this is bbc world news today. i'm geeta guru—murthy. our top stories... north korea hails a successful test of a hydrogen bomb, which it claims can be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. it's provoked international condemnation. mr president will you attack north korea 7 we'll see. president trump considers his response and threatens to cut trade to any country doing business with pyongyang. his defence secretary talks tough. we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely north korea. but as i said, we have many options to do so. a rapturous welcome for angela merkel as the german chancellor arrives for a tv showdown with her main electoral rival. how did she do? we'll cross live to berlin. also ahead, all the sports including

a perfect weekend for lewis hamilton at the italian grand prix. the un security council is holding an emergency meeting on monday, after north korea claimed it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. international monitors say it was pyongyang's most powerful nuclear test yet. north korea announced on state tv that the test was a ‘perfect success‘. earlier, us seismologists had detected a powerful tremor, with a magnitude of 6.3, near the north's main testing site. it's the sixth underground nuclear test by north korea injust over a decade. there's been widespread international condemnation. president trump tweeted the us is "considering stopping trade with any country doing business with north korea". he called his military chiefs to the white house — in the last hour, the us defence secretary james

mattis gave this update on what they had discussed: we have many military options and the president wanted to be briefed on each one of them. we made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, south korea and japan. from any attack. and our commitments among the allies are iron clad. any threat to the united states or its teletubbies, including guam, or its allies, will be met with the massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming. we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely north korea, but as isaid, we country, namely north korea, but as i said, we have many options to do so. china has urged north korea to halt its nuclear programme. russia said that the north risked "serious consequences", while britain's prime minister theresa may said the un security council should look urgently at imposing new sanctions.

our correspondent in seoul, yogita limaye reports. north korea announcing another nuclear test. "a perfect success" the newsreader said. pyongyang claims to have detonated a hydrogen bomb. the world was alerted when tremors were detected at a known testing site in the north—east of the country. earlier, photos were released of the north korean leader kim jong—un inspecting what was said to be a nuclear device. the state claims it could be fitted to an intercontinental ballistic missile. if confirmed, it means pyongyang can arm these long—range missiles — weapons that put the us mainland within range. to this latest incident, president trump responded on twitter, writing:

"north korea's words and actions continue to be very dangerous to the united states." and he went on: "south korea's talk of appeasement with north korea will not work. they only understand one thing." later, leaving church, the president was asked about military action. mr president, will you attack north korea 7 he said, "we'll see." for months now, south korea's president said talking to north korea was a solution. today he expressed outrage and disappointment. translation: north korea has made an absurd tactical mistake, by committing a series of provocations, such as launching icbm missiles, and conducting a nuclear test, which has heightened tensions on the peninsula and is threatening world peace. it will isolate them further. the latest act from north korea comes just days after the regime fired this missile which flew overjapan. in response, america and south korean jets conducted bombing drills,

with more military measures planned. but it is hard to see what action can be taken. here in seoul, a city that is home to tens of millions of people, we are only about 50 kilometres from the border with north korea, and at any given time a mass of weapons is pointed in this direction. that is why the international community has been trying to put economic pressure on pyongyang rather than taking the military route. but that isn't working either. it has been less than a month since strict sanctions were imposed on north korea. nothing appears to deter kim jong—un. yogita limaye, bbc news, seoul. after the latest — and most powerful — evidence of the extent of north korea's nuclear programme, what are the options for the international community? our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has been assessing the possible consequences. kim jong—un and his regime are simply refusing to bow to the outside world.

why? well, partly because the regime is convinced its survival depends on having the ultimate weapon, as insurance against outside attack. but already the north koreans have such an array of conventional weapons they could kill hundreds of thousands of people, and maybe that is why they have ignored donald trump's warning to them last month. north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury, like the world has never seen. but the fact is north korea has not been stopped by that fiery rhetoric and has now made a new threat which raises the question, can the west stop the north koreans? the us does have the means, the fire and fury. they could almost certainly destroy the regime eventually, but not before retaliation sparked appalling consequences for south korea, japan and the wider region. so could the world live

with a nuclear armed north korea? arguably, it may have to — and that would then mean relying on kimjong—un to be rational, and north korea to accept the old cold war restraint that any use of nuclear weapons guarantees mutually assured destruction. no wonder north korea's immediate neighbour china is pushing hard for international talks with the regime to find some other way forward. as most options, other option's are fraught with very severe possible consequences, i think in the end one does come down to the line that this has got to be solved, unless you want catastrophe, by negotiation. but to some leading republicans an american military response to all this looks inevitable. this was senator lindsey graham speaking hours before north korea's latest test. i am 100% certain that if kim jong—un continues to develop

missile technology that can hit america, if diplomacy fails to stop him, there will be an attack by the united states against his weapons systems. the stakes with north korea have never been higher. the ultimate decision rests with president trump, as america's commander—in—chief. james robbins, bbc news. in a sign of the possible foreign relations between china and its old ally, this test came just a few hours before president xi jinping gave a keynote speech at a summit he is hosting here, and the government has been quick to react, saying it condemns the test in the strongest terms. but despite all of donald trump's

urging, the question is, what will china do? it has toughened up sanctions on some goods, but the reality for beijing all along has been this. normal trade continues, textile and tourism. the calculation for china all along has been this, that whilst it doesn't like the idea of a nuclear armed north korea it appears much, much more at the prospect of economic collapse. because that would bring chaos and instability right up against its border. each

stage north korea gets closer and closer to having a deliverable nuclear weapon but it doesn't for most analysts look as if that calculation will have changed all that much for china. joining me now from notre dame university in indiana is professor david cortright. he is the director of policy studies at the kroc institute for international peace studies. thank you for your time. should the us withdraw militarily from the region to get china to help? not necessarily, we need to engage diplomatically, everyone is talking about a range of actions but the most important and perhaps only option is to engage diplomatically. for that the united states needs to partner with china, china has much more leverage on north korea than we do. it has the potential to offer significant incentives in terms of greater trade investment and security assurances so the option is for the united states to stay

involved, be more committed that use the tools of diplomacy, political dialogue, not military threats. do not think beijing must have already tried that level of diplomatic pressure on the north? certainly beijing has engaged diplomatically but the us also needs to be involved because the united states is technically still at war with north korea, we are the ones with massive military power in the neighbourhood. we are seen as the greatest threat to north korea and its because of that threat and their insecurity that threat and their insecurity that they seem to feel the need for all this weaponry so we have to be engaged. but we also need to have a partnership with china that enables us partnership with china that enables us to offer a diplomatic package. china and the us share the concern to avoid further nuclear realisation of the korean peninsula. i think

it's a possibility we could work together. the goal of a diplomatic engagement is likely to be not com plete engagement is likely to be not complete demutualisation but a freeze, can we get them to halt testing and to then begin to work on a package of incentives and sanctions which can be part of the package, to move north korea towards a firm agreement. do you think there will be any kind of agreement on the security council meeting on monday? china has not gone the way other members wanted and there are many in the us who fear a action is the only way forward. i think the council can ee, way forward. i think the council can agree, if you think about the iran nuclear deal, it was the security council, the european states and the united states working together with their consent and support of russia and china that offered to iran a package of incentives as well

sanctions and especially the offer to lift sanctions if iran agreed to nuclear freeze. i think a similar formula could be offered to north korea. let's go with a further sanctions package, i think the council is ready for that and the european states have been supporting it but it should be tied to an offer to lift sanctions if north korea will agree to a significant package, a freeze on its nuclear programme, nuclear inspections like we have in iran. we would probably not get the kind of intrusive monitoring we have in the and north korea butlers get back to some kind of more rigorous monitoring in north korea. diplomacy worked before and it can work again. sorry to cut you off, we are out of time, thank you. we will, of course, keep you updated on this developing story but don't forget you can also visit our website. we'll have updates, analysis, and the latest from our correspondents in the region. remember you can also download the bbc news app onto your smartphone or tablet device. with just three weeks

to go until germany votes in the country's general election — chancellor angela merkel — who is seeking a fourth term — has been facing her main rival martin schulz in a live tv debate. much of the sparring focussed on immigration with mrs merkel jenny hill has been watching the debate interesting line and emerging on turkey and the eu from her opponent? yes, martin schulz was keen to talk turkey because relations between germany and turkey have deteriorated over the last months, if not longer. martin schulz said if he was the chancellor he would halt any kind of eu accession talks with turkey. what is ironic about that is that angela merkel

herself has never wanted turkey to join the eu but in that debate she fell short of calling for that particular demand herself saying instead she would be prepared to speak to other eu members to see if they could try to stop prepayments to turkey before any kind of eu accession. angela merkel has been the key architect of the migrant deal between turkey and the eu and ta kes deal between turkey and the eu and takes the view it's better to keep your enemies closer. this was an interesting debate, primarily because i think many in advance thought that angela merkel who was not known for her particularly powerful rhetoric, is not known for enjoying this kind of debate, actually i think came out on top. she's been in thejob i2 actually i think came out on top. she's been in the job 12 years and to make it showed. her experience came through, she was able to score points against her main rival martin schulz. pointing out for example very detailed arguments about for

example the refugee crisis, martin schulz try to attack on the way refugees who have arrived in germany are being integrated in his view not fast enough. she countered with some detailed statistics about how many applications are being processed and how many people are still going through the system for example. this was a very wide—ranging debate as you would expect, we heard about policing and pensions but also a lot of talk about foreign policy. in particular north korea. martin schulz taking a fairly bullish view on donald trump pointing out that in his view donald trump was bringing the world to the verge of destruction with just a few tweets and saying that europe and the rest of the world should try to push on and organiser solution over north korea without the us president. angela merkel taking a softer view saying she could not see a way forward for diplomatic solutions to that crisis which did not involve

the us president. so i wide—ranging debate, looking as though angela merkel is coming out on top. the german newspapers saying that as far as they are concerned she did a betterjob, as they are concerned she did a better job, polling as they are concerned she did a betterjob, polling already suggesting she has come out on top. angela merkel and her conservative party are set to win the election if the polling is to be leaved and i think tonight she was victorious as well. thank you jenny hill. much more coming up, all this board including celebrations for lewis hamilton as he takes the race and the formula i championship lead at the formula i championship lead at the italian grand prix. she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india's slums. the head of the catholic church said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in need. we have

to identify the bodies and then arrange the options and take them back home. parents are waiting and whites are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost the princess today. described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash ending a life with more than its share of pain and courage, warmth and compassion. this is bbc world news today.

i'm geeta guru—murthy. our top stories... north korea hails a successful test of a hydrogen bomb, which it claims can be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile. donald trump has been briefed by his military chiefs, his defence secretary said america did not want to annihilate north korea but also had the option to do so if threatened. the united nations refugee agency says 73,000 rohingya muslims have now fled to bangladesh from myanmar since the army there began a campaign against militants less fresh plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the area as the armies lodged a complaint against militants. it comes after attacks and killings carried out by the militants amid warnings about radicalisation. the un refugee agency says more than 70,000 people have fled the bangladesh. sanjoy majumder is at the border. it is now a massive influx, the sheer number of rohingya refugees coming into bangladesh from myanmar. the border is just a short distance that way. they are coming from every direction, men, women, children. some very young and some incredibly old and finding

it difficult to walk. earlier today we saw plumes of smoke from inside rakhine state, presumably villages that were burning there. refugees we have spoken to have come with dramatic testimony of how they were allegedly driven out of their homes. some have seen people killed at close range. they are all heading now towards one of several temporary refugee camps which are set up on this side but already these camps are teeming with people and agencies are really concerned about the sheer numbers of people they have to take care of with supplies running incredibly low. let's look at some of the other stories making the news. south africa's deputy president, cyril ramaphosa, has admitted having an extra—marital affair. but he claims reports of multiple affairs, which he denies, are part of a political smear campaign.

mr ramaphosa said he believed people were trying to stop him from contesting the leadership of the governing anc party in november. german explosives experts have successfully defused a massive world war two bomb in the financial capital of frankfurt. more than 60,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes as the operation was undertaken. the bomb was capable of flattening a city block. let's get the sport. the us open is underway, the fourth round, 18—year—old danish pop love, the youngest man to get to this stage since 1989, but unfortunately it as far as he is going, the canadian teenager was first up against pablo carreno and he did well to match the spaniard but lost all three sets on tie—breaks. maria sharapova is playing right now, she

is one set up, it's been tough going in the second set. lewis hamilton took the outright championship lead for the first time this formula 1 season with a dominant victory in the italian grand prix. a day after breaking the all—time record for pole position he was in total control leading valtteri bottas d1 — to finish. sebastian vettel was third and is now three points behind, the victory was his sixth of the season. sebastian vettel only has four. the next grand prix is in singapore in two weeks. a century from virat kohli helped his side to another win in sri lanka and it com pletes another win in sri lanka and it co m pletes a another win in sri lanka and it completes a 5—0 whitewash in the one—day series, his unbeaten 110 guided his side to the target of 239 with six wickets and 21 balls to spare. earlier the hosts were bowled out for 238. kumar took five wickets

for 42, ms dhoni out for 238. kumar took five wickets for42, ms dhoni became out for 238. kumar took five wickets for 42, ms dhoni became the first wicketkeeper to reach 100 stumpings in one—day internationals surpassing kumar sangakkara sri lanka. sri la nka kumar sangakkara sri lanka. sri la n ka lost kumar sangakkara sri lanka. sri lanka lost all three tests against india as well and now have just one t20 match on wednesday to try to salvage some pride. australia are desperate to draw level in their test series with bangladesh after they received intense criticism from media down under. defeat in the opening match was their first ever to bangladesh. here is steve smith. bangladesh will be full of confidence with how they played last week, we are going to have to play a lot better. we are down 1—0 in the series and we need to win the series. i think the inclusion of steven 0'keefe in the squad is a good one, it gives us the option to play three spinners. there is a

possibility we go with that. are more confident smile from chris froome as he has extended his lead in the welter is banned, he now leads vincenzo nibali by one minute and one seconds. andy lopez won the 129 kilometre 15 stage, his second stage win of the race, chris froome finished fifth and gained six seconds over his nearest rival. there are six stages to go. ewan sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the tour of britain, 193 pedal from stage of the tour of britain, 193 pedalfrom edinburgh stage of the tour of britain, 193 pedal from edinburgh to stage of the tour of britain, 193 pedalfrom edinburgh to kelso in the scottish borders. hejust edged out edvald boasson hagen. joachim loew has condemned fans who sang nazi era cha nts has condemned fans who sang nazi era chants during the win over the czech republic, it came on the anniversary

of the german invasion of poland in 1939 which triggered world war ii. translation: i'm not upset or sad, but i am angry, this is maybe the best description of my feelings. i am really, really upset about what happened. the fact that some so—called fans used football and the stage of an international game to bring great shame and disgrace to our country with their behaviour, i think every single one of those people should not be allowed to enter the stadium. that would be an absolute win. that's all the sport, see you soon. slightly happyjourney story it's probably fair to say that when it comes to handling your beer, nobody does it better than this man. this is 0liver struempfel from abersberg in bavaria — and he's carrying 31 steins full of german beer. 0liver spent the afternoon breaking his own world record

for carrying the glasses. he dropped one and spilt another — setting a new record at 29. just a lucky few across eastern parts of the uk which have seen sunshine, much easier compared to yesterday, for many of us are cloudy story and wet for some of us, very wet for a time across parts of wales in south—west england is the day began but as this weather system has shunted the rain further east and will continue to do so, that rain turning increasingly like an patchy and drizzly, low cloud, coast and drizzly, low cloud, coast until fork, rather if you meant air moving m, fork, rather if you meant air moving in, temperatures not going down too far overnight. let's go down onto monday morning, plenty of clouds, some of that coast until fork around, misty murky story, sunshine to begin with hard to come by, there will be light rain and drizzle, especially where the old weather front is still quite active, parts of northern england and scotland and another weather system poised, dry start, rain spreading east, it will

spread south east across scotland during the day, always going to be heavyin during the day, always going to be heavy in the north and west of scotla nd heavy in the north and west of scotland rather than the east once it moves in, another spell of brisk wind, still gales around the northern isles especially shetland, later winds than we had during the course of today and it will brighten parts of england and wales, chance to catch the odd for the shower, given any prolonged sunshine you could see temperatures as high as 23, 24 but could see temperatures as high as 23, 2a but most of us will fall short of that but it's quite muddy and humid. as we go through monday evening and peps up to parts of wales in northern england and during tuesday sweeps south east, behind this weather front cooler and fresher air moving in. this weather front cooler and fresherair moving in. quick this weather front cooler and fresher air moving in. quick moving band of rain pushing south—east across the rest of england as we go on to tuesday morning, following behind one or two showers coming in, bright and breezy, a sunnier cooler fresher picture with temperatures

down in the mid to upper teens. not particularly cold but cooler and fresher for wednesday and thursday, variable cloud, sunny spells, pleasa nt variable cloud, sunny spells, pleasant in the sunshine, chants we re pleasant in the sunshine, chants were a few showers especially in the north and west. the story of this weeks ‘s weather greater humid start, cool and fresh by the end of tuesday and potentially quite wet and by friday. north korea says it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. it was their most powerful nuclear test yet. asked whether america could strike first, donald trump said "we will see", he said america is considering stopping all trade with any country doing business with north korea. more villages have been burned down. more villages have been burned down. more than 70,000 refugees have crossed the bangladesh over the last week, according to the un. and the —— angela merkel has been taking on martin schulz in a live tv

debate. a flash survey