live from london, this is bbc news. four people have been killed and others injured in a shooting at a teenage birthday party in alabama. two rival branches of sudan's armed forces say they've agreed a brief humanitarian pause in the fighting that erupted in khartoum on saturday. so far at least 70 people have been killed. the leader of the nurses�* union in england says they're prepared to hold strikes until christmas, unless more money is offered. appeals for calm after a former indian politician, convicted of kidnapping, is shot dead on live tv along with his brother. the building of new so—called smart motorways in england

is being cancelled over safety concerns and costs. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. welcome to bbc news. at least four people have been killed in a shooting at a teenage birthday party in the american state of alabama. it happened in the town of dadeville. at least 20 people were shot and wounded — most of them teenagers. at this stage, there is no official confirmation about what led to the shooting, but there seems to have been some sort of altercation that then escalated. the us presidentjoe biden has been briefed on the shooting.

there have been over 100 and a0 mass shootings in the us so far this year — continuing the trend of a rise in gun violence. the authorities in alabama gave this update a few minutes ago. this incident occurred at approximately 1030 near the 200 block here in dadeville. there were four lives, not fatalities, lives, there were four lives were tragically lost in this incident. and it has been a multitude of injuries. as they said, this is going to be a long, complicated process. we are thankful to the sheriff, to the chief, to everyone, to the district attorney, for all of the support, and we're going to

continue to work a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts come and ensure that justice look at the facts come and ensure thatjustice is a to bear for the families. we will do that. we will also confirm that it was tied to a birthday party. we are able to confirm that, it was tied to a birthday celebration. we can't share anything further at this time with regard to that, as it is an ongoing investigation. if you have any additional information to share, we will pass along. if you have media inquiries, please send that to... also, if you have tips, and we are going to send us out as soon as i am done, if you have tips,

please call... 1800 392 8011 you can also e—mail... the sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid support forces have agreed to a brief humanitarian pause in the fighting that the sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid support forces have agreed to a brief humanitarian pause in the fighting that erupted on the weekend. the world food programme has halted its operations in sudan after three of its memebers were among nearly 70 people reported to have been killed. the head of the african union commission is planning to "immediately" go on a ceasefire mission to sudan. we arejoined by dame rosalind marsden, associate fellow, chatham house and a former british ambassador to sudan.

thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. first, are you surprised as to how things have developed in sudan? i surprised as to how things have developed in sudan?— surprised as to how things have developed in sudan? i think anyone who has been _ developed in sudan? i think anyone who has been following _ developed in sudan? i think anyone i who has been following developments in sudan are closely over the last few weeks was well aware that there was mounting tension between the two military leaders of the country. the head of the sudanese army under chairman of sovereign council, and his deputy, the commander of the support force, which is paramilitary force. there has been escalating tension between them, building a long term, but more particularly in the last couple of weeks. however, in the 48 hours before the outbreak of fighting that started yesterday morning, there were some mediation efforts conducted by a group of

sudanese actors, who were reporting that they had received some positive responses from the two generals. so, i think when everyone woke up yesterday morning to hear the sound of heavy weaponry and gunfire across khartoum, it did come as a bit of a surprise in the light of that. what surprise in the light of that. what is the best way _ surprise in the light of that. what is the best way forward _ surprise in the light of that. what is the best way forward in - surprise in the light of that. what is the best way forward in this? because we saw international reaction very early on, once the fighting had started. is there a place for international intervention? because what we have seen as a statement coming from the african union saying that external intervention in sudan is not welcome, and should not take place. the african union peace and security council did meet today, and as you said, as a communique. i think that the language they use was to say the

strongly rejected any external interference that could complicate the situation. but at the same time, the situation. but at the same time, the cult and partners to actually support efforts, just as the african union is doing, to try to silence the guns, because a first priority at the moment has to be to try to get an immediate ceasefire to spare civilians from any further violence. and also to get a return to the political dialogue on trying to move sudan towards democratic transition and establishing a civilian government. that was interrupted so devastatingly by what happened yesterday. speed is of the essence. there needs to be some pressure both from international actors aren't of course regional actors to try to de—escalate the situation. course regional actors to try to de-escalate the situation. there will be peeple — de-escalate the situation. there will be people watching - de-escalate the situation. there will be people watching this, - de-escalate the situation. there will be people watching this, or| will be people watching this, or following events, bother 100% or just following the main headlines,

why does what takes place in sudan matter? the uk as what is being described as a warm relationship with macro—8, perhaps. why? first described as a warm relationship with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all, with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all. sudan. — with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all, sudan, what _ with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all, sudan, what is _ with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all, sudan, what is happening - with macro-8, perhaps. why? first of all, sudan, what is happening in - all, sudan, what is happening in sudan matters very much because it is a country which i think many people provides a ray of hope that there could be a democratic transition in sudan, which of course is what the people of macro—8 desperately want, and why they had a revolution four years ago, after many nationwide peaceful protest. and if that happened, but could also perhaps provide a model for the region. as far as the uk is concerned, we do have a close relationship with macro—8, for several reasons, probably the main one is historical reasons, because the uk was a former colonial power between 1898 to 1956, when macro—8

became independent. it set up many of saddam's institutions, and there are still to this day very close to people to people links, and indeed a sizeable sudanese diaspora in the uk, including quite a large number of sudanese doctors who are working as consultants in the national health system. so, the feelings of trust and close relations are very important. and obviously for historical and for current reasons, i think the uk has a special role to play, being active in diplomatic efforts to defuse this crisis. the fact that the _ efforts to defuse this crisis. the fact that the scott _ efforts to defuse this crisis. the fact that the scott mcclay were brought in to that as part of the rapid support forces? this is not a problem struggle between the two leaders, howeverthe problem struggle between the two leaders, however the narrative appears to be changing to describing

the asf is militia. the appears to be changing to describing the asf is militia.— the asf is militia. the paramilitary force that was _ the asf is militia. the paramilitary force that was created _ the asf is militia. the paramilitary force that was created by - the asf is militia. the paramilitary force that was created by the - the asf is militia. the paramilitary i force that was created by the former president back in 2013, primarily as a counterinsurgency force to fight the rebel movements in darfur, and then after doing that, this year that made them part of his strategy to create different security forces to create different security forces to try to protect himself against the possibility of a coup. but since the possibility of a coup. but since the revolution, the paramilitary force has grown much bigger. it has now got an estimated 100,000 troops, which are quite well equipped, although they don't have an air force. the leader of the rapid support force has also grown in power and political postage, and also has developed a huge business

empire, so she and the general, while theyjointly empire, so she and the general, while they jointly conducted empire, so she and the general, while theyjointly conducted a coup against a civilian government back in october 2021, but since then, they have sort of increasingly become rivals, because both of them have make economic interest, and also political ambitions. and these differences seem to have escalated since the coup, and we are seeing conflicting statements from them about the recent political framework agreement, as well as the fact that they are separately conducting separate foreign visits, developing regional alliances and building up their own domestic supporters. and all that really has come to a head and being triggered a couple of weeks ago when there was an attempt to reach agreement on the way forward on security sector reform. the main sticking points for the timeframe for integrating the rapid

support force into the army, which they want to do very quickly... bier? they want to do very quickly... very cuickl , i they want to do very quickly... very quickly. i am _ they want to do very quickly... very quickly, i am running _ they want to do very quickly... very quickly, i am running out of time. as succinctly as you can, if you can but natural resources does sudan have? i'm watching what actions neighbouring countries have taken. we have got porters closing, we have got statements, particularly from the egyptian embassy seeing that citizens should be protected. 0ther citizens should be protected. other interests within the country that are also rising above the speaking for democracy idea?— are also rising above the speaking for democracy idea? sudan had quite a lot of all resources _ for democracy idea? sudan had quite a lot of all resources prior _ for democracy idea? sudan had quite a lot of all resources prior to - for democracy idea? sudan had quite a lot of all resources prior to the - a lot of all resources prior to the independence of south sudan, for two thirds of the resources went to the south when the country split in 2011. but now, probably the most attractive resource is gold, and there have been many reports of

interest by the gartner group, the russian group in gold mining and sudan. also by a number of other countries. this is also a very important element of the business empire that general committee has brought up. empire that general committee has brou:ht u. �* , ., empire that general committee has brou~-htu.�* ., ., ~ empire that general committee has brou~-htu.�* ., ., brought up. ambassador, thank you ve much brought up. ambassador, thank you very much indeed _ brought up. ambassador, thank you very much indeed for— brought up. ambassador, thank you very much indeed for that _ brought up. ambassador, thank you very much indeed for that analysis. | very much indeed for that analysis. thank you. nurses in england could carry out rolling strikes until christmas if they fail to reach a deal with the government over their current pay dispute — that's according to a union leader. the head of the royal college of nursing, pat cullen, called for the government to put more money on the table. but ministers have insisted the offer is "fair and reasonable". tony bonsignore reports. claps don't pay the bills! untiljust a few days ago, there were real hopes that these kinds of scenes would not be repeated.

but the decision by members of the largest nursing union to reject the government's latest offer, despite it being recommended by its leadership, has dashed those hopes. it is now threatening to escalate the dispute, refusing government demands to put strikes on hold. we'll absolutely not do that. we have strike action for the end of this month, beginning of may, and then we will move immediately to ballot our members. and if that ballot is successful, it will mean further strike action right up until christmas. what do we want? fair pay! talk, though, of coordinated strike action with junior doctors appears not to be on the agenda — for now at least. we work very closely with the bma, in the same way as doctors and nurses work closely on every single shift. there are no plans in place from the royal college of nursing to coordinate strikes with doctors. there are no plans? no. the government has offered a 5% pay rise over the next 12 months, plus a one—off payment of £1,655.

it is standing by this offer, encouraged that one health union has already accepted, with others still to decide. let's wait and see what the other unions have to say first, as well. there is a lot of other staff out there. unison, as i mentioned, voted by 74% to accept the offer, which represent a third of the agenda for trained staff, so there is a lot of people accepting what i think is a very fair and reasonable offer. with local elections just weeks away, the government is also under pressure from opposition parties. the lib dems today called on ministers to urgently get round the negotiating table instead of sitting on the sidelines. labour is also urging the government to negotiate. we do not want to see an escalation. what i do want to see is the government recognising that their approach to these strikes, their refusal to negotiate for months, the fact that... but the question here is whether the labour party supports the royal college of nurses — do you back this strike action? no, how could i? i mean, there is a risk to patient

safety, it would not be the right thing to do. for rishi sunak, tough decisions lie ahead. he doesn't want to be seen to be giving in to union demands, but he will also know that months of strikes will make it more difficult to deliver on his promise to cut nhs waiting lists. tony bonsignore, bbc news. motoring groups in the uk have welcomed the government's decision to cancel the construction of new smart motorways, but insisted the announcement does not go far enough. existing stretches of smart motorway in england will remain, but more emergency stopping places will be put in place. 0ur reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more details. smart motorways were first introduced in 2006 and currently make up about 10% of england's motorway network. however, there are three types of smart motorway. let's take a look. the first, controlled. the second, dynamic. and the third is known as all lane running. firstly, controlled is where there is a permanent hard shoulder,

however if there is congestion, say from an accident, then technology like electronic signs can be used to slow the traffic down. the second is dynamic, that is when the hard shoulder is opened up to traffic at times of congestion, but then you will always see that the speed limit is reduced. the third is the most controversial, that is known as all lane running. here on the m1, you can see there is no hard shoulder, just four lanes of traffic. however, built along the route are these emergency bays where cars that get into trouble can go in. they are monitored by cctv, however this is the most controversial of the smart motorways. what is supposed to happen is road signs will say if there is an obstruction, however take a look at what can happen. the building of the smart motorways has now been cancelled. campaigners have welcomed that, but they wanted to go further. it is good news, and it is good

that it has gone as far as it has to cover routes that are already being built, i didn't expect it to go that far. but obviously it doesn't cover existing roads, and it's the existing roads that are killing us. so it's half the battle, but there is still half the battle to go. a bbc panorama investigation in 2020 found that 38 people had died on smart motorways between 2015 and 2020. indeed, on one stretch of the m25, near misses went up 20—fold from 72 to 1,485. across europe there are similar smart motorway schemes, including in austria, belgium and germany. one of the biggest is in the netherlands. it's known there as the rush—hour lane. during busy times, lanes are opened up for traffic. over in the united states, there are fewer schemes. department for transportation officials say there are two dynamic schemes. one is in virginia, the other in minneapolis.

16 people are dead and nine others injured after a fire at a residential building in dubai. the blaze began on the fourth floor of the five—storey building in the al—ras neighbourhood in the old part of the city. local media reports say foreign workers were among those who died. dubai's civil defence force said preliminary investigations indicated the fire was caused by a lack of compliance with safety rules. yemen's houthi rebels and the saudi—backed yemeni government have exchanged additional prisoners on the final day of a process which has seen nearly 900 detainees exchanged in all. local media say two planes carrying 90 detainees in total left from the houthi—run sanaa international airport and the government—held northern city of marib.

at the same time, another plane took off from sanaa towards marib "carrying dozens of prisoners and abductees from militia prisons". the chief minister of the indian state of uttar pradesh has appealed for calm after a former politician who's a convicted criminal was shot dead while under police escort. atiq ahmed — who had been convicted of kidnapping — was shot dead live on tv along with his brother. they were answering questions from journalists when they were killed in allahabad. 0ur correspondent, roxy gagdekar chhara, gave us his analysis. the murder was conducted when it happened on the live tv because the assailants were hiding as the journalists, and when reporters were asking questions to these two people, atiq and his brother,

one among them first shot atiq and then ashraf was shot dead. all this has happened amidst heavy police protection, because both were trying to get into the hospital. as soon as they get out from the police van, and they were approaching the hospital, at that time reporters tried to stop them for questions, and three assailants were hiding as journalists among this group of people, and they first kill them and then they started shouting, "jai shri ram," which is a slogan that has normally been used by hindu extremists in various parts of the country. and then all three, they surrendered themselves, and they did not agitate once they realised both the people were killed. this entire incident has created havoc among many

people in the country, and this news has remained at the top since last two days, because this incident happened on saturday night. roxy, what sort of conversations? you said it has rocked a part of indian society. in terms of the reaction. what sort of conversations are now being had about the sense of, i don't know if i can be as bold to describe it as lawlessness? is something like this usual, is this just the fact that it is a high—profile case that we are talking about it? it was certainly high—profile, because ahmed was, more than 100 police cases were registered against him, and he was a gangster, but at the same time, he was also a lawmaker and a parliamentarian, and he lost the election before few years, and since then he was arrested, he was in jail since february this

year, but more than 100 cases were already registered against him. atiq ahmed, he has been a strong critic for the ruling bjp party during his election campaigns. so atiq ahmed was trying to... the opposition have said that his murder has created a situation of lawlessness in the state. the former chief minister and current leader of the opposition, akhilesh yadav, has said that when a person who has been under police protections has been killed like this, then what would happen to a normal person who is travelling or commuting in the state? the incident has so far attracted reactions from various political leaders also. along with the criticism

of lawlessness, it has been said that this is the murder of democracy, because the chief minister of uttar pradesh, yogi adityanath, has told in the legislative assembly that he will ensure that all the gangsters in the state are wiped out from the state. atiq ahmed was one of the gangsters, and that is how he has attracted the criticism after his death. in a month from now we will know the winner of this year's eurovision song contest, which will be taking place in the uk. and ahead of this year's competition, contestants are taking part in live shows around europe, including one in london this evening. william lee adams — who's a eurovision blogger — was at one of the live shows in amsterdam last night. there were 30 acts from this year's competition, they were leaving it all on the stage, confetti was falling, the voices were big and the passion was high.

everyone wants to win, and they really are going for it this year. this is like the us presidential election, it starts months depending on where you are from, the size of your music market, you may not be used to performing live in front of a big audience, so these concerts are sort of the prep work, it's like the boot camp to learn how to perform in front of a big crowd. but also to test out variations of your song. for instance you may think certain tweaks work well, but then they fall flat with a live audience. so the record labels will often accompany their artist for intelligence to see what they should and shouldn't be changing. that is it for now. plenty more coming up at the top of the other. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @lukwesaburak. hello. a lot of cloud across the uk today, thick enough for some patchy light rain and drizzle, and we will keep some of that going through this evening and overnight stop into northern england as a night wears on, the midlands, east anglia by the end of the net. could see somewhat clearer skies across kent for a time, but for most it is a generally cloudy night. not as cold as last night. five and 10 celsius, perhaps two or three if we do see clearer skies developing for long enough across parts of kent. high pressure firmly in charge, and we will keep that area close by and for much of

the week. unlike the weekjust gone, the week. unlike the weekjust gone, the week. unlike the weekjust gone, the week ahead is looking much drier for many. spells of sunshine too, and a little warmer at first, before we start to develop an easterly wind, which will gradually turn colour as the week was on. cloud to start the day through monday, outbreaks of rain initially through central and southern england. spells of sunshine developing for many. just keeping an eye on this spike of mr low cloud and the north sea, perhaps pushing on to the coast of east anglia in south—east england. monday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. temperatures potentially up to 16 or 17. once again, that mr hunt look push further westwards as we head through monday evening, but clearer skies further west. monday evening, but clearer skies furtherwest. high monday evening, but clearer skies further west. high pressure as we head into tuesday. the changes is orientation slightly. this was probably start to pick up that easterly wind. a good deal of sunshine for many on tuesday. more clouds drifting in and to parts of east anglia in south—east england

through the afternoon, but for many, dry, fine, plenty of sunshine. the winds to start to strengthen a little bit, protected from eastern coast, saw temperatures here may struggle to get much above 12 or 13. elsewhere in the sunshine, pleasant enough, with temperatures getting up to 14 or 15. those italy winds are strengthening further, as we head through wednesday and thursday. let's keep an eye on what is happening to the east and south—east of us, we could potentially see areas of rain kissing and later on thursday and friday. for most, the week ahead is looking much drier, some spells of sunshine. more to turning through the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines... at least 4 people have been killed in a mass shooting in the us state of alabama. several others were injured in the incident at a teenage birthday party. two rival branches of sudan's armed forces, say they've agreed a brief humanitarian pause, in the fighting that erupted in khartoum on saturday. so far at least 70 people have been killed. the leader of the nurses' union says they're prepared to continue strikes in england right up to christmas unless the government puts more money on the table for a pay deal.

the government says