this is bbc news. the headlines: representatives of protesters in sudan have met military leaders in the capital, khartoum. the meeting came in response to a call for dialogue made by the country's third leader in as many days. welcome to bbc news, a spokesman for the protesters told broadcasting to viewers the bbc they insisted in north america on the formation of and around the globe. my name is lewis vaughanjones. our top stories: hopes that tensions in sudan appear to be easing — a civilian government. with the new military leadership meeting protesters. the maltese navy has transferred translation: this is a renewed call more than 60 migrants for all those bearing arms to sit from a german charity down for discussions to arrive vessel to a maltese port — at a peaceful outcome and peacefully after a number of other eu countries coexist under the basis offered to take them in. of new measures. india has observed the centenary four eu countries agree to take of a massacre by british troops that's seen as one of the darkest in dozens of migrants, rescued after being stranded at sea incidents of the colonial era. on april the 13th 1919, soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed for nearly two weeks. people protesting against and revolution in the ring — iran's first ever female boxer wins her debut bout. back on course — tiger woods makes repressive laws in amritsar. a major challenge at the masters as italy's francesco molinari leads the field. now on bbc news — click.

there are signs that tensions between sudan's new leadership and protesters may now be softening. representatives of both sides have held meetings. and though demonstrators want a civilian government, they say competent military figures might be acceptable. it follows the ousting of long—time leader omar al—bashir. simonjones has the latest. still on the streets, having forced out two leaders in just two days. protesters have helped bring about the downfall of the country's long—term president, and then the man who led the coup to topple him — seen as too close to the old regime. they want an immediate transfer to civilian rule and have momentum. but in an attempt to pacify them, general abdel fattah burhan abdelrahman, sudan's third leader in as many days,

the release of political prisoners, and a war on corruption. but he won further changes won't come quickly. translation: a military council will be formed to represent the sovereignty of the country and a civil government should be formed with the general agreement of the people. the military council will also be committed to paving the road for civil rule, based on a maximum of a two year transitional period. at the end of these two years, power will be handed over to a civilian government chosen by the people. sudan's unstable political situation follows months of unrest over rising prices. the organisation that aims to bring peace and prosperity to the continent says all sides need to talk to each other. more now than ever it's time to engage in inclusive dialogue, to create the conditions that would make it possible to meet the aspirations of the sudanese people, to uphold democracy and good governance and restore constitutional order as soon as possible.

the new man in charge has been seen on the streets of khartoum talking to the protesters. and an initial meeting has taken place, but whoever ends up the long—term leader will face huge challenges — not least an economy in serious trouble. simon jones, bbc news. more than 60 migrants have been allowed to disembark in the maltese capital valetta after four eu countries agreed to take them in. the ship had earlier been refused entry by malta, and also italy, saying it was libya's responsibility to take in the boat. the italian foreign minister has warned of a new wave of migrants — if european nations get involved in the libyan conflict. catherine karelli reports. these migrants have been at sea off the coast of malta for nearly two weeks. but no longer. the passengers on board

the alan kurdi rescue ship will now be redistributed between germany, france, portugal, and luxembourg. the maltese government isn't happy. it's standing firm in its refusal to take in any migrants, calling on other eu member states to step up. it says that the case was neither its responsibility nor its remit. italy's government also refused entry to the vessel. its ports have been closed to humanitarian ships since last june. thousands of migrants and refugees are trapped in the libyan capital, tripoli, as the battle for the city rages on. italy, with eu support, has been training the libyan coastguard to intercept boats as part of a controversial deal that has seen a sharp drop in migrant arrivals. the italian prime minister, speaking earlier, called for a solution to the unrest in the country. translation: there is a real risk of a humanitarian crisis, which we want to avoid. when we think of libya it's obviously not only related to migration, we think of bringing

peace to a country that's fundamental for the balance of northern africa, the middle east, the whole mediterranean, and therefore also for the european union. the alan kurdi ship is operated by the german charity sea—eye. the vessel takes its name from the three—year—old boy whose body washed up on a turkish beach at the height of the european migrant crisis in 2015. the ship is the latest to have been left adrift off the coast of europe as governments try to push migrants back towards africa. let's get some of the day's other news. at least three people have been shot dead during protests in mogadishu that erupted when a police officer killed a rickshaw driver and his passenger. hundreds of other drivers took to the streets, burning tyres and throwing stones, but witnesses say they were met with gunfire. the city's mayor has condemned the rickshaw shooting and called for protesters to remain calm.

on whether to extradite him to the united states. a close ally of venezuela's former president, hugo chavez, general carvajal was head of military intelligence for seven years. the us government has accused him of drug trafficking offences. the so—called islamic state group says it carried out a suicide attack at a market in the pakistani city of quetta on friday. 20 people were killed and many others injured in the blast. it targeted members of the hazara minority community. this is a mostly shia muslim group, whereas most pakistanis are sunni muslims. more than 70 mps in the uk have signed a letter, urging the government to allow the extradition ofjulian assange to sweden — if officials there make a formal request. two swedish women have accused

the wikileaks founder of rape and sexual assault — claims he denies. mr assange, who was arrested at the ecuadorian embassy in london on thursday, is also wanted for questioning in the us over computer hacking allegations. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. dragged out of ecuador‘s embassy in london on thursday, julian assange faces one big question. where will he be sent now? more than 70 politicians have put their names to a letter to the home secretary, sajid javid, to request that he do everything he can to champion action that will ensure thatjulian assange can be extradited to sweden. they also urge him to stand with the victims of sexual violence and seek to ensure the case against mr assange can now be properly investigated. i've signed this letter because i think the top priority is the accusations against mr assange for rape and sexual violence in sweden, and i was very

concerned that that vitally important issue seemed to be getting airbrushed out of the conversation. the swedish authorities have been pursuing julian assange for years over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies. at the same time, the united states wants mr assange extradited over hacking charges after his organisation wikilea ks released secret material, including this video from a us military helicopter... come on. fire! gunfire. ..appearing to show firing at iraqi civilians in 2007. the home office isn't commenting on this letter, and as things stand, sweden hasn't requested that julian assange is sent there. but if it were to do so, british law sets out what would happen next, and it could mean the home secretary deciding where he goes. and one of the criteria in coming to that decision is the severity of the alleged offences. after seven years of voluntary imprisonment, this weekend julian assange is actually behind bars, provoking a political row and a potential international

dispute over his future. chris mason, bbc news. a plane with the world's largest ever wingspan has made its first successful flight. funded by the late microsoft founder paul allen, the stratolaunch aircraft is designed to act as a flying launch pad for satellites. started in 2011, the project aims to make the process of launching satelites into space less expensive than conventional rockets. for more on the significance of this record breaking flight we can speak to alan boyle, aerospace and science editor for the tech news website geekwire. thank you for being with us. there

is no doubt this is an impressive machine, an impressive technological advance. a fundamentally what is the real point of all of this? the point is to provide a new method for putting satellites into space that's more responsive and more versatile. if you're launching rockets from the world ‘s biggest aeroplane, you are able to go to places where the weather is better, you can launch anywhere where there's a big enough ru nway to anywhere where there's a big enough runway to accommodate that plane. so was more about having the ability to launch quickly and to launch into any orbit. you think it is fundamentally useful, this will be around for a while, we will see more of them in the future? that's a debate. whether it will be the next sat in five or whether it will be the next spruce goose. a lot has changed in the launch industry in the last few years since this was

developed. some said this was a plane that came after its time, actually. we will have to see how that plays out for the next couple of years. you mentioned spruce goose, tell us what that means a. the spruce goose was howard hughes's huge wooden aeroplane. at that time the 1940s huge wooden aeroplane. at that time the 19405 it huge wooden aeroplane. at that time the 1940s it was the biggest aeroplane in the world, but it only flew once. i'm glad to report that stratolaunch has flown longer in the air, two hours, then the spruce goose did. that is good. what is the competition, is it the likes of virgin galactic? yes, it is. virgin galactic has a sister company known asa virgin galactic has a sister company known as a virgin orbit. they are working on the same principle, but the plane is not nearly as big. it is about its converted 7117 that would also launch a rocket from mid air and put satellite into orbit. it's not quite as heavy duty as this plane, but it

could be a significant competitor for the applications that stratolaunch is looking at. just lastly, we mentioned in the introduction, this was largely funded by microsoft co—founder, paul allen, what was the idea behind him getting involved in this? yes, his dream was that this would open up more dream was that this would open up m ore a ccess dream was that this would open up more access to space, that's the big vision that he had. and he envisioned developing a new type of rocket engine and a whole line of rockets. after his death last october, stratolaunch has had to refocus on getting this plane flying. the big question is, what is the next step? we will watch closely. a very impressive and very expensive enterprise all round. alan boyle, thank you for giving us your insight. thank you. do stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: doctors celebrate a new treatment, called ‘gene silencing', to reverse a disease that causes crippling pain. 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 world news. the latest headlines: hopes that tensions in sudan appear to be easing, with the new military leadership meeting protesters. four eu countries agree to take in dozens of migrants, rescued after being stranded at sea for nearly two weeks. doctors have used a new type of treatment called "gene silencing" to reverse a disease which leaves people with crippling pain. the condition can also cause paralysis and is fatal in some cases.

the agency that deals with tax affairs here, the internal revenue service, failed to meet the original deadline that was set by this senior democrat congressman, richard neil. he is chairman of the ways in means committee, the only man in congress who has the right to request tax records. he wrote a letter, originally setting one deadline, which was missed. he has now given the irs until the 23rd of april two provides the president's tax returns. he says in his letter, please note that if you fail to comply, yourfailure please note that if you fail to comply, your failure will be interpreted as a denial of my request. so certainly the rhetoric is ramping up on this. this has been a long—running battle that goes right back to even before the election, when donald trump stepped out of line, really, with normal practice for presidential candidates by not releasing his tax returns. and democrats have been fighting ever since, really, to see them. it is only since taking control of

congress at the start of this year that they have actually had the power to request. but the internal revenue service and the treasury says they need time to actually consider exactly what the law is here and weather congress is entitled to those documents or not. the president assad he cannot release his tax returns because they are under audit. —— the president has said. others have said that is nonsense, there is nothing stopping him from releasing those returns. the democrats say they are determined to see them because they wa nt to determined to see them because they want to establish exactly what the president's sources of income were in the years before he became president, and crucially, weather there were any conflicts of interest there were any conflicts of interest there stop. doctors have used a new type of treatment called "gene silencing" to reverse a disease which leaves people with crippling pain. the condition can also cause paralysis and is fatal in some cases. the treatment works by fine—tuning the genetic instructions locked into our dna. experts say the same approach could be used in other previously untreatable diseases.

and the cows, look, moo! sue has endured pain few can imagine. she used to take strong painkillers every day due to a disease called porphyria. sue needed hospital treatment if she had a severe attack, but even morphine didn't stop the pain then. the pain, it's like nothing i've ever had before. like it's never going to end. it is so, so intense, so strong that it's in your legs, in your back and itjust resonates everywhere. it's really, really unbearable. but sue's life has been transformed by a monthly injection of a new type of medicine called gene silencing. this is how it works. inside our cells are genes. they send out messengers containing the instructions for running our body

but in porphyria, an error leads to a build—up of toxic proteins. gene silencing intercepts the messenger, disabling it and restoring the correct balance of proteins. the study showed gene silencing cut attacks by 7a%, and half of patients were completely freed from the attacks needing hospital treatment. british doctors who took part in the clinical trial said the impact was amazing. these are very difficult patients to treat and they've had a very difficult time and i'm surprised, genuinely surprised, at how well it works in this condition, and i think it offers a lot of hope for the future. sue is now enjoying life without pain. i've had pain for kind of ten years. i did not expect that could go away. and to be able for that to have happened, i'm seeing friends and they are like, "you're not taking any painkillers?", and i was like, "no!" but the implications of this study go much further than sue and porphyria. experts say gene silencing is an exciting new area of medicine, with the potential to work in diseases that are currently untreatable. james gallagher, bbc news.

let's get some of the day's other news. by an iranian woman. fighting in her national colours she beat a french woman, anne chauvin, in the french town of royan. khadem had to fight abroad despite having the blessing of the iranian sporting authorities. khadem said she's expecting a hero's welcome when she returns to iran next week. ramzan karmali has more. two women giving their all in a boxing ring. nothing unusual, you may think. but one of the fighters is making history. sadaf khadem's boxing journey began four years ago, training in private for much of that time. now she's just won her first ever amateur contest, over three rounds, in western france. khadem had to fight abroad as, despite having the blessing of the iranian sporting authorities, it proved too complicated to fulfil the requirement that the bout be refereed as judged by women. but this wasn't the only barrier to her reaching her goal. translation: my parents were against boxing but then

they accepted the idea and gave me support, and what i have now is because of them. khadem's boxing dream really took off when she attended a hush—hush training session in the hills of tehran two years ago. she met an iranian french born fighter mahyar monshipour, himself a former world champion. for this fight she trained at the national institute of sport and was handed a french license to practise and fight. it's also the first time she trained among men. translation: i hope this first fight will pave the way for more matches. i will go as far as i can with the plans that i have in mind and to reach the highest levels in boxing and make a name for myself

as a boxer. with her first win under her belt, khadem will be flying back to tehran next week, where she hopes her victory will inspire other women to follow her lead. ramzan karmali, bbc news. golf, and italy's francesco molinari is top of the leaderboard going into the final day of the masters in augusta. he enjoyed a second successive bogey—free round to finish 13 under par at the end of day three. but a familiar face is just two shots further back, could tiger woods be on the march? the bbc‘s tim allman reports. it feltjust like old times in augusta on saturday. cheering and applause. tiger woods hasn't won a major in more than ten years but he certainly looks in the mood to do something about that. a round of 67, five—under par, left him 11—under for championship. that's the same score as fellow american tony finau who was eight under for the day. cheering and applause.

brooks koepka had a funny old round. birdie following bogey, following birdie. but this eagle at the 15th helped him finish the day at ten—under for the championship. england's ian poulter was flying the flag for europe. a round of 68 leaving him at nine—under. cheering and applause. but it is italy that is really flying the flag. francesco molinari was as cool as a cucumber all day. he hasn't dropped a shot since the first round and a series of birdies gave him a score of 66 and a two shot lead going into day four. cheering and applause.

molinari hasn't won a green jacket yet but the way he's playing, he's going to take some stopping. cheering and applause. tim allman, bbc news. famous for his sculptures of glass, he has returned to kew gardens for his latest installation. over 30 sculptures on display, some never before seen in the uk. well, i love greenhouses, you know, and how can you not love kew? it's just the most extraordinary, with some 300 acres with all these greenhouses. it is notjust under glass that you'll find all these reflections of nature. the cherry blossoms are out at kew gardens. poking up our of the grass, not only tulips, but these amazing glass sculptures. this is just one of 32 installations across the gardens that are going to be here until the end of october. it's the work of artist dale chihuly, based in seattle.

thousands of these pieces of glass have been carefully shipped over here and displayed for us all to see. sapphire star glints in the spring light. summer sun is framed by the lake and palm house. icicle tower alone is made of nearly 2000 individual pieces of hand blown glass. because of the way they're packed and put into containers, containers very rarely get jiggled around very much, so there's very little breakage. yet that doesn't always apply in the studio that dale chihuly‘s wife manages. when the artist is pushing to the very limit what class can do, are there designs that just don't work? absolutely. i've worked on things for months and then decided at the very end that it was a bad idea and had to break everything. that's a sad day. that is a sad day. it's a sad day when you have to break things you've made.

but these seemingly fragile shards are now nestled amongst the budding plants. they're just even more beautiful and stunning in the landscape that we could have ever hoped for. i've got probably have a number of favourites. but i think the niijima floats in the japanese garden, with the cherry blossom out and the colours, with the pagoda in the background. kew gardens is hoping that the success of chihuly exhibitions across the world will be replicated here once again. wendy hurrell, bbc news. that is just about it from me. you can get in touch with me on twitter at any time. i'm @lvaughanjones. i will be back with headlines on a couple of minutes. all the top stories of the day at the top of the

hour, but for now, you are watching bbc world news. hello, after a chilly start to the weekend, if anything during sunday it will feel a bit colder. of course it always helps if you get to see some sunshine, and most of us did at some stage on saturday. but for sunday there is expected to be more cloud building up and the east—south—easterly wind will be a bit stronger too. all that comes after a frosty start, and a good few degrees below freezing where we've had clear skies overnight, and away from any breezy conditions along north sea coasts and this weather front in north—western parts. this is a different flavour to the weather on sunday. more cloud around and some of us seeing a bit of rain. it is a frosty start for some, particularly where you are in the blue. we can see the effect of the cloud on the west, keeping temperatures up a little and breezes coming along north sea coasts. lots of early sunshine to come, but the cloud is expected to build. in terms of catching a shower, early showers should fade and we may catch some in north—east england,

a few more towards eastern scotland, wintry on the high hills. remember that weather front? here is the cloud and patchy rain from that. the isles of scilly, parts of cornwall and pembrokeshire, the further west you are, in northern ireland. the breeze is stronger. average speeds across western parts, you could get some gusts in excess of a0 miles an hour. more cloud, more wind, that will make you feel colder. really, these temperatures are already struggling for the time of year. now, as we go on through sunday night and into monday morning this weather system to the west really doesn't want to move. the closest you are to it, the more cloud there is around, still the chance of seeing outbreaks of rain, maybe still the odd shower clipping parts of eastern scotland, but most places stay dry. away from the west, not as much blue, not so much in the way of frost. still a chilly start for many of us on monday morning. early sunny spells, again, some cloud expected to build. most places will stay dry. still getting some outbreaks of rain

into parts of south—west england, wales and northern ireland. a few showers running into eastern scotland. still decidedly breezy on monday. temperatures may be a degree also higher. it is beyond monday when we are expecting more significant changes in our weather. still patchy rain in western parts on tuesday. low pressure to the west and high pressure to the east. the position of the weather system is changing slightly. we start to draw in warmer air from the south. this is all about the feel of the weather. but also, to some degree, the look as well. once we get rid of any patchy rain across western parts as the week goes on, increasing warmth and sunshine 00:28:29,621 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 in time for easter.