ben stokes himself left this court, made no comment to the press and journalists waiting outside. england slumped to their third straight defeat in the competition, this time at the hands of new zealand. england are now relying on other results to go their way, if they're to make the final. today they came up 12 runs short, as adam wild reports. english cricket, the long winter tour has finally made its way to new zealand. the countdown to the t20 final getting ever closer. now a new opposition to get their heads around, something the black caps seemed to be doing very nicely. martin guptill and kane williamson quick to find a measure of the england quicker bowlers. their frustrations continue past there was a little something to cling onto, chrisjordan a little something to cling onto, chris jordan here a little something to cling onto, chrisjordan here showing how it's done. that aside england failed to get a firm grip as new zealand reached 196. but this is an england side with a reputation for revelling in the thrill of the chase. alex

hales for a time making it seem possible. but for that to happen they needed to keep their big hitters in the middle. and that in this series has been the of england. dawid malan offered some hope as well but this was england falling short. they may have reached new zealand but they have brought their t20 problems with them. that is all from the programme. highlights from the winter olympics coming up shortly on bbc two. i will have more sport throughout the evening. bbc news has learned that the commonwealth has begun considering who might succeed the queen as the head of the organisation. member states could choose anyone as the ceremonial leader, as the role is not hereditary.

the bbc has been told 53 member states have established a high level group to look at how the commonwealth is governed — and it's been meeting for the first time today in london. our diplomatic correspondent james landalejoins us now. quite a sensitive issue. hugely sensitive and that is why it is a debate that many would prefer to be held behind closed doors. they did not want to be hugely publicised but at the meeting took place today, this new group, a high—level group of thing —— tenure, what figures to start discussing how the gulf —— how the commonwealth is governed. they should a statement saying the debate has been open but it is not the mandate of this particular group to start to make decisions about the succession of who heads up the commonwealth after the queen has gone. that is because the debate is going to be taking place in the

margins of these meetings. we have the big summit of commonwealth heads of government in a couple of months' time and that is where the debate will take place. it will never be on an agenda of the formal mandate of any group to talk about but in the margins people beginning to think about what should happen in the future. and is there a realistic alternative to prince charles? when you talk to people in positions of leadership in the commonwealth they all said there is no realistic alternative at the moment. no one, people say if there was a kind of mandela figure that potentially could unify. one newspaper this evening and asked why barack obama should not be the kind of character who could do it. at the moment that is less likely. where the debate is lying is this, if it is to be the prince of wales to be the next head of the commonwealth should that be a one—off decision about the prince of wales as an individual or should there be a separate decision saying let's introduce a new formula, a new

rule book saying that in the future it is always the british head of state that will be the titular head of the commonwealth. that is a different debate because behind all of this discussion about personalities is again the continued argument about what the commonwelfies four, where its logos should be. should be more focused on asia, all those old debates coming back to before. and do we know what prince charles thinks about it? not officially however unofficially the assumption is that he would like to be the next head of the commonwealth after his mother. certainly looking at his website there is a huge out there about all the work he's doing in the commonwealth. a of commonwealth countries that he has visited. and it was noticeable three yea rs visited. and it was noticeable three years ago at the most recent someone well —— summit of commonwealth heads, the queen went out overweight

to praise the support the prince of wales had given to her. so the view of the british government and royal circles that he should be the next head, definitely. thank you. elections are underway for a new president for the world's clowns — with a briton among the front runners. the campaign comes at the end of a turbulent year for the clown community — a new horrorfilm, and sightings of so—called "killer clowns" lurking on streets, have added to concerns that the long history of clowning is under threat — and they're falling out of fashion. our arts correspondent david sillito reports. once upona once upon a time every circus had its own troops. archive footage voiceover: as always, the clowns bring down the house. the facepaint, the big shoes, they were the heart of circus heritage, but the wigs and grease paint are in decline. maybe it's the clown horror films, but on this anniversary year there is a big issue for the man hoping to be world clown president. i didn't realise there

was democracy in clowning. there is quite a lot of democracy and quite a lot of politics as well. what are the issues at the moment? you've already highlighted the main question we asked, are people scared of clowns? it is the big issue. even here in the heart of clowndom, more and more clowns are giving up on looking like clowns. if you had seen me back in 1973 when i first started coming here, then you would have seen a completely different face. you don't look like proper clowns. they huff. children, over the years have got a little bit wary of clowns. but there is a fightback against all this anti—clown prejudice. i am pc bibbledy bobby or bibbledy bob the clown, the regional director for the world clown association for europe and the whole of africa. i thank you. yes, there really is a regional clown director. you press people, you

like a negative story. positivity does not sell. so unfortunately we keep being busy, we keep getting work, and you are obsessed with the fact that we might not be getting work because of silly films. i stood corrected. it seems there is, still, a lot of clown love out there. but clown politics? i had a chat with elsie fanackerpants. .. it is only when it gets to meetings, it can get quite heated. there are clown meetings? there's a committee... she laughs. i couldn't take it seriously...! so elsie won't be running for world clown president. but someone has to. because when it comes to the future of clowning, there is a lot to think about. david sillitoe, bbc news. time now for a look at the weather forecast.

over the last 2a hours we have seen strong wind, heavy rain and significant snow in places and more of all of those elements to come in the next 2a hours. an area of low pressure is developing in the atla ntic pressure is developing in the atlantic and as that begins to show its hand tonight, the first effects are strengthening southerly wind. then we have outbreaks of rain starting to push on and turning to snow across northern ireland. it will be a cold night with some icy stretches just about everywhere. so into tomorrow cloud and rain and also some snow to low levels for a time in northern ireland and northern england. increasingly confined to the higher ground through the day and it could be rain mainly further south. some milder aircoming in and mainly further south. some milder air coming in and temperatures up into double digits by the end of

wednesday in the south—west. you're watching beyond 100 days, the us is close to making a decision on how to act against north korea. then along hearing at the senate, top intelligence chiefs are applying global threats to america. north korea and russia topped the list. the head of the fbi contradicts the white house's version of events surrounding rob porter, the white house aide accused of domestic violence. we will get the views of former caa chief leon panetta. the online fight against terrorism has a new weapon. it is software that immediately blocks jihadists videos from being uploaded. bagpipes, ta rta n from being uploaded. bagpipes, tartan and, yes, a pony that baits. the colourful