live from london, this is bbc news. police make almost 120 arrests in relation to disruption at the grand national horse race. earlier, animal rights activists stormed the track delaying the race. when the race got under way it was won by core—rack rambler, ridden by derek fox. at least three people have been killed in sudan in fighting between the army and paramilitary forces in the capital, khartoum. the british government is banning the construction of the new so—called smart motorways after concerns about costs and safety.

hello if you're watching in the uk or around the world, i'm frankie mccamley. 118 people have been have been arrested at one of the most prestigious horse races in the world, the grand national. they were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and public nuisance offences in relation to disruption at the grand national. protesters made their way onto the track at aintree, which had delayed the race. animal rights activists had warned they would try to disrupt the world —famous race. a large number of police had been deployed to the ground and went onto the course to remove the protesters. the start of the race was delayed for 1h minutes whilst the group were cleared, but it did eventually go ahead and was won by corach rambler, ridden by the jockey derek fox. our correspondent, sharon barbour, spent the day at aintree racecourse. it's been a day of real drama.

it began with the protesters which threatened to disrupt the most important race in the calendar, due to start at 5:15pm. everybody said they could not possibly, there were so many police surrounding the race as well. protesters arrived, they sat down on the ground, we spoke to them, they said they were determined to disrupt the race, but still it was not believed it was possible. well, they did, the race was stopped for 15 minutes as they go onto the track, nine protesters were arrested. a bit about that organisation, it was until a few days ago animal extinction,, we don't know how many were here, but certainly they got onto the track and managed somehow to get through

security and disrupt the race that is so important, not only here in liverpool, whether income is about £60 million, but right around the world. 500 million, thejockey club, say watch the race and 140 countries, so certainly, even though the race got under way for the activists, it was a success in raising what they say are issues around animal welfare. certainly there will be a lot of questions, not only about security and what they can do to now protect that race, but also questions about what they can do perhaps about the safety of the horses taking part. dene stansall is a horse racing consultant at animal aid. hejoins us now from scunthorpe, north lincolnshire. first of all, what's your reaction to the protests today? do you think they make their point? was this the right way

to going about doing that? i'm not here to talk on behalf of the group but i'm here to represent animal aid. a horse broke his neck at the first fence, he laid there, he was dead, that the issue today. another horse was killed earlier on in the afternoon. it is the horses thatis in the afternoon. it is the horses that is the concern of people, whether they are protesting or such as myself who have been to many protests over the years. we are concerned about the horses in the treatment they get in this race, it is absolutely shocking that in this day and age we should put horses through this chaos of the race we call the grand national. if this is british heritage, britain should hang its head in shame. horses today suffer, they die, horses today have gone back to their training yard is injured, this is the key thing

today, and this race should be confined to history books, one in 58 horses who start a season in racing uttered by the end of it and the grand national is the pinnacle of that, 200 horses a year die in british racecourses, that has come to an end, we can't keep treating horses in this way. this has to come to an end and if people want to take action in various ways that's up to them and from our point of view we want to get the message out that horses are dying and injured, and it has got to come to an end. i do horses are dying and injured, and it has got to come to an end. i do hear our has got to come to an end. i do hear your message. _ has got to come to an end. i do hear your message, but _ has got to come to an end. i do hear your message, but do _ has got to come to an end. i do hear your message, but do you _ has got to come to an end. i do hear your message, but do you think thatj your message, but do you think that is the right way for protesters to go about it, to stop an international global race? individuals are free to take their own action, to do whatever they want. clearly, their concern is about the horses, just as my concern is about the horses, and a growing number of people out there in britain are turning against the grand national, they want to see an

end to this race as well, what we need is some political motivation from politicians to actually stand up from politicians to actually stand up to the industry and self—regulation of the welfare of horses away from the race industry because it is failing horses on a huge scale. that relationship between racing and horses is broken and something has to be done about it. , ., w it. those involved in the racing circuit say _ it. those involved in the racing circuit say they _ it. those involved in the racing circuit say they put _ it. those involved in the racing circuit say they put animal - it. those involved in the racing . circuit say they put animal welfare at the heart of what they do and they always have people on standby to check on the horses, what do you think needs to be done in order to make races like this are safe so they could go ahead, or do you think they could go ahead, or do you think they should not go ahead at all? i don't think they should go ahead at all, and most of that is reactive. vets on the racecourse are just patching up injuries, so that's the reactive something, we need to see a proactive approach where racing stands up to these horses and says, enough says, enough is enough, the grand national is killing horses

every year, to dead last year, dead again this year, it is consistent, despite the changes that have gone on, i spoke in parliament back in 2011, asking for changes to the fences, and that did actually happen, but it is still a lethal killer to horses. what we have got to see is horses put first, entertainment and gambling should be put to the back. and what we should not see on our screens and on the radio and in newspapers is the promotion of this race because i would put it like bull—fighting in spain. it is a blood sport, it has to come to an end.— spain. it is a blood sport, it has to come to an end. thank you. thank ou for to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining _ to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining us _ to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining us here _ to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining us here on _ to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining us here on bbc- to come to an end. thank you. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. j 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 three 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 uk foreign secretary, james cleverly, said the violence must stop and called on the sudanese leadership to do all they can to restrain their troops. the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, has described the situation as fragile. major parties in khartoum some weeks ago reached a very important framework agreement on how to proceed with a transition to civilian government. and there's been real progress in trying to move that forward. i spoke to general burhan just a couple of days ago on that very topic. and there are still some remaining,

important remaining issues that need to be dealt with. but i think there's a real opportunity to move forward on the agreed framework. and certainly that's what we're strongly supporting. it's a fragile situation. there are other actors that may be pushing against that progress. but this is a real opportunity to finally carry forward the civilian—led transition and one that we and other countries are trying to bolster. to give us a better idea of what we currently know is going on in sudan, mohanad hashim from the bbc world service is in our newsroom. bring us up—to—date with what we know has happened today. it has bring us up-to-date with what we know has happened today. it has been a ve lona know has happened today. it has been a very long day — know has happened today. it has been a very long day and — know has happened today. it has been a very long day and fighting _ know has happened today. it has been a very long day and fighting is - a very long day and fighting is still ongoing. what we know is that

the situation that started in the north of the country has escalated today in the capital khartoum where if i can take you through this map, he we see this as the airport. early in the morning clashes started in the south of the capital, a convoy of vehicles moved into the airport in khartoum, there was really heavy gunfire in and around the airport, if i can show you here, you can see this around all the gas installations, the railway was attacked and the military headquarters next to it were attacked, and in the fighting quickly moved to around the republican palace here. now, this fighting has been going on with claims and counter claims coming from both sides about who was in control of the strategic assets, but just before coming on air, the army hasissued just before coming on air, the army has issued a statement saying they have now disbanded their support

forces, they are using different language, the spokesperson is calling it the militia, named after the commander. the commander of the rapid support force for his side has accused the head of the army general, he has called him a dog. he said he will go after the general. so the language between the two camps is very belligerent, the military seems to say they will not engage in negotiations with the rapid support forces until they completely surrender. while the picture and sound khartoum itself is confusing, the situation across the rest of the country is very unclear. it appears that for whatever reason the rapid support forces have been putting out a narrative through social media, suggesting that they

appear to be in control of various military locations. hours later, the military locations. hours later, the military will counter that narrative, so at the moment many sudanese in the capital khartoum are very stressed, watching this unfold, this literally has been the worst case scenario imaginable for the sudanese, and it has been apparent for the international community that these two generals, who have made their names during the infamous counter insurgency in the western region of sudan, the two generals are at loggerheads and they could not be interested with a democratic transition. at the moment the generals do not appear to be willing to engage in any talks with each other. ., ~' , ., , to engage in any talks with each other. ., ~ , ., , . to engage in any talks with each other. . ,, , ., , . ., other. thank you very much for brinuain other. thank you very much for bringing us _ other. thank you very much for bringing us up-to-date - other. thank you very much for bringing us up-to-date there. l a sudanese politician

and a spokesperson for the forces of freedom and change, a wide political coalition of civilian sudanese groups. could you just talk us through why you think this escalation has happened now?— you think this escalation has happened now? you think this escalation has ha ened now? , ., ., happened now? this escalation has ha--ened happened now? this escalation has happened because _ happened now? this escalation has happened because of _ happened now? this escalation has happened because of the _ happened now? this escalation hasj happened because of the ambitions happened now? this escalation has i happened because of the ambitions of the two generals, but anyhow this is against the political process going on, they said they would go to their barracks and now they are fighting. but we are civilians, as political forces, we never advocate such violence or using weapons for these political issues. so this makes it very hard for all sudanese people to imagine that we are going through a political process, so now we are in a very sad situation, and we are

saying that all violence must stop, we have to exercise wisdom to protect the sudanese people and civilians in casualties, many people in sudan now, they are not doing their life as usual, everything has stopped, and everything could be stopped, and everything could be stopped at any time, so it is not a preferred situation and i call is to stop this. figs preferred situation and i call is to sto this. �* , preferred situation and i call is to stothis. a , stop this. as you say there, people are losin: stop this. as you say there, people are losing their _ stop this. as you say there, people are losing their lives, _ stop this. as you say there, people are losing their lives, three - are losing their lives, three civilians have died so far. do you think there is a possibility of the political solution? mar; think there is a possibility of the political solution?— think there is a possibility of the political solution? may be when we are talkin: political solution? may be when we are talking right _ political solution? may be when we are talking right now, _ political solution? may be when we are talking right now, there - political solution? may be when we are talking right now, there seems| are talking right now, there seems to be no way, but anyhow for a long time we have to come to an end with a political solution. with a

dialogue or any kind, something like that, i mean the political solutions, so we have to think about political solutions, we do not want to slip into failure of the state or to slip into failure of the state or to lose everything, now sudan itself is in a very crucial situation where we may lose sudan itself, so our callers to stop guns and to restore whatever as quickly as possible. find whatever as quickly as possible. and we are hearing from foreign governments, we have heard from the us and the uk, calling for talks to continue, but also the arab states as well, egypt especially, what can other countries in the international community do to help the situation, if anything? firm; community do to help the situation, ifan hinu?�* , community do to help the situation, if anything?— if anything? any good intervention from the international _ if anything? any good intervention from the international society - if anything? any good intervention from the international society is i from the international society is welcome to stop war, war is not something to be hidden, it affects the whole region and of course we

need the wisdom from all around the world so that this walk and stop, at least this violence can stop today before tomorrow. and any good intervention of course will be welcomed. intervention of course will be welcomed-— intervention of course will be welcomed. ., ,, , ., , . intervention of course will be welcomed. ., ,, , . ., welcomed. thank you very much for “oininr us welcomed. thank you very much for joining us here _ welcomed. thank you very much for joining us here on _ welcomed. thank you very much for joining us here on bbc— welcomed. thank you very much for joining us here on bbc news - welcomed. thank you very much for joining us here on bbc news and . joining us here on bbc news and giving your insight into the situation in sudan.- giving your insight into the situation in sudan. here in the uk, the royal mail and the communication workers union have reached agreement over pay and employment terms. both parties issued statements on this — it's now expected that the agreement will be considered by the union's executive before it goes before the membership. the details of the proposed deal will be made public once it has been ratified by the union's executive committee — most likely next week. lizzy greenwood—hughes has all the sport.

hello, we're starting with the grand national — the world's most famous horse race which took place in liverpool today. the favourite — corach rambler was the winner for scottish trainer lucinda russel and jockey derek fox — six years after they teamed up to win with one for arthur. fox was only passed fit to ride this morning after a shoulder injury had kept him out for several weeks. but he kept corach rambler on track to win at 8—1. second was vanillier ahead of gaillard du mesnil in third and last year's winner noble yeats was fourth. rachel blackmore fiished last on ain't that a shame. but the race will also be remembered for a protest by animal rights activists which delayed the start by nearly a quater of an hour after some of the protesters got onto the course. 118 people were arrested at aintree. i was always in a prominent position. i did not run into too much trouble, corach is a very clever horse, he was able to navigate his way around easily. i

just thought i'd bide my time. over the moon. manchester city are nowjust three points behind leaders arsenal in the premier league after easing past leicester 3—1 at the etihad — their sixth league win in a row. two more from erling haaland means he has 32 league goals and equals mo salah's scoring record for a 38—game season. leicester remain second bottom. arsenal play tomorrow. this normally happens when you make a lot of substitutions. you should avoid it but sometimes it happens. after the champions league it's always difficult, we try to wrest the players and put a lot of energy in the last 15—20 minutes, but it was a deserved victory.

in the other games, aston villa beat newcastle, tottenham lost at home to brighton and there were wins for fulham, crystal palace and wolves. some important games across europe. real madrid have just kicked—off at cadiz as they look to eat into barcelona's 13 point lead in la liga. and in italy, there was rare slip—up by leaders napoli. they drew 0—0 at home to verona but still have a 14 point lead over lazio. inter milan can go above city rivals ac into fourth if they win at home to monza. that game isjust over half an hour in. and in germany, the top two bayern munich and borussia dortmund both drew their games, which allowed third placed rb leipzig to narrow the gap as they were the only winners of the day in the bundesliga. the world snooker championship is underway at sheffield's crucible theatre. the 2015 champion stuart bingham won five frames in a row to open up a 6—3 advantage over dave gilbert. they'll play to a finish tomorrow morning. elsewhere,

another former winner — australia's neil robertson — leads the chinese debutant by six frames to three. robertson won the title in 2010 but has not made a final since then. these are live pictures from the crucible, the defending champion ronnie 0'sullivan is playing his first round match to a finish. the rocket is going for a record eighth title in sheffield. he leads china's pang junx—u by seven frames to three. he said earlier he doesn't see what he can't win ten world titles. babar azam scored an unbeaten century as pakistan set new zealand 193 to win the second t20 international and level the series. his 101 came offjust 58 balls as they made 192 forfour. the kiwis are struggling to get the runs. and that's all

the sport for now. here in the uk the prime minister is to ban the construction of new smart—motorways which use technology to regulate speed and traffic flow on some of the uk's highways. live now to our correspondent, damien grammaticas. these motorways have been controversial for years, haven't they? controversial for years, haven't the ? , ., ., ., they? these are where you have had existin: they? these are where you have had existing stretches _ they? these are where you have had existing stretches of _ they? these are where you have had existing stretches of motorway - they? these are where you have had existing stretches of motorway in - existing stretches of motorway in the uk, the government looked to manage those better and get more traffic flowing and created various schemes using slowing down the speed limits in some sections but the most controversial bit was where they were using the area at the side of the motorway, the hard shoulder, where you could park up if you had a problem, turning that into a temporary lane or a permanent lean in some cases with cameras and

electronic screens to direct you when you could use those and tell you what the speed limits were. they had been concerns about the safety of that, there was a bbc investigation that reckoned 38 people had died in accidents on those stretches of smart motorway, so about four years ago the government announced a review into safety, then it announced it was pausing the construction of any new sections of these smart motorway is well that was happening, and what we now have today is the government saying that the 11 there are currently in building plans and three earmarked for the future are all going to be taken out of the current road building plans, so they will not go ahead as things stand. what does this mean for the existing smart motorways? here in the uk anyone who has driven on uk roads will know there are many around the country that are still ticking

along. country that are still ticking alonu. , , ._ along. they will stay. the figure i have seen — along. they will stay. the figure i have seen this _ along. they will stay. the figure i have seen this 400 _ along. they will stay. the figure i have seen this 400 miles - along. they will stay. the figure i have seen this 400 miles worth, | along. they will stay. the figure i - have seen this 400 miles worth, 10% of the uk motorway network, they have already been created, they will continue. the government says it will continue the project to improve safety on those stretches, and there will actually be two others nearing completion which will be finished. the government says this is all about responding to safety concerns and also saving money because these planned projects coming up, the 14 of them, £1 billion worth, but one thing they have also said, the information they have been putting out this evening, they will continue to monitor the public view of the safety of smart motorways, so the question i put this evening to the department for transport, does that mean this is actually an ongoing

look at what these are like and could at some point in the future these projects continue? they said not definitely, 2030 is as far as plans go, and no motorways will be built in that time. find plans go, and no motorways will be built in that time.— built in that time. and of course this news just _ built in that time. and of course this newsjust coming _ built in that time. and of course this newsjust coming in, - built in that time. and of course this newsjust coming in, but. built in that time. and of course | this newsjust coming in, but has there been any reaction from those who have been campaigning against these? we have spoken to families who have lost loved ones, blaming the smart motorways. figs who have lost loved ones, blaming the smart motorways.— the smart motorways. as you say, there has been _ the smart motorways. as you say, there has been some _ the smart motorways. as you say, there has been some very - the smart motorways. as you say, there has been some very vocal. there has been some very vocal campaigns, particularly by families who have had relatives who have died in accidents on these, there has been one, yes, a family whose eight—year—old son was killed who died in an accident on the m6 motorway in the uk, that was back in 2018. so that family have welcomed

this, they have campaigned long for safety improvements, and those are the ones that is why we are seeing those improvements happening now. but as you say, there has been widespread campaigns and i'm sure others will also welcome these as well. ., ~ others will also welcome these as well. . ,, , ., others will also welcome these as well. ., ~' , ., , others will also welcome these as well. . ,, i. , . others will also welcome these as well. . ,, , . , ., well. thank you very much, updating us there. 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. the 50 year—old spent her time exercising, painting, reading and knitting woolly hats. scientists monitored her but didn't make contact, gauging how she responded physically and mentally to the extreme social isolation.

you're watching bbc news. hello. we've had some heavy showers developing through the day across parts of east yorkshire, east anglia and south—east england. out to the west, this bank of cloud has been gradually working its way eastwards, turning the skies hazy across western areas and bringing some patchy light rain and drizzle into northern ireland and the western isles. and that will continue to slowly push its way eastwards through this evening and overnight. the light rain and drizzle will become increasingly patchy and, eventually, tend to fizzle out. some clearer skies at first across eastern counties, the showers fading here. but, equally, we could also see some mist and some fog under those clear skies, and it will be a chilly night for parts of east anglia and south—east england. temperatures perhaps down to two or three celsius. elsewhere, temperatures generally holding up to between four and eight celsius. 0n into sunday, and we're underneath this area of high

pressure, and we start to pull in more of a southerly wind. so a milderair direction, pushing that milder air across the uk. but also, a moister direction, so we will see much more cloud through sunday. and, actually, a fairly grey start for many on sunday. a lot of cloud out west, with some patchy rain and drizzle. mist and low cloud for the hills too. any early mist and fog for eastern coastal counties will tend to lift and, actually, we'll see some sunshine developing here, and that too will tend to extend north and westwards through the day. so we will see some spells of sunshine coming through the cloud and, where we do, temperatures rising to 16, maybe 17 celsius. so then through sunday evening, it's a fairly quiet night, but also, once again, a fairly cloudy night, so that will keep the temperatures up a little bit higher. and then, for the week ahead, well, it's looking mainly dry for most of us. very little, if any, rain across the uk. some good spells of sunshine. and actually, for many, away from eastern coasts, with the breeze off the sea, it will be feeling a litle bit warmer. so this is how monday shapes up. once again, we're under this

area of high pressure, keeping the atlantic fronts at bay. still a fair amount of cloud around on monday morning. some mist and some murk, particularly for western areas, and perhaps even still some drizzle through the day for the western isles and parts of north—west england. but for many, it's a mainly dry day. and, actually, once we've got rid of the cloud through the morning, we should see some spells of sunshine come the afternoon. and again, that will help temperatures quite widely into the low mid—teens, if not, 16 or 17 celsius in the best of sunshine. and, actually, as i mentioned earlier, for much of the week ahead, it's looking mostly dry, with some spells of sunshine. and after what's been been a fairly cool and wet week, things are looking a bit warmer too.

this is bbc news. the headlines. police have made almost 120 arrests in relation to disruption at the grand national horse race, after animal rights activists delayed the start by storming the track. the race was eventually won by corach rambler, ridden by derek fox. at least three people have been killed in sudan in heavy fighting between the army and paramilitary forces, in the capital khartoum. the doctors union has called on humanitarian organisations to provide medical assistance to the injured. the british government is banning the construction of new so—called "smart" motorways — which use measures such as variable speed limits to improve traffic flows.