this is bbc news. the headlines: south korea strengthens its military defences after signs the north is preparing more missile launches. pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb at the weekend. president trump tells north korea any threat will be met with a massive response — and the us is ready to use its nuclear capabilities. kensington palace announce the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child. the royal family are said to be ‘delighted'. haugaard be feeling about the —— how are you feeling about the news that you are going to be an uncle again? very excited. how is your sister—in—law? very excited. how is your sister-in-law? i haven't seen her for awhile, but i think she's 0k. heading for ‘a perfect storm' — a senior police official warns of the impact of staff cuts and raising crime on forces in england and wales. gangs are offering royal mail staff big sums of money to steal bank cards — a bbc investigation finds. also in the next hour. a red arrow salute as the the queen officially opens the new

queensferry crossing. the queen was accompanied by prince philip — 53 years to the day after she opened the neighbouring forth road bridge. should girls and boys close —— clothes be a thing of the past? john lewis decide to take boys and girl labelling off their children's clothes. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. south korea says it has seen indications that the north is preparing more missile launches, possibly an intercontinental ballistic missile. the south has carried out live—fire exercises, and says it is strengthening its missile defence system. the escalation follows north korea's testing of a hydrogen nuclear bomb at the weekend, which it says can fit onto a long—range missile.

the us has warned that any threat to itself or its allies will be met with a ‘massive military response'. our correspondent robin brant reports from seoul. after the north's nuclear explosion underground, this from the south. a series of missile launchers above ground. from land and from the air, south korea's armed forces carried out a dummy raid early on monday. it was designed to replicate an attack on north korea's nuclear testing site. this was how north koreans heard about the perfect success that was their nation's sixth nuclear missile test on sunday. it was more powerful than any before, and came with claims that kim jong—un now has the ability to order a nuclear strike on mainland america. fresh from briefing the president of the united states, america's defence secretary gave this very stark warning. any threat to the united states or territories, including guam,

or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming. in the aftermath of this latest nuclear test, one of the most troubling things to emerge is evidence of a split between south korea and the united states. its main security guarantor. but it came from, you guessed it, a tweet. president trump has attacked notjust the north, but also his counterpart in the south, an ally. he criticised what he called south korea's appeasement. calling out your ally is not business as usual, but as things undoubtedly heat up here in seoul, some think it is their president who has the right approach to cooling things down. translation: it's our country's business. i hope president trump will refrain from making comments like that. this man said, "about

the appeasement, i think we need two tracks, sanctions and dialogue at the same time". the views of this man are very important, china's president. north korea's only ally. he had a summit of world leaders upset by the nuclear test. he and russia's president putin have promised to deal appropriately with their rogue neighbour. as the us reminds the world that nuclear weapons are an option here, the focus once again at an emergency un meeting will be on sanctions, economic pressure. the talk now, though, in south korea, is of beefing up the military options. with new evidence the north may launch another missile test soon, the signs are this is becoming more about missiles than meetings. robin brant, bbc news, seoul, south korea. well, the un security council will meet later today to discuss further sanctions against north korea. and president donald trump has asked to be briefed on all available military options, according to his defence chief. switzerland — with its long history of neutral diplomacy — has offered to help mediate.

richard galpin looks at what options are on the table. with north korea now believed to have developed a hydrogen bomb, kim jong—un could soon achieve his goal of possessing a credible nuclear arsenal capable of hitting the united states. it has left donald trump floundering. at the same time he has been lashing out at the allies. including south korea. accusing it of being too soft on its approach to the crisis. that could make today's meeting of the un security council even more difficult. the aim of the discussions is to get agreement on imposing more sanctions. but already, russia is warning against this, saying it could break the north korean economy.

amid the fractured diplomacy, one thing all sides agree on is that china could play the key role in preventing this crisis from leading to war. as north korea's closest ally and trading partner, it has enormous leverage. i think by far the best option would be for president trump to sit down with the chinese president and work out how they will control this unruly regime and country. while china has cut some of its trade with north korea, the united states and other world powers have been pressing beijing to go much further. but today the chinese foreign ministry spokesman announced its response to north korea's nuclear test was to launch what it called "stern negotiations" with north korean diplomats.

no surprise, then, that countries in the region like japan and south korea continue to prepare for the worst. installing increasing numbers of defence systems to protect themselves from a north korean missile strike. attempts to defuse this crisis peacefully do continue. but the need for a breakthrough is becoming ever more urgent. richard galpin, bbc news. in our westminster studio now is drjim hoare, associate fellow in the asia programme at chatham house and former diplomat — who established the british embassy in north korea. who is controlling this game, and uses were because someone who is controlling this game, and uses were because someone is trying to play one team against itself? —— andi to play one team against itself? —— and i use this word. ie referring to

north korea or the president of the united states? —— are you referring. one of the difficulties is not so much north korea, they have been on this trajectory to deliver nuclear weapons and warheads now for some yea rs. weapons and warheads now for some years. 7 ”2” £2,222, 1l; 7 fi;;,.; 13:7flf t if t t out use out. use of force, not ou they use of force, not ou they as: $555 not ' ou they as: f§€= "23; needs because they think north korea needs to be saved from itself, but because of the possible consequences for the united states allies south korea and japan. the current president of the united states, no doubt, is aware of past history, but makes these state m e nts past history, but makes these statements which are then handled by his advisers but they are never sure what the next statement will be, so there is confusion now about what there is confusion now about what the united states intends to do. of

course, it has enormous firepower and it could strike at north korea, but if it did, the consequences for the united states might be relatively limited, but the consequences for north korea's neighbours, the south koreans and the japanese, could be catastrophic. and for that, in the case of south korea, there would be no need to use rockets, you could startjust by artillery fire on seoul which is very near the demilitarised zone and very near the demilitarised zone and very vulnerable indeed. on the diplomatic front, is president trump paying for the inaction of his predecessors? that is a simplification, if you will forgive me. the clinton administration contemplated the use of force but decided on the basis of views from his advisers and his military advisers and diplomatic advisers, that the costs would be so enormous,

human life and economic disruption, that it was not something worth doing. and so instead in the clinton administration, you have this turn to diplomacy, this led to an agreement which had problems but it held for eight years. in the end it was a combination of american suspicions under a new president of what the north koreans were doing, north korean‘s suspicions on the long—term intentions of the americans that lead down to the breakdown of the agreed framework. they tried a tough line, and when that didn't work, it got involved with the six party talks, brokered by china, but originally suggested by china, but originally suggested by the americans anyway. which seemed to enjoy a certain degree of

success but there was a tendency on both sides to move the goalposts slightly. in the end that came to nothing. president obama i suspected nothing. president obama i suspected not really —— suspect did not really know what to do, and put the whole thing on hold. mr trump is throwing out mixed messages which must be confusing at least to the north korean, sometimes he's going to deal with them, in a diplomatic fashion, he could have a hamburger with kim jong—un, and other times it is fire and the threat of nuclear attack on them, of course. what about south korea? he has turned his attention on them on very unflattering terms foran on them on very unflattering terms for an ally. indeed. one of the problems with the second bush administration, it stop supporting

the south korean approach of engagement —— stopped. which had been successful, no limited way, but it had reduced tensions and they had begun to work together which had never happened before. if you had told me when i was in seoul in 1980 that one day south korea cars would cross the demilitarised zone and there would be a training between there would be a training between the two size, i would have said you we re the two size, i would have said you were in fairyland, but that happened —— two sides. mr bush, like the current president, he thought of it being appeasement rather than a logical approach to dealing with the issue. get to know each other, get familiar with each other, and hopefully bring down the tensions between them. how you get out of this dilemma, i don't know, because if mrtrump takes this dilemma, i don't know, because if mr trump takes action, it is

south korea who are first in the firing line. and south korea is very very vulnerable. thanks forjoining us. richard lister is in our washington bureau. donald trump and many people there are assessing what the options are. they are, it will come to a head at the un security council and the emergency session which begins in just under an hour. that session is designed to send a message to north korea that the international community is united in its opposition to the nuclear tests that we re opposition to the nuclear tests that were carried out and the continued ballistic missile testing but of course, while there may be some boilerplate statement agreed by the members of the security council, there are deep divisions within the permanent membership as to what in concrete terms should be done. the us has made very clear it is pursuing the idea of much tougher sanctions, the eu has backed that and other members of the g7 but the

russian deputy foreign minister said in his newly sanctions against north korea had reached a limit of their effectiveness and there was no appetite for the chinese or the russians for more sanctions, and the chinese are concerned that if you push too hard on north korea at un up push too hard on north korea at un up with a chaotic destabilised state that has all sorts of problems for the chinese interims of refugees —— on north korea you could end up. and potentially you could end up with south korea in charge of north korea, and then that could be american troops on the door of china. there are no good answers to what can be done at the moment. thanks forjoining us. and later in this hour, at 230 — our correspondent paul adams we'll be answering some of your questions about the situation in north korea. kensington palace has announced that the duke

and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child. the queen and both families are said to be delighted. as with her previous two pregnancies, the duchess is suffering from hyper—emesis gravidarum, or severe morning sickness — and has cancelled an engagement in london this afternoon. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. the duchess of cambridge last week with her husband and prince harry. no hint then of an announcement for a third baby. kensington palace was forced to disclose the pregnancy this morning because the duchess had had to pull—out of a public engagement because of acute morning sickness. the condition she experienced for both of her previous pregnancies. she is now resting at kensington palace. according to the statement, the queen, opening the queensferry crossing near edinburgh this morning, and other members of the royal family, are delighted with the news. the baby will be the queen's sixth great grandchild and will be fifth in line of succession to the throne. it's more than four years now since the birth

of prince george injuly 2013. this is an important week for him, he is due to start at his new school in london, something his mother certainly will not want to miss. their second child, princess charlotte, was born in may 2015. she is fourth in the line of succession and she will retain that position even if the new baby is a boy. on a visit to poland a few weeks ago, she joked about having another baby which was presented with a gift intended for a baby. it did not seem significant at the time. today, the first response from within the royal family to the news she is expecting another child has come from prince harry, who is visiting manchester. fantastic, great, very happy for them. and how is your sister in law doing? i have not seen her in a while but i think she's 0k. the news of a third child comesjust as william is beginning

full—time royal duties. soon the team of four will become five. kensington palace has not said when the new baby is due, but it must be assumed it will be in february or march of next year. the headlines on bbc news: south korea strengthens its military defences after signs the north is preparing more missile launches. pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb at the weekend. kensington palace announce the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child; the royal family say they are ‘delighted'. heading for ‘a perfect storm' — a senior police officer warns of the impact of staff cuts and rising crime on forces in england and wales. england will be captinaed byjordan henderson for tonight's world cup qualifier against slovakia. a win will leave gareth southgate's side on the verge of qualifying for next year's world cup. scotland will be hoping for an england victory to help their chances of qualification.

the scots host malta while norrthern ireland could seal second place in their group tonight. petra kvitova has reached the quarter finals of the us open after an impressive straight sets win over the wimbledon champion garbine muguruza. i will have more on those stories at around 230. a senior police officer is warning that forces in england and wales are heading towards a perfect storm, because of staff cuts and rising crime. the president of the police superintendents' association, gavin thomas, says a policing model based on fewer officers doing more is fundamentally flawed. the home office says calls for extra funding are still under discussion. here's our home affairs correspondent danny shaw. is the thin blue line becoming too thin? yes, says the police superintendents' association. it represents a thousand middle ranking officers — the men and women who make the key operational decisions. the superintendents are concerned

there are fewer police officers doing more and working longer hours in a more challenging environment. the man who leads the organisation believes that's a model of policing which is fundamentally flawed. my members are saying they're doing their best. they lead highly committed, professional police officers. they're highly committed, too. but there is only so much we can expect from our police service before this starts showing — things are starting to stretch beyond their limit now. the superintendents' association conducted a survey of its members about work pressures. 72% of those who responded said they didn't use all the annual leave they were entitled to. 50% of superintendents said they had signs of anxiety and over a quarter, 27%, were experiencing symptoms of depression linked to the demands of their work. a recent study by the police federation, which represents 120,000 officers, suggested most felt under—valued and under—paid and wouldn't recommend the job. what we are seeing is the front line

resources being dwindled back, which means those on the front line are having to do more work. this has to stop. it is non—sustainable. we need mechanisms in place to ensure that this does not continue moving forward. the home office said it is piloting a new national service to provide welfare support to officers who need it. ministers have also been having discussions with police leaders amid calls for extra funding for forces, but no decisions have yet been taken. danny shaw, bbc news. downing street says the prime minister is ready to increase the pace of brexit negotiations, suggesting they should be continuous rather than for one week every month. mps will begin debating draft legislation on withdrawing from the european union later this week. the so—called repeal bill, which is seen as a key plank of the government's brexit policy, transfers eu law into uk legislation. our assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster. he is back from holiday.

he is back from holidaylj he is back from holiday. i will be broken and battered by brexit within hours, because let's be honest, it is all kicking off, with the government set to launch the first of its big brexit bills. it has got to get something like eight of those through parliament by the time we leave the eu and that's a massive task because all the signs are, there is going to be a huge parliamentary tussle over this, especially over the first bill, the so—called eu withdrawal bill, with opposition mps and some tories lining up to amend it and putting down critical motions, insisting we stay in the single market, and given the narrow majority of theresa may, she could be defeated on one or two of these amendments, albeit this lunchtime. the chancellor philip hammond appeal to tory mps not to vote against theresa may on this legislation. i would say to

backbenchers who are thinking about seeking to amend or delay the withdrawal bill, that now is not the time to disrupt this bite of the important piece of enabling legislation. we are making progress in our discussions with the eu, and we are mapping out a course for the future britain and i'm confident that we will be able to achieve the kind of strategic partnership that we want with the european union as an independent country post brexit in 2019. what makes the position of theresa may even more precarious, is that labour has signalled they will vote against the withdrawal bill u nless vote against the withdrawal bill unless david davis comes up with a raft of concessions by the time they start debating it, which seems extremely unlikely, but the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell extremely unlikely, but the shadow chancellor john mcdonnell insisted they will not give the government a blank cheque when it comes to brexit. we respect the referendum and we are going to make sure that

the decision made in that referendum is increment it, but we can't allow the government a free hand —— is implemented. keirstarmersaid the government a free hand —— is implemented. keir starmer said they can't have free —— have a blank cheque. we have been waiting to this legislation, but we are finding that, this government says they are going to take control back from brussels, but by not getting it to the people, they are giving it to themselves and we can't allow that to happen —— but they are not giving it back to the people. what is surly true, this legislation and the other brexit bills will eat up parliamentary time —— certainly true. that is the one thing theresa may does not have, she has got to get these bills through parliament before we leave the eu which means getting them through parliament by the summer of next year, that is a huge huge task. this lunchtime downing street now saying they are ready to step up the pace of negotiations with brussels, a sign they are acutely aware that the

clock is now ticking. welcome back. it's raining. laughter a report by the law firm herbert smith freehills has heavily criticised the work of a british pr firm in south africa. bell pottinger spread "inaccurate and misleading" information when contracted to work for the gupta brothers, a controversial family with close links to presidentjacob zuma. james henderson, the ceo of bell pottinger, resigned over the weekend, in anticipation of today's findings. we can talk to our media editor. what is it they have done? this comes back to three brothers who are these indian origin brothers who over 25 years have acquired massive power in south africa and they are accused of rampant corruption, which they deny. they are very close to jacob zuma. they needed help with their pr and they called bell pottinger, which was originally

founded... it is notorious for the it is very well known question lord tim bell has worked with some people like to who have less than clea n people like to who have less than clean records. bell pottinger were accused of doing some pretty nasty things, setting up fake twitter accou nts things, setting up fake twitter a ccou nts to things, setting up fake twitter accounts to spread false information, and stoking racial hatred. this report that this law firm have published today which was commissioned by bell pottinger, and they have said they did some pretty bad things, but they did not set up a fake account and they weren't the first to use this loaded term what monopoly capital, although they did spread this term in south africa. —— white. this legal firm, spread this term in south africa. —— white. this legalfirm, there has been a response in south africa, they have said they have given bell

pottinger and easy right, but i understand the pr body, —— an easy ride, but i understand the pr body are going to give their own findings, and what all this comes back to, the fact when you have international governments who need their reputations managed, by often looking to british er firms to do that reputation management and they are getting up to some pretty shady stuff —— pr firms. are getting up to some pretty shady stuff -- pr firms. what can they do question not the —— what can they do? it is an open secret, the fact is, pr firms, british or international, they work was a pretty —— work for pretty bad people

and they do some bad stuff, but they do this for a huge amount of money. while the money is there to play for, i suspect this nefarious activity will continue. thanks for joining us. postal workers are being offered £1,000 a week to steal bank cards, a bbc investigation has found. online adverts offer huge sums to tempt royal mail staff to intercept letters containing cards and pin numbers. more than 11,000 people in the uk have been affected by this type of fraud in 2016, where bank cards are stolen in transit, according to uk finance. the gang has asked my delivery route

and then to wait for further instructions, that is to give it time to order bank cards using the names and addresses of people are delivered to, and myjob is simple, to stop them arriving. my my contact claimed he'd already recruited postmen in the midlands and london, ukfinance recruited postmen in the midlands and london, uk finance which represents the banking industry recognises the problem. it says more than 11,000 cards were stolen in transit last year alone. we do have our own police unit and they tried to get to the people who are organising the criminality behind the scenes because once you have taken that part of the gang out the thing falls apart, rather than tackling these, but it all comes down to partnerships. we have a good relationship with royal mail, to help target these gangs. the royal mail told the bbc that although it

is that it macro —— its investigation did not reveal any employees involved in the alleged fraud... but what will the gangs say for themselves? i work for the bbc and i wa nt to themselves? i work for the bbc and i want to know what you are trying to recruit postmen to commit crime and fraud on your behalf, why are you doing that? you say you have already recruited two postmen and then you leave the... leave the camera alone, mate. you say you have recruited two postmen to commit fraud. so, clearly, no answers, but to do what he does he relies on staying under the radar, and do you know what, he is now firmly on it. and it might just be enough to stop him doing what he's doing. jonathan gibson,

bbc news. if you are in the west midlands, you can see more on this story. and you can see more on this story. and you can see more on this story. and you can see it on the bbc iplayer everywhere after that. the queen has been opening the new queensferry crossing, saying it is a magnificent structure. now the weather. we are looking at a lot of cloud. it will become warm with temperatures up will become warm with temperatures up to 23 or 2a celsius. the cloud thick enough to give an odd spit of drizzle. that will ease off as we go through the afternoon. even if you don't get much in the way of sunshine it will feel on the humid

and warm side really. as we go through this evening and overnight, outbreaks of rain will turn heavier, first of all of across northern ireland. to the south—east of our weather fronts it will be a warm and humid night. 16 or17 weather fronts it will be a warm and humid night. 16 or 17 celsius, but fresher air gets in across scotland and northern ireland. tuesday then starting off on a soggy note and the rain will be with us for much of the day. staying cloudy. still relatively warm across the south east with fresher air working into scotla nd east with fresher air working into scotland and northern ireland as the sunshine returns. that's your weather. hello. this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2.31pm. south korea claims pyongyang is preparing for another missile launch. prince harry told journalists it is

fantastic he is going to become an uncle for the third time. it comes after the announcement from the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting another child. a senior police officer warned staff cuts and rising crime in england and wales mean forces across the country are heading for a perfect storm. the queenjoined by her are heading for a perfect storm. the queen joined by her husband prince philip has opened the new firth of forth bridge in scotland. now the sport with karthi. simon, thank you. we'll start with football because three of the home nations return to world cup qualifying action this evening, following victories on friday night. scotland host malta. northern ireland take on the czech republic, and england play slovakia at wembley. a win will leave gareth southgate's side on the brink of qualification for russia next summer. the bbc‘s senior football reporter ian dennis is at wembley with the details of tonight's games. a big night ahead for england and in

turn a significant night too as far as scotland are concerned. england know a victory here at qem bli will ta ke know a victory here at qem bli will take them to the brink of qualifying for next summer's world cup final in russia. it would give a boost as far as scotland are concerned. england are still a team in transition. nothing will be taken for granted against a talented vow vakian side. gareth southgate describes england asa gareth southgate describes england as a work in progress and he refutes any notion that the players don't ca re any notion that the players don't care after friday's display against malta attracted criticism. it is about getting the job done and the route to russia will be all, but complete. scotland are also in group f and will be hoping for an england win in that match. scotland start their match at home to malta four points behind second placed slovakia in the play—off spot. gordon strachan's men realistically need three wins from their last three games to finish runners up. when you look at malta's

performances over the last year, even england scoring four goals, the last three in the couple of minutes. soi last three in the couple of minutes. so i think the fans and most of the press would understand how important this game is going to be and real patience, keep the ball and do nothing. be patient to go and find areas where they play at high tempo. northern ireland need just one point to guarantee second place in group c, and a likely play—off spot for russia next year. michael o'neill's men beat san marino 3—nil on friday and their manager wants them to keep the momentum going. we will approach the game to try and win it, of course, we will. we have to make sure we don't be a little bit gung ho in terms of our

approach. we know the czech republic have good quality in their team. they will manage the game well. petra kvitova has reached the quarter finals of the us open after an impressive straight sets win over wimbledon champion garbine muguruza overnight. kvitova, who only returned to action in may following a knife attack at her home last december, played aggressive attacking tennis to come back from 1—4 down in the first set to win 7—6, 6—3. it's the first time the former world number two has world number two has reached the last eight of a grand slam for two years. i feel great. i'm happy ifeel great. i'm happy that i feel great. i'm happy that i managed to win the match. i got a little bit tired. when you're there, it is an experience. former us open champion maria sharapova follows muguruza out of the tournament.

it's the russian's first grand slam since returning to tennis following a 15 month doping ban. if you've ever been frustrated on a golf course you'll know how sergio garcia feels here. after slamming his putter into a sprinkler head and damaging it, he then had to continue his round without that club. he ends up putitng with his driver — little too much on that one — all because he lost his temper — he ended up with a round of 75. the us open champion, justin thomas is top of the leaderboard, at the dell championships in boston. we'll have more in the next hour. welcome to bbc ask this, looking at the increasing tensions in north korea. south korea says it intends to strengthen its missile defences after the north carried out its most powerful nuclear test so far and claimed it had the capability to mount a thermonuclear warhead

on a long—range missile. the us has warned north korea any threat would be met with a massive and overwhelming response. russia has urged caution saying any clumsy steps could lead to an explosion. viewers have been sending in their questions and to answer some of them, here's our diplomatic correspondent paul adams. the first one on the list, it is anonymous, but it is a question many of you are asking. what is the worst that could happen? it is the question that everyone is thinking of. among many. i guess the worst is fairly obvious. it is a nuclear exchange of some kind. either triggered by the north korean regime deciding to make good on its threats against the us facility in the pacific or the us mainland with a functioning inter—kent nopbtal

ballistic missile tipped with a properly militarised working nuclear warhead, something at the moment we don't know that they can do. most people think that they still can't, but no one is absolutely certain. or the united states could decide to ta ke the united states could decide to take out the north korean regime or at least its military capability. obviously north korea that is known about that potential for a long time. ina about that potential for a long time. in a way, if it felt there was any likelihood that the united states was bluffing it might have done something more bold by now, but i think, you done something more bold by now, but ithink, you know, they done something more bold by now, but i think, you know, they know in north korea that two initiate some kind of action against the united states or indeed against japan kind of action against the united states or indeed againstjapan or south korea would be effectively suicidal and that's why they haven't done it. which leads us to the second question from robert in great

yarmouth who says do we have any idea of the support the kim dynasty has in south korea? they don't do opinion polls. they don't have a free press. it is difficult to gauge opinion. there are elections, but elections always won by the ruling party or the ruling bloc. every now and then you hear talk of starvation oran and then you hear talk of starvation or an exodus of people across the border into china, the bottom line is it has shown its self to be sta ble is it has shown its self to be stable for a long time. so we shouldn't assume that with a little bit of nudging somehow the people of north korea would rise up and take over. sonia in sussex says, "why does kim jong—un not seem over. sonia in sussex says, "why does kimjong—un not seem to be worried or intimidated being made because of his sanctions?" well, we don't know that he is not

intimidated by them. he is a master of bluster and defiant rhetoric and he shows that time and time again. and ina he shows that time and time again. and in a way this is a regime that thrives on that. it thrives on paranoia. that copes the people distracted and it is not a paranoia that's entirely engineered. the korean war which may seem a distant memory does not feel that way to the north korean regime. they know in that conflict, the united states toyed with taking over and inflicted massive damage on all north korean cities. so that wound and the paranoia which it has generated down the decades is very real and the other thing to remember here is libya. there is a country which in the interests of cossing up or reaching a closer relationship with the west decided to give up its own nuclear weapons programme and look

what happened to colonel gaddafi. this is a leader who seems to believe the best way forward is to carry the best possible stick. believe the best way forward is to carry the best possible stickm believe the best way forward is to carry the best possible stick. it is a question you can't answer, but i'm going to ask you anyway. they are asking to think as kim jong—un is thinking. is it possible that the north made up its mind to start a warand north made up its mind to start a war and the recent launches are the last preparation for it? all the questions are an attempt 20 to get inside the head of kimjong—un. we can't do that. but we can have a sta b can't do that. but we can have a stab at t most people think no, this is not a leader who is hell bent on launching a war come hell or high water because as i said earlier that would be suicide and he is not a mad man. he is capable of calculation. he and his father and his

grandfather had that same capability. he wants the ability to be able to make credible threats and so for that reason he does seem to be absolutely determined to achieve the technoical know how to be able to deliver you know a strike. what does he want that for? perhaps because ultimately he and everyone else knows that it will be resolved around some kind of negotiating table and he wants to drive the ha rd est table and he wants to drive the hardest possible bargain, the lifting of sanctions and fundamentally the recognition of north korea as a sovereign state which should not be living in fear of another assault by the united states. so, you know, he is calculating all the time. this is not a man who sitting there in his bond—like lairfiguring not a man who sitting there in his bond—like lair figuring out when not a man who sitting there in his bond—like lairfiguring out when it the time to launch world war three. that is probably a misconception. lyon says, "would the uk be part of

a strike or get involved in any war occurring on this peninsula?" the uk is beyond the range of the most ambitious north korean ballistic missile strike at the moment and probably will remain so for a while. it is hard to see the us perhaps asking the uk to be involved in some kind of pre—emptive action against the north korean regime. what would we bring to that particular table? if the reverse scenario, a north korean attack were to take place then this is an attack on our closest ally and our most important nato partner and as such some kind of british involvement would be inevitable. what that would be is ha rd to inevitable. what that would be is hard to say. sir michael fallon the defence secretary said in july military options against north korea we re military options against north korea were a long way away. i don't think were a long way away. i don't think we should assume because this is on the other side of the world we

wouldn't get involved. bella says, "what are the reasons nor not intercepting the test missiles?" is the technology interest there to do that? there was a big debate after that? there was a big debate after that last missile test that went overjapan. you could say that interception would be ideal, but the technology is not absolutely fail—safe. the united states has carried out a number of tests of various bits of its missile programme. sometimes the tests are successful and sometimes they are not. the last thing you want is to launch an unsuccessful attempt to bring down a north korean missile and reveal your weakness and also, as long as these missile launches are in themselves tests by north korea, you could argue that to bring one of those down might be regarded asa one of those down might be regarded as a dangerous escalation of an already dangerous situation. paul, we have got to leave it there. japan

has, at the un, been calling for new north cord creedian sanctions at the un.japan, north cord creedian sanctions at the un. japan, affected because one of the missile overflew it. so they have... ver much on the front line. what do russia and china feel capable of? up to now they are drawing the line at the kind of robust additional sanctions that the united states, japan and others would like to see. paul, thank you very much. paul adams there, our diplomatic correspondent. no pictures from the un. that meeting has got under way to discuss what action to take against north korea. south korea strengthens its military defences after signs the north is preparing more missile launches.

pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb at the weekend. kensington palace announce the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child; the royal family say they are "delighted". heading for "a perfect storm'", a senior police officer warns of the impact of staff cuts and rising crime on forces in england and wales. i'm alice baxter. in the business news: many economists do not expect uk interest rates to rise until 2019 despite inflation remaining above target, that's according to a snapshot conducted by the bbc. they believe that the bank of england's monetary policy committee will be reluctant to raise rates during brexit negotiations. activity in britain's construction industry slowed unexpectedly to a one—year low last month as new orders fell for the second consecutive month. the study blames a lack of new orders for the slowdown, with house building doing well, but that then being offset by the sharpest fall in commercial development since july last year. the uk's coastal communities are among the country's

worst off for earnings, employment, health and education, that's according to a special report for the bbc. it shows the economic gap between the so—called "pockets of deprivation" and non—coastal places has grown by around £3,500 a year on average. at least 47 people have died since hurricane harvey hit texas just over a week ago. some residents have been allowed to return to their homes, but flood waters are still rising in other areas. president trump has asked congress for $7.8 billion as an initial payment to help with recovery efforts following the flooding in both texas and louisiana. texas governor greg abbott said the state could need as much as $180 billion from the federal government to help it recover. michelle fleury has been in texas to see the impact. i'm standing by the

upper houston channel. it's about 23 miles long and on each side it is lined with oil refineries. this area around houston is vitally important to the energy industry. much of the refinery capacity was impacted when hurricane harvey made land fall. as they try to restore operations to get in and to get that refining capacity back up and running, one crucial part will be getting the waterways open again so that vessels can come in and out of here carrying crude oil and other vital supplies and it's notjust energy supplies that come through here, consumer goods travel on vessels through here making their way to shelves of stores like wal—mart and costco. given its strategic importance, american authorities have made it a priority to get this area reopened. we have been told some estimates that if this port, if this area is closed for a week, it could cost the economy as much as $2.5 billion which is why

all efforts are being made to try and clear the debris as fast as possible. in other business news, the chief executive of one of the uk's best known public relations firms has stood down amid claims it stirred up racial tensions in south africa. james henderson, the boss of bell pottinger, resigned weeks after the firm was found by a uk body to be in breach of an industry code of conduct. south africa's main opposition party criticised a media campaign the pr firm ran for the wealthy gupta family. irish drinks firm c&c, which owns magner‘s cider, is to buy the pub chain admiral taverns in a deal worth £220 million. admiral, is being sold by hedge fund cerberus, and operates 845 pubs in britain and raked in £25 million last year. and would you like a bit of theme

park in your back garden? alton towers are auctioning off everything from their flume ride as it makes way for a new rollercoaster at the staffordshire attraction. the 500 kilogram boats are currently attracting bids of about £200 with all the proceeds going to charity. global stock markets have all slide monday as investors seek out safe haven assets like gold — after north korea claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, one week after firing a ballistic missile overjapan. the pound has slipped slightly following the weaker than construction pmi data. the growing belief amongst many leading economists that the bank of england is not going to raise rates until 2019. more on our website. i will be

backin 2019. more on our website. i will be back in an hour's time. see you then. alice, thank you very much. dresses with dinosaurs and tutus labelled for "girls and boys" — gender neutral clothing is a subject we're hearing more and more about. now it has emerged john lewis is getting rid of gender specific sections in its stores. we went to find out what some children think about girls and boys clothes. boys and girls can wear the same things. and they can like the same things too. like a boy could wear pink and a girl could wear blue like me. i like blue and he can't wear pink and carry it off. i'm not saying there should be certain colours. that should be discouraged, whatever you feel comfortable with wearing. to me uni—sex just seems a bit bland. it would be good if there

is t—shirts that have pirates and stuff like that for girls also. it would be nice to see maybe a girl's t—shirt that's pink that says, "adventurer. " more active, this, that and the other. it doesn't need to be tied to a colour or a style. william likes stuff like cars and dinosaurs and i don't like that stuff. to discuss the issues i'm joined by beck laxton an information designer who wrote a blog on bringing up her son gender neutral. for the few months of sasha's life, he was an it? well, we tried it. it didn't work so well in real leusmt i tried to do it on the blog by talking about him using gender neutral language more about five yea rs. neutral language more about five years. you support on-lewis' decision, why? absolutely because gender stereotyping is bad for boys

and girls. it suppresses their potential and tries to lock them into rigid stereotypes. there are some parents who are getting frustrated by the fact that it is almost impossible to buy clothing for girls that is practical and isn't pink and isn't sexualised and there is a lot of militarised stuff for boys that reinforces the similar stereotypes. there is a difference between gender stereotyping and action you took. your boy was denied his gender in the opening months because, he was born a boy and yet you were denying him that? that is nonsense. what i was doing was talking about him in a neutral way. what we did at the beginning was not tell people whether he was a boy or girl because we were interested in the responses that would elicit. the point is to let him be what he wants to be without being forced to conform to other people's

stereotypes. it doesn't narrow your options, it enlarges them. nobody is trying to make him feel that he is not a boy. andrew bridgen do you supportjohn lewis' decision? they have got publicity for their stores. i'm sure they are happy with the marketing campaign. i wonder if it's going in the right direction. beck has raised her son the right direction. beck has raised herson in the the right direction. beck has raised her son in the best way she saw fit and she is at liberty to do that. most parents don't subscribe to her social experiment with her sonment there are clear biological and fis owe logical difference between men and women and girls and boys. i wonder whether people who think up these ideas for this sort of march

of the pc who they are being supported by and who is questioning all this? if you do question it, you're, you're not mainstream, you are a dinosaurand you're, you're not mainstream, you are a dinosaur and a bigot and i wonder what's going on sometimes? beck? there are few strong proven differences between the sexes and once you start looking into it, you will see that a lot of the differences between them are reown forced by thester dwro types we enforce on our children. impracticable clothing for girls that they can't climb in and can't get dirty and can't climb trees because they can't see their own feet, impracticable shoes that don't keep the water out. silly hair styles that are designed to make them look pretty, but they have got hair in theirfaces them look pretty, but they have got hair in their faces the hole time. until we get rid of some of the differences we don't know whether men and women are the same or different. aren't you affecting how they feel about their identity?

aren't you removing part of their identity from them in this march for political correctness? do you want them to believe that boys are cleverer tha n them to believe that boys are cleverer than girls. there are some subjects that women can't do and... i thought we were talking about clothes ? i thought we were talking about clothes? i'm not sure where that line is where you say it crosses into that sort of realm when we are just talking about shoes? well, shoes that prevent you from doing things make you believe that those are things that you're not meant to do because you're a girl. so, clothes affect your concept of yourself and can create limitations that you wouldn't have otherwise thought of and there are lots of t—shirts for girls that reinforce the message that looks are everything and to be a girl is to be pretty first and fore most. it is not to be a person with a brain. andrew bridgen? well, i think women are pretty actually so there we go. i don't know — i don't know who

thought this up at john lewis. they have got a lot of publicity out of this. the gender seems to be ever to push and push. i don't think it is mainstream. most people parents will ta ke mainstream. most people parents will take the decision that they want to raise a male child as a boy and a girlasa girl. raise a male child as a boy and a girl as a girl. you see a boy dressed in a pink top, do you think it is odd or do you think that's great? i don't at all. i have got ple nty of great? i don't at all. i have got plenty of pink shirts myself. i'm comfortable with that. how many parents are going to go intojohn lewis and see clothes for boys and girls and buy a dress for their six—year—old boy? i don't think many. pointing out where the boys clothes are and girls clothes are is informative. beck, i know you wanted to come back on that. we will be talking about this again. andrew bridgen thank you and beck, thank you. it's time for a look at the weather.

where the sun does break through the cloud, it will become quite warm. the cloud thick enough to give an odd spit of drizzle. it will ease off as we go through the afternoon. evenif off as we go through the afternoon. even if you don't get much in the way of sunshine it will feel on the humid and fairly warm side really. as we go through this evening and overnight, outbreaks of rain will turn heavier across northern ireland before the heavier rain gets back into scotland and northern england and also the north and the west of wales. to the south—east of our weather fronts, it will be a warm and humid night. 16 or17 weather fronts, it will be a warm and humid night. 16 or 17 celsius, but fresher air gets in across scotla nd but fresher air gets in across scotland and northern ireland by the end of the night. tuesday then starting off on a soggy note and that rain will be with us for much of the day across northern england. not too much in the way of rain for south—east england. but staying cloudy and warm across the south east with fresher air working into

scotla nd east with fresher air working into scotland and northern ireland as the sunshine returns. that's your weather. this is bbc news. the headlines: south korea strengthens its military defences after signs the north is preparing more missile launches. pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb at the weekend. president trump tells north korea any threat will be met with a massive response — and the us is ready to use its nuclear capabilities. we're live at the un security council, where members are holding an emergency meeting on the situation. kensington palace announce the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child. the royal family are said to be ‘delighted'. how are you feeling about the news that you are going to be an uncle again? fantastic. great. how is your sister—in—law? i haven't seen her for awhile, but i think she's 0k. heading for ‘a perfect storm' — a senior police official warns of the impact of staff cuts and raising crime on forces in england and wales.