china warns the united states not to allow tension with north korea to reach an irreversible point. it says force cannot solve the problem. the blunt warning comes after the us drops its biggest non—nuclear bomb ever used in combat — killing 36 militants in afghanistan. 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. after strikes in syria, afghanistan and with the threat of conflict on the korean peninsula, we'll be asking — what is donald trump's global strategy? the national union of teachers says it's prepared to take legal action against the government, over some of its plans to expand selective education in england. the sun suspends its former editor and now columnist kelvin mackenzie, for comments he's made about the everton footballer, ross barkley. and the online booking site airbnb improves its security, after a bbc investigation finds scammers have been burgling homes. good evening.

north korea's army has promised what it called a "merciless" response to any us provocation — reflecting growing tension about the country's nuclear and weapons programmes. china has called for calm, saying it fears conflict could break out at any moment. it comes as the united states says a huge bomb — dropped on so—called islamic state militants in afghanistan — was "the right weapon against the right target". the us military insists it was a local, tactical decision. others believe its principal aim was as a show of strength. our security correspondent frank gardner reports. "a powerful armada," in the words of president trump.

this is the us navy's carl vinson carrier battle group, equipped with 90 strike aircraft and other weapons and diverted to the seas off north korea. mr trump is hoping it will intimidate that country's isolated regime into abandoning any further nuclear tests or long—range missile launches. china has warned of the imminent danger of a war being triggered on the korean peninsula, and north korea remains defiant, saying it's ready to respond to any attack with nuclear weapons. meanwhile, in afghanistan, the us has dropped an immense bomb, 11 tonnes of high explosive dropped on an isis tunnel complex in the mountains of eastern afghanistan. the blast was felt 30 miles away. the weapon used is called a moab, a massive ordnance airburst, also known as the mother of all bombs. this was its first time used in combat. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder

to shoulder with our afghan comrades to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of nangahar, to the people of the entire region and indeed, the people around the world. local villagers confirmed that isis fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind them, and said the bomb had hit its target. but the strike was condemned by both so—called islamic state and afghanistan's former president. how could the united states use afghanistan as its ground for experiments, for testing weapons of mass destruction? president trump's targets now include three major problem areas for the us — afghanistan, syria and north korea. the massive weapon that the pentagon has used in afghanistan is intended to send a message to its enemies that "you're not safe underground". in syria, the trump administration will be hoping that last week's

cruise missile strike will deter presdent assad from any further chemical attacks. but north korea is the biggest gamble. mr trump is hoping that sending this powerful naval armada offshore will deter any further nuclear tests. the question now, though, is can he manage three global crises simultaneously? it's very possible that if these three scenarios come together, syria, afghanistan and north korea, that it would overwhelm the policy—making capabilities of mr trump's administration, it will overwhelm the strategic planning capabilities of the pentagon and it would overwhelm the resource capabilities of the us military. but president trump and his entourage now feel they're on a roll, tackling head—on the foreign policy challenges the previous administration was unable to resolve. there is now the risk that ramping up the rhetoric could lead america into more conflict, or that in the absence of any swift resolutions,

mr trump may simply turn his back on foreign adventures and focus instead on domestic issues. frank gardner, bbc news. we can speak to our washington correspondent, laura bicker. what should we read into his strategy here? we've seen so many foreign—policy u—turns in the last week, it's hard to know where he'll turn, or what the long—term strategy really is. but here's what we know about the president so far. he is willing and able to act very quickly and flex those military muscles, unlike his predecessor. consider that strike on syria. he casually turned the chinese premier over dinner while remarking about how good the chocolate cake is, he says, i've said 59 cruise missiles into syria. that sends a strong message, not just to china syria. that sends a strong message, notjust to china but syria. that sends a strong message, not just to china but to neighbouring north korea. he's also

delegated more responsibility to his generals the pentagon and he is listening to them for now at least, but this is an unpredictable president with an avid twitter habit. so everything can change in 140 characters or less. and how is all of this playing at home? well, he did promise his supporters he'd put america first, not at the centre of foreign conflict, but he also promised them so much winning and when it comes to home policy he's failed to implement health care policies, he's failed when it comes to his travel ban and the republican party looks increasingly split. he's had a lot of positive headlines in the last week for using his military muscle. he may take that as a win for now, but how long those headlines will remain positive, if for instance he is to get involved in the conflict in north korea, well, that remains to be seen. laura, thank you. pyongyang is thought to be preparing for a

massive military parade tomorrow at which its latest missile technology may well be on display. 0ur reporter john sudworth is with a group of foreign journalists witnessing the events. his movements are being tightly controlled. they sing. in north korea, the spectre of war looms large over daily life. these girls are singing about being soldiers. while, not far away, real ones crowd into a shrine to the country's founding president, general kim il—sung. these are scenes akin to a religious pilgrimage, but of course, in honour of a still—ruling family dynasty who have at their disposal all of the myth that would rival any of the world's great religions. and as the country prepares to display its devotion at the anniversary of kim il—sung's birth this weekend, there's

an awareness of the rising tension with america. translation: we should have the nuclear weapons. if we do not have nuclear weapons, the nuclear weapon of another country will fall on our soil. translation: it doesn't matter whether the americans make the situation on the korean peninsula tense. it doesn't matter. we feel safe because we have the great leader, kim jong—un. this week, the current ruler, kim jong—un, held this meeting where his late grandfather was honoured. he is also thought to be planning a massive military parade as a powerful tribute, and a message of defiance. children sing. this is a country where art and armaments are blended in singular purpose, to demonstrate to the watching world that its nuclear ambitions

will not be stopped. john sudworth, bbc news, pyongyang. the national union of teachers says it's prepared to take legal action against the government, over plans which it believes are being used to expand selective education in england. the union has said it's identified comprehensive schools which it believes are bending the rules by introducing some selection, based on the results of a test. the move comes as ministers seek to lift the ban on new grammar schools. from the union's annual conference in cardiff. grammar schools have a long history. in altrincham, 100 years of tradition.

then, almost 20 years ago, new grammar schools were banned. now, some comprehensives offer a grammar stream — for many, a way of stretching the brightest. but could this also be used to get around the law? so today, a warning of legal action. they fear ministers could encourage more of this. the schools where we'd have an issue around this is a school that's advertising a grammar stream, that is putting children through tests for it, and where we get the sense from documents and other things that children stay in that stream, that it's actually a selective system that is being introduced. that's what we would want to challenge. is this essentially a shot across the bow of the government, to say don't try to do this without changing the law? what we're saying to government is if you want grammar schools, you have to win it through the parliamentary process. do not try and go round the back way. who can tell me what soluble was? for schools like elton primary in cheshire, the big worry is budgets. bills going up mean less money per pupil, leaving school governors facing tough decisions. we're already having to consider over the next three years losing at least two teachers,

merging year groups, potentially shortening the school week by one or maybe half a day. these are all things that we're having to consider. for teachers, that means fears aboutjobs, so a warm welcome for labour's shadow chancellor. this is the first real terms cuts in school budgets for two decades. this is the worst school funding settlement, since, to be frank, i was wearing flares. it's no surprise he gets a warm welcome at a union conference. but the issue of school budgets matters to parents too. the government is facing cross—party opposition to its plans for new grammar schools. schools can stream pupils after they get a place. the government says that's perfectly legal. and only a change in the law could allow new selective schools. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, cardiff.

a young british woman has been stabbed to death on a tram injerusalem. 23—year—old hannah bladon, an exchange student from birmingham, was taken to hospital but died soon after. police say two other people were also injured during the attack. a 57—year—old palestinian who police say had recently been released from a psychiatric hospital has been arrested. hundreds of drivers began the bank holiday weekend stuck on the m4 after a lorry carrying compressed gas caught fire. the motorway was closed in both directions for an hour between junctions 17 and 18 near chippenham in wiltshire. drivers faced long delays and police say there are still some lane closures in place although they should be lifted in a few hours' time. the former editor of the sun, kelvin mackenzie, has been suspended tonight for comments he made about the everton footballer ross barkley in a column he writes. the article published in today's paper prompted a complaint to the police

by the mayor of liverpool. our reporter helena lee is outside the offices of news uk, which owns the sun. what's the foundation of the complaint, helena? the article was about ross barkley, who was punched earlier this week in liverpool city centre. in the piece, kelvin mackenzie said "the lack of reflection in his eyes has always made him think that he was one of ourdimmest made him think that he was one of our dimmest footballers". he said "it was like seeing a gorilla at a zoo". ross barkley‘s grandfather was born in nigeria. the piece also went on to say that men who earned similar amounts of money to footballers in liverpool were drug dealers. this prompted the mayor of liverpool to then complain to the police. tonight, kelvin mackenzie has been suspended from the paper. he is away on holiday at the moment, but ina he is away on holiday at the moment, but in a statement he said he didn't know if ross barkley‘s family background and he said it was beyond

parody that his critics would describe his article as racist. here at news uk, they say the views expressed by kelvin mackenzie were wrong, unfunny and not the views of the paper, but it is important to note that even though kelvin mackenzie wrote the article himself, there would have been an editorial process and the paper still went ahead and published his piece. helena, thank you. the iraqi government has told people living in mosul to stay inside as security forces prepare for an assault aimed at dislodging so—called islamic state militants. thousands of civilians are still trapped in the city, which has been held by is since 2014. our defence correspondentjonathan beale is embedded with troops. the prize is in their sight. the old city of mosul and its most famous landmark, the leaning minaret of the al—nuri mosque. this is where abu bakr al—baghdadi first appeared as caliph of the so—called islamic state. they still control it,

and most of what you can see. but for how much longer? translation: the mosque is now very near, and soon we will advance. we know the enemy is weak and on its last legs. a visit to the front line, though, tells a different story. for the past few weeks, the iraqi advance has slowed to a crawl. resistance is still fierce. these federal police are surrounded on two sides by is and they are firing on their positions from here. snipers, is snipers, just about 100 metres from this position. and you can see the rounds, the is rounds, coming in here, pretty regularly. tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped, caught in the crossfire.

much of mosul has already been turned to rubble. even in these deserted streets, recently secured, there is now just the debris of war. here, discarded is military uniforms and nearby, one of their many improvised bombs. but the enemy is not just hiding in the city. wejoined an iraqi intelligence unit hunting down is infiltrators and collaborators who have already escaped. now seeking shelter and avoiding capture in camps, living alongside the innocents of this war, who fled the fighting. how often do you do this? do you do this often? always, every day, every night. you're finding isis fighters in these camps? in the camp or some in his house, in mosul. everywhere.

the extremists may be losing their grip on mosul, but even if they are defeated, is won't have gone away. jonathan beale, bbc news, mosul. former world champion jenson button says he's delighted to be making a one—off return to formula one. he's agreed to race for mclaren at next month's monaco grand prix. button will replace fernando alonso. he's been granted permission to compete in the indy 500. the online accommodation booking company airbnb says it will improve its security after a bbc investigation found that some people using the service had had their homes burgled by scammers using stolen accounts. profiles of genuine users were hijacked and their personal details changed as part of the scam. the company says it will now warn members if their profile information is altered. 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 somebody is in the flat and it's not me, because my account had been compromised. christian thought he had let out his home to a verified profile, somebody who had showed airbnb government identification and had positive reviews from previous bookings. but the account had been stolen. the attacker had 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 have had their accounts compromised. there are many ways attackers could have been hijacking airbnb accounts. they might simply have tricked 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. chris foxx, bbc news. thousands of christians from around the world marked good friday by travelling to rome, to celebrate holy week. pope francis has led the processions of the cross at the colosseum — in a traditional event marking the death ofjesus christ. enjoy this weekend. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. now on bbc one, it's time

for the news where you are. goodbye. the international the romans ever done, priti patel, is accused of mud and rubble forces in south sudan deliberately blocking food aid. in a visit to the country, she also accused both sides of what she cold abhorrent human rights abuses, including rain and murder. she was speaking to james landale, who travelled with her and sent this report. -- rain report. —— rain and murder. in many civil wars, aircraft bring death. but here in south sudan, they bring hope. dropping not bombs, but bags. this is leer, a desolate spot near the front line of a conflict that has left millions displaced. these are bags full of food to relieve the

farm the un has formally declared here. we travelled with priti patel, the international government secretary, to see how the aid she has ordered his being delivered to regions that are hardest to reach. air drops that she admits are complicated and expensive and not enough is getting through. there is a conflict taking place and food is being used as part of that complex. this is a man—made famine, there is a civil war taking place here in south sudan and we have seen all sorts of up rent practices taking place, in terms of human rights violations, rape, murder, peaceful being persecuted, that's absolutely have the stock, but in the meantime, uk aid is providing a lifeline. that that absolutely has to stop. this is only a temporary food distribution centre. here forjust only a temporary food distribution centre. here for just a only a temporary food distribution centre. here forjust a few days while security can be negotiated. do people here, these bags of seed represent a chance to live, a chance

to survive. but to british ministers they also represent the sharp edge of british soft power, proof, they know, that britain is still paying a key role in the international stage despite brexit, and they help in arguments against critics back home who say britain's aid budget is too large. i think for viewers at home that yes, do question the aid budget, it makes us stand tall in the wild and gives us influence. this is south sudan's only children's hospitalfor this is south sudan's only children's hospital for and more babies are arriving with acute malnutrition. cecilia is 18 months old and severely malnourished. her mother is dead and her grandmother had no milk to feed her. i had to beg food from neighbours, she told me. but after a few days, cecilia's diarrhoea and fever has got better. this war has also forced people from their homes. this is the registration centre over the border in uganda where thousands are arriving each day. merry flight

after husband was killed by soldiers. one night her husband was followed out of the home and he was taken away from the house and slaughtered like an animal is butchered in a slaughterhouse. for all the aid, this is a crisis that many think will get worse before it gets better. james landale, bbc news, near the border of south sudan. at the jail has been heard in lagos, three years since the mass abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls by boko haram. rallies have also been held to urge the government to increase effo rts to urge the government to increase efforts to free them. most of the girls were abducted from the town of chibok are still missing. isa sanusi from amnesty international told me earlier that they wrote a report after the kidnappings, which had warned the government that something like this was likely to happen. at that time, we actually issued a

statement, saying that the government received a warning before the mass abduction of the over 200 girls at that school, and almost everybody, every day, we get stories about abductions, all in places, one of the most unsafe... justjumping m, of the most unsafe... justjumping in, because i want to get as much i can, what is it that the government is not doing to help? well, the government is actually saying that it is doing a lot, and it is also saying that it is negotiating and some girls were rescued in october, and actually the government is saying, look, we are doing her best. but advocacy groups are saying that you have to do more because we are not convinced with what you are

telling us. very quickly and finally, we understand that a lot of these girls are used increasingly as suicide bombers, but also used to raise money. do families pay for the girls to be returned? well, most of these kind of deals do not, the details do not come out in public, but the most worrying thing is the tendency of boko haram to use the abducted not only girls but others, they are forcing them into becoming suicide bombers, telling —— turning them into sex slaves and using the men among them as competence in theirfight against men among them as competence in their fight against the people and their fight against the people and the government. so that is actually the government. so that is actually the most worrying thing, they are using the abduction as a recruitment tool in some cases, and because of the threat they are facing from the security forces, they are

increasingly adopting more and more girls and young men. isa sanusi from amnesty international. let's see how the easter weekend weather is looking. divis tomasz schafernaker. weather is looking. divis tomasz schaferna ker. —— weather is looking. divis tomasz schafernaker. —— here is. quite cool today and quite chilly in some parts of the country and this is not going to change through the easter weekend or indeed well into next week. it will stay rather cool. we at least have some sunshine and the rain should not be too heavy. you can just about see the movement of the air, it is coming all the way from the arctic, milder here tries to get in but never winds. we are on the cold side throughout the weekend. and into next week as well. it has been quite wet in some areas today. certainly, the north of wales, it has had its fair share of rain. through the course of this evening, the weather front that is bringing the rain will start to fizzle away, so the rain when it reaches southern areas, it will tend

to be much lighter through the night. in fact, to be much lighter through the night. infact, in many to be much lighter through the night. in fact, in many northern areas, the skies will clear all together. western scotland and northern areas, some showers, even when trip across the hills, and chilly, just three celsius across the north of the country. then saturday, not a bad day. it will be fresh, we have already established that, but there will be some fine weather. starting across the south, some sunny weather. starting across the south, some sunny spells here, at times it will be overcast, you will get sunshine, temperatures nothing spectacular, around 12 celsius. a much better day here tomorrow. we have rain right now my northern wales getting some sunshine. showers moving through northern ireland to the north west of england and western scotland. again, the air is cold enough for some wintry ness. if there are any easter walkers up in there are any easter walkers up in the hills, it is pretty wintry into saturday evening. let's have a look at easter day itself, high pressure

to the south, then we have this very awkward weather front sliding through central part of the uk. some uncertainty how much rainfall this front will get but the basic message is, the southwest should just about stay dry and the far north of scotla nd stay dry and the far north of scotland will have some sight read, whereas many central areas are likely to see at least some rain during the day with a little sunshine, but limited. on easter monday, eastern areas getting some showers but overall, not a bad day. hello, this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment — first the headlines. the us confirms it's assessing its military response to north korea's nuclear programme — china warns conflict could break out at any moment. the us defends its decision to drop a huge bomb on islamic state militants in afghanistan — 36 militants are thought to have been killed.