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 underway, it was won by corach 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 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 has been really tense day at aintree, a day of high 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 and inside 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 around 15 minutes as they go onto the track, nine protesters were arrested. a little 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 disrupted the race that is so important, not only here in liverpool, where the income is about £60 million, but right around the world. 500 million, thejockey club, say watch the race in 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 from the charity animal aid has been telling me more about the harms of horse racing.

i'm here to represent animal aid amd the horses that suffered today. hill 16 broke his neck at the first fence, he laid there, he was dead. that's the important issue today. dark raven was killed earlier on in the afternoon. envoy special killed a couple of days ago at aintree. it's the horses that that are concerned of the concern of people, whether they're protesting or such as myself, who have been to many protests over the years at the grand national. we're concerned about the horses and the treatment they get in this race. it's absolutely shocking that, in this day and age, we should put horses through this chaos of a race that we call the grand national. if this is british heritage, then racing in britain should hang its head in shame. horses today suffered, horses today died. horses today have gone back to their training yards, injured. this is the key thing today. and this race should be confined to the history books. one in 58 horses who start a season injump racing are dead by the end of it. and the grand national is the pinnacle of that. 200 horses a year die in british racecourses.

that has to come to an end. we can't keep treating horses in this way, as spectacles for entertainment and gambling at the cost of their lives. 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. the horses are dying injump racing and it's got to come to an end. let's see a ban on the ground. and i do hear your message. i hear it loud and clear. but do you think that that was 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 in animal aid's 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 too, what we need is some political motivation from politicians to actually stand up to the industry and take self—regulation of welfare of horses

away from the racing industry because it's failing the horses on a huge scale. that relationship between racing and the horses that it uses is a broken relationship and something has to be done about that. those involved in the racing circuit, now, they say that they put animal welfare at the heart of what they do and they've always got people on standby to check on the horses. what do you think needs to be done in order to make races like this safe so they could go ahead, or do you think that they shouldn't go ahead at all? i don't think they should go ahead at all. and most of that is reactive. you know, whether you got vets on a racecourse, they're just patching up the injuries if they can. so that's a reactive thing. what we need to see is a proactive approach where racing stands up to its responsibilities to these horses and says, right, enough is enough. the grand national is killing horses every year. two dead last year, dead again this year. it's consistent despite the changes that have gone on. i spoke in parliament on behalf of animal aid back in 2011,

asking for changes to the cause of the fences to be made. and that did actually happen. but it's still a lethal killer to horses. it's still very deadly. what we've got to see is horses put first. entertainment and gambling should be put to the back and not to the fore. and what we shouldn't be seeing on our screens, on our tv screens and on the radio and in the reporting and in newspapers, is the promotion of this race. because i would put it on the part of bull—fighting in spain, you know, just as bulls are killed, horses are killed. it's a blood sport and it has to come to an end. 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.

earlier, footage showed large plumes of smoke at khartoum international airport. gunshots can be heard in the background and fighter jets seen flying passing over the airport. and these pictures show the panic inside khartoum airport, where passengers were taking cover on the floor of the check—in area, many of them stranded. mohanad hashim from the bbc world service has more details on what's been happening. well, it's been a very long day, and fighting is still ongoing in parts of the sudanese capital. what we know is that a situation that started being tense in the north of the country has escalated today in the capital, khartoum. when, if i can take you through this

map, now, here we see that this is the airport, early in the morning, clashes started to the south of the capital. then a convoy of vehicles moved into the airport in khartoum. there was very heavy gunfire in and around the airport. if i can show you here, you can see this around all the gas installations. the runway was attacked and the military headquarters next to it were attacked. and then the fighting quickly moved into around the republican palace here along the nile. now, this fighting has been going on with claims and counterclaims coming from both sides of who is in control of the strategic assets. butjust before coming on air, the army has issued a statement saying that they have now disbanded the rapid support forces they are using. the army spokesperson is using different language,

he's calling it the militia, named after the commander, mohammed hamdan dagalo, the commander of the rapid support force, the commander of the rapid support force for his side, has accused the head of the army, general abdel fattah al—burhan. he has called him a dog, and he's vowed that he will hide. he will go after the general who is in his hideout like herat. so the language between the two camps is very belligerent there. the military seems to say that they will not engage in negotiations with the rapid support forces until they completely surrender. now, while the picture inside 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 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 counterinsurgency in the western region of darfur, of sudan, that the two generals are at loggerheads and they could not be entrusted with a democratic transition. at the moment, two generals do not appear to be willing to engage in any talks with each other. 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. 1a planned smart motorways, including 11 that are already paused will be removed from government road building plans. the bbc�*s panorama programme highlighted the shortcoming

of the smart motorways. 0ur correspondent, damien grammaticas, has more. these are where you have had 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 on 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 lane in some cases with cameras and electronic screens to direct you when you could use those and tell you what the speed limits were. there had been concerns about the safety of that, there was a bbc investigation that reckoned that 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 motorways while 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. they will stay. the figure i have seen is 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 1a 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.

its big a big day of sport — lets get a full round—up lizzy greenwood hughes in the sports centre. hello, we're starting with the grand national — the world's most famous horse race which took place in liverpool today. it was won by corach rambler but it'll be remembered by many for a protest by animal rights activists which led to 118 people being arrested at aintree. after a delayed start, the race took place as normal. corach rambler — the 8—1 favourite, was a popular winner for scottish trainer lucinda russel and jockey derek fox six years after they'd teamed up to win the national with one for arthur. fox was only passed fit to ride this morning after a shoulder injury had kept him out for several weeks. second was vanillier, ahead of gaillard du mesnil in third and last year's winner noble yeats was fourth. i was always in a prominent position. i was iwas up i was up towards the front of the

field. i did not run into too much trouble, corach is a very clever horse, he was able to navigate his way around easily. he was always the best horse in the race. ijust had to 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. the important thing is we started really well. after the champions league it's

always difficult, we try to rest the players and not put a lot of energy in the last 15—20 minutes, but it was a deserved victory. i saw enough from the players, damage — i saw enough from the players, damage limitation, getting on at half-time — damage limitation, getting on at half—time at 3—0, then told them to be more _ half—time at 3—0, then told them to be more aggressive at the second half, _ be more aggressive at the second half, especially the centre backs which _ half, especially the centre backs which i — half, especially the centre backs which i thought did really well at that _ which i thought did really well at that we — which i thought did really well at that. we got a goal and big moments where _ that. we got a goal and big moments where it_ that. we got a goal and big moments where it would have been interesting if we did _ where it would have been interesting if we did go— where it would have been interesting if we did go to 3—2 but that season was never— if we did go to 3—2 but that season was never going to be defined here. in the other games — aston villa beat newcastle, tottenham lost at home to brighton and there were wins for fulham, crystal palace and wolves. kylian mbappe has become psg's all—time leading goal—scorer in ligue une with the opening goal in their game at home to lens. they're leading 3—0. and in italy, there was rare slip—up by leaders

napoli. they drew 0—0 at home to verona but still have a 1k point over lazio. inter milan can go above city rivals ac into fourth if they win at home to monza. 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. babar azam scored an unbeaten century as pakistan went 2—0 up in their t20 international series. his 101 came offjust 58 balls as they made 192 for four. they beat the kiwis by 38 runs with haris rauf taking four wickets. they play again on monday. and that's all the sport for now. let's return to one of our top stories — the fighting in the sudanese capital, khartoum, where the country's army has clashed with paramilitary forces in a dispute over who

governs the country. live now to james copnall, bbc newsday presenter and author of the poisonous thorn in our hearts sudan and south sudan's bitter and incomplete divorce. we have been speaking to people throughout the day regarding what is going on in sudan, and many have said the situation and escalation of tension could have been predicted, do you agree?— tension could have been predicted, do you agree? completely. i think it was a terrifying _ do you agree? completely. i think it was a terrifying prospect _ do you agree? completely. i think it was a terrifying prospect for - do you agree? completely. i think it was a terrifying prospect for so - was a terrifying prospect for so many, but also one that was inevitable, given the obvious tensions between the military and the rapid support forces. it goes back to a long history in sudan, the dictator, of keeping the various military components that supported him divided, he did not want anyone strong enough to oust him and it worked for a long time. they were

only able to get rid of him by combining together but since then everyone in sudan has been waiting for this showdown between the sudanese armed forces, increasingly dominated by islamist generals who had a lot of sway, and the rapid support forces, the paramilitary group, the arab groups that supported the sudanese military from 20 years ago. and they increasingly became more and more influential at the heart of the state, and the leader clearly wanted more power. the de facto head of the sudanese state did not want this. and the institutions as well as the individuals were essentially raging against him, and the tension is

built and built, against him, and the tension is builtand built, it against him, and the tension is built and built, it probably was inevitable that it was going to erupt at some point. find inevitable that it was going to erupt at some point.- inevitable that it was going to erupt at some point. and of course we talk about _ erupt at some point. and of course we talk about this _ erupt at some point. and of course we talk about this pursuit - erupt at some point. and of course we talk about this pursuit of- we talk about this pursuit of democracy in the country, how do you think today's fights and tensions and escalation is going to affect that? it and escalation is going to affect that? , , , and escalation is going to affect that? ,, , .,, that? it is pretty disastrous, the bi force that? it is pretty disastrous, the his force i _ that? it is pretty disastrous, the big force i have _ that? it is pretty disastrous, the big force i have not _ that? it is pretty disastrous, the big force i have not mentioned l that? it is pretty disastrous, the. big force i have not mentioned up until now is the sudanese people, they can —— protested in huge numbers, they kept up pressure on when the military seized power, the coup again in 2021 that reasserted the military�*s dominance over civilians. they had been a hope that there would be some sort of civilian government with the military pushed to a secondary role, and that is what international pressure has been working towards over the last few months. but instead what you have is the military component is not

agreeing on how the rapid support forces integrate, the composition of power, and the military on both sides wanting to leave power, so the civilians who risk their lives protesting over the last several years against the generals who fear him are the big losers here because it's very difficult to see how the military were fighting right now but the armed forces and rapid support forces can back down from this. comments from both sides indicate they are not in a frame of mind to back down and as long as the military are fighting that prospect of transition to civilian rule looks very far away. of transition to civilian rule looks very far away-— of transition to civilian rule looks very far away. thank you very much for our very far away. thank you very much for your insight _ very far away. thank you very much for your insight there. _ huge crowds gathered injerusalem this afternoon for the holy fire ceremony, the highlight of 0rthodox easter celebrations.

this year, there was anger over israeli police restrictions at one of christianity�*s holiest sites, the holy sepulchre church. church leaders rejected the claim they were needed for safety. in recent weeks, they've also complained of a rise in hostility towards local christians, with priests harassed and spat on, hate—filled graffiti and vandalism. 0ur middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports. a wall of wonder. for 0rthodox christians, this light is an easter miracle and quickly it spreads around the holy sepulchre church. there's a crush of foreign pilgrims, but the number of local christians injerusalem is in decline. a minority feeling increasingly under threat. in this old city church, a religiousjewish tourist vandalized a statue and ultra—0rthodox teens desecrated graves in the anglican cemetery. breaking crosses.

physical spitting is a regular occurrence. 0ften processions are targeted. church leaders believe extremists have been emboldened by the rise of the israeli far right. i don't believe that it is a strategy of the new government to attack churches. but these young people who practise these offences feel in some way protected because they have strong representatives in the government. there's a lot of tension here today. the tiny christian community, it's less than 2% of the population, is angry at israeli police restrictions being imposed on the religious ceremony, the police say, for safety reasons. but all of this comes amid christian complaints thatjewish settlers are taking over more properties around here and they feel a sense of growing hostility, which many believe is meant to push them away. chairs were smashed in a recent

attack byjewish extremists on this armenian—owned restaurant, and a masked youth entered the armenian quarter with a jewish group on another night. one of the youngsters decided to climb the wall to take down the cross bearing flag of the armenian patriarchate. after he confronted the group, they left, but they later returned, he says, telling israeli police the armenians were terrorists. there were scuffles. police say officers were pushed and that they maintained security for all. but he wants more attention for the sectarian problems. either the christian world decides to wake up and defend their christian brothers who are here defending the land where jesus walked, where is the birthplace of christianity, or we will lose it all. many christians injerusalem are worried about the future, and, as the holy fire arrives for 0rthodox easter, they're clinging on to it as a symbol of hope. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem.

thank you forjoining us, 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 organizations 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.