vumani mkhize, bbc news, durban.mber of celebrities have reclaimed their birth names after years of anglicising them. it's an issue many people from ethnic minority backgrounds are faced with when they're growing up or looking forjobs. 0ur reporter noor nanji has been to meet one woman who's taking back her name. ifelt like i had to fit in — like i needed to keep up with the joke and keep up with people, like, calling me by the wrong name. changing your name to fit in? i know a bit about that. 0ur reporter nina nanji... nina nanji. nina nanji, bbc news. that's actually not my name, though. my real name is noor, but at work i chose to go by nina because so many people were getting it wrong — and that got me wondering whether other people have done similar things. i'm off to meet chinemelum, who's been abbreviating her name for most of her life. so when i was in year three, ijoined a new school and they called me up to the front and they're like, "what's your name? " and i said, "chinemelum," and i was really standing

army and volunteer rescuers are widening their search for those still missing. 0ur correspondent vumani mkhizeurban. we are going to be coming st and showers, heavy hail, and it seems to be starting right now. and of the township and we actually couldn't enter the township because it is actually blockaded by shipping containers and the bridge that leads up to the township is actually blocked. right now, i'm part of a convoy which is going to be with the minister of police, and the minister of transport. we're going to be going to communities that have been affected by the floods to assess the damage. unfortunately for many people here, who have lost their homes and their livelihoods, they are going to be experiencing more bad weather during the course of this weekend. there is quite unfortunate because it is going to impact where they are going to be staying and also the massive operations that had begun after the floods had ravaged parts of durban. i will correspond in there with the latest from durban. —— our correspondence. china is beginning military exercises around taiwan. an army spokes

vumani mkhize, bbc news, durban.ekers more than 4,000 miles to rwanda has been met with criticism and condemnation. the unhcr called it and unacceptable breach of international law. here's our chief political correspondent, adam fleming. but i think the government knew they would get this pushback — there's been quite a lot of criticism of this uk government plan to send some asylum—seekers to rwanda eventually. the criticism has come from the un refugee agency, from a former international development secretary, and from a former immigration minister. but i think the government knew they would get this pushback — i think they might even be relishing it, because they see it as an opportunity to make the case, and they are actually preparing for this to go to court and be challenged legally. we've also had an interesting insight into the policy formulation process — it turns out that officials in the home office weren't able to precisely quantify the potential benefits of this plan, so they weren't able to approve it.

vumani mkhize, bbc news, durban.ile takeover bid from elon musk. it's using a defence known as a poison pill to make it difficult for the billionaire to increase his stake beyond 15%. on thursday he offered $15 billion cash for the company, which was rejected outright by some shareholders. our technology correspondent, james clayton has more. twitter had been pretty quiet about this offer up till now but this gives a pretty clear direction of travel on what twitter thought about that offer. they clearly don't want to be bought by elon musk — not at that price, anyway — and this is a way of defending themselves against a hostile offer. a poison pill is designed to essentially make yourself less palatable, more difficult to swallow for anyone who wants to buy you. and what it will do is it will mean that if elon musk wants to buy more than 15% of the company, twitter will flood the market with shares and make it very difficult for elon musk to buy more than 15%. now, there are ways around this — it's very clever, but i

vumani mkhize, bbc news.raeli police at the al—aqsa mosque in occupied eastjerusalem. three israeli police were also hurt. tensions have been high in recent weeks as the fasting month of ramadan coincides with passover forjewish people, and easter for christians. israeli police said they entered the mosque to disperse a crowd, after rocks were thrown ontojewish worshippers at the western wall below. here's our middle east correspondent yolande knell. as day broke injerusalem's old city, sacred to three faiths, tensions were rising at its most bitterly contested site. israeli police say they moved in to disperse a riot by palestinian muslims at al—aqsa mosque. 0fficers fired stun grenades and rubber bullets. palestinians threw stones and firecrackers. the violence came inside the doors of the mosque. it takes hours for a fragile calm to set in, and we meet 0mar joining the clean up. he came for ramadan prayers. you just want to pray. and it's really heartbreaking to see one of your holy sites, you come from li

vumani mkhize, bbc news, durban. a narco—state with illegal drugs as one of its biggest exports. the stimulant captagon — a class a drug in the uk — is widely used across the arab world. in recent weeks, thejordanian army has seized large hauls of drugs and killed more than 30 smugglers in operations along its border. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell has been to this frontline of the regional war on drugs. three shadowy figures cross the border fence. jordanian soldiers open fire. another skirmish in an increasingly deadly fight against drug smugglers. they want to show me what they are up against. it is a great view from here. you can see, everything beyond the fence, that is syria. and this is a new front line in the war on drugs. ruined by a decade of war, neighbouring syria is turning into a narco—state. after losing a jordanian soldier, the military has adopted a shoot to kill policy. and how much more dangerous is it now along this border? translation: the degree | of danger has grown recently with t

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize was there.ettlement in reservoir hills just north of durban. behind me, there is a recovery operation by a rescue team that is from outside of the province. i am told by the community that two people are missing, a youngster, around eight years old, and someone who is also over the age of 30. so, the rescue team has also got a dog that has been sniffing and i am told that the dog has been able to identify that there are remains down there. so, it is quite a sombre moment or a sombre situation right now. we've got members of the community who are looking on, and it is quite sad to witness. just looking around here, all of the cars and the debris that has been strewn all over here isjust an indication of how violent the waters must have been when they were coming through all along this community. it has been utterly, utterly devastating. just looking at all the houses as well, you can see that this is quite a poor and impoverished area and they're not really well—built, and they could not actually

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize was there.ood flowed through this settlement north of durban. people ran through this settlement north of durban. people ran for through this settlement north of durban. people ran for their lives as the rising floodwaters engulfed everything in its path. the mangled remains of debris is what is left. sombre residents look on, as a rescue team searches for the missing. a recovery operation is under way here at the settlementjust north of durban. members of the rescue team are looking for two people, a youngster aged eight years old, and also one age 13. you can see the that there is cars, debris that has been strewn all over from the river. it is an indication of the severity and violence of the water cascading along here. the search and rescue team cannot get heavy machinery to the area, so they painstakingly use their hands. currently we have two community members missing in this area. we brought in canines because, as you can see, there is a very big debris pile, there's a lot of material to

any official help yet, leaving residents to dig through the debris themselves. 0ur correspondent vumani mkhizeban, this community is still trying to come to terms with the flash floods that devastated this area. this search and rescue team is on a recovery operation. they are looking for a woman swept away by the flash floods at night while she was asleep. behind me, this is where the water was cascading down this hill. unfortunately, a man and woman were swept away by the raging waters. the man was found alive. unfortunately, the woman is still missing and we have got community members here sitting with their bare hands, looking for her. further downstream, we have got search and rescue operations with dogs also looking for the woman. 0n the night of the floods, some even risked their lives to save others. translation: | found | a man trapped by a tree, so i managed to pull him out of the water. i put him inside the house. i heard more people crying and ran to help another woman. she is still in hospital, but alive. the other man died. all over the kwazulu—natal province, stories of flash flo

vumani mkhize reports.flood swept through this informal settlement north of durban in the middle of the night on tuesday. people here ran for their lives as the rising floodwaters engulfed everything in its path. the mangled remains of debris are what's left. sombre residents look on as a rescue team searches for the missing. a recovery operation is underway here at the informal settlement just north of durban. a recovery operation is underway here at the informal settlement members here of the rescue team are essentially looking for two people, a youngster aged eight years old and someone who's also aged around 30. and as you can see over here, there are cars and debris that have been strewn all along along the river. and it'sjust an indication of the severity and the violence of the water that was cascading along here. the search and rescue team can't get heavy machinery into the area. they painstakingly use their bare hands. so currently we've got two community members missing in this area. we brought in

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize sent this report from durban.bris and junk washed up on this durban beach are an indication of the severity of the floodwaters that ravaged the city. waste pickers salvage what they can to recycle and sell. residents remove the washed—up debris. volunteers and waste pickers have begun a monumental clean—up operation at the durban beachfront. as you can see, the scale of the debris that was washed away by the raging waters is immense. unfortunately for the kwazulu—natal province, more bad weather is expected over the easter weekend, which will hamper the clean—up operations. while the torrential rains and mudslides could not be avoided, residents say that infrastructure degradation in the city contributed to the severity of the floods. we watched street cleaners sweeping rubbish into the drains, because they have never been trained properly. there's no understand of consequence of the action, i watch it all the time. it is such a pet peeve, because definitely things could have been less catastrophic if we took care

vumani mkhize, bbc news, durban.v asking to be exchanged for a pro—russian politician who is being held by the ukrainian authorities. it is not clear whether the two men — shaun pinner and aiden aslin — were speaking under duress. in the video, which we are not showing, one of the men, who says he is shaun pinner, says he was captured in the port city of mariupol while fighting for the ukrainian marines. it's understood he is being held as a prisoner in donetsk in eastern ukraine. he's been in the ukrainian army for two years. the other man in the footage is believed to be aiden asling, another british soldier serving with ukrainian forces who was captured by russian troops. both families are working with the foreign office to ensure their sons�* rights as prisoners of war are upheld under the geneva convention. 0ur news correspondent andrew plantjoins me now. what can you tell us? shaun pinner was captured _ what can you tell us? shaun pinner was captured a _ what can you tell us? shaun pinner was captured a few— wh

our correspondent, vumani mkhize, has the latest from durban. to the weather is going to be severe. we are going to be experiencing thunder showers accompanied by hail and heavy winds and it seems it is starting now. i'm on the outskirts of a township which we could not enter because it is blockaded by shipping containers and the bridge that leads up to the township is actually blocked. right now i'm part of a convoy which is going to be with the minister of police and the minister of transport, we are going to be going into these communities affected by the floods to try and assist, assess the floods to try and assist, assess the damage but unfortunately for many people here who have lost their homes and livelihoods, they are going to be experiencing more bad weather during the course of this weekend. it's quite unfortunate because it's going to impact where they are going to be staying and also the massive mop up operations that had begun after the flags had ravaged parts of durban and kwazulu—natal. let's speak to namritha sivsanker, head of

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize has more from durban.an and this particular river was raging when the floods have besieged this area. it actually washed away large parts of the road, many houses further down the river were also washed away. now, such was the force of the water, it also eroded a large part of this road, exposing a water pipe. now, the community here has run out of water, there is no flowing water so they are actually utilising this particular pipe which is providing waterfor them. now, the community has been collecting water here tuesday, i am told. as you can see, there is a large amount of people who have been collecting water throughout the day, and it is essentially, it has become a lifeline for the community here who have been able to collect a vital resource. but like the situation basically is an indication of the deprivation that many people are facing within this community and other areas of kwazulu—natal, who are facing quite a dire situation as a result of this flood. so, it is actually turning out to become a

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize has sent this report from durban.ged the city. volu nteers volunteers and waste pickers have begun what is a monumental clean—up operation here at the durban beachfront. as you can see behind me, the scale of the debris washed behind me by the raging waters is immense. unfortunately for the kwazulu—natal province, more bad weather is expected over the easter weekend, which will hamper the clean—up operations. while the torrential rains and mudslides could not be avoided, residents say... janik there's no understanding of the consequences of your actions. it's such a the consequences of your actions. it's suc ., , , , , it's such a pet peeve because definitely _ it's such a pet peeve because definitely things _ it's such a pet peeve because definitely things could - it's such a pet peeve because definitely things could have l it's such a pet peeve because - definitely things could have been less catastrophic if we had better drainage, and if we took care of the dreams we did have.— drainage, and if we took care of the

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize has more: iam i am north of derby and and this river was raging, it watched eroded apart this road exposing the water pipe. the community has run out of water. they are utilising this particular pipe which is providing waterfor them. they have been collecting water here since tuesday. as you can see, there is a large amount of people who have been collecting water throughout the day. it has become a lifeline for the community who have been able to collect a vital resource. but this situation is basically an indication of the depravity many people are facing in the community and other areas who are facing a dire situation as a result of this flood so it is actually turning out to become a humanitarian disaster essentially and we have relief agencies and government agencies as well trying to assist but such is the number of people who are being impacted by this disaster, it is really going to take a monumental relief effort from government and other agencies. as you can see, people are trying to do their best in a very bad situation. it's emerged that the uk go

let's speak now to vumani mkhize our correspondent in durban. what is the latest on the flooding?ials say the clean—up and rescue operations are continuing. unfortunately, that number is expected to rise and right now i am here at the beach, as you can see behind me, the scale of the debris and the devastation that happened here is immense. we have a number of volunteers who have come here to essentially try and clean up the beach and to try and make sure that the area is usable again. inland, a number of houses and bridges and roads have been washed away and the devastation has been significant after so much rain has fallen here. in significant after so much rain has fallen here-— significant after so much rain has fallen here. in terms of relief and rescue efforts, _ fallen here. in terms of relief and rescue efforts, what _ fallen here. in terms of relief and rescue efforts, what are - fallen here. in terms of relief and rescue efforts, what are the - rescue efforts, what are the authorities saying? the authorities are sa in: authorities saying? the authorities are saying they

vumani mkhize reports.a thread. 0thers these informal houses are hanging on by a thread. others were not so lucky and were swept away by the raging floodwaters that ravaged most parts of this province. these houses are so perilously close to the water's edge. this one is jutting out. anything could happen, it could fall. the woman who lives in this house, she is leaving and taking her children away from her because she is too petrified to live here. right now, i is too petrified to live here. right now. i am — is too petrified to live here. right now, i am leaving. _ is too petrified to live here. right now, i am leaving. for— is too petrified to live here. right now, i am leaving. for the - is too petrified to live here. i mt now, i am leaving. for the safety of my children. yeah. i now, i am leaving. for the safety of my children. yeah.— now, i am leaving. for the safety of my children. yeah. i can understand, lookin: my children. yeah. i can understand, looking over — my children. yeah. i can understand,

the bbc�*s vumani mkhize sent this report from durban. washed up the mountains of debris washed up on this bourbon beach are an indication of the severity of this floodwaters ravaged the city —— durban. waste pickers salvage what they can to recycle and sell while residents also remove the wash tub debris. volunteers and waste pickers have begun what is a monumental cleanup operation here at the durban beachfront and as you can see behind me, the scale of debris that was washed away by the raging waters is immense. unfortunately for the cuisine province, more bad weather is expected over the easter weekend is going to happen the clean—up operations —— kwazulu—natal province. while the torrential rain and mud slide could not be avoided, president tsai infrastructure degradation in the city contributed to the severity of the floods. we contributed to the severity of the floode— the floods. we watched the street cleaners _ the floods. we watched the street cleaners are - the floods. we watched the l street cleaners are sweeping the rubbish i

the bbc s vumani mkhize was there. this is the settlement and reservoir hills just by durban. durban.— hills 'ust by durban. behind me is the hillsjust by durban. behind me is the recovery _ hillsjust by durban. behind me is the recovery operation _ hillsjust by durban. behind me is the recovery operation by - hillsjust by durban. behind me is the recovery operation by rescuel the recovery operation by rescue team from outside of the province. i am told by the community that two people are missing. a youngster around eight years old and someone over the age of 30. so the rescue team has also got a dog that has been sniffing. i am told the dog has been sniffing. i am told the dog has been able to identify that there are remains down there. it is quite a sombre moment, a sombre situation right now. we have members of the community who are looking on and it is quite sad to witness. just looking around here, all of the cars and the debris which has been strewn all over here, it is just an indication of how violent the waters must have been when they were coming through all along t

have been restored to some areas, but relief teams are stretched to capacity. 0ur correspondent vumani mkhizere continuing. unfortunately, that number is expected to rise. right now, i am at the durban and north beach, and as you can see behind me, the scale of the debris and devastation that happened here is quite immense. we have a number of volunteers that have come here to essentially try and clean up the beaches and to try and make sure that the area is usable again. 0n the land of this province, a number of houses and bridges and roads have been rushed away, and the devastation has really been quite significant, after so much rain has fallen over here. and in terms of relief efforts and rescue efforts, what is going on? what are the authorities saying? the what are the authorities saying? iie: authorities what are the authorities saying? "iie: authorities are what are the authorities saying? ii2 authorities are saying what are the authorities saying? i““i2 authorities are saying that what are the authorities saying? ii2 authorities are saying that they are going to be continuing to sear

i want to show you this report, from vumani mkhize.at devastated this area. this search and rescue team is on a recovery operation. they are looking for a woman swept away by the flash floods at night while she was asleep. behind me, this is where the water was cascading down this hill. and unfortunately, a man and woman were swept away by the raging waters. the man was found alive. unfortunately, the woman is still missing and we have got community members here, searching with their bare hands, looking for her. further downstream, we have got search and rescue operations with dogs also looking for the woman. on the night of the floods, some even risked their lives to save others. translation: | found | a man trapped by a tree, so i managed to pull him out of the water. i put him inside the house. i heard more people crying and ran to help another woman. she is still in hospital, but alive. the other man died. all over the kwazulu—natal province, stories of flash floods and local —— and there are hundreds of stories like that. the floo

our correspondent vumani mkhize is in durban. vumani, what's the situation this morning?bad but it is not _ conditions. sure, this damage might look bad but it is not as _ conditions. sure, this damage might look bad but it is not as bad - conditions. sure, this damage might look bad but it is not as bad as - look bad but it is not as bad as what you can see on the inland, i have been to a number of communities and the devastation there is at... unimaginable, isaw and the devastation there is at... unimaginable, i saw a community yesterday where houses had fallen into the river and people were left destitute and had nowhere else to go. another woman i spoke to was basically packing away whatever was left inside her house because she was scared to spend yet another night in that settlement. these are just some of the stories we are hearing around durban, around the inland parts of the city, where people have been suffering quite tremendously. a day have put out a call in social media saying that they need excavators to help them rescue people in some communities in the nor