live from london. this is bbc news. fighting in sudan rages on, as the militia group leader tells the bbc he won't negotiate until the violence ends. russian authorities say a massive blaze at an oil terminal in russian—occupied crimea was triggered by a drone attack. videos on social media show smoke and flames billowing from the facility in the port of sevastopol. nurses in england go on strike on sunday night — action that the health service says will cause significant disruption. with the eurovision song contest just weeks away — we report from liverpool on how the city is welcoming the lg bt+ community.

hello, i'm lucy grey. it's become increasingly clear the ceasefire in sudan is not holding. air, tank and artillery strikes are continuing in parts of the sudanese capital khartoum despite the latest 72 hour truce. there's also fighting in the western darfur region. hundreds have now been killed and tens of thousands have fled in a conflict that's de—stabilising the entire region. one of the generals — who leads the rapid support forces — the paramilitary force fighting sudan's army, has told the bbc he will not negotiate until the fighting ends. mohamed hamdan dagalo — also known as hemedti — was speaking to zeinab badawi. i want to put it to you that the people particularly in khartoum are living in an ordeal, what would it take for you to allow humanitarian corridors? translation: first of all

i would like to thank the bbc for the interview regarding the truce. we have been asking for it from the first day of the war, we started a humanitarian corridor straightaway. we have opened these corridors within the areas controlled by our forces. we started the truce from our site. we are working for the sake of the civilians and our fight is only half —— on behalf of the civilians. we have no problems with these corridors and helping. we are working hands and feet to help others. we have no problem with these corridors whatsoever. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams, is following developments. there had been the suggestion from the south sudanese government of an

invitation to the two men leading these rival factions to travel to meet face—to—face. that has not materialised. clearly there has been an enormous concerted international effort led by the americans, the saudi arabians, the gulf and other regional players to try and make sure that these ceasefires are put in place, but it is hard to resist the feeling that this is largely to allow the evacuation of foreign nationals. whether that diplomatic impetus and pressure will continue once foreign governments feel they have got their citizens out, we will have got their citizens out, we will have to wait and see, but if it does not, we are in for a very rough time indeed. it does feel as though left of their own devices the two men are not going to settle the differences. it is only going to be as a result of international pressure that the fighting can be contained, that the

differences that separate them can be addressed. a convoy of buses carrying 300 american civilians has left the sudanese capital, khartoum, bound for the coastal city of port sudan — 800 kilometres to the east. meanwhile, saudi arabia is coordinating its evacuations out of port sudan from jeddah. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is there. as more than 3000 people flee fighting in sudan, some 77 nationalities we are told, they came here to this area, the king faisal naval base here injeddah on the red sea. they can see in the distance, there is a civilian passenger boat approaching. it has been chartered by the saudi military, more than 1000 passengers on board. we are told many of them are iranians. it is a sign of the two political heavyweights in the region, saudi

arabia and iran, working together at this moment of crisis over the fighting. that still goes on despite the ceasefire in sudan. on the other side of the port, you can see behind me on this site all the buses lined up. when they disembark, they will be checked, taken on buses, take into accommodation here injeddah. you are seeing iran and saudi arabia working together, is the thought the people will stay in saudi arabia there are is the plan to move them on somewhere else? we understand from other countries _ on somewhere else? we understand from other countries including - from other countries including britain the boats arrive here at this naval base but then they are taken to the civilian port, the jeddah islamic port, to be registered, for their passports to be checked, saudi arabia does not want people to stay long. they are welcoming them, paying for accommodation for a few nights, we understand, then it is up to host

countries to pay for their accommodation, put them on commercialflights or accommodation, put them on commercial flights or special charters to leave. saudi arabia does not want a major displacement camp being set up here injeddah or anywhere else in saudi arabia. but it is playing an absolutely key role in this evacuation from port sudan. about a 12 hour crossing from where we are now, more than 200 nautical miles, and we will be heading that way shortly. that is one of the main routes for people fleeing. in their thousands trying to flee the fighting, especially as the end of this imperfect ceasefire nears. this is one of the major rescue routes here tojeddah on the red sea. lyse doucet. with more on this let's go to my colleague in the newsroom david wallace lockhart.

options are running out for british citizens in sudan, aren't they? yes. citizens in sudan, aren't they? yes, the final flight — citizens in sudan, aren't they? yes, the final flight out _ citizens in sudan, aren't they? yes, the final flight out of— citizens in sudan, aren't they? 1&1: the final flight out of sudan for uk citizens will be leaving at 6pm uk time this evening. the reason the uk government has made that decision is they say down to the numbers coming forward to get these flights. a whitehall source earlier this morning are described the numbers to me as now being just a trickle who want to get on these flights out of sudan. deputy prime minister oliver dowding will be chairing a cobra meeting, that is the uk government's emergency committee later on this afternoon, to talk about evacuations, the current security situation. with such small numbers apparently coming forward to get on these flights, the opposition labour party has said the criteria to get on them should be expanded and it should be open to anyone resident in the uk and notjust passport holders. the government is stressing

they have had a longer window for getting onto evacuation flights than any other western nation, they are happy with how this operation has gone. about 1500 people, slightly over that, gone. about 1500 people, slightly overthat, have gone. about 1500 people, slightly over that, have been taken out of sudan on these flights. 2000 people registered interest in the foreign office's application programme. the uk government are hoping that 24—hour window of notice they announced yesterday ending at 6pm tonight will be enough for anyone who wants to make the journey to get on one of those flights. they are stressing there will also be consular support at certain points on the border at sudan and port sudan going forward. fix, bit on the border at sudan and port sudan going forward.— sudan going forward. a bit of a u-turn on _ sudan going forward. a bit of a u-turn on the _ sudan going forward. a bit of a u-turn on the government - sudan going forward. a bit of a u-turn on the government on | sudan going forward. a bit of a i u-turn on the government on the u—turn on the government on the issue of nhs doctors, originally they were not allowing nhs doctors to get on some of those fights if they did not have british passports but have changed their mind. that is riaht, that but have changed their mind. that is right. that is — but have changed their mind. that is right, that is something _ but have changed their mind. that is right, that is something quite - but have changed their mind. that is right, that is something quite a - but have changed their mind. that is right, that is something quite a lot l right, that is something quite a lot of people in the uk found quite a

difficult thing to believe, that there were doctors working in the nhs day—to—day who might have gone to sedan for a holiday or to see family who were not able to get on those flights. because although they had work permits to work on the nhs they were not british passport holders. the uk government has changed tact on that. they said border officials would have some discretion in areas like that's, they are now allowed on the flight. the bigger issue is, if there are still flights to leave sedan and come to the uk and the demand from uk passport holders to be in them isn't that great, will the criteria be extended to others who'd are not nhs doctors but perhaps our resident in the uk, have work permits, have jobs in the uk, will they start getting on these fights in greater numbers? i getting on these fights in greater numbers? , , ., ., ., numbers? i see they have an hour left to reach _ numbers? i see they have an hour left to reach the _ numbers? i see they have an hour left to reach the airfield, - numbers? i see they have an hour left to reach the airfield, doctors i left to reach the airfield, doctors and british nationals wanting to leave, only an hour to try and make

their own way there to get that fight, thank you for the update, david was lockhart. —— david wallace lockhart. the health service in england has warned that a planned strike by nurses sunday night will cause significant disruption during an already busy holiday weekend. members of the royal college of nursing are walking out from eight o'clock until midnight on monday. the union has agreed contingency plans for staff to return to work in extreme cases and major incidents. health workers represented by another union, unite, have also rejected the same pay deal and say they'll soon be escalating industrial action. there is some good news for the government though in england — the gmb, which represents ambulance workers, nurses, porters, radiographers, have accepted an nhs pay offer, joining members of the biggest union, unison, who accepted that deal two weeks ago. pat cullen of the royal college of nursing explained there would still be help for patients.

it's important to let the public know and patients know we have agreed in the royal college of nursing a range of critical exemptions within those services, we have been working for two weeks with nhs england to ensure that those exemptions are put in place. it was ourselves actually who contacted nhs england to ask for that process to be put in place. this idea that has been put in the media over the past few days that all nursing staff are going to walk out on their patients and the patients will be left with... that is not the case. we worked through to midnight on our last night to make sure all exemptions of a request through nhs england are dealt with. matthew taylor who speaks for health service employers, urged everyone living in the areas

affected by strike action to be cautious. certainly most affect hospitals, yes, we want people to take precautions and be safe but perhaps this is a time to more aware that the health service will be under more pressure. obviously now our focus is on the council meeting, staff council meeting next week, we will be helping the staff council accepts the offer on the table and that we can start to see the end of this industrial action that has caused so many challenges to the health service.— the russian authorities say a massive blaze in the crimean port of sevastopol has been caused by a drone strike. the city's moscow—appointed governor

says the attack was repelled, but a fuel tank had been hit. he says firefighters had things under control. video on social media shows smoke and flames billowing from an oil terminal. sevastopol is on the crimean peninsula which was annexed by russia in 2014. it's home to the main naval base for moscow's black sea fleet. meanwhile, ukraine is still reeling from a wave of russian air strikes on friday which killed at least 25 people including children. this was the scene in the central city of uman — where a nine storey apartment building was hit. rescue operations have been taking place there. our correspondent — hugo bachega — is in uman, with the latest from there. this is the building hit yesterday, as you can see there is lots of activity happening behind me more than 30 hours after the attack happened. and missile hit the top section of this block of flats after aam, residents were still sleeping here. the section collapse, as some of the residents were trapped under

the rubble. the authorities here, emergency workers, i think there is still a search and rescue operation under way. we have seen some families here this morning waiting to hear about their missing loved ones. the authorities working here say they still do not know how many people are still missing but i think this gives you an idea of the scale of the disruption caused by this, destruction. 23 people have been killed here. just a few minutes ago the authorities confirmed a fifth child was one of the victims. this attack happened yesterday. this morning, the ministry of defence in the uk said there was a realistic possibility russia was attempting to intercept ukrainian reserve units and military supplies provided by western countries to ukraine. there is a military airfield in that

direction so that is perhaps the target of the attack carried out yesterday here in this town. obviously this is happening as the ukrainians are preparing a counter offensive to try to take back territory that is now under occupation. perhaps this is an indication of how russia is likely to respond to any ukrainian advance. we werejust seeing to respond to any ukrainian advance. we were just seeing the pictures before we came to you of what was going on in sevastopol, the big plume of smoke going up into the sky, fire in an oilfield, can you tell us about what has been said to have happened there?— tell us about what has been said to have happened there? dramatic images of this massive — have happened there? dramatic images of this massive blaze _ have happened there? dramatic images of this massive blaze at _ have happened there? dramatic images of this massive blaze at this _ have happened there? dramatic images of this massive blaze at this oil- of this massive blaze at this oil depot in the port city of sevastopol. the russian appointed governor is saying this was caused by an enemy drone attack, didn't say who was behind this attack but obviously this is the peninsular

that russia invaded and annexed in 2014, the ukrainians have vowed to retake it. a number of explosions and attacks have happened in crimea since russia launched a full—scale invasion of ukraine last year. as of questions though about what happened in crimea. firefighters have been sent to this oil depot there in the city of sevastopol and, again, the russian appointed governor saying this was the result of a drone attack. hugo bachega in the uman in ukraine. on the second day of his visit to hungary, pope francis has met refugees at st. elizabeth's church in the capital, budapest. many there were from neighbouring ukraine, but there are also people from pakistan, afghanistan, iraq, iran and nigeria. the pope has praised hungary's prime minister, viktor orban, for his welcome to two million ukrainians who'd fled the russian invasion. but the vatican has criticised budapest�*s attitude to refugees arriving from outside europe after they were put in harsh transit camps. our correspondent nick thorpe has been following the pope's visit.

he has gone out of his way to praise the hungarian government for some of what it is doing, for helping persecuted christians around the world, for example some of those in the church who he is meeting now in the church who he is meeting now in the churches behind me here would be christians who have come here from pakistan, iran, for example, and have found refuge in hungary. also he has been pretty critical of the hungarian governments position in the past, showing a cold front, even building fences to keep our asylum seekers, very few apart from those coming from ukraine ever get into hungary. the pope making clear, really, the act of christian charity would be to be open to strangers and refugees in general. what has been the reaction so far to what he has been saying? i think he has had similar messages to so many people here, that has given an opportunity

for example to the government media here to pick and choose from the messages that they like, his pro—family messages, more conservative social teaching of the catholic church, they have been fond of that. they have also been picking up of that. they have also been picking up on his comments about peace, the urgent need for peace in ukraine. which is also the government of my position. other commentators, other parts of the public, and certainly there is more concerned with human rights, would point out the strong difference between the pope ever my position on peace in ukraine and that of the hungarian government. more of an emphasis on human rights perspective, from an international perspective, from an international perspective a just peace in ukraine, russia was drawing to its previous international borders. what russia was drawing to its previous international borders.— russia was drawing to its previous international borders. what can we ex - ect international borders. what can we meet from _ international borders. what can we meet from his — international borders. what can we expect from his visit? _ international borders. what can we expect from his visit? after - international borders. what can we expect from his visit? after this . expect from his visit? after this meeting now, with notjust refugees

and asylum seekers but young people later this afternoon, talking very much to them about the crisis of faith in the modern world. tomorrow morning, sunday, a large mass in the main square, possibly hundreds of thousands of people there in front of the hungarian parliament. also meetings with scientists, representatives of cultural life, before he leaves on sunday evening. let's get some of the day's other news now. a us headteacherforced to resign after parents complained about an art lesson showing one of the world's most famous sculptures, has visited the masterpiece. hope carrasquilla, pictured on the right, went to see michelangelo's david on friday at florence's accademia galleria. in florence. the statue, which is over five metres high, depicts a completely naked david — the biblicalfigure who killed the giant goliath. the us army has grounded all flying units not involved in critical missions with immediate effect. the army chief of staff says pilots have been ordered to undergo a day's

training next week after two recent helicopter crashes which killed 12 soldiers. the stand down applies only to the army. other branches of the military, such as the air force, aren't affected. the british royal navy has said it will investigate reports that sensitive documents, containing details about a nuclear submarine, were found in a toilet cubicle at a pub in north—west england. media reports say the files showed the workings of hms anson — one of the navy's most advanced vessels. the highest court in the us state of north carolina has ruled that the republican—controlled state assembly can redraw electoral maps to favour their own party ahead of next year's national congressional elections. the decision by the court could allow the republicans to increase their slender majority in the house of representatives. nathaniel persily is a professor of american election law at stanford university. he says the decision could have

national implications. it is only one state court to have a right decision but it potentially has national implications. as you said, in north carolina supreme court has basically said nothing in its constitution prevents the republicans in this case from drawing lines, electoral districts, to advantage the republicans, disadvantage the democrats, what makes this striking is that the same court six months ago basically ruled in the opposite direction, that is because it had a democratic majority and now it is republican. in this case what is unusual is in some ways how politicised the court has become, that we havejudicial elections in north carolina like we do in many other states, and as a result the electoral changes, now essentially the state constitution mean something different and gives unfettered power to the state legislator, now controlled by republicans, to enact legislative districts which could advantage one

party and disadvantage the out party. i want to emphasise this decision is not only significant for north carolina but significant for the nation because the us supreme court was considering this very case at the time and the fact that the north carolina supreme court has switched its mind means the us supreme court may decide not to weigh in on this issue. we are going to be in limbo until the next case goes to the us supreme court about whether state legislators have unfettered power to write election laws. the countdown is on with just two weeks to go until the eurovision final comes to the english city of liverpool. it's notjust europe's biggest night in music, it's also one of the biggest events for the lgbt community. here's lauren moss reports. here's lauren moss. it is two weeks to go. joy, fun, excitement. until the big day.

camp, isn't it? just boss. literally gay christmas. otherwise known as the eurovision song contest. it is one of the biggest events for the lgbt community, and thousands of people will descend on liverpool. the city is working hard to welcome them, two years after it was rocked by a spate of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes. the attacks prompted protests, calling for more to be done to make people feel safe. i think for us, as a city, we're like every city. we do have hate crimes, and we're still working tirelessly to move that from the city and challenge that wherever possible. my team only investigate hate crime, so i can see a lot of this... the region's pride group, alongside merseyside police, has created a first—of—its—kind training plan. more than 100 businesses have signed up. having that awareness that people respect you and understand the community is important, so being able to see a rainbow logo, or being able to see pronouns, just helps people know that that person respects them and can approach them.

this venue has created the you are safe here training. constable chriss hubbard is the force's lgbt lead, and says there is no better time to break down barriers than at eurovision. it's just an opportunity to come as you are and be yourself and be proud of who you are from your diverse minority that you may come from as part of the community. as part of the community. i obviously want to feel safe when i'm out and about, when i take this uniform off. and i do feel that by having that visible presence, actually, the community are really forthcoming. the pub where rachel works has done the training. as a lesbian, she says it is important everywhere feels inclusive. i know that i can go places and not be harassed or hate crimed or anything. you shouldn't have to walk, look around somewhere and think i can't go in there because i don't know what will happen. i think it should be, i can go anywhere, i don'tjust have to stay in this part of town. shut up, i can't hear the music! the run—up to eurovision will include a packed programme

of lgbt events, from drag shows to art exhibitions. there will be all the glitter and glam we have come to expect from the campest night in the calendar. shows like this will transform liverpool in the next couple of weeks, a huge celebration for the queer community. what we decided to do was create a party or a celebration that we would love to share to the people of ukraine, a spectacular show that raises awareness for not only them and what is happening over there but to promote us and the lgbt community, and especially people who are part of the queer black community. one and the most important question — how will merseyside score on the night? liverpool, 12 points! lauren moss.

loads of eurovision on the bbc website. thanks for watching. not looking too bad this bank holiday weekend, not wall—to—wall sunshine but not a wash—out either, a mixture of sunny spells with the chance of scattered, perhaps heavy and thundery showers, we will all notice away from northern scotland feeling warmer. the weather front is the dividing line between the milder air to the south, warm air in fact, versus the cold air looming across northern scotland into the northern i was pretty much over the next few days. here it is bright, chilly, some showers, quite breezy. for the rest of the afternoon in scotland stays cloudy, spots of rain, northern ireland, most of england and wales sunny spells, heavy

showers developing in northern ireland, western england, wales, slow—moving downpours, dry and sunny across the south east. 19—20, generally the mid to high teens for many of us but chilly for northern scotland. the night staying rather cloudy for many areas, further showers across england and wales, longer spells of rain in northern ireland pushing into parts of scotland. south east and east anglia staying dry with clear spells, down to 4-5. staying dry with clear spells, down to 4—5. for most where we have the cloud and the rain, those of 6—8 c. sunday, a similar story to saturday, more cloud around i think across northern and western areas, outbreaks of rain, again some heavy showers across northern and western england and wales, thundery downpours, across the south east, east lancashire, staying dry, temperatures down a degree or so. still chilly across northern scotland. changes in the bank

holiday monday, the thundery downpours transferring towards the eastern side of the uk. east anglia and the south east catching these heavy showers throughout monday afternoon. as we good spells of sunshine, particularly towards the west in towards wales, northern ireland, scotland staying rather cloudy with some showers, cold on the far north, again the mid to high teens elsewhere. as we move out of the bank holiday monday, it looks like high pressure once the building, certainly for england and wales looking largely dry and sunny for much of next week, temperatures coming down and by the end of the week all areas see more cloud with some showers and longer spells of rain.

this is bbc news, the headlines. fighting in sudan rages on, as thousands flee the country. the leader of the rsf militia group tells the bbc he won't negotiate until the fighting ends. nurses in england go on strike on sunday night over pay — action that the health service says will cause significant disruption over the public holiday weekend. russian authorities say a massive blaze at an oil terminal in russian—occupied crimea was triggered by a drone attack. videos on social media show smoke and flames billowing from the facility in the port of sevastopol. it comes five days after a ukrainian drone attack in the same area. and a threatened strike by us screenwriters demanding more pay could bring hollywood film

and television studios to a standstill next week.