live from london. this is bbc news. at least three people have been killed in sudan, during clashes between the army and paramilitary forces, in the capital khartoum. a man is arrested, and the japanese prime minister rushed to safety, following an explosion at a campaign event. the world's most famous horse race — the grand national — sets off shortly, amid animal rights protests. the french president visits notre dame cathedral, nearly destroyed by fire four years ago. the restoration is expected to be finished on schedule.

hello, i'm lukwesa burak. sudan's army has claimed it's in control of the airport and presidential palace in khartoum after a day of fighting with paramilitary forces. at least 3 people are reported to have died in the clashes. 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 a return to talks — which are meant to restore civilian rule. the us secretary of state antony blinken has described the situation as fragile. 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.

gunshots as you see, the picture then froze and a short while 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, over the timetable for the change — and who will be in charge. live now to isma'il kushkush, an independentjournalist in khartoum. thank you forjoining us here in the programme. iwonder thank you forjoining us here in the programme. i wonder if you could just update us with what is going on at the moment.— just update us with what is going on at the moment. ,, ., , , ., , at the moment. sudanese people woke u . at the moment. sudanese people woke u- this at the moment. sudanese people woke up this morning — at the moment. sudanese people woke up this morning to _ at the moment. sudanese people woke up this morning to the _ at the moment. sudanese people woke up this morning to the sounds - at the moment. sudanese people woke up this morning to the sounds of- up this morning to the sounds of heavy firing between the forces. firing has been taking place in major strategic centres around the city, republican palace, khartoum international airport, the sudan tv station... report so far that three people have been killed, a number of people have been killed, a number of

people have been injured. from what i hear, i expect the numbers to go higher today. i hear, i expect the numbers to go highertoday. it i hear, i expect the numbers to go higher today. it is a saturday, it is a holiday, it is ramadan, we are one hour away from sunset. electricity has been cut off in some parts of the city. i'm not sure where this is going, but it doesn't look positive. this is the worst case scenario, i think, and look positive. this is the worst case scenario, ithink, and it look positive. this is the worst case scenario, i think, and it is what many sudanese feared during this period, the last three years of hopeful transition to democracy. i was going to ask you that question. for many sudanese, their heart must sink to see how things are unravelling at the moment. talk to me about the conversations people are having. me about the conversations people are havinu. , me about the conversations people are havin. , .,, me about the conversations people are havinu. , .,, ., , . are having. this was not unexpected. i think many — are having. this was not unexpected. i think many believe _ are having. this was not unexpected. i think many believe that _ are having. this was not unexpected. i think many believe that something l i think many believe that something like this could happen. there was hope that some agreement would happen. forthe

hope that some agreement would happen. for the past few weeks, there have been talks about the agreement that was supposed to be signed earlier this month that kept on getting delayed. the past few days, differences between the rapid support forces and the army have emerged. many observers have been aware that there were differences in key issues, particularly the issue of command, as the rapid support forces were supposed to be merged into the army per the agreement. there were some escalation between the two groups in the northern town yesterday before, but now we have seen the fighting to khartoum. last seen the fighting to khartoum. last week when the _ seen the fighting to khartoum. last week when the first of the deadlines were passed i spoke to three sudanese women as part of the different bbc programme, and they

were discussing the very real experiences of living under such uncertainty they also expressed their potential desire to leave. does that seem like a very real scenario now? how safe are people feeling? scenario now? how safe are people feelin: ? . , scenario now? how safe are people feelin? . , , feeling? that is exactly the sentiment _ feeling? that is exactly the sentiment throughout - feeling? that is exactly the sentiment throughout the i feeling? that is exactly the - sentiment throughout the country. people have been seeking ways to leave the country for the past months, even more so with the coup of october 25, 2021. the transition to democracy, more and more people have become doubtful and whether that would happen, and people are looking for ways to leave the country. this was the absolute worst case scenario, fighting between these two military groups, the army and the rapid support forces. we are seeing that happening in the

capital. i know the airport is closed at the moment, but i am sure that there are many people who will be seeking to leave the country. this is a struggle for power, essentially, isn't it? it is all about who is going to leave the country? —— lead the country. it is country? -- lead the country. it is about that, _ country? -- lead the country. it is about that. it _ country? -- lead the country. it is about that, it is _ country? -- lead the country. it is about that, it is about _ country? —— lead the country. it 3 about that, it is about other issues that have been sidelined during this transition, issues of accountability, ofjustice for transition, issues of accountability, of justice for war crimes committed over the past decade in sudan about dismantling the old regime, access to economic power that certain military centres have. there are a number of issues, but this very issue of command and the merging of the rapid support

forces into the army, i think, was a major issue that has caused this fighting that we are seeing today. thank you very much for painting the picture of what is taking place in sudan at the moment. this is bbc news. 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.

earlier, i spoke to shihoko goto — the asia programme deputy director at the wilson centre think tank. she gave her reaction to the developments. well, first of all, there is a collective sigh of relief that not only is prime minister 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 abe, less than a year ago? they say that stringent measures have been taken, but how 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 can japan actually safeguard the security and safety of all of those who are coming? 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. indeed, because if wejust 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 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 raised the question, what sort of things have been discussed? when it 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 abe. surprisingly, security injapan, from a non—security expert perspective, it has not really 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 biden's entourage will expect a very high level of security, and japan will really have to adhere to those standards as well.

in today's incident, the people who actually stopped and pinned down the attacker was some of the fishermen actually in the audience, rather than the secret service who are supposed to be guarding kishida. let's get some of the day's other news now. the polish government says it has decided to ban imports of grain and a number of other food products from ukraine. farmers in poland have complained that large quantities of ukrainian agricultural imports have hit the price of locally produced food. scientists in london say remnants of ancient viruses that live inside human dna, can help the body fight cancer. reseachers at the francis crick institute say the discovery could help them develop vaccines, which could lead to improved treatment and prevention of cancer. germany's last remaining nuclear power plants will be switched off later. berlin pledged to quit nuclear power definitively after the 2011 fukushima

disaster injapan. anti—nuclear campaigners have welcomed the move, describing it as a "triumph." but energy prices remain high in the country. i put it to our correspondent in berlin, jenny hill, that this has been a controversial topic in germany for a number of years. when those three remaining nuclear plants are disconnected — it'll all happen just before midnight tonight — that will end 60 years of nuclear energy production in this country. and for the people around me here, that is a cause for celebration. some of them have campaigned for decades for this moment. they argue that nuclear energy production is unsafe, they worry about accidents, they worry about the storage of radioactive waste, and they say the money invested in this sector would be better spent on more sustainable forms of energy in the future. but this is also a very controversial moment for germany. just the other side

of the brandenburg gate, another set of demonstrators is gathering. they believe germany is making a huge mistake. they're worried about energy security. bear in mind that today's shutdown was already postponed for several months as germany, which was heavily dependent on russian gas, scrambled to find alternative sources of power. so there's a huge amount of controversy here. it will take years, possibly decades, for those power plants to be fully decommissioned. it's heavily specialised work, of course. and even as that work gets under way, germany's politicians are still arguing amongst themselves over whether they've made the right decision. now, with news of saturday's football matches, 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 points for them making it 11 goals in 12 games for the striker. it's a fifth win in a row for unai emery�*s side, they are sixth, six points behind fourth—placed manchester united. newcastle remain in third. i think we were off our best levels today, right from the start of the game we were not where we needed to be. aston villa are a good team, in good form, and we never got going. todayis good form, and we never got going. today is properly the first dip we have had this season in terms of overall level, it can happen over the course of the season, we have to react quickly. are really proud of our players _ react quickly. are really proud of our players and _ react quickly. are really proud of our players and supporters, - react quickly. are really proud of our players and supporters, and| our players and supporters, and today— our players and supporters, and today is — our players and supporters, and today is the match where we are doing _ today is the match where we are doing a — today is the match where we are doing a clean sheet, and winning, and the _

doing a clean sheet, and winning, and the challenge we have had in our way was _ and the challenge we have had in our way was today, and we did it. there are five premier league matches under way, chelsea took the lead against brighton, but they have equalised. fulham have taken the lead against everton. alice won a picked southampton, southampton rock bottom of the premier league. wolves are beating brentford. that tottenham — bournemouth game still at half time. it kicked off 15 minutes late because bournemouth were stuck in traffic getting to the ground. later, the champions, manchester city face leicester who are in the bottom three. busy day of football in europe as well, napoli looking to maintain their sixteen—point gap at the top of serie a with victory over hellas verona, that kicks off injust under an hour. and we're coming to the end of the afternoon kick—offs

in the bundesliga — bayern munich set to remain two in the bundesliga — bayern munich are currently two points clear at the top of the table, currently drawing 1—1 against hoffenheim while dortmund drawing 2—2 with stuttgart. bayern are without sadio mane today, suspended after his altercation with leroy sane during their defeat to manchester city in the champions league on tuesday. great britain are out of the billiejean king cup. losing to france 3—0, harriet dart had to beat caroline garcia to keep their tie alive 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. they go through to the finals, great britain dropping to a relegation play—off. you can get all the results from the other nations on the bbc sport website.

snooker�*s world championship is underway in sheffield. ronnie o'sullivan has started his title defence. he's playing chinese debutant pang junxu in the first round at the crucible and he leads 6—3 heading into the final session. o'sullivan, is seeking an eighth world title — which would be a record in the modern era. it's his 31st consecutive appearance at the world championships, which is a record. and that's all the sport for now. let's get more now on the grand national — because police say three people have been arrested at the aintree racecourse in liverpool. they said she was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance in connection with potential co—ordinated disruption activities at the event. a spokesperson said that authorities were aware of plans for a protest. she is currently in custody.

an estimated 600 million people will watch the grand national race on tv around the world. our reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. the grand national is one of the world's most famous horse races. it is the 175th race today, although it actually dates back to the 1800s. the first winner was called lottery, and indeed, it is a bit of a lottery to pick a winner. however an estimated 30 million adults in the uk will place bets worth £250 million on today's race. however an estimated 13 million adults in the uk will place bets worth £250 million on today's race. it takes place here, at aintree racecourse, which, if i zoom out, is near liverpool in the united kingdom. what makes this race so special? it is two things. first of all, the number of horses and riders that take part. up to a0 will start the race today. the riders wear a range of colours so you can see them on the course. the second thing is the fences.

there are 30 jumps in the race. some of the jumps are famous, including the chair. this is the highest. it is five foot two, or around a metre and a half. the other is bechers brook. it is also these that make it controversial, along with the length of the race. over the years, dozens of horses have died, two lasy year, over the years, dozens of horses have died, two last year, and animal rights activists are planning protests. organisers in 2012 changed the course to make it safer but since then, four horses have died. this lady is rachel blackmore. she made history in 2021, becoming the first female jockey to win the race, and she is one of the favourites to win this year, too. there is one horse associated with the race. red rum. back in the 1970s, he won the race three times. no horse has done that since. as a tribute, his remains can be found at the winning post in aintree.

it's four years since the devastating fire at notre dame cathedral in paris, when the roof and spire were consumed in flame. for a time it looked like the entire building might have been destroyed. when president macron promised to have the cathedral rebuilt and re—opened by next year, many thought he was being wildly optimistic — but as hugh schofield reports, the operation is advancing pretty much on schedule. four years ago, the world watched aghast as fire devoured notre dame. and the terrible climax — the spire of the cathedral crashing to its destruction. the spire has become a symbol, which at a site in eastern france, they've been rebuilding exactly as the original. thousands of oaks from ancient forests have been felled and shaped, and now the first part, the massive base is ready for assembly — bang on time. we have said we will do this in five years,

so our reputation is at stake. we must unite all our efforts, all our knowledge, all our savoir faire to reach this goal. inside the cathedral, it's still a sci—fi film decor of metal. scaffolding reaches up to the vast hole which was once the roof. but everywhere, craftsmen and women are at their work of architectural healing. one of the big tasks has been treating the stained glass. like the spire, these windows are not in fact mediaeval but 19th century. unlike the spire, they were saved. firefighters knew not to spray them with water or they'd have shattered. the disaster, for them, ironically, is an opportunity to remove 200 years of dirt. translation: it's a human grease from the breath - of millions of worshippers, plus the soot from the candles and the stains left by condensation. it has all left its mark.

it may still look like an unimaginably complicated task, but in fact the reconstruction of notre dame has been advancing much quicker than the doubters ever thought was possible. just in the last few days, the base of the spire which we saw being assembled earlier, has been transported here to paris and hoisted into place. soon they'll be building upwards, and by the end of the year, it's confidently expected that there'll be a new feature on the paris skyline — or rather a very old one, the spire of notre dame. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. if you thought covid lockdowns were tough — consider this. a spanish endurance athlete has emerged from a cave, after spending 500 days with no human contact — in what's thought to be a world record. beatriz flamini entered the cave 70 metres underground in granada when the world was still in the grip

of the coronavirus pandemic. she is 50. we've had some heavy showers developing through the day in parts of east yorkshire, is like anglia and so england. this cloud has been gradually working its way eastwards, turning it sky grey and bring patchy rain to northern ireland and the western isles. that will continue to boost its way eastwards through this evening and overnight. light rain and drizzle will become increasingly patchy, and tend to fizzle out. clear skies at first across eastern counties, cher was fading here, we could see some mist and fog under those clear skies, and it will be our chilly night, temperatures down to two or three celsius. temperatures generally holding up to between four or eight celsius.

underneath this area of high pressure on sunday we start to pull in more of a southerly wind, so a milder air direction, in more of a southerly wind, so a milderair direction, pushing in more of a southerly wind, so a milder air direction, pushing the milder air direction, pushing the milder air direction, pushing the milder air across the uk, but also a moisture direction, so we will see much more cloud through sunday, and a fairly grey start. miss dando cloud for the hills. early mist and hog for eastern coastal counties will tend to extend north and west through the day. we will see some spells of sunshine coming through the cloud, and when we do, temperatures rising to 16, may be 17 celsius. through sunday evening, it is a fairly quiet night, but once again fairly cloudy. that will keep the temperatures up a little bit higher. forthe the temperatures up a little bit higher. for the week ahead, it is looking mainly dry, very little if any rain across the uk. some good spells of sunshine, and for many away from eastern coasts, with the breeze of the sea it will be feeling a bit warmer. there is no monday shapes up once again we are under

this area of high pressure giving the atlantic france at bay. some mist and some work, particularly for western areas. for many, it is a mainly dry day, and once we got rid of the cloud through the morning, we should see some spells of sunshine through the afternoon. that will help temperatures quite widely into the low mid—teens, if not 16 or 17 celsius in the best of sunshine. as i mentioned earlier, for much of the week ahead it is looking mostly dry with some spells of sunshine, and what has been a cold and wet week, things are looking a bit warmer too.

this is bbc news. the headlines. at least three people have been killed in sudan — in heavy fighting between the army and 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. 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. the french president has visited notre—dame cathedral — which was nearly destroyed by fire,

four years ago.