the irish prime minister leo varadkar announces he's going to step down. politicians are human beings and we have our limitations. we give it everything until we can't any more, and then we have to move on. and baseball sensation shohei ohtani has made his regular season debut with the la dodgers in seoul, sending his fans into a frenzy. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. let's start this hour in sudan, where the conflict is described as the war the world forgot. civilians caught up

in the country's civil war share graphic accounts to the bbc of rape, ethnic violence and street executions at the hands of the paramilitary group rsf. we will shortly show you first hand testimonies— you first hand testimonies — but before that, top united nations officials met today, saying the war has plunged the country into "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history". edem wosornu, director of operations and advocacy at the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, told the un security council of the severity of the situation in sudan. sudan is on course to become the world possibly worse hunger crisis. ~ ., ., the world possibly worse hunger crisis. a, ., ., ., crisis. more than one third of the country's _ crisis. more than one third of the country's population - crisis. more than one third of the country's population is - the country's population is facing food insecurity. by may, some people could face what we term ipc phase five level acute food insecurity. we call this stage the catastrophe.

since april last year, sudan has been torn apart by fighting between these two men one is the head of the country's military, general together, they took power in 2019 — but the power sharing agreement that resulted has now broken down and there is fierce fighting, and within sudan lies another humanitarian crisis, in the western region of darfur, where the rsf is accused of targeting and killing non—arabs, with reports of hundreds of deaths. the rsf have repeatedly denied any involvement in the violence in the region and have called for an independent international investigation. the united nations says that with 8.1 million people forcibly displaced, and tens of thousands killed, this could trigger the world's largest hunger crisis. and the bbc has uncovered harrowing evidence of the violence experienced by women in

the ongoing conflict in sudan. the bbc�*s merchuma reports on the chad sudan border, in adre, and a warning that some viewers may find this report distressing. yesterday, 19—year—old amina found out that she is pregnant. within minutes, she will begin an abortion, desperately hoping that her family never knows. translation: it happened in sudan. i'm not married, and i was a virgin, except for the incident that happened. this young woman, whose name we have changed, says she was trying to flee fighting in her hometown when she was captured, held for a day, and repeatedly raped. translation: i didn't tell anyone _ and i don't think anyone knows. i couldn't even tell the doctor, but i told a female psychologist. she approached me and i told her. the un says the sexual violence experienced by women like amina is a defining characteristic of the conflict in sudan. it has been used

as a weapon of war. amina is one of more than 600,000 people who have fled sudan for camps like this one in neighbouring chad. she was helped by the international charity medecins sans frontieres. but other voluntary groups have also sprung up to support the large number of women who have been affected by either physical violence or sexual attacks. it's a side of the conflict that's not often seen, and we have been given privileged access to join this group and film a meeting run by zahra. maryamu is a former university student who has been speaking to zahra. she says she was attacked by armed men in her home in sudan. when she called for help, they fired a bullet inches away from her mother as she tried to stop what was happening. translation: zahra spends time with me at home. - she talks to me. she says what happened to you happen to a lot of people, and you must be

strong and positive. women have been victims of violence across sudan during the civil war. the fighting has also seen a resurgence of a bloody ethnic conflict. 20 years ago, the un says 300,000 members of the black african community were killed in the darfur region amidst accusations of genocide. much of the violence against women in sudan during the current conflict has been blamed on the rapid support forces and its allies. in a chilling online video, one prominent member sets out why he feels fighters have the right to assault women. translation: as for raping | or not raping, if we rape your daughter or your girl, it's an eye for an eye. this is our country, and this is our right, and we took it. the rapid support forces told us the majority of accusations against it are untrue, that its troops are held accountable when incidents occur. but zahra says black african women are being targeted and are for. translation: this is -

because rape leaves an impact on society and the family. they use it as a weapon of revenge. with this conflict, cases of sexual violence are widespread. but this is a taboo topic here, and comes with a lot of shame and stigma. this means that those who speak out or seek medical attention ordinary women are paying the price for the brutality which has been unleashed by the conflict in sudan. with no end in sight, many more people could end up suffering in silence. merchuma, bbc news, on the chad—sudan border. earlier i spoke to david shinn — former deputy head of mission in sudan to the us — and i started by asking him whether the violence we've seen in sudan is escalating or whether it's that we're just hearing about it now...

i think it is escalating and to some extent, we're hearing more about it. the united nations organisations and some of the non—governmental organisations, organisations have been getting information out. there are some of the few people who are in and reporting back to to folks who are then reporting on the international media. but there are so few reporters in sudan and they stay for a relatively short period of time that there just isn't much media coverage, unlike a situation like gaza where it's intense. well, david, the un security council believe that more than 18 million sudanese are facing acute food insecurity. how much is the fighting on the ground impacting getting aid to the areas most in need? well, it's having a huge impact. in fact, it accounts

for almost all of this inability, and neither the sudan armed forces nor the rapid support forces are being very helpful in allowing aid agencies to get in. and, of course, it's dangerous to go in. and with different countries supporting different sides in this conflict, how hard is it going to be to find a resolution and help the sudanese people who desperately need more support? well, it's going to be it's it's been very difficult for some time now. there has been not much collaboration among outside organisations or countries to try to bring this to an end. different countries have different interests in sudan. you have, for example, the united arab emirates that has been supportive of the rapid support forces. you have egypt that has been supportive of the sudan armed forces. russia has been with its wagner group, has provided minor support to the rapid support forces. so everyone is not on the same page. and that makes it very, very difficult to bring international leverage to bear on this conflict. and how are events in sudan impacting its neighbours?

are people fleeing to other countries? yes, this is a big issue. there are about 3 million refugees, there are about 2 million refugees, sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries, most of them in chad, egypt and south sudan. now, that's almost the entire population of gaza, and those are just the refugees. in addition, there are six and a half million internally displaced persons in sudan. that's almost three times the population of gaza. so, you have a situation where gaza, ukraine are getting enormous amounts of publicity, and rightfully so. but sudan is not. the us secretary of state is visiting the middle east to bolster international efforts to secure a truce in gaza as the threat of famine looms. anthony blinken has been meeting the saudi leadership injeddah on his first stop. saudi arabia has announced it will donate $40 million dollars to the un agency for palestinian refugees.

mr blinken will also travel to egypt, where he will meet arab foreign ministers and he will also go to israel. mr blinken's visit comes after he warned that gaza's population is starving, saying that its 2 million people are experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity". on wednesday, the uk's largest delivery of aid to gaza crossed the border and it's being distributed by the world food programme. a full uk field hospital has also been set up in the territory. meanwhile, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says that preparations are under way for the invasion of rafah in the southern gaza strip our correspondent, mark lowen, gave an update from jerusalem once agaihn, israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has declared his intention and determination to send the israeli army into rafah in southern gaza, where some one and a half million people are thought to be sheltering. it is a plan that has drawn international condemnation and warnings of atrocities that could take place there. he has said that he has approved the operational plan

for rafah and that he will soon approve the evacuation of civilians, but added that it would take time for the incursion to begin. now, it doesn't spell much hope really for the continuing cease fire talks that are ongoing in the qatari capital, doha. and a senior hamas official has said that israel's response to the latest proposals there seemed negative and constituted a step backwards. now, all of this is likely to take centre stage of talks with the us secretary of state, antony blinken, when he comes to israel on friday at the end of a middle east tour that has taken him to saudi arabia and on thursday to egypt, that was a the israeli side. the israel leg of the trip was previously unscheduled and comes amidst this increasingly acrimonious relationship between the us biden administration and the netanyahu government here in israel.

and anthony blinken's aim, i think, will be to try to restrain an israeli leader who seems increasingly intent on pushing on with this fight, both in the war and for his political survival. mark lowe in there. the indonesian general elections commission has officially declared defense minister prabowo subianto as the winner of the presidential election. the final tally showed that prabowo and his running mate, gibran rakabuming raka, who is presidentjoko widodo's eldest son, secured nearly 60 percent of the total votes. it largely confirms the unofficial results which were released by independent pollsters last month. prabowo is expected to take over as president of indonesia in october. the irish prime minister leo varadkar has announced he is stepping down as taoiseach and leader of of fine gael for reasons which are both �*personal and political.�* speaking in dublin, he said that being taoiseach had been the most fulfilling time of his life, with ireland becoming a more equal and modern place.

here's our ireland correspondent sara girvin. st patrick's day in washington, there was no sign of the shock resignation to come. my reasons for stepping down are both personal and political. i believe this government can be re—elected. but after careful consideration and some soul—searching, i believe that a new taoiseach and a new leader will be better placed than me to achieve that. leo varadkar�*s appointment as taoiseach for the first time in 2017 was history—making. the first from an ethnic background at 38, he was the youngest ever irish prime minister, his appointment personified a changing and more modern ireland. he championed referendums legalising same—sex marriage and abortion. but it was the brexit negotiations that saw him make his mark on the world stage, with other leaders describing him as a sharp shooter and straight talker. today, the prime minister, rishi sunak, thanked leo varadkar for his dedicated service.

but political opponents who want their party to take the top job next called for an early election — today's resignation doesn't immediately trigger one. it's not a time for a rearranging of the deckchairs, and ultimately, it's for the people to decide who will be the taoiseach. so i think it's now over to the people. there should be an election. the republic of ireland is grappling with a cost of living crisis, issues around immigration and massive problems around housing. that's led to a lot of frustration with the current government, particularly among young people. ifeel like everyone in ireland is struggling at the moment, like, with the housing crisis, cost of living. there's not one person we'd speak to who actually like the government that's in now. you think, like, you're going to be living with your parents until 40 years of age, like, you know what i mean? you don't want to be living there. you want to go out and be independent. the republic of ireland has witnessed much change during leo varadkar�*s political career.

even if there's no early general election, one is looming within a year, and with a new taoiseach set to be named within weeks, there will be much more change to come. sara girvin, bbc news in dublin. breaking news for you from japan. nhk reported that an earthquake with the permitted rate of magnitude of 5.3 is struck in the eastern part of japan. they are has a density of five from the 1—7 scale. we will have an update as the news becomes available to us. your are next—door in the meantime. the uk and australia have signed a new defence agreement which will make it easier for their defence forces to operate together in each other�*s countries. —— move on to our next story in the meantime. the warning, there's a flash photography. work together in areas such as

undersea warfare and develop a joint climate action plan. in a news conference shortly after signing the agreement, australia's deputy prime minister richard marles highlighted its significance. the agreement we have signed todayis the agreement we have signed today is very practical, but is also very tiring. it does reflect the relationship which has become much more strategic, which has been much bigger national security dimension. here's uk defence minister grant schapps speaking in canberra. we strongly and powerfully believe in our cooperation was seen _ believe in our cooperation was seen our— believe in our cooperation was seen our nations and we want to be dependent, and you mentioned defence. _ be dependent, and you mentioned defence, we have the literal group — defence, we have the literal group that is now proactive in this region, permanently. we have — this region, permanently. we have the _ this region, permanently. we have the carrier strike group coming _ have the carrier strike group coming here next year and we're very— coming here next year and we're very much— coming here next year and we're very much looking forward to working _

very much looking forward to working with you in your operations. and we have a very, very— operations. and we have a very, very clear— operations. and we have a very, very clear view of our role in helping _ very clear view of our role in helping to— very clear view of our role in helping to maintain and enhance the international order, and which — the international order, and which will depend. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

pvc russia editor but a prayer invites the kremlin. the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg got a rare invite to the kremlin.

applause so, vladimir putin invited his celebrity supporters to one of the swankiest parts of the kremlin. he wasn't easy to see, but the messaging was clear. in the hall where russian tsars had been crowned... ..russia's president thanked the vips for backing his re—election. we were there, too. a rare invitation inside the kremlin. a sign, perhaps, of president putin's growing confidence. even though the west has dismissed the election as a sham. this is, in effect, vladimir putin's victory lap. having won the race, a race so designed that he couldn't lose it, the kremlin leader wanted to thank his most famous fans for cheering him on, and was clearly happy to receive their congratulations. and his guests loyally defended a widely criticised election. do you believe the election was free and fair? laughter we created the most open and democratic elections

in the bloody world! was there a serious challenger in the election, a serious opponent? is there a need for a serious opponent? why? why is there no need for a serious opponent? why do you always think the way you live is better than the way we live? even the way you ask questions. "why don't you guys do the way we do it?" because we are not you, and we don't like you much, really. in the kremlin, vladimir putin referred to events in russia's belgorod region. it's come under sustained shelling from across the border in ukraine. and civilian casualties have been rising. this never happened before russia invaded ukraine. translation: we can, of course,

respond in the same way, - striking civilian _ infrastructure and all similar sites that are the enemy is targeting _ we have our own views| on that, our own plans, and we will follow them. and, post—election, vladimir putin will claim he has a popular mandate for whatever plans he makes, and whatever decisions he takes. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the vietnamese president vo van thuong has resigned, after only one year in office. after a meeting of the ruling communist party the government issued a statement saying he had broken party rules and had negatively affected public opinion, and the reputation of the party. he is believed to have resigned over his links to a corruption scandal in his home province. mr thuong was appointed last year to replace another president forced to step down over corruption, which the party leadership has prioritised as a problem it needs to address. new zealand's economy has entered recession, according to government data. new zealand's economy shrank slightly in the fourth quarter as a number of industries including

wholesale trade, retail and accommodation and manufacturing all weakened. pvc russia editor but a prayer invites the kremlin. baseball sensation shohei ohtani has made his regular season debut with the la dodgers in seoul. the japanese sports hero sent his fans into a frenzy on wendesday with game tickets and ohtani merchandise selling out since he landed in south korea last week. widely regarded as one of the best to have ever played the game, ohtani was the mlb's most coveted target during off—season. for more on this, i spoke to sports pundit mike carlson. he's a japanese player

who's been a star in twice in the last three years, the most valuable player of his league. but what makes him special is that he's an exceptionally good hitter who also is a very good pitcher. and nobody has really even babe ruth back in the 1920s, when they realised what a great hitter he was, they stopped him pitching and he played every day as a hitter. so, nobody has done what ohtani is doing before. he plays every day. and although he hurt his elbow late in last season, so he isn't going to pitch this year, he actually is still hitting. and he was in the designated hitter position for the dodgers in their opening game against the san diego padres. and just quickly, he's elite in both of those fields, in both pitching and hitting. pitching and hitting? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and he's very good as a pitcher. you know, maybe probably one of the top ten starters in the american league, maybe a little bit off that. they were paying for two players, notjust one. yeah.

it's quite a show of faith in him, that historic deal — 700 million to play for the dodgers. and give us a sense then how big he is in the context of asia. and what does it mean for the la dodgers and the mlb to have such a high—profile athlete from japan? well, it means a lot because he's not the first japanese star in major league baseball. and when they opened the season in 2019 in tokyo, it was because ichiro suzuki, a japanese star who's now in the hall of fame, was playing his last games in those games. but he's absolutely huge. camera crews follow him around from japan. his games are all shown injapan. and it's a big thing because baseball fans, for baseball fans all over the world, he's insanely popular. but when this game was played yesterday, chon ho pak, yesterday, chon ho park, who was the first korean player in major league baseball and played for both the dodgers and the padres, threw out the ceremonial first pitch first pitch and the padres

starting shortstop was who's in the last year of a $30 million contract himself. so korea produces very good players on their own. and the asian impact between japan, korea and taiwan and to a lesser extent, australia. but they're in the baseball's oceania division, as it were, has been monstrous. you've been washing newsday. i'll see you soon. hello there. it's been very mild to start this week, very spring—like indeed. and in fact, on wednesday, we saw a temperature of 19 celsius in charnwood in surrey, making this the warm spot of the day, but also the highest temperature in england so far this year. things are set to change, though, for the end of the week into the weekend — colder air moving in behind this low pressure system will extend across all areas. it'll feel very different to how the week's begun. but still some mild air for england and wales on thursday, much windier with outbreaks of rain. scotland and northern ireland, thanks that area of low pressure, gusts up to 60 mph for the northern and western isles. on thursday, much windier with outbreaks of rain.

scotland and northern ireland, thanks that area of low pressure, gusts up to 60 mph for the northern and western isles. a bit of sunshine here and there. for england and wales, rather cloudy, some sunshine at times. we're still in the mild air mass here. so, given some sunshine, could see temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees again, but it will be cooler across the north with a stronger winds. as you move through thursday night, the cooler air and this band of rain, a cold front will sing southwards across england and wales. behind it's much colder, there'll be a rash of showers, these wintry on the hills across scotland. you can see the temperatures there to start friday, but milder for england and wales. southwards across england and wales. behind it's much colder, there'll be a rash of showers, these wintry on the hills across scotland. you can see the temperatures there to start friday, but milder for england and wales. but it won't last as that cold front sinks southwards across the midlands, southern england through friday. eventually, it'll clear through. skies will brighten up, but we'll all be into the cooler air by the end of friday and there'll be a rash of blustery showers again for scotland, northern ireland, maybe

northwest england. they will be wintry on the hills across scotland. last, the mild weather across the south east, 12 or 13 degrees into the weekend. it'll be noticeably colder and windier for all areas, though a mixture of sunshine and showers and these showers will have a wintry element to them, certainly on the hills. you can see the colder air moving in behind that cold front. by the time we move out of friday night into saturday, we're all into that colder air. lots of isobars and the charts, so it's going to be blustery, windy, particularly in exposure with strong west—northwesterly winds. lots of showers rattling through, as you can see. the white colours indicating hail, maybe some sleet, snow over the hills, some sunshine in between. it's not going to be raining all the time. these are the temperatures, though, 7—10 degrees. factor in the wind, it could feel even colder than that, so a bit of a shock to the system after such a mild start to the week. sunday marginally better, i think, although a blustery day, not quite as windy and we should see more sunshine around. there'll still be few showers dotted around northern and eastern areas, but more sunshine around,

slightly lighter winds. it may feel a little bit better across the board. take care.

no change to interest rates in the us as inflation persists. we'll look at what lies ahead for the world's largest economy. and how one asian airline is dealing with challenges as it tries to meet sky—rocketing demand. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the us, where the federal reserve has left interest rates unchanged

at the end of its two—day policy meeting, in a widely expected decision. the central bank has been trying to cool inflation in the world's largest economy — that is still above it's 2% target. the bbc�*s erin delmore has more from new york. to hear chairman jerome to hear chairmanjerome powell tell at the federal reserve is looking for its goldilocks path forward making sure the bank doesn't reduce interest rate too much too soon or too little too much too soon or too little too late. officials decided wednesday to keep the benchmark interest rate at between five and a quarter and five and a half percent it remains unchanged sincejuly. and while the suspense lies around when the suspense lies around when the fed will cut interest rates powell didn't give any hints. he did say the following sustainably 2% goal before going ahead with any rate cuts. he made the case for a cautious path forward. he made the case for a cautious path forward-— path forward. inflation has eased substantially - path forward. inflation has eased substantially while i path forward. inflation has i eased substantially while the labour market has remained strong. that is very good news.

but inflation is still too high, all