i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: the us stands ready for a massive military response to any threat to america or its allies, after north korea carried out its most powerful nuclear test. we're not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely north korea. but, as i said, we have many options to do so. as the authorities struggle to get aid to millions in need, we meet the survivors of south asia's worst flooding in decades. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: an exodus of myanmar‘s rohingya muslims. we report from bangladesh, where thousands have fled persecution and violence. this is the main land route through which the rohingyas are now entering bangladesh. on the other side of the mountain is myanmar. and we will bring you the incredible story of an amazing rescue in china, after a young boy was trapped

at the bottom of a well. it is 7:00am in singapore, midnight in london, and 7:00pm in washington, where president trump has condemned north korea for its latest nuclear test, warning that america may stop trading with any country that does business with the north. the un security council will hold an emergency session later on monday, the second time it has met to discuss pyongyang's actions in a week, and south korea has announced that it has carried out its own ballistic missile tests in response to the north's test. we will report from tokyo and beijing in a moment, but first, yogita limaye in seoul. it was a perfect success, the newsreader declared,

as she announced north korea was close to achieving its nuclear goals. the country says it has detonated a hydrogen bomb small enough to be fitted to an intercontinental missile. this is kimjong—un inspecting what north korea claims is such a device. if true, it would mean that pyongyang is now capable of launching a nuclear attack on cities in the united states. this unprecedented threat prompted president trump to say... any threat to the united states or its territories, including guam, or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective

and overwhelming. it is a strong message to south korea's president, who for months has 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 tentions on the peninsula and is threatening world peace. it will isolate them further. south korea is most worried, because it has the most to lose. and that is why, even though military measures like these bombing drills are held in the face of the threat from north korea, it is hard to see what further action can be taken. it's certainly our view that none of the military options are good. the distance between north korea and seoul is very, very small. they could basically vaporise large

parts of the south korean population, even with conventional weapons. 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 pointing in this direction. and that is why, rather than take a military route, the international community has been trying to put economic pressure on pyongyang. but that isn't working, either, and the impact of every move kim jong—un makes is felt notjust in the korean peninsula, but also across the sea injapan. the pod under the belly of this japanese air force jet can sniff the airfor radiation. this afternoon, it roared off towards north korea, to do just that. it is less than a week since north korea fired this missile across japan.

for prime minister abe, this is becoming an unwelcome routine. translation: together with the us, south korea, china and russia, japan will take determined action against north korea. north korea may now have tested a nuclear device that is small enough to put on top of a ballistic missile that could be fired at the united states. and, for the government here injapan, that is very disturbing, because it raises a very troubling question. in future, will the united states be willing to risk one of its own cities, say for example, denver, in order to protect seoul and tokyo? this afternoon, the us ambassador rushed to see japan's foreign minister, to reassure him. no action taken by the north koreans will in any way deter our commitment. japan and the us may have the military might to deter

north korea, but they have few other levers to pressure pyongyang. only one country does, and that is china. china was quite literally shaken by the blast. north korea's nuclear test site is only 60 miles from the border. it will have sent a diplomaticjolt, too, coming just before president xi jinping opened this international summit. although he made no direct reference, he warned of the challenges to world peace. on state tv, the message was more blunt, with an official statement strongly condemning the test. there can be little doubt that the government here in beijing is rattled. once again, it has had to order emergency radiation monitoring along the border. but, despite the frustration, as always, it may be reluctant to punish north korea too hard.

china has recently been stopping cargoes of coal and seafood, in line with toughened un sanctions. but its biggest fear is not nuclear weapons. it is the chaos that would come with the economic collapse of the impoverished state, shrouded in darkness, on the other side of this river. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: thousands of people from myanmar‘s rohingya minority are continuing to cross the border into neighbouring bangladesh. they are escaping a military crackdown after rohingya militants attacked police positions a week ago. aid agencies estimate nearly 73,000 people have fled, as human rights groups accuse the burmese army of atrocities and indiscriminate violence. our correspondent sanjoy majumder has been to the border. this is the main land route through

which the rohingyas are now entering bangladesh. on the other side of the mountain is myanmar. they have a steep climb through the mountain and they have two walk through the forest and wade through the streams before they can get to the refugee camps. but at least they are alive. also this hour: one of cambodia's last independent newspapers has announced it will close, after authorities ordered it to pay a huge tax bill. the cambodia daily has often been critical of the government. the announcement comes just hours after the country's opposition leader, kem sokha, was arrested for treason. prime minister hun sen has accused mr sokha of plotting with the us to harm cambodia. with just three weeks to go until germany votes in a general

election, chancellor angela merkel has been facing her main rival, martin schulz, in a live tv debate. much of the sparring focussed on immigration, but there was agreement that turkey should not become part of the european union. a survey of voters showed mrs merkel, who is seeking a fourth term as german chancellor, won the debate. the governor of texas has put the cost of clearing up after storm system harvey at as much as $180 billion. greg abbott said the damage was worse than that caused by hurricane katrina in new orleans in 2005. remember this? the american guitarist and songwriter walter becker from the band steely dan has died at the age of 67. the band blurred musical boundaries through their mix ofjazz, rock and pop, with hits such as reelin‘ in the years and deacon blues. it is probably fair to say that, when it comes to handling your beer, nobody does it better than this man. this is oliver struempfel, from abersberg, in bavaria, and he is carrying 31 steins, or tankards, full of german beer. oliver spent the afternoon breaking his own world record for carrying the glasses. he dropped one and spilt another, setting a new record at 29. let's get more on our top story,

and there is widespread international condemnation of north korea's latest test. as we heard, the un is holding a second emergency security council meeting in less than a week on north korea, later on monday, and south korea conducted its own live—fire exercise, simulating an attack on the north's nuclear site. john park, the director of the korea working group and an adjunct lecturer at the harvard kennedy school, offered us his analysis. well, rico, we have seen south korea respond in this fashion in recent episodes. i think this is now part of the landscape there. but you have to look at the gap. north korea's

testing capabilities, a weapons system and steps towards that, that is in the realm of the great powers. a nuclear icbm is something that a country of a little over 20 million, we haven't seen this before in the history of international relations. so there is something of a gap whenever we see these types of responses. all right, but this responses. all right, but this response from south korea does add to the already tense situation in the region. are definitely well, it will add, and i am sympathetic to these kinds of responses, but we do have to look at it in the context of the north korean programme. there is a parallel development of a nuclear warhead as well as the delivery capabilities, and north korea is getting closer to achieving this final goal of combining the two back. in terms of these responses, we are looking at different policies that frankly are far from the goal here, in the sense of trying to constrain a north korean nuclear weapons programme. to frame it right now is that the north korean nuclear weapons programme is completely unconstrained. what about a response from north korea's allies, russia

and china? beijing and moscow have come up with a statement saying, quote, they will appropriately deal with a test. does this upset both beijing and moscow? both countries are very alarmed by the development, and is not just are very alarmed by the development, and is notjust focused on north korea, or other countries. it is a combination of these countries and the cycle of instability and insecurity that we are seeing right now. so from where beijing and moscow sits, the developments are alarming, but they have consistently framed it in terms of a diplomatic solution. right now, the two opponents of the freeze for freeze, moscow and beijing have been saying that, in return for north korea freezing its nuclear weapons programme, the united states and south korea freeze their military exercises as one formula to train bring security back to the peninsula. but no one is interested in that approach right now. but the latest test of north korea, mr park, is more provocative than the

previous ones. shouldn't beijing and moscow be more aggressive? well, right now the north korean programme is very far advanced. and my concern, and a concern shared by other north korean watchers in the community here, is that i applying some of these measures we are actually going to see a situation where the north koreans continue to accelerate their development programme. the idea of a window of opportunity closing and racing for the bomb, if you will. so we are seeing a situation which is becoming increasingly destabilised. the most devastating floods to hit south asia in a decade have killed more than 1,400 people, and focused attention on the lack of preparedness for annual monsoon rains. in many areas, the authorities are struggling to get aid to millions of destitute people. justin rowlatt is in bihar, one of the poorest states in india, and the worst—affected by the floods. they're mixing up huge pots of vegetable curry and dhal. food for those left destitute by the floods. and there is no shortage of demand.

i'm helpless, raju tells me. the floods took everything we own. it was terrifying, says kavita. there was just so much water. we were lucky to survive. but you can rebuild a house or replant a field. there are some things you never recover from. so they came down here to get provisions, and the water was just up to their knees. and then, when they turned to go back, suddenly there was this great surge of water came down, and it dragged them away, dragged the father and the women away, and the women managed to grab hold of the trees down here. she said she watched as her father was swept away. translation: now, he's gone. what do i do? sometimes i wish i had been washed away with him.

this was the worst flood in the region for decades. almost a metre of rain fell in just two days, across a vast area of nepal and north india. it came down the river as a great pulse of water. just look at this enormous embankment, and just imagine for a moment the force needed to punch this hole into it. and the fear is that climate scientists say that extreme weather events like this, and the destruction they bring with them, are only going to get more common. and that is a terrifying prospect for vulnerable communities like these. justin rowlatt, bbc news, bihar. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we will take a look at what the chinese leadership hopes to achieve with its summit of the brics nations.

she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and 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, then arrange the coffins and take them back home. parents are waiting and wives are waiting. hostages appeared, some carried, some running, trying to escape the nightmare behind them. britain lost a princess today, described by all to whom she reached out as irreplaceable. an early—morning car crash in a paris underpass ended a life with more than its share of pain and courage,

warmth and compassion. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: the us defence secretary, james mattis, has said there would be a massive military response to any threat to the us or its allies after north korea tested its most powerful nuclear device yet. president trump has warned that america may stop trading with any country that does business with the north. china is pyongyang's main trading partner. now it was the bomb that forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes in germany. a 1.8 ton british world war two explosive was successfully defused by bomb disposal experts in frankfurt. the bomb was nicknamed ‘blockbuster‘

during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world, which are largely dominated by north korea's latest nuclear test. the asia edition of the financial times says president donald trump has now left open the possibility of a military attack against pyongyang. it highlights growing concerns that pyongyang is getting closer to being able to hit the us with an intercontinental ballistic missile. the south china morning post says china and the us led the world in condemning north korea. it adds that beijing and moscow say they will — i quote — "appropriately deal with" the test, which the paper says appeared to be timed to coincide with the opening

of the brics summit. the front page of the japan times similarly headlines the north korea nuclear test. but it also features a picture of the forthcoming nuptials of princess mako, the eldest grandchild of emperor akihito and how she has given up her royal duties for love. we'll hear from the couple in a few minutes' time. what's caught your eye online? well, these amazing pictures of a rescue in china have sparked a lot of attention online. a young boy fell into a well in xi'an in shaanxi province. mechanical excavators were called in, and then, once the boy was located, oxygen was pumped into the narrow well shaft to ensure he didn't suffocate. it took ten hours before he was finally pulled back to safety. and he was then re—united with his family before being taken to hospital.

you'll be glad to know, he's doing well. north korea's latest test took place just as china's president was about to welcome a handful of world leaders to a two—day summit in xiamen. the leaders of the five brics countries — brazil, russia, india, china and south africa — as well as the leaders of egypt, mexico, tajikistan, guinea and thailand. robert kuhn is the author of how china's leaders think. when hejoined me from shanghai, i asked him how the north korean nuclear test would affect the summit. brics is important to china because it emphasises china's aim to emerge in the world pro actively to support world peace and prosperity and stability. the diplomatic

initiatives of china and mutual cooperation. so for the north korean is to detonate this nuclear weapon at this time is really enormously both rude and intrusive into one of china's most important events of the year. china looks upon brics is extremely important for its emergence in the world in terms of cooperation amongst emerging countries, a multilateralism as opposed to unilateralism. all the things that china deals with. this time the president really emphasise security, talking about global peace, stability, a comprehensive co—operative sustainable security arrangement yet at this time for this to occur is quite significant. there was talk in the chinese press that if the north korean government launched missiles that was one thing but attaching a nuclear weapon would bea but attaching a nuclear weapon would be a different character. now we have to see what happens. , what you

say, that the leaders of china could be upset by this latest nuclear tests by pyongyang, could be cracked down even more, impose more sanctions on the north korean is?” certainly wouldn't say could, i would say definitely. they are upset. in fact the relationship between china and north korea is now a matter of debate amongst policy experts, breaking into the media. that does not happen in china by accident. for this, the whole relationship is definitely in distress. i would be quite surprised that china did not do significantly more after this nuclear test. that is what they have been saying. you must understand, you have the north korean relationship with china is quite complex. most westerners don't understand why. you have to go back to history, look at what it would mean for china is the north korean regime would collapse. china is very sensitive. they are sensitive about

5 million refugees flooding over the border. they are sensitive about american troops possibly going into north korea if there is a forced unification. the missiles being close to china. those are real fears. moreover, north korea is a long—term ally, and china respects its long—term ally. strategic distractions to the us, so the us does not focus on sensitive issues like taiwan. there are many issues that make china not want to see the regime collapse but, certainly not cause trouble but it is. and before we go — what sacrifices would you make for your true love? how about giving up your title as a princess?

i would make a lot of sacrifices. everything. i would give up this job. may be the singing. who knows. but we will find out that it well, that's what the granddaughter ofjapan's emperor is doing emperor is doing after falling in love with a commoner. for princess mako to get married to the man she met at university she has to give up her royal status. the couple have just got the official go—ahead to get engaged and here's what they had to say. translation: i am warmly supported. i was attracted to his smile, just like the sound. —— sun. as i got to know him i became fond of his personality. he is generous and sincere, he has strong convictions and he works hard to achieve his goals. the princess watches me quietly like the moon. i am

attracted to her affectionate personality. and she also has strong convictions. together we would like to make a home where we can always be ourselves and live in peace. best wishes to the couple. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we take you to dali lake in western china to find out why local authorities shut down a resort town — crushing the local tourism industry. and before we go, welcome back to planet earth. the us astronaut peggy whitson has returned to earth after a record—breaking, extended stay aboard the international space station. she's now america's most experienced astronaut, accumulating a total of more than 660 days in space during a career that has spanned three trips into orbit. after a weekend of two halves, this

week ‘s weather takes us on a little bit of a journey that things are a little bit quieterfor bit of a journey that things are a little bit quieter for this time of the week. i will start with a few images from sunday's weather. after all that saturday sunshine, grey skies, some rain around, the feathery stew you did not get that rain until late and the weather system that brought it is starting to fizzle out but we are left, as monday begins, with plenty of cloud, low cloud with misty murky coast and hill fog around. damp and drizzly still in place is. is quite warm and humid air across us. look these temperatures to eight a.m. not as breezy as it has been into england and wales. a chance of light rain across parts of north england and scotland. di starred in northern ireland that this band of wet weather will move in and push across scotla nd weather will move in and push across scotland during the day. still windy for some of the sea, especially the further north you are. risk of gales into shetland. on through the day.

after the cloud to begin with, it brightens up a bit in england and well, especially east wales and through northern, central, southern and eastern england. if he gets in sunny spells for any period of time, it could be quite warm. could reach 24 it could be quite warm. could reach 2a celsius, perhaps a chance of this shower. banter and northern ireland with outbreaks in scotland but the further west you are, especially in the late afternoon, it could brighten up once again. the rain is not done with us. on monday night will pep up again through this zone here, back into parts of northern ireland, scotland and northern england and wales before going into tuesday this energy will run out eastwards into the north sea. we are left on tuesday with this weather fronts still heading south—east, just not as much rain associated with a. a cold front, the leading red edge of cool fresh air so there isa red edge of cool fresh air so there is a change to the feel of the weather coming away by the end it through the north—west. metaframe pushing south eastwards across england on tuesday, behind that, a publisher was following but as you can see, sunny weather, cool fresh

feeling whether the police we have the sunshine as which has come down a few degrees. and then we embark on that quiet spell of weather for a couple of days. wednesdayjust a few showers in the west, variable cloud and sunshine. many dry on thursday but it looks that we will see another weather system bearing down on parts of scotland and northern ireland as we go on through thursday. this week ‘s weather then, and a humour humid warm start if you see sunshine, could then turning cool and fresh with sunny spells and showers for a few days by the end of the week, thursday night into friday it looks like it will be turning wet and windy for a time. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story: north korea says it has tested its most powerful nuclear device yet. the us defence secretary, james mattis, has said there would be a massive military response to any threat to the us or its allies.

and donald trump has warned that america may stop trading with any country that does business with pyongyang. reports from myanmar suggest more rohingya muslim villages have been burned down. the un says more than 70,000 refugees have now crossed the border to bangladesh in the past week. and this incredible story is trending on bbc.com: the rescue of a young boy who fell into a well in xi'an, in shaanxi province. once he was located, oxygen was pumped into the narrow well shaft. it took ten hours before he was finally pulled back to safety. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it is time for hardtalk.