calling him one of the most important actors in the history of film. ourarts and media correspondent david sillito looks back at his career. tonight's movie has been mash. in 1970, a sprawling, darkly comic film about the korean war came out. i'm drjekyll, actually, this is my friend mr hyde. the hero, a cynical, rebellious, heavy drinking, womanising surgeon. everybody was telling me, don't do it. at the end of it, it'll ruin you. we did it in five weeks and it was wonderful. born in canada, he'd studied engineering before switching to acting and working in theatre in britain. four captains, there, hamlet, like a soldier to the stage. mash... ..a thinly veiled satire of vietnam, led to klute... would you mind not doing that? ..with jane fonda. it was the first of three films together... ..and an off—screen relationship. at a moment when a dark and maverick mood was making itself felt in hollywood, donald sutherland, with that piercing gaze, was just the sort of complex leading man it was looking for. take don't look now. a disturbing, ghostly story about grief. that brief golden era in the �*70s soon passed. closer than you think. but donald sutherland was never out of work. everything i'm going to tell you is classified top secret. jfk was almost a throwback to the �*70s paranoid conspiracy thriller. why was kennedy killed? and more recently, it was the hunger games, a film that he hoped might inspire a little rebellion... i've been watching you... ..in today's youth. ..and you watching me. yet, despite it all, there was no best actor oscar on his mantelpiece. however, that wasn't, he said, what drove him. it's a love affair, you know. i've made films for fellini, for bertolucci, for chabot, for werner hertzog, for rebecca horn. these people i love, and that love is the greatest award you can ever have in your life. and leading the tributes to donald sutherland, his son kiefer. his father, he said, loved what he did and did what he loved and one can ever ask for more than that. a life well lived. donald sutherland passing away at the age of 88. more news tracking, fresh and let gloomy prudent has completed his brief tour of asia, effluent of the enemies capital less than 2a hours after touching down. —— vladimir putin. while he was there, he signed agreements on expanding russia's role in vietnam's energy industry — and he also answered questions from russian journalists before departing. he was asked in particular about western countries sending financial and military support to ukraine — and whether moscow would take a similar approach for the first country he visited on his trip — north korea. translation: those who send these things, they think they're not in conflict with us but as i said, and as i said in pyongyang, we then reserve the right to supply weapons to other regions of the world. and with regard to our agreement with north korea, i'm not ruling that out. the us has reacted with alarm to the suggestion that russia might send weapons to north korea. here's state department spokesperson, matthew miller. it is incredibly concerning. it would destabilize the korean peninsula of course, and potentially give it, depending on the type of weapons they provide, might violate un security council resolutions that russia supported. i asked our north america correspondent will vernon to sum up the view from washington on mr putin's trip to asia. well, i think us officials are incredibly concerned about the deepening relationship between russia and north korea following that historic visit by president putin to pyongyang and that signing of the defence pact between the two countries, which means that they each guarantee they'll come to the other�*s aide in the event of aggression, of course, which is a subjective concept. and this agreement clearly provides for military supplies to one another. now, you heard the state department spokesperson there saying that the us finds that incredibly concerning and that it would destabilise the korean peninsula. and there have been similar expressions of alarm from other us officials. i think the concern here in washington is twofold. firstly, that these weapons that are being provided by north korea are being used on the battlefield in ukraine to kill the ukrainians and ultimately prolong the war. but i think the other concern is what exactly is russia giving north korea in return? is it, for example, assisting north korea in missile technology or most worryingly of all, of course, is are russian experts perhaps helping north korea with its nuclear programme? of course, that would be a major issue for the us and its allies in the region. and given these concerns, will, what are the options before the us to ensure this does not escalate into a wider conflict in the region? the american ambassador there has been speaking to the bbc. nicholas burns reiterated previous warnings from washington that china's support for russia's invasion of ukraine will not be tolerated by the west. here is is his interview. we have the right facts. we know exactly what's happening. we know what's being shipped by chinese companies. we know the impact it's having on the ability of russia to conduct this war. and so we're absolutely sure of our facts and the chinese ought to own up to this. we have sanctioned a great number of chinese companies, and we're prepared to do more by the way. we remind china that chinese officials, they have considerable authority in this authoritarian government over what happens, and they can certainly crack down on these companies, and they ought to do it because it is a major problem. and it's a major — obviously a major assistance to russia in this war effort. how much communication is there between the two sides, and how difficult is it for you? we know there have been times... i've been here for two plus years. there have been times when communication has been very sparse. after speaker nancy pelosi's visit to taiwan august 2022, the chinese shut down communications — mostly with our cabinet level in washington. after that strange balloon floated across the territory of the united states forfive days in february of 2023, the chinese shut down communication. but i think in recent months it's been relatively better. it's really important because our militaries are operating in very close proximity to each other in the spratlys paracels of the south china sea, in the east china sea and the taiwan strait. you want to have communication because the last thing we want is an accident or misunderstanding that leads to conflict. we're very focused on reducing the probability of a conflict. you talked about military to military communication. that must have been a real concern, especially given, you know, the operations that are currently taking place in the south china sea, for instance. that's exactly right. that and the taiwan strait and other parts of the world as well. so i would say it's relatively better. relatively better, but not much better. you know, it's a contentious competitive relationship. if we went through, and maybe we will, issue after issue where we're divided, lack of communication at the highest level is a real problem because you don't want to send the wrong signal. you want to be able to talk about problems when they occur, and especially if there's some kind of an accident. and that's happened in the us—china relationship. you want to be able to have people get together, diffuse the crisis, separate the parties, and make sure it doesn't expand into something that you don't intend. let's stay with china because some of the countries coastguards have clashed with the philippine naval vessels neara the philippine naval vessels near a strategic reef in the south china sea. these pictures, provided by the philippines�* coast guard, show chinese sailors shouting, waving knives and using sticks to hit the philippine�*s inflatables, as a siren blares. the philippine military has reported that one of their sailors lost a thumb in the incident, while items including guns were confiscated or destroyed. beijing has insisted that its coastguard behaved in a "professional and restrained" manner during the confrontation —— and claimed "no direct measures" were taken against filipino personnel. to uk election news now and party leaders rishi sunak, sir keir starmer, sir ed davey and john swinney faced a grilling from the public at the question time leaders�* special live from york. each leader was questioned for 30 minutes with follow—up questions and to offer context. 0ur political editor, chris mason has the story familiar music, but no panel tonight. 0ne leader, one after another, facing a live audience for half an hour each. and first, the prime minister asked about the story we brought you throughout the day. aren't the emerging allegations about betting on the election date the absolute epitome of the lack of ethics that we have had to tolerate from the conservative party for years and years. like you, i was incredibly angry, incredibly angry to learn of these allegations. it is a really serious matter. it is right they are being investigated properly by the relevant law enforcement authority. but you are happy not to suspend them, to let them carry on and go on in the election? 0bviously, they have not admitted anything, no one is saying a decision has been taken about their guilt or innocence, but you are happy for them to go into the election and represent you and the conservative party? fiona, as you said, these investigations are ongoing, but what i can tell you, if anyone is found to have broken the rules, not only will they face the full consequences of the law, i will make sure they are booted out of the conservative party. and then his idea for young people. national service will be compulsory, the military option will be something people choose to do. how would you make people do it? you have a set of sanctions and incentives. there is all sorts of things that people do across europe, whether that is looking at driving licences, other access to finance, all sorts of other things. access to finance? so if people don't want to do national service, what, will take their bank cards away? what do you mean? there are lots of different models around europe. they can't get a loan? next, the man who polls suggest is likely to be prime minister two weeks tomorrow, and a sticky wicket over a remark he made five years ago aboutjeremy corbyn. you said he would make a great prime minister, did you mean it? it wasn't a question that really arose because i didn't think we would win the election. we all heard you say he would be a great prime minister and that is your way of telling people here to vote for him. did you not mean it? iwas campaigning for the labour party, and i am glad i did. you also campaigned forjeremy corbyn to be prime minister. iwas campaigning for the labour party. i was a labour politician. the audience laughed at his repeated refusal to give a yes or no answer. susan came next. given your severe criticism of the conservatives on the topic of immigration, do you think it is acceptable at this point so near the general election for your own party not to commit to specific targets around this critical topic? i will not put an arbitrary figure on it because every single politician who has put a number on it has never met that number. next, scotland's first minister and scottish national party leaderjohn swinney. it has been a bumpy time for the snp, not least the arrest of former leader nicola sturgeon, and the arrest and charging of her husband peter murrell, the snp�*s former chief executive over the party's finances. given the recent scandals and dramas with the snp, how will you differ from your predecessors and project confidence? i think the honest answer is we have had a very tough time as a party in the last couple of years and as a consequence of all of those difficulties i am here to lead the scottish national party. the snp say if they win a majority of scottish seats next month that would mean negotiations for a second independence referendum should begin. so... if you do not get the majority of scottish seats at westminster, what does that tell you about your mandate to ask for another referendum? what i want to do during the election campaign is to encourage people to vote for the snp to... so, you're not answering that question. ..enable us to deliver on that policy commitment which is right at the heart of our manifesto. will you answer the question or not? what i am saying is, i want people to vote for the snp. next up, the liberal democrat leader sir ed davey, and alison in the audience was not messing about. are you not going to bankrupt the country? thank you for your question, alison, the answer is no, and i think our proposals are responsible, they are fully costed. i think other parties, frankly, are not putting the money in we need to rescue our public services. the liberal democrats�* record in coalition government still rile some. take this about university tuition fees in england. how can my generation trust you? i understand why your generation lost faith in us. it was a difficult government to be in and we got punished. but politics is not all policies, costings and accountability. my wife, i met her on a liberal democrat housing policy group. a night out, that sounds great. mr romance. two hours, four leaders, and a fortnight to go. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. your live with bbc news. a year old civil war _ your live with bbc news. a year old civil war has _ your live with bbc news. a year old civil war has spiked - your live with bbc news. a year old civil war has spiked the - old civil war has spiked the hunger crisis affecting more the country�*s 45 and people. they want as to one half million people could die of hunger before the end of the year. the rsf which is a force is accused of ethnic cleansing, mass rapes and massacre is closing in on the city. defying a un security council resolution that demands they hold the siege. 0n resolution that demands they hold the siege. on thursday, they are the key town, the capital of the west circle of the france, both the rsf and sudanese army have been accused of using starvation as a weapon in this conflict. to discuss more, i�*mjoined byjames, more, i�*m joined byjames, celia more, i�*mjoined byjames, celia —— seniorfellow more, i�*mjoined byjames, celia —— senior fellow here more, i�*mjoined byjames, celia —— seniorfellow here in singapore. thank you for your time here on newsday. how serious is a situation therefore civilians in sudan? it is extremely serious. we are focused on the situation in gaza which is horrendous but in terms of the massive mess of the military in crisis, sudan is actually a bigger crisis. and both armies are accused of using starvation to target civilians as we mentioned, what could or should the un�*s turn to help avert famine? the problem _ to help avert famine? the problem is _ to help avert famine? the problem is that _ to help avert famine? the problem is that you - to help avert famine? tue: problem is that you have to help avert famine? tte: problem is that you have a un security council that can mandate but it�*s not — cannot put boots on the ground itself. the only way to really separate the parties at this point would be to put boots on the ground. we have two situations at the moment but sudan and in gaza where you had un security council resolutions but no implementation of that. the party on the ground themselves are forces as well as the rapid support forces have been essentially oblivious, both to the suffering of their own people and to what the international community would like to see. t international community would like to see-— like to see. i want to understand, - like to see. i want to understand, if- like to see. i want to understand, if both i like to see. i want to - understand, if both states, especially that you and can help, why aren�*t there, is a pressure or accountability for them to try and use a clout? what you have is a situation, limit put a different, sudan is a strategically very important country. it�*s on the red sea, is potentially a bread back basket of africa and of course, going back to the situation in yemen and the attacks by the houthis because of the gaza conflict, you have multiple, regional players who are backing one side of the others so you have on one hand, that united arab emirates which has invested into a step in the rapid support forces and you have countries like saudi arabia or egypt for that matter who will back the sudanese armed forces. and those countries denied that support for one of the two parties and there is no pressure on them, no real pressure on them to back off and use their influence to try and bring the parties back to the negotiating table. t parties back to the negotiating table. ., ., , ., table. i want to get your thoughts _ table. i want to get your thoughts on _ table. i want to get your thoughts on this, - table. i want to get your thoughts on this, we - table. i want to get your. thoughts on this, we have a table. i want to get your- thoughts on this, we have a war in ukraine, war region in gaza and do you think this conflict is not getting the kind of attention that it needs, especially from the international community? tt international community? tt certainly needs much more attention than it�*s getting from the international community. as i mentioned, in many ways, there are many more people at risk of starvation in sudan, many more people displaced in sudan than they are in gaza not in any way to distract from what is happening in gaza but nonetheless. yet, sudan is not getting the kind of international attention. also for all the obvious reasons, the major power united states play a far greater role in the conflict in the middle east, there are a lot more people who in one way or another field associated with the conflict and you don�*t have that with sudan but at the same time, sudan needs the attention and it needs the attention as much as gaza does. tide and it needs the attention as much as gaza does.- much as gaza does. we will leave it there. _ much as gaza does. we will leave it there. thank - much as gaza does. we will leave it there. thank you i much as gaza does. we will. leave it there. thank you very much for your views and your time here on newsday. let�*s turn out to saudi arabia because report suggest that more than a thousand people have died after stifling pilgrims at the annual hygiene. in the searing heat of western saudi arabia, working for several hours a day surrounded by many hundreds of thousands of others by helping the five days as the natural was undertaken in the best of times. some thrive in the adversity but each year, hundreds also die of conditions related to heat exhaustion. it may be months until we get the full picture but given temperatures reach nearly 52 celsius, they have been fears a number that died this year could be much higher than normal. this we have never seen this heat conditions. tide normal. this we have never seen this heat conditions.— this heat conditions. we saw --eole this heat conditions. we saw people struggling _ this heat conditions. we saw people struggling with - this heat conditions. we saw people struggling with the i people struggling with the heat, we found that it was difficult with the old, the brain and everyone. over the ears, brain and everyone. over the years. the — brain and everyone. over the years, the saudi _ brain and everyone. over the years, the saudi authorities i years, the saudi authorities have introduced sprinkler systems, tunnel roots and water stations across the massive pilgrimage area, an issue advised to use umbrellas and avoid hottest on â€