live from washington. this is bbc news, welcome to viewers on pbs in america two men are arrested in new york for allegedly operating a chinese secret police station. fighting in sudan continues — despite the un's call for a ceasefire. and — one of president putin's most vocal critics — is sentenced to 25 years injail. here in the us, prosecutors have arrested two men in new york for allegedly operating a chinese secret police station in manhattan's chinatown neighbourhood. 61—year—old lu jianwang, pictured

on the right and 59—year—old chenjinping, pictured on the left are both new york city residents and face charges of conspiring to act as agents for china and obstruction ofjustice as us officials said in a conference this afternoon. the defendants�* actions under the direction of the chinese government are flagrant violations of american sovereignty and thanks to our investigation and arest today, with the fbi, the defendants will be held accountable and the mp5 is on notice that we will not tolerate similar threats to our national sovereignty. let's look at what we know. the secret station is believed to be a a part of a network of at least 100 operating across the globe( in 53 countries, including the uk and the netherlands.and last month, canada's federal police announced an investigation into two sites in montreal thought to be police outposts. the fbi's director christopher wray spoke about this in november, saying "to me, it is outrageous to think that the chinese police would attempt to set

up shop, you know, in new york, let's say, without proper coordination." our new york correspondent nada tawfik went to the justice department's press conference and has more. us prosecutors say these two older men, who are both new york residents, both us citizens, that they opened an illegal chinese police station in 2022. they did that on behalf of china's ministry of public security to routinely monitor and intimidate dissidents in those critical of the chinese government in order to silence them. they allegedly conducted these operations from a floor in an office building in manhattan's chinatown, as you mentioned now, and the key here is that they never notify the attorney general that they were acting as agents of a foreign government as they are required to do. what they did is they allegedly closed the police station when they realise they were getting investigated. the fbi got an authorised search of the building,

they were able to question the men and prosecutors say that they admitted they had deleted their communications with their chinese government official that they were in touch with in order to obstruct the fbi's probe. so the complaint goes into that specific police station but also even earlier, there were kind of attempts to locate chinese persons of interest in the united states including pro—democracy activists living in california and trying to imitate them. earlier i spoke to isaac stone fish, the founder and ceo of strategy risks, a resarch firm with expertise in chinese politics and culture. are you surprised the department ofjustice there was a secret chinese police station

operating for years? i'm not. i'm surprised they've moved so publicly against it. then about a year ago alleging about the existence of these police stations in these types of actions by beijing globally secrets among people watching. so you are saying police in new york, federal authorities should have shut this down much earlier? absolutely. there's been a lot beijing and the communist party has done, globally and in the united states, for a long time folks turned a blind eye to with the idea of a positive relationship with beijing and the party and with the political shift in the united states, institutions are doing that much less. we know that relationship is not so positive anymore but why would china need to intimidate dissidents in other countries because that's what the department ofjustice is saying this secret police station was essentially four.

beijing fears criticism and it fears countries like the united states collecting people for anti—party activities, anti—party coups or spreading malicious gossip or rumours about beijing, all in scare quotes, and they feel like this is a very good use of police resources, because they are afraid of chinese dissidents are speaking out against the party. we have said this is believed to be part of a larger network, so secret police stations being located in the uk and netherlands. do we know if these police stations have had an effect in trying to quash any dissent from the chinese diaspora? the mere existence of it should and does have aged —— a chilling effect. if you know that beijing or security officials from your home town in china are watching or even potentially could be watching, that often is enough

to make you not send that tweet or not go to the protest or not write a letter to your elected official. so they are spreading fear among chinese dissidents abroad? yes. if you look at what china has said here, china in the past has responded to these accusations, saying these are centres that are essentially there to help chinese nationals with things like getting a driver's license or certain services that citizens might need abroad. what do you make of that explanation? it's very likely they did that as well. the nefarious purpose is still there and is still very meaningful. probably when someone came in and had an issue with our driver's licence or with permits, they be very helpful with that. that in itself might cause issues of extra—territoriality and other pieces but what the fbi is alleging is the really negative aspects of that police presence in the united states.

we know the relationship between the us and china is strained. what do these arrests do? they certainly won't make the relationship any better but we do have to be mindful that the most important act to hear is us laws and protecting people in the united states and i'm glad that us elected and appointed officials are now following those laws and working in that direction as opposed to putting kid gloves on the relationship with china for political and economic reasons. if this is part of a larger network, isaac, do you think the international community needs to work more closely together? i think that would be helpful. i think there is this growing sense among western democracies, democracies around the world, about the threats posed not by chinese people but by the chinese communist party and further co—ordination and discussion and debate around best practices is almost always a good thing.

thank you very much. let's turn to sudan — where fighting between rival armed factions has left more than 180 people dead, according to the un.this is the latest footage coming out of the conflict. sudanese citizens have been seeing this barrage of artillery fire light up the night sky in the capital khartoum. both sides now claim to control key sites in khartoum, where most of the violence has taken place. the european union says its ambassador to sudan was assaultd in his home there. these two men are at the centre of the fighting. the head of the armed forces, general abdel fattah al—burhan — pictured here on the left — and his deputy, mohamed hamdan dagalo — pictured on the right — who's in charge of a paramilitary group called the rsf - or rapid support forces. both of them want to control sudan's military. meanwhile, the latest update out of sudan is a report that us secretary of state antony blinken spoke with the rsf leader to discuss the nations�* pressing issues.

caught in the middle of fighting, are sudan's civilians. it's one of the poorest countries in the world — and millions need humanitarian aid. let's hear from some of them. i actually live in east khartoum, less than 15 minutes away from the military headquarters and airport. we don't have enough food for tomorrow. we only have drinking water for two days from now and we actually are out of tap water. translation: for three days, we've had no food or drink. - conditions are miserable. please send help. ferdinand 0mondi is following this story for us from nairobi. so fighting has been going on non—stop, or almost non—stop, according to united nations and now there are grave concerns that even the vienna convention that seeks to protect humanitarians and diplomats is not being respected. you mentioned that the eu ambassador in sudan was attacked there. they say he is fine but that is

not the only incident. the un also early on mentioned that its warehouses and guesthouses and even offices especially in darfur were attacked, shot at and also looted. there was supposed to be a ceasefire tonight but i've seen a post recently from the rsf claiming that they respect the ceasefire but accusing the military side of still not respecting the ceasefire so they said there is a lot of shooting going on, so nothing happened. this is the second night the ceasefire hasn't been respected. there at least 1,000 people who need urgent medical help and evacuation, and as long as the fighting continues, these people are in desperate need and cannot even accept the food they need to break their fast because it's the holy month of ramadan. are international calls for a ceasefire, negotiations, having any impact? it does not seem so. here the president of kenya

and south sudan and djibouti were due to fly to sudan as part of the intergovernmental authority on development, igad, that's the northern group that was supposed to go there and negotiate for a ceasefire. the army says the airport is under attack. it's not safe for them. neighbours like egypt and even russia and iraq have offered support, eitherallies of the militia there. the paramilitary side as well as the government. but it looks like both of them are maintaining that they want to sort of talk but what it does appear right now is that they still want to maintain the upper hand before they can actually sit down. ferdinand 0mondi there, thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. helen gallagher was desperate for a child, but after years of trying she decided to put her attention

to living her best life childless. we tried to have children and they put it down to unexplained infertility. we went for ivf but the marriage started to break down. she started a blog and podcast in hopes of finding other adults in a similar situation. you become really isolated, you look on social media and there are accounts, but nothing for me. the podcast has led to an app connecting helen with other adults who also can't have children. connecting her to other adults around the world like tansy in new zealand. having people understand what it's like to go through that and understand that feeling of loss. how is helen getting on? now i've accepted it, it was a hard process and i deserve to be happy, i deserve to be moving forward and live a happy life, which is exactly what i'm doing 110w. you're live with bbc news. let's take you to missouri where president biden has spoke

by phone to ralph yarl — the 16—year—old who was shot after he mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell. the president said he shared ralph's hope for a swift recovery. ralph had been sent to pick up his brothers, but got the address wrong. he was hit in the head and arm. a short while ago missouri police released a photo of the suspect, andrew lester. the 84—year—old has been charged with first—degree assault and armed criminal action. this was the clay county prosecutor zach thompson earlier today. ia the prosecutor of clay county i can tell you there was a racial component to this. my message to the community is that in clay county we enforce the laws and we follow the laws and does not matter where you come from or what you look like or how much money you have. everyone is held to the same standard. to alabama now where four people have been killed and 28 others have been injured in a shooting at a teenage

birthday party in the town of dadeville. there's been no information on the motive. jess parker sent this report. what happened ? confusion and fear, the routine gun violence in america, but devastating for a community and alabama after a shooter opened fire at a birthday party. police tape hiding what you can hear, the sound of horror and grief. four lives were lost in the tragic event that occurred here in dadeville. as far as the injuries, there are 28 individuals that were injured in the course of the incident. this local dance hall was a place for people to have fun. they were out to celebrate a sweet 16, which became a fatal crime scene stopping

most of the victims, dead and wounded, it is believed, were teenagers. phil dowdell was star athelet. and a senior in high school. he was one of those lost his life after bullets ripped through his sister's own birthday party. our thoughts and prayers are with all the families. there are...just are no words to describe the emotions we are all feeling. millions of firearms are in circulation in this country. for some, it's part of the nation's promise of freedom. for others, it is a kind of madness that is costing the lives of america's children. now to moscow, where one of russian president vladmir putin's biggest critics, vladimir kara—murza, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail after he publicly criticised russia's invasion of ukraine. kara—murza is accused of treason and spreading false information. 0ur russia editor, steve rosenberg, has more. 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 the 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 swan song for russian democracy. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. earlier, i spoke with angela stent, the director of the center for eurasian, russian & east european studies for more on the arrest. you have taken part in panels and discussions with vladimir kara—murza, what is your reaction to this? as steve said it is

an unprecedented sentence, particularly in the post—soviet era. you know, we should note that the judge who sentenced him was a judge who was on the magnitsky list and he himself, vladimir kara—murza, had campaigned after the death of magnitsky to push russian human rights violators on this list and ban them from travel, certainly to the us. and this veryjudge who also sentenced magnitsky has also sentenced kara—murza. it is a sign that the kremlin is so concerned about opposition to the war that this is supposed to deter anyone from speaking out against it. a 25—year prison sentence is unprecedented. why do you think the kremlin sees kara—murza as a threat? because he has consistently spoken out about russian human rights abuses for years now. he was a friend of

an opposition leader who was assassinated, and we still don't know exactly who did that, and they see people like him as a threat, particularly during this war because vladimir putin has used this war to crack down in russia and to stifle all opposition sentiments. you cannot even stand with a blank piece of paper anymore by yourself on the street in a silent protest. this is to really deter everyone else, to intimidate everyone. it is going back to soviet methods and vladimir putin did used to be a kgb agent. i want to play you a clip of maria litvinenko speaking to the bbc earlier. she is the wife of alexander litvinenko, who was murdered in london in 2006. because he is is 25 years, it means he is a very special hostage.

if a valuable agent for russia would be caught in united states or europe, vladimir would be the first pesop— asking for exchange. this is one hope for me and why he receives this enormous sentence. so we know of a wall street journal reporter also being held in russia. is this part of a larger strategy of hostage diplomacy? it is partly that. it would depend on which russians would be in a prison in the uk who might be exchanged for kara—murza and the question is there for evan. and evan is charged with espionage, not true, but that carries a lesser sentence then what kara—murza now has. so it could be that vladimir putin is ramping up his hostage diplomacy but right now the russians would like to exchange someone for a spy who posed as a brazilian who is now in brazil, for the man

who assassinated a chechnyan dissident in berlin. he is injail in germany so i do not know how they would arrange those things. but we may see swaps coming down the road but i would not be convinced. you must also know that vladimir kara—murza is in bad health. russians have poisoned him twice and apparently they had to postpone this trial because it was not well enough to come to court. that is an important point. i want to ask you about international reaction to this. the sentence for kara—murza has been condemned internationally and the british government is hoping for his release, the same for the us resident who says he is wrongfully detained. does any of this international pressure have any effect on the kremlin? at the moment, no. the kremlin has turned its back on the west with this war and vladimir putin is not interested in better relations with any western country at the moment. so i think it is right to keep up the pressure, all these countries have to do

is to keep all of these prisoners in the public eye but i would be dubious that it would have any impact on what the kremlin does unless it decides that there is someone valuable they could exchange for. at the end of steve rosenberg's piece we saw a museum being shut down, in his words it was like a swan song to russian democracy. what do you think of that? i think he is quite right. the kremlin has now closed down all of these independent centres like a memorial that was dedicated looking into stalin's crimes and one for a physicist and a human rights campaigner. his centre did a lot of valuable human rights work and it is a message that they will not tolerate any of this anymore and, again, they are really going back to the soviet playbook. not soviet playbook of gorbachev but the soviet playbook of the brezhnev

era and beyond. you said it is important for the us and uk to keep up pressure. what opportunity, what avenue is there then for dialogue with moscow? at the moment moscow has cut off most of the dialogue in terms of the united states. they suspended participation in a nuclear arms pact. at the moment there are some conflicts between the us —— at the moment there are some contacts between the us and russia on certain issues related to ukraine and also to deter russia from using these nuclear threat. there are other high—level contacts at european government but it is minimal and reduced compared to what it was before the war began. final question, just to sum things up, is there any room for any opposition to vladimir putin or the war in ukraine? there really is not.

a million people have left, many who oppose the war, others did not want to be drafted and those who remain understand that if they speak out they can be arrested and jailed. they are draconian laws now so right now the opposition is there but it is silent. angela stent, thank you very much forjoining us. i will leave you with a reminder about top story this hour~ — reminder about top story this hour~ it — reminder about top story this hour~ it is _ reminder about top story this hour. it is have arrested two men — hour. it is have arrested two men in — hour. it is have arrested two men in new york were allegedly operating a chinese secret police _ operating a chinese secret police station in the chinatown neighbourhood. the police station in the chinatown neighbourhood.— police station in the chinatown neighbourhood. the man on the rieht and neighbourhood. the man on the right and the — neighbourhood. the man on the right and the man _ neighbourhood. the man on the right and the man on _ neighbourhood. the man on the right and the man on the - neighbourhood. the man on the right and the man on the left i right and the man on the left are both new york city residents and they face charges of conspiring to act as agents for china and obstruction of

justice. that is our programme here on bbc news. do stay with us, thanks for watching. hello there. we've started this week off on a pretty warm note. in fact, many parts of the uk saw the warmest day of the year so far on monday. however, over the next few days, those temperatures will be coming down as we pick up a chilly easterly breeze. and there could even be a bit of rain in places by the end of the week. now, high pressure dominates the scene over the next few days, sitting across scandinavia, bringing this easterly breeze. but more icy bars on the chart mean that easterly wind picks up and we'll start to see these weather fronts rolling in off the near continent, bringing outbreaks of rain, particularly for england and wales, whereas further north it should tend to stay largely dry. now for tuesday morning, we'll start off with a bit of low cloud mist, but that should tend to burn away. many places will see a sunny day, but we'll see thicker cloud

for southern and southeastern areas. and the breeze will be stronger, noticeably cooler, i think, across the board, but certainly down north sea coast. that's because the sea temperatures are pretty low at this time of year, seven or eight degrees. so it will feel cool immediately on the north sea coast, head further inland and again, we're close to the mid—teens, some of the highest temperatures for western scotland, up to the high teens there. so as we move out of tuesday day through the night, we'll start to see further low clouds and mist the rolling in off the north sea once again, especially for england and wales, eastern scotland, clearer skies further west. so it's here where we could see temperatures dip close to freezing two, three degrees. generally for most, we're between four and seven celsius. a little change as we head into wednesday. again, we've got high pressure dominating the scene. it's going to be another windy day, strong easterly winds, so feeling cool again along the north sea coast and we'll see thicker cloud at times rolling in across england and wales. clusters of showers affecting the south of england, certainly the south west, perhaps in towards south wales. but most places will be dry, get a chilly feel to things towards the east, further west

where around the low to mid—teens celsius. and then as we move throughout thursday into friday, we start to see more weather fronts pushing in some of these weather fronts, bringing more prolonged rain at times to england and wales on friday. and again, it's going to be quite cool with a strong east the breeze so temperatures dipping away as we head towards the end of the week into the weekend. and there's a greater chance of many of us, certainly england and wales, seeing some wetter weather.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight up this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. they say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. and context there are growing concerns in both the european union and nato that one member state, hungary, is undermining their collect of cohesion. hungary is a consistent outlier on many issues from supporting ukraine

with weapons and sanctions to