this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories... russia urges ukrainian forces in mariupol to surrender in order to save their lives, but there's no sign yet that they've laid down their arms. president zelensky warns there will be consequences, if russia takes action against the remaining troops in the city. pope francis has urged the call of peace to be heard, in what he called, an " easter of war" as he delivered his urbi et orbi address in st peter's square. the archbishop of canterbury — the most senior cleric in the anglican church — condemns uk government plans to send asylum seekers to rwanda. the death toll rises in south africa — following heavy flooding — with a warning more rain may be on the way.

hello, welcome if you havejust joined us. hello, welcome if you havejustjoined us. there's no sign yet that fighting has stopped in the beseiged ukrainian city of mariupol — despite russia's ultimatum that remaining ukrainian forces there surrender or be killed. ukraine's deputy prime minister has demanded that russian forces open humanitarian corridors from mariupol today to allow citizens and wounded ukrainian troops to be brought out. let me bring you some breaking news. we have just gotten let me bring you some breaking news. we havejust gotten in let me bring you some breaking news. we have just gotten in the last couple of minutes and that is that schelling has killed five people and injured 13 in kharkiv�*s city centre. local health officials have been

cited. the public broadcaster, the bbc equivalent if you like are saying these casualties and fatalities have taken place in kharkiv. we are going to go live to keep. where our correspondent anna foster is. this is all the details that we have presumably for some time. . , ., ., , time. that is normally the time. kharkiv has _ time. that is normally the time. kharkiv has been _ time. that is normally the time. kharkiv has been the _ time. that is normally the time. kharkiv has been the scene - time. that is normally the time. kharkiv has been the scene of. time. that is normally the time. - kharkiv has been the scene of fierce fighting for weeks. i have spoken to families who have managed to flee and describe spending weeks underground, hiding in basement. there was one family where the mother said they had spent five weeks in the basement of a school which was being shelled by russian forces. kharkiv is again strategically important, it is in the northeast of ukraine and it is in that band which russia really are focusing on, really pummeling to try and take that area as they have moved away from places like heave. of course after the sinking of the

russian flagship, there is a feeling that russia might be deciding what their next steps will be, how they will respond to the symbolic below that ukraine has struck. the city of mariupol is important today. there were suggestions that russia would let ukrainian forces surrender, perhaps. that was due to happen this morning. let's get the latest. ukrainian soldiers have fought for mariupol for weeks. this morning, russia gave them just hours to surrender. it said local fighters could choose to admit defeat and leave the city alive, but there is no sign yet the defending forces did that. translation: | want| to be heard right now. there has not been a single day since the blockade of mariupol that we have not sought a solution, military or diplomatic, anything to save people. finding this solution is extremely difficult. ukraine's east is still being pummelled by russian attacks.

since pulling its forces back from kyiv, it's focused its fire on the donbas region, but it hasn't forgotten the rest of ukraine. here in the capital, there's been a third night of strikes. russia says it destroyed an ammunition factory in brovary early this morning. and that is one reason why the mayor, vitali klitschko, is warning people not to come back to this cityjust yet. east of the capital, this is what safety looks like. entire families moved underground. lives for now put on hold as the battle for ukraine rages above. well, the word from mariupol is that the ukrainian forces still are

remaining there, still hold up there. they did not take the russian invitation to surrender. it would have been, i think, strange if they did. they said throughout the conflict that they will push on to the very last. volodymyr zelensky described mariupol as the heart of this. it has become symbolic. for russia, it is strategically important. you might wonder why russia are so keen to hold a city which they frankly have raised to the ground. well, we see the pictures of mariupol, so many buildings destroyed, civilians trapped in terrible conditions. for russia, it would create a essentially a land corridor between russia and annexed crimea and that is why they are fighting so hard for that place. that is why they are coming up with new suggestions like surrender to try and really bring that city under their control. it would be important for their land

corridor and also in terms of the economy of ukraine, it would mean that the russians controlled a lot of the ukrainian coastline. it would make it very difficult for ukraine to export things like are you in and steal and corn. it would be very surprising if ukrainian forces did choose to surrender, but the suggestions are that they are outnumbered by russia and i think we will be watching very closely over the next few days what happens there in mariupol. that was anna foster in the capital keep. the ukrainian mp oleksiy goncharenko has told the bbc the ukrainian forces in mariupol will fight �*until the end'. if i am sure they will not surrender. i spoke with him yesterday and i know that they are going to fight. they're going to fight until the end but the situation is very difficult there. russia just destroyed, just

flattened half a million population city in the middle of europe. that is a real genocide. and there are still up to 100,000 civilians in the city. suffering enormously of what is happening there. the number of victims is awful. it is considered more than 20,000 people killed in mariupol which is an absolute disaster and horror. and people are still there. part of people are moved by russian force from there. russians are taking people to filtration cams. —— they are going to filtration camps. —— they are going to filtration camps. they are real nazis. they do the same things like nazis did. here in the uk the archbishop of canterbury has strongly criticised the government's plan to send some people to rwanda who've arrived illegally in britain. in his easter sermon,

justin welby said the policy did not stand the "judgment of god". the home office said the the uk has a proud history of supporting those in need and change was needed to prevent people smugglers putting lives at risk. 0ur religion editor, aleem maqbool, has the latest. happy easter to all of you, lovely to see you. in his most important sermon of the year, the archbishop of canterbury dealt very directly with the issues of the day, drawing attention to the pressures felt by many here struggling with the cost of living and calling on russia to commit to a ceasefire and withdrawal from ukraine. but he also talked of serious ethical questions about the government plan to send asylum seekers overseas. it cannot carry the weight of our national responsibility, as a country formed by christian values. because subcontracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well, like rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of god.

in response tojustin welby�*s remarks, a home office spokesperson said "the uk has a proud history of supporting those in need of protection." it was the duke and duchess of cambridge who led the royals at the service at windsor. though in his easter message the prince of wales also talked of those forced to flee conflict and persecution, saying he had been profoundly moved by those ready to open their homes to people in need. the most celebrated scenes of the day were in a st peter's square packed for the first public easter mass there since the pandemic began. but the pope's message focused on events in ukraine, criticising russia for what he called a cruel and senseless conflict. translation: our eyes, too, are incredulous - on this easter of war. we have seen all too much blood, all too much violence.

our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing. tidings of hope this easter have undoubtedly been tinged with the sense that more compassion would be welcome, in an interconnected world. aleem maqbool, bbc news. i'm going to bring you some breaking news this is from an interview that ukraine's prime minister has conducted for abc news in the united states. 0ne conducted for abc news in the united states. one of the breakfast programmes, i suspect on sunday morning. he says categorically the ukrainian forces in mariupol have not surrendered. that is the latest from the ukrainian government official. as far as they are concerned despite the russian ultimatum there has been no

ukrainian surrender. now to south africa... now to south africa... as nearly 400 people are now known to have died in flooding in kwa—zulu natal, the south african president, cyril ramaphosa, has postponed an official visit to saudi arabia in order to focus on the devastation. specialist rescue teams are searching for dozens more who're still missing. more than 13,000 homes have been damaged in the disaster. and with the weather, set to deteriorate again, it there is real worry about how much more terrible this disaster can get. vumani mkhize reports. a deadly flash flood swept through this informal settlement north of durban in the middle of the night on tuesday. people here ran for their lives as the rising floodwaters engulfed everything in its path. the mangled remains of debris are what's left. sombre residents look on as a rescue team searches for the missing. a recovery operation is underway here at the informal settlement just north of durban. members here of the rescue

team are essentially looking for two people, a youngster aged eight years old and someone who's also aged around 30. and as you can see over here, there are cars and debris that have been strewn all along along the river. and it'sjust an indication of the severity and the violence of the water that was cascading along here. the search and rescue team can't get heavy machinery into the area. they painstakingly use their bare hands. so currently we've got two community members missing in this area. we brought in canines because, as you can see, it's a very big debris pile. a lot of material to move. a lot of heavy logs, vehicles, household items so we can't exploit the whole area. community members are traumatised by the floods and are finding it difficult to come to terms with what happened. translation: we are in pain. we can't even sleep properly at night. every time i close my eyes, i can just see the rain and water coming. i can't sleep and i can't eat.

he was reporting from south africa, you are watching bbc news. deaths from coronavirus during the pandemic were higher on weekends compared to weekdays, according to a new global study. researchers in the study at the university of toronto say reporting delays could have been a factor, but the difference was likely due to shortfalls in clinical staffing, capacity, and experience at weekends. earlier i spoke to professor linda bauld, behvioural scientist at the university of edinburgh. it's an interesting study, it's also a large study, so the researchers from the university of toronto looked from march 2020 right up to march of this year and used global data sets for mortality rates. it hasn't, as you probably know, been published. it is non—peer reviewed, it is being presented at a conference, but they are looking at what we call the weekend of fact which is actually well established and i think they found about a 6% rise in mortality at the weekend compared to weekdays and about 11%

in the uk, higher and some other countries. —— they are looking at something called the weekend effect. what we have seen over the years is from other studies looking at people admitted for other conditions, you also see what we call it a weekend effect, there is one systematic review in 2018 that looked at that in detail and that was just a uk studies and found pretty good evidence that it does exist. we don't fully understand the reasons. it could be that, for example, people wait a bit longer to go into hospital, towards the weekend or it may be to do with staffing and organisational issues. north korea says it's successfully tested a new weapon, which it says will significantly enhance its military capabilities. experts believe the new type of missile is designed to carry compact nuclear warheads and could indicate that pyongyang is preparing to resume nuclear testing. south korea's military confirmed that two missiles were launched from the north into the sea on saturday night. you're watching bbc news — our main headlines... the siege of mariupol may be nearing its end —

with russia issuing a deadline for ukrainian soldiers to surrender. the ukrainian prime minister has just told the us television that they are not going to do it. the archbishop of canterbury — the most senior cleric in the anglican church condemns plans by the uk government to send asylum seekers to rwanda. plans by the uk government to send the death toll rises in south africa — following heavy flooding — with a warning more rain may be on the way. let's get more on the archbishop of canterbury strongly criticising the government's plan to send some people to rwanda who've arrived illegally in britain. in his easter sermon, justin welby said the policy did not stand the "judgment of god". 0ur religion editor, aleem maqbool, has the latest. good to have you here to talk about this. this has created quite a lot of a flurry of unease among some evenin of a flurry of unease among some even in the church, but politically, they might not attack the archbishop of canterbury, certainly not on

easter, but there might be many in government saying hang on a minute, he's in charge of faith and religion. we do politics he has no business doing this. i religion. we do politics he has no business doing this.— business doing this. i think there are lots of _ business doing this. i think there are lots of aspects, _ business doing this. i think there are lots of aspects, not - business doing this. i think there are lots of aspects, not just - business doing this. i think there j are lots of aspects, not just what are lots of aspects, notjust what he said about immigration policy that would make the government uncomfortable. he started talking about the cost of he talked in evocative terms about people waking up evocative terms about people waking up on sunday on easter sunday with their first thoughts being about how they were going to pay for basic food, fuel. he talked about ukraine and very directly about the refugee crisis there and his strongest condemnation of government policy and really that was what it was, was about this plan to send some asylum—seekers to rwanda. he said in very unequivocal terms that this was just not something that could stand god'sjudgment. you are right to just not something that could stand god's judgment. you are right to say that there has been a flurry of

messages from the home office saying, well, hang on, we are still going to abide by international conventions in what we are doing and this is about them according to the government, this is about stopping people smuggling going on. but there are others who are saying what business is it of the church to get involved in talking about things like this? he would say if it's not the church's business to talk about injustice, then what is itsjob? the injustice, then what is its “ob? the old injustice, then what is its 'ob? the old 'oke injustice, then what is itsjob? the old joke about the two big parties in the uk was that the tory party was the church of england and pray. 0ne was the church of england and pray. one would have wondered whether or not the archbishop of canterbury with bishop sitting in the house of lords would not have been able to get his message across before this policy was announced or even conceived. 0ther policy was announced or even conceived. other words, that that subtle influence behind the scenes would have let politicians saying

all this is not somewhere we should go. it all this is not somewhere we should io, , ., , all this is not somewhere we should 0. , ., , , , . go. it is not 'ust subtle influence. the are go. it is not 'ust subtle influence. they in — go. it is notjust subtle influence. they are in the _ go. it is notjust subtle influence. they are in the house _ go. it is notjust subtle influence. they are in the house of - go. it is notjust subtle influence. they are in the house of lords, i go. it is notjust subtle influence. they are in the house of lords, a | they are in the house of lords, a lot of the senior leadership. the question, i saw the archbishop of york a couple of days ago and asked him exactly this. it is notjust now that the church is talking about compassionate immigration policy they been talking about it for years. and of course, when you look at what the church has been doing over the last couple of years, it has done incredible work picking up the pieces when it comes to covid in very practical ways. when it comes to helping asylum—seekers and immigrants to this country. so is the church, asked him just a body thatjust picks up the pieces? has it not got the influence to change, to shape policy before it happens? and he sort of shrugged and said well, it is not our fault people are not listening. but i think there is a recognition that more needs to be done. at least from the church's

point of view to help shape policy, but then there will always be those on the other side who say it is not their business.— on the other side who say it is not their business. thank you very much. we're going — their business. thank you very much. we're going to _ their business. thank you very much. we're going to take _ their business. thank you very much. we're going to take you _ their business. thank you very much. we're going to take you out - their business. thank you very much. we're going to take you out into - we're going to take you out into space to look at another successful launch by space acts. it is a spy satellite. —— spacex. it has been launched in the united states. in california. you remembered that space force was a big announcement of president from. there it goes. it is a shameless chance to use some lovely pictures on a day like today. —— president trump. the military rulers of myanmar say they're releasing 1,600 prisoners to mark the buddhist new year.

the number doesn't seem to include those jailed for political reasons. the military government in myanmar has announced that it is opening the country's borders to foreign tourists for the first time in more than two years. tourism had been growing rapidly in myanmar before the covid pandemic, after decades of isolation under previous military regimes. let's speak to our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. he is in bangkok for us. jonathan, what exactly do we know about this amnesty? is such —— is it a traditional thing for governments in me and mark the buddhist government like this? , , , ., like this? yes, it is in everyone exects like this? yes, it is in everyone exoects it- _ like this? yes, it is in everyone exoects it- it — like this? yes, it is in everyone expects it. it happen _ like this? yes, it is in everyone expects it. it happen even - like this? yes, it is in everyone| expects it. it happen even when like this? yes, it is in everyone - expects it. it happen even when the work military government. i think what is disappointing for many people is that last yearjust what is disappointing for many people is that last year just two months after the coup which turned out to be credibly unpopular and the military released 23,000 people and throughout the year at certain times

it did release political detainees. these people have been kept in terrible conditions. the un reckons that 350 people have died in custody. so getting them out is important. this year a big drop from 23,000 down to 1600. not a single political detainee and it comes right after a very hard—line message from the coup leader who seized power last year on the armed forces day celebration, big day for the military at the end of last month, he stated he was going to annihilate the opposition. there are lots of opposition to the coup. their armed groups, whole communities still resisting. this was a very uncompromising message after more than a year of debilitating conflicts. i think the lack of prisoner release is a reflection of the military�*s approach to this. i the military's approach to this. i know someone who bicycled across myanmar during that happy time between dictatorships and fell in

love with the countries and saw it as a great thing that it was opening up. they may open the borders to tourists, but the question is our tourists, but the question is our tour is going to come back? will they feel safe in myanmar? would they feel safe in myanmar? would they want to seem two be seen appearing to support by spending their money there? i appearing to support by spending their money there?— appearing to support by spending their money there? i think there are lots of people _ their money there? i think there are lots of people who _ their money there? i think there are lots of people who love _ their money there? i think there are lots of people who love country. - their money there? i think there are | lots of people who love country. not just because it's such a wonderful country but because it was so underdeveloped in their so much to discover. i think all the issues you have raised our very crucial. there aren't very few flights coming in. you still have to do one week of quarantine. you cannot get visas online. this i think is much more for public relations, the military trying to give impressions that life is getting back to normal, but in reality, no taurus is going to feel safe there. there are still bomb attacks. —— no tourists. half a

million people are displaced. those are not the kind of conditions that tourists want to come into. the rival government that supports the ousted government which is still strongly opposing the military is telling tourists as they did many years ago, do not come. please stay away while the military is there. this opening of the borders, frankly i don't think it will make any difference.— i don't think it will make any difference. , ., ., ., ., ., difference. jonathan, in thailand, thank ou difference. jonathan, in thailand, thank you very — difference. jonathan, in thailand, thank you very much. _ difference. jonathan, in thailand, thank you very much. were - difference. jonathan, in thailand, thank you very much. were goingj difference. jonathan, in thailand, - thank you very much. were going back to ukraine now. were going back to ukraine now. despite warnings from the mayor of kyiv not to head back to city, increasing numbers are returning — either to visit family or to go back to their homes. danjohnson is on the border and has been talking to some ukrainians heading back from poland to their home country. this is where millions have said goodbye. to their families, their country, and the life they knew. but some are now coming back, and being reunited.

"my little boys," volodymyr says, after seven weeks apart. "no, dad," boris tells him, "we're grown up now." because children are already in polish schools, they have no education for a few days because of easter, and we decided to choose this chance to see our family. but it's a return not without trepidation. i'm really afraid. when i talk to the kids and say we are going to visit father, they were also shocked. but we promised them that we will not go into other regions. but others are going further. this family back together and heading home to kyiv for good. yeah, we will go home. and we don't want to stay in poland for a long time. translation: it was a complicated decision but definitely, _ 100% we want to go home. in lviv, others are on the move,

heading east, buying tickets against the tide. tatiana's ready to go home, close to dnipro, after more than a month here. translation: we miss our home very much and we need to do _ some work on the garden. this morning we woke up and thought, shall we go or not? but we really had the tickets. are you brave? i was when i was young. i used to do parachute jumps for sport, but this is completely different. i'm really afraid of what's happened and what could happen next. and that's the point, these are journeys into the unknown. most aren't looking too far ahead. just being together, having it together, it's the best that we can have. what's it like to see your family again? it's a big value to have family, and to see each other today. sure, i love them. danjohnson, bbc news,

on ukraine's border with poland. the rising cost of living has left many owners no other option, but to give up their pets. birmingham dogs home, say both of its centres are now at capacity, and the number of people looking to adopt is falling. rebecca wood reports. getting used to a new home. atjust six months old, echo is one of hundreds of dogs now in the care of birmingham dog's home. day—to—day living costs are rising and much as our lovely dogs are members of the family, there are lots of costs that come with them. for many of the animals coming into the two centres, there's a similar theme — the struggle to pay the bills, causing owners to give up their pets. the impact is twofold. dogs, once in high demand during lockdown, are now finding themselves in kennels as owners struggle to look after them on their return to work. also, the dogs that are coming to us haven't been socialised, so haven't had that training. and so that means they're

going to be with us for longer while they have that retraining and get ready for a new home as well. so thatjust means they're here for longer, which again makes us very full. relinquishment for the charity are at an all time high, in fact, in the last ten days 42 dogs have been brought in to the centre, including jess, here. birmingham. dog's home is a charity and caring for up to 200 animals all year round is expensive. this year, they took the decision to bring veterinary treatment in—house in a bid to keep costs down and welfare standards up. we are seeing an increasing number of dogs with multiple needs and they may be behavioural, but they're often veterinary that you do wonder we're seeing them because owners couldn't afford their veterinary treatment or didn't want to afford their veterinary treatments, and therefore their only option is to leave them as strays or relinquish them to us. the team are doing lots to help, sending food to local food banks and offering support when they can. now they're urging owners struggling

to get in touch to prevent more strays being left on the region's streets. rebecca wood, bbc news birmingham dog's home. time for a look at the weathers for all dog owners, dog all of us and those who don't have dogs. for many of us, easter sunday has been another fine and dry and pretty warm day. we see changes coming. we seen outbreaks of cloud and rain. that will travel towards the east and it will travel towards the east and it will leave clear spells and a few blustery showers across the northwest. temperatures will be a little bit lower than what we have had over the last few nights. so for easter monday, we've got low pressure parked in the northwest of the country. there are a few isobars it will be breezy. we will feel cooler for easter monday and there

will be a few showers around mainly in the north and the west with sunshine in between. there is the weather front. sunshine in between. there is the weatherfront. it sunshine in between. there is the weather front. it will clear away. we will see some sunshine, variable cloud building into the afternoon, one or two showers, mostly in the northwest where it will be blustery. are breezier day for all and slightly cooler across the board.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. russia urges ukrainian forces in mariupol to surrender in order to save their lives — but there's no sign yet that they've laid down their arms. president zelensky warns there will be consequences, if russia takes action against the remaining troops in the city. pope francis has urged the call of peace to be heard, in what he called, an "easter of war" — as he delivered his urbi et 0rbi address in st peter's square. the archbishop of canterbury, the most senior cleric

in the anglican church, condemns uk government plans to send