welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. the first two flights —— bringing hundreds of british nationals from sudan via cyprus —— have landed in the uk. there was overwhelming relief among the reunited families —— and there'll be more flights in the days to come. first direct contact since the ukraine invasion — president zelensky says he had a �*long and meaningful�* conversation with the chinese leader xijinping. and britain's king and queen consort set foot on liverpool's eurovision stage as it's revealed for the first time.

it's seven in the morning in singapore, and one in the morning in sudan where the rescue operation to bring british nationals out of the country has made progress — the latest official figure is that 536 people have been rescued so far. 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. 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 militaryjudgment, 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 omdurman. 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 i 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. meanwhile the three day ceasfire in sudan has been threatened by an outbreak of renewed fighting as violence has broken out in the outskirts of omdurman, a city across the nile from the capital, khartoum. much of central khartoum remains calm, but residents

are struggling to get clean water, bread and other vital supplies as shops are closed. the world health organization says it expects more deaths to occur in sudan due to outbreaks of disease and a lack of essential services. ukraine's president zelensky says he has had an hour long telephone call with the chinese president xijinping, the first between the two since russia's invasion. china says it maintains a neutral stance in the conflict, and president xi has so far refused to condemn moscow's invasion. in february beijing offered a 12 point paper calling for a political settlement to the crisis. here's our kyiv correspondent james waterhouse. well, kyiv will see this as a bit of diplomatic progress. why? just last month, president zelensky signalled he wanted to speak to xi jinping of china. he even invited him

to kyiv after he met with vladimir putin in moscow, but xijinping decided not to make that extra journey. nevertheless, we're told it was a long and meaningful phone call. we're not hearing much in terms of detail, but ukraine is desperate to improve relations with china, a country that to date has refused to condemn russia's invasion. it's even strengthened its economic ties with moscow. so while ukraine will see this as serious progress, there are still huge ideological differences on how to end this war. because what beijing wants and what we're told after this phone call, it sees negotiations and talks as the only way out of this conflict. ukraine sees a military victory as the way out to avoid just that, any kind of political compromise. so politically, we've seen progress today for kyiv. what difference it will make, we won't knowjust yet.

president biden and the south korean president, yoon suk yeol, have held talks in the white house, outlining a new security agreement designed to deter the growing nuclear threat from north korea. the two leaders used the first formal state visit by a south korean leader in more than a decade to send a warning to pyongyang, saying their mutual defence treaty was �*ironclad'. they've also agreed to give south korea a greater voice in how the us would respond to any nuclear incident. here's a bit of what mr biden had to say. nuclear attack by north korea against the united states or its allies or partisans or partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action. and it's about strengthening deterrence and response to

the dprk escalatory behaviour and the deal and complete consultation. and, you know, the idea that i have absolute authority as commander in chief and the sole authority to use a nuclear weapon. but, you know, what the declaration means is that we're going to make every effort to consult with our allies when it's appropriate, if any actions are so call for. meanwhile the south korean president said the washington declaration — was a commitment from the us to deter attacks and protect us allies using its military power, including nuclear weapons. translation: in addition, the deployment _ of the united states strategic assets will be made constantly and routinely. we want to customise our response against north korea's nuclear threat based on extended deterrence. and in the process of achieving this goal, any concerns that koreans may have against our nuclear weapons will be relieved, i believe. if nuclear weapons are used, are two countries will strengthen our response in a swift manner.

ellen kim — a senior fellow and deputy director of the korea chair at the centre for strategic and international studies — told me how significant the new agreement is. certainly very important. president biden mentioned that any nuclear attack by north korea against the you us and allies are unacceptable and will result in the end of the regime. today the two leaders announced a new agreement under what they called the washington declaration. the two countries agree to have, extend the deterrents to soccer through measures like more information sharing. more consultation mechanism and more frequent deployment of strategic assets including us nuclear ballistic submarine and this is

significant because this is the first time the us is going to deploy its nuclear submarine to the korean peninsula since the 19805. the korean peninsula since the 1980s. other things that they agree to is the creation of the new consultative group which essentially allows south korea to have more voice in the us decision—making in the nuclear matters and have more consultations and joint planning and executions. all of this new measures will send a very strong message to north korea and at the same time the us efforts to build south korean confidence in the image of south korea. if you want to get in touch with me on any story you've

seen today like the one you have to scene, he can reach me on twitter. @bbckarishma around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. royal weddings and their dresses have long captured the public imagination. and whilst they may not have always been white, they have always been very elaborate. like this one, the oldest surviving royal wedding dress dating back to the marriage of princess charlotte in 1816. as per the royal tradition in the 19th century, it was silver. the dress is part of an exhibition here at the queen's gallery about fashion and the georgians. but beyond the visual splendour of the period, what do the clothes of this era say about the people who wore them? well, the georgians were actually highly conscious of making sustainable clothes that could be

altered and reused. you can see why dresses like this one worn at court might have eventually made way for more streamlined silhouettes. and it was in the georgian era that breeches and stockings for men eventually died out to make way for the undeniably more practical trouser. you're live with bbc news. an old video camera which had been missing for sixteen years has been returned to the family of a japanese journalist who was killed in myanmar. kenji nagai was shot dead by a burmese soldier in 2007, while filming protests led by buddhist monks, against the then—military government — an event known as the saffron revolution. our south east asia correspondentjonathan head has seen the last video material recorded by the journalist. the following report contains images some may find distressing. myanmar�*s history has been punctuated by popular uprisings.

they called this one the saffron revolution. as buddhist monks led demonstrations 16 years ago against the dire economic hardships caused by military misrule. a lone japanese journalist, kenji nagai, films the swelling crowds in downtown yangon. this is the first time we've seen what he filmed that day. "the army has just arrived", he says. "they're heavily armed." "it's the last thing," he says. the troops move in first using tear gas, then live gunfire. as kenji nagai turns to run, he's shot by a soldier standing next to him and flung off his feet. shortly afterwards, his lifeless body is dragged away. there is no sign of his camera. this burmese freelance journalist who was there, filmed his last moments merely

sitting up alone. translation: i heard the first shots which i were fired into the air. then the soldiers marched into the crowd and started beating them. kenji nagai was at that spot. i heard a gunshot and saw kenji nagai fall down and then i could see no sign of movement. kenji's family called for an investigation into his killing and for an apology from the myanmar military. they got neither. but they have finally been reunited with his camera here in bangkok after the independent news group dvb managed to track it down, and they've been able to watch the last video that he filmed. translation: i think my brother threw himself into the turmoil - of the saffron revolution, convinced he could help myanmar by letting the world know what was happening. i don't think of him as a hero,

even though he lost his life. i would prefer people to remember him as a journalist who was willing to keep fighting. just as the saffron revolution was crushed. so when millions of burmese came out against the military coup two years ago, the security forces showed no restraint. today, stifling repression enforces a sullen normality in the main cities. the cold—blooded, pointblank shooting of a foreign journalist at this spot 16 years ago showed in the starkest manner that the myanmar military had not changed, just as it had been willing to shed civilian blood on a huge scale during the 1988 uprising. so it did again during the so—called saffron revolution, and then after the recent coup, keeping its suffocating grip on this country is what matters, whatever the cost.

kenji nagai pays the highest price for trying to shed light on myanmar�*s struggle for a democratic future. thousands more have now paid with their own lives after that future was snatched away from them. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. the world health organisation says there's been a big drop in the number of reported deaths from covid 19 since the beginning of the year —— but the disease is here to stay. our reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more on what the who has said. the world health organization says it is very encouraged by the sustained decline in the number of reported covid—19 deaths around the world. the organisation says since the start of the year there's been a 95% fall in covid—19 deaths. however, some countries are still seeing rises. the organisation says in the past four weeks, 111,000 people have lost their lives to covid.

indeed, the who chief dr tedros says the virus is still on the move and we need to be prepared. as the emergence of the new xbb.1.16 variant illustrates. the virus is still changing and is still capable of causing new waves of disease and death. we remain hopeful that sometime this year we will be able to declare an end to covid—19 as a public health emergency of international concern. the who also says that one in ten infections results in other conditions that we've come to know as long covid. that suggests that hundreds of millions of people worldwide will need longer term care after recovering from the coronavirus. microsoft's 68 billion dollar 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. now it's 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. 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. when abba won in brighton nearly 50 years ago, there was a remarkable kaleidoscope of 1970s colours. 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. our 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. some pictures that havejust come in... presidentjoe biden and the first ladyjill biden are hosting president yoon of south korea and his wife kim keon hee for a state dinner in washington. earlier the us and south korea agreed to step up cooperation over the possible use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with north korea. the deal will see us nuclear armed submarines dock in south korea for the first time in forty years. saul says it's a welcoming a

greater voice in planning lots more on the bbc website. that's it from us. hello there. particularly warm days have been few and far between so far this spring. in fact, the highest temperature we've recorded this yearwas in highlands, scotland, 21.2 celsius. for england and wales, temperatures have not yet got above 18 degrees celsius. we have to look back all the way to 1986 to find a year when we've had to wait this long for temperatures higher than that across england and wales. but that may be about to change. over the next few days, some warmer air pushes its way northwards. the one place that won't get an awful lot warmer is the far north of scotland. so, through the rest of the week, we will see some spells of rain through the day ahead, and then it turns warmer for many into the start of the weekend, albeit still with some scattered showers, some decent dry weather as well.

but for thursday, a couple of different frontal systems, this one pushing in from the south—west, this one just easing its way in towards the western side of scotland. so two different areas of rain, really. this one grazing the north coast of northern ireland and then pushing its way eastwards and north eastwards across scotland, maybe some snow over the highest ground here. and then this area of wet weather pushing in across the south—west of england, some of that rain will then get up into wales, parts of the midlands, east anglia, certainly some rain into the south—east. there is likely to be a drier slot between our two areas of wet weather. temperatures between 7—14 celsius. now, as we head through thursday night, we will continue to see some outbreaks of rain, oerhaps the odd thundery burst here and there. a lot of cloud around as well to take us into the start of friday. so, with that extra cloud in place, it is not going to be a particularly cold night. temperatures typically between three 3—11 celsius. so actually a very mild night indeed down towards the south. into friday, well, we will start off with cloud and some patchy rain across parts of eastern england, that will tend to ease.

and then for england and wales, northern ireland too, we should see some spells of sunshine developing. southern scotland will see a little bit of sunshine, northern scotland, more cloud, some bits and pieces of rain. still chilly in shetland, but further south, temperatures of 10 to 18 celsius. now as we head into the weekend, it will be parts of scotland, particularly in the far north, that struggle in terms of temperatures, and we'll also see some rain at times. further south, some dry spells, a few showers, but it's southern parts that will see the highest of the temperatures, particularly on saturday, up to 19 celsius.

meta's financial results confirm its not all doom and gloom in the tech sector. plus.. the latest episode of america's culture wars. disney takes legal action against florida's governor. hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm karishma vaswani. we begin with meta and its surprising quarterly results. shares of the facebook—parent are up nearly 12—percent in extended trading after the company reported its first sales increase in nearly a year and forecast second—quarter revenue above market expectations it confirms the view that digital advertisers are betting