this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: north korea warns the us against military exercises with the south and hints it might reconsider next month's summit. malaysia's veteran opposition leader, anwar ibrahim, walks from jail — freed by the man who once imprisoned him. a warning from ukraine — the american envoy says russia is still supporting separatists, and there may have to be more sanctions. trading with tehran: the eu and iran step up their efforts to protect their business links from us sanctions. also in business briefing a special report from pennsylvania on how chinese tech is keeping americans online. good to have you with us.

a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. also in the programme a new report says disruption to the body's internal clock may put people at risk of mood disorders. i don't know about you but i get up at silly o'clock to be at work — what is your sleep pattern like? do you work shifts and if so are you worried about the impact on your health? join the debate. just use the #bbcthebriefing. north korea says it may reconsider the forthcoming summit between leader kim jong—un and us president donald trump if washington presses ahead with its key demand for pyongyang to unilaterally give up its nuclear arsenal. earlier north korea 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. —— let's cross to our correspondent laura bicker, who's in seoul. this is an interesting turn of events, with the scheduled meeting not far off that all? i think there are two things. overnight here in seoul, we got the message that there have been —— there has been a release from state—run media in north korea has said that because of the current military exercises being held, seen as a preparation for war, they were cancelling talks with south korea that were due to be held today. and then there is much more serious release has come from a foreign minister. this goes into far more detail about their problems

north korea is having with the current discussions with the united states and south korea. firstly it talks about denuclearisation. being forced and backed into a corner. it calls it one—sided denuclearisation. it also goes on to attack us national security adviserjohn bolton. at the weekend, he described the libya model for denuclearisation with north korea. they go on to describe that as absurd and to note that both libya and iraq collapsed after giving up their nuclear weapons. they then go on to describe the trump administration as making the trump administration as making the same mistakes as the past and saying that it would be absurd to continue along this line. and if so, they will reconsider taking part in they will reconsider taking part in the summit. these are serious words from a foreign minister who has taken part in negotiations with the us on previous occasions. so what

are people saying about what us on previous occasions. so what are people saying we out what us on previous occasions. so what are people saying we are what us on previous occasions. so what are people saying we are being return. and what we are being offered in return byjohn bolton and others is economic development after we have given up our weapons. that is not acceptable to north korea, and that is what they are doing. they are laying out their terms and holding the summit in the balance while they do so. thank you for joining us, laura bicker, and outlining where we are. we will keep a close eye on that and have more discussion on that later in the news briefing. the imprisoned opposition leader in malaysia, anwar ibrahim, has been released following a royal pardon. mr anwar, who was jailed for a second time three years ago, on what he said were trumped up sodomy charges, started the opposition movement, which has just defeated the former ruling party in malaysia for the first time in the country's history. let's go over to our correspondent in kuala lumpur, jonathan head. another big moment in the political

scene in malaysia ? another big moment in the political scene in malaysia? arguably the most pivotal mode of all. it is the one that ever and has been waiting for. the political party were started by anwar ibrahim, and then he was sacked by mahathir mohamad. he spent two periods in prison as a result of the party. he has been in prison, although he has been in hospital recently, watching his party come together with mahathir mohamad. malaysia's constitutional monarch hasissued malaysia's constitutional monarch has issued a part about i—and—a—half hours ago. anwar ibrahim is out and about. he is in the palace by me now having a meeting with the king. so it is quite excellent for many malaysians to see this, this man who has symbolised opposition to a party

that never lost power in 60 years of rule, and is now out. what happens now will be interesting to watch. of course, there are long—standing historic rivalries and some bitterness between him and doctor mahathir mohamad. they say that they have put that aside. doctor mahathir mohamad was a brilliant campaigner. anwar ibrahim, of course, has to fightan anwar ibrahim, of course, has to fight an election. he has been pardoned so is free to get into politics. doctor mahathir mohamad has said that within two years he will step aside and allow anwar ibrahim to become prime minister. but there is a lot of work to do not just in carrying out the transition, but also in managing this quite difficult relationship between these two very strong—willed man. jonathan, thank you very much indeed for now. 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 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. that was the update from nicholas witchell yesterday evening, of course. so we are just going to let you know that our special coverage of the wedding begins this time tomorrow. i will be as windsor castle, bringing you the briefing from there. so dojoin us here at the bbc as we continue to cover this huge event. of course the wedding is on saturday. 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. but there were sharp disagreements. the palestinian envoy condemned what he called the "odious massacre" by israel, but the israeli envoy said the events on the border were not just protests, but violent riots.

hamas is pushing people with a view ofa hamas is pushing people with a view of a massive intrusion into israel. they are paying these people. so it is not the peaceful demonstration that you think about. you say they are paying them to try to cross the border? hamas is paying these people. they are pushing civilians, women, children, into the line of fire, with a view of getting casualties. they are trained to incur casualties while we try to minimise them, in order to put pressure on israel, which is horrible. benjamin netanyahu, there.

that is trending at the moment. we'll be looking at what the papers are saying about that in the news briefing. the european union and iran are stepping up efforts to protect their trade links. they've said their looking at practical solutions to get around us economic sanctions. they were reimposed last week when president trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. european leaders are expected to discuss prosposals to protect their companies at an informal dinner in bulgaria later on wednesday. liam booth—smith is chief executive of localis, which is an independent think tank based here in london. good to see you. good morning. yesterday, there were meetings, actually, between eu officials and the iran foreign minister. they are very much at pains try to retain ties as much as possible, aren't they? they are. the three eu nations, germany, france, and the

uk, try to keep the deal alive through practical solutions. they are not blind to the wider challenges posed by iran in the region, but they all feel the deal isa region, but they all feel the deal is a stable platform to address those. but there is a window can be here. six months during which the us will face in sanctions, and john bolton has said that businesses trading in the region may suffer sanctions if they do that. and the way that this deal was initially intertwined, will with the us removing itself from the deal, if there are sanctions applied by the us, it makes it difficult for companies to operate into business just because of the us's noninvolvement, as it were. the eu will struggle to give the guarantees that it would like to see without some sort of tacit or soft us

involvement. the bigger question here is is this the first serious stress test of the diminishing role of the us as the world's economic leader. liam will be back with us later. will both discuss the new scientific evidence to suggest there are bizarre mood swings if you do notice like i do. that would explain a lot. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme — a symbol of hope for sarajevo: how the return of the cable car has lifted the city's spirits. 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 your briefing. the headlines: north korea has told the us to reconsider its military exercises with south korea, warning that next month's trump—kim summit is at risk. the jailed malaysian opposition leader anwar ibrahim has been freed,

and looks set to join the country's new government. the united states envoy tasked with trying to end the war in ukraine says more sanctions against russia are likely. speaking to the bbc, kurt volker painted a gloomy picture of the state of negotiations, saying he'd yet to seen any indication that russia was willing to step back from its support of separatist rebels. there's now been war in eastern ukraine for more than four years, with more than 10,000 people having died. from eastern ukraine, here's our correspondentjonah fisher. yukonian‘s war has moved into to adhere to the world has hardly noticed. with crisis elsewhere diverting attention, it has been largely left to this man, kurt volker, to try and break the deadlock. an unpaid envoy for the

united states government, he invited us united states government, he invited us to travel with him and eastern ukraine. so we have come to a town in ukrainian government controlled territory. it is likely the frontline and indeed the observer mission who are based here, well, they had to pull back. they no longer stay here because it is just too dangerous. some six, seven kilometres this way, the contact line. today is unusually quiet but scores of ceasefire violations take place most nights. most of it is documented by the international monitors. do you feel like the world has forgotten this conflict and does that worry you? well, i think it would be unfair to say that it has been forgotten, there is still attention to it but the fact that there are regularly civilian casualties on a daily basis and ceasefire violations on a daily basis for four years ceasefire violations on a daily basis forfour years in ceasefire violations on a daily basis for four years in a report those daily, it has become the normal and it is the normal that should not be accepted. some of the

civilians already affected who live near the front lines. for ukrainian soldiers, they are delighted that the try administration is finally giving them the lethal weapons they have long wanted to fight russian backed rebels. does selling weapons toa backed rebels. does selling weapons to a country really advance the cause of peace? absolutely, because if they are able to hold the line, thatis if they are able to hold the line, that is just an invitation to further advancements. —— if they are not able to. what this tells the russian government very clearly as you are not going to get any further without the cost to use. america is hoping that russia still might agree toa un hoping that russia still might agree to a un peacekeeping mission as a weight of ending the war. there is no way the ukrainians can take the territory back that has already been taken by the russians, russia is just too powerful. but the cost of

russia of advancement has already increased and will continue to increase, and if that is the case, then you have to ask yourself if you are sitting in moscow, what are we getting out of this, russian soldiers are being killed in ukraine for what? a good question but for now, there is no indication that russia does want out or even to talk. relations with moscow at a historic low and it has been three months since mr kurt volker even spoke to his russian counterpart. when war came to sarajevo in the 1990s, the bosnian capital's cable car didn't survive on the frontline. for almost three decades, pledges to rebuild it have gone unfulfilled. so its reopening in time for the summer tourist season has been a joyful moment for many in the city, who see the cable car as a symbol of hope. our balkans correspondent guy de launey went for a ride. 26 years is a long time to wait for

a ride, that is how long it has been since sarajevo's cable car was destroyed during the four year siege of the city. there have been decades of the city. there have been decades of broken promises since the cable car low doormat last ran up the mountain in 1992. that is parfor the course here in bosnia. ethnically divided politics means very little works as it should, so the reconstruction and reopening of the reconstruction and reopening of the cable car feels like little short of a miracle. for many residents of sarajevo, this is a symbolic journey, not residents of sarajevo, this is a symbolicjourney, notjust residents of sarajevo, this is a symbolic journey, not just a residents of sarajevo, this is a symbolicjourney, notjust a trip to a happier past but a link between contemporary communities. translation: the symbolism itself for all citizens of sarajevo is very strong. this project is a moving the

invisible border between citizens of sarajevo and also between two ethnic entities. in fact, the cable car i’u ns a cross entities. in fact, the cable car runs across bosnia's very real ethnic countries. parts of the month and are in the majority ethnic serbian entity, the rest the largely serbo—croat bosnian population. this business and says it is time to put those divisions aside. the barriers of past are being overcome. people are not being divided based on the ethnicity. joy and security have no borders. this hotel on the tourist train route is owned and run by bosnia was lin family. they say the cable car is renewing cooperation between businesses. no one asks

where you come from, our hotel is in the federation had more than half oui’ the federation had more than half our employees at serbs. we are not dividing. -- bosniak. sarajevo's cable car is more than a joy ride. it shows that things can get done, perhaps inspiring others to other heights. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello there, i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your wednesday sport briefing... the europa league final between atletico madrid and marseille will be played out in the coming hours. rafael nadal begins his italian open bid. and how to react when selected for the world cup in russia. anticipation is building in lyon, ahead of the europa league final later on wednesday. atletico madrid take on marseille, with atletico looking to continue spain's dominance in the competition. their clubs have won it seven times in the last 12 years.

but on french soil, marseille are confident of their chances. they won the first champions league in 1993, but have not seen european success since. should they win later on wednesday though, not only would they be the first team from france to do so, it would guarantee them a spot in the champions league next season. but atletico, who have been beaten finalists in two of the last four champions league finals, are up for the challenge. a lot of emotions will be involved. we have dreamed of this opportunity but we also face of the great deal of humility. we need to realise that facing us we have an extraordinary rival, they are great going forward. they also dreamy eyed. they have had an excellent season in the french league. i think it will be a beautiful football match, a beautiful football match, a beautiful final. that they have more experience than us but may our salvation will come from the fact thatis salvation will come from the fact that is a i—shot match, it isjust one game. anything feels like it is

possible when it is only one game. the europa league may not be europe's premier football competition but for marseille, victory in lyon would be a route back into the big—time the champions league. —— rafael nadal will take to the court at the rome masters later on wednesday. the world number two takes on bosnia and herzogovina's damir dzumhur in the second round. should nadal win the tournament, he will return to the top of the rankings, but he's mindful of austria's dominic thiem — the man who beat him in the quarter—finals of the madrid masters last week. of course, he is one of the players who is most dangerous for everybody and all the matches that he is playing on this surface, but let's see. iam playing on this surface, but let's see. i am just worried about that, and what happened to all those players, i cannot control. in case you missed it, ireland's cricketers lost to pakistan in their first ever test match — but they did give them a bit of a scare in dublin. the irish set them 160 to win and took early wickets, as the tourists reached their target

with just five wickets to spare. matej mohoric took victory on tuesday's tenth stage of the giro d'talia, with simon yates extending his overall lead. this was the longest ride of the grand tour — 244 kilometres, and britain's yates took a time bonus in the intermediate sprint to extend his overall lead to 41 seconds over last year's winner, tom dumoulin, who's now moved up to second place. slovenian mohoric was part of a breakaway that held off the peleton, sprinting clear of nico denz for the win. now, watch out for players reacting to the news of whether they've made their country's world cup squad. the final 23 man party for russia has to be finalised onjune the fourth, ten days before it kicks off. but england name theirs later on wednesday. and this was brazilian defender fagner hearing the official announcement of his inclusion in their squad, with all of his family celebrating around him. cheering the full—back‘s call up coming as dani alves misses out with injury. good luck to him.

you can get all the latest sports news at our website. that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, tulsen tollett, that is your sport briefing. our thanks for that. the business briefing is coming up. of course with me. stay with us for that. including this, it latest report that found that people who have distracted nice's sleep end up with issues such as depression, bipolar, other issues. we asked you for your views on this to get a sense of your sleep woes, as it were. we've heard so sleep woes, as it were. we've heard so many of you. one says exercise, diet, people

out the fact that young people today, in their 20s and 30s, are willing to work night shifts for better prospects in their work experience, but he says that is not a good idea for the long—term. i will see you soon to the business briefing. —— for. hello there, good morning. still very little rain in the forecast for the end of this week. it will feel noticeably cooler despite the fact that still most places will be dryander will be some sunshine. the proper cool air is coming in behind this weatherfront, behind we are picking up some stronger winds and on the fund itself we have a band of ridges still producing a little bit of rain but it is not a great deal there, drifting down to wales, the midlands, towards the southern estuary. south—east still drier

times. much more sunshine for the south—east and for northern wales. temperatures across the board will be lower than they were on tuesday and the eastern scotland, a drop of maybe 10 degrees or so. without chilly air in place, once we have clearer skies overnight, it will get pretty cold. the crowd eventually breaking up across the southern part of the uk, chilly start on thursday and further north in scotland and northern ireland, we could kick off with one or two degrees. again, thursday will be a dry day. the wind is probably not quite as strong as the eastern side of the uk and across southern england as well. some areas of cloud in southern england, scotland and northern ireland, but a fine day. we still have those temperatures a little bit disappointing, 12 to seven degrees. there is high pressure in charge as we head towards the end of the week. there are weather front is trying to approach the north—east, timing uncertain that they are not making

great inroads at all. we have a bit more cloud across the western islands of scotland, perhaps a bit more drizzle but otherwise a dry day, so decent spells of sunshine. we will probably see cloud increasing a bit in the south of england. could get 18 or so in the central belt of scotland. starting to get a bit warmer for the weekend. the jet stream is steering areas of low pressure and the rain belts just to the north—west of the uk. again, we could see some damper weather coming into the west of ireland. it thatis coming into the west of ireland. it that is the exception, again it is going to be day. the showers over the continent staying away. it should be dry for the royal wedding. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. trading with tehran: the eu and iran step up their efforts to protect their business links from us sanctions. and as the world's two biggest economies continue their trade talks, we'll have a special report on how chinese tech is keeping

americans online. and on the markets in asia shares are declining — japan has announced its economy shrank for the first time in two years.