the latest headlines from bbc news: north korea has tried, and apparently failed, to launch a missile. it follows a military parade in the capital pyongyang, where 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. a massive suicide car bomb in syria has hit a convoy of buses near aleppo where people were waiting to be taken to safety from rebel—held areas. up to 100 evacuees have reportedly died. it's not clear who carried out the attack, though a group linked to al qaeda has been blamed. 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 rule. easter is being celebrated by christians across much of the world, including the russian orthodox 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 orthodox 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 peters. he urged the world's catholics not to ignore the plight of immigrants and the poor. let's have a quick look at some of the front pages. the mail on sunday leads with the rising tensions around north korea, and their threat to wipe out the united states armada. the sunday times, also leading on north korea, says president trump is prepared to strike korean nuclear sites. the sunday telegraph goes with the potential threat to america amid the growing tension. it says that north korea possesses the capability to strike american soil. the express calls it "the deadliest stand—off. " and the observer leads on an education story, saying that free schools will benefit wealthier regions. now on bbc news, an affectionate

portrait of elizabeth gathoni koinange, who celebrated her 117th birthday last month. welcome to my great—grandmother's 117th birthday. right now she is taking pictures of people who have come to celebrate this big day with her. there is more than 90 years difference between me and her. she is 117, and i am just 23. i am priscilla ng'ethe, and i'm returning to my ancestral home in kenya to celebrate a remarkable birthday, of one of the oldest people in the world. my great—grandmother, elizabeth gathoni koinange. i'm here to discover the secrets of her long life, as she throws a party and reunites five generations of my family. this is the village

where i was born. it's about ten miles from nairobi, the capital of kenya. this fertile land has been home to our tribe and to my family for at least six generations. today there are hundreds of koinanges like me spread around the world. i'm returning from my home in london to visit a woman very close to my heart, who has never left kenya, but has cultivated a globalfamily.

we arejust heading up to my great—grandmother's house. the road is quite bumpy because it is a makeshift road. this is a shrine where most of my family are buried. my great—grandad, my grandad, his children and his five wives. my great—grandmother is the fifth wife out of six. we are heading up to my great—grandmother's home, she lives right by the side of where my great grandad used to live. i'm really excited to see her. here she is. hi! hello! how are you? i am fine, good to see you. a long time. a long time, many years. this is my great—grandmother,

elizabeth koinange. she is going to be 117. this is my great—aunt, irene, who is here to help me with the translation. i can understand everything that my great—grandmother tells me, but to speak our language is really difficult. great—grandmother elizabeth has lived on this land for 90 years. she grew up tending cattle on her father's farm, then moved here as a young bride and raised seven children. she built this house with profits from the farm. my great—grandmother is proud of her government identity card. it doesn't show the exact month or day that she was worn, but does have her year

of birth as 1900. the kikuyu tribal tradition of age groups gives the same name to all children born in the same year. my great—grandmother belongs to the kihiu mwiri age group, which means she was born sometime between 1899 and 1900. do you remember when you got married? do you remember your wedding day?

force. so... she was brought by force, she was married by force because she was too young. at that time she didn't want to get married to an older person, because she was the fifth wife. great—grandmother elizabeth was the fifth of six wives of the senior chief koinange. he worked with the british during colonial rule and is well—known in kenya for playing a part in the country's independence. so, was it difficult

for you to be the fifth wife? leonard koinange is elizabeth's sixth child, and he is my great uncle. he lives next door to my great—grandmother and was a child during the 1950s when his father, senior chief koinange, was detained during the mau mau uprising. the mau mau uprising was a revolt against european ownership of land. newsreel: mau mau suspects were being checked prior

to interrogation. all were members of the tribe which has suffered most from the mau mau. a state of emergency was declared in kenya, and although it eventually led to the end of british rule, it was a tough time for my great grandparents and my uncle leonard. in 1952 my father was taken into detention. kenya had been declared under emergency and he was detained for the next seven years. we used to be children of a chief. we became beggars. we were being helped by those people we would have called poor. during the mau mau, it was not only affecting our family, it was affecting other families. one of my aunts, i think they had nine children, and my mother took them. in order that she had taken two other children who belonged

to her sister who had died. so, my mother was raising about 20 children! so, it was... it was chaotic, you know? we were fighting for food. this shrine is the resting place of my great—grandfather. he lies alongside his five wives and there is a space reserved for my great—grandmother elizabeth. as theirs was a polygamist marriage, visiting the shrine puts into perspective how large the chiefs family really was. my great—grandfather is resting here.

but his legacy is living on in hundreds of descendants. what do you think about polygamy today? would you advise me to go down that route? you wouldn't like me to do that? you were the last one to practise polygamy. does that mean that our family will now be smaller and smaller? how do you feel about that? so you wouldn't want me to just have one or two kids? regardless of how many children

i may have in the future, there's no doubt that the family is growing. my great—grandmother gave birth to seven children, and there are tens of grandchildren. my father was one of them, and i am his second child of three, making me one of many, many great—grandchildren to elizabeth. who is in those pictures? is that you?

so pretty! what about that picture there? i think it is you, and there are kids around you. i can see that photographs play a big part in my great grandmother's life. to celebrate her birthday, she's throwing a party. we're going to attempt something very special. a family photograph, a living family tree. with five generations of my family and my great grandmother at the centre. but with so many people involved, it could take a while.

the first of january is a big day for my great grandmother elizabeth koinange. she's invited family and friends to celebrate her 117th birthday. we've travelled from far and wide and for me, it's a chance to reunite with my kenyan family. so the family, your children, your children's children, we're all spread out across the world. like me, i'm in london. do you like that we're all over the world now? have you always celebrated on

january 1, since you can remember? right now everyone‘s preparing the food. there's going to be loads of meat, vegetables. so now i think it's time for me to get changed, as all the guests are slowly arriving. i'm going to wear something that's a bit more comfortable. by throwing this party,

my great grandmother is continuing the tradition started by her late husband, of gathering friends and family together on the first day of the year. so right now, the party's in full swing. most people have eaten. there's still some people getting served over here. we still have some late arrivals coming in, as you can expect. we have my great—uncle right now giving a speech and saying once everyone‘s eaten, all the family get together and take a group picture of ourfamily tree. next time for the guest of honour to take the microphone. time for cake and one of elizabeth's granddaughter‘s does the honours.

happy birthday... to you. happy birthday. applause great grandma puts her longevity down to a diet of boiled yam and milky tea. but for today she's happy to indulge. everyone has been given some cake. the first people to be given some cake was everyone named after my great granddad. so what my auntie said is all the koinanges come and get some cake. she's really happy. i think she's had a lot of cake. hopefully when i'm older than 100 years old, i will be fed cake by all the people who come after me.

yeah, it's a beautiful thing. i'm quitejealous, to be honest. we're just going to wait... this cake is good. we're going to wait for my great grandmother to go to where we're taking a family picture. once we've sat down we will start moving towards that area. organising so many people is a tough task. everybody‘s keen to catch up. while great grandmother patiently waits, it's a chance to meet relatives i didn't know i had. do you know how we're related? i belong to the grandmother older than her. this is my cousin... cousin? his son is your dad? yeah. hi. thank you very much.

i'm your aunt. yeah. people are so excited to see each other that they're socialising and they're slowly, slowly, slowly moving towards this way. hopefully we get the picture by the end of the day. first to join our living family true, great grandmother elizabeth, surrounded by her six surviving children, who have a combined age of more than 400. next to join, my aunts and uncles. now the third generation has been called. so that means the people who call my great grandmother great grandmother, so i'm part of them and i'm going tojoin them. my mother has been holding this party for about 20 years. she enjoys it. she would like to do it every quarter of a year. she's happy to see her

family coming together. she has become like the pillar for the family unit. applause many of us enjoy tracing our family tree. but for most families, gathering so many generations together like this isn't possible. it's no surprise that people have travelled from far and wide because great grandmother elizabeth's enthusiasm for life is infectious. i finally got my selfie. hers is a life well lived. a life focussed on providing her descendants with advantages that she didn't get to enjoy. faith, love and food are the fundamentals of my great grandmother's life.

although she rarely leaves her small house, the world comes to her through her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, like me. one of the things which i like about her, and i think this is god given, is her memory. because she doesn't get old. if you come here and you talk say hello to her and you talk to her, next time you come, she remember you very well. she can't forget. bye. bye— bye. improvements in medicine mean we can all expect a longer life. but it's how you live it that really matters. and for this, my great grandmother elizabeth is my inspiration. 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 city—centre 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 board. hello. my name is tom donkin. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting at home

and around the globe. here's our top stories: 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. a suicide bomber targets a convoy of buses carrying syrian evacuees. more than 100 people are feared killed. and thousands of americans take to the streets, demanding that president trump release his tax returns.