live from washington, this is bbc news. more western countries have evacuated diplomats from sudan. uk mp diane abbott suspended after playing down the racism suffered byjewish, irish and traveller people. and — bed, bath and beyond files for bankruptcy after more than 50 years in business. i'm helena humphrey, good to have you with us. we start in sudan, where more than two dozen countries have been evacuating their citizens from the capital khartoum — as fighting between two rival armed groups continues. this was french nationals leaving earlier.

most of those being evacuated are diplomats and their families. spain, germany and italy are among other countries still evacuating people — they say they've successfully got hundreds of people out already. the us and uk have already flown diplomats out — as well as canada. its prime minister, justin trudeau, tweeted that "canadian officials in nearby countries have also been mobilized to help" — he says they're stationed in nearby djibouti — which has a french and american military base. sudan's army has been fighting a rival paramilitary group, the rsf, for more than a week — and this is what khartoum looks like right now. over the weekend, the violence intensified — this city has been under constant shelling — making evacuations difficult. here's the uk's defence secretary. it was dangerous and precarious but nevertheless we managed to use both see one 30s and a 400 aircraft to go in, and collect

our diplomats and their residence and fly out to safety. and while foreign nationals are airlifted out — many of sudan's 45 million civilians remain trapped in the fighting. these are pictures from a hospital in khartoum. around 400 civilians have been killed, and thousands have been wounded — that's according to the united nations. and the latest violence has worsened sudan's — already desperate — humanitarian crisis. people have limited food, water and electricity. the us has announced its sending aid to sudan from nearby kenya. in a statement, samantha power, the head of us aid said it "has deployed a disaster assistance response team — or dart — in the region to safely deliver life—saving humanitarian assistance to those who need it most. live now to kalkidan yibetal in the ethiopian capital, addis ababa. good to see you. can you bring us up—to—date with the latest on the ground and also with the

evacuations. figs on the ground and also with the evacuations.— evacuations. as you said quite a number _ evacuations. as you said quite a number of — evacuations. as you said quite a number of countries - evacuations. as you said quite a number of countries are - a number of countries are evacuating their nationals and there was a sort of exodus right now, that many of the foreign nationals who have been living in sudan and particularly in khartoum, are leaving. the us used air lifts while others have taken their nationals in convoys from khartoum to the port city of port sudan which is located more than 500 miles to the east and others have managed to use, to take them out by c. it seems like this evacuation is increasing and while this is happening it has triggered a fearful who are left behind, who have concerns of what is going to happen after these evacuation has happened. 0ver evacuation has happened. over the weekend there was a supposedly truce that was declared separately by the army and our sf but it was broken

because there was intense fighting particularly on saturday. however, there were hours of seeming lull during which these foreign countries managed to take out their personnel. i managed to take out their personnel-— managed to take out their ersonnel. , ., ., ., personnel. i “ust wonder how do --eole personnel. i just wonder how do peeple there — personnel. i just wonder how do peeple there in _ personnel. i just wonder how do people there in sudan _ personnel. i just wonder how do people there in sudan feel- people there in sudan feel watching the international community now leave. there is a sense of been — community now leave. there is a sense of been betrayed - community now leave. there is a sense of been betrayed which . community now leave. there is a sense of been betrayed which is | sense of been betrayed which is being expressed by a number of people left behind, but some ordinary citizens, or an —— ordinary citizens, or an —— ordinary citizens, or an —— ordinary citizens have raised concerns and that their diplomatic personnel were the first ones to be given this opportunity to leave the conflict zones. so they have expressed their frustrations and they have been told to stay indoors and to stay safe until this country in the west end,

in asia, try to put up a plan to evacuate every foreign national there. to evacuate every foreign nationalthere. but to evacuate every foreign national there. but for the sudanese, things remain dire and they fear that things could get worse. and they fear that things could get worse-— get worse. just briefly if you don't mind. _ get worse. just briefly if you don't mind, just _ get worse. just briefly if you don't mind, just talk - get worse. just briefly if you don't mind, just talk to - get worse. just briefly if you don't mind, just talk to us i get worse. just briefly if you don't mind, just talk to us a | don't mind, just talk to us a little bit more about how quickly this humanitarian situation appears to be deteriorating. we are also hearing reports now that in some cases the internet is no longer working in the country. yes, some organisations have noticed that access to the internet is now decreasing rapidly. that was not the case of the first nine days of the fighting and because of that we have managed to, it doesn't seem that way now. kalkidan yibeltal reporting _ seem that way now. kalkidan yibeltal reporting there - seem that way now. kalkidan yibeltal reporting there with | yibeltal reporting there with the latest from addis ababa. thank you very much.

let's get more on this with cameron hudson of the centre for strategic and international studies. what do we know about how these evacuations are carried out and how high—stakes they are. timer;r how high-stakes they are. they have been _ how high-stakes they are. they have been a _ how high-stakes they are. they have been a bit _ how high-stakes they are. they have been a bit chaotic - how high—stakes they are. tie: have been a bit chaotic and unique in terms of every country trying to rescue its own people. there has not been one single organised evacuation of all international diplomatic staff so as you suggested earlier, the uk evacuated its embassy staff earlier today at the united states did so on saturday night washington time. and they have been various other attempts ongoing by many other attempts ongoing by many other european embassies. the uk and the us were able to evacuate via air but we know that the french and others are trying to convoy over land, about 600 kilometres, to port sudan on the red sea coast. it is a very dangerous trip, any

overland travel is going to be highly dangerous because of the fighting that is going on that you have to traverse but also the number of checkpoints that you have to get through. we don't yet know how successful those convoys have been in getting through with international staff, there is a fear that international staff could be targeted eitherfor a hostage taking or because they are because they are driving very expensive 4x4 vehicles which some of the forces on the ground might want to have their own fighting it is a very chaotic situation right now. with diplomatic missions shutting down, what does this mean for them and also in terms of the dynamics of this conflict and how it might evolve? i conflict and how it might evolve? ., �* ~' conflict and how it might evolve? ., �* ~ ., evolve? i don't think that havin: evolve? i don't think that having diplomats - evolve? i don't think that having diplomats out - evolve? i don't think that having diplomats out of l evolve? i don't think that i having diplomats out of the country what's the diplomacy. they are going to be able to do more diplomacy if they can re—establish their embassies essentially in exile, perhaps

in nairobi or addis ababa or annette neighbouring country where they don't have to worry about the safety of their civilians. i think the real challenge with the departure of the international staff, however, is it is a signal to the local sudanese that it is not safe for anyone to be in the city anymore and what that is triggering is a mass exodus of people out of the city no longer feel even a modicum of people out of the city no longerfeel even a modicum of protection by the fact that international staff was there and so we are seeing people who probably shouldn't even be travelling right now in vehicles that probably can't even make the trip to the red sea or to the egyptian border because of these are very long journeys, much of which is across open desert and so you have people now travelling without food, without water, without food, without water, without medicine, trying to get to safety, all triggered, i think in many respects, by the departure of internationals and the uptake infighting that we have seen happening in khartoum since those departures early this morning.—

this morning. and you are describing _ this morning. and you are describing people - this morning. and you are i describing people travelling, spreading out across the country and we also know that the fighting is spreading out across the country as well. you think there is a potential here for essentially other parliament —— paramilitary groups to get involved? absolutely and i think that is one of the biggest fears right now. sudan borders a number of countries which in recent years have had their own internal rebellions, they have their own militia groups who are ready for a new salary and a new pay cheque in sudan if the call comes so forces in libya, chad, in the central african republic but we know have been contacted by the rapid support forces already and they could well be mobilising right now, trying to make their way, adding to the conflict in sudan. i make their way, adding to the conflict in sudan.— conflict in sudan. i do “ust want mi conflict in sudan. i do “ust want to ask i conflict in sudan. i do “ust want to ask you, i conflict in sudan. i do “ust want to ask you, you b conflict in sudan. i do just| want to ask you, you think conflict in sudan. i do just - want to ask you, you think the international community will be able to dissuade the warring parties to stop and crucially, how? ., ., , , how? not right now because i don't think — how? not right now because i don't think that _ how? not right now because i don't think that is _ how? not right now because i don't think that is possible. . don't think that is possible. we have seen an enormous amount

of diplomatic pressure put on the parties in the last several days calling for a ceasefire during the eid celebrations that took place over the weekend. parties agree on the phone when they are called by the secretary general of the secretary of state and then on the ground they are not implementing the ceasefire. i think that we should have lost all faith and confidence that their words will be implemented and i think we have to act on the fact that there is not going to be a ceasefire anytime soon. . ., ., soon. cameron hudson from the centre for— soon. cameron hudson from the centre for strategic _ soon. cameron hudson from the centre for strategic and - centre for strategic and international studies, a senior associate there. thank you very much, cameron. now to uk news. millions of people across the uk heard a loud alarm on their phones at 3pm local time on sunday. the government says it'll launch a review after many smartphone users said they didn't receive the alert and others said it came early. it was a test for an alarm to warn people about dangerous situations — like fires, flooding or terror attacks.

the labour party says diane abbott has been suspended as an mp — until an investigation into a letter she wrote about racism to the observer newspaper is over. diane abbott is being investigated for suggesting thatjewish people suffer prejudice, but not racism. she later said she was withdrawing her remarks and apologised "for any anguish caused". around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

we offer many, many services across the island, any secondary school, i—to—i counselling for young people and the cost of that service is met from within the charity. 50 met from within the charity. so b met from within the charity. 50 by pushing themselves to the limit in the arctic, this team of manx trackers can our making sure there is support for those struggling with their mental health closer to home. you're live with bbc news. now to europe, and the still unsolved question of exactly who was behind a series of large explosions that targeted the nord stream gas pipelines in september last year. nord stream i stretches under the baltic sea, from the russian coast — near st petersburg — to north—eastern germany. that's around 1200 kilometres. it was able to supply up to 170

million cubic metres of gas to europe. in 2021, another pipeline — nord stream 2 — was created. these are pictures of that being built. but it never entered service. then, in september last year, four seperate leaks were found in both nord stream pipelines, near sweden and denmark. western leaders have stopped short of directly accusing russia of attacking its own pipelines, although it has accused russia of using its gas pipelines as a weapon. russia has blamed the west for the explosions. in short — there's no clear answer yet. earlier i spoke to willem marx, a journalist who investigated the pipeline explosions — for bloomberg businessweek these blasts occurred seven months ago. we any closer to knowing who was behind them? the short answer is not really, no. we have seen investigations in multiple countries. i myself have spent months talking to dozens of folks and in half a dozens of folks and in half a dozen different countries. and

publicly at least they have been no clear positions made by governments with evidence at least. we have had a lot of finger—pointing and name—calling initially after the blasts but in terms of the actual identities of the perpetrators, no, nothing at all. , , perpetrators, no, nothing at all. , all. the eu says this was sabotaged _ all. the eu says this was sabotaged and _ all. the eu says this was sabotaged and certainlyl all. the eu says this was i sabotaged and certainly the explosions themselves was so large was not even if we don't know who was behind this do we know who was behind this do we know more about the execution of these blasts? have you been able to find out more? element this has been a big part of the work i've done in the last few months to try to talk to people and understand the mechanics essentially of these kinds of acts of sabotage.— essentially of these kinds of acts of sabotage. and what i have learned _ acts of sabotage. and what i have learned is _ acts of sabotage. and what i have learned is that - acts of sabotage. and what i have learned is that the - have learned is that the explosions themselves involve hundreds of kilograms of explosive material that was likely place just underneath the pipelines, very close to them. often around whether pipelines were along the baltic sea and what was incredibly important to know was that both

the location and the timing of the location and the timing of the explosions was, according to multiple officials i have spoken to, particularly in denmark, was intentional. these were outside of the territorial waters of both denmark and sweden but inside what is known as the exclusive economic zone 1 s. as the exclusive economic zone �*s. this was, officials told me, designed to send a very clear message to countries like denmark, a member of nato, and sweden, about to be a member of nato, they could strike, whoever this was, close to the borders, close to the shoreline of these countries, and the timing has occurred just hours before the leaders of norway, denmark and poland, were meeting to celebrate the launch of another new gas pipeline that would bring norwegian gas into europe. that would bring norwegian gas into eur0pe-_ into europe. talking about those multiple _ into europe. talking about those multiple affected i those multiple affected countries, denmark, sweden, we know they have all lodged separate investigations into these attacks. but why aren't they investigating together? it has been one of the most

interesting parts about this entire episode, is the idea that these countries, many of them nato members, many of them close allies, have not similarly shared a huge amount of information with one another. the lead prosecutor in sweden for instance saying there was so many sensitivities around the work his team were doing in their investigations, they didn't want to share with other countries, and over last year or two there have been many, many incidences where many, many incidences where many —— potential espionage has threatened the security environment around the information inside major nato members including for instance germany. and so a lot of countries are very wary when it comes to releasing information about what they are able to do underwater even with some of their closest allies. $5 underwater even with some of their closest allies.— their closest allies. as you know, their closest allies. as you know. of _ their closest allies. as you know, of course, - their closest allies. as you know, of course, these - their closest allies. as you - know, of course, these pieces of infrastructure, they are multibillion—dollar pieces of energy infrastructure essentially. i just wonder what have affected countries, northern european countries, been doing since these attacks are kind of mitigate these

kinds of risks?— kinds of risks? young, of course- _ kinds of risks? young, of course. this _ kinds of risks? young, of course. this is _ kinds of risks? young, of| course. this is something kinds of risks? young, of- course. this is something that theoretically has been a concern for governments for many, many years —— yeah. particularly with the extraordinary growth of the internet and a number of cables beneath the sea all over the world. governments have been concerned about this and they have spent some time and money thinking about how to mitigate but of course this was really the first really unprecedented attack on a piece of infrastructure with a clear act of malice as it were. and so governments in places like denmark, like sweden, like norway, like poland, like germany, even the uk they are now thinking about they need to do to better guard against this kind of thing and that typically involves greater defence spending, it is looking at new technologies. france, for instance, working with its defence very closely, looking at is strategy not long ago and the uk going up to the market, buying a couple of ships that are very much dedicated on this kind of work and in countries like denmark where they plan

ahead over a decade with a defence spending, this is right in the centre of those political negotiations about how they are going to spend their money in a relatively small country to make sure that not only they had operators part of nato, not only are they are able to defend against russia in their own backyard but also able to safeguard a lot of infrastructure that is really growing.— lot of infrastructure that is really growing. and of course the backdrop _ really growing. and of course the backdrop to _ really growing. and of course the backdrop to all— really growing. and of course the backdrop to all of - really growing. and of course the backdrop to all of this - really growing. and of course the backdrop to all of this is l the backdrop to all of this is that this came at a time when we saw european countries already turning away from russia that i wonder to what extent do you think that these blasts have essentially solidified that, made that more permanent? it solidified that, made that more permanent?— permanent? it is really interesting _ permanent? it is really interesting and - permanent? it is really interesting and of - permanent? it is really l interesting and of course nordstream 21 and two built many years apart and both of these involved in these acts of sabotage was that we have seen a massive fall in russian imports into the eu over the previous three months prior to this attack following the invasion and now with around two fifths of all russian imports to eu going through

nordstream 21, it is a lot harderfor their nordstream 21, it is a lot harder for their future possibility —— nord harderfor theirfuture possibility —— nord stream one. briefly if you don't mind, do you think we will ever know who was behind these attacks? i’zre was behind these attacks? i've talked to a _ was behind these attacks? i've talked to a lot _ was behind these attacks? i've talked to a lot of _ was behind these attacks? te: talked to a lot of intelligent officials and a lot of different countries and many of them say that eventually these things do come out but if there are countries out there in possession of information about who the culprits are, individuals have said if it is not the russians, it is another country, another actor, there is not currently a massive insanity to publicise that. —— incentive. one of america's most recognizable home goods chain — bed bath & beyond — has filed for bankruptcy protection. for more than 50 years, it sold items like shower curtains, bedding, and almost every other household item. it was frequently on the fortune 500 list of biggest american companies. in 2010, it had 1,100 stores across the us,

puerto rico and canada. then when the pandemic led to a rise of online shopping, it failed to keep up with competitors. by late 2022, the company reported a loss of nearly $400 million. to avoid bankruptcy, it came up with a plan to raise a billion dollars, but fell short. but ultimately, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in newjersey on sunday. the filing said, it would start the process this week of closing its 360 bed bath & beyond stores. it also will shut down operations at all of its 120 buy buy ba by locations. the company said it expects all stores to close by the end ofjune. let's get more on this with jordyn holman, a business reporter for the new york times. jordyn, thanks forjoining us. bed bath & beyond was popular for so long. where did things go wrong?—

go wrong? exactly. it was a store the — go wrong? exactly. it was a store the college _ go wrong? exactly. it was a store the college students. store the college students gravitated to, new homeowners gravitated to, new homeowners gravitated to, new homeowners gravitated to, but around 2014 when the four of e—commerce really start to show so bed bath & beyond was always known as a place you would browse and go to in person but in 2014 he started to see the full effect of amazon and other companies that had built up their e—commerce base and starting to pull away sales from bed bath & beyond. 0ne statistic that stands out to me is that in 2014 the share price was around $80 and by 2018 that are dropped 85 sent, about $15 million and so you do not have as much liquidity and you are dependent on trends and then you get into a constant cycle of trying to keep up. i wanted to talk about _ of trying to keep up. i wanted to talk about the _ of trying to keep up. i wanted to talk about the pandemic i of trying to keep up. i wanted| to talk about the pandemic hit in a moment first ijust want to say, the bankruptcy filing does not necessarily mean the company will go out of business

but walkers through what happens next.— but walkers through what happens next. today the bed bath and beyond _ happens next. today the bed bath and beyond said - happens next. today the bed bath and beyond said they i happens next. today the bed | bath and beyond said they are beginning the process of closing their stores so that does mean that for shoppers if you want to use coupons, do that by wednesday and this process will happen swiftly. the company said most of its stores will be closed by the end ofjune. stores will be closed by the end ofjune— stores will be closed by the end of june. stores will be closed by the end ofjune. �* ., ., ,., end ofjune. and what about the 14,000 employees? _ end ofjune. and what about the 14,000 employees? what - end ofjune. and what about the 14,000 employees? what will l 14,000 employees? what will ha en 14,000 employees? what will happen to _ 14,000 employees? what will happen to them? _ 14,000 employees? what will happen to them? in _ 14,000 employees? what will happen to them? in the - happen to them? in the bankruptcy filing today, bed bath & beyond said they have 14,000 employees in a conversation —— compensation of about 26 million, they are asking the court to help them pay that. those are the outstanding numbers. iwent pay that. those are the outstanding numbers. i went to some of the stores today and chatted to some employees and right now i think it is just a lot of uncertainty for their job and this has been a

difficult process because the company has been closing stores for months and this feels like a final chapter.— a final chapter. certainly difficult circumstances i a final chapter. certainly. difficult circumstances for them. the bigger picture, of course, as you mentioned, was the stall�*s inability to adapt to the needs of online shoppers. but what do you think this particular case tells us about the future for other rick and mortar stores?— and mortar stores? there is a sace and mortar stores? there is a space for— and mortar stores? there is a space for brick _ and mortar stores? there is a space for brick and _ and mortar stores? there is a space for brick and mortar - and mortar stores? there is a space for brick and mortar to | space for brick and mortar to exist. when you have such customer loyalty like bed bath & beyond had you have to hold onto the things that makes that special so they began rolling away or taking away things that people loved, lessening the impact of the coupon or getting rid of some of those national namebrand chains or the discoverability and decluttering their stores. so if you are still a store operating you have to know what your customer wants and what they care about most and i think that is a huge takeaway

that bed bath & beyond street away from what their core customers love about them. —— strayed away. customers love about them. -- strayed away-— strayed away. are there any other traditional _ strayed away. are there any other traditional brick - strayed away. are there any other traditional brick and i other traditional brick and mortar stores that adapted better, essentially, to e—commerce and the arrival of that? iii e-commerce and the arrival of that? ., ., ., that? in a conversation about bed that? in a conversation about ited ihath _ that? in a conversation about ited ihath & — that? in a conversation about bed bath & beyond, - that? in a conversation about bed bath & beyond, the - that? in a conversation about| bed bath & beyond, the other side of the coin is target who adapt by having e—commerce by online and pick up in store to make people easy to shop there. but they still have a feeling of browsing around, you may intend to just go and buy something with $10 and you having spent $100. so they have done a good balance of navigating both of those worlds and showing up the way shoppers want to shop. and showing up the way shoppers want to shep— want to shop. thank you very much for _ want to shop. thank you very much for your _ want to shop. thank you very

much for your time. - today, john travolta cosmic saturday night fever outfit will go to auction. the white polyester 3—piece suit featured in the 1977 film is expected to go for an estimated $250,000. it sold for $250,000. it was originally purchased for $100 from a small menswear shop in new york and it is one of two identical suits thatjohn travolta wore onset. it is even said to still have the sweat marks on it. all the details with you here on bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. remember there is plenty more on our website, or downloand the bbc app to stay up to date. thanks for your company. i'm helena humphrey in washington — i'll see you soon.

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.

a make or break week for big tech. major players prepare to turn in their financial results following multiple rounds ofjob cuts. plus, a blessing or a curse? we take a close look at what it's 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 in the united states. this week will be getting the report from internet giants like spotify, alphabet and meta. and microsoft samsung and intel.