14/04/2017 BBC News at Six

The US defends its decision to drop a huge bomb on Islamic State

36 are thought to have been killed by the weapon -

the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever used by the US in combat.

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

of civilian casualties, nor have there been any reports

The US also confirms it's assessing its military response

China warns that conflict could break out at any moment.

it's prepared to take legal action against the government

over part of its plans to expand selective education in England.

improves its security after a BBC investigation finds scammers have

The US says a huge bomb dropped on so-called Islamic State

was "the right weapon against the right target".

President Trump authorised the use of the weapon,

for the attack in which 36 militants were killed.

The commander of US forces in Afghanistan,

said it has been carried out in coordination with

The former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has condemned the attack.

Here's our security correspondent Frank Gardner.

A remote valley in a remote country. Dentists. 11 tonnes of high

explosive. On an ice is complex in Afghanistan. The blast was felt 30

miles away. The weapon used is called 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, especially the people

of this region and indeed the people around the world. Local villagers

confirmed that Isis fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind

them, and said the bomb had hit its target. But the strike was condemned

by both so-called Islamic State and Afghanistan's former president. How

could the United States use Afghanistan is a 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 would deter Presdent

Assad from any further chemical attacks. But North Korea is the

biggest gamble. Mr Trump is hoping that sending his powerful naval

armada offshore will deter any further nuclear tests. The question

now, though, is, can he manage three global crises simultaneously? It's

very possible that if these three scenarios come together, Syria,

Afghanistan and North Korea, it would overwhelm the policy-making

capabilities of Mr Trump's administration. It would overwhelm

the strategic planning capabilities of the Pentagon and it would

overwhelm the resource capabilities of the US military. But President

Trump and his entourage now feel they are on a roll, tackling head-on

the foreign policy challenges that the previous administration was

unable to resolve. There is now the risk that ramping up the rhetoric

could lead America in more conflict, or that in the absence of any swift

resolutions, Mr Trump may simply turn his back on foreign adventures

and focus instead on domestic issues. Frank Gardner, BBC News.

We can speak to our Washington Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue.

The question for many right now must be, what next?

Yes. Within a week, we have seen the exercise of a robust foreign policy

first in Syria and then in Afghanistan yesterday. This weekend,

of course, is the big challenge. North Korea, completely different

kettle of fish. The president has promised to take unilateral action

against them if they dare to test a nuclear weapon, which would be their

sixth test. The risk, of course, is what the military people call the

tyranny of proximity. In other words, just 40 miles away from the

South Korean capital, North Korea has all its artillery embedded into

hills and mountains. If America strikes North Korea, the risk is

that the North Koreans will simply unleash a huge amount of ordnance on

those 10 million inhabitants of Seoul, starting some sort of

conflagration there. So if there is a test this weekend, people will

wonder exactly what Donald Trump will do. A lot of people are holding

their breath over the next 24 hours here. Gary, thank you.

Well, North Korea has vowed to mount a "merciless" response

to any US provocation following comments from

President Donald Trump that the isolated regime's nuclear

weapons programme "will be dealt with."

Meanwhile, Pyongyang is thought to be preparing

for a massive military parade tomorrow at which its latest

missile technology may be on display.

Our reporter John Sudworth is with a group of foreign

journalists invited to witness the event.

His movements are being monitored and 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

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 schools which it believes

are bending the rules by introducing some selection in

comprehensive schools based on the results of a test.

The move comes as ministers seek to lift the ban

Our education editor Branwen Jeffreys is at

The Government clearly faces a battle over its plans for grammar

schools. That is a fight it has chosen to take on. For many of the

teachers here and for parents in England, the more pressing concern

is managing school budgets at a time when the bills are rising faster

than funding. 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, a way of

stretching the brightest. 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 are 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, 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. There are often very heated debates

amongst teachers that their union conferences over Easter weekend. But

the difference this year is this. That the unease about grammar

schools is shared within the Conservative Party. And many parents

are also worried about school budgets.

Branwen Jeffreys, thank you. A young British woman has

been stabbed to death The woman - in her early twenties -

was taken to hospital, 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. Buses are evacuating hundreds

of villagers and fighters from four rebel-held villages in Syria,

two of them close to It follows a deal struck

between President Assad's But the opposition says it amounts

to deliberate displacement The International Development

Secretary, Priti Patel, has accused government and rebel

forces in South Sudan On a visit to the famine-stricken

country, she also accused both sides of what she called

abhorrent human rights abuses, She was speaking to our diplomatic

correspondent, James Landale, who travelled with her

and sent this report. In many civil wars,

aircraft bring death. But here in South Sudan,

they bring hope, dropping This is Leer, a desolate spot

near the front line of the conflict that has left millions of people

hungry and displaced. These bags are full of food,

paid for by British taxpayers, to relieve the famine that the UN

has formally declared here. We travelled with Priti Patel,

the International Development Secretary, to see how the aid

she has ordered is being delivered to regions that

are the hardest to reach. Airdrops that she admits

are complicated and expensive, There is a conflict taking place

and food is being used There is a civil war taking place

here in South Sudan, and we've seen all sorts

of abhorrent practices take place in terms of human

rights violations, rape, But in the meantime,

UK aid is providing a lifeline. So close is the fighting that this

is only a temporary food distribution centre,

here for just a few days To people here, these bags of seed

represent a chance to live, But to British ministers,

they also represent the sharp edge of British soft power -

proof, they hope, that Britain is still playing a key role

on the international stage despite Brexit, and, they hope,

an argument against critics back home who say Britain's aid budget

is just too large. I think for viewers back home

and for people who question our aid budget, this makes us stand tall

in the world. This is South Sudan's only

children's hospital, where more and more babies

are arriving with Cecilia is 18 months

old and severely malnourished. Her mother's dead, and her

grandmother had no milk to feed her. I had to beg food from neighbours,

she told me, but after a few days here, Cecilia's diarrhoea and fever

has got better. This war's also forced

people from their homes. This is the registration

centre over the border in Uganda, where thousands

are arriving each day. Mary fled after her husband

was killed by soldiers. One night, her husband was followed

out of their home and he was pulled He was slaughtered like an animal

is butchered in a slaughterhouse. For all the aid, this is a crisis

that many think will get worse James Landale, BBC News,

near the border of South Sudan. 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 a time between junctions 17 and 18

near Chippenham in Wiltshire. Police say drivers should still try

and find alternative routes as although the motorway has

reopened, lane closures 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 world-famous Las Vegas Strip had

to be closed last night after a fire broke out at one

of the city's biggest casinos. Huge flames were spotted

near the roof of the Bellagio Hotel, which is at the centre of Las Vegas

Boulevard. Emergency teams say they were able

to bring it under control, but the location made

the operation difficult. 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 They hijacked profiles with verified

badges and changed some 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, There's more throughout the evening

on the BBC News Channel. I'll be back with the team

for the late news at 10pm. Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.