live from washington, this is bbc news. welcome to viewers on pbs in america. both sides in the conflict in sudan agree to extend a ceasefire for another three days, despite reports of heavy fighting in the capital khartoum. former vice president of the united states mike pence appears before a grand jury examining attempts by donald trump to hang onto power after losing the 2020 election. and the biden administration announces new plans to curb illegal migration at the border. welcome to the show. our top stories in a moment.

we start with some breaking news from ukraine. local media is reporting that loud explosions in kyiv and the surrounding region are happening. no reports as of yet on any specific targets or damage, but there were earlier reports of explosions in cities from central ukraine to the mykolaiv region. air raid alerts sounded throughout the country. the uk ambassador to ukraine dame melinda simmons has tweeted: apparently, confirming those reports we are hearing about explosions. and these pictures on social media, shared by our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse, show apartment buildings ablaze in the town of uman, which is in central ukraine. the bbc has not yet verified these pictures but they are being widely shared. we are of course working to

verify those images and get more information about what is happening overnight and ——in kyiv and central ukraine, where those reports of explosions have happened and we are getting our correspondence set to confirm some of those details for us and we will bring them to you as soon as they come into us. in sudan, rival military groups say they have agreed to extend a fragile ceasefire for another three days. the sudanese army and the paramilitary group the rapid support forces came to that agreementjust hours before a previous ceasefire was due to expire. despite these agreements, clashes have been reported with gunshots heard and fighterjets seen in parts of the country. as for those who've managed to escape, many are still coming to terms with what they've witnessed. our correspondent spoke to one of them at an airport in cyprus. you see some people really dying for a lot of things, including we've seen some bodies on the street. you saw bodies on the street. you saw bodies lying — bodies on the street. you saw bodies lying in _ bodies on the street. you saw bodies lying in the _ bodies on the street. you saw bodies lying in the street? -

bodies lying in the street? after that, we were 0k, we were brought here into lanai scarr. —— lanarca. our correspondent paul adams has more on the origins of the conflict. khartoum, obviously, was the focus of that popular revolt back in 2019, which was, you know, the thing that brought to an end 30 years of omar al—bashir�*s power. it was followed by a terrible massacre of demonstrators in the immediate aftermath of president omar al—bashir�*s ouster, but it has not seen the kind of all—out military conflict that it is now witnessing. what has happened in so many other parts of sudan and is now — has now come to the city. it is a real shock for the civilians of that city who didn't think that it would come to this but feared that, somehow, this rivalry between these two factions was going to result in some kind of military conflict.

i doubt that anyone quite anticipated just how lawless and reckless that conflict would be as it erupted on the streets of khartoum but they knew something was brewing and they slightly wonder why the west — why the international community at large — didn't do more to prevent it. paul adams reporting. we do have another breaking news item coming into us now. reports are coming in that three army helicopter pilots are dead after two apaches crashed in central alaska while returning from a training mission. the us army's 11th airborne division tweeted: we are indeed waiting for more information from the us army but as we said, reports coming

in that three army helicopter pilots have died after two apache helicopters crashed in central alaska. that's while they were on a training mission, so we will hope to get more information on that story soon. former us vice president mike pence has testified before a grand jury investigating donald trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. pence appeared at a federal courthouse in washington earlier today. he received a subpoena back in february from the special counsel leading the probe into the january 6th attack on the capitol and any interference in the 2020 election results. trump tried to block pence from having to answer questions under oath, arguing that their interactions were covered by executive privilege but an appeals court rejected that argument. the former vice president appeared in front of the grand jury for more than seven hours, according to sources following the case. earlier, i spoke to cbs news correspondent bob costa. bob, thanks so much forjoining us. what do you make of the fact that pence appeared in front ofa grandjury for seven hours? this is a significant development because special

counseljack smith has been investigating january 6 for months, but now, he has the opportunity to listen to a key witness — former vice president mike pence — who was present at the creation of all of these schemes to try to get him to stop the biden presidency. mike pence — who was present at the creation of all of these schemes to try to get him to stop the biden presidency. he was under pressure day in, day out in the weeks after the november 2020 election to try to do the bidding of trump, to try to stop the certification, so he is able to provide a prism, a real window into what was happening and who was telling him what in those crucial days. do we know specifically what federal prosecutors wanted to hearfrom pence about his conversations with the former president? we know, based on cbs news's reporting on this investigation, that prosecutors have been asking witnesses for weeks about what people like rudy giuliani were saying behind the scenes. what were they trying to do to convince pence and others to try to stop congress from certifying the election? they're looking over calendars, they're looking over memos, e—mails, phone messages.

they want to compile all of this evidence to try to understand was there a conspiracy afoot to try to stop the american presidency from having that peaceful transition of power? and so many in trump's inner circle, they saw pence as the fulcrum of this operation, the piece of the whole puzzle that needed to be really controlled and put into motion. that's why he's such an important witness. he was the touch point everyone wanted in this process. do we know how pence prepared for this testimony? pence worked closely with his lawyers about what exactly he could say to the special counsel and what he couldn't say. there has been a legal battle behind the scenes ahead of this testimony about the bounds of the testimony — what exactly can pence say about private exchanges? part of why pence appeared today, as he believes he does have some restrictions about what he can tell

prosecutors in the sense that his role up on capitol hill here in washington as president of the senate while simultaneously serving as vice president — which every vice president does — enables him to stay quiet on certain questions about his constitutional role. that doesn't mean the prosecutors might try to find another way of getting to the truth of what really happened but it does mean there will be some obstructions to what pence can talk about based on his understanding of howjudges have ruled about this testimony ahead of time. well, trump did try to get pence to not testify in front of the grand jury. what does that tell us about where he is on this? trump has maintained throughout this entire investigation, and on other legal fronts federally, that someone like pence or a member of his white house staff should not be able to testify because of what he is citing — asserting as executive privilege. that means that any presidential conversation shouldn't be part of an investigation because it lives in this legal zone called

privilege, where it's somewhat private and not entirely open to scrutiny or investigation. butjudges have repeatedly ruled, whether it's on pence or other witnesses, that because a crime might have been committed in and around january six, that executive privilege is effectively waived. they take it off the table. they've told trump's lawyers again and again you can continue to assert executive privilege but we won't accept that assertion. looking ahead to 2024, what do you think this means for both mike pence and donald trump? i wasjust in wire ——in iowa mike pence and donald trump? i wasjust in wire ——in iowa with former vice president pence, he is moving closer to a run, casting himself as a traditional republican very much in the role of dragon versus donald trump when it comes to the presidential model he is looking at, should he decide to seek the republican nomination. based on my conversation with pence public

confidence, is likely to run. this is someone who wants to be backin this is someone who wants to be back in the game, in presidential politics, enjoy his retirement to a point that he wants to be back on the field, that's what he was in iowa, shaking hands and talking to voters. bob, thanks so much forjoining us on our show. thank you. we do have more on the breaking news story we brought you on the explosions taking place in ukraine. reuters is reporting that two people have been killed in an attack on dnipro river in central ukraine. we also told to aerator rootlets have been sounding throughout the country and these are the images circulating on social media of buildings ablaze these images purportedly show buildings ablaze in uman, central ukraine. james waterhouse also tweeted about these pictures earlier and we've not been able to verify this yet but again, it has of

course been shared widely on social media. the mayor of dnirpo has been releasing some information about the attack, it's in the central city of dnirpo, and has now said this attack in the middle of the night between thursday and friday killed a woman and a three—year—old child and according to the mayor, he said according to the mayor, he said a young woman and three—year—old child have been killed and he was not able to give any more details on other damage and casualties but we've been hearing again that russian attacks on the night struck ukrainian cities after midnight in what is basically a broad swathe across ukraine, extending from kyiv through central ukraine and into the southern region of nikolai avenue, we are continuing to follow these reports and images to follow them ourselves —— nikolai avenue. we are trying to get the latest on what is happening but we will keep you

updated. —— mykolaiv. south korean president yoon suk—yeol has delivered an historic address to us congress. he received a warm welcome by bipartisan lawmakers in the chamber. the speech also marks the 70th anniversary of the us—south korean alliance. yoon�*s address urged the congress to stand united with seoul in the face of north korea's aggression. 0ur reporter carl nasman was watching. applause. a historic speech to a packed bipartisan chamber. ..and open a new era of the alliance. it's the first speech by a south korean president to congress in over a decade at a time of heightened tensions with its northern neighbour. yoon emphasised the us alliance and deeply criticised north korea, but said he's still open to talks. my government will respond firmly to provocations but at the same time, we will keep the door open for dialogue on north korea's denuclearisation. congressman mike lawler, who visited south korea this month, says the us needs to take any

security threat seriously. we need to continue to have peace through strength, and the only way to do that is to have these strong alliances. and, yes, you know, they continue to provocate but if we are going to fully deter, there needs to stronger economic ties and military ties in the region. signs of those historic ties still visible in the us capital. yoon played a tribute to korean war veterans and thanked the us for its support over their 70—year partnership, which began in the wake of world war ii. south korea and the us formed the alliance in the aftermath of world war ii. in 1950, the two sides fought together, fighting off attacks from the north. many koreans died.

in his speech, he thanked the us, saying that no matterwhat, us stands with korea. he also touched on deepening cultural ties with the us. netflix, which produced squid game, has announced a multibillion—dollar investment in south korean productions. but the speech comes in the wake of intelligence leaks, showing the us spying on its ally and questions about america's commitment to korean security. the us has rolled out the red carpet in an effort to reassure the koreans, and president biden gave a stark warning to kimjong—un. nuclear attack by north korea against the united states, or its allies or partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime would take such an action. biden also announcing a new agreement, giving more access to shared intelligence while keeping south korea from developing its own nuclear arsenal. the us will also send a nuclear—armed submarine to south korea — a move china quickly condemned as a potential threat to the region. but the us is looking

to shore up its allies in the region to counter a growing chinese influence. 0ur message to both north korea and china is we'd like to maintain the status quo. we, the united states, are not looking for confrontation but what we are looking for is a reduction in the aggressiveness that we see out of north korea, a reduction in the aggressiveness that we see out of the prc, and let's find ways to work together. # a long, long time ago... cheering. yoon�*s six—day trip wrapping up soon. he'll be leaving on a high note. # music used to make me smile... cheering and applause around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. it has been described

as a buzzer or asjeff calls it, "a natty little gadget" but for something so small, its impact is huge. if i turn it off... ..and then, i turn it back on again... jeff is one of the first people to use the cuei, which is now being trialled at addenbrooke's hospital in cambridge where, staff admit, patients have been surprised by the results. i this it was a surprise to me as well, which is why we're trying it in in—patients because it has such a quick effect and, actually, a lot of the drugs that people need to treat that condition have a lot of side effects. over 13,000 people are on the waiting list for the cue1, sojeff is one of the lucky ones. operating a scooter would have been unthinkable without one. training a new puppy now a walk in the park. you're live with bbc news. the biden administration has announced its opening new processing centres outside the us to screen migrants seeking asylum at

the southern border. they will first open in colombia and guatemala. 0fficials expect to quickly deport those with failed claims. secretary of state antony blinken explained the decision. it is an approach focused on making migration more safe, orderly and humane and on advancing the interests of the american people. if you step back, and it is really important to do that, globally, there are more than 100 million people on the move today, compelled to leave their homes in search of security and better lives. earlier, i spoke tojohn feeley, executive director of the center for media integrity of the americas and former us ambassador to panama. john, good night to you. how much of an impact do you think this plan, this new strategy will have? i think it has got the potential to have a very important impact in the region. you know, sumi, everybody who looks at the regional

migration from latin america and the caribbean understands all of the push factors that drive people to migrate to the united states. if you look at the geography, you will see that, as you correspondent just mentioned, stopping people in colombia or in guatemala, effectively the bookends of thatjourney, is extremely important because in—between those places there is nothing but danger and, frankly, horror. the human tragedy of people putting their hands in the lives of soulless human traffickers. so, i think it could have a big impact. i will say personally i think it is a little bit overdue but i am glad tony blinken made the announcement today. what about the host countries, why would they allow these centres in their country? sure, well, if you take a look at it, there are roughly 2 million venezuelans already in colombia. having a place where

they can go and be attended to by international humanitarian organisations is extremely important, having a place where they will go and be processed by american consular and department of homeland security officials is even more important because it will give them an answer right then and there as to whether or not they can qualify to go on into the united states in a safe, legal and orderly manner. if you look again at the geography, once people past through the darien or if they start theirjourney north of the darien, in central america, stopping them in guatemala, where they will have access to the same kind of humanitarian first—aid, and food and shelter, is extremely important and it supports the humanitarian goal of american foreign policy. but the question is how effective this will be. won't people still try to bypass these centres and cross directly into the us? well, that is still to be determined.

i think that as they catch on, as word gets out, people who are making these journeys — there is not a single migrant who gets to the southern border of the united states and says, "oh, i had a really cheery "journey, it was a really easy time." it is a horrible journey, and when you're in the hands of human traffickers, there are all kinds of terrible things that happen. so, i think as the word gets out through whatsapp networks, through families calling home, saying, "hey, these are here, "they're clean, they're safe, "they're staffed by international people" and if you do qualify through either the humanitarian and if you do qualify for either the humanitarian parole that is in effect for venezuelans, cubans, nicaraguans and haitians, you know, it is a much better solution so, again, i think your correspondent was right, it will take a little bit of time but it is absolutely a key step in unclogging our border and getting people out

of the terrible, terrible refugee camps in northern mexico, as seen by the terrible fire we saw in ciudad juarez, just a few weeks ago. john feeley, executive director of the center for media integrity of the americas. thank you so much forjoining us on our programme. it is a pleasure, sumi. now to turkey, where president recep tayyip erdogan has suspended election campaigning after he fell ill during a live tv interview in which the broadcast was abruptly brought to a halt. after a 20—minute break, he returned to say he had a "serious stomach flu" after two days of intense campaigning. mr erdogan, who is 69, is facing his toughest election campaign so far. 0rla guerin has more on the president's reported health scare. it isa it is a fight for every single fighter now and the fact that president recep tayyip erdogan has to miss important appearances in person gives us some indication he is quite

unwell. it became clear on tuesday night he has a problem. he was in the middle of a tv interview, the camera was focus on the interviewer but we could hear some muffled noises, a kind of a cast and we had someone say off—camera, "0h, kind of a cast and we had someone say off—camera, "oh, my goodness" and then a cat in the broadcast for 20 minutes. the official line is that this is a stomach bug. we do not yet have information about whether he will be appearing in public again to resume his hectic campaign schedule. the practice of oil companies burning off natural gas during drilling, known as �*flaring' has been linked to cases of leukeamia. for over a year, the bbc has highlighted the issue around bp�*s operations in southern iraq, featuring one man living near an oilfield. ali husseinjalood, who was 21, was due to challenge the company's chief executive at a share holder meeting today, but he died from leukaemia last week. 0wen pinnell has that story.

inaudible. ali hussein jalood's ali husseinjalood's doctor said his leukaemia was likely caused by high levels of pollution in the local area. he lived in rumaila, where bp has a giant oilfield which has seen record levels of flaring, where toxic gases are burnt off during the oil production process. the young iraqi was a key contributor to a bbc investigation which found the high levels of cancer—causing pollution in his town. he sent us a final video diary just weeks before his death. translation: following the documentary, - bp and the government said they would reduce the pollution

and gases in the towns but unfortunately nothing has changed. ali had been planning to challenge bp�*s chief executive over continuing oil pollution in his community at the company's annual shareholder meeting, instead his father spoke on his behalf. translation: and because of this poisonous air, - many people here are sick. in fact cancer is so common here, it is like the flu. i can only imagine how difficult it is for you and your family and i can only also pass on the condolences of the bp board. overthe past, ithink, seven years flaring has reduced at rumaila by over 65%. but the bbc�*s research suggests a more modest reduction of around 25%.

little comfort to ali's father. translation: ali broke my spirit because he was my firstborn son, he was a hero during his journey of treatment until his last moments, before his passing. he did not fear the disease or death. as those in ali's community mourn on his death, and despite bp�*s efforts to improve the situation, the air they breathe is a constant reminder of what he was fighting for. owen pinnell, bbc news. let's bring you right up to date with that breaking news this hourfollowing reports of a wave of air strikes across cities in ukraine. the uk ambassador to ukraine dame melinda simmons tweeted: the mayor of

the city of dnipro — which is towards the west of ukraine — says a women and a three year old child has been killed in strikes on the city. and there's these pictures of an apartment block in the central ukrainian city of uman. hello. well, it's a very damp picture out there at the moment, a lot of cloud shrouding the uk. but if we have a look at the satellite picture, you can see some big gaps in the clouds to the west and southwest of us. that is heading our way, so there will be some sunshine on friday. let's have a look at the outlook, though, for the next few days. so, yes, sunny spells to come on friday, particularly by the time we get to the afternoon. but overall, the bank holiday weekend is actually going to be quite warmer compared to what we've been used to in the last few days. having said that, showers are also expected. so the forecast then, for early friday, a lot of cloud. you can see where it's still raining across parts of scotland, the north of england, but by this stage, it's already starting to dry out,

particularly across wales and the southwest. and as we go through the morning, into the afternoon, we'll see sunny spells developing widely. first across the southern half of the uk and then eventually a little bit further north too. but one or two showers certainly on the cards for friday. temperatures at best around 19 or even 20 celsius in the southeast, about 14 celsius expected in glasgow and not far off that in belfast. now, as we go through the weekend, we'll continue to see relatively mild air coming in from the south, not as hot, anywhere near as hot, as it has been in spain, the south of spain and portugal. now, our air is actually coming all the way from the azores, so, yes, the mild direction, but we're not going to be getting the heat you may have heard about across iberia. so saturday, then, a scattering of showers on the cards but sunny spells, too, and here are the temperatures, around 19 celsius again in london, but quite chilly across parts of scotland. aberdeen, for example, no higher than around 8 celsius. and here's a look at sunday, again, a real mixed bag on the way. some of the showers could turn

out to be really heavy on sunday, perhaps even with some cracks of thunder on the way. now, the temperatures around the mid teens across the northern part of england and into the lowlands. warmest spots, again, in the south. and then as we go into monday, bank holiday monday, high pressure is expected to build across the uk, but it's not going to be completely dry, because, again, in the north, especially in scotland, we are anticipating some showers. so here's the outlook from saturday onwards, it is a bit of a mixed bag, especially through the weekend, and actually into next week, you can see those temperatures easing once again. bye— bye.

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. i'm stephen sackur. finding your voice as a writer, cutting through the cacophony of noise in 21st—century culture is not easy. it helps if you have a talent for writing. it also helps if you have something to say which is powerful, authentic and confronts tough questions about the human condition. my guest, american writer and academic roxane gay,