this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: the white house condemsn a claim by north korea that it has the right to shoot down american warplanes outside its air space. angela merkel says she wants to win back the million voters she lost to the anti—immigrant afd but she won't lurch to the right. after all that fuss about hillary clinton's e—mails, there are new claims that six of donald trump's staff have been using private e—mail servers, including his daughter and son—in—law. in the balance, jobs and trade are at risk as a us court prepares to rule on a plane row between america's boeing and canada's bombardier. the instant messaging service whatsapp faces a new block in china. is it another blow to facebook‘s ambitions in the country? it's not the first time that north korea has used the phrase

a declaration of war in relation to the us, but remarks from the country's foreign minister, accusing america of doing just that, are the latest in an increasingly angry war of words between the two countries. ri yong ho's comments were in response to a tweet by president trump saying that the north korean leadership wouldn't be around for much longer. the white house has dismissed his statement as absurd and has warned pyongyang to stop provocations. andrew plant has more. it isa it is a trading of insults were neither side shows any sign of backing down. a verbal game of chicken between north korea and the usa. four weeks, antagonistic. chicken between north korea and the usa. fourweeks, antagonistic. now increasingly alarming. the north

korean foreign minister saying, the‘s criticism of his country and amounted to a declaration of war. since the us declared war on our country we have every right to take countermeasures, including taking down us strategic bombers even when they're not yet inside the air space border of our country. the question of who won't be around much longer will be answered them. the white house has called his statement absurd. it's never appropriate for a country to shoot down another country's aircraft when it's over international waters. our goal is still the same, we continue to seek the peaceful denuclearise asian of the peaceful denuclearise asian of the korean peninsular, that's our focus. doing that through both the maximum economic and diplomatic pressures as possible at this point. there is concern among many at the un that the belligerent tone between the two seems to be heading from hostile to actively threatening.

even during the height of the cold war, including the soviet union, they have never threatened to use nuclear weapons unless they are attacked by nuclear weapons. north korea has blatantly threatened to strike the un i do the switch nuclear weapons. we have never seen this kind of threat. the us said they flew fighter jets close to north korea at the weekend, they said a demonstration of their nuclear capabilities. donald trump said the us would hopefully destroy north korea if it was ever forced to defend itself. andrew plant, bbc news. live to seoul. danny savage us there for us. interesting to hear ban ki—moon, a korean himself, who says the language has never been as extreme

as this. we seem to be saying that every single day. it goes up another notch, doesn't it? it's very interesting what has come out overnight here in south korea, what's been said in the united states, with the north korean foreign minister particularly emphasising north korea will shoot down any american aircraft, bombers, that go into american airspace close to its shores. that's in response to the mission that happened overnight on saturday when the americans flew a number of b—i the bombers escorted by f—16 fighters further north than they ever have done since the last century in this region up to the east of north korea. it's unclear how close to the coast of those bombers got on saturday night. officially speaking international airspace begins i2 officially speaking international airspace begins 12 miles out from the coast of any sovereign state, but north korea kind of say they've got a 50 miles own from them. we

don't know how close the americans got, but if they continue to carry out these missions and the north koreans react they have the ability to shoot down american aircraft, it's not a given but they could try. if that happens, and that's the sort of thing that could trigger a military conflict. it shows all the traditional ways of showing strength, defiance and everything else doesn't seem to work when it comes to north korea. surely this is a time fora comes to north korea. surely this is a time for a different perspective or wise heads and wise counsel? yeah. has the rhetoric gone too far now or has it reached its limit? saying they're going to shoot down american bombers takes it to another level altogether. threatening to detonate an h—bomb in the pacific does as well. it's interesting the language from the white house press spokesman overnight as well saying the aim was still peaceful and diplomatic. that's what they're trying to do. may be that brings it

back a bit. danny, in seoul, thanks very much indeed. having lost over a million voters to the far right in germany's election on sunday, angela merkel says she wants to win back those who deserted her party. the 63—year—old is starting her fourth term in office in a weaker position than before and she has to build a new coalition government. our berlin correspondentjenny hill has been to mrs merkel‘s home state in the east of the country, to talk to people who voted for the afd. it is not how angela merkel wanted germany to look. in a country so tainted by the past, much was unthinkable, unsayable. not anymore. it is their time now, the many faces of afd — teacher, pensioner, labourer, businessman. they used to vote conservative, social democratic, left party, green, or, like birgit, not at all. translation: the old people don't dare leave the house after 6:00pm.

i live such in a beautiful place, and when i open the door, the first thing i see are headscarfs. and then i get on a tram, and i see groups of young men. and here, in the old east, support is particularly strong. translation: i was a dissident in east germany. i experienced the propaganda methods of a totalitarian state. i now see how the mainstream parties are using those kinds of methods. violent division, painful reminders. afd would ban minorettes, close the german borders. angela merkel — down, but not yet out. many voters haven't forgiven her for opening this country's doors, though not all. opinion polls ahead of the election showed very clearly that she has a lot of support in the german population. so more than 50% of respondents actually said, if they could vote directly, they would vote

for merkel, so that's really interesting to see. she commands respect, and that's also seen within the christian democratic party. afd has already tasted power, here in the splendour of the regional parliament. but this morning, the party is split at local and national level, moderates walking out in disgust. not this new mp. afd‘s first demand, he tells us — an inquiry into angela merkel‘s refugee policy. translation: we have impact through publicity. we can't change laws, because the other parties will boycott us, though they'll often use our ideas later. so yes, we are important, because voters discuss our policies. a problem, perhaps, for the political powerhouse of europe — opposition to the euro, to further eu integration. afd‘s success indicates that the populism which has swept through europe in recent years is really taking root

in this country. germany is a place where people have tended to identify as european first, german second. but, for the very first time, a significant proportion of people here are voting for a party which wants to claw back powers from brussels, and regain its national sovereignty. and it speaks to supporters of all ages. yeah, i support the afd, because it's the future of my friends — me, of course, my friends, my schoolmates, and so on. and it will be a dark future if nothing really happens. fear for the future, nostalgia for a country considered lost, voices which won't be ignored. jenny hill, bbc news, scheuring. let's take a look at some of the other stories

making the news. spain's prime minister, mariano rajoy, has arrived in washington ahead of his meeting with president trump later on tuesday. the two men will have a working lunch before holding a joint news conference. mr rajoy is facing pressure at home due to the catalonian indedendence refrendum, which he insists will not take place. russia's human rights ombudsman has dismissed a un report that says the human rights situation in the crimean peninsula has deteriorated since russia's annexation of the territory in 2014. abuses documented by the un commission for human rights include arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances as well as severe ill treatment and torture. it's reported the security council will meet on thursday to discuss the crisis in myanmar. more than 400,000 rohingya muslims have fled across the border to bangladesh in recent weeks to escape a burmese military campaign. it will hear a briefing by the un secretary general antonio guterres

about the crisis. ben's here with all the business news. pelloux. nice to see you. —— hello. we start with a major dispute over planes that good have big implications forjobs and trade in canada, the united states and here in the uk. later today a us trade court is due to give a preliminar decision on allegations of price dumping. the american giant boeing is accusing its canadian rival bombardier of illegally selling planes below cost price. the dispute centres around bombardier‘s biggest ever orderfor its c—series passenger jets. in 2016, the major us airline delta agreed to buy up to 125 aircraft in a deal worth approximately $5.6 billion. however, boeing alleges that bombardier agreed to sell the initial 75 planes to delta for almost $14 million

a piece below their cost price. that's something boeing argues was made possible by illegal subsidies from governments in canada and the uk, where the c—series' wings are made. bombardier has rejected boeing's accusations as hypocrisy and said in a statement that boeing says it wants a level playing field, but it is not even on the field, that's because according to bombardier boeing doesn't even make a comparable aircraft. the 4,5000 jobs at risk at bombardier‘s factory in northern ireland mean the dispute is a top priority for the uk's prime minister theresa may. that plant is in an area which is very important to the democratic unionist party, whose votes prop up her government. we'll have more in about 15 minutes' time. and we're also in china where the instant messaging service whatsapp appears to have been totally blocked. while the authorities have previously restricted the service

this seems to be the biggest clamp—down so far. it comes ahead of a big communist party meeting, which is scheduled for next month. the facebook—owned app has struggled for market share in china and this will be seen as a blow to its ambitions in the country. the brazilian government says it's revoking a controversial decree that would have opened up a vast reserve in the amazon to commercial mining. the temer administration was heavily criticised last month over the move and a court ended up suspending the measure. the reserve of more than 40,000 square kilometres is home to indigenous tribes as well as being rich in gold and other minerals and has been protected for more than 30 years. don't forget, you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @benmbland. at least six of president trump's closest advisors, including his daughter ivanka, are reported to have breached the rules by using private e—mail accounts to discuss white house

business since mr trump took office. during his election campaign, donald trump repeatedly called for the imprisonment of his rival, hillary clinton, over her use of personal e—mail when she was secretary of state. david willis has more from washington. according to reports here, at least six of president trump's closest advisers, including his daughter, event trump, and his son—in—law, jared kushner, use the private e—mail accounts to discuss white house business. a report in the new york times suggests some of those advisers may have used those private e—mail accounts in order to correspond with members of the press amongst others. quite aside from the fa ct amongst others. quite aside from the fact federal rules require that official correspondence be retained as part of the government record, this is potentially significant for two reasons. the first being that a

special counsel is currently investigating alleged russian meddling in last year's presidential election here in the united states. now, as part of a enquiry the special counsel has requested a trove of e—mails and documents from the white house and obviously if some of those e—mails are on private accou nts some of those e—mails are on private accounts it makes it all the more difficult for the special prosecutor to get to the truth. and then there's the simple potential double standard here, the fact during the presidential campaign donald trump repeatedly called for his rival, hillary clinton, to be locked up, as he put it, for her use of a private e—mail server while she was serving as the us secretary of state. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: one of the most spectacular race tracks on earth. high up in the mountains of the caucasus, jockeys compete for glory. ben johnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home

to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world. and so the british government has no option but to continue this action, and even after any adverse judgement in australia. concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: the white house has condemned north korea's claim that it now has the right to shoot down us bombers even if they're outside its air space. germany's chancellor angela merkel has said her party won't lurch to the right as it tries to win back voters who switched their support to the anti—immigrant afd in sunday's elections. large numbers of people have taken part in a landmark vote on independence for iraq's kurdistan region, amid growing opposition. votes are still being counted, with a big "yes" expected. kurds say it will give them a mandate to negotiate secession, but iraq's prime minister has denounced it as "unconstitutional". neighbouring turkey and iran, fearing separatist unrest in their own kurdish minorities, have threatened to close borders and impose sanctions on oil exports. live to irbil — jiyar gol is there for us. celebration among the kurds who took

pa rt celebration among the kurds who took part in this referendum, but quite a lot of international fretting and fear? exactly. despite the diplomatic pressure and even military pressure from neighbouring iran and turkey, the referendum went ahead yesterday and even hours after the polls had closed, the celebration continued late into the night. people were chanting and dancing. in the kurdish cities in iran, the crowd was much larger than some cities in iraqi kurdistan. it

shows what is happening here inside the borders of iraqi kurdistan simply doesn't stop here, it spills over to other regions which have a large number of kurdish minorities. in iran we got some pictures and videos which showed mass numbers of people protesting in the street. they celebrated holding this referendum. it was a day of national celebration for kurds across the region come in syria, iran and turkey, we saw that people were pouring into the streets despite the security forces tried to control them, particularly in iran. what is them, particularly in iran. what is the political cost of this referendum going to be for the kurds. iam referendum going to be for the kurds. i am thinking not only the military reaction from turkey against the pkk, but also the financial implications of this. obviously the kurdish authorities says nothing can be worse than what they are at this point. the

relationship with baghdad pretty much broke down since 2014. they save a dad refused to give them their share of their budget, which is 17%, billions and billions of dollars. they said nothing can be worse than this. in terms of a dad, i think they have —— i have found that they really do not care what baghdad thinks. they have been fighting the baghdad government pretty much since the foundation of this country a century ago. that is why the kurds are not really worried about what baghdad says or possibly even does, but they do care about the neighbouring countries, iran and turkey, beaches they trade with them. the trade between turkey and iraqi kurdistan is $12 billion. there oil is transported through pipelines in turkey, to the international market. the trade with iran is almost five early in dollars. —— $5 billion. so that is

what they are worried about. it when you speak to the kurdish authorities they say those countries will not walk away from those benefits plea from the referendum. —— simply from the referendum. sport now, and another game, and another protest in the nfl. players and the owner of the dallas cowboys linked arms and knelt before the national anthem in their game with the arizona cardinals. it's a protest against racial inequality in the us and in defiance of president trump, who said players who kneel during the anthem should be fired. in the english premier league arsenal beat west brom in the monday night game 2—0. they had french striker alexandre lacazette to thank. he scored both goals, one in each half, and manager arsene wenger thinks there's more goals to come from the club's record signing. what is interesting, we get stronger

in every game, and when we dominate the game it is always dangerous. so we haven't seen the best yet?|j don't we haven't seen the best yet?” don't think so. here's a young boy, 25 years old. he has just arrived in england. he adapts better and better. the russian republic of dagestan is an isolated region, high above sea level, and life can be pretty tough for the people who call it home. but the dagestanis are perhaps most renowned for one skill in particular. the bbc‘s tim allman reports now on the horsemen of khunzakh. these stark mountainous terrain of the northern caucasus. the people here, proud and resourceful. their culture, ancient and devout.

they are renowned for their equestrian skills. and what a venue this is for one of the most picturesque horse races on, galloping through this rugged land in celebration of their traditions and their faith. translation: this is a very significant event because it's held in honour of our dear mufti, the religious leader of the republic of dagestan. this carnival a showcase for local dance and local cuisine. but all eyes are on the race, a test for man and animal alike. translation: this far above sea level it's hard for horses that aren't local. the horse needs to adapt

to lack of oxygen. they say here that the horse is a gift from god, a gift that is always welcome. tim allman, bbc news. finally, prince harry and his actress girlfriend meghan markle have made their first official appearance together. they were attending the opening ceremony of the invictus games in toronto. it's the first time the couple have appeared holding hands in public. sarah campbell reports. it's the confirmation royal fans have been waiting for. the couple have been togetherfor over a year, but until this week, they've gone to great lengths to keep their relationship out of the view of the cameras. no more, their affection for each other obvious. prince harry is in toronto as founder of the invictus games,

and this is home for meghan markle. she stars in a successful tv show, which is filmed here. they're shown here on their way to watch wheelchair tennis, at one of the city centre sports venues. the couple look casual and comfortable in each other‘s presence. toronto as a city has embraced the games, they have come here to support all the nations. young people and their parents are coming out and asking questions and learning stories. the pictures will feature on front pages around the world. in a recent magazine article, meghan markle said they were a couple and in love. and it shows. that is all for now. plenty more on the website. see you soon. hello. you are watching bbc world news. the headlines: the white house

has condemned north korea's claim it has condemned north korea's claim it has the right to shoot down us bombers even outside north korean airspace. it dismissed the suggestion washington had declared war on pyongyang as absurd. german chancellor angela merkel has said she will try to regain the support of voters to switch their vote to the anti—immigrant afd party in this weekend's elections. she has said she will not load to the right. a us newspaper is reporting that at least six of president trump's advises use private email accounts to discuss matters since he took office. they include ivanka trump and his son—in—law, jared kushner. this is bbc world news, the headlines: the white house has condemned north korea's claim it has the right to shoot down us bombers even outside north korean airspace and it said

the suggestion america had declared war on north korea as absurd. the german chancellor angela merkel has she will try to regain the trust of her party's former supporters who switched their votes to the anti—immigrant afd in sunday's elections. but she said it wouldn't lurch to the right. an american newspaper is reporting that at least six of president trump's advisors used private e—mail accounts to discuss white house matters since he took office. the new york times says they include mr trump's daughter ivanka. votes are still being counted in the referendum in iraqi kurdistan, with a big yes expected.