welcome to newsday. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: a show of force in north korea, amid fears pyongyang is about to carry out its sixth nuclear test. and the us military drops its largest non—nuclear bomb, seen here in tests, on so—called islamic state in afghanistan. we are so proud of our military, and it was another successful event. i'm kasia madera in london. forget life on mars. nasa says one assassin‘s burns might be one of the best places to look for life beyond earth. —— one of saturn's moons. well, good morning.

it is 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 8:30am in pyongyang, where speculation has been growing that north korea may be ready to carry out its sixth nuclear test, as soon as this weekend. if so, it would coincide with the anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder, kim il—sung. and as the word watchers to that, pyongyang has been putting its best foot forward for the journalist. —— the journalists. our correspondentjohn sudworth, whose movements are being monitored by authorities there, sent us this report. 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 not 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 is met with rapturous applause. it might seem like an extraordinary celebration to mark the opening of a street, but it is about so much more than that. it is 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 crowd

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, kim jong—un, clothes and feeds us, this nine—year—old girl tells me. and, from an early age, she is told that it is 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 foreign journalists 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 nuclear future, and no amount of threat or coercion from a us president will get in its way. a little earlier donald trump said he trusts china to rein in north korea. north korea is a problem. it will be taken care. i will this. i think china has really been working

very ha rd think china has really been working very hard and i have really got to like and respect president xi jinping. he is a terrific person. we spent a lot of time together in florida. and he is a very special man. we will see how that goes. i think is going to try very hard. —— i think he is going to try very hard. we'll bring you news of north korea as it happens. for more background on that story you can go to our website. that's bbc.com/news. well, it's certainly been a busy time for the trump administration. the us military has, for the first time, dropped one of its largest conventional bombs, targeting islamic state militants in the nangarhar province of afghanistan. these are images of the so—called

mother of all bombs being tested back in 2003. the white house press secretary, sean spicer, said the strike was designed to hit is hideouts. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters use to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very 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. sean spicer there. our washington correspondent will give us a few more details in a few minutes time. the white house will also be closely monitoring bashar al—assad's denial of any involvement in last week's alleged chemical attack in syria. more than 80 people were killed in the attack, which prompted a us air strike on a government airbase in response. this is what the syrian president told the news agency, afp. we don't know if those dead children

we re we don't know if those dead children were they dead at all? who commented that there was an attack. you have no information at all. nothing at all. no investigation. so you are saying that it is a fabrication? definitely. 100% for us. we have many indications, if you don't approve, because no one has complete information or evidence. police in pakistan say university student has been murdered on campus by a group of fellow students, who accused him of blasphemy. heavy rain and strong winds are continuing to power parts of new zealand's norther ireland after one of the worst storms in decade making landfall. —— lakh as —— decades. more than 8,000 homes

are still without power. there are warnings that gusts of up to 140 kilometres an hour could hit the capital, wellington. more details from new zealand in a few minutes. yahoo is facing a lawsuit alleging that the firm mismanaged funds set aside to help jailed chinese dissidents. the $17 million fund was set up after yahoo provided information about political dissidents to the chinese government. the lawsuit filed on behalf of eight activists in china, claims that the money was used to fight other legal cases and to buy properties in washington. the italian football club ac milan has been sold to a chinese—led consortium. it's been owned for the last 30 years by the tycoon and former italian prime minister, silvio berlusconi. the purchase by rossoneri sport investment lux is worth more than three—quarters of a billion dollars. earlier in the programme, we heard donald trump talking about north korea and his hope that china would

rein in its neighbour. but he has also said that he could sort it out alone. so what kind of message with the use of what has been dubbed the "mother of all bombs" in afghanistan send? here is laura bicker in washington. he is not afraid to flex its muscles. that is the message we heard of the game. this isjust a week after is theft 59 tom walker missiles into syria. there is also enable stratfor is being sent to the seas off north korea. —— madafferi. he is sending a message to north korea, perhaps not the intended message out of all of this, but it isa message out of all of this, but it is a secondary message out of sending the "mother of all bombs". he said in that message saying i have military capability and another

red user. what has been the reaction so red user. what has been the reaction so far in washington, in the us, to this "mother of all bombs"? some democrats have shown their disapproval, but it will be interesting to see how his own party reacts as. many felt that he needed to show greater strength and use the weapons they had. they have had this "mother of all bombs" since 2003, and it is never be news. there is benefit in the conflict in afghanistan in which the us has been involved. six instead of the country is controlled by the afghanistan government. therefore there is still a lot to play for when it comes to dealing with the problems in afghanistan. donald trump, as i mentioned, just three months in is dropping this on. but this is a president who campaigned on an

america first isolationist platform. it will be interesting to see how his own party, his own supporters, go ahead with this. —— dropping this bomb. they fought for america first, and here we have donald trump the globalist. laura bicker reporting from washington. we will stay in the united states, because we have breaking news coming from maryland, where a number of people are being rescued at the moment from a rollercoaster which was stuck in midairata rollercoaster which was stuck in midair at a theme park in the united states. these are the latest pictures coming to us. the writers we re pictures coming to us. the writers were on the rollercoaster at the sixth like spike in maryland. they we re sixth like spike in maryland. they were reportedly suffer an hour. —— six flags park. hydraulic cranes we re six flags park. hydraulic cranes were used to rescue them. children we re were used to rescue them. children were removed —— will be removed first. —— are being used to rescue

them. large parts of new zealand have been hit by the worst storms in nearly 50 years. the remains of cyclone cook have left more than 8,000 homes without power and many residents having to evacuate. heavy rain and strong winds lashed bay of plenty and hawke's bay in the north island, causing landslips and widespread flooding. the storm's expected to affect parts of the lower south island too. we cross live to auckland. ben noll is there. his meteorologist at the national institute of water and atmospheric research. auckland has missed the worst of it. what do we expect next? —— bigotry. missed the worst of it. what do we expect next? -- bigotry. wellington last night actually avoid the worst of the storm. —— he is. —— avoided. it is the third most populous city in new zealand. there are some flooding going on in christchurch.

the lower south island will be the last to be affected by the storm today and into this afternoon local time. before the storm finally exits to the south of the country and into the pacific. the authorities have been given time to trigger emergency plans. and these had been successful? i would say so. there was a storm brewing to the north of the country for several days. it gave us if you dare to track it and then understand who would see those greatest impact. i think leading into the easter weekend, that was important, because a lot of people wa nted important, because a lot of people wanted to get away early, but because of the storm, there were restrictions in place on travel and people were urged to play it safe. as you would with a storm of this magnitude. you touched upon the easter weekend. we expecting to diminish at some point? yes. so the rest of the weekend here in new

zealand, a few showers, but plenty of dry time to those places hit ha rd est of dry time to those places hit hardest and need to clean up. i think there will be time for people to enjoy the more pleasant weather, here, through the latter stages of the weekend. we hope so. where is it had in express it is exiting the country now. there is some flooding ongoing. dunedin, on the south island, and major city, will be impacted. these will be the last areas that will be impacted by the sight of the forest is bothering us here in new zealand. ben noll, thank you very much. a meteorologist at national institute of water and atmospheric research. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come: after this video which sparked outrage around the world, the doctor dragged off the overbooked united airlines flight says he's likely to sue the carrier. pol pot, one of the century's

greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock and as for a sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. and i'm kasia madera in london. the top stories: speculation is mounting that pyongyang may be preparing its sixth nuclear test to coincide with the country's most important national holiday. the us military says it's used one of the world's biggest conventional bombs to target islamic state hideouts in afghanistan. and this story is popular on bbc.com — health and safety inspectors in florida have found more than a dozen violations in the kitchen of the mar—a—lago resort owned by president donald trump. they include fridges that are not cold enough to keep meat and fish

at safe temperatures. the violations were discovered just days before the japanese prime minister's visit to mar—a—lago. now for a look at the front pages from around the world. the south china morning post says that president xi jinping has changed donald trump's mind or north korea. trump previously said that beijing could do more to rein in pyongyang but now realises that it is not so easy. meanwhile, the japan times says russia's unwavering support for syrian president assad is fuelling tensions in the us. russia vetoed a un resolution to investigate the suspected attack which killed 89 people. the new york times looks ahead to the referendum in turkey, which could give president erdogan much greater powers. it reports the government has fired 130,000 people since the coup attempt last year. the lawyer for the passenger

forcibly dragged off a united airlines plane earlier this week says he's likely to sue the us carrier. david dao was carried away by security guards screaming when there were no volunteers to leave the overbooked flight. he's said to have had significant concussion, a broken nose and lost two front teeth in the scuffle. sarah corker reports. it is this footage of doctor david dao being dragged off a united airlines flight bloodied and injured that will be the centre of any legal case. 0h that will be the centre of any legal case. oh my god! look at what you did to him. the 6090 roll's lawyer said chicago aviation police used unreasonable force and violence to remove him from the kentucky bound plane. at a press conference in chicago his daughter said it has been a difficult time for the

family. what happened to my dad should have never happen to any human being, regardless of the circumstantial we were horrified and shocked and sickened —— circumstance. to learn what happened in and see what happened to him. another video shows david dao dazed and who wielded having somehow run back onto the plane. the doctor was forcibly removed from the overbooked flight forcibly removed from the overbooked flight on sunday to make room for four crewmembers. the incident sparked outrage across the globe. doctor david dao was discharged from hospital on wednesday. he lost to enact it and will need reconstructive surgery on a broken nose. he said that he left vietnam in 1975 when saigon fell, and he was ona in 1975 when saigon fell, and he was on a boat, and he said he was terrified. he said that being

dragged down the aisle was more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced in leaving vietnam. it has turned into a pr disaster for united airlines. initially it is ceo describe the passenger as disruptive and belligerent. it was only days later that he offered a full apology. this image of a bloodied paying customer may prove difficult for united airlines to live down. there's always been a strong rivalry between australians and new zealanders when it comes to sport, and now another rivalry could be brewing. kiwis can now brag to their antipodean neighbours about their wine market. they've overtaken them as the third largest wine exporter to the united states, which is the world's biggest market. last year the country sent $400 million of wine to the us. that means new zealand only trails behind italy and france, with australia now fourth. new zealand's global wine exports are at a record high of more than $1.6 billion. that's up 5% for the year. it's a big accomplishment for a country which produces less

than 1% of global supply. earlier i spoke to philip gregan, ceo of new zealand winegrowers, a trade association representing hundreds of wine producers and grape growers. we're absolutely delighted. we've had a great reception to our wines in the united states. consumers love them and we've seen great growth and we expect that growth to continue. it's a great story. it's a great story and what's fascinating is that actually your wines aren't that competitively priced. they are more expensive than say australian wines, and yet the american market is lapping them up. why is that? look, there's a trend around the world for higher quality wine and that's what new zealand does well. we don't do cheap and we can't do it

because of our climate. what we do very well is produced high—quality, distinctive wines and that's what consumers are responding to. so you are overtaking australia. also, countries like argentina. their exports to the us have dropped as well. these are wines that you think of as being big, bold, fruity numbers. how does new zealand wine compare? 0ur wines, we like to refer to them as very modern. they suit modern foods, so they are light, fresh, they are refreshing. they are packaged in a consumer friendly way. most of our wines have screw caps rather than corks, so they're very modern wines from a modern world. consumers are responding very strongly and once tried to keep on coming back time after time. it's a big holiday weekend for many

people across asia and the diaspora. this year, easter happens to fall in the same week when many people across the region are celebrating some of the biggest festivals on the calendar, including thingyan, the water festival in myanmar, and songkran in thailand, the bengali and tamil new year. it's also vesakhi, the sikh harvest festival, and i went along to see how preparations are going in singapore. these performers are practising for a big weekend. they are performing at a gathering, commemorating the sikh vaisakhi festival in singapore. there has been a sikh community here since the 1800s. they came from punjab in india, and i'm a member of that community. my rgandpa rents came from amritsar in the 1930s. to find out more about vaisakhi i am

joined by mohinder sing. first of all i should greet you with the classic sikh greeting. tell me about vaisakhi. it commemorates the birth of sikhism and it is an auspicious day. how will you celebrate? we will do a vaisakhi carnival over two days. on saturday we will be having games, cultural performances, various activities such as traditional breadmaking, etc, so people canjoin in at that. and then on sunday we will be having another set of performances, a programme of music, drama, which will be more for our brothers and sisters from punjab. they will come to work in singapore a way from punjab, but we want them to join in in the festivities, so that in the true spirit of vaisakhi we can

celebrate together. that sounds wonderful. happy vaisakhi. and happy vaisakhi to all of our viewers, whatever you may be celebrating this weekend. let's watch a bit more! have a great weekend. you have been watching newsday. we'll leave you with these stunning pictures of a vast sea of clouds which appeared at the lushan mountain in east china'sjiangxi province. you can see why it's popular with tourists. the view was on show to visitors from last friday to wednesday and was created by the clash of two weather fronts, cold and warm air currents coming together. hello. we have made it to the long easter weekend.

this forecast should set you up for most of what you need to know about the weather as the weekend goes on. none of the warmth we had last weekend — it is on the cool side. there will be some occasional sunshine. some areas of rain at times, especially for good friday and easter day on sunday. now, this is how good friday begins, already with some damp weather affecting northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england and northwest wales. cooler and showery weather into northern scotland. those showers will continue as the day goes on. some of us starting with a touch of frost. cloudy and damp weather, as i mentioned, northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england and the north—west of wales. maybe the odd spot extending into the midlands and elsewhere in northern england to begin the day. to the south of that, though, variable cloud. but some breaks in that cloud allowing sunny spells to come through occasionally. and actually for southern parts of the uk the temperatures will be a degree

or so higher compared to where they were on thursday. so we continue with the feed of showers running into northern scotla nd on good friday. some of those could be heavy, perhaps with hail as well. they take outbreaks of rain and they beef them up in the north—west england and into wales. heavier in western parts of wales as the weather system sinks it way southwards. six degrees in london compared to nine in the cooler air. into the evening we have increasingly light rain across some southern parts of the uk. that's not as much as gardeners would want. it's been so dry. cooler air following behind. showers turning wintry over the hills in scotland. frost around for some of us as saturday begins. it will be a chilly start. looks like saturday is the coolest day of the weekend. this run of north—westerly winds in the uk. but there will be some sunny spells. s0, yes, a cool day, but there will be some blue sky around. but there will also be showers occasionally too. by no means everybody will see them. we will see some

in northern scotland. some will be heavy, with hail, maybe even with the rumble of thunder and at the start of the day wintry on the hills. those temperatures, yeah, down compared with good friday. 1a in london, nine in glasgow. and then jumping forward to sunday, easter day, it looks like we will have a weather system producing some outbreaks of rain. at the moment in northern ireland, northern england, parts of wales, dividing cooler air to the north. not so chilly to the south. that system may not be in place so we will keep you up—to—date. for easter monday some showers in the east. it will be quite breezy, lighter winds elsewhere. enjoy your weekend. with bbc world news. our top stories: speculation is growing that north korea may be ready to carry out its six nuclear test is on us as we can. if so, it will coincide with the birth of the country's founder, kim il—sung. it is also known as the day of the sun. the us drops the

"mother of all bombs" on islamic state hideouts in afghanistan. and this video is trending on bbc.com. it shows how a girl playing in an arizona barbershop narrowly escaped bullets fired through the shop window. the rounds were aimed at a nearby tattooed parlour. two men have been arrested. 0ur our top 0urtop uk our top uk stories and: the