Donald Trump has said his administration will abandon efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine unless there are rapid signs of progress. Echoing comments made earlier by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Mr Trump said he was prepared to walk away. The White House says Mr Rubio presented a peace proposal yesterday to a Ukrainian delegation in Paris and to Russian officials by telephone.Also in the programme: More than eighty people have been killed in the deadliest attack yet by the US on the Houthi movement in Yemen; and deep sea scientists have had a very rare encounter with a colossal squid. (Photo: President Donald Trump. Credit: Reuters)

The US will abandon trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs a truce can be reached, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned.Also on the programme: the Houthis in Yemen say almost 60 people have been killed in a US attack on a fuel depot; and the archive being built of the sonic riches at world heritage sites. (Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio poses for photos upon his arrival at the Quai d'Orsay, France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before a bilateral meeting with his French counterpart in Paris. Credit: Reuters)

President Trump has attacked the head of the US central bank Jerome Powell for refusing to cut interest rates, saying he should be terminated from his position. We speak to economists for and against sacking the president's latest critic. Also on the programme: The French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken positively about a day of talks on Ukraine in Paris, involving both US and European representatives; and the astronomers searching for life on a distant planet might have found an indication.(Photo: A trader works, as a screen broadcasts a live interview with US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) April 16, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio hold talks with European counterparts in Paris. Will Washington take a tougher line with Moscow?Also on the programme: Palestinian officials in Gaza say Israeli airstrikes overnight hit camps for displaced people, killing dozens; and scientists have found new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.(Photo: France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) next to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff before a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

A US judge has ruled there is "probable cause" to find the Trump administration in contempt of court, after it violated an order against deporting Venezuelan migrants under an obscure wartime law. Judge James Boasberg said the government had shown "willful disregard" of his verbal order to turn around the deportation flights.Also in the programme: The UN's top non-proliferation official says Iran is not far from developing a nuclear weapon; our BBC correspondent visits newly uncovered secret prisons in Bangladesh; and a pioneering album fuses orchestral music with authentic animal sounds recorded in the wild.(Phot credit: Getty Images)

Just weeks into a vicious trade war between the world's two largest economies, Beijing admits it's feeling the pressure; we look at China’s strategy moving forward.Also in the programme: we report from newly uncovered secret prisons in Bangladesh; and nature as you've never heard it before – Stewart Copeland of The Police collaborates with 'the David Attenborough of sound'.(IMAGE: Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur on what has been termed an 'economic charm offensive tour' in the context of the trade war with the US - 16 Apr 2025 / CREDIT: Fazry Ismail/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Tens of thousands of people have been killed. Millions have been displaced and brutalized, and sexual violence is widespread.. But there's still no sign of peace.Also on the programme: Harvard University has federal funding removed after it refuses to accede to demands from the Trump administration. And we hear from the Chinese factories hit by US tariffs. (Picture: Armed RSF units patrol the streets of el-Geneina Credit: BBC)

The civil war in Sudan, which broke out two years ago, has been described by aid agencies as the "worst humanitarian crisis in the world." Today, at a conference in London, delegations from European countries, the African Union, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt pledged to increased aid to Sudan, as well as try to find a pathway to peace. Also in the programme: the US Department of Education says it's freezing around $2.5 billion of federal funding to Harvard University, accusing the institution of fighting White House demands to combat left-wing bias at universities; and a 16th century book about cheese reveals details of Britain's long love affair with the dairy product.(Photo: A woman sits by the roadside after paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacks on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk refugee camps, near the city of El-Fasher in Darfur. Credit: BBC)

It's estimated that half-a-million people have been living in Zamzam - Sudan's largest refugee camp for people trying to escape the chaos of the country’s civil war. Now, tens of thousands are said to have fled the site after continued attacks from the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary. Ahead of a London-held conference that will discuss a potential ceasefire, we speak to a former UN envoy to Sudan.Also in the programme: US President Donald Trump, alongside the leader of El Salvador, defends the American deportation of Venezuelans accused of gang violence to Salvadoran prisons; and an all-female group of celebrities, including pop star Katy Perry, head to space. (Photo: Women and babies at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to al-Fashir in North Darfur, Sudan, January 2024. Credit: MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS)

Ukraine's European allies express outrage at Russia's missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy which left 34 civilians dead. We hear from two of the survivors - a mother and her 13-year-old son. Also in the programme: Sudan's civil war forces another mass displacement of people; Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vasquez remembers his Peruvian friend Mario Vargas Llosa, one of Latin America’s literary greats; and the story of skill and resilience that led Rory McIlroy to sporting immortality.(IMAGE: Ukrainian rescuers at the site of a rocket strike in downtown Sumy, Ukraine, which killed at least 32 people including two children, and injured 84 people including 10 children,13 April 2025 / CREDIT: Photo by UKRAINE STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)