host: there is this from the north korean newspaper, this is an english but for the north koreans, the president of north korea or during thekpa k -- thepa -- -- kpa guest: korean people's army. host: he ordered the kp a strategic force to keep highly of their as required by the grim situation in which an actual war may break -- guest: again, the north koreans regularly describe these joint military exercises as dress rehearsals or invasion. that we have had some components. last year, there was a and thision scenario is sending a clear signal to north korea and really making than they normally would be. this has been happening for four decades now. i do not want to dismiss completely there anything this, out orhave not carried we have not actually or they have not been anything more than defensive of that. recording on the missal range to stockpile capability, so you can check it out. mike from tampa, florida. james personwith of the wilson center. person, we have 28,000 u.s. troops in south korea on the border there. don't forget, the iraq army is tough as nails, so the 20,000 people

us ambassador nikki haley said the north korean leader is not rational. flanked by representatives from japan and south korea, she warned that all options were on the table when it came to america's response. a fire at a care home in guatemala has killed 19 teenage girls. many other children were injured. and this story is trending on bbc.com. one of malta's famous landmarks, the azure window rock arch, has collapsed into the sea after heavy storms. the limestone arch was popular with tourists and it featured on tv series game of thrones. stay with us on bbc world news. and the top story here in the uk. the chancellor has been accused of breaking a conservative manifesto pledge after increasing national insurance bills for the self—employed.

korean remark, the current north korean frets are of a different place from the pats. there is an eminent and great threat facing us. as such, this approach that we are pursuing, this joint probably more than it any point in the past we will be willing to utilize all of the resources available to us to permit this. other types of effort fizzled. at the same time, as was mentioned by secretary tillerson, all of the stakeholders themselves, more than any point of time in the past, should cooperate together to make sure that north korea feels the pain for its wrongdoings and pay the cost, the price. for the aspects of that were not of our expectations, we should be deliberating how further we need to go to make sure that there is an acceptable outcome. in this process, one of the most important principles is that iraq didn't -- the r.o.k. and the u.s. will remain closely correlated with each other for a shared response so we can demonstrate our strong alliance. >> thank you. mr. secretary, you mentioned a range of options, but i'm hoping you can drill down into a few civi

north korean missile launches. we welcome your calls in the conversation, 202-748-8000 for democrats. all others, 202-748-8002. roll out last week of the thaad system, delivery to south korea, missile shield arrive nothing south korea. trip by the secretary of state, tillerson, travel to the region this week on trip that will include stop necessary japan, south korea and china. state department officials says the threat posed by north korea high on mr. tillerson agenda. what message will he be bringing? >> i'd be surprised if it is not the only thing on his agenda that is the issue preeminent in that area. of course he'll be talking to south korea about continuing with the thaad deployment, despite the pressure from china. china putting economic pressure on the south. the korean war didn't end with peace agreement, it just ended with seization of hostility, never been a peace agreement. the u.s. and south korea are linked, unlike places where rising tension, you know there might be debate in congress, should we go

the north korean and malaysians have been seeking him, so north korean haven't been able to leave either. the deal has been done. north korea has got what it wanted. it wanted its own citizens to be able to leave. that seems to be the deal that has been done. prime minister najib has not refer to a ny done. prime minister najib has not refer to any north korean is being held back which means that in effect they no longer have the option of trying to find out who actually organised this extraordinary operation to kill kim jong—nam organised this extraordinary operation to kill kimjong—nam in kuala lumpur airport. the body of kimjong—nam, the kuala lumpur airport. the body of kim jong—nam, the north kuala lumpur airport. the body of kimjong—nam, the north koreans wa nted kimjong—nam, the north koreans wanted it back as well and the malaysians say they completed the autopsy procedures they needed. they are also saying curiously that they have received a letter from are also saying curiously that they have received a letterfrom kim jong—nam's family authorising the release of t

>> basically taking out the north korean leader. i think there is a perception in this country that regime collapse is imminent and that all it will take is a military action to conduct it. and one -- when has regime change ever been successful? what would be the likelihood for the millions of south koreans right acroross the dmz? innocent civilians. it would engulf the entire region into a very dangerous regional conflict. russia, china, japan, the united states. diving part of mutual defense treaties, it will engulf the entire region. five of the top 10 countries in terms of the military capacity in defense spending are in that region. it is a tinderbox. we need to understand the korean conflict is at the root of that. so we have to really seriously pressure our government -- obviously, how do we pressure the trump administration that seems to not have a clue about korea? that we have to. i think it is a very dangerous situation and we have to be very vigilant. amy: professor bruce cumings, what about this? yet the chinese officia

in fact, the word that official north korean statements use is "repel." have korean defectors claimed that the country's leaders hoped that by inflicting mass casualties and destruction in the early days of a conflict, they can force the united states and south korea to recoil from their invasion. whatever restraint can or trump might show, and let's be honest, our expectations here are not high, each will face enormous pressure to start the attack last his opponent beacons of the punch." from england, thank you for listening in on the bbc parliament channel. go ahead. caller: hi, from england. there is nothing you can really do with that leader rather than take them out -- other than take them out. i would like to know, who do you think will replace him? this guy is not of sound mind. no matter what you do, he will not listen. thank you. joining us you for from great britain. we will go to washington, d.c., that morning. how should the u.s. deal with north korea? caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: i think it is intere

that indicates the north korean suspects were preparing to split into two groups. so far malaysian authorities have concern that three north korean suspects fled to indonesia shortly after the killing. and the cambodian official told nhk that the fourth suspect flew to phnom penh on the day of the murder. malaysian police chief said on thursday that interpol has issued a red notice which is a request to locate and detain a person pending extradition for the four north korean suspects, but the investigation has hit a wall since the four suspects are believed to have already made their way back to pyongyang and the north is not a member of interpol. >>> spring is just around the corner in pakistan, and farmers are rolling up their sleeves for work. another seasonal tradition involves racing bulls. nhk world reports. >> reporter: bull races are extremely popular throughout the country. winning is considered a great honor by many people. one of those people operates a large farm where he keeps four bulls especially for racing. >> translator: my grandfather was crazy ab

still be in the north korean embassy. 0ne them may possibly still be in the north korean embassy. one is an embassy official and one works for the state airline. it seems the north koreans maybe in effect putting pressure on the malaysians over that by in the words of the malaysian prime minister, he described it as "holding the malaysian citizens hostage in north korea." so malaysia has responded by imposing the blanket ban on north koreans leaving the country. i suppose they would hope there is a chance they might intercept those they are looking for. the seven they believe are linked to the killing. at least four are believed to have left the country right after king jong—nam was killed but three may still be in malaysia. but what might be interesting now is although both countries say they want to solve this in an amicable way, if they are able to detain the people they want, and take them into custody, what will north korea do then? i think malaise why are nervous about the fate of its 11 citizens. malaysiap intend

we called upon other regional powers and all nations in demanding that the north korean government choose a better path and a different page -- future for its people. the united states is committed to supporting the defense of our allies, and we will continue to develop a conference a set of to counter the growing north korean ballistic missile threat. that is why the united dates in the republic of korea decided to take a defensive measure of the -- sadoying a tha 80 thaade to play -- missile-defense system. address thea to threat that makes this necessary, the escalating threat from north korea. the united states alliance with south korea is not built only on security, but commitment to our core principles that have enabled the success of our nations, a strong economic partnership, people to people ties, and democratic values. i am encouraged by our productive discussions and pledged continuing american support for the security and prosperity of our two nations. thank you. minister yun: i want to open the floor to two members of the press from each country. first, the korean media. >> i

we arejoined outside the north korean embassy by my colleague sharanjit the north korean embassy by my colleague shara njit leyl. the north korean embassy by my colleague sharanjit leyl. what's a situation like? it seems peaceful and the embassy hasn't been cordoned off? that's right. it has been relatively quiet here this morning will stop essentially we've only seen the one police car parked outside the main gates of embassy. two police bikes went past earlier, the relatively quiet, compared to other news agencies camped out next to me. what it's a huge rise in tensions. essentially it starts again this week on tuesday, this latest incident, when the north korean state media said relations in north korea were temporarily prohibited from leaving the country until this incident, they said, in malaysia is solved. of course that the incident over the death of kim jong—nam, the death of the north korean leader. of course this prompted a furious response from malaysia's my minister, who called it and malaysia's my minister, who called itand a malaysia's my minister, who called it and a b

north korean officials reject the notion a nerve agent was used. they still refuse to acknowledge that the dead man is kim jong nam. >>> malaysia's state-run news agency reports that police have received a warrant to detain an employee of north korea's state-owned airline. police have wanted to question the employee of the airline as well as the second secretary at the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur. both men appear in security video taken at the airport on the day the killing took place, investigators believe the two men are still in malaysia. they've asked the north korean embassy for cooperation, but have no prospect of getting any help. the second secretary is protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be detained. japan's air self-defense forces scrambled jets to intercept 13 chinese aircraft. defense ministry officials say it was the largest group of foreign planes to draw a response from japan since 2003. officials say the planes came from the east china sea and passed between islands in okinawa before heading toward the pacific ocean

but obviously if north korea thes actions that threatens south korean forces, or our own forces, that will be met with an appropriate response. if they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action, that option is on the table. we are hope full that by taking these steps, they have -- there are many steps we can take before we get to that point. we hope that will persuade north korea to take a different course of action. >> and the oil? secretary tillerson: to the extent that china is supplying that oil, i think others are supplying that oil, some of it comes from russia, other sources. we will be calling on everyone to join in these actions, certainly all of the regional players, but others who have commercial relationships with north korea will be asking -- asked to take steps as well. yun: thank you. this concludes our joint press conference for the foreign ministers meeting. thank you very much. the ministers will leave the hall. >> we will continue to follow today's events in just a moment. next week, a three-day confirmation hearing will

another low in the relationship between malaysia and north korea, the north korean ambassador is told to leave kuala lumpur. we have all the sport including a fractious showdown between manchester united and bournemouth. welcome to the programme. there is never a dull moment in washington politics. donald trump took to twitter claiming the obama had tapped his phones at trump tower during the election campaign. the president offered no evidence for the claims and a spokesman for barack obama the claims and a spokesman for ba rack obama has the claims and a spokesman for barack obama has strongly denied the allegations, saying neither president obama or any white house official ever ordered surveillance official ever ordered surveillance of any official ever ordered surveillance ofany us official ever ordered surveillance of any us citizen and any suggestion otherwise is simply false. it comes after a rocky few weeks for the trump administration which has seen the sacking of the national security adviser mike flynn and questions hanging over the attorney general jeff sessions. both ove

♪living well >>> a north korean delegation is in malaysia trying to collect the leader's brother who was assassinated. two women rubbed a nerve agent in the face of kim jong-nam and he died 20 minutes later. his brother, kim jong-un, reportedly wanted him dead for years, and the korean leader has other targets on his list. bill whitaker spoke to one for "60 minutes." >> i've been in seoul for six months. to be honest, you know, i was never public until now. >> reporter: we went for an evening out in seoul with north korea's former deputy ambassador in london before he defected in august. the first time on the subway? >> yes, that's right. >> reporter: a someone of his rank is extremely rare. this was the first time he had walked about in public. just off camera, six bodyguards watched his every move as we made our way down one of the busiest shopping streets in asia. north korea has assassinated defectors in seoul. >> to prevent more possible defections from north korea, i think kim jong-un may do anything. >> reporter: even kill you? >> of course. why not? >> reporter: the man w

we can see north korean missiles in iran and iranian components in north korea. it's a loose after at co-development. >> north korea recently carried out a test using solid fuel which makes for a quicker launch and shows that their program is being honed for military purposes. >> shepard: thanks, jennifer. gordon chang is the author of "nuclear show down, north crkok takes on the world." it's not the testing but the timing. >> my concern is that the united states has had effective policies. there's one policy that we have not tried. that is to ask china for help. the missile that they tested, there's two variants. that's similar to china's jl-1. we need to ask important questions about where the north koreans are getting this technology. >> so get tough on china on this matter. >> absolutely. we need to show the chinese we're serious about our safety. there's a number of things we can do. we can enforce our own money laundering laws and unplug chinese banks that are involved in north korea's commerce. we haven't been willing to do that. yes, it would rock global

north koreans figured this out? >> one of the reasons we have are pretty clear they have an investigation underway and figured out somebody was messing in their system so we wrote ahead and wrote a story carefully in a way we thought would not provide the technical details that would allow the north koreans to defeat what the united states is doing, but it is clear we have a big issue, several big issues here. one is, is this enough? and that's a big issue that mr. trump is going to have to go deal with. second big issue is, are there other alternatives? do you negotiate with the north koreans? which a lot of people say we should. president obama decided not to. do you take more decisive action? do you try to attack these launch sites can i netcally? >> dickerson: you mean militarily? >> militarily, right, you blow them up. if you do that, and you miss some, you run the risk of starting off another war in the korean peninsula and no one wants to go do that. so the russia story is a fascinating one. the tweets are as

we have tried meeting with the north koreans. the u.s. government has tried containment, tried sanctions, and none of these options have worked. i understand why secretary tillerson has expressed a willingness to consider other options. there are some serious risks in considering military options, but there are also risks in allowing the north koreans to develop a potential nuclear icbm capability that would directly threaten the united states. real hard to see a effective way to counter this. the u.s. has been trying for years and years, and the north koreans keep building these weapons even though their country is getting weaker, there is economy is more frail, and their people are hungry yet their government is determined to carry this out. host: we are speaking with timothy heath at rand corporation and also sean miner, china fellow and associate director of the atlantic council about u.s.-china relations, both on the defense front as well as the trade fronts. democrats can call and join this conversation at (202) 748-8000. republican

"north korean leader kim jong un declaring the test a new birth for the north korean rocket industry. he said the engine would help north korea achieved world-class satellite launch capability. " we will go to frank in frederic, wisconsin, democrats line. good morning. caller: morning. host: go ahead, please. caller: pardon me? host: you are on the air. caller: i think the best solution would be to try to get south korean people to move out of there. love them have that stretch -- let them have that stretch. host: there are 25 million people in seoul, south korea. caller: i understand that, but, you know, maybe it is better off to take north korea out and hope are the best -- for the best. label arm themselves with -- they will arm themselves to where they do some damage to us. host: ken joining us from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. what a way to wake up. is i hear question very little discussion about the north korean ability to deliver a nuclear weapon vm more standard means, a ship, truck, and i am wondering if anyone can illuminate me on this. otherwise, i have no

north korean state news announcing all malaysian citizens in north korea will not be allowed out of the country. at the same time, malaysia saying north koreans in malaysia are not allowed out of the country. this is after the death of the half brother of kim jong-un, kim jong-nam. they say they are hiding in the embas embassy. north korea is now using leverage to ensure the security of citizens in malaysia. malaysia is doing the same thing as far as citizens in north korea are concerned. a lot of countries condemning the actions of north korea. >> alexandra field in seoul. we appreciate it. >>> back home, remember the fight over obamacare and managing to push that through? that was the big fight. now republicans have their turn. they need to muster their votes to repeal obamacare. can they do it with their replacement? how does it effect you? it's beautiful. was it a hard place to get to? (laughs) it wasn't too bad. with the chase mobile app, jimmy chin can master depositing his hard earned checks in a snap. easy to use chase technology for whatever you're trying to master. you give us

two women have been charged with murdering the half—brother of north korean leader kimjong—un. siti aishah and doan thi huong, seen here entering the court to be charged, could be hanged, if they are convicted of kim jong—nam's death. the 42—year—old died after the pair allegedly smeared a deadly chemical over his face at a malaysian airport in mid—february. the women claim they thought they were taking part in a prank. 0ur south korea correspondent steve evans is in seoul and joins me now. do we know who were represent them and what the process will be, or when they will enter a plea? we do not. we certainly do not know who will represent them. this hearing today was a very formal hearing. the presentation of charges at a lower court. the matter will be referred up court. the matter will be referred up to court. the matter will be referred uptoa court. the matter will be referred up to a more senior court for trial. today, it was a matter of identification of the two accused women and also the charge being read to them, that they killed the north korean man in the depa

that's a north korean soldier. these are demonstrationed in seoul protesting secretary tillerson's visit. rich edson has returned from the border and is live in seoul. rich? >> shep, the secretary of state says he wanted to get as close to where north korean and south korean forces face each other, just a few feet from one another. he accomplished that today. that's where we spoke to him in an exclusive interview when we asked him when it comes to changing the approach of north korea, does the united states rule out the idea that u.s. allies, japan and south korea, should beef up their forces here, including nuclear weapons. >> are you discussing or are these options on the table? a nuclearization of the peninsula as was discussed during the campaign? >> we're exchanging views as did in japan with prime minister abe. i'm exchanging views with the leadership with the republican of korea as well as to our views on various approaches that can be taken. >> but not ruling out either of those options? >> nothing has been

that has promoted the malaysian police to seal off the north korean embassy. north korea's foreign embassy dance malaysians from leaving, making them hostage in the reclusive state. the malaysian prime minister is ordering a similar ban to block north korean citizens there. the new version of donald trump's travel ban has now been released with much less chaos than the last one. this version is a scaled-back order that band's new visas for people from six muslim majority countries instead of seven, with iraq now off the list. critics say the new narrower version is more palatable but still dangerous. immigrants are under attack. what do we do? >> stand up. >> when refugees are under attack, what do we do? protesters gathered to tell president trump that the modified version of his travel ban won't stand up in court. >> mr. trump, you let the cat out of the bag long ago and cloak yourway to naked, ugly, and discriminatory a intent. and guess what, president trump? muslim band 2.0 is still unconstitutional and still illegal. reporter: activist plan on challengin

and up to a thousand north koreans in malaysia. i've been speaking to michael bristow to get his analysis on whether this is legal from either country? it's perhaps not legal but who's to stop north korea? over perhaps not legal but who's to stop north korea ? over the perhaps not legal but who's to stop north korea? over the years it's done things to contravene nuclear sanctions, missile tests and launches, its got away from them. it might not be legal, but it might not matter. north korea wants to put pressure on malaysia, conducting an investigation into the death of the half brother of the north korean leader, who was killed, kuala lumpur airport in the middle of february by airport in the middle of february by a nerve agent wiped on his face by two women. north korea wants pressure on that investigation. it's not happy with how malaysia is doing it. by holding malaysian citizens effectively hostage in north korea, it is putting that pressure on malaysia. what would it like to be different about the investigation? what's the ou

their trade relationship with china accounts for 70% to 90% of north korean trade. so what tillerson is going to ask the japanese is what they're willing to do, how far they are willing to go. because clearly the trump administration feels that they need to go farther to rein in kim jong-un. now what the chinese are expected to tell secretary tillerson is they think the onus is on the united states to stop provoke cacee provocative acts. it makes beijing nervous when those military exercises happen. but the u.s. is not going to be willing do that. they think the exercises are vital to keeping cooperation between those two key allies and they think that they're transparent about it unlike the north korean regime which continues to secretly launch missiles and conduct nuclear tests without any warning. >> and just to give our viewers here in the united states and around the world a little background on you and your reporting, you've traveled to north korea, you've covered that nation extensively many times. so i pose this question to you. how is all this being perceiv

korean leader. —— a new twist in the death of kimjong—nam, the half—brother of the north korean leader. the son of the dead man — and the last known male in the kim bloodline, perhaps a potential future leader — has released a video statement from his hiding place. here it is. my my name is kim han—sol, from north korea, part of the kim family. here is my passport. my my father has been killed in a few days ago. i am currently with my mother and sister and we are very grateful to... and we hope this gets better soon. there are a couple of things that are odd about this video. you'll have noticed the bit where kim han—sol‘s audio is cut and his mouth is covered. the other thing is that the group that have released this — cheollima civil defense — is an unknown quantity. if you look online, its youtube account has only recently been registered. iam not i am not quite sure what has happened there! i asked our asia pacific regional editor celia hatton what she makes of this mysterious video. for a few hours when it first surfaced, no one was really clear about the identity of

we are on a collision course with the north koreans. we can't tolerate north korean to deliver nuclear weapons to the united states. that is not possible. we would have to take action against that and tillerson needs to sit down with the chinese and sit down and explain to them. we are going to conduct a cyber attack against that capability or preemptive kinetic attack against that ability that will escalate the situation and gives north koreans an option to conduct an invasion of south korea. we cannot permit that country to get it close to launching that capability. we have to have that conversation with the chinese. >> lou: we have all sorts of conflicts taking the window in the 20 year period that you mentioned. we have to have the ability it seems to me if we are going to do this to utterly destroy the government and the military of north korea. as i understand it, we don't have the resources in the region right now, is that the correct response? is it possibly what the chinese are trying to draw us into a preemptive strike against

korean issue, the threats coming from north korea. given that this has happened at a time china is having its national people's congress, give us a sense of the optics. >> well, i mean, i think the optics are more right now about these exercises, but certainly while the chinese are having these important meetings, you know, that -- obviously that brings north korea, you know, to the kind of pop up of national security conversations there. i think that the u.s. and president trump, in particular, has really, you know, made an effort of trying to talk to the chinese to say listen, you have to become part of the solution here, secretary of state rex tillerson has made it one of his priorities to put pressure on north korea as north korea only ally and benefactor, he's been putting pressure on the chinese after his meeting with foreign minister wong -- wang in berlin a couple of weeks ago. you saw the chinese cut off all full imports from north korea. there's a lot more chinese can do, it's not enough the u.s. that i think that the pressu

also making news today: malaysian police say more north korean nationals are expected to be arrested in connection with the murder of kim jong—nam, the estranged half—brother of north korean leader kimjong—un. kim jong—nam was killed five weeks ago at kuala lumpur airport. philippine president rodrigo duterte has welcomed an impeachment complaint filed against him and the possibility of facing the international criminal court regarding alleged extra —judicial killings. and thailand, three days after opposition lawmakers japanese prime minister shinzo abe has said that the european union and japan should soon reach an economic deal, and stressed the importance of free trade to his country. mr abe was opening the cebit technology fair, in hanover, along with german chancellor angela merkel. 3331? 1g; £53119§§§ eggi-jgiig fig} the $1 million global teacher prize has been won by a canadian teacher from a school in the arctic which can only be reached by air. maggie macdonnell was praised for changing the lives of her students and transforming her community. she created life

president donald trump had some harsh words for the north korean leader. he was on his way to washington from florida. >> had meetings on north korea. he is s actingery, verbadly. i ll telelyou, he acting ry badly >> whihite hse officia s ump disssedororth kea and otherssues over the wkend withfficia incdingng nanatial secury adviser. u.s. sretaryf state x tillerson sea new diction for amican poly on nor korea at news coerencen sel. declad the enof what e ama admiionalled stratic paence a didn't rul out the possibity of usi for againsthe rth. top offials fro japan and ruia haveenwoing to improve relions beten their tw untrie thapanese foreign minister spoke with his russian counterpart entokyo on monday. >> translator: i want to discuss a range of issues with an eye on our prime minister's visit to russia at an early date this year. >> sergey lavrov says he believes economic cooperation is a key condition for signing a peace treaty between the two countries. japanese prime minister s shinz abe and r russian president vladimir putin tououched on t t subjece

tai said he was living a comfortable life, here at the north korean embassy in london before he fled with his wife and two grown sons. >> the safety is guaranteed by the government. >> reporter: his job in london was to spread north korean propaganda, and report back on his colleagues. you all lived together under one roof? >> yes. >> reporter: so you could keep an eye on each other? >> keep an eye on each other, control each other, and even spy >> reporter: but he said he lost all faith in the regime when kim jong-un killed his own uncle in 2013, and executed dozens of perceived enemies, including diplomats. i've seen a tape of you giving speeches in london. you're very convincing. you seem to be a true believer yourself. >> if i show any sign of hesitation, then i would be, you know sent to -- i would be sent to prison camps. so my whole family's life will be jeopardized. >> reporter: he said there was one big obstacle to his defection. >> all north korean diplomats are forced to leave one of their children back in pyongyang as a hostage. >> reporter: as a hostage? >> yes. >> repor

the bbc‘s sharanjit leyl is outside the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur. what is the latest around that area? i see behind you a couple of police cars. that's right. it has been relatively quiet all morning. we have been standing out here watching the embassy for signs of movements. security wise it has been quite... we have had to make police cars out at the front gates, two police bikes went past earlier but where it has been busy has been the number of media who have gathered here, also watching the embassy for signs of movement. they are all camped out here, like we are. and essentially what we did see a short time ago was signs of movement. we saw a black mercedes—benz drive into the front gates. a man got out carrying what appeared to be breakfast, and that is it so far. we also seeing potentially more cars going past but we are watching for signs. and essentially what has happened is this latest row was triggered on tuesday, where we sought the north korean state media saying that malaysians in north korea would not be allowed to leave the country

koreans inside the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur that we want to talk to about that murder. whether they are suspects or witnesses, they want to talk to them. that prompted the authorities in pyongyang the sake, 0k, authorities in pyongyang the sake, ok, you have people here and they cannot leave either. the malaysian police chief has said we are just going to wait for them. we know they in the embassy and we will wait for a long as long as it takes. as you say, you quote the malaysian prime minister saying that is in effect taking hostages. i gather there are 11 taking hostages. i gather there are ii malaysians in gunn yang and one imagines that they are all diplomats so imagines that they are all diplomats so what is basically happening is pyongyang is saying your diplomats are stuck here while our diplomats are stuck here while our diplomats are stuck here while our diplomats are stuck there. that is according to the malaysians not the way diplomatic treatment is normal or acceptable. abhorrent actually is a word the malaysian prime minister use. in other news: three week

the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur. ina the north korean embassy in kuala lumpur. in a little less than 48 hours it will need a new resident after this man pulled no punches in his criticism of the malaysian investigation into the brazen killing of the estranged half brother of kim jong—un. killing of the estranged half brother of kim jong-un. it has been seven days since the incident but there is no clear evidence on the cause of the deaths and at the moment we cannot trust the investigation by the malaysians police. the malaysia prime minister called the diplomat‘s words undiplomatic reroute. tensions between the two nations ramped up in the following days as malaysia recalled its ambassador from pyongyang and revoked a visa free travel arrangement with north korea. but after the ambassador failed to apologise to authorities and did not turn upa apologise to authorities and did not turn up a meeting on saturday, that was the last straw. the foreign minister released a statement declaring him a persona non grata, barred from entering the country. with this det

this is a real theatrical outrage from the north koreans. the fact that the use of vx nerve agent was in this crime, how much did that change? it pointed a finger at a state operator, it couldn't be the work of someone knocking up a chemical in their bedroom. north korea is going to deny this until the day it dies but it's a clear message by using that agent that can be identified, this is an assassination, he didn't have a heart attack or food poisoning from the night before, he was killed. he could have been told in a number of ways but the choice of vx was deliberate. it sends a message this is an assassination, do not mistake it for anything else. staying with the presidential address which donald trump will be delivering shortly. historically these speeches have set the themes and tone for the year ahead. the bbc‘s katty kay has been taking a look through the archives at some of the more memorable moments of past speeches. it is the centrepiece of america's political calendar, in trying in the constitution. since george washington del

service members and as you say south korean and north korean troops. so the stakes are enormous. think about the flip side. if in fact north korea were to go ahead and put a nuclear weapon on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be a clear and present danger and we would have to react. i think it's appropriate that secretary tillerson put military on the table but we need a comprehensive policy that includes diplomatic and security related measures and work closely with our allies. >> all this explains why president obama said to president trump the gravest national security threat facing the united states right now stems from north korea. >> it seems like the trump administration is taking him seriously and that's to the good and we should all root to that. >> thank you, jake sullivan, helping us better appreciate the enormity of this issue. >>> coming up, the political fallout after president trump stood next to the german chancellor and stood by his claim of being wire tapped by president obama. >>> plus, the intruder that spent 15 minutes on the white house

, launching that missile, the north koreans want to get the attention of the u.s. so obviously you have to put it into that context. but it doesn't make the threat, ana, any greater or any less. with every test that north korea makes, whether they're doing it -- obviously they want to get attention and the love to be provocative. but with every test they make, they grow closer to having the kind of technology that would really be a disaster scenario for the u.s. and for europe, and certainly for south korea and japan. so this is very concerning to the u.s. and not just the fact that he did it with secretary tillerson there. i think that way it actually benefits secretary tillerson when he goes into this meeting with chinese president xi jinping very shortly, to say, look at the threat we're facing, we really have to double down, when president xi comes next month to meet with president trump, and he will be setting the table for that meeting today. it certainly makes the threat much more real. >> all right, elise labott, matt rivers, thank you so much. recappi reca