live from washington, this is bbc news. fighting this is bbc news. intensifies in the sudan's fighting intensifies in the sudan's capital as another cease fire fails. wrexham fc returns to the english football league. and the australian comedian barry humphries, creator of the character dame edna everage dies aged 89. hello. we start in sudan where khartoum has seen some of the most intense fighting since violence broke out a week ago

as another cease fire fails. here now a reminder of why this has all taken place. sudan's army general is fighting the leader of a paramilitary group which is led by general mohammed dagalo. they had been showing karas they led a coup in 2021. now they disagree on how sudan should be governed. with multiple ceasefires broken and fighting entering its second week, there are questions about how and when this conflict will end. a former us assistant secretary former us assistant secretary for state in africa spoke yesterday. for state in africa spoke yesterday-— for state in africa spoke esterda . . ., yesterday. earlier we heard from general _ yesterday. earlier we heard from general himself - yesterday. earlier we heardi from general himself giving yesterday. earlier we heard l from general himself giving a speech. you have seen scenes are fighting continuing. what

do you think this country will be facing in the coming weeks or months? i am very pessimistic. normally optimistic but in this case i am pessimistic. this is a fight to the finish between the two generals. there is no room for any compromise. 0nly generals. there is no room for any compromise. only one of them can be number one. what set this off i think remains a huge friction point is integrating the rapid support forces into the sudanese armed forces, so it will end with either one side, definitively defeating the other side, in which case the losing partner will either be exiled or unfortunately be in... the other way this will be a civil war, along the lines of what is happening in libya right now. i am very pessimistic. you say you believe it could potentially be a fight to the

finish. the speed with which this crisis has engulfed this capital is stroking to watch. do you think you took your eye off the ball in this situation? there was no definitive clue that somebody was going to pull the trigger on this one. although the international community had been putting tremendous pressure on the two military leaders to start the civilian transition again. at the end of the day it was the two generals that started the fighting, despite whatever the international community was doing to them. they were the ones that made the choice. we have seen fighting around the airport in khartoum. as a former us ambassador in this region, what are your instincts

and experience to tell you about the potential for that to happen, how it could unfold and when? i personally think and unfortunately the fighting will go on for a long time. i don't believe either side will have problems being resupplied. if one or the other ran out of munitions, that would be one thing but they both have international partners that they can be getting resupply is from. i remain very pessimistic that general al—burhan will prevail and general hemeti can retreat to western sudan, to die for and continue the struggle from there. i hope i am wrong but i feari there. i hope i am wrong but i fear i am may be right. there. i hope i am wrong but i feari am may be right.- there. i hope i am wrong but i feari am may be right. good to have your _ feari am may be right. good to have your insights, _ feari am may be right. good to have your insights, thank- feari am may be right. good to have your insights, thank you. | to the us state of montana now

where a transgender lawmaker has been silenced by republican leaders in the state's house of representatives over comments she made on the floor about gender—affirming medical care for transgender youth. representative zooey zephyr is the first openly transgender person elected to montana's legislature. montana's house speaker says she won't be allowed to speak about bills on the house floor until she apologises — after she said this about that bill. lastly i would say there were conversations at the end of this, at the very end of the bill, the letter that says life altering procedures should wait until they are adults. if you are by this bill, if you are forcing a transit child to go through puberty when they are trans, that is tantamount to torture. this body should be ashamed. if you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, i hope the next time there is an indication when you bow your heads in

prayer, you see the blood on your hands. that bill has now been by montana lawmakers — and montana's governor said he intends to sign it into law. i'm joined now to montana state representative zooey zephyr. representative zephyr, thanks for coming on the program. i want to start from what we just heard there. why did you believe so strongly that this kind of care is so crucial? we know from — kind of care is so crucial? we know from the _ kind of care is so crucial? - know from the data that trans who received gender care show a 73% reduction in suicidal tendencies. i know thejoys that has come into my life from transitioning. i wouldn't be able to do the work in my community and in my legislator had i not transitioned and be able to live my life full of m able to live my life full of joy is who i am.— able to live my life full of joy is who i am. your comment sa in: joy is who i am. your comment saying lawmakers _ joy is who i am. your comment saying lawmakers will - joy is who i am. your comment saying lawmakers will be - joy is who i am. your comment | saying lawmakers will be having

blood on their hands as hateful rhetoric, inappropriate and disrespectful. were you surprised by their reaction? when i stand up to defend my community, i chose my words with precision, i spoke with clarity about the real harm these bills do. i have seen and receive calls from families whose trans teenagers attempted suicide while watching hearings on these types of legislation in my state. i am not surprised the majority speaker, leadership stood up unopposed, like we have done when people on the other side have set my existence by its very nature is somehow sexualising children. they object to that and move on with debate but this is an undemocratic movement. lawmakers are essentially preventing you from speaking on any bills that come up on the house floorfor the any bills that come up on the house floor for the rest of the religious native session. how do you plan on handling that? i

was sent to the legislature by my constituents to speak on an array of concerns that we had about legislation. i will punch in on every bill that i was sent here to talk about that i have something to say. it will be up to the speaker and the rest of the members of the legislator which is majority republican controlled to decide if they will let me speak. this bill is targeting _ if they will let me speak. this bill is targeting the _ if they will let me speak. this bill is targeting the lgbt community in montana, it is not the only one. according to the american civil liberties union there have been more than 400 bills that target that community already this year. what do you make of that? it is a really worrying _ what do you make of that? it 3 a really worrying trend and what do you make of that? it 1 a really worrying trend and we saw it initially come in when people were bringing in questions of trans people's participation in sports but that was a foot in the door for people with more extreme policies. we are seeing in montana policies banning art forms, books. in missouri the

ban isn'tjust about children, it is any adult care ban and infer that they are allowing the state to kidnap children away from trans parents or trans children away from cis gendered parents.— trans children away from cis gendered parents. about the first openly _ gendered parents. about the first openly transgender - gendered parents. about the i first openly transgender woman elected. he wanted to bring a more personal side to discussions about transgender discussions about tra nsgender people, discussions about transgender people, about transgender people, about tra nsgender issues. people, about transgender issues. now we are seeing what going on, tough words being exchanged, you will not speak on the house floor. will you bring that mission now that you will not necessarily be able to speak potentially and how will you change the minds of republicans given the situation?— republicans given the situation? . ' :: :: situation? there are 100 legislators _ situation? there are 100 legislators in _ situation? there are 100 legislators in the - situation? there are 100 legislators in the house | situation? there are 100 i legislators in the house of representatives in montana and i are moving 99 different needles on the issue of trans rights. sometimes it shows on a vote, sometimes it is

conversations behind—the—scenes and even though the speaker is not allowing me to speak, there are people in that building who are people in that building who are very frustrated with this undemocratic decision. what is the biggest _ undemocratic decision. what is the biggest misunderstanding l the biggest misunderstanding that potentially your republican colleagues have about the lgbtq community and theissues about the lgbtq community and the issues dealt with in the bill? , ., �* bill? they don't quite understand _ bill? they don't quite understand what - bill? they don't quite understand what it i bill? they don't quite - understand what it means to bill? they don't quite _ understand what it means to be trends and why this care, which again is approved by every major medical association, they don't understand what it brings to a person. they think there is no harm in waiting but they don't see the harm that comes to children and people in their communities. there are trans people all over our state. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you so much for “oining us. ., ~' thank you so much for “oining us. ., ~ , ., thank you so much for “oining us. . ~' i” ., having me. wrexham football club are celebrating their return to the english football league. hollywood actors ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney bought

the small welsh club in november 2020 — their plan, they said, was for wrexham to win games. champions! champions! they have won the national— champions! champions! they have won the national league _ champions! champions! they have won the national league title. - won the national league title. here is the team celebrating after beating boreham wood 3—1. you can see the wrexham fans running onto the pitch as well as ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney themselves. these were their _ mcelhenney themselves. these were their reactions. _ mcelhenney themselves. these were their reactions. i - mcelhenney themselves. these were their reactions. i don't - were their reactions. i don't think i have words yet. rob, how special _ think i have words yet. rob, how special was _ think i have words yet. rob, how special was that? - think i have words yet. rob, how special was that? that. think i have words yet. rob, i how special was that? that was one of the _ how special was that? that was one of the most _ how special was that? that was one of the most incredible i one of the most incredible moments of my life. this is not about_ moments of my life. this is not about me. _ moments of my life. this is not about me, this is about them, please — about me, this is about them, please talk to them, they did it.

bbc sports correspondent andy swiss was at the game and sent this report. what a night it has been. a club shot to prominence thanks to its hollywood owners who have attracted global fans to this place thanks to a hit tv series charting their progress. they were here tonight going through every emotion as the club came from behind to beat boreham wood 3—1 to seal their promotion to the football league. at the final whistle the fans poured onto the pitch in celebration. the owners were looking highly emotional as well in the stands but it was an emotional night above all for the supporters.— an emotional night above all for the supporters. what a win! what a win! _ for the supporters. what a win! what a win! how _ for the supporters. what a win! what a win! how proud - for the supporters. what a win! what a win! how proud are i for the supporters. what a win! | what a win! how proud are you? are very proud. _ what a win! how proud are you? are very proud, amazing. - what a win! how proud are you? are very proud, amazing. i- what a win! how proud are you? are very proud, amazing. i lost i are very proud, amazing. i lost my husband — are very proud, amazing. i lost my husband just _ are very proud, amazing. i lost my husband just before - my husband just before christmas. _ my husband just before christmas. i— my husband just before christmas. i have i my husband just before christmas. i have a i my husband just before i christmas. i have a picture of him — christmas. i have a picture of him this _ christmas. i have a picture of him this is _ christmas. i have a picture of him. this is for— christmas. i have a picture of him. this is for him. - christmas. i have a picture of him. this is for him. i- christmas. i have a picture of him. this is for him. i love i him. this is for him. i love you. — him. this is for him. i love you. jeff~ _ him. this is for him. i love you. jeff-— him. this is for him. i love ou, jeff. ., ., ., , you, jeff. the whole town has wanted this _

you, jeff. the whole town has wanted this for _ you, jeff. the whole town has wanted this for 15 _ you, jeff. the whole town has wanted this for 15 years i you, jeff. the whole town has wanted this for 15 years and i wanted this for 15 years and for ryan and rob to come in and buy the club, cannot thank them enough. it buy the club, cannot thank them enou:h. . ,, , buy the club, cannot thank them enou:h. .~ , buy the club, cannot thank them enou:h. . ~ , ,., ., buy the club, cannot thank them enouh. ., ~' , y., ., ., enough. it makes you want to c . i enough. it makes you want to cry- i might — enough. it makes you want to cry- i might cry _ enough. it makes you want to cry. i might cry now. - enough. it makes you want to cry. i might cry now. this i enough. it makes you want to cry. i might cry now. this is l cry. i might cry now. this is for— cry. i might cry now. this is for the _ cry. i might cry now. this is for the future generation, they want _ for the future generation, they want to— for the future generation, they want to be here and experience it. y ., want to be here and experience it. y . ., , , want to be here and experience it. g . ., want to be here and experience it. my dad has been a fan his entire life. _ it. my dad has been a fan his entire life. 10,000 _ it. my dad has been a fan his entire life. 10,000 tonight. l it. my dad has been a fan his| entire life. 10,000 tonight. it is absolutely _ entire life. 10,000 tonight. it is absolutely fantastic. - entire life. 10,000 tonight. it is absolutely fantastic. i i entire life. 10,000 tonight. it is absolutely fantastic. i am l is absolutely fantastic. i am so happy. _ is absolutely fantastic. i am so happy-— is absolutely fantastic. i am sohau. . ., , so happy. wrexham have been throu~h so happy. wrexham have been through a _ so happy. wrexham have been through a lot _ so happy. wrexham have been through a lot in _ so happy. wrexham have been through a lot in recent - so happy. wrexham have been through a lot in recent years. i through a lot in recent years. they last played in the football league some 15 years ago. since then they have had their struggles, they nearly went out of business at one point but thanks from a little help from hollywood, they have completed a remarkable revival. the australian comedian barry humphries has died, at the age of 89. barry humphries was best known for his character dame edna everage and 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. he'd been receiving treatment at a hospital in sydney following hip surgery.

0ur 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. laughter. 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 ba kewell. 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 wig 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 # with you. the comedian barry humphries who has died at the age of 89. to kenya now — where there's an investigation into a christian cult which allegedly told its followers to starve themselves to death — in the hope of getting to heaven quickly. police found 21 bodies by searching dozens of suspected graves. the group is called the good news international church — its leader, paul mackenzie, who's been detained, denies wrongdoing. the investigation is happening in kenya's coastal town of malindi. 0ur africa editor grant ferrett has more. paul mackenzie was first detained last month, when two children were found to have starved to death. he then appeared in court two weeks ago afterfour 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 mackenzie, 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 mackenzie 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. to chile now, where the country's main trade federation has criticised the creation of a state—owned lithium company. lithium is essential for producing batteries, and demand is expected to rise as electric vehicles rise in popularity. this week, the country's president, gabriel boric

announced what he called a national lithium strategy — he says that controlling the world's largest reserves of lithium would boost chile's economy and protect the environment. translation: in other news... israelis have been protesting for the sixteenth week in a row — against plans to change the judicial system. the demonstrations have continued despite prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, putting the plan on hold to try to reach a compromise. and — bbc persian has received confidential documents showing the iranian government formed a committee to punish celebrities who took part

in recent anti—government protests. around 140 actors, athletes and other public figures were targeted with economic sanctions, travel bans, or imprisonment. it's been over 18 months since the taliban took control of afghanistan. now, the united nations says it will try to get countries to decide on a unified approach to handling the country's taliban—led government. the un says its secretary general, antonio guterres, will bring together top diplomats on afghanstan next month in doha — the qatari capital is home to a delegation of taliban. earlier remarks by his deputy, amina mohammed, suggested the meeting could include what she called "baby steps" towards an eventual conditional recognition of the taliban government. 0ut out of that we hope we will find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to

recognition. i5 back on the pathway to recognition.— back on the pathway to recoanition. , , recognition. is it possible? i don't know. _ recognition. is it possible? i don't know. a _ recognition. is it possible? i don't know. a principled i don't know. a principled recognition, in other words there are conditions. what amina mohammed said in this event sparked a huge reaction among afghans. my colleague sumi somaskanda spoke to annie pforzheimer, the us' former deputy assistant secretary of state for afghanistan. we heard that the un deputy secretary—general�*s words. do you think the us should support steps towards recognising the tella ban?— tella ban? absolutely not. i think those _ tella ban? absolutely not. i think those remarks - tella ban? absolutely not. i think those remarks were . tella ban? absolutely not. i. think those remarks were very forward leaning in a way that perhaps the deputy secretary general regrets at this point. you said you think she might regret those comments come at the same time she was discussing the reality on the ground which is the caliban is governing afghanistan. how can the un, us work together to help civilians who are not

legitimising the taliban. i would not say they are governing it. the united states and the un have an obligation to talk to all afghans. the taliban is not the legitimate voice of afghanistan and under no circumstances should they be given a un seat for the country of afghanistan until they make an effort to be a legitimate ruling entity. they have made a kind of living for women that is hard to describe and hard for anybody outside afghanistan to understand but women cannot leave their houses, men being kicked out and murdered because they were part of the former security forces. this is a country ruled by terror. what should the — country ruled by terror. what should the us _ country ruled by terror. what should the us and _ country ruled by terror. what should the us and the - should the us and the international community, the un, do miss they had to keep in place the very few power tools

and influence they have and that includes sanctions against taliban leadership and they should also make sure they are talking to the non—taliban afghan leaders, human rights defenders, members of civil society inside and outside the country to find out what they want and what they could use to be protected. i also want to ask about something we had from the inspector general for afghanistan who said, us aid might be flowing to the caliban. how could that happen? that is something that is going to have a political reverberation in the united states. it is very possible there will be an effort to cut back on humanitarian assistance and that is coupled with the fact that the taliban have taken the untenable steps of banning women from being part of the humanitarian

distribution that is so badly needed. that violates not only human rights principles of the un and the international community but humanitarian principles. combined with their acts of terror, the fact they are supporting terror groups within afghanistan and the fact that they are banning women from being part of the distribution, there may be a backlash that will affect millions of afghans. d0 backlash that will affect millions of afghans. do you think there _ millions of afghans. do you think there needs _ millions of afghans. do you think there needs to - millions of afghans. do you think there needs to be i millions of afghans. do you think there needs to be a l think there needs to be a better oversight from the by administration, the state department and usa id? i think the oversight — department and usa id? i think the oversight right _ department and usa id? i think the oversight right now- department and usa id? i think the oversight right now is i the oversight right now is adequate. because up until the decision about women working for the un, there was a relatively straightforward and needs —based approach to distributing assistance. now if the caliban make for demands, they make demands that the international community can

just give the money to them and let them be in charge of distributing it and that may be a bridge too far. at the same time, how can we not help the millions of people who face starvation if we don't help them? it starvation if we don't help them? . , , , starvation if we don't help them? , , ., ., them? it has been 'ust over a ear them? it has been 'ust over a year t them? it has been 'ust over a year since the i them? it has been just over a year since the chaotic - year since the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. how have you seen the country? how have you seen the country? how has it changed? the country has lost everything _ how has it changed? the country has lost everything that - how has it changed? the country has lost everything that it - how has it changed? the country has lost everything that it was i has lost everything that it was working for in terms of a peaceful and prosperous future. i have many friends outside and many friends inside and i really cannot, cannot fathom the despair, especially of a girl that is 13 and was expecting to go to high school and now be facing a forced early marriage, child—bearing and the only future education will be jihadi education. and the only future education will bejihadi education. the taliban is trying very hard to indoctrinate an entire country.

great to have you on our show. i am carl nasman, thank you for watching, keep it here on bbc news. hello there. i think it's fair to say the weekend started on a very mixed note. now, there were some areas of rain across the u:k, but other places that stayed entirely dry and sunny. look at this band of rain in southern scotland. underneath that drumalbin in lanark only got to eight degrees. while, it's not that far away, in stirlingshire, basking in the sunshine, tyndrum, had a high of 17 celsius, so a massively different feel to the weather on saturday over a relatively short distance. sunday's chart still has low pressure firmly in charge. there will be more rain around that low moves eastwards. and then early next week, we'll get northerly winds. and look where those winds come from, pretty much the north pole. so needless to say, the weather will be getting quite a bit

cooler over the next few days. now, over the next few hours, we've still got a bit of rain in northern ireland that's turning lighter and patchier in nature. northern scotland turning wetter with some stronger northeasterly winds developing. and we've got some heavier rainjust skirting along the south of england. so there are some areas of rain, other areas stay dry, but a lot of cloud around. temperatures, 4 to ten degrees as we start off sunday. now we've got that fairly persistent rain that's going to be with us most of the day for northern scotland. it will feel chilly here on account of those gusty northerly winds, heavy rain across southern england extending into east anglia and then into the afternoon we see showers break out. and i think the showers, particularly across england and wales, will turn heavy with some hail and thunder. temperatures across the board below average for the time of year, and it's set to get colder. those northerly winds really start to arrive through monday and on into tuesday as well. now we're looking at some rain across england and wales. further north, it's a day of sunshine and showers. there'll be some hail mixed in with some of these showers,

a little bit of sleet across the far north of scotland and over the highest scottish mountains, yes, you could even see a little bit of snow, but you have to go pretty high up for that above 400 or 500 metres elevation temperatures dropping highs of seven to 11 degrees, feeling chilly, particularly for northern scotland. then monday night we see a widespread frost develop and it's something that gardeners will certainly want to take note of. this is not a good news situation really for those tender plants. you might need to bring them back inside. tuesday, still cold, still a few wintry showers across northern scotland. showers with us for much of the week head, with temperatures for the most part staying well below average. bye for now.

this is bbc news, we'll have the headlines and all of the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. the cost of living has been going through the roof, but can it possibly go up even more? and do prices ever really come down? we're going to be looking at how those prices get set and what goes on behind the scenes between growers, suppliers and the shops themselves. i'm going to be discussing all of that with this crack team.

there they are.