this is bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: hours after russia's flagship vessel sinks in the black sea — moscow threatens to increase its attacks near the outskirts of ukraine's capital. if you're watching this it means we have surrendered. a british man fighting for ukraine is captured by russian forces. his family plead for his safety. i know he's alive, but i'm not sure if that's_ i know he's alive, but i'm not sure if that's a — i know he's alive, but i'm not sure if that's a comfort because i don't know_ if that's a comfort because i don't know really— if that's a comfort because i don't know really how he has been treated. almost 400 people have died in severe floods in south africa's eastern province. south africa after the deadliest storm in decades. more than 150 palestinians are injured in clashes with israeli police atjerusalem's holy site.

and in cricket, joe root steps down as england men's test captain after five years in the role. russia has threatened to intensify attacks on the ukrainian capital kyiv, if its territory is further targeted. tensions have risen since russia's iconic warship the moskva sank yesterday — moscow says the sinking was caused by a fire, but ukraine says it hit the vessel with missiles. a weapons factory near kyiv has already been partially destroyed in a russian attack. our correspondent yogita limaye reports from the ukrainian capital. this was the moskva. russia's prized warship in the black sea.

it's now sunk. ukraine says its missiles hit the vessel. russia says a fire caused the ship to sink. it's a humiliating loss for the country. it is believed to be the biggest such incident since world war ii. in what is being seen as retaliation, russia's defence ministry shared this video, saying it had launched an attack on a missile making facility outside ukraine's capital. it also threatened more strikes on kyiv if ukraine continued to attack russian territory. sirens. after the relative silence of two weeks since russian forces withdrew from kyiv, air raid sirens continued to ring from night into the morning. yuri gladchenko lives

near the site of the attack. translation: i woke up to the sound of an explosion atjust past 1am. - my house shook like there was an earthquake. then i heard more explosions. the lights went out. i have no electricity or water now. the area around the factory which was hit is a residential neighbourhood. it's quite densely populated. it is only about a is—minute drive from here to the city. the attack over night, a reminder ofjust how vulnerable kyiv remains as a target. this city has just begun to come alive. people who were forced underground for weeks when areas around kyiv came under russian control are cautiously coming out for a moment of calm in the sun. translation: you forget sometimes that you're - still afraid of every sound, even if it comes from your neighbour's house,

or if someone bangs a car door. you shiver and try to overcome that. no words can describe how scary it is. we can't be sure what will happen next. the future might be worse. the images coming from the east show just how bad things could get. this is the port city of mariupol, believed to be close to falling into russian hands. it's been more than seven weeks of war. yogita limaye, bbc news, kyiv. earlier, we spoke to anna foster, in kyiv — she gave me this update. we have seen throughout this conflict russia attack areas and facilities that it says are being used by the ukrainian military, so in this case, they have said it was a building where missiles were being produced — anti—aircraft and anti—ship missiles. we believe that there were three strikes overnight on this

particular facility. it would seem to tally with the idea that russia wanted to perhaps strike back after its flagship was sunk yesterday. there is something of course symbolic about the sinking of that ship, but also something symbolic about targeting kyiv. remember, the russians are targeting various areas across the east of the country, at the moment, mariupol, continually, places like kharkiv, the donbas region, but it knows if it targets kyiv, then it does get a certain amount of attention, so people have focused on that. i have been out here in kyiv today, and even though it is still a city which is only getting back to normal very slowly, still a city of checkpoints, many, many places here closed after the inhabitants fled, there are people out on the streets today, it has been a beautiful sunny day, i have seen some restaurants, some cafes open, so even though we saw this perhaps new aggression from russia overnight, people here do seem to want to try and get their lives back to normality despite that.

russia is reported to have warned the united states of unpredictable consequences if washington and its nato allies continue to arm ukraine. the washington post says it's seen a diplomatic note in which moscow complains the deployment of the most sensitive weapons systems is fuelling the conflict. we asked our correspondent jenny hill in moscow whether she could confirm the report. there's nothing i can confirm for you but it's certainly true that moscow is very unhappy about the amount of weapons being supplied by the west to ukraine. i've been watching some state television talk shows today and presenters and pundits there are raging about that particular issue. it's also worth pointing out ukraine of course is cast as the aggressor in this conflict here in moscow by putin who insists he has only gone into ukraine to defend russian speakers there and against ukraine's

aggression, but the us and nato is clearly the other enemy too here and we hear frequently from the kremlin and from officials throughout this government about the danger which the us represents to russia. for example, a common narrative here is that the us is trying to help ukraine develop biological weapons for use against russia or that it's trying to help ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons. we heard just a few days ago from the foreign minister, sergei lavrov who said one of the aims of this operation was to prevent america from gaining world dominance, so it doesn't surprise me we are hearing this report but it's not something i can confirm here. the mayor of the port city

of odesa in ukraine, has told the bbc one of the biggest threats in the black sea region has been taken away after the russian warship — the moskava — sank. the flagship carrier was destroyed after it suffered an explosion and fire. but cities on ukraine's black sea coast remain on alert, our correspondent catherine byaruhanga is in odessa. southern ukraine has lived in fear of russia's navy, which is stationed in the black sea just behind me. this historic city, odesa, which has the country's biggest port, would be a great prize for the invading forces. but so far, russia has been prevented from taking it by land and its navy stopped from reaching its shores. the russian cruiser is believed to have led a fleet of 25—30 ships which have been firing missiles at ukraine. odesa's mayor told me he was relieved that the warship had been destroyed, but he warned that the situation still dangerous.

——was still dangerous. translation: unfortunately, the enemy has missiles, - not only on the cruiser, but also on the land. in crimea too, we can see it as there were attacks in ukraine last night. they were done from the territory of crimea. and there was another reminder of the threat from russia. in the hours after the moskva sank, rockets hit a city to the east of odesa. the army there told the bbc several civilians were injured or killed. there has been no comment from moscow on the attack. the grandmother of a british man has been captain ukraine says she is horrified by images of him being shown on russian tv. there is call for him to be treated humanely. aiden aslin was fighting with ukrainian forces in the besieged city of mariupol, when he told family he was having to surrender to russian forces. here's our correspondent emma vardy. if you're watching this, it means that we've surrendered. the last words to loved ones from within one of the desperate places on earth.

we ran out of ammunition. didn't really have any other choice other than to surrender. for weeks, aiden aslin and his unit defended the heavily—bombarded city of mariupol, holding off russian forces as long as they could. two days ago, his family received a phone call as he explained they were having to surrender. to lay down our arms and head towards the russian soldiers. i knew that the ammunition situation was very low. and they wouldn't have surrendered if they'd still got ammunition. the next time his grandmother and otherfamily members saw him, it was aiden in handcuffs, now a captive, being paraded on russian television. when you see those images, what goes through your mind? i was horrified. absolutely horrified. my heart stopped.

his face is swollen, a nasty gash across his forehead. having seen him, i know he's alive, but i'm not sure if that's a comfort because i don't know really how he's being treated. unlike many other foreign fighters who have travelled to ukraine, aiden was no newcomer. he'd become a marine in ukrainian military in 2018, was engaged to a local girl, and had made the country his adopted home. his family say they can only hope for a prisoner exchange. but this conflict is also a battle of propaganda, in which it's clear aiden is now being used by russia to play a part. emma vardy, bbc news. china is beginning military exercises around taiwan. an army spokesman said they were directed at what he called the "wrong signal" being sent about the island by the united states.

the exercises coincide with a bipartisan visit by six us lawmakers to taipei. the biden administration has repeatedly talked of its "rock—solid" commitment to taiwan. but china regards the self—governing island as an integral part of its territory and a foreign ministry spokesman has condemned the us support for taiwan. democrat senator bob menendez is among those visiting taipei — he spoke about the international importance of taiwan. we are here to support taiwan, our relationship is rock—solid, and when a country like taiwan has 90% of the high end semiconductor industry, it is a country of global significance, of global economic consequence, and those who wish taiwan ill must understand that the global community will look at that and say

we cannot allow taiwan to be negatively impacted because the world's interests are involved. we've had reaction from beijing — the chinese foreign ministry spokesman has criticised what he called negative moves by the united states. it should we adhere to the one china principle, and the patient despite provisions of thejoint principle, and the patient despite provisions of the joint communities and stop us taiwan official exchanges. they should not make any irresponsible remarks. china will continue to take effective measures to resolutely safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity. south african authorities say almost 400 people are now known to have

died during severe floods in kwazulu—natal province — described as the worst in decades. the provincial premier said almost 41,000 people have been affected around the city of durban. with more bad weather predicted over the easter weekend, there are concerns of further destruction and deaths. the ground is already saturated and water levels are dangerously high. the bbc�*s vumani mkize sent this report from durban. the mountains of debris and junk washed up on the beach are an indication of the severity of the floodwaters that ravaged the city. waste pickers salvaged what they can to recycle and sell, while residents also removed the washed up debris. volunteers and waste pickers have begun what is a monumental clean—up operation here at the durban beachfront. as you can see behind me, the scale of the debris that was washed away by the raging waters is immense. unfortunately, for the kwazulu—natal province, more bad weather

is expected over the easter weekend, which is going to hamper the clean—up operations. while the torrential rains and mudslides could not be avoided, residents say infrastructure degradation in the city contributed to the severity of the floods. we watched street cleaners sweeping rubbish into the drains because i think they have just never been trained properly. there is no understanding of consequence of your actions. i watched all the time and it's such a pet peeve because definitely things could have been less catastrophic if we had better drainage and if we took care of the drainage that we do have. looking at all the debris we have, there is no way that we are going to make it. it is sad it had to happen on the easter weekend when everyone was looking forward to it, but if you can't clean the water, the next best is to help clean up the beach. over 13,000 houses were damaged by the floods. authorities say they will assist residents rebuilding their homes by providing financial relief. what we have is a policy as well for the areas,

is to provide a voucher system once the structure is declared as structurally intact, then the family can receive a voucher to the maximum of 8,000, to be able to benefit, and get material to be able to close their roofs. the rebuilding process here will be long and expensive. residents of the city, the events of this week will linger long after the floodwaters have receded. more than 150 palestinians have been injured in clashes with israeli police at the al—aqsa mosque in occupied eastjerusalem. three israeli police were also hurt. tensions have been high in recent weeks as the fasting month of ramadan coincides with passover forjewish people, and easter for christians. israeli police said they entered the mosque to disperse a crowd, after rocks were thrown ontojewish worshippers at the western wall below. here's our middle east

correspondent yolande knell. as day broke injerusalem's old city, sacred to three faiths, tensions were rising at its most bitterly contested site. israeli police say they moved in to disperse a riot by palestinian muslims at the al—aqsa mosque. 0fficers fired stun grenades and rubber bullets. palestinians threw stones and firecrackers. the violence came inside the doors of the mosque. it takes hours for a fragile calm to set in and we meet 0mar joining the clean—up. he came for ramadan prayers. we just want to pray, and it's really heartbreaking to see one of your holy sites, coming from 80 kilometres away, just to get this type of behaviour against you. i am speechless.

nearby, it's a special day for christians — thousands have come for easter and to walk the traditional way of the cross. it's incredible, it's a miracle to be here, to share this holy friday with all the people and to pray for everybody. we pray here for the peace. for now, those prayers are not answered. the overlapping religious holidays were always going to raise tensions here the old city. people of different faiths are celebrating, but these narrow streets feel more on edge after the recent deadly violence and today's clashes. elsewhere in jerusalem, a jewish ritual. families are burning the bread banned during passover which begins tonight. ilana says the holiday�*s overshadowed by attacks in israel which have killed 14 people.

you can't help thinking what will be the passover experience of those families who weren't expecting to have one person less at their table. it is really a national pain. this should be a joyful time for palestinians and israelis. instead, it's an uneasy one. the lesson from history is that confrontations which start inside these ancient walls can easily slide into a wider conflict. england men's cricket captain joe root has stepped down after five years. his position had been in doubt since a humiliating 4—0 drubbing in the ashes, followed by defeat at the hands of the west indies. root has the record for the number of test series as captain — but has secured only one victory in the last 17 matches. patrick gearey reports. sometimes you don't need scores or even words, just a face. this was joe root at the end

of england's series defeat, to west indies, their fourth in a row, and that would prove to be the end of his captaincy. this morning a statement closed the end of five year innings. he saidi he said i have lovely my contribute recently, it has hit home of how much of the toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game. eventually, you do start to realise, however passionate you are about the job, thosejobs grab you. you never really wanted to give it up. one of the things you have to say is it's a result—giving game, if you are not getting wins, which was what was happening for the last 12 months, something has to change. joe root has long been england's anchor, the outstanding batter of his generation. and another magnificent hundred from joe root! he had never been a permanent county captain when he was chosen to lead his country in 2017, a fresh and cheerful face to take the team forward. he had captained england for more tests than anyone else in history

and won more matches as well. when lockdown forced the squad into bubbles, root led them through it but this would be the closest he got to the ashes, his team unable to win any of the series against australia, their most recent defeat came as part of a run of one win in 17 tests but nevertheless he thought he could see a path through. it wasn't to be but he will carry on in the team, those who run english cricket talk of a reset, that has been the off switch for the now captain, all three jobs remain unfilled. english cricket at the moment is in a void, and the people who will appointjoe root�*s successor have not themselves been appointed yet, so it's a crazy situation. who's a next? maybe england will send for their superman, ben stokes, a world class all—rounder but has taken time away from the game

recently to look after his mental health and as root�*s friend, he'll know what is involved in one of english sport's most stressful jobs. it's been confirmed that the duke and duchess of sussex met the queen at windsor yesterday, afterflying into the uk. prince harry and meghan are now in the hague, in the netherlands, for the start of the invictus games. the couple hadn't been in the uk together since they stepped down as senior royals more than two years ago. it's been the hottest day of the year so far in the uk — and roads and railways have been busy as millions of people try to get away for an easter break. the good weather resulted in delays in south and south west england as motorists headed for the coast, or tried to travel via the port of dover. and there's major disruption on some rail lines because of bank holiday engineering works — there are no trains at all in or out of london's euston station. tim muffett has the latest. the long weekend. with queues to match. we are a little bit worried about traffic.

that's why we came very early. it's easter weekend, the perfect storm, isn't it? exactly what you don't want it to be. in dover, just as holiday—makers are leaving, p&0 has suspended its ferry services. post—brexit lorry checks are also said to be adding to the challenge. it's the first bank holiday since all covid travel restrictions were lifted in the uk. the rac estimates more than 22 million carjourneys will take place this weekend. the message clearly is plan your trip well in advance, make sure your car is ready for a journey as well. in lots of cases, this is the first long—distance trip people have taken this year. at woolley edge services in west yorkshire, for many motorists, the heavy traffic was worth it. had a long—planned celebration of my husband's 80th birthday, so we are gathering in sheffield. my family said it has to be easter because the children are off school and we're off work.

just a hassle at the - airport at the moment. i'd rather... i don't know now. stick on the motorway or get stuck in manchester airport. _ i think this is the lesser evil. despite recent disruption, queues at manchester airport were said today to be moving steadily. but on what has been the hottest day of the year so far, some rail services have been disrupted. london's euston station is closed all weekend, as is the west coast main line between london and milton keynes. now that could pose a challenge for liverpool and manchester city fans planning to travel to wembley tomorrow for their fa cup semifinal. the work has to be done at some time. adam has multiple sclerosis and has decided not to travel to the match. at the start of the season, most sensible people will have said two of the best teams in the country are liverpool and manchester city. so there was a fairly good chance that one, if not both, of those teams would get

into the fa cup semifinal. the fa cup semifinal is pretty much always this weekend and yet there's all these rail works going on. network rail says 95% of its services will be unaffected by planned engineering work this weekend. as ever, the advice is to check yourjourney before you set off. tim muffett, bbc news. twitter�*s board of directors has announced the company is taking action to fend off a hostile takeover bid from the billionaire, elon musk. the firm said it had adopted a shareholder rights plan which would make it difficult for mr musk to increase his stake in twitter beyond 15%. more on that one of the stories you've been watching a bbc news on our website. you can get in touch with me on twitter. you can watch dateline with my colleague in a moment. they with us. —— stay with

us. many of us have had some good weather in the last couple of days, and today, friday, warmest day of the year so far with warmth damages of up to 22 degrees in london. 20 degrees reached in many other areas. saturday should be about as warm again with sunny spells on the way. a few look at the satellite picture, there is this a swell of cloud, it is a low pressure centred just to the west of northern ireland. in fact, if you look at the satellite picture, there's this swirl of cloud. it's a low pressure centre just to the west of northern ireland. that's dragging in a lot of low—grade cloud from the southern climes. in fact, you can see that wind here, just a gentle breeze.

it's pushing the grey skies into cornwall, devon overnight, wales, again around the irish sea, and pretty cloudy in western and northern scotland. so here a cloudy night and indeed a cloudy morning. elsewhere, it should be sunny right from the word go. so let's have a look at the forecast then for saturday. it starts off slow out towards the west. sunshine for many parts of central britain and indeed the afternoon is looking beautiful. highs should reach around 20 degrees in london, in birmingham, not far off that in liverpool, newcastle, the high teens, but a lot fresher in the north of scotland, actually, only eight degrees for our friends in lerwick. now, let's have a look at the weather map for sunday, and there is a weather front on the way. in fact, it does spell thick cloud and rain for northern ireland, western scotland eventually, and possibly areas further south and east as well. so here it is in the morning. it approaches northern ireland. you can see it's raining. western isles pretty wet too, and just about that cloud, just about nudging into wales and the south—west of england as well but, further towards the east, it's again another sunny day. a sunny sunday with highs up to 19

in london and 17 in newcastle. now, beyond that, the weather is going to turn a little more unsettled. we're expecting the low pressure to near us. it's actually going to be flirting with the south—west of the uk. but, elsewhere, actually, easter monday is looking pretty decent, bar the odd shower here and there. temperatures a little lower. it's because the winds are coming off the atlantic and, in fact, much lower across more northern areas — only around 12 degrees, for example, in glasgow. have a great weekend.

hello, i'm shaun ley. welcome to the programme which brings together leading uk columnists and the foreign correspondents who write, blog and broadcast to audiences in their own countries from the dateline: london. in the studio today are agnes poirier of the french news magazine and website marianne, michael goldfarb, former foreign correspondent with us public radio, now host of the frdh podcast — that's the first rough draft of history — catherine pepinster is a former editor of the catholic newspaper the tablet, and writes in british newspapers on politics, religion and ethics.