i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines: north korea suspends talks with the south, telling it to cancel military exercises with the united states. funerals in gaza for the almost 60 palestinians killed by israeli forces. politicians and diplomats abroad call for peace, but real peace talks failed a long time ago. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme: myanmar‘s other refugee crisis. the kachin christian minority forced to flee by the military‘s advances. concern over meghan markle‘s father ahead of saturday's royal wedding. he is reported to be facing heart surgery. it is 8:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london, and 8:00am in the morning in pyongyang, where north korea has cancelled planned talks with south korea in protest againstjoint military exercises being held by the south and the united states. the state news agency even went so far as casting doubt over the planned summit between kim jong—un and donald trump into question.

the us state department spokesperson heather nauert had this to say a little earlier. kimjong—un had said previously that he understands the need and the utility of the united states and the republic of korea continuing in its joint exercises. they're exercises that are legal, they‘ re planned well, well in advance. we have not heard anything from that government or the government of south korea to indicate that we would not continue conducting these exercises, or that we would not continue planning for our meeting between president trump and kimjong—un next month. earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s barbara plett usher in washington. i asked her how the white house reacted to this development. a very terse statement, really — actually not quite as optimistic as heather

nauert announced. north korea has said independently, we will continue to co—ordinate closely with our allies. so it seems it was a statement they were not expecting, and are not really welcoming it, as you can imagine. but, as heather was saying, as the state department spokeswoman was saying, they have not stopped planning for the summit. they will not do that unless they get a clear indication from either north korea or south korea that they should discontinue doing that. and some analysts are saying that this latest move by kim could be aimed at testing president trump's willingness to make concessions ahead of the singapore summit on 12june. well, i suppose it could be it. it is a return to rhetoric of the past, at an unexpected time. i think it was not

unlikely that there would be at some hiccups on the way to the summit, perhaps not this late in the game. and i think, as threats go, it was reasonably mild. it was something about the us needed to carefully consider its operations, which is more like saying it would be a shame for the summit not to go ahead, rather than it will not go ahead. i think kimjong—un has made it pretty clear that he wants that photo opportunity with president trump. but you may be right, he may be using this as a way to send a warning, to test how far president trump, and indeed the president of south korea, are willing to go to appease him or to engage with him. and i think you might also be looking at him saying that he does have some power here. president trump and his officials had been saying that kim jong—un has come to the table because of the sanctions regime, that they have sort of squeezed him to the point that he has been forced to come to the table. the north koreans are saying no, this is our choice, we have finished a nuclear weapons programme, this is something that we want to do.

so it may be that he's making the point that the north koreans do have this in their hands as well. now to some of the day's other news: funerals have been held for some of the more than 50 people killed when israeli troops fired on palestinian protestors in gaza monday. in the fiercest clashes since 2014, officials say more than 2,000 others were injured. there have been further, smaller protests tuesday. 0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen reports now from gaza. 0n the border, the soundtrack was anti—israeli songs, not gunfire. 2a hours after the killing, the big protests have stopped, but tyres were burning, and palestinians looked warily towards the israeli positions. enterprising traders brought refreshments. so what's next? the israelis deal with the international political fallout, the palestinians have 60 dead.

politicians and diplomats abroad call for peace, but real peace talks ended, failed, a long time ago. and, with the current generation of palestinian and israeli leaders, there is no chance of them being revived. the israelis started firing tear gas. the crowd, by then including many families, was getting too big. and the young men were getting too close to the border wire. 0n the other side, the israelis say they are in the right. we are not here looking to create casualties of palestinians. that is not our aim. we are simply here to defend what is ours. we are defending our sovereignty, our civilians that live in close proximity, against an onslaught led by a terrorist organisation that is using civilians in order to penetrate into israel. much of gaza's rage is born

in places like beach camp, still a home for refugees, 70 years after more than 700,000 palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes by newly independent israel. palestinians call it ‘nakba' — catastrophe. 70% of palestinians in gaza are refugees, stuck fast in history. at the al—farooq mosque, yazan tobasi's funeral was much quieter than his death — shot through the eye during the protests. his body was wrapped in the hamas flag. he was 23, and his friends were there to bury him. there were tender moments. israel says it told them to stay away from the border, and hamas is responsible for what happened. his friend said yazan had worked at the hospital, without pay, because of gaza's collapsing economy. poverty and grief breed anger.

and so do the deaths of children. a family gathered for another funeral. it was for leyla al—ghandour, who was eight months old. she had a weak heart, and when she inhaled tear gas, she died, herfamily said. children make up half gaza's population. six were killed on monday, according to the ministry of health. her mother, mariam, was in a pit of grief. at shifa, the main hospital, wounded men were being transferred to egypt for surgery. inside, they were still treating casualties from the protest. this boy is 16. all day, i've been asking palestinians if hamas forced them to risk their lives at the protests. no—one said yes. "i did it becausejerusalem is palestinian", said this unemployed 24—year—old.

this is the busiest time at the hospital since the 2014 war. as a human being, i speak — it's horrible to think about. if you see yesterday, the situation, it's horrible. crying, bloody, pain, painful... what's happening? after the protests, it seems that many people are hoping for some kind of turning point. but the fundamentals of this conflict don't change. jeremy bowen, bbc news, gaza. also making news today: the european union's foreign policy chief says the eu can't provide any legal or economic guarantees to iran about delivering the benefits of the nuclear deal, now that the us has withdrawn. iran's foreign minister, mohammad javad zarif, has been meeting with european union countries about the future of the deal.

the eu says it is still considering options to save the agreement. there are very clear economic benefits that have been specified in the jcpoa, that benefits that have been specified in thejcpoa, that have to be carefully negotiated in thejcpoa, to remain. facebook has revealed it has removed more than 580 million fake accounts. it has also published data for the first time about the amount of inappropriate content it removes, showing a sharp increase in the number of posts containing graphic violence. it follows calls for transparency after the privacy scandal involving a british firm cambridge analytica. rico will have more on this in asia business report, straight after newsday. russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been sentenced to 30 days in prison for organising protests ahead of president putin's inauguration for a fourth term

in office earlier this month. mr navalny was among at least 300 people arrested at an unauthorised rally held in central moscow on 5 may. russia's president says he is confident that people will love the new bridge linking russia and the crimean peninsula. vladimir putin inaugurated the highly controversial bridge by driving across it in a truck. crimea was annexed by moscow from ukraine in 2014. ukraine says russia is continuing to act outside international law. the burmese military has intensified its assault on christian rebels fighting for independence in myanmar‘s kachin state. some 4,000 people have fled their homes since early april,

according to the un, and there are fears that many people remain trapped in conflict—stricken areas, near the border with china. 0ur myanmar correspondent nick beake reports from yangon. desperate and with nowhere to go, these are the christians of the northernmost part of myanmar, forced from their homes by recent fighting. elephants offer the only way of escape, carrying men, women and children across the water, and whatever possessions they could gather. the conflict here in kachin state has dragged on for more than half a century, but has been overshadowed recently by the scale of the persecution of rohingya muslims in the west of the country. but the burmese military has now intensified its assault on the christian rebels fighting for independence in kachin. the army is accused of bombing this school, although insists it does not target civilians.

no pupils were in lessons at the time of this reported attack. a bomb exploded 40 to 50 feet away from the baptist mission school's kitchen. it was inside the compound in the village. many in myanmar are fed up with the ongoing conflict in the country's border regions, and at the weekend, they showed it. in the main city, yangon, the police arrested demonstrators. 17 now face charges — a move condemned by human rights groups. the burmese leader, aung san suu kyi, says her priority is bringing peace. it seems a long way off. nick beake, bbc news, yangon. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: media reports that meghan markle‘s father needs heart surgery cast more doubts over his attendance

at the royal wedding. also on the programme: malaysia prepares for a pardon. jailed opposition icon anwar ibrahim is hours away from his royal reprieve. the pope was shot, the pope will live — that's the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism had come to the vatican. the man they call the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess

champion, garry kasparov. it's the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: north korea has suspended talks with south korea, blaming its military exercises with the united states. a minute's silence has been held at a meeting of the united nations security council in memory of the almost 60 palestinians killed by israeli forces during violence over the past two days. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. that is one of the stories making

the news. the international edition of the new york times has a story about the former russian double agent sergie skripal, who was nearly poisoned to death in march here in the uk. it says he met with foreign intelligence operatives and spies, offering briefings on russia. but it's not certain whether his travels made him a target or if the russian government knew about them. next, the gulf news features one of our main stories, the violence in gaza, in which dozens of palestinian demonstrators were killed by the israeli army in protests against the opening of the us embassy in jerusalem. it shows a picture of a palestinian mother who we saw injeremy bowen's report, she's mourning the death of her 8—month—old infant, who died after inhaling tear gas. and the international edition of the china daily has a heart—warming story about an autism coffee shop. the shanghai non—profit cafe which trained autistic teenagers to interact with others has received

over 500 offers of help from venues after they closed down earlier this month because of rent issues. you're up to date with the papers. malaysia's former deputy prime minister, anwar ibrahim, is expected to be released from prison in the next few hours. anwar was jailed on sodomy charges in 2015 but the election of prime minister mahathir mohamad last week has paved the way for him to be given a full royal pardon. dr wong chin huat is a politics expert and fellow at the malaysian think tank, penang institute, and hejoins us now from kuala lumpur. thank you so much forjoining us. when anwar is pardoned and released, what would be the first step for him to get back into the political landscape? he would need to run in a

by—election to be elected to return to parliament and then to be appointed as a cabinet minister. i believe he would take over as deputy prime minister as well. would he really wa nt prime minister as well. would he really want to be deputy prime minister, which is currently occupied by this wife, orjust a political adviser and a cabinet member of the anwar mahathir mohamad administration? the better solution would be for him to replace this wife as deputy prime minister. as a matter of the fact that by—election would need to be taking place when this wife vacates her seat. if he becomes deputy prime minister the big question is, of course, the prime minister has said he can take power in one to two years. in your view, mr wong, could power in one to two years. in your view, mrwong, could it be power in one to two years. in your view, mr wong, could it be sooner than that? i think it is in everyone's interests for the

transition from mahathir to anwar to be smooth. so very likely they will strike a deal to share power for the next two years. it would be exactly 2020 the year that mahathir envisaged malaysia to be a developed country, so it would be closure for mahathir and country, so it would be closure for mahathirand in country, so it would be closure for mahathir and in this two—year period i think mahathir and in this two—year period ithink and mahathir and in this two—year period i think and while will be given a lot of power to prepare for this own prime ministership. but anything can happen between now and over the next two years, so there's still a possibility anwar will never become prime minister? it is possible. none of the four parties in the coalition is large enough to ignore the others, so they need each other. i think this is a guarantee for

power—sharing. think this is a guarantee for power-sharing. if he becomes prime minister, are we going to see more younger leaders move up the chain and eventually succeed mahathir and anwar? yes, i think so. this is already happening, as many young talented leaders are already in the front line. thank you so much for your insights on malaysian politics, wong chin huat from the malaysian think tank penang institute. meghan markle's father is reported to have said he won't attend his daughter's wedding to prince harry on saturday because he needs to undergo a heart procedure. there have been concerns over his health since allegations surfaced that he'd staged press photographs of himself preparing for the wedding. from buckingham palace our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has this update. the picture really is absolutely unclear tonight. a few hours ago, the celebrity

gossip entertainment website tmz wjhich was the first to report that thomas markle would not be attending the wedding has reported he has changed his mind and announced that he wanted to come to the wedding to hearing from his daughter. there is one major problem, he is in hospital, it has been reported that he suffered chest pains and suffered a heart attack a few days ago. it has been reported he is undergoing tests and suggested that he may be having surgery tomorrow. if that is correct, and it has not been confirmed, i think that would rule out him being at st george's chapel on saturday. i think meghan markle, as much she has wanted herfather to be there to walk her down the aisle, her major concern now is for her father's health and wellbeing. tonight, to the question — will be will the father of the bride get to the church on time? there is still no definitive answer. nicholas witchell reporting. at weddings, it's usually the bride and groom getting gifts, but one indian charity and the women it helps,

will be benefiting from the royal wedding. prince harry and meghan markle have asked guests for donations for seven charities, one of them is based in india. the bbc‘s yogita limaye picks up the story in mumbai. women on a mission. they're selling sanitary towels in a mumbai slum. they make low—cost pads and try to persuade more women to use them. this work caught the attention of meghan markle, and now she and prince harry have asked wedding guests to donate to the organisation. menstruation is still a taboo topic in india. translation: many people bang the door in our faces. if there are men around, the women don't talk to us but since the royal wedding news, more people recognise us, they tell us they have seen us on tv, they recognise our brand. mumbai is one of india's biggest cities but, even here, several women don't have access to sanitary pads because of social and economic reasons.

now, this is something meghan markle has seen firsthand when she visited slums like these last year and interacted with residents here. ms markle also saw how the pads were made. she then wrote about her visit and the stigma surrounding periods in india in time magazine. suhani jalota, the founder of the charity, says she wasn't expecting to be on the list of organisations chosen by the royal couple. we were definitely very surprised, but we were happy that she really kept her word, that she would support us in any way that she could. we can now go to many more communities, speak to many more women and we feel confident about what we are seeing because it's kind of as a validation, that what you're doing is important and is probably taking in the right direction as well. suhani hopes it will help employ more women and reach more communities. a few of the women from the foundation have also been invited to the wedding.

they plan to wear traditional saris. we are travelling in the plane. this is the first time we are going to travel in the plane. both are really very excited and very happy, i can't explain the feeling. just for a few days, they'll be flying far away from the many challenges they, and so many other indian women, face. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. that is one of seven charities to which meghan markle and prince harry have asked their wedding guests to donate to rather than bring guests for the big day itself, the big day, which is of course on saturday —— gifts. we are facing uncertainty about weather meghan markle's father will attend. a us entertainment magazine said thomas markle will undergo urgent heart surgery and he won't be able to attend, but prince

harry's office declining to comment. bbc world news is the place to keep up to date with all the preparations for the royal wedding. our special coverage of the event starts on thursday, the 17th of may. we'll be live in windsor, hope you can join us for that. we really hope you canjoin we really hope you can join us for that. you've been watching newsday. i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. as facebook closes more than 580 million accounts, we find out how the social media giant deals with graphic and violent content. and before we go, let's take a look at these pictures. a rare blue diamond has sold at auction in geneva for $6.7 million after spending the last 300 years in european royal houses. the 6.1—carat diamond mined from india's famous golconda mine was given as a wedding present to elisabeth farnese, the daughter of the duke of parma, when she married king philip v of spain in 1715.

it sold after just four minutes of bidding, passing its estimate by more than $1 million, a reflection of its rarity and history. extraordinary achievement for an extraordinary item. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello again, good morning. nearly all of us still look like being dry through the rest of this week and into the weekend as well. the temperatures are going to change a bit and we've got some chilly nights on the way, but here in hampshire, we had the highest temperature on tuesday, 23.7 celsius, but the next few days will be cooler by day as well as by night, but a lot of dry weather and some sunshine around as well. now, the cooler air comes around this area of high pressure following that weather front there. ahead of that weather front, we've got some stronger winds, making it feel chillier across many

parts of england and wales, together with all this cloud, so cloudier skies. 0n the weather front itself, there's not much rain around, as you can see, at all. as you head further north, increasing amounts of sunshine, perhaps in north wales, certainly across northern england and some good sunny spells for scotland and northern ireland, where temperatures will be lower across the board than they were on tuesday, and quite a significant drop for eastern scotland. quite a chilly wind blowing into the evening and overnight across eastern and south—eastern parts of england. the cloud tends to break up and remember, we've pushed in some cooler air, so with the clearer skies, temperatures will fall away, it'll be a chillier night in the south. and in scotland and northern ireland, we could be starting at 12 degrees on thursday morning but plenty of sunshine around. probably infilling a bit of clout the scotland and northern ireland probably infilling a bit of cloud for scotland and northern ireland on thursday but a dry day, the winds not as strong across the south. it will feel just a little bit warmer. maybe those temperatures not showing too much sign of creeping up just yet, but i think it'll be

a bit warmer on friday. high pressure still in charge of our weather, these weather fronts