live from london, this is bbc news. after four days of intense fighting — and at least 180 dead — a ceasefire is expected in sudan in the next few hours. ——in the next half hour. a court in moscow rejects an appeal by the americanjournalist evan gershkovich against his detention on spying charges. rupert murdoch will testify in a billion—dollar defamation trial

between the voting systems firm dominion and fox news. star hosts tucker carlson and sean hannity are also expected to take the stand. more on all of those stories in a few minutes. first, a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello. day four of the world snooker championship is well under way with two england vs scotland battles under way in the afternoon session. john higgins is leading david grace 10—7, and england'sjudd trump is taking on anthony mcgill, where he's leading at the crucible. let's take you straight there. that is anthony mcgill at the table, a ropey start but he came from two frames down to level at 2—2.

however, trump has fought back and took the fifth frame, which means he is now leading 3—2. don't forget, judd trump was last year's finals, eventually it was until ronnie o'sullivan. mcgill has only beaten judd trump winds in his career. security of course stepped up at the crucible after last night's protest, uninterrupted coverage on bbc iplayer, the bbc sport website, and the bbc sport app every day, which means you can keep up to date. frank lampard has said chelsea will have to improve on last week's performance at the bernabeu as they try to come back from a 2—0 first leg defeat to real madrid. the champions league is the last competition chelsea can win this season, but they have an uphill battle against the 14—time winners. we had opportunities to score there and make the scoreline better, but at the same time, there were a lot of things we could have done better in that game. i felt it in the game and i feel it

even more having reviewed the game. there were things we wanted to do from the outset that we did not do well enough throughout the game to have a better chance we have to improve on that to have a better chance of turning this game around. translation: we do not think it is auoin to be translation: we do not think it is going to be easy. — translation: we do not think it is going to be easy, anything - going to be easy, anything can happen in football, the players know that very well. i do not need to remind them, because they know this competition so well. our sports correspondentjoe wilson is at stamford bridge for us. joe, chelsea's form in all competitions — has been poor, what chance do they have to get through to the next round? they have to score more goals in one evening than they have managed in of april to beat the most successful team in the history of european football, and at the weekend, chelsea were outplayed winds again

in the premier league, on this occasion by brighton. so what are reasons to be positive or even optimistic for chelsea? well, showery there's a reason they spent so much monday on the current squad, and there are players with experience, with talent, potentially with potential, but i think it has been clear to everybody this season chelsea have been playing without a meaningful centre forward, and without much confidence. and it is very hard to wind any matches in those circumstances. is this the best real madrid team ever to come and play a football match in england? i do not think so. they are off the pace and earlier liga, i suppose it is possible that for 90 minutes this evening karim benzema and luka modric might look their age. they were not outstanding in spain, but they did not need to be. chelsea are at home, and this is their last opportunity to really prove something to their supporters, with the team in the bottom half of the premier league. this evening, i think the cloud will be with

chelsea. they may not be tomorrow. joe wilson, thank you very much indeed. two significant nights of champions league quarter—final action will take place to determine the four semi—finalists. elsewhere, napoli entertain fellow italians ac milan, 1—0 down from the first leg. in the second set of quarter—finals, manchester city travel to bavaria with a strong 3—0 lead over bayern munich, and inter host the home side are 2—0 up from the first leg. and that's all the sport for now. you can keep up—to—date with all the stories on the bbc sport website. before we move on, we are going to look at live pictures from zero, because whilst we were watching the sport, and auctionjust because whilst we were watching the sport, and auction just taking place, and there is the skeleton, the head of that t rex. —— live pictures from zurich. europe's first auction of a complete t rex

skeleton. it has gone through around $5 million, quite an extraordinary discovery, the skeleton. it measures 11.6 metres in length and 3.9 metres high, and as i was saying, just the last couple of minutes, we do not quite know who the buyer is, a lot of fears that auctions like this, it goes to a private collector somewhere, that is the last chance you get to get a glimpse of something this, but there it is in the auction house there in zurich, it has just been sold for around $5 million. 67 million years old, that t rex skeleton. as the pictures go, so does the skeleton. the kremlin has published video footage of what it says was a visit by president putin to russian—occupied parts of southern and eastern ukraine.

he's shown meeting military commanders in the kherson and luhansk regions. the russian leader has rarely visited captured ukrainian territory since he launched the invasion last year. a ukrainian presidential adviser said mr putin was visiting the area "to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time." it comes as ukraine is preparing a counter—offensive to try to recapture lost territory. )i've been speaking to dr hanna shelest, who is the security studies programs director at the think—tank ukrainian prism. she's in 0desa, the port city close to kherson, and explained how the visit is being viewed in ukraine. definitely it is being viewed as propaganda, there was only a picture of him meeting the military on the ground, and we know the situation on the south front is not so good, we see a lot of signals that probably they are going to from some of the villages, but at the same time there

are questions about whether he is really there the day he was presented to us. we understand that last picture is less for the ukrainians and the international community, but more for the domestic public, where usually vladimir putin is presented as not a courageous person, let's be honest, with others preparations for the meetings with him. plus there were a lot of conversations on russian social networks that modernism and skiers travelling to the soldiers at the front line, and vladimir putin is not coming even to the territories that have been occupied for quite a long time —— volodymyr zelenskyy travelling to the soldiers. it's interesting where you started that answer, because everyone is still trying to verify the pictures of putin himself where he says he was when he was actually there.

because kherson is the city itself or the the russians retreated from there, didn't they? yes. if you look to the map, it's like covering like a hair to crimea. so the place where he's reported to be is at the azov sea. so even if he really arrived at that town, the fact it is like traveling to crimea where he felt himself the most secure in terms of russian forces. in terms of russian forces, they're said to be bolstering their defences because it is thought at some stage we're going to get to the ukrainian counter—offensive. and that's still a lot of question marks about where that is actually going to be directed. but that is certainly one of the areas that a lot of people have pinpointed. surely we're expecting the possible counter—offensive on the south. the question is that it can start only further from kherson city. so western parts of the black sea.

or it can come around from the north to the south. the interesting question is how the russians are building their protection lines because they are bringing all those strange constructions and are digging not only closer to the front line, but also just on the beaches of crimea. and that look like they are preparing to the huge amphibious operation or thousands of ships coming from the black sea. what is just technically impossible considering that ukrainian fleet is very small and parts of it were not functional since the beginning of the war, but it's either bringing all this fear to the society or it is such a fear against the ukrainian and native forces because the russian propaganda, there are a lot nature can attack them. really briefly, we're into the second year of this war. you've survived the bitter winter. there's attacks on the energy infrastructure. just give me a quick sense

of what it is like surviving day to day there still. you know, the human being is so that you can adjust to everything. and ukrainians is probably one of the most resilient people because cafes and beauty salons opened the first. even with the diesel generators, because people would like to oppose the war, both physically at the battlefield and morally in their daily life. so as soon as you are able to and you are not very close to the actual battlefield, you are trying to organise your life as much as possible to the normal. the un has said there are signs of recovery in afghanistan's economy, but they are weak and under threat of being undone by the taliban's recent restrictions on women working at ngos which could lead to a significant drop in aid. the taliban have told the bbc that the rules imposed on women are internal matters for the country, and that their government is working to pull the country out of economic collapse. from kabul, the bbc�*s south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports.

no time for a childhood. 11—year—old saeed ali akbar must work every day so that his family can eat. one of more than a million children out of school in afghanistan. he was in sixth grade until last year. "i really liked school. i miss it. this is very hard work, but i've got used to it now," he says. next door, his older brother does the same work. nine hours of hammering and welding earns them 150 afghanis a day, less than $2. their father lost his job when afghanistan's economy collapsed and has now gone to iran to find work. their mother begs on the streets.

translation: | feel awful- that my young children are working. this is their time to study and be something. but life is hard for us. i am struggling to find work and they have to provide for the family. when the taliban took over, foreign money that was being given to this country's government was frozen, triggering an economic collapse. aid organisations have so far played a crucial role, saving people from going hungry. in recent months, though, the taliban has increased restrictions on women working for them, which threatens to put their operations and their funding at risk. i met a senior official in the taliban's finance ministry... my name is yogita from the bbc. ..who says they're working to improve the economic situation. basically in the previous government, there were a lot of corruptions and misuses of the power of the government. we have transparency

in all our departments, and there is a very good 37% of increase in our revenues. two thirds of your population currently does not know where their next meal is coming from. that is not a self—reliant economy. so how crucial is the operation of aid organisations at this moment? these are temporary things. thank you for the international community helping our people all over afghanistan. but this is not the solution we need. we need not only aid, we need trade. we need the aid effectiveness. we need developmental aid. we need the international communities to come and work with us. but it is the policies of your government, including the restrictions on women and girls, which are making it tougherfor aid organisations to operate in this country. is your government willing to take responsibility for your share of what you should be doing to further expand the aid that is coming to your country?

so, the girls�* education and girls stopping them from the work, so this is, i think, the internal policy of islamic emirates. but i think all the things, all the humanitarian aid and the donations and the grants, those should not be related to this issue only. the gap between afghanistan's rulers and the world is widening at an unexpectedly rapid pace. its people are at risk of being left to fight a crisis on their own. yogita limaye, bbc news, kabul. time for a look at the business news now with jagdip cheema. let's start in china, where it's good news from the world's second largest economy. latest figures show it's growing faster than many expected,

with the economy growing by 4.5% in the first three months of this year. now these are the first set of quarterly gdp figures, since the end of the country's strict covid policy in december. this boosted retail sales, which were up over 10% on this time last year. and a huge expansion in travel with some 45 million air passengers taking trips last month alone. all of this has helped spark positivity from investors, with groups like citi upgrading their china growth forecast to 6.1% — that's well over china's own targets. i spoke to janet mui from brewin dolphin earlier, and asked whether china was playing it safe with these growth figures. yeah, i think so. they set the forecast way earlier and that is why they have been pretty conservative, especially they couldn't meet their target last year.

so i think they set a relatively conservative growth target of around 5%, which is relatively achievable. so, i think after this first quarter data, it is very likely that it will be achievable. i think the other investment banks out there, they regularly update their forecast and i think more and more economists, will be revising their growth expectations. consensus right now is about 5.3%, for 2023. i expect that will be revised throughout the year. now, china was known as having one of the most strict covid policies in the world. yet last month they had 45 million air travellers. so would you say the lifting of some of these restrictions and the return of travel has boosted morale? which has also had a knock—on effect on the overall economy? yeah, absolutely. i know many friends and families who are travelling very actively now. effectively, many of the chinese population have not left the country for the past three years.

so there is a lot of pent—up travel demand, and with airport traffic, as you mentioned, really picking up, and we expect that to continue throughout the rest of the year. it could even be higher next year, once more people get more comfortable with the covid situation and travelling and spending. so we think this is a theme to watch, it is likely to bring some boost to the economy with the chinese tourists spend in place likejapan, south korea or even places like europe. one of the most highly anticipated defamation trials in history is underway in the united states. dominion voting systems is seeking $1.6 billion dollars in damages — and a public apology — from fox news, saying it knowingly broadcast false claims and conspiracy theories about the outcome of the 2020 us election.

the trial is set to last six weeks and could see some of fox news's biggest on—air personalities, take the stand. let's cross to wilmington, delaware, where our north america business correspondent michelle fleury is outside the courthouse. michelle, obviously yesterday there was a delay put in place, speculation that fox news was looking to try to strike a deal. what has happened today so far? this mornin: , what has happened today so far? ti 3 morning, they were finishing jury selection, now 12jurors have been sworn in. they are going through some legal housekeeping if you will, and we are off to the races, as it were, and opening arguments are beginning with dominion lawyers expecting to go first. they are going to try to argue that fox news hosts and guests spread lies about the company, including that it helped to wreck the 2020 us election in favour ofjoe biden and against then president donald trump. and we are expecting as you suggested something of a spectacle in the six—week trial in part because

high—profile figures like rupert murdoch, the billionaire head of this media empire, and his son lachlan are among those expected to testify, including some of the stars of the network like tucker carlson and sean hannah people who are more used to asking the questions and answering them —— sean hannity. this answering them -- sean hannity. this is a big deal— answering them -- sean hannity. this is a big deal for— answering them —— sean hannity. this is a big deal for the media industry is a big dealfor the media industry especially. watching this, how important is this in terms of being a president? —— precedent? fox. a president? -- precedent? fox news said the claims _ a president? -- precedent? fox news said the claims it _ a president? -- precedent? fox news said the claims it was _ a president? -- precedent? fox news said the claims it was reporting - a president? -- precedent? fox news said the claims it was reporting the i said the claims it was reporting the news weather, it was reporting a speech by the the then president, and that is protected under first amendment rights, so this is a test of media freedoms but also a test of accountability for spreading disinformation about the 2020 us election. ~ . ., ~ , ., ,

election. michelle, thank you very much for that _ election. michelle, thank you very much for that update, _ election. michelle, thank you very much for that update, we - election. michelle, thank you very much for that update, we will- election. michelle, thank you very | much for that update, we will keep across it for the rest of the day. you are watching the latest on bbc news. that was the latest business news. in terms of the study we brought you away from south—west airlines, the update from the company says that their systems are back up and they have resumed operations this morning following the pause in the service, thatis following the pause in the service, that is how they described it, a vendor supplied firewall went down, and the connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost, they say that southwest airlines teams have worked quickly to minimise disruption, flights grounded during that system for that

and now they have their systems back up, but we will keep an eye on that and see how many fights are still affected in the hours ahead. the treasurer of the scottish national party, colin beattie, has been arrested by police investigating the party's funding and finances. it comes two weeks after peter murrell, the snp's former chief executive who's married to nicola sturgeon, was arrested by officers who searched his home in glasgow and the party's headquarters in edinburgh. mr murrell was later released without charge, pending further investigation. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the latest. colin beattie has been the snp's treasurer forms the entire tradition of his party's claim to dominance in scottish politics. it's repeated electoral success and during the campaign for scottish independence. the former international banker who became an msp extruded his party does make money for 16 years before being defeated in an internal election in 2020. he then returned

to the position and his successor resigned a year later, saying he did not have access to the accounts. earlier today, not have access to the accounts. earliertoday, mr not have access to the accounts. earlier today, mr beattie was taken into custody. police scotland said the arrest was made in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the snp. 0pposition msps are today calling for beauty�*s suspension. opposition msps are today calling for beauty's suspension.— opposition msps are today calling for beauty's suspension. there are very serious _ for beauty's suspension. there are very serious questions _ for beauty's suspension. there are very serious questions to - for beauty's suspension. there are very serious questions to answer, | very serious questions to answer, which is why humza should suspend colin beattie for the duration of this investigation, and mr beattie should also step aside from the public audit committee, and that is the only way that we can make sure that this investigation can be conducted fully transparently. in 2017 to 2020, the snp raised nearly £670,000 to campaign specifically for independence. at the end of 2019, questions arose when it emerged that the party had less than £100,000 in the bank. injune 2021, the former chief executive of the party, peter murrell, lutely party more than £100,000 of his own money.

before nuns, police scotland of a formal investigation into the snp's after receiving complaints about how donations to be party were used. last month, peter murrell resigned from the party after taking responsibility for misleading the public about its plummeting membership figures. two weeks ago, peter murrell was arrested by police, who searched his suburban glasgow home and garden. there was also police activity at the party's headquarters in edinburgh, with offices removing boxes of material as part of the investigation. peter murrell, the husband of nicola sturgeon, was later released without charge, pending further inquiries. humza yousaf�*s first major statement to parliament since becoming first minister last month comes in the midst of the continuing police investigation into his party's funding, and as his party faces a possible by—election in one of its westminster seats.

in the next hour, we will hear from bill clinton, former us president, he is there in belfast, is of course we have been seeing over the last week or so, those commemorations and celebrations of the good friday agreement, 25 years ago. so we expect to hearfrom bill clinton, he was there yesterday with former senator george mitchell and tony blair, and of course the architect of the good friday agreement, the scene very much set for bill clinton, so we will hear his thoughts 25 years on, that should be fascinating to listen to —— architects. also in the next few minutes, we have the imminent ceasefire, that is the hope, in sudan. let mejust ceasefire, that is the hope, in sudan. let me just show you some of the recent pictures, because this has been at the scene earlier today.

explosions in the capital, that has been the backdrop over the last few days, so many people injured as well as some dead, fighting between these two military factions dominating, but the hope is in the next few minutes a ceasefire will kick in, that both sides have agreed. we will see if it indeed is enforced, all those aid agencies we have been talking to on the ground talking about the urgent need to have a ceasefire in place, a pause so that they can get to people, so many people huddled in their homes, away from all of this, some wounded people needing treatment, so the hope of the ceasefire kicks in the next couple of minutes, we will be light on the capital to see how that plays out. now here's the weather

with chris fawkes. yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 21.2 in the highlands of scotland. the temperatures were particularly higher because of the scottish mountains. for most of us we had brisk winds, but those winds were blocked by the mountains. with light winds here, the sun's energy was concentrated. elsewhere those brisk winds meant the sun's energy was spread though a greater depth of atmosphere. more high pressure means we have more sunshine to look forward to. in north—west scotland, we are already seeing temperatures into the low 20s, and we could beat yesterday's highest temperature. it could be the warmest day of the year so far in the highlands. but across eastern areas, temperatures will be suppressed, highs more likely 10 or 11 degrees. wherever you are, probably not feeling too bad.

the chance of a light shower across north—east england this afternoon. we have also got very high levels of pollen, particularly across western areas. for those who suffer from tree pollen, it could be quite a sneezy afternoon. the emphasis is still on a lot of dry weather. with clear skies, it turns chilly, particularly across the northern areas. tomorrow generally a bit more in a way of cloud for england and wales. tomorrow, more cloud. could be the odd light shower, but most of us having a dry day. the highest temperatures will be across western areas, with winds coming from an easterly direction. the air gets a little bit cooler on thursday. but mitigating that should be the fact that we see much more in the way of sunshine across the whole of the uk. again it is probably the highlands that will see the highest temperatures of the day. friday into the weekend we do see a change in

the weather pattern, low pressure develops, pushing rain northwards across the uk. expect rain at times. next week, it's really quite chilly for april. bye for now.

live from london. this is bbc news. after four days of intense fighting and at least 180 dead, a ceasefire is expected in sudan in the next half hour. a court in moscow rejects an appeal by the american journalist, evan gershkovich, against his detention on spying charges. rupert murdoch will testify in a billion—dollar defamation trial. between the voting systems firm dominion, and fox news. star hosts, tucker carlson and sean hannity are also expected to take the stand. and a0 holocaust survivors lead the annual march of the living at the former nazi camp at auschwitz.