rupert: i do.he bill was able to go through the house of common totally's -- the house of unamended,ally usually gets a government a strong position. -- is an example of the bigger question is the government is largely unopposed domestically. the labour party, as we saw in the recent elections, was at its weakest in a long time. theresa may dominating the political scene. her biggest problems is what her european negotiating partners are willing to concede and how negotiations will go. she will not need domestic constraints. see expectations at this point? rupert: they have moved. initially after the referendum and her early period as prime minister, there was a lot gung ho noises. they are in a better place, where everyone knows the early dynamics of the negotiation are -- they are going to spend a long time talking about what to talk about before getting to anything of substance. and the speech she gave was an important adjustment to reality. been keeping things like this in the market open, whic

rupert wingfield-hayes sent this report.upert: last week at kuala lumpur airport, someone chose to attack kim jong nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a deliberate and public act of violence. today we learned what killed him, and it is even more shocking. >> it is the xv, or vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. rupert: kim jong nam was walking across this busy hall last week when he was attacked at this spot, and now we know what was used to kill him, vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, 1/100 of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international conventions, yet someone decided to use it here in the midst of this international airport. vx is colorless and odorless, with the feel of engine oil. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting, and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980's and has up to 5000 tons of stocks. north korea's young dictator, kim jong-un,

that what happened to paul ryan, what happened to rupert murdoch. what happened to what you've seen happen to mitch mcconnell and so many others over the course of the last year? >> well, like, i sympathize with the congressional party. they have their own corporate duties and the presidency is not everything. you know, the presidency is not all of the federal government, the federal government isn't all of american governments, and american government isn't all of american life. so mr. trump is a small part of this. larger than perhaps we wish he were, but the modern presidency has become swollen beyond all the founders recognitions. but that being so, mr. mcconnell and mr. ryan have their own duties and imperatives and people to lead i sam a free agent. i do not have to do that. i've spent 40 years at the project of that bill buckley began in the mid1950s, of making american conservatism intellectually coherent and politically palettable. that is incompatible with the trump presidency. >> and as you look back on the history of the republican party

rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.rly border in nato's defences, to norway in the arctic circle. russia is building up its forces in the region. that is causing concern for the us, which has called its conduct there aggressive. hundreds of american marines had been deployed there in just the last few weeks. washington's also sending thousands of troops to poland and the baltics as part of a new nato deployment. jonathan beale reports from the arctic on a new cold war tension. winter in the arctic circle, and the days are at last getting longer. but the climate's still unforgiving. the norwegian border guard have to go out in all kinds of weather, keeping an eye on their neighbour, russia. this is the nato alliance's most northerly border, and at times, it is a pretty inhospitable place. but every day, all year round, the norwegian army is patrolling the border. i don't think we can say that there is a lot of increased activity. they have had a high activity here in the north all along. they are training well and prepar

fantastic stuff, rupert. we will talk to you again soon.orities in england have paid out more than 35 million pounds in compensation and legal fees to tenants who are living in unfit council homes. a bbc investigation found that around 11,000 claims have been brought in the last five years. anna crossley reports. it is completely mouldy and the wall underneath is completely wet. and even our shoes underneath is completely wet. and even oui’ shoes are underneath is completely wet. and even our shoes are mouldy as well. as you can see here. it‘s horrible. katrina pays leeds city council around £270 a month to live in a flat which is riddled with mould. although she has not taken the council to court, hundreds of other te na nts council to court, hundreds of other tenants have. like you and‘s mother and. she says he and his brother sounds like this all the time, even g— is $5755: em in leeds is so - social house in leeds is so damp. social housing in leeds has such a bad reputation that claims management companies are now targeting the city, e

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur.ering a man in a road—rage attack, has won a high court challenge against a decision by the ministry ofjustice to refuse to move him to an open prison. noye, who is 69, stabbed stephen cameron to death in 1996 on the m25 in kent. he'd argued that it was unfair and irrational not to allow him to go to a jail with lower security. a man has beenjailed for six years for killing an innocent bystander in an unprovoked attack. trevor timon, who's 31, admitted the manslaughter of oliver dearlove in blackheath in south—east london last august, but was cleared of murder. the judge said the "senseless" attack had caused "untold misery" for mr dearlove's family. iraqi troops have entered western mosulfor the first time in their offensive to drive out so—called islamic state from the country's second city. west mosul is the last is stronghold in iraq. they're surrounded, along with an estimated three quarters of a million civilians. however, government forces today met fierce resistance, as they fo

rupert and ivanka trump to the extent she was a trustee of his two daughters.n worth of shares in two companies. close ties. >> do you think it matters, do you think it affects the news coverage on these outlets? >> i'm shnot sure it does but i think people should know. they need to know there's this relationship. without it, it's difficult the take seriously claims that it was this awful big mainstream media out there that's dead set against the president when at the same time, another sort of wing of the media, bit half of the media has these close ties. >> that's an interesting point. when you say the president trashes the media, he's not talking about everybody. >> he's not. he called on those two murdoch outlets. rupert sat in. it doesn't disclosed in the times story. 2,000 words about the interview. it's not unusual for newspapers to meet presidents. rupert sat at the back. he didn't pose for the selfies. >> you think he was hiding? >> i had several sourtces say h was sitting at the back. >> we can put one of our he headlines up on screen. one of the top

i'd as rupert winkel—hayes reports, there are unanswered questions. —— but as.re the last moments of kim jong—nam's life as he walked into kuala lumpur airport a week ago today. suddenly, a woman in a white top grabs him from behind and places something around his face. she then calmly walks away. the whole thing has taken less than five seconds. moments later, kim jong—nam can be seen seeking help from airport staff. he told them he'd had something wiped on his face and was feeling dizzy. these final images show him being led to the airport medical centre. a short time later, he collapsed and died. the accusation that north korea's dictator had his own brother assassinated today prompted this response. it has been seven days since the incident, but there is no clear evidence on the cause of the death, and at the moment, we cannot trust the investigation by the malaysian police. malaysian police now have four suspects in custody. these two women from indonesia and vietnam are accused of carrying out the attack. they claim they had no idea what they were doing, t

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. our correspondent david willis is in washington.ll back japan 100%. are there president trump says america will backjapan 100%. are there any more clues about how he plans to deal with north korea 7 clues about how he plans to deal with north korea? i shouldjust tell you that a short while ago the north korean news agency hailed as missile test our success. as far as the response from the white house is concerned, well, it has limited its response to a pledge of support for america's allies in the region. at disconcerting but this missile test may be for countries like japan and south korea, it also sends a shot across the boughs of the trump administration, for the simple reason that it is widely thought that north korea could bejust a reason that it is widely thought that north korea could be just a few yea rs that north korea could be just a few years away from developing a nuclear missile capable of hitting the united states of america —— bows. all of which makes this whole thing a great more pressing for the new administration.

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.donald trump making his next move on immigration after an appeals court refused to reinstate his order banning travellers from seven mainly muslim countries entering the united states. mr trump told reporters on board air force one that he may fight the case in the courts but could also consider issuing a new executive order. a senior white house adviser has told us media that the appeals court has gone too far. we have a judiciary which has taken far too much power, and in many cases become a supreme branch of government. one unelected judge in seattle cannot remake laws for the entire country. i mean, this isjust crazy, john. the idea that you are going to have a judge in seattle say a foreign national living in libya has an effective right to enter the united states is beyond anything we have ever seen before. the end result of this, though, is that our opponents, the media, and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to p

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur.ditor of the nonproliferation review and a leading expert on nuclear and missile proliferation. he joins us now from washington. thank you for your time. can you tell us a bit more about this nerve agent? vx is an especially potent nerve agent, and has traditionally been used as a battlefield weapon, not as a tool of assassination. the only exception i am aware of where some attempts in the 1990s by a group injapan the boys in some of their enemies with vx among other chemical and biological agents —— groupjapan to chemical and biological agents —— group japan to poison chemical and biological agents —— groupjapan to poison some of their enemies. it had mixed success. the success enemies. it had mixed success. the success of this was not in doubt he suddenly. what do we know about how it was made, whether north korea has it was made, whether north korea has it and has used it? it is a synthetic chemical. it has long been strongly suspected that the north koreans have it. it is one of t

from malaysia, rupert wingfield—hayes sent this report.in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today, we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. it is the xv — the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. kim jong—nam was walking across this busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. and now we know what was used to kill him — vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, one hundredth of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international convention, and yet someone decided to use it here, in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless, with the feel of engine oil. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and has up to 5000 tons of stocks. north korea's young dictator kim jong—un already has nuclear weapons. some think he is now sendi

rupert wingfield—hayes has the story.g—nam, whose body is thought to be the one now lying in a malaysian morgue. 0fficials there say he died after being sprayed in the face with something at kuala lumpur airport this morning. south korean media immediately claimed north korean agents had assassinated kim on the orders of his own younger brother, kim jong—un. north korea's young dictator has been tightening his grip on power, ruthlessly purging potential opponents. what's so sensitive? last year i saw for myself how strange north korea can be. i was detained and expelled for insulting the kim leadership. much more telling is what he did to his own uncle, seen here on the left. jang sung—taek was hauled away from a party meeting, accused of treachery, and executed. has he now also eliminated his brother? kim jong—nam was once his father's favourite, being groomed to one day take over as north korea's supreme leader. but his downfall began here in tokyo, when he was caught sneaking into japan on a fake passport. these pictur

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.john bercow, has insisted that his impartiality has not been compromised, after a video emerged of him declaring that he voted remain in last year's referendum. the parliament website states that "spea kers must be politically impartial." speaker bercow is already facing calls to stand down after saying last week that he would veto a parliamentary address by president donald trump. the latest comments, published in the sunday telegraph, were made at an address to students at reading university three days earlier. this may not be popular with some people in this audience, personally, i voted to remain. i thought it was better to stay in the european union than not, partly for economic reasons, being part of being within a trade bloc, and partly because we are in a world of power blocs and because it is better to be part of that big power bloc in the world. earlier, we spoke to the conservative mp james duddridge, who has called for a motion of no confidence in speaker bercow. carole wal

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo.a senior fellow at the foundation for defence of democracies, and a specialist on north korea security. i asked him what's likely to come out of the security council meeting. well, it depends on what the purpose of having the meeting is. obviously they'll condemn the launch that took place sunday morning pyongyang climb. the question is are they ready to get tougher with not only north korea but countries around it. the critical question i would have is are they ready to get tough? i know china is a member of the security council but it's clear china is already violated last yea r‘s coal china is already violated last year's coal restriction that was in the resolution. so china is the one that's covering for north korea, it's allowing north korea to acquire materials for this programmes and are we going to get tougher either through the un or is the us going to get tougher with china? on that point, given what you've just outlined, are there any indications on what sort of policy presi

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. david willis is in washington for us now.us. north korea has said some time that it's been threatening to launch a missile, but do you get the sense that the trump administration was expecting this news? were they prepared for this? it's interesting, the trump administration has been at pains to reassure its allies, particularly japan, that it has their back as far as north korea is concerned. but what precisely the trump administration plans to do about north korea isn't precisely clear. we've had over the last several presidencies talks, sanctions, we had what was called under the 0bama administration, strategic patients. none of it has calmed north korea's nuclear ambitions. with every likelihood that north korea might actually develop a nuclear missile capable of reaching the united states within the lifetime of this current presidency, it becomes something of an urgency for donald trump to sort some sort of policy out on this front. he has said on the campaign trail that he would be willing to sit down and have a burger,

rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, tokyo.evin kim in the south korean capital seoul and i asked him if he knew anymore about what happened to kimjong—nam in malaysia. well, the government in seoul is being very cautious, and officials have yet to reveal or confirm any information. how the attack actually unfolded is still unclear. initially, the south korean media sourced an unnamed airport official, and papers said that kim jong—nam was killed by a poisonous needle by two female agents. the other reports in malaysia mention a spray, and the latest account seems to be that, at the airport, a woman had approached mr kim from behind, and covered his face with a cloth laced with a liquid. based on all of these reports, it seems highly likely an investigation is likely to take place, focused on a deliberate attempt of murder through poisoning, and an autopsy may take place to reveal the exact cause of death. some analysts believe this could have been a deliberate attempt of assassination by the leadership in pyongyang. let's take

rupert wingfield—hayes reporting.s after it was set up by the government, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will begin its first public hearings on monday. the first claim to be investigated is the mistreatment of thousands of british children sent to former colonies like australia after 1945. the bbc has been told the inquiry will hear new evidence about abuse, and claims that it was covered up. here's our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. newsreel: the liner asturias arrives at fremantle from great britain with 931 new migrants for this country. i've lived for 60—odd years with this hate. they sent us to a place that was a living hell. we did nothing wrong. all we did was do as we were told, and suffered immensely for it. they've been called "britain's lost children." clifford walsh was nine when he arrived here at fremantle, near perth, one of thousands in care orfrom poorfamilies, promised a better life in the sunshine. he ended up at bindoon, run by the catholic christian brothers, where baref

rupert wingfield—hayes, thank you very much.a branch of topshop in reading. he suffered serious head injuries in an incident involving store furniture — and died later in hospital. the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in reading. yes, topshop has been closed all morning, understandably. the shutters are down. in the past hour or so reading borough council extended a statement saying they offer their sympathies to the family offer their sympathies to the family of the ten—year—old boy involved and say its own inquiry is now underway along with that of the police investigation. this was the scene at topshop this morning. these pictures show it shattered and security guards outside. inside the lights we re guards outside. inside the lights were on and it was not clear if any staff or investigators were there. police were called there after reports of a ten—year—old boy being injured. they say it involved what they called shop furniture. they we re they called shop furnitu

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. the oxford analytica think tank has written extensively on china and the asia pacific rim. he told me it was difficult to see how president trump could contain north korea. and i think a fair conjecture that president trump doesn't know quite what to do yet — after all, the administration has hardly bedded down. very noticeable, however, notable that new defence ministerjames mattis went to seoul as his first foreign visit last week and spoke powerfully about the need to do something about north korea. then went on to japan. and now we have, in the middle of the party that is currently underway in florida with the japanese prime minister and the us president, we have this move by north korea. sanctions have achieved zero, as your report suggested. there's a little bit of head room still for other measures, perhaps squeezing the financial system of the dollar system, insofar as that benefits north korea, but it doesn't look as though that is going to deliver what's required here. what

thank you, rupert. our top story this lunchtime...—safe seat of copeland. and still to come... america moves to calm fears in mexico that us troops could be sent in to deal with illegal immigrants. coming up in sport at half—past, centre ben te'o will make his first start for england in sunday's six nations match against italy at twickenham. reports from the iraqi city of mosul say government troops have entered a neighbourhood in the western half of the city. they captured the airport yesterday as part of their battle to expel islamic state forces from its final stronghold in iraq. let's speak our correspondent wyre davies, who is with iraqi forces near mosul. just how significant is this progress? sorry, we obviously have a problem with a link to wyre davies. sorry about that, we will try to get him a little later. america's homeland security chief has moved to reassure mexico that the us army won't be deployed to deal with illegal immigrants. john kelly made the pledge during talks in mexico with the country's president and other s

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news.the world since 2011. the government and the united nations report that around 100,000 people are currently affected, and just underfive million people, 140% of the country's population, are in urgent need of food. south sudan is the world's newest country, having gained independence from sudan six years ago. but hopes of prosperity have been shattered by three years of civil war and economic collapse. alistair leithead sent this report from the capital city, juba. when famine hits, the smallest suffer. there's acute malnutrition here in the children's hospital in the capital, but it's far worse upcountry, where the fighting goes on. symptoms of hunger. malnutrition is really bad because it has increased. it has been here for some years, but this year, it is really increased. the rate has increased. hadiya gets one or maybe two meals a day. her mother, mary, can't afford to feed her, amid the economic chaos that civil war brings. this is unity state, a rebel stronghold where100,000 peo

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur will.cked. as you can see here, zoo officials tried to help the fifteen—year—old hippo named gustavito after he was beaten and stabbed over the weekend by unknown assailants. police are trying to establish how the attackers got into the zoo, and why they did it. many salvadorea ns have taken to social media to express their sadness and horror. the former soviet gymnast, olga korbut, has sold most of her olympic medals at auction in arizona for more than $200,000. they included the golds she won at the munich olympics in 1972, where her performance on the uneven bars prompted the audience to whistle at the judges for failing to give her a perfect ten. russia's gazeta.ru news reports that olga, who has been living in america since 1991, sold her medals due to financial difficulties. the us aerospace company spacex has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the moon. if the mission goes ahead as planned in late 2018, humans will be returning to deep space for the first

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. oxford analytica think tank has written extensively on china and the asia pacific rim. hejoins us from our oxford newsroom. good evening to you. this is a big test for president trump but terribly difficult to see how he or anyone else can move this situation forward. affair conjecture president romagna doesn't know what to do yet, after the administration has hardly bedded down. very noticeable and notable that new defence minister went to seoul for that new defence minister went to seoulfor his that new defence minister went to seoul for his first foreign visit last week and spoke about the need to do something about north korea and then went to japan. now we have in the middle of the party that is currently underway in florida with the japanese prime minister and us president, this move by north korea. sanctions have achieved zero, as your report suggested. there is some headroom for other measures, perhaps squeezing the financial system, the dollar system, in as far as that benefi

from kuala lumpur, rupert wingfield—hayes reports.attack kim jong—nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today, we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. it is the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. kim jong—nam was walking across this busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. now we know what was used to kill him — vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, one hundredth of a gram, would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international convention, yet someone decided to use it here, in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless, with the feel of engine oil. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 19805 and has up to 5000 tonnes of stocks. north korea's young dictator kim jong—un already has nuclear weapons. some think he is now

our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports from kuala lumpur.attack kim jong nam in full view of at least half a dozen cctv cameras. it was a very deliberate and very public act of violence. today we learned what killed him. and it's even more shocking. it is the vx nerve agent which is a chemical weapon. kim jong nam was walking across this busy departures hall last week when he was attacked at this spot. now we know what they choose to kill him, vx, one of the most deadly nerve agents ever invented. just a tiny drop, one hundredth of a gram would have been enough to kill him. vx is also banned under international convention yet someone decided to use it here in the midst of this international airport. vx is colourless and odourless with the feel of engine oil. it is so deadly it is classified by the united nations as a weapon of mass destruction. symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, vomiting and muscle convulsions. south korea says the north started producing chemical weapons in the 1980s and has up to 5000 tonnes of stocks. north k

as rupert said, just a tiny dot can kill.ssination here, looking very much at north korea. we always suspected they had a chemical weapons programme and that proves it. it is a huge concern because it appears that their chemical weapons might be more advanced than their nuclear programme which we have heard so much about over the last 12 months. we have seen assassinations like this. georgi markov in london, and litvinenko killed in london with polonium. it's a classic assassination tactic. i gather that one of the assassins was injured but you would expect to see many more casualties with a toxin like this. the way they used it was very strange, as well. but the key thing is, you only need a tiny drop. that is presumably what he got which was enough to kill him. back to the news we were just bringing you about the woman who died just a day after being hit by debris in wolverhampton city centre. she was a staff member of the university of wolverhampton. she was with the number of colleagues. the university vice chancellor has

rupert wingfield hayes has more.now thought the missile fired from north korea earlier this morning was one of these — a musudan intermediate range ballistic missile. it flew about 500 kilometres before splashing down in the sea ofjapan. north korea's dictator, kimjong—un, had been promising to test fire a much longer range missiles capable of hitting the united states. that has not happened. instead, mr kim is almost certainly using the launch to crash this weekend party in florida. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, has been spending it golfing with president trump. mr abe was very unamused by the intrusion. translation: north korea's most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable. north korea must fully comply with the relevant united nations security council guidelines. then, in his response, president trump appeared to forget to condemn the north korean launch. thank you very much, mr prime minister. i just want everybody to understand and fully know that the united states of america stands behind japan,

not at all, if you look at rupert murdoch, he owns sky and you see everyone showing that in the premierier league. this is a chance for us to make the club better with money going in to the building of new classrooms, new dressing rooms. soido new classrooms, new dressing rooms. so i do not see that at all. have the club had any contact with the fa oi’ the club had any contact with the fa or gambling commission today?|j believe or gambling commission today?” believe they have. it is a tough day because he is a good friend of mine. and ultimately when i got up this morning, from the moment i turned on my phone until now it has just been one thing after another and not in a good way. i feel very sorry for wayne. ultimately responsible i suppose for your actions of the what is your overriding feeling today because your side put in a great performance last night to fight —— despite defeat to arsenal. has this soured things for you personally and those involved with the club?m soured things for you personally and those involved with the club? it is a very sad day and so yes it clearly does.

it has owners like rupert motor work -- rupert murdoch. goebbels said the media asnk of a keyboard on which the government complaint. they fabricated the jews during not see germany were the bad guys when they were not. they are doing the same thing now. they are fabricating that muslims are the bad guys. there are klansmen that claim to be christians and they blew up churches in alabama. trump or this in all right person. it's the same for america. the headline should be the atrocity that happening in chicago. issuesot talking about that affect people on a daily basis. andre talking about fear agenda and being afraid of isis. i don't think anybody in chicago right now is afraid of isis. maybe one day they will focus it and bring it to a place where there can be actual healing as opposed to bragging about how many people were at your inauguration or how money people voted for him. who cares? host: thank you for the call. this is the headline from the washington times. we did carry it live. this is part of what he had to say. >> this is our

thank you very much, rupert.n the city of karachi. journalists from the samaa tv channel were heading to the scene of a reported attack on police, when their own vehicle came under fire. a 22—year—old assistant cameraman was shot and later died in hospital. pakistan's prime minister, nawaz sharif, has condemned the killing. for almost two weeks now, tens of thousands of people have been on the streets across romania, protesting against their government and demanding its resignation. despite the government backing down, the demonstrations are continuing. playing bartok on a sunday afternoon in bucharest, sanziana and her younger brother niki are students at the romanian music academy. they are also regular participants in the daily anti—government protests. i'm backing the protest because in 1989, in our revolution, a lot of people died from defending our democracy, and from bringing our country into democracy. and i don't want to think they died for nothing, and it is myjob to protect democracy in my country. bot

the bbc‘s rupert wingfield hayes has been investigating. this is the spot where kim jong—nam was attacked. just take a look around here. the spot is overlooked by at least six cctv cameras. just a few metres away in this cafe at one of those tables for north korean men we re those tables for north korean men were sitting watching. all four are now wanted by the malaysian authorities. one is reported to be a known north korean security agent. after the attack was over, they got up after the attack was over, they got up and headed for departures. a few minutes later they boarded a flight to jakarta and then onto dubai. what about the two young women accused of carrying out the attack? one is from vietnam's, the other indonesian. one of them was working in this hotel behind me here in a massage parlour on the second floor. in malaysian massage pa rlours are on the second floor. in malaysian massage parlours are often a front for the sex industry. it's fairly clear that both these women were living a precarious existence. one of them told the p

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in kuala lumpur.al weapons. hejoins us from our bristol studio. good evening. do you agree with what we heard in that report, that this is more worrying, in many ways, than anything north korea is doing on the nuclear front? it is hard to compare the two. it is worrying in its own sense. the assassination by poison, it has been a long tradition, but sometimes it is done very discreetly, to make it look like natural causes, in order to hide what you are doing. assassinations by poison in a very overt manner, normally a signal of power, to convince people of the things you can do. that sends worrying signals to the rest of the world, whether they are intended by north korea or not. do you think it is north korea's own stocks we are seeing used? do they come from somewhere else? have they ever been deployed anywhere else? vx as a chemical weapon, it is the most toxic of the chemical weapons. so toxic that even a droplet smaller than you could see with the naked eye on your skin would eventually kill you.

here's rupert wingfield—hayes, in tokyo.ce at the pentagon. the alliance between the us and japan is enduring and will remain as the cornerstone of peace and security in the asia—pacific region. the us defence secretary saved his most scathing words for china. we have watched in the south china sea as china has shredded the trust of nations in the region. he's talking about these huge artificial islands beijing has constructed to enforce its claim to the south china sea. if we have disputes we take them to arbitration. we don't settle them by taking military means and occupying land that is subject to question, to say the least, about who actually owns it, or is it international waters. he also promised the us would protect this group of islands in the east china sea from any attempt by china to take them from japan. beijing's foreign ministry responded immediately. general mattis should, it said, stop making wrong remarks on the issue involving the diaoyu islands' sovereignty and avoid bringing instability to the region. ja

rupert wingfield—hayes has been investigating this was one of the most brazen killings of recent yearsa look around. this was overlooked by at least six cctv cameras. just a few metres away, at this cafe, at one of those tables, four north korean men were sitting and watching. all four are now wanted by the malaysian authorities. one is reported to be a known north korean security agent. after the attack, they got up and headed for departures. a few minutes later, the boarded a flight to jakarta and then on to dubai. what about the two young women accused of carrying out the attack? one is from vietnam, the other, indonesia. sidi aisyah was working in this hotel behind me in a massage parlour on the second floor. in malaysia, massage parlours are often a front for sex shops. it's fairly clear both these women we re it's fairly clear both these women were living a fairly precarious existence. aisyah said she was approached by a man calling himself "james." he offered her a part to be in a tv reality show. turns out james's real name was: he is north korean. the final key suspect wanted

rupert wingfield—hayes is at the hospital where the forensic investigation has been carried out.ce we understand kim jong—nam's what is being held and where those tests were carried out, that have now revealed the presence ofa that have now revealed the presence of a nerve agent called vx. one expert described this to me as a huge deal and the three basic reasons. firstly vx is a very powerful merge eight and. just 100 ofa gram powerful merge eight and. just 100 of a gram smeared on his skin or i would have been enough to kill him. secondly, it is very difficult to produce. this is not something you can make in your back room. it suggests involvement of a nationstate and that of course points to north korea. thirdly, the xisa points to north korea. thirdly, the x is a banned chemical weapon under the un chemical weapons convention. -- vx. which the un chemical weapons convention. —— vx. which means if this attack was carried out by north korean agents they've not just was carried out by north korean agents they've notjust committed an assassination of foreign soil but they are re

major general rupert jones is on a last-minute inspection of coalition troops that will be supporting the iraqi assault on mosul. >> in terms of how long it will take, east mosul took 100 days. west mosul could be every bit as tough, so you can work it out from there. you don't retake towns and cities the size of mosul, heavily defended, quickly. i'm confident they will prevail with our support. quentin: on the parade ground, kurdish forces, and the defense secretary bringing a reminder of why britain is in this fight. >> we are picking up information all the time, information about the foreign fighters in mosul, information, too, about some of the attacks planned in western europe. this work is not simply freeing people in mosul from having to live under this brutal regime. quentin: this won't be iraq's last fight against i.s., but it may be the toughest. thousands of iraqis are once again on their way to face the islamic state. the west is counting on their victory. quentin sommerville, bbc news, on mosul's southern front. jane: the battle against islamic state is one of the many to