. meir baruchin, history and civics teacher at tel aviv�*s yitzhak shamir high school joins us now from jerusalem. thank you forjoining us. for those people watching who are not familiar with this story, can you just start by describing what you were actually charged with when you were arrested. good afternoon and thank you for having me. on november the 9th i received a phone call from the jerusalem police department asking me to come over for an interrogation. i asked on what charge and they said for sedition and incitement. on my way there i called my lawyer and he said in order to interrogate an israeli

citizen for sedition and incitement the police need an approval from the general attorney. the police did ask for this approval but it was rejected, so they decided to interrogate me on two other charges. one, intention to commit an act of treason. two, intention to disrupt public order. i treason. two, intention to disrupt public order-— treason. two, intention to disrupt public order. i know they searched our public order. i know they searched your house — public order. i know they searched your house and — public order. i know they searched your house and i _ public order. i know they searched your house and i think— public order. i know they searched your house and i think we - public order. i know they searched your house and i think we will- public order. i know they searched l your house and i think we will shows some of the video, the filming that you did in the minutes afterwards. that's on our screen at the moment. you told our producer that this story is bigger than my personal story, it is a time of witchhunts in israel. is that what you think this is, a witchhunt?_ israel. is that what you think this is, a witchhunt? absolutely. every israeli citizen, _ is, a witchhunt? absolutely. every israeli citizen, not _ is, a witchhunt? absolutely. every israeli citizen, not only _ is, a witchhunt? absolutely. every israeli citizen, not only teachers, | israeli citizen, not only teachers, every israeli citizen knows clearly that if he shows the slightest sentiment towards the people of gaza, if he criticises the targeting

of innocent civilians, especially women and children in gaza, he will be politically persecuted, go through a public shaming, lose his job and in my case be put injail. tell me what you posted, because the israeli media is accusing you of supporting terrorism, making allegations against the idf. what did you actually post? i am allegations against the idf. what did you actually post?- did you actually post? i am doing this for more _ did you actually post? i am doing this for more than _ did you actually post? i am doing this for more than ten _ did you actually post? i am doing this for more than ten years. - did you actually post? i am doing | this for more than ten years. what did you actually post? i am doing i this for more than ten years. what i am trying to do is humanise the palestinians. for most israelis the palestinians. for most israelis the palestinians have no name, no face, no family, no hope, no plans. and i'm trying to humanise them in order that more israelis will be able to see them as human beings and maybe communicate with them in non—violent ways. so on october the 7th, after

october the 7th, i began to post about the innocent civilians that were killed in gaza. many right—wingers don't like it. i am a teacher in a school belonging to the municipality of a city that is near tel aviv. it has been ruled by a right—wing mayor. so on tober the 18th i was called for a hearing and the next day i was fired. —— on october the 18th. the municipality also filed a complaint at the police station on the same day as my hearing. i was called for an interrogation and the minute i walked into the police station my hands and legs were cuffed, they confiscated my mobile. five detectives escorted me to my apartment and ransacked the place top to bottom. then i was taken back

top to bottom. then i was taken back to the police station for a first interrogation that lasted four hours. it wasn't really asking questions. it was more of a rhetoric, when you install the answer inside the question and you don't really let the other person choose his answer. then i was taken to the jailhouse in a compound in jerusalem. i was categorised as a high—risk detainee and put in solitary confinement. high-risk detainee and put in solitary confinement.- high-risk detainee and put in solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you- _ solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you- i _ solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you. i know _ solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you. i know you _ solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you. i know you are - solitary confinement. sorry to cut across you. i know you are held i solitary confinement. sorry to cut l across you. i know you are held for four day use. just a twin thought. when you reflect back on what you were posting, is there anything you now think, perhaps that was inflammatory? and i know your sacking was overturned and you have been able to attempt to go back to work so what has that been like as well? . ., ., , ., well? the court ruled that i should to back to well? the court ruled that i should

go back to work. _ well? the court ruled that i should go back to work. the _ well? the court ruled that i should go back to work. the first - well? the court ruled that i should go back to work. the first day - well? the court ruled that i should go back to work. the first day i - go back to work. the first day i went there was january the 19th. the municipality is running a systematic campaign to delegitimise me and the students are demonstrating, cursing me, spitting at me, without any response from the principal or the security people or the police. it goes on and on almost every day. by, goes on and on almost every day. a final question, because we are seeing some of that footage with you surrounded by people. when the sound is up you can hear the abuse you reference. i asked is up you can hear the abuse you reference. iasked in is up you can hear the abuse you reference. i asked in the middle of that interview, when you reflect, is there anything that you look back on and that you posted that you think could have been inflammatory, and what will you do no? ida. could have been inflammatory, and what will you do no?— what will you do no? no, i don't thinki what will you do no? no, i don't think i posted _ what will you do no? no, i don't think i posted anything - think i posted anything inflammatory. i think my posts were

basically trying to humanise the palestinians. there is nothing inflammatory. if you go out in the street today, you get to hear two basic arguments. some people are saying that they don't care about killing innocent civilians in gaza because after what hamas did to us on october the 7th they deserve it. other people say that it's too bad we are killing innocent civilians but israel is not responsible, it's hamas's fault. that's all you get to hear and i resent that. meir baruchin, — hear and i resent that. meir baruchin, we _ hear and i resent that. meir baruchin, we have - hear and i resent that. meir baruchin, we have to - hear and i resent that. meir baruchin, we have to do - hear and i resent that. meir i baruchin, we have to do leave hearand i resent that. meir baruchin, we have to do leave it there but thank you forjoining us on the programme. 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 rainfall

about nine o'clock. since he was ten years old, tom bown from llwydiarth—esgob on anglesey has made the same journey to the bottom of his garden every day without fail. take the funnel out, which collects the rainfall. you have a bottle underneath which collects the water. it's 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 i can, as long as i can walk! hopefully, yeah. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. -

you're live with bbc news. 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. 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 kumasi'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 v&a items are returning, including a peace pipe 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 ivor agyeman—duah. 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. as well as 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 lend you 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. the 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. katie razzall, bbc news. a fascinating story. breaking news as we go live to paris, protests outside the constitutional council because parts of a new french immigration law that is so contested go against the constitution and must be scrapped, that has just come from france's constitutional council. we will get full details on which part that councils say should be scrapped here on the programme in the next few minutes. hello there. a recent winter storms have now been replaced by some unseasonable winter warmth, and not just in the uk. take a look at what's been happening across iberia. temperature is way above average. in

fact in valencia, 28 degrees was recorded on wednesday afternoon. their average is around 16 or 17 at this time of year. this afternoon we could see temperatures peaking at 13 celsius in the london area. we should be seeing 7 degrees at this stage injanuary. it's a mild story but unfortunately it's a rather grey and drab one as well, quite widely across the country. yes, this was wales, and there is some rain pushing into wales as we speak. that's going to be moving its way into northern inc and, gradually drifting its way eastwards. we through the day today and with that south—westerly flow some poor visibility on exposed coasts as well. and a mild afternoon, temperatures widely into double figures at a 10—13. through the evening and overnight, that front will slowly meander its way eastwards and then it will be kicked out of the way almost by this cold front. this is going to bring more heavy, persistent rain overnight and some strengthening winds. a spell of

wet weather for all of us at some point through the night but once it clears through, because it's a cold front, it's introducing some cooler air so some of the showers in scotland may turn wintry to higher ground again as we could see temperatures into lower single figures to start off on friday. i'll start down to the south—east, double digits here is that frontal system eases away. a low ridge of high pressure will build in and quieten things down for friday so expect more sunshine for most of us. plenty of isobars further north and west. gale force gusts of winds will drive and a rash of showers into northern ireland and north—west scotland. again with elevation some of those will be wintry. but it's a sunny afternoon for most of us, not quite as one but hopefully the sunshine will compensate. 7—9 the high. high pressure across europe will dominate the story into the weekend. and across england and wales that means across england and wales that means a quieter theme of weather but across the top of that high, always the risk of some weather fronts. into the beacon, the further north

and west you are there is still a risk of showers or longer spells of rain. dry, sunny and milderfurther south. take care.

live from london, this is bbc news. the man who's planning to take on vladimir putin — in russia's election tells this programme there is growing opposition russia's special military operation in ukraine. i am not sure i will win this time but i am absolutely sure putin

will not rule russia for six years more, absolutely sure. on verified live, we will continue to investigate the causes of the russian plane crash. we have been analysing the latest footage from the crash site to see if it can shed more light on what caused the aircraft to come down. here in the uk, the families of three people stabbed to death in nottingham say they've been let down by the police after their killer is sentenced after admitting three counts manslaughter by diminished responsibility. in the last half hour, fence's constitutional council say plans for contested new immigration law go against the constitution and must be scrapped. —— france's constitutional council. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories, and checking out the truth behind them.

now — we start with our exclusive bbc interview —