welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike. our top stories: the us accuses north korea of begging for war, and urges the world to take the strongest possible measures in response to the latest nuclear test. only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy. we've kicked the can down the road long enough. there is no more road left. as tensions rise, south korea simulates an attack on its neighbour. china calls for restraint, and a return to talks. syria's army and its allies close in on the eastern city of deir ez—zor, as the battle against the islamic state militants continues. calm before the category four storm. hurricane irma sweeps towards the caribbean and the southern united states. and the duke, the duchess, and the due date. william and kate are expecting their third child sometime next year. the us and china have failed

to agree a way forward to address the crisis surrounding north korea. the us ambassador to the united nations, accusing pyongyang of begging for war, said the us did not want conflict, but its patience was not unlimited. china's un representative called for a return to negotiations, to avoid chaos on the korean peninsula. yogita limaye starts our coverage from the south korean capital, seoul. a day after north korea's most powerful nuclear test, the south displayed its might. missiles were launched from the ground and the air.

it was a test drill, south korea showing off how it could attack pyongyang's nuclear site. this is a strong reaction from a country that, for months now, has been desperately trying to avoid conflict in the korean peninsula. but in new york, at an emergency un security council meeting, south korea's closest ally said pyongyang seemed to be heading the other way. nuclear powers understand their responsibilities. kim jong—un shows no such understanding. his abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. across the room, though, there was an opposing view from a country often seen as north korea's friend. china urged a diplomatic solution. translation: china will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula. the parties concerned must strengthen their sense of urgency, take due responsibilities, play their due roles.

earlier in the day, the japanese government gave details about north korea's latest nuclear test. translation: the evidence suggests that the north conducted a hydrogen bomb test. the government had to conclude the test was a success. pyongyang has successfully tested a weapon that poses a grave threat to japan's security. a hydrogen bomb is vastly more powerful than the bomb that destroyed hiroshima, and north korea says that is what its leader is looking at here. the country has conducted six nuclear tests so far, but the pace has really accelerated since kimjong—un came to power. the people here in south korea have dealt with the threat from the north for a long time now. but perhaps never before has a nuclear test and multiple missile

tests come in such quick succession, really ratcheting up the pressure on the government here in seoul and its allies. and that means defences have to be strengthened. this is america's latest anti—missile system, designed to shoot down enemy rockets. it is now being deployed in south korea, a country that continues to build up its arsenal, even as it hopes to not have to use it. yogita limaye, bbc news. i have just been speaking with our correspondent robin brant, in seoul, about south korea's latest military preparations. we've learned that it was the south korean navy that has now conducted some live—firing exercises. a statement through the country's mean news agency said it was a massive live—fire drill. it didn't say exactly when it took place, but i think it's safe to assume it was either late last

night or early this morning. now, that carries on from a live—fire drill carried out by the country's army and air force, yesterday. yogita talked about that in detail in her report — all designed to remind south koreans here about the defence strategy in place to try to counter any attack from the north, and also a show of strength, as well. there are plans later on in the week for ongoing military exercises, involving the us navy and the south korean navy, as well. in terms of the way forward, well, i think the most significant thing in the last few hours, overnight, is that president trump has finally spoken on the phone with the country's leader, moonjae—in. it took a long time, 36 hours, for the men to talk. but essentially, the us has agreed to sell more weapons to south korea, and agreed, as well, to allow them to have bigger weapons here, to allow them to defend themselves. so china has called for more diplomatic efforts. china's ambassador to the un proposed a freeze on north korea's nuclear tests, in exchange for the suspension ofjoint military

drills by the us and south korea. that was described as insulting by the us government. john sudworth reports now from the chinese city of dandong, close to the border with north korea. the work goes on late into the night. from this chinese oil depot, north korea gets most of its energy, piped directly across the border. a day after the nuclear test, there is no sign of any letup. washington is turning up the heat on china, insisting it uses its leverage to greater effect. some of these diners agree their government could do more. i think they should do something about it, this man says. i hope there will be no more nuclear tests. china should take control of north korea. then there will be peace. the chinese president, xijinping,

though, is busy hosting a summit of the world's developing economies. two of them happen to be key trading partners with, and old allies of, north korea. and china's focus remains as always on dialogue, and not military threats. translation: having a war on the korean peninsula is not an option. while the rest of the world ponders the risks of thermonuclear war, chinese citizens enjoying the nightlife here on the border with north korea do not appear to be too concerned. the chinese view has always been that trade and engagement are far preferable to the chaos that would come from the collapse of their neighbour.

if china can live with north korea's provocative actions, for others it is harder to stomach. there is the possibility that south korea and japan might consider developing their own nuclear weapons. north korea's nuclear programme greatly undermines china's security interests. china could simply turn off the tap. but for now, with north korea on the brink of becoming a fully fledged nuclear power, the oil from these storage tanks continues to flow. and, of course, you will find plenty more about the north korea nuclear crisis on our website. just go to bbc.com/news for updates, analysis, and the latest from our correspondents in the region. you can also download the bbc news app. let's take a look at some

of the other stories making the news: american media is reporting that president trump will end the programme known as deferred action for childhood arrivals, daca, which shields some immigrants from deportation if they came to the us illegally as children. the obama—era policy currently protects around 800,000 young men and women, often known as dreamers. aid agencies across south asia are still trying to reach millions affected by the worst floods to hit the region in years. the un children's agency estimates around 16 million children across india, bangladesh and nepal are in urgent need of life—saving support. one of britain's top public relations agencies, bell pottinger, has been expelled from the industry's trade association for mounting a campaign widely thought likely to inflame racial tensions in south africa. the association ruled bell pottinger had produced reprehensible work by portraying opponents of the south african president, jacob zuma, as agents of white business interests. the syrian army is closing in on the eastern city of deir al—zour, besieged for nearly three

years by the extremist group that calls itself islamic state. is has surrounded more than 90,000 civilians, protected by an army garrison. most of deir al—zour is under is control. sarah corker reports. the syrian army and its allies have been rapidly advancing through the desert towards deir al—zour, the largest city in eastern syria. so—called islamic state controls half of the city, and much of the surrounding, oil—rich province. these pictures from syrian state tv show burnt—out tanks abandoned by is, some 20 kilometres from deir al—zour. a syrian army reporter says this village has been liberated. and, as troops continue the advance, they cut off is supply routes. deir al—zour borders iraq, and is is's last major stronghold in syria, with the group's de facto

capital of raqqa under siege. an estimated 93,000 civilians are living in a government enclave in deir al—zour, dependent on air drops of food and medicine from the un and military. syria's six—year civil war has left more than 300,000 dead. this is what is left of raqqa after fierce fighting. speaking last week, the un said conditions in both cities are extremely difficult for trapped civilians. there needs to be a way of getting out those who want to flee. they need to be able to do so in safety. secondly, what we're saying is everything has to be done in accordance with international law, to protect the civilians who remain. the syrian army, backed by russian airstrikes, says it has reached the edge of deir al—zour. the loss of the city will leave is with only a handful of isolated outposts in syria. sarah corker, bbc news.

a state of emergency has been declared in florida, in the face of hurricane irma. it is now a category four storm, bearing down on the eastern caribbean and projected to reach land by early wednesday. it could hit several caribbean islands, including the leewards, haiti, and puerto rico, before moving towards florida. this is a severe and strengthening storm. up to half a metre's worth of rain is possible from it, but the wind strength could be the major issue. sustained winds, that's the average wind speed, of at least 220 km/h. gusts, of course, could be much higher than that. damage and destruction is certainly possible. the clean—up continues in texas and louisiana, battered by storm harvey. the focus has now turned to rebuilding, and for the energy sector, that means inspecting facilities and getting key distribution routes, from ports to pipelines, up and running again. michelle fleury reports from houston. the upper part of the houston ship channel.

what happens on this tiny stretch of water affects the rest of the world. tankers still can't get in, choking off supplies of oil. we went out ensign ericjuback, from the us coast guard, on one of their inspections. this is one of the major facilities, and one of the missions for the coast guard was to actually get this restored as soon as possible, for navigational purposes, so that the vessels can come in and start offloading or onloading product, to get it to where it needs to go across the destinations. and i guess a sign of how far we've come, in the few days since harvey made landfall, we've got a boat, here, going past. right, and so, just a few days ago, the port was closed, for the hurricane. what we're seeing here today, commodities are starting to move again. for now, shipping traffic is limited. the coast guard is assessing the debris and repairing damaged navigation markers. normally, this waterway would be full of vessels, carrying everything from consumer goods to crude oil.

and that is why american authorities have made this a priority, to get it reopened as soon as possible, given its economic importance. exxonmobil is restarting refining operations as its baytown facility. a quarter of all american refining capacity was taken out by hurricane harvey. and it is notjust big business trying to rebuild. construction materials were in heavy demand at the local improvement store. we're spending money on material, money that we don't have. mario castaneda has come for supplies to fix his grandmother's flooded house. well, i work in a refinery industry, so that's one of the industries where if it rains, we don't work. at a time that we he needs the money most, is looking at two weeks without pay. they kept on calling us and sending the message "we're not working today, maybe tomorrow."

and then eventually, they told us we're not going to be able to show up until the 5th. and that lack of activity in the wake of hurricane harvey is hurting notjust workers, but the economy, which is why there's such a push to get things moving again. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: another palace pregnancy. the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting child number three, to join charlotte and george. 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. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines this our: —— this hour. the us has accused north korea of "begging for war" and urged the world to respond to the latest nuclear test with the "strongest possible measures".

hurricane irma is bearing down on the caribbean and the southern united states. florida has declared a state of emergency. the un's special representative on human rights in myanmar has criticised the elected leader, aung san suu kyi, for failing to protect thousands of rohingya muslims, who are fleeing a military crackdown. the un refugee agency says their two camps in the cox's bazaar district are now at saturation point. from there, sanjoy majumder sent this report. she is just two days old, and completely oblivious to the mayhem outside. her parents are rohingyas — forced out of their homes in myanmar when their village was attacked, allegedly by the army. the baby's mother was in herfinal stages of pregnancy, when they made the strenuous journey across the border to bangladesh. translation: we fled and crossed the river by boat and then came here. we were very scared about what the military would do to us. after coming here, we heard that our house has been burnt down. do you think you'll never be able to take your baby back home, back to myanmar? translation: everyone has left,

there's no—one there, we cannot go back. home is now this vast refugee camp, where they live cheek byjowl with thousands of rohingyas. many of them are eating their first proper meal in days. just four days ago, there was nothing here, it was just the side of a hill with a clump of trees on it. but now look at it — it's a vast settlement, a temporary home for all the rohingya refugees who've come over from myanmar and have nowhere to go. and even this place is going to reach its limit in a few days. bangladesh is now struggling to cope with the growing influx of rohingyas — hundreds streaming in by the hour, and more waiting to follow. this is what set off the exodus. satellite images obtained by human rights watch show entire villages burnt down inside myanmar. fresh smoke could be seen again today billowing into the sky, apparently from houses

that were torched. more than 400 rohingyas have been killed in ten days — the worst violence in a generation. the houses are burned and fired, and at the same time, there are atrocities and intimidations in different forms. as it is occurring in myanmar, so we can presume that who is doing this. it is hard to independently verify the situation. access is severely restricted. but in the refugee camps, it is apparent that the rohingyas are here to stay, and the next generation may never get to know their homeland. now, the philippines is not short of problems. amongst the problems, one of the fastest growing hiv rates in

the asia—pacific. this according to a un report last month. now, an anti—hiv drug, known as prep, is being offered to gay men and trans—gender women as part of a trial to curb the disease's rapid spread. let's hear more about it. i heard about prep, i knew i had to get it. i was really, really wanted to be involved in the project. i am a 30—year—old young professional, very sexually active, and risky, as well. i first read about prep online. i was excited because before the philippines, prep is offered in thailand already. and it would be very expensive for me to go to thailand and purchase prep, because you have to be there. otherwise, you get it on the black market, and i wouldn't do that. the stigma attached to accessing condoms is pretty much real. even just buying it in the convenience store it... you can get stares, even from the cashier.

she would have that look, and condoms are supposed to be over the counter. you can just get it, buy it, and that's it. you can'tjust buy it, you have to ask for it. we are a very conservative society. we are very catholic. it should be available to everyone who feels the need to have it. i have — right now i have a lot of friends right now who are asking me about how to get prep, my friends from everywhere in the philippines. it's just really not available yet for everyone. we have to wait for two years for it to be recommended to the government, and let's see what they will do about it. hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, there will be a dramatic decline in the number of hiv cases here.

the colombian government and the country's second largest rebel group, the eln, have agreed a temporary bilateral ceasefire for the first time. it is due to start on octoberi and run for 102 days, but the president has said it may be extended if there are no violations and if peace talks make progress. in two days time, pope francis visits colombia. the duke and duchess of cambridge are expecting their third child. the duchess is again suffering from severe morning sickness, as she has with her previous pregnancies. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. the duchess of cambridge last week, with her husband and prince harry. no hint then of the announcement of a third baby for william and catherine. 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 her previous pregnancies. she's 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 won't want to miss. the couple's second child, princess charlotte, was born in may 2015. she's fourth in the line of succession and she will retain that position even if the new baby is a boy. on a visit by the cambridges to poland a few weeks ago, catherine joked about having another baby when she was presented with a gift intended for a baby. it didn't seem significant at the time. today, prince harry said he was delighted at the prospect of being an uncle again.

fantastic, great. very, very happy for them. and how's your sister—in—law doing? er... i haven't seen herfor a while, but i think she's ok. the news that there's to be a third child for the cambridges comes just as william is beginning full—time royal duties. soon, the team of four will become five. kensington palace hasn't said when the new baby is due, but it must be assumed that it will be around march of next year. nicholas witchell, bbc news. something very different, now. a five—year—old boy in england had bit of a shock when he opened the lid of his toilet. this is what he found — a metre long python curled up in the bowl! his mother called a local pet shop to retrieve it and they're now looking after it. it's thought snakes usually end up

in the sewerage system when they go in chasing rats. the python is said to be healthy, now, but suffering a bit of damage to its scales from bleach. just briefly, that main news again: the united states says all options to deal with the threat from north korea are on the table. a statement from the white house followed a series of calls by president trump to foreign leaders, including the south korean president, moonjae—in. america's united nations ambassador is to circulate the draft of a new resolution on sanctions. meanwhile, the white house also says president trump has told his south korean counterpart he is willing to sell billions of dollars' worth of arms to seoul. we've just been hearing about the latest military exercises going on in south korea. let'sjust latest military exercises going on in south korea. let's just take you like to china for a moment and resident xijinping is like to china for a moment and resident xi jinping is speaking to representatives from the bric countries. china is north korea's major ally and economic prop. more on that and all the news at any time on that and all the news at any time on the bbc news website.

good morning. we've got some fresher air trying to push into the north—west of the uk today but for many, a mild and muggy start once again. the dividing line between that bit fresher air and something humid is this weather front which will be producing wet conditions across wales and northern england to start the day. to the south of that, like we saw on monday, extensive low cloud. there will be a few breaks allowing some sunshine and temperatures will shoot up in the morning rush hour. like yesterday, the cloud will produce some spots of drizzle. the best parts of brightness will be across the east. the west midlands, north wales, north—west england some heavy rain around, particularly on the pennines and the lake distric splashes of rain into yorkshire and the north—east. scotland and northern ireland, a bit of cloud and outbreaks of rain particularly across the west of scotland and northern ireland. they will become less prevalent through the day. sunny skies will develop here and there. few in the way of showers.

stays wet across northern england and north wales and the rain eases off in intensity and outbreaks of rain coming and going across the midlands and southern england. in sunshine, temperatures 23 or 24. while we see something fresher to scotland and northern ireland later, you will see something a good deal sunnier. the fresh air gradually clears away the damp weather from england and wales as we go through the night and into wednesday morning. we start wednesday and it will feel a good deal cooler. these are the city temperatures but rural areas down into single figures, widely. a fresh start to wednesday but a ridge of high pressure is building in and while this weather front will bring a few showers to parts of scotland, one or two isolated showers in north—west england and northern ireland. wednesday is set to be the driest and brightest day overall. sunny spells. temperatures down on the start of the week. 15—19 degrees. similar on thursday. after a cool start, winds lighter to begin with and cloud amounts increasing. scotland and northern ireland a bit more wet. the rain spreads into northern england late in the day.

many southern areas, a dry and bright day. as we finish the week, low pressure moves in and outbreaks of rain pushing into most parts of the country. we could see a zone of more persistent rain. a bit uncertain as to where that will be on friday. sunshine between blustery showers further north but temperatures in the mid teens for many. certainly a cooler end the week and we stay windy and cool into the weekend with further blustery showers as well. that's how it's looking. bye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines: the unites states has accused north korea of begging for war. in response to pyongyang's latest nuclear test, the american ambassador to the united nations has urged the world to use the strongest possible measures. south korea has been conducting

massive military exercises. china has urged restraint, saying there must be a return to negotiations. a state of emergency has been declared in florida in the face of hurricane irma, now a category four storm, and bearing down on the eastern caribbean. it is likely to reach land early on wednesday. it could hit several caribbean islands, including the leewards, haiti, and puerto rico. the duke and duchess of cambridge have announced they are expecting their third child, tojoin charlotte and george. the duchess is suffering with severe morning sickness, as she has with the previous pregnancies. britain's tallest bridge, the queensferry crossing, which traverses the firth of forth, has been formally opened