welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, the headlines: several countries evacuate diplomats and citizens from sudan's capital as fierce fighting continues to rage in khartoum. police in kenya say they've now exhumed 47 bodies thought to be members of a cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. across the uk, mobile phones ring out in a test for an emergency alert system, but the government is looking into why some phones didn't respond. and the famous white suit from saturday night fever changes

hands for a quarter of $1 million. hands for a quarter of $1 m“lion-— hands for a quarter of $1 million. ., ., , ., million. live from our studio in singapore. _ million. live from our studio in singapore, this _ million. live from our studio in singapore, this is - million. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc - million. live from our studio i in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. will begin in sudan where british diplomats and their families have been airlifted to —— british diplomats and theirfamilies have been airlifted to safety from khartoum, the capital of sudan, as fighting between rival military factions enters a second week. the ministry of defence in london confirmed that embassy staff had been brought out under cover of darkness, and the united states has carried out a similar operation. there's no word yet on how other british nationals will be able to leave the country. our africa correspondent andrew harding has the latest. amid the bombs and the gunfire in khartoum today, a series of dramatic rescue missions. among those successfully airlifted out of sudan

after a week of terror, british embassy staff and their families. over 1,200 people contributed to this operation. it was dangerous and precarious, but nevertheless, we managed to use both c130s and aaoo aircraft to go in, collect our diplomats and their residents, and fly out to safety. earlier, american military helicopters had flown into sudan's capital, landing inside the us embassy to rescue nearly 100 people. diplomats from france were also brought out, although their convoy reportedly came under fire. like them, british embassy staff had to run a deadly gauntlet through khartoum's streets. footage here of another convoy heading by road to a port on the red sea coast. there's a clear pecking order for these rescues, with foreign diplomats at the front of the queue, while others are left behind.

as i talk to people, there seems to be a growing sense of panic. sudanese and expats alike are desperate to get out, and there's a concern that as the city starts to empty, the fighting will get more bloody, if indeed that's possible, which of course is the nightmare scenario for those of us left behind. why is it that the british government is prioritising diplomats over ordinary british citizens who may be trapped in sudan? well, the diplomats that were working in the british embassy in khartoum have been unable to discharge their functions because of the violence in that city. and in order to continue to protect british nationals, we will of course be enhancing our teams in the region. gunfire. amid all this, no hint of a ceasefire — quite the opposite. here, a convoy carrying the leader of one of sudan's two warring factions.

the men with guns holding their whole country hostage and threatening a wider region already awash with conflict. but tonight, relief at least for some, as these french diplomats arrived safely at a military base farfrom sudan and its troubles. andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. so as british diplomats and officials are helped out of sudan, what about other british civilians who are left behind? 0ur diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley explains the challenge. as you've just heard, british nationals who are stuck in sudan are becoming increasingly frustrated and fearful. some have told us that other countries are providing more support and information. the advice to them is to stay indoors, make sure they have up—to—date travel documents and register their presence online. the foreign office says it has teams working around the clock in london as they did

here during the afghanistan evacuation which took out 15,000 people, but was chaotic and heavily criticised. then, we saw british soldiers at the airport, but officials say the situation in sudan is different because there are no uk troops on the ground and no secure air base to use. today's high—risk operation to evacuate british diplomats had to be carried out rapidly. the embassy is close to the international airport, but that's out of action, so two transport planes flew in with armoured vehicles. 1,200 personnel were needed to extractjust a few dozen people. we don't know exactly how many british nationals are in sudan. the foreign office hasn't even told us how many have registered with them. labour says it wants to know how the government plans help them. but the foreign secretary says britain's ability to help is severely limited unless these two men can be persuaded to end the fighting.

that's not going to be easy and those trapped in the country are telling us they feel abandoned. here's our correspondent kalkidan yibeltal, who has been following developments from addis ababa in ethiopia. well, the situation is really difficult for people who are left behind, forforeigners orfor the sudanese. it does mean diplomats are living now, that there is a sense of being ignored and being sort of betrayed. for the past nine or 10 days, we've been seeing the situation getting worse and worse with each day that the fighting drags on. basic supplies like electricity and water are not easily found. food stocks are depleting and most of the hospitals and health facilities are not operating properly or to their full capacity, which means that many people

who are still trapped in the capital khartoum and in other areas in sudan are not getting the essential supplies that they need. they're not getting medical support, and most worryingly, if the violence continues to escalate, they could be facing its consequences. so far, reports indicate more than 400 people died and thousands of sustained wounds, but if this continues, that figure could easily increase. tell us a little bit about the neighbouring countries. are they now seeing large groups of refugees heading over the borders? yes, neighbouring countries including ethiopia, where i am now, are very much keen on finding some sort of solution for sudan and they are following everything very closely because this impacts them directly. we have already seen an influx of refugees to sudan's neighbour,

but if this continues to drag on, other countries like ethiopia and south sudan could see an increase in people crossing borders. many people are desperate to leave areas, urban areas like khartoum, which is essentially are now the ke6y battleground for the two generals. if they get the chance to leave, they will gladly do so, which means the neighbouring countries can expect more refugees coming in and they themselves have their own problems. there is a continued insecurity in chad as well, so these countries cannot afford more humanitarian crisis and more refugees coming in when they have their own problems. finally, for the people on the ground, you mentioned they don't have popular drinking water or electricity. finally, for the people on the ground, you mentioned they don't have popular drinking water or electricity. where does someone go when the circumstances

become so dire? now, all we are hearing is the people in urban centres in khartoum are hiding, they're trying to stay in closed doors because getting out would expose them to the risk of getting shot. because occasionally, there are these moments of peace in the city, these moments of silence in the city, but then the fighting rages on. the gunfire returns and explosions return, so they don't want to expose themselves to this risk, so mostly, they stay indoors. and residents report of empty streets. like they were deserted. but they need to get out and get food, they need to get out and get supplies like water.

but with this violence, that's going to be difficult. so far, they have internet, but that is also increasingly getting difficult, so the coming days are going to be even more difficult if this continues. earlier i spoke to professor paul moorcraft a security analyst and former defence official who also worked in sudan as a journalist for over 30 years. i started by asking him how difficult a mission this was to evacuate these diplomats and staff. well, i spent a lot of time in iraq and afghanistan, and after the debacle of the scuttle out of afghanistan, this is extremely efficient. i'm notjust saying that because i worked for the ministry of defence. this is a brilliant evacuation under very difficult circumstances. the key was actually

finding the right airport the americans went in with helicopters. the british couldn't do that for various reasons. this is extremely impressive operation. they could easily have ended up as an iran hostage crisis. this is a very impressive british military with french and american help. this is important, very effective, and it was logical that it would go for people in the embassies because they were the main targets. they would have been threatened and taken, as happened in iran and elsewhere. so, it was logical to remove them first, and the brits have done a very good job. paul, so much has happened over the past two weeks. remind us again, what sparked the violence between these two warring factions? there's been fighting in sudan since 1955, and after the long war in the south, and then the war in darfur 20 years ago, and when i was writing the biography for the long—time

dictator 0mar al—bashir, i met both these military leaders. they were both in their own way... one is very conservative, long—term army men, the other is much more flamboyant and a good guerrilla leader. there's a personality dispute. there's also issues about transferring to civilian rule. but the truth is, they don't want civilian government. what they want is to have, if you like, a cromwell, because there's a great fear, not only the millions of people fleeing out into europe through orfrom sudan, they want a powerful leadership because in fact, the civilians have no influence. they're just standing by, and after all these years of war... khartoum used to be the most boring and safest city

in africa, but now it's extremely dangerous. what we're seeing is the beginning of a process that happened in libya. unless there is an effective ceasefire soon, influenced by the neighbours and those who are supplying them with arms, unless there's some kind of ceasefire, first of all, the immediate issue — getting the rest of the european nationals out. also, i've been talking to friends, sudanese, who are terribly frightened. they�* re really, really frightened. they just want this to end. it's notjust the brits and americans, but this is a matter of force. this is going to be a major libyan—style, somali—style war situation unless there's some intercession. and the americans and the british and the french don't have much influence, i'm afraid.

it's got to be the local players — egypt, saudi arabia and a few other states. let's hope after all these years of war that finally, there can be some peace. 0therwise, there's going to be a major tragedy. but today, yesterday. from the western and military perspective, the evacuation has gone amazingly well. let's hope they can get the others out. moving on to tanya. police in kenya say they've now exhumed 47 bodies thought to be members of a cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. digging is continuing at a site in the coastal town malindi in the southeast of the country. 19 bodies were initially discovered on friday following a tip—off about the shallow graves. earlier this month, police said they'd rescued 15 members of the good news international church. four later died and the group's leader has been arrested.

around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. for dame sharon white, as chair of thejohn lewis partnership, she's normally focused on profit. but at this blood donation centre in stratford, the focus was on giving blood, and the pressing need for more black donors. i'm so happy. it's been a long time since i last gave blood, about 20 years ago, and ijust feel really happy and very lucky. sickle cell anaemia is the fastest growing genetic condition in the uk and far more prevalent in black people. over the last five years, the number of blood donations needed to treat it has increased by 66%. i'm here giving blood. this is your first time, is it? it is. lord simon woolley, the principal of homerton college in cambridge and founder of operation black vote, was also donating, and the two hope that their example will lead to others doing the same. and black donors are particularly important because the ethnically matched blood provides the best treatment, and the blood of these two

well—known donors will be ready to use within hours. you're live with bbc news. south korean president yoon suk—yeol is heading to the us this week to mark the 70th anniversary of the two countries' alliance. this would be the first official state visit for a south korean leader since 2011. the visit is part of president biden�*s efforts to build and maintain relationships with regional partners as a means to counterbalance china's growing military and economic presence, as well as north korea's continued nuclear and ballistic missile programme despite numerous united nations sanctions. earlier, i spoke to andrew yeo, a senior fellow at brookings institution. he explained what we might expect from the visit. the summit meeting is happening in part because it's the 70th anniversary of the alliance, but i also think that president yoon suk—yeol

is coming to washington in part because washington and the biden administration recognises south korea's increasing contribution to the rules—based order in the pacific. some of the top—agenda items will certainly be north korea and how to move forward as threats continue to increase. they'll talk about china and how to co—ordinate on export controls, how to increase economic security and also to talk about global issues, including the war in ukraine. recently, there's been some discussion about south korea's contribution and whether they would provide not only humanitarian assistance and non—lethal military aid, but also weapons and ammunition. i want to talk about that because this is quite a departure for south korea. do you think they... where are they going to go on this? will president biden asked for them to follow through on this thought, or do you think they're going to stick

to the sidelines? well, we already know from the discord leaks that they have received pressure. the nato secretary—general in march also requested south korean weapons, in part because south korea has a sizeable arms industry. last year, they signed deals with poland to provide tanks, howitzers, and some see of this as backfilling european allies, and as they contribute weapons to ukraine, backfilling their armaments. but i do think that south korea, because it wants to be seen as a global player — so they've used this bumper sticker, the foreign minister, as becoming a global pivotal state. i think there is some openness, and we heard president yoon give an interview a few days ago suggesting that they may change policy.

there is a possibility they may switch policies. today there were only provided nonlethal assistance. they may have something like weapons or ammunition that could be coming moving forward. i just want to get to one quick question about north korea, which has been testing a lot more missiles these days. how likely is it that south korea will build up its own arsenal of nuclear weapons? if you look at public opinion, 80% of south koreans are saying they want to see south korea go nuclear. the yoon government has been clear they don't want to go in that direction, they feel confident about the us providing nuclear coverage, the term is �*extended deterrence' over south korea. my sense right now is the cost would be too risky to develop their own nuclear weapons. so, i think you'll see president yoon and

president biden talking strengthening that extended deterrance and allowing the us to provide a little bit more opportunities to develop those plans, but probably not likely to go nuclear anytime soon. andrew yeo, senior fellow at the brookings in washington, dc. let's look at other stories in the headlines. around 2.5 million public—sector workers in germany have been given a 5.5% pay raise following between employers and unions to and weeks of repeated strikes. employees in the postal, transport and health sectors have asked for more money to cope with the rising cost of living. the new pay increase will take effect from march next year. the interior minister welcome to what she called, quote, a good wage agreement. the editor of a german magazine which used artificial intelligence to generate an apparent interview with the formula one legend michael schumacher has been sacked. the formula one legend has not been seen in public

since suffering a severe head injury and a skiing accident in 2013. the publisher has apologised. a siren has sounded on mobile phones across the uk to test a government system that will be used to warn people of life—threatening emergencies. it's designed to be used for extreme weather or fires or terror attacks. a review is taking place as to phone users did not read, receive the alert. 0ur correspondent dan johnson explains. alert beeps oh, my god! some got it early... it's a minute to. oh, yeah, it's early. some got it late. some didn't get it at all. didn't work. 0h, tell me what happened? nothing. your phone didn't go off? no. dog barks at somerset�*s big bark show, the dogs mostly kept calm and carried on. i didn't know what was going on. everyone's phones

was going off. i was like, oh, yeah, it's that thing today. thought it was going to be a lot louder and a lot noisier, but it was loud enough that we could hear it. do you think it's useful? i reckon in certain situations it would be very useful. i think they've got to be careful what they use it for. if i didn't know it was coming, it would be quite worrying. . i think if you're someone that struggles with anxiety- or that kind of thing, - that could be quite a problem. the person next to me went off first, and then i was like, oh, why hasn't mine gone off yet? and then mine went off in like a chain, and then we were just kind of waiting for yours to go off and it never did. no, i'm still waiting for mine at the moment. it wasjust random, hearing people randomly sort of all pinging off and i'm just sat there like, no, i'm still waiting. the emergency alert system is now live... the system's supposed to alert every smartphone on four and 5g, even if they're on silent. the mobile network three said a number of its customers didn't get the alert, and it's trying to work out why. so, this ten—second test only partially shattered the sunday afternoon peace here in derbyshire. as long as it's used

for the right reasons, i think it's a great idea. at least we know it would work. there had been concerns about this alert exposing hidden, secret phones, the sort of thing relied on by, say, domestic abuse victims, and this was a planned test at a certain time. who knows when it'll go off again? but the question now for a review already announced by the government is why so many phones didn't react to what could have been an emergency message in a life—threatening situation. danjohnson, bbc news, somerset. let's look at other stories in the headlines. the chief inspector of schools in england has acknowledged the culture of fear amongst staff in relation to inspections by 0fsted. speaking for the first time since a primary teacher in reading to her own life after negative 0fsted report, amanda spielman to the findings and so the inspection team worked with

professionalism and sensitivity. one of parliament's most experienced figures, diane abbott, has been suspended as a labour mp after suggesting thatjewish, irish and traveller people had not faced the same kind of racism as black people. the comments were condemned by mps and faith groups and she has since apologised. the london matathon elite men's race has been won by kenya's kelvin kiptum in a record time for the course and the second fastest marathon in history. sifan hassan from the netherlands won the women's elite race in her first ever marathon. now, to an inspiring story about one special london marathon runner. roman kashpur, a ukrainian soldier, has done it on a prosthetic leg! he's an army veteran who he lost his leg during the ongoing war in ukraine. and now he's raising money for charity, helping amputees.

translation: i am overwhelmed. i'm so grateful for the support of family and my brothers, the ukrainian servicemen. i was running today and i realised, this really wasn't hard for me to do. all the struggles of today are nothing in comparison to the battlefield, when i was saving my comrades' lives and burying fallen friends. ijust had to run a2km. i am happy with my time. it was just under six hours. i am trying to help those who have been injured to get back to normal life and to raise money for their rehabilitation. this flag signed by my commander will be put to auction to raise even more funds for ukrainian soldiers. john travolta (applause) famous white suit from saturday night fever has solid option for more than $250,000! some of you may know that tune, the iconic 3—piece, actually made of polyester, was one of the two

worn in the landmark 1977 film which propelled the 23—year—old travolta to global stardom. that's it for now. stay with bbc news. i am monica miller. hello there. the weather for the first few days of this week set to be really quite chilly for the time of year, cold enough even to see some areas of frost, as we'll see in a moment. now, what's going on? the area of low pressure that brought some of us rain on sunday is moving eastwards. as that happens, we get these cold northerly winds plunging southwards across the uk, those winds originating from somewhere north of greenland. well, that's not going to be warm, is it? so, right now, we're seeing the colder air arrive across northern scotland. showers here have started to turn to sleet. did have a few thunderstorms around london and south east england, but they've cleared out of the way. rain is starting to develop into wales. now, temperatures for the most part around 4—7 degrees as we head into monday morning,

but colder than that in scotland, where we'll continue to see those wintry showers driven in on gale force gusts of wind in the north. further south, we've got this area of rain in wales moving across the south midlands and southern england, so turning quite miserable, and around the northern edge of that, there'll be probably some areas that see temperatures limited to around 7—8 degrees celsius. so, feeling cold, but particularly cold across northern scotland on account of those strong winds. now, those winds fall light as we go through monday night and we're looking at a widespread frost in the countryside. temperatures get down as low as —5 celsius. i think that could be quite damaging for some of the tender plants that gardeners may have out, so gardeners might want to pay attention to that. a frosty but certainly start to the down tuesday, the exception northern scotland, where we'll see those sleet showers continue to be driven in on the brisk winds. cloud will tend to bubble up to a degree as we head through the course of the day and it will stay chilly. seven degrees in aberdeen, that's four celsius below average for this stage of the year. heading into wednesday, we still have pressure high to the north of the uk,

so a reasonably dry and bright start to the day across northern and eastern areas, but still cold, a bit of hazy sunshine. in the south and west, well, we start to see cloud thicken and it may well be that we start to see some patches of light rain arrive as those temperatures slowly start to creep up. becoming a little bit less cold is probably the way to think of that. it's not really until thursday that we get some properly milder air moving in from the south—west. but as that happens and the south—westerly winds strengthen, well, we start to see outbreaks of rain spread in and that rain looks to be quite heavy across england and wales, it's already been a wet month for some and more wet weather to come here, staying cold in northern scotland. that's the latest.

let's hope they can get the others out. a make or break week for big tech. major players prepared to turn in their financial results following multiple rounds of job cuts. plus, a blessing or a curse? take a close look at what it is like to take over a long—running family business. hello and welcome to asia business report, i'm monica miller. earnings season is back in full swing miller. earnings season is back infull swing in miller. earnings season is back in full swing in the united states. this week will be getting the report from internet giants like spotify,