this is bbc world news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: russia says un inspectors will be allowed into the zaporizhzhia nuclear site, which has recently been heavily shelled. a life sentence for el shafee elsheikh, a british fighter from the islamic state group, 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 hollow victory, if you will. 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 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 cutting ties. the scottish city returning looted cultural artefacts to india. hello and welcome to bbc news. raso�*s president vladimir putin has said officials from the united nations will be able to inspect your�*s largest nuclear power plant, a course for nuclear concern —— russia. the zaporizhzhia site has been under russian occupation since early march, and recently the area has recently come under heavy fire. stephanie prentice reports. it's the site at the centre of what a lot of ms zelenska calls nuclear terrorism. a nuclear power station call between

russian and ukrainian gelling, underfire, and reportedly under fire, and reportedly damaged. underfire, and reportedly damaged. now, afteralmost underfire, and reportedly damaged. now, after almost six months of occupation, there may be hope for the site at zaporizhzhia, as vladimir putin has indicated that un officials can come in and inspect it. it's a leap for diplomatic progress, but one the un are not taking lightly, warning that discrete deployment is all that discrete deployment is all thatis that discrete deployment is all that is holding the talks together and that that must continue. . together and that that must continue-— together and that that must continue. ., ., , continue. there are two things, first to step _ continue. there are two things, first to step any _ continue. there are two things, first to stop any kind _ continue. there are two things, first to stop any kind of - first to stop any kind of military activity, and the second to allow for the international agency for atomic energy to verify and get into the safety of the plant. russia has rejected — the safety of the plant. russia has rejected calls _ the safety of the plant. russia has rejected calls to _ has rejected calls to demilitarised the area, but there have been reports that some military equipment is being moved out of the plant. in his latest address, volodymyr zelensky stressed out i'm sensitive the international intervention is.

translation: , , ., translation: if the russian radiation blackmail— translation: if the russian radiation blackmail will - translation: if the russian radiation blackmail will go . translation: if the russian | radiation blackmail will go on, this summer may enter the history of europe is one of the most tragic of all time, because in no rulebook in any station in the world is very procedure in case some terrorist estate earns a nuclear power plant into a target. nuclear power plant into a taruet. �* ., , , target. another problem being insert towards _ target. another problem being insert towards resolution, - target. another problem being insert towards resolution, the | insert towards resolution, the movement of green through the black sea. a un shipping deal brokered by turkey with russia seems to be holding, but what of the other major crisis being felt around the world — energy? the question of where the energy being generated by zaporizhzhia is going is also in the world's spotlight. ukrainian workers are still doing the duties there, under duress, and the un has warned moscow any resources from the blood belong to ukraine. antonio guterres�*s next stop after ukraine is assembled to checkin after ukraine is assembled to check in with the grain and fertiliser expositor. at that diplomatic when still overshadowed by the nuclear

danger simmering to the north—east. in some experts say the plant is being used to blackmail the world. stephanie prentice, bbc news. let us get more on this relationship between turkey, ukraine, russia and the united nations. jamesjeffrey was us ambassador to turkey from 2008 until 2010 and knows the turkish and russian presidents well. he told us more about turkey's role in trying to 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, providing drones and supplies to ukraine and being generally 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're kind of i9th—century

people that understand each other. erdogan does not lecture putin about human rights, democracy or anything — they basically try to cut deals. that is helpful in a situation like this and we think it may open the door to at least a un iaea inspection of the zaporizhzhia plant, which is important right now. you have worked closely with vladimir putin and erdogan. —— putin needs somebody in the nato camp that he can talk to for many reasons. erdogan is the preferred candidate because he doesn't lecture putin about human rights and other progressive western values that neither erdogan or putin take seriously. further, 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 grain deal that the terrorists and erdogan and guterres cut with putin a few weeks ago, and 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. james jeffrey, former ambassador to jamesjeffrey, former ambassador to turkey. we go to east africa now. reports from the somali capital, mogadishu, say at least eight civilians have been killed during the ongoing occupation of a hotel by islamist militants. 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. to 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 victims�* 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. i asked jason blazakis, senior research fellow at the soufan center, a global security research group, for his response to the sentencing. i think it is an appropriate measure ofjustice for

the horrific actions that el shafee elsheikh was engaged in that your reporter touchstone. being the cruellest guard in the jihadi beatles. water—boarding, electrocuting visitors. 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. so — so given his horrific activities, today is a measure ofjustice, but, like diane foley said, it does something in terms of ringing a little hollow. it has been a long time coming, bringing these men justice. talk us through some of the complications in this case. well, first and foremost, geography. elsheikh and kotey were operating out of syria, before they were captured, so getting their hands on them to bring them to justice was difficult. second, the united states�* system, as you know, has a death penalty.

the uk and us 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. he says he is appealing — is that likely to be successful, do you think? it�*s very unlikely to be successful. the charges against kotey and elsheikh were very warranted. i think elsheikh will live the rest of his years behind bars, very likely at administrated maximum prison. you have spent your career studying islamist terrorism. would you say that these men were true jihadists? they were first and foremost were petty criminals involved in theft before theyjoined the islamic state in 2013 and 2014. they used religion to justify their brutality and nihilism.

they do represent a microcosm, the beatles, of what isis was — a brutal terrorist group that engaged in wanton attacks and violence. let us go to north america now. 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. jesus murillo is accused of forced disappearance, torture, and obstruction ofjustice, in relation to the case of 43 student teachers who went missing eight years ago. the bbc�*s tim allman has this report. even ina even in a country steeped in violence, this was a crime that shocked our nation. dozens of young men heading to a demonstration in mexico city simply vanished. all that was ever found was a view bone fragments from three of the student teachers —— review. now the man who was, at one point,

ultimately responsible for the investigation into the disappearance has himself been arrested. jesus murillo, attorney general under the former president had already faced criticism for errors in an earlier enquiry. he had blamed police and the drug cartel, but not the armed forces. now he faces charges including torture and obstruction ofjustice. this comes only a day after a new truth commission set up to investigate the disappearance pointed the finger of blame at military personnel. the disappearance of the 43 students constituted a state crime, said the head of the commission, a crime which agents from various state institutions participated in. when the current president took office four years ago he promised to uncover the truth

about what happened. now more than ever he still wants justice to be done. translation: , ., translation: punishment of those responsible _ translation: punishment of those responsible helps - translation: punishment of those responsible helps to - those responsible helps to ensure that it does not happen again. that such regrettable act do not happen again in our country. act do not happen again in our count . ., ., , ., country. for the families of the missing, _ country. for the families of the missing, the _ country. for the families of the missing, the pain - country. for the families of the missing, the pain of. country. for the families of| the missing, the pain of the last eight years has been unimaginable. they will hope the truth is now closer than ever before. tim allman, bbc news. 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 accident has testified in court that she had panic attacks after learning that emergency responders took photos of the aftermath. kobe bryant, their 13—year—old 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 after first responders allegedly circulated pictures of the scene. 0ur correspondent in la, peter bowes has been following the story.

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. it was very emotional testimony, she was sobbing as she appeared, she said she was blind—sided, 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. 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. singing 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. we are sending seven artefacts back home, the seven artefacts will be restituted and will occupy their rightful place in our cultural heritage. so, i am really on top of the world, cloud nine. many artefacts in museums and collections have been looted from sacred places such as temples and shrines and it�*s not often that they�*re returned. a highly significant process, the first repatriation to india from a uk museum. by no means the first repatriation in glasgow�*s situation. our first repatriation from the collection was in 1998. the glasgow museums also aim to repatriate stolen artworks from nigeria and the sioux tribes of south dakota. it is, they say, part of the city�*s commitment to addressing past wrongs.

and in the process, build relationships with those countries whose art was stolen so long ago. gail maclellan, bbc news. 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 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 a break and enter. 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 two—hundred kilometres south of auckland. it�*s thought 0scar 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 this flip—flap, 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. i see you have got him there — is that coco? 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 high—tailed 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 seals 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. and if you are interested,

there are plenty pictures on his adventures in new zealand on our website. you can reach me on twitter. from, all of ours, goodbye. 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: 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. 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 man who was serving as mexico�*s attorney general when one of the country�*s worst ever human rights atrocities took place, has been arrested. jesus murillo is accused of forced disappearance,

torture, and obstruction ofjustice — after 43 student