live from washington, this is bbc news. at least 27 people killed, including aid workers, in clashes between sudan's army and a paramilitary force. more than 100 animal rights protesters arrested after storming the ground at the grand national horse race. and the uk government scraps plans to build any more smart motorways in england. hello, i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. we start in sudan, where heavy fighting between two rival

factions of the military has left at least 27 people dead, including three un staff. earlier, gunfire and explosions rocked the capital, khartoum. the sudanese military has ordered citizens to remain inside amid clashes at the presidential palace and the city's airport. what you're seeing here was recorded earlier at khartoum international airport, where at least two people were reportedly killed. footage there shows large plumes of smoke and fighter jets flying low overhead, and there was this video from inside the khartoum airport showing passengers taking cover on the floor. major airlines have reportedly suspended flights. this is the skyline across khartoum. exact death tolls are yet to be confirmed. a journalist from the washington post newspaper reported 30 people dead and nearly 400 injured, citing the united nations. victims include three united nations aid workers who were killed in the crossfire at a military base. we want to show you what happened earlier on sudanese state tv. the newsreader briefly appeared, talking about clashes, but listen carefully

and you can hear gunshots in the background. reading in arabic gunshots as you see, the picture then froze, and a short while later the broadcast suddenly cuts off. these clashes erupted after tensions over a proposed transition to civilian rule. let's remind ourselves of the political situation in sudan. sudan has been run by the military since a coup in october 2021. the fighting is between army units loyal to the de facto leader, general abdel fattah al—burhan, and the rsf, commanded by sudan's deputy leader, mohamed hamdan dagalo. the two sides are in a dispute over who governs the country.

violence is also being reported in several other cities across the country. the reuters news agency is reporting eyewitness accounts of sudanese army air strikes in the city of 0mdurman. the target is a base belonging to the rsf paramilitary group north—east of the capital, khartoum. the united nations secretary general has called for an immediate ceasefire. earlier i spoke to zeinab salih, a journalist in khartoum. we've been hearing heavy gunfire all around the city. i'm in the western part of the city. i'm in 0mdurman. we saw militaryjets flying over us, heading to the southern parts of the city. what we understood is they are going to hit a military base for the rsf, for the

rapid support forces. so it's been like this, clashes over — between the rfs and the sudan armed forces. it started early in the morning at 9:00am in the southern part of khartoum, and then it's quickly spread towards strategic places like the khartoum international airport, the military hq and the presidential palace. all of them are in khartoum. is it clear who is in control of the country at this moment? it's not clear, because everyone has beenjust claiming things. the rsf in the beginning said they controlled khartoum international airport, and they said they're going into the military hq, and at the same time i was receiving statements from the army denying all these things.

they're saying that's not true, we are in control of all of these strategic places. so we don't know actually who is in control of what. so claims and counterclaims. exactly, yes. is there any potential for talks between the two sides for a political solution here any time soon? it won't be an easy thing. the head of the rfs, for example, was calling burhan a liar and says he is going to drag him as a dog to justice. it doesn't seem like there will be. at the same time, saudi arabia, for example, has huge sway in sudan and was calling for both of them to sit down for talks. the international community, as well, the us and the uk — all of them are calling for that. we don't know. probably in the coming days they will change their positions and sit down for talks. so you point to those international calls for both sides to come to the table. but from the perspective

of people there in the capital, the sudanese population, i mean, is there any sense of what the country could be heading for? yeah, people are actually very worried that this could turn into a civil war in the centre. because the army has been controlled, i would say, has been led mainly by people from the northern part of the country, and the rsf is coming from the western part of the country. and sudan is deeply divided based on ethnic lines, and that's really worrying for most of the people here. i hope it will not turn out to be like this at the end. it is very worrying. both sides have issued conficting claims of control over key installations, from airports to the presidential

palace. in a post on facebook, the sudanese army has labelled the rsf a rebel militia and said there will be no negotiations or talks until the dissolution of the group. let's get more on this now with susan stigant, who is the director of africa programs at the us institute of peace, an organisation aimed at promoting national and global security. welcome to you, susan. thank you so much for taking the time. we are witnessing a pretty remarkable turn of events today, and i understand that you were in sudan recently. could you tell that tensions were running high? yes, i was there a week before last. at that point it was clear that the tensions were incredibly high. there was a mobilisation of heavy weaponry, reports of mobilisation of additionalforces, and it was clear that in the political

negotiations that were going on in an effort to form a new civilian government and end the coup of october 2021 that the parties were coming down to the really difficult issues, and particularly the question of the structure of decision—making and power and control and the relationship between general burhan as the head of sudan armed forces and general hemedti as the head of the rapid support forces. but the rapid support forces. but the fear and the tensions were absolutely palpable at that point. 50 absolutely palpable at that oint. .,, absolutely palpable at that oint. , point. so those tensions, as ou point. so those tensions, as you described _ point. so those tensions, as you described there, - point. so those tensions, as you described there, were l you described there, were palpable, the feeling that we were starting to come to what appears to be, at least, a pivotal moment. but perhaps for people who might not be entirely familiar with the political situation in sudan, just briefly explained to us what is going on here. in the time leading _ what is going on here. in the time leading up _ what is going on here. in the time leading up to _ what is going on here. in the time leading up to today, - what is going on here. in the i time leading up to today, there have been talks and

negotiations taking place to really move to a new civilian led government. this resulted in a draft political framework agreement before the end of 2022, and the discussions continued on really five core issues that were the most difficult to resolve, questions ofjustice difficult to resolve, questions of justice and difficult to resolve, questions ofjustice and transitional of justice and transitional justice, ofjustice and transitional justice, questions of peace, questions of what happens in the eastern part of sudan, questions about what happens with those who were responsible for crimes and those who were part of the former basheer regime, and then this incredibly difficult question about security reform. and so they have been intensive discussions taking place, and i think much of the focus has really been pushing to try to get to that agreement that could bridge towards a new normal for sudan, could bridge towards a new normalfor sudan, if you could bridge towards a new normal for sudan, if you will. and so what we saw over the last 2a hours, i think, is the clearest and, i think, in many

ways quite tragic evidence that those who are holding the power, those who are holding the power of the gun, are not comfortable. and as much as we believe and we say that violence will not resolve the issue, those people who have the authority over coercive force right now, they believe that they are strengthening their positions for the future through the use of violence. 50 through the use of violence. so susan, through the use of violence. 50 susan, you through the use of violence. so susan, you talk there about people with the authority in sudan, but i wonder, then, what does all of this mean for people's everyday lives in the country? people's everyday lives in the count ? , ., ., ., ., country? yes, and two weeks ago --eole country? yes, and two weeks ago peeple were _ country? yes, and two weeks ago people were certainly _ country? yes, and two weeks ago people were certainly feeling - people were certainly feeling the impact of the economic crisis. inflation had hit over 150%, and that economic crisis has really been building since the october 2021 q. and today in khartoum and in other urban areas across the country,

people are living in the middle of active fighting. i think there are concerns about people getting access to basic services, and there are real safety concerns for individuals. and when you think about a time four years ago when the sudanese people really came together, men and women, young and old, from all across the country to mobilise in a peaceful way against an authoritarian regime, who put themselves at risk, who have really sacrificed in hundreds of instances their lives, being in the midst of a fight between security and military, i think, is really shocking for many sudanese and for many of us who watch the country closely. find watch the country closely. and talkin: watch the country closely. and talking about _ watch the country closely. and talking about the _ watch the country closely. and talking about the country, but also the region, susan, as well, we're hearing that fighting is spreading out the capital. we are also hearing

that neighbouring chad has closed its border with sudan. what do you think are the risks of potential spread here, do you think that we expect any engagement from surrounding countries?— countries? the neighbourhood where sudan _ countries? the neighbourhood where sudan is _ countries? the neighbourhood where sudan is located, - countries? the neighbourhood where sudan is located, i- countries? the neighbourhood l where sudan is located, i mean, you have mentioned chad, south sudan, the central african republic, if these are countries that are all facing their own political transitions and where the relationships between different groups across the countries are fragile and tenuous. and so i think an incredibly... you know, the first audit message right now is to end the violence, and i don't think that can be said too much, too loudly or at too high a level at the moment. i think a second—order messages to say to the neighbouring countries, step back. ensure that you are not engaging in any way that could help to perpetuate the violence that is taking place, and in fact, take a step forward to try to encourage those who are fighting to put the weapons

down and to return to some sort of sensible political framework and political negotiation that could hopefully deliver a new government and a more peaceful situation for the sudanese people. situation for the sudanese ”eole. ,, ., situation for the sudanese --eole. ,, ., situation for the sudanese --eole. ,, g, _, ,, people. susan, do you think that that — people. susan, do you think that that possibility - people. susan, do you think that that possibility is - people. susan, do you think that that possibility is still. that that possibility is still there at this moment? is the window still open for the violence to be ended? well, i think the _ violence to be ended? well, i think the escalation _ violence to be ended? well, i think the escalation and - violence to be ended? well, i think the escalation and the l think the escalation and the speed of the escalation of violence, the rhetoric between the two leaders and the spread of the violence is incredibly concerning. and we know that there are always openings and windows, and so i think coherence among international partners, space for the sudanese, who are still courageously and with the greatest determination trying to find ways to bridge and deliver the message that a pathway towards a democratic, peaceful sudan does not include the use of violence in a civil

war. ,, i. the use of violence in a civil war, ,, y., ., “ the use of violence in a civil war. ,, ., ~ ., ,, war. susan, you work for the us institute of— war. susan, you work for the us institute of peace. _ war. susan, you work for the us institute of peace. i _ war. susan, you work for the us institute of peace. ijust - institute of peace. ijust wanted to ask you briefly about the role of the united states. we have heard from the secretary of state, anthony blank and, today calling for an immediate end to violence and calling this a fragile situation as a country looks to transition back to civilian rule. —— blinken. do you think that there are any indication that there are any indication that there are any indication that the us might seek to mediate in some way? the united states has been _ mediate in some way? the united states has been actively _ states has been actively involved in supporting the ongoing political— the negotiations that were taking place prior to today. ifully anticipate that the us will be exercising its diplomatic support. hopefully that includes engagement at the highest levels of the united states government, and i anticipate that that will be donein anticipate that that will be done in close partnership with leaders from the region, with the african union, with the united nations, with the united kingdom, with the united arab emirates, saudi arabia. i think these are all countries that have influenced an interest in

seeing a stable sudan and countries that are absolutely important in reaching some of the people who are actually the ones who are creating the situation on the ground right now. ,, situation on the ground right now, ,, ., , . , now. susan has recently returned _ now. susan has recently returned from _ now. susan has recently returned from sudan - now. susan has recently - returned from sudan herself. thank you for your insights. thank you for your insights. thank you. to the uk, and 118 people have been have been arrested at the grand national, one of the most prestigious horse races in the world. they were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and public nuisance offences in relation to disruption. a large number of police had been deployed to the ground after animal rights activists had warned they would try to disrupt the race. 0fficers 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. 0ur correspondent sharon barbour was at aintree racecourse.

well, it's been a really tense day here at aintree, a day of high drama. it began with the protesters animal rising, which all week had threatened to disrupt that most important of races in the racing calendar, the grand national, which was due to start at 5:15pm. everybody said that they couldn't possibly. there were so many police here surrounding the racecourse, and inside as well. the protesters arrived. they began their rally, they began a protest. they sat down on the ground. when we spoke to them they were determined, they said, to disrupt the race, but still it wasn't believed that it was possible. well, they did. the race was stopped for around 15 minutes as they got onto the track. nine animal rising protesters were arrested. a little bit about that organisation — it was until a few days ago animal extinction. it was a sister organisation to extinction rebellion. we don't know how many were here, but certainly they got onto the track.

they managed somehow to get through security and disrupted a race that is so important not only here in liverpool, where the income is around £60 million from the event, 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 are going to 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. staying in the uk, and prime minister rishi sunak is to ban the construction of new smart motorways, which use technology to regulate speed and traffic flow on the country's

biggest roads. 1a planned smart motorways, including 11 that are already paused, will be removed from government road building plans. the bbc�*s panorama programme in 2020 investigated smart motorways, revealing 38 people have been killed on them over a space of five years. it led to the government reviewing the smart motorway network. here's a snippet from the documentary by richard bilton. we put in a freedom of information request for one stretch of the m25. 0ne warning sign was out of action for nearly a year — 336 days. there was also a 20—fold rise in near misses — 72 in the five years with the hard shoulder, 1,485 in the five years without. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent damian grammaticas and asked him how smart motorways work and what prompted the

government decision. yeah, so the way these work is that in order to try to improve the flow of traffic on the motorways and keep traffic moving, what the government has done here over recent years is bring in these sort of measures. now, some are simply electronic boards that advise you, they change the speed limit and try to keep traffic moving. the one that is most controversial is a scheme that exists already on quite a number of motorways where the hard shoulder — so the edge of the motorway, what would not be used in traditional motorways, an area that you could park up if you had a problem — that had been converted on some motorways into an extra lane for permanent moving traffic. now, the idea was that it's monitored by cameras. there are these billboards.

if you had trouble or a problem, you were told to stay in your car. the traffic would be directed to slow down and go around you. now, part of the problem was that there were accidents happening there, and as that panorama programme revealed, there had been some 30—plus deaths on some of those motorways in recent years. so this had led to a safety review, a pause in the development of new areas of smart motorway. and what we now get is this announcement that the projects that have been paused, so 14 of them have been paused or planned, will not go ahead. two projects which are nearing completion will actually now be done. but crucially, i think it's important to say the ones that are already in place will stay. they will continue, with some safety upgrades, so those will not change. so damian, is this actually the end, then, of smart motorways? and can the government do this? no, by any means

it's not the end. so smart motorways cover already something like 10% of the motorway network, some 400 miles here in the uk, so the ones that are in place will stay in place. what the government has done today is to say that for the sort of timeframe you can look into, up to the end of the decade, all road building plans — and smart motorways are part of that — they're now being removed from those plans. nothing before the end of the decade, and it will continue to look at how users view this. but it's worth saying, too, this is notjust about safety. a large part of this is about cost — inflating prices for the work to convert motorways into smart ones. the bill for the project upcoming is put at about £1—billion, so that's £1—billion worth of savings the government is making. so there's a cost saving it can make here, as well as, it says, listening to or responding to public concerns about safety. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas breaking

that down for us. damian, thank you. in other news: protests continue in israel over the government's planned judicial reforms. tens of thousands of people took to the streets in tel aviv, with similar demonstrations across the country. the reforms include plans that would give the government decisive control over the committee which appointsjudges. critics say this will hurt democracy. opponents of nuclear power have been celebrating in germany as it shuts down its last three nuclear plants. 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 surveys show most germans oppose the closures, as they see nuclear power as cleaner than fossil fuels. new york city has appointed its first "rat czar". on wednesday kathleen corradi beat 900 applicants to become the city's director of rodent mitigation. she said she would take on the city's estimated two million rats by tackling litter and food waste

and using new products to exterminate the rodents. now to france. it's been four years since the notre dame cathedral was nearly destroyed by fire. at the time, president macron's promise to have it rebuilt appeared optimistic. but it turns out that the restoration is on track for completion in late 2024. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield has the story. 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. 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 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. inside the cathedral, it still a sci—fi film decor of metal, scaffolding reaching 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 would have shuttered. the disasterfor them, ironically, is an opportunity to remove 200 years of dirt. translation: it's the price of millions of worshippers, soot from candles and 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 will be building upwards and, by the end of the year, it's confidently expected that there will be a new feature on the paris skyline. or, rather, a very old one — the spire of notre—dame. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. spacex plans to carry out its first test flight on monday of starship, the most powerful rocket eve built, designed to send astronauts to the moon and eventually beyond. starship is set to launch from the us state of texas, on monday at 7:00am local time. the spacecraft consists of a resuable capsule that carries crew and cargo and the first—stage super heavy booster rocket. starship generates 17 million of thrust, more than double that of the saturn v rockets used to send apollo astronauts to the moon.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. most of us got to see some sunshine on saturday. i suspect that sunday will be a slightly cloudier affair. that cloud rolling its way in from the west. that said, if you do get some sunshine, it will feel relatively warm. but those cloudier conditions, courtesy of this frontal system pushing its way in from the west, even bringing some splashes of rain. high pressure still holding firm just about, so we're looking at mainly dry weather and where we are closest to the centre of the high across parts eastern england, a sunny but rather chilly start with some early fog patches. further west, though, a lot of cloud, spots of rain and drizzle. through the afternoon, northern ireland could well brighten up but that could spawn some pretty sharp showers.

north—east scotland, spells of sunshine, lifting temperatures here to around 17 degrees. generally values between 12 and 16 degrees. sunday night, quite large areas of cloud. the cloud will break in places but if you do see clear spells for any length of time, they could fill in with some patches of mist and fog. if it stays cloudy where you are, relatively mild but in the clearer spots, temperatures could drop relatively close to freezing. so still on monday, this patchwork of clear spells and cloudy areas. it could well be that we see quite a lot of cloud rolling its way in from the north sea and that, coupled with a bit of a breeze from the north sea, will make it feel really rather chilly for some of our eastern coast. so temperatures in hull for example, around 13, same sort of temperature for aberdeen but glasgow, 17 in some spots and up to 18 as as we had deeper into the week, this area of high pressure stays with us, meaning it will be largely dry but with this high building to the north—east of us, this easterly wind will tend to strengthen a little so that breeze, quite noticeable coming

in off the chilly north sea will make it feel rather cool for some of these eastern coasts. we could see more cloud in the south developing on tuesday, maybe even giving rise to the odd shower. some spells of sunshine elsewhere. once again, the highest temperature is likely to be across the north and west of the uk. and that is a theme that will continue as we head deeper into the week. always a little bit chilly the further east you are. could turn quite cloudy around the middle parts of the week. but there will always be some spells of sunshine and generally warmest in the west.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. 0n the battlefields of ukraine, you won't just find local soldiers... slava ukraini. ..but volunteers from all over the world. guatemala, portugal, america. ukrainian officials say 20,000 international volunteers have travelled to help fight back against the russian invasion. many of them came from britain. they needed help so that is why i got up and went. i've got a purpose in life out there. you didn't have any military experience previously?

100% civilian. from those who'd never held a weapon,