tonight at ten — the first two flights, bringing hundreds of british nationals from sudan, have landed in the uk. the first landed earlier today at stansted, having picked up its passengers in cyprus, there'll be more flights in the days to come. there was overwhelming relief among the reunited families, as people described the terror of being trapped in sudan. we had to literally walk through the war zone. we were stopped, searched, there was bombings, burnings. in sudan there is constant gun shots and you can hear explosions, even in like ceasefires. in sudan, other planes are standing by, to rescue some of the thousands of british passport holders, still in the country. the united nations says it's working hard to sustain the ceasefire between the rival military factions.

also tonight: a promise to appoint 20,000 extra police in england and wales has been delivered, say ministers — while labour says it's simply making up for the job cuts of the past. two former senior managers at the private health care firm the priory group, say they had concerns about the safety of patients and staff. and manchester city welcomed arsenal this evening for a top of the table clash in the premier league. and coming up on bbc news... luca brecel shocks ronnie o sullivan — winning 7 frames in a row to reach the semi—finals of the world snooker championships in sheffield. good evening.

the rescue operation to bring british nationals out of sudan has made progress today. the latest official figure is that 536 people have been rescued so far. two flights landed at stansted airport in essex today. tens of thousands of sudanese and foreign nationals have left sudan in the past week, fleeing the violence that's erupted between two military factions. a ceasefire declared on monday night is still holding, but it's due to expire tomorrow. those britons who've managed to fly out of sudan were told to make their own way to the military airbase at wadi seidna, where the state of the runway is now causing concern. so far, six flights have taken british nationals to cyprus, and another four will have taken off by the early hours. from cyprus, the route is then back to stansted,

but there are thought to be as many as 4,000 british nationals still in sudan. we'll have a report by our special correspondent lucy manning on those arriving back in the uk, but we start with this report from cyprus, and our correspondent there nick beake. finally, an escape for britons who've been stranded in sudan. but as the raf carries out more evacuations, there are some concerns the airfield in the capital, khartoum, is now breaking up with hundreds of uk citizens still stuck in the devastation inflicted by the feud between top generals. today, though, flights out have been reaching cyprus, which is halfway home. and this is how it feels to have escaped. here in cyprus, i met eight—year—old karim

and his ten year old sister, diya lam, with their mum shireen. at their departure gate she explained how they'd got out of sudan. once we got there to the airport, we met the british soldiers. they were very friendly and they helped us a lot to get here now. other countries, the french and germans, got their people out before the british. but how do you feel, do you think the british helped you when you needed them, or were they too slow? i think they were slower than the others, but still, they saved us. 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 safe. but we were only a little safe. and like, we also had explosions. yeah, we're safe now

because there is no war here at all. with the first evacuation flight to the uk is about to depart, for these families their ordeal is now over, they'll 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 in sudan 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 british passports, they can't come here. i don't want to leave them because they are my family. and then there's azza and her two sons. they've been told to make their way to the raf gathering point in khartoum, but her husband doesn't have a british passport. everybody's telling me, like, this is exciting news, go, you know, you're being saved.

but for me, it's a family breakup situation because i don't know if i'm going to see him again, if the kids are going to see their father again. and it'sjust... it's very, very hard. the british military defended the operation. in the very early stages of fighting, where it's very complicated, intense and we don't know what is happening. in particular, we don't know who might be in control of things that are a threat to an aircraft. that, in my professional military judgment, is not the right time to be asking lots of people to move. in myjudgment, this is the right time and i support fully the prime minister's decision. as more flights leave for the uk, the british rescue operation is trying to pick up the pace but is still playing catch up. a mission farfrom over. nick beake, bbc news, cyprus. sobbing.

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're safe, there's no bombing, we're not in danger. i mean, it took” days, but thank god. thank god we're back. what do you feel about the british response to getting you out? slow, but we're here. the airfield that we were lifted from was really far, it's on the outskirts of the tri state 0mdurman. and to get there it was... we had to literally walk through the war zone. we were stopped, searched, there was 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 mum. it's nice to be in a safe country, right? you know, in sudan, there's constant gunshots and you can hear explosions, even in like cease fires. so it's nice to be in a country where you can just look around and there's no smoke, there's no blasts. how do you think the british have handled the evacuation so far? i think they handled it well. i would have preferred it to be faster, but i think it's, you know, organised well now like, going to the airbase, i wish they had a bit more support. peter badawi feared for his life trying to escape with elderly relatives. it's difficult to say how stomach churning it was. you know, you lose appetite, you're just constantly in stress. you don't know what's going to happen, am i going to make it? 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've left the conflict behind, but some have also left family and jobs and homes. lucy manning, bbc news. there's deepening concern about the humanitarian challenge in sudan. the united nations has warned that a quarter of a million sudanese people could be heading for the country's borders to escape the fighting. lines of buses and other vehicles continue to leave the capital khartoum, despite the extremely high price of tickets and of fuel. un officials say they're in contact with both sides of the military conflict to try to sustain the ceasefire after fighting was reported in some areas overnight. 0ur correspondent tom bateman sent this report from neighbouring egypt. nowhere is safe, even when the guns

are supposed to have stopped. this is a hospital in the city of 0mdurman, after local reports a projectile hit the roof. the staff here reported three wounded, all taken to another hospital. we are against the war because the worst affected are innocent civilians, says this eyewitness. and the attempts to escape go on. this was the view from the home of one woman in khartoum ten days ago. she fled with her elderly mum to the red sea coast, the only lifelines out still mean risking death on the road. and then the wait to be saved, where she says the sudanese are being sidelined. we're trying to get on the saudi boats, ships, that take you from port sudan to jeddah, but that's proving a little bit difficult because priority... my understanding is that priority is given to saudi nationals and foreign nationals, so we're literally last on the list.

the truce is holding in places, but there are no signs of a wider deal between the army and the paramilitaries whose rival bids for control unleashed the fighting. those left trying to survive face a growing humanitarian crisis. many have spent days without food, clean water or fuel. translation: people have nothing to eat. i how did this happen? we are suffering just trying to live, day by day. the un continues to call for a long—term ceasefire but said overnight neither side is ready to seriously negotiate. and here in egypt, more than 10,000 civilians, mostly sudanese, have crossed the border in four days. for the ngos, the governments and for the un and everybody, please save sudan and save the people of sudan.

0thers cross a lake straddling the border. many have no idea where this journey will end. tom bateman, bbc news, abu simbel in southern egypt. in london, the foreign office says it's exploring all options to bring uk passport holders out of sudan. 0ur political editor chris mason is at westminster. what chris mason is at westminster. is your reading oft 0ffice what is your reading of the foreign office thinking on this now, chris, 0ffice thinking on this now, chris, given the ceasefire in sudan is clearly fragile? it given the ceasefire in sudan is clearly fragile?— clearly fragile? it clearly isn't this is clearly _ clearly fragile? it clearly isn't this is clearly a _ clearly fragile? it clearly isn't this is clearly a race - clearly fragile? it clearly isn't this is clearly a race against l clearly fragile? it clearly isn't - this is clearly a race against time, against circumstances and indeed, against circumstances and indeed, against numbers. you look at those numbers tonight, some new numbers published by the foreign office in the last 20 minutes, and it looks very difficult to get all of those brits out during this ceasefire. so that number we just learned after 9.30 tonight, 536 people evacuated on six uk flights. i understand not

all of those people are british. that the estimates as to how many british passport holders that are in sudan varies, but it looks like it runs into at least a couple of thousand. however, speaking to people in government, a good number of people in government this evening, they remain relatively confident that they can't achieve it, they can crank up the frequency of the flight if necessary. they are looking as well at options to use ships out of paul sudan. there are those comparisons being made and we have heard that those think the uk response has been too slow. at the same, look at what france has managed to do where they went to collect some of their citizens, didn't ask them to come to the airfield. the uk did do that with special forces to rescue diplomats. the argument is being made that you cannot do that for ordinary citizens because of that would amount to an armed taxi service and drawing the

uk into the wider conflict. tonight, the rescue continues with the clock ticking down. incidentally, there has been a diplomatic spat today with germany. germany publicly accusing the uk of slowing down its mission to rescue its citizens with the initial military arrival from the initial military arrival from the uk. the suggestion as well that the uk. the suggestion as well that the uk. the suggestion as well that the uk haven't had permission from sudan before it did that. shocked that berlin should go public on that. they are denying that those german allegations have been made. 0ne german allegations have been made. one final thought on the uk politics, strikingly, it has not become a heated political argument, at least yet. labour are privately suggesting the uk government could have been a bit quicker, but they are not seeking to make a big political noise about itjust yet. i think they are very conscious of the work that diplomats and the military are doing. but the time keeps ticking down and pressure will rise on the government if these deadlines

are not met and plenty more are not rescued. , . , ., ., ., rescued. chris, many thanks again. chris mason. _ rescued. chris, many thanks again. chris mason, our— rescued. chris, many thanks again. chris mason, our political— rescued. chris, many thanks again. chris mason, our political editor- chris mason, our political editor with the latest analysis. let's move on to the day's other news. the government has announced that it's achieved its target, of recruiting 20,000 extra police officers, in england and wales since the last general election in 2019. but labour points out that increase must be seen against a sharp reduction in the number of police, in the years before 2017. and they express concern that in recent years there's been a high number of experienced officers leaving the service. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is here with more details. 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've 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 13 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 to 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. huw. many thanks, tom symonds. two former senior managers, at the priory group, a private company which offers treatments for mental health and eating disorders,

have told the bbc they had concerns about the safety of patients and staff. the former workers claim they felt under pressure to cut costs and to fill beds. the company, which is the biggest single private provider of mental health services to the nhs, has denied the claims, and says it has a track record of successfully treating tens of thousands of patients each year, as our correspondent 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. a major uk manufacturing firm has told the bbc that they're concerned the uk can't compete on a level

playing field with the united states, and they warned that british firms are considering moving their investment to the united states, given president biden's decision to offer billion of dollars of subsidies and incentives to industry. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has been assessing the mounting pressure on those involved in the uk manufacturing sector. british industry is facing a new dilemma when deciding where to invest to build key components for future green technology. massive hand—outs from the us government have changed the game. morning, guys, how are you? this is john neill. he runs unipart, which makes parts for every major uk car manufacturer, and he's worried. the americans are redefining the free enterprise system, and i'm genuinely very worried about us being able to invest and compete. it's a fairly chilling situation. i've asked our team to think very carefully about our investment strategy in the us, in our us

operations, and whether we should be pivoting more into those markets. this is why — hundreds of projects like this battery recycling plant in kentucky being built at speed after massive government money. the us president is basing his whole election plan on it and unapologetically says it didn't matter if it was going to affect the rest of the world too. his deputy treasury secretary told the bbc that the rest of the world should back their own industries in the same way. do you accept the criticism that you may have inadvertently started a subsidy war? i don't accept the criticism, because ultimately what we want to do is see other countries make the type of investment we've made in clean energy in their countries as well. i think we all fundamentally know that in order for us to deal with the existential threat of climate change, we need to change the way that the economy is run and make it run more on renewable energy.

the chancellor says the uk is planning to invest and has already done so. big investors are saying to the government, well, hang on, europe's willing to give us hundreds of millions, a billion. america, they are offering a billion. you know, it's not pretty, i know you'd rather this wasn't happening, but this is the reality of the world right now. aren't we going to have to pay up to keep these industries of the future in the united kingdom? well, we recognise that there is a role for subsidies and that's why we've got a £1 billion automotive transportation fund, we are supporting... they're giving 1 billion per plant in the usa. i mean, we are supporting... let me finish, we are supporting the nissan gigafactory, we are in discussion with a number of other manufacturers. what america is doing is playing catch up with the uk. the chancellor confirmed that the uk would wait to see how the eu responds, but following the us push, nations such as spain are already trying even harder to tempt uk car manufacturers to set up shop there instead. faisal islam, bbc news. a week tomorrow, people across much

of england will be able to take part in local council elections. this year, the liberal democrats are hoping to make gains in the so—called blue wall — those areas, mostly in southern england, traditionally held by the conservatives. one of those areas is west berkshire, so our political correspondent helen catt has been speaking to voters in newbury. 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 — 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 was a big match tonight at the top of the premier league — arsenal taking on manchester city at the etihad stadium. it's been neck—and—neck between them all season. match of of the day follows the news, so for those who don't want to know the result look away now — for everyone else let's join our sports editor dan roan in manchester. tell us all. manchester city have

one hand on _ tell us all. manchester city have one hand on their— tell us all. manchester city have one hand on their premier - tell us all. manchester city have i one hand on their premier league trophy after a hugely convincing 4—1 victory over their nearest challengers arsenal this evening. man of the match kevin de bruyne scored twice and in truth could have scored twice and in truth could have scored several more, the champions, such was their level of performance against the league leaders. it means city are two points behind arsenal in the table but crucially they have still two matches in hand and such is their relentless form they are enjoying, their experience and quality, it would be a major surprise if they did not retain their premier league trophy. it was billed as a title decider but arsenal were outclassed, city were on an altogether different level and it shows just how good this idea is, the level of their resources, their strength in depth, paying dividends at the business end of the season.

arsenal, in contrast, rather limping to the end of their campaign. and it raises questions about how competitive this leak truly is because faith are on line for a fifth league win in recent seasons, it is not mathematically over for arsenal but it feels almost done. many thanks to our sports editor, dan roan. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. it hasn't been particularly warm today, we've not had many particularly warm days this spring so far. the highest temperature so far this year was 21.2 celsius in the highlands, 19.1 in northern ireland but england and wales have not yet been above 18, we have to look back to 1986 to find a year where england and wales have waited so long for higher temperatures than that but that might change over the next few days with warmer air

pushing north across most