tonight at ten — almost 200,000 operations and appointments cancelled — the impact of last week's strike by junior doctors in england. what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? now! _ it's the highest number of cancellations so far in the current pay dispute. those affected included people waiting for operations and other treatments as well as scans and follow—up appointments. nhs bosses are increasingly concerned about further industrial action with a planned walk—out by nurses over the bank holiday weekend in early may. i think we feel very much like we are getting to the edge of our ability to continue to deliver care during these circumstances. our staff are utterly exhausted. we'll have the latest on the cumulative effects of industrial action in the nhs in england. also tonight...

in russia, one of president putin's main critics is sentenced to 25 years in prison. main critics is sentenced we'll have the latest from moscow. main critics is sentenced for main critics is sentenced vladimir kara—murza, the possible for vladimir kara—murza, the maximum possible punishment, a quarter of a century behind bars which it sends a chilling message to anyone here thinking of taking on the kremlin. the prime minister under investigation after allegations of a possible failure to declare his wife's financial interest in a business that could benefit from government policy. the un calls for an immediate ceasefire in sudan where a power struggle between two military leaders has led to days of fighting. and the rise of the low traffic neighbourhood in england. we report on the heated local debates — for and against. and coming up on bbc news, drama at the crucible as a protester vandalizes one of the tables during a match at the world snooker championship.

good evening. the impact of last week's strike byjunior doctors in england has been underlined by the latest official figures. more than 196,000 appointments had to be cancelled because of the industrial action — the highest number so far in the current pay dispute. those affected included people waiting for operations and other treatments, as well as scans and follow—up appointments. the full impact is likely to be more far—reaching, as some hospitals had already cut back appointments and procedures ahead of the strike. nhs bosses are increasingly concerned about further industrial action, with a planned walk—out by nurses over the bank holiday weekend in early may. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has the latest.

trying to get back to normal. are you comfortable as you are, lying in the bed? they're assessing patients who have come through this hospital's emergency department. fully staffed again after the four—day strike by junior doctors last week. i'm really worried. i think this is an incredibly difficult time at the moment. the chief executive told me the hospitaljust about coped, but the prospect of further strikes was a huge concern. i think we feel very much like we're getting to the edge of our ability to continue delivering care during these circumstances. our staff are utterly exhausted. it's not that long since we've recovered from the acute phases of a pandemic nationally. our staff need a degree of normality, and i don't believe they can keep stepping forward and supporting people during this action. he told me they'd cancelled 3,000 appointments and operations last week. rebecca was due to have day surgery at another hospital after ongoing health complications.

it was cancelled, though she doesn't blame the junior doctors. myjob had arranged cover for the two weeks where i needed to be off to recover. i'd kind of prepared myself mentally to go through the recovery process and things like that, and also, i do live with a decent amount of pain. so, yeah, i wasn't amazingly pleased that it got cancelled, but i understand why. the prime minister conceded that cancellations would make his target of cutting waiting lists more difficult. there's lots of different initiatives that we've got which are going to help us bring those waiting lists down, and it's something i'm focused on, and i'm going to continue to make sure we deliver, but, look, of course industrial action makes that more challenging. but we are going to keep going at it, because it's important to the country. 0pposition parties say ministers must do more to resolve the disputes. i think that, unless there is real leadership now from the prime minister, we're going to be back here again and again, notjust with nurses, but withjunior doctors, and if the government can't get around the table to negotiate,

then i think it's time to call in acas. we've seen time and again, - this government is very slow to come to the table to negotiate _ with the unions, whether it'sjunior doctors, whether it's nurses, whether it's teachers. - in fact, with junior doctors, they haven't even agreed . to start negotiating. you can't get to a settlement unless you talk. _ there are different pay disputes with the junior doctors' union around the uk. in england, further strikes are possible. in scotland, there's a ballot on strike action. in wales, pay talks are ongoing, and in northern ireland, there are no negotiations. hospitals in england are now focusing on the nurses' strike in two weeks' time, expected to leave many operating theatres empty, as we saw before here. we will be very limited in our ability to offer any elective care and possibly also large degrees of emergency care. what sort of things in a&e might not be there? we are currently reviewing what we can offer on an emergency pathway, but it is possible that elements of our emergency

care will not be open during the period of the strike. as things stand, an end to these disputes in the nhs still seems some way off. lets explore a little more the impact of the strikes. we were talking about the potential chelated impact, notjustjunior doctors but impact, not just junior doctors but nurses impact, notjustjunior doctors but nurses as well so what can you add to that? ,, ., , ., ., to that? nhs leaders in england are sa in: the to that? nhs leaders in england are saying the figures _ to that? nhs leaders in england are saying the figures from _ to that? nhs leaders in england are saying the figures from last - saying the figures from last week are colossal, the impact, and steve buckley said they are deeply disappointing, the health secretary. —— is barclay put it but if you add them up, junior doctors, nurses and paramedics strike since december, it comes to more than half a million cancelled appointments and operations. of the bma, representing junior doctors, so get cancellation at normal times because the nhs, in their view, at normal times because the nhs, in theirview, is at normal times because the nhs, in their view, is under resourced. a lot of concern about this 48 hour nurses strike in england starting on the 30th of april. unite, another

union with members in ambulance services and many hospitals, has announced that in a couple of areas, its members will walk out on strike at the beginning of may, the same time as the nurses, and potentially more the next day and that is happening even though they are still balloting on the pay offer. unite says that actually come from what i have seen so far in the responses, there is quite a lot of negative opinion towards that pay offer in england. hugh pym, many thanks. in russia, one of president putin's most prominent critics has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he publicly criticised the russian invasion of ukraine. vladimir kara—murza — a russian man who also has british citizenship — is accused of treason and spreading false information. his conviction is widely seen as politically motivated and the uk government has demanded his immediate release. from moscow, where the court case was held, our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports.

handcuffed and in a bullet—proof cage, one of president putin's most prominent critics. vladimir kara—murza faced multiple charges, including treason. the verdict — guilty. the punishment — a quarter of a century in prison. access to the court room was heavily restricted. with otherjournalists and with foreign diplomats, we crowded into another room to watch on tv screens. for more than a decade, vladimir kara—murza has been a high—profile opponent of the kremlin. he'd lobbied western governments to sanction russian officials for corruption and human rights abuses, and he publicly condemned the war in ukraine. mr kara—murza is also a british citizen. the uk hasjoined international condemnation of his conviction. the british government will continue to support him and stand in solidarity with him and his family, and we will continue

to call for his release. vladimir kara—murza has a british passport. what will britain do to try to secure his release? we are continuing to ask for consular access to mr kara—murza, and we will continue to do that. for a critic of the kremlin, a political opponent of president putin, a prison sentence of 25 years is unprecedented in its severity. and it's a sign that in today's russia, the authorities are determined not only to silence all criticism, but to neutralise anyone and anything they believe could be a threat to the political system here. vladimir is a very strong man. evgenia kara—murza is vladimir�*s wife. when she spoke to me from america before the verdict, she was already preparing for the worst. the 25—year prison sentence, i think this is... well, to me this is a recognition of the effectiveness of vladimir's work.

they hate him so much, and they're so much afraid of him out there, you know, running free, that they need to lock him up for a quarter of a century to stop him from continuing his work. another sign of the times in moscow. this famous museum reminds russians of political repression of the past. it's named after soviet human rights campaigner andrei sakharov, but the authorities have declared it a foreign agent, and now they're evicting it from the building. their final event feels like a swansong for russian democracy. that stay with the events in moscow. live to steve in moscow. when you see the extent of the

international criticism of what has happened to this man and the sentence, do you think that will have any effect at all on the way the kremlin sees this?— have any effect at all on the way the kremlin sees this? no, no effect at all. i the kremlin sees this? no, no effect at all- i think — the kremlin sees this? no, no effect at all. i think russian _ the kremlin sees this? no, no effect at all. i think russian officials - at all. i think russian officials have long stopped caring about what the international community thinks or says about russia, particularly what the west thinks or says about russia. all criticism is simply batted away. give you an example opened earlier, the ambassadors are britain, the us and canada were standing outside the courthouse and condemning the sentence. later, the spokesperson for the russian foreign ministry accused them of interfering in russia's internal affairs are also accused britain of neocolonialism in diplomacy, but at least she referred to the case. was watching the main news on russian television tonight to see what they said about vladimir kara—murza, a big story, right? 25 year prison sentence for a kremlin critic. there

was no mention at all of the story in that news bulletin. it seems that here in russia, some news stories are not considered newsworthy for the domestic audience.— the domestic audience. steve rosenberg — the domestic audience. steve rosenberg with _ the domestic audience. steve rosenberg with the _ the domestic audience. steve rosenberg with the latest - the domestic audience. steve rosenberg with the latest in i the domestic audience. steve i rosenberg with the latest in that case in moscow. at westminster, the prime minister, rishi sunak, is under investigation after allegations of a possible failure to declare his wife's financial interest in a childcare agency — an agency that might benefit from the recent budget. the inquiry has been opened by parliament's standards watchdog. under the rules, all mps have to be "open and frank" when declaring their interests as our political editor, chris mason, reports. laughter meeting parents and toddlers in st austell in cornwall in february, the prime minister and his wife akshata murthy. well done for knowing it's a two! that's clever! the centrepiece of this spring's budget was a big expansion in the provision of free care for preschool children in england.

hello, boys and girls! part of that, and boosting the number of providers, the chancellor announced a trial of payments for new childminders, with more for those who sign through agencies. the prime minister was asked about the government's plans, and his wife being a shareholder in one of those agencies, koru kids, in front of a parliamentary committee last month. obviously we just want to make sure the policy's effective in bringing additional people into the system, because i think... and there's nothing - the prime minister wishes to declare in respect of that? no, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way. today the parliamentary commissioner for standards said he was looking into all of this, and in particular whether rishi sunak had always been open and frank in declaring any relevant interest. i was also shown a letter today that the prime minister sent to the committee after his appearance, seeking to clarify what he had said, saying he had declared his wife's shareholding to officials.

in the commons this afternoon, the government faced this question on the matter. ..what conversations she and the secretary of state had with the prime minister and the agency in which his wife is a shareholder prior to the budget? i know that the number 10 team are collaborating with the commission to establish facts and show that everything has been transparently declared. no minister wanted to talk to us on camera about all of this today. labour reckon a prime minister who has made a virtue of claiming to prioritise integrity appears to have got this wrong. i really think rishi sunak should come clean because otherwise itjust looks like yet more tory sleaze. do you really think the prime minister is sleazy? it's really hard, isn't it, when someone promises that they are going to be different and yet they seem to be behaving in exactly the same way? the liberal democrats said people wanted a government focused on the country rather than saving its own skin.

how serious it is all of this? that would sleaze gets thrown around a lot at westminster. i think on the richter scale of these things, it feels like a fairly minor tremor. 0ne added twist of this is that a place where these kind of things tend to get declared, the register of ministerial interest, has not seen the light of day for the best part of the year, a symptom of the chaos there has been in politics. 0ne chaos there has been in politics. one other thing worth mentioning, labour leader keir starmer had a run—in with the previous commissioner last summer and was found to have breached the mps' code of conduct eight times, albeit in what were described as a relatively minor inadvertent weight and the whole thing blew over pretty quickly. rishi sunak will hope it does for him as well. chris, many thanks, chris mason, our political editor. the head of the united nations has called for an immediate ceasefire in sudan as intense fighting continues for a third day. more than 180 people have already

died in the latest violence — many of them civilians — and the un says the humanitarian situation is now a full—blown crisis. the fighting was triggered at the weekend by the struggle between these two men to control sudan's military — the head of the armed forces, general abdel fattah al—burhan, and his deputy, mohamed hamdan dagalo, who's in charge of the paramilitary group the rsf — the rapid support forces. the two men disagree on sudan's future and its journey towards civilian rule. one of the main obstacles is the role of paramilitaries in sudan's army and who should be in charge. in the capital khartoum, there are reports of heavy gun battles and air strikes in crowded residential neighbourhoods. 0ur senior africa correspondent anne soy sent this report.

intense fighting is ongoing in sudan for the third day running with no sign of respite. loud explosion these students were caught in the crossfire when the clashes broke out. they are sheltering at an oil company located between the army headquarters and the presidential palace. translation: for three days we have had no food or drink _ and the conditions are miserable. please send help. airports are still a flashpoint. these satellite images show the damage that has been done in the capital. the attacks have grounded aid operations and forced regional leaders who were due to travel here on a peace building mission to cancel plans. these fighters from the rsf claim to have taken control of another airport. civilians who live nearby are trapped in their homes. i actually live in east khartoum, less than 15 minutes away from the military headquarters

and the airport. we don't have enough food for tomorrow. we only have drinking water for two days now, from now, and we are actually out of tap water. sudan is a majority muslim nation. ramadan is a time to travel and meet friends and family, but not now. aid workers have been caught up in the clashes. seven of them have been killed and others injured. the un says a four—hour pause announced last evening to allow for humanitarian access was breached. unless there is a very immediate humanitarian truce for the people to get their needs, i think the people will be compelled to do some looting. the number of casualties is rising. here, staff at a local hospital struggled just to get into their workplace this morning.

whilst military officers who support the army chief, general al—burhan, were keen to be seen visiting the injured. and the fighting is spreading, with troops now on the streets in the red sea city of port sudan, and reports of unrest elsewhere. anne soy, bbc news. now a look at some of the other stories making the news today. in gateshead, a teenager has been found guilty of murdering 14—year—old tomasz oleszak last october. tomasz was stabbed in his chest and died the following day. leighton amies, who was 14 at the time, has claimed he'd attacked tomasz by accident. he will be sentenced injune. at the world snooker championship in sheffield, a man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after a protest disrupted events at the crucible theatre. play was abandoned in one match

and suspended in another after one of the tables was damaged. the protesters were wearing t—shirts promoting just stop oil, which is a group of climate change activists. energy suppliers are to be banned from forcibly installing prepayment meters in the homes of customers over the age of 85. the regulator ofgem is expected to announce the new rules tomorrow. suppliers will also have to give customers more chance to clear their debts before making them switch to a prepayment meter. a serving police officer has been charged with raping a woman in 2009 while he was serving with devon and cornwall police. sergeant david stansbury, who has since moved to hertfordshire police, has been suspended from his work. our west of england correspondent danjohnson is at devon and cornwall police headquarters in exeter. tell us more about this. this police officer is 42 — tell us more about this. this police officer is 42 years _ tell us more about this. this police officer is 42 years of _ tell us more about this. this police officer is 42 years of age _ tell us more about this. this police officer is 42 years of age and -

officer is 42 years of age and from somerset and he only served with the devon and cornwall police force between 2000 and 2011, the point where he transferred to hertfordshire police where he is still serving as a police sergeant. currently he is suspended from duty after allegations were made to this force in 2020, the allegations date back to 2009, that the sergeant when on duty in plymouth raped a woman over the age of 16 and he faces three counts of rape. it is the early stages of the court process but david stansbury is due to appear at plymouth magistrates' court on wednesday morning. he has not even had a chance to plead guilty or otherwise but this is another serving police officer facing serious charges and in court at a time when there is so much public concern around the country about the conduct and behaviour and the attitudes of some members of the police. attitudes of some members of the olice. g, ,.,

police. dan johnson, in exeter, thanks for— police. dan johnson, in exeter, thanks forjoining _ police. dan johnson, in exeter, thanks forjoining us. _ police in the us state of alabama have given details of the four people who were shot dead at a birthday party at the weekend. they were aged between 17 and 23 and included two high—school students. nearly 30 others were injured in the attack in the town of dadeville which has left five people in a critical condition. our north america correspondent jessica parker has been speaking to the sister of one of the victims. a proud mum stands beside her son, a star athlete seen heading for university on a football scholarship, but 18—year—old phil dowdell lost his life on saturday. we have spoken to his mother latonya and sister alexis whose sweet 16 it was. she says her big brother pushed her to the floor as the shooting began, saving her life. she then found him fatally injured. he wasn't breathing too much because he had already lost a lot of blood. so it was...

they said that it was his body lying on the ground. my mum started crying and that is when i ran in there and grabbed him. i was holding him in my arm. police investigating the attack at this dance studio have given no details about suspects or a possible motive. latonya and alexis say they don't know what happened either. everybodyjust rushed out. you don't know if it was more than one person but you think it was? i think it had to be more than one person. tell us about phil. it is like a piece of my heart has been ripped out. i know he loved us. he know i loved him. he was supposed

to graduate next may. instead of going to graduation, i will be going to the cemetery to see my son. phil's mother says more must be done to tackle gun violence, to stop tragedies like this. a young man dying at his own sister's birthday. jessica parker, bbc news, dadeville, alabama. the trainer of a horse that died during saturday's grand national at aintree has blamed what he called "ignorant protesters" for his horse's death. sandy thomson said the delay to the start of the race, after animal rights activists entered the track, �*unsettled' everyone. the group — animal rising — said its actions were �*aimed to prevent�* the death of horses, as our sports editor dan roan reports. they were the scenes that racing had been dreading. animal rights protesters at aintree delaying saturday's grand national, with 118 arrested. horses were kept in the paddock until the race could start, and the trainer of hill 16, which was put down after being injured falling at the first fence, today blamed the activists

for its death. since the course has been modified, there's been an average of under two fallers at the first two fences, and this year there were eight fallers. everybodyjust got very uptight, very unsettled, and this was all caused by these so—called animal lovers, who actually are ignorant and have absolutely no idea about welfare of horses. we shall not, we shall not be moved! but animal rising, which organised the protest, said their actions aimed to prevent the deaths of horses, of which there were three at the three—day meeting. the real reason the horses run in the race is so people could bet on the horse, sojockeys could make money and so people could have a fun day out, and that doesn't seem like a good enough reason for putting an animal in harm's way. supporters ofjump racing point to a reduction in horse fatalities, both here at aintree and beyond in recent years, after safety reforms. they say an entire industry, and the actual existence of thoroughbreds, depend on the sport continuing.

the critics, however, say it is an outdated and cruel spectacle. what's certain is that the chaotic scenes here on saturday were a bad advert for the sport, and there's now the threat of further protests this summer. what i've said is we will review the incidents that took place, but that we are flexible in terms of looking at how the race continues in the future, but we know that part of the grand national�*s appeal is how challenging it is for both horse and rider. many reformers believe there is a limit to just how safe the grand national can truly be, with 40 horses and 30 fences involved. i think one of the things that we've asked for for a while is to see the field size of the grand national reduced. you know, nobody would argue it is acceptable that we come out of a festival of racing with three dead horses. the country's second most popular spectator sport continued today, but racing once again finds itself

under pressure to become safer for those involved. dan roan, bbc news. every year some 4.5 million people visit the glorious area of the brecon beacons national park in wales to walk and climb and explore one of the best landscapes in britain. but from now on, to celebrate ancient welsh culture and tradition, the park will be known by its original welsh name — bannau brycheiniog — which literally means the peaks of brecon. the park was established in 1957 and covers more than 500 square miles of south wales, and its tallest peak is pen—y—fan. the park authorities said they'd consulted widely among staff and volunteers, and decided to use the original welsh name — bannau brycheiniog — to promote the rich heritage of this part of wales. more and more neighbourhoods across england are getting

used to these signs as local authorities implement low traffic neighbourhoods — limiting access to cars and lorries and encouraging more people to walk and cycle. the new zones are meant to cut air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. but the policy has caused deep divisions in some areas with opponents saying the new zones have just moved congestion and pollution to surrounding streets. our climate editorjustin rowlatt has more details. this is probably britain's most abused bollard. it's been repeatedly run over, bent, battered, beaten — even burnt. and finally, stolen. itsjob is to redirect traffic in oxford as part of a low traffic neighbourhood. they're being installed by councils of all political stripes, but not everyone likes them.

here they are, putting up traffic cameras, and they can't even fix a pothole! new traffic schemes are prompting mass protests across the country. this is in oxford. this is thetford in norfolk... well, i've got to be honest, there's a lot of people here tonight that are pretty concerned as to why you're making decisions on their behalf without consultation. ..and this is colchester in essex. it's already been decided. you're not fit for purpose. they decided it months ago. some fear local politicians could be intimidated. we're a network of around 107 local authorities from both urban and rural, and what we've seen is around 17 of those have told us that they've been targeted in some way or the other, so this could be the start of a really worrying trend that's emerging from across the uk. and why do you see this as an attack on democracy? isn't this... i mean, people should be allowed to express their views, shouldn't they? absolutely. however, if you've got

a couple of extreme voices who are doing all the shouting, all the screaming, they inevitably take up all the bandwidth. there seem to be two ideas of freedom in conflict here. the freedom to drive your car where you want, which is represented by the people here, and the freedom from the pollution and the congestion that cars cause, and they seem to be, these two ideas, irreconcilable. here's actor turned political activist laurence fox. we should be seeking more freedom, not less! i don't want to be restricted by politicians and stuff like that. but some freedoms require limits on others. what about the freedom to be able to cycle down the street without getting knocked off your bike? what about the freedom of asthmatics to have better air quality? so, we've given up a lot of different freedoms for the one freedom, to drive your car wherever you want at any time. more roads are being earmarked for restrictions around the country. if it's the road where you live, which side will you be on?