he was obviously scared, but relieved two people approached him. they said it took him a while to trust them to get into the car. which obviously is good, but i'm just glad it was those two strangers that found him and nobody else. the bus company has offered their apologies and say the driver has been dismissed for gross misconduct. they‘ re introducing enhanced driver awareness training. highland council, which issues the contracts for school transport, has launched an enquiry. the coach company is being asked to account for what happened. i hope that some vital lessons will be learned so that something like this can never happen again. a lot of people are saying there should be chaperones on the bus and i agree with that. that's why we're doing what we're doing. it's all about the kids‘ safety at the end of the day. we were lucky that we were able to tuckjohn in at night. someone else might not be so fortunate. craig anderson, reporting scotland, inverness. headlines arejust a

headlines are just a moment. let us have a look at the weather. good evening, clear skies, have a look at the weather. good evening, clearskies, cold and frosty night across the country. the exception brad away from the coast. temperatures first thing on saturday, just below freezing. a good slice of sunshine to look out for what the early—morning frost has listed. out through northern ireland, wales and south—west england, a little more in the way of cloud and a trail of showers through the afternoon. where we have seen the afternoon. where we have seen the frost, despite some sunshine, temperatures will struggle, two or three celsius with the cloud on the show was a little milder, six to eight celsius. an indication of what is to come for the second half at the weekend. a weather front moves on, milder south—westerly wind, and forgery that means rainfall over some point during the day on sunday. starting off quite heavy and widespread out to the west, pushing its weight steadily east as we go to the daybed model with it, top

temperatures by the middle of the afternoon, 7—ii celsius. take care. our latest headlines: this is an importance that on the road to delivering a smooth and orderly brexit people voted for injune last year. opening the second phase of out year. opening the second phase of our negotiations wouldn't be possible without the unity of the eu 27. the hard work of michel barnier and the constructive effort of prime minister made. judge has called for the inquiry into the collapse of a rape trial after it emerged police did not reveal crucial evidence to the defence. rainer agrees to recognise pilots unions for the first time in an attempt to avert strike action in the run up to

christmas. and kensington palace says prince harry and meghan markle will marry on may 19 next year. now on bbc news. as the standoff between the trump administration and north korea's kimjong un continues, rupert wingfield—hayes assesses the significance of the military preparations and the rhetoric on both sides. could the region, and the wider world, find itself plunged into war almost by accident? in south korea, the us air force is practising for war with the north. president trump is now threatening to erase north korea from the map. we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. kimjong—un is responding with ever bigger and more powerful missiles and nuclear tests. the us is moving ships and aircraft to the korean peninsula in ever greater shows of military might. are we now on the road to war or is president trump in danger of starting a war he doesn't want? are we now on the road to war

or is president trump in danger of starting a war he doesn't want? this could go bad very very quickly. and it could go very bad very, very quickly. 0k, we've just been told to put our goggles on. the plane is descending fast. i think that's the signal we are about to go on board. this is the scary bit. ok, that's the signal. and we're down. off the coast of south korea, three

giant american super carriers are sailing together. this is an extremely rare sight. they've been ordered here by president trump in the biggest show of naval might in this region for over a decade. the last time anything like this was seen in the western pacific was ten years ago. here of the korean peninsula no one can really remember. this is a raw expression of america's military muscle. and for president trump it is a message being sent to pyongyang that if it doesn't come to the negotiating table this is potentially what it faces. on board these ships are more than 200 combat aircraft. so what does it mean

to have three carriers out here together? well, the significance of our combat power as an american super carrier is our striking arm of our carrier air wing. and we can sustain 2a hour operations for extended periods of time. however, with more than one carrier, that length of time goes out indefinitely, quite frankly, when we get to three. in other words, if called upon to do so, there is enough firepower out here to go to war, and to keep fighting day and night. this is president trump's responds to what has been a year of dramatic advances by north korea. on the 28th of august, just after dawn, a long—range ballistic missile is launched from the runway of pyongyang's international airport. kim jong—un is there watching as the missile heads for

space. it is the fifth missile test of 2017, but this one is different. five minutes later and 1500 kilometres away in northern japan, air raid sirens start blaring. this is not a drill. the north korean missile is passing right overhead. the loudspeakers order people to find shelter. it is the first time this has happened since world war ii. for months, up and down this coast, they have been practising for this. now, they're doing it for real. for a japanese generation brought up

in peace and security, it's a big shock. translation: i want to protect my kids, but we don't have a basement, we have nowhere to hide. that missile takes only ten minutes to reach japan, what can we do in ten minutes? translation: the sirens just scare people. there's nothing we can do. so what is the point? the government needs to have a real policy. five days later, kim shocks the world again. deep under a mountain near the chinese border, north korea has set off a nuclear device. pictures show the north korean dictator looking at a new peanut shaped bomb. the explosion is huge. 20 times bigger than the bomb dropped on hiroshima. at the un general assembly

in new york, president trump makes his response. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. and for his regime. the united states is ready, willing and able. but hopefully this will not be necessary. the united states has great strength and patience. but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. speaking to the bbc, republican senator lindsay graham says this is no idle threat. i am 100% certain that kim jong—un continues to develop missile technology, that can hit america, if diplomacy fails to stop him, there will be an attack by the united states against his weapon systems. let me tell you how the war ends, it ends with his utter destruction. before we get to that point,

it might be worth trying to understand why kim jong—un seems so determined to face down america with nuclear weapons. on december 17, 2011, north korea's long reigning dictator, kim jong—il, suddenly dies. his 30—year—old son is thrust into the leadership with virtually no experience. as he escorts his father's coughing, kim jong—un is surrounded by powerful old men. walking behind him, the most powerful of all, his uncle, jang song—thaek. today, all of these old men are either dead or in prison. in 2014, kim has his

uncle hauled out of a party meeting accused of treason and executed by firing squad. kim jong—un is systematically eliminating all threats to his power. at kuala lumpur international airport, a rotund north korean man is heading for check—in. moments later, cctv cameras catch the moment he is attacked by two young women, who wipe liquid on his face. almost immediately he starts to feel ill and seeks help. minutes later, he's unconscious, soon he will be dead. the man is kimjong—nam. kim jong—un‘s older brother. just a few metres away in this cafe, at one of

those tables, four north korean men were sitting watching. all four are now wanted by malaysian authorities. one is reported to be a known north korean security agent. after the attack here was over they got up and headed for departures. kim jong—nam has been poisoned with vx, a rare and deadly nerve agent. almost certainly supplied by the agents sent by his younger brother. why would kim jong—un want his older brother dead? in the south korean capital, seoul, i've come to meet a man who once served in kimjong—un‘s palace guard. he describes the regime obsessed with security and paranoid about being overthrown. translation: to the kim family

everyone is a potential enemy. the north korean military, the general staff, the entire north korean population. anyone who opposes kim is an enemy. even blood relatives. this man says kim's nuclear quest is likewise about survival. and that it intensified after the overthrow of libyan dictator colonel gaddafi in 2011. the reason why the kim family is obsessed with developing nuclear weapons is to protect and maintain the regime. if the us attacks the north, it will use everything to strike back. but kim will not risk losing the regime by attacking first. kim jong—un is not stupid. nuclear weapons serve another purpose. to secure kim's own power and legitimacy. in every recent test he has

been there, personally supervising, cigarette in hand. president trump calls him little rocket man. but to his own people kim is now the leader who has taken their country into a very exclusive club. it is no small feat. the question now is can anything be done to stop him short of war, that everyone says they do not want. for us, in a way, the most important thing is not whether he's homicidal, it's whether he's suicidal. because whether we go to war or not, it might well depend upon whether we think deterrence works, or whether we need a preventive war. because we can't fall back to deterrence. if he's not suicidal, hisjust homicidal, then i'm prepared to argue let's rely on deterrence.

at gunsan airbase in south korea, the united states air force is practising for war with the north. i'm getting a very rare opportunity to see what that means. flying in the back—seat of an f—16 fighter. up front is colonel steve tittel, callsign wolf ii. we're heading out on what they call here a red flag.

simulated air to air combat. we're going to go ahead and we're going to engage them. 0k. 0urjob will be to play a north korean intruder. up ahead, two blue team f—16s are waiting to stop us. we're going to engage the one on the right side. passing right over the top of us. here comes the second one. wolf ii makes repeated high g turns as he tries to get a missile lock on the defending aircraft. in the back, it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest.

to stay in the air and keep fighting, thesejets need to be refuelled once every hour and a half. so we're about to go up and top up ourfuel tank, there is a tanker just up ahead of us here. we'll get some fuel. 0k, can see the tanker now. this is not a game, there is a very serious point. if there were a conflict, you'd have a fairly daunting task. any time, but especially this conflict is one that you really don't want to see if you can avoid it, but... this is deterrence at work.

wolf two and his fellow pilots practice every day so that north korea knows if it ever attacked the south it would be attacking the united states, too. i want to be ready because i want to send the message of deterrence, and the message of, leave us alone, you don't want to mess with us. but if you make the mistake of straying across touchline, may god have mercy on the wolf pack‘s prey, because we are ready. readiness is our currency and we have money in the bank. for over 60 years, this strategy of being ready to fight tonight has kept the peace. but north korea has never had the ability to directly strike the united states. until now. on november 28, north korea again shocks the world.

in the middle of the night it launches a new missile. this one is huge. much more powerful than anything pyongyang has launched before. large enough to carry a nuclear warhead all the way to washington, dc. two hours later, president donald trump tries to sound calm as he absorbs the news. thank you very much. as you probably have heard, and some of you have reported, a missile was launched a little while ago from north korea. i will only tell you that we will take care of it. we have general matters in the room with us and we've had a long discussion on it. it is a situation that we will handle. in the days that follow, america's most

advanced stealth fighter jets start landing at bases in south korea. it is now perhaps only months before north korea will be able to hit america with a reliable nuclear tipped missile. former state department officials like david straub say this fundamentally changes the equation. whether we will be content to continue just containing north korea as we've done when they can actually hit us is the big question. and it's a very difficult question. because there is no way that american news can know for sure whether north korea will never use those weapons against the united states. even if we don't provoke them in any way that we regard as provocative, we can't be absolutely sure they won't someday attack us. what would it mean for america to go to war? in south korea, i am on the road to the demilitarised zone.

the four kilometre wide strip of land that separate south korea from the north. this is the most heavily fortified place on earth. the south has hundreds of artillery pieces pointing north. the north has thousands pointing back. this recent north korean propaganda video shows its massed artillery in action. for south koreans living close to the demilitarised zone, this makes for very uncomfortable viewing. the little town of hwacheon is just six kilometres from the dividing line. in any new conflict, people here would have only minutes to evacuate. this place was built

about five years ago. underneath a mountain. and it is absolutely vast. it's 100 metres long, 20 metres wide, and so big it's got its own echo. listen to this. hello! the shelter is designed to take over 2000 people. if they can make it in time. this 86—year—old woman is one of the few still living here who remembers the last korean war. are you worried there could be war again now? translation: of course i'm worried, but what can i do? it's up to the government. if they saying i should die, i'll die. and leave, then i'll leave. a much bigger target for north korea's artillery

is the south korean capital, seoul. half the south korean population lives in the greater seoul area. 25 million people. andrei lankov is a long—time seoul resident and professor of north korean studies. so 25 million people is within the shooting range of the north korean artillery, which is located that direction, roughly, say, 20, 30 kilometres from here. and if we have a conflict, the city will be attacked by the conventional weapons which will lead to thousands of casualties in the first few minutes. many more in the first few hours. if it happens, most likely the south koreans will strike back and there is a second korean war. a second korean war would be bad enough. but this time it could go nuclear. that thought brings

horror to the people of this place. hiroshima. when that happens for you here... this woman still remembers vividly the sunny morning of the 6th of august 19115. she was eight years old. yes, every time i come here, you know, by the river, i remember it quite well. so many people died in the river. those like keiko, who survived the world's first atomic attack, are worried the world has forgotten the true horror of nuclear war. we have to avoid, stop, america will use their power to attack north korea,

because not only korean people north and south, and the chinese, we japanese, everybody will be involved. even though they don't use nuclear weapons. but they will have a very big casualty. this year, kim jong—un has repeatedly shocked the world, taking giant leaps towards his goal of a full nuclear arsenal. he is now threatening to carry out an atmospheric nuclear test over the pacific ocean. if he did, president trump might feel he has no option but to order a military strike. the president is following his instinct. and his instinct, if he's challenged, as he has been by the north koreans, is, as he says sometimes, he's a counterpuncher, to punch back. this could go bad very, very quickly. and it could go very

bad very, very quickly. and a lot of people can die very, very quickly. winston churchill once said that meeting jaw to jaw is better than war. but pyongyang says it will not talk to america until it accepts north korea is a legitimate nuclear state. washington is adamant that will never happen. and with each new test, the pressure on the american president to act grows stronger. a quiet day today with decent spells of sunshine that will lead to a cold, frosty night. don't take my word for it, let's look at some of the weather watcher pictures. 0n the outskirts of sheffield, hardly a cloud in the sky. cold enough for the snow to be lying on the high

ground. a different story in the north—east, showers coming in off the north sea coast, feeling raw out there. here are the showers to the day. the two showers to wales and into south—west england. between the two, some sunshine and here it was quite promising. we'll see clear skies and frost forming through the night. we'll keep a scattering of showers to northern ireland, maybe one 01’ showers to northern ireland, maybe one or two clipping down through the north coast. generally speaking, a quiet story. a touch of frost first thing with temperatures falling below freezing. a cold start if you are up and off early on your saturday morning. with the exception of the south west and wales. it'll be frosty, hopefully with sparkling skies elsewhere. the risk of a few isolated showers clipping the norfolk coast early on. a frosty staffer showers across north wales and northern ireland. not quite as cold here. maybe across western scotland. generally not a bad day in scotland. generally not a bad day in

scotland. it'll be cold but predominantly dry. we'll continue to see sunshine. frost will lift but look at the difference in the story. where we have cloud and showers temperatures will hold up to around 6-8d. temperatures will hold up to around 6—8d. despite the frost and sunshine coming through, temperatures are likely to struggle. two or three degrees. it'll feel cold. the last cold day for a few days because a mild south—west wind drives in from the south—west bringing mild air. u nfortu nately the south—west bringing mild air. unfortunately it will bring rain as well. the weather front will move into the north and west, an increase of cloud as we start the day on sunday, eventually bringing rain. quicker than we first anticipated. it'll bring a different story for some on sunday. we start with rain to the west but as we go through the afternoon potential through central and eastern areas to the wet weather as well. milder double digits for many across the country. looking ahead this will be the story into next week, mainly dry, milder than

we've seen of late. rather cloudy at times. this is bbc world news today. i'm ben bland. our top stories... austria becomes the only country in europe for the far right party in power. brexit negotiations are moving on. eu leaders give the green light for talks to proceed to phase two but warn the next stage will be even tougher. we are able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made. now it's up to us to draft the withdrawal agreement together with our british friends. the united states and north korea trade barbs at a sitting of the un security council in new york, as secretary of state rex tillerson suggests washington could be open to dialogue with pyongyang. and... save the date — prince harry and his bride—to—be meghan markle will wed at windsor castle on the 19th of may.