hello. i'm tom donkin. this is bbc news, and these are our latest headlines: bomber targets are —— a convoy of buses. more than 100 people are feared dead. cannes as beetles. there are dead people everywhere. with tensions high in the korean peninsula, the north reportedly tries — and fails — to launch a test missile. a day after it paraded its newest military hardware. turkish politicians have made their final appeals ahead of sunday's referendum on whether the president should be given new powers. and thousands of americans take to the streets, demanding that president donald trump releases his tax returns. hello and welcome. we

start in syria, where a massive suicide car bomb has hit a convoy of buses carrying thousands of people from two besieged gunmen told villagers, waiting to be taken to safety. —— government—held villages. the passengers had been waiting at a transit point — travelling from fuua and kafraya — to the west of aleppo. the delay was caused by rebel groups voicing concerns about the status of people leaving rebel—held territory near the capital damascus in an exchange evacuation. it isn't yet clear who carried out the attack — though a syrian government mp has accused terrorists — linked to al qaeda. the emergency response group, the syria white helmets, say they have recovered more than a hundred bodies. richard galpin reports. in the immediate aftermath, a man runs towards the site of the huge explosion, filming the horrifying scenes around him. it is believed a suicide

bomber carried out this attack, reportedly driving a van carrying aid supplies. translation: i can't describe it, i am speechless. there are dead people everywhere. you can see dozens of burnt—out cars, bodies everywhere. emergency staff and opposition factions are evacuating the wounded and the dead. the target was this convoy of buses carrying hundreds of men, women and children finally able to leave their villages which had been under siege for years in syria's continuing civil war. since last night, the convoy had been held up on the road near aleppo because of a hitch in the deal agreed between government forces and the rebels for the evacuation. that left everyone here very exposed to an attack. with so many killed and injured in this bombing, there are fears of revenge attacks and an end to further agreements to get people out of other besieged towns and villages. for those who survived this attack, the aim now is to get them to safe areas as quickly as possible.

some are already reported to be getting back on buses, leaving the horror of this day behind them. richard galpin, bbc news. many of the survivors of the bombing and now receiving treatment at a hospital in the government—controlled area of aleppo. the wounded include a number of children who suffered shrapnel and blast injuries. there is more of this on our website. you can also find more information on the four towns deal which has arranged this exchange of territory and civilians. north korea has tried, and apparently failed, to launch a missile near sinpo, on its east coast. first reports came from the south korean military — now the us military says it appears the missile blew up almost immediately.

it does not yet know what type of weapon it was. it comes just after it north korea held eight military parade in its capital marking the anniversary of the birth of the state's founder. what appeared to be new ballistic missiles were displayed. with tensions high in the region, there were fears that it might make its sixth nuclear test. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth is part of a group of foreign journalists invited to pyongyang to witness the parade. his movements are being very tightly controlled. as the parade began, the ground shook. and a city at the centre of a mountain crisis echoed to the sound of marching feet. presiding over it all was kim jong—un, apparently untroubled by the international pressure over the now a realistic prospect of this most totalitarian states becoming a fully fledged nuclear power. and while president donald trump may be promising to

stop it, north korea has other ideas. it is an extraordinary sight. this is state power expressed as mass unity. it is meant to send two key messages. to the north korean people that their young leader's grip on power is unassailable, and to the outside world, that he commands massive military might. " we will respond to nuclear war with nuclear wa r" we will respond to nuclear war with nuclear war" a senior official told the crowd. a statement given extra force by the rolling out of these weapons, which analysts say might be north korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile. but while it might be isolated, it is resilient and often rational to. it wants nuclear weapons, not to use them, but as a security guarantee. what

message does this send to the outside world? " it shows the great strength of korea, this woman tells me. we are the most proud people in the world. those after decades of trying, and no one has yet worked out how to stop north korea's advance. john sudworth, bbc news, pyongyang. and festivities continued into the evening in pyongyang with a torchlight parade and fireworks festival to celebrate the 105th birthday of the state's founder, kim il—sung. the celebrations come amid higher than usual tensions with the united states over speculation the current leader kim jong—un could order a new nuclear test. the trump administration

has signalled that it's considering all options as it tries to deal with what it sees as the north korean problem. from washington here's laura bicker. pyongyang is being warned. these naval warships are within striking distance of the north korean capital. the message? the us is ready to act, if provoked. north korea is a problem. it will be taken ca re korea is a problem. it will be taken care of. north korea has to change its behaviour. the time for action is now. key to us efforts will be china. these talks with president xi jinping last week laid the groundwork. donald trump said he received assurances that they would help put an end to north korea's ambitions. some believe that is why he has dispatched those waters. perhaps the dispatch of the strike force to the peninsular is really aimed at motivating the chinese to tell beijing that the united states is serious and wants to see china put a lot more pressure on pyongyang. -- pensinsula. china is still putting pressure on at its

border and put a ban on imports of north korean coal. donald trump's best hope is in beijing. the us could also push for more un sanctions, but people believe that punishes the people of north korea, not its leaders. the pentagon has denied any suggestion of a pre—emptive strike. but donald trump's actions in syria show that he isa trump's actions in syria show that he is a president ready to take action quickly and without warning. us troops in afghanistan are advancing after the dropping of the "mother of all bombs". a display of firepower from the world's stromness military that might make kim jong—un think twice about launching any attack. meanwhile, the vice president, mike pence, is on his way to seoul, to reassure asian allies, and offer them an ironclad commitment to come to their defence. his message is that the us will do

whatever is necessary to keep the world safe. let's get more now from laura bicker in washington on the vice president's visit to the korean peninsula, where he will have to carefully balance pressure with diplomacy. this does seem to be the current strategy. apply the pressure and show north korea the strength of american military, but also the strength of american diplomacy. remember beijing's message just earlier this week was one of neutrality. so north korea no longer has that best friend, that major ally, in china, where is the us is reaching out to its allies in the region and saying we are here to you and giving you an ironclad commitment, and continuing the pressure on north korea. it is worth remembering what the end goal is coming here. the united states wants to stop north korea developing nuclear weapons and having missiles capable, not just reaching

nuclear weapons and having missiles capable, notjust reaching the us mainland, but of reaching its allies. and that is why it is continuing with the strategy. easter is being celebrated by christians across much of the world — including the russian 0rthodox church. the patriarch of moscow and all russia led a midnight service at the christ the saviour cathedral in moscow. among those the service was the russian president, vladimir putin. christ the saviour cathedral is the largest 0rthodox church in the world, and was rebuilt after the original church was destroyed on the orders of stalin. and in rome, pope francis led a mass in st peter's. he urged the world's catholics not to ignore the plight of immigrants and the poor. do stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the world loses its last living link to the 19th century. we look back at the life of emma morano, who has died at 117. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes.

he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock and as for a sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. hello. i'm tom donkin. this is bbc

world news. the latest headlines: a huge explosion near aleppo hit a convoy of buses carrying thousands of syrian evacuees. there are reports that more than 100 people are dead. north korea praised new long—range missiles as the us says it will respond to provocations with nuclear weapons. turkish politicians have made their final appeals to voters ahead of sunday's referendum on the most sweeping programme of constitutional change since the country became a republic. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan who stands to gain significant new powers, told supporters the changes would make turkey stronger. approval could see him stay in office until 2029. mr erdogan's opponents say it would lead to an increasingly authoritarian rule. nuala mcgovern is in istanbul, and gave us a sense of the mood there. it is the eve of what some people are saying could be the most significant moment in this country's

history since its founding after the collapse of the ottoman empire. that is because the referendum is taking place tomorrow. it is a simple yes or no when people go in to cast their ballot. branded brown on one side, white on the other, they tick which they want and walk back out. no question on the actual ballot. and what are they voting for? basically, they are voting whether to give their president, recep tayyip erdogan, more power. and then, for the lines currently between legislative, executive, and judicial, to become something completely different. the prime minister will be dismissed, that there will be more vice presidents, that the president will be able to appoint more judges. so, why is this even a question? it is something that has been debated for years in this country, but april 16th, as it is tomorrow,, means that it is exactly nine months since this city,

istanbul, underwent an attempted coup. it failed, but it changed everything for the residents of this city and of this country. they felt prone and under attack from forces that erdogan says was actually within the country and he needs more power to crack down on them and make the country safe. he also says they are under attack from so—called islamic state terrorists and that he needs more power to also be able to handle that threat. you also remember that istanbul has had terror attacks. the last one on the reina nightclub on new year's eve. so, an awful lot that this country has gone through, and a purge, of course, which we talked about previously which is people were rounded up, suspended, detained, arrested and sometimes jailed for their suspected part in that attempted coup. so, we don't know how things will turn out, but i can tell you that it is a city that is very much divided and that people feel incredibly strong

about the future of this country. will it become stronger with a yes vote or is it a place that is putting mr erdogan in a position of way too much power that could in fact stifle democracy? with me is berza simsek from the bbc‘s turkish service. it is good of you to join it is good of you tojoin me. a huge logistical challenge for the country. many people voting. tell us about it. there are 55 million voters in turkey. there will be 167,000 voting places around the country. at 4am gmt, the eastern pa rt country. at 4am gmt, the eastern part of the country will start voting. at 5am gmt, the rest of the country will vote. give us more detail about what is being proposed and what people are voting for and what would be political system in turkey look like should this be

pushed through? the proposed new constitution limits the power of parliament and gives more power to the president. for example, the president would be able to appoint key public officials, including ministers, and the president would be able to appoint, for example, a vice president. and the president would be able to abolish the parliament if he or she wanted, and call for a new election, for example. and the new constitution also decreases the air to be elected asa also decreases the air to be elected as a member of parliament to 18. —— age. in the current system it is now 25. we touched on that in the previous report. it has been a permaul tours political period for turkey with this coup attempted a little while ago and also the purge. tell us about the mood. it is tense.

turkey has been facing a lot of trouble since a year ago, more than a year ago. there have been attacks by the pkk or the islamic state. also, there was a failed coup in july. and, you know, after the failed coup, a state of emergency was declared. so the sentiment is quite tense. thank you very much for that. from the bbc‘s turkish service. we will be monitoring that as the results come in. thank you. voting in turkey's referendum gets under way in a few hours. on sunday, we'll have continuing coverage as results start to come in, with analysis of what the result means to president erdogan and the people of turkey. in other news this hour: pakistan's prime minister, nawaz sharif, has condemned the killing of a student accused by a crowd of committing blasphemy. there have been protests in several cities at the murder of mashal khan in the north—western town of mardan. 12 people have now been arrested,

eight have been charged with murder. mashal khan was stripped, shot, and beaten to death. afghan officials now say at least 90 fighters from the so—called islamic state were killed when america used its largest non—nuclear bomb for the first time on thursday. the attack targeted a network of caves and tunnels in eastern afghanistan. is is denying that any of its fighters died. the french president, francois hollande, has granted citizenship to 28 africans who fought for the country in the second world war and other conflicts. he said they were part of the history of france, which owed them a debt of blood. the veterans, aged between 78 and 90, attended a ceremony at the elysee palace. tens of thousands of people across the united states have marched in more than 100 cities to demand that president trump releases his tax returns, something he has refused to do. some protesters carried huge inflatable chickens, suggesting the president was scared to release the data. president trump's predcessors over the last a0 years have

all released their tax returns. greg dawson has more. fanfare. with little chance of the president himself discussing his taxes. protesters in the nation's capital opted for the next next thing. this was a situation where imitation was not meant to flatter. what is the big deal of my taxes? releasing the taxes! piles of shredded mock tax returns were thrown into the crowd. protest have been taking place in over 150 places in the us. —— protests. in chicago, crowds took part in a chicken dance, suggesting donald trump is too scared to release his returns. the

president broke a long—held tradition by not releasing his paperwork during his campaign, and these protests were timed to coincide with the mid april deadline for americans to file their tax returns. taxation without representation is there any. representation without taxation is authoritarian. we deserve democracy. in manhattan, thousands lined sixth avenue walking towards one of his hotels. these people say without his tax returns, it is difficult to see who he has had dealings with as a businessman. donald trump says he cannot supply his returns because he is being audited, something the federal tax office says is not the case. i think this is all we have. the only way to really penetrate

this administration is to take to the streets. the president's supporters point to a recently lea ked supporters point to a recently leaked 2005 return showing donald trump paid $38 million to the taxman, and many say the issues and it does not mattered to them. pro and rival rallies turned to a brawl. fistfights broke out. another reminder that donald trump continues to bea reminder that donald trump continues to be a president that polarises his country. greg dawson, bbc news. the world's oldest woman has died at the age of 117. emma morena died at her home in northern italy. she's the last person known to have been born in the 19th century. helena lee reports. here she is celebrating her 117th birthday in november last year surrounded by family and friends in her home in northern italy. asked how she felt on reaching 117, she said she felt well.

born in 1899, she spanned three centuries. the oldest of three children, she outlived all of her younger siblings. she survived an abusive marriage, the loss of her only son, two world wars, and more than 90 italian governments. and she worked in a factory until she was 65. so, what was her secret? emma morano felt it was probably her diet. translation: i ate two eggs a day, and that was it. i ate cookies. i don't eat much because i have no teeth. always eating the same things, always at the same time of day. her doctor of 27 years thought there were other reasons too for her long life. translation: the first factor is genetics. it is her own condition, a natural phenomenon, as it happens around the world. her personality would be fundamental as well. the mayor of the small city

in northern italy where she lived said she had an extraordinary life, and she will always be remembered for her strength to move forward. helena lee, bbc news. football is incredibly popular around the world, and there are few places that are more fanatical about the so—called "beautiful game" than latin america. but there is an earlier type of ball—game in that region that predates soccer by thousands of years. and in mexico, the national championship has been taking place. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. in the shadow of this ancient city, a match of the day that has been 3500 yea rs a match of the day that has been 3500 years in the making. spectators came from far and wide to the

pyramids for the mesoamerican ball game. sometimes known as ulama, the rules can very. but adhere, two teams face each other using there hipster keep the ball moving. —— but failed to do that and your opponent gets a point. both men and women can ta ke gets a point. both men and women can take part in something that is much more thanjust take part in something that is much more than just a sport. translation: what i want is for us mexicans to realise that we have a rich culture. we ought to be proud because we are the first country in the world to have a game like this. the motion of the ball is supposed to symbolise the ball is supposed to symbolise the rotation of the sun. it was played by aztec and 0lmec indians. translation: it is something i was truly proud of, being able to be

pa rt truly proud of, being able to be part of this, and make sure that my roots do not die off, and there will be another generation that provides this game from the mayans. this is a game that predates columbus and the birth of christ. it is a sport where the hips don't lie. tim allman, bbc news. it looks like fun. a reminder of breaking news. in the past hour, north korea has tried and failed to launch a missile on the east coast. first reports came from south korean military. it appears that the missile blew up almost immediately we do not yet know the type of weapon it was. that is it from me and the team. you can find me on twitter. please tweet me. from me and the team, it is goodbye. take care. good morning. cloud's been increasing from the west through the night. but where the cloud is clear

in the south and east, a chilly start to easter sunday. temperatures close to freezing in one or two spots. but, a bit of morning brightness. the difference, though, really, today, is there will be more cloud. that comes from this feature which will move north of this position. a wet start in northern ireland and potentially in parts of scotland, which could last into the afternoon. turning wetter with occasional rain in the central belt. lunchtime, the northern half of scotland, compared with what we saw on saturday, it will be a day of lighter winds. one or two showers around. warm once the sunshine is on you. brightening up in northern ireland in the afternoon. staying cloudy, damp, and cold in south—east scotland and northern england. the same in east anglia. rain is slow to reach wales and south england could be dry. a bit of sunshine out and winds not coming the north so it could feel pleasant. breezy. as we finish the day, the rain pushes down across england, east anglia, the midlands, and clips the south—east. introducing a northerly airflow.

we've got high pressure to the west, low pressure to the east, opening northerly winds. bringing late—season snow to the alps. it will bring a chilly day for us all as we go into easter monday. a bit of a bite to the winds. the showers will push through. northern and eastern scotland are particularly prone. if you avoid the showers elsewhere, a fair few or of you will, the strength of the sun will still make it feel reasonably pleasant, a bit like saturday. but if anything, temperatures down a degree or so. now, to take us through the night, the winds will ease and the showers fade. these are the temperatures. gardeners, take note. this is what it will be like in the countryside. widespread frost expected. not the only one we will see in the coming week. a few frosty nights around.

by day, quite a bit of dry and reasonably sunny weather. this is the scene for tuesday. most places having a dry day. the majority, lighter winds. one or two showers in the east and south—east. west and north, after the frosty start, it should be a nice and fresh day. high pressure building through tuesday and wednesday, especially in the northern half of the country. frost in the south. still, a lot of dry weather across the border. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm tom donkin. a massive suicide car bomb in syria has hit a convoy of buses near aleppo where people we re of buses near aleppo where people were waiting to be taken to safety from rebel—held areas. up to 100 eva cu ees from rebel—held areas. up to 100 evacuees have reportedly died. it is not clear who carried out the attack, although a group linked to al qaeda has been blamed. north korea has tried and apparently failed to launch a missile. it follows military parade in pyongyang, where what appeared to be new ballistic missiles were displayed. we tensions high in the region, there were fears it might

make its sixth nuclear test. turkish politicians have been making their final appeals to voters ahead of sunday's important constitutional referendum. president erdogan told supporters the changes would make turkey stronger. his opponents say it would lead to an increasingly authoritarian regime. britain's creative industries are