live from washington, this is bbc news. welcome to viewers on pbs in america. renewed fighting near khartoum is threatening the ceasefire in sudan. much of the capital remains calm, but people are struggling to get food and water. for the ngos, the governments and for the un and everybody, please, save sudan and save the people of sudan. president biden and the south korean president reaffirm their commitment to extended deterrence in the face of the growing nuclear threat from north korea. and ukraine's president zelensky holds his first phone call with his chinese counterpart since the war began.

hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. more on those stories in the show, but we start with events in montana where republicans in the state's house of representatives have voted to bar transgender lawmaker democratic representative zooey zephyr from the house floor. it's republicans�* response to zephyr�*s plea for her colleagues last week to reject a bill that would ban gender—affirming care for minors. she said if they vote yes, she hopes they will see "blood on their hands." she has already been blocked from speaking on the house floor. now, she cannot even go onto the house floor for the rest of the legislative session, she can only vote remotely. the bill she worked to stop has been sent to the governor's desk and he's indicated he'll sign it. here's montana's republican speaker of the house saying why he thinks banning zephyr is the right call.

if you're not going to operate within the house rules like all other 90 nine, remedy that and come back and play within the rules, everybody has agreed on and voted on and has been following. . and here's representative zephyr defending herself on the house floor yesterday. i rose up and said there was blood on your hands, i was not in hyperbolic, i was speaking to the real consequences of the votes we as legislators take on this body. and when the speaker asks me to apologise on behalf of decorum what he is really asking me to do is to be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed. i spoke with represenative zooey zephyr moments ago in the aftermath of the vote today. when are surprised republicans

took the step?— took the step? given the fact the speaker _ took the step? given the fact the speaker wanted - took the step? given the fact the speaker wanted to - took the step? given the fact the speaker wanted to take l took the step? given the fact - the speaker wanted to take away the speaker wanted to take away the newly elected representative's ability to speak on behalf of her constituents are not surprised they doubled down and made a formal decision.— they doubled down and made a formal decision. what was your reaction when _ formal decision. what was your reaction when you _ formal decision. what was your reaction when you heard - formal decision. what was your reaction when you heard the i reaction when you heard the decision was made? you know, unsurprised _ decision was made? you know, unsurprised but _ decision was made? you know, unsurprised but when _ decision was made? you know, unsurprised but when you - decision was made? you know, | unsurprised but when you stand up unsurprised but when you stand up in defence of democracy, when you stand up for your constituent�*s right to have the representative speak on their behalf it's hard to feel anything but pride in making a morally right decision and pride in yourself in pride in the people who came out and protested on behalf of democracy.— protested on behalf of democra . , ., ~ democracy. do you think, regardless _ democracy. do you think, regardless would - democracy. do you think, regardless would have . democracy. do you think, i regardless would have been worth apologising for this in order to make sure your voice is heard on the floor for your constituents?— is heard on the floor for your constituents? the ledgers -- the legislation _ constituents? the ledgers -- the legislation i— constituents? the ledgers -- the legislation i spoke - constituents? the ledgers -- the legislation i spoke to - the legislation i spoke to

which they talk issue with this legislation for improving healthcare approved by every major league —— medical association and the country and i've seen firsthand the impact the bands with this legislation has. we had the family of a trans— gender teenager tried to take her life while watching one of the hearings, when i said it was blood on the legislator�*s and i wasn't being hyperbolic and when the speaker asks me to apologise for those remarks what is actually asking me to do is be silent as my community faces real harm and real change and that is not something i can do. we real change and that is not something i can do. we saw the silencin: something i can do. we saw the silencing of— something i can do. we saw the silencing of your _ something i can do. we saw the silencing of your microphone . silencing of your microphone because protest as well, and one of your republican colleague said you didn't try to calm the crowd and he called it a result on our two —— representative democracy, what you think of that?— you think of that? when i stood there i raised _ you think of that? when i stood there i raised my _

you think of that? when i stood there i raised my microphone . you think of that? when i stood j there i raised my microphone in solidarity with people chanting, let her speak, and i can't think of any more fundamental to our democracy than people coming and demanding our voices are heard. and if the representatives they sent their isn't being allowed to speak, then it only makes sense they came to china, let her speak, we need our voices heard if democracy is to function in our country. how do ou lan function in our country. how do you plan to _ function in our country. how do you plan to have _ function in our country. how do you plan to have your voice - you plan to have your voice heard while you are barred? i will show up to work every day prepared to speak on the bill, i will speak to people in the hallway and make sure my stance on the bill is heard by my colleagues and i will be making sure to make sure the people of have a chance to participate. you mentioned you are barred from the house floor for the witch of the session which in this next week, what happens after that? i this next week, what happens after that?— after that? i will be working on colleagues _ after that? i will be working on colleagues next - after that? i will be working on colleagues next week . after that? i will be working | on colleagues next week the after that? i will be working - on colleagues next week the way the montana legislature is

structured we meet every other year and in 18 month off. there are interim but his i will be serving on i will be going on to the community and making sure i can draft legislation ahead of any cycle so the hopes they have from the state of montana get to be represented on the 2025 legislature. what do ou on the 2025 legislature. what do you think _ on the 2025 legislature. what do you think to _ on the 2025 legislature. what do you think to do _ on the 2025 legislature. what do you think to do to - on the 2025 legislature. what do you think to do to convince j do you think to do to convince more people to come to your side? . ~ side? ice think we saw when --eole side? ice think we saw when people stood _ side? ice think we saw when people stood up _ side? ice think we saw when people stood up in _ side? ice think we saw when people stood up in the - side? ice think we saw when | people stood up in the gallery and demand their representative be hurt, i have seen hundreds of people support me with e—mails, i think the committee is on our side and the legislature is mostly out of step with what the people in our state and country want. irate our state and country want. we saw an uproar _ our state and country want. we saw an uproar after two tennessee lawmakers were expeued tennessee lawmakers were expelled from the legislature for having a protest on how this floor in favour of more gun control. now we have what

happened you today. what you think we are seeing, is this new trend in slate —— state legislatures? i new trend in slate -- state legislatures?— new trend in slate -- state legislatures? i think what you are seeing — legislatures? i think what you are seeing is _ legislatures? i think what you are seeing is marginalised - are seeing is marginalised communities are listening to bills that directly harm our communities, and we are not comfortable saying so i would just sit there and stay silent as those bills passed through these bodies. we are standing up these bodies. we are standing up and saying no, this isn't an exit double way, not an acceptable policy, that hurt and kill our communities, and when we hold the powerful to account they demand our silence and what we are seeing communities around us and our states are rising up and saying we won't get that silence. thank you very much forjoining us on our show. thank you very much for “oining us on our show.�* us on our show. thank you so much for _ us on our show. thank you so much for having _ us on our show. thank you so much for having me. - to sudan, where renewed fighting is threatening a fragile three—day ceasefire.

the violence broke out on the western outskirts 0mdurman, a city across the nile from the capital, khartoum. but much of central khartoum remains calm, and thousands of sudanese and foreign nationals are still trying to get out of the country. as they flee, they're making treacherous journeys. residents are struggling to get clean water and other vital supplies, and warplanes are still flying overheard. tens of thousands of sudanese are trying to reach neighbouring chad, egypt and south sudan. and those left behind say they fear the world is abandoning them. meanwhile, britons are being told to go to this airbase about 20 miles outside of the capital, khartoum, from where they're being flown to safety in cyprus. nearly 2,000 people from 50 countries have crossed the red sea from port sudan to the port ofjeddah on a ship organised by saudi arabia. 8—year—old karim, a british national, arrived in cyprus with his family earlier. we heard lots of gunshots while we were in the house, but we were safe. well, we were only a little safe. and, like, we also

heard explosions. yeah, we're safe now, because there is no war here at all. meanwhile, un officials say they are worried about a further breakdown of law and order in sudan. several former government officials suspected of war crimes have been able to leave prison in khartoum, including close allies of deposed president 0mar al—bashir. bbc africa's ferdinand 0mondi reports. there have also been reports of prison breaks, including an ally close to the ousted president, al—bashir who told that some of his allies and he have escaped because of a lack of food, water and treatment. 0mar albashir himself, the military says, was transferred to a military hospital before the flare—up began, so he remains in custody. the united nations continues

to say while 400 people have already died there could be more deaths due to disease and lack of treatment. earlier, i spoke to nureldin satti, a former sudanese ambassador to the us. 0fficials officials have raised concern because several government officials call —— accused of war crimes have been able to leave jail in khartoum? i am extremely worried, i'm extremely worried, because the statement that was made by mr ahmed haroun who is indicted by the icc, the former governor of north kordofan, in the case that they are going to engage in the ongoing war between the two factions, he said we are going to fight, in order to put an end to the rebellion, meaning the rsf. so we knew since the beginning that the islamists, those of the former regime, have been involved in this war since the beginning, reportedly they are the ones

who triggered the whole fighting between the two parties. this is an extremely worrying development, because it might be seeing a new escalation of war. we could see, you are saying a new escalation, and we have in the meantime seen this shaky ceasefire holding, we have heard that the army says they are willing to extend perhaps this ceasefire and send a convoy to south sudan for talks. how optimistic are you that this diplomatic effort could work? well, i'll only, you know, believe it when i see it. we heard before that one side so they are ready, the other said they are not ready. i hope they are genuine and sincere this time, and for a change they take their people seriously and the safety of their own people seriously. i hope that this will happen, and that if it does happen,

that they will engage wholeheartedly and seriously and in a critical manner in any talks that are going to take place, but the question remains, how are these talks going to be organised, and who will take part? we do not want the military power—sharing between the military, as has been done in the past. ambassador, if i could jump in there, what is it that both sides want to get out of these talks? well, as i said first, we have to be make sure they are serious about it, and if they are, this means both of them do not believe that they are going to win this war, as they thought they would, and if we arrive at this conclusion, then it is a good development, and from there i think they would like, each, they would like to consolidate their position, and be part of whatever form of governance would be agreed upon,

and that's the way i see it. if they are genuine, i'm saying. former sudanese ambassador to the us, nureldin satti, thank you very much forjoining us on our programme. here in washington, president biden hosted south korean president yoon suk—yeol for talks at the white house. that's yoon arriving at the white house tonight for the state dinner. the two presidents are meeting with the nuclear threat from north korea high on their agenda. south korea and the us laid out a new agreement called the washington declaration aimed at deterring an attack on seoul. it gives south korea more insight into the us�*s nuclear planning and bigger voice in strategy in exchange for seoul remaining a non—nuclear state. during theirjoint press conference, president biden sent this warning to pyongyang. a nuclear attack by north korea against the united states or its allies and partners is unacceptable, and will result in the end of whatever regime

were to take such an action. in other news: federal prosecutors say us air national guardsmanjack teixeira, accused of leaking classified documents online, may still have access to classified materials. ahead of hearing into his detention, prosecutors also said teixeira "took steps to obstruct the government's investigation" into the leaks. dozens of leaked documents revealed us assessments of the war in ukraine as well as sensitive secrets about american allies. republicans in the us house of representatives have passed a bill that will raise the country's debt ceiling in conjunction with big spending cuts. it conflicts with president biden's hopes of increasing the amount of money the us can borrow without conditions attached. it follows weeks of wrangling among republicans and is unlikely to be approved by the democratic—held senate. republicans are hoping it will convince the president to begin negotiations on spending cuts. disney has accused florida governor ron desantis of organising a campaign of "government retaliation"

in a lawsuit. the new legal action sharply escalates the battle between the entertainment giant and the republican politician. the two sides have been fighting since disney criticised a state law banning discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools. nbc news is reporting desantis is set to jump into the 2024 presidential race in mid—may. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. royal weddings and their dresses have long captured the public imagination. and while 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. turning to ukraine now, where president volodymyr zelensky said he had a "long and meaningful" phone call with chinese president xi jinping for the first time since russia's invasion earlier. shortly after the phone call, zelensky tweeted that he appointed the new ukrainian ambassador to china, and that it will give a powerful impetus to the development of their bilateral relations. president zelensky

has repeatedly reached out to president xi since the beginning of the invasion but received no response. earlier this month, xi told european commission chief ursula von der leyen he would speak to zelensky when "conditions and time are right." we are covering this in both countries. james waterhouse reports from kyiv. well, kyiv will see this as a bit of diplomatic progress. we are told it was a long and meaningful phone call. while ukraine will see this as serious progress, there are still huge ideological differences in how to end this war. what beijing wants we are told after this phone call if these negotiations and talks as these negotiations and talks as the only way out of this conflict. ukraine sees a military victory is the way out to avoid just that, any kind of political compromise. in the call, beijing reiterated its 12—point peace plan, which was met with broad criticism from western countries for benefiting russia at the expense of ukraine.

some of the key points of the plan includes working toward a ceasefire and resuming peace talk, protecting civilians and prisoners of war, protecting nuclear safety and avoid nuclear weapons, stabilising supply chain and resolving humanitarian crisis. the plan does not offer specific measures to achieve these goals, but xi also signalled that they are willing to engage directly with ukraine. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing. we were asked to come to the foreign ministry for an unusual evening press conference. and it was not until we entered the room that we found out that xijinping and vladimir zelensky had had this phone call. crucially, we were told that there is to be a high—level chinese government delegation, which will travel not only to kyiv, but to other countries as a means of pushing forward this peace proposalfrom china,

and we were told that volodymyr zelensky welcomes china's proposals and welcomes china's efforts to bring about a diplomatic solution. and on the battlefield, drones have become a pivotal element to ukraine's war effort. the country has purchased more than 3,000 as part of its �*drone army�* campaign. military leaders say even small drones that you and i might use for fun can help give ukrainian fighters a competitive edge over russia. 0ur cyber correspondent joe tidy reports from ukraine. 0n the outskirts of kyiv, the latest group of drone pilots being trained for the front line. drone whirrs the location is being kept a secret, but this instructor is teaching recruits how to use these small drones to spot signs of enemy troops and help guide artillery attacks. 0lelka has nearly finished her training.

this is her new brigade in action in bakhmut. the drone used to help the military aim — a dji mavic. this has become a major tool for both sides. so much so, that its chinese manufacturer banned sales to russia and ukraine last year. but still, thousands flood to the front line. the war in ukraine came up during a meeting between brazil's president luiz inacio lula da silva and spain's prime minister pedro sanchez. the talks in spain were aimed at making progress on a trade deal, but the two were at odds when it came to the war. 0ur guy hedgecoe has more. brazil's president lula and spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, do share ideological grounds. both men are on the political left and mr sanchez did say that brazil was being welcomed back into the international fold with the return to the brazilian presidency of lula.

mr sanchez did also make specific mention of the brazilian rainforest and climate change, and that seemed to be a reference to lula's controversial predecessor, jair bolsonaro. however, there was another issue, which was rather more thorny, for the two leaders, which they discussed here in madrid, and that was the issue of ukraine. mr sanchez has been very much behind the position of the us and nato on the issue of ukraine, providing military support to the country since the war began. by contrast, lula has been quite critical at times of the eu's sending of military support ukraine. now, here in madrid, lula did not repeat those criticisms, but what he did say was that not enough effort had been put in to preventing the war before it began, and not enough effort had been put in to stopping the war since it has begun.

and so he said that the priority for the international community now was not to provide weapons to ukraine, but rather, to sit down at the negotiating table and try and bring an end to the war. the un's envoy to haiti has told a security council meeting that gang violence is expanding at "an alarming rate" in areas previously considered safe. here's maria isabel salvador speaking earlier. gang violence is expanding at an alarming rate in areas previously considered relatively safe in port—au—prince and outside the capital. the horrific violence in gang—ridden areas, including sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, is emblematic of the terror afflicting much of haiti's population. earlier, i wasjoined by mimi swaby, the bbc�*s latin america regional editor, who gave more details on that address to the un. one of their key

messages was that they need action quickly. that's what the haitian foreign minister told the council, that the security situation has really deteriorated considerably in the last 48 hours and it was really a plea to the un for urgent action and they really need the action, notjust promises. and as we heard, the un special representative to haiti was saying that it is a shocking increase of criminal activity, gang activity that has really happened in the last three months. only in this year, the last three months, there has been more than 1,600 deaths or rapes or murders, really violent crime, and that's compared to less than 700 in the first three months of 2022. so a real difference there. the situation has completely descended into lawlessness. this started back in 2019 with the assassination of the president, but these last few weeks and days have really seen an escalation, as we heard there. what about authorities — do they have any chance against

this spiralling gang violence? there is little trust in the police, and increasingly more so, we are seeing residents take the law into their own hands as clashes are becoming more violent and frequent, and residents are doing the jobs of the police. we saw this yesterday, on monday when 13 suspected gang members were stoned and kynched by an angry mob, and earlier this week, the un said that these levels of insecurity are comparable to a war zone. gangs are using sexual violence to really terrorise populations in areas controlled by rival gangs, and children are even among the victims. we are hearing reports of children being shot while in classrooms and even kidnapped while their parents drop them off. so there is some real underlying issues here, not just the violence, but there's also economic and social and political crises, but this insecurity and violence needs to be addressed first. that was the key message.

this needs to be addressed first in order to go back and then rebuild haiti from the bottom up and restructure the community. and haiti's foreign minister is asking for help from the un. what can the un do? well, there is actually a lot of distrust and people are wary of the un given the humanitarian crisis of 2019 when the un brought in cholera to the country. the un deny this. but it hasn't been forgotten by the people. back in october, the government promised a special multinational force to come in and help save the country. six months later, this is yet to materialise. canada, the us and france were among the people saying they are willing to partake in this, but nobody or no country has really offered themselves to lead this, so people are still waiting. there have been many promises made but again, it is this lack of action that we are seeing and a lack of action that is being

addressed in this security council meeting today. that was mimi swaby, the bbc�*s latin america regional editor. that is our programme at this hour. please stay with bbc news. 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 highland 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 southwest, 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 northeastwards across scotland, maybe some snow over the highest ground here. and then this area of wet weather pushing in across the southwest of england, some of that rain will then get up into wales, parts of the midlands, east anglia, certainly some rain into the southeast. there is likely to be a drier slot between our two areas of wet weather. temperatures between 7 and 1a degrees. now, as we head through thursday night, we will continue to see some outbreaks of rain, perhaps 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 3 and 11 degrees. 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 degrees. 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 its southern parts that will see the highest of the temperatures, particularly on saturday, up to 19 degrees.

presidential race in mid—may.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk from berlin. i'm stephen sackur. vladimir putin's all—out invasion of ukraine delivered the mother of all political shocks to germany's elite. suddenly russian energy supplies could not be relied upon and germany's traditional foreign policy principle, putting business first, not military power, suddenly

looked like weakness. chancellor 0laf scholz promised dramatic change.