and the singer harry belafonte has died. welcome to bbc news. we start in sudan and developments in the last hour or so with the uk government urging british passport holders to head to an airfield to the north of khartoum, tojoin evacuation flights. previous advice to wait until they are contacted has been dropped. the foreign secretary, james cleverly, said uk nationals would have to make the riskyjourney to the airbase without a military escort and warned it is impossible to know how long the pause in the fierce fighting will last. the first of the british transport planes took off from an airbase in cyprus bound for sudan it s thought there may be up to four thousand britons in sudan, a little over two thousand have registered with the foreign office for evacuation. rishi sunak authorised the operation late on monday night, after growing criticism that only diplomats had been rescued with british nationals left feeling abandoned. france, germany, greece,
at the age of 80, mr biden is already the oldest holder of the office in history. we will have more reaction to that announcement. and described as the king of calypso the legendary singer and campaigner harry belafonte has died aged 96. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello from the bbc sport centre. we start with snooker and ronnie 0 sullivan made his 100th appearance at the crucible this morning as he continues his bid for a record eighth title he s playing belgian luca brecel in the quarterfinals. it was brecel who took the first frame but 0 sullivan responded in style, taking six of the next seven frames to lead at the end of the first session. 0n the other table, mark allen has fought back from 3 1 down againstjakjones to pull the scores level it s four frames each at the interval. so let s cross live to the crucible now. a battle between two four time champions. they ve met at the crucible five times before this is a repeat of the
the countdown is on to the launch of the most powerful rocket ever built. this place has a new name now. or rather an old one bannau brycheiniog, and it s all change for the brecon beacons as the national park will now be known by its welsh language name only. and coming up on bbc news, after arsenal dropped points at west ham, will it be the gunners or manchester city who are crowned premier league champions? good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. in russia, a leading critic of president putin has been sentenced to 25 years in jail the longest sentence any opposition figure has received so far. vladimir kara murza has been convicted for treason and other charges linked to his criticism of the war in ukraine. mr kara murza, who has british citizenship, is the latest of a series of opponents of president putin to have been arrested or forced to flee russia. the foreign office has condemned his conviction and sentencing as politically motivated and has pointed o
welcome to bbc news. we start in sudan. the first british evacuation flight from sudan has departed and two more are expected overnight, prime minister rishi sunak s spokesperson has said. the spokesperson added that the government was examining alternative evacuation routes including looking at using the port of sudan. a shaky ceasefire is holding in the sudanese capital, khartoum, allowing civilians out on to the streets for the first time in days. some gunfire can still be heard, but both the sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid support forces appear to observing the three day truce brokered by the united states. unverified videos posted online show people walking through streets where almost every building has been damaged. many british nationals live in the east of khartoum the route to the airfield in the north involves crossing the nile, with at least some of the bridges reported to be under the control of rival militia. the engagement of the bird is in the fc is a
live when it happens. fighting is raging for a third day in the sudanese capital, khartoum. the clashes are part of a power struggle within the country s military leadership, which has failed to deliver a transition to civilian government. a doctors union in sudan says almost a hundred civilians have died but the true number is likely to be higher. our senior africa correspondent, anne soy, reports. this is one of the warring groups in sudan. it s the powerful paramilitary group currently fighting against the country s army. both sides remain defiant and post videos like these claiming gains in the clashes. we cannot verify their claims. civilians are bearing the brunt of the fighting. there is nowhere safe to go. sudan is a majority muslim nation. it s a difficult ramadan for them. we do not have water here in khartoum. we are also afraid of running short of ourfood supplies here because all markets are closed. unless there is a very immediate humanitarian truce for the peo