at six — the first flight carrying british citizens who've escaped from sudan arrives in the uk. it landed at stansted this afternoon. an emotional return for some of the 300 people so far who have managed to get on flights out of sudan. getting to the airport itself was an issue, you know. it's two different opposing factions, everyone is fighting. you know, you lose your appetite, you're just constantly in stress, you don't know what's going to happen. it's feared that thousands of british citizens are still trapped in sudan — and time is running out with the ceasefire due to end tomorrow night. this is a complicated and fast—moving situation, and a

dangerous situation in sudan. it is deeply sad. we are seeing great human suffering. the temporary ceasefire is due to end tomorrow. more than 20,000 new police recruits in england and wales — the government says it has fulfilled its election pledge — labour says they're just playing catch up. we entrust our ancestral home to you. battling it out for the future of gaming — surprise as microsoft's 55 billion pound bid to buy the company behind world of warcraft and call of duty is suddenly blocked. and the king and queen consort set foot on liverpool's eurovision stage as it's revealed for the first time. 0n bbc london, countdown to the coronation. with just ten days to go, will the celebrations bring a

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the first plane bringing british nationals back from sudan has landed in the uk — with around 100 people on board. they began their long journey from an airbase about 20 miles outside the sudanese capital khartoum — but they had to make their own way to get there. they were flown from sudan to cyprus and then on to britain and stansted airport. 0nly around 300 so far have been brought out of sudan on raf flights — meaning thousands of britons are still stranded. more flights are due tonight and tomorrow as the fragile ceasefire appears to hold. here's our correspondent nick beake. back in britain, finally. the first uk civilians evacuated from sudan arriving at stansted this afternoon. this is what they escaped from.

the devastating fallout of a feud between top generals. but as the raf now evacuate british citizens, there are reports the airfield in the capital khartoum is breaking up. raising concerns about how many more rescue flights can come to cyprus, which is halfway home. this, though, is how it feels to have escaped the fighting. here in cyprus i met eight—year—old karim and his ten—year—old sister, dialam. with their mum, shereen. who explained how they had got out of sudan. once we got there to the airport, we met the british soldiers who were very friendly and they helped us a lot to get here. other countries, the french and germans, got their people out before the british. how do you feel, do you think the british helped

you when you needed them or were they too slow? of course, yeah. they were slower than the others, but still they saved us and that's what matters, right? the family from london were on holiday but became trapped by the fierce fighting. we heard lots of gunshots while we were in the house. but we were only a little safe. and we also heard explosions. yeah, we are safe now because there is no war here at all. the first evacuation flight to the uk is about to depart. for these families their ordeal is now over, they will be back in the safety of the united kingdom. but many leave behind loved ones in sudan and they simply don't know what will happen to them. i don't know what to do.

we made contact with a 24—year—old british doctor at the airfield who claimed uk officials had told him that four of his relatives would not be allowed on any rescue flight. they told me if they don't have a visa or a british passport they can't come here. i don't want to leave them because they are my family. and then this woman and her two sons were told to make their way to the raf gathering point in khartoum but her husband does not have a british passport. her husband does not have a british ”assert. , ., her husband does not have a british --assort. , ., , passport. everyone is telling me that this is _ passport. everyone is telling me that this is exciting _ passport. everyone is telling me that this is exciting news - passport. everyone is telling me that this is exciting news and - that this is exciting news and you're being saved but for me it is a family break—up situation and i do not know if i'm going to see him again and the kids are going to see theirfather again. again and the kids are going to see theirfatheragain. it again and the kids are going to see theirfather again. it is again and the kids are going to see their father again. it is very hard. the british military defended the operation. it is in the early stages of

fighting which is complicated and intense and we do not know what is happening or who may be in control of things that could happen to an aircraft and that is not the right time to be asking a lot of people to move and in myjudgment this is the right time and i fully support the decision by the prime minister. more british families are on their way home to safety. but this rescue mission is far from over. nick beake, bbc news, cyprus. 0ne flight has already landed back here in the uk — as we've just seen — the next one is expected to fly in from cyprus late tonight. our special correspondent lucy manning was at london stanstead as the first evacuees came home. from fighting, back to family. from the war zone to safety. the emotions of escape overwhelming.

sharma was working for save the children. she was flown out of sudan with her mother. relieved we are safe, there is no bombing, we are not in danger. i mean, it took 11 days, but thank god we are back. and what do you feel about the british response to getting you out? slow, but we are here. the airfield that we were lifted from was really far, it's on the outskirts of the tri—state. and to get there we had to literally walk through the war zone. we were stop searched, there were bombings, burnings, life—threatening just to get there. more than 100 arrived back at stansted. very happy, very, very happy. life in sudan is very difficult. they kill us. very bad. all praising the teams who brought them out, but with concerns about the delay and the dangers they faced. ahmed fled with his sister and their mother. it's nice to be in a safe country again. you know, in sudan there is constant gunshots, you can hear explosions even in the ceasefires.

so it's nice to be in a country where you can just look around and there's no smoke, no blasts. how do you think the british have handled evacuation so far? i think they handled it well. i would have preferred it to be faster, but i think it was organised well. like going to the airbase, i wish we had a bit more support. there will be more flights out of sudan and more flights back here to britain. but there are hundreds and hundreds more that need to be brought back to safety. they have left the conflict behind, but some have also left family and jobs and homes. lucy manning, bbc news. this is a complicated evacuation but this part of it ended successfully at stansted airport. very high emotions as those families were reunited. but some mixed feelings, everyone delighted to be back and

praising those who helped to get them out but some concern about the time it had taken and there is very dangerous route that they have to take to get to the airfield. in other countries had helped their citizens to get there and the british had not but we expect another flight to land here tonight and in totalforflights another flight to land here tonight and in total for flights would have made it back with people from sudan tonight. lucy manning, thank you. more than 20,000 new police officers have been recruited in england and wales over the past three years — meaning the government has met the target it set in the 2019 general election. labour says ministers are just "catching up" on their previous cuts. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, is here with more. more bobbies on the beat. something any government would like to deliver.

three years ago borisjohnson promised to recruit 20,000 more police officers by the end of last month. a target now achieved. 20,951 officers have signed up. this morning the home secretary suella braverman said — we've delivered. we are actually higher than any level that we have seen before in policing, in the history of policing. so higher than 2010 levels, higher than previous years. this is the highest number of police officers we now have in the history of policing, ever. but officer numbers fell during the austerity years from 2010. and so when the recruitment drive began — well, the new recruits were just replacing officers previously lost. there are now around 3,500 more officers than 2010. a relatively small increase — as labour has pointed out... where are the tories pretending to have been for the last 30 years? they cut 20,000 police officers.

belatedly, they set a target to patch up their own cuts. and now they want us all to be grateful. on top of that a record number of officers are leaving — more than 8,000 in 2021—22. factors include pay, the cost of living and the stress of the job. this former detective — who asked us not to identify him — left after a year. you would have upwards of 30 cases at any one time. the risk is that you fail to collect cctv, fail to take a statement because you don't have time. you don't give the victim the correct safeguarding advice, you don't have time to think about someone's safety. and then something really, really bad happens. the worry is that experienced people are leaving the police service — only to be replaced by inexperienced recruits. all at a time when the pressure on the police has never been greater.

sweeping reforms to scotland's justice system will see the controversial �*not proven' verdict is scrapped. the number ofjurors in criminal trials will also be reduced from 15 to 12. and a pilot scheme will be rolled out that could see trials involving rape and attempted rape taking place without a jury. here's our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon. i was raped by a stranger in freshers' week. for me, it was very traumatic. i'd never gone to court. i felt that i was like a pawn in the system. i felt like i was a witness to my own crime. miss m had just started university when she was violently raped by a stranger. at trial, a scottish jury found the charges against her attacker not proven. but in a later landmark civil action, he was found guilty of rape. i support the proposed changes and thejustice bill obviously mentions about anonymity, but also this, you know, the pilot, the judge—led pilot for rape cases, i think is great,

because things need to change. one of the aims of these proposed changes is to increase scotland's low conviction rate for serious sexual offences. the overall conviction rate in scottish trials is about 90%. it is far lower in rape and attempted rape trials, where only about half result in conviction. as well as piloting judge—only trials for those charged with rape, the proposed legislation will grant automatic lifelong anonymity for victims of sexual offences, reduce the numbers ofjurors in scottish criminal trials from 15 to 12, and abolish the not proven verdict, which is unique to scots law. many in the scottish legal profession have concerns. the temptation to move away from juries in serious sex cases, i think that is a retrograde step. citizens are trusted to elect politicians. they will be trusted to reach verdicts in murder trials. but somehow, it is thought that they don't have sufficient either open—mindedness or experience

to take decisions about intimate matters that affect all of our lives. the scottish government says victims will be at the heart of these, the most radical changes to the justice system for decades. lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. the time is 18:15. our top story this evening. the first flight carrying citizens who have escaped from sedan arrives at london. went feels like a title decider. coming up on bbc news. defending champion ronnie 0'sullivan is out of the snooker world championship after a thrilling quarter final. the seven time champion lost to belgian luca brecel who took the match 13 frames to ten to go through to the semi—finals at the crucible.

healthcare company have told the bbc they had concerns about the safety of patients and staff and felt under pressure to cut costs and fill beds. the company, which is the biggest single private provider of mental health services to the nhs, denies the claims, and says it successfully treats tens of thousands of patients each year. angus crawford reports. a place of safety. but as we reported injanuary, three young women died here. the passing of beth that day was wholly avoidable. 0thers raised fears, too. the longer it's open, the more people are going to die. and now more have come forward. family members, ex—staff, even two former senior managers. look at this. a carer at the cheadle royal, fast asleep for almost an hour, when they should have been looking after a suicidal patient.

that patient was tenisha, and this is her mum, claire. she's meant to be sat there making sure my daughter doesn't kill herself. and yet she's fast asleep. she's fast asleep. it's disgusting. if tenisha would have carried something out that night, at that moment, instead of reaching out to me, we'd have had another death on our hands. you really think? i really do think that. would you be happy for your daughter to go into another priory clinic? i'd never let her in another priory, as long as i live. the priory says it apologised, reported the incident to watchdog the cqc, and barred the worker for life. priory cheadle royal is a large mental health hospital... - the most recent inspection by the cqc rated the cheadle royal as good. but a former senior member of the priory group management team got in touch, too. they told us the culture here was broken. they felt the priory group set up services too quickly and couldn't staff them. that, they believed, was dangerous.

head office constantly pushing them to take more patients, "breathing down our necks," they said. and that got worse after the priory group was sold off to private investors. if you're struggling with your mental health... the priory group gets hundreds of millions of pounds a year from the nhs and local councils to provide care for adults and children. there's a huge demand for its services. a recent report by the cqc into the group found staff were very proud to work there, and noted a positive change in culture since the sell—off. but it also said there was "extremely high staff turnover," which in some services was "having an impact on the quality and safety of ca re." we managed to contact another former senior priory manager. i was under so much pressure. the team was under so much pressure. everybody was running on empty. their impression was that head

office wanted savings to be made. they always used to say, you know, "we need to shave headcount and increase productivity." and the main priority from the central priory, for senior management, was to keep your beds that are occupied as high as you possibly could. and the impact? both managers told us they felt pressured to admit patients the wards couldn't cope with and that, they believed, wasn't safe. it was just get the bed filled and that was that, whether they were suitable or not. harriet was a healthcare assistant at another priory hospital. we were constantly having patients that just weren't suitable. so a lot of the time we would have patients come in that should have been in a psychiatric intensive care unit, and we would be kind of pressured into accepting the admission. why were you pressured into it? to get the bed filled. the priory group wouldn't give us an interview or statement, but their lawyers told us it "safely

treats tens of thousands of patients each year and saves very many lives." its services "remain among the safest in the uk." admissions are based on "rigorous clinical criteria by medical teams at individual hospitals." and they will "refuse admission if they cannot deliver care safely." the company "takes staff turnover seriously" and has implemented a group—wide strategy in response, including increasing pay. 350 extra healthcare assistants and nurses have been recruited, and turnover has reduced. the cqc inspected the priory cheadle royal again earlier this year and that report is expected within weeks. angus crawford, bbc news. microsoft's £55 billion bid to buy the video games company behind hits like call of duty and candy crush has been blocked in a surprise move

by british regulators — a decision that could scupper the biggest ever deal in gaming history altogether. and it all centres around the changing face of the gaming industry and how people will interact with it in future, as our gaming correspondent steffan powell explains. call of duty... world of warcraft. .. candy crush. loved by millions, made by activision blizzard, wanted by microsoft. to own these would put it in a strong position to encourage more players to choose its devices and services in the years to come. this deal, though, is on life support, all because it has been judged by the cma to reduce innovation in the fast developing cloud gaming market. the theory is that cloud gaming will eventually become the kind of de facto distribution, you know, way that games are distributed to the end—user,

streamed to the end user like we do when we watch netflix videos. the news has not gone down well, with activision saying in a statement that the uk was clearly closed for business. microsoft added that the cma had a flawed understanding of the market. they will now appeal. microsoft's xbox console may be lagging behind sony playstation in terms of sales but the company does have a big presence in cloud gaming. we didn't want a situation where the current dominant most powerful platform in cloud gaming purchased an important input to its competitors and therefore undermined that growth. the deal needs approval in the uk, eu and us to go ahead, so today's decision, the first from those jurisdictions, could scupper it. should this merger now collapse, it will be a major relief to bosses here at sony playstation, who have consistently opposed the deal. at one stage, it looked like this would go through,

so today's result has come as a surprise to many. the appeal process could take several months. steffan powell, bbc news. next thursday, people across much of england will head to the polls to vote in local council elections. the liberal democrats are hoping to make gains in the so—called "blue wall", mostly southern english areas traditionally held by the conservatives, like west berkshire. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has been speaking to voters in newbury. this is part of our series on the local elections. come on, guys. what a race, this one. the racecourse in newbury in west berkshire sits on the edge of a commuter town and the countryside. it's the sort of place where the liberal democrats believe they're odds—on to make gains against the conservatives. people here have some pretty clear ideas of what they think is important. the cost of living crisis, i suppose. environment, it's quite important to me. what do you make of the liberal democrats? they are more aligned with what my sort of beliefs are politically, i think.

they are... i've seen more of them. the liberal democrats, i think historically have been brilliant at telling us lots of good things and actually never delivering. some eye—catching wins in parliamentary by—elections have boosted the lib dems' confidence, but not their long—term polling figures. they see an opportunity here, though, in people who've moved out from more urban areas. we moved to the area because it wasn't as built up as like reading. my life's been 0k and good through the conservatives. however, i do appreciate there may need to be a time for change. would you say then that your votes are up for grabs? yes. yeah, absolutely. making gains in places like west berkshire is going to be crucialfor the lib dems' hopes in a general election. they're targeting conservative areas in the home counties and southern england, what they call the "blue wall", where they want to position themselves as the main challenger to the conservatives. featuring heavily in their campaign is better access to health care. waiting times, the ability for people to see consultants,

to get follow—throughs on appointments, to get operations that are needed. hospitals is something the liberal democrats are campaigning on. what do you think of them? i've got various leaflets at home that tell me what each one's doing, and i haven't read them all yet, so i haven't decided. they're also hoping to appeal to people feeling the pain in their pockets. and of course, to win at local elections, you have to fix local issues. cheaper car parking, for a start. we need more recreational areas. potholes in the road. the parties have just over a week left to convince voters here they're the ones to back. helen catt, bbc news, newbury. there's a big match tonight — arsenal take on manchester city at the etihad stadium. the two teams have been vying for the top spot in the premier league all season. could tonight be the deicder? 0ur sports editor dan roan is in manchester. it's going to be quite a clash? it is, absolutely. yes, put simply,

it is the biggest game of the premier league season. still a few weeks to go, of course, plenty of twists and turns potentially to come but it has a feeling of a genuine title decider, this. whoever wins, they know their title will be very much in the hands. for the visitors, the surprise front runners for most of the season, arsenal, under manager mick and arteta, they remain five points ahead but they have played two games more. —— manager mikel arteta. arch rivals manchester city have played two games less. arsenal know they have to win if they are to secure a first premier league for 19 years. as for manchester city, they have all the momentum unlike arsenal who have started recently with three drawers, city have won their last six league games and they have the phenomenal goal—scoring talent of erling haaland and all the experience as well, they are going notjust for a fifth premier league title in six seasons but also a treble as well. tonight, something has to give and the feeling is this could be pivotal. just over two weeks to go

until the eurovision song contest takes place in liverpool — and today king charles and the queen consort stepped on to the stage as it was revealed for the first time. 0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson was watching. three, two, one! eurovision's most famous act abba sang dancing queen. here, we had a real—life king. king charles and the queen consort, revealing the stage for this year's competition. and their eurovision tour included meeting the presenters of the show. they were really excited for it as well. yeah. i mean, they've got their own party going on the same week, so... quite a busy week! quite a busy one for them. this is the ninth time the uk's hosted eurovision and, oh, how the set designs have advanced over the years. the first time in 1960, it was all a bit chelsea flower show, with the world's biggest snooker cue being used for the scoreboard. # waterloo, i was defeated...# when abba won in brighton nearly 50 years ago, there was a remarkable

kaleidoscope of 1970s colours. while in 1998 in birmingham, there appeared to be a jurassic park element, with what resembled three giant dinosaurs standing over the orchestra. and as for the set revealed by the royals... so this is where the acts will be run in. this is the big catwalk right here. as you can see, the floor is all made out of video. this feels big. it's massive, yeah. 0ur set design resembles a hug, as if to say the people of liverpool and the uk are welcoming the people of the ukraine. let's go backstage. yeah. there's basically a crew that comes in, looks at the next act, brings it on stage while the other delegation from the other artists is exiting. it's like a grand prix pit stop. pretty much. # instead i wrote a song...#. the uk act who'll perform on that stage is mae miller. and she, too, got to meet the royals. we'll be watching with great interest. thank you.

egging you on. thank you! hoping you'll go far. no pressure! no nul points this year. no. hope we haven't ruined your chances! douze points from the king. colin paterson, bbc news, liverpool. the royal seal of approval. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. it has been another not particularly warm day. some sunshine in places but temperatures have struggled. that has been a theme of the spring so far. the highest temperature we have seen so far this year was in highland scotland, 21.2 but in england and wales, temperatures have not yet been above 18. we have to look all the way back to 1986 for a year when we have waited this long for temperatures higher than that. but that may change over the next few days. we are going to see some slightly warmer air working its way across most parts of the uk. highland scotland could be the place that stays a bit chilly. it is also the place where we could see a touch of frost overnight tonight. for

many, quite a lot of clout in the mix and some clear spells, some rain fringing into northern ireland and western scotland, mildest in the south—west of england where we will see a lot of cloud tomorrow morning and some of rain. two main areas of wet weather tomorrow, one pushing up from the south—west, affecting a good part of england and wales. some of that could be heavy and thundery for a time into the afternoon. also this band of rain working northwards across scotland, could be some snow mixing in over higher ground in the highlands because temperatures, 7—8. further south, temperatures a touch higher than they have been. as we move through tomorrow night and thursday night into friday, heavy rain for a thursday night into friday, heavy rainfora time, thursday night into friday, heavy rain for a time, much of that will clear and the north of the casing lots of clout and a few showers on friday. furthersouth, lots of clout and a few showers on friday. further south, some spells of sunshine and certainly higher temperatures. 18 degrees. into the start of the weekend, it will be northern parts of scotland particularly that struggle in terms of temperatures and also a bit of rain at times. further south, a lot of dry weather with one or two

showers. temperatures higher than they have been. we could be looking at values of up to about 19 degrees. thanks, ben. and that's bbc news at six. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are. goodnight. as high pressure starts to build back in on monday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall. the master and his apprentice go head to head in a crucial match which could shape the title race. where at bromelain for sheffield united against west from which i've been where a win for the blades could guarantee promotion. and smiling after surgery. england's lucy bronze updates us on her knee injury —