this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: to reach anywhere in the united states after testfiring another ballistic missile. the bells ring out for pope francis as he celebrates mass for the first time in myanmar. the world health organization warns the global fight to eradicate malaria shows signs of stalling. unleashing africa's potential. eu leaders meet their african counterparts in a bid to boost development. but can the summit in ivory coast bring concrete results? plus a brexit breakthrough. the uk has offered a larger potential divorce bill to brussels. is it enough though to trigger trade talks? a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business, and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. new research suggests those who live alone are 40% more likely to develop dementia. we'll be unpacking the findings later in this programme. tell us what you think — just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. leaders in south korea, japan and the united states have condemned the test launching of what appears to be an intercontinental ballistic missile by north korea. according to north korean state tv it flew 950 kilometres for 53 minutes while reaching

an altitude of four kilometres. it claimed its latest ballistic missile test demonstrated that it now had the capability to strike anywhere in the united states. joining me now is the bbc‘s paul adams, who is in the south korean capital seoul. tell us about this latest test and their claim that they can now reach anywhere in the us. the test first, it came in the early hours of the morning. relatively unusual timing for such a thing. as you say, it flew about 53 minutes in an easterly direction. it landed in the sea between north korea and japan. and the key aspect was, as you mentioned in your introduction, the altitude

that it achieved. we think it was 4500 that it achieved. we think it was a500 kilometres. this makes it much the highest altitude of any launch so the highest altitude of any launch so far. experts have pored over the data in the hours since the launch so data in the hours since the launch so that it does indeed mean it is an intercontinental ballistic missile capable, at a lower trajectory, of hitting most of the united states. we had that statement on television, the typical statement from the usual female announcer, triumphant tones, explaining that indeed this test had taken place, explaining that indeed this test had ta ken place, that explaining that indeed this test had taken place, that it marked a breakthrough. they gave the missile in your name and said it was the most powerful missile they had fired so most powerful missile they had fired so far —— a new name. and it had marked a realisation of the great historic cause of a state nuclear force. it is not clear what that means. no one really thinks that north korea has yet developed the

ability to put a real nuclear warhead on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile and fire it at a great distance. but clearly the north koreans believe they have taken another significant step forward in their search for this ultimate weapon. as you say, from north korea's point of view, they are stepping forward. no sign of them pulling back at all, regardless of condemnation from japan, south korea, the united states, and despite that visit by the us president to the region where the us president to the region where the north korea crisis, etc, was the dominant conversation. despite quite a lot of concerted diplomacy, there was a chinese envoy he went to yongala. it was hoped he would lead the north korean leader, kim jong—un, and discuss this crisis —— pyongyang. so any efforts, any desire or wish for the chinese to be

those responsible for a breakthrough, those seem to be dashed a week ago. we had the situation in which there does not appear to be situation in which there does not appearto be any situation in which there does not appear to be any meaningful dialogue taking place at all. there had been hopes that this pause, subdivide cases in the previous ballistic missile test, might mean something -- 75 missile test, might mean something —— 75 days since. it might have caused kim jong—un to think again about his nuclear programme. sceptics always thought that was slightly wishful thinking. and this morning's test suggest it is wishful thinking. but perhaps kimjong—un does not want to conduct negotiations until he feels he has reached an achieved his nuclear ambitions. if the statement today is ambitions. if the statement today is a reflection of that sense of achievement, then, perhaps, the scene might be set for some kind of dialogue. it is worth noting that at the end of the statement north korean television, the announcer did

say that north korea had no ill intentions towards any other country, provided its interests were not infringe upon. it is the kind of language that will be greeted with some scepticism. the question a lot of people will be wondering is just how much does kimjong—un of people will be wondering is just how much does kim jong—un wanted to achieve before he says 0k, how much does kim jong—un wanted to achieve before he says ok, now i am ready to talk? paul adams now. un security council having an emergency meeting today to discuss this. we will discuss it later in the pro— grab. —— programme. 0n the third day of his visit to myanmar, pope francis has been celebrating an open—air mass in the city of yangon. earlier there was an international outcry at the pope's failure to use the word "rohingya" while delivering the main speech of his visit. joining me now is the bbc‘s southeast asia correspondent jonathan head, who is in yangon. tell us how this mass has gone

forward in the light of his lack of use of the word rohingya yesterday. we should conceptualise that. people here in myanmar, at least the government and the wood is majority, are delighted he did not use the word rohingya. ispoke are delighted he did not use the word rohingya. i spoke to a hardline nationalist yesterday he said if he had used, in our view, the christians would be siding with the rohingya. ili dislike intensely. perhaps it was too much expectation that he would do that. yesterday was about diplomacy and real politic. the pope and other pretty well. the speech he gave included a strong thing to give all groups full rights regardless. a special moment for the roman catholic population, which is quite small in this country. many of them had to come quite long

distances. it tends to be epic marriage is a long myanmar‘s borders. some travel three desperately to get here. very exciting to be here. pet three days to get here his popemobile, they fashioned a lane so that he could travel between all the cars. everyone got a good look at him. and then was able to listen to him celebrate mass, listen to him in italian to the local priest and the cardinals speaking in their own language, in burmese. a delightful occasion. usualsinging. a language, in burmese. a delightful occasion. usual singing. a moment for the christian community, a first—time ever pa pal visit, for the christian community, a first—time ever papal visit, the first—time ever papal visit, the first time he has cremated mattea. he has meetings later today which may have some more to say. there is one with the catholic bishops. he

will be bringing together a group of some 1200 young people for a special mass tomorrow morning, before he leaves and moves on to bangladesh. thank you very much. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. saudi arabia officials say one of the prominent people being held in an anti—corruption drive has been freed after more than three weeks. prince miteb was arrested on the orders of the crown prince, and along with 200 other princes, top officials, and businessmen, has been held in the ritz carlton hotel in the capital, riyadh. reports say he paid out over one billion dollars. the upper house of the australian parliament has approved a draft law paving the way for the legalisation of gay marriage. the law is expected to be passed by the lower house of parliament after australians voted overwhelmingly in favour of the measure in a nationwide postal survey. a large international study suggests that people who remain single into old age are a0% more likely to develop some form of dementia.

researchers from university college london also found that those whose partners had died had a 20% greater risk. we are asking you to your comments on that story. to get in touch. let us move on on that story. to get in touch. let us move on and discuss the latest in regards to brexit. downing street insists negotiations on the uk's so—called brexit "divorce bill" are ongoing following reports a significantly bigger offer has been made to the eu. the bbc understands the government is now prepared to pay up to 55 billion euros in an attempt to facilitate talks on a future trade deal. tom stevensonjoins me now. he's the investment director at fidelity international. what do you make of these reports?

many are saying a divorce bill deal is done. it sounds like a deal has been done. it is a very big figure. it was inevitable that the figure would rise will stop theresa may was saying in florence recently, 20 billion now looks more like 50 billion. a huge increase. it really does undermine the claim that was me during the campaign that the money would be coming in the opposite direction. £350 million per week. reality is beginning to dawn. it was inevitable that it would dawn at this stage. we are two weeks away from a decision as to whether or not the talks can proceed from mr balls talks to the substance of the matter, the trade deal —— divorce talks. given the fact that there is still the issue of the border between ireland and northern ireland and eu citizens, will continue? that is exactly right. this is only one of the issues that needs to be

sorted out. you can always sign a cheque. the money will be sorted out. people may not like it. they may think it is too much money, but they can sort it out. eu citizens rights, that is easy to sort out. the irish problem remains a sticking point. we do not know where that is going to go. if the uk believes it will lead the single market and the customs union, then a hard border seems inevitable. it is difficult to seems inevitable. it is difficult to see how that circle can be squared. thank you very much indeed. tom wood return later. 0n —— will return later. 0n the bbc news website we have a special report on this story. there is analysis from oui’ this story. there is analysis from our political editor and what she has been hearing from downing street about this deal. it is quite critical. read more detail there. the world health organisation is warning that progress made to eradicate malaria could be

damaged unless more funding is made available. their latest report provides a status update on the fight against the disease, with experts saying targets to cut infection by 90% by 2030 will be missed unless budgets are increased. andrew plant reports. malaria. spread by mosquitoes and responsible for millions of deaths throughout history. but this deadly disease is, itself, under attack. the world health organization aiming to cut deaths by 90% by 2030 and in some countries, wipe out malaria altogether. a new report, however, says that progress is stalling due to underfunding. worldwide, the prevention and eradication programme got 2.7 billion us dollars last year. experts say that is well short of the money they need. the long—term trend is still a good

one, with numbers of cases and deaths declining significantly. we do have to be concerned about the plateauing of that reduction in the last year or two. it is a reminder to us that the job is far from done with malaria. as a global community, we need to go on focusing on it to finish thejob. last year saw over 2 million new infections across 91 countries, and about half a million deaths. diseases like tb and hiv/aids each kill twice as many last year. the hope is that one day malaria, like smallpox, could be a disease of the past. insecticide treated bed nets are the most effective way to stop malaria. spraying walls with insecticide is also popular. while net use has risen, the use of spray has dropped. the fear is that without more money the gains made against the disease could slip back. in recent years, seven countries have been certified malaria free — including the maldives and sri lanka.

it is hoped many more will be free of the disease over the next decade. but scientist say that could only happen with more funding to fight malaria. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme — we'll have all the latest sports news, including manchester city's title hopes — will the premier league leaders' undefeated run continue as they take on southampton? president kennedy was shot down, and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world, the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor,

easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot—air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." when bob geldof of the boomtown rats saw the tv pictures from ethiopia, he decided he had to do something. and he found his rock music friends felt the same. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: pope francis celebrates mass for the first time in myanmar. north korea announces it's test—fired another ballistic missile, triggering condemnation from washington, tokyo and seoul. let's stay with that now.

joining me now to talk more about the recent missile launch is adam mount, a seniorfellow at the federation of american scientists. thank you for being on the programme. i'm sure you just heard the latest from us that north korea is claiming it can reach any us city. what are your thoughts on the claim? at this point, it's a credible claim. this was an extremely capable missile. it flew further than any north korean missile has in the past toa north korean missile has in the past to a range of about a500 kilometres, a height of about a500 kilometres. that's about two thirds the radius of the earth. if that is flattened out, the range is more like 13,000 kilometres, which puts much of the united states within range. we are not sure exactly what missile this

was. north korean state media in the last couple of hours called it a designation that it has not used before. it suggests that they have significantly improved the 1a, which was tested over summer, or that this isa was tested over summer, or that this is a new missile system, maybe one of the ones they showed earlier. either way, it is an extremely capable either way, it is an extremely ca pa ble system. it isa ca pa ble system. it is a credible claim, so what happens next? it would seem north korea is ploughing ahead despite pressure from the international community. i think that's exactly right. there is some remaining questions over whether they have truly mastered the ability to have a warhead re—enter the earth's atmosphere, and that they can do that reliably. it is pretty clear at this point that the trump administration has failed to restrain north korea from carrying

out these nuclear missile at tests. the tests come at the end of a 7a— day test pause where north korea didn't lodge a belief that missile. the trump administration didn't use this opportunity to open negotiations to try to lock in this test frees. instead, they are simply allowing north korea to continue these kinds of developments in provocation. it is clear that military pressure, threats are not working to restrain these missile programme. it would seem so. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. at the hague this morning, the un's war crimes court for the former yugoslavia hands down its last verdict in an appeals case by six men, including former leading croat politicianjadranko prlic. later in the day, us federal reserve chairjanet yellen will testify in congress on the country's economic outlook

two weeks before the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates for the third time this year. and thousands of christmas lovers will begin flocking to dresden‘s striezelmarkt, germany's oldest christmas market, which opens today. the market is famous for its annual baking of the world's largest stollen christmas cake. also, there is a un security council emergency meeting taking place today. that is very important. now, it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello and welcome to wednesday's sport briefing where manchester city will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in the english premier league, psg's pack of highly paid superstars will be looking to increase their lead in france's league un and tiger woods looks forward to playing competitive golf

for the first time in almost 10 months. now, there's only one place to start because we have another full night of premier league fixtures on wednesday. league leaders manchester city can go 8 points clear if they beat southampton. city are still undefeated in all competitions so far, but manager pep guardiola doesn't want fans to get carried away with thoughts of that continuing throughout the season. we don't want to practise —— anticipate the future too early. it isa anticipate the future too early. it is a tough game against southampton. always that can confuse us and we have to focus on what we have to do. there are plenty of other places to get your football fix on wednesday, including in france where neymar and his pals at psg are the team to catch.

they host troyes at the parc des princes. paris saint german are still undefeated this season in ligue1 with a barely believable 71 goals in 20 games in all competitions. manchester united might not be top of the league, butjose mourinho's team are in top form. they beat watford a—2 to keep the pressure on neighbours city. united were 3 up after half an hour courtesy of an ashley young double and an anthony martial goal. the hornets got back in the game, but a latejesse lingard goal gave united their first win away from home in the league since september. they‘ re temporarily, perhaps, just 5 points behind their table topping arch rivals, city, who as we've said play on wednesday. he's had more comebacks than rocky balboa, but despite not winning a major in nine years, everyone's getting excited about the return of tiger woods. he's back in action this week at the hero world challenge in the bahamas. the big question from all the journalists is — will he be able to play pain—free?

i don't know. you know, i'm winging this by ear, because i don't know what my body can and can't do yet. as i was saying to you guys, i don't have any pain anymore in my back, but i still have some stiffness, no doubt. and so i'm learning that — what my body can do yet, and what it can't do. and just give me a little bit of time. and this guy, robert kubica, is making a comeback of his own, and what an incredible story this is. the polish driver says he's on course for a return to formula 1 after a rally crash in 2011. the accident left him with a partially severed right arm. despite that, he defied the odds and completed 100 laps in abu dhabi on tuesday. kubica is the favourite to replace retired brazilian felipe massa at williams. with 120 million followers on facebook alone, anything cristiano ronaldo does tends to get a big reaction. but there's nothing like a cute baby

to get people sharing. this is the real madrid forward posing with his 5—month—old daughter eva, and some 750,000 people have already liked it. and, finally, rugby scrums can be incredibly powerful, but how's this for a show of strength? hinckley rugby club in england doesn't have a huge social media following, but it's fair to say that while their posts have been put on the ground, the club's social media post has put them on the map. the game eventually had to be completed on an adjacent pitch. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, marc edwards and the rest of the team, that is your wednesday sport briefing. thanks for that. i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. we will have all the top business

stories very soon. we are asking what you make of the latest research conducted in the uk, this broad—based research that if you live alone, you are water % more likely to develop dementia in your later years. many of you have been in touch about this. i would like to mention one viewer. she is watching us mention one viewer. she is watching us in iowa. she says, i don't have dementia, though my symptoms mimic them. my spouse does the driving, help me to sort out the from worry, help me to sort out the from worry, help me to sort out the from worry, help me participate in keeping our home and supporting our career. it gives me as independent as i can be andi gives me as independent as i can be and i try harder. i think that is the point of the research, showing how a spouse, a part can help when you face those challenges. i will see very you face those challenges. i will see very soon. hello there.

if tuesday was too cold for you, i don't think you're going to find much comfort in the forecast for the next couple of days. if anything, it will get even colder. northerly winds all the way from the arctic. a lot of sunshine through the day ahead, but some showers feeding down the eastern side of england, north—east scotland. where north—east scotland. the showers have been falling through where the showers have been falling through the night, the northern half of scotla nd through the night, the northern half of scotland does have the risk of some icy stretches and there could this omission on mixed in with these showers. most of the showers at low levels across eastern england will be falling as rain and sleet. some snow up be falling as rain and sleet. some snow up over be falling as rain and sleet. some snow up over high ground. further west into wales, the south—west, largely dry, very chilly. a widespread frost. a few showers into west wales and these showers will just continue to trickle their way southwards in the day. further east, the feeling of showers across the

east coast of england and scotland. it could be wintry to lower levels. northern ireland, largely dry with some sunshine. it will feel cold. wednesday night, you can see this haze of lewd spreading across the map. a widespread frost. still some showers can find the committee coastal strip i suspect in northern scotla nd coastal strip i suspect in northern scotland and eastern england, but any showers that do fall could be wintry, even to fairly low levels. during thursday, high pressure to the west, low pressure squeezing in it anything from the east and that will strengthen the wind across the eastern areas. still feeding some showers across eastern scotland along the east coast of england, even to low levels at this stage. don't be surprised. some showers out west. generally a lot of crisps sunshine. this is what it will feel like on thursday afternoon. subzero in many places. for friday, still

some showers which could be wintry initially across the south—east and then a band of showery rain into the north—west. for the time being, things remain chilly even when we get some sunshine. as we head into the weekend, some signs that things will temporarily turn a full milder. all of dry weather with some cloud and patchy rain at times. hello again. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. focus on the future. a major summit between eu and africa kicks off in ivory coast. but will it really boost development? the us launches action against china over aluminium imports. but how will beijing react? we'll get the lowdown from our asia business hub. and on financial markets, it is a mixed day. no serious knee—jerk reaction to the missile test from north korea. we talk you through all the action and also is there a

brexit break