14/04/2017 BBC News at Ten

China warns the United States not to allow tension with North Korea

It says force cannot solve the problem.

The blunt warning comes after the US drops its biggest non-nuclear bomb

ever used in combat - killing 36 militants

We have Afghan and US forces on the site and see no evidence

of civilian casualties, nor have there been any reports

After strikes in Syria, Afghanistan and with the threat

of conflict on the Korean peninsula, we'll be asking - what is

The National Union of Teachers says it's prepared to take legal action

against the government, over some of its plans to expand

The Sun suspends its former editor and now columnist Kelvin MacKenzie,

for comments he's made about the Everton

And the online booking site Airbnb improves its security,

after a BBC investigation finds scammers have been burgling homes.

North Korea's army has promised what it called a "merciless"

response to any US provocation - reflecting growing tension

about the country's nuclear and weapons programmes.

China has called for calm, saying it fears conflict

It comes as the United States says a huge bomb -

dropped on so-called Islamic State militants in Afghanistan -

was "the right weapon against the right target".

The US military insists it was a local, tactical decision.

Others believe its principal aim was as a show of strength.

Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.

"A powerful armada," in the words of President Trump.

This is the US Navy's Carl Vinson carrier battle group,

equipped with 90 strike aircraft and other weapons and diverted

Mr Trump is hoping it will intimidate that country's

isolated regime into abandoning any further nuclear tests

China has warned of the imminent danger of a war being triggered

on the Korean peninsula, and North Korea remains defiant,

saying it's ready to respond to any attack with nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the US has dropped an immense bomb,

11 tonnes of high explosive dropped on an Isis tunnel complex

in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

The weapon used is called a Moab, a massive ordnance airburst,

also known as the mother of all bombs.

This was its first time used in combat.

This was the right weapon against the right target.

We will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our Afghan comrades

to eliminate this threat to the Afghan people,

to the people of the entire region and indeed,

Local villagers confirmed that Isis fighters had set up bases

in the mountains behind them, and said the bomb

But the strike was condemned by both so-called Islamic State

How could the United States use Afghanistan as its ground

for experiments, for testing weapons of mass destruction?

President Trump's targets now include three major

problem areas for the US - Afghanistan, Syria and North Korea.

The massive weapon that the Pentagon has used in Afghanistan is intended

to send a message to its enemies that "You're not safe underground".

In Syria, the Trump administration will be hoping that last week's

cruise missile strike will deter Presdent Assad from any

But North Korea is the biggest gamble.

Mr Trump is hoping that sending this powerful naval armada

offshore will deter any further nuclear tests.

The question now, though, is can he manage three global

It's very possible that if these three scenarios come together,

Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea, that it would overwhelm

the policy-making capabilities of Mr Trump's administration,

it will overwhelm the strategic planning

and it would overwhelm the resource capabilities of the US military.

But President Trump and his entourage now

feel they're on a roll, tackling head-on the foreign policy

challenges the previous administration was unable

There is now the risk that ramping up the rhetoric could lead America

into more conflict, or that in the absence

of any swift resolutions, Mr Trump may simply turn his back

and focus instead on domestic issues.

We can speak to our Washington correspondent, Laura Bicker.

What should we read into his strategy here? We've seen so many

foreign-policy U-turns in the last week, it's hard to know where he'll

turn, or what the long-term strategy really is. But here's what we know

about the president so far. He is willing and able to act very quickly

and flex those military muscles, unlike his predecessor. Consider

that strike on Syria. He casually turned the Chinese Premier over

dinner while remarking about how good the chocolate cake is, he says,

I've said 59 cruise missiles into Syria. That sends a strong message,

not just to China but to neighbouring North Korea. He's also

delegated more responsibility to his generals the Pentagon and he is

listening to them for now at least, but this is an unpredictable

president with an avid Twitter habit. So everything can change in

140 characters or less. And how is all of this playing at home? Well,

he did promise his supporters he'd put America first, not at the centre

of foreign conflict, but he also promised them so much winning and

when it comes to home policy he's failed to implement health care

policies, he's failed when it comes to his travel ban and the Republican

party looks increasingly split. He's had a lot of positive headlines in

the last week for using his military muscle. He may take that as a win

for now, but how long those headlines will remain positive, if

for instance he is to get involved in the conflict in North Korea,

well, that remains to be seen. Laura, thank you. Pyongyang is

thought to be preparing for a massive military parade tomorrow at

which its latest missile technology may well be on display. Our reporter

John Sudworth is with a group of foreign journalists witnessing the

events. His movements are being tightly controlled.

In North Korea, the spectre of war looms large over daily life.

These girls are singing about being soldiers.

While, not far away, real ones crowd into a shrine

to the country's founding president, General Kim Il-sung.

These are scenes akin to a religious pilgrimage, but of course,

in honour of a still-ruling family dynasty who have at their disposal

all of the myth that would rival any of the world's great religions.

And as the country prepares to display its devotion

at the anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth this weekend, there's

an awareness of the rising tension with America.

TRANSLATION: We should have the nuclear weapons.

If we do not have nuclear weapons, the nuclear weapon of another

TRANSLATION: It doesn't matter whether the Americans make

the situation on the Korean peninsula tense.

We feel safe because we have the great leader, Kim Jong-un.

This week, the current ruler, Kim Jong-un, held this

meeting where his late grandfather was honoured.

He is also thought to be planning a massive military parade

as a powerful tribute, and a message of defiance.

This is a country where art and armaments are blended

in singular purpose, to demonstrate to the watching world

that its nuclear ambitions will not be stopped.

The National Union of Teachers says it's prepared to take legal action

against the government, over plans which it believes

are being used to expand selective education in England.

The union has said it's identified comprehensive schools which it

believes are bending the rules by introducing some selection,

The move comes as ministers seek to lift the ban

from the union's annual conference in Cardiff.

In Altrincham, 100 years of tradition.

Then, almost 20 years ago, new grammar schools were banned.

Now, some comprehensives offer a grammar stream - for many,

But could this also be used to get around the law?

They fear ministers could encourage more of this.

The schools where we'd have an issue around this is a school that's

advertising a grammar stream, that is putting children

through tests for it, and where we get the sense

from documents and other things that children stay in that stream,

that it's actually a selective system that is being introduced.

That's what we would want to challenge.

Is this essentially a shot across the bow of the Government,

to say don't try to do this without changing the law?

What we're saying to government is if you want grammar

schools, you have to win it through the Parliamentary process.

Do not try and go round the back way.

For schools like Elton Primary in Cheshire,

Bills going up mean less money per pupil, leaving school governors

We're already having to consider over the next three years losing

at least two teachers, merging year groups,

potentially shortening the school week by one or maybe half a day.

These are all things that we're having to consider.

For teachers, that means fears about jobs, so a warm welcome

This is the first real terms cuts in school budgets for two decades.

This is the worst school funding settlement, since, to be frank,

It's no surprise he gets a warm welcome at a union conference.

But the issue of school budgets matters to parents too.

The government is facing cross-party opposition to its plans

Schools can stream pupils after they get a place.

The government says that's perfectly legal.

And only a change in the law could allow new selective schools.

A young British woman has been stabbed to death

23-year-old Hannah Bladon, an exchange student from Birmingham,

was taken to hospital but died soon after.

Police say two other people were also injured during the attack.

A 57-year-old Palestinian who police say had recently been

released from a psychiatric hospital has been arrested.

Hundreds of drivers began the Bank Holiday weekend stuck

on the M4 after a lorry carrying compressed gas caught fire.

The motorway was closed in both directions for an hour

between junctions 17 and 18 near Chippenham in Wiltshire.

Drivers faced long delays and police say there are still some

lane closures in place although they should be lifted

The former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, has been

suspended tonight for comments he made about the Everton footballer

The article published in today's paper

prompted a complaint to the police by the mayor of Liverpool.

Our reporter Helena Lee is outside the offices of News UK,

What's the foundation of the complaint, Helena?

The article was about Ross Barkley, who was punched earlier this week in

Liverpool city centre. In the piece, Kelvin MacKenzie said "The lack of

reflection in his eyes has always made him think that he was one of

our dimmest footballers". He said "It was like seeing a gorilla at a

zoo". Ross Barkley's grandfather was born in Nigeria. The piece also went

on to say that men who earned similar amounts of money to

footballers in Liverpool were drug dealers. This prompted the Mayor of

Liverpool to then complain to the police. Tonight, Kelvin MacKenzie

has been suspended from the paper. He is away on holiday at the moment,

but in a statement he said he didn't know if Ross Barkley's family

background and he said it was beyond parody that his critics would

describe his article as racist. Here at news UK, they say the views

expressed by Kelvin MacKenzie were wrong, unfunny and not the views of

the paper, but it is important to note that even though Kelvin

MacKenzie wrote the article himself, there would have been an editorial

process and the paper still went ahead and published his piece.

Helena, thank you. The Iraqi government has told people

living in Mosul to stay inside as security forces prepare

for an assault aimed at dislodging Thousands of civilians

are still trapped in the city, which has been held

by IS since 2014. Our Defence Correspondent Jonathan

Beale is embedded with troops. The old city of Mosul and its most

famous landmark, the leaning minaret This is where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

first appeared as caliph They still control it,

and most of what you can see. TRANSLATION: The mosque is now very

near, and soon we will advance. We know the enemy is weak

and on its last legs. A visit to the front line, though,

tells a different story. For the past few weeks, the Iraqi

advance has slowed to a crawl. These federal police

are surrounded on two sides by IS and they are firing

on their positions from here. Snipers, IS snipers, just about 100

metres from this position. And you can see the rounds,

the IS rounds, coming Tens of thousands of

civilians are still trapped, Much of Mosul has already

been turned to rubble. Even in these deserted streets,

recently secured, there is now Here, discarded IS military

uniforms and nearby, But the enemy is not

just hiding in the city. We joined an Iraqi intelligence

unit hunting down IS infiltrators and collaborators

who have already escaped. Now seeking shelter and avoiding

capture in camps, living alongside the innocents of this war,

who fled the fighting. You're finding Isis

fighters in these camps? In the camp or some

in his house, in Mosul. The extremists may be

losing their grip on Mosul, but even if they are defeated,

IS won't have gone away. Former world champion Jenson Button

says he's delighted to be making He's agreed to race for McLaren

at next month's Monaco Grand Prix. He's been granted permission

to compete in the Indy 500. The online accommodation booking

company Airbnb says it will improve its security

after a BBC investigation found that some people using the service had

had their homes burgled by scammers Profiles of genuine users

were hijacked and their personal The company says it will now warn

members if their profile Like millions of people,

Christian had let out his home on Airbnb while he was out of town

as a convenient way to make He had done so for years

without a problem. But on his birthday,

his home was burgled. I got that horrible text message

saying somebody is in the flat and it's not me, because my account

had been compromised. Christian thought he had let

out his home to a verified profile, somebody who had showed Airbnb

government identification and had positive reviews

from previous bookings. The attacker had changed the name,

photograph and contact details on the profile, but kept

Airbnb's "verified" badge. The BBC has spoken to two other

people who were robbed this way, and three others who had

their accounts stolen. And Airbnb's Facebook page has

dozens of comments from people who have had their

accounts compromised. There are many ways attackers

could have been hijacking They might simply have

tricked people into handing But there are ways Airbnb could have

defended against this. We put our security

concerns to Airbnb. Those changes include two-step

verification when somebody logs in from a new device,

and text message alerts if somebody But, for Christian,

the changes come too late. He says the whole experience has

left him with a bad feeling, Thousands of Christians from around

the world marked Good Friday by travelling to Rome,

to celebrate Holy Week. Pope Francis has led the Processions

of the Cross at the Colosseum - in a traditional event marking

the death of Jesus Christ. There's more throughout the evening

on the BBC News Channel.