weather through, we will see a weather front moving through. a week affair but uncertainty about the exact detail. drier and brighter to the north and to the south. temperatures around 15 or $0. to the south. temperatures around 15 or so. most of the range of the way by easter monday. wanna two showers but the rest of us looking dry with temperatures at seven to 15. this is bbc news. the headlines: the commander of american forces in afghanistan says dropping his country's most powerful non—nuclear bomb on islamic state was the right thing to do. 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 comrade ‘s to destroy ice is key in 2017. activists in syria say an operation to move up to thirty—thousand people from four besieged towns has begun. unions representing half a million teachers say a funding shortage is having a big impact on schools in england — as they meet for their

annual conferences this weekend. airbnb is improving its security after a bbc investigation found people's homes had been burgled by scammers using stolen accounts. time for some good friday sport and at the bbc sports centre it is you. the former world champion jensen button will replace fernando alonso at the monaco grand prix at the end of may. once you have the right one miss the race to take part in the indianapolis 500 with the full support of the team. he is replaced by his former team—mate who is contracted as a reserve driver. well first practice is under way, sebastian vettel has topped the time sheets ahead of the bahrain grand prix, two seconds quicker than his

championship rival lewis hamilton, whose tenth. the arsenal manager arsen wegener insists any discussions the clubs board may be having about his future will distract them from doing his job. having about his future will distract them from doing hisjob. he has been speaking about his talisman alexis sanchez, who has been nominated for pfa player of the year but his contract is up next summer. there have been some reports he has been offered as much as £300,000 per week to stay. i cannot confirm that, secondly we will do as always, we have to consider our financial potential to sustain the wage of the squad. but what is for sure is what is paid per week today was 20 years ago per year, and will continue to block? i don't know. i'm tempted to say no but i was always wrong.

kiddie archibald is a great chance of winning a gold medal at the world track cycling championships in hong kong. she is competing in the mail which is decided on a points basis overfour which is decided on a points basis over four different races. she which is decided on a points basis overfour different races. she has lead the standings, finishing fifth in the lamination race, but she has 110w in the lamination race, but she has now slipped to second place but as level on points with the leader. the final event will be live on bbc two shortly. it is the traditional good friday meeting between wigan warriors and st helens in rugby league. it is st helens first match since the dismissal ofjune cunningham as head coach. things started badly for them, the forward was red carded for a high tackle in the 13th minute. joe burgess gave wigan and 8—2/2—time lead before morgan knowles responded for the saints but in the last few minutes liam marshall has re—established within‘s lead with his seventh try

of the season. the currently 111—8 ahead super league. and that is all the sport for now, you can frame audible stories in the bbc sport website. visit bbc .co .uk/ sport. 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. i was iwasa i was a heroin user 17 years ago, i have been clean 17 years. i have been smoking spice for nine years, and it is stronger. three years ago, that is when my life started with spice. it has just 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. 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. with me is the forecaster sarah keith lucas who can tell us more. it has been going 200 years, they have kept it going along fine. why have kept it going along fine. why have a stop to it so long? and have the things they are measuring changed? they have over time, in 1794 when they started taking these observations it was just temperature and pressure that were recorded. funnily enough temperature inside and outside the building and it was often warmer outside than inside. they have added all sorts of technical equipment since then so the measure things like... so it is warmer inside? hopefully! the measure all sorts of things like menace of sunshine, and as we have seen shane kelly takes these

observations and records them all manually. nine o'clock every morning. amazing that nobody has taken a 60 in 200 years. good job we don't have to do it here! is the point from living from manual to automated? people say everything is automated? people say everything is automated that we were so much. is there a concrete benefit? it is man versus machine, but things could break down so if you go to automated systems to record the whether they could break down and then it could ta ke could break down and then it could take a couple of days to get the data fixed so there is the risk that every switch to automated that perhaps this long—term video record could be broken. what is more reliable, man machine? and as weather watchers rely on may —— man—made observation driver that automated. we trust what i see is better than what a machine records. well you are in northern ireland you're finding and notjust

well you are in northern ireland you're finding and not just about armagh but a little bit of weather history. that is right, we went to the oster aviation society at the have a great collection of historical aircraft the and they we re historical aircraft the and they were telling us all about these interesting weather flight so before we had radar and satellite of computer models that are forecasting every single day there used to be a flight every single day there used to be a flight from northern ireland out of the atlantic to follow the same rate and they would record the weather and they would record the weather and they would observe the weather and they would observe the weather and bring back until the forecast is what was like out there in the atla ntic what was like out there in the atlantic and they flew is huge storms and quite recognised that in quite rickety old aircraft. in testing conditions. i'm told there was some personal history for you? yes, the grandfather was an aeronautical engineer in belfast from 1945 to 1965 three was involved in some pioneering research in how to fly supersonic speed aeroplanes. he did the first ever vertical take—off so it was super interesting for me to go out and say that of his

history and able to see one of the planes that he designed at the australian society. fantastic, i'm sure he would be very proud to see how all this knowledge is being used. thank you very much. you can see more about those records on weather world this afternoon at 16:30, here on bbc news channel. 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 — as colin paterson reports. 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.

how do you follow that? i'm still hoping she will bring him in later. some bad news i am afraid if you are travelling and if you are stuck in a g! travelling and if you are stuck in a g1 all about it, the eastbound lane of the m4 has been closed, a gas tanker scott fire between junction 17 and 18 near chippenham. police have closed the westbound lane of all that has reopened within the last few minutes. gillian is stuck in the tailback. when did it begin? about an hour ago, we were heading towards wales to see the family for easter and you could see the smoke, black and grey plumes of smoke miles before we got there. must have just happened because we were close to the front of the queue. we were between chippenham in bath at

junction 17 and 18. how busy was more to reassure pushed? we -- it was completely stopped in both directions, it was a spectacular sight that you can imagine. this is before any of the emergency vehicles got there, any of the fire engines. some people were having a good luck until the police started coming after the hard shoulder, screaming out of the window, get back in your vehicle is shatter windows and people took that advice. -- shot your windows. i guess that stage they did know what might be burning. as the vibe in russian control yet? we saw the whole thing. —— has the fire been brought under control yet. they have sprayed foam all over the

vehicle, it seemed ok. we have recently started moving but i am afraid to say the queue is coming from wales towards london are enormous and i think they have shot the motorway and stop people going on thejunction the motorway and stop people going on the junction before. the motorway and stop people going on thejunction before. we the motorway and stop people going on the junction before. we are just looking at miles and miles of traffic queues. thank you. i hope you get a wheels very soon. 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 infertile 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. it isa it is a bit ofa it is a bit of a grey day for good friday, but a few glances of sunshine to be seen particularly towards the south and south—east. the cloud has been increasing through the day in the north with patio pics of rain across northern ireland pushing into wales northern england, so damp through the central slice of the country. not that that is chilly across scotland with some showers, they will be falling asleep and snow across the scottish mountains in mind with quite a breeze as well so windy fuming weather across the north of scotland. further south overnight it is looking chilly with temperatures down to 45 degrees under the equator skies. clad in shower tomorrow clearly from the south very quickly and then saturday looking like a

decent day, spells of sunshine with a few showers across the north and west of the country. further south and east 40 degrees in the sunshine should feel relatively pleasant but the cool theme continues through the weekend. some sunshine and some others will see some rain at times. this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at wo. the headlines at two. the most powerful non—nuclear bomb ever used by the united states — targets so—called islamic state in afghanistan — 36 militants are thought to have been killed. this was the right weapon again the right target, we will not relent in our mission to fight alongside our afg ha n our mission to fight alongside our afghan comres to our mission to fight alongside our afg ha n com res to restore our mission to fight alongside our afghan comres to restore matters in 2017. a british tourist, thought to be aged in her 20s,

has been stabbed to death on a tram injerusalem. schools in england are facing their worst funding cuts in 20 years — a warning from teaching unions. the mission to re—take mosul from so—called i.s., we report from the frontline. also in the next hour, paying the price for unwanted visitors.