this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: security forces in somalia say they've succesfully ended a 30—hour siege by islamist militants at an hotel in the capital mogadishu. russia's air defence systems operate over crimea, which comes under ukrainian drone attack for another night. ukraine's heavyweight boxer oleksandr usyk retains his four unified world titles against britain's anthonyjoshua then dedicates his win to the ukrainian armed forces. and the secrets hidden in china's rivers finally exposed after a long drought.

security forces in somalia say they're sweeping a hotel in the capital, mogadishu, for explosives after ending a 30—hour siege by islamist militants but there has no independent confirmation. al—shabab militants stormed the hayat hotel on friday. our reporter, emily brown, gave me the latest on the story. we know that dozens of people were evacuated from the building, which is said to be popular with both journalists

and pop — as politicians. the siege lasted for 30 hours with the gunman holding hostages. we have seen some footage which we can show you an inner ear can the gunshots. this is clearly an intense battle for control and it is not known how many people died during the siege and witnesses say at least 20 and witnesses say at least 20 and one of the reported victims is the hotel owner although this has not been confirmed. earlier security official said 13 had been killed. the militant group alsa bad said some of the fighters managed to escape —— al—shabab but a somalia security people told us that gunmen were dead and no gunfire since the siege ended. the official gave no information about the total number of casualties on the attack on the hotel or how many al—shabab fighters have been killed. so still many

unconfirmed reports. killed. 50 still many unconfirmed reports. any indication _ unconfirmed reports. any indication why _ unconfirmed reports. any indication why the - unconfirmed reports. any indication why the siege happened in the first place? the al—shabab is the main islamist militant group in somalia, engaged in long—running conflict with the government. it is the first attack of its kind since president took office in may. some believe this deadly assault is the reaction to the government, —— comments saying they will intensify response to they will intensify response to the group. we get to hear back from the government although security officials told reporters that the government would give a press briefing about the attack on sunday but we do not know exactly when will be. well, earlier i spoke to vanda felbab—brown, who's co—director of the africa security initiative at brookings. i asked if she was surprised it took so long to end the siege.

unfortunately not. al—shabaab remains very potent and has been increasing its potency somalia for a number of years. in fact, last year the mission of the african union was supposed to end, and there was significant concern that if that mission ended, al—shabaab would be able to take over much of southern somalia as well as mogadishu altogether. so the mission was changed to a new mandate and a new name, but the reality is that the somali security forces remain weak and played by multiple problems while al—shabaab�*s potency has been increasing. 0ur active have al—shabab been, specifically in recent years? al—shabab has been very active, essentially since 2016 or 2017, al—shabab has been on the offensive and dominating the operational tempo in somalia. neither the somali army or the african union forces

at the time were dictating what was happening on the battlefield, or taking action against al—shabaab. al—shabaab was taking the action to the security forces and to the populations, including in mogadishu, where it exhorts many businesses. al—shabab has regularly engaged in the type of horrific attack that we have just been watching unfolding for two reasons. one is to demonstrate its potency, particularly to external audiences, outside of somalia, to potential recruits outside of somalia, as well as to the somali population, but the second is frequently a retaliation when a business or an entity refuses to pay extortion fees, which al—shabab regularly connects across mogadishu, as well as elsewhere in somalia, but even in the capital. looking under the bigger picture when it comes to islamist extremist groups, who are al—shabab aligned to?

you are their allegiances with? al—shabab�*s allegiance remains to al-qaeda. the islamic state has tried to flip al—shabab over to its side, and did not succeed in that, so a splinter group emerged which has become the islamic state in somalia, however, it still remains rather weak. al—shabab is not only the strongest of the militant groups andjihadi groups in somalia, but it also remains essentially aligned in its ideology with al-qaeda. but it is a very powerful group in and of itself, and does not depend on al-qaeda for its capacities and the strength of its operations. are security forces in the countries where al—shabab operate equipped to deal with them? unfortunately not. the international community has

tried to build up the somali national forces, with lots of donor money, in the tens of millions of hundreds of millions of dollars, which have gone into building the somali national army the somali police force, which has been training in multiple countries, but the western countries, including the united kingdom and the united states, turkey, there have been multiple deployments of externalforces, i have spoken about the african union security forces in their various iterations, but by and large comedy somali security forces, including the national army, remain plagued by corruption, it is a conglomeration of essentially planned malicious but often resent each other and are not necessarily aligned with mogadishu. and unfortunately we have had several years of really bad governance in somalia, which has, like in afghanistan, really weakened

the somali forces further, often aligning them with particular plans in particular politicians. so there has long been a fear as we have waited for this government to finally exceed this length but it was finally strengthening al—shabab, and indeed that has been the case, this latest attack is just one symptom of that. air defence systems have again been sounding in the city of sevastopol, in russian—annexed crimea. there have been several nights of ukrainian drone attacks on the region. sevastopol is the home of russia's black sea navalfleet. 0ur correspondent in ukraine, james waterhouse, sent this report. it's what and where this is which makes this smoke significant. another apparent strike in russian occupied crimea. over the last 11 days, there have been a series of explosions

on mostly military targets. out of all of the ukrainian territory which moscow has taken, crimea is where its grip has been strongest. but that grasp appears to be weakening. translation: russia's commanders aren't saying what happened, but it is either a failure of russia's air defences or of russia's intelligence services. regardless of who is causing these explosions, for ukraine, the result is the same. it is the weakening of russia's position in the south, because we confirm that crimea is ukraine. further north in kyiv, preparations for independence day. captured or destroyed russian tanks are big tourist attractions here. now they are on the move... ..to here, the main street in kyiv. ukraine wants to tell the world it will continue to fight. it hasn't acknowledged any responsibility for these

strikes in crimea, but what they do is reinforce the government's message that it will defend itself. the continued supply of weapons from the west is helping ukraine do that. another us package worth £655 million will be welcomed. there has been some diplomatic progress with the occupied zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. ukraine claims the russians are using it as a military base. after international pressure, the kremlin has agreed to give inspectors access. the details of how will be crucial. paul scharre is the vice president and director at the center for a new american security and author of army of none: autonomous weapons and the future of war. good to see you. what do you make of this seemingly new wave of ukrainian attacks on russian sites? , . . ., , , sites? they have certainly been effective at _ sites? they have certainly been effective at pushing _ sites? they have certainly been effective at pushing russians i

effective at pushing russians back on their heels in making russians pay attention is to defences in areas. in some cases the attacks have been very effective in destroying russian equipment on the ground. there was a major attack on a russian airbase where nine aircraft were destroyed on the ground. that is an absolutely devastating loss for the russian merit literary with other fact beyond material destruction, notjust against the airbase but against command facilities, transportation infrastructure, command post, it is making russia reassess its forces and pay attention to rear areas instead of putting attention to the front. ~ , ., instead of putting attention to the front. ~ , . , the front. why are these attacks and _ the front. why are these attacks and tactics - the front. why are these attacks and tactics only | the front. why are these - attacks and tactics only coming now? some are watching and thinking why did they not do this four months ago? it is unclear- — this four months ago? it is unclear. it _ this four months ago? it is unclear. it is _ this four months ago? it is unclear. it is unclear- this four months ago? it 3 unclear. it is unclear whether it is a strategic decision on the part of ukraine to push into the small longer range

attacks into rear areas of crimea or simply because they have the ability now to do so with long—range rockets, potentially special forces on the ground rumoured to be operating in crimea, it is unclear and through operations that are becoming more sophisticated.— that are becoming more sophisticated. that are becoming more sohisticated. ~ ., sophisticated. where are the wea ons sophisticated. where are the weapons coming _ sophisticated. where are the weapons coming from? - sophisticated. where are the - weapons coming from? certainly from the us _ weapons coming from? certainly from the us and _ weapons coming from? certainly from the us and nato _ weapons coming from? certainly from the us and nato countries. from the us and nato countries are pouring a tremendous amount of weapons into ukraine in the us has sent over $10 billion and is in weapons and another shipment has been approved yesterday and drones in particular are coming from turkey and a particular giant has been a hero of forces but ukrainians have also been using small, commercially available drones like quad copter is from china that they have weaponised or two and they are getting a lot of weapons coming from other countries who are

supporting them and there are more on the way.— supporting them and there are more on the way. conversely, we are hearing _ more on the way. conversely, we are hearing very _ more on the way. conversely, we are hearing very little _ more on the way. conversely, we are hearing very little about - are hearing very little about the russian capabilities and drying capabilities. why is that? ,, ., drying capabilities. why is that? ,, . ., drying capabilities. why is that? ,, ., ., ., ., that? russia has a lot of sophisticated _ that? russia has a lot of| sophisticated equipment. that? russia has a lot of- sophisticated equipment. they certainly have advanced aircraft, defence systems and pretty capable drones. they have been ineffective in operating them in ukraine. they have really not been able to establish air security and we continue to see ukraine operating aircraft and drones in the skies. even penetrating into some rear russian areas in crimea and reportedly a dogfight over east in ukraine last week and it really attracts what we have seen across the board for the russian military, even the ground forces, where they often have sophisticated equipment and it is not well—equipped or maintained and their operators are not trained very effectively. and they simply not using it effectively in

this conflict.— this conflict. 0k, we will leave it _ this conflict. 0k, we will leave it there. _ this conflict. 0k, we will leave it there. very - this conflict. 0k, we will| leave it there. very good this conflict. 0k, we will. leave it there. very good to get your insights. thank you forjoining us. the body of the former angolan leaderjose eduardo dos santos has arrived home following his death in spain last month. the repatriation had been subject to a dispute within the dos santos family but was given the go—ahead by a court in barcelona. some fear the return of dos santos' body could fuel tensions ahead of national elections on wednesday. at least 15 people have died in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in the northern indian state of himachal pradesh. the worst affected area was the district of mandi, where a torrent of water swept away two houses killing eight people. colombia's new left—wing president, gustavo petro's given in a speech in which he's suspended orders to capture and extradite the leaders of the country's last active guerrilla group,

the eln. the move is likely to pave the way for official peace talks to resume in cuba. mr petro, who took office two weeks ago and is colombia's first ever leftist president, has promised to bring total peace to the country. at least 32 people have been killed and dozens have been injured in two separate traffic collisions in south—east turkey. in the first one, a bus collided with an ambulance and first responders in the province of gaziantep. at least 16 people were killed and twenty others were injured. hours later, there was another accident, this time in mardin, a town some 200 kilometres away. at least 16 people were killed after a truck driver hurtled into pedestrians. about 29 people were injured. berza simsek, from the bbc�*s turkish service, told us more about what happened. road accidents in turkey are not unusual, but what is unusual is two such big accidents happening in one day and having so many casualties. and also the way those accidents happened are quite similar.

in first accident, basically it was an accident and the coach. and then rescue workers rushed to the scene, and a coach — 200 metres away from the accident site — overturned, flipped and then hit the rescue workers, killing health officials, firefighters, and unfortunately two journalists as well. in the second accident in mardin, a similar thing happened. a trailer truck was involved in an accident with two cars, and then rescue workers rushed to the scene, and also people rushed to the scene to help. but then another truck, which its breaks failed also, entered this crash basically. this is how these two

accidents happened. you're watching bbc world news. a reminder of our top stories: security forces in somalia say they have successfully ended a 30—hour siege of the hayat hotel in the capital mogadishu. up to 20 people may have been killed. russia's activates its air defence systems over crimea, as the home of its black sea fleet comes under ukrainian drone attack for another night. boxing news now and the ukrainian heavyweight, 0leksandr usyk, has retained his four unified world titles with a victory he dedicated to the ukrainian armed forces. he beat britain's anthony joshua on a split points decision after 12 rounds. the fight in saudi arabia was a rematch of usyk�*s victory in london in september. usyk had beatenjoshua to claim the belts, but volunteered as a soldier following russia's invasion of ukraine in february. but the ukrainian authorities advised him to return to the ring to highlight the country's plight, and the pre—match build—up was dominated by his patriotism. here's our reporter injeddah, ade adedoyin.

it really was a dramatic night and the fight fell into a similar pattern as the first one. usyk was very elusive, hard to pin down. he was landing the volume of punches, althouthoshua had his moments, landing some hard, crunching shots to the body and head, but wasn't never able to pin the ukrainian down. the fight really came alive in the ninth round wherejoshua was hurt, look like he was on the verge of stopping him but usyk showed a champion�*s heart to weather the storm and really in the next round, and then almost had joshua out in the 10th round. it was a brilliant performance by the ukrainian and he showed real class and why he has been undefeated in the last few yea rs. anthonyjoshua, a little out of character afterwards, very emotional, stormed out of the ring before being called back by his entourage. he gave a speech praising 0leksandr usyk for a brilliant performance. wherejoshua goes now remains to be seen. as for 0leksandr usyk, he has said to me that he would love to fight tyson fury, the wbc champion, and that would be a blockbuster affair. tyson fury is undefeated

and said recently that he would retire from boxing, but with the possibility of facing 0leksandr usyk and a huge bout, there is every possibility he could come back. for more than a decade, greece has faced economic turmoil. the financial crisis which began in 2009 caused wages to crash and unemployment to rise, as well as young professionals to flee the country. now, things are looking up, as stephanie prentice reports. greece wakes up today flying the flag of physical freedom, at least formally. i2 the flag of physical freedom, at least formally. 12 years of scrutiny from the eu, the imf, and european central bank has now ended. along with it, the salary cuts, tax base, privatizations, and pension reforms —— from that lead to

civil unrest when the country was bailed out after the 2008 financial crisis. the economy shrank by a quarter during the bailouts and public anger spilt out into politics, ringing the far left syriza party tupou in 2015. now prime minister kerry argus mitzi 0scars used a tv address to spread a message of hope. translation: ' , ., translation: the 12 year cycle that brought _ translation: the 12 year cycle that brought pain _ translation: the 12 year cycle that brought pain citizens - that brought pain citizens brought the economy to a standstill and heighten social conflict now wins and a new clear horizon is within view, with development, and prosperity for all. his party line is that _ prosperity for all. his party line is that the _ prosperity for all. his party line is that the greece - prosperity for all. his party line is that the greece of l line is that the greece of todayis line is that the greece of today is a different grease. but it is a greece are still under the shadow of its past as the debts accrued will take until 2070 to be paid off in

full. stephanie prentice, bbc news. in the past few weeks we've been telling you about europe's sweltering heatwave. but other parts of the world are also having to deal with record temperatures. in southeast china there's been an ongoing drought. dozens of rivers have dried up, leading to some surprising discoveries, as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. the yangtze river is the lifeblood of china, but now it seems to be disappearing before our eyes. the water levels drop away, and as they do so, they reveal a hidden past. on this small, rocky island, three buddhist statues that date back hundreds of years. sightseers come to have a look, a chance to witness a history that has gone unseen

for generations. translation: i saw in the newspaper that it'sj from 600 years ago. i think this is very precious. i don't think we will see it again when the water level comes back. this is the culture our ancestors have left us. it's believed the statues may date back as far as the ming dynasty which ruled much of china between the 13th and 14th century. why were they built here, you may ask, no—one really knows the answer. they can hazard a guess. translation: i think the reason why our ancestors built this - is because they wanted to pray for a peaceful world, a beautiful country. i hope what they wish or can be passed on forever. soon enough, the rain will fall, the water will rise, and these statues will disappear.

their mystery and they wonder hidden away once more. tim allman, bbc news. now a story to leave you with from south africa where a new king has ascended the zulu cone. —— thrown it. king misuzulu was proclaimed monarch by tribal warriors, amid jubilation and tributes. the ceremony took place after a failed court interdict to halt the proceedings. the half sisters of the king claim that their late father's will, which paved the way for misuzulu to become king, may have been forged. 0ur correspondent nomsa maseko reports singing thousands of people have gathered for the traditional coronation of king misuzulu ka zwelithini here at kwakhangelamankengane royal palace. despite the fact that there are squabbles and legal challenges within the royal family as to who should take the throne, it appears the zulu nation

itself has made its choice. this is seen as a show of force to affirm that the first—born son of queen mantfombi dlamini zulu is the rightful heir to the throne. translation: today is - an opportunity for us to start afresh, turn over a new leaf. even though some have turned their backs on us, we want them to return home, for us to reunite our nation. cheering and applause the king himself has no political powers but is very influential in his nation, which is the largest ethnic group in south africa. the king and a select few members of the royal family, and also the zulu regiment,

performed special rituals at the sacred kraal to usher in the new king of the zulu nation. the half—sisters of the new king approach the court because they believe that their father's will, which paved the way for misuzulu to become king may have been forged, but the court threw that out. however, it still does appear that there is still going to be a lot of squabbling within the royal family. government officials who attended today's proceedings have said president cyril ramaphosa has endorsed this event, and a government—backed coronation is due to take place next month. a reminder of our top story. officials in somalia say the security services have ended a 30—hour siege at a hotel in the capital, mogadishu. the claim has not been independently verified. at least 20 people are believed to have been killed after the popular hayat hotel was stormed by members of the islamist militant

group, al—shabab. that is it from us for now. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @richpreston. thanks for your company. we will see you next time. hello. a fine end to the day for many of us, but a bit of rain in the forecast, too, particularly in the north. but on the whole this evening and overnight, at least for most of us, it is going to be dry with clear spells. so, let's have a look at the forecast, then. here's the big picture, and in the last few hours, we've seen a weather front moving southwards across the country. here it is. and it's been affecting northern parts of the uk, so a little bit of rain here, which is going to fizzle away as we go through the course of the evening. you can see it crossing parts of lancashire through yorkshire, approaching hull, and then there's really not much left of it. apart from a few showers here and there, maybe in western parts of scotland, it is looking dry and the temperatures will range from around ten degrees in aberdeen to 111 in london and about that in liverpool, too. so, the forecast fortomorrow, it's actually going to be a sunny day compared to today in

the north of the country, but we are expecting more cloud in the south, and the reason for it is this weather front which will be approaching us. and a fair amount of cloud ahead of this weather front. so, here's the forecast, then, for the morning on sunday. quite a lot of cloud here across south—western parts of the uk, certainly for wales, south—western england, some spots of rain moving into mid—wales, north wales, perhaps reaching merseyside by the time we get to the middle of the afternoon. but for many southern, eastern and northern areas, it's going to be a dry day and quite warm there. in norwich, 25 degrees, hull will be up to 23, and not far off 20, i think, for newcastle and for aberdeen, where plenty of sunny spells are forecast. now, on monday, the weather fronts are right over the uk and that means a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain, at least early in the day. so, this is the morning. notice it's not raining everywhere. in fact, many parts of central and northern scotland are dry. most of the rain is across england and wales, but then come the afternoon, it does look as though that weather front clears away and there'll be some sunny spells developing, and the temperatures respectable, around the low 20s, maybe the mid—20s there for

east anglia and the south—east. so, let's summarise that, then, and the weather for the rest of the week. typical weather for our shores, but quite warm at times. in the south and the south east, though, you can see temperatures in london nudging up to around 27 degrees middle of the week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: officials in somalia say the security services have ended a siege at a hotel in the capital, mogadishu. the claim has not been independently verified. at least 20 people are believed to have been killed after the hotel was stormed by members of the islamist militant group al—shabab. the russian occupiers of crimea say they've again had to activate air defence systems in the city of sevastopol. it has been the target of drone strikes for several nights running. the city is the base of russia's black sea fleet. it's also become a holiday destination for russian

tourists. the ukrainian heavyweight boxer 0leksandr usyk has retained