welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: 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 ended — failed — a long time ago. latest reports say meghan markle‘s father will have heart surgery in a few hours and won't attend the royal wedding on saturday. author, journalist and chronicler of 1980s america, tom wolfe, has died at the age of 88. welcome to bbc news.

north korea has cancelled planned talks with south korea in protest againstjoint military exercises being held by south korea and the united states. the state news agency called the exercises "a rehearsal for an invasion", and said they cast doubt over the imminent summit between kim jong—un and president trump. andrew plant reports. they codename this max thunder — american and south korean military taking part in joint exercises. these pictures are from last year, but they're training together again right now. the pentagon says the max thunder drills are routine and defensive in nature, but they appear to have provoked north korea, its central news agency releasing a statement saying... donald trump and kim jong—un are scheduled to meet in singapore

on 12june. the white house has said there is no change to that plan. we are operating under the idea and the notion that the president's meeting is going forward with chairman kim next month. since these last military drills, in 2017, north korea has become more open to the outside world, kim jong—un meeting with the south korean leader in april and releasing american prisoners earlier this month. now, though, it's postponed further talks with the south that were due to take place on wednesday, marking a significant setback in what had been unprecedented progress on the korean peninsula. anthony ruggiero is with the washington think tank foundation for defense of democracies.

he's also served as an advisor to the six party nuclear non—proliferation talks during the george w bush administration. he says north korea is playing a well rehearsed game. well, looks like north korea is going back to its old playbook, right? you know, cancelling meetings, threatening to cancel meetings, in this case, the summit with president donald trump, and trying to get additional concessions. that's really what they're looking for here. it's — you know, it shouldn't surprise anyone that they're going back to the playbook. it's not clear why north korea is now objecting to defensive military exercises, that were already ongoing, and there were prior exercises that they didn't really say anything about. but playing devil's advocate there, you know, these military exercises, they're called max thunder — 100 warplanes. isn't it reasonable, in some ways, for north korea to say, actually, if we're trying to negotiate peace and de—escalation here, you should stop these exercises? well, first of all, they're

defensive in nature. and let's also be clear that no—one is talking about north korea's military exercises. no—one is talking about north korea's million man army that's pointed towards south korea. no—one‘s talking about north korea's missiles that are pointed at south korea. so it always turns to be, let's talk about the united states, and north korea says we have an alleged hostile policy. i think we have to be clear. i mean, also, let's be clear that south korea back in march, when they came to the white house, they said that kim jong—un had said that these defensive military exercises are ok. so the real question is, why the change of heart? 0k, and let's — on that change of heart, how significant do you think this is? is this a deliberate policy change here, or is this a minor hiccup on the way to a peaceful resolution? well, i think we have two problems here. the first is north korea's working

from their old playbook, and they're assuming donald trump is working from the normal us playbook, and i think they haven't realised that trump has his own playbook. and then the second here, which is really, this is papering over significant differences between the two sides. north korea wants to extend denuclearisation talks for years, if not multiple years, and the us administration wants an upfront, quick, libya—style denuclearisation. right there, you're going to have a hard time having a successful summit, just on the substance alone. we have received more statements and north korea. reuters quoting here, saying that north korea said it may reconsider holding a summit with the united states if washington continues to unilaterally insist on north korea giving up its nuclear

programme. so again, that is reuters quoting the north's state media on wednesday, saying that if washington continues to unilaterally insist on north korea giving up its nuclear programme, that could jeopardise those talks altogether. 0f programme, that could jeopardise those talks altogether. of course, if we get any more statements in that, we will bring them to you. more funerals have taken place for the palestinians killed by israeli troops in gaza yesterday. an emergency session of the un security council has heard condemnation of both israel and the militant group, hamas. tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of what palestinians call "the catastrophe" — when hundreds of thousands of people fled or were expelled from their homes when the state of israel was established. 0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen sent this report from gaza. and his report contains some distressing images. 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, is 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 man — unemployed, 2a years 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. well, let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news now. the european union's foreign policy chief has said the eu is considering options to save the nuclear deal with iran, after president trump withdrew the us from it. speaking after a meeting with the foreign ministers of iran, france, germany and the uk, federica mogherini said the eu would come forward with new measures in the next few weeks. the iranian minister, mohammad javad zarif, said there had been a good start to the talks. russia's president says he's confident people will love the new bridge linking russia and the crimean peninsula. vladimir putin opened the highly controversial bridge by driving across it. crimea was annexed by moscow from ukraine in 2014.

ukraine says russia is continuing "to act outside international law". 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 website tmz, which was the first last night to report that thomas markle would not be attending the wedding, weel tonight, it was reporting that he changed his mind and announced that he wanted to come to the wedding after hearing from his daughter.

there's one major problem. he is in hospital, it has been reported that he suffered chest pains and suffered a heart attack six days ago. it's been reported he's undergoing tests, and suggested that he may be having surgery tomorrow. if that is correct, and it's not been confirmed, i think it would rule out him being at st george's chapel on saturday. i think meghan markle, much as she has wanted her father to be there to walk her down the aisle, i think her major concern now is for her father's health and wellbeing. but tonight, to the question, will the father of the bride get to the church on time, there is still no definitive answer. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: two more pages of anne frank's diary are released — hidden for years because of their rudejokes. 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 bbc news.

the latest headlines: 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 over the past two days. let's stay with that story. the hostility between israel and the palestinians has long centred on the land and borders created following the war that led to the establishment of israel in 19118. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet takes a closer look at the history of the continuing struggle. a history of a people on the run time and again. 19118, the arab—israeli war and the creation of israel. tens of thousands of palestinians fled to gaza. many forced from their homes.

a narrow sliver of land became known as the gaza strip. its borders defined by the positions of egyptian and israeli forces, separate from the west bank when the 19118 ceasefire was declared. and for the next 70 years, gaza's future would be shaped by its neighbours, most of all, the state of israel. in 1967, in the six—day war, israel occupied gaza and the west bank, started building jewish settlements on the best land, including along the mediterranean. and then, decades later, a promise of land for peace. the last settlers and soldiers would leave in 2005, proclaiming the end of israeli occupation, but israel kept control of all borders, land air and sea.

gazans called it the world's biggest prison. but palestinian politics played its part too. the next year elections brought the militant group hamas to power, pushing out fatah, the main palestinian faction. and pushing gaza towards a growing confrontation with israel, and a tightening blockade, which created a growing humanitarian crisis. in the last ten years, three wars, and in between, efforts to ease gaza's blockade, but never enough, and never enough aid. at the un security council today, this same calls for restraint and the us stood by its ally.

i ask my colleagues here in the security council, who among us would accept this type of activity on your border? no—one would. no country in this chamber would act with more restraint than israel has. the same calls to return to peace talks. we see negotiations towards the two—state solution as the best way to end the occupation and to meet the national aspirations of the jewish and palestinian peoples. gaza's fate has been sealed, literally, by its borders. the only route to a better future through negotiations, but that's now further away than ever. lyse doucet, bbc news. 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. 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 it insists it doesn't target civilians. no pupils were in lessons at the time of this reported attack. translation: 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. the american author tom wolfe — best known as the chronicler of the united states under president reagan — has died at the age of 88. he began his career as a reporter, becoming one of the leading figures of newjournalism, which mixed literary techniques with a more subjective approach to writing. stephen smith, looks back at tom wolfe's impact on modernjournalism.

this is how tom wolfe began a book—length essay on las vegas. the word or sound hernia repeated 56 times, meant to capture the "running singsong," as he called it, of the dealers at the crap tables. that kind of detail had always been there, wolfe liked to suggest, but people hadn't been paying it close enough attention. i love to find things that are really extraordinary that everybody knows about but they haven't been written about. whenever a young writer pays me the complement of being asked, "how did you get started in this field of writing?" i always say, "first,

leave the building!" "take a look at what's out there." the writer's probably best known for the bonfire of the vanities, his prescient account of wall street hubris and identity politics. untouchable, insulated by wealth and power. a master of the universe. people keep telling me that it's a satire and i'm being a gadfly and an irritant. in my mind, i'm, like, "alice, i'm just running as fast as i can to try to catch up with events." wolfe coined neologisms that defined the times we live in and the newjournalism of wolfe and his contemporaries was thrilling to many. tom wolfe, who died at the age of 88. two new pages from anne frank's diary have been published — containing a handful of dirtyjokes and her thoughts on sex. they had been covered with gummed brown paper —

apparently to hide her writing from her family. the teenage girl spent more than two years in hiding — before being caught by the nazis. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. it's a story that is familiar to so many. for more than two years during the second world war a jewish family hid inside this cramped attic in amsterdam. desperate to avoid detection and arrest by the nazis. among them, anne frank. perhaps the single most well—known victim of the holocaust. her diary of that time was published after the war and has been read around the world. but now the contents of two new pages have been revealed for the first time. i think the only element perhaps that might be interesting from the point of view of her development as a writer and as a teenager is the fact that she's creating kind of fiction

in order to address sensitive topics. they were written in september, 1942 and anne then covered them up in black paper. new digital photography techniques were used to decipher what she had written and that was a handful of risque jokes and her somewhat adolescent views on sex. the text that has been revealed today is not very different from other texts and some of the texts of the diary we already know were actually much more explicit than the ones we have revealed today. of course, anne's story had a tragic ending. the family were betrayed, arrested and sent to a concentration camp. like so many others, she died just a few months before the war in europe drew to a close. her diary became her legacy and that legacy now has a whole new chapter. tim allman, bbc news. inside this hospital in malaysia,

anwar ibrahim, a man who has been in jailfor corruption anwar ibrahim, a man who has been in jail for corruption and suddenly charges but could become the next prime minister in a years time possibly. we've gotten to this extraordinary situation. mahathir mohamad, 92 years old, became prime minister in the recent elections, ousting najib razak and promised if he won power, he would hand it over to anwar ibrahim, getting a kings pardon to be released. we expect him to be released from hospital any moment now. 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. 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 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 not really making much progress into the uk, it's the western isles that'll see more cloud, maybe a spot of rain on friday, otherwise a dry day with some sunshine, maybe seeing a little bit

more cloud developing across east anglia and the south—east on friday but tending to become a bit warmer, as i say, so18, 19 degrees through the central belt of scotland, similar temperatures across parts of southern england as well. now, into the weekend, i've put the jet stream on here because the position of the jet stream means we're steering areas of low pressure to the north—west of the uk, keeping that high pressure firmly in charge. there are some showers nearby over the near continent. we're not expecting them to arrive in windsor or in the south—east of england. should be fine for the royal wedding. there'll be fair bit of cloud, mind you, but it'll be a bit warmer, temperatures 20, maybe even 21 degrees. a decent day pretty much across the board on saturday. the winds, if anything, coming in from the near continent. this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states says it's still planning a meeting next month between president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un, despite the north suspending talks with south korea. the north said joint us—south korean military exercises, currently taking

place, were a threat and should stop. dozens of funerals have been taking place in the gaza strip for palestinians killed on monday by israeli forces. two more people were killed on tuesday during demonstrations on the border. at the un security council in new york, there were angry exchanges between israeli and palestinian envoys. there's further uncertainty over whether meghan markle's father will attend saturday's wedding between his daughter and prince harry, the sixth in line to the british throne. an american magazine is reporting that thomas markle is to undergo urgent heart surgery on wednesday.