this is bbc news, the headlines. with less than 2a hours to go til the coronation, king charles makes a surprise visit to fans camping out on the mall with the prince and princess of wales. the world health organization says covid—19 no longer a global health emergency, a major step towards ending the pandemic. serbia's president pledges "an almost complete disarming" of the country, after the second mass shooting there in 48 hours. welcome to the programme. a prominent nigerian senator has been has sentenced to nine and a half years in prison

after he was found guilty of trafficking a man to britain to harvest one of his kidneys. ike ekwere—madu's wife, beatrice, was given a four and a half year sentence. the judge also handed down a ten yearjail term to a medic who helped them. the victim — a 21 old street traderfrom lagos — was offered $8000 and was promised a better life in britain, but only realised what was going on when he met doctors in hospital. the couple had planned to give the organ to their daughter who has a kidney disease. justicejohnson handed down the sentence at the old bailey in london. the wealth and power inequality and disparity between you and c could not be more marked. you, ekweremadu are a senator in nigeria's national assembly. you have held high political office. you had many staff,

including domestic staff, maids, chefs and drivers. you own multiple properties around the globe. there is evidence of as many as a0. more than £400,000 went into your bank account over a six month period. by contrast, c was unable to afford a £25 fare to travel from lagos to abuja. you each conspired together to bring c to the uk in order to exploit him. you all knew that was unlawful. you, ekweremadu had been part of the legislature that had introduced the law that made that conduct a criminal offence in nigeria.

that was justice johnson handed down the sentence at the old bailey in london. i spoke to eniola akinkuotu in abuja, nigeria, who is the chief correspondent at the him how this was all uncovered. when they got to the hospital the doctor began to suspect that there was some shady business going on. he declared a mismatch. the young man just went for a few days and reported to a police station for that we know what happened next. the couple were arrested and were arraigned. couple were arrested and were arraigned-— couple were arrested and were arraigned. couple were arrested and were arraiuned. , . , , ., arraigned. kidney harvesting is a roblem, arraigned. kidney harvesting is a problem. a _ arraigned. kidney harvesting is a problem, a global— arraigned. kidney harvesting is a problem, a global problem. - arraigned. kidney harvesting is a - problem, a global problem. certainly it happens a lot in nigeria. it problem, a global problem. certainly it happens a lot in nigeria.— it happens a lot in nigeria. it very common in _ it happens a lot in nigeria. it very common in these _

it happens a lot in nigeria. it very common in these parts. - it happens a lot in nigeria. it very common in these parts. numberl it happens a lot in nigeria. it very - common in these parts. number one, the one issue is we don't really have, but national health actjust focus about... it says that no one should pay for in order to an tissue donation anyone found culpable is liable to one year in prison or a fine of about $2000, there about. you have this organ trafficking going on in nigeria. authorities focus more on child trafficking rather than organ trafficking. you see a lot of arrest and prosecution for that when it comes to organ trafficking it's nojohnny on the spot. the world health organization says covid— 19 is no longer a global health emergency, after three years of lives and economies turned upside down , and millions of deaths. and economies turned upside down,

and millions of deaths. the who's head, tedros adhanom ghebreyesus made the announcement. yesterday the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that i declare an end to the public emergency of international concern. i have accepted that advice. it's therefore with great hope that i declare covid—i9 over as a global health emergency. 0ur reporter nicky schiller is in the newsroom with more. the world health organization is calling this a major step towards the end of the pandemic. they said it was a moment for a celebration but also crucially, a moment for reflection. the last three years

we have all had to learn to live with covid and the pandemic. back then the death rate was 100,000 people per week. that has fallen and that is partly of the reason why the world health organization made the announcement today. 5000 the announcement today. people per week were st dying 5000 people per week were still dying from the disease. the sheer number of people who lost their lives is something he reflected on. in three years since then covid—i9 has turned our world upside down. almost 7 million reported to who. we know the toll is several times higher. at least 20 million. suggesting as many as 20 million people may have lost their lives to covid. it's worth bearing in mind that even now there is a coronavirus death around the world every three minutes. the world health organization says that means countries must not let down their

guard. they need to treat covid like any other infectious disease. he paid tribute to the scientists who created the covid—i9 vaccines but he also said he would not hesitate to reimpose emergency status if he was concerned about another coronavirus variant around the world. reporting from our news room. earlier i spoke to epidemiologists and asked if the number of official covid deaths could be higher.— number of official covid deaths could be higher. have a listen. the fiaure on could be higher. have a listen. the figure on the _ could be higher. have a listen. the figure on the who _ could be higher. have a listen. the figure on the who is _ could be higher. have a listen. the figure on the who is report - could be higher. have a listen. the figure on the who is report says i could be higher. have a listen. the. figure on the who is report says the excess mortality is likely 20 million or higher. i think that is the honest truth in terms of, many cases were confirmed. covid right now, regardless what they say about lifting the global health emergency, at the same time today said that they are air still outbreaks in many parts of the world, middle east,

africa. in the actual true emergency could still re—emerge and many parts of the world could still see surges later on this year. do of the world could still see surges later on this year.— later on this year. do you think this lowering _ later on this year. do you think this lowering down _ later on this year. do you think this lowering down the - later on this year. do you think this lowering down the threat l later on this year. do you think| this lowering down the threat of later on this year. do you think. this lowering down the threat of it is the right move? essentially, countries may put their guard down. yes, i think this is a worry. i feel like they should have used a better system than emergency, versus not emergency. if anything were still in code deep orange, light red. that's honestly what the situation is. by lowering it you feel that they can contain it for now. and the cases and deaths are much lower now but we have seen ways. the guests are probably on par with april and may 2021. i remember, many people say

the pandemic was over back then. it clearly came back and search again. i really feel we don't eat crow on this. �* , ., , this. are we getting the right stats and fi . ures this. are we getting the right stats and figures from _ this. are we getting the right stats and figures from countries - this. are we getting the right stats and figures from countries like - and figures from countries like china? even india, russia, do we know the extent of it in these places still? we know the extent of it in these places still?— know the extent of it in these laces still? ~ ., �* ., , places still? we don't do testing for them and — places still? we don't do testing for them and those _ places still? we don't do testing for them and those countries - places still? we don't do testing i for them and those countries don't do reporting. that together makes a world of hurt and the worst of both worlds. we know that well over a million, likely to million people died in china in the past wave in the last few months. but nobody�*s talking about it. many of these other countries like russia, and forget about reliable data from russia on anything these days. even the united states, we're not doing enough testing or reporting. the us even has said we're going to stop requiring hospital acquired

infection. this is all covid have tripled in the last month or two. it still definitely ongoing. the moment we lose the tools, such as drug stops working, that's not available in the uk. it's very difficult to find in the uk. and when there is a surge we will be in deep, deep trouble. russia's wagner mercenary group has posted a video on social media of its leader berating russia's defence minister. have a listen... as you can hear, the wagner leader yevgeny pri—gozhin leader yevgeny prigozhin was extremely irate as he shouted at the camera lens. the exact location of the video is unclear, but he is seen walking among the bodies of dead wagner fighters in ukraine.

amongst the profanities, prigozhin condemns russia for not sending the mercenary force enough ammunition. he has also threatened that his forces will quit the bitterly contested ukrainian city of bakhmut next week. elisabeth braw is a resident fellow at the american enterprise institute, a us—based think—tank — she gave me her reaction to the comments. extraordinary. and this is why most countries don't use mercenaries any more, because you can you can pay them, but you can't buy loyalty and you especially can't buy love. is clearly upset at the moment that he's not getting enough ammunition to to do the work that the wagner group has been sent to to do in diamonds. and so instead of reporting it up the chain of command as as as happens in normal countries, he takes to social media to to do in diamonds.

and so instead of reporting it up the chain of command as as as happens in normal countries, he takes to social media to to complain and especially complain about the commander of the overall war effort and indeed of the armed forces and also complain about the defence minister. it truly is extraordinary. yeah. and when we think about the wagner group, elisabeth, we think of a brutalforce. and it sent chills down people's spines when they heard they were being deployed to ukraine to sort of fight some of this war for the russian army. so for this to now happen, for them to say we're going to pull out from after months and months of bitter fighting is also what's extraordinary. it is. and and as you say, when it was announced that the wagner group would be sent to to bermuda ——and indeed to other parts of ukraine, i think we all got worried because we know that these are not troops that are that are instructed in the use of the geneva conventions.

and so theyjust go about fighting without any respect for for any sort of international agreement or indeed the humanity of their opponents. but they are also not very well trained, and they have used up a lot of ammunition, clearly, and that's why they haven't made a lot of progress. it is really extraordinary. they have this horseshoe formation around the city. the ukrainians only have one little part that they control. and it was predicted for a long time that the russians represented by the group, would be able to close this horseshoe, but they haven't been able to. and now we are getting this development where they're saying, well, he saying, well, it's not worth it. we may just pull out. i don't think that will happen. but there is no love lost and we can be sure there would be more bad blood between him and and the defence minister and the commander of the armed forces. what we've learnt over the last year is that russia certainly didn't prepare for a war of of this length, that they would be going more than a year into this. and it seems like their strategy and correct me if i'm wrong, is to break the will of the west and its support for ukraine.

but when you see something like this, elizabeth, what is it telling you about where things are at for the russian forces and certainly for the wagner? it tells me that you can be well equipped and you can be you can have numerical superiority. but none of that is as powerful as wanting to defend your own country. and i think this is what the russians so disastrously got wrong when they decided to invade ukraine. they didn't... they measured how many soldiers the ukrainians had in how many how many weapons of different kinds. but they didn't measure ukrainians commitment to their own country and they are committed to their own country, whereas the russians who are being sent to ukraine, whether traditional, ordinary soldiers or volunteer troops, they have no commitment to this war. they are just being sent there to do to do a job. and if it's not going well, they will lose faith in the whole effort, which is clearly what's happening with with the wagner group.

and the wagner group is different from traditional soldiers because they can just say, well, we're done. it didn't work out. we are not pleased about the conditions, so we're just going to pull out. whereas in traditional armed forces, soldiers have to keep fighting until the government says, stop, we're done. the world food programme has said that millions of dollars�* worth of food aid destined for sudan has been looted since fighting broke out last month. the wfp said pillaging in the country was rampant. meanwhile, president biden has issued an executive order authorising sanctions against sudan, saying the fighting must end. the latest ceasefire has failed to hold, with heavy fighting continuing in the capital khartoum and in nearby cities. as the conflict rages people continue to leave the country, and the un estimates more than 100,000 people have fled to sudan's neighbouring countries. more now on this from our africa correspondent catherine byaruhanga

who in the town of renk in south sudan on the border with sudan. thousands of people continue to stream across the vast border between sudan and south sudan here at this makeshift transit centre. there are about 4000 people. and as the night is approaching, a lot of them are getting ready to sleep out in the open. and if they're lucky enough to have some of the makeshift material, either cloths or tarpaulin tents to make makeshift tents that might have some kind of shelter. aid agencies say there really weren't prepared for this crisis. so they're struggling to provide basic services like water, food, shelter. the government of south sudan has said it cannot help people and it's encouraging them to move to other parts of the country where they might be able to find relatives who can offer them help.

but that's not going to be the case for everyone. the conflict in sudan matters not only because of the human suffering it has caused and will continue to cause if the conflict persists, but also because it has the potential to spill out to neighbouring countries and destabilise an already fragile region. to afghanistan next where there are reports that two united nations organisations have bowed to taliban pressure for male—only workers. earlier this year, the taliban banned women from working for the un. initially the aid organisations came together and refused to restrict women — sending all afghan staff home. they are not sure how they're going to receive aid or not. the?c

they are not sure how they're going to receive aid or not.— to receive aid or not. they made this mess _ to receive aid or not. they made this mess and _ to receive aid or not. they made this mess and now— to receive aid or not. they made this mess and now they - to receive aid or not. they made this mess and now they are - this mess and now they are continuing to do that by not knowing what they are supposed be doing. for god sakes, they're country that is in dire need of help for the humanitarian assistance. that's all of this thing about women and men and men and women in all of that is just a distraction put up for everybody not to know what else to do. this is not right. i told united nations have the meeting and preferred not to talk about this with up to you and has to go on doing theirjob. they have to find a way like we all have found a way to work under the radar but in a way that we can get the help. the?c work under the radar but in a way that we can get the help. they are between a rock— that we can get the help. they are between a rock and _ that we can get the help. they are between a rock and a _ that we can get the help. they are between a rock and a hard - that we can get the help. they are between a rock and a hard place, | between a rock and a hard place, aren't they? on the one hand they have values and principles and they don't want the taliban to tell them where they cannot work, afghan women cannot work for aid agencies with

all the other hand they need to provide the aid because of the humanitarian crisis.— provide the aid because of the humanitarian crisis. that's right at this oint humanitarian crisis. that's right at this point it's _ humanitarian crisis. that's right at this point it's not _ humanitarian crisis. that's right at this point it's not important - humanitarian crisis. that's right at this point it's not important but i this point it's not important but the taliban and says do work or go to work. right now it's the humanitarian aid important. this is what i'm trying to say to the world. every situation in the world you really need to study it and look at it for what it is, not for what you wanted to be or what it used to be put up look at it for what it is and what you can do at any given moment. what should they do? there is some confusion about whether the un is allowing men to work and not women to work and that has caused anger and outrage in some circles. it really has. and it should. that's not what it supposed to be evil to find a way to make it work with women. there is a make way to make it work with women. they don't have to make a big fanfare and try to

announce it to the whole world. this is a from lack of wanting to help the women of afghanistan. i swear to you, it is nothing else but that. everyone help the women of afghanistan you can help the women of afghanistan. but doing it with a certain finesse, a certain... diplomacy. certain finesse, a certain... diplomacy-— certain finesse, a certain... diloma .�* ,~ diplomacy. are you saying they are a- easin: diplomacy. are you saying they are appeasing the _ diplomacy. are you saying they are appeasing the tele- _ diplomacy. are you saying they are appeasing the tele- band _ diplomacy. are you saying they are appeasing the tele- band too - diplomacy. are you saying they are l appeasing the tele- band too much? diplomacy. are you saying they are i appeasing the tele- band too much? i appeasing the tele— band too much? i don't know what they are doing. —— taliban. i don't know what they are doing. they are going which ever way, i don't know. the taliban are very different in different provinces of afghanistan, don't forget that. some providence things are going really right. and the ngos, they do have women working they just schedule them ngos, they do have women working theyjust schedule them differently. we don't want to bring a whole lot of women at the same time, at the

same place all the time. we can do it in groups and scheduling for them if there is a will to help the women, if its market help the that you can just give women, if its market help the that you canjust give into one women, if its market help the that you can just give into one of these things. well, the taliban... well, we're not going to get any money. of course you're not. if this is the way you work, this is what happens right now we're in need of help so make it happen, please. this is the way i look at it. make it happen. whichever way you can because that's important. the question of lives of people and survival, a question of can tell ewing afghanistan, for god sakes. ., , , , can tell ewing afghanistan, for god sakes. . , , , ., can tell ewing afghanistan, for god sakes. ,, ., , ., sakes. the un has issued a statement on the issue — sakes. the un has issued a statement on the issue but _ sakes. the un has issued a statement on the issue but there _ sakes. the un has issued a statement on the issue but there doesn't - on the issue but there doesn't seem to be much clarity around it. a britishjournalist says her tiktok account has been tracked and accessed by staff at the chinese owned social network. cristina criddle from

the financial times had been working on a story about the culture inside tiktok�*s uk operation, when staff used her data to try to identify her sources. she says it was �*chilling' — tiktok�*s parent company say the staff responsible have now been fired. our technology editor, zoe kleinman, reports. buffy, bell. good girl! on tiktok, buffy was a bigger star than her owner — financial times tech journalist cristina criddle. i just wanted to test out the features of tiktok because i write about it, but i didn't really want to make videos of myself, so i used my cat buffy and tried to make really fun cat videos of her, and some of them did quite well. last summer, cristina was working on some stories about what working at tiktok was like after a manager at the company had to step down when he told staff he didn't believe in maternity leave. so two days before christmas, i got a call from the tiktok press officer and she called me up and she said, "as a courtesy, i think you should look at the new york times." so i went onto the new york times and i saw the story,

and that's how i found out what had happened to me, that i'd been tracked. it was just shocking. i was kind of scrolling through it quickly to see what kind of personal information they'd accessed, who was behind it all. i know that they used my location data to try and identify my sources. so if my location was being monitored 2a/7, that's notjust limited to my actions at work — which it wouldn't be ok even if it was — but this was in my personal life as well. it was, yeah, when i was out with my friends, when i was going on holiday, all of that stuff's in there. it was kind of shocking to me that two random employees in china, two random employees in the us, managed to find a tiktok account that wasn't in my name, of my cat, to try and use that for something that was to do with myjob. the uk's data protection act has strict rules about what companies can do with personal data. i did not consent for my data to be used in this way,

and we do have very strict protections for that in the uk and in europe, and tiktok has admitted this was inappropriate access to data. tiktok�*s owner bytedance said it deeply regretted the incident, describing it as a significant violation of its own code of conduct. it said the employees who did it had misused their authority and no longer worked at the company. do you still use tiktok? i have to use it for work. i used to really enjoy using it forfun, like, i was on it for hours, i loved the videos, i learnt some fun cooking recipes and things like that, but now ijust have a dummy phone that i use it for at work, and i don't use it else. zoe kleinman, bbc news. the uk is the only european country that still uses regalia. the crown, orb and sceptres are symbols of royalty but what do these ancient objects signify?

the king's orb and sceptres were made for the last king charles, king charles ii, in 1661. they've been used in coronations since then. the orb is a hollow gold globe, mounted with jewels and topped with a cross symbolising the christian world. the sceptre with cross represents power and justice. the star of africa on top is cut from the largest diamond in the world. the king will also be presented with the sceptre with dove. also called the rod of equity and mercy, it represents the monarch's spiritual role. st edward's chair was made in 1300 by order of edward i to enclose the stone of destiny, a symbol of the scottish monarchy. it will sit on the mosaic floor, in front of the high altar. st edward's crown is only used at a coronation. we're familiar with a representation of it on post boxes or on the cover of a passport.

it's solid gold, set with 41m jewels including rubies, sapphires and garnets. our coronation specials continue. goodbye. hello. weekend forecast coming up injust a moment. first of all, a look back on friday's weather. and it was a day of sunny spells and widespread showers. northern ireland, england and wales, a number of those showers turned thundery like this really hefty downpour working across staffordshire. our radar and lightning detector picked up those storms, particularly frequent thunderstorms across eastern areas of england, with a few for the midlands, wales and one or two rumbling away in northern ireland as well. overnight, very gradually it will become calmer, with showers becoming less widespread. later in the night, though, we're going to start to see rain arrive across the south west of england. now, temperatures overnight about nine to 11 degrees. so it is going to be a mild night. then the forecast for saturday, well, this area of rain

is going to be moving up from the south and west. so, for london, for the coronation, it looks like, yes, there will be some rain around for the most part, probably quite light and drizzly in nature. but there could be a few heavier bursts mixed in as well. elsewhere, the heavier rain will be across south west england and wales. this area of wet weather then pushes northwards, reaching northern england later in the afternoon. ahead of that, for scotland and for northern ireland, saturday will be a day of sunny spells and heavy showers. apart from northeast scotland, where it will continue to be quite cloudy and cool with highs of 11 in aberdeen. otherwise, 15 to 18 degrees should feel ok and you might manage a few sunny spells across the southeast late in the day. then as we go through saturday night, showers will push the way northwards, eventually reaching eastern scotland later in the night. another mild night, temperatures about nine to 12 degrees. and then through sunday, it is a day where we'll see some showers develop. they are most likely to form across scotland and eastern areas of england, something a bit drier for wales and western england.

not a bad kind of day in northern ireland, although there will be a band of rain approaching from the west late in the day. given a bit of sunshine could actually be a bit warmer, with temperatures pushing up into the low 20s in the warmest spots. we've got more unsettled weather for monday. a day of sunshine and showers. the showers widespread, a number of them becoming thundery and some will have hail mixed in as well. between those heavy downpours in the may sunshine it will still feel ok, and it's getting a bit warmer in northeast scotland. so over the next few days, rain around on saturday and showers turning increasingly heavy and thundery over the next few days.

i'm christian fraser and this is a special coronation addiction of the context. king charles makes a surprise visit with the prince and princess of wales.— princess of wales. excited, a bit nervous. princess of wales. excited, a bit nervous- can't— princess of wales. excited, a bit nervous. can't wait. _ princess of wales. excited, a bit| nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has _ nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has turned _ nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has turned out _ nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has turned out fit - nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has turned out fit for - nervous. can't wait. westminster abbey has turned out fit for a - nervous. can't wait. westminsterl abbey has turned out fit for a king ahead of tomorrow's coronation. the dignitaries and heads of state arrive in london — 100 are expected at the coronation tomorrow.