15/04/2012 BBC Weekend News

The Taliban launch a spring offensive with a wave of co-

ordinated attacks in Kabul. Gunfights continued into the night.

Western Embassies, NATO's headquarters and the Afghan

parliament all targeted. They might have entered the city

today, but Afghan National Police are showing them clearly where

their limit limitations are. to risk losing millions of pounds

in donations. A show of strength, a military

parade in North Korea sees its new leader Kim Jong Un speak in public

for the first time. This is the regime that is in total

control and which demands loyalty to its new young leader.

A bolt from the Blues, Frank Lampard's stunning free kick helps

Good evening. There has been fierce fighting in the Afghan capital,

Kabul, today with Taliban insurgents launching a wave of co-

ordinated attacks and calling it the start of a spring offensive.

Several Western embassies including Britain's were targeted as well as

NATO's headquarters and the parliament building. The Afghan

Government says 19 gunmen were killed. Quentin Somerville sent

The Taliban once again in the heart of Kabul. Suicide bombers and

gunmen spread across the city. The Afghan police were quick to respond,

but these pictures appear to show a policeman killed by the insurgents.

TRANSLATION: I was in my workshop when I heard the sound of shootings.

I saw two men come down from a black glass land cruiser car. They

were wearing local cloths. One of them opened fire on a policeman and

killed him. But it was the Taliban who took

most of the casualties. In a similar attack last September,

Afghan security forces floundered. Today, they seemed to have proved a

match for the insurgents. Among the targets, the German and British

embassies, but the attacks caused little damage and few casualties.

The international mission said Afghan forces were in charge.

is obviously aimed to send a signal. The signal could be that they are

able to enter the city. Well, they might have entered the city today,

but Afghan National Police are showing them at the moment very

clearly where their limitations are. American soldiers fire on a Taliban

position. Moments after a rocket was fired at their base.

Today's attacks didn't just hit Kabul, they were across the country

including this combat outpost in the east of the country. You saw

that the soldiers responded with six rounds on the insurgents

position, the message from the Taliban today is that the fighting

season here in Afghanistan has well and truly begun.

An airfield outside Jill albad was attacked. There were explosions in

several provinces. This was a co- ordinated effort.

The assault isn't completely over. It is likely the first of many

attacks in Kabul this year. The spring offensive has got off to an

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has revealed his proposals for changing

party funding which he says will cost Labour millions of pounds in

an election year. He wants to limit donations to �5,000 a year

including those from trade unions, but fees paid by their members

would stay unchanged. The Conservatives have called the

proposals "virtually meaningless". Everyone at Westminster agrees that

money and politics are two in-- too intertwined. All three political

parties want to become less reliant on wealthy donors, but talks on the

subject just keep stalling. Ed Miliband says it is now time to try

again to clean-up the political process.

Let's take the big money out of politics. Now I hope that Nick

Clegg and David Cameron will come forward with their own proposals

which say, "Look we are willing to to take a bit of pain. We are

willing to make charges." -- changes.". The Labour leader wants

a cap on individual donations of �5,000, half the amount recommended

by an independent report. That is comparison to the Conservatives

preference for a �50,000 limit on individual gifts. Ed Miliband

claims his cap would mean a sacrifice in an election year of �9

million for Labour. But crucially the cap wouldn't affect the

millions of pounds Labour gets every year from its affiliated

unions through membership fees. The Liberal Democrats argue that

arrangement needs reforming and the Conservatives agree.

It is the unions that have have been blocking it and the unions run

and control Ed Miliband, the Labour leader.

Some reformers say the solution is to have more taxpayer funding, but

the main parties seem reluctant in the present climate. The debate

rumbles on, but an agreement is as The Government says it will work

with charities to ensure their income is not "significantly"

affected by plans to limit tax relief on donations. More than 40

philanthropists have expressed opposition to the idea as well as

the Conservative Treasurer, Lord North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong

Un, has spoken in public for the first time since taking power late

last year. Addressing a huge military parade in the capital

Pyongyang, he vowed to maintain his country's military might just two

days after the failure of a high profile rocket launch. Damian

A goose-step in absolute time. Rank upon rank. This is probably the

most militarised State on earth and now heading its repressive regime,

a new supreme leader who has inherited the role from his father

and grandfather before him. Kim Jong Un grind and chatted as he

reviewed his troops. It is the perfect precision of it all that is

so striking. This is the regime that is in total control and which

demands loyalty to its new young leader.

TRANSLATION: He is not even 30 years old. This was the first time

his people had ever heard his voice. North Korea's enemies, he said,

could no longer blackmail it with nuclear weapons, hinting his nation

has its own bomb. It makes you wonder who the enemies

are. Every tank bears the slogan, "We will smash the American

imperialists." There looked like a new weapon on display. A similar

rocket failed to put a rocket into space on Friday. That was forgotten.

The cult of the leader is all important here. Kim Jong Un seemed

to bask in the adull adulation. Sometimes it seems staged. But on

the banks of the Taedong River, the celebrations were simultaneous.

Hymns of praise. "we don't believe in heaven, we believe in you." Some

were moved to tears. Reverence for the leaders is like a religion here.

TRANSLATION: I took heard when I heard Kim Jong Un. He loves our

people. In return for their devotion, this is what North

Koreans get. Displays designed to awe them and

along with one of the world's biggest armies, promises that the

Kim dynasty will bring prosperity Steel making is set to return to

Teesside. The blast furn nast at the Corus works was relit today and

many of the hundreds of people who lost their jobs have been

reemployed by its new Thai owners. They have waited a long time for

this. After two years, the blast furnace was relit and steel making

returned to Teesside. This is fantastic. It is the end of, well

the end of a tough year to be honest. This is great.

It is fantastic news for all of Teesside. It is fantastic news for

all the people who work here. history of steel making here goes

back over 150 years. But in 2010, the plant's owner Tata switched off

the furnace. The recession meant its order books were empty and 1600

jobs were lost. In 2011 it was bought by the Thai company SSI,

demand for steel is growing in Thailand and that means 1700 new

jobs here. All of our volume will go to

Thailand to be turned into coil which is like a sheet of steel

which will find its way into automobiles and the white goods

industry. It cost nearly �2 billion to get

this furnace ready and there is plenty of pride here on the shop

floor, but there is also relief because this guarantees jobs on

Teesside, an area with one of the highest unemployment rates in the

country. The first steel slabs are expected

by Tuesday and with them, the the story of steel making on Teesside

The two main contenders for the French presidency have staged

separate rallies ahead of next week's election. They remain neck

in neck in the polls as good In the battle of the street rallies,

President Sarkozy packed this area with supporters. The president

behind behind in the polls made his appeal to the silent ma majority,

by by claiming that France would defend its culture and identity.

"people of France hear my appeal. Help me. Help me.". Aidez-moi.

Aidez-moi. Increasingly President Sarkozy is

trying to convince voters that he is the only leader to be trusted in

a crisis. A tested leader compared to his rival, who he says, will

unleash a festival of spending. Six miles across the city at the

Chateau de Vincennes, Francois Hollande was selling himself as the

saviour of the French dream. Once candidate prepared to stand up to

the markets. TRANSLATION: I will be the

President of a republic that will not be ruled by the markets. A

France stronger than the world of finance. At this rally, they liked

Francois Hollande's spending plans. We cannot fight against the crisis

only by cutting the Budget. The other side of the city, they

preferred President Sarkozy's austerity.

Nicolas Sarkozy has great ideas to get out of the crisis.

Much is at stake with a week to go to the first round, the polls

suggest the left could gain power It is time for sport. A round-up of

the day's action. Chelsea will face Liverpool after

they thrashed Tottenham with a 5-1 victory. The goal line technology

debate is likely to be admitted after John Terry admitted one of

their goals didn't cross the line. 23 years ago today, 96 Liverpool

fans died at the start of that year's FA Cup semi-final. So a

moment's silence was called for. But it was a moment too much for a

swathe of Chelsea fans. The first-half had been scratchy.

Cagy. Then Didier Drogba did what he does best, facing the wrong way,

the defender stabled to his back, he found the strength to spin and

strike. Far less elegant was Chelsea's

second goal. Indeed, was it a goal at all? The referee's confidence

that it crossed line, not not shared by the Spurs players.

Minutes later, Spurs ripped through the Chelsea mid-field, before

Gareth Bale stroked home. It was not enough.

First Ramires dinked. Lampard lashed.

An emphatic scoreline and a striking statistic. This will be

Chelsea's fourth final in six years. There is no time to wallow, come

Wednesday they have the prospect of taming Barcelona in a Champions

League semi-final. It has been a turbulent season for Chelsea, but

now at least, it is sprinkled with Hearts set up the first all

Edinburgh Scottish Cup final after beating Celtic. But the game ended

in controversy fashion with Hearts awarded a penalty for this handball

in the closing minutes with the score at 1-1. Beattie converted the

spot kick to set-up a final against Hibernian.

There was a questionable penalty at Old Trafford as Manchester United

Explaining how Manchester United lost to Wigan in their last match

takes some doing. Anyway, it was a puzzle they weren't dwelling on.

Young was bizily posing Aston Villa problems.

A flying start indeed. Wayne Rooney's penalty was less dramatic.

One up in seven minute, Manchester United had their swagger back.

Almost sauntering past zap villa until Danny Welbeck added a second

before half-time. Game effectively over, the second half resembled a

training session at times. The moment Manchester United stepped it

up a notch they had a third. Rooney's second on what had become

a Sunday afternoon stroll for the hosts. There was time for Nani to

slip in a fourth and improve the goal difference, but with the gap

over Manchester City back up to five points, it may not get that

I didn't compt to be that -- expect to be that fast was was Nico

Rosberg's verdict. He gave Mercedes their first victory since 1955.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished second and third.

Matilda The Musical has proved to be the star of the night at the

Olivier Awards. Will Gompertz reports.

The award goes to Matilda The Musical.

The 2012 Olivier Awards turned out to be a big night for a little girl.

Or four little girls as Matilda The Musical won a record-breaking seven

awards with the four schoolgirls who took it in turns to play the

lead sharing the Best Actress prize. Behind me are the Matildas. They

are the youngest winners of a a Olivier Award.

How does it feel? Amazing. A really big honour.

Matilda won Best New musical. experience of getting the

work with the best people in the world is all beyond my wildest

dreams. This feels sort of absurd. Another popular winner was Sir Tim

Rice. Enough already.

I am not sure who I should thank because over nearly 40 years or a

bit more than 40 years, there are just so many people without without

whom I wouldn't be here. The consensus was the real winner