heat live from london, this is bbc news in sudan, conflicting reports that a french embassy convoy was hit with gunfire, leading to their return and the evacuation effort being disrupted. in the uk, labour opposition mp diane abbott has been suspended from the party pending an investigation into a letter she wrote about racism for the observer newspaper. an alarm will go off on all smartphones in the uk later today as a new emergency alert is tested. the london marathon is under way, some 10,000 runners are taking part in the event,

expected to be the largest ever. hello and welcome to the programme, i'm lewis vaughanjones. let's bring you more detail on the international evacuation operations from sudan. the earth had to evacuate diplomats starting. the the earth had to evacuate diplomats startina. ' ., , ., ., starting. the efforts to evacuate dilomats starting. the efforts to evacuate diplomats is _ starting. the efforts to evacuate

diplomats is starting. _ there are conlicting reports that the french embassy convoy was hit with gunfire, which led to their return and disruption of the evacuation process. the army are saying that the rapid security force attacked the french embassy convoy with gunfire, which forced the convoy to return and abort the evacuation. the attack also resulted in wounding a frenchman.

but let me bring you a tweet from the the rsf which has responded in a tweet on social media blaming thew sudanese army for the alleged attack. they say they were attacked by aircraft during the evacuation of french nationals from their country's embassy, which endangered the lives of french nationals by injuring one of them. we approach the french government for a response but they have no comment at all about any alleged attack on the convoy. a health warning for the claims and counter claims, it is often called the fog of war when there is conflict like this there is always claim and counterclaim and often very

difficult to get verification. our teams in london and across the region are working on that verification. lets speak to our correspondent merchuma who is following developments from the kenyan capital, nairobi. what you have spoken about about the alleged attack on a french convoy is one of the latest things and rsf claims it was assisting french nationals to evacuate so a lot of counter claims and accusations and the situation gets really volatile and khartoum and other parts of sudan and we're hearing reports of a lot of gunfire and news from our contacts on darfur that at least 50

children have been killed in an attack so the number of those dying and injured keeps going up. right now we're looking at 420 people but those are just the official figures communicated saturday evening. people cannot access medical aid and even those waiting to be evacuated are running low on supplies. people are running low on supplies. people are talking about not having food and they do not have water and some have decided to take the dangerous route and go by road out of khartoum. very volatile and going almost blindly because they do not know when an attack will happen and if they will be saved. can i get you to repeat yourself? i am and treat what you are telling us than about fighting elsewhere because last weekend and this week we have really

focused on the capital, khartoum, with many trapped inside their homes without supplies and gunfire along streets and we had the beginning of some fighting elsewhere. also forces moving outside and you spoke about fighting outside khartoum. while everybody is focusing on khartoum and the evacuations are mainly focused on residents there even as others are asked to move towards the port of sudan but areas like darfur which is recovering after decades of fighting and massacres, there is a lot of trauma and it is one of the regions that is the base of the rsf and there have been pockets of

violence erupting in the region and the ministry of health they are at sea in the last day or 250 children under 16 have been killed in a fight between the rsf and the army so whilst sudan looks like the epicentre there is a lot of violence erupting elsewhere in places like darfur. well, countries around the world are watching the crisis unfold and are making decisions over whether to evacuate their diplomatic staff. the uk's new deputy prime minister, 0liver dowden, spoke to the bbc about the situation. clearly, it is a complex and fluid situation. it is the case that the ministry of defence is acting in support of the foreign and commonwealth office. now, you would not expect me right now for security reasons to comment on ongoing movements on the ground.

but that is the current situation. what i would say to british nationals who are in that country, they should follow the advice which is to stay indoors, to make the foreign office aware through their website of their location. what i would say is, the situation in sudan is very different to, for example, what you saw in afghanistan. clearly, we don't kind of have the level of personnel and so on there that we had in that situation. the current advice for british nationals is to stay at home, to make the foreign office aware of their situation. as i say, the foreign office are being operationally supported by the ministry of defence actively. but i can't give you any further comment. the any further comment. americans have confirmed ti have the americans have confirmed they have carried out an evacuation of

their diplomats and they have given us some details about how that happened. president biden issued a statement saying "on my orders, the united states military conducted an operation to extract us government personnel from khartoum". three chinook helicopters landed and took less than 100 people out and were out in less than an hour. 150 people rescued from the port ofjeddah. they are mostly citizens of gulf countries, but also from egypt and canada. the canadian government has urged remaining citizens in sudan to "shelter in a safe place". in khartoum, there has been air strikes and shelling.

we talked to a witness on the ground. we are suffering from a lack of food, lack of electricity, lack of water. we have not had electricity for three days now and also we have not had access to water since last saturday, but we are drinking from wells here in khartoum. and they are still fighting. and the situation is still bad. britain's opposition labour party have suspended mp diane abbott for suggesting thatjewish people and travelers suffer from prejudice rather than racism.

abbott apologised for her letter to the observer newspaper, stating that it was an initial draft sent by mistake, and acknowledged thatjewish people have suffered the "monstrous effects" of racism. let's get more on this and our political correspondent, helen catt is following the story. this is a letter that appeared in the observer newspaper this morning in reply— the observer newspaper this morning in reply to _ the observer newspaper this morning in reply to an article in the paper before _ in reply to an article in the paper before letting to raise. —— relating to race _ before letting to raise. —— relating to race. diane abbott was the first black_ to race. diane abbott was the first black woman elected in the house of commons _ black woman elected in the house of commons and a decades long campaign for racial_ commons and a decades long campaign for racialjustice and in the letter she drew— for racialjustice and in the letter she drew a — for racialjustice and in the letter she drew a distinction between racism — she drew a distinction between racism and prejudice. she said jewish, — racism and prejudice. she said jewish, irish and traveller people undoubtedly experience prejudice simiiar— undoubtedly experience prejudice similar to racism and the two words

are often— similar to racism and the two words are often seen as interchangeable and it_ are often seen as interchangeable and it is— are often seen as interchangeable and it is true of many white people with points — and it is true of many white people with points of difference such as redheads — with points of difference such as redheads can experience prejudice but not _ redheads can experience prejudice but not all— redheads can experience prejudice but not all their lives are subject to racism — but not all their lives are subject to racism. she says she wholly withdraws _ to racism. she says she wholly withdraws that and apologise for any anguish _ withdraws that and apologise for any anguish resulting and explained an error had _ anguish resulting and explained an error had risen from an initial draft — error had risen from an initial draft being sent but she said that was no _ draft being sent but she said that was no excuse and racism takes many forms— was no excuse and racism takes many forms and _ was no excuse and racism takes many forms and it _ was no excuse and racism takes many forms and it is completely undeniable jewish people had suffered its monstrous effects as had travellers, irish people and marry— had travellers, irish people and many others. the labour party has suspended — many others. the labour party has suspended her from parliamentary labour— suspended her from parliamentary labour party prior to an investigation. they described the comments as deeply offensive. the labour party _ comments as deeply offensive. tue: labour party has comments as deeply offensive. tte: labour party has been comments as deeply offensive. t“t2 labour party has been trying comments as deeply offensive. tt2 labour party has been trying to comments as deeply offensive. t“t2 labour party has been trying to do a lot of work to try to get away from rows about anti—semitism. lot of work to try to get away from rows about anti-semitism.- lot of work to try to get away from rows about anti-semitism. there was a eriod of rows about anti-semitism. there was a period of time _ rows about anti-semitism. there was a period of time when _ rows about anti-semitism. there was a period of time when the _ rows about anti-semitism. there was a period of time when the labour- a period of time when the labour party— a period of time when the labour party was— a period of time when the labour party was deeply divided over the

issue _ party was deeply divided over the issue of— party was deeply divided over the issue of anti—semitism and when keir starmer— issue of anti—semitism and when keir starmer became leader he promised he would _ starmer became leader he promised he would root _ starmer became leader he promised he would root it out and stamp out anti—semitism within the labour party— anti—semitism within the labour party and — anti—semitism within the labour party and spent a large part of the last couple of years trying to do that so — last couple of years trying to do that so i'm _ last couple of years trying to do that so i'm sure it is not surprising the labour party has moved — surprising the labour party has moved quite swiftly to suspend diane abbott _ moved quite swiftly to suspend diane abbott whilst the investigate what was behind this letter. a loud alarm will be heard on smartphones across the uk at 3pm on sunday afternoon. the government is testing a new emergency alert which could be used in the future to warn people

about life—threatening situations such as fires, flooding or terror attacks. more details from danjohnson. loud beep. brace yourself for the three o'clock alert! beeping. up and down the country this afternoon, almost every smart phone will make this noise. loud beep. tell me what you think. beeping. something different. is a new sound coming out of your telephone. loud beep. 0k, not too bad, i thought it was going to be worse. it's not too bad? not too bad. you think that is all right? do you think it'll take people by surprise, though? yes, for sure. so every phone in the uk will...? pretty much. what do you think that's going to be like? a bit annoying because i'll be at work on sunday. - always makes you a little

bit suspicious why it's you see what's going on in the world today and you think, hmm... makes you think. you think there could be a threat? that's what. .. why bring it out now? bravo rescue is on scene... the initial focus is extreme weather, warning communities about intense flooding or the risk of the sort of wildfires we saw last summer, but it could also alert us to terror attacks or criminals the government says it will only be used in life—threatening emergencies. what i'd say to people is please put up with the inconvenience for ten seconds because it is a test of a system that, in future, could save your life. voice on clip: the emergency alert system is now live and will be - used to warn people - when lives are in danger. the government has been letting people know what to expect but there are still concerns about confusion, the potential distraction for drivers and the risk of secret, hidden phones being exposed, especially those relied

on by domestic abuse victims. one in four women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime. 7% of women in england and wales experienced domestic abuse in the last year, so it's safe to assume there are a significant number of people that need to know that their safety may be at risk from these alerts and they can opt out and turn them off. even phones on silent will make the noise. only aeroplane mode or actually switching it off will stop it but then, apparently when you turn the phone back on, it will receive the alert and make the sound. there is a way to opt out though. on an iphone, go into settings, notifications, and switch off "extreme and severe alerts". oh, my god! it is the same sort of system that warns americans about tornados. other countries use it for earthquakes or tsunami alerts. loud beeping. the netherlands have something similar. you cannot miss it. that's for sure. i bumped intojoni from amsterdam.

i think it's good that you know there is something there that if you need to be warned, you will be warned. still, some people won't necessarily respond — like baby rex. it hasn't alerted him, so, yeah. that is your review, i suppose. you need to test it on him. next time, it will be for real. dan johnson, bbc news. the men's race of the london marathon has been won in the second fastest time in history. plenty more in just a fastest time in history. plenty more injust a moment. these emergency alerts are already in use around the world. our newsroom reporter naomi choy smith explains how the systems work in different countries. well, the new uk emergency alert is being modelled after similar systems in places like japan, canada and the us. so, let's take a closer look for a moment at the american system, which sends a wireless emergency

alert to your mobile, along with a vibration and a loud sound not dissimilar from the one being used in the uk alert system. now, in the case of a real nationwide emergency, you may even get a text direct from the us president's office, as in this test presidential alert. in the us, these alerts are not only used for emergency weather events, but also in the cases of missing children in specific states rd where you may get a text and also you may see on a highway billboard the name of a missing child, or the last place they were seen or the car they were last seen in. now, to europe for a moment, where extreme weather events have been plaguing the continent in the past few years.

now, in france here, they've been using these alerts to inform people of wildfires in their area and other natural disasters quite successfully. now, injapan, these alert systems have been in place for many years to let people know that a tsunami is incoming and those come in not just on your phone but on the tv, and also with sirens blaring across the coastline. just on your phone but on the tv, and also with sirens blaring across the coastline. and in new zealand, the phone emergency alerts have been very successful, according to authorities there during the pandemic, alerting people to nearby covid outbreaks or the restrictions and rules in their specific area. now australia also has an alert system, but the authorities will leave a voice message on your phone rather than send a text message to your phone. now, of course, when these systems work, they work wonderfully and they can save lives. but, as with all systems, they're not foolproof, as in the case in florida just

a couple of days ago where an emergency alert was sent out in error at 4:00am in the morning, waking residents up, making them very disgruntled, leading to governor ron desantis issuing this apology and promising to bring swift accountability for the accidental test of the emergency alert system in the wee hours of the morning. and this is not the only time such a mistake has happened. a now infamous case a few years ago in hawaii when a an emergency alert went out about an impending ballistic missile, creating panic, sending people running for their lives to shelter. in the end, it turned out that there was no threat. so, the systems sometimes are not foolproof, but in the vast majority of cases, authorities say they work and they can save lives. voters in north kosovo are choosing new mayors in four regions where serbs are in the majority. ethnic—serb parties are boycotting the election, because authorities refuse to grant limited autonomy to kosovo serbs. our balkans correspondent, guy de launey, has the latest. you say that people are voting, they are not really. reports from the four municipalities in north kosovo is the turnout you could probably count it on the fingers of one hand.

in one area, there's been suggestions that one person has turned out and that was a candidate to be the mayor in that the reason behind all this is that ethnic serb parties are boycotting the votes, these are majority serb areas, ethnic serb people in the areas are not going to go out and vote so there is a bizarre situation, the majority of the candidates are ethnic albanian, the only people likely to go out and vote are ethnic albanian, they are easily in the minority in these areas and the president of serbia says it is absolutely shameful these elections are going ahead without the participation of serb candidates or serb voters. talk us through the background to all of this. all of this is down to the identity of these areas of north kosovo.

the london marathon, one of the world's biggest mass—participation sporting events, is well under way. the bbc�*s matt graveling is in london what a day so far and we are yet to have any charity runners come through. we have seen the finish of the elite men and women and wheelchair and there have been some records broken already today. kelvin kiptum has smashed the men's record today in london with the second fastest time ever, the only man who has ever gone faster as the kenyan who won his debut marathon last year and valencia with a really strong second half and that is what he did here in london. a huge second half of the marathon today crossing the line to a three places in front of the second—place rival. in the women's, a bit of a shock because track superstar, the railing olympic

champion —— the olympic champion sifan hassan turned up and said she had never run a marathon before and she struggled a bit and ran off to get a water bottle losing a few seconds but she won here to take the women's trophy. and the men and women's trophy. and the men and women's wheelchair it was the same as always for the men in the last three london marathons marcel hug taking that one by a country mile but a sprint finish in the women's with the winner winning byjust a second but that is just the start because over the next few hours around 47,000 people who have been raising money for charity, the amateur runners, will come down and cross this line are running for great causes, some trying to set a world record whether running as a dinosaur or in clogs or maybe even

in wellington boots works with the marathon returning to its spring schedule and a bit of rain in london might be quite useful. just show us around a little if you can. give us around a little if you can. give us a flavour of what is happening. in my pocket i have absolutely done 02 to as this is what people will when as they come over the finish line, the 2023 marathon medal which will hang over the next of people. over here you can see people being cheered and through the course, some of the elite men just finishing up but over here people will funnel through, all of the volunteers and the purple and somebody getting a massage just there and this is where they will get the goodie bags and also a little medal i showed you earlier. more importantly, their friends and family. i ran this race in october and i got very emotional as across the line so expect a lot

more tears and a lot more money to be raised for charity. what was your time? my time was three hours and 45 minutes, which i think i will take. it was ok. i am so disappointed it was such an impressive time. i know the emotions there are strong at the finish line. we will leave you to it for the moment and we will cross back to you a little later in the afternoon. that constant clapping at the finish line cannot be easy but good luck to everyone still out on the course was not finished yet. these are people who will have trained for months and months through the wet and the wend of a gloomy uk winter. —— and the

wind thanks for your company. hello there. it's a pretty messy weather picture for the second half of the weekend. a lot of cloud around and some showery outbreaks of rain. this was twickenham in greater london just a few hours ago and there was some light patchy rain here as well. now, you can see one batch of rain moving out of lincolnshire and east yorkshire, another threatening towards wales and some heavier rain potentially moving up through the south east of england. and that's because low pressure is gradually moving away to the east and it's allowing this northerly component to take over. plenty of showers in scotland today. and here we're going to start to see some colder air which will gradually push its way further south

through the week ahead. so for the remainder of the afternoon, there'll be outbreaks of showery rain at times, some of the showers could be heavy and thundery. there will be some sunshine for parts of england, a few more showers into northern ireland, some persistent rain into northeast scotland along with the northern isles. and with that northerly flow here, a real difference to the feel of the weather, seven to 12 degrees the high. but if you get a little more sunshine for any length of time, we might see 15 by the middle of the afternoon. through the evening hours, the showers in the southeast will slowly start to fade away. that northerly component starts to push a little bit further south. low single figures, touch of frost in sheltered rural parts of scotland and some outbreaks of rain into northern ireland. now, that is going to drift its way steadily southwards as we go into monday. and then behind it, the colder air on monday is set to arrive right across the country. so first thing in the morning, then, there's that rain moving out of northern ireland, pushing into wales and south west england. northerly flow means that we could see some showers even of a wintry nature at lower levels in scotland by monday afternoon, and a cooler feel for all of us.

top temperatures between six and 12 degrees, down on where they should be now for the time of year. that is going to lead into a very cold night. you can see the blue tones denoting a frost, —5 not out of the question for first thing on tuesday morning, so gardeners and growers take note, it's going to be a cold and frosty start on tuesday. should be a greater chance of seeing some sunshine, particularly first thing in the morning, clouding over a touch into the afternoon. but tuesday should be predominantly dry, but on the cool side for late april. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines... amongst international evacuation efforts in sudan, conflicting reports that a french embassy convoy was hit with gunfire, leading to their return and the operation being disrupted. it comes as special forces airlift us diplomats from the country. ethnic—serb parties are boycotting an election in north kosovo because of the capital pristina's refusal to grant limited autonomy to kosovo serbs. voters are choosing new mayors in four municipalities where serbs are in the majority. a record 47,000 runners are taking part in this year's london marathon, expected to be the largest ever. olympic champion sir mo farah hasjust finished, and it is his last marathon.