this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: the siege of mariupol may be nearing its end — russia claims it's taken control of almost all of the city. president zelensky warns if his remaining troops are killed peace negotations with moscow will be over. the mayor of kyiv urges people to stay away from the capital as further missile attacks could take place. the death toll rises in south africa following heavy flooding, with a warning more rain may be on the way. orchestral music. james bond theme. and, shaken and stirred — the orchestra trying to raise spirits on the streets of ukraine.

president zelensky says peace talks with russia will come to a halt if russian forces kill all of the ukrainian troops defending mariupol. russia now claims to have cleared the whole urban area of the besieged city, with the exception of the azovstal metal works, adjoining the port. meanwhile, the mayor of kyiv is warning residents not to return, following another missile attack on saturday. from there, our correspondent, mark lowen, reports. russian revenge. an early morning strike on a military factory in kyiv by long—range missiles. a message from moscow that russian troops may have retreated from the capital, but they can still hit hard.

it came after ukraine says it struck and sank the russian warship the moskva, though russia claims it was caused by a fire. its pride of the black sea, now buried beneath it. well, the industrial complex that was hit is behind this wall. you can still see the smoke there in the distance from the explosion. now, ukraine shows every intention in this war of continuing and stepping up its fightback, and the fear here in kyiv is that russian retaliatory strikes might now intensify. a hint of normality was creeping back to this city, with shops reopening and people emerging from shelters. but now a reminder that the threat is still present, even from afar. tatiana hoped her customers would soon start to return, but she and her neighbourhood have had a terrifying wake—up call. translation: the floor was shaking and it felt like an earthquake.

it was very frightening. these days, we sleep fully clothed with our bags packed, so we are ready to flee. translation: i woke up all of a sudden, like i wasjolted out of a nightmare. we wanted to leave kyiv, but we trust our military so decided to stay. but now i think i'll always feel nervous when i hear explosions. despite the onslaught, ukraine's resolve remains. its defender in chief rewarding those who have stepped up to the fight. the president at war, boosting morale, and again appealing for arms today, though russia warned the west to stop the supply. translation: the more and the sooner we get all the weapons we have requested, the stronger our position will be and the sooner there will be peace. gunfire but any hope of that is being drowned out by the ferocious assault in the east. this, the city of lysychansk, a foreshadowing of what ukraine

fears will be even greater battles ahead. warning siren here in kyiv, the city is back on high alert. danger from a distance still lethally close. mark lowen, bbc news, kyiv. the russian government has said that if ukrainian soldiers still fighting in mariupol lay down their weapons in the next seven hours, that their safety would be guaranteed. for a closer look at the situation, i'm joined now by our news reporter azadah moshiri. good to see you. we have had this ultimatum from russia. what more do we know about it? yellow it's been such a concern and focus are russia, heavily bombarded throughout the war, mariupol, so much shelling that it is not an exaggeration to say the city is in ruins at. now russia has said the remaining ukrainian soldiers there have ours to lay down their arms and, if they do,

they will be given all the projections that the geneva convention offers prisoners of war and their lives will be spared. in terms of the battle there, russia is claiming it has cleared out most of the ukrainian soldiers except about 2500, holed up in a large steel plant outside the outskirts of mariupol, and that the exit is currently blocked by russian soldiers. bbc has not been able to verify the claim but russia says it will broadcast the offer every 30 minutes, so the soldiers are aware of when it expires. president zelensky did address the comments earlier. translation: the address the comments earlier. translation: the elimination of our tr00ps. _ translation: the elimination of ourtrooras. of— translation: the elimination of our troops, of our _ translation: the elimination of our troops, of our men _ translation: the elimination of our troops, of our men in - our troops, of our men in mariupol, put an end to any negotiations. there is a humanitarian crisis. there is a lack of food, water, medicine

but the guys are heroically defending themselves. we are grateful to them for that but gratitude is not enough. the negotiations are in process. honestly, there is no trust in the russian negotiators in mariupol. the russian negotiators in mariunol-_ the russian negotiators in mariuol. ., ., mariupol. you could hear him referrin: mariupol. you could hear him referring to — mariupol. you could hear him referring to the _ mariupol. you could hear him referring to the humanitarian| referring to the humanitarian situation on the ground and with heard reports that russia will bar people from entering the city from monday. what will that do to rescue efforts? that is riaht, that do to rescue efforts? that is right. an _ that do to rescue efforts? that is right, an official— that do to rescue efforts? that is right, an official said - that do to rescue efforts? twat is right, an official said that but the deputy mare said that that has been the situation for a while now. it's been so difficult for ngos to get to azovstal metal works —— azovstal metal works — — mariupol and azovstal metal works —— mariupol and it seems so much shelling, many times they cannot get there to help residents flee. there are exceptions. there were more than 360 residents who managed to make it to the nearby town of zaporizhzhia on friday but

many times i have to take the risk on their own because they are so desperate to flee, meaning crossing all of these checkpoints on their own without the help of the eight agencies. russia insists it has corridors open, some towards russia and some towards towns like zaporizhzhia but either way, that residents who are desperate to flee, without food, water, electricity, the situation is so dire that the head of the world food progamme is saying they are at risk of starving to death. just reminders, _ starving to death. just reminders, why - starving to death. just reminders, why is - starving to death. just reminders, why is mariupol so important to russia? if reminders, why is mariupol so important to russia?- important to russia? if they are able to _ important to russia? if they are able to take _ important to russia? if they are able to take over - important to russia? if they are able to take over that i important to russia? if they l are able to take over that port city in the southern eastern area, it may mean they can create a corridor between the donbas and crimea and also cut off ukraine from the black sea and from maritime trade. to put it simply, it would be a victory. it is something that president putin can point you as an achievement and it could also stagger and halt ukraine's

economy for many years to come. thank you. well, earlier i spoke to nina khrushcheva, who's a professor of international affairs at the new school in new york. she is also the great—granddaughter of nikita khrushchev, the leader of the soviet union during the cuban missile crisis. i asked her what, if anything, will make president putin stop. president putin is still president putin, i think, but i don't really think that volodymyr zelensky�*s pleas will really work for putin at all because the russians, the russian side, already said that the ukrainian side has been withdrawing from negotiations, changing its position, so the fact that zelensky now says that there will be no negotiations if soldiers in mariupol won't get killed, probably for putin it is not a surprise. it is possible that mariupol

will fall and it is possible by may 9th, i am sure you know, there is a victory day, world war ii victory day on may 9, so there are rumours back and forth that putin would like to stop the war, at least declare some sort of victory by then. so it is possible that with the taking of mariupol, that could be one of those prizes, a sort of declaration for at least the completion of this stage of the war. but, once again, i think putin knows only what putin knows. we have heard numerous accusations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, claims of chemical weapons being used, what are president putin's limits? once again, i mean, we don't know. even those who expected horrible things from putin, like me, and a lot of others, i am still completelyjust stunned by the brutality that is being exerted on ukraine altogether,

and it does seem that at the beginning at least, there was sort of a more cordial approach to the war but once ukrainians started fighting back and hitting back, then the russians became as brutal as possible, and also they have been changing troops a lot and i think the russian guard has been particularly, and also the chechen battalions from north caucasus, they have been particularly brutal. so, it actually depends what kind of troops they have, but generally, i think this war is really the one that putin plans to win and plans to win at any cost. that is suggesting if he needs to declare victory and he may need to use tactical nuclear weapons, i am not predicting that but that could be one of the options that the russians may be prepared to use, because some of the people in the government have already vented this idea as a possibility.

the russian mythology and the kremlin current mythology is that khrushchev was giving away land and putin now is a gatherer of them. i don't think it is the soviet union, i think it is much more the traditions of russian i,000—year—long history, and as we all know, ukraine... i mean kyiv was the... kievan rus' was the proto—state for both russians and ukrainians, and putin feels that if he unites the lands of the past, of history, he would be as important as all the other greats in russian history, vladimir the great, the original kievan prince, peter the great, catherine the great, stalin the great, and then it would be vladimir the first, putin the great. the south african president, cyril ramaphosa, has postponed an official visit to saudi arabia in order to focus on devastating floods in the province of kwa—zulu natal.

almost 400 people are known to have died in the past week and rescue teams are searching for dozens more who're still missing. more than 13,000 homes have been damaged in the disaster, leaving many without shelter, food or water. there are fears of further floods as rain falls on saturated ground. these are the deadliest storms to hit the coastal city of durban in living memory. as rescue operations continue across kwa—zulu natal, our team witnessed an attempt to recover two bodies, including that of an 8—year—old child. the bbc�*s vumani mkhize was there. this is an informal settlement in reservoir hills just north of durban. behind me, there is a recovery operation by a rescue team that is from outside of the province. i am told by the community that two people are missing, a youngster, around eight years old, and someone who is also over the age of 30. so, the rescue team has also got a dog that has been sniffing

and i am told that the dog has been able to identify that there are remains down there. so, it is quite a sombre moment or a sombre situation right now. we've got members of the community who are looking on, and it is quite sad to witness. just looking around here, all of the cars and the debris that has been strewn all over here isjust an indication of how violent the waters must have been when they were coming through all along this community. it has been utterly, utterly devastating. just looking at all the houses as well, you can see that this is quite a poor and impoverished area and they're not really well—built, and they could not actually sustain the torrent of the waters that came through here. i am also told that there are a number of other search and rescue operations also taking place all around this area and this community, and so the number of dead is steadily rising, and it isjust an unfortunate consequence of the violence

of the floods that took place here in kwazulu—natal. this is bbc news, a reminder of the headlines: the siege of mariupol may be nearing its end, russia claims it's taken control of almost all of the city. president zelensky warns if his remaining troops are killed, peace negotations with moscow will be over. residents have begun returning to devastated towns on the outskirts of the ukrainian capital, following weeks of russian occupation. 0ur correspondent anna foster has been to meet some of them to learn how a community, like those in the town of bucha, where forensic experts are investigating a mass grave, begin to recover, in the wake of a brutal occupation. as life returns to bucha, the signs of death are still everywhere. by the roadside, vladimir putin's tanks lie in ruins.

russia took this town and tried to destroy it — notjust its buildings, but the spirit of its people. denys davidoff stayed in bucha throughout the occupation. when the russians left, he walked these streets and filmed the horrors he found. translation: when i arrived, i saw the street with dead - bodies. corpses were lying all over the place. ijust walked around them and they were everywhere. i wasn't scared, but it was intense. you got used to it, during the month of occupation. bucha is now known as a crime scene. forensic experts are gathering its evidence. but it's also a community, a place people called home and want to again. translation: you always want to come back home. | so we used our first chance to return, as well, and we used our chance to make sure that all property is safe, even from locals that might

come and steal something. sergei shows me an open grave. his neighbour, killed by russian soldiers, lay here. when sergei returned home, he wanted to finally give him a dignified burial. the people of bucha are dealing with what they've been through. but they aren't entirely safe just yet. this spent casing of a huge rocket is only about 30 metres from the nearest house, and you see sights like this all over this part of ukraine at the moment. and as people start to come back and re—establish their lives, there is now a big job to be done to clear away things like this and make this area safe. for now, the remains of the russian occupation are part of life here. sights like this — a curious tourist attraction. eventually, the physical

reminders of the cruelty that was inflicted will be gone. but for the people of bucha, the memories will remain. anna foster, bbc news, kyiv. the city of shanghai has been in strict lockdown for the last three weeks, prompting growing unrest amongst its 25 million citizens. while china is well known for keeping tight control of what can, and cannot, be said online, an increasing number of videos are being shared on social media, showing confrontations between citizens and officials, as well as the desperate situation many people are facing. to find out more about how these posts are evading chinese censors, i spoke to james griffiths, our reporter based in hong kong and the author of "the great firewall of china." it's good to think about it as a system of two halves. 0ne it's good to think about it as a system of two halves. one is the international censorship which most people are familiar with, that's the blocks on facebook, twitter, google, things like is essentially a

firewall like in your office or university that people are familiar with but the most kind of effective censorship, the kind that most people deal with in china is the kind that happens within china's internet companies, social media sites like weibo, they have both aia and legions of human staff that are looking at what people are talking about and deleting stuff that the government doesn't want you to talk about and are monitoring things at all times. and are monitoring things at all times-— and are monitoring things at all times. ~ ., , all times. we mentioned these osts all times. we mentioned these posts that _ all times. we mentioned these posts that are _ all times. we mentioned these posts that are starting - all times. we mentioned these posts that are starting to - posts that are starting to trickle out from shanghai, have we seen anything like this before in china? i we seen anything like this before in china?— before in china? i think if we're talking _ before in china? i think if we're talking about - before in china? i think if. we're talking about context before in china? i think if- we're talking about context of the pandemic it smacks slightly of the earliest months of it when the outbreak was in wuhan and we saw a lot of anger around the death of one of the whistleblowers, and that overwhelmed efforts to censor it because they share amount of

posts made it very difficult at that time and we have seen a similar thing with shanghai, a city of 26 million people, most of whom are now locked up at home and don't really have anything else to do except post online and are very, very angry and have a lot of content of a ledge at mistreatment and abuse at the hands of the authorities, of horrible stories of struggling to get food and the share amount of posts we saw earlier this week was proving difficult for certain platforms to control. how risky is it for ordinary chinese citizens to be sharing videos that the authorities might not be happy with? i might not be happy with? i think there is a degree to which there is safety in numbers. if you are in shanghai uploading a video, potentially there is enough other people doing it that you are not going to be the one that gets in trouble but should a single video that is linked to a particular person come to have a lot of impact online and get in more trouble, maybe you could get a call from the authorities. again, the

situation in shanghai is so chaotic that we might not really see that happening and for people that are just sharing content, not really uploading it themselves, there is maybe not too much risk although their accounts may get deleted and obviously the posts are already getting taken down. and the posts that have got through the filters, how are they being received by citizens elsewhere in china which if they were just watching state—co ntrolled they were just watching state—controlled media may not have had any idea? that state-controlled media may not have had any idea?— have had any idea? that is a really interesting _ have had any idea? that is a really interesting question i really interesting question because they think it is important to remember even when we see shanghai and other lockdowns around china, china is a huge country and most of china has not experienced a lock down. people are not really experienced these severe restrictions, so they are greeting this content with much of the same reaction as we are outside of china, the real shock and being appalled by it and i think there has been a lot of anger we have seen in the last couple of days, a lot of posts by government media and government officials have been flooded with comments of

people sharing content from shanghai because they are really angry about the way the government has handled this and i think maybe people outside of china don't realise just how important or how impactful something like this happening in shanghai is. this is china's largest and most developed cities so if it can go so wrong there i think a lot of people are concerned that it could go just as wrong where they live. let's get some of the day's other news. state—run media in north korea says the country's leader, kim jong—un has overseen the latest in a series of weapons tests. the official news agency said the new type of guided weapon system would improve the firepower of its artillery. last month, pyongyang carried out its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile test for five years. eight days ahead of the crucial presidential run—off vote, the french president has offered supporters five years of national renewal, if he's re—elected. at a campaign event

in marseille, emmanuel macron warned people of the dangers he said were posed by his far—right rival, marine le pen. he said the country risked turning inwards, and becoming divided. six people have been arrested after climate change activists climbed on to an oil tanker in central london. the demonstration, which was organised by extinction rebellion, blocked a road near hyde park. prince harry has praised the bravery of ukrainian competitors at this year's invictus games, which are being held in the netherlands. he told the crowd at the opening ceremony that the world was united with ukraine. anna holligan reports. hollywood royalty came to see the real stars of this show, wounded veterans and serving soldiers, sharing stories of resilience to inspire and unify, while their children gave prince harry and meghan a unique perspective. if there is anywhere in europe that prince harry and meghan can be guaranteed a warm reception then it's here at invictus.

these games, of course, created by harry as a celebration of comradeship and that is exactly what they are experiencing here in the hague today. it is about inspiring others to get out there, no matter what their injury or illness is, to get out there and take part in sport because it is amazing for people's mental health. my two young boys can see me run for the first time, and no matter where i come, if i cross the finish line, that is it. that is what i'm here for, to prove to them that mummy's good, mum can do stuff. invictus competitors are selected by their countries, not on account of their ability, but the degree to which taking part can help their recovery. team ukraine has lost four members in combat since the start of the russian invasion. many of those here today will return to front line duties straight after invictus. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. for nearly two months now the people of ukraine have been

dealing with life in a warzone. many have been killed, others have left the country. everyone else tries to make the best of things. in the city of dnipro, a group of local musicians are hoping to lift spirits, as the bbc�*s tim allman reports. orchestra plays james bond theme. the people of this city and this country have been both shaken and stirred, so what better to meet the mood than a little james bond? these musicians, some from a local academy, have grouped together to form a street orchestra, bringing a little hope in these troubled times. translation: the idea came doubt that we need to play i for people, especially nowadays, to bring some positivity to people at a difficult time. head north to the besieged city of kharkiv and the best place

to he is underground. 0leksandr and anton put on a puppet show for the children who have to shelter here. a distraction for a moment or two at least from the bombardment this city is having to endure. translation: for me, | the exchange of emotion is very important. we give the children our emotions and they give us theirs and that lifts our spirits. we can't name it, you have to feel it when you see the reaction. and in the capital kyiv, an easter vigil takes place, another moment of normality in a country where that is now rare. they pray for salvation, they pray for an end to war. tim allman, bbc news.

and that's it from me for now. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. from me and the rest of the team, thanks for watching and we will see you next time. hello. saturday was a day of more widespread warmth across the uk, and for many, easter sunday is a repeat performance. for many, not all, because this would suggest there is some different weather on the way the further west you are. and that initially the case in northern ireland and in north—west scotland, with cloud and some outbreaks of rain as the day begins. it will be coolest in east anglia, down to two or three degrees in places. for most, it is clear to begin with, there will be a few mist and fog patches around. but we do have this atlantic weather front with cloud and outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, initially in the western counties in the morning, slowly moving further east into the afternoon before

it gets into belfast, and affecting parts of western scotland initially the north—western western isles butjust edging a little further east going through the afternoon and into the evening, though glasgow could well stay dry until then. and some rain into cornwall and westernmost counties of wales. cooler with the rain, but elsewhere, 20, maybe 21 degrees in plenty of sunshine. more of wales, the western side of england, western scotland seeing the rain in the evening, there will be clearing to showers in northern ireland. it does push east overnight and into monday morning, but look how it weakens, so if you do want some rain in central and eastern parts of england, you are likely to be disappointed. now, as the weather front clears on through into easter monday and it is behind it, well, still perhaps some spells of rain towards north—west scotland where it will be quite windy, and windy, too, in northern ireland. but there willjust be a few showers moving on behind this front. it is, though, ushering in cooler air, not cold, just temperatures closer to average for the time of year on monday. but as it has gone through, there will be quite a bit of fine weather around on monday, still.

broken clouds, sunny spells, the chance of a shower, more especially in the north and west and mainly for northern ireland, and into western scotland. north—west scotland could well see some longer spells of rain. it will be blustery across north—western parts, breezy elsewhere, and, yes, those temperatures are closer to average, though still above in the east and south—east of england. a greater chance for showers on tuesday in wales and the southern half of england. some could be quite heavy, we could see some rain into parts of northern ireland and western scotland. and then beyond that as the week goes on, an easterly wind moves in. that is still with a lot of dry weather around, just a few showers, but it will keep temperatures close to average, if not below, especially in eastern areas.

this is bbc news, the headlines: russia says its troops have completely cleared ukrainian forces from the besieged and heavily bombarded city of mariupol after weeks of intense fighting, apart from one location. president volodymyr zelensky has warned peace talks with russia would come to a halt if the remaining troops in mariupol were killed. the mayor of kyiv has told people who've fled the ukrainian capital not to return yet. vitali klitschko warned of further russian missile attacks in northern parts of the city. he said at least one person had been killed and several others were wounded in strikes early on saturday.

authorities in south africa say the number