live from london. this is bbc news. sudan's army launches a major attack on khartoum — attempting to retake areas held by the rival rsf militia. the uk transport secretary says rail strikes during eurovision and with a just a week to go until the coronation , british subjects will be asked to swear allegiance to king charles. in italy, could napoli football club clinch their first serie a title in 33 years? hello. sudan's army has deployed tanks and heavy artillery for a large scale offensive in the capital, khartoum.

there are reports of heavy fighting in the city. the army says it's attacking from all directions, despite a ceasefire being in place. it's part of an effort to recapture areas held by the rival, rapid support forces. the army has urged people to remain indoors and to stay away from windows. south sudan says it's still trying to convene peace talks between representatives of the two sides. the uk's last evacuation flight has left sudan. the foreign office says nearly 1900 people have been flown out since tuesday. meanwhile, the united states has completed its first evacuation of citizens from the country. countries like saudi arabia are getting people out tojeddah via port sudan on the red sea. our correspondent lyse doucet took the boat the other way and has sent this report from port sudan. every face, every person in this waiting tug boat tells a story of sudan. look at the exhaustion. they've made a dangerousjourney

to get here to port sudan. they've told they told us they've waited hours here waiting for a boat to be evacuated. and now it's 4 a.m. in the morning and they're within touching distance of of a safety route to leave this violence. but from here, they'll go to a saudi warship and then it's a ten hour journey across the red sea. so many now uncertain about what lies ahead. but when i asked one laborer from nepal whether he would come back to sudan, he said, sudan is finished. kholood khair is the founder and director of the khartoum based think tank confluence advisory. she explains how she make it out of sudan, arriving in london on saturday morning. i actually boarded one of these saudi ships heading forjeddah, which would have been a 20 hour trip. but then i got a phone call

from the british evacuation based in port sudan that a flight has finally been confirmed for that afternoon. so i got off the ship, much to the amusement of many people there, and made it to the meeting point. if we'd had some more certainty, i think about when a flight would have been to the uk, would have made it for a much less arduous journey. yes, but what was it like just before you left it? were you in khartoum itself? i was, yes. and you know, khartoum has seen drastic, drastic deterioration in just these past two weeks of fighting. the humanitarian situation that is, i think, unfathomable from the outside. but it is very, very dire. and a lot of more attention needs to be put on that. just tell me more than about the situation. is it food shortages, water? what is the exact situation? it's all of it. but primarily it's the fact that the city is still under siege. you know, we've had five or so cease

fires in two weeks and none of them have held. neither general wants to cede any ground in order to secure what they think will be a military victory. in the meantime, people are without food, without water, without electricity. most 60% of hospitals are out of commission and there are fuel shortages. so even those who want to leave can't. but for those who stay, there are absolutely no services and seemingly no help on the way other than the mutual aid that is being done through communities. yeah. and just explain then in terms of we were hearing from our correspondent earlier saying that the psf are sort of better when it comes to the urban street fighting in terms of their preparedness and their abilities. but it's such a mixed picture throughout the country, isn't it, in terms of everybody�*s situation and the fighting being so spread out? yes, sure. but in khartoum, that's where the most vital ground is. which are the sites are the most strategic sites. portadown, of course, being another. so we do expect that there will be an encroachment of the fighting towards the dam. but for the meantime, most of it seems to be concentrated

in the capital, khartoum, as well as in darfur and other sites around the country, both in order to win a war, one needs blood and treasure. and the rcf is out matching the sudan armed forces on both those fronts, which is why. but in general, we're also heading towards or we have been in a stalemate for several days now. so this will lead both sides to rely more and more on their international and regional backers. where does the rsf get its money? from several sources, it has been engaged in a very lucrative illicit gold trade, gold smuggling trade. it has had a lot of support from the saudi arabia and the united arab emirates in supporting its war in yemen and providing effectively mercenaries for that war. and it also has several strategic business interests in the region and across the sahel. and all of that means that it has an innumerable funds stashed sort

of all over the region, particularly in dubai, i believe. and so it has access to those. and without that access, frankly, this war could be shortened. but we don't see the countries that have leverage over them willing to enact any leverage. what about the feeling of the people in sudan? is there any particular support for either side? i mean, this really is a power struggle between two people, really, isn't it? but does one side enjoy more public support than the other? i think, you know, the sudanese public have been unequivocal that they do not seek a military solution to these problems, to sudan's perennial problems. they have rejected militarism as a political project. and therefore, neither general can really, really tap into a groundswell of support. however, the rsf, particularly in khartoum, are seen as a more of a criminal enterprise rather than a military enterprise. and therefore, if push came to shove, we're likely to see

more support for the sudan armed forces as the national official military than the rsf. that is complicated, however, with the fact that the sudan armed forces has been infiltrated for decades now by islamists who have been very, very unpopular, of course, and have enacted serious human rights abuses and repression against the people of sudan. well, where do you see this going then, in terms of any possible peace talks? i mean, we've heard that south sudan is trying to start that process. but we also were hearing here on the bbc yesterday from the leader of the rsf saying that, you know, he's not ready to negotiate until the violence is completely finished. yeah, i think that's probably quite refreshingly accurate. i don't think either of these generals is serious about negotiation until they have exhausted their military plans. you know, we've seen that saudi arabia and israel also offer to negotiate, to lead negotiations and to mediate between the two. but neither one will, i think, commit seriously to those negotiations. they will probably because they are

so well versed in gestural politics, commit to some sort of initial preliminary talks. but at the same time, we won't see the violence abate. and this will be a war that is then fought on the ground online and on the television networks and then also at the negotiation table. it would just increase a number of fronts effectively for this conflict. an estimated 100,000 people have attended an open air mass in a central budapest square on pope francis�* third and final day in hungary. pope francis urged hungarians not to close the door on migrants and those who he said were , foreign or unlike us. among those at the service was the hungarian prime minister, viktor 0rban, who's repeatedly criticised migration, and was responsible for constructing a wall to stop people crossing the borderfrom neighbouring serbia and croatia. 0ur budapest correspondent nick thorpe has been covering

the pope's visit. (sot) the pope has been leading a holy mass, people in the square and in a neighbouring streets. people are now slowly leaving the square, the pope left a few moments ago. in his sermon here which was his main opportunity to address people of hungary and hungarians who fled to hungary and hungarians who fled to hungary to listen to him. he quoted his example of the good shepherd, he called on his listeners to open the doors which have been closed to people who are different, people who are strangers, migrants, foreigners, are strangers, migrants, foreigners, a very poignant message in a country that has built a fence on its southern border with serbia to keep migrants and asylum seekers out. the pope here in the square in budapest

also prayed for those he called the tortured people of ukraine and for the people of russia. and he prayed for peace. and an end to the war. this has been a very carefully calibrated visit to hungary, three days with meetings with people from all spheres of society, the poor, the homeless, young people, refugees and in the afternoon before he leaves, meetings with cultural and academic circles. it is also been an address notjust of the people of hungary but to the whole of europe. always with an emphasis on the need for peace in neighbouring ukraine. emergency health care in the uk will be hit when thousands of nurses in england begin their latest round of strikes later on sunday

the country's health service bosses have warned of significant disruption, with staffing levels in some parts of the country left �*exceptionally low�*. the walk—out begins at 8pm local time and will finish on monday at midnight. the general secretary of the nurses union — pat cullen — said her members have worked "tirelessly" with nhs england to make sure their strike is safe for patients and they had agreed national exemptions for "those really acute urgent services". to make sure that we are able to work through any exceptions that are required. we have been doing that night and day for this past week. so i am surprised at those general managers coming out and raising their concerns on the day of strike without those exemptions they believe weren't given when in fact the day before, great 0rmond street hospital came out, we had already approved those exemptions right back to nhs england. meanwhile, the uk's

transport secretary mark harper gfx has criticised the decision of rail unions to hold strikes on the day of the eurovision song contest. speaking on sunday with laura kuenssberg, he said it was especially appalling due to the role that ukraine's railways had played in resisting vladimir putin. the uk is hosting eurovision in liverpool on behalf of ukraine who won the contest last year. for more, here's our political correspondent david wallace lockhart. a lot of strikes looming here, whether it's nurses, potential teaching strikes, but the transport secretary, mark harper, because of his job role, particularly focused on strikes coming up in the railways by the rmt union. some big events are going to be affected by that, notjust the fa cup final, a big football event in the calendar year, but of course the eurovision song contest, which the uk is hosting on behalf of ukraine this year. and the transport secretary arguing that it's cynical to be targeting this event with rail strikes. a fair and reasonable pay offer that the network rail made to their staff was put

by the rmt to their members and it was overwhelmingly accepted, 90% turnout, 76% voted in favour of it. what is inexplicable to me is that a very similar offer has been made by the train operating companies through their grouping, the rail delivery group. it's been put to the rmt executive and for the third time the rmt executive won't put it to their members and instead have called strikes which are cynically targeting the eurovision song contest, as you've said. now, the reason why that's so appalling is it's not our song contest. we're hosting it for ukraine. now, i've met the head of ukrainian railways, putin's targeting ukrainian railways. there are hundreds of ukrainian railway staff who've been killed. what we should be doing is being in solidarity with them and not targetting the event. strikes could well play into the upcoming local elections looming this week in the uk. but another issue that could potentially be playing quite big in them is the issue of housing.

now, a few months ago the uk government watered down certain house—building targets, saying local councils would have more leeway when it came to meeting them. that's something the opposition labour party has been critical of, and they're actually pledging to reinstate mandatory house—building targets if they get into government here in the uk. and shabana mahmood from the labour party was also on the laura kuenssberg programme this morning and here's what she had to say about those housing issues. we have to build homes. so we've got to stop having a system whereby developments don't happen because speculators have bought land and are sitting on it waiting for the price to rise. we've got to stop having a system where effectively people can block housing in their area. we will get housing built. whether you consider that being forced or not, we're going to get houses built in our country, because we are going to have a wider package of reforms around the planning system to make sure that system tilts the process

in favour of getting homes built. it will involve local people a lot earlier in the process to make sure they're part of the design for their areas, assuming always that housing need has to be met. so the question is not are we going to build homes? the thing that will be debated with local people and with local authorities is where those homes are and make sure that they are in the places that people want and need them. we also heard from adrian ramsey this morning, who is the co—leader of the green party in england and wales. he was talking about housing, too, putting forward their policy to have rent controls when it comes to how much your rent can rise at a time. he was pressed on the fact that there has been a rent freeze in scotland where the scottish greens are part of the government. he argued that it was different talking about a rent freeze which did see some rents rise there compared to rent controls which would restrict increases. let's get some of the day's other news now. officials in india say 11 people

have died after a gas leak in the northern state of punjab, in an industrial area of ludhiana. four people are still in hospital. the source of the leak, as well as the kind of gas are not known yet. poor safety standards and insufficient checks make gas leaks common in india. the israeli parliament is due to reopen for its summer session later, but there's little sign the break has calmed the uproar over government plans to change how the judicial system works. this protest took place in tel aviv on saturday, attended by an estimated 150,000 people. it marks 17 consecutive weeks of protest against the plans. the archbishop of canterbury, who's the head of the church of england, will ask millions of british subjects around the world to swear allegiance to king charles during his coronation next saturday. the public pledge — dubbed "a chorus of millions" — is one of several striking changes to the ancient ceremony. female clergy will play a prominent role for the first time, and the king himself will pray out loud.

here's our religion editor, aleem maqbool. laying her hand upon the bible, she reaffirms her oath. we now know there is as much in the coronation service that will not change, not just from 1953, but from centuries of coronations before it. so help me god. this is the bible queen elizabeth kissed during her coronation service. and this, the brand—new one on which the king will swear his oath. those oaths go unchanged, but before them, the archbishop of canterbury will explain the church wants to ensure people of all faiths and beliefs live freely. there is nothing that offends against christian worship, but we are very clear that our society today is very different from 1953 and that means there needs to be a clear recognition of all the

elements of society. while those new details from lambeth palace show there will be hymns sung in welsh, irish gaelic and scottish gaelic, but also for the first time there will be significant involvement from people of non—christian backgrounds both during the service and also with faith leaders greeting the king at the end of it. these elements are no surprise for a king who has long been known for his engagement with people of other faiths. he has formed a long association with holocaust survivors and this year met with martin stern, a man who survived the nazi concentration camps and came to britain as a 12—year—old. to be received by the head of state, of this fantastic country, it is beyond words. it means a terrific lot. we were treated as rubbish, you know, fit to be burnt, ground up and disposed

of in landfill. and here i was having tea with the king and the queen. though there will be many who criticise how exclusive the monarchy is, that service here in westminster abbey will still be by far the most inclusive there has ever been. aleem maqbool, bbc news. as we heard, the pledge of allegiance, or homage of the people to give its official title, marks a break with tradition. previously, only lords at the coronation service had to recite a form of words. this is the text of the pledge. other countries like the united states require a patriotic verse to be recited by governing officials, and in most schools, on a daily basis. and although the coronation is a rare event and the homage entirely optional, it is something new here in britain.

jack royston is the chief royal correspondent for newsweek. i asked him what he made of the pledge�*s inclusion, given it wasn't in the 1953 ceremony. social media didn't exist in 1953 and i wonder whether that is what they're thinking. if people going to do it, you can imagine there is a good chance they're going to film themselves and posted on twitter or or whatever they use but i do wonder but they might have open a door here for anti—monarchy campaign is to kind of get a new tool for raising their campaign at the coronation. it's a big day for them as well which they have been preparing for the many years as well. and i could well believe that they might go and huack well believe that they might go and hijack it with a slightly alternative message for the king on coronation day.— alternative message for the king on coronation day. also i suppose, the . uestion coronation day. also i suppose, the question is — coronation day. also i suppose, the question is millions _ coronation day. also i suppose, the question is millions of _ coronation day. also i suppose, the question is millions of people - question is millions of people around the world, at a time where

there are cases in the commonwealth that are talking about breaking away. would you expect millions of people to be shouting at the telly, in terms of shouting that allegiance or maybe just shouting at the telly? absolutely in those commonwealth realms, your talk about countries like jamaica, which has given up very strong indication that there is going to be an independent referendum so yes, i would imagine it's more likely to be shouting at the tv and the wide allegiance is a strong word for a lot of people and particular in those countries that were part of the empire many years ago, they have been a long journey towards becoming nations that stand on their own two feet. and are much more independent from britain. but i think there will be quite a lot of people in britain to who see that issue the same way and would not particularly view their relationship with monarchy as one in which they

pledged allegiance but of course the royalists, i'm sure there will absolutely be people doing this. you might member that after the queen died, there were crowds gathered outside the gates of buckingham palace who spontaneously burst into singing god save the cane, i think those are the people who are going to do this pledge of allegiance. we had this poll from bbc panorama which looked at their support from the monarchy and it was people who, the monarchy and it was people who, the over 65 were most likely to say they supported the monarchy, 78%. 80 to 2a—year—olds are least likely with just 30% backing the monarchy. it is really the younger generation they need to be targeting, isn't it? absolutely and i think one of the real issues for that younger generation is britain's history with colonialism and the royal family's role and that history and if you do this for the prism of that subject

and the pledge of allegiance does feel horribly quite old school. it's actually not the kind of thing that's going to bring their background monarchy but no doubt, the kind of thing that might bring back monarchy is the long weekend and they can go out and have some fun. in italy, football is a way of life and no more so than in the city of naples. wild scenes of celebration could ensue tonight if napoli football club win their game later today. it would be the team's first serie a title in 33 years. the last time they won — was with the help of argentine legend diego maradona in 1990. let's get more from our italy reporter — sofia bettiza. inafew in a few hours, 13 napoli could become the champions of italy football league. the mood here is incredible, the whole city are decorated. there are flags hanging

outside every balcony, life—size cutouts of the players in the streets. if you go into a bakery, there are pastries and ice creams dedicated to the players. i spoke to some heysel students who said if they win, they were definitely going to cry because they feel that this is a historic moment. this is a party that has been 33 years in the making, last time that napoli won this title was a 1990 when diego maradona was the captain. maradona is still big in the city, as you can see there is a whole shrine dedicated to him here. there are flowers, candles, photos of an maradona was captain of naples in the top of the shrine, you can read the top of the shrine, you can read the words diaz which means god. fitful is almost a religious experience here in naples. after maradona delivered an incredible win for napoli three decades ago, it was

very difficult for the team to sustain that level of success. they had financial troubles and they were demoted to a lower league. it has always be the figure team for northern italy that kept winning year after year and they tried for so many people, this is notjust about football and it's a symbol for inequality between northern italy which is very wealthy and southern italy which is poorer. lots of neapolitans feel that northern edge looks down upon them and say winning this title today could be a social indication, it would make them feel scene. it is only a few hours of this crucial match and there is a whole generation that doesn't remember the glory days of diego maradona. they are hoping to live it for the first time today. stay with us here on bbc news.

all sort of coverage on what's happening on sudan and lots more. hello there. part two of the weekend is being quite cloudy and wet to start with across more northern and western parts of the country. further east, seeing the best of the sunshine once again. but through the afternoon, the rain will tend to fragment into sunny spells and showers. for many of us, though, i think it'll stay quite cloudy and wet across scotland and the best of the sunshine towards eastern england because we're closer to this area of high pressure there, whereas this weak low in its weather fronts, bringing the cloud and the rain. but we're all into the milder air mass that is away from the very far north of scotland. so it is a fairly warm feel to things out there. we should see the sunshine breaking through that cloud across northern ireland, much of england and wales. line of heavy showers though, continuing for southern scotland, northwest england, west midlands, wales down in towards south west england.

best of the sunshine from the humber down towards east anglia and the southeast. we could see 18 or 19 degrees here, but for most it's the mid to high teens. i think for many, now as we head through this evening and overnight, the showers push their way eastwards affecting eastern england for a time. elsewhere, pop from the odd shower tonight will be mostly dry, variable cloud. a few clear spells and temperatures of 6 to 8 or nine degrees will be quite typical. so into our bank holiday monday, we start off with the rain or showers across eastern areas. that clears away. sunny spells do develop, but that could set off scattered showers. northerly winds begin to dig in across the northern half of scotland. so here it turns chillier with a mixture of sunny spells and blustery showers. so single figure values in the north, the mid to high teens elsewhere. and then, as you move out of monday into tuesday and also wednesday, it looks like this week area of high pressure will build in across the country for a time that will settle things down. it should kill off most of the showers. however, as we move through the afternoon, temperatures rise a bit.

we'll see cloud developing. that could set off a light shower here and there, but most places will be dry. but i think with more cloud into the afternoon and slightly fresher air mass, we're looking at the low to mid—teens, the temperature across the board. and then that area of high pressure we think begins to break down as we push towards the end of next week and allows low pressure and weather fronts to push up from the south. that'll bring increasing chance of thicker cloud, showers or longer spells of rain towards the end of the week. but you will notice with our air source coming in from the south, it does stay on the fairly warm side. temperatures into the mid to high teens see later.

this is bbc news, the headlines: sudan's army launches a major attack on khartoum, as it attempts to retake areas held by the rival rsf militia. tanks and heavy artillery are being deployed to the capital, with residents told to stay indoor and away from windows. warnings of �*exceptionally low�* staffing as nurses in england prepare to strike from sunday evening. representatives from the nurses union say they have worked tirelessly with the nhs to ensure patients will be safe. the government said they were disappointed that healthcare staff would not accept the latest pay offer . tens of thousands of people attend an open air mass in a central budapest square on pope francis�* third and final day in hungary. the pope called on hungarians to be "open" toward migrants coming from outside europe.