now it's time for our newspaper review. we start with our top story: syria's president bashar al—assad has given an interview, strongly denying his forces were behind a deadly chemical weapons attack, saying western countries, in particular the us, had worked "hand in glove" with terrorist groups to stage the attack. that's in the independent. the daily telegraph reports the islamic state militant group in afghanistan has been the target of "the mother of all bombs", the largest non—nuclear bomb ever used by the pentagon in a conflict. it was dropped on caves used by is fighters. this weekend people in turkey vote in a referendum that could expand president erdogan‘s powers. the international new york times looks at the country after last lastyear‘s attempted coup, and the 130,000 people who were purged from theirjobs. the gulf news reports united airlines is likely to be sued, according to the lawyer of dr david dao, who was dragged off

an overbooked flight. one of dr dao's children has spoken too, saying the family is "horrified, shocked and sickened". "happy easter from us all on planet ea rth". that's the headline. an age old question: does alien life really exist? the daily mail has nasa hailing a new frontier, revealing water samples from one of saturn's moons suggests it has all the conditions needed for life. except newspapers! joining us is lawrence gosling, editor—in—chief of investment week. good morning. let's start with syria and that interview, widely covered by president assad. the first time he has spoken since the chemical attack and he says there was no chemical attack. it is quite an extraordinary interview in what's been a horrible sort of context. he also cause —— goes onto say that

some of the children we saw in some the pictures may have been at thing and may not have been dead, even though a large number of independent sources, be turkey or some of the agencies working out there, that categorically say these children we re categorically say these children were victims of a chemical attack. again, we've sort of heard this kind of rhetoric from him in the past, i'm sure tragically we will hear it in the future, but it points to how an transient the whole situation is in many ways. what many people have been struck by, and his performance was much like other performances in the past, he is very softly spoken, very calm and collected. there is no branding. no. does that make it more sinister? does he genuinely believe what he is saying? if you watch the video and look at his body language, as you say he is softly spoken, he speaks very good english... he is

convincing in some ways. i was sitting there watching him, you have to split your head and say, hang on, no. ina way no. in a way he is convincing, if you are persuaded by his style. for the rest of us, if you look closely at his body language it is slightly different. he does look more defensive i think, having seen it a couple of times, compared to past interviews. the footage was taken by his own media. so it is an edited version. which it hasn't done before. he has done interviews in the past with bbc correspondent. he has a british wife as well, i think. let's talk about the mother of all bombs. i believe we have some pictures. this came out of the blue.

literally. like the cruise missiles firing the other day on syria. we seem to have this clear policy in the last week by the trump administration that it would be big and direct action. again, i don't think this is one that anybody followed. 0r expected. a mere 10,000 kg bomb. extraordinary size. designed to sort off i guess make a very clear statement to islamic state. do you think it is that? do you think it is something symbolic, or was there a tactical intention? it begs the question, why didn't they use it before? we've not heard anything official from the they use it before? we've not heard anything officialfrom the us they use it before? we've not heard anything official from the us as to the impacts on the islamic state leadership in the region. 0ther

sources suggest a couple of senior people may have been killed, but i think it's a broader statement. 0ver the last few weeks we've been subject to versions of islamic state terrorism. in germany there was a bombing. the uk. so it's a statement. there is a question about who is calling the shots, whether trump has been given free rein. i mean, are they calling the shots?m can't all be trump. i would tend to agree with you. you would think these things have in plan for weeks and months. it isn't as simple as trumpjust and months. it isn't as simple as trump just popping up and months. it isn't as simple as trumpjust popping up in the white house. i would trumpjust popping up in the white house. iwould have trumpjust popping up in the white house. i would have thought this was the generals having more influence over us military action than perhaps clinton did. certainly if you're trying to make a statement, and we are as guilty as anybody, it makes headlines. people want to hear about it and read about it. it's

everywhere. it's almost as if the use of the bomb is as bizarre as the name, the mother of all bombs. there is one heavier, apparently. i think that is called the penetrator. yes, a massive penetrator. let's talk about the new york times. is it going to have this referendum? the polls seem to suggest that he probably will get the outcome. generally what he is looking to do is very unpopular. that's the get rid of the role of prime minister. go towards a more dictatorial way of running things. this story talks about 130,000 people... many in schools and universities. there are

now colleges that have no teachers because they've been now colleges that have no teachers because they‘ve been anti— now colleges that have no teachers because they've been anti— president erdogan. families where neither pa rent erdogan. families where neither parent can work. children having to move school. it says they haven't been able to in most cases. as you say, institutions close down. they aren't locked up and they can't do anything. 1200 schools, 50 hospitals, 15 universities closed. people in the business community are hoping he will lift the state of emergency if he wins, which will be better for the economy. again, emergency if he wins, which will be betterfor the economy. again, a very uncomfortable sort of... it could put him into power until something like 20 something. a long time. let's wrap up the united —— united

airlines story. there was a news conference yesterday. a bit more detail. surprise, he says he is likely to sue. he has lost two front teeth, he has a broken nose. he would argue his reputation has been damaged considerably. we are running it now, in case you haven't seen enough of it. it is extraordinary for anybody to be hauled off an airline like this, and again the focus is also on the airport police at chicago airport. they may be getting a letter from at chicago airport. they may be getting a letterfrom his at chicago airport. they may be getting a letter from his lawyers. and there was some bad press about him. that was earlier in the week. now it comes out that some of the things they were saying about dr david dao wasn't true. he is going to make a fortune!

we haven't got very long. saturn. there is water. it could support life. we all love the idea that we could potentially be moving to another solar system at some point in the future. i suspect the three of us won't be doing that... some of the winters are rough year! thanks very much. happy easter. that's it from us. have a great weekend if you are celebrating easter. goodbye. 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 scotland 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. and going through the evening, heavier in western parts of wales as the weather system sinks its way southwards. look at that, though, 16 degrees in london compared to nine in stornaway, increasingly 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. and this run of north—westerly winds in the uk. but there will be some sunny spells. so, yes, a cooler day, but there'll be some blue sky around. but there will also be showers occasionally too. by no means everybody will see them. they ought to be most frequent in northern scotland. some will be heavy, with hail, maybe even with the rumble of thunder and initially 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'll have a weather system producing some outbreaks of rain. at the moment we think from 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 updated on that. for easter monday some showers in the east. it will be quite breezy, lighter winds elsewhere. enjoy your weekend. seen here in tests, it is the largest non—nuclear device the us has used in conflict, and targeted a network of caves and tunnels. good morning, it is friday 1a april. also this morning: unions representing 500,000 teachers claim schools in england face the worst cuts for 20 years, even though the government says it is spending a record amount. good morning.