hello, you're watching bbc world news. i'm james menendez. our top story this hour — the us military unleashes its biggest ever non—nuclear bomb against so—called islamic state in afghanistan. the ‘mother of all bombs,‘ seen here in tests, was dropped on the group's hideout in a series of underground caves. welcome to the programme. our other main stories this hour — syria's president assad hits back at claims his forces launched the chemical attack on a rebel town — he says they're made up to justify america's missile strikes on his country. and three years into the war between ukraine and the russian backed—separatists, we report from a conflict zone virtually cut off from the rest of the country. i'm aaron helsehurst. in business — it's a $2 trillion business that just keeps accelerating. but is the global car industry changing gear fast enough?

we report from the new york auto show. plus, airb'n‘burglary. the home rental giant says it's tightening security after users advertised their homes and then got robbed. we have a special investigation. the former president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, has condemned america's use of one of its largest non—nuclear bombs, as "inhuman" and "brutal". the weapon, known as the ‘mother of all bombs‘ was dropped on a network of caves and tunnels used by islamic state militants in eastern afghanistan. it's the second time president trump has approved military strikes, but it's not clear how many militants were killed in the attack on nangahar province. our north america editor jon sopel has more. this is the gbu—as, also known as a moab,

a massive ordnance air blast — or, as it is more commonly known, the mother of all bombs. the largest non—nuclear weapon ever deployed. the target — so—called islamic state in afghanistan. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used 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, —— it is turning out to be a busy time for the commander—in—chief. we are so proud of our military, and it was another successful event. the tunnels and caves that were used by the taliban over 15 years ago are now being used by is. this bomb was dropped on a complex tunnel network in nangarhar province, close to the pakistan border, where a member of us special forces was killed last month. —— week. it is notjust the dropping

of a massive bomb on afghanistan. injust over a week, president trump has ordered the missile strike on syria, a naval battle group to head to the korean peninsula, and he has restated his commitment to nato. some of donald trump's supporters are asking, "whatever happened to the isolationist, america—first president of the inauguration?" foreign ministers from syria and iran are holding talks with their russian counterpart in moscow today. it comes a day after the syrian leader denied using chemical weapons against his own people. president assad said evidence had been fabricated to give the us an excuse to attack a syrian government airfield. sarah corker reports. children and babies suffering the effects of the chemical attack. many

of the images foaming at the mouth and struggling to breathe are just too graphic to show. now the syrian government's version of events is that these scenes are faked, made up, to the west had an excuse to carry out missile attacks on a syrian air base. we don't know whether those dead children were the kids of culture and, were they did at all? who committed the attack, if there was an attack? you have no information at all, nothing at all, not investigated. few though agree with him. the us and the west say there is no doubt mr asaad's forces carried out the chemical strike, killing more than 80 people. the world's chemical weapons watchdog has described the allegations as credible. some of it is were taken to hospital care in turkey where tests show a nerve agent, robert lee sarin, was used. speaking from

damascus, mr asaad denied all allegations against him. there was no order to make any attack, we don't have any chemical weapons, we gave up our don't have any chemical weapons, we gave up oui’ arsenal a don't have any chemical weapons, we gave up our arsenal a few years don't have any chemical weapons, we gave up oui’ arsenal a few years ago. gave up our arsenal a few years ago. evenif gave up our arsenal a few years ago. even if we have them, we wouldn't use them, and we have never used alchemical arsenal in our history. it was back in 2013 when international investigators destroyed mr asaad's declared stocks of chemical weapons. but since then, there has been continued allegations that chemicals have been used against civilians. america's response has been swift. a missile strike that is quickly soured relations between washington and moscow. and russia is digging in to defend its ally, in moscow, russia's top diplomat held talks with his syrian counterpart ahead of a 3—way meeting between russia, are in and syria. translation: i cannot

emphasise enough again be extremely provocative role that was played by this strike by coalition forces. led by the united states on the syrian military airbase. the us, syria and russia all have differing explanations about what has happened here. moscow says a rebel warehouse of chemical munitions was hit waste a syrian warplane. it did happen, the world continues to be shocked the world continues to be shocked the images of ordinary syrians caught up in this deadly civil war. let's round up some of the other main stories. a doctor in the united states has been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation on young girls. it's believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in the country. prosecutors in the state of michigan say the doctor, jumana nagarwala, performed the practice on girls aged between six and eight. if found guilty, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. the lawyer for david dao, the passengerforcibly dragged off a united airlines plane earlier this week, says he's likely to sue the us carrier.

security guards carried him off, screaming, when there were no volunteers to leave the overbooked flight. dr dao's daughter says that it's left the whole family in distress. the head of the cia has called wikileaks a "hostile intelligence service" which threatens democratic nations and joins hands with dictators. in his first public remarks since becoming the agency's chief, mike pompeo said the whistle—blowing group is "overwhelmingly focused on the united states." wikileaks maintains that its mission is to "publish newsworthy content and express constitutionally protected truths." scientists at the us space agency nasa, say one of saturn's moons known as enceladus may be the best place to look for life beyond earth. the cassini spacecraft, which is just ending a 13—year mission, sampled waters erupting from the moon's surface. they suggest the planet has all the conditions needed to sustain life. 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. but as the world watches and waits, pyongyang has welcomed a group of foreign journalists to witness the anniversary celebrations. our correspondent, john sudworth, is there — his movements are being tightly controlled and monitored. 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 marshal, kim jong—un,

clothes and feeds us," this 9—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, 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 nuclear future, and no amount of threat or coercion from a us president will get in its way. 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. and aaron helsehurst is here with all the business news. yes, thanks, james. you are talking about cars? do you drive an electric car? diesel, the dreaded diesel. mitsui! electric is a p pa re ntly dreaded diesel. mitsui! electric is apparently the future! we start in new york — where the city's huge annual auto show opens its doors to the public in a few hours' time. the car business had a bit of a bumpy ride during the financial crisis but today, it's bigger and more profitable than ever.

let me show you how big. according to the swiss bank ubs, the global auto industry is now worth this. over $2 trillion a year! that's more than the entire economy of italy or brazil. and here's why. last year, more than 88 million new vehicles were sold around the world — an all—time record. but the industry is facing huge changes. goldman sachs predicts that by 2025 a quarter of all of cars sold will have electric engines, compared to just 5% at the moment. tesla has seen its stock market value overtake that of general motors and ford in recent weeks. that's despite the fact tesla makes a fraction of the number of cars and doesn't even make a profit. but financial markets are sending a clear message about what they see as the future.

lots more on this in 20 minutes time. we are also talking about aianb. it is improving the security of its app and website after a bbc investigation found people's homes had been burgled by scammers using stolen accounts. the bbc spoke to three people who were robbed after they advertised their properties on we'll be hearing from one of them in 15 minutes time. at some world business report. thank you. the area of eastern ukraine which borders russia — and is controlled by separatist rebels backed by moscow — has become increasingly cut off from the rest of the country. it's now three years since the war between ukraine and the separatists began. tom burridge has travelled to the conflict zone and sent this report from near the government held town of avdiivka. our commuters in the conflict. to a

land which has no international limerick nice name. ukrainian checks have now become more thorough. the separatist held east beyond this crossing has never been so cut off from the rest of ukraine. olga has travelled from her home under the separatist to collect her ukrainian pension. translation: iwould separatist to collect her ukrainian pension. translation: i would rather die than make this journey but i need to raise my grandchildren. my son has nojob. need to raise my grandchildren. my son has no job. many lives over the other side of the frontline. where separatist forces fighting ukraine are backed by russia. translation: i don't like what putin did here. ukraine used to be whole and undivided. he tells us life under the separatist couldn't be worse. but a woman interrupts. ukraine

created this concentration camp. she says. under pressure from former ukrainian soldiers, who blocked rail lines, ukraine's government banned all commercial goods from the crossing. the former soldiers argued trade was funding the separatist army. so raw materials no longer travel across the frontline. on the other side, the separatist have seized ukrainian own minds. starting this factory in territory controlled by the ukrainian military of coal. the coal is turned into coke which is used to make steel. this is the largest coking plant in europe. but production here has been cut in half, costing an estimated $6.5 million a month because of the blockade, which is essentially cutting eastern ukraine's industrial heartland in half. in the same town, nadia's mother was killed when a sheu nadia's mother was killed when a

shell landed near their home. the image of a daughter kneeling over the body of her mother is the true cost of this war. translation: she wa nted cost of this war. translation: she wanted grandchildren but she didn't live to see my children. it is very painful to lose someone like this. i wouldn't wish it on anyone. i'm so sick of this war. there has been three years of killing and there is still no end in sight. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: forget pets at home. we look at the growing trend for dog—friendly offices. but could it lead to cat—astrophe? 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. this is bbc world news.

i'm james menendez. the latest headlines: the us military has dropped the world's largest non—nuclear bomb on so—called islamic state hideouts in afghanistan, the first time it's been used in combat. staying with that story. good to have you with us, from the bbc persian service. the key question is what damage this bomb did. do we know any more about that? actually the province is a stronghold for is and has been for many months. there has been several clearance operations by afghan forces backed by international air force. so there is no specific report of people living in that area of afghanistan.

speaking to local officials, we know at this stage that there is no report of civilian casualties, but what's important is that it is the first time that americans are using the largest ever bomb may have in an area in afghanistan. there has been some condemnation of using that sort of long, for example by the afghan former president hamid karzai who says a country should not be allowed of using weapons, but there's also been positive feedback as many see it as been positive feedback as many see itasa been positive feedback as many see it as a new commitment by the us, led by republicans, to go after radical and militant groups, such as is, taliban and others, for this hope that peace could be ensured in the country and radical groups should be eliminated. many thanks

for that update. sport now and manchester united had to settle for a draw in the first leg of their europa league quarter—final against anderlecht in brussels. united looked to be heading for victory, courtesy of the goal scored by their armenian midfielder henrikh mkhitaryan just before half—time. but leander dendonker equalised for the belgian side with five minutes to go and the game finished 1—1. the second leg is at old trafford next thursday. if we arrive into a situation in the premier league i hope we will arrive into a situation where automatically it is not possible for the top four, then easy decision. at this moment we are in a position where we have two matches in hand. if we win both we are in the top four. we have to fight for every game.

in the night's other games, there were first leg wins for ajax, celta vigo and lyon. lyon's match against the turkish side besiktas was delayed by 45 minutes because of crowd trouble outside and inside the stadium. borussia dortmund's spanish defender marc bartra will be out of action for a month because of the wrist injury that he sustained in the bomb attack on the team's bus on tuesday. the first leg of their champions league quarter—final was re—arranged for wednesday, and dortmund lost 3—2 at home to monaco. speaking on thursday, the dortmund coach thomas tuchel admits they've been struggling to come to terms with what happened. today is my worst day ever. so, this morning and till now, speaking to the players, for myself this feels the worst day today. while it was happening it was kind of like ok, nobody knew what was going on and you have to do stuff you have to do. and the next day was kind of a bit

like walking through... like through a cloud. it is not so clear. everything. and i think this is a process which will accompany us through the next days and weeks. the russian tv station channel one has announced that it will not broadcast the eurovision song contest next month. russia's contestant julia samoilova has been barred from the host country, ukraine, because she toured in crimea two years ago. the decision means russia will no longer be able to take part in the competition. you may be used to seeing guide dogs around the office, but more and more companies are encouraging employees to bring their family pets to work, too. around one in ten employers in the uk has a dog friendly policy, but just what are the pitfalls? susannah streeter has been finding out. these four are office buddies at

nestle in gatwick. the firm's pets at work scheme has proved so popular that at the end of the year 100 dogs passed a settlement to gain their own staff pass. i think some people did wonder how many dogs would come into the office and whether we would have large numbers or packs of dogs roaming the office. the reality is we actually on any given day probably have between a total of 20 to 25 dogs in an office of 1000 people and in fact it is very rare to even hear the dog barking in the office but they are there if you wa nt office but they are there if you want to find on the pet. the dogs just don't relieve stress, they also seem just don't relieve stress, they also seem to help build office cameraderie. it has made me make friends. people come and talk to me. i don't think they know my name but they know my dog and it starts to open those doors. what about that time when she needs to go to the loo? she starts to get up and pace a little bit and looks up at me. we've had the odd accident in the past. doggie daycare is approximately £30—

£40 a day. and i've got three of them, so for me it's a big saving. have there ever been any fallouts with other dogs? not that either the scene. they love chasing each other around the park. you hear the odd arc, but that's about it. how easy is it, taking your pet to the workplace? come on, this way. i borrowed this on to find out. that the bbc. come on. this is the business unit. i will be going for an editorial meeting. the dowjones from last night on the slide. off we go. here we are. if we hear any bizarre noises in the background it's because we've got a dog coming in. 0k. that's different. over to in. ok. that's different. over to the studio now. down to make up. we can give you a little bit too! i might have to brush off if you dog hairs. she remained calm and inquisitive until she saw the cleaning trolley. we have a little

guest in the day. i think she is scared. next the bbc world studio where we met debbie connolly, a dog behavioural us. you are very gorgeous indeed. every office is different. some are quiet, some have the public in and out so you need to make sure that your dog is of the right temperament and also recognise the size that your —— recognise the signs were your dog might struggle, and makes sure other people in the office aren't afraid or allergic and ta ke office aren't afraid or allergic and take a little bad of goodies for your dog to be entertained. interview over. it is lunchtime and of course she can spend it with me. after her performance in the editorial meeting, i think she deserves a treat. don't you? well done! i'm glad she's not working today! i'm glad she's not working today! i'm not sure i could cope this morning with a dog in the studio x0 —— in the studio! all of the

business news coming up. first, the weather forecast. we have reached the long easter weekend. hopefully this will set you up weekend. hopefully this will set you upfor weekend. hopefully this will set you up for what you need to know about the weather. none of the warmth of last weekend. on the cool side. some occasional sunshine and some rain. for good friday the rain will be showing its hand from the word go in northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england and northwest wales. to the north of that in northern scotland we have the cooler air already. some sunny spells, and a few showers moving injury in the day. maybe the odd heavy on and some hail. parts of northern ireland, south—west scotland, north—west england and northwest wales to begin the day it be breezy. come south and we have a lot of cloud in the sky. across much of southern england into east anglia. but there will be sunny brea ks anglia. but there will be sunny breaks during the day. it will feel pleasa nt breaks during the day. it will feel pleasant when the sun makes an

appearance. through the day that will clear for parts of northern ireland and northwest england and in the wales it will be heavy for a time in western parts. cooler and showery weather to the north of that. personally warming any sunny spells towards the south—east of the uk. 16 celsius in london. nine degrees with the cooler weather in stornoway. light wind in southern areas. not as much as gardeners would like, where it has been dry. cooler air spread south. showers in scotla nd cooler air spread south. showers in scotland turn wintry. some of us will get cold enough for some frost as saturday begins. it looks like saturday will be the coolest day of the weekend. these north—westerly winds blowing down across the uk. a fairamount of winds blowing down across the uk. a fair amount of sunshine coming through. we will all get to see sunny spells on saturday. cloud building a time, threatening showers. we won't all see them. most frequent in northern scotland. still wintry on the hills. temperatures

down compared to good friday wherever you are. out of the sunshine it will feel chilly. again, frost for some of us as sunday begins. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, northern england and of wales. the position of that system is still uncertain so we will keep you updated. some showers in the east, maybe the south—west. light elsewhere. have a good weekend. this is bbc world news, the headlines. the us military says it dropped a massive bomb in afghanistan to maintain the momentum of its offensive against so—called islamic state group. the device was used to blow up a network of tunnels and caves used by the militants. syria's president bashar al—assad has dismissed reports that his forces carried out a chemical weapons attack on a rebel—held town in idlib province last week. he says they invented the claims so they had an excuse to bomb a government airbase. speculation is growing that north korea may be ready to carry out its sixth nuclear test as soon as this weekend,

to coincide with the country's most important national holiday — the anniversary of the birth of its founder kim il—sung. the lawyer for david dao, the passengerforcibly dragged off a united airlines plane earlier this week, says he's likely to sue the us carrier.