this is bbc world news. 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.

hello and welcome to bbc news. 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. at least 12 people were killed in the deadly 30—hour ordeal, although local media reports the death toll could be even higher. emily brown reports. the crackle of gunshots penetrating the mogadishu air. a crumbling hotel in the somali capital under attack after it was stormed by an islamist military group on friday night. al—shabab attackers detonated al—sha bab attackers detonated

at least al—shabab attackers detonated at least two bombs outside the hotel before making their way in. the deadly siege lasted 30 hours. the hotel is known for being popular with journalists and politicians. gunman held hostages inside. some were rescued. many needing hospital treatment. al—shabab is the main islamist militant group in somalia. it has engaged a long—running conflict with the federal government. some believe this deadly result is a reaction to the government's recent comments saying they will intensify response to the armed militant group. unfortunately, we have had years of governance in somalia which, like in afghanistan has weakened somali forces further. 0ften aligning them with particular plans and politicians so there has long been a fear that we have waited for this delayed government and

finally took seed this may and that this was strengthening al—shabab. that this was strengthening al-shabab._ al-shabab. security forces claimed the _ al-shabab. security forces claimed the gunman - al-shabab. security forces claimed the gunman had l al-shabab. security forces i claimed the gunman had now al-shabab. security forces - claimed the gunman had now been killed and the siege has ended, but this has not yet been verified. and while this battle may have come to an end, many are anxiously waiting to hear news about their loved ones, who were trapped inside during the deadly attack. emily brown, bbc news. more now on our top story. javed ali is a counter—terrorism expert and former senior director with the us national security council. i asked him to give us his assessment on the hotel seige in mogadishu. to me, this is another example of al—shabab�*s ability to present a threat, not only in mogadishu but inside the country, i mean, this is a very persistent, resilient group, that has suffered significant casualties on its own through military actions and counterterrorism

actions by the us, the african union, and the somali government, but time and time again it has shown an ability to conduct attacks like this. just give us the bit of extra context here. remind us who al—shabab are, where they came from, and the role they play in this corner of africa? al—shabab grew out of a collection of islamist factions in the mid—2000s and they came together first to confront the ethiopian invasion of somalia in 2006. that collection of disparate factions then renamed themselves as al—shabab by late 2006 and early 2007, and started to change their orientation, became more unified to a degree, engaged in terrorism tactics and insurgency tactics, and by 2012, managed to profess their allegiance to al-qaeda. so that was an interesting change too, but the group is still for the most part made up of ethnic somalis,

it is not a group, even with the al-qaeda affiliation, it does not have arabs in its leadership ranks. and for the most part it fights a local agenda, although it has branched out more regionally and there have been reports it has had its eyes on attacks against the west and even in the us, but for the most pa rt it is a local somali group with local somali agenda. the siege of this hotel which was popular with government officials and journalists, is this typical of the type of attack they would launch? so al—shabab has been unfortunately successful in launching attacks in mogadishu against notjust hotels but government targets. there was an attack when i was in the trump white house in 2017 which killed hundreds of people in mogadishu, it was a horrific, horrific attack. so al—shabab clearly has this ability to conduct these complex assaults inside the capital and other parts of the country but they have also conducted hotel attacks

in kenya as well. so the group has shown this ability to reach even further outside somalia and go after western targets and show that they are a force to be reckoned with, not only in somalia but in the region. how much of a threat do you consider them? in the scheme of al-qaeda's orbit, because the group still has pledged or kept its allegiance to al-qaeda, and now with the death of ayman al—zawahiri, almost a month ago in afghanistan, one can make the argument that al—shabab is one of the more viable pieces of that broader al-qaeda enterprise. because of this pace and tempo of attacks that they are able to sustain, mostly in somalia. they seem to be doing well from a financial perspective, they can generate revenue to a variety of schemes, in a controlled territory in various parts of the country. that is not, sometimes, with the full support of the local populations. but this is a group

which is really entrenched in the country and they may be able to carry that broader jihadist momentum forward, even though the core al-qaeda is in a very difficult stage with the death of ayman al—zawahiri a few weeks ago. 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. 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. james sent us this update on whether ukraine is now getting the sort of weapons it needs from the west. it depends what the ukrainians want to do. they want to repel russia fully. i think to this point, it is clear that this help from the west is allowing the country to hold the defensive line. but we need to look at the questions which are raised by what we have seen in crimea over the past 11 days. what has happened to the air defence that russians installed along the peninsula?

what exactly caused these blasts which we have seen? were they saboteurs, were they long—range missile strikes, which the west has helped ukraine with, or were they drone strikes indeed, as reported today? there are a lot of unknowns, but it is clear that western weaponry is helping, but ukraine will always bang the drum for more. nevertheless, what we have seen in crimea challenges two myths, i think. firstly, that it is an impregnable base for russia to stage its naval fleet, as well as aircrafts to launch attacks on ukraine, but it also challenges the myth that crimea is part of russia. the ukraine government has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in these drone attacks. earlier, i spoke to paul scharre, who is the vice president and director at the center for a new american security and i asked him what he made of this new wave of attacks.

they have certainly been effective at pushing russians back on their heels and making russians pay attention to defences in rear areas. in some cases the attacks have been very effective in destroying russian equipment on the ground. there was a major attack against a russian airbase where nine aircraft were destroyed on the ground. that is an absolutely devastating loss for the russian military but other factors beyond material destruction, notjust against the airbase but against command facilities, supply depots, transportation infrastructure, command posts. it is making russia reassess its forces and pay attention to rear areas instead of putting attention into the front. why are these attacks and tactics only coming now? some people watching are thinking why did they not do this four months ago? it is unclear. it is unclear whether it is

a strategic decision on the part of ukraine to now push into the 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 drone operations that are becoming more sophisticated and capable. where are the weapons coming from? certainly the us and nato countries are pouring a tremendous amount of weapons into ukraine. 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 drone has been a hero of ukrainian drone forces but ukrainians have also been using small, commercially available drones like quad copters from china that they have weaponised

and used as spotters, and they are getting a lot of weapons coming from other countries who are supporting them and there are more on the way. conversely, we are hearing very relatively little about the russian capabilities and drone capabilities. why is that? russia has a lot of sophisticated equipment. they certainly have advanced fighter aircraft, defence systems and pretty capable drones. they have been pretty ineffective in operating them in ukraine. they have really not been able to establish air superiority and we continue to see ukraine operating aircraft and drones in the skies, even penetrating into some rear russian areas, like 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 are simply not using it effectively in this conflict. the daughter of one of president putin's close allies, aleksandr dugin, has reportedly been killed in a bomb attack. russian media says darya dugin died after her car exploded near moscow. there's been no comment on the incident from the authorities but pictures posted on social media show the burning wreck of a car on a suburban road. brain' could have been the intended target of the attack. the pair were reportedly due to travel back from an event in the same car. aleksandr dugin is a prominent ultra—nationalist philosopher and strategist. 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. well, road accidents in turkey are not unusual, but what is unusual is that two such big accidents happening in one day and having so many casualties. and also, the way those accidents happened are quite similar. in the first accident, basically it was an accident and a 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, whose brakes failed also, entered this crash, basically. that's 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 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 is 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, thouthoshua had his moments, landing some hard, crunching shots to the body and to the head. but he was never able to pin the ukrainian down. the fight really came alive on the ninth round wherejoshua

hit him in the head, 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 in by his entourage. he gave a speech praising 0leksandr usyk for a brilliant performance. where he goes now remains to be seen. as for 0leksandr usyk, he has said to me that he would love to fight a wbc champion, and that would be a blockbuster fare. so far, undefeated. he says that he will retire from boxing, but with the prospect of facing 0leksandr usyk in a huge bout, so there is every possibility he could come back. let's get some of the day's other news: 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's 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, has given in a speech in which he has 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. for more than a decade greece has faced economic turmoil, at some points even prompting questions over whether greece should be forced out of the european union. the financial crisis which began in 2009 caused wages to crash and unemployment to rise as well as young profesionals to flee the country.

now things are looking up, as stephanie prentice reports. greece wakes up today flying the flag of fiscal freedom, at least formally. 12 years of scrutiny from the eu, the imf and the european central bank has now ended. along with it, the salary cuts, tax base, privatisations and pension reforms 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 spilled out into politics, bringing the far—left syriza party to power in 2015. now, prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis has used a tv address to spread a message of hope. translation: the 12-year cycle that brought pain to citizens, -

brought the economy to a standstill and heightened social conflicts now ends, and a new, clear horizon is within view, with development, unity and prosperity for all. his party line is the greece of today is a different greece. but it's a greece 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 south—east china there has 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, and i think this is very precious. i don't think we'll see it again when the water level comes back. this is a culture that our ancestors have left us. it is believed the statues may date back as far as the ming dynasty, which ruled much of china between the 14th and 17th century. why were they built

here, you may ask. no—one really knows the answer, but they can hazard a guess. translation: i think the reason why our ancestors built this - was because they wanted to pray for a peaceful world, a beautiful country. i hope what they wished for can be passed on forever. soon enough the rains will fall, the water will rise and these statues will disappear. their mystery and their wonder hidden away once more. tim allman, bbc news. a new king has ascended the zulu throne in south africa. king misuzulu was proclaimed monarch by tribal warriors amid jubilation and tributes. the ceremony took place after a failed court order to halt the proceedings. 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 approached 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. that's take place next month. it for us for an hour. there that's it for us for an hour. there is much more on our website, oryou there is much more on our

website, or you can download the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter. please get in touch. 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 1a in london, and about that in liverpool too. so the forecast for tomorrow — 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 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—shabaab. 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 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.