is about to carry out its sixth nuclear test. and 750 million miles away nasa says one of saturn s moons may now be the single best place to look for life beyond earth. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: an away goal at anderlecht, as manchester united attempt to gain the upper hand in their europa league quarterfinal tie in belgium. good evening. syria s president assad says claims that his armed forces were behind a chemical weapons attack on a rebel town last week are a 100% fabrication . instead, he s claimed america worked hand in glove with terrorist groups to stage the attack as a pretext for american missile strikes. and he questioned whether tv images of dead children were real. but tonight, chemical weapons investigators said allegations of a chemical attack last week were credible. our middle east editor jeremy bowen has this report it contains distressing images. the attack on khan sheikhoun produced terrible images of children poisoned by nerve gas an
its official name is the gbu iisb massive ordnance air blast, but most people in the pentagon call it the mother of all bombs america s largest non nuclear weapon. and today it was dropped on a tunnel network held by the so called islamic state group in afghanistan. no one knows how many militants were killed in the attack on nangahar province in the country s far east. our north america editor jon sopel has more. this is the gbu iis, also known as a moab, a massive ordnance air blast, or as it is more commonly known, the mother of all bombs. and today, for the first time ever, it was used in combat, the largest non nuclear weapon ever deployed. the target so called islamic state in afghanistan. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously, and in order to defeat the group, we mu
its official name is the gbu iisb massive ordnance air blast, but most people in the pentagon call it the mother of all bombs america s largest non nuclear weapon. and today it was dropped on a tunnel network held by islamic state in afghanistan. no one knows how many militants were killed in the attack on nangarhar province in the country s far east. our north america editor jon sopel has more. this is the gbu iis, also known as a moab, a massive ordnance air blast, or as it is more commonly known, the mother of all bombs. and today, for the first time ever, it was used in combat, the largest non nuclear weapon ever deployed. the target so called islamic state in afghanistan. we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target us military advisers and afghan forces in the area. the united states takes the fight against isis very seriously, and in order to defeat the group, we must deny them operat
cause a surprise. hello. in a rare interview, a senior north korean official has told the bbc his country is prepared to launch a nuclear strike and all out war if the united states decides to attack it. he also said missile tests would continue, weekly, monthly, yearly, despite international condemnation. president trump has suggested the leadership in pyongyang needs to behave , and vice president pence warned pyongyang not to test the us. the north korean vice foreign minister was speaking to our correspondentjohn sudworth in the north korean capital, where his movements are being closely monitored. north korea is all about shows of strength. the first today came in this tae kwon do demonstration. the next, in kim il sung square, close to the centre of power, by way of a rare interview. translation: if the us is reckless enough to use military means, it would mean, from that very day, an all out war. our nuclear weapons protect us from that threat. we will be conducti
of france? as the country prepares to elect a new president bears record levels of apathy and delusion among french voters, a spate of terror attacks has sown in security and has sparked debate. my guest todayis and has sparked debate. my guest today is a writer and public intellectual in the grand french tradition. is france living through an age of decline? pascal, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. we are talking with a french presidential elections very close, does france feel right for the sort of political shock that we ve seen in recent times both in the uk over the brexit vote and in the united states with the victory of donald trump in the presidential election? i hope not, with all my heart i hope we won t face the same electoral results that you had with brexit and that the americans had with trump. so we re doing everything to avoid the passage to the far right with marine le pen. but at the present time we have two opposite candidates, marcha nt, time we have two op