live from london. this is bbc news. the evacuation of foreign nationals from sudan gets under way, as fighting in the capital, khartoum, continues for a second week. this was an evacuation ship arriving injeddah. kenyan police say they've exhumed 21 bodies following an investigation into a religious group, whose followers were allegedly urged to fast themselves to death. a deadly restaurant fire in madrid. two people have died and at least 12 others are injured. bbc persian has received confidential documents showing that the iranian government has formed a "celebrities�* committee" to punish public figures who took part in the protests.

the australian entertainer, barry humphries dies at the age of 89. he was best known for performances of his alter egos dame edna everage and sir les patterson. and eyes are on hollywood star—owned wrexham, which hopes to return to the english football league for the first time in 15 years. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. we start in sudan, where the army says foreign nationals from the uk — as well as the united states, france and china — are to be evacuated "in the coming hours". these are saudi state tv pictures of a boat reported to be carrying saudi citizens and some other nationals arriving injeddah, across the red sea from sudan. other ships are said to be due to dock injeddah later.

the head of sudan's military agreed to facilitate the evacuation, as fighting in the capital khartoum enters its second week. the saudi broadcaster says the evacuees were carried in a convoy of vehicles to port sudan from where they boarded ships tojeddah. the most intense fighting in sudan has been taking place in the capital khartoum, where explosions and gunfire have been heard in the past few hours. the un estimates that at least 400 people have been killed across sudan since the fighting began a week ago. the conflict is the result of a power struggle between the national army led by general abdel fattah al—burhan and the rsf para—military group led by general mohamed hamdan dagalo. the two men had been sharing power since leading a coup in 2021, but recently disagreed on how sudan should be ruled going forward. bbc�*s kalkidan yibeltal has been following developments from addis ababa in ethiopia.

the fighting has continued and we have heard reports from residents that the area has been inundated with sounds of explosions and gunfire and also air strikes. so, what we understand is that the ceasefire, the much needed ceasefire, the three—day ceasefire, is again being broken. this is not the first time that a truce that agreed by both parties has been broken. both parties, the army and rapid support forces, are blaming each other and accusing each other of using the truce, the ceasefire, for reinforcing themselves. now this means that many people are trapped in the city of khartoum. they are unlikely to get safe passage out of the conflict zones. yes, because governments were hoping to be able to evacuate their foreign nationals, weren't they? yes, indeed.

evacuation plans were not going to be an easy task to begin with but there were moments of hope earlier today when the army said they are willing to facilitate and coordinate evacuation plans forforeign nationals, foreign diplomats, but that doesn't materialise as was hoped. the fighting has a nature of fluidity which is to say there are moments of silence, moments of pause which can be misconstrued as a lull in the violence but moments later, as i've said, the gunfire sounds again which makes it very difficult for any citizens to move around the city or to leave these conflict zones. and also for foreign countries to plan and execute their evacuation plans. and what about the humanitarian situation? because there are many people who are struggling to get

hold of food and water. yes, indeed. we are entering into the second week of this violence and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating as each day goes. we understand that a large portion of health facilities and hospitals are not functioning properly, they're not operating properly and many people are not getting enough access to food, to water and electricity. so with the fighting continuing for days, many people's food stocks are depleting and they aren't getting any chance to increase their stocks and also people who need medical support, who need medical supplies are, you know, in short of these supplies. so the humanitarian situation is, you know, increasingly worsening and many humanitarian agencies are either suspending operations there or they're operating

in a very limited fashion. to iran now and our team here at bbc persian has received confidential documents showing that the iranian government formed a "celebrities�* committee" to punish public figures who took part in recent protests. those protests have grown after the death of mahsa amini in police custody, after she allegedly violated the country's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair. one of the documents seen by the bbc suggests the finance ministry was asked to provide financial information on more than 140 public figures last september, just six days after mahsa amini's death. the royal college of nursing says the government has issued a "blatant threat" by taking legal action to try to stop a planned 48—hour walkout in england, starting on the 30th of april. the health secretary, steve barclay, insisted he had "no choice" but to step in.

simonjones reports. the bitter dispute between nurses and the government is now heading to the courts. members of the royal college of nursing in england have already walked out twice this year, and a new strike is planned for the end of this month. but there are questions now about whether it's legal. the 48—hour strike is due to begin at 8pm on april 30th at affected hospitals. it's scheduled to end at 8pm on may 2nd, but nhs employers claim the six—month mandate to strike actually expires at midnight on may 1st, as they believe the strike ballot closed at midday on november 2nd. for the first time, the next strike action by the rcn is said to involve nursing staff from emergency departments, intensive care units and those working in cancer care. it's an escalation of the industrial action after members of the union voted last week to reject a 5% pay increase, accompanied by a one—off payment. in a statement, the health and social care secretary

steve barclay said... he said it would seek to protect nurses who could otherwise be asked to take part in unlawful activity which could put their professional registration at risk. but the rcn has hit back. it's confident its action is lawful based on case law. let the courts decide. what is happening here? what is really happening with this government? this is a highly unexpected and desperate move by this government, and i would ask them to put themselves in the position of the nurses who are calling for better pay, for a better deal for themselves, a better standard of living, and to help improve the nhs. and what does the government do? it slaps them down

with a court order. junior doctors too are considering further strike action. they walked out last week seeking a 35% pay increase. the government says that's unreasonable. it's clear the nhs and patients face a turbulent time ahead. simon jones, bbc news. two people have died and 12 have been injured in a fire at a restaurant in the spanish capital, madrid. guy hedgecoe is in city and told us more about what happened. well, i'm standing in front of the restaurant, an italian restaurant, where last night at around 11:00 local time, around 30 people dining. according to eyewitness reports, a waiter was carrying a dish which had been set on fire on purpose for a flambe effect to one of the tables of the customers. and while he was delivering this dish,

the flames from the dish he was taking set fire to some of the decor on the wall of the restaurant. and from there, the fire spread extremely quickly across the walls of the restaurant onto the ceiling. and as a result of that, the restaurant was evacuated, but two people died of their injuries. two men, one an employee of the restaurant, another a customer. another 12, as you say, were injured. and the fire services did arrive on the spot very quickly because there's a fire station just around the corner from here. and eyewitnesses have praised the way that they reacted to this tragedy. translation: they pulled out a burning chair. - there was a lot of smoke coming out. the truth is the work of the firemen was incredible. they didn't hesitate to go in and start pulling people out.

they pulled them out one by one. it took them a long time to get the last one out. a really horrific incident, what more do we know of the victims of this fire? there are those 12 people who were injured. five others are also in hospital, in a serious condition. and then there are six more who are in a serious condition. that's what we know at the moment. that's what we've been told by the city hall authorities. but i think this has shocked people to see a fire like this in central madrid. people just aren't used to that, and certainly not used to seeing a fire in a restaurant like this. yeah, and i guess obviously there is an investigation ongoing and we don't know what happened, but i think people might be surprised that people died in a fire like this, that it could happen so quickly that it would take people's lives? well, i think the irony

of this is, you know, spain is used to fires, but it's used to rural fires, wildfires. just at the moment, we've been seeing fires in some areas of the country, in rural areas. and that's been a huge problem for the country over recent years in particular. but again, we're not used to seeing them in the middle of the city. this is the beginning of the sort of fire season, if you like. and the temperatures have been pretty high recently, and are expected to rise further. but i think people are in shockjust at the sheer speed with which this particular fire spread through what was a very very small restaurant here in the middle of the capital. police in kenya have found 21 bodies during an investigation into a cult which allegedly urged followers to starve themselves to death. police say their search in this forested area near the coastal town of malindi will continue. the leader of the religious group known as good news international church, paul mackenzie, has been

refused bail since he was detained a week ago. he has denied wrongdoing, and says the church was shut down several years ago. our africa editor grant ferrett told me what else we know about the case. paul mackenzie was first detained last month, when two children were found to have starved to death. he then appeared in court a week ago after four bodies were found. he said at the time that he had done nothing wrong, and the church had been shut down several years ago. since then, about a dozen people have been taken to hospital, some of them severely emaciated, and what police are doing now is checking land owned by mr mckenzie, the leader of the church, where they have so far uncovered 21 bodies. they have been exhumed. it is not clear in what circumstances they have died, and that is what police will continue to investigate. the police called off their search today because of bad weather. there was heavy rain. they do say they expect to continue,

and they expect to find more bodies. as i say, mr mckenzie himself, he has not been asked to enter a plea, but has said he has done nothing wrong, and his church was closed down some time ago. the australian comedian barry humphries, best known for his character dame edna everage, has died at the age of 89. he'd been receiving treatment at a hospital in sydney following hip surgery. barry humphries was a leading figure on the british comedy scene with his many satirical characters. his family said he never lost his brilliant mind and unique wit. our arts correspondent, david silitto, looks back at his life. dame edna everage! hello, possums! dame edna always said she was born with a priceless gift — the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of others. i am weightless and you could do with losing a little. success has gone to your jowls, russell harty! oh, you're being very, very cruel!

for more than 50 years, she took pleasure in saying the unsayable. i've had a little work done, but... have you? ..not quite as much as some of us here! laughter and applause no... no, but the thing is, you are still recognisable, that's what i like. she was so familiar it was easy to forget that behind the glasses and frocks was a man called barry humphries. he was, offstage, a cultured, art—loving collector of rare books. that's me standing outside... oh, one of the big clocks they've got out there! edna was a character from his student days in australia. when he moved to britain, he began to develop the character on shows such as late night line—up, with joan bakewell. he came on to television on late night line—up, and we didn't know what to make of him.

we thought he was a very dear man, a very brilliant man, quite clearly. we knew that if you give him a chance, he would make it. it was the beginning of a long friendship. edna became ever more brash and outrageous, but the man behind the wake was urbane, cultured and loyal. it's joan ba kewell. hello, darling! what the dickens are you doing here? the world in which i don't have the friendship of barry humphries is really painful. he was so resilient and energetic and loving. and direct, there was a huge personality. once you're exposed to it and enveloped by it, it was wonderful. so, that is a great absence in my life now. barry humphries was the absolute opposite of another of his characters, the profoundly uncouth sir les patterson. but sir les and dame edna were both a testament to an extraordinary comic brain... what is it, a little choker, darling?

to the brash housewife superstar. gorgeous, darling. did it all come off the one chandelier? laughter and applause # it's my niceness i pride myself on my niceness #. for many, edna was so real, so engaging, it was easy to forget that the wit, the charm, the sheer audacity was all down to the brilliant comic mind of a man called barry humphries. i've been draped! # my wonderful, wonderful niceness # among those paying tribute to barry humphries is australian—british author kathy lette. she tweeted this picture of them together, with the caption. "farewell to my favourite person. heartbroken. rip dearest darling." and kathy spoke to me earlier.

he would e—mail me and say cathy, i am coming foryour he would e—mail me and say cathy, i am coming for your rear entrance, something suitably risque because he's such a rascal. we will miss his mischief and weight so much. tell us about our mischief and weight so much. tell us about your friendship _ mischief and weight so much. tell us about your friendship and _ mischief and weight so much. tell us about your friendship and how - mischief and weight so much. tell us about your friendship and how it - about your friendship and how it influenced your writings.- influenced your writings. well, first of all. _ influenced your writings. well, first of all, one _ influenced your writings. well, first of all, one of _ influenced your writings. well, first of all, one of the - influenced your writings. well, first of all, one of the things i influenced your writings. well, i first of all, one of the things that made barry such a brilliant comedian was his australian sensibilities. he didn't suffer from was his australian sensibilities. he didn't sufferfrom an was his australian sensibilities. he didn't suffer from an irony deficiency. he was very caustic and sceptical mechanically, but he wasn't a pessimist. he was an optimist. he didn't think it was an eye disease. that mix of the dry australian sense of humour that created this genius of barry humphries. barry was many people. he

was this wonderful creation, dame edna. he said that when dame edna was on stage, as her manager, barry humphries, he would say he felt he was standing in the wings looking at her onstage thinking hmm, that's a very clever line, when it was him. it was dame edna who had that incredible ability to elevate and annihilate at the same time. for example when she had michael dalton on the programme and she said to him, aren't you a success, you had nine hits this year and michael was just pumping himself up. she could give and slap at the same time. then there was her cultural attack say who was brilliant at naming the elephants in the room and then sandy stone, a very poignant character and then the real barry, the man behind then the real barry, the man behind the mask who was so erudite. les

patterson thought that was some kind of glue but barry was such an intellectual. he has over 50,000 books, his shelves are just groaning. he was an art collector. incredibly intellectual. but also as a friend, the most loving and kind person. his charm was more disarming than a un peacekeeping force. and so witty. when he'd come around it was the wimbledon of which, one—liners bouncing backwards and forwards. he had what i call a black belt in tongue—fu, one of the great gifts. let's get a roundup of the day's sports news now. over to karathi. manchester city booked their place in the fa cup final with a dominant 3—0 victory over championship side, sheffield united. a hat—trick from riyad mahrez,

the first hat—trick in a semi—final since 1958, sent pep guardiola's side through to the final as their hopes of a treble of trophies this season remain alive. we cannot forget three years ago we were in munich, everyone was involved. it was our fourth time in a row, semifinals and we were not here to compete, to reach the final and finally, the first week ofjune we will come back here to play the final in the fa cup, one of the nicest trophies. wrexham's hollywood season is about to have its its fairy tale ending, with a 3—1victory over boreham wood confirming promotion back to the football league all but confirmed as they head into injury time. it's been 15 years since the north wales side were in the top four leagues, but since actors ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney

took over three years ago, they've had a change of fortunes. also, a lot of money. there was an excited atmosphere before the match started, but boreham wood took a 1—0 lead within the first minute of the game. however, it didn't dampen the welsh spirits and wrexham fought back. goals from elliot lee and two excellent strikes from paul mullin secured the three points that may give them an unassailable lead at the top of the table and the national league title. if the score stays at 3—1 they will have the title. in the english premier league, leicester city were the only team in the bottom half of the table to win today after they came from behind to beat wolves and move out of the relegtion zone. it was an important 2—1 win in dean smith's first home game in charge. a goal from timothy castagne's goal 15 minutes from time secured the three points, which clearly meant a lot to the squad and leicester's fans. imean,

i mean, it's a hard—fought victory but i thought we created the bigger chancesin but i thought we created the bigger chances in the game. started the game really well but yeah, showed a lot of spirit in the second half. it was really good. we have a big week. it gives everyone a left, gives them confidence and belief. we've got another tough game now at elland road. we'll enjoy it. people questioned the spirit but i thought it was there for all to see today. well, leicester are out of the relegation zone, but they were replaced by everton, who drew 0—0 away at crystal palace. nottingham forest are in 19th place in the table after a 3—2 defeat to liverpool, while leeds are in 16th. they lost 2—1 to fulham. in the top half of the table, aston villa missed a chance to get within three points of the top four after they drew 1—1 with brentford. chelsea will have to come from behind to win their champions league semi—final against barcelona, after losing the first leg 1—0. an early strike from caroline graham hansen on four

minutes was the difference between the two sides in what was a repeat of the 2021 champions league final. the return leg is on thursday. the other semi—final between wolfsburg and arsenal and takes place on sunday. there was a surprise in the german bundesliga as bayern munich lost 3—1 away to mainz. bayern took the lead in the first half, but three goals in 1a minutes from mainz meant bayern suffered just their fourth defeat this season. it also means there's a change at the top of the table as borussia dortmund are now the league leaders after their 4—0 win over eintracht frankfurt. england women had a 118—0 win over ireland in the women's six nations as they remain on course for the grand slam. while scotland secured their first win of this year's tournament with a 29—21 victory over italy. scotland had led 24—7 before a spirited comeback from the italian drew them back tojust three points behind, but a bonus point try from lana skeldon gave

the scots the win. france host wales on sunday. ronnie o'sullivan cruised through to the quarter—finals of the world snooker championship with a session to spare. the seven—time world champion had a 6 frames to 2 lead overnight and he went on to win all of the day's seven frames against hossein vafaei to win the match 13—2. the two players shared a lengthy, friendly exhange afterwards following a couple of days of tension between them. o'sullivan will play luca brecel in the quarter—finals, which start on tuesday. and that's all the sport for now. in the last couple of seconds, wrexham have beaten borehamwood 3—1 meaning wrexham are promoted to the english football league for the first time in 15 years. they are champions of the national league, they've won the title. and the fans have gone on to the pitch at the racecourse, so wrexham are through to the english football league for

the first time and their american hollywood owners are celebrating with them there. a lot of celebrations. that's it for me. more coming up. hello. in the last week, many of us have had a taste of spring from the weather, temperatures in the mid—teens, even the low 20s across western scotland. in the next few days though, spring taking something of a back—seat as colder arctic air returns to the uk. through sunday, low pressure drifting eastwards across the uk. some outbreaks of rain, some cloud. but later on in the day, on the rear of that area of low pressure, we pick up gale force winds across northern scotland, northerly winds, arctic air being ushered in that sinks all the way south across the uk through the early part of the new week. as we move into the small hours of sunday, some cloud drifting across the uk, some further rain for scotland, for northern ireland and some heavier, more persistent,

rain working its way in to the south coast as the night comes to a close. but with a lot of cloud around and the breeze, it will be a mild enough night. through sunday daytime, some quite persistent rain setting in across the south east of england and east anglia. showers elsewhere across england and wales. a brighter day for northern ireland in comparison to saturday. cloudy with some outbreaks of rain across the north east of scotland. and you can already see the temperatures coming down here. but the most dramatic effects will be felt through the earliest part of the new week with those particularly strong winds on into monday. and then the winds ease a little bit perhaps for tuesday and wednesday, but the colder air sits right the way across the uk. on monday, showers pushing down into scotland, northern england falling snow to low levels i think across parts of scotland. a hill feature i think for northern england. further south it's rain but it will feel chillier for all. these are the temperatures that you'd read on a thermometer,

so you can already see they're down on the figures from last week. but if we factor in the wind for somewhere like aberdeen, the daytime high, when you step outside, will feel closer to around the two degree mark. the wind easing, i think a little for tuesday and wednesday, but with easing winds monday night into tuesday, clear skies and cold air look out for a pretty widespread frost developing. gardeners with tender plants out, definitely something to watch out for. and then looking further ahead into the week, tuesday and wednesday, quite a lot of fine weather around. but on the chillier side, more unsettled to end the week. but then it looks like we'll see some milder air returning once again.

should now this is bbc news. the headlines... the evacuation of foreign nationals from sudan gets under way, as fighting in the capital, khartoum, continues for a second week. this was an evacuation ship arriving injeddah. kenyan police say they've exhumed 21 bodies following an investigation into a religious group, whose followers were allegedly urged to fast themselves to death. a deadly restaurant fire in madrid. two people have died and at least 12 others are injured. the australian entertainer, barry humphries, dies at the age of 89. he was best known for performances of his alter egos dame edna everage, and sir les patterson.

wrexham secured a fairy tale return to the english football league