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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i am carl in wash. and this is bbc news world news america. signs of a city in ruins. sudan's capital shows violence as thousands try to flee the country. president biden posts south korea's leader at the white house. and it is called the golden state for a reason. why reason -- recent storms in california could lead to a new

gold rush. welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. we start in sudan where a fragile three day cease-fire has been threatened by an outbreak of renewed fighting between rival factions of the military. it happened on the western outskirts of a city across the nile from the capital but much of the center of the capital remains calm and thousands are trying to get out. residents struggled to get vital supplies and clean water. warplanes are still flying overhead and children are scared. foreign nationals have been evacuated and even sit on's ex leader has been removed from jail -- even suit on's x -- sudan's x leader has been

removed from jail. reporter: and there are reports of a prison break [indiscernible] some allies have escaped because of a lack of food, water, and treatment. omar was transferred to a major hospital before the threat began so he remains in custody. in a country where 400 have already died, there could be more dead due to disease and lack of treatment. >> let's switch gears to the mass evacuations we have seen in the last two days. it thousands have been fleeing the country by any means necessary, air, land, and see. s --ea. -- sea.

reporter: just behind me is a japan airlines flight, an aircraft that is expected to take japanese nationals back home on thursday morning. all around me i can hear the sounds of aircraft, helicopters, airplanes coming in. some have arrived in the last few minutes and gone across this french military bases here. we understand japanese nationals who have arrived here in the last few days fleeing the conflict in sudan will board the aircraft to go back home. even across africa, many nationals have been fleeing sudan. >> catherine reporting from

djibouti. now we go to correspondent lewis for a story on evacuations. reporter: people have been in the airport sharing stories. harrowing stories. leaving behind family members that do not have british passports. a difficult journey for so many. not only leaving their homes, but to get to the airbase is very difficult and dangerous. >> that report from cypress. now let's turn to the humanitarian situation on the ground in sudan. the world health organization says only 16% of health facilities in the capital are

functioning and as hospitals struggled to remain open, doctors themselves are under threat. the sudanese american physicians association says one of their officers has been killed in sudan. we were told about the current state of the medical system. >> to 72% of the major hospitals in the area completely without service and even the ones remaining are either operating partially or fully. some are only able to provide the barest help, and that is it. so the situation is disastrous and if clashes continue, the

health care system will probably collapse completely. >> a dangerous situation on the ground for anyone who happens to be near a hospital and for doctors as well. >> absolutely. and unfortunately yesterday we lost one of our best colleagues and physicians in sudan. he was an american citizen and physician who relocated to sudan seven years ago from the united states, his mission was to serve his country, to be available with his skills and knowledge to the medical students and professionals. yesterday was indeed a very sad

day in sudan after we lost the doctor. >> given that tragedy and the dangers on the ground for you and your colleagues, is there the possibility of a dr. shortage in the country? >> absolutely. physicians and doctors are rural -- doctors overall feel moving from hospitals to hospitals to serve the injured, as they were fleeing the capital to the port, one of the first instructions i received for my colleagues, the first thing you need to do while traveling to port sudan is get rid of any id that would state i am a physician because they will take you hostage immediately

either to treat the injured of the armed forces or to take you to unknown locations. >> here in the u.s., president biden has been hosting south korea's leader for a state visit . appearing at the white house, they reaffirmed their commitment to defend against north korea's increasing aggression. they agreed to give south korea a greater voice in how the u.s. response to any nuclear incident. pres. biden: a nuclear attack by north korea against the u.s. or allies or partners is unacceptable and would result in the end of whatever regime takes such action. >> barbara has been following the visit closely. how big of a deal are these commitments being made between the countries today, and are they new? >> they are new and important

for the relationship. not a big change for the u.s. because they have treaty obligations to defend south korea, including with nuclear weapons. this is more about reassuring south korea that they are serious about the commitments because they are getting more concerned about the threat from north carolina, wondering if they should develop their own weapons. so this was really -- threat from north korea, wondering if they should develop their own weapons. so this was really saying, we still have your back. they set up a mechanism for consultation to give south koreans a role for the first time in strategic planning for any use of nuclear weapons, although it would still be the u.s. president who decides whether or not to push the button. and there are new agreements for u.s. submarines to regularly

visit and dock in south korea for the first time in 40 years. and then a confirmation from south korea and that they will remain not a nuclear. >> we have seen a series of missile tests in the last few months from north korea. what does this meeting say about north korea's military capabilities? >> that north korea has gone all in at weapons development. after the attempt at diplomacy between donald and kim jong-un failed, there have been a large number of missile tests and lunches that are looking more effective and -- launches that are looking more effective and -- >> barbara, thank you very much.

a former columnist and author has described in candid detail and alleged sexual assault by donald trump than 20 years ago. she alleges he attacked her in a department store in the 1990's and then lied about it. he strongly denies the accusations. we have been following the case. i understand the testimony today was emotional at times. what was said in the courtroom? reporter: that's right. she was for the most part calm and collected as she recounted the alleged incident but there were times where she got quite emotional. she talked about the moment she walked into a sitting room and that moment still plagued her and she questions why she did it. she said she was proud she was

able to get out of the situation as well. she also told the jury while she might not remember certain details like the exact date, she still remembers the extreme pain of the alleged rape when he allegedly forced herself on her. she said she could remember the pain as she was there on the stand. she has accused donald trump of defaming her which caused her to lose her reputation. she cried on the stand explaining how this moment made her happy because she was finally getting a chance to tell her story. her team is very conscientious about making sure her story is credible to the jury and also wanted to get ahead of any of trump's arguments. she expressed in her own words

that this is not politically motivated, she has not benefited monetarily and that for her this is just about settling a personal score. >> what have we heard from trump? reporter: donald trump has once again taken to social media to blast the case as a made up scam . he has called her lawyers political operatives. and we heard from the judge slamming trump for that and warned trump's lawyers to speak to his client, saying he could be putting himself in more legal trouble. the alleged victim will continue testimony tomorrow and at that point trump's lawyers will have time to challenge her. >> ukraine's president has spoken by phone with china's president she, the first conversation since russia's invasion. in a tweet, volodymyr zelenskyy

said it was a long and meaningful call to help give a powerful impetus to bilateral relations. china has maintained what it calls a neutral stance and president she has refused to condemn moscow's -- president xi has refused to condemn moscow's invasion. reporter: this is seen as diplomatic progress. last month president zelenskyy said he wanted to speak with xi jinping. but he decided not to make the journey. but we are told it was a long and meaningful phone call. we are not hearing much detail. ukraine is desperate to improve relations with china, a country that to date has strengthened

economic ties with moscow. so while ukraine sees this as serious progress, there are still huge ideological differences on how to end the war. what we are told is that beijing only sees negotiations as the way out. ukraine sees no compromise, only a military victory. so politically we have seen progress today but we are not sure what difference it will make. >> now let's go to stephen mcdonnell in beijing. reporter: an unusual evening press conference. we were only told it was important and it was not until we entered the room we found out she keeping and volodymyr zelenskyy -- found out that president she she paying -- the

question was posed which western government has been able to have such a call with the leaders of both warring parties, which western government, we heard the question posed, has been able to speak to zelenskyy and vladimir putin and the contrast is xi jinping who has now spoke to both. we are told there is to be a high-level chinese delegation that will travel to kyiv and to other countries as a means of pushing forward the proposal from china and are told that volodymyr zelenskyy welcomes china's proposals for peace and their efforts to bring about a diplomatic solution. we asked how this could occur

when both sides on the war have such different positions. no concrete suggestion on the front, just that peace is the only answer. we were also told there is a growing wave of enthusiasm internationally for china's peace proposal. the other countries were not mentioned but just that there is a broad movement toward backing china's peace plan and the hope is when the delegation travels to ukraine at some point will push that process along. >> drones have become a pivotal element to ukraine's war effort. they have purchased more than 3000 drones as part of an army campaign and military leaders say even small drones can help give ukraine the fighting competitive edge over russia. our cyber correspondent went to

ukraine and has this report. reporter: on the outskirts of keith the latest group of drone pilots are being -- t -- kyiv the latest group of drone pilots are being trained. this woman has nearly finished her training. [speaking foreign language] reporter: this is her new brigade in action. the drone used is relatively cheap and has become a major tool of the war on both sides. the chinese manufacturer has banned sales to retain and

russia last -- ukraine and russia last year but thousands fled the front line and the demand for drones is so great ukraine has increased their own manufacturing, relaxing import laws to speed up manufacturing. it has launched other lines paid for by campaigns. >> it's not the movies. there are no superheroes or jedi knights. reporter: they have raised more than $108 million since last summer. 3.5 1000 -- 3000 drones have been acquired. and it's not just foreigners being asked to donate. in many shops and service stations, fundraising is prominent. the minister for digital transformation shows me the

secret design for a new kind of kamikaze drone. he says the campaign is about front-line combat and protecting the lives of soldiers defending ukraine. but new drains -- drones being able to fly to russia and back. they claim this one was shot down in moscow. you are asking people around the world to donate drones and money for drones to defend ukraine. but what about offensive attacks of the border on russia? >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: as a leader of the country, would you condone drones going over the border? >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: ukraine's mod is

refusing to say if the army of drones is being used to go on the offensive in russia and donations continue pouring in and more drones are taking to the skies. >> russia's opposition leader says he is being investigated on terrorism charges. he spoke from his penal colony and says he was told by his investigators that he would be tried by a military court and could be stuck in prison through 2050. he is already facing 11.5 years on prison on charges that supporters say are trumped up. steve rosenberg has more. reporter: let's rewind slightly because ever since alexander was sent to prison in 2021 four alleged parole violations he is facing more charges and criminal cases and prison time.

so he was given another nine years, convicted of fraud, important to say his supporters insist all the charges past and present are politically motivated. he is vladimir putin's most prominent critic. last autumn he said he was facing another set of charges, new charges, of promoting extremism and terrorism and predicted that could add 30 more years to his time. today there was a technical hearing about this new case to decide how many days he will be given to study the case against him before it goes to trial. more than 196 volumes in the case and he was given until may 5 to study them. at this technical hearing, he said one of the investigators had told him that part of the

case had been taken out and a new case made around it. he will also be accused of terrorism. so in fact there could be two more court cases against him and he predicted today that is -- that the terrorism charges could give him life in prison. >> we have reported a lot about california's recent weather woes. flooding, torrential rains, snow. but it turns out there could be an upside to mother nature's worst. although low -- all the water hammering the state has unveiled gold in historic gold rush towns. >> $750 worth of gold right now. right here. anyone could find that right now. >> a historic storm in southern

california. >> snowfall. >> california has not seen rain like this in years. >> as the water comes down really quickly it hits the banks and washes the dirt away and liberates new fresh deposit of gold right in the water. ♪ >> i have not seen this in my life. >> it's the biggest event of my life. it's going to get crazy. >> i'm going to go get some gold. >> before we go, a bit of rock history is headed towards auction. one of freddie mercury's oldest friend is going to sell several items belonging to him. they include eye-catching costumes, a guitar, and hand written lyrics. he had kept everything at his

home and when he died in 1990 one, left the house and everything in it to mary austin. you can find all the stories on our website plus check us out on twitter. thank you for watching world news america. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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a. geoff bennett is away. how's the publicans push forward on a hill. president biden honors south korea's leader with a visit. attempting to strengthen ties amid increasing uncertainty in east asia and we take a road trip, testing the gap between the demand for vehicles and charging stations. >> the expectation is go to a gas station and end up with a full tank 100% of the time, that is the same benchmark.