north korea has accused the us of putting the korean peninsula at risk of thermo—nuclear war — by sending warships to the region. speculation is mounting that pyongyang is about to conduct a sixth nuclear test — as it celebrates a key anniversary with a military parade. us commanders have insisted that the huge bomb used against so—called islamic state in afghanistan was the right weapon for thejob. afghan officials say there were no civilian casualties, but 36 is fighters were killed — however the group has denied suffering any losses. several thousand people have been evacuated from four besieged towns in syria as part of a deal between the government and rebels. it's hoped more than 30,000 people will be moved to ease a humanitarian crisis described by the un as "catastrophic". 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 believes it's identified comprehensive schools which 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. 0ur education editor, bra nwen jeffreys reports 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 offera grammarstream — 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. after her own 10—year battle with acne, katie snooks investigates how other people cope with the skin condition and looks at the psychological impact it can have.. hey, everyone, so i am katie snooks and you can normally find me here. i've suffered with acne for the last decade and honestly,

it has controlled every single aspect of my life from my social life, dating, and also my self—confidence. i don't feel beautiful at all, my confidence is really low today. i tried five different antibiotics. i even tried light therapy. none of them worked. until recently i finally had success. i have spent the last eight months vlogging my journey taking the sometimes controversial drug isotretinoin, more commonly known as roaccutane. the success rate is high but it's also hard to get. you can't get it from your gp and it took me a couple of years to get referred to a dermatologist. i recently finished my treatment and ijust uploaded my last skin update on my youtube channel and the transformation in my skin has just been amazing. so i finally found a drug that cleared my skin but i want to know

how other people deal with their acne but notjust the treatments but how they deal with the emotional side, the self—confidence and the way you feel about being you. time to catch a train, i'm off to edinburgh. libby and lauren are taking me on a night out. libby's tried roaccutane three times without success so now she's trying something different. so the first time i went on it, it totally cleared up and it was really good. cleared up for about a year. and then itjust came back all of it, and ifeel like it came back even worse than the first time. you so you lived with perfect skin for a whole year? i wouldn't say perfect, i still had scarring from obviously the spots before but i was happy with my skin and that's like the only time in about eight years that i have actually been happy with my skin. you are trying a new treatment now, can you tell me a bit about that? so it's a suction and laser

treatment and they go around your skin and they suck the bacteria out and zap it with a laser to kill any leftover bacteria. what's the first step in your make—up regime? i always start with covering the majority of the redness with a really high coverage concealer. that looks like an amazing product. it's so good, i love it. "this is bbc radio 1, saturday night, this is danny howard, a big shoutout to the girls getting ready for a massive night out in edinburgh... taxi's here, let's go. libby's training to be a beauty therapist and she says nights out like this are one of the times she feels most self—conscious about her skin. you feel like the odd one out, like you stick out like a sore thumb. also i feel like sort of through the night like your make—up comes off,

as well, like it's not as nice as it is at the start of the night. do you feel like you completely let go on a night out regardless of how you're feeling about yourself at that particular time? if i drink yourself! if i have had enough drink, then yeah, but if i have not.. yeah, i do let go. i am with my friends and trying to enjoy myself. when i have a problem about anything i can always go to them, they're so nice about it, i love them. do you feel like libby at any point gets jealous of you and the friends that don't have acne and have never really suffered with it? i wouldn't say so, libby's not like a jealous person, i do see she is not confident in herself and it is a real shame. she'd never be jealous of anyone. do you think her acne has held her back with dating and her self—confidence? as far as i have known her it's been school since we started there she's, i have never known her to have a boyfriend.

which is a real shame because there are so many other girls that aren't as pretty as her. she's had acne the whole time you have known her. never known her without and ijust hope something does happen for her that she can gain her confidence back. she's not really dated many guys since i have been friends with her. do you think that could be because of that? definitely. if libby never looked good before she went out she wouldn't go. she would be like, i am not going out. do you think her confidence has been affected by having acne? sometimes we have to come in the morning without any make—up on and i think libby is quite self—conscious coming out into college with absolutely no make—up on. if you are giving someone a facial with great skin but you have not great skin, so yeah definitely. so, it's been lovely to spend the evening with you and after spending the last couple of hours with you and your friends i've been thinking

are you kind of pinning all your hopes on this current treatment that you're on? yeah, i'd say i am just because the amount of money i've paid towards it, it's like my own savings and things like that. but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work and i'll try something new. hopefully not as expensive but i have noticed a difference in my skin and i have only had two treatments, so fingers crossed. it was lovely to meet libby, but after meeting her it really dawned on me just how much she's spending on this acne treatment, it's costing her £600 and that's on top of all the make—up she's buying, as well. i can relate to her so much and i really know how it feels to pin all your hopes on one acne treatment. day one of roaccutane. this is my skin. i've taken one pill so it's kind of the first day but nothing's really happened yet.

woken up and my lips feel weird. i'm very worried about these big ones all coming at the same time. that will be very painful and very unattractive. day 18, i wasn't going to film today because i didn't feel like it but i thought i would be completely honest and show you guys. today's really hard. my skin hasn't been this bad in a really long time. i put so much hope and so much faith into every single thing i tried for acne and when things didn't work itjust crushed me even more. i'm wondering what are the other solutions available for people like libby? so i've come to meet one of the uk's leading dermatologists. have a seat. i met libby a few days ago and she's tried roaccutane three times and it hasn't worked for her and now she's

paying her own money for a new light therapy treatment which she's kind of pinning all her last hopes on. i was wondering if there are any other treatments left available for her or people like her? i wouldn't say there's anything imminent that's going to topple roaccutane off its perch but there are particularly light—based treatments now that seem to be gaining more evidence to suggest they may help. for libby, i think getting support from consultant dermatologists, either privately, if it's not possible, because the nhs is so burdened, would probably at least make her feel more empowered and enabled. so i'vejust finished my course of roaccutane after eight months, and before i started i was googling it and researching it an awful lot. there are a lot of kind of controversial things about roaccutane on the internet. is it really that controversial?

well, roaccutane is an extremely strong medication for acne, and acne is not a life—threatening disease. so it's always a matter of balancing up the pros and cons, but it doesn't come without risks and it's understanding the risks, informing the patients of the risks so they can make their own decision, but it can be extremely effective for people who have severe and/or stubborn acne. it's understanding what the risks are. someone who knows all about those risks isjessica. i'm off to third wheel her date night with boyfriend brendan. jess hasn't used roaccutane because she's been diagnosed with anxiety. dermatologists say the side—effects range from dry lips to, much more rarely, kidney damage and even mental health problems. so how did you two meet? we met at my dad and my stepmum's wedding. want to show us your... show us your moves, your skills? backflips? i don't think so. how long have you had acne? it's been about ten years now. so i'm 22 now, so kind of all started when i was about 12. i'd get, like, really bad whiteheads on

my face and my friends were like, let me pop your spot and i'd be like no, no, that's horrible! and i think forget, like, the physical side of it as well. yes. kind of worse on my shoulders but it does go down my back as well, and i like to call it bacne. can we see that as well? do you mind? let's have a look. see, they don't look too inflamed at the moment. theyjust look a little bit... it looks like scarring, but it has been worse in the past? yeah, definitely. how about when you first met, was that kind of awkward? i think i was a bit embarrassed, and especially because of my shoulders. i kind of, like, made a joke out of it but i think it was... it's hard. and do you have any ways in particular to make yourself feel better whilst you're, like, really suffering with acne? just, like, having somebody, having your friends and family and just know that they're always there. none of my friends, my family, my boyfriend, they don't care about my skin. so spending time with them, and ijust make sure that i use,

like, a moisturiser. hello. are you exhausted? yeah, i'm a bit tired after that. now it's your turn. show us your moves. brendan... i'lljoin you in a minute! so, ijust wanted to talk a little bit about how, kind of, jessica's acne has affected your relationship at all? she does have low confidence sometimes, especially when wearing tops where her back's revealed, because she feels quite conscious about that. has it ever, like, caused any friction in your relationship, her low self—confidence, because of her skin? i've always been able to kind of notice whenjess has been quite down about things. so when she's been quite quiet or quite upset, i've approached her and spoken to her about it. you sound like a great boyfriend. it was really lovely to meetjessica last night, and although she is feeling confident and happy at the moment, i am concerned because i know from experience that if you have acne,

it's always there in the back of your mind, no matter how many kind of smiles you can put on for other people. i'm meant to be going out tonight. supposed to be going out tonight and now ijust don't... i really don't want to. not only is it breaking out, it's also so itchy and it hurts, it's painful as well. it becomes really infuriating and frustrating when girls with clear skin on social media, especially some of the ones i follow on twitter and snapchat, they're like, oh, i've got a spot, everything is ruined! and they've got the tiniest, tiniest little spot you can't even see. i've got something going on with my eyes, i've got some kind of eye infection. i've never really had one before. it makes me want to gouge my eyes out. and sojust... really frustrated. today i'm going to meet sarah. she got in touch with us about her acne. she's suffered with it

for an awful long time. and we're also going to be meeting her son george. he also has acne. i'm unsure about how much he's going to talk to us about it, but let's go and have a chat. i'm katie. so your mum got in touch with us about her acne. how did you feel when you found out? not too bad, really. i mean i think it's quite good that you're doing a documentary, because everyone can understand what it's like. almost everyone has or suffers with acne at some point in their lives. but when you're going through it kind of almost feels like you're the only one. yeah. i look at myself in a mirror and think, yeah, this is worse than everybody else. because i don't really see, i don't look at other people specifically, i kind ofjust criticise myself for it. you sometimes wear make—up to cover your acne, can you tell me a bit about that? it comes as a bit of a shock at first, people are like, are you wearing make—up? then everybody realises, what is the difference? all the girls in my year slather themselves in make—up as soon as they get a spot, at this stage

i was, i think everyone could empathise with me and see why i was doing this, because i was at such a bad point. it made you feel better? it did. it covered it up, when i looked in the mirror i did not look atrocious, i looked normal. do you have any pictures, would you me having a look at them? yeah. george is 15 and it takes him real guts to show me these pictures. so these are ones back on holiday. as you can see, i look pretty bad. that is not at my worst. he is now on roaccutane but sharing the camera photos when he was not is a big step.

it looks really painful, your entire face is covered with quite big... it was quite bad, it was notjust on my face, it was my back, my neck. getting to sleep was a struggle. i would have to deal with my face in the day and my back at night. i'm sorry to say this but it also... it almost makes you look like a different person because the cysts are so big they kind of distort your face. i was quite swollen as well. thank you so much for showing me these pictures and for talking to me today, you are super inspiring. i thought me and george had a unique story, we both have acne, we both have acne, we're both on roaccutane. if showing the world has acne at its worst is too much for george, his mother has had decades to grow in confidence. oh, my gosh!

that was pretty much rock bottom. that was horrendous. how did... when you woke up every day, what did... literally every time i looked in the mirror it changed, it was like it was moving around. it got worse and worse. when george was nearing the age when you started to get it, were you worried? i always said as soon as they got spots they would go to the doctors. did it make you feel guilty? no, just sad. i can feel guilty, i have done nothing wrong but i feel sad, i feel for george that he has had to go through this and he has dealt with it really, really well. he is a very resilient kid. seeing acne that bad has really touched a nerve. i can remember exactly how i used to feel when mine was that bad and itjust isn't fair. you just want someone that you feel like you can turn to land will have answers for you. but obviously it does not happen with everyone.

i was lucky enough to have found a dermatologist i could connect with. this has also got me thinking aboutjessica. she has not really nailed any solutions despite putting on a brave face, so i have decided to put her in touch with a doctor. i thought i would tell you a bit about myself. i am 22, i have had acne for about ten years now. i saw a dermatologist and was offered roaccutane but we decided it was not the best thing for me, so i was wondering if there were any alternatives. every patient is different, i am meeting you for the first time but roaccutane may be a treatment option for someone with your skin type, but it is notjust your skin, it is the emotional side and anxiety. there are lots of options. do you think there will ever be a cure for acne?

in many patients, roaccutane or isotretinoin can cure the acne, turn it off and it does not come back, but not all. we always live in hope of a cure. i have heard things about diet, skin care, that that affects acne. is there any truth behind that? whether or not one develops acne is pretty much genetically determined, but there are outside factors. stress can trigger it, you need strategies to manage it so that you feel happy that it is acceptable and you are coping with the condition rather than its ruining your life. thank you for talking to me. that is what it is all about. you finding ways to deal with and cope with the acne, rather than its controlling every aspect of your life. somehow you have to finds a way to stay positive. it's looking so good. i am really, really happy with how my skin's looking.

what is this, though? for the first time in a real long time i am just using like a stick concealer foundation which i've never been able to do before because my skin's always been so blemished. day 205, this is my skin. still really happy with it apart from this, but apart from that perfect! loving it! today is my last ever day of roaccutane. i am the happiest i've ever been within myself for a really long time, like ten since since i have had acne and i couldn't be happier, yeah, this is my skin, how good is it guys! —— ten years. i've been lucky so far. but the up with thing i've learned is that your skin doesn't define who you are. so whatever stage of your acne journey you are on, you have got to find a way to feel good. i am a keen photographer.

it is what my degree is in. i wanted to do something to help the people i have met feel better. what were your thoughts about chatting to doctor tamara? i feel more confident about talking to my doctor about seeing a dermatologist, she put my mind at rest and i might go on roaccutane. it is good you spoke to her, you have not spoken to anybody about your acne for a while. about four years, it was nice for her to put my mind at rest. cute! big smile. do you guys have one thing that you would say this one suffering with acne? —— to someone. go to the doctor, if the doctor does not give you the answer you want, go to another and keep asking, as for a referral to the dermatologist

if the medication is not working. you are never alone, there is always somebody else out there suffering, try to find someone to talk to, even if they do not have acne. don't pick your spots, it leaves you with so many scars. every time i get a new spot, i don't touch it. look how beautiful that is. thanks. do you like it? yes. it has been amazing to meet so many inspiring people along this acne journey, who all have great ways of dealing with their acne to make themselves feel better. you can talk to your doctor and see what treatments are available, you can visit a dermatologist, listen to their advice and take it in because they are the experts. whatever stage of your acne journey, there are still ways to feel great about yourself.

hello. rain for some of us on good friday. for very few of us, though, during saturday. it is an easter weekend of up—and—down weather. it is cool throughout, but there are sunnier days, saturday will be one. there are also wetter days. looks like for some of us, the rain will come back on sunday, easter day. and we'll get to

easter monday as well. we'll start with saturday. a cloudy start across parts of southern england. it will brighten up. sunny spells from the word go, elsewhere. it is quite a blustery day across the northern half of the uk. some gales across parts of northern scotland, and the showers are going to be most frequent coming to northern scotland. there will be some snow on the higher hills. there will be a few showers in northern ireland, scotland, and a few pushing into northern england on the wind as well. it will be breezy, so they will move through quite quickly. for the rest of england and for wales, we will see very few showers here. just one or two around, but the vast majority will stay dry. not quite as windy the further south we come, but it is a cooler, fresher feel wherever you are, especially in the breeze. through the day, the showers will come into scotland, most frequent in northern scotland, wintry on the hills. one or two for northern ireland and northern england, but very few for the rest of england, and for wales, where it will be largely dry. those temperatures down compared with good friday, so 11! degrees possible in london, only nine in glasgow.

for most of us, we will be around 9—12 degrees, with the wind making you feel cooler. bear that in mind if you areheading into the higher scottish hills and mountains. so wind chill will be a factor. there could be some snow showers as well, so some wintry conditions, you have to be prepared. going to saturday evening, it will be chilly. many of the showers will start to fade away, so we're left with a mainly dry saturday evening, but watching a weather system coming in from the atlantic for part two of the weekend. that is easter day, for sunday. there is a risk of some snow into the scottish uplands, perhaps the higher parts of the pennines, too, for a time, as the wet weather pushes across northern england, wales, east anglia, the midlands, leaving southern england dry. some uncertainty about the position and timing of this weather system. so keep watching the forecast during saturday if you've got plans on sunday, easter day. those temperatures around nine to 15 celsius. for easter monday, we're dealing with showers, most frequent down the east coast of the uk, where it will be windy. but there will be sunny spells around, too. once the cloud clears away on monday night, it is looking frosty, and we've got some very chilly

nights for this time of year coming up next week. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting at home and around the globe. i'm tom donkin. our top stories: north korea commemorates its founding father — but as tensions grow, will there be an act of defiance against the west? this is the scene live in pyongyang right now as the parade gets into full flow — china warns conflict on the peninsula could break out at any moment. hello. tens of thousands of north korean soldiers and civilians are taking part in celebrations to mark the anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, kim il—sung. this was the scene a short time ago as president kim—jong un