hello and welcome to 100 days. the us military has dropped what is ominously called "the mother of all bombs" on eastern afghanistan. the target was a series of islamic state caves where militants may have been hiding. the bomb is so destructive is has never been used before — a short time ago the white house press secretary explained why it was dropped today. 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. syria's president is defiant in his first interview since being charged with carrying out a chemical attack, saying it's all been fabricated. and syrian refugees welcome the american air strikes, but supporting donald trump doesn't come easily. we are thankful that someone finally did something, even if it was the same man who tried banning us a couple of months ago. a week of big military parades in north korea — celebrations in north korea as a brand new high—rise district opens in pyongyang that officials

say shows the country's economic strength. it might seem like an extraordinary celebration to mark the opening of a street, but it's about so much more than that. and we will introduce you to the hard—line republican lawmakers, who are threatening the president's agenda. but are their voters loyal to the freedom caucus — or are they loyal to donald trump? hello, i am katty kay in washington. christian fraser is in london. the largest non—nuclear bomb ever used has been dropped by the us air force on a remote area of afghanistan that was being used by so—called islamic state. the weapon is know in short—hand as the "mother of all bombs", and it is so destructive it has never been used by the us military before. the area they targeted was the achin district of nangarhar province in the east of afghanistan.

it is one of the most remote regions of the world, and, of late, we know isis fighters have moved in, across the pakistan border. at the weekend a us soldier on special operations was killed in the same area. white house press secretary sean spicer has been giving his daily briefing and this to say about the bombing. at 7pm local time in afghanistan, last night, the united states military used a gbu—43 weapon in afghanistan. the gbu—43 is a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon. 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 operational space, which we did. the united states took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage as a result of the operation. and joining me now

is zalmay khalilzad, former us ambassador to the un, as well as iraq and afghanistan. president to a campaign promise to he was going to attack islamic state and we did not necessarily think that would be in afghanistan but that would be in afghanistan but that seems to be what has happened, correct? it seems so. isis has been moving into afghanistan. government of afghanistan has come in the field, and they have been raising the issue of isis presents. we have conducted operations against them. isis was added to al-qaeda on the target list some time ago in afghanistan. this area is near the famous area where bin ladin ran away at the end of operations in afghanistan. and i

know that it is concern both here and in afghanistan as, as the pressure on isis increases in iraq and syria, one area they may think of moving to is afghanistan. that is because recently the afghan government has... because of the change in the balance of power, they have given up some areas in that region to opposition. for all of those reasons, ithink region to opposition. for all of those reasons, i think this action was taken with the current threat and the movement of isis from the middle east... partly because of the ridiculous name of the bomb, mother of all bombs... there is a lot of focus on weapons being used. president bush tried to go after bin ladin in these caves and failed to get in there. and from what you are hearing in this morning, this weapon in this area against these cakes, what do you think?

definitely against caves... we will have to see... we don't know enough. it takes some time before you can come to a judgment. but this weapon is capable of doing a lot of damage, especially the underground at targets. in the case of bin laden, there were not enough forces surrounding, so he ran away to pakistan. but i think this shows the seriousness, and the issue of isis moving from the middle east to afghanistan. ambassador, this is christian in london. to put more flesh on what this bombings, ii london. to put more flesh on what this bombings, 11 tonnes of tnt, 21,000, pounds. it destroys everything within a mile radius. this is from the defence archive of the bomb being dropped in 2003, as it lands you see the destructive nature. i imagine that what... it

has not been used before because if it has an explosive radius of a mile wide, you're going to have collateral damage. call me a bit about why it would be suited to nangarhar. would you not have a civilian population that? this is a revolt area. it is on the border of the nangarhar area. this is a revolt area. it is on the border of the nangarhararea. —— it isa border of the nangarhararea. —— it is a remote area. an area close to tora bora... i now believe it is not a highly populated region of afghanistan, but we will have to wait and see what the pentagon and the afghan sources report, in terms of today's configuration of what kind of population were in the area. myjudgment kind of population were in the area. my judgment is it kind of population were in the area. myjudgment is it was not a highly

populated area but... i think if it wasjust populated this bomb would not have been used. thank you. president assad of syria is accusing donald trump of being "hand in glove" with terrorists. he is questioning whether the children killed in last week's chemical attack are actually dead at all, and he says the us has fabricated the whole story. mr assad made that string of extraordinary allegations in an interview with a french news agency. sources at the pentagon now say us intelligence has uncovered communications between military and chemical weapons experts in syria, as they were discussing their preparations for the attack in idlib province last week, which contradicts mr assad's version of events. there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weapons. we gave up our arsenal three years ago. even if we had them, we wouldn't use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history. so, what happened recently? as i said, the only sources al-qaeda. we cannot take it seriously... but our impression is that the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove to the terrorists.

they fabricated the whole story, you know, to have a pretext for the attack. it wasn't an attack because of what happened, it's one event, its stage one, the play that we saw on the social networking and on tv, the propaganda. and stage two is the military attack. that's what we believe is happening, because it's only a few days, 48 hours between the play and the attacks, and no investigations. no concrete evidence about anything. the only thing were allegations, propaganda, and then the strike. so who, according to you, is responsible about this allegation of chemical attack? the allegation itself, al-qaeda, al—nusra front, so we don't have to investigate who.

they announced that it is under their control. no—one else. so you think it's a fabrication? definitely, 100%, for us, it's a fabrication. we don't have an arsenal and we are not going to use it. important to note that that interview conducted by afp was shot by the syrian presidency and only a portion of the questions asked were released. listening to that interview, it is interesting to see he looks like somebody who does not feel he is under siege, but we know that the americans have reversed their position on president assad. the russians are under pressure after that long meeting with rex tillerson over president assad. but the man himself, you see him looking calm and as if he is totally in control of the situation in the country. because russia are still on his back, and as long as russia are still there, it is difficult for the allies of the west. what would you

make generally of what we have seen in the last week? we talk about this bomb and his positions on syria and the bombing of mosul, but this president said he was not interventionist? but a president who is clearly prepared to move fast. we talked in the last few days about how the 0bama administration has been criticised for not being able to act, and they had paralysis analysis. clearly donald trump is not that. if they want to act he will act fast. whether he can carry his die—hard supporters with him... at some point he will have to live it. but this white house always said that it would work with the american economy and the situation at home, but it looks like he is a foreign policy president, not what the campaign suggest that he would be. interesting. there were many fierce opponents of donald trump who found themselves in the odd position of applauding his actions, when he ordered us air strikes on a syrian base. and none were more conflicted than the syrians living in the us, as our north american correspondent, aleem maqbool, reports from denver, colorado.

amal kassir is a poet. salaam alaikum, everybody. she happened to be on stage the day after a bomb hit her aunt's home on the outskirts of damascus. we lost ten members of our family yesterday. we lost ten people yesterday, all injust one bombing. her aunt, her cousins, her cousins‘ children and an unborn baby were killed in the bombing. it happened on the very same day as the chemical attack that got far more publicity and spurred donald trump to order air strikes on a syrian air base. no child of god should ever suffer such horror. does it take someone to be gassed to be considered one of god's children? my family died in an attack that was separate from the chemical attacks, but what was happening in that region has been happening in syria for six years. if the chemical attack will make

them move, then broadcast it on all of the televisions, because we are thankful that someone finally did something, even if it was the same man who tried banning us a couple of months ago. amal admits feeling conflicted about the fact she is grateful to donald trump for doing something she hoped would have happened years ago. well, amal was born here in denver, but what about recent arrivals to these shores — syrian refugees? with the rise of donald trump, of course, they have been at the centre of something of a political storm. thank you very much. have a nice day. yassin fled the war and came here as a refugee. he couldn't speak english and only had a few hundred dollars, but opened a successful restaurant, introducing syrian food to locals, often for the first time. he is also pleased donald trump has expressed sympathy for syrian children,

but worries about the president's contradictions. you can't step into the war and what's happening in syria and at the same time not be allowing people to have a safe place. if i don't have the chance to be here... if i got sent back to syria, i would not guarantee my life right now. there is no doubt yassin‘s view of donald trump has changed, but he hopes the president will not only continue to put pressure on bashar al—assad, but will also reverses ban on taking in syrian refugees. —— reverse his ban. aleem maqbool, bbc news. syrian refugees figuring out what to make of the trump administration, no easy task, particularly for them as well as everybody. and when you have a ban in place on refugees coming in. the two policies are notjoined up, so you can understand why there is frustration,

while at the same time some interest in what is going on in syria. we have been talking about reversing positions... a major test of the trump presidency has always been more global — can populism work in government? in the past 2a hours it almost seems as if donald trump has decided that it can't. yesterday, trump effectively abandoned some of the most nationalist, populist promises he campaigned on. 0n nato... here's the problem with nato — it's obsolete. i said it was obsolete — it's no longer obsolete. and on china... we can't continue to allow china to rape our country, and that's what they are doing. china is a currency manipulator. what they have done to us by playing currency is very sad. but since his meeting with president xi last week, he's now saying, "they're not currency manipulators". here are some other donald trump u—turns. .. when it comes to the us economy he is now considering re—appointing the fed chairjanet yellen.

last year he said she should be "ashamed" of what she was doing to the country. he is now embracing the export import bank, a govt agency he said should no longer exist. and in the middle east, no more foreign interventions, no more regime changes, was the pledge — ditched last week after the chemical weapons attack in syria. that went up in smoke quite literally, and again today with the bomb in afghanistan. what do we make all of this? how will supporters respond ? what do we make all of this? how will supporters respond? we are joined by ronald christie, republican strategist. is this a problem for donald trump, in terms of those supporters who thought they we re of those supporters who thought they were voting for somebody quite radical, a particularly focused on theissue radical, a particularly focused on the issue of china and tariffs and currency? if abandons those positions and looks like a more normal, mainstream establishment, dare i say it, president, what will

his supporters think? i think it will still support him and donald trump is the brand of donald trump. they wanted him to go in there and it will look at him and say, he went in and said he would drain the swamp in washington... they will say, donald trump is pragmatic. look at what he has done with the chinese to get them to pressure the north koreans. look at what he's doing with manufacturers and business leaders and the white house, to make it more responsive. in short term, people might think, donald trump is hurting his brand, but long—term i think it is a pragmatic approach of strong, steady government that people are looking for. kristian, great to see you as well. i would add to that... it is stunning that he keeps saying, i was wrong, i did not realise that health ca re wrong, i did not realise that health care was wrong, i did not realise that health ca re was so wrong, i did not realise that health care was so congregated. at the weekend he said, i sat with president xijinping for weekend he said, i sat with president xi jinping for ten minutes and he would have known it was not easy to get a deal with north korea? natal is obsolete, then it is not

obsolete... edicts correcting himself. why is he not doing better than he is? having been in the white house with george w bush for his first 100 days, you coming and... are the promises and what you want to do, then you realise it is harder to manipulate the government then you realise. it is harder to make change than you thought. some promises you make, pragmatism tells you can't. take for example the president saying he would have a constitutional amendment in the first 100 days, with congressional... he has recognised that working with people in congress to get regulatory reforms through, the package through, it is harder than he realised. his recognition that government can be part of a solution rather than the problem, i think, will have his ratings rise rather than the level we have right i'iow. it isa i'iow. it is a stunning turnaround, shifting positions, carrying his supporters with him, you have to think that only donald trump can do

it, perhaps. thank you, to you. voters in turkey are set to cast their ballots in a referendum on a new draft constitution this weekend. a "yes" vote would significantly increase the powers of the turkish president recep tayyip erdogan and turn the country from a parliamentary to a presidential republic. let's cross to istanbul and our correspondent mark lowen. watching the referendum. how fair has the campaign been? i have all your stories online, and you can see it has been tough... i have spent the day out in this square in the heart of istanbul, one of the biggest and most iconic squares in turkey. you do not find a single no voter or opposition poster in that whole square. it is exclusively erdogan yes posters. some estimates have put the ratio of i'io some estimates have put the ratio of no to yes posters by one to 20 something. no campaigners have been attacked and heavily under pressure.

i think monitors are bullying in to say the campaign has been unfair. so far we will have to see whether that will extend to the vote on sunday, hugely divisive. polls are showing it could be a neck and neck race, despite the fact that the erdogan site overwhelmingly dominates with posters and the airwaves. but erdogan also dominates the opinion polls. he is doing well in polls, but they hear voters saying, listen, i like erdogan but i am not sure i want to make this kind of constitutional change, and it would... affects a body that might come afterwards? is that a segment of the dog? —— a segment of the vote ? i hear from people who have voted for erdogan, and his party, all their lives, and somehow feel it is not right to put all of the powers in the hands of one man, as is constitutional change would envisage. the interesting thing is that there they are too afraid to speak on camera radio. i was at a

bazaar here in istanbul over the couple of days, and it was the most visited tourist attraction in the world, and 30 or 40 shopkeepers, about ten of them were opposed to the constitutional change and none of them would be on camera. that is the kind of fear created by president erdogan. a tight race and one which will have huge implications far beyond turkish borders. good to see you and we look forward to your report of the week. you can look at his report on the website, a special report about erdogan. in—depth and enjoyable to read. there is speculation that north korea may be looking to conduct its sixth nuclear test soon. satellite images show an increased bit of activity at a test site in the north of the country. 0ur correspondentjon sudworth has sent this report from pyongyang. his movements have been monitored

and tightly controlled. they poured into central pyongyang in their tens of thousands. of citizens and soldiers alike, north korea has always demanded displays of mass devotion. and at the front of the crowd, there was kim jong—un. celebrating notjust a missile launch or a rocket test but the construction of pyongyang's newest street. the inauguration of a few tower blocks and shops would, anywhere else, raise barely a murmur. in pyongyang, it's met with rapturous applause. it might seem like an extraordinary celebration to mark the opening of the street, but it's about so much more than that. it's about economic survival,

resilience, and sending a message to the outside world of total loyalty to the leader. the country's prime minister, pak pong—ju, told the crowd at the opening of the new street sends a more powerful signal to the world than any number of nuclear bombs. but, in reality for north korea, bombs are vital. with reports that another nuclear test may be imminent, we are taken on a tour of the school. "the dear marshall kimjong un clothes and feeds us", this nine—year—old girl tells me. and from an early age, she is told that it's bombs and missiles that guarantee his regime's survival. for a poor and isolated country like north korea,

this reasoning has some logic. might it have gone the way of iraq or libya, its leaders ask, if it didn't have its nuclear programme? so, foreignjournalists are brought here to be shown a friendly face. there are many of them but also the willingness to endure. "sanctions don't bother us at all", this man tells me. "united around our leader, nothing can harm us". the message is clear. north korea is marching towards its nuclear future and no amount of threat or coercion from a us president will get in its way. john sudworth, bbc news, pyongyang. pictures and we will be watching

closely to see if the test goes ahead, and north korea are continuing to trouble the us president. he doesn't seem to want to let this one go, does he, katty? christian, this morning, mr trump posted this... "i have great confidence that china will properly deal with north korea. if they are unable to do so, the us, with its allies, will! usa." you wonder... if i was reading the very political tea leaves, i would think that after a couple of days of cosying up to china, reversing himself on so many positions, mr trump needed to put out a tweet that showed, you know, using words like "usa" shows he will be tough, but not answering the question on how the us will deal with north korea, because frankly as we have said many times the options are no better today than during the 0bama administration. no good policy and north korea frankly for the last ten

yea rs. north korea frankly for the last ten years. not many options emerging. they have to work with china, that is their best option. detox tough language, —— he talks tough language. he talks about battleships going towards them as an armada. some of the language, you wonder who you hear speaking to. his face, when they pulled them about these sort of things, they are not too interested. —— his voter base. they are not interested in intervention strategy overseas. yeah. you're watching 100 days from bbc news. still to come for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news: donald trump failed to repeal and replace 0bamacare. we meet the ohio republicans he blames for that setback — why did they fight him on it? and he's a man of detail when it comes to cake, but not countries. we'll explain why this presidential slip—up wasn't so sweet. that's still to come on 100 days, from bbc news. the weather is looking fairly quiet out there for most of us this evening.

we have had a little bit of sunshine but for many of us, it is pretty cloudy and a little on the cool side. here is the satellite picture from the last few hours. not much is going to change in the next few. what you have got right now is more or less what you will have through the rest of the evening and overnight. maybe some spots of rain across northern areas of the uk. these will be mostly light rain. in the south, we are talking about clearer spells and 8 degrees in plymouth, liverpool, newcastle. in the far north, for lerwick, closer to four. tomorrow, there will be more cloud around, for sure, and even some rain—bearing cloud but most of the rain should not be too heavy. in fact, if you live across the south, cornwall, devon, through the isle of wight towards the south—east and east anglia, here, perhaps some sunshine from time to time. even if you are on the coast, looking out to sea across the channel, there, the weather might end up being relatively sunny. but by the time we get to the midlands, certainly wales, the northwest, northern ireland, southern scotland, here at lunch time at least,

and this is lunchtime, there will be more cloud and a bit of rain around, and the western isles of scotland once again getting further showers. and then the rest of good friday, so this is in the afternoon, you can see weather fronts moving across the uk. they will be making theirjourney a bit further south so later in the day in the south, it will cloud over and it may turn damp. saturday, cold air streamed from the north arrives and by the time it reaches our shores, rather than cold, it is cool. i think a fairly fresh day but at least a sunny day on the way on saturday. i would say saturday is going to be the best day of the easter weekend because there is going to be a lot of dry and sunny weather. quite a crisp morning with some sunshine in the afternoon so not too bad at all. sunday, then, easter day, another weather front stuck to the north of us. perhaps a bit more cloud and maybe some spots of rain across northern parts of england and northern ireland but i think the best chance of sunshine is across the south and the south—west. plymouth and cardiff for example, contenders

for a very good easter day. into monday, some of us will have cloud and others a bit of sunshine and maybe a few showers from time to time. all in all, the easter weekend's not looking that bad but then again, it's not that great. but let's look at the positive. welcome back to 100 days with me katty kay in washington, christian fraser's in london. our top story: the us military drops what is ominously called "the mother of all bombs" on eastern afghanistan, targeting the hideouts of so—called islamic state militants. and still to come, donald trump's a man of detail when it comes to cake but not countries. we'll explain why this presidential slip—up wasn't so sweet. right now many us lawmakers are back in their home districts for the easter break, some of them getting an earful from their constituents

about washington's failure to repeal and replace 0bamacare. among those who president trump blamed for the setback were conservative members of his own party who make up the freedom caucus. republican jim jordan represents 0hio's 4th district and the bbc‘s laura trevelyan has travelled to the city of lima to see if voters there are siding with their president or their congressman. the sound of an economy that's growing. pallets move goods around america, shifting everything from soap to motorbikes. and at the lima pallet company in north—west 0hio plans to expand are tied to the reform of 0bamacare. the family started it in 1977. 0wner tracy sanchez can't employ more people until the cost of health insurance comes down and she was frustrated to see the republicans botch their first attempt. i was a little disappointed that we have had eight years to work on this and i would hope that the republicans in eight

years could get it done. your representative here in lima was very opposed to the bill and the president now is blaming him and other members of the freedom caucus for the failure, is that fair? i don't think it's fair. we know they are working on it on a daily, if not hourly, basis. we really feel confident, as most of us in this area do, that they will get the job done. you are not ever going to get all you want, but if you push, you will get some better product for the folks back home. meetjim jordan, tracy sanchez‘s member of congress. he's a conservative republican, a member of the freedom caucus group who helped torpedo the white house's attempt at health care reform. the president directly singled outjim jordan with his furious tweet storms, but the congressman is unmoved. tweets and statements and blame don't change facts and the facts remain there are concerns with this legislation, real concerns that we have, and we are trying to make it better. lima is in a county where more than two thirds of the electorate

voted for both donald trump and congressman jim jordan in november's elections. the message from republicans here is loud and clear, time for the party to work together and deliver on its promises. at lima's qp diner they have served burgers and shakes since the depression years. and the regulars are keen observers of politics. i really don't understand why they are fighting. if it is to help the american people, help them. quit this crap about the republicans and democrats. we are all one nation. trump is not a politician, i want to tell you, but he is going to make some changes. good or bad? i don't know yet. back at the pallet factory they are outgrowing their surroundings. tracy wants to build a new warehouse and provide affordable health care for the new workers she is itching to hire. she is relying on president trump who has a construction background after all to lay the political foundations.

sometimes he flies off the handle a little too quick, but they will get the job done. i think things are coming around and i think they will work together and i think it will all happen. this state like others in the midwest boarded the trump train because of promises of change, and newjobs inspired hope. internal squabbling over health care reform is not what people here expect now that republicans are in the driving seat. and back with us now is republican strategist ron christie. we were talking earlier in the programme about whether donald trump's flip—flops with nato and china will cost him with his supporters. in the end his approval ratings will be based on whether he producesjobs for ratings will be based on whether he produces jobs for american people. how much does he now have to make that pivot away from foreign policy

to home policy and back onto the jobs trail? people will be looking and saying what legislation will he worked with congress to get enacted in law? what difference will it make to my economic condition? he has done a lot of executive actions, but he has not done much with congress. people will say they want people in washington to get to work and get things done. so far donald trump has done a lot of things on his own, he will have to work with the congress and the freedom caucus to put together progress. will those very conservative members of the party be watching those president's approval ratings and decide to back him defy him on legislation? they are going to look at him and say, do i want to work really closely with this president as we head into every election, or do i want to put some

distance between myself and him so that they still have enough popularity in their districts to get elected. we saw with 0bamacare, the problem for paul ryan, the speaker, is he appeals to the moderates and freedom caucus starts to move away and if he appeals to the freedom caucus, the moderates move away. that will apply to a lot of people coming up in the next few months. that is really the tight rope the speaker of the house has to tread right now. he has to find a way to resuscitate health care. this is one thing republicans have been talking about for several years. they have to find a way to make good on that promise to the american people. they have also talked about tax and regulatory reform. people are paying great attention, what does it mean to have one political party in charge of the entire government? if republicans cannot find a way to

work together or work with democrats to get things done, they will throw up to get things done, they will throw up their hands and say, we gave you the keys to the car to drive us to a better position, you cannot do it, let's put the democrats back in. we have been talking a lot about steve bannon who stands closer to the freedom caucus and the right wing of the party and he is inside the white house at the moment and is having a tough time. president trump gave another interview today and said, he isa another interview today and said, he is a nice guy, but he is a guy who works for me. the white house has got a problem with steve bannon. they have to keep them close because they do not want him outside the white house is firing back at them, do they? absolutely not. you often have staff in different camps. there isa have staff in different camps. there is a jared kushner camp, the have staff in different camps. there is ajared kushner camp, thejim bannon camp, and ifjim bannon departed in the short term, the real risk is it will allow a lot of the

people who voted for him to say, you took the guy out who we thought was minding the store to make sure that it would not get a bit wobbly and now you are having these more moderate people in there? donald trump is in a precarious spot. he is the president of the united states, that he needs to have key allies around who are seen as being outside of the business as usual political structure. thank you for coming in. fascinating, such an interesting time from the beginning when donald trump came in, having campaigned on these radical proposals on the economy, immigration, and now transitioning because some of those things will not work unless he can govern as a more centrist, establishment type of politician. he needs the structure of government, the very government he spent the

whole of his campaign did crying. he said he would destroy the administrative state. if you want to govern effectively, you need some of that establishment. if steve bannon walks, he has been privy to all the conversations, he knows everything from inside and a lot of the policies, the flip—flopping, will not sit easily with steve bannon. if he walks, it will not be good news for the white house. steve bannon is very close to some of the major backers of the campaign and potentially he takes their money with him as well and i think that is why he is still in the white house. i cannot say anything in those interviews that donald trump has given that makes me think steve bannon will be around for very long. who knows? let's have a quick look at other news. let's have a quick look at other news. russia has rejected a european ruling that it contributed to the deaths of more than 300 hostages during a siege at a school seized by chechen separatists in beslan in 2004. the european court of human rights

said moscow had been guilty of serious failings. russian forces used tank cannon, grenade launchers and flame—throwers in the southern town. a german judge has authorised the arrest of a 26—year—old iraqi man detained after an attack on a bus carrying players of the borussia dortmund football team. prosecutors said they believed he was a member of islamic state, but prosecutors say they found no evidence that the man was involved in the bomb attack. the italian football club, ac milan, has been sold to a chinese—led consortium bringing to an end the era of ownership by the tycoon and former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi. the purchase is worth more than three—quarters of a billion dollars. the club's fierce city rival, inter milan, was bought last year by a chinese electronics retail group. ok, so picture the moment. you are sitting at dinner with president xi of china, the ruler of the second biggest super power in the world, when dessert arrives. and at that same moment there is a call from the generals to inform you that the bombing

of the syrian airbase has been carried out according to your orders. pretty awkward given that this is the first time you have met your guest. and not that easy to explain since you are communicating through an interpreter. so here is donald trump's explanation of how he broke the news to president xi, that while they had been having dinner, his war room had been busy. i was sitting at the table, we had finished dinner and we were having deserted and we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen beautiful piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen and the president was enjoying it. i was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded, what do you do? we made a determination, so the missiles were on the way. we just launched 59 missiles heading to iraq. heading to syria? yes, heading

to syria. iamjust so i am just so glad the instructions to the generals went right. it is definitely syria and not iraq. but the way he described the chocolate ca ke the way he described the chocolate cake it is like he was measuring it and you get the image of a massive chocolate cake. i want to know what happened between courses. did he nipped out between the starter and the main to find out what was going on? he came back and he played it straight. apparently there was a ten minute gap when he told them, when he tried to get the communication going and the chinese president was thinking, andi going and the chinese president was thinking, and i hearing this right? he has launched 59 tomahawks at syria? and he has launched 59 tomahawks at syria ? and even he has launched 59 tomahawks at syria? and even before coffee! there we re syria? and even before coffee! there were people in the white house at the time who were saying they were very glad this news came through as president trump was sitting next to

the chinese president with or without chocolate cake because that gave us the opportunity to show the chinese that america is back and america is serious on carrying out its threat and we would like them to hear that message. that is 100 days for this week. if you'd like to get in touch with us, you can via twitter using the hashtag — bbc—one—hundred—days. this is bbc news. the headlines at 7.45: syria's president assad says reports of a chemical attack in the country are "100% fabrication". the pentagon has confirmed that, for the first time, it has used one of the world's largest non—nuclear bombs in an air strike in afghanistan to target caves being used by so—called islamic state. the education secretary says she will create a new wave of grammar schools in england — which are open to ordinary working families —

and not the privileged few. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. there was a slight fall on london and the dax. trading is continuing in the united states. the russian government says it will appeal against a ruling that it failed to do enough to prevent the deaths of more than 300 people — mostly children — during the beslan school siege in 2004. the european court of human rights said more could have been done to stop the attack by chechen separatists. 0ne survivor has spoken to our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford — zhanna tsirikhova was held hostage with her two daughters. her youngest, liza was a week from year eighth birthday when she died in the siege. she says she had no choice but to leave her fatally injured daughter inside the school. translation: at the beginning, i was telling my daughter and the other kids, don't worry, the authorities will save us. the children started asking, haven't they decided yet? i said, no, it is difficult because they need to

rescue us so no one dies. i believed at least the kids would be freed in the morning. then the morning came. by around noon we lost hope. when i came around after the blast, one daughter was sitting by my side. i started to shout, liza, liza. she was lying behind me. she was not moving. when i touched her, ifound there was a hole in her head. i called but she did not get up. i saw her wound but i did not realise that no one could have survived that. it was more frightening when we got to the canteen than in the gym.

they made women stand in the windows. tanks were firing. they gave women curtains and they were waving and shouting saying, don't shoot, there are people in here.