welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is reged ahmad. our top stories: north korea warns the us that imposing new sanctions could halt any de—nuclearisation for good. police injapan investigate after a blast at a restaurant leaves at least a0 people injured. the manhunt ends for a brazilian faith healer accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of women, after he turns himself in. vladimir putin goes head to head with russian rappers. we'll find out what's the beef. north korea has turned its anger on the us state department, denouncing new sanctions and warning of a possible permanent block on any de—nuclearisation plans. the us imposed the sanctions on three north korean officials last week for alleged human rights abuses.

relations between the two countries seemed to improve after an historic summit between leaders donald trump and kim jong—un. but since then ongoing talks have stalled. our correspondent dan johnson says the stalemate is getting serious. the us state department says these sanctions are justified because of human rights abuses. they've talked about censorship of the free press, of radio signals being blocked by the government, and of people who are caught watching foreign films being imprisoned or even executed. that's why they have identified these three officials, one of them an assistant to kim jong—un. and the north koreans have reacted very angrily. saying this is a great miscalculation by the americans and that it will block the path to denuclearisation forever. they've play off the state department versus the us president. they've credited donald trump for reaching out and trying to improve relations, but said the state department seems to be trying to turn back the clock to a time when there was an "exchange of fire", referring to the regular missile tests that were happening untill about a year ago.

there was supposed to be a meeting between the secretary of state and a senior north korean diplomat last month. that has been delayed. the north koreans have been angered by the us military restarting exercises with the south korean military. and there are questions about how this now proceeds into the new year, whether there will be further progress. things seemed to have slowed down since donald trump met kim jong—un in singapore, six months ago. but the president is referring to the north korean negotiations on twitter, just a few days ago, said, there was no hurry and that things were going fine. david maxwell is a senior fellow with the foundation for defense of democracies research organisation, in washington. thank you for your time. is a very

specific attack on the us state department. what does that say about relations between the us and north korea? i think this is a normal reaction by north korea, whatever they are sanctioned, in particular human rights. focus on human rights is really a direct threat to kim jong—un, to his legitimacy. so these are very serious sanctions because they are very serious crimes, crimes about humanity that united nations enquiry into the 14 found in north korea. these are very serious sanctions and very serious allegations. it is a reminder that north korea still has these issues with human rights, but does it also show us that the us government is working at two very different levels here. kim jong-un has said that he now wa nts here. kim jong-un has said that he now wants to shift to pursue economic development. it is really

important to keep in mind that actually, human rights are a very important part of economic development because of unease, the international community thomas cannot invest in north korea if north korea continues to conduct these kinds of human rights violations. so, for it to have opening and economic development, it is going to have to change and stop its human rights abuses. does it also tell us that we are not really go to see progress with relations between north korea and the us if donald trump and kim jong—un operate ona donald trump and kim jong—un operate on a warm level, but the senate and government on a different level is not wanting to move forward because of the issues you mention?” not wanting to move forward because of the issues you mention? i think our government does want to move forward , our government does want to move forward, i think the senate and i think the state department, everybody wants to move forward. problem is, kim jong—un everybody wants to move forward. problem is, kimjong—un has not allowed his negotiators to come to the table and conduct professional

negotiations. we should keep in mind that the united states is linked to help north korea seek a brighter future if kim jong—un help north korea seek a brighter future if kimjong—un is help north korea seek a brighter future if kim jong—un is willing to make the right strategic choice. says he wanted to be nuclear is but the devil is in the details and the professional negotiators need to get down to work and develop the framework, the process, the timeline, to achieve those objectives. we did see some sort of improvement in relations after the trump kim summit, surely —— surely we have not seen any more nuclear missiles. you think we need another summit to improve things?” missiles. you think we need another summit to improve things? i think we certainly seem to be on that path, we have heard from mike pompeo, national security adviserjohn bolton and the president himself, the willingness to have another summit. my hope would be that before a summit occurs, that global talks begin and start to lay the ground work for a final agreement. if not,

then i am hoping that president trump will look kim jong—un in the eye and say we want to give you this brighterfuture, eye and say we want to give you this brighter future, yet to eye and say we want to give you this brighterfuture, yet to make eye and say we want to give you this brighter future, yet to make the right strategic choice but you have to negotiate and you have to bring your professional negotiators to meet with hours to work out the details. we will have to see if that certainly happens. david maxwell with the foundation for democracy ‘s defence organisation, thank you very much. thank you. in sapporo, in northern japan, a huge explosion and fire has left more than a0 people injured. the blast happened at a restaurant and it damaged surrounding buildings and scattered debris over the area. police have launched an investigation to try to find out what happened. gemma coombe reports. bright orange flames and thick black smoke. the immediate aftermath of a huge explosion at a busyjapanese restaurant. it happened at 8:30pm

on sunday, in sapporo, the capital city of the northern main island of hokkaido. the area has residential buildings, bars and restaurants, and is about three kilometres south—east of the city centre. japanese news outlet, kyodo, says the force of the blast was so strong, a number of nearby buildings collapsed. translation: the shock was just like an earthquake. as firefighters battled the flames, they warned of further explosions. but still, dozens of people gathered on the street, which was strewn with debris and shattered glass. what caused the blast isn't yet known, but witnesses have reported smelling gas near the scene. translation: a lot of smoke came out and it started to smell strongly. police say 42 people were hurt but no one was killed. an investigation is underway. gemma coombe, bbc news. police and right—wing anti—migrant protesters have clashed in brussels. police fired tear gas and detained nearly a hundred of the more than five—thousand people

who attended the demonstration, which was sparked by a united nations migration pact that was signed in morocco last week. the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration is a legally non—binding agreement designed to frame an effective international approach to migration. it asserts the "fundamental" importance of legal migration and "reaffirms the soverign rights of states to determine their national migration policy". the document was signed by 164 countries, after being ratified in july. however, a handful of countries including america, austria and italy have refused to formally adopt the agreement. those who have marched against the agreement in brussels fear it could lead to an increase in immigration. rahuljoglekar reports. a tale of one city, but two very different views on migration. on the one hand, thousands turned up as part of right—wing protests against a un migration pact. more than 160 countries signed

the agreement to frame an effective international approach to migration. the fear among right wing groups is that the pact will result in high levels of immigration into europe. translation: we want to raise our voice against the marrakesh pact. we think the decision was not made in a democratic way, with a minority in government and a minority of the belgian people. that is what we are protesting against. chanting in another part of town, a smaller counterdemonstration. they are calling the right—wing groups fascists. translation: we want to raise the alarm bell to show the organisers of the other demo are fascists. they advertise hate and discrimination and they are violent. we want to warn people and send a different message. right—wing groups called

for protests after the pact was signed last week, something the united nations believes is a step in the right direction. it will reduce the chaos of irregular, dangerous migration. it will increase access through safe, legal pathways, for instance to the labour markets who have deficits in human resources and will need foreign workers. the issue of managing migration in europe is complex and one with far—reaching political implications. not least, here in belgium, where prime minister charles michel's government lost its majority because of the pact. opposition parties are now calling for a no—confidence vote. as the haze from the tear gas settles on a deeply divided country, many are looking for answers about an issue that divides opinion far beyond belgium's borders. rahuljoglekar, bbc news. a fifth victim has died following tuesday's shooting

at a christmas market in the french city of strasbourg. earlier a memorial took place to remember the victims. the gunman, cherif chekatt, was killed by police on thursday night. caroline rigby has more. a minute of noise, rather than silence. 700 locals and tourists gathered in strasbourg for a memorial to honour those who lost their lives. translation: i think we needed to get together to reflect because has been a very painful week. i think something was broken because here in strasbourg had a small and very cosmopolitan community. translation: we had to be there to pay tribute to the victims and to be in solidarity with all the people of strasbourg. butjust hours after sunday's memorial, confirmation that a fifth victim had died. a 36—year—old polish national, he had spent days in a coma, but had been unable to recoverfrom his injuries. several other people remain in a critical condition in hospital.

as visitors returned to strasbourg's christmas market this weekend, police continue to investigate how tuesday's attack was able to happen and whether the suspect acted alone. cherif chekatt was shot dead by police, following a two—day manhunt. french authorities have dismissed a claim by the militant group islamic state that he had been acting under their orders, are calling the statement completely opportunistic. caroline rigby, bbc news. a brazilian faith healer accused of sexual abuse by more than 300 women has handed himself in to the police. joao teixeira de faria had been declared a fugitive when police failed to find him to serve an arrest warrant. he has denied the accusations, as gail maclellan reports. the women accuse the faith healer of sexually abusing

them during healing sessions. joao teixeira de faria, known asjoao, orjohn of god, has thousands of followers, many of them celebrities. oprah winfrey famously praised his healing powers but has now issued a statement, calling for justice. he was consulted by politicians and his fame boosted by supposedly miraculous surgeries he claims to have performed with his hands and without anaesthetic. translation: since i was eight years old, god gave me this energy. i believe in god and the power to heal comes from him. the abuse was said to have taken place at mr teixerira's spiritual

clinic in abadiania, in the brazilian state of goias. he had been declared a fugitive, but turned himself in to the police on the roadside near the town. many of his followers refuse to accept the accusations and the scandal has shocked the town, whose economy has become dependent on the tourists brought in by the healing centre, which opened in 1976. john of god claims he is innocent and says he has now placed himself in the hands of earthlyjustice. gail maclellan, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: she's one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and fought for gender equality. billiejean king gets a lifetime achievement award from the bbc. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes,

but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict, conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: north korea warns the us state department that new sanctions could derail de—nuclearisation, permanently. around 15,000 people have marched

through the hungarian capital, budapest, to protest against two controversial laws, pushed through parliament by the government on wednesday. the demonstration was the largest so far, of almost daily protest actions against viktor orban's national—populist government. nick thorpe sent this report from budapest. this is their headquarters of their public servers television in the southern suburbs of budapest. they have marched from the centre of the depressed to protest against what they say is that the fake news factory which they accuse of this television of being, effectively amount piece of viktor orban government. they marched a rally in front of parliament. there have been

protests for four out of the five days since the hungarian parliament passed to controversial laws. one of the times, increasing the number of hours employers can ask employees to work. and another which puts more power under the control of government. with no end in sight, several thousand people here. a varied crowd of students, workers from a whole span of the hungarian political spectrum but no chance to get through this very thick line of hungarian riot police. the legendary tennis player billiejean king has been honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the bbc‘s sports personality of the year show. the 75—year—old american, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, won 39 grand slam titles in singles and doubles competitions. king is an advocate for gender

equality and in 1973 won the battle of the sexes match against bobby riggs. earlier i spoke to sports writer ben rothenberg who also co—hosts a podcast on tennis. i asked him what made her such an outstanding athelete. i think what made her a formidable player is what has made her a formidable person off the court as well. she was a fearless player. she was willingt to come to net ata time when a lot of women she was willingt to come to net at a time when a lot of women were playing more passive tennis, from the baseline. billiejean was an aggressive, assertive player who played very fun, very dynamic tennis and that took her quite a long way in her career in both singles and doubles. she was also a real trailbrazer when it came to equality both for women, for the lgbt community, it is that her enduring legacy that we still see in tennis today? absolutely. i think billiejean is the reason why women's tennis has become the incredible sport and platform for women that it is today. she got it off the ground at the beginning of the professional era, she led the players to fight for themselves, to stand up for themselves

and her work on promoting equality in tennis has made tennis an amazing example for other sports for how close and how together men and women can be in sport as they are in the rest of the world. that is the philosophy very much at the core of billiejean worked for. of what billiejean worked for. that famous match, the battle of the sexes match, with bobby riggs, at the time that was quite extraordinary? absolutely. it was watched by i believe over 100 million people at the time. it was a huge spectacle. it was irresistible for the press, this idea of women's feminist playing against a male chauvinist, as bobby riggs called himself. the match was an active pro on women's side against a long retired player on the men's side, which seemed like kind of a joke on paper but it carried tremendous symbolic importance for the women's sports and the women's movement in general. a lot of women really felt empowered and emboldened by billiejean‘s victory, in standing up to the mail establishment in a clear victory on court. on a personal side for her, as she fought for equality, was there a personal cost at all?

it can't have been easy. absolutely, especially when you talk about the time she spent off court fighting for equality in various boardrooms and various negotiations, it took a lot of time away from her tennis focus and she probably did not win as many grand slam titles as she would have as she been solely focused on being just a tennis player as some of her rivals were able to do, not having those off court distractions. and then when it came, later on to her lgbt visibility, she faced a lot of consequences from that early on. a lot of negative publicity, when she was outed in the early 80s, back when there was nowhere near the typr of acceptance there is now for the lgbt community. she was demonized and faced a lot of trouble from sponsors and the general public, in terms of keeping her down. it was only years later treally hat that part of her life began it was only years later that really that part of her life began

to be widely celebrated. vladimir putin has called for his government to take charge of rap music, after a series of concerts were cancelled across russia. the president admits it would be impossible to ban the music outright so the state should play a greater role in controlling it. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. this is husky, one of russia's most popular rappers. in his songs he has mocked and criticised the authorities. he recently spent time in jail after staging an impromptu performance when one of his concerts were cancelled. unlikely to be a fan, vladimir putin, who it seems has a beef with the entire rap industry. speaking at a meeting of his council for culture and art, he said... but he admitted... of course, the russian state has

a contentious relationship with popular music. the protest group, pussy riot, among those who have fallen foul of the authorities. this is probably the sort of think you have in mind when you think of russian music, a military band, accompanying a martial parade. it is not clear how the russian government might take control of rap music... (police choir sings daft punk's get lucky cover). ..but if this police choir is anything to go by, the possibilities are endless. tim allman, bbc news. hunting for honey in the wild is one of the oldest traditions in rural nepal and it's also an extremely dangerous one. the hunters have to make a difficult and trickyjourney to the beehives

which hang from the rocks high in the mountains. a bbc team travelled to the remote lamjung district of nepal to find out why so many villagers are willing to risk their lives to collect the honey. brave honey hunters of nepal. stay with us. hello there. we are seeing a significant change in weather type as we are heading towards christmas. the weather this week looks very different to last week. the weather didn't move an awful lot last week, big blocking area of high pressure and we are drawing in cold air from continental europe. but earlier in the weekend, storm deirdre blew away that really cold air and since then we have seen our weather coming in from the atlantic. that cloud will bring some rain, that cloud has already brought some rain. that is moving away and with clearing skies and light winds it's going to be cold enough come the morning for a touch of frost and perhaps icy patches as well. but a lovely looking day for many central and eastern parts of the uk. it should be dry on monday. there'll be a fair but of sunshine around, the winds will be lighter but further west the winds

are going to be strengthening, the cloud increasing and we see some outbreaks of rain and drizzle arising, especially in the afternoon. later in the day, winds could be touching gale force across some western coasts. but it's a southerly wind, so it's a mild wind. 12 degrees in northern ireland and a milder day across the board than it was on sunday. eventually that area of low pressure is going to bring us some showers, but at the moment it is playing second fiddle to that weather front there which is bringing wet and windy weather in from the west overnight and continuing on tuesday. gales for a while, the rain moving very slowly eastwards, some outbreaks of heavy rain and with snowmelt in scotland there is likely to be some localised flooding. the weather should improve later in northern ireland and it takes all day for the rain to arrive in east anglia. it will be another mild one, as temperatures up to 11 or 12 celsius. eventually that rain should push its way eastwards out of the way on tuesday night into wednesday morning and then that area of low pressure starts to get a bit closer and that is going to be a focus for some showers. there'll still be some spells of sunshine on wednesday, a lot of places in the east will be dry, although the south—east corner catching a few showers here. most of the showers or even longer

spells of rain coming into northern ireland across western scotland over the irish sea into western parts of england and wales. temperature won't be as high on wednesday, 7—10 degrees, still not bad though. that area of low pressure is going to sit around during wednesday and into thursday as well. it is a filling area of low pressure, that means pressure is rising across it, so it is weakening, the wind becoming lighter, the showers fewer and there will still be some spells of sunshine. there are shower around out the west and through the english channel as well and the temperatures on thursday much like those on wednesday. it could turn quite chilly overnight on thursday night, some mist and fog around as well. then we look again to the atlantic to see another change, milder air bringing cloud and some rain up from the south—west. this is bbc news. the headlines: north korea has condemned the us state department for imposing new sanctions on its officials, warning of a possible permanent block on any denuclearisation. sanctions were imposed on three

north korean officials on monday, after reports of press censorship and people being imprisoned for watching foreign films. an explosion at a restaurant in the northern japanese city of sapporo has injured more than a0 people, at least one seriously. it's not known what caused the blast, but people living nearby reported a strong smell of gas in the area before it happened. a brazilian faith healer accused of sexual abuse by more than 300 women has handed himself in to the police. joao teixeira de faria, known as "john of god", went on the run on friday, after an arrest warrant was issued. he denies the accusations. those are the headlines. it's 3:30am. now on bbc news, dateline london.