this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: north korea claims president trump agreed to lift sanctions at tuesday's summit with kimjong—un, and both leaders could be seeing more of each other in the future. another difficult day for the british government. after avoiding one damaging defeat over brexit, it faces a fresh round of challenges. and welcome to the republic of north macedonia. a new name brings an end to decades of deadlock with greece. an $85 billion media marriage gets the green light. the tie—up between at&t and time warner will shake up the industry for years to come. in business briefing, we will have the latest from new york on the massive media deal that trump didn't want, but a judge has ruled it won't harm competition. a warm welcome to the programme,

briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. tell us what you think about the stories we are covering, and what do you make of the summit of the century? use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. just over 2a hours after that historic trump—kim summit, north korea's state—run media is claiming that president trump agreed to lift sanctions during the meeting in singapore. it comes as the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, arrives on the korean peninsula for a round of meetings with leaders to explain the agreement reached yesterday. meanwhile, donald trump has been talking to us media about why he wants to suspend joint military exercises with south korea.

i think, at the right time, he'll absolutely be coming to the white house, yes. look, we've been very... it's been a very intense relationship. it's been short, and very intense, and before that it was very intense, and before that it was very rhetorical. you know, it was not a pretty thing. people were pretty worried. but without that i don't think we would have been here today. one of the things that i'm very happy about, were not going to play the war games any more. which, do you know how expensive that is, we are flying these massive bombers from guam, i said how far is that, 6.5 hours. that is a long way for a big bomb, times 20, and lots of other big planes coming in. so are not going to be doing the war games

as long as we are negotiating in good faith. let's get the very latest on this. joining me now is our correspondent in seoul, robin brant. interesting to hear him talking about the meeting, etc, and what he was saying is we are not going to be doing any more war games. that's quite a worry to some in south korea, isn't it? it is, and i think it is important to understand the context in which that decision has been made, and why it is so significant. every year there are these military exercises between the us and south korea. the us has 28,000 military personnel here, and many people here see it as a show of strength to the north, but also it reminds people hear of their resilient alliance they have. and the idea of ending that, they find hugely unsettling. the north hates it, doesn't like it at all. they find that incendiary and provocative, and in fact that was a word used yesterday by president trump to describe these exercises.

he believes they are very provocative as well, that is before they got onto the cost. think it is clear that the military command here and south korea's political leadership did not know this was coming, but it is a key game for north korea. it hates these military exercises, it reminds them of the threat of an invasion, and according to president trump they are not going to continue for the time being —— gain. we are getting pushed back from others in the region, japan and the last few hours, japan's defence minister has reminded, i think it is safe to say, the us and others listening that they believe these joint of the tree exercises are a key pa rt joint of the tree exercises are a key part of maintaining security in east asia. so they are worried by it as well. also, as well, mixed m essa 9 es as well. also, as well, mixed messages with regard to the lifting of sanctions on north korea, the north korean state news agency at pains to state that was very much at the forefront of discussions. and yet the us has a very different message on that. yes, i think what we are seeing is evidence of how

ambiguous this agreement reached yesterday was. it is 1.5 pages long, lacking in detail. perhaps that is the secret to its success, but this morning, ina the secret to its success, but this morning, in a work is‘ daily newspaper in north korea, the mouthpiece of the ruling communist party, the president claimed sanctions will be lifted once the mutually beneficial relationship advances. but nonetheless they clearly think they have the ability to claim the president said sanctions will be lifted against north korea. in the past, president trump has said that these sanctions will remain in place until nuclear weapons are no longer a factor. others have gone much further, saying there needs to be complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation before any of the sanctions can be lifted. so all of that shows you how ambiguous much of this agreement was. for now, thank you very much indeed. we will have a lot more on that summit, of course

we will be looking at how the media is digesting the historic meeting today, looking at the american coverage as well as coverage elsewhere in the world later in our news briefing. the british government has averted a damaging defeat for its brexit strategy, with mps rejecting an amendment that the unelected upper chamber had made to its eu withdrawal bill. the amendment would have given parliament wide powers over brexit. with me isjohn portes, professor of economics at king's college london, and senior fellow at uk in a changing europe. good morning, nice to see you again. so it would seem the prime minister is escaping defeat. some headlines are saying she has won the day, but another day ahead of challenging circumstances. well, some headlines saying she has one, other headlines saying she has one, other headlines saying she has lost, and other headlines, probably correctly, are

saying it is all a bit of a farce, because the two opposing wings of her party that she is trying to balance, the hard brexiteers who wa nt to balance, the hard brexiteers who want to maintain a hard line and those who want to soften her approach to brexit are both claiming victory, and they both can't be right. so although she has averted a damaging split on this particular vote, that damaging split within the conservative party, within the cabinet, and indeed within the government, is still very much there. so what has she actually managed to overcome in the last 44 hours? the eu withdrawal bill. for those watching us in the uk and around the world, what does that mean for brexit? the lords tried to put in an in saying that when the withdrawal agreement, whatever agreement is made with the eu... and we still don't know what that is. we still don't know what that is, and thatis still don't know what that is, and that is the big question, what does that is the big question, what does that agreement look like, if there is one. that the parliament would

have not only a binding vote on any agreement that would have the right to tell ministers if they didn't like it, go back to brussels and see if you can get a better one, change it. the government would much prefer it. the government would much prefer it to just be a yes or no, to put the parliament on the spot. that amendment was rejected, at the parliament has agreed to look again when the bill goes back to the lords at changing, at putting forward its own amendment to give parliament a voice. and that is the controversy at the moment because the rebels are saying we have a promise which will actually get at least some, if not most of what we wanted, whereas some in the government are briefing the press saying it is purely cosmetic. i think my mind, actually, what the bill says doesn't matter in the end, doesn't matter nearly as much as the fa ct doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that it is absolutely clear that there is no majority in parliament for the government's approach to brexit. neither is there approach to brexit. neither is there a majority for anybody else's approach to brexit, so we have a set

of minorities trying to impose their will, and we don't know how that will, and we don't know how that will pan out. so a complete lack of clarity, as ever, which has been the theme throughout brexit so far. thank you for coming in. as we have mentioned, another day ahead of discussions in the uk houses of parliament. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: france and italy have exchanged sharp words over hundreds of migrants on a ship in the mediterranean. the french president accused the italian government of cynicism and irresponsibility for refusing to let them land in italy. around 600 people are on board, including pregnant women and children. a service has marked the two—year anniversary of the pulse nightclub shooting in florida. omar mateen killed 49 people at the popular gay nightclub in 2016. at the time it was the deadliest mass shooting in the us, but has since been surpassed by last october's las vegas shooting. aid agencies are warning

of a potential humanitarian catastrophe in bangladesh. several rohingya refugees have been killed with the arrival of the monsoon rains. as many as 200,000 refugees could be at immediate risk from flooding and landslides. georgina smyth reports. monsoon season in bangladesh. it is wet, muddy and dangerous, especially for those living in cramped, makeshift shelters on the side of steep dirt hills. translation: due to the rain, houses are getting destroyed and the roads are becoming muddy. wind has taken the roof of our houses, and now we need more bamboo and tarpaulin to rebuild our houses. days of heavy rainfall have

already caused severe structural damage to the congested camps in coxes bazaar, which host close to1 million rohingya refugees from myanmar. fleeing in scores from violence in rakine state to neighbouring bangladesh from august last year, the already vulnerable ethnic fanara deface another threat, this time from mother nature. living in structures made from bamboo and tarpaulin, over 40,000 camp residents are considered to be at high risk of deadly flooding and landslides. given the scope of the refugee population, the sheer size of the settlements, and the challenging terrain, we fear that the extreme weather will cause further damage, destruction, and potentially loss of life. un agencies and their partners have been warning of the danger posed by the monsoon season, which also includes the spread of waterborne diseases. an agreement signed last

week between the myanmar government and un agencies is expected to pave the way before the rohingya to return home once their safety and rights are guaranteed. but any delays to the already long process of repatriations will continue to put thousands in harms way, and the monsoon season typically lasts until around october. —— in harm's way. the saudi—led coalition has launched its threatened assault, codenamed golden victory, on yemen's port city of al—hodeida, which is held by the iran—backed houthi rebels. media reports say rebel positions are being bombarded from the air and sea. in a statement, the internationally—recognised yemeni government said that all political and diplomatic means to persuade the rebels to withdraw from hudaydah, also known as al hudaydah, had been exhausted. the port is the main entry point

for humanitarian aid on which over 7 million yemenis depend. earlier, the united arab emirates said it had given the houthi rebels a final deadline to withdraw or face imminent attack. we are hearing the saudi led coalition has actually launched that threatened assault. now, what's in a name? well, arguably quite a lot, particularly if you are called macedonia. after a 27—year deadlock with greece, the former yugoslav republic will now be known as the republic of north macedonia. the change aims to distinguish the country from the greek province of the same name. caroline rigby reports. it is a dispute that has fuelled protest and divided opinion for decades. what to call this tiny country to the north of greece. but, after almost 30 years of talks, agreement.

the balkan state known as the former yugoslav republic of macedonia will now be called the republic of north macedonia. the two balkan countries have been at loggerheads ever since the breakup of yugoslavia in the early 1990s. greece insists the name macedonia belongs to its northern region, rather than its neighbour, shown here on the map. it feared the yugoslav republic could have territorial ambitions, and athens was further angered when it laid claim to ancient greek figures such as alexander the great, naming its airport and motorway after the warrior king, though they were both renamed earlier this year. translation: they've agreed to change their constitutional name for all purposes. in the agreement that we reached, our northern neighbours have nothing to do with the ancient greek civilisation of macedonia, and cannot claim any

connection to it in the future. the dispute became so bitter greece vetoed its neighbour's bid tojoin nato and the european union. but that could now change. translation: we truly believe that the european council will make the decision to begin membership talks with macedonia. we believe, at the nato summit injuly, macedonia will be invited to have full membership as the alliance's 30th member. the title does still need to be approved by both countries' parliaments, and in a referendum by the macedonian people. but it seems just five letters could help end years of name—calling. caroline rigby, bbc news. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: fashion, fresh air, and an indoorforest. a new direction for designer stella mccartney. the day the british liberated

the falklands, and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorbymania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who, for them, has raised great hopes for an end for the division of europe. michaeljackson was not guilty on all charges, the screams of the crowd testament to his popularity and their faith in his innocence. as long as they'll pay to go see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it's pretty neat. feels marvellous, really. you're watching the briefing.

our headlines: after avoiding one damaging defeat over brexit, the british government faces a fresh round of challenges. north korea claims president trump agreed to lift sanctions at tuesday's summit with kim jong—un — and both leaders have accepted invitations to visit each other‘s capitals. let's stay with that now. i'm joined by cornelia meyer, ceo of the business consultancy, the mrl corporation. iam i am interested to get your pay, what is described as the summit of the century. the japanese are very worried about some of the elements that have come out of it, one being about the stopping of the wargames,

as trump described it. yes, i send you a briefing on monday night where isaid you a briefing on monday night where i said the one thing trump must not do is say he is withdrawing troops and stopping joint military exercises because they are not wargames, they are then to give —— there to defend south korea in cases of aggression. if you have 28,000, you need to be able to practise in order to be ready at the drop of a hat. with all of these elements, the devil is in the detail. there is not an immediate withdrawal, they are still there. this is all about whether this will happen if north korea follows through on some of its promises about denuclearisation. but the promises are very vague. it doesn't go beyond the statement between vijay in —— the south korean president and the north korean

president which we had in april. so there is nothing about complete, verifiable, irreversible, as the whole —— as we all have expected. he is going down a dangerous avenue, promising something like stopping the military exercises before getting anything in return. having a look at bbc online, that is the angle many are taking today as we do just what was happening this time yesterday when these two were in their meeting, having their working lunch and obviously the eyes of the world were on the summit as it was taking place at four hours ago. —— 24 hours ago. the hard work that needs to begin, mike pompeo is on the korean peninsula, he is trying to pad out this very short agreement that was signed by the two leaders yesterday. what i found a bit disconcerting was there was clear

lack of co—ordination with both japan and korea. if you look at, and you saw the statement coming out of the blue house, the south korean administrations saying we don't know what he really means by stopping the wargames. they were caught at footed. the south korean president negotiated a lot of this in advance, it is credit to him that this happened. absolutely. he negotiated for the summer to happen. but he was clearly left out when he came to the negotiations between trump and kim. cornelia will be back surely, looking at the media reactions to this. we will have more later in the show. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc hello there. coming up in your

wednesday sport briefing coal and a decision on the 2026 world cup host will be made in the coming hours as this is common in russia enters the final stages of operation. roger federer returns. and which brazilian football player was covered in eggs on his birthday? there is still over to the four hours until russia gets under way, but the focus on wednesday will be where the tournament will be held in 2026, either in rocco or a combined bid between the us, canada and mexico, as the hosts of an expanded tournaments of the uefa president said he is not telling his associations how to cast their vote. it is always an important vote. the vote who holds the world cup is important for foot wall, fought element of foot wall, for avenues,

for the passion of football. so it is important. —— for the development of football. i can talk about uefa delegating, they will decide what they think is for them. the end of tennis on clay can only mean one thing. the start of the grasscourt season. and after three months away from the game, roger federer is back copy the 20 ton grand slam champion will play his first match on wednesday in the second round of the stuttgart open. he will take on mischa zverev. after a disastrous tour down under, england is that cricketers have the chance to regain some pride when they take on hoped that this month. eoin morgan's side face the aussies at the oval, in the first of 51—day internationals and the captain says they still have a lot to learn. we need to expose some of our weaknesses in order to be in

contention for the world cup this time next year. cannotjust keep cruising along and doing ok or getting over the line. we want to learn as we go along between now and next year and there is still a lot we need to learn. she stole the show at harry and meghan's wedding by not only designing the bride's highly praised evening dress, but also the paparazzi pleasing outfits for amal clooney and oprah winfrey. now, stella mccartney, is opening a major new store in london, which she claims to be an eco—friendly breath of fresh air. our arts editor will gompertz went to see the designer in her new shop. you walk into my store on bond street and you have looked at out, just completely clean and toxin free. so i am going to bring clean at two bond st and as you walk in and you get living plants and you get rocks from, partially from the

farm that i grew up in in scotland. time from my organic farm in worcestershire call which i grew myself. as you travel through the store there are pockets we are pushed into the sky and skylights, here at stella mccartney i start with design. i stopped trying to great something timeless and beautiful and desirable and made in an incredibly mindful manner, but also built to stand the test of time. so, you know, we are using the animal products. obviously we don't kill any animals which means we are not cutting down forests to graze them, not using chemicals to tend them. not taking water in... you must have some nights where you feel really awkward about the whole thing, ok this is a nonsense. i am making stuff people don't necessarily need. i absolutely do. i agree. iam not necessarily need. i absolutely do. i agree. i am not perfect, necessarily need. i absolutely do. i agree. iam not perfect, we necessarily need. i absolutely do. i agree. i am not perfect, we are not perfect here. but i am trying to make change in an industry and i am

a fashion designer. i didn't start out trying to beat and —— be a warrior, that just out trying to beat and —— be a warrior, thatjust came out. and the duchess of sussex, meghan markle, at what point did you get the call that you would be making her going away dress ? you would be making her going away dress? the thing is, i have made a lot of wedding dresses for a lot of high—profile people, none as her price dashed —— as high—profile this. i have always been very protective of that moment and to be addictive of that moment —— trusted with the moment it means a lot to me andi with the moment it means a lot to me and i am very protective of it. and for good reason, that was a major moment when the newly married meghan markle came out with that beautiful dress on in the evening. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments. wednesdays weather will start

quietly enough. but there are changes on the way as we head to the end of the days of it after sunny spells initially, things will turn wet and windy as we had on into the evening, particularly across northern areas of. the jet stream is breaking back, ringing westerly wind across the country and you can see on the satellite picture this areas of cloud. where you see the dips in the cloud structure, that is where we are developing areas of low pressure which will drift across the north—west of the uk later in the day. we are starting up under the influence of this ridge of high—pressure. actually, not a bad start at all. there will be some spells of sunshine around as we go through the day, cloud amount

increasing from the west. there could be the odd shower and through the late afternoon, some rain started pushing to northern ireland and the far west of scotland. the wind is starting to strengthen here as well. for any of that whether a rise it is pleasant, two bridges into the low 20 celsius. it stays fine across southern and eastern areas into wednesday, but towards the north—west you can see these dark loot colours on the chart. heady bursts of rain and strengthening wind as well courtesy of this. by a deep area of low pressure for the time of year. you can see the isobars squeezing together, that shows we will have strong wind, and tables are likely. you can see as we head to the first pa rt you can see as we head to the first part of thursday morning this wet weather is pushing eastwards with the strong wind for northern ireland, the far north of england and for scotland. wind gusts here up to 50, 60 one as per hour, perhaps stronger. that could well cause some trouble disruption as we had through thursday's morning rush—hour. do

bearing in mind there could be issues out there. your local radio station as ever will keep you up—to—date with any problems where you are. is a go through thursday, things will improve. the rain across the north tending to ease. the wind will ease as well and actually we will ease as well and actually we will be left with some fairly large amounts of sunshine. those two bridges down towards the south, 21, 20 two degrees but eight cool and fresh feel across northern areas. the end of the week and the weekend, not looking too bad. some showery rain at times, equally some spells of sunshine and those two bridges in places up into the 20s. —— temperatures are. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. a $85 billion media marriage gets the blessing — the tie—up between us pay tv giant at&t and entertainment behemoth time warner will sha keup the industry for years to come. and despite rising global trade tensions, the cost of borrowing in america is set to rise thanks to a buoyant us economy.

and this is the state of play on financial markets as they get ready for the conclusion of the federal reserve meeting in washington.