i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 11am... a warning to washington's enemies after the us drops a massive bomb on an is base in afghanistan, killing dozen of militants. they will now face an american and a coalition force that's prepared to do what's necessary to do thejob. it was the biggest non—nuclear bomb ever used in combat. afghanistan's former president calls it "a brutal misuse" of the 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 says it would bring in a law preventing banks from closing high street branches. also in the next hour, unwanted visitors paying to stay in your home. airbnb steps up security after a bbc investigation found homes had been burgled by scammers using stolen accounts.

paws for thought — would you bring your dog into work good morning and welcome to bbc news. the united states has used the largest non—nuclear bomb ever used in combat, killing at least 36 militants in afghanistan. the weapon, which is known as "the mother of all bombs," was dropped on a deep tunnel complex in eastern nangarhar province, near the pakistani border. the us says the tunnels were being used by fighters aligned to the so—called islamic state group. afg hanistan‘s chief executive abdullah abdullah said the attack had been coordinated

with the kabul government. but the former afghan president hamid karzai has condemned it as "inhuman" and "brutal". this report from jane francis kelly. this is the gbu—as, also known as a moab, a massive ordnance air blast, or as it is more commonly known, "the mother of all bombs". the largest non—nuclear weapon ever deployed. the target is so—called islamic state in afghanistan. afghan government officials say they had advance warning of the us decision to drop this massive bomb. the country's chief executive, abdullah abdullah, said no civilians had been harmed, only militants. white house spokesman sean spicer outlined the action. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them operational space, which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral

damage as a result of the operation. us military commanders want an increase in troops to support afghan forces, now facing both the taliban and is. we are so proud of our military and it was another successful event. the tunnels and caves used by the taliban 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 us special forces officer was killed last week. translation: there were daesh bases over there. last night's bomb was really huge. when it dropped, everywhere was shaking and i believe a group of them were killed. it is a good thing they were eliminated. there were no civilians there at all. but the action has brought a furious tweet from afghanistan's former president, hamid karzai.

i think it is important not only for the military to be effective. i think it is a very important signal to adversaries, whether it is isis or the taliban, that they will now face an american and coalition force that is prepared to actually do what is necessary to win and to do the job. dangerous tensions are growing in north korea. it is feared there will bea north korea. it is feared there will be a nuclear test tomorrow to mark the anniversary of the birth of the country's founder. for now, trump the isolationist america first president of the campaign trail and inauguration has slipped from sight. uncertainty remains over his long—term strategy over both iran and north korea. in the last few minutes us and

afg ha n in the last few minutes us and afghan officials have begun holding a joint news conference about the use of this massive bomb so let's listen back to what they've been saying. ..to .. to protect themselves from the attacks from afghan and us forces. this was the right weapon against the right targeted. this was the right weapon against the right targetedlj this was the right weapon against the right targeted. i want to assure the right targeted. i want to assure the people of afghanistan that our forces ta ke the people of afghanistan that our forces take every possible precaution to prevent civilian casualties. question in local language we had

persistent surveillance over the area before, during and after the nation and now we have afghan and us forces on the site and see no evidence of civilian casualties, nor have there been any reports of civilian casualties. question in local language question in local language let me take a moment now to

emphasise the brutality of our enemy, daesh. since they arrived in southern kandahar, they have taken people out of their homes are beheaded them in front of their families. some problems with the sound but that was us commanderjohn nicolson saying that this was the right weapon against the right target. analysts have been saying that in order to access, to get at, this deep tunnel network that a bomb of this size had to be used and commander nicholson also saying that us and afghan forces wished to take

every precaution to avoid civilian casualties and said they had seen no evidence of civilian casualties as yet. let's return to that news conference. daesh has sent suicide bombers to attack peaceful demonstrations and have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent civilians. statement in local language they have sent suicide bombers into

mosques and murdered people during their prayer. and just last month, they shot and stabbed hospital patients lying in their beds. they are animals. the afghan army and specifically their commandos are leading this fight against these barbaric terrorists. they are doing it on behalf of the people of afghanistan

and, indeed, they are doing it on behalf of all of us. the united states is committed to afghanistan in this fight. we are united with the afghan government to prevent terrorists from establishing safe havens in afghanistan. statement in local language the us coordinated with the government of afghanistan to conduct yesterday's operation just as we

have since we started these operations in early march. so, us commanderjohn nicolson continuing to speak, saying that the afg ha n continuing to speak, saying that the afghan army, specifically afghan commandos, leading this operation. statement in local language let me be clear — we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside afghan comrades to destroy isis k in 2017. statement in local language

we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of this region and the people around the entire world. statement in local language thank you. so, that statement from us commander

john nicolson in thatjoint news conference with afghan officials, following the dropping of that massive bomb on an isps in eastern afghanistan, known as the mother of all bombs, the biggest non—nuclear bomb ever used by the us in combat to target a deep tunnel complex, it is thought killing at least 36 so—called islamic state militants. 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. our 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. a deal has been struck between the syrian government and rebel forces to evacuate 30,000 civilians from four besieged towns. residents of two government—held towns in a rebel—controlled area of aleppo province have already been pictured leaving on buses. the swap, brokered by iran and qatar, also sees people from two rebel—held towns in a regime—controlled area near damascus allowed to leave. in the short while we have

had the first pictures of the operation under way. these were sent to us by an evacuee of the rebel town madaya, near the capital. he also sent us his thoughts on having to leave his home. translation: in a few hours we will be leaving the blockade. we feel like migrants in our land. there are no words to describe it. you feel like you are leaving your land. we are leaving our lives, our hope, ourfuture, our memories, our past behind. our correspondent ben james, who's in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, has been following events in syria and hejoins me now. then, these evacuees are really between a rock and a hard place. they may not wish to leave their

homes but they are leaving a siege situation, so is busy evacuation going smoothly from what you can tell? we understand that bosses have now been moving from three out of the four towns that are part of this agreement. it is unclear whether people from one particular town have been moved. 30,000 people could be involved in this in the end. the humanitarian situation in these four towns has been described by the united nations as catastrophic. at the beginning of last year there we re the beginning of last year there were reports of people eating leaves of trees in order to try to survive. we hear reports from doctors in these places of a shortage of medicines as a result of these sieges. but although the humanitarian situation is that bad, we also hear from the people who are leaving these places that they see this as forced displacement, and

then having to leave their homes because of politics and conflict and they would rather stay at home and have the sieges lift. tell us about a meeting that is going to be happening today between the syrian foreign minister and his iranian and russian counterparts in moscow. what can we expect from that? they have already in the last few minutes been speaking together in front of the cameras, these three foreign ministers. one thing they have been focusing on in that news conference is exactly what they wish to see in response of the alleged chemical attack on a particular town, which they very much dispute. bashar al—assad appeared in front of a tv camera al—assad appeared in front of a tv camera yesterday saying that the allegations were 100% fabrication. what the syrian and russian foreign minister hasjust been what the syrian and russian foreign minister has just been saying in the last few minutes, they've been calling for an unbiased investigation and they say it should bea investigation and they say it should be a neutral, unbiased task force that looks at what happened there

and they want the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons to go there and find out for themselves what has happened. they say that collecting samples from patients in turkey is not good enough so we will wait to see what the opcw and the americans say in response to that. the headlines on bbc news... a warning from washington after the us drops a massive bomb on an is base in afghanistan killing dozens of militants. schools in england face their worst funding cuts for 20 years — the warning from teaching unions as they meet for their annual conferences. labour says it would bring in a law preventing banks from closing high street branches. the conservatives say it would lead to extra debt. more on that last headline story because a future labour government

says it would bring in a law preventing banks from closing their 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. i spoke to our political correspondent chris mason earlier and he told me the number of people using branches was in steady decline. about 3096 falloff in the number of people going through the doors of traditional branches and doing their banking the old—fashioned way doing their banking the old —fashioned way in doing their banking the old—fashioned way in front of another human being across a till, gone down by about a third since 2011. what labour arguing is that they don't dispute that figure but despite that they said is still a sizeable minority of people who are entirely reliant on the physical branch to do their financial stuff, around 7 million people, 11% of the

population, don't do any online banking according to research. they say those people need to be looked after and they make the argument that given that banks globally make a huge amount of money, part of their role beyond being a commercial entity that is the business of making money should be about maintaining services at a local level for those who are reliant on a particular form of services, level for those who are reliant on a particularform of services, i.e., a physical branch, than banking online. they say the financial conduct authority ought to be responsible for a series of checks, and pretty rigorous checks, that a bank would have to go through before it was authorised to close a local branch. at the moment, there are some checks and balances but ultimately it is a commercial decision — if they conclude it is not making any money, that branch can disappear. what is the reaction to this, given that most people would expect banks to be making this decision themselves on a purely commercial basis? in that sense it isa

commercial basis? in that sense it is a pretty big intervention in the market. labour would argue it is justified intervention but a big intervention it is molested dock we have seen from the consumers association the statistic you just mentioned, 1000 branches closing in the uk in the last year and the banks' argument is that more people are banking online and it is much easier to do that with the roll—out of broadband on tablets and the rest of broadband on tablets and the rest of itand, of broadband on tablets and the rest of it and, crucially, the argument is made, those who are not banking online should be encouraged to do so and arguably, you might say perversely, the consequence of a local branch closing would be to give someone the incentive to master the art of online banking. i think banks will make the argument that they are in the business of making money, that is why they exist. they acknowledge that they have a societal and community function as well but they've got to make money and as more and more people are banking online, it is inevitable that there will be fewer branches around. ithink

that there will be fewer branches around. i think labour will hope that in a political retail centre this is something that will get people talking and something people will care about, regardless of their political view, and with the local elections around the corner, i suppose from their perspective that could be useful. tesco has apologised for causing offence after it used good friday in an advertisement for beer. the ad ran in some newspapers to promote offers on beer and cider in the run—up to easter. the supermarket said it would not run the advert again after it attracted criticism from some religious figures. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook brought down power lines, and caused landslides and flooding. many roads were closed and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. a state of emergency was declared in some parts of the country's north island, while heavy rain is still affecting south island. the online accommodation booking

service air b&b says it will improve its online acuity after a bbc investigation than people had their homes stolen from by scammers using stolen accounts. they had at profiles with verified badges and changed personal details to pull off the thefts. 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. while i was enjoying the hotel and having breakfast and returning to the hotel room to enjoy the day a little bit, i got that horrible text message saying someone is in the account, and it is not me, because my account had been compromised. obviously my birthday was over. that was my first reaction. christian thought he had let out his home to a verified profile, somebody who had verified

government identification, and had positive reviews from previous bookings. but the account had been stolen. the attacker changed the 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 other 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 compromised. there are many ways attackers could have been hijacking airbnb accounts. they might be able to trick people into handing over their passwords. but there are ways airbnb could have defended against this. google facebook and twitter among others all offered to step verification. that requires you to receive a code on your phone as well asa receive a code on your phone as well as a password to log into your account. we put our security concerns to airbnb. google facebook and twitter among others all offered to step 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. but, for 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. the world famous las vegas strip had to be closed overnight on thursday, after a fire broke out at one of the city's biggest casinos. flames broke out near the roof of the bellagio hotel which is at the centre of las vegas boulevard. the fire was reported atjust before 11pm local time — emergency teams say they were able to bring it under control, but the location made the operation difficult. it's not thought that anyone was injured — and the bellagio's famous water fountain show, which is staged just in front of the building, apparently continued throughout the incident. christians injerusalem have been holding good friday services as they celebrate easter. thousands have been walking

in procession along the via dolorosa in the old city. christian pilgrims visit jerusalem to remember key events in jesus' final week. let's head across the newsroom to join ben rich for more on the weather. good morning. do you remember last weekend? we got up to 25 degrees. this weekend we're not going to manage that but on the face of it, the weather is not looking too bad, particularly given it is a long bank holiday weekend, and there is actually some sunshine for some of us. this is from a weather watcher on the isle of wight but it is not sunny everywhere. a lot more cloud around today. that was the scene in the scottish highlands. a lot of cloud around but just the scottish highlands. a lot of cloud around butjust a few sunny brea ks cloud around butjust a few sunny breaks here and there, and then this band of rain working across northern

ireland, now starting to turn that bit heavier. the rain will sink into southern scotland eventually, and the north and the midlands and mid wales. to the south of that, not a bad day in prospect it up fairly cloudy along the south coast but on the isle of wight, some sunny breaks. there will continue to be some through the rest of the afternoon, which could put temperatures up to 16 degrees. east anglia, midlands, wales quite cloudy. north—east england, a of shelter from the pennines, cloudy. north—east england, a of shelterfrom the pennines, not cloudy. north—east england, a of shelter from the pennines, not too much rain. for northern ireland and scotla nd much rain. for northern ireland and scotland this afternoon, a few shabby breaks and some showers. —— sunny breaks. showers will begin to turn wintry because we have cold fronts sinking southwards across the country and that is introducing ever colder air so during tonight, the showers will turn wintry, especially over high ground in scotland, but even to lower levels there could be sleet and hail mixed in. cold enough for a frost and maybe some icy

stretches. not as cool further south with clouds and bands of rain continuing to sink south. we lose the cloud from the south tomorrow morning and we are left with a bright day. more in the way of sunshine, just a few showers up towards the north—east, still some wintry ones over high ground in scotland, because we are into some pretty cold air, especially if you are exposed to the breeze. in a bit of shelter, it won't feel too bad. 14 in london. for easter day, we are watching this little weather front. a bit troublesome as to exactly where and when it will end up but it looks like the central slice of the uk from northern ireland into the north wales on the midlands macy's in wet weather. largely dry to the south, and the medicine brightness. for easter monday, still a few showers around, in eastern areas particularly. further west, showers around, in eastern areas particularly. furtherwest, more dry weather and sunshine. still a cool feel and i think that is the main headline for the weekend. it will often be rather cool that there will

be some dry weather and sunny spells and just a little rain at times. that's all from me for now. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a us military strike with a weapon known as the "mother of all bombs" has killed 36 is militants and destroyed their base, according to the afghan defence ministry. now in the needy clear, we will not rele nt now in the needy clear, we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside our afghan colleagues to destroy isis in 2017. teaching unions say schools in england are facing their worst funding cuts, in real terms, for 20 years, as they meet for their annual conferences this weekend. the labour party says, if elected, it would give the uk's financial regulator, the financial conduct authority, new powers to stop banks shutting high—street branches. airbnb says it's improving the security of its app and website — after a bbc investigation found people advertising their homes had been burgled.

now time for a look at the sport good morning, the former world champion jensen button will good morning, the former world championjensen button will replace fernando alonso at the monaco grand prix at the end of may. alonzo seen here on the right will miss the chance to take part in the indianapolis 500 with full support of the team and honda, he is replaced with his former team—mate who is contracted as mclaren's reserve driver. first practice ahead —— ahead of the bahrain grand prix get ahead at five to 12 this morning, you can listen to it on bbc five live sports extra and the bbc sport website and app. arsene wenger insists that any discussions with the club's board about his future will not distract him from his job. he has been speaking about his

talisman, alexis sanchez, who has been nominated for the pfa player of the year award. his contract ends next summer and there have been reporting has been offered as much as the other dozen pence per week to stay. first of all i can confirm that. secondly, we will do as always, we have to consider the financial potential to sustain the wages for their own squad and what is for sure is what is paid per week today was 20 years ago per year, and well that continue to go up? i don't know. i'm tempted to say no but i was always wrong on that front. was a millennial believes his manchester united side can only blame themselves for the lack of goals. they drew one all in the europa league final against anderlecht. jose mourinho felt it was his

attacking players who not only lets the side down but here i —— but are also the reason they have not won more games to the campaign. we were solid defensively and that is not just about the defenders it is about the team has a team but then when the team has a team but then when the team has a team but then when the team is broken because we go to counterattack we cannot lose so many balls because it is notjust about the chances we missed because we did not miss so many chances, it is about the chances were you feel the spaceis about the chances were you feel the space is there is the only decision is wrong. the imf president sebastian cole is disappointed by the lack of progress made by russia in its anti—doping reforms. the country is currently banned from competing in international athletics after a report found that several athletes benefited from a

state—sponsored doping programme. and frustrated on behalf of the athletes, more progress should have been made and it has always been her ambition to get athletes back into international competition but separated from a tainted system and iam separated from a tainted system and i am frustrated for them that more progress has not been made. that is all the sport for now butjust to remind you that is coverage of cycling's track world championships on bbc two very shortly. we will be back with a full round—up half past one. 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's report contains images of the effects of drug taking. 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. 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. it is 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 in this charity. i was a heroin user, i was clean for 17 years and i have been smoking spice and it is a

lot stronger than heroin. three years ago, that is when i last had spice. it has ruined my life. the government says it will publish any drug strategy shortly aimed at 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. for 200 years, a team at the armagh observatory have taken manual weather readings, on the temperature, wind, and rainfall, every day, by hand. but that may all be about to change. the observatory, who are thought to have the longest record of manual weather readings, now say they're looking at moving to an automated system. our weather presenter nick miller has been to armagh to see how it works. it's a weather ritual. from checking the thermometer for the temperature, to seeing how many minutes or hours of sunshine there have been, and more.

someone has been taking all these measurements here every day for over 200 years. it's my responsibility now, i'm the one doing it now, i have been doing it for 18 years. these are just as accurate as digital thermometers and there is no significant difference in them, really. so the old way is as good as the new way, really, you know. an automatic weather station will provide more data, more often, and ensure the record goes on if someone can't be found to follow in shane's footsteps. and what to record it is. with those first readings still stored at the observatory. well, you've got some history there, haven't you, michael? i certainly have, yes. these are the first readings of weather here at armagh observatory. ever since the first sheet of measurements, it goes back, let's see, 27th of december 1794. and it's very simple measurements, just three things. it's the inside temperature, the outside temperature, and the barometer. this is the start of measurements which have been going on ever since, every day, here at armagh

observatory. shane, you've been doing this every day for 18 years. how will you feel when you say goodbye to this? well, yes, it'll be a nice saturday morning when you don't have to get up and come up and stand on top of the hill and get rained on and the wind blows you round the place! and that is seeing the bright side possible end an era. but for now, the last page has yet to be written on this exceptional piece of weather history. nick miller, bbc news, armagh. teachers claim children as young as four are suffering from mental health problems like panic attacks and depression. the claims that pupils and teachers are struggling to get enough support to deal with the issue. doctor patrick roach from the issue. doctor patrick roach from the teaching union told the bbc that a lack of experience in cancelling

to help children with mental health needsis to help children with mental health needs is a major concern. what we are finding, teachers are reporting, increasingly they are reporting concerns about children's mental health and a lack of support for those children if their particular needs are identified and of course how are those mental health issues manifesting themselves? three pupils coming to school anxious, pupils coming to school anxious, pupils coming to school not having slept properly the night before, with anxiety, children displaying depression, children self harming, both in the school and indeed outside of school. that was doctor patrick roach. hull is taking centre stage this year as it hosts a series of arts events as 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. our arts correspondent colin

paterson is there for us this morning to see some of the sights. 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 opera 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. if you're a dog owner, you'll know that one of the hardest things to do is leave them alone all day when you head off for work. now some are asking whether it's time for people to be allowed to bring their canine companions into the office. around 1 in 10 businesses already have a dog—friendly policy. susannah streeter‘s been finding out more. 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't just 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. the headlines on bbc news: the time isjust the time is just after a quarter to 12, a warning from washington after the us. the massive bomb on isps in afghanistan. teaching unions warn that schools in england face the worst funding cuts for 20 years. labour sets out plans to bring in a law preventing banks from closing high street branches, conservatives say it would lead to extra debt. now its time for meet the author.

oklahoma in the 1920s and the true story of a murder conspiracy that absorbed and shocked america, and epitomised the darker side of the wild west and all its lingering lawlessness. native americans being herded into reservations and dismissed as inferior red indians. then the oil gushes sprouting out of the prairies and changing everything. and eventually a conspiracy fuelled by greed and jealousy that became one of the obsession is of the young j edgar hoover and his new fbi. david grann's book killers of the flower moon is a trip into the story of the osage people, a journey into a part of american's past that's closer than we sometimes think. welcome. david, this is a fabulous melodrama, but it's also a human story

that is full of tragedy. when you lifted the lid on this series of murders in oklahoma in the early 20s, apart from knowing you had stumbled across a wonderful story, how did it affect you? i've written so many stories, this was the one that was probably the most emotionally draining. i worked on it for nearly half a decade and i began to collect victors, photographs, of the victims. and i would keep those photographs by my desk as i worked on the project. the real tragedy was, as i began the project, i thought there were, you know, so many victims, a dozen, and then a dozen grew to two dozen and by the end of the project i was looking at scores of victims who were caught up in this incredibly sinister conspiracy. and of course, they were native americans.

red indians, as we grew up to call them in an earlier age. and they faced the most terrible problems in their lives. the land was removed, the discrimination was at a level that we can barely imagine. and then they discovered that black oil was coming up through their land and they became rich. the way the story begins its extraordinary, it takes you to another planet. yes. i mean, it's amazing. so, the osage suffered the same fate as so many native american communities and tribes and nations in the united states, which is that they were driven off their land. they once controlled most of the midwest. thomasjefferson referred to them of that great nation. and then within a few years, they had to cede millions and millions of acres. and eventually they were driven to this little corner of north—east oklahoma. they went there because they thought the land was rocky and fertile and they said the white men will finally leave us alone. so they go there, and lo and behold they are sitting on some

of the largest deposits of oil in the world. and overnight they became millionaires. they became the richest people per capita, not only in the united states, but in the world. and they lived in mansions. it was said at the time that each american might own one car, each osage owned 11 cars! the car had come, it was within the 20th century, this story, but it is the wild west! it is the last remnants of the wild west. its lawless, its outlaws... power hungry... pistol shooters... and because of the oil, this area drew, it was like a magnet for every kind of outlaw. getty arrived on the train. all the great oil men made their fortune in the osage. getty, sinclair... all the great names we associate with oil barons, they all made their fortune in the osage. and in the midst of it, you tell the story of a real set off murders, a conspiracy, what we would now call a cover—up, and a target for the nascent fbi, hoover the new director sitting in washington, sending his men in undercover to try to sort this out.

yes. and yet it's a story that is, it's better than fiction. yeah, it is crazier than fiction. it was hard to believe. what's amazing about this story is it has been almost excised from history, partly because of racial prejudice. i had known nothing about this story when i started writing it. and yet it was huge. across america. it was big in its day, yeah. it was big in its day. it became the nascent fbi's first major homicide case. it becamej edgar hoover at age 29 doing hisjob, believe it or not, insecure about his security and holding onto hisjob. it became his first big case. and after they badly bungled the case and, just to give one example of that, they recruited an outlaw, appropriately named blackey, to go in undercover to use as an informant. instead, he slips away, robs a bank and killed a police officer. j edgar hoover is sitting in washington petrified that he might actually lose hisjob,

that his streams of a bureaucratic empire might end. he turns the case over to an old frontier lawman, an agent named tom white. tom white puts together an undercover team and it is like something out of oceans 11. texas rangers come in. yeah, texas rangers. they have one guy pose as an insurance salesman. he used to sell insurance. he actually opens an insurance store in town. he's selling real policies. the most amazing thing is, too, that the undercover team included an american indian agent, and this was remarkable because there was so much prejudice at the time, he was probably the only american indian or native american in the bureau at the time. and in the midst of this, you uncoverfor us a conspiracy, the nature of which we won't reveal because it would spoil it for readers, and subsequently a sensational trial. that i think goes deep into the american story and the sense that you can see through this prison, with all its melodrama and bloodstained detail,

the emergence of a real system of laws and order. in the 1920s, it took that long. yes, this was really the emergence of what i would call professionals, an effort to professionalise law enforcement. one of the things that shocked me was just how lawless the country was, how untrained sheriffs office was, how widespread corruption was. so this was an attempt to professionalise the art of detection. the amazing thing about tom white is, he began his career riding on a horse when justice was meted out by the end of a barrel of a gun and by the 1920s he was working this case, he's wearing a suit and a fedora, trying to work out how to study fingerprints, handwriting analysis, and he has to file paperwork, which he can't stand. this is a magical story. but as you said when we began, it's also a very painful story. what did you learn about your country in the 1920s that you hadn't really thought of?

you know, i was shocked, even though you grow up hearing about racial prejudice, the degree of racial prejudice that allowed these crimes to go on. these were crimes of greed and avarice but they were carried out without consciousness because the targets and the victims were native americans, and in their minds and many of the killers, these were seen as sub humans. and because of that, these crimes are covered up. i guess the thing that shocked me most is we tend to think about murder stories with a singular evilforce, right? you have one really bad man and the whole kind of concept of a mystery, both in fiction and in nonfiction, is you capture that badman, you'd expunge it and you feel better about society. what happens when you have a crime story where the whole of white society, the whole town,

is possibly complicit in it? finally, how have the osage people you have been in touch with reacted to the telling of the story and the fact that it will now be read by millions of people? yeah, i mean, i didn't know when i began the project how people would receive me and the desire to tell the story, and i was struck that the osage were remarkably generous, because they carried the story inside them for so many years. and so for them i think the chance to share the story, that it might receive its place in history in a wider audience, at least so far i experience has been extremely positive. david grann, author of killers of the flower moon, thank you very much. thank you so much. good morning, it is not going to

turn into a bad weekend weather—wise this easter holiday but today might bea this easter holiday but today might be a day to sit indoors and read a bookin be a day to sit indoors and read a book in places because there was a lot of cloud around, that was the scene in south wales are short time ago in this cloud is producing outbreaks of rain. initially patchy rain this morning but as you can see from the radar picture pushing from across northern ireland is turning that bit heavier and that will sink in across southern scotland, also not in england and part of the midlands and north wales as we go through the afternoon. to the north of that chilly with sunshine challenge to the south, they largely dry. not a bad afternoon, to bournemouth in brighton and london and the channel islands as well. the global will break aims to bring spells of sunshine and this cooler temperatures to 15 or 16 degrees. cloud in the midlands and north west england especially over the hills, heavy rain this afternoon with north—east england not seen to my dream. northern ireland and scotland experiencing a mix of sunshine and

showers but the showers turning wintering over the high ground of scotla nd wintering over the high ground of scotland because we are introducing cold airfrom scotland because we are introducing cold air from the north—west, that cold air from the north—west, that cold the sinking in behind these weather fronts which continue to slide southwards. that means cloud and some splashes of rain across england and wales, the skies begin to create across northern ireland and scotland and northern ireland, a few showers as well and although here for some showers as well and 80 stitches will be keeping with the showers across scotland. tomorrow a bit of cloud and mean to start off in the south, if you're up and about early, but that should clear quickly and what we're left with is a bright day. more sunshine than we had today, a few showers are northern areas, the showers winter in high ground in scotland and a special of your cotton that these will not be a particularly warm day. 9 degrees in glasgow, may be struggling to 14 in london. a fine saturday courtesy of this area of high pressure but come sunday things get more collocated because of this weather front which at the moment looks like it'll make at the moment looks like it'll make a beeline for this central slice of

the uk. to the north of that some sunshine and some showers and an chilly side, to the south and other driving with highs of 15 degrees. easter monday 12 showers again, particularly eastern areas where it will be breezy. further west that lighter winds with wonder we have some shame of the northerly wind means maintaining each of the field, seven in aberdeen. it will remain rather cool for the rest the easter weekend, some sunny spells at times and also a little bit of rain here and also a little bit of rain here and there. that's all from me for this morning, and a very good afternoon and i will leave you in the very capable hands of sarah. this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at midday... a warning to washington's enemies after the us drops a massive bomb on an is base in afghanistan, killing dozen of militants. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will not relent

in our mission to fight alongside our afghan comrade is to destroy isis in 2017. a deal is struck between the syrian government and rebel forces to evacuate 30,000 civilians from four besieged towns. teaching unions warn schools in england face their worst funding cuts for 20 years. also in the next hour, paying the price for unwanted visitors. airbnb steps up security after a bbc investigation found homes had been burgled by scammers using stolen accounts. and turning the humber bridge into a giant musical instrument — the latest project in hull's year—long festival of arts and culture. good afternoon welcome to bbc news.

the united states has used the largest non—nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat, killing at least 36 militants in afghanistan. the weapon, which is known as "the mother of all bombs," was dropped on a deep tunnel complex in eastern nangarhar province, near the pakistani border. the us says the tunnels were being used by fighters aligned to the so—called islamic state group. afg hanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah said the attack had been coordinated with the kabul government. but the former afghan president hamid karzai has condemned it as "inhuman" and "brutal". this report from jane francis kelly. this is the gbu—43, also known as a moab, a massive ordnance air blast, or as it is more commonly known, "the mother of all bombs". the largest non—nuclear weapon ever deployed. the target is so—called islamic state in afghanistan. afghan government officials say they had advance warning of the us decision to drop this massive bomb.

inajoint in a joint news conference between the americans and afghan officials, the americans and afghan officials, the commander of us and nato forces in afghanistan generaljohn nicolson defended the operation. we had persistent surveillance over the area before, during and after the operation and now we have afghan and us forces on the site, and see no evidence of civilian casualties, nor have there been any reports of civilian casualties. us military commanders want an increase in troops to support afghan forces, now facing both the taliban and is. we are so proud of our military and it was another successful event. the tunnels and caves used by the taliban 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 us special forces officer was killed last week. translation: there were

daesh bases over there. last night's bomb was really huge. when it dropped, everywhere was shaking and i believe a group of them were killed. it is a good thing they were eliminated. there were no civilians there at all. but the action has brought a furious tweet from afghanistan's former president, hamid karzai. i think it is important not only for the military to be effective. i think it is a very important signal to adversaries, whether it is isis or the taliban, that they will now face an american and coalition force that is prepared to actually do what is necessary to win and to do the job. donald trump's long—term strategy towards afg ha nista n donald trump's long—term strategy

towards afghanistan is not altogether clear. his recent actions in syria, the korean peninsula and now afghanistan are a departure from the isolationist, america first president of the campaign trail and inauguration. a deal has been struck between the syrian government and rebel forces to evacuate 30,000 civilians from four besieged towns. residents of two government—held towns in a rebel—controlled area of aleppo province have already been pictured leaving on buses. the swap, brokered by iran and qatar, also sees people from two rebel—held towns in a regime—controlled area near damascus allowed to leave. in the short while we have had the first pictures of the operation under way. these were sent to us by an evacuee of the rebel town madaya, near the capital. he also sent us his thoughts on having to leave his home. translation: in a few hours we will be leaving the blockade. we feel like migrants in our land.

there are no words to describe it. you feel like you are leaving your land. we are leaving our lives, our hope, ourfuture, our memories, our past behind. our correspondent ben james, who's in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, has been following events in syria and he sent us this update a short time ago. we understand that buses have now been moving from three out of the four towns that are part of this agreement. it is unclear whether people from one particular town have been moved. 30,000 people could be involved in this in the end. the humanitarian situation in these four towns has been described by the united nations as catastrophic. at the beginning of last year there were reports of people eating leaves off trees in order to try to survive. we hear reports from doctors in these places of a shortage of

medicines as a result of these sieges. but although the humanitarian situation is that bad, we also hear from the people who are leaving these places that they see this as forced displacement, and them having to leave their homes because of politics and conflict and they would rather stay at home and have the sieges lift. tell us about a meeting that is going to be happening today between the syrian foreign minister and his iranian and russian counterparts in moscow. what can we expect from that? they have already in the last few minutes been speaking together in front of the cameras, these three foreign ministers. one thing they have been focusing on in that news conference is exactly what they wish to see in response of the alleged chemical attack on a particular town, which they very much dispute. bashar al—assad appeared in front of a tv

camera yesterday saying that the allegations were 100% fabrication. what the syrian and russian foreign minister has just been saying in the last few minutes, they've been calling for an unbiased investigation and they say it should be a neutral, unbiased task force that looks at what happened there and they want the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons to go there and find out for themselves what has happened. they say that collecting samples from patients in turkey is not good enough so we will wait to see what the opcw and the americans say in response to that. 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.

our 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. 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. tesco has apologised for causing offence after it used good friday in an advertisement for beer. the ad ran in some newspapers to promote offers on beer and cider in the run—up to easter. the supermarket said it would not run the advert again after it attracted criticism from some religious figures. a clean—up operation is under way in new zealand after a powerful storm swept across the country. cyclone cook brought down power lines, and caused landslides and flooding. many roads were closed and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. a state of emergency was declared in some parts of the country's north island, while heavy rain is still affecting south island. a doctor in the united states has been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation

on young girls. it's believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in the country. prosecutors in the state of michigan say the doctor, jumana nagarwala, performed the practice for 12 years on girls aged between six and eight. if found guilty, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. the nigerian government says it's actively negotiating with the militant islamist group boko haram to free the remaining schoolgirls who were kidnapped from a secondary school in chibok three years ago today. demonstrators will hold events in the capital, abuja, and in lagos, to mark the anniversary. almost two hundred of the girls are still being held in captivity. british man is being hunted by interpol over the attempted murder

of another teacher in myanmar. twenty—six—year—old harris binotti, from dumfries, has not been seen since he went out drinking with his colleague gary ferguson in the capital yangon. mr ferguson was later found dead. the man's wife discovered her husband's body. she told police the dear men had been out drinking and the following day, the victim left me an ma and flew to thailand. police have been wanting to speak to him ever since about his disappearance and have issued this red notice. it is not an arrest warrant but it does but

international police on alert that they want to question harris be knotty because he has to return to my an ma. gary ferguson's brother said on facebook that he was very pleased that this red notice had been issued. he said the family were very relieved and after such a long and hard fight, he was in tears to announce that mr binotti had finally been put on the interpol list of wa nted been put on the interpol list of wanted persons and can now be arrested internationally. the headlines on bbc news... a warning from washington after the us drops a massive bomb on an is base in afghanistan killing dozens of militants. a deal is struck between the syrian government and rebel forces to evacuate 30,000 civilians from four besieged towns. teaching unions warn schools in england face their worst funding

cuts for 20 years. sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh. good afternoon, annita mcveigh. former world champion jenson button will replace fernando alonso for mclaren at the monaco grand prix at the end of may. alonso, here on the right, will miss the race to take part in the indianapolis 500, with full support from the team and its engine partner honda. he's replaced by his former team—mate, who is contracted as maclaren's reserve driver. first practice is under way ahead of this weekend's bahrain grand prix. for lewis hamilton and sebastian vettel injoint top for lewis hamilton and sebastian vettel in joint top of the driver's standings, you can follow the action on bbc radio 5 live sports extra and the bbc sport website. arsenal manager arsene wenger insists any discussions the club's board may be having about his future will not distract him from his job. he's also been speaking

about his talisman alexis sanchez. the forward has been nominated for pfa player of the year but his contract ends next summer. there have been some reports he's been offered as much as £300,000 per week. first of all, i cannot confirm that we have offered that. secondly, we will do as always. we have to consider ourfinancial will do as always. we have to consider our financial potential to sustain the wages for the whole squad and what is for sure is what is paid per week is what was page 20 yea rs is paid per week is what was page 20 years ago per year and will continue to grow? i don't know. i was always tempted to say no but i was always wrong on that front. the iaaf president lord coe is "disappointed" by the lack of progress made by russia in its anti—doping reforms. the country is currently banned from competing in international athletics after a report claimed over 1,000 athletes benefited from a state—sponsored

doping programme. coe believes there is still a lack of cooperation and transparency. i'm frustrated on behalf of the athletes. more progress should have been made. it has always been our ambition to get athletes back into international competition, separated from ia tainted system. i'm frustrated for them that more progress has not been made. let's have a quick look at day three of cycling's track world championships. it is live on bbc two. there is british interest. we're watching the women's omnium. great britain's katie archibald is currently leading. later on, the men's individual pursuit. you can keep up to speed with everything else going on in sport as well as that@bbc.co.uk/ sport. that's all for now. we will be back at 1:30pm.

the online accommodation booking company airbnb says it will improve its security after a bbc investigation found that people's homes have been burgled by scammers using stolen accounts. they hijacked profiles with verified badges and changed some personal details to pull off the thefts. chris foxx reports. 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 flat, and it is not me, because my account had been compromised. christian thought he had let out his home to a verified profile, somebody who had verified government identification, and had positive reviews from previous bookings. but the account had been stolen. the attacker changed the 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 other 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 compromised. there are many ways attackers could have been hijacking airbnb accounts. they might be able to 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. but, for 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. the formal work and pensions

secretary stephen crabb has told the bbc the department he used to run hasn't been very good at getting its forecast site. -- former work and pensions secretary. the remarks for the publication of new figures that show two companies assessing people receiving disability benefits will receive millions of pounds more than was budgeted for in the contracts. to tell us more is our political correspondent chris mason. the whole area of this assessment of people claiming disability benefits is hugely controversial. belmore controversy about these two companies or controversy about these two companies or more controversy about these two companies or more specifically about the government's forecasts over how much it would be to pay them. and in essence they are having to pay more than they anticipated because these companies are having to do much more work than they anticipated. this is about personal independence payments, first introduced four yea rs payments, first introduced four years ago with the aim of helping people with disabilities with the extra costs associated with those disabilities but crucially, at the heart of getting that benefit, there

is an assessment to try and work out what a potential recipient is capable of doing. that has been hugely controversial for many adventure recipients who have found the whole process to be deeply unfair but what here is the essence of the story is the government setting out on it start of this project and estimate of how much they thought it would cost. they thought around about £500 million. analysis by the press association newsagency suggests it could be £700 million by the time the contracts come to an end at the end of this year. this is assessment in england, scotla nd year. this is assessment in england, scotland and wales to it or there is a separate system in northern ireland. one of the concerns will be if you extrapolate from this that similar misjudgements have been made elsewhere at a huge cost to the taxpayer. the context of this is that the

department for work and pensions is not after the news eased department in whitehall. we regularly hear about what is going on at the department of health of the treasury or educational transport but the whole business of pensions and benefits is massively expensive to the government. around £1 in every £3 of government spending is channelled through the for work and pensions server will be real concern that something like this, where you are basing your prediction on a lot of expenditure, not when £5 billion, can be substantially wrong, i'll buy £200 million, will cause concern and it is striking that stephen crabb, who was running that apartment until recently, says that that apartment under a long period of time over the conservatives, the coalition and labour hasn't been up to it when it has come to making decisions about the kind of service the taxpayers need. spice was banned by the government nearly a year ago, along with other

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's report contains images of the effects of drug taking. spice was banned by the government nearly a year ago, along with other so—called legal 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 is a familiar problem for people at charities like lighthouse. some of the people at this session have struggled to stop using spice. i was a heroin user, i have been clean of that for 17 years. i have been smoking spice for nine years, and it is stronger. stronger than heroin. three years ago, that is when my life started with spice. it hasjust ruined 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. if you're a dog owner, you'll know that one of the hardest things to do is leave them alone all day when you head off for work. now some are asking whether it's time for people to be allowed to bring their canine companions into the office. around one in ten businesses already have a dog—friendly policy. susannah streeter‘s

been finding out more. 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 there if you want to find one to pet. dog don't just 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 are 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? the world famous las vegas strip had to be closed overnight on thursday, after a fire broke out at one of the city's biggest casinos. flames broke out near the roof of the bellagio hotel which is at the centre of las vegas boulevard. the fire was reported atjust

before 11pm local time — emergency teams say they were able to bring it under control, but the location made the operation difficult. it's not thought that anyone was injured — and the bellagio's famous water fountain show, which is staged just in front of the building, apparently continued throughout the incident. christians injerusalem have been holding good friday services as they celebrate easter. thousands have been walking in procession along the via dolorosa in the old city. christian pilgrims visit jerusalem to remember key events in jesus' final week. let's look ahead to the easter weekend weather with sarah keith lucas. things are looking quite quiet over the next couple of days. not too much happening, some of seeing some rain but not everywhere. some glimpses of sunshine. this is the

scene in essex. there are some styles of sunshine, particularly in the south and east but most places are seeing a bit of cloud. some patchy rain from northern ireland, southern scotland and that is pushing into northern england and north wales, pepping up time this afternoon. but southern and south—east england stays largely dry. further north, scattered heavy showers for scotland and northern ireland. quite windy for scotland and some snowfall over the mountains, soa and some snowfall over the mountains, so a cold night tonight across scotland in particular. once the shower is clear from the south tomorrow, not a bad day to talk it will feel quite fresh but most places looking dry. scattered showers across north—west england, parts of scotland and northern ireland but further south you are more likely to stay dry. things will stay pretty cool through the rest of the easter weekend. some styles of sunshine but a bit of rain around, right through the central slice of the country. this is bbc news. the headlines: the commander of us

forces in afghanistan has said no civilians were harmed when the american military dropped its largest non—nuclear bomb onjihadists. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside afg ha n in our mission to fight alongside afghan comrades to destroy asus in 2017. activists in syria say an operation to move up to thirty—thousand people from four besieged towns has begun. two of england's biggest teaching unions warn schools face their worst funding cuts for 20 years as they meet for their annual conferences. airbnb is tightening its security after the bbc revealed scammers had hacked verified accounts to burgle homes. now on bbc news, the city of hull is being transformed by a year—long festival of arts and culture.

anne marie tasker and kofi smiles report on the highlights. hello and welcome to hull, which for the whole of 2017 is the uk's city of culture. and this is the humber bridge, the latest location to take pa rt bridge, the latest location to take part in the 365 day celebration of our culture.