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)

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.

(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)

Devastating attacks on a camp hosting hundreds of thousands of people who had fled Sudan's civil war have continued for a third day, residents say. One person in the Zamzam camp described the situation as "extremely catastrophic" while another said things were "dire".

Also in the programme: A Russian ballistic missile strike in the northeast Ukrainian city of Sumy; and what happened to Gaza's last hospital?

(Photo: Zamzam camp near el-Fasher hosts hundreds of thousands of people, who are living in famine-like condition. Credit: AFP)

Iran and the United States have concluded a first round of talks in Oman over Tehran's nuclear programme - the highest level meeting between the two nations since 2018.

We’ll speak to former United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman who negotiated the 2015 agreement with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Also on the programme: US President Donald Trump's administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from "reciprocal" tariffs; and a morris dancer who scored a new world record by dancing non-stop for 11 hours.

(Photo: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks to the media in Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. Credit: Reuters)

High-level delegates from the US and Iran are in Oman for talks about Iran's nuclear programme. We'll hear a view from Tehran.

(Photo: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visits Iran's nuclear achievements exhibition in Tehran, Iran on April 9, 2025. Credit: REUTERS)