this footage — which has been cleared by the bbc verify team — appears to show the burning remains of the plane, in a field in russia's tver region. mr prigozhin gained global notoriety injune after leading a failed mutiny. it was widely seen as a challenge to authority. he is now presumed dead. russian aviation officials say mr prigozhin was on board with his right hand man, dmitry utkin. and it's believed all ten passengers and crew died immediately. us presidentjoe biden said that "there's not much that happens in russia that putin's not behind". but mr putin, who spoke by video link today at a summit in south africa, made no mention of the crash — or mr prigozhin. will vernon has this report. ukraine has denied any involvement. will vernon has this report. the crash site today in russia's tver region. investigators say they've recovered the bodies of all ten people that were on board. the key question now — what caused the crash? officials say they're examining a number of theories, including the possibility of external actions leading mr prigozhin�*s jet to crash—land yesterday. all eyes are now on vladimir putin, who was attending a summit today by video link. unsurprisingly, he made no mention of mr prigozhin�*s reported demise. yevgeny prigozhin is a businessman and former convict. his wagner mercenary group took part in some of the most brutal fighting in ukraine. mr prigozhin became increasingly critical of russia's military leadership, eventually launching a mutiny in june. his forces seized a major russian city and even marched on moscow before abandoning their insurrection. yevgeny prigozhin had a lot of powerful enemies here in moscow, notjust in the military, but also in the kremlin. when his wagner mercenaries marched on the russian capital back injune, that was a direct challenge to president putin. that's why yesterday's news about the plane crash surprised almost nobody here in russia. "this wasn't really a shock, bearing in mind the whole situation", valeria told me. "i almost expected something like this to happen". alexander said, "it's quite right, what happened. you can't go against the russian leader. bad things will happen if you do". russian mp maria butina said those responsible for the plane crash would be held accountable. it's too early to give any precise comments because there is an investigation ongoing. i believe that there will be an investigation and if there are people who are guilty of an accident, they will be punished by our law, and punished strictly. what really happened to mr prigozhin is still not clear. but many russians here believe that the wagner boss may have broken the golden rule in russia — don't cross vladimir putin. will vernon, bbc news, moscow. some breaking news come in in the past couple of minutes from the reuters news agency. they say the united states believes a surface to air missile originating from inside russia likely shut down the plane presumed to be carrying mr prigozhin. that is from writers and according to two us officials who spoke to reuters. they say the writer spoke on anonymity and stressed the information is preliminary and under review. that's come through from the reuters news agency. they say us officials have told them a surface to air missile inside russia was responsible for downing the plane. with more on this our world service reporter, kateryna khinkulova. tell us what more we know. well, this is breaking _ tell us what more we know. well, this is breaking news _ tell us what more we know. well, this is breaking news coming - tell us what more we know. vii this is breaking news coming through right now although rumours to this end have been circulating on social media. rumours that the death of yevgeny prigozhin and to the crash of his plane wasn't an accident and wasn't a terrorist attack as some have suggested and it wasn't some sort of explosive place on the plane on his privatejet but sort of explosive place on the plane on his private jet but that it was indeed or may have been highly likely shot down by a missile by air defence systems from inside russia, ie, something ordered by the highest levels of the russian government and authorities. it is interesting and a key development because it confirms a lot of the allegations and suspicions we've had in the past 2a hours and certainly what we had from our colleague in moscow that you don't break the golden rule of crossing the kremlin. find don't break the golden rule of crossing the kremlin. and there is still a more _ crossing the kremlin. and there is still a more that _ crossing the kremlin. and there is still a more that needs _ crossing the kremlin. and there is still a more that needs verifying, l still a more that needs verifying, is now? ~ , ,., , still a more that needs verifying, isnow? , ~ ., still a more that needs verifying, isnow? , . ., , is now? absolutely. what needs veri in: is now? absolutely. what needs verifying is _ is now? absolutely. what needs verifying is who _ is now? absolutely. what needs verifying is who exactly - is now? absolutely. what needs verifying is who exactly the - is now? absolutely. what needs i verifying is who exactly the people on the plane were. we know that on the list of passengers we had yevgeny prigozhin as well as dmitry utkin, the commander of the wagner private military group and his right—hand man and closest associate and has been for some time. however, some conspiracy theories and allegations, suspicions circulating on social media and on telegram channels close to wagner group suggest that the people on that plane went actually yevgeny prigozhin himself, it may have been his double or he may have been on the passenger list but not end up on the passenger list but not end up on the plane because that wasn't the only private jet he used. at the same time, all indications we have so far, we think it was indeed prigozhin and was indeed utkin on that plane even though we haven't had official confirmation from russian authorities that they did indeed die. we need to be absolutely sure and wait for official confirmation that it was indeed them and try to wait and find out what happened to the plane and that latest story, the breaking news, that's incredibly important and tells us so much more about how things are in russia and the political power and who wields the most political power in russia today. wow thank you. there has, not surprisingly, been a lot of speculation on social media about the crash. olga robinson from the team is in the bbc verify hub now with more. we will listen to what she sent earlier. yevgeny prigozhin, the wagner mercenary chief, is presumed dead after his plane crashed in russia on wednesday. the russian aviation agency says prigozhin and wagner co—founder dmitry utkin were both on this list of passengers on the plane. but that doesn't stop speculation on social media that he might have been on another plane at the time. so what do we know about the crash? well, data from the flight radar tracking service shows that the plane linked to prigozhin took off somewhere north—west of moscow yesterday afternoon and it was flying towards st petersburg. and then it disappeared over the tver region 300km northwest of moscow. and that flight data also shows that at around 15:19 gmt, there was a sudden drop of altitude. this is corroborated by video from eyewitnesses that we verified earlier. and here you can see the plane falling from the sky quite rapidly. and then the plane crashed not far from the village of kuzhenkino. this satellite image that shows the aftermath, you can see here bits of wreckage and tents as well. so what caused the crash? eyewitnesses say they heard the sound of explosion before the plane started falling. this has led to speculation that the plane may have been shot down by russian air defence. these unverified pictures showing small holes in the fuselage of the plane have been used by some on social media as evidence to support this theory. but the pictures are not of great quality, as you can see, and that makes it really difficult to conclude what they actually show. another theory that has been gaining traction suggests that there was an explosion on board the plane. here's a post from a popular russian telegram channel. the explosive device on precautions plane was placed this is the one of the theories being looked yet so far, there is no convincing visual evidence to support this. and that means we'll continue investigating and bring you updates when we can. britain's backlog of asylum seekers has hit a record high — that's according to new home office figures. more than 175,000 people were waiting for a decision on whether they'll be granted refugee status at the end ofjune 2023. that was a rise of 44% — more than 53,000 people — on the figure at the same time last year. 80% are waiting longer than six months for an initial decision. so how has this situation come about? we asked our home editor mark easton. basically, the asylum system doesn't work and it doesn't work nearly fast enough, and the government is only just now starting to get on top of the backlog. it does appear finally we may be turning the corner, but it really is an oil tanker. we have been poring over all the figures that came out today, and perhaps for viewers in the uk, the most important thing is just how much the asylum system is now costing, because you'll remember there is the cost of accommodation in hotels, which is put at £6 million a day. well, the total figure for the asylum system in the last financial year ending in march this year was actually almost £4 billion. that is almost double what it was the previous year, and if you go back a decade, the cost of asylum was just £500 million, so you can see that that represents a huge political pressure on ministers to try and sort this out. today's news that the overall backlog is up will be dispiriting. i think there'll be some encouragement from the fact of the pace of increase seems to be slowing. and you may remember that the prime minister last december promised to get rid of the backlog by the end of this year. later clarified that by that he meant the particular backlog that was in place at the end ofjune last year, and that was about 92,000 cases, 120,000 people. well, they have managed to get that down a bit, i think there are now about 91,000 people in the system. if he was to succeed, he would need a really dramatic increase in the number of places that are resolved. up to now, since he made the pledge, about 2,000 a month, he'd have to get up to near 11,300 a month in the next six months, so a tall order. nervous students in england, wales and northern ireland have been the british secretary has looked into why mr malkinson is was wrongfully convicted. he spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. this was mr chalk speaking earlier. he not commit. this was mr chalk speaking earlier.— not commit. this was mr chalk speaking earlier. he suffered an a- allin: speaking earlier. he suffered an appalling miscarriage _ speaking earlier. he suffered an appalling miscarriage of - speaking earlier. he suffered an appalling miscarriage ofjusticel speaking earlier. he suffered an i appalling miscarriage ofjustice as did the victim of the crime. that's why i have ordered an independent inquiry to look at the actions of the police, the cps and ccr c g get to the bottom of what went wrong and why it took so long for the truth to come out. mr malkinson hughes conducted himself with great dignity in the circumstances deserves answers. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. king charles and queen camilla's state visit to france, will now take place in september, buckingham palace has announced. they were due to tour paris and bordeaux in march but the trip was postponed after violent protests broke out in opposition to president macron�*s retirement age reforms. the administrators of high street chain wilko say jobs will be lost and stores will close after it failed to find a buyerfor the whole business. wilko announced earlier this month that it was going into administration, putting 12,500 jobs at risk. the citizens avice bureau warns thousands of people will be behind the citizens advice bureau warns thousands of people will be behind on their energy bills by the start of winter and that some will require loans to pay them. the charity saw a 17% increase in those contact them for advice compared to last year. the metropolitan police say they have interviewed a man in relation to the reported theft of items from the british museum's collection but no arrests have been made. the british museums said last week a member of staff had been dismissed over the stolen items. you are watching bbc news. they are the iconic species of the antarctic — but for how much longer? emperor penguin colonies living in an area where there was total sea ice loss in 2022 have experienced almost total breeding failure. the study from the british antarctic survey and published in nature communications supports predictions that with current warming trends over 90% of emperor penguin colonies will be all but extinct by the end of the century. our science editor rebecca morelle reports. they live in the most remote part of the planet, adapted to survive the harshest conditions. but for emperor penguins, the sea ice that they depend on is vanishing. and this year has seen a record melt, leading to a catastrophic loss of chicks. this is really a sign of things to come. we expect that emperor penguins are going to really suffer with climate change. and this is really poignant because most of these penguins will never have seen a human being in their life. but it's human—induced climate change which is driving their futures and a future which is looking really bleak at the moment. to breed successfully, emperor penguins need nine months of solid sea ice. the chicks are cared for by their parents as they develop and grow. they need to stay on the ice until they replace their fluffy down for waterproof feathers. the problem is the ice is melting much earlier in the season, and if the chicks enter the water before they're ready, they don't survive. the red line on this map shows where the sea ice used to reach at the end of antarctica's summer. 2023 has seen a record low. only the white and light blue areas are ice. this area lost all of its sea ice. five emperor penguin colonies are located there, and four lost all of their chicks. that's an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 birds. out of 66 colonies across the continent, 19 failed either partially or totally to breed. and scientists say if this trend continues, over 90% will be doomed to extinction by the end of this century. this graph shows the area of antarctica's sea ice as it melts and grows between summer and winter. each line represents a year, and 2023, in red, has been far lower than any other. we had a record annual minimum low in february of this year, and also what's happening right now, so in antarctic winter, as the ice freezes up is that the ice is not freezing as fast as it normally would because it's so far outside what we've observed previously. we expected change, but we didn't i don't think expect change this rapidly and this much. antarctica's entering into uncharted territory, and for emperor penguins, it's leading to losses on an unprecedented scale. scientists say if we reduce our carbon emissions, we have a chance to save this iconic, unique and beautiful species. they say their future is in our hands. rebecca morelle, bbc news. live now to norman radcliffe, a seabird analyst from the british antarctic survey. thank you forjoining us. the figures are really stark. 90%. in lehmans terms, how do you reach that prediction? how has that figure arrived? , , . . prediction? how has that figure arrived? ,, . ., ., , arrived? the specific observations we have made _ arrived? the specific observations we have made as _ arrived? the specific observations we have made as part _ arrived? the specific observations we have made as part of- arrived? the specific observations we have made as part of the - arrived? the specific observations| we have made as part of the study arrived? the specific observations i we have made as part of the study is that four out of five colonies have failed. that's the first time we've seen a loss on this scale of individual colonies failing. in terms of looking forward, it's hard to predict what will happen to sea ice and how penguins may respond but this study provides the first empirical evidence that widespread failures are happening. so we could be looking at an example of what the future antarctica will look like. and explain why sea ice levels are so crucial for penguin colonies. emperor penguins are almost completely dependent on sea ice is a platform to nest on and that has to last until at least december, early december. at that stage, the chicks require waterproof feathers and can be self—sufficient. any earlier than that, they will fall into the water and drown or drift away on ice melts and drown or drift away on ice melts and staff. this is extensive sea ice losses and a problem for us emperor penguins. i5 losses and a problem for us emperor enuuins. , ., , losses and a problem for us emperor enuuins. , . , , , penguins. is there anything feasibly that can be done _ penguins. is there anything feasibly that can be done to _ penguins. is there anything feasibly that can be done to reverse - penguins. is there anything feasibly that can be done to reverse this? i that can be done to reverse this? how practical our steps to change this? , ., , , , this? emperor penguins nest in remote locations _ this? emperor penguins nest in remote locations so _ this? emperor penguins nest in remote locations so have - this? emperor penguins nest in remote locations so have neverj remote locations so have never really been exposed to hunting pressures or hunting or tourist interference. so the only thing impacting on this is climate change. addressing the climate crisis is the main action to benefit the species. and you're obviously very experienced at these sort of surveys and analysis. how does this compare with what you have come across before? to the inexperienced observer, seems really dramatic a warning. to put this in context in the same region, in the past four years of the five colonies, we only saw one type of failure like this. this year, we saw four failures out of five. so as far as we know from satellite records, this is fairly unprecedented. it is very concerning and if it continues particularly well, it will have big implications for the systems and region. thank you for your analysis and explaining how the survey came about. donald trump is due to report to a jail in georgia and then next few hours. reports say he is likely to be fingerprinted, and a mug shot will be published to be widely circulated. kelly hyman is a legal analyst and democratic political commentator. shejoins us from miami. if you could just sum up why this is different. i5 if you could 'ust sum up why this is different. , ,., ., if you could 'ust sum up why this is different. , ., , , ., different. is important firstly to look at the _ different. is important firstly to look at the four _ different. is important firstly to look at the four different - different. is important firstly to i look at the four different criminal cases. we have to understand that donald trump faces 91 charges across four separate criminal cases. there are two cases in federal court and two in state court. the federal one is known as mar—a—lago one where it deals with withholding classified documents. allegedly. he denies any wrongdoing in that case. there is also the one in washington, dc as well about the january sixth attack on the capital. with regards to new york, that's a state case and deals of the hush money. to the georgia case, this is a state case and what is different from this case in georgia than the other cases is that there are co—conspirators that have been charged as well. his attorneys alleged there was some sort of conspiracy and what is usually known as high profile mob type cases and that's what makes the georgia case is so different to the other cases. and in addition, it might be that this is the first time the public sees him in court, unlike the previous arrests. explain why that is and how the optics of that might affect how he is viewed. fitter is and how the optics of that might affect how he is viewed.— affect how he is viewed. after he turns himself _ affect how he is viewed. after he turns himself in _ affect how he is viewed. after he turns himself in and _ affect how he is viewed. after he turns himself in and gets - turns himself in and gets fingerprinted and potentially the mugshot, and it appears there will be a mugshot because the co—conspirators have had their photos taken, after that, there's a courts and the state will read what the charges are and he pleads. in georgia, usually these are video tapes, cameras are allowed to come in but it will be up to the judge of the case to make a determination on whether cameras come in or not so potentially, if the cameras come in, we will see the arraignment first hand live. �* , , ., , hand live. and briefly, donald trump can choose whether— hand live. and briefly, donald trump can choose whether or _ hand live. and briefly, donald trump can choose whether or not _ hand live. and briefly, donald trump can choose whether or not to - hand live. and briefly, donald trump can choose whether or not to testify | can choose whether or not to testify before a jury. how might either option affect his defence? it’s option affect his defence? it's his... option affect his defence? it's his- -- he _ option affect his defence? it's his- -- he is — option affect his defence? it�*s his... he is entitled to testify or not testify. that is his decision. in the court of law in the us, you are innocent until proven guilty so the state or government has the burden to prove every element of the crime so it will be interesting to see if he testifies in this case or not. we will have to see how that plays out. not. we will have to see how that -la s out. . ~ not. we will have to see how that -la sout. . ~' ,, ~ not. we will have to see how that -la sout. ., ~ ., plays out. thank you. we will leave it there but — plays out. thank you. we will leave it there but thank _ plays out. thank you. we will leave it there but thank you _ plays out. thank you. we will leave it there but thank you for _ plays out. thank you. we will leave it there but thank you for your - it there but thank you for your analysis. thank you. of course, we will bring you all developments from atlanta, georgia as they happen so stay with us here on bbc news with headlines coming up soon. stay with us. it's the final week of summer 2023 and it seems the season is determined to go out on unsettled night. that doesn't mean it will always be raining. low pressure is in charge at the moment. in the coming days, it will producing downpours which could be heavy and thundery but not always. there will be sunshine to enjoy as well. through this evening, we have an area of low pressure still in charge towards the north—west and will bring rain to western areas of scotland and sponsoring for northern ireland. elsewhere, it's a largely dry picture and for many of us tonight, clearskies dry picture and for many of us tonight, clear skies and caller. last night, temperatures stayed in the low teens but some spots tonight will dip into single digits. a caller start to tomorrow but because of the clear skies, a largely dry start first thing and a good amount of sunshine to enjoy during the first part of the day. northerly winds will development keeping it cool and pressure towards the north. and outbreaks of rain here. some scattered showers elsewhere throughout the day and the potential of some of those being heavy with thunder and lightning. of some of those being heavy with thunderand lightning. in of some of those being heavy with thunder and lightning. in the south—east, temperatures start to fall back to normal for a time of year. 21 degrees in london, down from today by 5 degrees. and on saturday, high pressure stays with us. a few spots of rain as the day gets going, scattered showers pepping up gets going, scattered showers popping up and when they do, they could well be very heavy, some thunder and lightning likely to be in the mix but there will be sunshine in between those showers so won't always be raining throughout the day on saturday. into sunday, another weather system in the atlantic and that will move in slowly and bring in a lot of cloud and a good bit of rain coming into northern ireland. as that system nudges eastwards, it will fizzle out but bring lots of cloud to other areas of the uk. bank holiday monday, it looks like a fairly decent day for many. largely dry, some sunshine. into sunday, is a bit unsettled and into monday, a lot of dry weather and sunshine for quite a few of us. this is bbc news, the headlines... yevgeny prigozhin, who led a failed milton ian rush, is presumed dead after a plane crash near moscow. there are protest in south korea afterjapan has begun releasing treated radioactive water from the focal human nuclear power plant into the pacific ocean. happiness was an bad gcse exam pass rates fall for a second year running in england, wales and northern ireland. now time for a look at the business news. we start with news that state hand—outs of fossil fuels so to a record high in the wake of soaring energy prices and economic recovery from the pandemic, so says a new report from the international monetary fund. governments around the world spent a record track