after the capture of wad madani, it becomes even more difficult.aving the upper hand if i may say in this conflict at the moment, it's very hard to make them stop. however, i think the only opportunities that are still available is exerting pressure on support forces through their supporters in the region who have been, continued to provide them armed with soldiers and funds to continue this war for eight months now, and fending that off and stopping the support that's coming in, there is no way out of this. yeah, there have been some complaints or suspected comments about the united arab emirates being involved at least on the side of the rapid support forces. hameed, researcher and policy analyst specialising in sudan's constitution building, thank you so much. the pentagon is reporting two more attacks on commercial shipping routes in the red sea by houthi militants in yemen. it says an american naval ship shot down four drones that were targeting it. us central command also says attack drones also targeted two tankers, hitting one. no injuries

after the capture of wad madani, it becomes even more difficult.r the forces now kind of having the upper hand if i may say in this conflict at the moment, it's very hard to make them stop. however, i think the only opportunities that are still available is exerting pressure on support forces through their supporters in the region who have been, continued to provide them armed with soldiers and funds to continue this war for eight months now, and fending that off and stopping the support that's coming in, there is no way out of this. yeah, there have been some complaints or suspected comments about the united arab emirates being involved at least on the side of the rapid support forces. hameed, researcher and policy analyst specialising in sudan's constitution building, thank you so much. in london, a man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage after a piece of street art by banksy painted onto a road sign was taken shortly after being unveiled on friday. the artwork comprised images of three military drones on a traffic stop si

after the capture of wad madani, it becomes even more difficult. of having the upper hand if i may say in this conflict at the moment, it's very hard to make them stop. however, i think the only opportunities that are still available is the support forces through their supporters in the region who have been, continued to provide them armed with soldiers and funds to continue this war for eight months now, and pending that and something the support that's coming in, there is no way out of this. yeah, there have been some complaints or suspected comments about the united arab emirates being involved at least on the side of the rapid support forces. researcher and policy analyst specialising in suit on's constitution building, thank you so much. in russia, a former tvjournalist has been blocked from challenging president vladimir putin in the upcoming presidential election. yekaterina duntsova was preparing to campaign on ending russia's war in ukraine. she said she wanted to make russia peaceful, friendly, and cooperative with the world. banning dunt

we're talking about half a million forced to be displaced from khartoum and into wad madani.o scale up the response. forthe humanitarian... to scale up the response. for the second time, displacing into different areas, some are heading into neighbouring states, some are going to others and down south to the brunei area. some have even crossed the border. it's a situation where people are left with almost nothing. nothing. and we were forced also to suspend the operation because we can't operate in the conflict, active conflict diamonds for the safety of our staff. so the situation is catastrophic. share for the safety of our staff. so the situation is catastrophic. are what ou most situation is catastrophic. are what you most concerned _ situation is catastrophic. are what you most concerned about? - situation is catastrophic. are what you most concerned about? is - situation is catastrophic. are what | you most concerned about? is that the attacks on civilian infrastructure? is it the collapse of the health care system? is that the behaviour of both the sudanese army and re

the head of the army, has vowed to hold his commanders accountable, after the rsf captured wad madanimonday. war between the two sides erupted in april, following disagreement over an internationally backed political transition plan. the conflict has displaced more than seven million people, it has left the capital khartoum in ruins, and has unleashed a devastating humanitarian crisis. alain w'uattara is the deputy head of the sudan office at the united nations office for the co—ordination of humanitarian affairs. he told me about the suffering of civilians there — and the urgent need for aid. what comes to mind now is when is all this going to stop? when is the warring party going to abide by the commitment to protect civilians by international military law? the situation now in the state is worrisome. the current situation, as we are hearing coming through, is that looting happening despite the fact we have been able to communicate some of our assets of humanitarian locations, civilians have been forced to flee for the second time in wad madani, which was hosting half a million peop

wad madani's the second largest city. it is painting a grim picture. already fled the city. as rapid forces pour into the city. as rapid forces pour into the city. we have heard stories of killings and violence and looting of properties. there was a statement from the association medical professionals that's it hundreds of people have been killed in the city. so now, the news agencies are suspending debt aid operations in this area and it is going to come as a very tragic news because many people are in desperate need and dependent of the support they have been receiving. find dependent of the support they have been receiving.— dependent of the support they have been receiving. and a huge amount of children who — been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have _ been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been _ been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been displaced - been receiving. and a huge amount of children who have been displaced as l children who have been displaced as well and desperate —— and in desperate need

now, because the conflict has spilled over into wad madani, people who have already left their homes,hey are moving again. the families who had homes and were hosting refugees from khartoum are now forced to flee also. around 300,000 people are taking up again, going to eastern states, and what is most concerning about this for the wfp is that now, because of this insecurity, we have had to pause some of our operations to provide emergency food assistance. this month alone, we were planning to support nearlyi million people in that state alone. now, with people on the move, we need to figure out how we can reach those people who need help the most. we are also very concerned about the safety and security of our food assistance we have stocked their as well as our premises and operations. there is also ongoing looting happening, as we hear, on the ground, so the parties to the conflict need to protect humanitarian assets and assistance, and allow humanitarians to do their work because the sudanese people now need, after injuring these horrors for almost three quarters of the year. tell

hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the city of wad madani in the span of a few days.ch has been described as a sanctuary and a safe haven for people who flee violence. since fighting broke out in april, many people have come from khartoum and other parts of the country seeking refugee here. it was a sort of humanitarian hub, where many aid agencies operate based here. now, after the rsf forces raided the city earlier this week, things were turning from bad to worse. many people were already impacted by the conflict and who have been left without homes are now finding themselves on the move again. many are scattered out of the city and they are fleeing the violence on foot without much on their backs. and in the past few days, reports of summary executions, sexual violence and looting of property have been reported. health facilities, including hospitals, have been attacked. relief agencies are announcing that they're suspending their operations in the city of wad madani because they find it difficult to operate after the city was captured by the rsf. this could only m

relief agencies are announcing that they're suspending their operations in the city of wad madani because this could only mean bad news for the millions who are desperately dependant on aid. rights organisations and western countries have been sounding the alarm bells, and calling for the protection of civilians as this war drags on. but civilians continue to pay a heavy prays. the latest drone images from iceland are showing a calmer scene, after monday's volcanic eruption. officials say the flows of lava have diminished, but smoke is still surfacing from the ground. residents from the evacuated town of grindavik were allowed to return for a short time thursday, where they found a massive crack in the ground, spanning about 4 kilometres — all caused by the volcanic activity. people checked on their homes and collected belongings, before again leaving the area ahead of the holidays. this will be a different christmas. i think people should celebrate the christmas where they are. leave grindavik for this year, and maybe think about coming home next year, maybe. just celebrate christmas ver

in recent days, fighting has forced thousands of civilians to flee the city of wad madani.le are internally displaced by the war. a million more have fled to neighbouring countries. thousands of others have lost their lives and there are multiple accounts of atrocities. translation: they went from door to door rounding up the men. - they took them out and killed them. they called the father of my children into the street, shot him and killed him. the uk says these attacks bear all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing that's in darfur, in the west of sudan. that's in darfur, in the west of sudan. to the east is the capital and it's being destroyed. khartoum has become a battleground with air strikes and many buildings damaged and set alight. many basic services are gone. and as the war continues, according to the un, millions are one step away from famine. and it's too dangerous for much aid to get in. in some areas we have a limited to no presence at all. khartoum is a good example of that. there are a couple of ngos that are present. the un is not able to be there right now.

earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displacedso, yet again, they were forced to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. storm gerrit has brought quite a bit of disruption up and down the country, with heavy snowfall, blizzards across scotland, some road closures there — certainly the a9 — some localised flooding and some trees down from the strong winds. we're likely to see further disruption from this system as we move through the overnight period. now, the strongest of the winds will be confined to the north—east of scotland, the northern isles, through the evening. but overnight, we hold on to the windy weather. in fact, renewed gales for southern and western coastal areas, bands of showers, blustery showers, spreading their way from west to east. severe gales with further blizzards across north—east scotland, certainly for the northern isles. it'll be a little bit chillier, ithink, tonight than it was the previous night. lengthier clearer

the rsf's takeover of wad madani has marked a new turn in sudan's eight-month-old conflict that brokeout in april. the u.n. has warned hunger in sudan's conflict zones is headed toward famine-like conditions, while nearly 7 million people have been internally displaced or forced to flee sudan. in the democratic republic of the congo, nationwide polls for president and local leaders have opened after a three-hour delay. in eastern drc, voters and observers complained of poorly organized election sites and missing names from voting rolls. >> there were quite a few people who did not end up on the list. people are wondering how they're going to vote if they can't find their way around. amy: ongoing violence in the war-torn east has displaced millions and prevented an estimated 1.5 million people from registering to vote. incumbent president felix tshisekedi is seeking a second five-year term and is running in a packed field of nearly 20 hopefuls. other candidates include moÏse katumbi, a former governor and mining magnate, former oil executive martin fayulu, and nobel peace prize-winner

after rsf forces captured wad madani earlier this week, we have been hearing reports of an exodus ofcity. hundreds of thousands have fled already. many of them on foot, and without much on their backs. after the city was captured, there were reports of —— after the city was captured, there were reports of killings, a doctors organisation said that hundreds might have been killed in the city. there were also reports of looting is in health care centres like hospitals and other abuse as well. so, this had been, until the fighting came to the doorstep, it had been the humanitarian help, many humanitarian organisations are working from there, because it was a safe haven for hundreds of thousands who fled the war from other areas. now, people are finding themselves on the move again, fleeing again, the violence, and trying to decide how to navigate the situation. the world food programme said they are suspending, temporarily, the operations in the city and in the region, because the capture of the city by the rsf has made their work difficult. british and french border officials are claim

after rsf forces captured wad madani earlier this week, we have been hearing reports of an exodus ofthousands have fled already. many of them on foot, and without much on their backs. after the city was captured, there were reports of killings, a cessation of medical provision, and doctor said that hundreds might have been killed in the city. there were also reports of looting is in health care centres like hospitals and other abuse as well. so, this had been, until the fighting came to the doorstep, it had been the humanitarian help, many humanitarian organisations are working from there, because it was a safe haven for hundreds of thousands who fled the war from other areas. now people are finding themselves on the move again, fleeing again, the violence, and trying to decide how to navigate the situation. the world food programme said they are suspending, temporarily, the operations in the city in the region, because the capture of the city by the rsf has made their work difficult. . , ., ., city by the rsf has made their work difficult. ., , ., ., ., ., difficult. really good to

sudan's army has acknowledged that it has lost control of the central city of wad madani to the paramilitarying hundreds of thousands of people displaced by a war that is now in its eight month. the united nations says at least 250,000 people have fled the safe—haven. a resident tells the bbc that many fled the city without having anywhere to go. mourners paid tribute to the late supreme courtjustice sandra day o'connor on tuesday. all nine sitting justices attended tuesday's funeral at the national cathedral, as did retired justice anthony kennedy. presidentjoe biden was among those who spoke. 0'connor was the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court. she provided the decisive vote in dozens of cases including a 1991 ruling that re—affirmed a woman's right to an abortion. she died earlier this month in arizona at the age of 93. a volcano in iceland is still active following a dramatic eruption on monday. the flare up is gushing lava and smoke from the mountain filled with magma. more than 4,000 residents of the nearest town, grindavik, were evacuated after a spate of earthquakes l

madani. and caused one of the world's largest displacement crisis. the international organization for migration says that over 7.1 million people have been internally displaced. earlier, i spoke to kholood kair, an analyst and founding director of khartoum based think tank confluence advisory about the situation. kholood, why do you think we are seeing hemedti take this trip? and visit these capitals now? i think he wants to position himself as a sort of statesment. we have seen him wearing suits rather than military fatigue. we have seen him meet heads of state rather than some of the adversaries or some of the officials. i think he is trying to mimic in many ways the trip by burhan taken in august and september where he was also taking trips around the region, so trying to get them to think of him as a legitimate head of state rather than one of the belligerents. do you think hemedti will be able to achieve that? i think it is difficult for him to do so because even his defective position,

earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displacedagain, they were forced to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. ten people are known to have died after severe thunderstorms battered australia's eastern coast over the past two days. tens of thousands of households in queensland are still without power, after strong winds brought down trees and power lines. live now to our correspondent phil mercer in sydney. thank you so much forjoining. those casualty figures have been going up in the past hour. can you tell us what more we know about the situation?— what more we know about the situation? ., ., , situation? the authorities here in australia have _ situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed - situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed a - situation? the authorities here in australia have confirmed a tenth | australia have confirmed a tenth victim, a man. his body was found at a campsite in the southern australian state of victoria. it is understood he was camping with a

madani.e and caused one of the world's largest displacement crisis. the international organization for migration says that over 7.1—million people have been internally displaced within the country. earlier, i spoke to kholood kair, an analyst and founding director of khartoum based think tank confluence advisory about the situation. why do you think we are seeing hemedti take this trip? i why do you think we are seeing hemedti take this trip?- hemedti take this trip? i think ou want hemedti take this trip? i think you want to — hemedti take this trip? i think you want to position _ hemedti take this trip? i think you want to position himself l hemedti take this trip? i think| you want to position himself as a sort of statement. we have seen him wearing suits rather than military fatigue. we have seen him meet heads of state rather than some of the adversaries or some of the officials. i think he is trying to mimic in many ways the trip taken in august and september where he was also taken tri

sudan's army has acknowledged that it has lost control of the central city of wad madani to the paramilitaryousands of people displaced by the conflict. the united nations says at least 250,000 people have fled the safe—haven. a resident tells the bbc that many fled the city without having anywhere to go. mourners paid tribute to the late supreme courtjustice sandra day o'connor on tuesday. all nine sitting justices attended tuesday's funeral at the national cathedral, as did retired justice anthony kennedy. presidentjoe biden was among those who spoke. o'connor was the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court. she died earlier this month in arizona at the age of 93. and finally, scientists in the uk have used dna evidence to retrace the steps of a man who travelled from what is now southern russia all the way to the english countryside, some 2000 years ago. it's the first biological proof that these people came to britain from the furthest reaches of the roman empire. the remains were discovered during excavations to improve a main road between cambridge and huntingdon. the scient

earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displacedd to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. ten people have died and at least one person is missing after severe thunderstorms battered australia's eastern coast over the past two days. in victoria, a woman was killed when a campsite was inundated. tens of thousands of households in queensland are still without power, after winds of 100 kilometres an hour brought down trees and power lines. south korean police have confirmed that the actor lee sun—kyun has been found dead in a car near a park in the capital, seoul. they are trying to establish whether the star of the 0scar—winning film parasite had taken his own life. 0ur asia correspondent, nick marsh, told me more about what the police is saying about this. it was confirmed this morning the body of this man in that car in the park here in seoul was that of lee sun—kyuh, the actor. they had received a report before that he had left his house and written some kind of memo, this apparent suicide note. i say a

sudan's army has acknowledged that it has lost control of the central city of wad madani to the paramilitarylaced by the conflict. the united nations says at least 250,000 people have fled the safe haven. a resident tells the bbc that many fled the city without having anywhere to go. mourners paid tribute to the late supreme court justice sandra day o'connor on tuesday. all nine sitting justices attended tuesday's funeral at the national cathedral, as did retired justice anthony kennedy. presidentjoe biden was among those who spoke. 0'connor was the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court. she died earlier this month in arizona at the age of 93. and finally, scientists in the uk have used dna evidence to retrace the steps of a man who travelled from what is now southern russia all the way to the english countryside, some 2,000 years ago. it's the first biological proof that these people came to britain from the furthest reaches of the roman empire. the remains were discovered during excavations to improve a main road between cambridge and huntingdon. such dna analysis methods mean

earlier this month, it reached one of the last—remaining sanctuaries, wad madani, where many of the displacedwere forced to flee, but where to? the options are narrowing. anne soy, bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. travellers have been warned of delays and potentially hazardous conditions as the uk braces for storm gerrit. forcasters expect the storm to bring strong winds and heavy rain to many parts of the uk, with wintry hazards likely to follow. the met office named the storm as a warning to people heading home from christmas celebrations. the transport secretary has told the bbc that by 2026 there could be driverless cars on uk motorways and other roads. mark harper also said by the end of that year, he expected to see the owners of those vehicles being able to travel without having to watch where they re going. renowned australian chef bill granger, known as the godfather of avocado toast,has died at the age of 5a. a self—taught cook from melbourne, granger became a celebrated global restaurateur and food writer.