hello and welcome to the programme. the us military has evacuated american diplomats and their families from sudan. six aircraft were used in sunday s early morning mission. president biden issued a statement a short time ago. he said: more than 150 people were evacuated by sea to the saudi arabian port ofjeddah on saturday, mostly citizens of gulf countries, but also from egypt, canada and others. it came as clashes continued between the rsf and sudan s army. the near constant shooting and bombardment in khartoum and elsewhere has cut electricity and safe access to food and water for much of the population. several ceasefires that had seemingly been agreed by both sides were ignored, including a 3 day pause to mark the muslim holiday of eid al fitr, which started on friday. bbc news understands that the government is drawing up plans to evacuate british embassy staff from sudan, uk citizens are being urged to tell the foreign office where they are, either online or by phone,
expected to be the largest ever. hello and welcome to the programme, i m lewis vaughanjones. let s bring you more detail on the international evacuation operations from sudan. the earth had to evacuate diplomats starting. the the earth had to evacuate diplomats startina. ., , ., ., starting. the efforts to evacuate dilomats starting. the efforts to evacuate diplomats is starting. the efforts to evacuate diplomats is starting. there are conlicting reports that the french embassy convoy was hit with gunfire, which led to their return and disruption of the evacuation process. the army are saying that the rapid security force attacked the french embassy convoy with gunfire, which forced the convoy to return and abort the evacuation. the attack also resulted in wounding a frenchman. but let me bring you a tweet from the the rsf which has responded in a tweet on social media blaming thew sudanese army for the alleged attack. they say they were attacked by aircraft during the
hello and welcome to the programme, i m lewis vaughan jones. the fighting continues in the sudan capital, khartoum. there are conflicting reports though that the french embassy convoy was hit with gunfire, which led to their return and disruption of the evacuation process. the sudan army are fighting with the rtf. in a statement released a short time ago, the spokesman for the sudanese army has accused its opponents of: attacking the french embassy convoy with gunfire, which forced the convoy to return and abort the evacuation. the attack also resulted in wounding a frenchman. the spokesman went on to say that: the sudanese army condemns this barbaric behaviour and violence, which is a characteristic of the rapid support militia. but let me bring you this from the rsf which has tweeted saying the rapid support forces were attacked by aircraft during the evacuation of french nationals. we have had no international confirmation. we approached the french government and they c
by the uk government. in the uk, labour opposition mp diane abbott has been suspended pending an investigation into a letter she wrote about racism for the british newspaper the observer. the dutch siffan hassan and the kenyan kelvin kiptum have won the race for female and male categories in the london marathon. welcome to the programme. very good to have your company. we begin in north east africa. a growing number of foreign diplomats and their families have been airlifted to safety from the sudanese capital, khartoum, as fighting between rivalfactions of the army enters a second week. here in the uk, the ministry of defence has confirmed embassy staff were removed under the cover of darkness. the us and france have carried out a similar operation. there s no word yet on how other british nationals are supposed to leave. with the latest, here s our africa correspondent andrew harding. amid the bombs and the gunfire in khartoum today, a series of dramatic rescue missions. am
she wrote about racism for the british newspaper, the observer. hello in a very warm welcome. we begin in northeast africa. a growing number of foreign diplomats and their families have been airlifted to safety from the sudanese capital, khartoum, as fighting between rivalfactions of the army enters a second week. the uk, france and the us are among those to remove embassy staff under the cover of darkness. the british evacuees are on their way back to the uk, via cyprus. the situation for other nationals in sudan remains unclear. in the last couple of hours, we ve seen a french military plane arriving at one of france s airbases in dijibouti said to be carrying european diplomats and citizens. with the latest here s our africa correspondent, andrew harding. amid the bombs and the gunfire in khartoum today, a series of dramatic rescue missions. among those successfully airlifted out of sudan after a week of terror, british embassy staff and their families. over 1200 people co