cross—country event. meanwhile, in the arena, north korean cheerleaders mesmerise the crowds with incredible synchronisation. and scotland fight back to earn a first win in this year's six nations, with a hard—fought victory against france. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a russian domestic passenger plane has crashed on the outskirts of the russian capital, killing all 71 people on board. it took off from moscow's domodedovo airport. some witnesses say it broke up in midair. the black box recorder has been recovered. our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford, has been giving us the latest. it's early days and all of those things are being looked into right now. there doesn't appear to have been any extra ordinary weather conditions. the wind was fairly light, according to reports i've read, and although it is the depth of winter, it's extremely cold, there was no heavy snowfall. no obvious reason for the weather to have caused this. we don't know if it was a technical failure. this will be looked into debate investigation. but we do know that the flight disappeared from radar quickly after take—off, a few minutes after taking off from domodedovo airport, one of the two main airports in moscow. it was flying south to the urals, southern russia, and officials believe eve ryo ne russia, and officials believe everyone on board has been killed. that was 71 people on board, including passengers and crew, six members of crew. at the moment, there is a rescue operation at the scene, just outside moscow. the plane came down in the field, in the snow outside moscow. we have seen some pictures, some pieces of debris of the claim, that people have got on their phones. there doesn't seem to be any sign of fire, but eyewitnesses who saw the plane come down and talked about some sort of explosion in midair. they talk about it plunging rapidly. others have suggested that the plane broke up in midair. obviously very dramatic and quick, very soon after take—off, but at the moment what caused the crash, at the moment what caused the crash, at this point, nobody knows. at the moment what caused the crash, at this point, nobody knowsm doesn't look like domodedovo airport was far from the crash scene. what about the record of aviation post—soviet days? at one time, we used to talk about a lot of air accidents. how are things these days? this was a regional airline, a small one. i think they have about 15 planes. a number of them are these an—148 aircraft, fairly small, and this one was almost full, we believe. it lost its licence for international flights because of safety concerns in 2014, and that lasted for one year before the licence was restored for the airline officials have been quoted on russian use sources saying that plane had been through proper technical checks and was in good working order. there was a time when plane crashes in russia were very common but generally speaking those days are behind us. the main there a good safety records. but regional airlines, less so. this was from a small regional airline. i have seen pictures from orsk, the city this plane was heading for. the families of those who were on board have been gathering, are gathering now in the airport, hoping for some kind of good news, but officials are suggesting that already many bodies have been found in the fields outside moscow, and they believe everybody on board would have been killed in this kind of devastating crash. the government has threatened to cut off all state funding and help for oxfam, and other charities, if they fail to ensure that vulnerable people are properly protected. the international development secretary penny mordaunt has described as "horrific" the behaviour of some of oxfam's workers in haiti, who were accused of using prostitutes in the aftermath of the earthquake there in 2010. the chair of trustees at the charity says oxfam prides itself on being a transparent organisation working hard to improve the lives of the poor and has apologised unreservedly saying "i share the anger and shame that behaviour like that highlighted in haiti in 2011 happened in our organisation. it is clear that such behaviour is completely outside our values and should never be tolerated." angus crawford has this report. first haiti, now chad, one of the poorest countries on earth, new allegations that a number of oxfam workers paid local women for sex. the head of the mission there at the time was the same man who five years later in haiti resigned after admitting using prostitutes. four others were sacked. oxfam won't confirm the details but says it is shocked and dismayed by the reports, which highlight unacceptable behaviour by a small number of people. as the scandal grows, the international development secretary, penny mordaunt, has sent a strong warning to all british charities receiving public money. they will lose the cash if they can't show a robust approach to safeguarding. i am very clear — it doesn't matter whether you have got a whistle—blowing hotline, if you've got safeguarding practices in place, if the moral leadership at the top of the organisation isn't there, then we cannot have you as a partner. she said oxfam didn't give her department the full facts about what happened in haiti. at a meeting tomorrow, the charity will be given one last chance or be stripped of its public funding. today, more revelations about other aid agencies, reports that christian aid, save the children and the british red cross have all investigated staff over sexual allegations. some who know the sector well i'm not surprised. people need to realise that the vast majority of aid work in crisis situations is extraordinary, saves lives and helps people who are very vulnerable. but aid agencies need to do a lot more to make sure that the best people are going into these areas, they are monitored, and these people who are very vulnerable, they have a voice too in how this unfolds. the government's now demanding every charity receiving taxpayer money disclose all past and current cases of sexual misconduct. a scandal affecting one charity is now threatening to engulf the entire sector. angus crawford, bbc news. and concerns that this could be a wider issue were echoed by the author, and former president of a charity, dr elaine storkey. yes, it's a horrible idea that there might be even more revelations that we haven't yet seen, and it doesn't surprise me. aid workers invulnerable places are working their socks off and are open to temptation, but it is very sad, that you can imagine them giving into it. in your experience of haiti, how serious a problem is the expect ocean “— serious a problem is the expect ocean —— exploitation of women, and did get worse after the earthquake? it's similar to the exploitation of women across the world, it's barbaric and relentless, women are prostituted and abused and so on. actually, in defence of the organisations, if it weren't for the ngos in places like haiti and chad, theissue ngos in places like haiti and chad, the issue of the availability of prostitution would be far worse, massive. so we have to put it in perspective. what you are seeing are very vulnerable women who often have no other means of livelihood, they are no other means of livelihood, they a re poverty no other means of livelihood, they are poverty stricken, sold into slavery, sex slavery often, and they need to be respected, dignified and helped to exit, rather than exploited. so it's a terrible situation. we have heard from the haitian government over the weekend, the ambassador was with us yesterday, and the government in port—au—prince has spoken today that they are particularly angry, because they are particularly angry, because they say oxfam didn't report it to them, and prostitution is illegal and they would presumably have expected to prosecute the men involved. what calculation do you think the charity would have made? should it have acted differently? all charities are faced with having proper checks and balances for all their personnel, the kind of things we would do in the uk if we were appointing anybody to a situation where there are vulnerable adults or children. i would where there are vulnerable adults or children. iwould imagine where there are vulnerable adults or children. i would imagine oxfam where there are vulnerable adults or children. iwould imagine oxfam has those procedures in motion. i haven't seen them, but it would be surprising if they didn't. of course, as well as those safeguarding procedures, they have to have checks and balances and monitor the people working in the area. again, i want to stress that there are many people working for aid agencies all over the world, giving their lives very often, and working their socks off, and we have to see it in perspective to the incredible work they do, even in haiti. haiti wouldn't be where it is at the moment were it not for the timelessness and the amount of money being poured into that country, and the education and vocational schools these ngos have been running. difficult to say how other people must feel angry at the sense that they get tarred with this brush as they get tarred with this brush as they result of these stories yes, devastating. nonetheless, is very practical problem this kind of information, if you don't prosecute people and let them go without disciplinary proceedings being completed, that you have the situation which we are hearing in some of these cases where people we re some of these cases where people were innocently giving references forformer were innocently giving references for former colleagues who they thought were reputable, having no idea they had been let go from oxfam precisely because of behaviour they themselves would have thought was com pletely themselves would have thought was completely beyond the pale. themselves would have thought was completely beyond the palem themselves would have thought was completely beyond the pale. is a knock—on effect, of course, the issues are not dealt with, and punishment isn't given, but that is there, right across the board, whichever organisation you look at, whichever organisation you look at, whichever sector of society, it is the same over and over again, and it worries me that ngos are particularly being targeted, as though they are and obscure case that never happens elsewhere. i think we have to be careful about oui’ think we have to be careful about our practices elsewhere, but again, to see this in perspective, a bigger perspective of what is happening in these countries. elaine storkey, who has lectured on sexual violence in countries including haiti, and is the former president of a charity. a man from walsall has been charged with the murder of his eight—year—old daughter. mylee billingham was found with knife wounds at her father's house last month. william billingham has also been charged with making threats to kill. a five—year—old boy who died after falling into a fast flowing river in cou nty falling into a fast flowing river in county antrim has been named as kayden fleck. pictured on the right with his twin brother, his parents have thanked the emergency services for attempting to save his life. the uncle of an 11—year—old girl has been charged with her murder. delroy forrester was arrested afterjasmine forrester was found seriously injured at a house in wolverhampton in the early hours of friday morning. the leader of south africa's governing anc — cyril ramaphosa — has said that party executives will meet tomorrow to finalise discussions on the future of the country's president. jacob zuma is under mounting pressure to resign amid allegations of corruption. in a speech to start year—long celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of nelson mandela's birth, mr ramaphosa, who's also south africa's deputy president, told the crowd in cape town that the party leadership of the african national congress is talking to mr zuma about his future. we are currently engaged, comrades, in discussions around the transition toa in discussions around the transition to a new administration, and specifically to resolve the issues of the position of the president of the republic of south africa. comrades, the successful resolution of this matter as grave, significant consequences for the country and the african national congress. cyril ramaphosa, talking in cape town. our south africa correspondent is there. thank you for being with us. some very strong hints coming out of cyril ramaphosa's speech today. is there a sense that the anc initiative is running out of patience with president zuma? there certainly is. i think today's speech would be be stronger indication... problems with sound. lets see if we can get our correspondent back. no, we are going to try and talk to her a bit later in the programme. how very frustrating, but i know that she will have a lot to tell us just after 5:15pm. the headlines. a russian passenger aircraft carrying more than 70 people is crashed soon after taking off from moscow on a domestic flight. officials say there are no survivors. as domestic flight. officials say there are no survivors. as oxfam admits its field in moral leadership the government has warned charities that funding will be withdrawn if it fails to cooperate with authorities in cases of sexual expectation. borisjohnson is in cases of sexual expectation. boris johnson is holding in cases of sexual expectation. borisjohnson is holding talks in myanmar about return of rohingya muslim refugees. let's go back to south africa and our correspondent. you were saying that it looks like the anc leadership has finally run out of patience with president zuma. it certainly seems that way. from today's address, we got a sense that the national executive committee is planning to meet tomorrow afternoon, at around 2pm local time. this is the highest decision—making body of the highest decision—making body of the anc, and the same group of people that have the power to remove the president. we understand mr ramaphosa's has been trying to... problems with sound again. the last hours of his term. we see these celebrations, and winnie mandela, the first wife of nelson mandela, the first wife of nelson mandela, at the celebrations. there is the president, jacob zuma, laughing and apparently in good spirits. an important moment, a south africa marks the centenary of nelson mandela's birth, but these leaders went to see president zuma only last week, and he sent them away with a flea in their care. what is there to think that things have changed in less than a week? from reports we are getting, they didn't get a warm welcome at the president's else, but it seems as though the tide has turned full people who the president thought was supporting him, members in the anc, announcing a different tune, and everybody seems to be siding with cyril ramaphosa, wanting to bring an end to this. perhaps that is why tomorrow's meeting is happening. it's a show of force by cyril ramaphosa and his supporters that he is in charge of the anc, and the next person to run south africa, should the anc win the next election. tough talking from cyril ramaphosa. ultimately, is it fair to say that the only people who can get rid of the president of the south african parliament, and he has survived lots of votes of no confidence, not least because anc mps attended to close ranks behind him, most of them? are they holding out a threat to him that, if he tries to go down that route again, he will finally be kicked out of office? u nfortu nately, unfortunately, the line has not stood up, but i think we get a clear impression. we will check about that important element tomorrow, whether or not the president chooses to accept or not the president chooses to a cce pt to or not the president chooses to accept to quit or whether he holds an. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has held talks with myanmar‘s de facto leader, aung san suu kyi. nearly 700,000 rohingya muslim refugees have crossed the border into neighbouring bangladesh, after a crackdown by the burmese military. the un described it as tantamount to ethnic cleansing. the foreign secretary said his hour—long meeting with ms suu kyi centred on the refugee situation. in a tweet the foreign secretary said: a short time ago, i spoke tojustin wintle, author of the book perfect hostage, a biography of aung san suu kyi. he told me borisjohnson's idea that the main e—refugees could sink the return doesn't seem realistic. —— that the rohingya refugees. he's gone in there talking about a political solution, ie creating a situation in which the rohingyas can return, with guarantees of their safety. who is going to guarantee their safety — the burmese government, the burmese army? they are the perpetrators of the violence, and that idea is nuts, quite frankly. and this is history that those people have been dealing with for decades. yes, it goes back, and has built up since the second world war and just before the end of the these people, who were seen as british imports... it was a british territory until, what, 70 years ago? they were trying to create farmlands in western burma, as it was then, in arakan, in what is now rakhine state. but that's a very simple picture of it. there have been muslims for there for hundreds of years, and others have come in since independence because the government didn't monitor that border very well. it was involved with separatist wars in its west, so it's hideously complicated. but gradually this ethnicity has taken shape, taken root. it's an emergent ethnicity but we now talk about the rohingyas almost as a distinct group. there has been this criticism of aung san suu kyi, perhaps in part because she hasn't quite lived up to western expectations of her. but is it fair to say that actually, in her relative lack of interest in the subject apparently over the last few months, and some of the things she has or rather hasn't said about it, in terms of not being critical of how the military have handled the situation, in a sense all she is doing is reflecting the majority view in myanmar? she is queen bee, in a sense. i mean, she still has, although she has lost support in the west, she has let herself down very badly as a nobel peace laureate, but within the country she still has the following. but as a representative of myanmar nationalism, she is entirely kind of in the centre of the opinion of many people. pretty much. i think these things, there are always dissenting voices, and there are people in burma who do criticise. what then could britain do, with its colonial historic relationship, given the fact that presumably it still wants a relationship with myanmar, sees the potential for business opportunities post—brexit? what could borisjohnson or the british government usefully do to apply effective pressure, given all the limitations and the fact that you said many rohingya muslims would be reluctant to go back anyway? not a lot, that's the answer to that. china gives myanmar everything it needs, arms, medical supplies etc. it doesn't really need the west. quite honestly, we are becoming redundant. more than a third of child deaths and serious injuries caused by neglect in england are linked to parents who drink too much, according to a new parliamentary report. it also found that nearly all councils have cut their budgets for alcohol support services. that is even though they are responsible for public health. our health correspondent adina campbell has more. dad of sixjosh connelly knows first—hand about the damage alcohol can have on a family. his father was an alcoholic, and died when he was nine. i remember one particular incident, he smashed all the windows through, by the door, and he was waving a knife through one of the windows, and the police coming up and taking him away. at the same time i was trying to deal with it all, you're also trying to keep it secret, so it is about just suppressing it, and then you naturally get unhealthy coping mechanisms. the impact of parents abusing alcohol in england are outlined in a new parliamentary report. it found more than a third of child deaths and serious injuries through neglect were linked to parents drinking alcohol. while nearly two—thirds of all care applications involved misuse of alcohol or drugs. and children with alcohol dependent parents had feelings of stigma, shame and guilt. the report also used data from a freedom of information investigation, which found almost all councils in england are cutting back their budgets for this kind of care. the government says work is under way on a new children of alcoholics strategy, in addition to new higher duties to target cheap alcohol. josh has turned his life around, but he believes there are many children who will end up suffering in silence. adina campbell, bbc news. theresa may is to deliver two big speeches setting out the future relationship britain wants to have with the european union after brexit. they will cover security, the devolution of powers, workers' rights and trade, as the government sets out its vision for the country's future relationship with the eu. a helicopter has crashed in the grand canyon, killing three people. at least four others were hurt. it was thought to be carrying tourists. the cause of the crash isn't yet known. hundreds of fire deaths may be linked to the use of skin creams containing paraffin. a bbc investigation has found most of the creams — which are used to treat conditions like eczema and psoriasis — do not carry warnings, despite concerns over their safety. kirsten bicat has been telling us about her dad, brian, from bradford, who used skin creams for dry skin and a leg ulcer. he died last september after accidentally setting himself alight while smoking a cigarette. 22nd of september last year, i got the police call round at my house to tell me to get to the hospital where they have a burns unit, and my dad had just been airlifted, there, after an accident, and when i got there i found that he had more than 50% burns, he had third—degree burns and didn't stand a chance. the doctor told me he wouldn't survive, and prepare ourselves for the worst. we think he went onto the balcony for a cigarette, in his dressing gown and pyjamas, and somehow set himself on fire and then couldn't get it out quickly enough, to avoid the third—degree burns, which killed him 14 hours later. chris bell is a watch commander at west yorkshire fire and rescue service. he's been telling us that the build—up of paraffin on clothing can accumulate over a long period of time. vitally important for medical conditions but unfortunately they get into fabrics and closing and dressings and down to —— and it impregnates them, so you are left with a paraffin —based in that fabric and it gets flammable. the medicines regulator, the mhra says it is conducting a review of paraffin—based skin creams and is working closely with manufacturers and the fire service to further reduce the risks associated with products." there will be a full summary of the sport coming up after 5:30pm. you might have seen in the build—up that north and south korea created a combined ice hockey team. they played their opening match this weekend and they lost 8—0, but you think so, listening to this. it was the north korean cheerleaders who stole the show in the arena. people had to change seat in the venue so that they could all sit together. some people think the man on the left is the man training them all, but i'm worried he might be somebody who is a bit out of step with prevailing opinions in north korea. an impressive show, and quite a way to celebrate their presence at the winter olympics. even a mexican wave thrown in for good measure. now the weather with tomas schafernaecker. a beautiful day across most of the uk today, blue skies, cold, crisp weather, and it's going to stay cold and crisp the night, but still some wintry showers around. most of them will affect northern areas. let me show you what's happening right now. the low pressure that crossed us last night, you can see it spinning round, bringing gales in the north. in the wake of it, lots of wintry showers carried in, cold air stream all the way from iceland and greenland. here are the wintry showers, pushed by that wind, and they will continue across scotland and the north—west of england, maybe the lake district, a covering during the lake district, a covering during the so some of us will wake up with a fresh covering of snow, a couple centimetres here and there. in the south, it will be clear, and temperatures will dip below freezing. in rural areas, temperatures will dip below freezing. in ruralareas, down temperatures will dip below freezing. in rural areas, down to about minus five degrees. monday dawns on a frosty note, with lots of sunshine, bar the odd flurry. one weather system is approaching, approaching ireland, and that's not going to reach us on till in the day. for most of monday, lots of sunshine, lighter winds, just the odd flurry here and there, about five or 6 degrees, so not bad. monday evening, that weather front sta rts monday evening, that weather front starts to approach, the winds will freshen up to gale force, it really will be blowing hard around the western coasts and the irish sea, and then that rain will start to fall as snow across ireland and, eventually, many parts of northern ireland, scotland, and the hills of wales, the pennines. a very messy picture for us on tuesday, snow across scotland, settling potentially in the lowlands, across the pennines, the hills of wales. in the pennines, the hills of wales. in the south, mostly rain. on tuesday afternoon, the weather front still hugging eastern counties. in the west, we have got the sunshine, but it's cold, for degrees in belfast. that front moves out of the way and then another one midweek, low pressure a cross then another one midweek, low pressure across the north atlantic, but this one will draw in slightly milderairso, ifany but this one will draw in slightly milder air so, if any snow falls, it will mainly be across the tops of the pennines and scotland. to the south of that, gale force winds and outbreaks of rain. not a pretty picture on wednesday. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: reports from russia say a passenger aircraft with 71 people board has crashed shortly after taking off from domodedovo airport in moscow — officials say all on board have died. as oxfam admit they ‘failed in moral leadership', the government is warning uk charities that funding will be withdrawn if they fail to co—operate with the authorities in cases the of sexual exploitation by their staff. withdrawn if they fail to co—operate with the authorities in cases of sexual exploitation by their staff. the foreign secretary, boris johnson, has met the leader of myanmar, aung san suu kyi, for talks which included the issue of the rojingya muslims. nearly 700,000 rohingya have crossed the border into neighbouring bangladesh after a crackdown by the burmese military. a report commissioned by a group of mps is warning of major problems faced by children in england whose parents drink too much. almost a fifth of children reported feeling embarrassed by seeing their parent drunk. it really is the hot seat up there in salford. it was lizzie greenwood—hughes a short—term ago but now hugh is in the seat. good afternoon. good afternoon. i will try to follow in her footsteps as best i can. six nations news to come but we will start in the premier league werejose mourinho said newcastle's players fought like animals to hold off pressure and hold on to 1—0 win over his players at st james's park. report... a feeling that doesn't come very often. newcastle united have only beaten manchester united at home three times in the last yea rs. at home three times in the last years. they may be short on resources but rafa benitez‘s side are big on effort. as i have things to come from jonjo shelvey, against the team second in the premier league. at the other end... showing he was able to equal anything david do he was capable of and he was not only saving grace for newcastle. florian lejeune kept things all square here. even if it wasn't to be jose mourinho's day a point would have done for the geordie nation battling to stay in the premier league, but when you have the chance, why not take it, and matt ritchie certainly dead. there to see his first goal of the season was an important one. united usually manage as score—mac when not playing well, but not today. a great day between the newcastle posts for their keeper. an afternoon for the fans to see, i was there. more than just three vital points in their battle to avoid the drop. to be fairwe to be fair we had a lot of games where we were doing well and we didn't have luck. today, playing a good game and doing everything we we re good game and doing everything we were lucky in the end, because we we re were lucky in the end, because we were having to defend in the last ten minutes with everything. so we we re ten minutes with everything. so we were a little lucky but i think we deserved it because the way we were playing and the way we were working. we could be your ten hours and we wouldn't score a goal, but i also wa nt wouldn't score a goal, but i also want to see because i think it is fairto want to see because i think it is fair to say that newcastle played and defended with their lives and ke pt and defended with their lives and kept a clean sheet. they scored, and in that moment theyjust thought they would give their lives and we will defend with everything, plus the gods of football were clearly on their side. but i think they must have an amazing feeling, which is the feeling that they gave absolutely everything, to have that on their side. earlier, huddersfield ended a run of five league defeats with a 4—1 victory over bournemouth. stevie mounie on the scoresheet with this goal — the win lifts them out of the premier league relegation zone. i think we needed a few minutes today at the beginning of the game where bournemouth were very strong, very on it, but after this we played fantastic football and i think it was one of our performances of the season so far, offensively and defensively and if you know the players played 120 minutes on tuesday, and that bournemouth or on a fantastic run as well, it makes this result and performance even greater. huddersfield could end the day back in the drops on but that would require a win for southampton over liverpool. unfortunately they trailed 2—0 early in the second half at saint mary ‘s, roberto firmino with opener and mohammad sarwar was provider turned goal—scorer for the second liverpool score—mac. in the scottish cup fifth round, rangers hit six against ayr united but they had to come from behind for victory — rangers ‘keeper wes foderingham gifting the opening goal of the game to alan forrest. alfredo morelos levelled things at half—time before three rangers goal in six minutes, starting with that from jason cummings, quickly followed by the first of josh windass's double. morelos added a second of his own to help rangers to an eventual 6—1 win. goals galore at pittodrie in the new firm derby — aberdeen currently lead dundee united 3—1 at half—time, helped by this from kenny mclean. aston villa are up to second place in the championship — having beaten birmingham city 2—0 in the second city derby. both sides had hit the woodwork before albert adomah cut in from the left wing to give villa the lead on the hour mark. steve bruce's side are in excellent form, they've won all six of their league games in 2018 — conor hourihan wrapped things up for them in style in the last 10 minutes. now to the rugby, where scotland got their first win of this year's six nations with a hard fought 32—26 comeback victory over france at murrayfield. john watson has more. murrayfield roused for the first time in this year's six nations. france the first to find their floor, endearing himself to his team—mates, is not the scottish faithful. it much was expected much was now demanded, sean maitland answering the call. finding his stride, teddy made his own lock here, his kick evading greig laidlaw. our response again was needed and hugh jones laidlaw. our response again was needed and huthones found it, and a hole in the french defence. tries we re a hole in the french defence. tries were the tale of the first half points from penalties, the story of the second. greig laidlaw nerveless, edging scotland in front. if errors cost them in cardiff, laidlaw punished french mistakes at murrayfield to revive their campaign, scotland proving they are happiest at home. john watson, bbc news. felt like a bit of a long one to be honest. i am not a very good watcher, and i'm sure my wife will tell you that as well. delighted to get back on the field today and play in thisjersey in get back on the field today and play in this jersey in front of these people and with the rest of the boys. not just people and with the rest of the boys. notjust playing at scrum-half but fly— half as well? laughter yes, slightly surprised at that one but it turned out well. the game is speeded up. the effort it takes to wina speeded up. the effort it takes to win a test match is huge. when you have to do it when you have been behind most of the game, itjust shows the character in the squad, the togetherness, and also the learning. things weren't working for us learning. things weren't working for us in the first half, accredited france, but we improved those areas, a bit more direct and we got our rewards. ireland have claimed their first win of this year's women's six nations with a 21 points to 8 victory over italy. after a failing to score a point in their first game against france the irish scored three tries — including this, from winger megan willaims — in what turned out to be a comfortable victory at donnybrook. it has been unwell since we had a win. i think we played a more expansive game of rugby —— it has been a while since we had a win. nice to show we can move the ball around really threatened teams and that fact. disappointed we conceded a try at the end, otherwise we know what we have to work on for the next game, a big one against wales. domestically there was one game in the english premiership this afternoon, 40 man wasps thrashing harlequins 44—22 at the stooke. harlequins 44—22 at the stoop. wasps centre kyle eastmond was shown a red card for this high tackle on quins fly half marcus smith in the 17th minute, but that didn't hault is side — who scored six tries on the way to victory including this onejosh basset. the win puts wasps third in the premiership. winger monty ioane scored a try hat—trick as benetton beat the reigning pro14 champions scarlets with a bonus point win in treviso. defeat means the scarlets missed the chance to go top of conference b. at the winter olympics — andrew musgrave recorded the best result by a british cross—country skier, with a seventh place finish in the men's 30 kilometres skiathlon. his journey to the games began sweating it out on the roller ski tracks of the scottish highlands but he nearly claimed a medal in pyeongchang. andy swiss reports. the winter olympics was chilly, but andrew musgrave was about to warm the spirits. not one of britain's traditional strengths, and their previous best was musgrave's 29th in sochi where he said he was skiing like a tranquiliser badger. but this time. did he hang onto silver position? not quite, as norway raced to gold musgrave faded to seventh, but with his best events still to on is some feat. what a result that was for andrew musgrave, couldn't quite get that first medal for britain, but even so, the performance ii eff: some events were postponed due to high - one—mansword... —— high winds, one—mansword... —— one—managers: ' high winds, one—mansword... —— one—managers: america is spinning one—man sword. america is spinning to snowboarding gold. a teenage triumph to light up these games. andy swiss, bbc news, pyeongchang. triumph to light up these games. andy seee’sfbe also as; pyet out1ang. triumph to light up these games. andy sgtsspbe slss sis; pyet out in 1g. third run. fiéliézl—l—lii‘f~ffi—i—i—-~w——"7 7”? you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. and we will be back with another round—up at 6:30pm. studio: thank you very much. i love that quote, like a tranquiliser badger! i love that quote, like a tranquilised badger! energy companies should be allowed to see the personal data of some customers at risk of being in fuel poverty according to the government. the idea is part of a consultation looking at how best to protect people who could be struggling to pay their bills. our business correspondent joe lynam explains. we all hate getting our energy bills, but for some, it can push them into realfinancial difficulties, known as "fuel poverty." now the government wants to find a new way of automatically protecting up to 2 million energy users by letting suppliers know a lot more about them. it's launching a consultation into something called "data matching," which could allow local authorities to share personal information with energy suppliers. but only with their consent, and if users are getting state benefits and are in financial trouble. then they could automatically be placed on a cheaper safeguard tariff for their gas and electricity. 4 million people are already on that lower rate. the energy watchdog, ofgem, says anyone placed on the new safeguard tariff could save £66 per year for each if this plan proceeds. that could be valuable as household energy bills are rising. joe lynam, bbc news. when you think of space exploration, rockets and probes come to mind — but a key role is also being played by people who simply lie down for a few days. a group of volunteers have been spending three days in bed, for tests at nottingham university. it's hoped their experience will will shed light on how weightlessness affects the human body. hannah meredith reports. this is the nearest i'll be to being in space. it's life, but not as we know it. these are two of ten volunteers spending three days in a bit that is spending three days in a bit that is tipped by minus six degrees. the head lower than the body to simulate the effects of zero gravity. pillownauts is the term used for healthy participants that undertake bed rest studies and they immitate being astronauts but lying in bed. on earth, our bodies are continually working against gravity but in space, weightlessness creates problems. they have muscle wasting and develop osteoporosis. they come back to earth prediabetic and that is because they are being so inactive in space, they are not contracting their muscles. the trial is running alongside a project by the european space agency. blood tests and muscle biopsies monitor how the body is coping but how are the pillownauts themselves getting on? you're slightly upside down so it's not like literally hanging upside down but there's a weird distribution of sensation in your body. after a while ijust got used to it and then you didn't really have any discomfort. it just feels like you're lying in bed. i watched an entire netflix series yesterday. that got me through the day. but today, i've more freedom with my arms so i'll be writing my thesis. mars and earth are neighbours but it is estimated it could still take nine months for us to get there. with scientists wanting humans on mars by the 2030s, they are working to make sure our bodies can withstand the journey. all the money's being funnelled into these long—term bed rest projects at the moment because we're rapidly trying to develop the best interventions we can to make sure if we get an astronaut to mars, that they can undertake their duties. after three days in bed, there will be three days rehab to observe the return—to—earth effect. a small step in the world of space exploration but all part of the giant leap toward manned missions to mars. hannah meredith, bbc news, nottingham. three days in bed followed by three days recovery, practically a week! good work if you can get it. time to look at the headlines at 14 minutes to six. the headlines on bbc news: a russian passenger aircraft carrying more than 70 people has crashed, soon after taking off from moscow on a domestic flight. officials say there are no survivors. as oxfam admit they ‘failed in moral leadership', the government is warning uk charities that funding will be withdrawn if they fail to co—operate with the authorities in cases of sexual exploitation by staff. the foreign secretary borisjohnson is holding talks in myanmar about the return of rohingya muslims. now its time for meet the author. two children are inseparable. theyire tom apart by an accident; late in life they meet again. then we're taken into a parallel world, where they meet in middle—age and have a passionate affair. then another, in which they marry young but confront unhappiness. they are ivy and abe, and in elizabeth enfield's novel, each of these stories reveals a part of their character as if all of us aren'tjust who we are here and now, but are always carrying with us the weight of the oldest question of all — what if? welcome. in this book, we are reminded that life and your fate can change in the blink of an eye. do you think of that as being reassuring or alarming? i think it's both but i think it's one of those tantalising thoughts that people have a lot, that sort of "what if i'd done this" and "what if i'd done that," and i think the thought is very alarming, especially if you've based your whole life or you've lived your whole life dependent on one route you've gone down. but i actually think the exploration of it, which i've tried to do in the book, is less alarming because i think that life... there are a lot of themes to the book, notjust the issue of the relationship between the two people, but i think life has a habit of turning out as it's going to turn out, and those paths not taken have a sort of way of rejoining almost, so that you can look back and think, "if i hadn't done, that my life might have been very different," but very often it's not. it's similar. that is the reassuring answer, but what's interesting about ivy and abe of course — the couple we follow and then go backwards with in this book — is that it's not so much what they have done, decisions they've made, it's about things that have happened that are beyond their control, an accident for example when they are children, that throws them apart. a lot of it is accidental, so they're not to blame, or it is not something they have done that's produced good or bad, it's just stuff that happened. i've tried to work in... there's something else in that, that there are two things in the book that abe's life... so the two people have different things going on in their lives and abe's life, as you said, is there's an accident which happens in each of his parallel lives and it always has a different effect. so it's a completely random accident. whenever it happens, the effect of that accident plays out differently. and against that, i wanted something that was more sort of set in the stars, if you like. so ivy has something which is — when i was writing it, i was thinking what can she have that's just almost immutable, that's not going to suffer the same random effects, so she has something in her genes which also plays out, which i don't want to give too much away, but that was my thing of what can you have in your life that is absolutely set that you can't affect, and that seemed to me like it's something you're born with, your cards are marked, your genetic card is marked, and that's going to play out no matter what happens really in the rest of the world, the way that it will. we don't want to give too much away but we can say that we see them operating in parallel worlds. i mean they're children, then they meet when they are much, much older, elderly really. then there are two other episodes when they're in midlife, and we see these things almost acting simultaneously. it is inevitable when this book is reviewed that people will look back to that film sliding doors and say, "oh, that's the kind of thing we are talking about here." people will remember that movie. as you say, ivy and abe meet again and again, and it's like sliding doors but not in that it's not that same time that might have gone differently, it is at different times of their lives. they are children, they're in their 70s, in their 60s, in their 50s, 40s, 30s. we go right through, and within those chapters we have a little bit of background and a bit of information so we know what that particular life to date, how it's been slightly different than it was to another version. you are writing a fascinating story because it's absorbing, you know, what will happen in this circumstance and how does it compare with what's happened before or what's to come. were you conscious at all, when you were writing the story and as the novel developed, that you wanted to say something about the nature of life or our own experiences, or how we look at our emotional lives, or were you just saying i want to tell a good story? both. ithink... you know, one of the premises of this novel was i gathered a lot of stories of, a, people who'd had relationships that they had thought maybe if i'd met someone at another time it might have played out differently. so the circumstances of their life at that particular time had affected a particular relationship. and, b, that almost everyone i suppose, especially as they reach the end of their lives, and the stance at the end of ivy and abe's lives has a sort of slight... not really a yearning but a wistfulness. and i don't mean a deep sad wistfulness but a slight nostalgic "i wonder what might have happened..." a natural curiosity. yes, a natural curiosity. "what if i hadn't done that?" i think generally people think, "i'm glad that i didn't because my life has turned out fine." i'm interested in the names, ivy and abe. both very simple and almost very intimate. you know, my friends, ivy and abe. you can think of them. there's nothing artificial about them. it's the kind of question readers always want to know. how did you come to ivy and abe? well, i started actually, and there are traces of this this still in the book, i started with robert and eleanor because i wanted names that i could change and give a variation of. and then when i finished the book, i decided it was too confusing and ijust wanted names that were easily recognisable, not unusual, not "how do you spell that," but also unusual so that each time you met them it was obvious it was them. it wasn't another tom, dick or harry, or sarah or kate. it was like, "oh, it's ivy." then actually on the page, they look... they look nice together. they look sort of right. i like the way that words look on a page. i love the way they look on the cover of the book. you talk about the cover, it's interesting because you've got the names on scrabble tiles and a heart on another tile. it's a lovely idea because we all know how infuriating and how wonderful that game is according to how the tiles fall. exactly. it's a lovely analogy for the story really. exactly, and you can, you know, if you were playing scrabble, they might land anywhere on the board, they might repeat themselves on the board so it is a great sort of metaphor for what the book is about. i come back to the idea of alternative lives, which were always waiting out there for us and we could have taken. how did the idea come to you? it came... i mean, i'd love to say there was a eureka moment but there wasn't. it came... i sort of am constantly collecting people's stories so from reading the paper, from listening to the radio, listening to television, talking to people, and i sort of ended up with this collection of stories which was the sort of theme running through them all was, you know, is there a right person or a right time. you've written a lot of short stories so your mind, in a way, you know, for some years, has been used to that idea of taking a lovely little episode and constructing a beautifully chiselled story, and this book, it seems to me, has a lot of that skill in it. you've put a lot of these things together and say, hang on a minute, there's a big mosaic here which hangs together. it was lovely to write from that point of view because it did feel much more like initially i'm writing a series of short stories but there is a thread of a lifetime and of similar circumstances which runs through them all. the but i was almost able to let the characters live their life at a particular moment without worrying about the before or after, and then thinking about that afterwards. elisabeth enfield, author of ivy & abe, thanks very much. thank you. it has been a beautiful day across most of the uk today. blue skies, cold crisp weather, and it will stay cold crisp weather, and it will stay cold and crisp through the night. still some wintry showers around, most affecting northern areas of the uk. let me show you what is happening right now. the low pressure that crossed us last night, you can see that spinning, gilles in the north, and in the wake of that lots of wintry showers carried in in that cold air stream of away from iceland —— spinning gales in the north. this will continue across scotla nd north. this will continue across scotland and possibly the north west of england, the lake district, could be covering during the night so some us be covering during the night so some us will wake up in the morning with a fresh covering of snow, a couple of centimetres here and there. in the south it will be clear and pretty much everywhere temperatures willdip pretty much everywhere temperatures will dip below freezing. rural areas will dip below freezing. rural areas will be down to minus five degrees. monday dawns on a frosty zero, lots of sunshine around by the odd flurry. —— a frosty note. this will not reach us until later in the day. much of monday, lots of sunshine, lighter winds, the odd flurry, five or6 lighter winds, the odd flurry, five or 6 degrees, not a bad day, then monday evening that the weather front starts to approach, the winds ahead will freshen up to gale force and it will be really blowing hard around some of the western coasts, the irish sea, then the rain will start to fall as snow across ireland and eventually many parts of northern ireland and scotland and also the hills of wales, the pennines, we'll get some snow as well, so really messy picture on tuesday. snow across scotland settling potentially in the lowlands, across the pennines, the hills of wales, and in the south it looks to be mostly rain. this is tuesday afternoon, you can see the weather front still hugging eastern counties whereas on tuesday afternoon in the west we have the sunshine but it is cold, for degrees in belfast. the front moves at the way then we have another one midweek, big low pressure from the atla ntic midweek, big low pressure from the atlantic but this will draw in slightly milder air, so if any snow does fall it will mostly be across the tops of the pennines and across scotland. to the south of that we are talking about gale force winds and outbreaks of rain. not a pretty picture on wednesday. this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm. the government threatens to cut off state funding to oxfam and other charities if they fail to properly protect vulnerable people. a russian passenger plane has crashed shortly after taking off from moscow, killing all 71 people on board. the leader of south africa's ruling anc party, cyril ramaphosa, says the future of the country's president, jacob zuma, will be finalised tomorrow. good evening and welcome to bbc news. in a few minutes' time, clive myrie will be here with a full round—up of the day's news, when we'll bejoined by viewers on bbc one. but first, the government has threatened to cut off all state

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