:00:00. > :00:14.Our top stories, America defends its decision to drop a huge bomb on
:00:15. > :00:18.Islamic State militants in Afghanistan.
:00:19. > :00:22.The man in charge of the operation says it was the right weapon for the
:00:23. > :00:25.target. The enemy had created bongos,
:00:26. > :00:31.tunnels and extensive minefields. His weapon was used on those
:00:32. > :00:35.obstacles. Is the North Korean leader preparing
:00:36. > :00:38.for another nuclear missile test? China warns tensions are so high
:00:39. > :00:43.that conflicts could break out at any moment.
:00:44. > :00:48.This is the scene live at the Coliseum in Rome as Pope Francis
:00:49. > :00:53.leads the Good Friday procession. And in sport, Jenson Button is back
:00:54. > :00:54.in the driving seat for a guest appearance at next month's Monaco
:00:55. > :01:19.Grand Prix. Hello and welcome. It was the right
:01:20. > :01:22.weapon for the target, America's most senior military commander in
:01:23. > :01:26.Afghanistan has defended the decision to drop a huge bomb on
:01:27. > :01:30.Islamic State militants in a remote area in the east of the country.
:01:31. > :01:36.This is the first time the US has deployed in combat the massive
:01:37. > :01:41.ordinance air blast bomb, referred to as the mother of all bombs. The
:01:42. > :01:46.Afghan doc-mac says 36 militants were killed and no civilians
:01:47. > :01:47.although Islamic State denies that. -- the Afghan Government. Frank
:01:48. > :01:51.Gardner reports. dropped an an Isis tunnel complex
:01:52. > :01:57.in Afghanistan. The weapon used is called MOAB,
:01:58. > :02:05.or massive ordnance air burst, also known as
:02:06. > :02:07.the mother of all bombs. This was its first
:02:08. > :02:11.time used in combat. This was the right weapon
:02:12. > :02:14.against the right target. We will continue to work
:02:15. > :02:18.shoulder to shoulder To eliminate this threat
:02:19. > :02:23.to the Afghan people, especially the people of this
:02:24. > :02:27.region, and indeed Local villagers confirmed that Isis
:02:28. > :02:34.fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind them,
:02:35. > :02:36.and said the bomb But the strike was condemned by both
:02:37. > :02:47.so-called Islamic State How could the United States use
:02:48. > :02:51.Afghanistan as a ground for experiments, for testing weapons
:02:52. > :02:53.of mass destruction? President Trump's targets now
:02:54. > :02:59.include three major problem areas for the US - Afghanistan,
:03:00. > :03:04.Syria and North Korea. The massive weapon that the Pentagon
:03:05. > :03:07.has used in Afghanistan is intended to send a message to its enemies,
:03:08. > :03:12.that you're not safe underground. In Syria, the Trump administration
:03:13. > :03:15.will be hoping that last week's cruise missile strike would deter
:03:16. > :03:19.Presdent Assad from any But North Korea is
:03:20. > :03:27.the biggest gamble. Mr Trump is hoping that
:03:28. > :03:30.sending his powerful naval armada offshore will deter any
:03:31. > :03:33.further nuclear tests. The question now, though, is,
:03:34. > :03:37.can he manage three global It's very possible that if these
:03:38. > :03:41.three scenarios come together, Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea,
:03:42. > :03:43.it would overwhelm the policy-making capabilities
:03:44. > :03:50.of Mr Trump's administration. It would overwhelm the strategic
:03:51. > :03:52.planning capabilities of the Pentagon, and it
:03:53. > :03:57.would overwhelm the resource But President Trump
:03:58. > :04:01.and his entourage now feel they are on a roll,
:04:02. > :04:02.tackling head-on the foreign policy challenges that
:04:03. > :04:04.the previous administration There is now the risk that ramping
:04:05. > :04:10.up the rhetoric could lead America into more conflict,
:04:11. > :04:13.or that in the absence of any swift resolutions,
:04:14. > :04:16.Mr Trump may simply turn his back on foreign adventures and focus
:04:17. > :04:39.instead on domestic issues. We can speak no to someone from
:04:40. > :04:42.George Washington University. I asked whether it was the right
:04:43. > :04:49.weapon for the dollar. It is pretty accurate. You would not be using a
:04:50. > :04:53.$50 million apiece weapon frivolously, or just to send some
:04:54. > :04:57.message of Telegraph something to the North Koreans or the Russians. I
:04:58. > :05:03.think there was not significant intelligence about the identity of
:05:04. > :05:06.the people who work in this complex, and that they were high-level
:05:07. > :05:11.operatives of Isis, and of course, there is the logistics, what kind of
:05:12. > :05:17.weapon would be used in a decisive air strike and would lead to the
:05:18. > :05:23.outcome desired? How significant was this target Iraq? We are talking
:05:24. > :05:28.about at 300 metre long network of caves and tunnels, a significant was
:05:29. > :05:37.hitting this location? That decision was taken to use this particular
:05:38. > :05:40.weapon, it means that there was a significant complex that could not
:05:41. > :05:45.be taken out by any other weapon, at least not in a decisive way, and of
:05:46. > :05:48.course, the people inside were not some low-level operatives, they had
:05:49. > :05:51.to be senior officials who were actually involved in the day-to-day
:05:52. > :05:56.planning and operations of Isis attacks in the country. A lot is
:05:57. > :06:02.being said about Donald Trump's strategy or the lack of it. What do
:06:03. > :06:07.you think he is going to do going forward? Is there a strategy or are
:06:08. > :06:12.these one-off strikes? So, when we talk about strategy, we have to keep
:06:13. > :06:17.in mind that a change in government in terms of a new political party
:06:18. > :06:20.taking office or a new head of state coming in, it does not mean that
:06:21. > :06:25.were there will be a new strategy as such. There will be new ideas that
:06:26. > :06:29.will be brought to the table from the new staff of the President,
:06:30. > :06:32.trying to deal with the same problems their predecessors were
:06:33. > :06:37.struggling with. So that is something to bear in mind when we
:06:38. > :06:41.talk about strategy. At this point, there is no good strategy. There are
:06:42. > :06:48.a set of options that not all of them, most of them are on a scale, a
:06:49. > :06:52.sliding scale of bad to worst. This is a difficult situation and does
:06:53. > :06:55.not matter whether Trump is an office or if somebody else had been
:06:56. > :06:59.knighted. If Hillary Clinton, she would have faced the same problem.
:07:00. > :07:05.So you have to make the best of the situation, you take it one day at a
:07:06. > :07:10.time, hence one-off strikes, and you do it not in a coherent fashion but
:07:11. > :07:15.in a fashion that sort of makes sense for the reality on the ground
:07:16. > :07:17.as it unfolds. Let's turn to North Korea.
:07:18. > :07:20.North Korea has vowed to mount a "merciless" response to any US
:07:21. > :07:21.provocation following comments from President Donald Trump
:07:22. > :07:23.that the isolated regime's nuclear weapons programme
:07:24. > :07:28.Meanwhile, Pyongyang is thought to be preparing for a massive
:07:29. > :07:31.military parade tomorrow at which its latest missile
:07:32. > :07:37.Our reporter John Sudworth is with a group of foreign
:07:38. > :07:40.journalists invited to witness the event - his movements are being
:07:41. > :07:52.In North Korea, the spectre of war looms large over daily life.
:07:53. > :07:55.These girls are singing about being soldiers...
:07:56. > :07:58.while, not far away, real ones crowd into a shrine
:07:59. > :08:06.to the country's founding President, General Kim Il-Sung.
:08:07. > :08:13.These are scenes akin to a religious pilgrimage, but of course,
:08:14. > :08:19.in honour of a still ruling family dynasty
:08:20. > :08:22.who have at their disposal all of the myth that would rival any
:08:23. > :08:30.And as the country prepares to display its devotion
:08:31. > :08:39.at the anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birth this weekend,
:08:40. > :08:42.there's an awareness of the rising tension with America.
:08:43. > :08:47.TRANSLATION: We should have the nuclear weapons.
:08:48. > :08:51.If we do not have nuclear weapons, the nuclear weapon of another
:08:52. > :08:58.TRANSLATION: It doesn't matter whether the Americans make
:08:59. > :09:01.the situation on the Korean peninsula tense.
:09:02. > :09:08.We feel safe because we have the great leader, Kim Jong-Un.
:09:09. > :09:10.This week, the current ruler, Kim Jong-Un, held this meeting
:09:11. > :09:13.where his late grandfather was honoured.
:09:14. > :09:15.He is also thought to be planning a massive military parade
:09:16. > :09:26.as a powerful tribute, and a message of defiance.
:09:27. > :09:30.This is a country where art and armaments are blended
:09:31. > :09:33.in singular purpose, to demonstrate to the watching world
:09:34. > :09:37.that its nuclear ambitions will not be stopped.
:09:38. > :09:58.The historic centres of injured places like Aleppo and Homs, once
:09:59. > :10:01.the scene of fierce fighting like empty Andamans. In some places the
:10:02. > :10:08.first tentative signs of rebuilding are underweight. Lyse Doucet reports
:10:09. > :10:13.from Homs, the site of the first major reconstruction.
:10:14. > :10:20.From the ruins of war, some life begins to return. And a bit of
:10:21. > :10:26.rebuilding. This is the first restoration project in the ancient
:10:27. > :10:38.quarter of Homs. Some of the worst battles took place here. This is the
:10:39. > :10:43.leading architect who has designed the roof of the souk. TRANSLATION:
:10:44. > :10:47.The importance of rebuilding is not just about stones, it is about
:10:48. > :10:51.trade, a social hub where people from all religions can meet and
:10:52. > :10:56.spent time with each other. We saw how such wonderful places were
:10:57. > :11:03.destroyed and we are rebuilding the social Fabric.
:11:04. > :11:09.The workers you see around you from Homs, they understand the city,
:11:10. > :11:12.understand its pain. Walking through this ancient market
:11:13. > :11:20.is a walk through the story of Syria going back thousands of years.
:11:21. > :11:29.TRANSLATION: This public bath dates back to the Ottoman Empire. He
:11:30. > :11:38.explains how the ceiling was built in the way to best thing in the
:11:39. > :11:44.light. -- bring in. Down to the depths of the old city,
:11:45. > :11:53.with another architect. This is the main hall. It was covered by hashes.
:11:54. > :11:59.It has been cleared now. Would have been fighting in here? Yes, there
:12:00. > :12:07.was a main battlefield here. It is not easy to rise from the ruins. We
:12:08. > :12:13.have to contemplate over this, and we have to realise how important it
:12:14. > :12:17.is, to listen and to come up with something good out of it.
:12:18. > :12:24.She has just written a book about how architecture matters, it has to
:12:25. > :12:30.be part of rebuilding Syria. All of the oranges are growing! This
:12:31. > :12:34.is what I am talking about in the book, about how generous the old
:12:35. > :12:43.cities were. They were generous even with the planting. Making green
:12:44. > :12:49.space. This is what we had in Syria, we had something very beautiful and
:12:50. > :12:57.ancient, and very harmonious interwoven in our lives and our
:12:58. > :13:02.daily lives. We vandalised a lot of it, and we miss treated a lot of it,
:13:03. > :13:10.so maybe we have the chance to start over now. They worry that this
:13:11. > :13:16.chance will be missed. How to build on a painful past, this roof
:13:17. > :13:21.punctured by shrapnel inspired a new design was done now they say Syria's
:13:22. > :13:27.cities have to be rebuilt to bring communities together, not tear them
:13:28. > :13:31.apart. Lyse Doucet, BBC News, in the old city of Homs.
:13:32. > :13:33.Let's take a look at some of the other news.
:13:34. > :13:36.A young British woman who was stabbed to death on a tram
:13:37. > :13:38.in Jerusalem has been named as Hannah Bladon.
:13:39. > :13:41.Two other people were injured in the attack in the Old City.
:13:42. > :13:42.A 57-year-old Palestinian man has been arrested.
:13:43. > :13:44.Police say the suspect had recently been released
:13:45. > :14:01.Police in Italy have arrested a Mafia boss who absconded from
:14:02. > :14:05.prison. He has been serving a life sentence for murder, illegal
:14:06. > :14:10.disposal of bodies and drug trafficking. He was recaptured after
:14:11. > :14:16.police followed his wife and spotted him preparing a barbecue outside a
:14:17. > :14:17.flat in Tuscany. Christians are mocking Good Friday
:14:18. > :14:19.today. Pope Francis is marking Good Friday
:14:20. > :14:22.with the traditional Via Crucis or "Way of the Cross" procession
:14:23. > :14:29.around the Colosseum. This is an annual tradition that
:14:30. > :14:40.goes back to the 18th-century. It was since revived by Pope Paul VI in
:14:41. > :14:44.1964. It commemorates the passion and death through Jesus through the
:14:45. > :14:48.readings of prayers along a path of 14 stations, mocking the actual path
:14:49. > :14:54.that Jesus walked. These are live images.
:14:55. > :15:06.-- marking the actual path. Lots more to come, including...
:15:07. > :15:07.This is the trailer that is about to break the internet! The latest Star
:15:08. > :15:55.Wars film. As for a sporting legacy, Pol
:15:56. > :15:59.Richert's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for
:16:00. > :16:09.years to come. -- Paula Radcliffe's competitors.
:16:10. > :16:14.She seemed just a slide away under the surface and disappear. -- just
:16:15. > :16:33.to slide away. Our main stories on BBC News. Let's
:16:34. > :16:38.take you to Pakistan, where the funeral prayers have been held for a
:16:39. > :16:45.university student who was killed by a mob after being accused of sharing
:16:46. > :16:47.blasphemous content on social media. Blasphemy is legally punishable by
:16:48. > :16:55.death in Pakistan but the incident has shocked many.
:16:56. > :17:01.A quiet and dignified funeral begins for a young student whose life was
:17:02. > :17:04.so brutally brought to an end. His father helps bury his son's badly
:17:05. > :17:15.disfigured body, offering prayers for the latest victim to be accused
:17:16. > :17:18.of blasphemy and killed in Pakistan. TRANSLATION: In this country there
:17:19. > :17:22.is no freedom of expression. They cut people's tongues. They have
:17:23. > :17:28.killed my son and laid the blame on him. I am his father. He used to sit
:17:29. > :17:33.at home and talked lovingly about the message of the Prophet Muhammad.
:17:34. > :17:40.He had been studying communication at a university in a northern city.
:17:41. > :17:44.Yesterday a mob of hundreds of young men rampaged through the campus,
:17:45. > :17:50.accusing him of splitting blasphemy online. This was his run, when he
:17:51. > :17:53.tried to hide from the mob. Amidst the debris, you can still see on the
:17:54. > :17:58.war is the philosophical quotes he had written up. From his window, he
:17:59. > :18:02.would have seen the mob as they came down the path, breaking into the
:18:03. > :18:06.hostel looking for him. Eventually, they found him here. They kicked him
:18:07. > :18:11.and beat him. They hit him with sticks and shot him. They dragged
:18:12. > :18:17.him downstairs and continue to beat him. All filmed on videos too
:18:18. > :18:29.horrific to fully show. Even long after he was dead, they continued to
:18:30. > :18:31.attack his body. The police took action, and everybody was
:18:32. > :18:36.protective. The University has been closed indefinitely and a number of
:18:37. > :18:41.arrests have been made. Close to 70 people have been murdered in
:18:42. > :18:44.Pakistan after being accused of blasphemy the last 30 years. This
:18:45. > :18:48.incident has shocked many but there has not been the level of a bridge
:18:49. > :18:56.from officials that one might expect. -- outrage. TRANSLATION: I
:18:57. > :19:00.want justice for my country, and wanted so that nothing like this
:19:01. > :19:05.happens to any other child. They did not just attack my son. By doing it
:19:06. > :19:08.in the University, they challenged the status of the state should
:19:09. > :19:15.ensure justice. The student described himself on Facebook as a
:19:16. > :19:20.humanist. Many have been sharing his ratings online and some know seem
:19:21. > :19:22.particularly poignant. -- his writings. Now, the sports
:19:23. > :19:27.news. Sebastian Vettel looks like the man
:19:28. > :19:29.to beat at this weekend's He was the fastest in both practice
:19:30. > :19:33.sessions, three tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton,
:19:34. > :19:35.despite his Ferrari breaking Meanwhile, it was confirmed the 2009
:19:36. > :19:39.World Champion, Jenson Button, will be making a brief
:19:40. > :19:43.comeback next month. Button has agreed to replace
:19:44. > :19:45.Fernando Alonso for McLaren The Briton's still contracted
:19:46. > :19:54.as a reserve driver for McLaren and will step in while Alonso takes
:19:55. > :20:05.part in the Indy 500. Arsene Wenger insists discussions
:20:06. > :20:10.about his future will not distract him from his job. He is speaking
:20:11. > :20:13.about the PFA -- PFA Player of the Year, Alexis Sanchez, whose contract
:20:14. > :20:17.ends next summer. There have been reports Sanchez has been offered as
:20:18. > :20:24.much as ?300,000 per week to stay. First, I cannot confirm that we have
:20:25. > :20:32.offered that. Secondly, we will do, as always, we have to consider our
:20:33. > :20:43.financial potential to sustain the wages for the whole squad. What is
:20:44. > :20:46.for sure is that what he is paid this year, will it still below? I
:20:47. > :20:50.was tempted to say no. Great Britain's cyclists have
:20:51. > :20:52.finally won a gold at this year's Track world Championships it's
:20:53. > :20:54.in the women's omnium The omnium is a multi event decided
:20:55. > :20:59.by points over four different races. Archibald who's the Olympic
:21:00. > :21:01.champion, was second going into the final event,
:21:02. > :21:04.the points race, but she did enough It's the second world
:21:05. > :21:21.title of her career, I feel in pain! But yes, really
:21:22. > :21:26.privileged to pull it off in the end. It was an unbelievably gripping
:21:27. > :21:31.race, I thought I had lost it in the middle, just chase and be attack,
:21:32. > :21:35.Chase and be attacked. Got back on in the end, and pulled it out of the
:21:36. > :21:38.bag. The President of the IAAF is
:21:39. > :21:43.disappointed by the lack of progress made by Russia and its anti-doping
:21:44. > :21:45.reforms. The country is calmly banned from competing in
:21:46. > :21:49.international athletics after a report claimed that over 1000
:21:50. > :21:53.athletes benefited from a state-sponsored doping programme.
:21:54. > :21:55.Lord Coe believes there is still a lack of cooperation and
:21:56. > :21:59.transparency. I am frustrated on behalf of the athletes, more
:22:00. > :22:03.progress should have been made. It has been harvesting always to get
:22:04. > :22:07.athletes back into contention actual competition. But separated from the
:22:08. > :22:15.tainted system. -- it has always been our ambition. I am frustrated
:22:16. > :22:17.more progress is not been made. Five-time champions Ronnie
:22:18. > :22:21.O'Sullivan is in action against fellow enrichment Gary Wilson in the
:22:22. > :22:24.afternoon snooker session. It will be the 40th year the Crucible has
:22:25. > :22:28.played host to the tournament. O'Sullivan would love to lift the
:22:29. > :22:32.famous trophy once more. Sheffield is a great event, it is good
:22:33. > :22:37.tournament I look forward to going every year. It should be great.
:22:38. > :22:43.Whether it is the 40th with a 21st with a 140th, it is still the
:22:44. > :22:47.Crucible. -- or the 140th. Great tournament. If you get to lift the
:22:48. > :22:53.trophy, it is an amazing thing. That's all the sport for now.
:22:54. > :22:55.You may be used to seeing guide dogs around the office but more and more
:22:56. > :23:01.companies are encouraging employees to bring their family pets to work.
:23:02. > :23:06.Around one in ten employers in the UK has a dog-friendly policy. Just
:23:07. > :23:10.what other pitfalls? It may be possible in big tech but just how
:23:11. > :23:16.well would you cope with a pet under your desk?
:23:17. > :23:23.Suzannah has been finding out. Brooke, Reggie, Max and Peggy are
:23:24. > :23:26.office bodies. The company Kokrak pets at work scheme has proved so
:23:27. > :23:34.popular that by the end of the year, around 100 dogs that passed an
:23:35. > :23:41.assessment got the road staff pass. -- the company's pets at work
:23:42. > :23:47.scheme. The reality is that the dogs probably have between a total of 20
:23:48. > :23:50.to 25 dogs and lovers of others in the bar and it is even hear a dog
:23:51. > :23:54.barking in the office. But the office. But they are there if you
:23:55. > :23:58.want to go and find one to pet. The dogs do not just relieve stress but
:23:59. > :24:02.also seemed to help build office camaraderie. It has made me make
:24:03. > :24:05.friends. People come and talk to me, I don't think they know my name but
:24:06. > :24:10.they know my dog and it starts to open those doors. What about that
:24:11. > :24:14.time when she go to the toilet? She starts to get up and pace a little
:24:15. > :24:19.bit and looks up at me. We have had the odd accident in the past. Doggie
:24:20. > :24:24.daycare costs around 30 to ?40 a day, and I have three of them. So
:24:25. > :24:28.for me, it is a big saving. Have there ever been any follow-ups with
:24:29. > :24:32.other dogs? Not that I have ever seen. They love chasing each other
:24:33. > :24:37.around the park. You hear the odd bark but that is about it.
:24:38. > :24:40.I'm not sure I could cope with that! No dogs under this desk, I can
:24:41. > :24:47.promise you that. Now to the movie trailer that has
:24:48. > :24:59.sent Star Wars fans into a frenzy. I only know one truth.
:25:00. > :25:05.It's time for the Jedi to end. It looks good! This is a first look
:25:06. > :25:11.at the latest Star Wars film, the last Jedi. It follows on from The
:25:12. > :25:14.Force Awakens and it will feature the late Carrie Fisher. The trailer
:25:15. > :25:20.was unveiled at a Star Wars celebration in Florida, and you will
:25:21. > :25:23.not believe this, it amassed thousands of views online in just a
:25:24. > :25:29.few minutes. This one could just break the internet. If you want to
:25:30. > :25:34.watch it in full armour go to the BBC News beta site.
:25:35. > :25:39.I am looking forward to that one. -- News beta. You can get in touch with
:25:40. > :25:46.me and some of the team via social media, we are on Facebook and
:25:47. > :25:49.Twitter. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Lots more on our
:25:50. > :25:53.website but for the time being, thank you very much for watching and
:25:54. > :25:59.I wish you all a very nice Easter weekend.