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. two bank holidays just two weeks apart means two million of us will be taking a break abroad. this morning, i'm taking a look at whether it is any cheaper than last year. good morning from the crucible in sheffield. all the current stars will be coming into this famous theatre to have a party and look back on four decades, later on. i will be inside when they open up shortly. how hull is becoming a city of art lovers. we will be live in the

uk's city of culture. and matt has the weather. good morning. the extended weekend will be a little bit on the cool side, with the clouds they are, and some rain here as well. there will bea some rain here as well. there will be a decent amount of dry and sunny weather to go with it. i will have your full easter forecast in around about 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story: the us military have dropped the biggest non—nuclear weapon ever used in combat, in afghanistan. president trump described the mission, to destroy a series of underground caves thought to have been used by so—called islamic state, as a very successful mission. 0ur north america editor john sopel has more. this is the gbu—as, also known as a moab, a massive 0rdnance 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. 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 week. but the actions brought a furious tweet from afghanistan's former president, hamid karzai. 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? unions representing 500,000 teachers say schools in england are facing the worst real—term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. 0ur education correspondent gillian hargreaves reports. st martin's school in essex is a good school, but even here, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit staff, particularly in specialist subjects. at one stage, they had a science teacher vacancy for more than a year. but there are also shortages in maths and modern languages. i look at all the people that are teaching in those areas, and the number of people that

are due to retire over the next ten years, and also the number of people that are coming in that aren't actually a specialist in the subject area that they're teaching, and i think that really this is the thin end of the wedge. teachers are gathering for their conferences at a time of unprecedented anger over cuts. there have been widespread protests from parents and schools who say without more money, class sizes will go up and teaching posts will be cut. the government points out £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. but teachers say that hasn't taken into account rising costs, like pay, pensions, and the running costs of schools. the funding pressure is also beginning to hit parents, something of a concern to the unions. half of parents are saying they're making at least one financial contribution to the school's funds, in order to "enhance resources", whatever that means, at school level.

and many parents are finding that even the cost of a school uniform is something which they can no longer afford. there is also much disquiet about government plans to introduce a new wave of grammar schools. teachers argue money set aside for them would be better spent on existing schools. however, the government says this new wave of grammars would benefit less—well—off families. 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. nigeria says it is actively negotiating with the islamist militant group boko haram to free the chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped three years ago today. demonstrators will hold events later today in the capital, abuja, and in lagos, to mark the anniversary. almost 200 of the girls are still being held in captivity. 0ur nigeria correspondent martin patience reports. they were kidnapped as schoolgirls,

but will now be young women. three yea rs but will now be young women. three years ago today, the students preparing forfinal years ago today, the students preparing for final exams were abducted from this school. the islamist extremist of boko haram oppose western education. they loaded the girls onto trucks, and then drove them into the darkness. the mass kidnapping shone a spotlight on the brutal boko haram insurgency, which has killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes in north—east nigeria. the abductions sparked international condemnation, and led to the campaign bring back power girls. and then, late last year, joyous scenes. —— 0ur girls. and then, late last year, joyous scenes. —— our girls. more than 20 of the schoolgirls were freed, following negotiations. now,

nigeria's president says talks are ongoing with a boko haram, and that he will bend over backwards to secure the release of all the remaining students. as security removes , remaining students. as security removes, slowly children are once again getting an education, but abductions are still taking place. for every chibok schoolgirl, many more children have been kidnapped either militants. —— by the militants. the lawyer of a man who suffered a broken nose and lost two teeth when he was dragged off a plane in chicago says it is likely he will take legal action against united airlines. several passengers filmed dr david dao being forced off the flight, bloodied and injured, by chicago aviation police, after he had refused to leave the overbooked flight. at a press conference, mr dao's daughter said it has been a difficult time for the family. what happened to my dad should never happen 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. the labour party says it would give the uk's financial regulator, the financial conduct authority, new powers to stop banks shutting high street branches. labour says hundreds of such closures have damaged small businesses. the conservatives said their support for small businesses, which includes start—up loans, had helped 40,000 firms. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand, after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook was expected to be the worst storm in the country for decades. hawke‘s bay on the east coast was worst—hit, with hundreds of families forced from their homes, road closures, and downed powerlines. the accommodation booking service airbnb is improving the security of its app and website, after a bbc investigation found people's homes had been burgled

by criminals using stolen accounts. the scammers changed some personal details, and used them to book properties. airbnb said it had already been working on the changes. it is expected to one of the busiest days on the roads today, with around 20 million carjourneys expected over the easter weekend. millions more will be heading abroad, as they make the most of two bank holidays in the space of two weeks. catriona renton is at a busy road in east london this morning, with the latest. iam going i am going to say busy, but not that busy yet. not that easy yet, and this is the a102, it is usually one of the busiest roads in london and itjoins london to the network of motorways so now is obviously a good time to get away if you want to. there is barely a car on the roads

here at the moment but it will get busier throughout the day. 20 million people, as you say, 20 million people, as you say, 20 million carjourney is expected over this weekend, and to give you an idea of what that means today, that will be around 15% more cars on the road than normal. now, the company that supplies this data say that you can expect on the major motorways, at the pinch points, that your journey could take twice as long as normal. those pinch points between 10am and 2pm, so they suggest avoiding those if you can. whereas at off to? 6.6 million people are going to have a night away somewhere in the uk. but not everyone is going to have a staycation. today will be one of the busiest days of the airports, it was around 2 million people will be heading overseas. spain is still the favourite destination. it is a different picture on the railways. network rail appreciate there are fewer

passengers usually use the trains on bank holidays so this is an opportunity for them to get some work done. there will be 200 engineering project affecting trains from london, manchester, laugh, manchester and glasgow. you should check your roots before you go —— bath. thank you very much indeed for explaining all of that. of course the trains are quieter at the weekend, but slower. nasa says one of saturn's moons, known as enceladus, may now be the 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. the discovery was made through nasa's cassini probe, which has been exploring saturn since 2004. it always gets people excited, of

course, that tantalising prospect. we will be discussing later in the programme how close we are, to that. it isa programme how close we are, to that. it is a possibility. we are not sure about it yet, are we? we are a little bit lonely this morning. no mike this morning, he is at the crucible ahead of the start of the world snooker championships. i am waiting my turn on the table. i think for me it would be a long time, because my opponents will dominate. this is it, the iconic arena of the crucible. 40 years of snooker world championship mammaries staged here. they are still getting the table is ready for this year's championships, which start tomorrow. what strikes me is how intimate this arena is. to celebrate four decades, they are getting a lot of the former champions and current stars to come down the green carpet with some fans, they will relive some of the best moments of the last 40 years.

you can watch it on the red button on bbc iplayer. they arrive at 5pm and the show starts at 6pm this evening. and the draw has been made for the first round of the world snooker championship, which starts tomorrow here in sheffield. defending champion mark selby will face qualifier fergal 0'brien, and five—time champion ronnie 0'sullivan will play another qualifier, gary wilson. elsewhere in sport, it was a frustrating night for manchester united, as they dominated the first leg of their uefa cup quarter—final with anderlecht, but could only draw. jose mourinho's side went ahead before the break, through henrikh mkhitaryan, but couldn't hold onto the lead. 1—1 it finished. great britain have made it two medals in two days at the cycling track world championships, in hong kong. chris latham won a bronze in the men's scratch race, in a bunch sprint. it is his first international medal as a senior rider. warrington are now unbeaten in three

matches, as they try to recover from their terrible start to the season in super league. they beat bottom club widnes, 19—10. so, yes, being inside the crucible, how big are the tables, when you are used to playing pool in the pub, or maybe snooker at home with the kids on the small tables, and also how intimate it is. i have a couple of volunteers. if i am playing a shot, they are breathing down my neck. so close to the action. it could be very offputting. all of those eyes on you. and then of course the tv audience as well. plenty more from you through the morning including mark selby at 8:30am. are those people 0k, mark selby at 8:30am. are those people ok, i am worried about them? they are trying to stare at me, so that i can feel like it is playing a

point at the world championship. give mea point at the world championship. give me a hard stare. very good, thank you. what you couldn't see at home was matt with the weather this morning watching the whole thing in fascination. i could see you thinking, what on earth? i was worried for him with those two behind. the easter weekend is up on us, it is an extended break for many. the weekend forecast is mixed. it is not horrendous by any means. it is not horrendous by any means. it will be on the cool side with the cloud but when the sun comes out you will feel the benefit of the sunshine overhead. some gardeners will be happy with this, a little bit of rain at times. where is the rain? falling in the form of showers in southern scotland, northern ireland, northern england and the midlands, south of that a chilly start with sunny spells breaking through the cloud. bright conditions in scotland and a breeze blowing with one or two showers. that will

continue into the afternoon. probably most bright in eastern scotla nd probably most bright in eastern scotland if you are heading out. northern ireland is bright after a wet spell early in the afternoon. the wet weather as it clears means north—west england, north and west wales, showers turned to persistent rain in the afternoon. it won't be pleasa nt rain in the afternoon. it won't be pleasant with the breeze as well. away from that much of central and southern england and east anglia, some of the most dry weather with brea ks some of the most dry weather with breaks in the cloud. temperatures may be one degree above yesterday. the wet weather for northern england and wales were pushed southwards, giving the garden is a welcome step rather than drink overnight. that will clear through. with skies clearing, showers in the north, it will be cold for northern ireland, scotland, northern england, a touch of frost and maybe even a touch of ice in scotland on quite a windy day with sunshine and showers. saturday is only by and large. showers mainly for scotland. 0ne

is only by and large. showers mainly for scotland. one or two elsewhere. most will be lucky enough to avoid them. dry with sunny spells throughout. tomorrow you will notice it will feel cold in the breeze and in the cloudy moments. if you are thinking of heading to the scottish hills tomorrow, make note, it may feel like a spring in the valleys, winter on the peaks with gale force winds, so the windchill and a little snow around. please, bearthat winds, so the windchill and a little snow around. please, bear that in mind. the wind will ease into sunday but low pressure will work in on sunday. after a bright day on saturday, largely cloudy on easter day. 0utbreaks saturday, largely cloudy on easter day. 0utbrea ks of saturday, largely cloudy on easter day. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, the midlands, east anglia moving east. fairly erratic with some dry weather around and top and tail the best of the dry, brightest and sunny weather and back to something sunny on monday with light wind, one or two showers here or there. hopefully you will manage to avoid them and if you do in the sunshine with light wind it will

feel a touch more warm. thank you. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: the us military unleashes the largest non—nuclear bomb ever to be used in conflict, targeting so—called islamic state in afghanistan. 36 members have been killed. schools in england are facing the worst real term cuts for 20 years, according to unions representing half a million teachers. the government says it is spending a record amount on education. sean is here to talk about the good friday papers. and we will start with the front pages. yes, the front of the sun, this is our lead story, you can see they are calling it, this is how it is known in the us military, the mother of all bombs, the world's biggest non— nuclear bomb so far used in combat.

assess m e nts bomb so far used in combat. assessments made as to the impact as it was dropped in afghanistan by the us military. lots of papers leading on that story. some of them cannot agree. the front of the times have their own story on what they say is a secret plan to destroy cancer medicine. what i want to show you is a picture of the prime minister, theresa may, who you can see yesterday performing a duty on behalf of the queen graduating cadets at the royal academy in sandhurst. apparently they played star wars music and made everybody giggle. the front of the mirror is dominated by images of the bomb, trump drops the mother of all bombs, and the express talking about cost of holidays. set to fall 2096 according to them. talk about that this morning, we will look at a cost abroad, you probably have pay for your flights and accommodation. when your flights and accommodation. when you get there, it is cheaper than it

was a year ago when you get to spain, portugal, croatia. whether or not you take the pound into account, what has happened is that these areas have been so competitive now for the tourists to go there that the cost can be a lot cheaper than they have been for a while. really? last it was really expensive. once you take flights and accommodation into account, that can start to bump up into account, that can start to bump up the price. and if anyone has a nice picture to send us off where they are this weekend, because... somewhere sunny. somewhere little sunnier than somewhere sunny. somewhere little sunnierthan in here. somewhere sunny. somewhere little sunnier than in here. so if you are going somewhere, sent in a picture. you can get a lot from a picture. you can get a lot from a picture. you can get a lot from a picture. you canjudge you can get a lot from a picture. you can judge how you can get a lot from a picture. you canjudge how much people are spending. and we talk about a fiver, what about this one, the indestructible fivers, police

thought they were fake but the hologram had rubbed off. so, where it was before, they found some fivers without it. they thought, blimey, have people been forging them already? someone has put effort into trying to get rid of the hologram. goodness me. the front of the daily telegraph, oh, you have the daily telegraph, oh, you have the inside page, there is an interesting photograph i think you might want to see today. can we see this? the new lineup for the great british bake 0ff. this? the new lineup for the great british bake off. we knew the names. that is the image, people can look at it and think, i can see that, or think what they want, on the inside of quite a view of the papers. they all have their little puns. the sun has bake to the future. and what do you think of the colours?|j has bake to the future. and what do you think of the colours? i like the yellow on the right. they are

holding a cake. there is a really clever, subtle thing going on, there isa clever, subtle thing going on, there is a strawberry motif a look at noel fielding'sjumper. is a strawberry motif a look at noel fielding's jumper. it is warm, is a strawberry motif a look at noel fielding'sjumper. it is warm, and friendly. i like it. thank you. see you later on. it's been almost a year since so—called legal highs were banned but recent news coverage of people openly using the synthetic drug spice in public, means it's under the spotlight more than ever. now paramedics say the unpredictable effects of the substances on users is making theirjob harder and putting them at risk of assault. dan whitworth has more on this story. a warning, his report contains images of the effects of drug taking. ina park in a park in leeds on a sunny weekday lunchtime two friends are about to take spice. you blackout ann conlon level what you have done. spice was banned by the government

nearly a year ago along with other so—called highs, but that doesn't bother derek. since the ban came in it is easier to get hold of and it is cheaper as well. we watch as in a couple of minutes adam and derek descent into what for some users has been described as a zombielike state. people who use spice often in broad daylight sometimes in city parks just like this one have told us parks just like this one have told us despite the ban is still readily available and very cheap. and one user has even told us it is more difficult to try to come off than heroin. it is a familiar problem for charities like lighthouse. some people here have struggled to stop using spice. i was a heroin user17 yea rs using spice. i was a heroin user17 years ago. i have been clean for 17 yea rs. years ago. i have been clean for 17 years. i have been smoking spice for nine years and it is stronger. three years ago that is in my life started with spice. it is not good. i can't eat. i have lost a lot of weight. with spice. it is not good. i can't eat. i have lost a lot of weightm has ruined my life. 0ther charities

said last year's ban hasn't curbed use. it has gone underground if you like. we consistently provide a safe service here. unfortunately, if you have someone who has had some spice and they are volatile, that can mean dangerfor us and they are volatile, that can mean danger for us and for the residents. police in manchester say they dealt with around 60 incidents involving the drug last weekend alone. while the drug last weekend alone. while the college of paramedics which represents 11,000 emergency workers across the uk says the use of synthetic drugs is making treating people even harder. spitting, biting, punching, kicking, those things are what paramedics have to put up with. it is important for people to realise that this substance, whatever it is you are taking, it could kill you. u nfortu nately taking, it could kill you. unfortunately that is what we are seeing, kids are dying. the government says it will publish a drug strategy shortly and that

stopping the use of synthetic drugs like spice and it says anyone caught using these kind of drugs already face up to five years in prison. later in the programme we will speak with a former police officer on how to deal with this problem. still to come on breakfast: how hull is bringing out the hidden art lover in people from all walks of life. we'll be live in the uk‘s city of culture. let's get the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. hello. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alice salfield. rail passengers travelling over easter are being warned to expect hillingdon council says it will provide funding to challenge a third runway at heathrow for "however long it takes to win". it comes as a freedom of information request by the bbc revealed that four councils under the airport's flight path, have spent £350,000 on legal fees fighting it. in january wandsworth, richmond, hillingdon and windsor and maidenhead councils failed

in an attempt at the high court to challenge the decision. rail passengers travelling over easter are being warned to expect disruption because of engineering works. the biggest impact will be felt at london bridge. the latest works are part of the thameslink programme which will affect services to charing cross and cannon street. with fewer people travelling over the easter weekend, network rail say it's the best time to do it. we have done a lot of planning for this working with the operations team and the operators to make sure that we have looked through the programme in great degree of detail and make sure we are confident around what we are delivering and the worse we have got this weekend. so let's see how those engineering works are affecting the trains this morning. as you can imagine there's lots going on today — no service on some parts of chiltern railway until around midday. south west trains have bus replacement services on some of the line, as do southern. and on southeastern no trains are running in and out of charing cross and cannon street. it's also not a good day to be using the tubes, with a large amount

of engineering work there too. as you can see it's affecting the circle, district, dlr, hammersmith & city, metropolitan line, 0verground and tfl rail. they all have part closures, some lasting all weekend, so check the details on transport for london's website if you need to use them. and the waterloo & city line will be open from 8am today. if we look at the roads, things are generally looking quieter on the roads but the euston underpass is closed westbound near warren street because of a police incident, with queues approaching from euston station. let's have a check on the weather now with lucy martin. hallo, and could morning. well, the easter weekend is finally here and while it doesn't look as warm as last weekend it looks like it will start off dry. we will see some bright interludes as we move through the day. the cloud braking to produce a little bit of sunshine. temperatures reaching a maximum of 15- 16 temperatures reaching a maximum of 15— 16 degrees. it will be fairly greedy, though. this evening and

overnight the cloud will thicken up, thick enough to produce a view outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, nothing too heavy —— breezy. the cloud acting as a bit of a blanket so temperatures not falling too far. 0vernight lows around ten or 11 degrees. slightly cooler, though, in the countryside. so come into saturday, then, it was a fairly cloudy start further south. that could be thick enough for the spotlight rain and drizzle. into the afternoon, though, good spells of sunshine but slightly cooler with highs of 40 degrees. into sunday, then, and a return to something cloud is. that cloud could produce a view outbreaks of rain as we move into the afternoon courtesy of that weather front —— 14 degrees. but temperatures slightly warmer than saturday with a maximum of 13 degrees. so, the easter weekend not looking too bad, it is cooler than last weekend, but lots of dry weather around and some hello, this is breakfast with charlie stayt and sally nugent.

it is 6:30am. we will bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment. but also on breakfast this morning: as 2 million of us prepare to head overseas this easter weekend, we will be finding out how much it will cost you when you get there — less than you may think. how would your boss feel if you brought your pet into work? we will be hearing why more and more companies are allowing dogs into the office. and forget martians — the search for alien life is switching to saturn. scientists will tell us why one of the ringed planet's moons could be the place to look. all that still to come. but now, a summary of this morning's main news: it is being reported 36 members of so—called islamic state were killed after the united states dropped what was described as the ‘mother of all bombs', in afghanistan. the weapon is the largest non—nuclear bomb to have ever been used in combat. the target was a network of underground tunnels. the attack has been condemned by the former afghan president hamid karzai. unions representing 500,000 teachers say schools in england are facing

the worst real—term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. unions say schools' staff shortages are increasing, and there is a reduction in vocational subjects. i think ithinkfunding i think funding is going to be the theme that dominates the conversations, because around the country class sizes are going up, we are seeing arts, dance, drama, music being cut, education being cut back. we are seeing schools that are being sent letters to pa rents we are seeing schools that are being sent letters to parents to ask them for money, to try and make up for the gap the government is causing in school budgets. 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. nigeria says it is actively negotiating with the islamist militant group boko haram to free the chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped three years ago today. more than 270 students were seized from their dormitories, and almost 200 of the girls are still being held in captivity. demonstrators will hold events later today in the capital, abuja, and in lagos, to mark the anniversary. a future labour government says it would bring in a law preventing banks closing high street branches. more than 1,000 local branches closed in the uk between 2016 and 2017. labour says lending to small businesses decreases in areas where banks close, but the conservatives said their support for small businesses, including start—up loans, had helped 40,000 firms. a clean—up operation

is under way in new zealand, after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook was expected to be the worst storm in the country for decades. hawke's bay on the east coast was worst—hit, with hundreds of families forced from their homes, road closures, and downed powerlines. it is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, as the easter getaway begins. around 20 million carjourneys will be made on the uk's roads by monday, with trips on major routes expected to take up to three times longer. the m25, m6 and m5 are expected to be worst affected. up to two million are expected to fly away from the gridlock for a trip overseas, with spain being the top destination. sean will have more on this shortly. i wonder if it is too late just to book a flight and go? you can do that any time. where are you going

to go? spain, obviously. it was an egg—cellent day for animals at a zoo in florida. not to miss out on the holiday fun, keepers organised an easter egg hunt, of sorts. rhinos, zebras and elephants feasted on a special lunch made up of grass, plants and painted watermelons. the rhinos seemed a bit fooled by the decorated fruit, but after plenty of sniffing and licking, they seemed a little more convinced. iam not i am not surprised they are confused. why is the watermelon blue, they are thinking? to mike now, who is at the crucible, in sheffield, ahead of the start of the world snooker championship. good morning to you. good morning. i need a name. what do you think? pocket rocket or shall? i am deep inside the crucible, the dressing

rooms are just there, and this is the walker players have been doing for 40 yea rs the walker players have been doing for 40 years at this famous theatre —— pocket rocket bushell. it is not as famous as the walk at wimbledon, but the cameraman is doing well. it isa but the cameraman is doing well. it is a tight squeeze because it is a walking theatre. they normally walk out with their cues, the commentary box that, in the big moment where you take a deep left and walk down the red carpet to the applause of 900 needy people in here. and as i say, they have in doing this for 40 yea rs say, they have in doing this for 40 years and they are commemorating that because a lot of champions and former stars will do this walk together with the fans to look back on four decades. down to the table, and the trophy itself, which dates back to 1927. so 90 years of champions on that. of course, defending champion mark selby. elsewhere in sport, it was a frustrating night for manchester united, as they dominated the first leg of their uefa cup quarter—final with anderlecht, but could only draw. jose mourinho's side went ahead before the break, thanks to this goal from henrikh mkhitaryan.

but they missed some good chances to extend their lead, and five minutes from time, leander dendoncker grabbed the equaliser. the second leg is at old trafford next week. if you arrive into a situation where mathematically it is not possible, top four, then easy decision. rest them, and go with them in europa league if you are still in competition. but at this moment we are ina competition. but at this moment we are in a position where we have two matches in hand. if we win both matches in hand. if we win both matches we are direct into the top four. we have to fight for every game. the six—man shortlist for pfa player of the year is out, with chelsea's n'golo kante the favourite. he helped leicester lift the premier league trophy last season, and looks on course to do the same with chelsea this year, and possibly also win the fa cup. he scored for them in the quarter—finals. also in contention are eden hazard, zlatan ibrahimovic, harry kane, romelu lukaku and alexis sanchez.

after elinor barker won silver in the women's race on wednesday, chris latham won bronze in the men's scratch race at the cycling track world championships, in hong kong. it is his first international medal as a senior rider, and he could win another. he rides in the omnium tomorrow. in super league, warrington are now unbeaten in three matches, as they try to recover from their terrible start to the season. they ran in three tries against bottom club widnes, the second from jack hughes, as they won 19—10. the draw has now been made for the first round in the last name on here, defending champion mark selby has been drawn against fergal 0'brien, who was involved in the longest ever frame on wednesday. two hours in three minutes to make it through to the main draw. in the

past on this trophy we have winners from england, scotland, wales, northern ireland, the republic of ireland, canada and australia but not as yet the chinese name on there. they are getting close. ding junhui was the runner—up a year ago and it has been claimed that china will soon be the big superpower snooker, dominating the titles. i've been to meet him. ina in a nation of over 1.3 billion people, one man is mobbed wherever he goes. ding junhui is treated like a movie or pop star. he is one of the most recognised faces across the whole of asia, because this is the man who sparked a chinese snooker revolution. to escape such constant attention, he moved to sheffield, home of the world championship, where he can lead a relatively normal life, unrecognised, well, most of the time. good luck. thank

you. i met him this week for a frame at the city's star academy where his private practice room is a world away from all the attention. the 5 million followers on social media and the 210 million who watched his run to the final last year on chinese state tv. the sound is wonderful, isn't it? you like that sound. iam wonderful, isn't it? you like that sound. i am proud. wonderful, isn't it? you like that sound. iam proud. the wonderful, isn't it? you like that sound. i am proud. the little kids come and ask me how to be like you, andi come and ask me how to be like you, and i am very pleased to answer the questions. so yes, i know it is how boring when you practise. it is very lonely. he is certainly not learn any more in sheffield. along with fellow star marco fu, the set the trend. thanks to the likes of ding and marco fu there is now a steady strea m and marco fu there is now a steady stream of players coming to dedicate themselves to training at these academies specially for chinese players. also good chinese

community, lots of chinese restau ra nts, community, lots of chinese restaurants, they love it. it has become a mecca for chinese snooker players. they all want to come here and play. it feels like a second home here. it is easy to see what china is the new foreskin is liquor. massive investment in facilities back home, and 70 million people now playing cue sports every week. in five years i think chinese players will take over, as the standards are very high at the moment, but they can only improve from now on. ding ‘s success is rubbing off on so many. hit it in the middle? yes! great tutor. he has already won the uk championship and the masters, but ever since he started playing pool in china, aged eight, the world title has been his burning ambition. 0n title has been his burning ambition. on tv title has been his burning ambition. ontvi title has been his burning ambition. on tv i see steve davis, they are all legends in snooker. i think i

wa nt to all legends in snooker. i think i want to win these titles when i grow up. and it seems only a matter of time before he is world champion. he is one of those chinese rising stars. and if you want the documentary about ding junhui, it is now on the bbc iplayer, and it is called enter the dragon: china's snooker star. thank you very much. you look quite the part sitting there. you really do look like a snooker pro yourself. we will talk to you later. thank you very much. it has being described as the ‘mother of all bombs'. the largest non—nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the us has been dropped on a network of underground tunnels in afghanistan. it is thought they were being used by so—called islamic state militants. the weapon was first tested in 2003, but until yesterday, had never been used in combat. so why now? michael williams is the director of international relations at new york university,

and joins us now. good morning to you. i am actually going to ask you that is my first question. why this on, and why now? well, it seems to have been dictated by military necessity. president trump said at a press conference not too long ago that it basically enables the military to do what it needs to do, is very hands off compared with president 0bama and we know from central command that this area was being targeted by afghan forces. the afghan national army ground forces were unable to take this area from the isis combat and who were in the region, so that called the us military support, and the us military doesn't have many combat and ground troops but they do have a power and this particular weapon with the blast radius and the power it brings was designed specifically to take out the shallow tunnels and shallow bunker structures. it is not a deep bunker

destroying weapon, but it is the most powerful non—nuclear weapon in the arsenal. so it seems to have been dictated purely by an necessity, from what we know. and the us has not confirmed much detail of the strike, not a huge amount of detail, but a local official has confirmed to the bbc that many is militants were killed, allegedly including the brother of a senior leader. we have also been told there we re leader. we have also been told there were no civilian casualties. well, it is good there were no civilian casualties. the us military generally tries to avoid that, it is under the protocol. the last administration was very intent on being quite involved in trying to avoid as much collateral damage as possible. the president now seems to be much more inclined to let the military do they need to do. if you look at... they say about three dozen combat atoms were killed in this attack, quite expensive given the weapon at hand ——, since. it is not going to fix the situation on

the ground, and isis is a symptom of the ground, and isis is a symptom of the problems in the wider region of the problems in the wider region of the middle east as well. so it may set back military objectives of isis are ultimately it is only one part ofa are ultimately it is only one part of a much larger puzzle. talking about president trump for a moment, this is in complete contrast to his predator so, isn't it? this is in complete contrast to his predatorso, isn't it? because this is in complete contrast to his predator so, isn't it? because many military chiefs have expressed frustration at the end of president 0bama's term, and as you say, at this point it seems that trump has taken advice from military leaders and ina taken advice from military leaders and in a sense handed much more control over to them. yes, well, the new administration has several other active or prior military combat and is, in the ranks. —— combatants. general mcmaster, general mattis, so they certainly favour that sort of advice. and he is much more hands off and definitely is much more in favour of large acts, as we know, to

demonstrate us military power. and this is a departure. maybe part of it is signalling to other parts of the world where there may be issues, but at the same time it is a relatively erratic policy, that doesn't seem to have a larger strategy behind the actions, which is to strike in syria, or the moving of us naval assets closer to the korean peninsula. thank you very much. here's matt with a look at this morning's weather. it is good friday, bank holiday weekend. how is it looking? not bad at all. quite mixed, it has to be said. started on a good note. glorious in aberdeenshire. sunshine top and tail at the moment. for most it will be a cloudy day. as you can see, cloud around, sunshine breaking through. south—east wales and northern scotland. in between,

producing rain, northern england and wales pushing east. there is dry weather in between. a damp spell for northern ireland into the start of the afternoon. if we look at four o'clock, sunny spells breaking through and sunny spells through the day for northern scotland with showers pushing in on a cool breeze. cloudy in northern england. the west of the pennines is persistent and heavy into the afternoon, as it will in north and west wales. the better speu in north and west wales. the better spell for you first thing. southeast wales, southern england, east anglia, it should be dry all day long with some sunny breaks. it might even feel warmer than yesterday. the rain pushed southwards and bring some of the gardens more of a sip than a drink before the weather front clears. with the clear skies, cold air pushing in, from the midlands northwards, the chance of a touch of

frost, maybe even ice around with showers in northern scotland. quite a cold day to come on saturday. a cool breeze across the board. sunny conditions across the country on saturday. sunny on saturday with one or two showers. many will have a predominantly dry day. not especially warm in the sunshine. temperatures 9— 14 degrees. cold on the mountains of scotland. here if you are planning to go to the hills, not a great day with gale force winds, subzero temperatures, leading toa winds, subzero temperatures, leading to a severe windchill and some snow showers around as well. the wind will ease and the cold air cut off into sunday. sunday we are back in cloudy weather as weather front push in. northern scotland and the south of england, temperatures could get into the teens. in between, lots of cloud and occasional rain but still some dry mornings around. back to some dry mornings around. back to some sunny weather into easter monday one or two showers and with

winds on easter monday, get yourself in the sunshine, especially in the west — it should feel a little warmer, although it is still cold on the eastern coast. there is something for everyone this weekend. thank you. there is a holiday theme emerging, obviously, because of the day and we can. if you are watching this you are thinking about going away. you might already be a way. it is possible. going abroad easter weekend seems our luxury to me. lots of people are doing it, it seems. todayis of people are doing it, it seems. today is the busiest day of travel. about two million of us are choosing to head overseas. according to abta — that's the association of british travel agents — two million british holidaymakers will head overseas during easter. spain is the uk's favourite foreign holiday destination for the weekend. you'll have already forked out for your flights but research from the post office out today says that once

you actually get to one of the most popular spots, prices for basics, so like sunscreen, beer and meals, are down 10% on 2016 levels. louise hodges is a travel expert with travelzoo and joins me now. morning, louise. delaying your bank holiday for us. in terms of once you get there, people will be on their way. is there a big price difference ina way. is there a big price difference in a resort in spain or greece to the pint of beer and sunscreen when you arrive? it depends where you go. if you look at spain, you think about it in regions. i have looked at pricing. northern spain is cheaper than southern spain. when people flock to the same resorts, prices go up. less busy places will be cheaper. even in the country. we are at good friday morning. will there be people still booking their holiday for this weekend, because we

have had many years people being more prepared, that is when deals are. there is a trend for the last—minute booking. when i spoke to travel companies we work with we found half of people are booking for holidays in the next ten days. that is something we haven't seen on that scale before. it means people are booking this weekend, for the week ahead and there are deals to montenegro for £300 per person for holidays in april. we have another bank holiday in two weeks. why is it that we are leaving it so last—minute, so many people live at last—minute, so many people live at last minute, when ten years ago there were loads of last—minute deals. there was a long period of time when it was better to book in advance. there might be a mini train. brexit has something to do with it. post article 50, people have taken a wait and see attitude with a currency. people have seen it isn't as rocky as feared, so they

are booking in droves. if you look back to last year, people were booking 69 month in advance. this year is different. in summer i expect it will be different. and the wea k expect it will be different. and the weak pound might have an effect on taste and where people go. arrival numbers have been going up to overseas countries. the numbers are not going down. people are picking destinations that are affordable. all—inclusive is popular as well. thank you very much. people still booking even though it is good friday morning. ijust can't get my head around that. art may not be the first thing you think of when somebody mentions hull. although it was the home of poet philip larkin, it's probably fair to say that over the years its reputation has taken a battering. but this year, all that is changing. hull is the uk city of culture and every day throughout 2017 it will host a series of events. people have already been flooding in to see what the city has to offer.

colin paterson is there for us this morning reflecting on the highlights so far, and to take a look at what is still to come. i recognise that, that is the poppies. they are back. this is queen victoria square. those are the ceramic poppies that were outside the tao of london in 2014, commemorating those who died in the first world war. this is the maritime museum in hull and many other fishermen were involved maritime museum in hull and many otherfishermen were involved in maritime museum in hull and many other fishermen were involved in the first world war and their boats were used to look for submarine. this is just one of many events happening right now for the city of culture. this week hull went 100 days as city of culture so we thought it was time for breakfast to find out what has been going on. i ended up in some unusual places. the place would have spelt of carpet, overalls and a makeshift fire. hull, city of culture, where even taxis have been turned into theatres. and it raises up, pumping to handle. for the next three months, wayne jackson is presenting

a show to an audience of six in the back of his father's cab. the show is only 20 minutes. i am doing at eight times a day. it is demanding and challenging. and his dad is loving it. it is absolutely excellent. it is combining my son's work and mind. we have always been proud of him. had you ever done anything arty before? nothing at all. venues have been popping up all over the city. this week's opening, flood, performed on a floating stage in the middle of a residential area. these people in their flats have been looking on us for six weeks. we have been chatting to them, we have been to local primer schools, we have a little boy called jim who comes have a little boy called jim who co m es every have a little boy called jim who comes every date on his way from school and asked what we are doing. and who should arrived at that moment butjim for his daily

inspection, sharing the title that the crew have bestowed on him. the executive producer. excellent, great title. it is a small example of how people of all ages have been getting involved since hull's year in the spotlight began onjanuary involved since hull's year in the spotlight began on january the first with a musical firework display. 0ther with a musical firework display. other highlights so far have included the visit of enormous scotch other blade and the humber bridge being given a musical accompaniment from 0pera north. bridge being given a musical accompaniment from 0pera northm has been a magical start to the year with hundreds of residents getting involved and people from all over coming to experience hull. those who have lived in hull all their lives have lived in hull all their lives have noticed a difference. it has brightened everything. it is lovely. it isa brightened everything. it is lovely. it is a pleasure to the hometown. and there is still eight and a half months to go. yes, 250 days to go. let's find out

what can be expected. here are the men who know about it. the bbc face of hull and hull city culture. i was here on the first of january for fireworks. what has been going on? well, the poppies have been and gone, the blade has gone, there has been an amazing opening and it is getting people through. this is the art gallery that will host the turner prize. yes,. before that we have the sea of hull painting. 3500 people will turn up in the city centre naked, painted in blue. phenomenal. did you go for it? i didn't. we have heard a little about how people are getting involved. how have you gone about trying to make sure these isn't elitist? we have

reworked the cd—rom, spent £45 million doing it up so that it is something we can enjoy and have people here, we had 340,000 people from hull. that is more than the population —— the city centre. it shows how many people have come to visit the city. that was a free festival people could take part in an come along and see first hand. many events like that all year and the place is buzzing. if people want to find out what has been going on, you have a special programme. yes, the first episode will be on at 12:30pm on the news channel, about my time in iceland withjohn grant, bringing over the north atlantic festival at the end of april. we will catch up with a few other people. it will be great. that will be on at 12:30pm and 8pm if you want to find out what is going on. we

will speak with more organisers and performance. we will talk to you soon. i think if you want a last—minute destination this easter weekend, we have found one. why not? let's get the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. hello. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alice salfield. hillingdon council says it will provide funding to challenge a third runway at heathrow for "however long it takes to win". it comes as a freedom of information request by the bbc revealed that four councils under the airport's flight path, have spent £350,000 on legal fees fighting it. rail passengers travelling over easter are being warned to expect disruption because of engineering works. the biggest impact will be felt at london bridge. the latest works are part of the thameslink programme

which will affect services to charing cross and cannon street. with fewer people travelling over the easter weekend, network rail say it's the best time to do it. we have done a lot of planning for this working with the operations team and the train operators to make sure that we have looked through the programme in great degree of detail and make sure we are confident around what we are delivering and the works we have got this weekend. so let's see how those engineering works are affecting the trains this morning. no service on some parts of chiltern railway until around midday. south west trains have bus replacement services on some of the line, as do southern. and on southeastern no trains are running in and out of charing cross and cannon street. check before you travel. it's also not a good day to be using the tubes, with a large amount of engineering work there too. as you can see it's affecting the circle, district, dlr, hammersmith & city, metropolitan line, 0verground and tfl rail. they all have part closures, some lasting all weekend, so check the details on transport for london's website if you need to use them.

and the waterloo & city line will be open from 8am today. if we look at the roads, things are generally looking quieter on the roads but the euston underpass is closed westbound near warren street because of a police incident, with queues approaching from euston station. let's have a check on the weather now with lucy martin. hello and good morning. well, the easter weekend is finally here and while it doesn't look as warm as last weekend it does at least look like it will start off dry. we will see some bright interludes as we move through the day. the cloud breaking to produce a little bit of sunshine. temperatures reaching a maximum of 15—16 degrees. it will be fairly breezy, though. this evening and overnight the cloud will thicken up, it will be thick enough to produce a few outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, nothing too heavy. the cloud acting as a bit of a blanket so temperatures not falling too far.

0vernight lows around ten or 11 degrees in towns and cities. slightly cooler, though, out in the countryside. so come into saturday, then, it's a fairly cloudy start further south. that could be thick enough for the spotlight rain and drizzle. into the afternoon, though, good spells of sunshine but slightly cooler with highs of 14 degrees. into sunday, then, and a return to something cloudier. that cloud could produce a few outbreaks of rain as we move into the afternoon courtesy of that weather front. but temperatures slightly warmer than saturday with a maximum of 13 degrees. so, the easter weekend not looking too bad, yes, it is cooler than last weekend, but lots of dry weather around and some brightness. hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and sally nugent. america drops what is known as the ‘mother of all bombs‘ on so—called islamic state in afghanistan. 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. we are so proud of our military, and

it was another successful event. good morning, it is friday 14 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. two bank holidays just two weeks apart means two million of us will be taking a break abroad. this morning, i'm taking a look at whether it is any cheaper than last year. morning from inside the crucible, either famous table here, morning from inside the crucible, eitherfamous table here, home of the world snooker championship for four decades and ahead of this yea r‘s four decades and ahead of this year's competition, four decades and ahead of this yea r‘s competition, when four decades and ahead of this year's competition, when we will decide who will lift this famous trophy, all the great and good of snooker will gather for a

celebration with over 900 fans, as they look back on 40 years of drama. it might seem like a dog's life spending your day in the office. we will discuss why more companies are encouraging people to bring their pets to work. and matt has the weather. very good morning to you. alternating days of cloudy today, sunny tomorrow. same again on sunday and monday. a little bit on the cooler side this weekend but when the sun is out it should still feel quite doesn't. i will have your full easter forecast coming in the next 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story: it is being reported 36 members of so—called islamic state have been killed, after the united states dropped the biggest non—nuclear weapon ever used in combat, in afghanistan. president trump described the operation to destroy a series of underground caves as a very successful mission" 0ur north america editor john sopel has more. this is the gbu—43, also known as a moab, a massive 0rdnance 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. 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 week. but the actions brought a furious tweet from afghanistan's former president hamid karzai. 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? unions representing 500,000 teachers say schools in england are facing the worst real—term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. 0ur education correspondent gillian hargreaves reports. st martin's school in essex is a good school, but even here, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit staff, particularly in specialist subjects. at one stage, they had a science

teacher vacancy for more than a year. but there are also shortages in maths and modern languages. i look at the pool of people that are teaching in those areas, and the number of people that are due to retire over the next ten years, and also the number of people that are coming in that aren't actually a specialist in the subject area that they're teaching, and i think that this is really the thin end of the wedge. teachers are gathering for their conferences at a time of unprecedented anger over cuts. there have been widespread protests from parents and schools who say, without more money, class sizes will go up and teaching posts will be cut. the government points out £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. but teachers say that hasn't taken into account rising costs, like pay, pensions, and the running costs of schools. the funding pressure is also beginning to hit parents, something of a concern to the unions. half of parents are saying they're making at least one financial contribution to the school's funds,

in order to "enhance resources", whatever that means, at school level. and many parents are finding that even the cost of a school uniform is something which they can no longer afford. there is also much disquiet about government plans to introduce a new wave of grammar schools. teachers argue money set aside for them would be better spent on existing schools. however, the government says this new wave of grammars would benefit less—well—off families. 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. a future labour government says it would bring in a law preventing banks closing high street branches.

more than 1,000 local branches closed in the uk between 2016 and 2017. labour says lending to small businesses decreases in areas where banks close, but the conservatives said their support for small businesses, including start—up loans, had helped 40,000 firms. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand, after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook was expected to be the worst storm in the country for decades. hawke's bay on the east coast was worst—hit, with hundreds of families forced from their homes, road closures, and downed powerlines. the accommodation booking service airbnb is improving the security of its app and website, after a bbc investigation found people's homes had been burgled by criminals using stolen accounts. the scammers changed some personal details and used them to book properties. our technology reporter chris foxx has more. like millions of people, christian had let out his home on airbnb while he was out of town as a convenient

way to make some extra money. he had done so for years without a problem, but on his birthday his home was burgled. i got that horrible text message saying someone is in the account and it is not me, because my account and it is not me, because my account had been compromises. christian thought he had let out his home to a verified profile, somebody who had verified government and navigation and had positive reviews from previous bookings. but the account had been stolen. the had changed that name, photograph and contact details on the profile but kept airbnb's verified badge. and christian is not alone. the bbc has spoken to two are the people who we re spoken to two are the people who were robbed this way, and three others who had their accounts stolen, and airbnb's facebook page has dozens of comments from people who had their accounts compromises. there are many ways attackers could have been hijacking airbnb accounts. they might be a trick people into handing over their passwords. but there are ways airbnb could have defended against this. we put our security concerns to airbnb. the company said... those changes

include two step verification when somebody logs in from a new device, and text message alerts if somebody changes your profile information. at four christian, the changes come too late. he says the whole experience has left him with a bad feeling, and he may not use airbnb again. it is expected to one of the busiest days on the roads today, with around 20 million carjourneys expected over the easter weekend. millions more will be heading abroad, as they make the most of two bank holidays in the space of two weeks. catrina renton is in east london this morning, with the latest. a lot of people going to be on the roads and travelling, how do you think it is going to look? well, charlie, iam think it is going to look? well, charlie, i am on the a102 at the

moment and it is a good time to get away right now it is quite quiet, but that is going to change. 0ver the weekend around 20 million journeys on the road is expected to be taking, and the company which compiles data are saying you can expect delays of double the time of your normal journey expect delays of double the time of your normaljourney on the major motorways, that would be the pinch points between 10am and 2pm, the time they say to try and avoid travelling. it is notjust the roads that are busy. the airports, as we have been hearing on the programme, 2 million people going away overseas on easter break. the airports expect this to be their busiest day of the weekend. the top destination being spain as the favourite. 0n the ra i lwa ys spain as the favourite. 0n the railways and different picture. network rail see fewer passengers on holiday weekend as an opportunity to get some work done. 200 engineering projects will affect journeys. trains to london, manchester, bath, glasgow and edinburgh are affected and you should check to see what is

affected before you head out. if you are looking for a break from the busy travel on easter sunday, we can expect a drop in the number of cars on the road before people had phoned again on monday. and if you want to know the local situation where you are, watch the tv bulletins on your stations here, of course, on the bbc, and check out the local bbc radio stations. they will keep you right up to date. but it looks to me like a good time to get away now if you can. we will catch up with you a little later on, thank you very much. basically leave now is the advice, or an hour ago. nasa says one of saturn's moons, known as enceladus, may now be the 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. the discovery was made through nasa's cassini probe, which has been exploring saturn since 2004. and if that is something that

excites you, and let's face it, it isa excites you, and let's face it, it is a tantalising prospect, we will be discussing it after 8am this morning. what sort of life? who knows? it has been almost a year since so—called legal highs were banned, but recent news coverage of people openly using the synthetic drug spice, in public, means it is under the spotlight more than ever. now, paramedics say the unpredictable effects of the substances on users is making theirjob harder, and putting them at risk of assault. dan whitworth has more on this story. a warning — his report contains images of drug taking. spice was banned by the government nearly a year ago, along with other so—called highs, but that doesn't worry adam and derek. since the ban came in, it's easier to get ahold of, and it is cheaper as well. police in manchester say they dealt

with around 60 incidents involving the drug last weekend alone. while the college of paramedics, which represents 11,000 emergency workers across the uk, says the use of synthetic drugs is making treating people even harder. spitting, biting, punching, kicking, those things are what paramedics have to put up with. so it's important for people to realise that this substance, whatever it is you are taking, it could kill you. unfortunately that is what we are seeing, kids are dying. it isa it is a familiar problem for people at charities like lighthouse. it is a familiar problem for people at charities like lighthouselj it is a familiar problem for people at charities like lighthouse. i have been smoking spice for nine years. and it is a luxury. three years ago thatis and it is a luxury. three years ago that is when my life started with spice. it hasjust ruin my life, basically. the government says it will publish a drug strategy shortly, aimed at stopping the use of synthetic drugs like spice, and it says anyone caught

using these kinds of drugs already face up to five years in prison. joining us now is neil woods, a former undercover drugs police officer who is now the chairman of leap uk, which campaigns to reform drug policy. welcome. this has happened with similar legislation in ireland and poland. people are taking it because it is cheap. pictures shown on the clip here of homeless people. these people are not zombies. they are struggling to cope with life on the streets. having worked amongst homeless people and manipulating them myself as an undercover police officer, i am sure that if i had to live on the streets, i would not cope without getting high as cheaply

as possible and it would be the case with most people. we saw some of those glimpses and people maybe saw that with their own eyes in high streets, people taking spice, other substances, and the unpredictable effects they have. what can you tell us effects they have. what can you tell us about that, especially to do with spice? when you surrender a commodity to the black market, it becomes adulterated. there is no control at all what is in it. so the strongest possible chemicals are in it. it is financially worthwhile to gangsters to sell the strongest product because it is the most cost—effective. the economy of the black market makes drugs more dangerous. that is why you are seeing more into acting effect, unpredictable drugs. it is the same with wider drugs legislation, since banning them they have become stronger, cheaper and more varied. is it and after effect of the tightening of legislation surrounding marijuana ? tightening of legislation surrounding marijuana? well,

cannabis is an interesting one. people call this synthetic cannabis. it is not. people take it for a headache and it is in the same chemicalfamily as headache and it is in the same chemical family as heroin headache and it is in the same chemicalfamily as heroin but it is not the same thing. it is far more dangerous than cannabis. it is safe to say if it was regulated 15 years ago, synthetic cannabinoids, spice, would be around because it is a product of the prohibition. people watching this, and i know you take a different view, one of the jobs of administrations, of government, of lawmakers, is that you set laws up to stop people doing things you don't want them to do. and you don't wa nt don't want them to do. and you don't want people taking spice, so that is why the legislation is there. you wa nt to why the legislation is there. you want to send out a statement of things you don't want people doing. you know people say that. that is the argument. how do you deal with that thing, that if you make it legally available you are sending

the message it is something that is acceptable? messages don't save lives or reduce harm. the legislation as it has been, drug laws and approaching drugs, is not working. every time you ban something it empowers the black market and makes the black market more violent and more dangerous. drugs can be dangerous. we need to get them under control. that is why we at leap uk, ex— military, ex— operatives, have worked on the frontline with drugs. we are telling you that we need to get this problem under control and you can only do that by regulating. we have no control over it at the moment because gangsters supply it. how many people, you know, distressing images on public streets, shopping centres, bus stops. people in this zombielike state — how many people should have been helped, could have been helped with early intervention from mental health services? exactly. clearly, these people need help. the way that we treat homeless

people is just horrific. help. the way that we treat homeless people isjust horrific. walking along the streets of manchester here, the numbers of people has increased so much. even if you don't ca re increased so much. even if you don't care about these vulnerable people, think about the financial situation. it is actually — policing drugs is the single is biggest thing in policing. it is extremely expensive. it is cheaper to look after people. if you invest in the mental health services, if you invest in accommodation for these people, ask the police officers going to the calls, time after time, like last weekend, what would they rather spend time doing, i think they would rather be doing something which is positive. ok, thank you for your time this morning. undercover drugs detective and now director of leap uk. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: the afghan military says 36 members of so—called islamic estate were killed after the us dropped what it called the mother of all bombs on a network of caves.

schools in england are facing the worst cuts for 20 years according to unions representing half a million teachers. but the government says it's spending a record amount on education. here's matt with a look at this morning's weather. good morning. a stunning shot this morning from a weather watcher in aberdeenshire, it sums up the easter weekend. sunshine, quite a bit of cloud and what you is a little cool weather as well. let's look at the details today. it will be a cloudy day with plenty across the centre of the uk, although some sunshine as you saw in northern scotland, and for southern england and the. cloud in between for north wales —— wales. doubt whether to start the afternoon in northern ireland, sliding into

north—west england and wales later. northern ireland will finish the day dry and sunny with light wind. and where we have sunny spells in the north of scotland, iraq showers to spoil it now and again, some of the most dry weather in the north—east. for the north—east, for the pennines, across the western side, the afternoon his looking wetter than this morning and the same for wales. it won't feel great out there. southern england, the midlands and east anglia, we see the dry weather. and with sunny spells maybe even a touch warmer than yesterday. here into tonight you will see some rain pushed through. it won't affect everyone. some of the gardens will only get a sip rather than a drink of rain. as it clears, the skies clear and air pushes in. the cold air means a touch of frost, across the countryside, the midlands northwards, and showers overnight, continuing into saturday. strong and gusty winds. quite a breeze across

the uk that will make it feel cool in cloudy moment. if anything, saturday will be sunny for the weekend with one or two showers here and there. temperatures around nine to 14, where they should be, but it will feel cold if you are heading to the scottish mountains on saturday. conditions are farfrom the scottish mountains on saturday. conditions are far from ideal, gales with subzero temperatures, leading toa with subzero temperatures, leading to a city windchill and, yes, snow on the mountains. we cut off the feat of cold air into sunday but weather fronts mean it is feat of cold air into sunday but weatherfronts mean it is back feat of cold air into sunday but weather fronts mean it is back to cloudy weather on sunday —— feed. the best sunshine, like today, southern england, northern scotland, in between cloud, at kasyanov rain and dry weather with temperatures lifting compare to saturday. —— and cloud and rain. there is bright weather also on monday, sunny spells forjust weather also on monday, sunny spells for just about all, one weather also on monday, sunny spells forjust about all, one or two showers here and there but most of you will avoid them and still a cool breeze along the eastern coast of

northern england and eastern scotland. elsewhere, little in the way of wind on easter monday, when the sun shines it will feel pleasa ntly the sun shines it will feel pleasantly warm. back to you both. question for you, are you a pet owner and, if you are, have you taken your pet to work?” owner and, if you are, have you taken your pet to work? i am not. i don't fancy taking it to work, would you? you haven't got one anyway. i have brought my daughter to work. it is along the same line, not quite the same. it didn't work very well. she is probably better trained than most pets. we are dog owners. a .5 million. would it be a good thing for people to bring them to work? what do you think i am going to say? we have sat here on the sofa with my dog. it was a disaster, it put me right off my work. she was excellent and that is not true. she was frightened of the dog trainer at the time. susannah streeter has been finding out. brooke, reggie, max and peggy are

office at ease at nestle in gatwick. the pets at work scheme proved so popular that by the end of the year around 100 dogs past and assessment to gain their own staff pass.” think some people did wonder how many dogs would actually come into the office and whether we would have large numbers or packs of dogs roaming the office. the reality is on any given day we probably have between 20— 25 dogs in an office of 1000 people. and in fact it is very rare to even hear a dog park in the office. they are here if you want to find one. the dog don'tjust relieve stress, they also help build office camaraderie. it has made me make friends. people come and talk to me. they know my dog. and it opens doors. what about the time when she needs to go to the loo? she starts to get up and pays around and look at me. we have had the odd accident.

doctor a care is £30— £40 per day. —— dog daycare. i have three of them. for me it is a big saving. have there been fallouts with other dogs? not that i have seen. they love chasing each other around the park. you hear the odd barca, that is it. so, just how easy it is it taking your pet into the workplace? —— bark. i have borrowed monet to find out. this is the bbc. come on. —— marna. this is the business unit. iam going —— marna. this is the business unit. i am going for an editorial meeting. dowjones on i am going for an editorial meeting. dow jones on last i am going for an editorial meeting. dowjones on last night from the slide. here we go. here we are. claire, if you hear designer is as it is because we have a dog in this morning's meeting. ok. different. i am going to the studio now, down to make up. i am going to give you a little bit too. i might need to brush off a feudal pairs. marna remained calmly inquisitive until

she saw the cleaning trolley. we have a little guest in today. marna's following me around. she is scared. next, the bbc will studio, we meet debra conolly, a dog specialist. you are gorgeous indeed. every office is different. some are quiet, somehow the public in and out. you need to be sure your dog has the right temperament and recognise the signs your dog might be struggling. and make sure the other people in the office have checked out to be sure they are not afraid or allergic and take a bag of goodies for your dog to be entertained. interview over, it is lunchtime, and marna can spend it with me. and after her performance in the editorial meeting, i think she deserves a treat, don't you, marna? come on. well, i don't know about you, but i think we have been replaced. oscar has been watching the programme, he is absolutely glued to that report. is he going to give me his paw? oh,

thank you, 0scar. is he going to give me his paw? oh, thank you, oscar. he likes to hold hands. yes. if you are wondering who 0scar is, 0scar has been brought in by his owner, phil, who will talk to later, just about the story, is it a good thing to bring your to work? it is worth saying that if you don't like dogs, and, you know, a workmate brings ina like dogs, and, you know, a workmate brings in a dog, it won't work, will it? is oscar going? no, he is fine. if you have pictures to share, stories of the benefits of having a dog in the workplace, or another pet. it is pets generally. oh, the sofa is short. he is one of the best behaved guests we have ever had. i love him. you're watching breakfast. still to come this morning: how hull is bringing out the hidden art lover in people from all walks of life. we'll be live in the uk‘s city of culture. it is looking beautiful today. they

are infact it is looking beautiful today. they are in fact lego daffodils. they are not quite real. they are clever. very clever. let's get the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. hello. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alice salfield. hillingdon council says it will provide funding to challenge a third runway at heathrow for "however long it takes to win". it comes as a freedom of information request by the bbc revealed that four councils under the airport's flight path, have spent £350,000 on legal fees fighting it. rail passengers travelling over easter are being warned to expect disruption because of engineering works. the biggest impact will be felt at london bridge. the latest works are part of the thameslink programme which will affect services to charing cross and cannon street. with fewer people travelling over the easter weekend, network rail say it's the best time to do it. we've done a lot of planning for this, working with the operations

team and the train operators to make sure that we have looked through the programme in great degree of detail and make sure we are confident around what we are delivering and the works we have got this weekend. let's have a look at the travel situation now. so let's see how those engineering works are affecting the trains this morning. no service on some parts of chiltern railway until around midday. south west trains have bus replacement services on some of the line, as do southern. and on southeastern no trains are running in and out of charing cross and cannon street. check before you travel. it's also not a good day to be using the tubes, with a large amount of engineering work there too. as you can see it's affecting the circle, district, dlr, hammersmith & city, metropolitan line, 0verground and tfl rail. they all have part closures, some lasting all weekend, so check the details on transport for london's website if you need to use them. if we look at the roads, things are generally looking quieter on the roads but the euston underpass is closed westbound

near warren street because of a police incident, with queues approaching from euston station. now it's time for your all important bank holiday weather forecast with lucy martin. hello and good morning. well, the easter weekend is finally here and while it doesn't look as warm as last weekend it does at least look like it will start off dry. we will see some brighter intervals as we move through the day. the cloud breaking to produce a little bit of sunshine. temperatures reaching a maximum of 15—16 degrees. it will be fairly breezy, though. as we move through into this evening and overnight the cloud will thicken will thicken up. it will be thick enough to produce a few outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, nothing too heavy. the cloud acting as a bit of a blanket so temperatures not falling too far. 0vernight lows around ten or 11 degrees in towns and cities. slightly cooler, though, if you're out in the countryside. so, into saturday, then, it's a fairly cloudy the further south you go. that could be thick enough

for the spotlight rain and drizzle. into the afternoon, though, good spells of sunshine but slightly cooler with highs of 14 degrees. into sunday, then, and a return to something cloudier. that cloud could produce a few outbreaks of rain as we move into the afternoon, courtesy of that weather front. but our temperatures slightly warmer than saturday with a maximum of 13 degrees. so, the easter weekend not looking too bad, yes, it is cooler than last weekend, but lots of dry weather around and some brightness. now, though, it's back to sally and charlie. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast with charlie stayt and sally nugent. it is being reported 36 members of so—called islamic state were killed after the united states dropped what was described as the ‘mother of all bombs‘ in afghanistan. the weapon is the largest non—nuclear bomb to have ever been used in combat. the target was a network of underground tunnels. the attack has been condemned

by the former afghan president hamid karzai. unions representing 500,000 teachers say schools in england are facing the worst real—term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. unions say schools staff shortages are increasing, and there is a reduction in vocational subjects. i think funding is going to be the theme that dominates the conversations, because around the country, class sizes are going up, we are seeing arts, dance, drama, music being cut, education being cut back. we are seeing schools that are having letters sent to parents to ask them for money, to try and make up for the gap the government is causing in school budgets. 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. nigeria says it is actively negotiating with the islamist militant group boko haram to free the chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped three years ago today. more than 270 students were seized from their dormitories, and almost 200 of the girls are still being held in captivity. demonstrators will hold events later today in the capital, abuja, and in lagos, to mark the anniversary. a future labour government says it would bring in a law preventing banks closing high street branches. more than 1,000 local branches closed in the uk between 2016 and 2017. labour says lending to small businesses decreases in areas where banks close, but the conservatives said their support for small businesses, including start—up loans, had helped 40,000 firms. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand, after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook was expected

to be the worst storm in the country for decades. hawke's bay on the east coast was worst—hit, with hundreds of families forced from their homes, road closures, and downed powerlines. it is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, as the easter getaway begins. around 20 million carjourneys will be made on the uk's roads by monday, with trips on major routes expected to take up to three times longer. the m25, m6 and m5 are expected to be worst affected. up to two million are expected to fly away from the gridlock for a trip overseas, with spain being the top destination. sean will have more on this shortly. nasa says one of saturn's moons, known as enceladus, may now be

the 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. the discovery was made through nasa's cassini probe, which has been exploring saturn since 2004. we will be discussing that a bit later because people get excited about the prospect of life elsewhere. and all of the all—important bank elsewhere. and all of the all—importa nt bank holiday elsewhere. and all of the all—important bank holiday weather as well. looking over my shoulder, you can see mike bushell in a waistcoat for the start of the world snooker championship. yes, good morning. hush hush. the head of world snooker has dominated the table so far. he goes for an easy read, lining himself up. i haven't had a look and so far. i am not

surprised, really, you are the chair of world snooker after all. this is the practice room at the crucible, where players come ten or 15 minutes before a session or a match. you missed the blue, so i will give ago now. this is where they come before a session. if it is going badly, like for barry, they might come here during the mid—session interval to try and get their eye back in. at this table is far too big for me, so i was literally going for pot luck there. and barry, take it away again. while barry clears the table, i will tell you about the rest of the sport. elsewhere in sport, it was a frustrating night for manchester united, as they dominated the first leg of their uefa cup quarter—final with anderlecht, but could only draw. jose mourinho's side went ahead before the break, thanks to this goal from henrikh mkhitaryan. but they missed some good chances to extend their lead, and five minutes from time, leander dendoncker grabbed the equaliser. the second leg is at

old trafford next week. if you arrive into a situation where mathematically it is not possible, top four, then easy decision. rest them, and go with them in the europa league, if you are still in competition. but at this moment, we are in a position where we have two matches in hand. if we win both matches we are direct into the top four. we have to fight for every game. after elinor barker won silver in the women's race on wednesday, chris latham won bronze in the men's scratch race at the cycling track world championships, in hong kong. it is his first international medal as a senior rider, and he could win another. he rides in the omnium tomorrow. in super league, warrington are now unbeaten in three matches, as they try to recover from their terrible start to the season. they ran in three tries against bottom club widnes, the second from jack hughes, as they won 19—10.

back at the crucible, this is the world championship trophy, it is 90 yea rs world championship trophy, it is 90 years old. 0n the winners' list, winners from england, scotland, wales, northern ireland, republic of ireland, canada, australia, not as yet a chinese name but that could change. there is a feeling that they are the rising superpower of snooker. i have been to meet ding to find out more. in a nation of over 1.3 billion people, one man is mobbed wherever he goes. ding junhui is treated like a movie or pop star. he is one of the most recognised faces across the whole of asia, because this is the man who sparked a chinese snooker revolution. to escape such constant attention, he moved to sheffield, home of the world championship, where he can lead a relatively normal life, unrecognised. well, most of the time.

good luck. thank you. i met him this week for a frame at the city's star academy, where his private practice room is a world away from all the attention, the 5 million followers on social media, and the 210 million who watched his run to the final last year on chinese state tv. the sound is wonderful, isn't it? you like that sound. iam proud. the little kids come and ask me how to be like you, and i am very pleased to answer the questions. so yes, i know it is — how boring when you practise. it is very lonely. he is certainly not alone anymore in sheffield. along with fellow star marco fu, they set the trend. thanks to the likes of ding and marco fu, there is now a steady stream of players coming to dedicate themselves to training, at these academies specially for chinese players. also a good chinese community, lots of chinese restaurants.

they love it. it has become a mecca for chinese snooker players. they all want to come here and play. it feels like a second home here. it is easy to see why china is the new force in snooker. massive investment in facilities back home, and 70 million people now playing cue sports every week. in five years, i think chinese players will take over, as the standards are very high at the moment, but they can only improve from now on. ding's success is rubbing off on so many. hit it in the middle? yes! great tutor. he has already won the uk championship and the masters, but ever since he started playing pool in china, aged eight, the world title has been his burning ambition. on tv i see steve davis, they are all legends in snooker. i think, i want to win these titles when i grow up. and if you want the documentary

about ding junhui, it is now on the bbc iplayer, and it is called enter the dragon: china's snooker star. well worth a watch as well and jamie broughton will have a bbc news special tomorrow at lunchtime. you can see how bad jamie and —— barry and ir, because look how few balls we have cleared. first of all, 40 yea rs. we have cleared. first of all, 40 years. the snooker world championships have been here for 40 yea rs. championships have been here for 40 years. why did it settle at the crucible? why did it become the home? a historic story, because the promoters of the championship, mike

waterson's wife came to the crucible, went home and told her husband i have found you the perfect venue for the snooker, and from such openings big things grow. i think the year before it had been in manchester in a not particularly pleasa nt manchester in a not particularly pleasant arena. everyone, at the moment they walk through the doors here, they feel this is special. and it has stayed special ever since. it almost is a part of british eccentricity that we are still in a 900 seat venue when we could sell 10,000 tickets a day. but it has developed this feeling for the players, and as i say, i have been here for 40 consecutive years, and still yesterday, when i arrived, the hairs on the back of my neck went up when i walked inside. obviously this is the practice room, but the audience, the fans are so close to you, breathing down your neck. with two ta bles you, breathing down your neck. with two tables in play, when we start on saturday, i think you get more room in your local billiard hall to play

on than you would on the greatest stage on earth. so it is very special, it is a unique tournament, and as you said, with ding, in places like china, a global sport like never before. do you think they will dominate in years to come?” was in china last week, it isjust hundreds of thousands of players. it is part of the school curriculum, you see these 15 or 16—year—old kids. we have one of the greatest first round matches, the 17—year—old player. his first year on tour and he is playing at the crucible. give them five years, these european players are them five years, these european players a re really them five years, these european players are really going to have to get their head down. and a special celebration today on 40 years since you came here, so former stars coming down the green carpet for a bit of a party. it is party time, a celebration. everybody is here. there will be a few memories of alex higgins, and people who played such an enormous part in making this such an enormous part in making this such

a special occasion. but for me, and steve davis, our life has changed here. when he won the world title changed his entire life, and it came back to the crucible. you can watch it live on iplayer, the bbc news website. i will try and get a ball down. let me run around here.” don't think you will have much success with that. you have completely... well, not snookered me but i have to get around that blue somehow. i think that is why it is the practice room, don't you think? and you can keep those shoes on, have you copped those shoes? let's see mike's choose! show us your shoes. look at that. how am i supposed to concentrate with shoes like that? joejohnson at the

crucible, when he won the world title, wore shoes of a similar ilk. they are not making much difference to my game. your game is rubbish, the same as mine. in 04 both -- thank you both very much indeed. you are watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: the afghan military says 36 members of so—called islamic estate were killed after the us dropped what it called the ‘mother of all bombs‘ on a network of caves. 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. bye for now. in those snooker halls, they won‘t ca re in those snooker halls, they won‘t care about the weather, but a lot of other people will. here‘s matt with a look at this morning‘s weather. the first big holiday weekend of the year. it will be one that produces

quite a bit of weather variety. this morning, lots of cloud from a weather watcher shot showing you, there are breaks in cambridgeshire and southern parts. the same for northern scotland. in between, thick cloud, northern england and wales threatening the odd spot of rain this morning and the odd heavy burst. it will turn damp around lunchtime in northern ireland. the wet weather spreads into north—west england and west wales. north of it we will see sunshine at times in central and northern scotland. it is punctuated by the odd shower, pushing through on the breeze, and northern ireland will brighten up in the evening so that you finish with some sunshine here. northern england will be cloudy throughout. west of the pennines most likely to see the bulk of the rain, especially this afternoon, the same for northern and western wales, the wrangle term persistent. southeast wales, largely dry. much of southern england,

midland and east anglia will see some breaks in the cloud, so some sunny spells and a touch warmer than yesterday. a breeze adding to the chill, taking the weather front southwards, so a lot of gardeners parched in southern england, and it is more an sip than a drink tonight, some avoiding the showers. and as a weather front pushes through, temperatures drop, so a kauto star to saturday morning with frost around, maybe ice in scotland with showers to start the day. if anything saturday is more sunny than today. the odd shower here and there. chiefly for scotland. 0ne today. the odd shower here and there. chiefly for scotland. one or two ellsworth. most of you will avoid them and be dry throughout. the breeze will be a cold one —— elsewhere. 9— 14 degrees where we should be for the time of year. and this is the sunshine, it will be pleasa nt this is the sunshine, it will be pleasant enough, although don‘t be fooled if you are heading to the scottish mountains. while it might be nice on the valleys, horrible really co m e be nice on the valleys, horrible really come back to winter, gale force winds, so the winchell and

even snow at times. the cold wind will ease into sunday —— wind chill. we are back to the weather front from the atlantic, so cloudy weather on easter sunday. some sunshine in northern parts of scotland and a little sunshine at times in southern england. in between, like today, cloud, ak shall rain and temperatures up on what we saw on saturday. —— some rain. and then, showers around across eastern areas, dry weather on easter monday, and a further west you are with wind light, once in the sunshine it should feel nice enough. so, something for everyone, even the gardeners. back to you both. thank you. it is a bit mixed over the weekend. maybe you are thinking of going away. sean is explaining why we have bank holiday weekend close together. lots of people going away and it won‘t be as expensive if you go abroad. once you get there.

0verall cost, with the weaker pound, has made things more expensive automatically to go abroad, but it has helped the domestic market as well. people this weekend travelling around the uk and not leaving. good morning. an impressive 6.6 million of us are set to have a trip away over the easter weekend. i‘ll be off to the seaside after the show. but it‘s a pretty big rise, according to tourism body visit britain. over half a million more overnight stays than last year. and bookings for tourists coming to the uk from now until the summer are up compared to last year too. anthony pickles is from visit britain and joins me now. morning. is it fundamentally a wea ker morning. is it fundamentally a weaker pound being great for the uk tourism market? what we are seeing at the moment is a window of opportunity with great tourism products across the uk which is improving all of the time alongside

the weaker currency and better value abroad. what we have to do is make sure people overseas understand that we have got — that we are better value, the best value in 11 years or more, so if i say to you, what is the exchange rate with canada, you may have a vague idea as the business correspondent, maybe not. likewise, people overseas don‘t know that, so we have a job working overseas to get their message across that we are great value for money. would you say this is a great opportunity but we are not really cashing in on it? we have to do more because, who knows, currencies fluctuate hugely right across the world and, as i said, we have a great window, so we have to cash in. two bank holiday is close to each other, is it good for the b&bs, hotels, tourist places in the uk, or does it mean people go away for one of them? you said 6 million of us are getting away overnight this

weekend and i am sure people will be taking the opportunity to go away this easter and take time off, so close to the may holiday, so we have heard more people are going away, something like one third waiting to see what the weather is like, so let‘s hope the weather forecast and the sunshine pushes people to take a trip away. we have been talking a lot about hull this morning, so what can we learn about the idea of focusing on one particular area as a place for culture and to go and spend time? so, hull is the city of culture and what is happening is, with a full year of activity, whether it is cultural, art, people have heard more about hull and they are going there. and from the organisers themselves, more and more people are going to see what is going on. and having the city of culture is an opportunity to get people to places they might not visit. not every city can have that. that is true. it works for hull at

obviously it is not straightforward for every single market across the uk. thank you very much indeed. if you are looking for somewhere that you haven‘t gone too, there is plenty happening this weekend in hull. yes, indeed, here is a live camera now. 0ur arts correspondent colin paterson is there for us this morning to see some of the sights. lego daffodils that you can see if you‘re going to hull. a brand—new addition to the city of culture, just in time for easter, with a giant lego watering can as well. 1700 lego daffodils. it is all part of the idea of getting the exhibits to the city of culture into the centre of hull. this is king edward square. the reason we have come to hull is this week they went 100 days as city of culture, so we thought it was time for breakfast to catch up with

what was going on in the city, and i ended up in some unusual places. the place would have spelt of carpet, overalls and a makeshift fire. hull, city of culture, where even taxis have been turned into theatres. and it raises up, by pumping a handle. for the next three months, wayne jackson is presenting a show to an audience of six in the back of his father‘s cab. it‘s quite close. the show is only 20 minutes. i am doing it eight times a day. it is demanding and challenging. and his dad is loving it. it is absolutely excellent. it is combining my son's work and mine. we have always been proud of him. had you ever done anything arty before? nothing at all. venues have been popping up all over the city. this week‘s opening, flood: a state of the nation parable,

performed on a floating stage in the middle of a residential area. these people in their flats have been looking on us for six weeks. we have been chatting to them, we have been to local primary schools, to sing a song in the play, we have a little boy called jim who comes every date on his way from school and asked what we are doing. and who should arrive at that moment butjim for his daily inspection, proudly sharing the title the crew have bestowed on him. the executive producer. excellent, great title. it‘s a small example of how people of all ages have been getting involved since hull‘s year in the spotlight began onjanuary the first, with a musical firework display. other highlights so far have included the visit of enormous sculpture the blade and the humber bridge being given a musical accompaniment by 0pera north. it has been a magical start to the year with hundreds of thousands of residents getting involved and people from all over

coming to experience hull. those who have lived in hull all their lives have noticed a difference. it has just brightened everything. it is lovely. it is a pleasure to our hometown. and there is still eight and a half months to go. we are hearing about how their has been an attempt to get people who live in hull to get involved and here is trevor and maggie. what made you want to get involved in the city of culture wasilla it is an historic event for hull and i am so proud of the city. maggie, what else have they got you doing, apart from wearing light blue? talking to people, encouraging people to look and see what we have got here as well as enjoying all of the extra bits outcome as well, and the daffodils. what kind of things when people come to ask questions, what are they wanting to know about? things like where does this come

from, what does this mean, what do you think it is, is it really art, like when we had the bla, it opened a lot of discussion with people —— blade. we were talking with the people who work coming to see what's going on, and they were sharing their views with us. just briefly, tell me about this huge mural, what is it? 1 million pieces of glass reflecting hull‘s maritime history from someone called alan boyce. thank you. phil batty from hull 2017. who is paying for this? we have 80 partners who have brought it together and what is great is it is the people behind the city that has made it possible, that energy that has brought it together. just briefly, more than 250 days to go, what are the highlights?” briefly, more than 250 days to go, what are the highlights? i am looking forward to the opening of

skin and the house of king and queens as part of lgbt 50. if you are looking for somewhere to go, hull is an option and there is just time for me to go and attend to the daffodils. 0h, me as an eight—year—old would have loved it. i think the grown—up colin quite likes it as well! like something from a storybook. it is a lego watering can and daffodils or. someone has spent a lot of time doing that. much more if you‘d like to know more about hull, you can watch britain‘s uk city of culture on the bbc news channel today at 12:30pm and 8pm. coming up, we are talking about bringing your pets to work and some of you have sent your pictures. here is midge the greyhound, oh, look, in sheffield. thank you for sending these in, this is jack who goes to these in, this is jack who goes to the british army offers. this is in germany. and as you can see, he has

designed chair, a special chair. archie goes to school in blackpool every day and he has helped to bring down the stress levels according to make. —— meg. look at his face. down the stress levels according to make. -- meg. look at his face. and lottie demands lots of cuddles as pa rt lottie demands lots of cuddles as part of the team. that was a picture sentin part of the team. that was a picture sent in byjoe. so, it works for a lot of people. there is something about a wonky ear that is so cute. more on the programme, indeed we will have a dog on the sofa to see if it brings a good vibe.” will have a dog on the sofa to see if it brings a good vibe. i think that it will. let‘s get the news, travel and weather where you are this morning. hello. good morning from bbc london news. i‘m alice salfield. hillingdon council says it will provide funding to challenge a third runway at heathrow for "however long it takes to win". it comes as a freedom of information request by the bbc revealed that four councils under the airport‘s flight path, have spent £350,000 on legal fees fighting it. rail passengers travelling over

easter are being warned to expect disruption because of engineering works. the biggest impact will be felt at london bridge. the latest works are part of the thameslink programme which will affect services to charing cross and cannon street. with fewer people travelling over the easter weekend, network rail say it‘s the best time to do it. we‘ve done a lot of pre—planning for this, working with the operations team and the train operators to make sure that we have looked through the programme in great degree of detail and make sure we are confident around what we‘re delivering and the scope of works we have got this weekend. so let‘s see how those engineering works are affecting the trains this morning. no service on some parts of chiltern railway until around midday. south west trains have bus replacement services on some of the line, as do southern. and on southeastern no trains are running in and out of charing cross and cannon street. check before you travel. it‘s also not a good day to be using the tubes,

with a large amount of engineering work there too. as you can see it‘s affecting the circle, district, dlr, hammersmith & city, metropolitan line, 0verground and tfl rail. they all have part closures, some lasting all weekend, so check the details on transport for london‘s website if you need to use them. if we look at the roads, things are generally looking quieter on the roads but the euston underpass is closed westbound near warren street because of a police incident, with queues approaching from euston station. now it‘s time for your all important bank holiday weather forecast with lucy martin. hello and good morning. well, the easter weekend is finally here and while it doesn‘t look as warm as last weekend it does at least look like it will start off dry. we will see some brighter intervals as we move through the day. the cloud breaking to produce a little bit of sunshine. temperatures reaching a maximum of 15—16 degrees. it will be fairly breezy, though. as we move through into this evening and overnight the cloud will thicken up. it will be thick enough to produce a few outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, nothing too heavy.

the cloud acting as a bit of a blanket so temperatures not falling too far. 0vernight lows around ten or 11 degrees in towns and cities. slightly cooler, though, if you‘re out in the countryside. so, into saturday, then, it‘s a fairly cloudy start the further south you go. that could be thick enough for the spotlight rain and drizzle. into the afternoon, though, good spells of sunshine but slightly cooler with highs of 14 degrees. into sunday, then, and it‘s a return to something a bit cloudier. that cloud could produce a few outbreaks of rain as we move into the afternoon, courtesy of that weather front. but our temperatures slightly warmer than saturday — a maximum of 13 degrees. so, the easter weekend not looking too bad. yes, it is cooler than last weekend, but lots of dry weather around and some brightness. i‘m back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. hello. this is breakfast with

charlie stayt and sally nugent. america drops what‘s known as the mother of all bombs on so—called islamic state in afghanistan, reportedly killing 36 militants. seen here in tests, it‘s the largest non—nuclear device the us has used in conflict and targeted a network of caves and tunnels. we are so proud of our military. and it was another successful event. good morning, it‘s friday 14th april. also this morning: unions representing half a million teachers claim schools in england face the worst cuts for 20 years even though the government says it‘s spending a record amount. never mind the search for life on mars, nasa says one of saturn‘s moons may now be the single best place to look for life beyond earth. good morning from inside the

crucible they‘ll be holding a celebration to celebrate four decades later with players past and present ahead of the main competition which starts tomorrow. i will be speaking to the world champion mark selby. it might seem like a dog‘s life spending your day in the office. we‘ll discuss why more companies are encouraging people to bring their pets to work. and matt has the weather. good morning. hopefully the sunshine will arrive on cue when you need it this morning. it‘s a weekend full of weather variety, some cloudier and cool moments. today one of those cloudy days and rain. i will have a forecast in 15 minutes. it's it‘s being reported 36 members of so—called islamic state have been killed after the united states

dropped the biggest non—nuclear weapon ever used in combat in afghanistan. the operation to destroy a series of underground caves in a remote region of eastern afghanistan has been described as a very successful mission. a massive 0rdnance 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. 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 week. but the actions brought a furious tweet from afghanistan‘s former president hamid karzai. 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? unions representing half a million teachers say schools in england are facing the worst real term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year,

the highest cash figure ever. 0ur education correspondent gillian hargreaves reports. st martin‘s school in essex is a good school. but even here, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit staff, particularly in specialist subjects. at one stage, they had a science teacher vacancy for more than a year. but there are also shortages in maths and modern languages. i look at the pool of people that are teaching in those areas, and the number of people that are due to retire over the next ten years, and also the number of people that are coming in that aren‘t actually a specialist in the subject area that they‘re teaching, and i think that this is really the thin end of the wedge. teachers are gathering for their conferences at a time of unprecedented anger over cuts. there have been widespread protests from parents and schools who say, without more money, class sizes will go up and teaching posts will be cut. the government points out £40 billion is being spent on schools this year, the highest cash figure ever. but teachers say that hasn‘t taken

into account rising costs, like pay, pensions, and the running costs of schools. the funding pressure is also beginning to hit parents, something of a concern to the unions. half of parents are saying they‘re making at least one financial contribution to the school‘s funds, in order to "enhance resources", whatever that means, at school level. and many parents are finding that even the cost of school uniform is something which they can no longer afford. there is also much disquiet about government plans to introduce a new wave of grammar schools. teachers argue money set aside for them would be better spent on existing schools. however, the government says this new wave of grammars would benefit less—well—off families. 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. the lawyer of a man who suffered a broken nose and lost two teeth when he was dragged off a plane in chicago says it‘s likely he will take legal action against united airlines. several passengers filmed dr david dao being forced off the flight, bloodied and injured by chicago aviation police after he‘d refused to leave the overbooked flight. at a press conference mr dao‘s daughter said it‘s been a difficult time for the family. what happened to my dad should have never 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. a future labour government says it would bring in a law preventing banks closing high street branches. more than 1,000 local

branches closed in the uk between 2016 and 2017. labour says lending to small businesses decreases in areas where banks close, but the conservatives said their support for small businesses, including start—up loans, had helped 40,000 firms. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook was expected to be the worst storm in the country for decades. hawke‘s bay on the east coast was worst hit with hundreds of families forced from their homes, road closures and downed power lines. the accommodation booking service airbnb is improving the security of its app and website after a bbc investigation found people‘s homes had been burgled by criminals using stolen accounts. the scammers changed some personal details and used them to book properties. airbnb said it had already been working on the changes. it‘s expected to be one of the busiest days on the roads

today with around 20 million car journeys expected over the easter weekend. millions more will be heading abroad as they make the most of two bank holidays in the space of two weeks. catrina renton is in east london this morning with the latest. it looks really nice and quiet where you are at the moment but it‘s not expected to stay that bay, is it? that‘s it, at the moment it‘s a good time to get away. as you said, over 20 million carjourneys expected over this weekend and while it‘s a good time to go now, the company that‘s been compiling the data for us say that between 10 and two is when the pinch points are going to be, they‘re advising to get away or wait until after they‘re saying the journeys could

double in time on major motorways. many of these people are also going to be going to airports, airports are expected to be very busy this weekend. today the busiest day over the weekend with over two million people going overseas and the favourite destination there being spain. 0ther favourite destination there being spain. other things, the network rail, are taking the opportunity because over bank holiday weekends they tend to be quieter than normal, to get work done, so engineering projects on around 200 routes, trains to london, to manchester, to bath, edinburgh and glasgow, they‘ll be amongst those affected and you should check with the operator before you start yourjourney. if you are looking for a wee break and relaxing drive, sunday is the day for that because traffic will be down on easter sunday. if you want to find out more about the local situation where you are watch our bulletins where you are and listen to bbc local radio. thank you very much. we are going

further afield next. it‘s 750 million miles from earth, but the american space agency nasa says one of saturn‘s moons, known as enceladus may now be the best place to look for life beyond earth. samples of water erupting from the ice—covered moon‘s surface suggest it has all the conditions needed for life. the discovery was made by nasa‘s cassini spacecraft which is coming to the end of a 13—year mission to saturn. 0ur science editor david shukman can explain. for over a decade cassini has shared... a nasa video promoting a mission that keeps making astonishing discoveries about saturn. a spacecraft called cassini has focussed on one of saturn‘s moons, enceladus. beneath its icy surface is a deep ocean and greatjets of water blasting out of it contain ingredients needed for life. in fact, nasa scientists now say

that on the floor of the ocean there may be hydrothermal vents like these on earth making hydrogen that can feed microbes. so conceivably this becomes one of the likeliest places on the solar system to find life beyond earth. david suckman, bbc news. we‘re joined now by astrophysicist chris copperwheat. now, chris, you can go to this planet and maybe live there as long as you can swim? yes, it would be very wet, yeah. when we talk about life on planets in the solar system we always think of mars and all of that, but these moons these icy moons in many ways are better candidates to live on, they have oceans, conditions underneath the ice is probably very much like at the bottom of our deepest oceans, on the bottom of our deepest oceans, on the ocean floor here. so, given the evidence we have just heard and what they‘ve said, why wouldn‘t there be

life there? well, this is a good question. everything seems to be in place. we have always known, it‘s been talked about in science fiction for decades these are possible sources for life, and now we are finally putting pieces in the puzzle. we have seen the evidence of the water and the complicating molecules and the key find something the hydrogen, which is the food source. we see a complicated structure of life, a huge diversity that feeds on the energy from this hydrogen reaction so everything is in place. the next step is going out there with the right equipment to look for the bio markers. what exactly look for the bio markers. what exa ctly d oes look for the bio markers. what exactly does that mean, what exactly are they looking for? well, ultimately, so, what we are talking about here is chemical reactions. the chemical processes that we know on earth supports life. the next step would be to search for the

actual components, basic building blocks of life, the amino acids and that sort of stuff we know are required, so different equipment for that. there is an upcoming mission to, not the moon here, but one that is perhaps more famous, the moon of jupiter, europa. it‘s going to have a different set of equipment and a radar that can look under the ice and equipment that can analyse this water in more detail as it flies through. at that point do you get a definitive answer and we have found this chemical reaction and this means life? at some point it becomes incontrovertible. it feels like we are getting closer all the time. this is an exciting time. when this mission launched n the late 90s, when i was at school, and now we are at the end of its life and this is the crowning achievement of the cassini mission and when it was launched no one would have expected

this sort of result, it was there to look at sturn. —— at saturn. this sort of result, it was there to look at sturn. -- at saturn. my non—expert question of the day! why do we always assume that life can only be formed according to the principles that have happened on earth? you are saying, we look for all the factors that happened on earth, it could be completely different, couldn‘t it? why do we assume it has to be like it was here? you are right, yeah. this is it. it's here? you are right, yeah. this is it. it‘s like the old star trek thing, it‘s life,jim, it. it‘s like the old star trek thing, it‘s life, jim, but not as we know it. it‘s easier to look for life as we know it, because we know we have one example, one data point where all the conditions, we know those conditions produce life. so, we have an entire universe to study. we are overwhelmed with data. a good place to start is to look at the place to start is to look at the place where we know the conditions can support life. but you are quite right, life as we don‘t know it

could exist in any number of different environments. there is a new catch dz phrase, life as we don‘t know it! it is hard to know the things we don‘t know. what are your predictions for the weather? fairly mixed to say the least, something for everyone. some parts of the country are starting drier and bright, the sun was just picking through the cloud and twickenham a short while ago, but grey skies for some this morning. for good friday, southern scotland, northern ireland, north wales and the north midlands particularly cloudy. it turns dump around lunchtime across northern ireland and into the afternoon, north—west england and north and west wales. most staying dry south of that, cloud thin enough to allow

sunshine now and then. sunny spells in scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon. some showers here and there, particularly across the highlands and islands. temperatures still down in single figures. north—west england, north and west wales will be getting heavier and more persistent rain this afternoon, the hills in particular. away from that, the odd spot of rain, much of south wales, southern england, the midlands and east anglia staying dry through the day with some sunshine, it might feel a touch warmer than yesterday evenin feel a touch warmer than yesterday even in the breeze. the rain from northern england north and west wales will push eastwards, giving some gardens are welcome sip rather than a drink of water. not eve ryo ne rather than a drink of water. not everyone can see that before the cloud and the showers gradually depart. quite a chilly night, a touch of frost and some gardens in northern england, scotland and northern ireland. some ice and showers in scotland. saturday will

have sunny skies, a few showers but very isolated. you will be lucky to see them, unless you are in the north and west of scotland, weather showers will be less frequent. temperatures between nine and 14 degrees tomorrow but feeling cool in the breeze, nice enough in the sunshine. if you are in the scottish valleys tomorrow, do not be fooled, it will feel more like winter in the mountain tops. severe wind—chill and a little bit of snow. into sunday, back to the cloudy weather. weather fronts pitching from the atlantic. northern ireland, northern england and wales and the midlands and east anglia and the south—east will have this weather front, which could produce rain. sunshine in the south—western for the northern half of the country, feeling pleasant, as it will wake you have the sunshine and eight. there will be some showers through the east of the country, but dry and sunny moments to enjoy. with winds lighter,

particularly in the west, feeling warmer. the best place to be this weekend, probably spain and portugal. nice and sunny and warm. 0h, great! we have been talking about going abroad... but we are not going there! but maybe to cheer us up we could bring in a pet. there are around 8.5 million dogs in the uk and you might see them as part of the family. if you miss them when you are at work, why not take them in? around one in ten businesses say they have the dog friendly policy. susannah streeter has been finding out if more should do the same. brooke, reggie, max and peggy are office buddies at nestle in gatwick. the pets at work scheme proved so popular that by the end of the year around 100 dogs passed an assessment to gain their own staff pass.

i think some people did wonder how many dogs would actually come into the office and whether we would have large numbers or packs of dogs roaming the office. the reality is on any given day we probably have between 20—25 dogs in an office of 1,000 people. and in fact it is very rare to even hear a dog bark in the office. they are here if you want to find one to pet. dog don‘tjust relieve stress, they also help build office camaraderie. it has made me make friends. people come and talk to me. they know my dog. and it opens doors. what about the time when she needs to go to the loo? she starts to get up and paces around and looks at me. we have had the odd accident. dog daycare is £30—£40 per day. i have three of them. for me it is a big saving. have there been fallouts with other dogs? not that i have seen. they love chasing each other around the park. you hear the odd bark, that is it. so, just how easy it is it

taking your pet into the workplace? i have borrowed mama to find out. this is the bbc. come on. this is the business unit. i am going for an editorial meeting. dow jones on last night from the slide. here we go. here we are. claire, if you hear some noises it is because we have a dog in this morning‘s meeting. 0k. different. i am going to the studio now, down to make up. i am going to give you a little bit too. i might need to brush off a few hairs. marna remained calmly inquisitive until she saw the cleaning trolley. we have a little guest in today. marna‘s following me around. she is scared. next, the bbc studio, we meet debra conolly, a dog specialist. you are gorgeous indeed. every office is different. some are quiet, some have the public in and out. you need to be sure your dog has

the right temperament and recognise the signs your dog might be struggling. and make sure the other people in the office have checked out to be sure they are not afraid or allergic and take a bag of goodies for your dog to be entertained. interview over, it is lunchtime, and marna can spend it with me. and after her performance in the editorial meeting, i think she deserves a treat, don‘t you, marna? come on. here with us now is phil campbell, a dog behaviourist and trainer, with his dog 0scar. you are a dog trainer, so your dog 0scar has been accurately behaved. he has been to see us once before this morning. has been immaculately behaved. but not all dogs would be as common as environment? no. you had to pick and choose your animal, your dog. 0scar isa

choose your animal, your dog. 0scar is a prime example of the type of dog you can take to work, he is relaxed and pretty good in almost any environment. if you have a young dog you have to t eaves them in, if you get a rescue dog, obviously let the dog settle in a little bit first, take the dog into work for short periods, see if it takes to the environments, being approached by people. noises, some dogs do not cope well with noises. 0scar does not cope very well with gruff men‘s voices, shouting. ifi not cope very well with gruff men‘s voices, shouting. if i am watching sport on tv, i accept the room. the commentary? no, me shouting at the television! i might raise my voice and he will slowly toddle off into the kitchen. oh, thanks, oscar. it is lovely being at work and everything but i am completely distracted. i had loads of clever questions for you but now all i can think about is how cute 0scar is.

that is a potential obstacle with the dog in the workplace. and not eve ryo ne the dog in the workplace. and not everyone is fond of dogs. there are people who plainly just everyone is fond of dogs. there are people who plainlyjust don‘t like dogs. people are allergic, some people are frightened. it does not suit everybody. it is a cultural thing, some people don‘t like dogs around, it is not for everybody. you have to way that up, put a question out there, as the boss. and you need the type ofjob where at a certain time of day you can say i need to walk the dog around the block, not everybody can do that. the gob if you have a dog in the office and you decide you had to get paperwork from the office next door and the dog sta rts the office next door and the dog starts creating and howling, maybe that environment is not for the dog. taking your dog to work should not bea taking your dog to work should not be a fix for separation anxiety. is there anything you can suggest intensive training, what do you need

to be able to get them to do? socialisation is truly important for any dog, whether it is a young dog ora any dog, whether it is a young dog or a rescue dog. socialisation in many different environments, people, noises, if there is a telephone ringing in an office, i had a case where the dog starts howling and barking when the telephone goes. that would be bad if you worked in a call centre! stay with us for a second. does 0scar watch television? from a distance, he is not big on it. tv programmes with animals. late—season dog pictures. morris is a big favourite. david sent in this picture. gizmo goes to the office and even has his own security pass. very cool. dawn‘s dog keeps everyone

entertained at work. and caroline‘s puppy entertained at work. and caroline‘s puppy has lifted the office mood, they love taking it in turns to go for walking breaks. when i brought my own pet into work, there was a little bit of a tussle in the office at about who would take her for work. quite a bit of competition. if you have a very big dog it is necessarily an issue. most of those dogs are small. if you have a great dane... it is an issue? it is doable. you had to be in a situation where the office is big enough and that the dog has a place where it can go to blacks. is it fair to the dog? if you're going to take your dog? if you're going to take your dog to the office, take it for a dam good work... walk in the morning. you can fill it full of high—protein foods, met it out in the garden for five minutes and then expected will

chill out all day. —— you cannot fill it full of high—protein food. 0scar was very well—behaved, you knew that would happen. he is gorgeous and very calm. is it important that the dog is of that sort of nature? we took on oscar as one—year—old, we worked certain obedience exercises. the stay exercises teach the dog ‘s self—control. it is all well and good getting him to do the things in the kitchen for a bowl of food, can you do it in the park when you are 20 metres away and another dog comes. my job is to get sally back in the room. speaking of distractions. sally: are we at work?! lovely to meet you and thank you, 0scar. time for the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news.

hillingdon council says it will provide funding to challenge a third runway at heathrow for "however long it takes to win". the leader made the pledge as a freedom of information request showed it was one of four councils to spend a total of three hundred and 50 thousand pounds on legal fees to fight it. network rail is taking advantage of the easter weekend to carry out major engineering work around the capital. it means disruption for thousands of passengers. the biggest impact will be felt at london bridge where work on the latest thameslink project is taking place. we‘ve done a lot of pre—planning for this, working with the operations team and the train operators to make sure that we have looked through the programme in great degree of detail and make sure we are confident around what we‘re delivering and the scope of works we have got this weekend. so let‘s see how those engineering works are affecting the trains this morning. there‘s no service on some

parts of chiltern railway until around midday. 0n south west trains an issue with their information system means there may be 20 minute delays and cancellations. that‘s as well as having bus replacement services on some of the line. southern are also running some bus replacement services. and on southeastern no trains are running in and out of charing cross and cannon street. it‘s also not a good day to be using the tubes — lots of engineering work there too. as you can see it‘s affecting the circle, district, dlr, hammersmith & city, metropolitan line, 0verground and tfl rail. all have part closures — some lasting all weekend — so check the details on transport for london‘s website if you need to use them. things are generally looking quieter on the roads this morning but the euston underpass is down to one lane westbound near warren street because of a police incident. that‘s the travel now here‘s your bank holiday weather — with lucy martin. hello and good morning. well, the easter weekend is finally

here and while it doesn‘t look as warm as last weekend it does at least look like it will start off dry. we will see some brighter intervals as we move through the day. the cloud breaking to produce a little bit of sunshine. temperatures reaching a maximum of 15—16 degrees. it will be fairly breezy, though. as we move through into this evening and overnight the cloud will thicken up. it will be thick enough to produce a few outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, nothing too heavy. the cloud acting as a bit of a blanket so temperatures not falling too far. 0vernight lows around ten or 11 degrees in towns and cities. slightly cooler, though, if you‘re out in the countryside. so, into saturday, then, it‘s a fairly cloudy start the further south you go. that could be thick enough for the spotlight rain and drizzle. into the afternoon, though, good spells of sunshine but slightly cooler with highs of 14 degrees. into sunday, then, and it‘s a return to something a bit cloudier. that cloud could produce a few outbreaks of rain as we move into the afternoon, courtesy of that weather front. but our temperatures slightly warmer than saturday — a maximum of 13 degrees.

so, the easter weekend not looking too bad. yes, it is cooler than last weekend, but lots of dry weather around and some brightness. that‘s it for now but i‘ll be back in half an hour. i'll i‘ll be back at 1. i‘ll be back at1. 15. hello this is breakfast with charlie stayt and sally nugent. it is thought that 35 islamic state fighters were killed when a us bomb was dropped on a tunnel complex in eastern afghanistan yesterday. the former prsident of afghanistan hamid karzai has condemned the action as inhuman. we can speak now to our reporter.

bring us the latest you have about the vibing. we know a huge bomb was dropped between two mountains in a remote dropped between two mountains in a re m ote area dropped between two mountains in a remote area in the province, close to the border where fighters had carved their hideouts. we know from the afghan army between 40—70 fully armed militants were in the area when the strike took place. the government confirms at least 36 militants have been killed and because the area was where no civilians lived there is no collateral damage or casualties on the civilian side. there has been criticism from some quarters about the use of the bomb. it‘s clearly important in terms of its effect but

also politically it‘s a statement of sorts. politically it has divided afg ha n sorts. politically it has divided afghan society, especially that it is being tested the first time in afghanistan. the former president ka rzai afghanistan. the former president karzai has called it inhumane and unnecessary use of heavy weapons against afghan territory without mentioning actually is militants‘ activity in that area but the afghan government in general, including the president have said that it was a full co—ordination with afghan forces and that was done to protect afg ha n forces and that was done to protect afghan army and special forces that are involved in a week—long operation against is in that area. they also say that because the area was ina they also say that because the area was in a way full of ied and

roadside bombs that they could not get into fight isis face—to—face they asked for us air support and as a result of that this happened. thank you very much. a few problems on the line there, apologies for that. unions representing 500,000 teachers say schools in england are facing the worst real term cuts for 20 years. the nut and nasuwt will discuss what they say is a crisis in funding when they meet today at their easter conferences. but the government says £40 billion is being spent on schools this year — the highest cash figure ever. unions say schools staff shortages are increasing and there is a reduction in vocational subjects. 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. nigeria says it‘s actively

negotiating with the islamist militant group boko haram to free the chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped three years ago today. more than 270 students were seized from their dormitories and almost two hundred of the girls are still being held in captivity. demonstrators will hold events later today in the capital, abuja, and in lagos to mark the anniversary. a future labour government says it would bring in a law preventing banks closing high street branches. more than a thousand local branches closed in the uk between 2016 and 2017. labour says lending to small businesses decreases in areas where banks close, but the conservatives said their support for small businesses, including start—up loans had helped 40,000 firms. it‘s one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, as the easter getaway begins. around 20 million car journeys will be made on the uk‘s roads by monday,

with trips on major routes expected to take up to three times longer. the m25, m6 and m5 are expected to be worst affected. up to two million are expected to fly away from the gridlock for a trip overseas, with spain being the top destination. sean will have more on this shortly. nasa says one of saturn‘s moons — known as enceladus may now be the 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. the discovery was made through nasa‘s cassini probe which has been exploring saturn since 2004. life in water is what we were saying with our expert earlier. we will see. yes, who knows. earlier we saw mike snookered. hopefully he will get on better this time. he is at

the crucible in sheffield ahead of the crucible in sheffield ahead of the world snooker championship. do you think i am going to play a frame against this man, the world number one and defending champion? mark selby, morning. earlier it was like a qualifying match. we have lost mike there for a moment. let‘s go back if we can. sorry, we lost you. it was looking lovely and green. will i start ain? lovely and green. will i start again? iwas lovely and green. will i start again? i was saying was they wouldn‘t let me near a ball now, i am with the world champion, the world number one, mark selby. we are safer in here in the main arena, i am not allowed to touch the sacred title. there is the trophy, you will. you will be hoping to get your

hands on it again, no doubt. will. you will be hoping to get your hands on it again, no doubtm would be nice. this year is probably the hardest to be world champion, a lot of players are at the top of their game. it‘s going to be tough but i will in there fighting as always. for the moment, let me tell you about the table. mark was telling me it‘s like the grass at wimbledon, they have to get the right temperature. there is a little thing down there to warm the slate up thing down there to warm the slate up which needs to be an optimum temperature of 45. fascinating facts about the table. let‘s get the rest of the sport. a frustrating night for manchester united as they dominated the first leg of their uefa cup quarter final with anderlecht but could only draw. jose mourinho‘s side went ahead before the break thanks to this goal from henrikh mkhitaryan, but they missed some good chances to extend their lead and five minutes from time leander dendoncker grabbed the equaliser. the second leg is at old trafford next week. if you arrive into a situation where mathematically it is not possible, top four,

then easy decision. rest them, and go with them in the europa league, if you are still in competition. but at this moment, we are in a position where we have two matches in hand. if we win both matches we are direct into the top four. we have to fight for every game. after elinor barker won silver in the women‘s race on wednesday, chris latham won bronze in the men‘s scratch race at the cycling track world championships in hong kong. it‘s his first international medal as a senior rider and he could win another — he rides in the omnium tomorrow. in superleague, warrington are now unbeaten in three matches as they try to recover from their terrible start to the season. they ran in three tries against bottom club widnes — the second from jack hughes — as they won 19—10. back here, here is the trophy. 0n the name are winners from england, scotland, northern ireland, wales,

republic of ireland, canada, australia, not yet a chinese name on there. but it seems that could soon change. they‘re saying china could be the new superpower of world snooker. in a nation of over 1.3 billion people, one man is mobbed wherever he goes. ding junhui is treated like a movie or pop star. he is one of the most recognised faces across the whole of asia, because this is the man who sparked a chinese snooker revolution. to escape such constant attention, he moved to sheffield, home of the world championship, where he can lead a relatively normal life, unrecognised. well, most of the time. good luck. thank you. i met him this week for a frame at the city‘s star academy, where his private practice room is a world away from all the attention, the five million followers on social media, and the 210 million

who watched his run to the final last year on chinese state tv. the sound is wonderful, isn‘t it? you like that sound. iam proud. the little kids come and ask me how to be like you, and i am very pleased to answer the questions. so yes, i know it is — how boring when you practise. it is very lonely. he is certainly not alone anymore in sheffield. along with fellow star marco fu, they set the trend. thanks to the likes of ding and marco fu, there is now a steady stream of players coming to dedicate themselves to training, at these academies specially for chinese players. also a good chinese community, lots of chinese restaurants. they love it. it has become a mecca for chinese snooker players. they all want to come here and play. it feels like a second home here.

it is easy to see why china is the new force in snooker. massive investment in facilities back home, and 70 million people now playing cue sports every week. in five years, i think chinese players will take over, as the standards are very high at the moment, but they can only improve from now on. ding‘s success is rubbing off on so many. hit it in the middle? yes! great tutor. he has already won the uk championship and the masters, but ever since he started playing pool in china, aged eight, the world title has been his burning ambition. on tv i see steve davis, they are all legends in snooker. i think, i want to win these titles when i grow up. and if you want the documentary about ding junhui, it‘s

now on the bbc iplayer, and it‘s called: enter the dragon: china‘s snooker star. back here with mark. what about the chinese threat, can you see a time when they dominate, obviously be trying to stop them, but it‘s a real threat? yeah, i think so. a few yea rs‘ threat? yeah, i think so. a few years‘ time probably four or five chinese players in the top 16. i think ding would win the world championship at some point. there is a lot of expectation on him from china, such a big country. a lot of weight on his shoulders. been talking about him for years to be world champion so he is under pressure coming here. it's great for the sport obviously. of course. he isa the sport obviously. of course. he is a great talent. i played him first time in china, i think it was a wildcard, i thought he was some player ands hey turned out to be that. you are here in the final, what strikes me how close tour the

fans, how does that feel, it‘s one of the most intimate sporting arenas? it's tough, the more you come you seem to get used to it. i remember the first time looking around and for the first three or four frames around and for the first three or fourframes i am admiring the building. it‘s a little daunting and sometimes if you play a bad shot you can hear somebody mumble behind you, i can‘t believe he has missed that. it's i can‘t believe he has missed that. it‘s tough. it‘s part and parcel of it and that is what makes it so crucial. the qualifier who got through to play you in the first round tomorrow was involved in the longest everframe, round tomorrow was involved in the longest ever frame, two round tomorrow was involved in the longest everframe, two hours round tomorrow was involved in the longest ever frame, two hours and three minutes. unreal really. fergal isa three minutes. unreal really. fergal is a great player and competitor. similarto is a great player and competitor. similar to myself, you have to scrape him off the table. he is never beaten until the final ball is potted. it‘s going to be tough but looking forward to it. you can see how mark got on, on our social media page. 40 years of crucible is on the

red button. the champions walk down the green carpet at 5 and the celebrations start and it‘s live on the red button. thank you very much. thank you, your reports have been brilliant. hasn‘t he done well? snooker has been awful! here‘s matt with a look at this morning‘s weather. and, of course, the bank holiday weather! let‘s start with the weather watchers, this is the kind of bank holiday you want to see, blue skies and a glorious view from poole to studland, but many more of you are waking up to scenes like this in ba rnsley waking up to scenes like this in barnsley in south yorkshire, it will be one of the cloudy days of the weekend but there are breaks towards the south, not bad along the south

coast. the cloud threatens rain, southern scotland, northern ireland, north wales and the north midlands. whatever northern ireland around lunchtime, extending to north—west england, north and west woods. —— wetter for northern ireland around lunchtime. showers through the day across central and northern scotland, some of the driest conditions around the north—east, possibly towards aberdeenshire. in north—west england the day gets dumper to the afternoon. in the north and west of wales there will be outbreaks of rain, persistent on the hills. the south and east of wales should stay largely dry and southern england, part of the south midlands and east anglia sea breaks in the cloud, sunshine and it might feel warmer than yesterday. the rain band is pushing south tonight, fragmented, not all gardens will get a welcome drop of rain across the south. the rain clears most into the morning. quite chilly start to saturday, there could be a touch of

frost in real areas, ice across scotland, we see showers continue overnight —— a touch frost in rural areas. the bulk of the country will be dry tomorrow, just one or two showers dotted around. most likely the north west of scotland, particularly the higher ground. a cold breeze, you will probably notice that in the cloudy moments. a distinct chill at times and even with the sunshine in the valleys and scotla nd with the sunshine in the valleys and scotland making it feel like spring, get onto the mountains, gale force winds coupled with severe temperatures will lead to a severe wind—chill and there could be at times. after the sunshine we will mostly see on saturday, back to cloud on sunday. sunshine towards the south—west, northern england and scotland, but in between, northern ireland, the southern parts of northern england, wales and the midlands and eventually towards east anglia and the south—east. the

temperatures up on saturday. so cloudy, sunny, cloudy and back to syd ney cloudy, sunny, cloudy and back to sydney on monday. in the best of the sunshine it should feel pleasant enough. a bit of weather for eve ryo ne enough. a bit of weather for everyone this easter weekend, whatever your plans are, enjoy. the weather make its mind up. it can‘t, but it is easter. some weather for everyone, particularly if you like snow?! maybe you are staying in the uk, about going to hull? we are recommending that. it is the uk city of culture. just four months in to 2017, and people have already been flooding in to see what the city has to offer. 0ur arts correspondent colin paterson is there for us this morning to see some of the sights. we have seen those poppies somewhere before, i recognise them? the tirop london in 2014, they are visiting hull as part of the city of

culture celebrations. —— the tower of london in 2014. hull has been city of culture per 100 days, we thought it was time to find out what was going on. i ended up in some unusual places. the place would have smelt of carpet, overalls and the makeshift fire. hull, city of culture were even taxis are being turned into theatres. and he‘d raise us up by pumping a handle up and down. for the next three months, wayne jackson is performing his show, now then, about people‘s memories of hull, to an audience of six in the back of his father‘s cab. it‘s quite close. and the show is only 20 minutes, so i‘m doing it, kind of, eight times a day. so, it‘s demanding and challenging. and his dad is loving it. it's absolutely brilliant. it's combining my son's work and mine. we've always been so proud of him. had you ever done anything arty before? nothing at all, whatsoever. and venues have been popping up all over the city. this week‘s big opening, flood, a state—of—the—nation parable, is performed on a floating stage right in the middle of a residential area.

these people in their flats have been looking down upon us for six weeks. we've been chatting to them, we've been to local primary schools, to say hello, to teach them a song that in the play. we have a little boy called jim, who comes by every day on his way back from school and says, "what are you doing?" and at that very moment, who should arrive butjim for his daily inspection? proudly sharing the title the crew have bestowed upon him. executive producer. excellent, that‘s a great title. it‘s a small example of how people of all ages have been getting involved since hull‘s year in the spotlight began onjanuary 1st with a musical firework display. other highlights so far have included the visit of enormous sculpture, the blade and the humber bridge being given a musical accompaniment by 0pera north. it‘s just been a magical start to the year. we‘ve seen hundreds of thousands of residents getting involved, but also, people coming

from all over to experience hull for the first time. and those who have lived in hull all their lives have noticed a difference. it'sjust framed everything up, everything up, it's lovely. it's a pleasure, actually, to walk around town. and there‘s still eight and a half months to go. and one of the big theatrical productions which will open on the 4th of may is richard iii at the hull truck theatre, starring matt frazer, probably best known for american horror story, directed by barry ritter from northern broadsides. butchering the most disabled villain in the whole of drama, how important for you? —— playing the most disabled villain. it is an honour to play one of the great roles in drama, let alone be, which is probably apart from kathryn

hunter who played it previously, to be the first disabled actor in britain to play the most disabled villain. it is beyond my imagination and such an honour, i am so thrilled and such an honour, i am so thrilled and proud to be cast and i hope to do the evil genius proud. why has it been done so seldom by a disabled actor? i honestly don't know. i am flummoxed. i thought about it a lot andi flummoxed. i thought about it a lot and i had no idea. iwill concentrate on trying to that i will be the first person to do it, and do it to the best of my ability. barry ritter cast you. i saw ray finds as richard iii, he went for the limp and the hunchback, why did you go for a disabled actor? i didn't go for anyone with a disability, he was simply ona anyone with a disability, he was simply on a list of actors that i saw, i like what he did with the text, i cast in to speak the play first, and then he brings his own deformity with it and we both said it would be an insult to the actor

and the man, particularly, to put any other appendages of disability on him. he is what he is, it brings that to the role. you set up northern broadsides 25 years ago in hull, where you were born and grew up. some of the changes you have seen this year? it is wonderful. the sense of people embracing what is happening in the festivities of the whole year has been a revelation to me and they are embracing it with great, great heart and creativity. thank you both. i would like a quick world with the bbc‘s face of hull 2017, you have a special programme for people who want to catch up with what has been going on? you will be able to hear from john grant, the american singer—songwriter bringing north atlantic flux here. and you can hearfrom north atlantic flux here. and you can hear from barbara north atlantic flux here. and you can hearfrom barbara buttrick, the women‘s world first boxing champion. we went to catch up with her. and

there is a nice preview about how 0pera north turns the humber bridge into musical instrument. it is a thing of beauty. i had a sneak preview. it will be on the bbc news channel at 12:30pm and 8:30pm. i could tell you so much more, we will have to go for breakfast afterwards soi have to go for breakfast afterwards so i can tell you formation 12:30pm on the news channel, if you want to know more about what is going on in hull, it continues until the end of the year. much more from hull for the rest of the year. music with words written by henry viii‘s sixth wife, katherine parr, is to be performed for the first time in more than 470 years after the piece was discovered completely by accident. the music and lyrics were found behind plasterwork during renovations of 0xford‘s corpus christi college in 1978. today‘s performance is part of a concert by the alamire choir. in a moment, we‘ll speak to a man who‘s spent months resurrecting the fragmented music, but first let‘s take a listen.

choir sings. joining us now is david skinner, the conductor and founder of the alamire choir. that music, there was something about it. you can feel it in your feet. it resonates through the floor. yes. it is music that really inspired the composers of the early 20th century, benjamin britten, vaughan williams. it is no accident that we call music of the 16th century the golden age of church music, and tallis is right at the centre. do we really know for sure that katherine parr wrote those words? beyond any doubt whatsoever,

absolutely. i have spent the best pa rt absolutely. i have spent the best part of two mccready is researching the piece, reconstructing it, writing a full academic article which was published by oxford press, had accompanied conference, got the singers together yesterday for the very first time, so that performance, you hear what singers can do with 15 minutes of rehearsal. take us back. some paperwork discovered, talk us through the original discovery? in 1978, corpus christi were undergoing renovation in one of their rooms and they uncovered these fragments of 16th century music. those are the bits we can see? it looks enormous but the original size is about the size of your hand, very small. they started inspecting it... the music was identified immediately as being from thomas tallis, his grandest piece. it isa

thomas tallis, his grandest piece. it is a great tribute to the virgin mary, originally it was latin words, probably composed in the early 15405. probably composed in the early 1540s. when tallis left canterbury and joined the chapel while in around 1543, the same time that katherine parr married henry viii, the two got together and they were working towards a campaign for henry‘s wars against scotland and france. katherine ‘s very warlike text, the ninth psalm against enemies, the text with stand—up, oh lord, and punish these naughty people. she was the lyricist? yes. they stripped tallis‘ fairly reasoned early work of its latin words and replace them with katherine ‘s. words and replace them with katherine 's. was and she meant to be just katherine 's. was and she meant to bejust a nursemaid katherine 's. was and she meant to be just a nursemaid to looked after him? that is what the history books tell you, but she is known as quite

a fine scholar. she published her ron brooks, in 1544 published her first psalms or prayers. —— she published her own books. henry viii a lwa ys published her own books. henry viii always tended to call these processional litanies so that he could stir the people in prayer. traditionally they were always in latin, this is the first time that they tried doing this project in english. katherine parr is very central to it with tallis. thank you for explaining bad. david skinner, thank you very much. that‘s it from us today. i‘ll be back tomorrow with christian tomorrow from 6am. until then, enjoy your good friday. goodbye. this is bbc news. i‘m annita mcveigh. the headlines at 9am. 36 is militants are killed by a massive us bomb in afghanistan. the strike is described as a strong warning to washington‘s enemies.

they will now face an american and a coalition force that‘s prepared to do what‘s necessary to do the job. former afghan president karzai condemns the dropping of the mother of all bombs as an unhuman and brutal misuse of our country. schools in england face their worst funding cuts for 20 years, the warning from teaching unions as they meet for their annual conferences. a threat to small businesses, labour proposes new powers for the financial regulator to stop banks closing high street branches. also in the next hour, do you know who you‘re inviting into your home?