welcome to bbc news. our top stories... life in prison for el shafee elsheikh, a british fighter from the islamic state group, sentenced for his role in the murders of western hostages. relatives of his victims say justice has been done.... now we receive the best of our country, and i am very grateful, obviously, but that is what makes it a holly —— a hollow victory, if you will. after turkey successfully brokered ukraine's grain export deal — can president erdogan help end russian military operations at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant? the widow of basketball

legend kobe bryant says she was left devastated by first responders�* photographs of her dead husband and daughter after a fatal helicopter crash. and home invasion — why this seal caused something of a stir for one family — and their cat — in new zealand. we start in the us, where a former british member of the islamic state group has been sentenced to life in prison, by a court in virginia. 34—year old el shafee elsheikh was among a group of british is members who carried out a brutal reign of terror in syria. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports from virginia.

el shafee elsheikh claimed he was a simple is fighter who wanted to help. but it wasn't true. he was part of the islamic state group which terrorised large swathes of iraq and syria between 2014 and 2017. beatings, electrocutions and mock executions were carried out by the jihadists on western hostages, who called their torturers the beatles due to their english accents. elsheikh, who left london tojoin is, was convicted of his part in a hostage murder plot in which four americans were killed — james foley, steven sotloff, peter kassig and kayla mueller, as well two british aid workers, alan henning and david haines. the judge described what el shafee elsheikh did as horrific, brutal, barbaric, callous, and criminal. he said the sentence had to act as a deterrent. elsheikh refused to comment when given the opportunity. none of the victim' bodies have ever been found. outside court, the families gathered. diane foley's sonjames died eight years ago today. it is a hollow victory.

our country has lost four of its very best citizens. we families lost our loved ones for ever. and now, elsheikh and kotey have lost their freedom, country and families. it is a tragic cycle of violence and heartbreak for all involved. elsheikh�*s co—conspirator alexander kotey already pleaded guilty and will serve the rest of his life injail. as part of his plea deal, he met some victims�* relatives, including the family of kayla mueller, who was raped and tortured by the leader of is. he was eventually killed in a us raid. i did meet with kotey for two—and—a—half hours. so i spoke to him at length. and i would meet him again and i hope to. elsheikh does not have to meet with us. if he would, i would want him to. but my prayer all along in all of this is i have asked

god to soften any hearts out there that know anything about any of this, that would come forward and help us. and we are getting people helping us. another member of this group, mohammed emwazi, known in the press asjihadi john, is dead. elsheikh and kotey were eventually captured in syria when is was defeated. the group hated the western world, particularly america. but these two men now face spending the rest of their lives in a us jail. nomia iqbal, bbc news, virginia. earlier on, i spoke to someone and ask to their response for the centre said.

given his horrific activities, todayis given his horrific activities, today is a measure ofjustice. it has been a long time coming bringing these men to justice, talk us through some of the complications in this case. well, first and foremost, geography, they were operating out of syria until they were captured so actually getting their hands on them to bring them tojustice their hands on them to bring them to justice was difficult. second, the art estate system, as you know, has the death penalty so the united states and uk had to negotiate around that. thirdly, selecting

information is difficult to get information is difficult to get in syria and iraq and use in a court system in the us is difficult today. i5 court system in the us is difficult today.— court system in the us is difficult today. is his appeal likel to difficult today. is his appeal likely to be _ difficult today. is his appeal likely to be successful? - difficult today. is his appeal likely to be successful? it i difficult today. is his appealj likely to be successful? it is very unlikely _ likely to be successful? it is very unlikely to _ likely to be successful? it is very unlikely to be - likely to be successful? it 3 very unlikely to be successful, it is clear that charges against them both were very warranted so i think elsheikh will live the rest of his years behind bars, very likely at an administrative maximum prison in colorado. administrative maximum prison in comrade-— in colorado. you study islamist terrorism. _ in colorado. you study islamist terrorism, were _ in colorado. you study islamist terrorism, were these - in colorado. you study islamist l terrorism, were these mandatory jihadists? terrorism, were these mandatory 'ihadists? , ., jihadists? these are individuals - jihadists? these are individuals who - jihadists? these are individuals who first| jihadists? these are - individuals who first and foremost were criminals engaged in petty theft before they joined isis in 2012 and 2013. they used religion, the isis brand of religion, to practice their brutality and their nihilism, they really do represent a microcosm of what ices was, brutal terrorist

group. ices was, brutal terrorist u-rou. ., ices was, brutal terrorist ”rou, ., ices was, brutal terrorist u-rou. ., ., . , group. you say what ices was, once upon _ group. you say what ices was, once upon a — group. you say what ices was, once upon a time _ group. you say what ices was, once upon a time they - group. you say what ices was, once upon a time they the - once upon a time they the headlines every day, we hear less about them nowadays, what risk do they pose at the moment?— risk do they pose at the moment? , , ,.,, ., moment? they still pose a significant _ moment? they still pose a significant risk. _ moment? they still pose a significant risk. the - moment? they still pose a significant risk. the unitedj significant risk. the united nations issued a report injuly 2022 documenting how much impact isis still has on the ground in places like africa and in afghanistan and where the group operates with impunity because the taliban cannot control them and in africa in places like mozambique, and they are calling for the establishment of a caliphate in africa, so we have to keep our eye on this group, a group that remains relevant, unfortunately. the authorities in mexico have arrested the man who was serving as attorney—general when one of the country's

worst human rights atrocities took place — the disappearance of 43 student teachers in 2014. jesus murillo's detention comes a day after a newly established truth commission concluded that the incident constituted a state crime. the students, all men, had been heading to mexico city for a demonstration when they disappeared in the city of iguala in the southwestern state of guerrero. mr murillo has been arrested on charges of forced disappearance, torture, and the obstruction ofjustice. the un secretary general has held talks with turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan and ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky in the ukrainian port city of 0desa — and is due to travel to instanbul next. turkey is the only nato country that has a relationship with russia and president erdogan brokered the wheat export dealfrom 0desa. now it's hoped he can facilitate an end to russian military operations at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and a ceasefire in ukraine. james jeffrey was us ambassador to turkey from 2008

until 2010 and knows the turkish and russian presidents well. i asked him what istanbul can do to help resolve the conflict in ukraine. turkey has, in many respects, taken a strong position on the side of ukraine in the conflict so far, closing the straits to russian naval re—enforcements, providing drones and other supplies to zelensky and generally being diplomatically helpful. but nonetheless, erdogan has a touch with putin that most western leaders don't have. in some respects, although they are geopolitical rivals, they are kind of 19th—century people who understand each other, erdogan doesn't lecture putin about human right or democracy or anything, they basically try to cut deals, and that is helpful in a situation like this, and we think that it may be opening the door to at least a un iaea inspection of the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is very, very important right now. you've worked closely with both mr erdogan and mr putin before. mr putin is notoriously

difficult to negotiate with, what might mr erdogan have over him in terms of leverage and being able to get something out of him? well, the leverage is putin needs at least someone in the nato camp he can talk to, and for the main reasons, as i said, erdogan is his preferred candidate because erdogan, a, doesn't lecture him about human right so other progressive western values that neither erdogan nor putin take very seriously, and a, putin has certain pressure points over erdogan, such as almost half of turkey's gas consumption comes from russia. more importantly, putin realises, and we saw this on the grain deal that gutterez and erdogan cut with putin just a few weeks ago, and that is working well so far, putin, i think, realises that he is getting a real bad public relations black eye around the world for some of the things he is doing. blocking food shipments was one thing, allowing this largest nuclear plant in all of year up

to perhaps go out of control is another, another chernobyl. and, therefore, putin is looking for ways out and erdogan is a good person to turn to. if he is looking for a way out, what might that mean for the areas of ukraine that russia has already captured? right, these are step—by—step things. first, you let the greain shipments out, even though that was putting pressure on the west and the rest of the world. then, you do something about the nuclear plant. i think these are all trial balloons by putin who is very, very smart. he understands military affairs, and he must know by now that not going to succeed in overrunning all of ukraine. so, sooner or later, he has to find a way out of this crisis. i don't think that time is now but i think he is building, block by block, a basis for shifting to that kind

when and if the time comes. ultimately, do you think president erdogan can seal this deal? i think that the temporary deal, at least the inspection of the nuclear plant, i think that he and guterres and now macron have all played an important role, and i think we will see success there. guterres whether we can work further on, this is what gutierrez and erdogan both said in their press statements after the meeting with zelensky, i think they've really hope that they can find some kind of ceasefire, a possible way out of this crisis which is impacting on not only the region but the whole world. state media in somalia say security forces are trying to contain an attack on a hotel in the capital, mogadishu. the assault on the hayat began with the detonation of at least two car bombs followed by a fierce gunfight. dozens of guests and staff are reported to have been rescued.

the islamist militant group, al—shabab, says it is carrying out the attack. you're watching bbc news, our top story: el shafee elsheikh, a former british member of the so—called islamic state group, is jailed for life for his role in the murder of western hostages. a man has died and a woman is in hospital after a shooting at a shopping centre in sweden. police cordoned off the emporia shopping mall in the southern city of malmo after around 20 shots were fired. police have arrested a teenage boy and believe the shooting is gang—related. officers say it is no longer an ongoing incident. sweden is gearing up for a general election next month, where gang violence tops voters' concerns. sir salman rushdie continues to recover in hospital with severe injuries, a week after the author was stabbed on stage. in a show of support for the indian—born british novelist, hundreds of writers

gathered at the new york public library to read extracts from his works and pay tribute. 0ur north america correspondent nada tawfik has this report. new york has been sir salman rushdie's home for the past decade and a half. as he lies in hospital on the road to recovery, the literary community here is still reeling from the attack on his life and the attack on his freedom to write. salman, my dear old friend... in a show of support, authors gathered on the steps of the public library to read aloud passages from his body of work, including the controversial novel the satanic verses, viewed by some muslims as blasphemous, as well as books such as midnight's children, his memoirjoseph anton and the golden house. i crawled before i could walk. i walked before i could run. the organisers hope this rally raises sir salman's spirits. they say he knows it has taken place and intended to watch.

equally, they hope this is a galvanising moment and that others stand up to fight for freedom of speech. amanda foreman, a british biographer and historian, wasn't surprised to hear that the suspected attacker hadn't read the satanic verses beyond a page or two. freedom of expression isn't easy, it's not simple. it's highly problematic. people do get offended. terrible things are sometimes said. this is not a perfect society and freedom of expression is not a perfect principle, but it's the best one we have, and if we are frightened, if we are silent, then the bullies and the silencers have won. censorship has got to go! the demonstration today is reminiscent of another held in 1989 after iran's ayatollah issued a religious ruling calling for sir salman's death. writers then also stood up for the indian—born british author and criticised stores that refused to carry his novel.

but how much has changed since then? so much of our public discourse now happens in the digital arena. we face online harassment, the viral spread of disinformation. here in the united states, we're dealing with a pandemic of book bans and curriculum bans in higher education across the country. so it's a different environment. it's also the case that in 1989, you would have thought an attack like this on us soil was really unheard of. sir salman's friends and colleagues hope this will be a watershed moment for free speech, and they say they look forward to hearing his voice again soon. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. stand with salman! the widow of the basketball star kobe bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2020, has testified in court that she had panic attacks after learning that emergency responders took photos of the crash that killed her husband. kobe bryant, their 13—year—old daughter daughter gianna, and six family friends died when their helicopter crashed in thousand oaks,

california in january 2020. vanessa bryant is suing los angeles county for an unspecified amount after first responders allegedly circulated pictures from the accident. 0ur correspondent in la, peter bowes, has been following the story. this was a particularly horrific crash, and you have just described the circumstances. it was a very foggy day. but it was a short time afterwards that it emerged, the los angeles times did a story about the fact that these photographs, particularly gruesome photographs, had apparently been taken at the crash scene by members of the sheriff's department and also firefighters — los angeles county employees. and it is through the media coverage of that that vanessa bryant actually found out about the existence of these photographs. now, last november, she and anotherfamily were offered a sum of money, $2.5 million, in compensation for the distress that was caused but she turned that down, preferring instead to bring this federal case,

an invasion of privacy case, and we are now roughly about 50% of the way through that case and she, as you have reported, appeared on the witness stand just a short time ago. peter, what did vanessa bryant have to say when she took the stand? it was very emotional testimony, she was sobbing as she appeared, she said she was blindsided, she was devastated, she was hurt, and betrayed by the fact that these photographs had apparently not only been taken but distributed amongst the colleagues of those people who took them. and she says that she lives in fear that one day they will pop up in social media. now, so far in this case we haven't heard the defence for los angeles county but i understand that one of their arguments may well be that this was an accident scene and during the normal course of events of an investigation, photographs are taken, and that in fact none have appeared in social media, none

have appeared on the internet. we will get more detail about that when the defence presents its case through its lawyers next week. now, imagine this. you're come back to your house, you're about to put the key in the lock and you notice something's not quite right. something in the porch isn't where you left it. and is that a noise you can hear inside? you tentatively open the door and find you've been the victim of breaking and entering. and the culprit is still there, staring back at you. that's exactly what happened to one family in new zealand. and this was their unwelcome house guest. this is 0scar. he made himself comfortable at one family home in new zealand, at their house in mount maunganui — a coastal town about 200 kilometres south of auckland. it's thought 0scar got in through two cat—flaps before having a bit of a nosey round. earlier, i spoke to philip and jenn ross

who were playing host to oscar, and they explained what happened. as i had been heading out first thing in the morning, i had a bit of a bark and i thought it was a dog. 0ur cat has a tendency to bail dogs up so i was like, oh, i didn't think anything more of it but then i did glance and see a seal, and i was like, oh, right. but it is outside, we are near the beach, it is allowed. and i carried on. and when i came back, as you said, things went quiet, there were a few buckets knocked over and i thought, oh, the cat has been up to something. there is no way a seal would get through that cat flap, no way. and, then, as i opened the next door, i but something and i heard something and i thought, oh, my goodness, that is going to be a seal. so, i opened the door really carefully and sure enough, i saw the seal head off down the hallway and around and into the guest bedroom. and you mentioned your cat, i see you have got him there, is that coco? you've got him there, i believe. i have heard that coco

was traumatised by this. what happened to coco? so, well, we assume... because she was out in the morning with me and i think she must have... she often sees dogs off the property and i think she might have been having a go at doing that for the dog, for the seal, sorry. and the seal might have been a bit curious, it was a young pup, about ten months old. and coco must have hightailed it inside to have a go away from it, and then she got followed in, so we didn't actually see coco for another hour or two, and then the last few days, she has been hiding upstairs, not wanting to go down into the area that the seal was in. speaking of high tailing, i think she is done with her five minutes of fame. now, phil, you are a bit of an expert in this area, actually, is this normal? so, yes, parts of it are normal. seal is coming on to the coast, particularly young seals at this time of year, that is quite a usual sight. but it is pretty unusual for them to be quite

so adventurous and wonder up over the dunes, up through the beach access ways, onto the sidewalk and down someone's driveway, so... first time i have come across this. i should say, you are an expert because you are a marine biologist, not because you planting seals in people 's homes. is this a trend? are we likely to see more seals going into people's homes in your part of the world? so, i guess for the new zealand seals, it is a bit of a conservation success story. they almost went extinct in the 18005 through being hunted for food, for pelts, and for oil. and they effectively disappeared from most of new zealand and now they are recovering, they are becoming more abundant, the population is expanding. so, kind of what we are seeing is as they recover, there is probably going to be increasing interactions with people as we kind of compete for the same coastal real estate. and if this happens to someone else, you obviously kind

of know what you are doing, what should people do in this situation? yes, i mean, seals are definitely wild animals, and they have got a mouthful of sharp teeth so you really want to give them space. so, i guess the message in general is if you see a seal, which would usually be on the beach, give it space, keep your dogs away from it, they are usually better to have a rest. but if they are in your house, it is a bit of a different situation, and for us, we have the department of conservation and they have rangers who can deal with these sorts of events. so, we gave the ranger a call, well, jen gave the ranger call, he was having a busy morning dealing with quite a few seal call—outs but he came around. jen had opened the door, let the seal out and he was hanging out in the garden and he came and dropped into a net and took him to a quiet part of the estuary to be released and have a rest before heading back out to sea.

canada's prime minister justin trudeau has nominated the first indigenous person to sit on the country's supreme court. mr trudeau said he was confident that michelle 0'bonsawin — a judge on 0ntario's superior court since 2017 — would bring invaluable knowledge to canada's highest court. the justice minister called the move a historic moment for the court and for the country. the city of glasgow in the central belt of scotland has reached an agreement with authorities in india to send back seven cultural artefacts looted from india during british colonial rule in the 19th century. it's thought to be the first repatriation deal with india from a british museum. six of the objects — which include a ceremonial sword and an ancient door jamb — were looted from temples and shrines. glasgow officials says it showed the city's commitment to redressing wrongs of the past. speaking from glasgow, the first secretary for trade & commerce at the high commission

of india, jaspreet sukhija welcomed the return of the objects. we would like to see almost all items returned back to india, almost all items, and we are working towards that. in the past three years, we have had three occasions where items and other artefacts have been sent back home by various partnerships and to the efforts of the high commissioner of india. this, although it stands out, because this is the first time that a british museum is restituting back some artefacts, historical artefacts which came here decades back, to india. a reminder of our top story.... a former british member of an islamic state terror cell has been sentenced to life in prison by a court in the us for his role in the murder of western hostages in syria. el shafee elsheikh was part of a group — involved in torturing, beating and executing prisoners.

hello there. we ended the week with some warm sunshine but some showers, mainly in the north, close to an area of low pressure. and that same area of low pressure is sitting in the same place for the start of the weekend. but around the base of it, we've got this weather front thickening the cloud, bringing some rain and some stronger winds as well. ahead of that, with some clear skies in england and wales, it'll be a cooler start on saturday morning, significantly cooler than the previous night in south eastern parts of england. some sunshine for england and wales, one or two showers pushing across in the morning, ahead of this main band of rain that's heavy for a while, accompanied by some strong and gusty winds, sweeping away from scotland and northern ireland, followed by sunshine and a few showers. that rain band is quite narrow, but it could be quite heavy rain as it gets stuck in northern england. elsewhere for england and wales, some sunny spells, just one or two showers,

but most places will be dry. and temperatures very similar to what we had on friday, so getting up to the mid—20s at best. that area of low pressure will keep the showers going into the first part of the night. across scotland, another area of low pressure moving very slowly in from the atlantic will push a lot of cloud ahead of it. it means the sunnier skies probably further north this time on sunday. those showers easing in scotland. sunny spells here, some sunshine for northern ireland, the far north of england for a while. other parts of england and wales probably turning more cloudy, the cloud thickening to give a bit of rain and drizzle, mostly for western wales and southwest england, where temperatures will struggle to around 20 degrees. once again, we're 18 or 19 for scotland and northern ireland. the cloud continues to thicken on sunday night. we start to see a bit more rain proper coming in from the atlantic as that low pressure heads in from the west. having said that, there will be little or no rain for northern parts of scotland, some patchy rain elsewhere, the odd heavier burst for a while. nothing particularly organised, mind you. and some western areas should turn drier and brighter through the afternoon.

temperature—wise, making 23 again across southern england and south wales and 18 in the central belt of scotland. now, into next week, this is where the jet stream is going to be positioned. it may start to buckle a little bit, but it does mean that any warm air is stuck in the southeast of england, confined to the southeast, and no heatwave on the way by any means. temperatures near normal for this time of the year. monday looks the wetter day. after that, it looks mostly dry, and there will be some sunshine from time to time.

hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: a former british member of an islamic state terror cell has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder of western hostages in syria. el shafee elsheikh was part of a group nicknamed the beatles involved in torturing, beating and executing prisoners. the french president emmanuel macron says his russian counterpart, vladimir putin, has agreed on the need to send inspectors to ukraine's zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as fears grow about its safety. the site has been under russian occupation since early march and the area has recently come under heavy fire. and in a show of solidarity for sir salman rushdie, authors have been gathering in new york to demonstrate

their support, a week after he was seriously injured