a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: war games in korea but calm words in washington. the us says tighter sanctions and more diplomacy are the way forward. a special report from egypt, centre of the multi—billion dollar illegal trade in human organs. two weeks after the us dropped the mother of all bombs, we get rare access to the afghan cave complex to find fighting still going on. and the new cold war. we join the arctic brigade as it warns the west not to interfere in russia's backyard. amid the rhetoric about nuclear war, the military manoeuvres, the anti—missile systems moving

into place, the question remains of how to persuade north korea to give up its weapons programmes? after years of efforts by the us and un the trump administration has now shed more light on how it hopes to do it. all 100 us senators were briefed on it on wednesday. it is almost the same policy as the past few years. more diplomatic pressure, tougher sanctions, more calls on china to help. jon sopel reports. this isn't for real but it looks terrifyingly like it. a live—fire exercise conducted by 2,000 us and south korean troops, just miles from the north korean border at a time of extraordinary tension. it's a show of force, a show of unity. a military exercise with an unmistakable message to the south's unpredictable northern neighbour, we want peace, but we're ready for all eventualities. in washington this morning, the head of us pacific command put it like this. as president trump and secretary

mattis have made clear, all options are on the table. we want to bring kim jong—un to his senses, not to his knees. he said the us had no option but to take the north koreans at their word. i believe that we have to look at north korea as if kimjong—un will do what he says, and when he threatens the united states, that's one level, but when he threatens the united states with the capability of realising that threat, that's a different place. from the capitol today, an exceptional and unprecedented event. the whole senate decamping to the white house, though some seemed a little lost on where to go, to be given a classified briefing on the north korean situation from the president and all his key national security staff. a fleet of tour buses taking republican and democrat senators on their day trip. i think the symbolism of going to the white house, where the commander—in—chief lives, to hearfrom the commander—in—chief and his team about what we need

to do or be prepared to do with north korea is an appropriate sense of how serious this is. and just after the briefing, there was this reaction. it was a sobering briefing in which it was clear how much thought and planning is going in to preparing military options if called for and a diplomatic strategy that strikes me as clear—eyed and well—proportioned to the threat. 0vernight, the us moved in a missile defence system called thaad, which will be operational in the next few days. something that has not only caused unease in the north but in china too. for the military exercises, a grandstand was built so that south koreans could watch. this woman says that kim jong—un will see in these drills how strong we are, and he will never dare to attack us. but this man comments, "i'm certainly more worried than before. kim jong—un is not the type of person to be pushed around".

and the north korean leader has also ordered military exercises. nervousness seems to be the one thing that is shared on both sides of the border, and in the region as a whole. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's speak to the bbc‘s laura bicker, whojoins us live from washington. laura, amid all the terrifying talk and the exercises, some questioning whether this briefing was really just political theatre. what is the latest from there? what we're hearing is the pressure is being piled upon pyongyang, but it's being done so diplomatically. in a statement from the secretary of state, rex tillerson, what they seemed to be talking about was a path to dialogue. 82 negotiations. rather than really expressly military options. —— a road to. when

it comes to that path to dialogue what they really need on their side is china. already china has pushed the sanctions, they have for bidon coal imports from north korea cutting off a real market for north korea, they could go further and that's what the united states hopes. they could also redesignate north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, that would give them an option to impose further sanctions. this measure of sanctions with international pressure is a wave they hope to force kim jong—un to they hope to force kim jong—un to the table —— a way. but few in washington believe that may work. so perhaps the military manoeuvres that you're seeing is just that extra impetus to force kim jong—un to look and to see the military might of the us that he's facing. laura, thank you very much indeed for that. at least 10,000 human organs are sold illegally every year according to the world health organization. billions of pounds are tied up in a trade driven partly by desperate refugees making money by selling their body parts.

the middle east is considered the hub of the trade but egypt hosts the largest number of illegal operations. in the second of our series on organ trafficking, our correspondent nawal al—maghafi reports from cairo. cairo, one of the middle east's main business hubs, but now a darker trade is thriving. the network is wide, from migrant smugglers to some of egypt's leading doctors. a crumbling health system and shortage of organs has meant that people wait for years, so turn to the black market where profits are huge. translation: if you've got money, anything is possible. this man matches up those wanting to buy with those desperate enough to want to sell their organs. conflict in the middle east has made hisjob easier. what he is doing is illegal, but but he now claims to feel remorse, so explains the trade to us. translation: people came to me

wanting to sell their organ to pay to be smuggled abroad. money never lasts long, but the promise of a safe life and opportunities overseas are a pretty good incentive. organ donation is complicated here, no money can change hands and you can only donate to someone from the same nationality, but there are always ways to get around the law. translation: if someone's got dark skin, for example, they could pass as sudanese, the brokersjust make him a fake passport. you can buy the passports from the streets, it's really not a big deal. authorities claim they're trying to crackdown on this trade. last year, they conducted a raid of multiple clinics, resulting in the arrest of 45 people, among them doctors and nurses. millions of pounds were recovered, yet for many the profits outweigh the risks. we're on our way to meet a doctor who we've been told works as a surgeon within the organ trade. we're going in undercover

and our story is that my father is in desperate need of a kidney transplant, but can't find a donor. medical costs for illegal transplant are around $3,000, but we've been told to say we'll pay whatever‘s necessary. this is illegal. dr ahmed mustafa works for the police, he reassures us that he can help. this man was on the government waiting list for months, until his health deteriorated to the point that the family decided to buy a kidney. i ask him, what if something happens to the donor,

will i not be held responsible? during our investigation we learnt of a man who died after selling his kidney. the risks are huge, but so is the desperation for a better life. and with no control in place, there'll be no stopping the organ trade. nawalal—maghafi, bbc news, cairo. nearly two weeks after the us dropped its biggest non—atomic bomb in afghanistan there is still heavy fighting between the afghan army and the extremist group that calls itself islamic state. so it's been hard to assess the real impact of the blast. moab, the so—called mother of all bombs, was dropped in a remote corner of eastern nangarhar province.

bbc‘s afghan‘s auliya atrafi is one of the first reporters to get access to the area. on the road to achn district where the us dropped its mother of all bombs. islamic state militants are active here but this missile caused little damage. and as we get closer, we begin to see the first signs of the massive explosion that rocked these mountains. afghan forces say the bomb killed around 100 militants from the so—called islamic state. the target was a network of caves, like these, used as a hideout. translation: these caves are left from the time of the soviet invasion and they were also used by the taliban. now is militants are using them too. the cave network has been destroyed and it's possible most of the dead are still under the rubble. what looks like from the situation that we see

here is that the mother of all bombs might have destroyed the network of caves in this one location but we're told there are hundreds of other caves in the area still filled with is fighters, has one soldier here put it, the more we kill, the more come from the other side of durand line from pakistan. along the valley, american warplanes are carrying out raids on targets. and here are more scars of a long battle. this is the market off shadel bazar. it used to be lively market but the ongoing fighting has forced many to flee. many residents say the us bombing raid isn't going to change much. translation: this was just a trick to show the world that their mission is going well. but the bomb did nothing.

reporter: you think is will come back? yes, as soon as government troops leave the locals won't be able to fight them. if the government makes permanent bases in the area and helps us then we will be ok. the fight is far from ending. and for these locals, the us's biggest bomb is not going to be the end of their troubles. auliya atrafi, bbc, injalalabad. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: 200 companies are bidding to build president trump's wall with mexico. we meet one man who's received death threats as a result. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government to build better government housing. internationally, there have

already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting forfor so long. it was 7am in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the trump administration has said it aims to force north korea into dismantling its nuclear

and missile programmes through diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions. a bbc investigation has revealed the scale of organ trafficking in egypt, with thousands of illegal operations taking place each year. turkey's police force says more than 9,000 officers have been suspended for suspected links to the islamic preacher blamed for last year's coup attempt. earlier on wednesday more than 1,000 were arrested in simultaneous raids across the country. those detained were described as "secret imams" operating inside the police. greg dawson reports. in single file, they waited for a swift call. each accompanied by a police officer. each a suspect in president erdogan‘s crackdown on those he believed plotted against it. on wednesday, police launched simultaneous operations across the country. more than 1000 detained

we re country. more than 1000 detained were themselves police officers. many are believed to be associated with the toomaga—allen, a former ally of president erdogan. —— gulen. he denies running the coup. since the coup attend, 7000 have been arrested. around 100,000 people have been forced to leave government jobs, including policing and teaching. the latest purge comes after president erdogan now rally w011 after president erdogan now rally won a controversial referendum to increase his powers. —— narrowly. he says it makes the country safe, but opponents say it is a dictatorship, firmly denied by the prime minister.

translation: i cannot agree with those claims because approximately 50 million voted, they went to the ballot boxes, and made a choice. more than 25 million people said yes. this crackdown has further soured relations with the eu allies of turkey. they were criticised by the german government and the eu parliament who said there should be a suspension of talks that turkey should one dayjoin the european union. moscow has accused nato of a military build—up in the arctic, close to russia's borders. russia has been increasing its military presence in the arctic. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, is the first british journalist to be given access to the russian military‘s arctic brigade close to the border with finland. on its northern frontier, russia is flexing its muscles. this is its

arctic brigade in training in case there's confrontation their neighbours. in the arctic now, there is a battle for supremacy that russia is determined to win. this base close to finland is normally off—limits to western media but we have been invited to meet russia's arctic army. it is the ultimate cold war. temperatures here can fall to —40 centigrade. today, the brigade is on exercises, repelling an enemy attack. recently, washington accused moscow of acting aggressively in the arctic to increases military presence, the response from russia was "what is the problem?" i think any country, no matter where it is, has its own interests. this is our land, russian land, and we will defend it.

this is the first time foreign journalists have been allowed to film, and by bringing us here they are sending a clear message to the outside world, that russia is ready and determined to protect its national interests in the arctic. that's because there is money to be made here. the arctic waters are thought to contain one quarter of the planet's undiscovered oil and gas. with polar ice shrinking, there's now an opportunity to extract the energy. there are new shipping lanes, too. russia is competing with other arctic powers for a slice of the profits. it's also building a string of bases. president putin visited one last month. russia's attempt to back up its economic claims with a show of strength. but it's a fashion show we're treated to back on base. to survive the arctic, you need the right clothes, and the right food. for the arctic brigade, that means russian sausages and fresh fish. thenifs

then it's back on patrol. russia says it doesn't seek conflict in the arctic but there are competing interests in this region and russia is in no mood to back down. steve rosenberg, bbc news, the russian base in the russian arctic. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. venezuela says it's withdrawing from the regional group the organisation of american states, accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs. there were more demonstrations on wednesday to call for early elections, with the country suffering from an acute economic crisis. more than 20 people have died in a wave of protests since the end of march. the us treasury secretary says the trump administration will carry out what he called "the biggest tax reform in american history." steve mnuchin said the president planned to slash corporation tax from 35% to just 15%. the change would also affect small businesses, part of a campaign pledge mrtrump affect small businesses, part of a campaign pledge mr trump made last year. and president trump has signed an executive order directing

the government to review decisions by previous presidents to designate large areas of land as national monuments. the move could open up more federal lands to drilling, mining and other development. mr trump said the people's ability to access and utilise land had to be protected. mexico won't pay for it, and at least for now, neither will congress, but donald trump insists his border wall with mexico will get built. and there are signs the project itself is moving forward. landowners in texas have received letters ordering them to sell to the government to make way for the wall, while more than 200 building firms have submitted bids to construct the barrier. and as james cook reports from el paso, in texas, at least one of the bidders has been receiving death threats. on the us—mexico border, a bizarre beauty contest is about to begin. some 200 companies have submitted bids to build donald trump's wall. soon, a handful will be invited to make prototypes. the bids include some eye—catching designs.

there is a wall in the medieval style. another which doubles as a nuclear waste store. this one, made of solar panels, and even a design for a barrier adorned with glittering gems. some, though, are less outlandish. this will be 30 feet high and then six feet below in the footing. michael evangelista said he had to search his soul before bidding, as a latino who wants to build the wall, he has received numerous death threats. his voice mail is not pleasant. i know that you're trying to build that wall and i think it's disgusting, a disgrace. and you are a traitor. you had better watch your back. there are plenty of people out here like me that would love to see you get hurt. so why on earth did he get involved at all? members of my own family were initially upset about it. but when they understood and i explained to them that the reason why we are entering this conversation

is because we don't want this wall to have lethal options, including an electrified fence or razor wire. the border wall is a reality and if it is going to be done, we needed it to be done right. it won't be easy. a treaty with mexico prohibits building on the edge of the rio grande. instead, the proposed route slices through private property. bitter battles loom. this is where they want to build a wall. this would be part of the section that they want, 60 feet wide by over a mile long. but it would be no—man‘s—land, because who is going to want that property? noel benavides has received a government letter telling him his land will be cut into by the wall. we need access to the river, we have water rights, we have several feet of water rights from the river that right now we're not using, but in the future we probably will. a wall, you go back in history, it has never worked. people just go over it. you've got a 20 foot wall,

but someone is going to build a 21 foot ladder to go over it. he is not the only critic. in fact, all along the border, there is scepticism. here in texas, opposition to lengthening and strengthening this barrier comes, notjust from president trump's democratic opponents, notjust from mexico across there, but also from quite a few republicans. among them is this congressman. will hurd used to be a cia spy. now he's battling his own president on the home front. i think building a wall from sea to shining sea is the most expensive and least effective way to do border security. we should be using technology, we should be using people, we should be increasing intelligence on the bad guys that we are trying to stop and stop them before they get through our border. these are all things that are better use of american taxpayer dollars. the white house continues to claim that the cost of a bigger,

better barrier, will be met in the end by mexico. critics say that it's fantasy. but president trump still insists that his wall will be built. james cook, bbc news, el paso in texas. tributes have been flowing in from across hollywood for the oscar—winning film—maker, jonathan demme, who's died aged 73. he'd been suffering from cancer. he was probably best known for directing "the silence of the lambs," but also made the ground—breaking aids drama "philadelphia," and the talking heads, documentary "stop making sense." anthony hopkins, who also won an oscar in silence of the lambs, said jonathan demme had a "great spirit," and "every day being with him was a high five." a young taiwanese trekker is recovering in hospital in nepal after nearly seven weeks missing in remote mountains north—west of kathmandu. rescue teams found liang

sheng yueh in a canyon beside the body of his taiwanese girlfriend. she apparently died just three days before their discovery. doctors treating mr liang said he'd lost thirty kilos in weight but was out of danger. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello again. our weather is set to turn a little bit milder over the next few days, quieting down in many respects. but before we get there, yesterday we had some really big thunderstorms hanging around. this one brought hail in west hampsted. thanks to our weather watcher for sending that picture in. you can see the extent of the showers as they have worked in. the showers have tended to die away overnight. just one or two left over working towards central, southern england. by and large, today we are looking at quite a cloudy weather picture for many of us. and there will be some showers knocking around as well. ok, let's take a look at how the weather starts off in the morning.

quite a lot of cloud around. some showers really from the word go across north—western areas. towards southern parts of england and wales, this is where the clearest weather will be. and certainly a cold start to the day. we're looking at some patches of frost around. probably the lowest temperatures at —3 or so. a cold and frosty start to the morning. it should be reasonably bright. brightness will not last, though. look at this. quite quickly, we will see an area of cloud come down from the north. that will tend to trap cold air at the surface. it's one of those days where temperatures will be slow to rise. northern england, northern ireland, scotland, a cloudy start to the day. occasional brighter spells. but already a few showers from the word go. quite breezy in northern scotland as well. through the rest of the day, the showers that are really associated with weak weather fronts will go southwards.

it will turn cloudier and cloudier as the day goes by. and eventually we will start to see those showers working in across east anglia and the east of england. late in the day, the far north of england will brighten up. temperatures generally about 11 degrees for many of us. now, looking at the weather picture through the night time, and those showers will continue to go southwards. quite a bit of cloud initially. then the showers fade away and skies clear in the second half of the night. and again that will allow things to get chilly. there will be some pockets of frost developing by the time we get to friday morning across parts of scotland and the far north of england in the countryside. here's friday's weather picture. generally a quiet weather day. again, we're looking at a few showers. most in eastern parts of scotland, eastern england. but for many of us, it's a dry and bright kind of day with cloud coming and going through the day. those temperatures will be rising a little bit. so, highs between 11 and 1a degrees. feeling a little bit more pleasant. and that trend i think goes on into the first part of the weekend. saturday, by and large a dry day with sunny spells.

isolated showers possible in western areas. but for most of us a quiet weather picture. temperatures continuing to rise. 12—15 degrees. not bad for the start of the weekend. and that's your weather. the latest headlines for you on bbc news: after days of military manoeuvres, the us has said it wants to push for tighter sanctions and more diplomacy to end north korea's nuclear and missile programmes. it wants china to agree to do the same. a bbc investigation has revealed the scale of organ trafficking in egypt, with thousands of illegal operations taking place each year. venezuela has announced it will withdraw from the organisation of american states, accusing it of trying to meddle in the country's internal affairs. the foreign minister said she was acting against foreign intervention. tributes have been flowing for the oscar—winning film—maker jonathan demme, who's died aged 73. he was probably best known for directing the silence of the lambs but also made the ground—breaking aids drama, philadelphia. now on bbc news, it's time for a look back

at the day in parliament.