this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm shaun ley. 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. elsewhere in ukraine, five people are reported to have been killed, and 13 injured, in russian shelling of the city of kharkiv. 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. translation: may there be peace for war-torn ukraine, _ so sorely tried by the violence and the destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged. the archbishop of canterbury — the most senior cleric in the anglican church —

condemns uk government plans to send asylum—seekers to rwanda. and the death toll rises in south africa — following heavy flooding — with a warning more rain may be on the way. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. 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. and in the last hour, there have been reports that a series of strikes in the northern city of kharkiv has killed at least five people and injured 13 more. i've been getting the latest from anna foster, in ukraine's capital, kyiv.

kharkiv has been the scene of fierce fighting for weeks. i have spoken to families who have managed to flee and described 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 kyiv. 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 blow 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 hear 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 seems to be that the ukrainian forces still remaining there, still hold up in the factory. they did not take the russian invitation to surrender it. it would have been strange if they did. they have said throughout this conflict that they would push on to the very last. volodymyr zelensky has described mariupol as really the heart of this conflict now for ukrainians. they really want to hold onto it. it has become incredibly symbolic

in the last few weeks. of course, for russia, it is strategically important. you might wonder why russia are so keen to hold a city which they have frankly razed to the ground over the last few weeks. we have seen the pictures of mariupol, so many buildings destroyed, so many civilians trapped in terrible conditions, but for russia it would create essentially a land corridor between russia and annexed crimea. that is why they are fighting so hard for mariupol. that is why they are coming up with these new suggestions like surrender to try and really bring that city under their control. it would be important for their land corridor, it would also be important in terms of the economy of ukraine. it would mean that russian controlled a lot of the ukrainian coastline, those important cities. it would make it very difficult for ukraine to export things like iron, steel, corn, much of which comes from mariupol. so even though we had that ultimatum from russia, it would be, i think,

very surprising if ukrainian forces did choose to surrender. but the suggestions are that they are now 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. 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 the weather is reported to likely deteriorate. and the weather is reported to likely deteriorate. 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. a recovery operation is underway here at the informal settlement 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. this woman who lost her house tells me she wants the government to help herfind shelter because she can't live here any more. up on the hill, this man shows me where the informal settlement used to be. the floodwaters swept through this area first, and there were people that are also found there as well, right at the top? yeah. wow. there was something like seven people. seven people were found and they were found alive, though, right? yes. the search and rescue operations are continuing throughout the kwazulu—natal province as more remains are being found. virmani mkhize, bbc news, durban.

you are watching bbc news. 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... 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 celebratory 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. 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 effect 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 in some other countries. 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. it is interesting that you raise the staffing question. i was talking to a colleague who was in hospital for some time after a bicycle accident which left her with injuries that meant she stayed in hospital for several weeks. she said it was striking that over the weekend, this is just her own experience, i wonder if it chimes with you, she would not recognise anybody who came to look after her over the weekend. none of the nurses and the doctors, whoever was on duty, there is a chance you won't see them for quite a while. but particularly with the nursing staff, almost all of them were agency staff. they were brought in to cover the weekend. and she said it was very simple things, they didn't know where to find stuff sometimes, really basic things. where are the bedpans? perfectly understandable, but things like that when you are dealing a new issue

like covid could actually have a life or death significance. it is possible, yes. i think what we need to recognise is of course, staffing at hospitals are part of wider society. people have family responsibility is, there are other issues that need to be dealt with and of course health care managers try to balance that and get the right people in the right place. but it is clear that is not always the case. i think you are right, during the pandemic as we learned through the month how to treat covid patients, what supplies were needed, the outcomes for patients improved generally, but we may still have still have seen that effect when there are those staffing changes. of course, final point on this, at the moment, our hospitals are under huge strain for a variety of reasons. i know we have heard from the nhs confederation in the last 48 hours about their real concerns about the months ahead. another interesting study, i don't think people should be alarmed. i think the message from all of us would be if you need health care,

access it irrespective of whether it is the weekend or the week day. i think we can learn from studies like this. yes, and as you say, we are having to learn while still fighting the pandemic. that is right. and i think although we have seen a reduction in the proportion of people in hospital, admissions are still really high. they are almost as high as they were in january. and we've got a huge backlog of care. it is a really, really challenging time. looking ahead, of course, governments need to think very carefully about how they help the nhs to recoverfrom this period. let's get the latest from the bbc sport centre. we have holly hamilton there this afternoon. happy easter. hgppy there this afternoon. happy easter. happy easter to you too. it's a huge fa cup day. the men's second semi final coming up shortly between chelsea and crystal palace. but chelsea women have beaten arsenal to book their place in the final. after a goalless first half, guro reiten's sensational strike broke the deadlock

after the break. beforeji so—yun smashed the ball in off the bar to double their lead and arsenal could find no way back. chelsea will face manchester city in the final next month. second half was amazing. first half we were struggling a bit. but yes, we were struggling a bit. but yes, we fought back in the second half and then yes, really nice victory. it was a nice game to fight and i liked those kind of games. give me more of them! we've another old firm derby this afternoon and there is a lot on the line at hampden as celtic and rangers vie for a place in the scottish cup final. it's still goalless after a breathless first half. just about 15 minutes into the second,it just about 15 minutes into the second, it is still goalless. hearts await the winners after edging out hibs yesterday. two games in the premier league, including burnley�*s first game

since sacking sean dyche. they're 1—0 up at west ham. that's despite a serious injury and a penalty miss. wout weghurst with the only goal there. elsewhere leicester and newcastle are 1—1. it's day two of the world snooker championship in sheffield and ronnie 0'sullivan is in action, looking to book his place in the second round. he led dave gilbert by six frames to three after their opening session but it's gilbert who's made a fast start this afternoon, he's won the first two frames and now only trails by one. let's go live to the crucible then — ronnie 0'sullivan on table two with david gilbert. asi as i say, this is all on bbc two. leading 6 frames to 5. remember, it's best of 19 in these early rounds. you can watch live coverage of this match over on bbc one right now

as well as the bbc sport website and app. —— that's -- that's bbc —— that's bbc two. saracens are through to the last eight of the european challenge cup, after beating cardiff by a0 points to 33. it was 16—13 at half time but sarries ran in four tries in the second half, including two from scotland international sean maitland. they'll play gloucester in the quarter—finals. rob key is the new managing director of england men's cricket. key played for england and kent, and has been a television pundit and commentator since retiring from the game. he takes on the role from andrew strauss, who had stepped in on an interim basis following the sacking of ashley giles in february. the invictus games get under way on today. it's the first since the pandemic began, with the netherlands hosting this year. founder of the games, prince harry attended the opening ceremony alongside his wife, meghan markle, to welcome athletes from across the globe. the invictus games is an international sporting event for wounded, injured

and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. that's all the sport for now. keep an eye on the bbc sport website this afternoon. with the fa cup semi final later and the latest from the scottish cup. as well as the premier league. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. more from me in the next hour. see you then. it is a basket full of goodies. thank you so much. let's return to ukraine, where despite warnings from the mayor of kyiv not to head back to the city, increasing numbers are returning — either to visit family or to go back to their homes. danjohnson has been meeting some of them at the polish border. 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 is 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 already 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.

meanwhile, as we've been reporting, the ukrainian defenders of the besieged port of mariupol continue to refuse to lay down their arms. the ukrainian mp 0leksiy goncharenko has told the bbc the ukrainian forces in mariupol will fight �*until the end'. —— the ukrainian prime minister told abc news in the usa they would not do so. 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 camps. they are real nazis. they do the same things like nazis did. 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. it isa it is a dog's life they say. i wonder what weather is going to be like for dogs and their owners. i wonder what weather is going to be like for dogs and their owners. hello there. it has been another glorious day for many places. we have a fine, dry, sunny day for easter sunday. a bit more of a breeze from the southeast, but we are seeing changes taking place out west. this low pressure seems to be

pushing in through the day, bringing outbreaks of rain to western scotland, northern ireland. that is travelling across the irish sea into western parts of england and wales and moving across the rest of scotland as we move through this evening and overnight. but it will be a dying feature as it pushes towards the east, barely anything on it by the time it reaches the east coast. behind it, there is clear skies, but also a scattering of showers particularly across the northwest. it will remain quite breezy as well. temperatures falling to lows of around 4—6 . 0ur easter monday, a little bit of a change to the weather. it will feel cooler for most of us and there will be some showers some showers around, thanks to this area of low pressure which will be sitting to the northwest of the country. quite a few isobars around. it will be very breezy and even windy in the northwest. and it will introduce some cooler air to most of the country as you can see from the blue hue here. a fresher start to easter monday, barely anything on that band of cloud as it pushes its way into the north sea. and then it is sunny spells, variable cloud, one or two showers, most of the showers will be in the northwest of the country where they will be blustery

because it will be windy there. a breezy day to come further south. and temperatures a little bit lower. the low teens in the north. we could see something in the mid—teens across the southeast, probably highs around 16 or 17 cells is. as we move out of easter monday into tuesday, that area of low pressure pulls away to the north and then we are in between weather systems. it could be quite a chilly start on tuesday. the winds will be lighter, we will see a bit of sunshine around for england and. variable cloud. one or two showers developing into the afternoon. it will be slow moving and some of them could be heavy as well. for scotland, northern ireland here, weather fronts will bring more cloud and outbreaks of rain. temperatures 13—15. it will feel cooler particularly where you catch the showers. as we move beyond tuesday, high pressure wants to start to build in again across the north of europe and that should deflect this area of low pressure away towards the southwest of the country. i think from wednesday onwards, we will pick up more of an easterly breeze, variable cloud and a bit of sunshine. it will be cooler along the north sea coast. probably the best of

the sunshine and warmth the further west that you are.

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. elsewhere in ukraine, five people are reported to have been killed, and 13 injured, in russian shelling of the city of kharkiv. 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 asylum seekers to rwanda. the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved _ the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved 143 — the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved 143 people _ the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved 143 people dead - the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved 143 people dead with- the prime minister of kwazulu—natal has proved 143 people dead with 63 i has proved 143 people dead with 63 people _ has proved 143 people dead with 63 people stillm — has proved 143 people dead with 63 people stillm missing. _ has proved 143 people dead with 63 people stillm missing. 1&— has proved 143 people dead with 63 people stillm missing.— people stillm missing. a televised briefin: people stillm missing. a televised briefing just _ people stillm missing. a televised briefing just being _ people stillm missing. a televised briefing just being given _ people stillm missing. a televised briefing just being given in - people stillm missing. a televised | briefing just being given in durban. now on bbc news. in an exclusive and wide—ranging interview, the bbc�*s clive myrie sits down with ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky. president zelensky tells him that in the face of atrocities being committed in towns and cities across the country, moscow is closing the window of opportunity for negotiation; and he says ukraine needs more arms,

now, in the fight against russia.