in south africa are on high alert forfurtherfloods as more rain is expected over the weekend. hello. ukraine's president volodomyr zelensky has said that if ukraine's remaining troops in the southern port city of mariupol are killed it would mean the end of peace negotiations with russia. it comes as the russian defence ministry claims its forces have cleared the whole urban area of mariupol with the exception of a steel plant in the city — the bbc has been unable to verify these claims. meanwhile emergency teams around the ukrainian capital are responding to a second day of russian attacks on military—industrial facilities in kyiv. tensions have been rising since russia's flagship boat, the moskva, sank in the black sea. the ukrainians say it was hit by their missiles before it went down. today russia has banned borisjohnson and other senior uk figures from entering their country. 0ur correspondent mark lowen reports from kyiv. russian revenge. an early morning strike on a military factory in kyiv by long—range missiles. a message from moscow that russian troops may have retreated from the capital, but they can still hit hard. it came after ukraine says it struck and sank the russian warship the moskva, though russia claims it was caused by a fire. its pride of the black sea, now buried beneath it. well, the industrial complex that was hit is behind this wall. you can still see the smoke there in the distance from the explosion. now, ukraine shows every intention in this war of continuing and stepping up its fightback, and the fear here in kyiv is that russian retaliatory strikes might now intensify. a hint of normality was creeping back to this city, with shops reopening and people emerging from shelters. but now a reminder that the threat is still present, even from afar. tatiana hoped her customers would soon start to return, but she and her neighbourhood have had a terrifying wake—up call. translation: the floor was shaking and it felt like an earthquake. - it was very frightening. these days, we sleep fully clothed with our bags packed, so we are ready to flee. translation: | woke up - all of a sudden, like i was jolted out of a nightmare. we wanted to leave kyiv, but we trust our military so decided to stay. but now i think i'll always feel nervous when i hear explosions. the factory hit had been used to repair tanks in short supply here. ukraine's president again appealing today for arms from abroad. although russia warned the west to stop the supply. translation: the more and the sooner we get i all the weapons we have requested, the stronger our position will be and the sooner there will be peace. but any hope of that is being drowned out by the ferocious assault in the east. this is a foreshadowing of what ukraine fears will be even greater battles ahead. here in kyiv, the city is back on high alert. the urgency is the scarred wasteland of mariupol in the southeast, close to falling to the russians, who now claim they've captured this crucial steel plant. warning sirens. danger from a distance still lethally close. mark lowen, bbc news, kyiv. earlier i spoke to the hollywood actor liev schreiber, who is currently in lviv after launching an ngo initiative to help those in need. he told me what inspired him to get involved. i think like a lot of people back home, i've been watching the news in ukraine and feeling a degree of helplessness. i don't think there is any doubt that there is a huge groundswell of support in the us for ukraine and the rest of the world as well. but it seems like people just don't know what to do. not everyone can justjump on a plane and come to lviv. some friends of mine who have some experience in humanitarian relief... they identify, verify and fast track financial support to people who are working on the ground in ukraine, to support them. and anybody who donates in the us or even elsewhere, you help to get that money to people who are working on the ground? yes, part of ourjob and part of our mission here is to identify groups, prioritise the ukrainian ones, we are getting the help where it is needed most. and anybody who donates in the us or even elsewhere, you help to get that money to people who are working on the ground? yes, part of ourjob and part of our mission here is to identify groups, prioritise the ukrainian ones, we are getting the help where it is needed most. and, liev, you have ukrainian ancestry, i think, is that what partly made you feel bound to this cause? i have ukrainian and polish grandparents so yes. so it felt close to your heart? it does, it does indeed feel close to my heart. i think also... i think people are looking for ways they can help and one of the ways that we are offering through our group is if you go to usukraine.org/bucha, you can donate and also find out who you are donating to. i spent the past week working with organisations and now i am an lviv meeting with people from the lviv symphony who rehearse by day and pack medical aid by night. a mental health initiative and another group trying to create safe spaces for women, children and orphans, and many other groups. what do you feel when you talk to people working in these groups? it is really difficult to describe. i'm sorry. it has been a very emotional couple of days for me. it is such a beautiful place, you know, lviv. and the ukrainian people and ukraine, it is very hard to witness some of this stuff so to keep your mind focused on the task at hand and to try to avoid any distractions, you know, or to avoid a lot of emotion that takes over when you see what is happening to people here. do you feel that your celebrity status is helping in raising awareness of what is going on? i hope so. it's probably the best use of it i can find right now. we can speak now to a defence analyst and honorary professor in the university of exeter, he is a former bbc defence correspondent. get to see you, jonathan. we have these reports from pressure claiming that it has essentially cleared the whole urban area of mariupol with the exception of a steel plant in the exception of a steel plant in the city, we haven't been able to verify this ourselves. if this is the case, how significant is this? it is impossible to verify at the moment but i think it is probably almost inevitable that mariupol will fall in the coming days. i think it is a highly symbolic move and it also has some strategic importance as well. symbolically, mariupol has become an extraordinary mark of the ukrainian fortitude and resistance. they have held off on russian military releases the 2nd of march or so, so it has been going on, this siege, for several weeks. also, of course, it is potentially a humanitarian catastrophe. huge numbers of people, this was a city of remember 460,000, some people have been able to leave but many people have been kept forced to remain inside the city, as it has been systematically destroyed. i think there are going to be huge concerns now, notjust about the fate of prisoners of war taken by the russian military, but also the fate of civilians now who fall under russian occupation, and crucially, also, what about potential war crimes? are the russians now, as some people fear, going to systematically set about destroying and covering up as much of the evidence as they can? you and covering up as much of the evidence as they can?- and covering up as much of the evidence as they can? you talk about fears of the — evidence as they can? you talk about fears of the fate _ evidence as they can? you talk about fears of the fate of _ evidence as they can? you talk about fears of the fate of prisoners - evidence as they can? you talk about fears of the fate of prisoners of - fears of the fate of prisoners of war and civilians who are still there, what might happen? well, who knows? look — there, what might happen? well, who knows? look at— there, what might happen? well, who knows? look at the _ there, what might happen? well, who knows? look at the awful _ there, what might happen? well, who knows? look at the awful things - there, what might happen? well, who knows? look at the awful things we i knows? look at the awful things we already have evidence of from the parts of the ukraine in the north and north—west of the capital kyiv. terrible things went on there. rates, summary executions, really just awful awful things. this has now been going on, as i say, for several weeks, the siege of mariupol, there has been no food going on, no water, no food, no power, notes essential services, bodies littering the place. and if the russians pursue this assault with indiscriminate force, very little concern as to what they are hitting or who they are killing, then clearly, some terrible things must have gone on. there is of course a broader strategic dimension to this. the seizure of mariupol would mean that russia achieves this so—called land bridge between the russian separatist enclaves and russian separatist enclaves and russia proper and crimea which was obviously seized by the russians in 2014. we don't know how badly damaged the russian units may be, they must have taken significant casualties as well, those regions the russians have been laying siege to the city with. but one they is that once they have finished off mariupol, as it were, then what russian forces remain can then seek to try and move northwards with other forces moving southwards around kharkiv and so on, to try and cut off ukrainian forces that are entrenched and deployed in the east of the country facing the coming russian onslaught from the donbas. you have described very well but the next phase of this conflict might be, do you see this continuing for some time?— be, do you see this continuing for some time? , ., , ., , ., some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war. in — some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war. in a — some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, in a sense _ some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, in a sense is _ some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, in a sense is over. _ some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, in a sense is over. i - some time? sadly, i do. one phase of the war, in a sense is over. i fair - the war, in a sense is over. i fair that the reduction in capture of mariupol, as and when it happens, will be the end of that first phase. but the real crucial phase now is coming, this russian onslaught in the east and we just don't know. at the east and we just don't know. at the ukrainian forces can resist that, as weapons gradually come to them from the west, if those forces can hold out, it will be a very significant further blow to the russian military. if those forces can't hold out and are either encircled or pushed back and forster retreat with probably significant casualties, then that would be a major, majorsetback casualties, then that would be a major, major setback for the government in kyiv. —— pushed back and. two retreat. reports from the united states say there's been a shooting at a shopping centre in the state of south carolina. police say several people have been wounded. the extent of the victims' injuries is not clear. police officers have been clearing the scene in the city of columbia. the police department is expecting to hold a media breifing in the next few minutes. the authorities in south africa say the number of people known to have died in devastating floods in kwazulu—natal province has risen to 398 with 27 people still reported as missing. furtherflooding is possible as rain falls on saturated ground. the government has allocated $68 million dollars for emergency relief. these are the deadliest storms to strike the coastal city of durban in living memory. desperate rescue operations have been underway today across kwazulu—natal. our team witnessed an attempt to recover two bodies, including that of an eight—year—old child. the bbc�*s vumani mkhize was there. this is an informal settlement 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 is just 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 sustain the torrent of the waters that came through here. i am also told that there are a number of other search and rescue operations also taking place all around this area and this community, and so the number of dead is steadily rising, and it is just an unfortunate consequence of the violence of the floods that took place here in kwazulu—natal. we can now speak to spokesperson for the salvation army in south africa, captain velani buthelezi. thanks so much forjoining us here on bbc news. we had seen the pictures of the devastation that this flooding has caused, it is clearly a desperate situation for people, just bring us up—to—date with the latest situation on the ground, what are people telling you? thank you for having us, the salvation army. 0ur thank you for having us, the salvation army. our members in the area of durban and other areas around durban, they are out there and lightjust now, i am hearing from our team members who have been in the place called clermont, one of the townships, they went to a shelter there just to give out soup, bread, and the situation is very bad. you see children crying out of hunger because this has just disturbed them, their homes have been washed away by the storms so the situation is bad, i can say to you. but we, as the salvation army, our members are out there, we are trying what we can do with the public, just to give them clothing, blankets, and food, and food parcels as well to the families there. find as well to the families there. and how generous _ as well to the families there. and how generous are _ as well to the families there. and how generous are people being? as well to the families there. and . how generous are people being? the ublic how generous are people being? tie: public is responding how generous are people being? ti2 public is responding positively, i must say to you. since today, i have been receiving calls and people, they are really responding, but they need is higher. as i speak to you already have second—in—command, our chief secretary is down, they are busy assessing the situation and it is still raining there. the rain is still there so we do what we can do now but we are still monitoring and assessing the situation there and more help is needed, i can say to you. so we still appeal from the public. the salvation army, we do all that we do from the gift of the public. it all that we do from the gift of the ublic. , all that we do from the gift of the -ublic. , ,, ., ., public. it is night time in quezada natal province _ public. it is night time in quezada natal province right _ public. it is night time in quezada natal province right now- public. it is night time in quezada natal province right now -- - natal province right now —— kwazulu—natal, province or buy it now, other people outside with no shelter and no food?— shelter and no food? obviously, there are some _ shelter and no food? obviously, there are some shelters - shelter and no food? obviously, there are some shelters in - shelter and no food? obviously, . there are some shelters in different churches. the government has just opened some shelters where people are but definitely we see some people are still out there with no food. we still have a problem. we have just passed covid—19 which frustrated everything, as you know, so some people there... due to covid—19, people have lost their work, they are suffering already so these storms brought even difficulties, more difficulties to people. so, definitely, it is very cold, it is raining as i speak. crisis upon crisis for people. we have to leave it there, thank you very much for talking to us. sport now, let's get a full roundup, from the bbc sport centre. here's karthi. hello and thanks forjoining us. let's start at wembley where liverpool have beaten manchester city to reach their 15th fa cup final. the thrilling 3—2 win keeps jurgen klopp's side on course for four trophies this season. matt graveling reports from wembley. it is never boring between city and liverpool and today was definitely no different. first and foremost, fantastic to have the fans back in the stadium because when man city were here a year ago, there were no fans because of covid but they made their vote is heard today. didn't take long for liverpool to opening the scoring in a game which they dominated the first half. a big strong powerful header made it 1—0 to liverpool and then absolute howler from american goalkeeper zach stefan to give sadio mane a second goal. and then the senegal striker struck again, his second for the game, the first one was ridiculous, the second was sublime, just before half—time, absolutely fantastic strike, taking liverpool in, year than proper zach meant 3—0 at the half. all manchester city needed was a pep guardiola talk and that is what i got because the £100 million jack greenish came back out, second is a second over, game on. 3—1 as jack greenish dispatches first goal of the game. that is how it stayed until the 90th minute until bernardo silver coolly slotted home to give a really shaky last few minutes for the reds but it is now going to be liverpool marching into their first final for ten years. liverpool marching into their first finalfor ten years. of liverpool marching into their first final for ten years. of mixed emotions here. let's hearfrom jurgen klopp and pep guardiola. absolutely proud. the first half was one of the best we have ever played. we did all the right stuff. we played an incredible game in the first half. i loved every second of it. and, yes, it is so difficult to win against them but because these boys, in my dressing room, we have a chance, and that is enough for me to give it a try. to the premier league, where a hat trick from cristiano ronaldo helped manchester united scrape past bottom side norwich city, with a 3—2 win which intensifies the battle for the final champions league spot. united went 2—0 ahead at old trafford but were pegged back to 2—2 by strugglers, norwich, before a ronaldo free kick gave united all three points. united are in fifth place in the table. arsenal could have moved level on points with rivals tottenham, who lost to brighton earlier, but they were beaten 1—0 by southampton. that's a third defeat in a row for arsenal, while brentford beat watford 2—1 for their third successive win. watford are in 19th place, six points adrift of safety. in italy's serie a this saturdayjuventus drew 1—1 with nine—man bologna which damages their hopes of catching the top three in the table. it's 0—0 between lazio and torino with that game it's 0—1 between lazio and torino with that game into the second half. earlier, sampdoria lost 2—1 to bottom of the table, salernitana. udinese beat empoli 4—1. struggling cagliari, who are just above the relegation zone, got a big win against sassuolo, 1—0. and fiorentina are in the top six after their 1—0 win over venezia. in spain's la liga, elche beat mallorca 3—nil. it was alaves defeated rayo vallecano. 0sasuna swap places in the table with valencia and move up to ninth, after beating them 2—1. villareal have kept up their good form following that excellent win over bayern munich a few days ago in the champions league. they're 2—0 up at getafe where they have half an hour reminaing. 0n the first day of the world snooker championship ronnie 0'sullivan who is playing at the tournament for a record equalling 30th time, leads david gilbert 6 frames to 3 in his opening round match. and defending champion mark selby is also looking good to make it through to the second round. he currently leads jamie jones by 8 frames to 5, with 10 the target for victory. that's all the sport for now. here in the uk, one of the uk's most senior criminal lawyers has called for the post office to be stripped of its power to bring private prosecutions. it comes as the public inquiry into the treatment of former subpostmasters is expected to come to an end next month. the post office used its ability to take more than 700 branch managers straight to court, when faulty software appeared to make it look like money was missing from their branches. 0ur correspondent colletta smith has the story. i don't get it. i really don't get it. most of us were aware then, obviously, that horizon was having its issues, but then they still chose to prosecute me! and that is just malicious, nasty. pauline was sacked, made homeless and given a criminal conviction when her youngest daughter was only two. the computer system had shown a shortfall at her branch. she'd asked for help, but instead, the post office sent in their team of investigators. considering they're not the police, but they made you.... they made you feel like they were the police. what got me was the way they went about it. it was... it was, it was... they were so aggressive. the same happened to marion's husband, peter, and more than 700 others investigated and taken to court, not by police, but by their employer. the problem with the post office, or the problem from our point of view, with the post office is they do all their own prosecution, so basically, they were judge, jury and executioner. the subpostmasters have been on the back foot from the very beginning because the post office held all the information and, crucially, rather than the police, it was the post office who investigated and then brought the prosecutions. but testimonies at the inquiry have shown big problems with the way post office investigators treated subpostmasters. i felt humiliated, scared to death. tony edwards is one of the uk's most senior criminal lawyers and has spent decades training the police how to carry out investigations fairly. the post office should have followed those same rules. those investigators either didn't know or chose not to observe i the rules about making clear that people were not obliged - to do anything. they were free to go. we all were made out to believe we were the only ones. everybody was told no—one else has got a problem, must be you. the lie that you are the only one saying horizon is to blame - is entirely undermining. and there must have been a point very early on when post office i investigators knew it was not true. peter died in 2015, but it took marion another six years to clear his name. the post office say victims' testimonies have reinforced their determination to ensure that wrongs of the past are put right. but marion is hoping the next stages of this public inquiry will hold post office bosses to account for the treatment peter received. colletta smith, bbc news, in leeds. well, we will have much more on all of those stories throughout the next few hours. you are watching bbc news. hello. it was another glorious day across many parts of the uk, with temperatures approaching 20 degrees in a few spots. how about easter sunday? it is once again looking warm and sunny for most of us, and there's the clue in the headline, because, in fact, there's rain in the forecast as well. so, let me explain. high pressure is certainly dominating the weather across most of the uk right now, but a weather front is fast approaching, and this weather front is visible on the latest satellite picture here, just to the west of ireland. and you can see clouds have been increasing through the day across some western parts of england and wales, as well as scotland. now, that weather front will make some progress through this evening. ahead of it, it's going to be clear. certainly no rain in the forecast across england, but in northern ireland and western scotland, by the early hours of sunday morning, we are expecting some wet weather, at least damp conditions moving in. not particularly cold tonight. in glasgow, 10 degrees, maybe a bit chilly there in east anglia. so, here's the forecast for easter sunday. england looking sunny, wales, too, at least for most of the day, but not northern ireland and not the western isles of scotland. the weather front approaches here, and you can see the outbreaks of rain and also, as a result, a lot cooler here, maybe only 13 degrees. and that weather front will push across the country during the course of sunday evening. worth noting that on sunday, the pollen levels will be high, but generally across england and wales, not in scotland and northern ireland. so, the forecast, then, for monday, we're expecting the low pressure to be meandering just to the northwest of the uk, but the cool front will move across. and you can see that colder air from the north atlantic, just south of greenland here, tucking in, so fresher conditions in place across the uk during the course of monday as a result of this low pressure spinning in. and you can see the cloud and the showers across northern ireland, western scotland. there will probably be a few showers elsewhere across the uk, and those temperatures are just that much lower — 13 in liverpool, maybe 17 or so in london. and the outlook for the week ahead shows those temperatures stabilising around the mid teens across the south of the uk, closer to 11 or 13 in the north. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the latest headlines... the russian defence ministry says it has cleared the entire urban area of mariupol of ukrainian forces, claiming that ukraine has lost more than 4000 fighters in the city. the bbc has not been able to verify these claims. russia has formally warned the united states and its allies against supplying further weapons to ukraine.