this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines. syria's president assad says reports of a chemical attack in the country are 100% fabrication. the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. the american military has dropped its biggest non—nuclear bomb on a series of caves used by so—called islamic state in eastern afghanistan. new grammar schools in england should to do more to help ordinary working families — says the education secretary. russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school siege in 2004 — in which more than 300 people died — according to a european court of human rights ruling. and the family of a man who was dragged off a united airlines flight

says he suffered concussion and a broken doors. the family of david dao say they are sickened by this treatment and are likely to sue the airline. and nasa says one of saturn's moons may now be the single best place to look for life beyond earth. the syrian president, bashar al—assad, says claims that his armed forces were behind a chemical weapons attack on a rebel town last week are a 100% fabrication. instead, he claimed america had worked hand in glove with terrorist groups to stage the attack as a pretext for american missile strikes. and he questioned whether tv images of dead children were real. a warning that our report from james robbins contains distressing images.

nine days ago, these pictures shocked the world. children and babies struggling for breath after a suspected chemical weapon attack on the rebel held town of khan sheikhoun. other pictures, too horrific to broadcast, show fire crews hosing down adults and children, many of them clearly dead. but now syria's president assad is saying all of this was a fabrication. we don't know whether those dead children were killed in khan sheikhoun. were they dead at all? who committed that attack, if there was an attack? you have no information, nothing at all. no one investigated. president assad went further, alleging this is all fake video and the white helmet emergency crews are jihadi extremists in disguise. we have proof that the videos are fake, like the white helmets, for example.

they are al-qaeda or al—nusra front. they shaved their beards, they wore white hats and appeared as humanitarian heroes, which is not the case. it's the same people who were killing syrian soldiers, and you have the proof on the internet. but the americans were in no doubt. they responded with tomahawk missiles, targeting the syrian air base which, the united states say, their intelligence shows was used to launch the chemical air strike. there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weapons. we gave up our arsenals a few years ago. even if we had them, we wouldn't use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history. which ignores the fact that international investigators have previously reported syrian government forces did use banned gas in 2013. after that, the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons

destroyed president assad's declared stocks, although they can't be certain if he kept back secret supplies. he now insists all the events of the past ten days were the work of al-qaeda collaborating with the americans. 0ur impression is that it is the west, mainly the united states, that is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. president assad is keen to blame anyone but his own forces for last week's images of suffering children, even to the extent of claiming that none of this actually happened. james robbins, bbc news. the pentagon has confirmed that, for the first time ever, it has used one of the world's largest non—nuclear munitions in an air strike in afghanistan. the gbu—as, which measures more than nine metres in length was dropped on an isis tunnel complex in nangarhar province, close to the pakistan border. white house press secretary sean

spicer gave this update. at around 7pm local time in afghanistan that united states military used a gbu—43 three weapon in afghanistan. the gbu—43 three is a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon. we targeted the system of tunnels and caves that ice skaters use to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states ta kes forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis peri seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space, which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. in the last few minutes president trump added his own thoughts on the afg ha n trump added his own thoughts on the afghan bomb, this at an event

honouring urgency service workers. we are so proud of our military and it was another successful event. everybody knows exactly what happened. what i do as i authorise my military. we have the greatest military in the world and they have done a job as usual. we have given them total authorisation and that is what they are doing. frankly, that is why they have been so successful with it. if you look at what has happened over last eight weeks, and compare that to what happened over the last eight years, you will see there is a tremendous difference. we have incredible leaders in the military. we have an incredible military. we have an incredible military. we have an incredible military. we are very proud of them. this was another very successful mission. i'm joined via webcam by dr 0mar ashour, senior lecturer in security studies and middle east politics at the university of exeter. good evening. good evening. let us start with what the americans say

they have done in afghanistan, both in terms of what they have used, and in what they have targeted. what do you make of it? the gbu—43 three is about ten times bomb, it has a very strong capacity to destroy, and a p pa re ntly strong capacity to destroy, and apparently they were targeting a tunnel and caves of isis. we know that is militants operate in that province and other provinces of afghanistan. we know that similar bombs, seven tonne bombs, was used backin bombs, seven tonne bombs, was used back in 2001. these kind of bombs are used mainly in mountainous areas, to target caves and fortifications of insurgents in these areas. meanwhile in syria we see president assad saying that the events of the last few days where,

in his words, 100% fabrication. has he said anything that surprises you? no surprise at all. if you listen to resident assad's statement, you would think it is a version of mother teresa, what is happening is that we know for a fact that chemical weapons since late 2012 was used over 60 times in syria, the main suspect is assad's forces. we know for a fact that after the agreement to eliminate assad's chemical stockpiles, that was done in august 2014, and more than 500 metric tonnes of chemical gas was destroyed. we know that he used chemical attacks about 20 times afterwards. the use of chemical weapons is consistent in the ataxia.

it ranges from chlorine to sarin, and he does significant damage. none of the middle eastern dictators who use chemical weapons, ranging from nasser back in the 1960s, saddam hussein against the iraqi shi'ites and iraqi kurds, and i assad against his rivals in the city and conflict, none of them accepted that they ever used it, and usually the protector was always the same, the ussr, and the russian federation in this case. in the interests of clarity, the difference between what we know he has done and what we suspect he has done. and there is a difference, isn't there? absolutely. we know that sarin was used. we know that mustard gas was used. the effect of thatis mustard gas was used. the effect of that is very clear. we need to

investigate further. as you know that was blocked by russia in the un security council, to do further investigations. let us talk more about russia and the relationship between presidents putin and assad. how close is that relationship? assad is the mainly because of international power of russia and the digital power of iraq. assad's forces have lost 100,000 soldiers, winded a similar number. tens of thousands of defectors to the other side, to multiple sites. the estimate know is that his local military force is less than 20,000 soldiers and officers. also the estimate, as you saw from the pentagon statement, but they destroyed 20% of his aircraft, we

are talking about less than one hour, they destroyed 20% of his inner drive less than one hour, that gives you an idea offers military status at the moment, which is great. the main reason he is —— the main reason that is silly and conflict at the moment is that iran has sent organisations on the ground as soldiers, and russia provides air support and protection in the un. if these two regional and international powers changed their minds or compromised and a deal, the remnants of the assad regime would be over. that is where it takes us to interesting territory because you have described him as clearly a very brittle man with a reference to what he has done to his own people. you we re he has done to his own people. you were talking about how much weaker he is and he was. yet this year in moscow would be, if he went, who and

what replaces him ? moscow would be, if he went, who and what replaces him? this is a simple compromise. there will be some sort of mixed government, probably, some elements of the assad regime, some elements of the assad regime, some elements of the opposition, with international and regional guarantees not to spoil it, because what will happen is that you can reach an agreement, the problem is, if you decide to reach an agreement today, enforce it with figures from the militantly, today, enforce it with figures from the milita ntly, security, today, enforce it with figures from the militantly, security, the opposition, and and arms, and at international guarantees, after that there are spoilers, these kind of agreements can be shaky, and you can end up in another round of conflict. reaching an agreement without assad is not the problem, the problem is if we are going to have a lasting agreement that ends this tragedy in syria. you talk as threat of an

islamist elements to a future syrian government is not fair, and on the ground clearly is. it is. many of the armed groups are from an islamist background. it depends on what kind of groups. i was the groups like al-qaeda leader or isis would be excluded from these compromises, but there are others, it is up to the international community to see what to do with them, because they are on the ground. they have an islamist agenda in the sense that they want some form of eczema explore to be invented —— islamic law to be implemented. will they accept a constitutional democracy of some sort, will they keep their ideology away from their behaviour, this is all to be agreed, but at the moment it looks like there is no end to this conflict without mr assad being

there, because whatever agreement is reached, he is properly going to spoil. thank you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are laura hughes, political correspondent at the daily telegraph and the journalist, james rampton. the education secretary, justine greening, has defended plans to introduce new grammar schools in england. there are already 163 grammar schools. ms greening said the new grammars would support young people from every background, not the privileged few, and they'd help what she called ordinary working families, those with two adults, two children and a household income of £33,000 a year. but critics say there's little evidence that academically selective schools improve social mobility. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. after—school tutoring for grammar school exams. competition for limited places is tough.

just passing isn't enough, so parents pay for help to get top marks. it's not the be all and end all, but i believe that if she passes strongly, she'll have a better chance of progressing into later life, if she has attended grammar school. one of the schools he might like might be one of the grammar schools and, if he's taken the 11 plus, even if you pass the exam, there is no guarantee, so it's about keeping as many doors open for him as possible. so are grammar schools just for the better—off? today the education secretary said that they will not be. i want these new schools to work for everyone. this will be a new model of grammars, truly open to all. we will insist on that. and it will reflect the choices of local parents and communities. when you look at the family income of pupils, what do the government stats show? in nonselective comprehensives, the lowest, above—average and below—average income families get

a similar share of places. in academically selective grammar schools, families on the lowest wages and benefits getjust 9% of places. below average income, 36% of places. and pupils from families with above average income, 53% of places, more than half. metres per second squared. this grammar school is an exception. it sets aside some places for boys on free school meals. the government expects all to follow this example. you can use a calculator. ministers hope to convince mps to scrap the legal ban on new grammar schools. this cross—party opposition to the idea of new grammar schools, and that includes some conservative mps and peers. this wasn't in the tory manifesto at the last election, and that gives them greater freedom to oppose it. behind their unease, there is one fundamental fact. however you look at it, grammar schools are for the few, not the many.

if you create a decision at the age of 11, whether a child is able enough or not to go to a grammar school, you are then saying possibly two thirds are not good enough. what's the message to them? people develop at different rates. children develop at different rates. what do you think will happen? and today, no mention of the main challenge, the biggest squeeze on school budgets in england in 20 years. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. cilia's president assad says reports ofa cilia's president assad says reports of a chemical attack in the country are 100% fabrication. —— syria's president. the united states has used a bomb in

afghanistan. and the education secretary has said the new grammar schools will benefit working families and not the privileged few. time for a full sports round—up. just over ten minutes of manchester united's europa league quarterfinal first leg against anderlecht. they made three changes from the side that beat sunderland on sunday. carrick, valencia, rashford, all in, but they have not had much effect, it is goalless in belgium so far. kick off on one of the other quarterfinal first leg has kick off on one of the other quarterfinalfirst leg has been delayed after lyon fans spilled out complaining that... they still have

not started because of those cloud disturbances in that match. liverpool managerjurgen klopp has been given his reaction to the attack on the british dortmund team on tuesday night. that timelessness board for 24 hours. they lost against monaco last night. uefa have received criticism for making the tea m received criticism for making the team play without full consultation with them. jurgen klopp was head coach at dortmund for seven years before leaving in 2015. it was a really difficult moment for me because i don't know how often in the team hotel with my team come dortmund, i know exactly the road, i know the place where it is. a lot of my friends were on the bus. when the then played the game, they tried to be at their best and give interviews after the game. i saw the faces of

my former players. i saw the shock in their eyes. the six-man short list for the pfa player of the year award has been revealed. the favourite is the man who missed out on the trophy last year. kante won the title which else —— with leicester last season and is likely to do so with chelsea this season. he has only scored twice this season. he has only scored twice this season. it keeps them on for a possible double this season. also on the list, eden hazard, who won the award back in 2015, he has got 14 goals to his name so far. zlata n goals to his name so far. zlatan ibrahim of which is on the list. —— ibrahimovic is on the list.

lukakuis list. —— ibrahimovic is on the list. lukaku is on the list. harry kane is also on the list. and sanchez from arsenal is also on the list. he is on eating so far from this season. you can see all the short list, men's and women's awards, on the abc sports website. chris latham has won bronze for great britain in hong kong today after eleanor barker picked up silver in the scratch race yesterday. chris latham came third in the men's event but that was the only success today with gb cyclists missing out on another bronze in the men's team pursuit earlier on. 0ne match in super league. the bottom of the table lash with widnes hosting warrington, just a place above them and 11th. a try for widnes gave the home side the lead two minutes into the game. warrington have hit back with a try of their own. for— for the score there. jenson button looks set to

replace fernando alonso for next month's michael grand prix, fernando alonso was taking part in the indy 500. jenson button this contract goods —— fernando alonso is still contracted. he said his decision to go to indy 500 would be good for motorsport. 13 years ago, more than 1,000 people were taken hostage by chechen rebels at a school in beslan in russia. more than 330 people were killed when russian forces eventually stormed the building — half of those who died were children. today the european court of human rights ruled that the russian government should have done more to prevent the bloodshed, and it awarded compensation of around £2.5 million to relatives. sophie long reports — and you may find some of the images upsetting. when rebels stormed school number one in beslan and forced more than 1,100 children, parents and teachers into the gym,

more than 330 people died. 186 of them were children. the terror inside and around the school lasted for 52 hours. there were bombs taped to the walls and hanging from the ceiling. women and children were forced to stand by the windows as human shields. translation: they made women stand in the windows. tanks were firing. the militants gave women curtains and they were waving them and shouting, "don't shoot, there are people here". some women fell from the windows and died. some, like this little girl, managed to escape. for them, and for those forced to wait for days, terrified, listening to gunshots, this ruling is the result they had hoped for. the court in strasbourg said the authorities failed to take reasonable steps to protect the lives of the hostages,

that critical intelligence was not acted on adequately to prevent the attack, and that once the siege had begun, russian officials failed to minimise the loss of life. russian security forces surrounded the school. when they stormed the building, they used tanks and flame—throwers, when hundreds of people were still inside. translation: they didn't prevent the terror attack. they didn't rescue us. they could not even agree to get water to us. for the sake of the children, they could have done more. they could have negotiated so that more children were freed. the doctor took demands out to officials but they did not agree to them and then they started firing. i saw it. and they did nothing to save the children. the kremlin has said the ruling is absolutely unacceptable. but the court awarded $3 million in compensation and underlined

that there should now be a new, objective investigation. the survivors group, mothers of beslan, say they will now push for that. they argue they owe it to their children to make sure the people responsible for their deaths are held to account. sophie long, bbc news. more families have accused the nhs trust at the centre of an investigation into its maternity services for failing to properly investigate the deaths of their babies. the mother of jack burn who died in 2015 said their concerns were dismissed by the shrewsbury and telford hospital trust. the trust says it has learned lessons from all the deaths and is aware that it needs to improve its communication with families. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports from shropshire. kayleigh and colin lost their daughter last april but were forced to fight for

justice. pippa died from an infectionjust 30 hours after being born at home. staff at the shrewsbury and telford trust told the family that the death was unavoidable. members from the trust sat here, on this seat, and said that nothing could have been done to save pippa. that wasn't true? no. kayleigh had called the local hospital during the night, concerned about her daughter's vomiting. it's got splodges of dark brown mucus all over it. nothing was done. hours later, pippa died. the family fought for an investigation. last week, a coroner ruled that the death was preve nta ble. they weren't going to do an investigation, so that was when i said, "that's not good enough, there will be an investigation and we will be involved". pippa griffiths is one of seven avoidable deaths at

this trust in a little over 18 months. as we revealed last night, the health secretary has now ordered an investigation into maternity services. the families of sofia hotchkiss and jack burn are keen to take part, as they say neither ba by‘s death was properly investigated. hayley matthews' son jack died in 2015 from an infection hours after being born, but she says mistakes made during her 36—hour labour contributed to his death and she can't understand why the trust haven't answered her questions. why they left me so long, why they didn't induce me the night i went in. they were saying he had strep b. he wouldn't have had that, the the night i went in. there wasn't nothing, i didn't have no infection. it was the two days i was in there, infection set in, and they didn't pick up on it, which now cost me my baby. after we raised concerns, the local coroner is now considering opening

an inquest into jack's death. the trust meanwhile maintain that they do examine all deaths. i am aware that each of the cases that have been brought to our attention as part of this investigation has been investigated. we have done root cause analysis, which is a more detailed investigation on most of them. kayleigh griffiths will give birth once more next month. given what the couple have suffered, they are understandably nervous. this family, every family here, need maternity services to improve. michael buchanan, bbc news, shropshire. the man who was dragged off a united airlines flight in chicago on sunday has just been released from hospital. david dao's lawyer said he suffered concussion, a broken nose and lost two front teeth during his ordeal. dr dao's daughter, crystal pepper, said that what had happened to her father had left the whole family distressed.

what happened to my dad should never have happened to any human being, regardless of the circumstance. we were horrified and shocked and sickened to learn what had happened to him and to see what had happened to him. we hope that, in the future, nothing like this happens again. authorities in new zealand have declared a state of emergency in parts of the country after a powerful cyclone made landfall in north island. landslides and falling trees have left many roads blocked as authorities order the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. gusts of close to 90 miles per hour have left hundreds of homes without power. 0n the line is somebody from the new

zealand red cross. it is morning here now. this storm is passing over us. here now. this storm is passing over us. 130 people have been sleeping here overnight. they are waking up. that power is still off. we are generating our own power. which parts of north island have been worst affected ? parts of north island have been worst affected? it is too early to say. the light is just coming worst affected? it is too early to say. the light isjust coming up. there are a lot of trees down. there are stories about garage doors ending up on the other side of the street but i have not had a look. how much warning did people have that something as serious as this was approaching? that warning was great. there was a lot of warning beforehand. and throughout the afternoon people were coming in,

people were in by tea—time. afternoon people were coming in, people were in by tea-time. before the storm rolled in. in terms of scale this is as big as new zealand has seen for how long? people are saying that this is the biggest storm new zealand hasn't seen for about 60 years i think. and so seen for about 60 years i think. and so people are taking it very seriously and getting prepared. so, give us a sense of what lies ahead over the coming hours? at this stage, people are seeing what damage has been done so far. lots of people will have to stay put and just have another cup of tea before they even attempt to get home. red cross will be seeing what is needed to be done and getting out there. . as far as you know, there have been no casualties? not that i have heard of. that's good news at least. let's

have a look at the weather. it is fairly quiet on the weather front out there this evening. it is pretty cloudy and it will stay like it cheering because of this evening and overnight. quite a bit of cloud around across the country but there are some sunny around across the country but there are some sunny spells as well. 0verall, are some sunny spells as well. overall, a fair bit of cloud around into good friday. temperatures will be more leicester sent, it isjust the far north, the northern isles, where temperatures will be closer to three degrees. tomorrow, a fair bit of cloud around. the north—east of scotland, a bit of sunshine. showers, coming and going. 0n scotland, a bit of sunshine. showers, coming and going. on friday evening, into saturday, those spells of rain on and off will continue. easter weekend looking rather cool

with some sunshine and a bit of rain. good evening. this is bbc news. the headlines... syria's president assad says reports his regime used chemical weapons in an attack week are "100% fabrication", and there was no order to carry out any form of attack. the pentagon has confirmed that they have used one of the world's largest non—nuclear bombs in an airstrike in afghanistan. the bomb was used in eastern afganistan to target a series of caves used by so—called islamic state. the education secretary defends her plans for new selective grammar schools in england, saying they'll be truly open to all — labour says grammars do not support social mobility. the european court of human rights has ruled that russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school massacre, in which more than 300 people, mostly children, died. the family of david dao, who was

dragged from a flight, say he suffered a broken nose and concussion and they are considering suing the airline. there's speculation that north korea may be preparing to conduct its sixth nuclear test on saturday to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founding president. satellite images show an increased level of activity at the test site in the north of the country. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth has been allowed into the highly secretive country with a number of other foreign journalists. he has sent us this report from the capital pyongyang — his movements have been monitored and tightly controlled. they poured into central pyongyang in their tens of thousands. of citizens and soldiers alike, north korea has always demanded displays of mass devotion.

and at the front of the crowd, there was kim jong un. celebrating notjust a missile launch or a rocket test, but the construction of pyongyang's newest street. the inauguration of a few tower blocks and shops would, anywhere else, raise barely a murmur. in pyongyang, it's met with rapturous applause. it might seem like an extraordinary celebration to mark the opening of the street, but it's about so much more than that. it's about economic survival, resilience, and sending a message to the outside world of total loyalty to the leader. the country's prime minister, pak pong—ju, told the crowds

that the opening of the new street sends a more powerful signal to the world than any number of nuclear bombs. but in reality for north korea, bombs are vital. with reports that another nuclear test may be imminent, we are taken on a tour of a school. "the dear marshall kimjong un clothes and feeds us," this nine—year—old girl tells me. and from an early age, she's told that it's bombs and missiles that guarantee his regime's survival. for a poor and isolated country like north korea, this reasoning has some logic. might it have gone the way of iraq or libya, its leaders ask, if it didn't have its nuclear programme?

so, foreignjournalists are brought here to be shown a friendly face. and there are many of them. but also the willingness to endure. "sanctions don't bother us at all," this man tells me. "united around our leader, nothing can harm us." the message is clear. north korea is marching towards its nuclearfuture, and no amount of threat or coercion from a us president will get in its way. we can now take a look at some of the other stories in the news this evening. a bbc investigation has found that more than 70 schools in

scotla nd found that more than 70 schools in scotland are suffering from similar defects to those which were closed down for being unsafe. it is feared other public buildings could also be at risk. two people arrested by detect is investigating child abuse allegations against the late former prime minister sir edward heath have been released and told they face no further action, according to wiltshire police. the operation has been examining the claims since appealing for alleged victims to come forward in 2015. these were the only two suspects who had been arrested. workers on virgin trains east coat art to stage a 48—hour strike on the 20th of april, in a i’ow strike on the 20th of april, in a row over guards and jobs. royal mail is facing the threat of a strike after announcing plans to close its final salary pension

scheme. the communication workers union said any attempt to impose the decision without agreement would be met with the strongest possible opposition. royal mail, which was privatised in 2013, says the scheme is unsustainable. a record number of people who went to a&e departments this winter had to a&e departments this winter had to wait at least four hours. it was a big rise on last year's figures. hugh pym reports. spring is here but the nhs won't forget this winter in a hurry. more patients coming in, problems moving them out, even if they were medically fit, and intense, relentless pressure. hospital managers here like many others say it could have been even worse. it has been very difficult. the hospital has been

functioning most of the time at 100% occupancy. and that has put a huge strain on the services. i think it is important to note this was a mild winter. we haven't had a large flu epidemic. despite that, it has been very tough. the latest figures for england show longer waiting times over three months of winter. 135,000 people had to wait longer than four hours to be found a hospital bed for a&e last winter. thatjumped to 196,000 this time. for planned treatment, including routine surgery, 264,000 were waiting more than 18 weeks in february 2016 but it was 367,000 waiting in february this year. one of those still on the waiting list is john. he was referred for an operation on his back early last year. but it still hasn't happened — he's found the weight very stressful and, at times, has had to stay off work. i go to bed. i'm in pain. i wake up and i'm in pain. all day i'm in pain.

i'm taking painkillers constantly. and who knows how much they cost the nhs? in recent years, hospitals have noted that the pressure never eases off in the summer. there's a constant flow of patients. and in the months ahead, there could be an extra challenge in the face of possible industrial action by nurses. the largest nursing union is consulting members on whether they're prepared to go on strike over a 1% pay offer, which is the same in every part of the uk. most nurses are unhappy with their income. so, they're working harder than ever. but there's been years now of absolutely no pay increase. and then this whole cap of 1%, when we know all their bills are going up — they're actually struggling to pay the bills. the department of health says it is going along with an independent page review body's recommendation and can only offer what is affordable. thus argue that with all the pressure on the nhs, patients

won't get the right care from a workforce that is short on numbers and low on role. scientists at nasa says one of saturn's moons, known as enceladus, may now be the single best place to look for life beyond earth. samples of the waters erupting from the moon's surface suggest it has all the conditions needed for life. today we are publishing a paper about our recent findings by cassini on enceladus. we have detected hydrogen in the plume of enceladus, coming from a hydrothermal vent on the sea floor of enceladus, going out into space through the plume, and so this is a very significant finding, because the hydrogen could be a potential source of chemical energy for any microbes that might be in enceladus' ocean. earlier, i spoke to professor david a rothery from the open university, who was following nasa's announcement. well, it is a small, icy body and it was a great surprise to find that it

was a great surprise to find that it was so was a great surprise to find that it was so active. when cassini got to saturn and found the plumes erupting from it, we thought, wow! there must be some tidal heating going on because the bottom of the icy lay a must be liquid. so hot rock is melting the ice, to give you a watery ocean. and now we've got everything that's coming out, because the surface is fractured and some water is venting out to space, we've got all the ingredients there which show that life would be possible. with got water reacting with hot rock, and the last piece of evidence which was announced today was finding hydrogen dissolved in the water, which is showing that you've got a complete chemical pathway which microbes could subsist on. you say, would be possible... nobody is claiming to have found life. but you could put the right kind of microbes in there from earth and they would survive. it is definitely habitable. we don't know if it is inhabited by microbes. the thames will resemble its 19th

century heyday this weekend — when it becomes home to some of the most spectacular sailing ships from around europe. they'll be on display along the river as part of the 2017 tall ships festival. 0ur correspondent nesta mcgregor went down to woolwich pier in south—east london to take a look. for anyone who is a fan of the water, this is the hottest ticket in town. 0ver water, this is the hottest ticket in town. over the next three days, more than 40 ships from across europe will be here, from places like germany, the netherlands and spain. we are actually on the ship which seems to be the main attraction at the moment, this one isn't spanish, it is called the now victoria, and it is called the now victoria, and it has got a place in navigation history. this is an exact replica of the first ever vessel to navigate around the world successfully. in

1519, it set off from seville. when it returns three years later, only 18 of the 43 crew had made it back. and the plan is, after being paraded down the times, it will be going off to places like portugal, boston, bermuda and canada. also, local residents have been encouraged to ta ke residents have been encouraged to take part as well. more than 100 young people will be working on some of these ships as crew members. a lot of them for their first time out at sea. it's going to be interesting, because a few of them did not even know that ships don't have a wife i. with me now is somebody from greenwich council. as well as taking some amazing pictures and seeing some amazing things, it is really a chance to teach people about navigational history? absolutely. we are really proud in greenwich that we have the longest river front of any