this is bbc news, the headlines: sudan's coup takes an unexpected turn — a day after ousting the president, the head of the military council also steps down. in a broadcast on state television welcome to bbc news, the defence minister broadcasting to viewers revealed his successor would be in north america and around the globe. my name is lewis vaughanjones. another army officer. our top stories: at least 16 people have died in protests demanding jubilation in sudan, a transition to democracy. as the head of the military council steps down just one day a swedish investigation after leading a coup into rape allegations against wikileaks founder, that ousted the president. julian assange, could be re—opened. it follows the australian's arrest translation: i announce as leader at the ecuadorian embassy in london on friday, where he has lived of the transitional military council that i am stepping down from this position to select someone whose for the past 7 years. expertise and competence i can trust. he denies the allegations but now also faces us federal conspiracy i am confident that he will take charges after allegedly the ship to the shores of safety. leaking government secrets. more legal trouble forjulian assange. the world health organisation prosecutors in sweden consider has fallen short of declaring reopening a rape inquiry the latest outbreak of ebola in drc against the wikileaks founder. a public health emergency. against the wikileaks founder. president trump says he intends to release illegal immigrants into democrat—controlled urban centres because the party opposes his now on bbc news it's immigration policies. time for a look back

at the week in parliament. it's the second biggest ebola outbreak in history but the world health organisation says the drc‘s epidemic is not yet a global emergency. hello, and welcome to bbc news. a day after sudan's president was forced from power in a military coup, there's yet more uncertainty about the country's future leadership. the general who led the takeover has stepped down, following protests that he was too close to omar al—bashir. general awad ibn auf announced his resignation on state television. he's being replaced as the head of the army council by another general. demonstrators have continued to protest on the streets, calling for elections, and claiming the military isn't capable of change.

our senior africa correspondent, anne soy, reports. uncertain times in sudan, but protesters are undeterred. they say the revolution isn't over yet. the country's strongman may be gone, but in his place now are some of his closest allies. but the people are demanding an end to military rule. translation: we want a civilian transitional government as soon as possible. if it has to be the army who makes this happen, then we don't want anyone from their side who has been part of the regime in any way. translation: why isn't there a transitional government? all those people who died, have theyjust gone in vain? we cannot accept this. there are fears the army generals who toppled the president will do anything to hold onto power. they supported repression for decades,

but the generals are now promising reform, political dialogue and a transition to civilian government. translation: all of us, we should work hand in hand. we are not against the demands of the people. we are for the demands of the people. but this evening, in an extraordinary development, the man sworn in only yesterday as sudan's new military leader has announced his resignation. general awad ibn auf said he is handing over power to another military leader seen as less close to the old regime, perhaps more sympathetic to the protesters. women have been at the forefront of the protests. "reject the regime coup", they chanted in khartoum today. one woman has come to symbolise the rebellion. these images of 22—year—old engineering student alaa salah went viral earlier this week as she led demonstrations.

translation: the role of sudanese women is very significant in the revolution. they've taken part equally with men and have faced violence and beatings. women have endured a lot of pain and have kept on going. but the protesters want to see the system overhauled, notjust a change of face. anne soy, bbc news. prosecutors in sweden are considering whether to reopen an investigation into a rape allegation againstjulian assange. the wikilea ks founder was arrested on thursday, when ecuador revoked his asylum at its embassy in london, after nearly seven years. the us wants him extradited to face charges of conspiracy to hack a government computer. but, here in the uk the opposition labour party says he shouldn't be sent to america for having exposed evidence of us atrocities in iraq and afghanistan.

here's tom symonds. swedish prosecutors have been pursuing julian assange for years about rape, coercion and molestation allegations. he took refuge in the ecuadorian embassy. eventually, the prosecutors stopped trying to question him. but when the metropolitan police dragged him into custody, they got a second chance. they have until next august to restart the rape investigation. assange fought not to go to sweden because he was worried sweden would extradite him to the us. now britain's considering that. he's obviously going to fight extradition and fight it hard. this case raises significant issues about free speech. we've been warning about the prospect of an extradition request from the united states since 2010. after seven yea rs inside the embassy, resolving the case will mean answering some fundamental questions. isjulian assange a global

campaigner who worked up a conspiracy to hack secret computer systems? or is he a journalist publishing leaked information in the public interest? something the courts might be more lenient about. in these modern times, he may well be a bit of both, but this is how he described himself to the bbc in 2010. we're a publisher. we accept information from whistle—blowers. we vet it, we analyse it and we publish it and that's what we do. but the american charge sheet against him suggests he did more than just accept and publish. it accuses him of requesting information from chelsea manning, the us intelligence analyst, and of trying to crack a password himself. he's not accused of spying or treason, and the maximum sentence in these charges is less than the time he spent in the embassy. but labour believes he's being pursued for political reasons. i think there may be human rights issues in relation to assange. he is, at the very least,

a whistle—blower and much of the information that he brought into the public domain, it could be argued, was very much in the public interest. but wikilea ks leaked hillary clinton's emails and she wants him charged. it's not about punishing journalism. it's about assisting the hacking of the military computer to steal information from the united states government, but the bottom line is, he has to answer for what he has done, at least as it's been charged. he has nine weeks to prepare his case against extradition. tom symonds, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: judges at the international criminal court have rejected a request by a prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes in afghanistan. the judges said crimes might well have been committed by us military personnel, the afghan army and the taliban, but they felt there was little

chance of prosecutions. the human rights group amnesty international has criticised the ruling. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, has said he is only interested in meeting president trump again if he comes with the right attitude. mr kim said the collapse of his second summit with mr trump in february raised the risk of a return to past tensions and that the us needed to come up with a new approach before the end of the year. washington insists that it will not lift sanctions until pyongyang has got rid its nuclear capability. mr trump said he was considering a potential third summit. thousands of pakistanis have gathered in the central city othang to create a human image depicting the al noor mosque in christchurch, where a white supremacist murdered 50 people last month. nine of the victims were of pakistani origin. drone images showed worshippers standing in formation,

as a second group formed the words "islam is peace" nearby. president trump has confirmed he wants to send people detained in his immigration crackdown at the mexico border to so—called sanctuary cities. they're areas of the united states, usually under democrat control, that don't co—operate with the detention of illegal migrants. in response, democratic mayors across the country said they would welcome the new arrivals and condemned what they called president trump's "racist rhetoric". the remarks made on twitter followed a speech mr trump gave earlier in the day, in which he first discussed the plan. we will bring the illegal, really i called the illegals, they came across the border illegally. we will bring them to sanctuary cities and

let them take care of it, whether it isa let them take care of it, whether it is a state or whether it might be. california always say that they want more people and we will give them more people and we will give them more people. we can give them an unlimited supply and let's see if they are so happen. they always say they are so happen. they always say they have open arms, let's see if they have open arms, let's see if they have open arms. i'm joined now by our washington correspondent chris buckler. president trump has tried time and time again to introduce tougher immigration policies only to see his ideas watered down and opposed by the courts. he is trying to drop the problem on the doorsteps of his political opponents with this idea. it has been considered several times inside of the white house. back in november, once again in february, and it is been raised again. as to

whether he is a serious or not, the washington post did speak to the white house and department of homeland security officials and they said it was seriously considered and president trump insist it is being considered and he is definitely looking at it. basically, it would mean any immigrants waiting for asylum, he has been told they cannot be moved to mexico and have to stay inside the us, but he would aim to do is to move them to so—called sanctuary cities. these are places where the authorities only shape limited information with federal immigrant officials and also places that have significant democratic political support. it would essentially ship them that but there are many inside the administration asking two questions. would this be legal? that would have to have a reason for doing it and secondly,

what would they do in practice to ensure this happens? would they bus them, fly them? at the moment they simply do not know how this would work. riot police in the algerian capital have fired teargas at huge numbers of protestors, who responded by hurling back the tear gas canisters. hundreds of thousands have been demonstrating to demand a new government that doesn't include the ruling elite. our correspondent orla guerin reports from the capital algiers. "the country is ours," they chant. "and we will do what we want." algerians are seizing their moment. even the youngest are brought along. mass protest, now the friday routine. just a few months ago, this seemed impossible. you could go to jail

for posting on facebook. after decades of repression by a hated regime, it's just too much for some. "what do they want from us?" he says. "we ask god for revenge." well, more police are moving into position, the crowd is building here, and so is the anger. this is the eighth friday in a row that the demonstrators have gathered. and they say they will keep coming until all of their demands are met. they want a complete break with the past, a clean sweep. that means the new interim president, abdelkader bensalah, must go. protesters don't trust him to organise free elections. and some worry the powerful military is playing a double game, expressing support for the protests but trying to limit any change.

in the main square police could not hold back the crowds. the protesters believe the march of history is on their side. so, i came from abroad and i'm very happy to be here with my family in order to march for democracy and in order to stop this corrupt government and to try to give the youth a chance for tomorrow. do you believe you'll succeed? i think we will succeed, definitely, we're far too many not to succeed. but some are standing up to the regime all on their own, like nisa imad. "i told them this is my country," she said. "we want the whole system to go. there's nothing for the young generation. i have five kids with nojobs and no homes of their own." in among the crowds, a veteran lawyer, who may help lead

algeria through the turmoil. he's waited decades for this. i have tears in my eyes when i see what's happening after 30 years of fighting against dictatorship in this country. we tried to do things and we didn't succeed. it's these young people who gave us this feeling of pride to be algerians. but how far will the young be allowed to go? as the day wore on, the police pushed back. first with a water cannon, and then later with tear gas. the hope on the streets is that change can come without bloodshed. no one is sure where all this is headed. orla guerin, bbc news, algiers. another interview that stay with us another interview that on bbc news, still to come: there's anger from campaigners as the ban

on transgender people in the us military comes into effect. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker

and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: jubilation in sudan, as the head of the military council steps down just one day after leading a coup that ousted the president. american prosecutors announce charges against wikileaks founder julian assange following his arrest in london. his lawyer says he now faces extradition to the us. thousands of passengers across the world are stranded after the indian carrier jet airways suspended all of its international flights until next monday. jet is india's largest private airline and currently has more than $1 billion worth of debt. monica miller has more

from delhi. it is saddled in debt as you just said, over $1 billion. itjust can't seem to get a hold of things. last night into friday, they cancelled almost all international flights and gave their customers very little warning. if you go on social media you will find desperate customers looking for answers as to what to expect next, and many of them have had to pay through the nose basically to other airlines to get from a to b at the last minute. so right now it is looking at maybe not even existing throughout the month of april, and it is really facing a very difficult time. even air india has been struggling, they have been trying to sell this airline for however long and they can't give it away, it seems. jet airways broke the monopoly on the aviation industry in the early 1990s, so it had, it was the only private airline that was around for quite some time,

and then stiff competition came in, you had spicejet, indigo, just to name a few. then you had high oil prices, and a valuable rupee, ——volatile. so airlines in india have had a hard time getting by. and it does not seem that unless these issues are resolved, it isjust going to face stiff competition and a rough road ahead. the world health organization says it's received only half the funding it needs to tackle the growing outbreak of ebola in the democratic republic of congo. the virus, which causes internal bleeding, fever and vomiting, has already left more than 760 people in the country dead. but in a surprise announcement on friday, the who again decided not to declare a global health emergency. caroline rigby reports.

—— health workers do what they can to stop ebola in its tracks as they battled to stop the worst outbreak in its history and the worse the congo has ever seen. authorities declared a national emergency and against, says that it has shown little sign of slowing down. just this week the country was my health ministry reported a record number of 20 new cases on thursday, that surpassing the previous one—day record of 18 the day before. surpassing the previous one—day record of 18 the day beforem surpassing the previous one—day record of 18 the day before. it is quite a focused amplification of disease in a very specific geographic area. the disease there has risen because of lack of access to that community, we have fallen behind in starting vaccination, it is proving to be a highly effective way of stopping this virus but if we can't vaccinate people we can't protect them. so far around 1200 people have been of —— infected, and more than 760 have died as a result, meaning ebola has proved fatal in 63% of cases. yet the epidemic,

which began in the country's north kivu province, remains confined to that region and one other to the north. it has not spread across the border to rwanda, south sudan or uganda. this is one reason why the world health organization made the surprise decision to not declare it a global health emergency. although the world's great concern —— there was great concern about raising numbers in some regions, the outbreak has not spread internationally, over many months. yet the organisations as it has received only half the funding needed to tackle the outbreak, a shortfall of more than $100 million. and as the disease continues to be transmitted in healthca re and as the disease continues to be transmitted in healthcare settings as well as the wider community, many here can only watch and wait. a dutch fertility doctor accused of using his own sperm to inseminate patients has been confirmed as the father of 49 children.

dna tests revealed that jan karbaat, who died two years ago, impregnated their mothers at his fertility clinic near rotterdam. he was first taken to court in 2017 by a group of donor children and their parents who suspected they were related. president donald trump's ban on transgender people serving in the us military has come into effect. after three years of being able to openly serve their country as their chosen gender, now they can only serve in their gender assigned at birth. the president says it's down to the cost of medical bills. our lgbt correspondent ben hunte explains what the new rules mean. transgender people are being barred from joining the united states military. but what has led to this, and what does it mean for transgender service people in the future? this is myjob, this is my life. i served six years. i buried our fallen warriors.

it feels like a slap in the face. before we get into how the ban applies and why some of its reasoning is questionable, bear with me, a little bit of history. history was made today. transgender people will now be allowed to serve openly. and then one tweet changed everything. on twitter, the president promised to reverse president obama's 2016 decision. yes — this totally surprise decision, while popular with some republican supporters, immediately brought legal challenges from human rights campaigners. but a us supreme court vote decided injanuary that a version of it should be put in place. now in 15 seconds, here is how the ban applies. you can'tjoin if you've transitioned or want to transition, which effectively bans trans people from joining. no—one serving will be allowed to come forward to transition unless they started the process before the ban. they will now only be allowed to serve in their gender assigned at birth. the department of defense says the new policy doesn't ban transgender people from serving, but some campaign groups say the new rules will

systematically push transgender people out of the military. they'll have to choose between being themselves and serving their country. now president trump has said one of the main reasons for his ban is the "tremendous medical costs." but as you will see, the costs might not be the whole story. here come the numbers. according to the pentagon, over the past three years the us military has spent about $8 million on transgender care. the military‘s annual healthcare budget tops $50 billion. in 2017, the total cost of care related to transitioning was just over $2 million. which was far less than 1% of the military‘s annual healthcare budget. and that's around one 20th of what the military spent on viagra in a single year. forgetting about the cost of healthca re, hundreds of transgender troops have deployed to combat zones, and top military bosses have unanimously stated that having tra nsgender service people

has had no impact on cohesion, and the american medical association has also said there is no valid medical reason for the ban. president trump's change on transgender rights is very different to policies in other countries. tra nsgender troops can serve in at least 18 other nations, including the uk. i transitioned about five years ago, i was greeted with support and love from the british army and my colleagues. being open about myself made me better at myjob. there are still ongoing challenges for president trump's controversial policy, but these will be fought after his ban starts rolling out across the us military service. i think this ban will be overturned in time. but it's not soon enough for those who are serving right now. for now though, it does seem that this ban is less about healthca re and more about politics. i will be back with the headlines in a couple of minutes and all the big stories at the top of the hour.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. i know all eyes are on the weekend weather, but you may recognise this forecast more in reference to next week. get to that in a moment, but first let's take a look at the big weather pattern for the weekend. low pressure battling with high pressure, for dominance of the uk's weather — it is high pressure that wins but keeps us in the blue with a stronger, colder east south—easterly wind over the weekend. it is high pressure, meaning most of us will stay dry, bar the odd shower. there will be some decent sunshine around but it is going to be cold for the time of year, particularly in that stronger wind. gardeners take note, frosty nights as well. many of us will start with frost again on saturday morning, away from the north sea coast and away from most westernmost areas where the wind is continuing to pick up. some gusts in northern ireland of around a0 mph.

a breezy picture for some, patchy cloud will develop over parts of eastern england, especially east anglia and south—east england, you may catch a stray shower. if you do there could be some small hail associated. we have referenced the wind, average speeds but gusts will be higher, particularly in the west and especially into northern ireland. around a0 mph. for many, temperatures stuck in single figures especially on the north sea coast. for scotland, avourable wind directions with temperatures up to 1a, as we have had over the past few days. clear weather overnight and into sunday but cloud increasing over the far south of england, northern ireland, and on the north sea coast with the breeze we should avoid a frost, but elsewhere we are in the blue so another frost as sunday begins. but with plenty of morning sunshine,

some showers developing. a stray shower here or there, most places will stay dry. in cornwall and northern ireland, expect cloud, the further west you are, you could see some patchy rain out of this weather front but most places will stay dry, with some cloud building during the day. temperatures similar, as is the wind, so it is feeling chilly. however, into next week, still high pressure, low pressure battling, but the orientation changing. as does the wind direction, eventually drawing some warm air from the south. although it is still high pressure and still mainly settled, it is going to feel very different. all of that happens just in time for easter. temperatures next week on the up.