this is bbc news. i'm maryam moshiri. the headlines. hours after russia's flagship vessel sinks in the black sea, moscow threatens to increase its attacks near the outskirts of ukraine's capital. we've surrendered. a british man fighting for ukraine is captured by russian forces. his family plead for his safety. i know he's a life but i'm not sure if that's a comfort because i don't know really how he is being treated. almost 400 people have died in severe floods in kwazulu—natal, 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. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk, on pbs in the us, or around the world. 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 overnight, 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. 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 moskva sank. but cities on ukraine's black sea coast remain on alert. our correspondent catherine byaruhanga is in odesa. 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 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. joining me now is the washington post's national security reporter dan lamothe. it's good to talk to you, thanks for joining us. let me ask you first of all, do we have any more information potentially from us security forces about what happened here? there are two mexico different stories put out by the ukrainians and russians that mexico there are two different stories. fix. mexico there are two different stories. �* , ., . stories. a senior defence official told me they — stories. a senior defence official told me they believe _ stories. a senior defence official told me they believe the - stories. a senior defence official. told me they believe the ukrainians did strike this ship, it would have been late wednesday, with two neptune anti—ship missiles which are ukrainian made missiles. the ship was able to move east for a period of time on wednesday night into thursday, and at some point it

started to actually think. 50 thursday, and at some point it started to actually think. so what more do we _ started to actually think. so what more do we know— started to actually think. so what more do we know about - started to actually think. so what more do we know about these i started to actually think. so what - more do we know about these missiles and the significance of the fact they were neptune once, so they were ukrainian built?— ukrainian built? yes, i think in liuht of ukrainian built? yes, i think in light of all— ukrainian built? yes, i think in light of all of— ukrainian built? yes, i think in light of all of the _ ukrainian built? yes, i think in light of all of the help - ukrainian built? yes, i think in light of all of the help the - ukrainian built? yes, i think in - light of all of the help the western world is giving ukraine, all of the different weapons that britain and the united states and other countries are sending in i think it's notable ukraine also has the ability and has created their own weapons that have proven useful. these are actually made in ukraine. it's an old soviet missile they upgraded and started using about a year ago. upgraded and started using about a ear auo. . ~' upgraded and started using about a ear ao. . ~ ., year ago. talked me through the significance _ year ago. talked me through the significance of _ year ago. talked me through the significance of the _ year ago. talked me through the significance of the sinking - year ago. talked me through the significance of the sinking office | significance of the sinking office vessel. , , ., ., , ., significance of the sinking office vessel. , , ., ., ., vessel. this is going to be a hard thin for vessel. this is going to be a hard thing for russia _ vessel. this is going to be a hard thing for russia to _ vessel. this is going to be a hard thing for russia to overcome. . vessel. this is going to be a hard i thing for russia to overcome. there are only three ships like this russian possession, this particular kind of cruiser, and there is no other ship like this in the black sea. in light of turkey basically closing the back seat are any ships

that are not already there, not already home ported in the black sea, russia is unlikely to be able to replace this particular vessel with something similar. what to replace this particular vessel with something similar. what does this mean for— with something similar. what does this mean for the _ with something similar. what does this mean for the black _ with something similar. what does this mean for the black sea - with something similar. what does this mean for the black sea area i with something similar. what does i this mean for the black sea area and the war in that vicinity, if you like? ., the war in that vicinity, if you like? . , ., ,, ., like? there are still other russian shi -s in like? there are still other russian ships in the _ like? there are still other russian ships in the black _ like? there are still other russian ships in the black sea, _ like? there are still other russian ships in the black sea, but - like? there are still other russian ships in the black sea, but this i like? there are still other russian. ships in the black sea, but this was the flagship. this ship had significant firepower. it has been used to launch cruise missiles into ukraine. they are going to miss it, they are certainly going to miss it was like dan, it's good to talk to you, talking to us from the washington post. the grandmother of a british man who has been captured in ukraine says she's horrified by images of him being shown on russian tv, and has called 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. 0ur 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. chinese foreign ministry spokesman zhao lijian has described the us lawmakers�* visit to taiwan as a "negative move". translation: members of the us concress translation: members of the us congress should _ translation: members of the us congress should adhere _ translation: members of the us congress should adhere to - translation: members of the us congress should adhere to the - translation: members of the us congress should adhere to the onej congress should adhere to the one china principle and provisions of the three china us joint communiques and stop us and 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 mkhize has 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 watch it 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, 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. for 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 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 0marjoining the clean up. he came for ramadan prayers. you just want to pray. and it's really heartbreaking to see one of your holy sites, you come from like 80 kilometres away, just to get this type of behaviour against you. i'm 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 and to share this holy friday with all the people and to pray for everybody. we pray here for the peace. but for now, those prayers aren't answered. the overlapping religious holidays were always going to raise tensions here in 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. elana 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? and it's really a national pain. this should be a joyful time for palestinians and israelis, but 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. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. 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%. england men's cricket captain joe root has stepped 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 last month, theirfourth in a row. and that would prove to be the end of his captaincy. this morning, a statement marked the close of a five—year innings. root said... eventually, you do start to realise that, however passionate you might be about the job, and it's one of those jobs that does grab you, you never really want to give it up, no matter how bad things are. one of the things you have to say is that it's a results—driven game. if you're not getting wins, which is what basically has been happening for the last 12 months, at some stage, something has to change. joe root has long been england's anchor, the outstanding batter of his generation. that is another magnificent 100 for root.

he does a jump and a skip forjoy. he'd 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'd captained england for more tests than anyone else in history, and win more matches, too. when lockdown forced the squad into bio—secure bubbles, root led them through it. but this would be as close as he got to the ashes. his england team were unable to win any of the three series they played against australia. their most recent defeat came as part of a run of one win in 17 tests. nevertheless, root 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's meant the off switch for the managing director, coach, and now the captain — all three jobs remain unfilled. you have to say that english cricket, at the moment, is in a real void, there's a vacuum there. and the people who will appoint joe root�*s successor haven't themselves been appointed yet. so, it's a pretty crazy situation.

so, who's in next? well, maybe england will send for their superman, ben stokes. he's 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 knowjust what's involved in one of english sport's most stressful jobs. patrick gearey, bbc news the duke and duchess of sussex have arrived at the invictus games in the netherlands, after stopping off to visit the queen on their way there. this is the first time prince harry and meghan have appeared in europe in public together since stepping back as senior royals in 2020. prince harry founded the games to help injured military veterans. this year's games start on saturday and run until 22nd april. 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 southwest 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. christians around the world are celebrating good friday. in the vatican, in italy, pope francis has been leading the day's worship. he celebrated mass in st peter's basilica, presiding over the good friday liturgy of the lord's passion.

on saturday evening, the 85—year old pontiff will hold the easter vigil. that will be followed by easter mass on sunday morning. there, he will perform the traditional urbi et 0rbi blessing. in the french capital, paris, people congregated outside notre dame on the third anniversary of the fire which devastated the famous cathedral. an army of workers is racing to clear layers of soot and restore the building in time for its scheduled reopening for the 2024 olympics. around 700,000 people prayed during the way of the cross in the polish town of kalwaria zebrzydowska. the town is known as polish jerusalem. the tradition of its easter celebrations goes back to the 17th century. and in the czech republic town ceske budejovice, marchers disguised in white masks walked with wooden rattles to mark the christian holiday. tradition has it that the noise of the rattles is supposed

to scare awayjudas, who, christians believe, bobbin that's it from me, bye—bye. hello, many of us have had good weather. high is up to 22 degrees in london, 20 degrees reached in many other areas, and saturday should be about as warm again with sunny spells on the way, but not necessarily for everybody right from the word go. in fact if you look at the word go. in fact if you look at the satellite picture this a swirl of cloud. it's a low pressure centre just to the west of northern ireland. that's dragging on a lot of low—grade cloud from the southern climes, in fact, you can see the wind here, just a gentle breeze. it's pushing the grey skies into cornwall and devon overnight, wales, around the irish sea, and pretty

cloudy in western and northern scotland. here, a cloudy night and a cloudy morning, elsewhere it should be sunny right from the word go. let's have a look at the forecast for saturday. it starts off slow out towards the west. sunshine for many parts of central britain and indeed the afternoon is looking beautiful stop 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, only 8 degrees in lerwick. let's look at the weather map for sunday. there is a weather front on the way. in fact it does spell for cloud and rain for northern ireland, western scotland eventually, and possibly areas further south and east as well. here it is in the morning. it approaches northern ireland. you can see it's raining. western isles pretty wet too. the 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. sunny sunday, with highs up to 19 in london and 17 in newcastle. beyond that, the weather is going to turn a little more unsettled. we are expecting the low pressure near us, it's 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 because the winds are coming off the atlantic and in fact much lower across more northern areas, only around 12 degrees in glasgow. have a great weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines: and iconic russian warship sinks in the black sea, ukraine says its missiles hit the vessel. moscow threats and to increase its attacks on the outskirts of kyiv. south african officials confirm is foreign to people have died due to severe floods at its eastern province the deadly storms have struck the coastal area since living memory. more than 130 palestinians are injured in clashes with israeli police actress and's holy site. some

50,000 worshippers