they were due to be exchanged for russians. victory for donald trump. the former us president wins the republican primary in new hampshire — beating his last remaining rival nikki haley. she has vowed to fight on. and a senior tory minister has called for his party to replace rishi sunak as prime minister, orface a "massacre" in the next general election. let's start with some breaking news this hour. a russian military transport plane has crashed in belgorod region of southern russia, close to the border with ukraine. russian news agencies are quoting the russian defence ministry as saying that on board were 65 ukrainian prisoners of war on their way to a prisoner exchange. the russian military said 6 crew members and 3 others accompanying the group were also on board.

according to the reuters news agency, a russian lawmaker has said the plane was shot down by three missiles. these pictures are of a video posted on social media. our team at bbc verify have confirmed that is from the area. you see a very big fireball that appears. we cannot confirm what has caused the crash. we have just had a line from confirm what has caused the crash. we havejust had a line from our east european correspondent, the bbc ukrainian team have asked the ukrainians to comments on reports of downed military plane. ukraine's defence ministry said they did not have clear information about the situation and they are clarifying the circumstances. so that is our first comment from the ukrainians. of course the russians claiming there were 65 ukrainian prisoners of war on that plane. the ukrainian

defence ministry saying at the moment they don't have clear information about the situation and they are clarifying the circumstances. for more, i am joined now by the economists defence editor, shashankjoshi. .. editor, shashankjoshi. what do you know at the moment has happened? we what do you know at the moment has ha ened? ~ ~' ., , what do you know at the moment has ha ened? ~ ~ ., , . happened? we know very little. we know a plane _ happened? we know very little. we know a plane has _ happened? we know very little. we know a plane has gone _ happened? we know very little. we know a plane has gone down - happened? we know very little. we know a plane has gone down and i happened? we know very little. we know a plane has gone down and it| happened? we know very little. we l know a plane has gone down and it is an il76 and the russians say it was carrying prisoners of war. i will add in the last few minutes the ukrainian general staff, not the defence ministry, but the general staff, have said that the plane was carrying missiles for russia's s300 air defence system, their long range air defence system, their long range air defence system that copes with bigger aerial threats. air defence system that copes with biggeraerialthreats. both air defence system that copes with bigger aerial threats. both sides have their story out. we don't know the details. but what i will say is

this comes in a period perhaps a sort of one or two month period in which ukraine's air defences have been growing more active, bolder, they have shot down a series of fighter aircraft a few months ago and last week they shot down a russian a50 surveillance plane, a very valuable and prized target. so i would suspect, if this plane was shot down, it is more evidence that ukraine is growing bolder in its air defence tactics against larger more valuable russian aircraft, including large airframes like the il76 that is an old soviet era transport aircraft. ~ ., ~ ., ., , ., aircraft. would the ukrainians have known if it does, _ aircraft. would the ukrainians have known if it does, as _ aircraft. would the ukrainians have known if it does, as the _ aircraft. would the ukrainians have known if it does, as the russians i known if it does, as the russians say, have contained prisoners of war, that that transport plane would have been in the air? what

war, that that transport plane would have been in the air?— have been in the air? what the ukrainians _ have been in the air? what the ukrainians may _ have been in the air? what the ukrainians may see _ have been in the air? what the ukrainians may see from - have been in the air? what the ukrainians may see from their| have been in the air? what the - ukrainians may see from their radar is the nature of a plane, its location, bearing and speed and by nature of the radar returns and the indications about the air base from which the aircraft took off that may be picked up using electronic intelligence, you may be able to work out what sort of plane it is. it is a fighterjet, a transport aircraft, an airborne command plane. what you don't know is what it is carrying, unless there is specific intelligence to tell you. until we see more intelligence, we have no way of verifying either of these side's claims that this was carrying pow on the russian side or missiles on the other side. we don't have the evidence to establish that. it on the other side. we don't have the evidence to establish that.— evidence to establish that. it may take a while _ evidence to establish that. it may take a while to _ evidence to establish that. it may take a while to establish - evidence to establish that. it may take a while to establish that. - evidence to establish that. it may take a while to establish that. if. take a while to establish that. if and i say if, there were prisoners

of war on board, the plane, and all 65 have been killed, that causes a big problem doesn't it? if 65 have been killed, that causes a big problem doesn't it?— big problem doesn't it? if that is correct, big problem doesn't it? if that is correct. it _ big problem doesn't it? if that is correct, it would _ big problem doesn't it? if that is correct, it would be _ big problem doesn't it? if that is correct, it would be a _ big problem doesn't it? if that is correct, it would be a huge - big problem doesn't it? if that is - correct, it would be a huge problem. there haven't been many pow swaps recently between the russian and ukrainian side, these are important for moral and for ukrainian politics. if it is the case that large numbers of pows have died, that would be a political calamity for ukraine and it is worth bearing in mind, air defence accidents happen, they happen all the sime in warfare and outside warfare. it is three years since iran shot down an airliner over tehran in 2020 in a very tense period, when they were anticipating american retaliation for an attack on an american air base. and america shoot down of a

iranian airliner in the 805. so these accidents happen and they're the5e accidents happen and they're more likely to happen in a contested piece of air space, where ukraine is looking for high value russian aircraft. it is these kind of planes that are likely to be carrying significant numbers of russian troops, or maybe airborne command troop5, or maybe airborne command po5t5 carrying high ranking officers or surveillance or posts carrying high ranking officers or surveillance or reconnaissance technology. these airframes will always be valuable targets for ukrainian air defences. this incident highlights - ukrainian air defences. this incident highlights the fact that the ukraine/russia war is carrying on, with other things, particularly in the middle east, that we have had, it may have gone out of the headlines. had, it may have gone out of the headlines-_ headlines. not only the war is car in: headlines. not only the war is carrying on. — headlines. not only the war is carrying on, russia _ headlines. not only the war is carrying on, russia is - headlines. not only the war is l carrying on, russia is mounting headlines. not only the war is i carrying on, russia is mounting a full—scale if disaster offensive in eastern ukraine, in a region where

it is sacrificing huge numbers of men for very little territory. but more than that it indicates the change in the war, that ukraine is more aggressively and more routinely taking the war into russian territory. this was over belogrod, or in the belogrod region, over russian soil. we saw strikes in belogrod about a month ago. and we saw strikes against an oil or fuel facilities in st petersburg a few days ago and what we are seeing is a sustained and deliberate ukrainian campaign to say, we are not going to wage this war purely on ukrainian territory. we are going to take it on to russian soil and show the russians we can strike back and strike in what military people would call in—depth, into their part of the battlefield. call in-depth, into their part of the battlefield.— the battlefield. thank you for “oininr the battlefield. thank you for joining us- — the battlefield. thank you for joining us- as _ the battlefield. thank you for joining us. as we _ the battlefield. thank you for joining us. as we have - the battlefield. thank you for joining us. as we have been i the battlefield. thank you for - joining us. as we have been talking about, there are claim and counter

claim going on at the moment. we have a news live page up and running on the bbc web—site where you can keep up—to—dates on the developments as they happen. storm jocelyn is moving across the uk — days after storm isha wreaked havoc and left at least two people dead. flights have been cancelled and trains suspended as wind gusts of more than 75 miles per hour were recorded. meanwhile, thousands of homes have been affected by power cuts. mairead smyth reports. storm jocelyn picked up where isha left off, waves thrashing the welsh coastline at aberystwyth. the strongest wind speed so far, 76 mph, was recorded in aberdaron, wales. winds are expected to reach

speeds of up to 80mph in exposed parts of northern and western scotland. the clean—up of one storm made more difficult by the arrival of another, as strong winds brought down power lines. electricity north west had to stop work for a while as conditions were too bad. more than 70,000 properties had their power restored, but some are still waiting. in northern ireland, 3000 properties were still without power at ten o'clock last night. community centres will be open in some areas this afternoon to help those affected. trees down and roads like rivers in some parts last night, as heavy rain fell. more than 30 flood warnings were in place in scotland, and 20 in england, in the early hours of this morning. early planning had been put in place to help ensure safe train travel too, and within scotland trains stopped at seven o'clock last night, and won't run today until the lines are clear.

scotrail say each route will have to undergo a safety inspection before trains are able to operate. customers whose journey has been cancelled or disrupted can travel two days after the date on their ticket, or also apply for a refund. the windy, wet weather is said to ease as the day goes on, but the clean—up could continue for some time. mairead smyth, bbc news. 0ur reporter dave guest is in keswick in cumbria and has the latest from there. well the town of keswick, one of three areas that remain on a flood warning this morning. there are 20 flood alerts across the county. this river is higher than normal and it has been swollen by continual rain, which has now thankfully stopped, but they have put flood defences in

place and there was no flooding here last night. of course this following hard on the heels of storm isha that caused considerable disruption to the county and electricity north—west say they are still working to reconnect some homes that were cut off. 0ver working to reconnect some homes that were cut off. over in yorkshire overnight, storm jocelyn did cause some problems, trees were brought down blocking some roads and there was flooding in the city of york when the river rose alarmingly. further afield there have been strong winds battering the welsh court and there was a search and rescue mission after reports of someone being in the sea. the windermere ferries remain cancelled and the train disruption in the north of england and scotland continues. scotrail suspended

services last year and services north of preston were halted in the afternoon. and they are set to be subject to disruption as safety checks are carried out on the rail network. more now on the royal mail which could reduce the number of days it delivers letters from six per week to five or even three, under proposals to reform the service. the regulator, 0fcom, has set out the options. at the moment royal mail is legally obliged to deliver letters six days a week, something its owners say is unaffordable and unsustainable. nick pendleton, a former director of strategy and innovation at royal mail, welcomed the discussion that the regulator's report will create. well, i think it's timely. i think the company have been looking for some movement and discussion about the uso for a number of years and

the uso for a number of years and the facts of life are unfortunately that the service we all love and appreciate isn't sustainable in the long—term. so, it is good that we can start to have a debate with light rather than heat informing us. 0fcom saying something has to give, why is royal mail in this position? 2011 when the legislation came in was quite a different world. although we knew the direction of travel and we have seen the number of letters declining significantly and the number of parcels increasing and the number of parcels increasing and both put a burden on the system. you need a different network to deliver parcel and the posty would walk down with 14 letters and now he has four and there is more addresses. so that doesn't cover the costs. ~ , ,., , ., costs. the minister saying that he would reject _ costs. the minister saying that he would reject the _ costs. the minister saying that he would reject the idea _ costs. the minister saying that he would reject the idea of _ costs. the minister saying that he would reject the idea of reducing l would reject the idea of reducing from six days a week, but viewers have been saying to us, they're not

even getting a six—day service at the moment. even getting a six-day service at the moment-— even getting a six-day service at the moment. , ., , ., the moment. yes, what is important and 0fcom from _ the moment. yes, what is important and 0fcom from published _ the moment. yes, what is important and 0fcom from published researchl the moment. yes, what is important l and 0fcom from published research on this and it has been consistent, people want quality of service, they want something guaranteed and they want something guaranteed and they want it affordable. they don't necessarily always need it next day or fast. necessarily always need it next day orfast. so i think the necessarily always need it next day or fast. so i think the challenge for everyone to work together whether it is a government, 0fcom, royal mail or the unions is how you have a sustainable service that people can rely on and we can afford and every country is going i there these debate —— through these debates. i these debate -- through these debates. . . debates. i have a friend in the united states _ debates. i have a friend in the united states who _ debates. i have a friend in the united states who says - debates. i have a friend in the united states who says prices| debates. i have a friend in the . united states who says prices are going up and in europe they have different ways of dealing with this? we like to criticise, but anyone who has lived in any other country suddenly has a much greater appreciation of what royal mail do.

to be honest it probably still provides the best service in the world and when you look at other countries, it is either a subsidy from the government, two billion in italy and france, we would probably rather that went to hospitals or schools, or it is a relaxation of the universal service and in countries like denmark there is no universal service.— universal service. could the royal mail look at _ universal service. could the royal mail look at diversifying _ universal service. could the royal mail look at diversifying into - universal service. could the royal| mail look at diversifying into other services to make more money? yes. services to make more money? yes, lease services to make more money? yes, please don't — services to make more money? yes, please don't think _ services to make more money? yes, please don't think it _ services to make more money? yes please don't think it hasn't. in services to make more money? 12: please don't think it hasn't. in my time we looked at all sorts of ideas. there is a lot of opportunity and i think the union have also embraced looking at those opportunities. but the sad facts of life are none of the opportunities are necessarily going to deliver the revenue that fills that gap of half of the parcel volume disappearing. we need to be realistic. it needs to be a combination of a lot of things

to keep this company sustainable. theatres, public toilets and even cctv — these are just a few of the services that could be cut in a bid to prevent some local councils from going bankrupt. it comes as research revealed that councils in the uk are facing a combined debt of nearly 100—billion pounds. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth has been to somerset, where a "financial emergency" was declared in november. it is early on a freezing morning and protesters are gathered outside somerset council's offices. they are hoping to save the recreation centre, which is threatened with closure. i don't understand it. why would they want to get rid of something that is so important to everyone? 0utside they met the council leader, who said with funding so tight, they are looking at every option to avoid going bust. that does mean cuts. anything that we will do, we will do it. it is tough times ahead. the council allowed us to film as they discussed the budget, which will kick in from april.

they say they have to save £100 million, and it is notjust here. right now councils around the country are going through a similar process. these are not things we would ever wish to be considering. _ here, they are asking the government to increase council tax by ii%. they have been upfront about what might go, including funding for the recreation centre, which has caused such concern. it would be another nail . in the coffin of the area of south somerset, which is recognised as one of the most deprived - areas in the south—west. later on we went to yeovil to see the sports facility. this is the only facility we have around here which everybody can play. it is used by hockey, football, athletics. everybody just loves it. what did you think when you heard it might lose its funding and therefore would be at risk? i wanted to cry, i can't lie. this is my second home. i love this place. it is where i get to relax, escape reality for a bit. the strength of feeling is obvious. these are just the hockey players.

there is also the athletics club and the football club. they have mounted a huge campaign to try and save this. but this is not the only thing at risk. the council is also looking at turning off all cctv cameras, closing public toilets, withdrawing funding for some support services like citizens advice, and there are some people really worried about the impact on the community. how long have you lived in taunton? 0h, about 55 years. in taunton, i met a local resident sue. she has ms, which affects her mobility. she is concerned about feeling safe without cctv in the town. it would make me feel vulnerable. if you have got a disability — i walk with a stick, it makes me nervous. if you turn off cctv, then nobody can see what is going on. i think the first thing they should look at is their own in—house savings. where are the savings we can make before we hit the public? it is notjust here in somerset.

councils around the country are trying to balance their budgets. the government is increasing the amount of funding they will get from april, with a total of £61; billion for councils in england, but many are still facing shortfalls. a lot of it is down to particular pressure on housing services and support for children and vulnerable adults. in glastonbury, most of the residents at this care home are paid for by somerset council, including peter's mum. he says it has been essential, after she had a fall two years ago. i don't think we had a plan b. i don't know what the other option was. we considered living at home, but there would have been so much re—engineering needed, full—time care. it wouldn't work. yes, it is a comfort to know she is safe and secure and comfortable here. i don't know what the other option is, if i am honest. for many councils the rising cost of funding care like this means they are having to cut elsewhere.

back at the council offices they are looking at all the options before final decisions are made, but the leader says their choices are limited. there might be some people that go, councils have just made bad decisions? the reality is the vast majority of councils are well managed, well run by people who care desperately about their local community. there is no alternative we can take. we are effectively delivering what the system failure in local government across the country. it is clear local government is under pressure. and it could be communities that pay the price. grassroots music venues across the uk are under threat of closure, and the charity, the music venue trust, say it's because of rising bills and rent increases. according to the charity's research, 125 locations were forced to stop providing music performances last year, and more than half shut entirely. let's get more on this with mark davyd, founder and chief executive of music venue trust and co—owner of tunbridge wells forum.

thank you forjoining us. 0utline what your research found? unfortunately 125 spaces were forced to end their live music offer. half were closures and half were people couldn't afford to do live music. rent went up by 35% and the whole activity in the venues that is essential to the industry is under threat. we have 164 venues in our emergency response service facing some kind of closure threat. it is artl some kind of closure threat. it is partly because — some kind of closure threat. it is partly because people can't afford to go out to venues and have a drink and watch live music? fist to go out to venues and have a drink and watch live music?— and watch live music? at our level the ticket prices _ and watch live music? at our level the ticket prices are _ and watch live music? at our level the ticket prices are accessible, i the ticket prices are accessible, the ticket prices are accessible, the average price is only £11, that is very good for a night of

entertainment. in 2023 the number of people visiting went up, it was 23.5 million people went to their local venue. it is the external costs driving the venues into economic decline and the first cause is the rent, the service charges, the staffing, everything like that, the price has exploded. we staffing, everything like that, the price has exploded.— staffing, everything like that, the price has exploded. we have the brit nominations — price has exploded. we have the brit nominations later _ price has exploded. we have the brit nominations later today, _ price has exploded. we have the brit nominations later today, some i price has exploded. we have the brit nominations later today, some of. nominations later today, some of those now very well known artists may well have started their careers in a small venue like yours? itrefoil in a small venue like yours? well absolutely- _ in a small venue like yours? well absolutely. i'm _ in a small venue like yours? well absolutely. i'm proud _ in a small venue like yours? well absolutely. i'm proud of- in a small venue like yours? 2ii absolutely. i'm proud of our record coldplay played there, oasis, adele, the list is almost endless of the stars that started there and ended up stars that started there and ended up in arenas. what we need is to connect the success of the art sists when they're playing these huge shows, we need a contribution from those tickets to go back into a fund to make sure local communities still have access to live music. it is so

important to make sure the sector survives. ~ :, , important to make sure the sector survives. ~ ., , ., , ., survives. what is the answer? could we see harry _ survives. what is the answer? could we see harry styles _ survives. what is the answer? could we see harry styles turns _ survives. what is the answer? could we see harry styles turns up - survives. what is the answer? could we see harry styles turns up at i survives. what is the answer? could we see harry styles turns up at your venue to promote the fact that you do live music? he venue to promote the fact that you do live music?— venue to promote the fact that you do live music? he is very welcome! i'm not do live music? he is very welcome! l'm not going _ do live music? he is very welcome! l'm not going to — do live music? he is very welcome! i'm not going to say _ do live music? he is very welcome! i'm not going to say no _ do live music? he is very welcome! i'm not going to say no to - do live music? he is very welcome! i'm not going to say no to that i i'm not going to say no to that show. the actual answer is when we have 80,000 tickets being sold at wembley, if even one pound went into a pound, it would solve the problems. we saw the closure of a venuein problems. we saw the closure of a venue in bath that has been run for 45 years and the team that ran that were brilliant at their jobs, 45 years and the team that ran that were brilliant at theirjobs, but couldn't make live music affordable for them to actually carry on running it. a small subsidy would have kept it open. we need to that shee. we have the best year for live music in 2023 at the top lel. ——

level. we need to connect the two things. level. we need to connect the two thins. :, ~' ,, , level. we need to connect the two thins. :, ~ ,, , ., , new satellite pictures have revealed four previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in antarctica. with hordes of emperor penguins relocating due to climate change, scientists have been able to track these colonies through the staining the penguins waste leaves on the white ice, as charlie rose reports. the emperor penguins, kings of a frozen realm that's slowly melting down. experts fear for their future. in 2022, an estimated 10,000 vulnerable chicks perished when the antarctic sea ice underneath them melted and broke apart. the youngsters hadn't yet developed their waterproof coats. scientists predicted 90% of emperor penguin colonies would be all but extinct by the end of the century.

we will see movement as the sea ice becomes less tenable, less stable for the birds and breaks up earlier. and that means that we'll have to continue tracking and continue monitoring all the emperor penguin colonies as they move to see what happens to them over time. but now the british antarctic survey has found four previously unrecognised nesting sites, using satellite images to track the birds' excrement as they search for more stable sea ice. however, all but one of the colonies has fewer than a thousand emperor penguins. so this new discovery, scientists say, makes little difference to the overall population, which continues to face an uncertain future. charlie rose, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. storm jocelyn fairly packed a punch

as it moved across our shores through the course of last night and this morning. to give you an idea of some of the gusts of wind that we had, in capel curig, a gust of 97 miles an hour was recorded, south uist, 74 miles an hour, and northolt in southern england, 54 mile an hour gusts. now, this is storm jocelyn here. this area of low pressure is pulling away. and as it does so, look at the isobars, they are still squeezed across the north and the east, but they open out across the south and the west. so basically that means the wind will ease from the south and the west. and it's still going to be pretty windy through the course of the day across the north and the east in particular. a lot of dry weather around today as well, some hazy sunshine. but later on, what you'll find is a new weather front will bring in some cloud and some patchy rain and drizzle and temperatures down a touch on yesterday. as we head on through the evening and overnight period, under clear skies in the north, we'll have a touch of frost, the risk of ice, some mist and fog for a time. but a weather front pushing steadily northwards is going to introduce

more cloud and also this rain and drizzle and murky conditions following behind in the south—west. but here we're importing milder air and that milder air is coming in on the south—westerly wind behind this warm front, which is pushing northwards. so the south—westerly wind's a mild direction. and you can see how the milder conditions push across the whole of the british isles as we go through the course of tomorrow as represented by the yellows. as well as that, it's going to be a fairly cloudy day tomorrow for most, with the rain continuing to advance northwards. still hanging on to the murky low cloud, hill fog, for example, coastal fog in the south—west with some showers around as well, but much milder than we're looking at today. we've got temperatures ranging largely from 10 to 13 degrees. then as we head on into friday, the wintry showers to start with in the west peter out as a ridge of high pressure starts to build in. but for many of us, it's going to be a sunny day, a fine day and settled, and it will also feel fresher, the temperatures

slipping down once again. then as we move on into the weekend, a slight change in the forecast in that it's looking drier and a bit more settled now. however, we are expecting further wet and windy weather at times across the north and the west.

live from london. this is bbc news. a russian military plane crashes, near ukraine. the defence ministry in moscow says 65 ukrainian prisoners of war were on board — and has accused ukraine of downing the aircraft. the plane went

down in southern russia. the defence ministry in kyiv has said its clarifying what happened. russian officials say there were 74 people on board from including a 65 ukrainian prisoner of four although we have no independent evidence of that. donald trump winds the republican primary in new hampshire but his remaining rival nikki haley has vowed to fight on. royal mail's regulator proposes reforms including reducing letter deliveries from six days a week to five, or even three. a senior tory minister has called for his party to replace rishi sunak as prime minister, orface a "massacre" in the next general election. an international team of scientists have successfully implanted an embryo into a white rhino with a first time producing ivf is possible

in the species.