welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. the headlines: north and south korea stage their first talks for more than two years. south korea's president says denuclearisation is the path to peace. flash floods and mudslides in southern california leave at least thirteen dead. a search is underway for survivors. we'd dug down and found a little baby, a little kid. we got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. i hope that it's ok, we took it right to hospital. the murder of a lawyer prompts outrage and claims of corruption in ukraine. and meghan—mania sweeps south london as she and prince harry enjoy some youth culture. hello, after months of rising tensions on the korean peninsula,

the north and south are to hold a new military dialogue, and appear together at the winter olympics. within the past hour, the south koreann president, moon jae—in, said denuclearising the korean peninsula was an aim that cannot be abandoned. but he also said that he did not want the immediate reunification of north and south korea. you have per shoot this policy of engagement. —— per shoot. the us policy is one of maximum pressure. is there not potential for a flashpoint between those two was his, and how will you deal with it? thank you. translation: his, and how will you deal with it? thank you. translatiosz his, and how will you deal with it? thank you. translation: it is a practical concern. it is the actual concern we have, because we have

close bonds with the us and we have in working closely together against north korea's nuclear programme. as much as international bodies, organisations, put great pressure on north korea to resolve this nuclear issue, we, south korea, is trying to bring north korea to the table to open a dialogue. however, when the pressure from international community goes up so high, obviously includes it and is as, the tension between south and north can only be

increased. —— obviously in consequence. this needs to be dealt with extremely carefully. we need to give very deep thinking. at the moment they came out to talk with this. this is talk, north korea. they came out to improve the into korean relationship, the tension that north korea input for this talk. —— inter—korean. so i think this is a good start. that was the south korean president was boring —— responding to laura bicker‘s question. sophie weldon gave us more reaction to be president's speech. what is interesting that we have heard from president moonjae—in this morning

is that he used the word denuclearisation quite a few times, but he also talked about the us and how they are working together with the us and how that is their ultimate goal, and there is no disagreement between south korea and the us. these talks yesterday were historic. they were the first government— government level talks between south korea and north korea for two years. their scope was limited. they were always going to talk about the winter olympics, they agreed north korea would send a large delegation to the winter olympics. they talked about humanitarian affairs and touched on the military as well. the fundamental issue of denuclearisation was only mentioned very briefly, once. it was brought up very briefly, once. it was brought up either south korean delegation and the north korean delegation did not engage. —— brought up by the. that is the fundamental issue. even if you create a better atmosphere and tensions are relieved some of the fundamental issue is that kim jong—un has said north korea will continue with the missile and nuclear programme, it is completely unacceptable nuclear programme, it is completely u na cce pta ble to nuclear programme, it is completely unacceptable to the us, south

korea's key ally. the feeling is for many people that we have been here before with north korea, that there may be no real long—term change, and the north is perhaps making nice with south korea to avoid war with the us. yes, that's right. there is a lot of scepticism about exactly what the north korean leader's motivation is in suddenly opening up to dialogue with south korea. it could be that at the end of 2017 they were on the brink of war, but also, i think the economic situation is important as well. right at the end of december 2017, the latest round, the toughest round of un imposed sanctions were imposed on the north korean regime. those sanctions may now be starting to bite. he will be looking for some kind of economic relief. if he cannot get it internationally, perhaps he is looking to south korea. again, this will be a difficult tightrope for moon jae—in to walk on. he has been clear that he wants to engage with north korea, he wants to engage with north korea, he wants to engage with north korea, he wants better inter—korean relations. but when we get to

economic cooperation, that can be difficult, because he will not want to do anything that will undermine those international sanctions, and we certainly heard him standing fully beside the united states today. that was our correspondent sophie long in seoul. —— sophie long. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. donald trump's former chief strategist steve bannon has stepped down as head of the far right website breitbart. he's been heavily criticised by mr trump and faced a backlash from supporters since the book "fire and fury" quoted him accusing the president's son and son—in—law of treason. detectives in italy and germany have arrested 169 people on suspicion of activities related to the mafia. tens of millions of dollars' worth of property was seized in the operation against the ‘ndrangheta, a crime syndicate accused of infiltrating businesses across both countries. the us secretary of state has ordered a new inquiry into the health problems suffered by diplomats stationed in cuba. president trump has blamed the cuban government for symptoms ranging from fatigue to hearing loss, and washington has pulled most of its diplomatic staff out of havana.

cuba has denied any involvement. the south african president jacob zuma says he is setting up a judicial inquiry into alleged influence—peddling in his government. he said the deputy chiefjustice raymond zondo would head the inquiry as recommended by the chief justice mogoeng mogoeng. the move follows a court ruling last month that gave mr zuma 30 days to set up the investigation. police in california are reporting at least 13 dead in floods and mudslides. rescue workers say the bodies were found in debris brought down by a ferocious storm. among those saved was a 14—year—old girl who'd been trapped for hours in the ruins of her house. sarah corker reports. a deadly torrent of mud swept through communities across southern california, knocking entire homes from their foundations and trapping some people inside. in the thick brown sludge, waist—deep in parts, more than 50 people have been rescued so far. i looked over at the river and the trees were coming down.

and we ran into the house and right then, the boulders busted through our house and we got upstairs and it got up to about eight feet, nine feet up the stairs. after devastating wildfires along this pacific coast, now, a powerful storm has triggered flash floods. one of the worst—hit areas is montecito, an exclusive neighbourhood north of la, home to stars like oprah winfrey. mansions now completely surrounded by mud. we had a very difficult time assessing the area and responding to many of those areas to assist those people. the only words i can really think of to describe what looked like was it looked like a world war i battlefield. wildfires in december have left this area vulnerable, burning the vegetation that helps prevent flooding and landslides. major roads and coastal highways are blocked. helicopters have been trying to reach some of those trapped.

and with people still missing and unaccounted for, police say the death toll is likely to rise. sarah corker, bbc news. the syrian military has accused israel of a series of airstrikes on targets close to the capital damascus. it says both israeli planes and missiles were deployed — and claims it brought down one plane. israel has refused to confirm any military action. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in damascus. they‘ re now happening every few months, israel striking its neighbour, syria. but it comes at a time when israel grows ever more worried about the growing threat along its northern border with syria. and that is because that border has been largely controlled by syrian rebel forces, and they‘ re losing ground.

and for israel, that means notjust that the syrian military is coming closer to its border, it's that two of syria's most important allies are also approaching israel, and they happen to be israel's against enemies in this region. so i think it's fair to say that the real target of these strikes is not syria, the syrian military. it is iran and hezbollah. and what we know of the strike — it hit arms depots north—east of damascus, which are used both by the syrian military and by lebanese hezbollah forces. now, israel never comments on these strikes, either to confirm or deny, but today, the israeli prime minister happened to be speaking to nato ambassadors and he emphasised that israel has a long—standing policy, and we've seen it, month after month, the strikes it's carried out here, is it will not allow the transfer of any game—changing weaponry, as the prime minister put it, from syrian territory across the border into lebanon. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come, making a case for change — smart luggage meets smiling robots at the world's biggest tech show in las vegas. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer, paul simon, starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas

that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: as north and south korea stage their first talks for more than two years, south korea's president says denuclearisation is the path to peace. flash floods and mudslides in southern california have left at least thirteen people dead. a search is underway for survivors. andray abrahamian is research fellow at the pacific forum of the centre for strategic and international studies. i think it is an interesting and important development.

kim jong—un is certainly feeling some pressure from sanctions and is interested in exploring ways out and he has also noticed a real divergence in the interests of washington dc and south korea south korea really wants the olympics to go off well and without incident, and north korea wants to have its athletes participate and also showcase some other cultural and sporting prowess in front of the world. you spent time in north korea. is it you're feeling that the sanctions are biting? there is little evidence that sanctions are having an effect. we are seeing in the last few weeks, possible fluctuations in the exchange rate. i am hearing

anecdotally people are being more conservative with their money in north korea. there is a concern in north korea. there is a concern in north korea. there is a concern in north korea about what the sanctions might have. do you think the north might have. do you think the north might be open to wider talks?” think the ground work is being set right now. it's still all the work to be done. the core strategic return and now the core strategic concerns of the united states and south korea are really going to be difficult to bridge. hopefully they can drag washington, dc. but it's going to be a long and difficult

road indeed. an awful lot of people suffering in north korea. what are the chances that more engagement is going to talk about will benefit ordinary north koreans? they certainly would in the long run. really, its options for economic engagement are limited given how robust the regime is. it would be ha rd to have robust the regime is. it would be hard to have an issue where sanctions are not violated. he would have this domestic constituency to worry about. in the long run, the two countries should be co—operating. this huge political hurdle needs to be cleared first. the funeral has been held in ukraine, for a young lawyer whose murder is becoming a test case for efforts to reform what many see

as a corrupt and biased judiciary. irina noz—drovska's body was discovered five days after she appeared in court to testify against the nephew of a localjudge. he knocked down and killed her sister while driving over the alcohol limit. jonah fisher reports from kiev. in a small town outside kiev, hundreds of people came to say goodbye to a woman whose life and death has reminded the ukraine of how far it still has to go. this is irina nozdrovska two years ago in full flow. she was leading a public campaign to make sure the drink driver responsible for killing her sister was prosecuted. it was an uphill struggle. the man was well—connected, the nephew of a localjudge. but against the odds, two weeks ago, he had a jail sentence of seven years confirmed. but her activism made her powerful enemies and five days

after the court hearing, her battered body was discovered, stabbed and dumped. "they murdered you for telling the truth," says her father as he weeps over her coffin. "they removed you because you were standing in their way." her mother cries for her first daughter to welcome irina into heaven. ukraine has a pitiful record in solving murder cases like this one. the justice system is widely seen as being rotten to the core, at the service of the rich and well—connected. under pressure, the ukraine police service has arrested a man. at the funeral there was deep scepticism about whether justice would eventually be done. people understand that the judicial system is not about people. we understand it is about corruption, firstly, because all of these judges, for 25 years, have been corrupt.

the whole system is corrupt. having fought, and it seems died to getjustice for her sister, the murder of this woman is now a public test case as to whether the ukraine is really changing. we are getting results of a major earthquake in the caribbean sea north of honduras. windows have been rattled in the honduran capital tegucigalpa. 7.6 is the reading. tsunami waves are possible. warnings have been issued for the us virgin islands and puerto rico. heavy snow aross the alps has cut off towns and villages, and raised the avalanche risk level

to maximum in some areas. tourists are being airlifted out of zermatt, one of switzerland's most popular ski resorts. around 13,000 people are stranded there due to the conditions. imogen foukes reports from geneva. so much snow, literally tonnes of it. its sheer weight forces it down to the valleys. this was the scene in switzerland. no one was hurt here, but the avalanche risk is the highest it's been for almost a decade. over a metre of snow fell in parts of the alps on monday alone. in the italian resort of sestriere, residents were evacuated when snow poured down into their homes. villages are cut off, many schools are closed. this is les houches in france. translation: we heard a big noise at first. no tremor, but a very big noise, a huge growl. then i saw the cloud coming down, so we ran back

and into the basement. it's always a shock, always. it's not nice to see. we thought the house would explode. when you see that, your heart sinks. in the shadow of the famous matterhorn, over 13,000 tourists in the swiss resort of zermatt cannot leave. snow has blocked road and rail links. skiing isn't possible, slopes are closed because of the avalanche danger. residents and holiday—makers alike are being warned to avoid high alpine roads and to follow all safety advice. those stranded in cut—off villages may have to be patient. another metre of snow is forecast in the next 2a hours. imogen foulkes, bbc news, geneva. more than 170,000 people

are expected to visit this year's consumer electronics show in las vegas. the tech companies' latest developments include driverless taxis and new advances in artificial intelligence, including some uncannily human robots. a powerful and largely invisible technology is on the march. it's learning how to drive. it can recognise individualfaces, and it knows an awful lot about our personal preferences. that technology is artificial intelligence and, in las vegas this week, tech firms are showing off how far it's come. hey, sophia, can we shake hands? in a las vegas university lab, i'm meeting sophia, a humanoid robot. how sophisticated do you think you are as a robot? i want people to perceive me as the robot i am. however, i wouldn't want to trick people into thinking i'm a human. i just want to communicate with humans in the best possible ways, which includes looking like one. sophia, who's had advance notice of my questions, our

has few practical uses right now, but her creators believe voice to she represents a big step on the road to artificial intelligence. dislike out a rehash dislike out a to create living, intelligent systems and there you'll see the greatest revolution in artificial intelligence. as this giant tech show gets under way, china's spending on al and robotics is much in evidence. this suitcase recognises and follows its owner. here's china's biggest force in al, the search giant baidu, laying on a lavish las vegas event with the slogan "ai is changing the world at china's speed". it calls itself china's google. it's already a leader in technologies like facial recognition, and baidu is confident china can challenge america's ai dominance. china is quickly catching up and the gap is closing, but china has a lot more people, much larger scale. it's a big market.

so i think that's a foundation for china to prevail in the ai age. google, which usually keeps a low profile at this show, has chosen to put its name everywhere across las vegas, stressing its leading role in al. we are trying to do our best to stay ahead. there is lots of great competition and lots of excitment. what it means is that there's a lot of investment going into this area, a lot of the best minds working on it. so i think you're going to see the field advance pretty quickly. it's arriving quite slowly. out in downtown las vegas, i've booked a ride in an autonomous taxi — no steering wheel, no pedals, no driver. it's made by a french transport company. it's notjust america and china racing to get ahead in al. prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle have visited a radio station in london where they met presenters and staff from reprezent fm, which trains hundreds of young people every year in media

and employment skills. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell was there — his report contains some flash photography. they travel with all the paraphernalia of royalty, but harry and meghan are the new royal couple determined to do things just a little differently. so this was a visit to a radio station, housed in old shipping containers. cheering. believe it or not everyone is listening and i'm in the same room as the royal couple right now. this is reprezent fm in brixton, south london, set up 10 years ago to help tackle inner city issues, like knife crime. it gives young people a purpose and trains them to be broadcasters. i can see why your show‘s so popular because you're so thoughtful in the approach, but also so engaging to listen to. thank you. inside the station, harry and meghan were getting to know the broadcasting class of 2018.

outside it was apparent that royalty‘s newest recruit is reaching new audiences herself. the support from brixton, it was just a lot of people of colour that were just cheering her on. obviously you could tell that she was quite surprised the reception she got. yeah, because everyone was shouting for meghan and not really harry. get out of the way. we want to see meghan! "we want to see meghan", demanded the crowds in south london. expect to hear a lot of that between now and the wedding in may, and beyond. nicholas witchell, bbc news. a town on the edge of the sahara desert has been hit by icy weather — and even snow. snowfall is very rare in the sahara, despite the fact that it can be cold at night — because there's rarely enough water around for any kind of precipitation. it didn't last long though — the snow melted not long after these pictures were taken. tuesday was a disappointing day up

and down the country, cold, damp and grey with the exception of western scotland which saw a little sunshine. i am pleased to say that today it is looking brighter for many with sunshine particularly through the afternoon. begins on a chilly note across northern ireland with ice and a little frost elsewhere. for north, central and east areas, a weather front becomes confined to many north—eastern areas by the end of the day. a great one for much of scotland and outbreaks of rain, a little hill fog as well but the skies brighten up across the west and south—west of scotland. it makes its way slowly out into the north sea. from the west it will be bright with sunshine. a much more pleasant feeling of noon. there could be a few showers, some heavy across south—west to end wednesday that those will clear away. the rain eventually clears away from the eastern side of england

confined to the northern isles. and with clear skies with light winds it will turn chilly. a touch of frost and mist and fog patches that could be quite dense. that is how we end the week for thursday morning and friday morning, on a chilly note with morning frost and fog to watch out for. this is thursday morning. watch out for dense patches of fog. most should clear. some could be stubborn. the east may hold onto cloud through the day that sunny spells break through widely and better for scotland and today. temperature is on the cool side. the high pressure holds on for most of us on friday. things will turn windy across the far west through the day with the weather front are rising across northern ireland and later run in the day.

here it will be wetter, elsewhere after a mist and fog start sunshine should break through. a quick peek into saturday with the weather front trundling eastwards through the day. it never reaches the east until after dark. it will stay dry and on the cool side. this is bbc news.

the headlines: south korea's president has reiterated his commitment to a nuclear—free korean peninsula. a day after talks between south and north, moonjae—in said the removal of nuclear weapons was the path to peace. pyongyang says nuclear disarmament is not up for discussion. at least 13 people have died in floods and mudslides in southern california, which was hit only recently by a huge wildfire. rescue workers in santa barbara county near los angeles say the bodies were discovered in debris brought down by a ferocious storm. floodwater washed away cars and telephone poles. donald trump's former chief strategist steve bannon has stepped down as head of the far right website breitbart. he's been heavily criticised by mr trump and faced a backlash from supporters since the book "fire and fury" quoted him accusing the president's son and son—in—law of treason. now on bbc news, panorama.

this mining tycoon went bankrupt owing almost 13 million. days later driving this luxurious bentley. this sports promoter declared himself bankrupt owing ten million. we found him and his wife still driving a line of luxury cars and living it up in perthshire. and this banned company director, once one of the biggest donors to the conservative party, and a £41 million bankrupt. here he is running multi—million pound housing developments. tonight on panorama, we expose the millionaire bankrupts playing the system. when a business goes bankrupt, it's usually a shattering experience.