live from london, this is bbc news. heavy fighting is taking place in sudan as the army clashes with paramilitary forces, in the capital khartoum. a man is arrested and the japanese prime minister rushed to safety after an explosion. france's president, emmanuel macron, signs into law his government's controversial pension reforms, despite months of protests. the world's most famous horse race, the grand national, sets off shortly amid animal rights protests.

hello, i'm lukwesa burak. welcome to bbc news. there has been gunfire and explosions in sudan's capital khartoum as the sudanese army clashes with paramilitary forces. witnesses report the fighting is close to the army headquarters in the centre of the city. smoke has been seen rising from khartoum airport and there are reports of clashes near the presidential palace. the two sides are in dispute over who governs the country. sudan has been run by the military since a coup in october 2021. international leaders have urged the two sides to return to talks aimed at returning the country to civilian rule. the us secretary of state

antony blinken described the situation as fragile, and suggested forces opposed to a return to civilian rule were responsible for the fighting. we want to just play you what happened on sudanese state tv. the newsreader briefly appeared talking about clashes, but listen carefully and you can hear gunshots in the background. repeated gunfire. that was gun shots that could be heard outside as the news reader was speaking. as you see, the picture then froze, and a short while after, the broadcast suddenly cut off. so what's causing

the tensions in sudan? at the centre of the dispute are the rapid support forces — a paramilitary group headed by general mohamed hamdan dagalo, effectively the country's deputy leader. as part of sudan's transition to civilian rule, the rapid support forces were meant to be integrated into the army. but there's a stand—off between the rsf and the head of the army, general abdel fattah al burhan abdel fattah al burhan over the timetable for the change and who will be in charge. our africa correspondent, emmanuel igunza, has the latest. yes, indeed, this is quite an escalation of what we have seen over the last few weeks. the military, both factions, the national army and the rapid support forces, were part of the negotiations that were ongoing to form a civilian government. they have thrice missed that deadline, and then last week towards the end of the week,

we saw quite a bit of movement of rsf, rapid support forces, who are taking vehicles into a town in the north nearly military base. in the north near a military base. and this seemed to be the cause of this latest fighting and both sides claim they are in control of key installations, including the presidential palace and airport. the fighting is continuing, and we have been talking to people who say they are taking shelter inside their houses because this fighting isjust happening in urban, residential areas. i wonder if you could give us some context to the situation that we have at the moment. how is it that this paramilitary force was set up? and why now are they at loggerheads with the government, their allies?

the rapid support forces were formed around 2013, particularly operating in the darfur region. during that time, they were accused of committing many atrocities. when the former president omar al—bashir was ousted, they played a big part in coming together with the army, the current leader of sudan, dagalo, and we saw it was being led by a civilian until october 2021, when the military took over. a military coup happened and the civilian government was toppled. in effect, the leader of the rapid support forces has been placed second in command in sudan, so it is quite a powerful outfit feared by many people in sudan.

what we have seen in the demonstrations in the demonstrations is that people simply want this unit to be disbanded, to be integrated into the army, and if this is what we see now coming to a head, the differences on how long it will take to be integrated into the army and also who will be heading the unified military unit. emmanuel, this is often the case when a country attempts to transition from military to civilian rule, how ingrained is at the military in sudanese society? the military has been charged for decades, so we did see even through the years just before president omar al—bashir came into power, he toppled a military ruler, and he himself was in the military, so the military had been entrenched in the politics, the running of the affairs of sudan. this is particularly why

we are seeing protests going on in sudan because people say they are really tired of the military being in power. the demonstrations you have seen, even just last week, they have been calling on the military to immediately cede power to a civillian group and go back to their army barracks. there are a lot of talks are ongoing about the restructuring of the military because they are entrenched notjust any politics, but also in the running of the economic affairs of the country, so that is the reason why there is so much push for them to leave power. to give us a better idea of what we currently know is going on in sudan, mohanad hashim from bbc africa is in our newsroom. what do we know? what we know this afternoon is — what do we know? what we know this afternoon is that _ what do we know? what we know this afternoon is that intense _ what do we know? what we know this afternoon is that intense fighting - afternoon is that intense fighting is taking place in the sudanese

capital, khartoum, which is located in north—east africa. it has been exchanging a lot of tension in the last few days. what we know is that the fighting started in southern khartoum, in this area here. if i can take you through the map, you can take you through the map, you can see there is the airport. the fighting started south of khartoum, and materialised in the airport when and materialised in the airport when a convoy of rss were seen down the runway. they opened fire in several areas, in this district here and near the republican palace somewhere around here. it has been reported that there is fighting also across the river, on the other side, where that clip you played from the radio and television, which is based across here. all these firefights that are taking place are giving us a very conflicting picture, because on one side you have the rss putting out statements saying they are in

control of key plays like the republican palace and the airport, but then you have the sudanese armed forces also issuing statements in the last couple of hours saying they are in control. the commander of the rapid support forces, general mohamed hamdan dagalo, give a very strange interview to the qatari owned aljazeera tv, where he accused the commander of the military, abdel fattah al burhan, of being a traitor and a dog, and that the fighting would continue. there has been footage shown of general abdel fattah al burhan being flanked in what appears as a situation room, looking at footage of how this operation has been going. i've spoken to people who were stranded in that airport when the rss came ——

when the rapid support forces came, and we have seen footage on social media of destroyed aircraft on the airport's runway, so at the moment it is a very volatile situation, and it is a very volatile situation, and it is a very volatile situation, and it is not clear who is coming on top. we must say, the sudanese armed forces have a bigger personnel force. in addition, they control the airforce which seems force. in addition, they control the air force which seems to be playing air force which seems to be playing a decisive role in the way this current confrontation might go. thank you very much that context. i would briefly like to take us out to international reaction. we have heard from the us secretary of state, antony blinken, he has made some comments on this. i wonder if you could tell us how important it is for the international community, how it is regarded, for them to voice their upset at what has taken

place when we consider the regional security and the de—stability, the instability that this could result in. i instability that this could result in. ., �* ~' instability that this could result in. ., �* ~ ., ., in. i don't think there are two minds within _ in. i don't think there are two minds within the _ in. i don't think there are two | minds within the international community, right now sudan is in the worst—case scenario situation. this conflagration the army and the rapid support forces, people are warned about it for years. they warrant since omar al—bashir was ousted in 2019. however, for some time that abdel fattah al burhan was trying to maintain peace between their armed forces and the rapid support forces. with the trust broken down, i have heard from some of my sources in khartoum that both generals have their telephones off, suggesting that these generals do not want to be engaging with the region or the international community. however, if the united states and secretary blinken has spoken to general abdel

fattah al burhan earlier this week, and the general gave assurances that they wouldn't go down the confrontation route, now we are there. more generals have been making —— both generals are we making —— both generals are we making promises and have reneged on them several times. many people in khartoum are setting this down, they want to see what happens at the end of the day. for them, there is complete opposition to any military rule again. complete opposition to any military rule aaain. ., ~ complete opposition to any military rule aaain. . ~ i. complete opposition to any military rule aaain. ., ~' ,, , complete opposition to any military rule aain. ., ~' , . a man has been arrested injapan after he appeared to throw a smoke bomb at the country's prime minister. the man was held by security guards after a loud explosion at a local campaign event in the city of wakayama, where fumio kishida was giving a speech. our tokyo correspondent shaimaa khalil has the details — and a warning her report does contain some flash photography. chaos among the crowd as a young man

is wrestled by security and pinned to the ground. then this. explosion. smoke fills the air after a loud explosion, with screaming bystanders scrambling to flee the scene. this is how a speech by the prime minister fumio kishida was interrupted. he was taken to safety unharmed. no other injuries were reported. but those who came to see him fled in fear. translation: something flew over our head. - we ran as fast as we could. and about ten seconds later, we heard a loud noise. my child started crying. it was shocking. my heart is still pounding hard, it has not stopped. police say a man has been arrested and identified as 24—year—old ryuji kimura. his motivation is unclear. shortly after, a defiant mr kishida addressed a crowd in another

location and said this should not disrupt the electoral process. translation: we are in the middle of an important election _ in our country, and together with you all, we have to carry on. violent attacks are extremely rare injapan. this is one of the safest countries in the world, with very strict gun laws. but the smoke bomb incident comes less than a year after the assassination of the former prime minister shinzo abe. since then, there has been heightened security around politicians, but also a heightened sense of nervousness. injuly last year, a young man stood very closely behind shinzo abe as he was speaking at a political event before shooting him with a home—made gun. in today's attack, the assailant appeared to be in the middle of the crowd as he threw the suspected smoke bomb. you can see him here holding an unidentified metal device.

mr kishida is safe and has continued the campaign trail events. but questions will be asked about why he was in such a vulnerable spot only a few months after his predecessor was assassinated. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, tokyo. joining me now is shihoko goto — she's deputy director of the asia programme at the wilson centre think tank. first of all, what are your thoughts on yet another security issue here with the japanese leader? weill. with the japanese leader? well, first of all. _ with the japanese leader? well, first of all, there _ with the japanese leader? well, first of all, there is _ with the japanese leader? well, first of all, there is a _ with the japanese leader? well, first of all, there is a collective l first of all, there is a collective sigh of relief that not only is the prime minister fumio kishida safe, but all of those who are in this venue, they are all safe as well. at the same time, it does pose two questions. one is, what has the

japanese security structure learned from the assassination of prime minister shinzo abe, less than a year ago. they say that stringent measures have been taken, but how it was this actually allowed to happen in the first place? secondly, as we look forward, japan is hosting the g7 summit meeting in may, and there will be a lot of not only the leaders from the world's richest countries, but a lot ofjournalists and a lot of people from all over japan and the world. how canjapan actually safeguard the security and safety of all of this forthcoming? there are a lot of questions to be answered, and a lot of introspection, and a lot of training that really needs to come out of this. , u, , that really needs to come out of this. , . . , , this. indeed, because if we 'ust looked at recent i this. indeed, because if we 'ust looked at recent pictures h this. indeed, because if wejust looked at recent pictures of - this. indeed, because if wejust looked at recent pictures of us| looked at recent pictures of us president biden in ireland, he

virtually had a ring of security guards, even in a very civilian and very happy atmosphere. if you look very happy atmosphere. if you look very closely, he was surrounded by security guards whilst he was holding up his phone, taking those selfies. what does that mean for the g7 meeting? what are they doing wrong when it comes to campaigning? you raise the question, what sort of things have been discussed? when it is a domestic— things have been discussed? when it is a domestic campaign _ things have been discussed? when it is a domestic campaign and - things have been discussed? when it is a domestic campaign and there - things have been discussed? when it is a domestic campaign and there is l is a domestic campaign and there is so much premium on having face time and actual physical contact with the voters, there is going to be a reconsideration of that. we haven't actually seen that after the assassination of prime minister shinzo abe. surprisingly, security injapan, from a non—security expert perspective, it has not been intensified. it is still quite easy to go into government agencies, and the japanese parliament, etc. on the international stage, when global

leaders come, of course i didn't's entourage will expect a very high level of security —— joe biden�*s entourage, and japan will really have to adhere to those standards as well. the people who actually stopped and pinned down the attacker was some of the fishermen actually in the audience, rather than the secret service people, who are supposed to be guarding fumio kishida. that is also another thing to bear in mind. it is kishida. that is also another thing to bear in mind.— to bear in mind. it is going to be interesting _ to bear in mind. it is going to be interesting to _ to bear in mind. it is going to be interesting to see _ to bear in mind. it is going to be interesting to see what - to bear in mind. it is going to be interesting to see what happens| to bear in mind. it is going to be l interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks, but thank you very much indeed, from the wilson centre think tank. president emmanuel macron has signed his controversial pension reform into law. the reforms, which raise the minimum retirement age to 64, cleared their final legal hurdle

when the constitutional council — france's highest legal authority — ruled in favour of the change. joe inwood reports from paris. there is still a police presence outside the constitutional council here in france, in paris and that is because that building is where one of the most significant decisions in modern french political history was made. there, a body of french grandees decided that the controversial pension reforms of president emmanuel macron, meaning that french people would work until 64 not 62, were in line with the constitution. i was in the crowds just down the road when that news of the announcement came through and it was a chorus of boos and hisses, there was a real anger there and that is when the trouble started earlier this evening. i can still smell on my clothes the burning of the bins and the flares that were going off. the protestors, their plan was to try to get here but they haven't been able to because of a very, very heavy police presence. there were baton charges, hundreds,

thousands of french police trying thousands of gendarmes, french police trying to keep them away from this area but that doesn't mean it has been a peaceful night here in paris. i have just been watching videos of live fire is being set off around the city as the protesters express their anger about these reforms. but i think at the moment that's all they are able to do, is to express anger rather than change them because tonight's decision means that the reforms probably will go through and french people in the future will have to work to an older age. now with news of saturday's football matches — and the world's most famous horse race — here's olly foster. newcastle's champions league ambitions have been dented after losing 3—0 at aston villa. jacob ramsey gave villa the lead afterjust ten minutes before ollie watkins' second half double sealed the three points,

making it 11 goals in 12 games for the striker. it's a fifth win in a row for unai emery�*s side, who are now six points behind fourth—placed manchester united. newcastle, for now, remain in third. i think we were off our best levels from today. from the start again, we weren't where we needed to be. aston villa are a team in good form. today is probably the first step we have had in terms of overall level of the season. we have to react very quickly. —— the first dip. indie season. we have to react very quickly. -- the first dip. we are roud of quickly. -- the first dip. we are proud of our — quickly. -- the first dip. we are proud of our work, _ quickly. -- the first dip. we are proud of our work, the - quickly. -- the first dip. we are proud of our work, the players | quickly. -- the first dip. we are i proud of our work, the players and sopporters, — proud of our work, the players and supporters, we have done a clean sheet, _ supporters, we have done a clean sheet, the — supporters, we have done a clean sheet, the best challenge we have had in _ sheet, the best challenge we have had in our— sheet, the best challenge we have had in our way was today, and we did it. confirmation of that score and the latest

from the afternoon kick—offs. chelsea have a goal. they've taken the lead against brighton, a heavily deflected conor gallagher strike. frank lampard is still looking for his first win on his return to the chelsea dugout on an interim basis. everton are only out of the bottom three on goal difference and are at home to fulham. spurs would move back into the top four with a win over bournemouth. that game was delayed because bournemouth were stuck in traffic. and later on dean smith takes charge of relegation—threatened leicester city — but they're up against champions manchester city. great britain are out of the billiejean king cup already 2—0 down, harriet dart had to beat caroline garcia to keep their tie alive against france in coventry. after losing the first set 6—1 she saved two match points

on her way to taking the second set 7—6, but garcia proved too strong in the decider, taking it 6—1 to win the tie. for all the other results, go to the bbc sport website. snooker�*s world championship is under way in sheffield. ronnie o'sullivan has started his title defence and leads chinese debutant pang junxu 6—3 heading into the final session at the crucible. he is seeking an eighth world title, which would be a record in the modern era. let's take you live to the crucible, at the table right now is the 2010 champion, neil robertson, who is playing another debutant. he has won the couple of frames. that the opening couple of friends. he is going well in the

fourth frame. he is 3—0 up. and that's all the sport for now. nurses in england will escalate their strike action in the coming weeks, after they turned down the latest government offer aimed at resolving their long—running pay dispute. more than half of members voting in a royal college of nursing ballot rejected the proposal of a 5% pay rise, and one—off bonus. it isa it is a complicated picture, as we had them rejecting that first pay increase, but then we had another union, unison, who voted to accept that 5% pay increase. you may have a situation going forward for a star from the royal college of nursing, who were due to stage another walk—out at the end of this month,

their shifts may be filled by staff from the unison union, who may step in. they have accepted the pay offer. it is all very difficult for nhs bosses to calculate the effect of this, but they say what the nhs in england needs is a period of stability, and now there will be even more uncertainty. nhs providers, which speaks for hospital trusts like the one i am at today in london, they say, ultimately, that the strike action that is going to be held in the coming weeks is going to be a real challenge, because what is going to be different this time is going to be different this time is that nurses from the royal couege is that nurses from the royal college of nursing who work in emergency departments and intensive care units and cancer care are going to walk out this time as well. cover is going to have to be found for them, and that may not be easy to do. some real challenges ahead, and real concerns about how the nhs are going to cope with the salt. just to

remind you that you can get in touch with me on social media via twitter. this is bbc news. hello. whilst there's a bit of rain in this forecast, the emphasis is on something much drier through the weekend and into next week. and for many of us this afternoon, we'll see some good spells of sunshine. the overnight rain has cleared away from east anglia and southeast england, but in its wake we could see some showers developing here through the afternoon and out to the west, this bank of cloud will be extending its way gradually eastwards through this afternoon and overnight, eventually bringing some rain into northern ireland as we head towards the end of the day. but for many, dry, some good spells of sunshine. watch out for those showers across east anglia and south—east england. some of them could be heavy and thundery. it will be feeling warmer than it did yesterday. temperatures generally in the low to mid—teens across the uk and there'll be some good spells of sunshine to end the day across many central and eastern areas. then overnight, this band of cloud

and increasingly patchy rain starts to work its way gradually eastwards, bringing some mist and some hill fog across western areas. further east will hold on to some clearer skies for longer as the showers fade. this is where we'll see some of the lowest temperatures, particularly for east anglia and south—east england could get down to two or three celsius, generally between five and eight celsius, the overnight low. so, this is this area of high pressure which is going to be dominating the scene as we head through sunday and then into next week. but we'll also be starting to pull in some milder air from the west and the southwest. so it will start to feel a little bit less cold than it has done recently. but with easterly winds, some of those eastern coasts will still be on the cool side. a lot of cloud to start the day on sunday, some mist and some hill fog, some drizzle as well. that will tend to ease through the day and become confined mainly to western coasts. should see a few spells of sunshine developing and where we do see that sunshine coming through, we could get temperatures up

to between 16 and 18 celsius potentially. but still, as i mentioned, on the cool side for some eastern coast with that breeze off the sea. as we head into monday, well, another fairly cloudy start. we'll start to see that cloud thinning and breaking through the day as some drier air starts to push in from the east. so the best of the sunshine will be across more eastern areas on monday. but bear in mind again, we've still got that cool wind off the north sea. so some eastern coasts will be feeling a little bit cooler, but for many, feeling warmer than it has done recently. and this set up stays with us as we head through tuesday and wednesday. we're just on the edge of this high pressure. so a definite breeze that we will start to feel, particularly again for eastern coast. but the emphasis is on a lot of dry weather, with some spells of sunshine and temperatures a little bit higher than they have been recently.

this is bbc news. the headlines: heavy fighting is taking place in sudan — as the army clashes with paramilitary forces, in the capital khartoum. a man is pinned down and arrested by security staff in japan as the prime minister, fumio kishida, is rushed to safety after an explosion. his predecessor, shinzo abe, was assassinated last year while giving a campaign speech. france's president, emmanuel macron, signs into law his government's controversial pension reforms, despite months of protests. the world's most famous horse race — the grand national — sets off shortly.

animal rights activists have been protesting outside the aintree course, in liverpool.