this is 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 justice has been done. we receive the best of our country now we receive the best of our country and i am very grateful, obviously, but that is what makes it 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. hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the world. we begin 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. and then they would ask me to...

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 as jihadijohn, 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. early, i spoke to jason blazakis, senior research fellow at the soufan center, a global security research group, and asked for his response to the sentencing. i think it is an appropriate measure ofjustice for i think it is an appropriate measure of justice for the horrific actions that el shafee elsheikh was engaged in that

your reporter touchstone. being the cruellest guard in the jihadi beatles. eight lifelong consecutive sentences is what he deserved and is in keeping with the us and uk arrangement that they would not face the death penalty in the united states. given his horrific activity today is a measure of justice, but as diane foley said, it does ring a little hollow. it said, it does ring a little hollow. . , , ., ., hollow. it has been a long time cominu , hollow. it has been a long time coming. brain _ hollow. it has been a long time coming, brain his _ hollow. it has been a long time coming, brain his mentor- coming, brain his mentor justice. take us through some of the complications in this case. , ., ., case. first and foremost, geography- _ case. first and foremost, geography- el— case. first and foremost, geography. el shafee - case. first and foremost, - geography. el shafee elsheikh and alexander kotey, getting their hands on them to bring them tojustice their hands on them to bring them to justice was difficult. second, the noted state system has a death penalty. they had to negotiate around that.

thirdly, selecting information in a difficult place like syria and iraq and using essentially battlefield evidence in a us court system is very difficult to do. , , court system is very difficult todo. ., to do. he says he is appealing. do ou to do. he says he is appealing. do you think — to do. he says he is appealing. do you think that _ to do. he says he is appealing. do you think that is _ to do. he says he is appealing. do you think that is likely - do you think that is likely to be successful?— do you think that is likely to be successful? very unlikely. the charges _ be successful? very unlikely. the charges against - be successful? very unlikely. l the charges against alexander kotey and el shafee elsheikh were very warranted. i think el shafee elsheikh will live the rest of his years behind bars, very likely at administrated maximum prison.— very likely at administrated maximum prison. you have spent our maximum prison. you have spent your career— maximum prison. you have spent your career studying _ maximum prison. you have spent your career studying islamist - your career studying islamist terrorism. would you say that these were true jihadists? timer;r these were true 'ihadists? they were first and _ these were true jihadists? they were first and foremost - these were true jihadists? tie: were first and foremost petty criminals before theyjoined the islamic state. they use religion to justify their brutality and nihilism. they do represent a microcosm of what

isis was, a brutal terrorist group that engage in wanton attacks and violence. the un secretary general has held talks with turkish president recep tayyip erdogan and ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky in the ukrainian port city of odesa, 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 odesa. now, it's hoped he can facilitate an end to russian military operations at the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and a ceasefire in ukraine. jamesjeffrey 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 reinforcements. they have generally been diplomatically helpful.

nevertheless, erdogan has a touch with putin that most western leaders do not have. in some respects even though they are geopolitical rivals, they are geopolitical rivals, they are kind of i9th—century people that understand each other. erdogan does not lecture putin about human rights, they basically try to cut deals. that helps in a situation like this and we think it may open the door to at least a un migratory inspection of the zaporizhzhia plant. you have worked closely _ zaporizhzhia plant. you have worked closely with - zaporizhzhia plant. you have worked closely with vladimirj worked closely with vladimir putin and erdogan. putin is notoriously difficult to negotiate with. what might erdogan have over him in terms of leveraged?— of leveraged? putin need somebody _ of leveraged? putin need somebody in _ of leveraged? putin need somebody in the - of leveraged? putin need somebody in the nato . of leveraged? putin need i somebody in the nato camp of leveraged? putin need - somebody in the nato camp that he can talk to for many reasons. erdogan is the preferred candidate because he doesn't lecture about human rights and other progressive western values that neither

erdogan or putin take seriously. putin has certain pressure points over erdogan, such as almost half of turkey�*s gas consumption comes from russia. but more importantly putin realises, and we saw this in the green deal that the terrorists and erdogan cut with putin weeks ago it is working well. putin realises he is getting a bad public relations black eye for some of things he is doing, blocking food shipments one thing. allowing this largest nuclear plant in all of europe to perhaps go out of control is another, another chernobyl. therefore putin is looking for ways out and erdogan is a good person to turn to. it erdogan is a good person to turn to. , ., ., ~' erdogan is a good person to turn to. , ., ., ~ ., ., turn to. if he is looking for a way out. _ turn to. if he is looking for a way out, what _ turn to. if he is looking for a way out, what might - turn to. if he is looking for a way out, what might that i turn to. if he is looking for a i way out, what might that mean for the areas of ukraine that russia has already captured? right. these are step—by—step things. first he let the grain 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 vladimir putin who is very smart and understands military affairs and he must know by now that he is not going to succeed in overrunning all of ukraine. 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 of compromise ceasefire, peacekeeper solution, when and if the time comes.— if the time comes. ultimately, do ou if the time comes. ultimately, do you think — if the time comes. ultimately, do you think president - if the time comes. ultimately, | do you think president erdogan can seal the deal? i do you think president erdogan can seal the deal?— can seal the deal? i think that the temporary _ can seal the deal? i think that the temporary deal _ can seal the deal? i think that the temporary deal on - can seal the deal? i think that the temporary deal on at i can seal the deal? i think that| the temporary deal on at least inspection of the nuclear plant, i think he and antonio guterres have played an important role and i think we have seen some success there. whether we can work further on, as erdogan and putin said in their press conferences,

earlier today, their press conferences, earliertoday, i their press conferences, earlier today, i think they really hope that they can find some kind of ceasefire, possible way out of this crisis which is impacting not only the region but the whole world. 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 south—western state of guerrero. mr murillo has been arrested on charges of forced disappearance, torture, and the obstruction ofjustice. in east africa, 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—shabaab, says it is carrying out the attack. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, cutting ties: the cultural artefacts looted from india during british rule in the 19th century now being returned. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today- in one of the worst days of violence _ between rival black groups. over the last 10 i days, 500 have died. crowd chants: czechoslovakia must be free! _ man: czechoslovakia must be free! - crowd chants: czechoslovakia must be free! _ russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners

who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation - of more than 2.5 million people in his hometown of krakow. i "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope. "so, you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: 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. 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. our north america correspondent nada tawfik has this report. new york has been sir salman rushdie's home for the past 1.5 decades. 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 memoir, joseph 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. chanting 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, i think, 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. chanting 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 the pictures from the accident. our correspondent in la peter bowes has been following the story. this was a particularly horrific crash, and you've 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. here in the uk, glasgow life museums will become the first museum service in the uk to return objects stolen from india centuries ago. following an agreement signed with the high commission of india, the relics will be returned to the indian government later this year, as gail maclellan reports. a as gail maclellan reports. song to celebrate stolen a rtefa cts a song to celebrate stolen artefacts going home. some of the items like this sword date back to the 14th century and were looted from northern india almost 200 years ago during britain's colonial rule. irate almost 200 years ago during britain's colonial rule. we are sendin: britain's colonial rule. we are sending seven _ britain's colonial rule. we are sending seven artefacts i britain's colonial rule. we are sending seven artefacts back| sending seven artefacts back home, they will be restitution and occupy their rightful place

in our cultural heritage. i am on cloud nine.— in our cultural heritage. i am on cloud nine. many artefacts in museums— on cloud nine. many artefacts in museums and _ on cloud nine. many artefacts in museums and collections l on cloud nine. many artefacts i in museums and collections have been looted from sacred places such as temples and shrines and it is not often that they are returned. pa. it is not often that they are returned-— it is not often that they are returned. �* , , . ., returned. a highly significant -rocess, returned. a highly significant process. the _ returned. a highly significant process, the first _ returned. a highly significant process, the first to - returned. a highly significant process, the first to india i process, the first to india from a uk museum. ourfirst was in 1998. from a uk museum. our first was in 1998. , ., ., from a uk museum. our first was in 1998. , ., ~ , ., in 1998. glasgow museum also aims to repatriate _ in 1998. glasgow museum also aims to repatriate stolen i aims to repatriate stolen artefacts from nigeria and tribes in south dakota. it is, they say, part of the city plasma committee to past wrongs. and in the process, build relationships with those countries whose art was stolen so long ago. gail maclellan, bbc news. 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 o'bonsawin, a judge on ontario's superior court since 2017, would bring

invaluable knowledge to canada's highest court. thejustice minister called the move a historic moment for the court and for the country. now, imagine this — you've come back to your house, you're about to put the key in the lock, and you notice something's not quite right. something on the porch isn't where you left it. and is that a noise you can hear inside? you open the door and find you've been the victim of a break—in. 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 oscar. he made himself more than 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 oscar got in through two cat flaps and had 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'd been heading out first thing in the morning, i heard a bit of a bark and i thought it was a dog. this little lovely 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's allowed, and 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's no way a seal would get through that cat flap, no way. and, then, as i opened the next door, i bumped 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 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 — had 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, and so we didn't actually see coco for another hour or two, and then the last few days, she's been hiding upstairs, not wanting to go down into the area that the seal was in. speaking of hiding, 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, yeah, parts of it are normal. the ceals coming onto the coast, particularly young seals at this time of year is quite a usual sight. but it is pretty unusual for them to be quite so adventurous and wander up over the dunes, up through the beach access ways, onto the sidewalk and down

someone's driveway, so... first time i've come across this. i should say, you are an expert because you are a marine biologist, not because you go 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 fur seals, it is a bit of a conservation success story. they almost went extinct in the 1800s 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're becoming more abundant, the population's expanding. so, kind of what we are seeing is as they recover and increase, 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've 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 there 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, it was hanging out in the garden and he came and dropped it 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. great stuff. but is it for us for now. there is more on the bbc website including oscar's adventures in new zealand. you

can reach me on twitter. please drop me a note. all of us on the team here in london, thank you for watching and we will see you here next time. bye— bye. 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 clearer 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 we're 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 south—west 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 south—east of england, confined to the south—east, 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.

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. 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 in a knife attack. hundreds of writers gathered at the city's public library to read his works and pay tribute.