covering the olympics for us take us to soek alcohuth korea seoul. >> reporter: it is seoul like you've never seen, nearly 2,000 feet up in the tallest building in south korea and fifth tall else in the world, the views the world tour is 123 tower skyscraper that vows locals and tourists alike. the top seven floors are open to the public giving visitors a look at the area and cars that look like toys. >> we are on ts 118 floo tft world tower. third highest observatory in the world. on a clear day you can see 25 miles outside of seoul. from this vantage point you can see the density of seoul. a sea of tightly packed apartment complexes and high-rises. nearly half the population of all of south korea live in seoul. that's 10 million people which is more than new yorkcy and about 15 times the population of washington d.c. the world tower is considered the crown it cost 3.5 billion to complete. and eventually draw more than 50 million visitors a year. one of the observation desk is the unobstructed view of the hahn river. the north is the more traditional older part. and the south is the ne

previously the largest base has ended up being right in the middle of seoul. when it was originally constructed it was outside, but seoul has grown so rapidly that the base is now in the very center. this is a minor irritant for the koreans to have a large garrison , of foreign troops stationed in your capital. >> does the south korean government support the u.s. presence? >> it certainly does. it certainly does. now in a perfect world, the , koreans would wish the united states was not there. they would wish they could manage their own security on their own. but i think it is a widely held view that the u.s. presence is needed to balance the competing interests of china, of north korea, formerly of the soviet union. but the koreans would certainly like to live in a world where the americans could be gone. there is that tension of meeting -- needing the americans but not necessarily wanting them. >> you said it is impossible as long as the kim regime is in power. give us a brief history of the kim regime. >> the kim regime initially the , first leader is kim i

they will be re-concentrated to a really large base south of seoul. previously they were stationed around the dmz which means they were a trip wire force. any invasion of the south by the north would mean the immediate shedding of american blood which would guarantee american entrance into the war. that would still happen, but the dynamics have changed. they want to narrow the american footprint in south korea, concentrate the americans into one zone and get them out of the center of seoul. previously the largest base has ended up being right in the middle of seoul. when it was originally constructed it was outside, but seoul has grown so rapidly that the base is now in the center. and fora minor curator the koreans to have a large garrison of foreign troops stationed in your capital. >> does the south korean government support the u.s. presence? >> it certainly does. in a perfect world, the koreans would wish the united states was not there. they would wish they could manage their own security on their own. view thatdely held the u.s. presence is nee

it was outside of seoul, but seoul has grown so rapidly that the pace is now in the very center. to ais a minor irritant large group of foreign troops stationed there. >> do they support the u.s. president? >> certainly does. in a perfect world, the koreans would wish the united states was not there. they wish they could manage their own security affairs on their own. it's a widely held view that the u.s. presence is needed to balance the competing interests of china and north korea and the soviet union. the koreans would certainly like to live in a world where the americans would be gone. there is that tension up americans but not necessarily wanting them. >> you said it's impossible as long as the kim regime is in power. give us a brief history of the kim regime. >> the kim regime initially is the guerrilla fighter against the japanese was very young, he was an officer in the red army, he was brought to north korea by the soviet union who established him as a puppet leader. they were thinking they could exert more influence on him then they could. kim il-sung maintained an inde

garrison when it was originally constructed was outside of seoul. it has grown so rapidly that it is now in the center. this is a minor irritant for the koreans, and would be for any people to have a foreign garrison stationed right in your capital. support a foreign presence? mr. fields: they do. in a perfect world, the south koreans would wish the united states was not there. they wish they could manage their security affairs on their own. it is a wide view that it is needed to balance the competing interests of china and north korea. the south koreans would like to live in a world where the americans could be gone. there is a tension of needing the americans but not necessarily wanting them. host: you said it's impossible as long as the kim regime is in power. give us a history of them. mr. fields: the first was kim a guerrilla fighter against the japanese. he was a red officer. he was brought into north korea by the soviet union, who established him as a puppet lea der. when they did that, they thought they could exert more influence on him than

it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 9am in seoul,

we'll go live to seoul also coming up. renewed protests in iran is that country sees its most violent of rust in the years more than twenty people have been killed in the demonstrations as the government threatens a further crackdown. and it could be a make or break year for german chancellor machall look at what's in store for her in twenty eighteen as she tries to form a new coalition government. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us south korea's a government has offered to hold high level talks with north korea beginning next week the talks would focus on the participation of a north korean team in this year's winter olympics to be held in the south now the offer comes a day after north korean leader kim jong un struck a more conciliatory tone towards the south in his new year's address saying he was quote open to dialogue but kim did keep up his threatening stance towards the united states. flowers for kim il sung and kim jong il north korea's past leaders a gesture of reverence repeated on every holiday in the k

what does this mean now in terms of improved relationship between seoul and washington, given that seoul and pyongyang and now talking directly to each other. there is a real risk in the relationship between seoul and washington. both sides are going to have to be very careful and be in co nsta nt to have to be very careful and be in constant communication and co—ordination because we have seen over the last year, vijay in's primary objective is to make sure that a war does not break out on the korean peninsula. that is his main task. he is most interested in defusing tensions as much as he can. washington on the other hand is for interested in applying as much pressure as possible. that includes rhetorical pressure as well. the interest two have diverged a little bit and interest two have diverged a little bitand in interest two have diverged a little bit and in the past and a previous seoul and washington governments, the administrations have done a real job of making sure they don't drift too far apart. to see if that will will be the case in 2018. —— we will have two c. ——

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in seoul. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has apologised to patients, after hospitals in england were told to delay tens of thousands of non—urgent operations and appointments. the health service is struggling to cope with mounting winter pressures. the bbc understands at least one in ten hospital trusts have been put on the highest level of alert in the last 2a hours, meaning they are unable to deliver comprehensive care. the royal college of emergency medicine says patient safety is undoubtedly being compromised. labour claims the nhs is in crisis. 0ur health editor hugh pym has the latest. there's been extreme stress at some hospitals. around 20 in england have been on the highest alert level. that means no available beds and severe delays for ambulances handing over patients. one reason why tens of thousands of non—urgent operations this month will be cancelled. that means patients like dave, who is himself a doctor, will have to wait longer. he was due to have heart surgery today, but

in seoul. president trump defending himself over days of controversy over those remarks to describe haitians and african-american. this was thursday. the last night the president pushed back about accusations his words reflect racist believes and lawmakers within the gop, they disagree on whether he used this explosive term at all. >> the president talked about the possibility of a federal shutdown. white house correspondent boris sanchez traveling with the president has more from west palm beach. >> reporter: the president taking a few moments before dinner with house majority leader kevin mccarthy on sunday night to answer reporters questions and he made news on a variety of fronts. having to answer that uncomfortable question that came up this week after the president reportedly made some disparaging remarks about african nations and haitians during a meeting at the white house. he's the president answering the reporter's question, are you a racist. listen to this. >> no, i'm not a ray siff.

one of thirty countries in which there seoul. our your order books full right now. yes. is is how long has this been the case. we always have seasonal activity it's true that for the past few years older books have been full. many factories picking up and not just in france. a global trend that represents good news for the industrial sector at large according to t this economy. jim is. it impossible to please we've never seen a fracture is with these kinds of profit margins. when the margins of t this high. businesses can start to invest and hire local say apple per year. of the one hundred and thirty five employees working in this factory ten were recruited last year. mostly on long term contracts. of my resume. on monday and stuff wednesday. the company hopes to hire some more in two thousand eighteen. and is even planning to open a subsidiary. in the united states. well there also some good figures coming out of germany this wednesday where the unemployment rate hit a record low in december. of this rate stands at five point five percent the lowest level since german

rupert wingfield-hayes has the latest from seoul. rupert: skiers on the slopes of pyeongchang were moving a little slower than they will be in a month's time. then, the world's best will be flying down. and now we know that when the olympic games open here on february 7, there will be a full north korean team competing. they will march in side-by-side with their south korean compatriots. >> i think with sports, we can put everything else aside from and everyone should do their best to achieve their goals in the competition. rupert: north korea is just 50 miles away in that direction, and the north has completely overshadowed preparations for the olympics here. some teams have threatened to pull out, ticket sales have been slow. you can see this place is not exactly humming with skiers. there is immense relief that the north and south are at least talking. this morning north korea's chief delegate strode across the demarcation line that divides the 2 koreas. he warmly shook the hands of his south korean counterpart. "the weather is co

seoul has grown so rapidly that the space is now in the very center. this is a minor irritant for the koreans. >> does the south korean government present -- respect the presence of u.s. troops? >> it certainly does. in a perfect world, the koreans would wish the u.s. was not there. they would wish that they could manage their own security affairs on their own. i think it is a widely held view that the u.s. presence is needed to balance the competing interests of china, north korea, formally of the soviet union. the koreans would certainly like to live in a world where the americans could be gone. there is that tension of meeting -- needing the americans but not necessarily wanting them. >> you said it is impossible as long as the kim regime is in power. give us a history of the kim regime. >> the first leader is kim il-sung who was a guerrilla fighter against the japanese. he was very young, he was actually an officer in the red army, he was brought into north korea by the soviet union to establish him as a puppet leader. when they did that, they were

we'll be live in seoul, where the south korean president is about to speak. from trump's closest confidant, to outcast. five months after he was forced out of the white house steve bannon quits breitbart news. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme, growing calls for the release of two journalists held in myanmar for their coverage of the rohingya crisis. and running out of space. low gravity triggers a surprising growth spurt for this japanese astronaut. it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 9am in seoul, where after months of tension between the two koreas, there's signs of a sudden and dramatic change. for the first time in over two years north and south korea have engaged in formal military talks, to try to defuse tensions between the two countries. let's cross over now to a special press c0 nfe re nce let's cross over now to a special press conference taking place right now in seoul, where the south korean president is addressing the nation. translation: we'd dream again and we hope again. —— we dream. my fellow people, you have sp

kyung young says it will send a high level delegation to next month's winter olympics in the south seoul is considering temporarily lifting sanctions against north korea and has proposed military talks it also wants every union of thousands of families that were separated after the korean war senior officials from both sides met at the demilitarized zone in on one john on the border now people from both sides of the borders say they are optimistic about the talks. and you know every korean really wants relations between the north and the salty prove it's origin it's an important thing that the whole nation should solve by coming together anything that provokes either side to creates obstacles to enough occasion should completely stop. and i think that the winter olympics which will take place in south korea are a good chance to show the world a good image of our nation since i'm korean it's natural for me to want to congratulate my fellow koreans for this happy event and i hope that our fleets from the north and south can do well and be successful in doing on the morning i came here to s

josh smith with the latest from seoul thank you so much. thank you. let's get a quick check now of some other stories that have been making news around the world a military court in thailand has dropped charges against said eighty four year old historian who has been accused of insulting the country's monarchy so lock questioned whether a national myth about a dual fought five hundred years ago by a king on the back of an elephant had really happened the court said that there was not enough evidence to proceed in chile a pope francis has expressed pain over the roman catholic church as sex abuse scandals in the country he asked to forgive the church earlier he met with abuse victims and held an outdoor mass in the capital santiago the pope's visit has been accompanied by unprecedented protest three churches were set on fire overnight. steve bannon the former chief strategist of u.s. president donald trump has refused to answer questions about the election campaigns alleged ties to russia than it was testifying before a congressional committee reports

reporter: it is seoul like you've never seen. nearly 2000 feet up in the tallest building in south korea and the 5th tallest in the world. the views will take your breath away. the look day world tower is a 123-story sky scraper in capital city that wows locals and tourists alike. the top seven floors are open to the public for observation, giving visitors a panoramic look at the sprawling metropolis with buildings as far as the eye can see, and cars that look like toys. we're on the 118th floor of the look day world tower, the third highest observatory in the world. on a clear day, you can see 25 miles outside of seoul. from this vantage point you can see the density of seoul, a sea of tightly packed apartment complexes and high rises. nearly half the population of all of south korea live in seoul. that's 10 million people, which is more than new york city and about 15 times the population of washington, d.c. the look day world tower is considered the crown jewel of korean architecture. it opened in the spring after 13 years of

cnn's will ripley is live for us in seoul. so fortunate to have your expertise. you've been to north korea many times. bring us up to speed on the state of play here. >> reporter: it's really remarkable. i mean, also for the first time, we heard an assurance from president trump, when he spoke with south korea's president moon jae-in, that the u.s. will not engage in any military strikes against north korea alongside as the inter-korean talks are ongoing. president trump said he was never going to tell if or when he would strike. now he's saying he's not going to do it. he said he's open to speaking with kim jong-un. it makes you wonder if kim jong-un's strategy, is it starting to pay off? well, the u.s. president, donald trump, and south korea's president, they say actually quite the opposite. they say that north korea will denuclearize. but it might not happen right away. they say the talks need to continue. president trump saying he's opening open to speaking with kim jong-un, while still insisting that north korea give up its nuclear arsenal. but look at toda

would like to hold this meeting with tenacity and perseverance kathy novak is our correspondent in seoul she joins us now live kathy first of all tell us who was in these delegations and how big of a breakthrough is this first meeting in more than two years. well it is a high level delegation the men that we were just hearing from there were the chief ministers who are in charge of in her career relations on both sides of from the south korean side you have the unification minister and then his north korean counterpart along with their deputies leading five member delegations on both sides that include representatives in charge of sports and culture and the olympics and it is significant because these two countries have not had any kind of communication for a long time it's been as you said more than two years since they have sat down for a formal meeting but they haven't even had informal talks in the form of picking up the phone and talking across the hotline that exists at the border for almost two years so it is significant to go straight to this high level sit down the meeting betwe

well there are certainly those in seoul and elsewhere around the world who hope that this does some kind of opening in an end to the rising tensions that we've seen over the past year however many analysts were somewhat cautious and skeptical of this noting that north korea in the past has also offered similar branches all of branches with little result they also noted that even if north korea does come to the olympics it's not clear that this will have any impact on the broader dispute over their north or their nuclear weapons program ok well what's the word in seoul right now is it looking like north korea will be sending a team to the olympics this outskirt the south korean government is certainly open to that it's something that they've been calling for for some time and they jumped quite quickly on kim suggestion that officials might meet today the south korean government proposed holding talks on january ninth they say they have not yet heard however back from the north koreans officially on whether they are willing to send a delegation ok now one way to look at this is that i can

the latest let's go live to seoul. bring us up to speed. >> reporter: well, we've just had a redact of sorts of the conversation that north korea had had with south korea. it is very short. the names have been taken out for security reasons. the north koreans called at 3:30 p.m. 1:30 a.m. eastern time. they said hello, this is x. the north koreans said hello, this is x. that is all we have been given and it appears as though what that may have been the main crux of the conversation. they say that the communication lines were open for 20 minutes to check for logistical things and the south koreans are now waiting to see if they phone back again today while the business hours are still open. so the question is why is kim jong-un deciding that he does want to speak to south korea? some suggesting that it's because he wants to draw a wedge in between the u.s. and south korea alliance. we've heard from many people here in the region, that alliance is simply too strong to be able to be split apart by any kind of mind games.

nuclear weapons of threatened though the launch button is on his desk floor and slowly reports from seoul. this is how north korea welcome to the new year with a fireworks display much like the rest of the world but it is leader kim jong un's new year's day address that is drawing all the attention if two thousand and seventeen was marked by fiery rhetoric and rising tensions because of north korea's nuclear ambitions two thousand and eighteen may bring more of the same. colors from the to the u.s. mainland is within the range of our nuclear strike and the nuclear button is put on the desk in my office at all times they should clearly understand that this is never a trash what are reality kim has called for the mass production and deployment of more nuclear warheads and missiles but weapons experts agree that north korea may not yet have the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and mounted a missile that could be entering the atmosphere while kim speech made no mention of the new kid atmospheric test he reiterated the claim that north korea is now a nuclear power in stark contrast

rupert wingfield-hayes, bbc news, seoul. laura: in other news from around the world, northern europe is recovering from the brunt of storm eleanor. in france, big swells breached sea defenses. in switzerland, strong winds caused widespread damage. a passenger plane was flipped over by one particularly strong gust. the french president, emmanuel macron, says his government will introduce legislation to combat fake news during election campaigns. the law would enable judges to block websites that spread fake news and counter efforts by foreign governments to destabilize the democratic process. amidst footage of a frustrated passenger on a european budget , it has got people watching with sympathy. after the plane was delayed, the man decided to leave through the emergency exit. he sat on the wing. as he could have predicted, he was arrested by airport security. we turn now to yemen's bloody civil war, which has claimed thousands of lives and driven millions to the brink of starvation. last year, the country was hit by the worl

in seoul thank you very much. and here in germany a member of parliament and a leading figure in the far right alternative for germany party could face charges of illegal hate speech for her angry tweet on new year's eve beatrix criticized police in the city of cologne for publishing a new year's greeting in arabic she said they were trying to appease quote barbaric gang raping hordes of muslim men the law makers tweet came as a new german law aimed at cracking down on online hate speech came into full effect according to the new law social media companies must delete potentially criminal posts within twenty four hours or face fines of up to fifteen million euros. to speak about this further let's bring in our political correspondent rupert meter vault rupert it's good to see you for those of us who don't know a great deal about beatrix can you tell us who she is and what she means to the political scene here in germany. as you have already said beatrix from georgia is one of the leading figures of the extreme rig

let's speak now to our correspondent in seoul could bea to our correspondent in seoul could be a clear message for washington?‘ clear message. he began by saying not only can we reach any point on the us main lined with our arsenal but there is also a button on my desk. he said it is not a threat, it isa desk. he said it is not a threat, it is a reality but a reality that he said would mean that the united states would not be able to attack them. he did say in a more conciliatory tone that the nuclear arsenal and the missile programme that he says is now completed, rather, completed in 2017, is a deterrent one. they would not use their weapons unless their security was threatened. interestingly, it was threatened. interestingly, it was far more conciliatory when they we re was far more conciliatory when they were talking about south korea. he was saying that he would be open to talking to south korea and made a clear point that he is willing to send north korean delegation to the winter olympics which is being held in south korea at the beginning of february. that is important becaus

s offerng accepts seoul' for dialogue. this will be the first official inter-korea and talks in more than two years. at least four people are killed as heavy snow and freezing cold temperatures spark dangerous travel conditions in the eastern u.s. french president emmanuel macron is hosting his turkish counterpart, recep tayyip erdogan, today. they will discuss on corrupt's relationship with brussels, the humanion in syria, and rights violations and a media crackdown in turkey following the failed coup d'etat in 2016. i will continue to press turkey on the issue of the jailed journalists who were prevented from doing their jobs. i will raise this issue with respect for defending our values and interests. just as journalists are expected various's stories, leaders are expected to discuss issues they may not agree with. molly: for more, we will go to our correspondent standing by for us now at the presidential palace. walk us through why are we seeing this meeting now and why, here in paris? reporter: president recep tayyip

let's speak to reuters correspondent josh smith who is standing by for us in seoul with more on this story hi josh good to see you now south korea's president n.j. and says he is willing to meet kim jong il and how likely is that well i think the south korean government has made it clear that they do hope that this small opening start by the of them there will lead to something more north korea has also said that it is interested in lowering tensions between the two koreas but has also said that its nuclear program is non-negotiable which is a problem not only for south korea but also for many international allies of seoul here including the united states which has said that any talks i need to include denuclearizing the financial of. whether again this regain they're able to turn this olympics agreement into something more is something that everyone is watching on the other side of the coin josh after months of tensions kim seems to offer an olive branch to the south which yesterday yesterday that talks what does he want to get out of this. well judging by his public statements kim

kim is a professor at hancock university a foreign studies in seoul he says south korea will not let talks with pyongyang affect its ties with the us their efforts to drive wedges between washington and seoul that efforts had been made for decades by jim jones father and his grandfather death has been north korea's strategy all along and looks like there is a growing concern that this time their action could actually make that happen but however in north korea south korea here in seoul we have enough for presence of conservatives who believe you know the tie between washington and seoul is the most critical one we should keep in place so i don't think that's going to happen no matter what the policymakers try some of the progress that policymakers try here in the city there will be enough of a reaction from the conservatives to prevent that from happening the u.s. says it intends to withhold more than two hundred fifty million dollars of aid to pakistan the decision comes after president trump again accused the country of being a safe haven for terrorists rosen jordan has more from w

is it basically designed to drive a wedge between washington and seoul. i'm sure that's the main call if there are maybe others but that's the main objective this is not a new tactic the north will often try and raise tensions and then try and split the united states from its allies by being making consolidate gestures to one side or the other if anything it's a bit surprising how long it took the north korean government to do this since they had the election of a president of south korea who was more inclined towards negotiating with the north than his predecessor and so this is nothing not a new development we've been we've been here before in the past it hasn't proved that successful primarily because the north was unable to make the kind of concessions needed to really change south korean's orientation and i think that's going to be the same challenge this time for that for the counting richard the white house welcomed the announced with the north korea was going to participate in the winter olympics for the play down the significance of it is is the

he's got the latest developments live in seoul. they are talking after two years of silence, they are at least talking. and when you say this is meant to put a wedge between south korea and the united states. the what is the view from there? >> reporter: it's hard to know what north korea wants to accomplish here, because there have been a total of five conversations on this korean border hot line over the last two days but they have basically involved chebicking the line an there was nothing to report. we have heard the discussions were going to is center around north korea sending a delegation here. this is something the officials have been discussing not publicly but privately for a couple of weeks. suggesting perhaps the olympics would be an opportunity to grow the friendship between the two countries, but that hotline that is now active really hasn't netted any results yesterday. the it's something we have to continue to watch. japanese prime minister speaking just in the last few hours not convinced this is a major break thro

i have been speaking to people here in seoul about the hopes surrounding these talks. will the winter olympics mark the turning point in inter—korean relations that the south korean president has consistently said they could be? the north and south korean governments are meeting for the first time in two years. they will discuss the possibility of the north sending these athletes with a delegation to the pyeongchang games. the north korean leader used his new year address to say he was open to dialogue with the south. but he also said north korea was a nuclear state that would now mass—produce nuclear missiles, something entirely unacceptable to south korea and its ally, the united states. the talks are taking place here, the truce village of panmunjom, which straddles the border in the demilitarised zone that divides the two koreas. some say they are an important step in the right direction, and are confident it will lead to at least a couple of months of peace and stability. i personally, and also korean people, really hope that this successful pyeongchang olympi

sophie long, bbc news, seoul. the army has defended a new recruitment campaign, which focuses on the emotional and physical support given to soldiers. the army wants to reassure applicants that their sexuality or religion will not stand in the way of becoming a soldier. critics of the campaign say it shows the army has bowed to political correctness. here's our defence correspondent jonathan beale. it is all right to cry and show emotion in the army — it is a recruitment campaign very different to those of the past. part of what is called, "army belonging". voiced by soldiers to show there is emotional as well as physical support for new recruits. the adverts answer questions such as, "can i be gay and join the army?" whilst a muslim soldier explains how he can still practice his faith. all aimed at groups not seen as the traditional target audience, but minorities who may have been reluctant to sign up. our traditional cohort would have been white, male, caucasian, 16 to 25—year—olds and there are not as ma

the united states also says that it will work with seoul to ensure that pyongyang's participation does not violate sanctions over the country's nuclear program. the trump administration sent mixed signals, saying that pyongyang is trying to drive a wedge between it and south korea. guilia: for the first time in two years, negotiations between the borders. pyongyang confirmed that it will send 18 to the south olympics next month. -- that it will send a team to the south korean olympics next month. pyongyang and seoul agreed to hold talks to reopen a military hotline. >> the north and south have agreed to establish peace on the korean peninsula and seek reconciliation. south and north korea agreed that military tensions needed to be eased. in order to achieve that, both sides have agreed to hold military talks. guilia: south korea called it an important verse step toward improving relations. china urged the international community support to support -- the international community to support the latest developments. >> we hope the talks this time are a good start to improve relations, pro

let's go live to seoul. >> reporter: hello, dave. well, north and south korea have made communication and a connection once again, just a matter of hours ago. it was the communication hot line at the dmz. we've had a readout of what was said. the names have been taken out for security reasons and it is very short. north korea phoned south korea at 1:30 a.m. eastern time. a south korean official said this is x and the north korean official said this is x. and they checked the technicalities to make sure the commune kwags line was still working. there was no more. they have been waiting for a second phone call from north korea. it's now 7:00 p.m. in the evening. they could potentially have to wait until tomorrow to find out if north korea is going to say yes to their suggestion. they have suggested that next tuesday, january 9th, they should meet at the dmz for high level talks to talk about the fact that kim jong-un wants to send a delegation to the pyeongchang winter olympics. now, as for that tweet from the u.s. president, we're not

is it basically designed to drive a wedge between washington and seoul. i'm sure that's the main call if there are maybe others but that's the main objective this is not a new tactic the north will often try and raise tensions and then try and split the united states from its allies by being making consolidate gestures to one side or the other if anything it's a bit surprising how long it took the north korean government to do this since they had the election of a president of south korea who was more inclined towards negotiating with the north than his predecessor and so this is not a not a new development we've been we've been here before in the past it hasn't proved that successful primarily because the north was unable to make the kind of concessions needed to really change south koreans orientation and i think that's going to be the same challenge this time for that for the counting richard that the white house welcomed they announced with the north korea was going to participate in the winter olympics for the play down the significance of it is is t

is it basically designed to drive a wedge between washington and seoul. i'm sure that's the main call if there are maybe others but that's the main objective this is not a new tactic the north will often try and raise tensions and then try and split the united states from its allies by being making consolidate gestures to one side or the other if anything it's a bit surprising how long it took the north korean government to do this since they had the election of a president of south korea who was more inclined towards negotiating with the north than his predecessor and so this is not not a new development we've been we've been here before in the past it hasn't proved that successful primarily because the north was unable to make the kind of concessions needed to really change south koreans orientation and i think that's going to be the same challenge this time for that for the counting richard that the white house welcomed they announced with the north korea was going to participate in the winter olympics for the play down the significance of it is is the

in seoul. we'll go there live shortly. we start with the president defending himself after days of controversy over these remarks denigrating haiti and african nations. he said to have used an explef tif while talking to lawmakers thursday. his words reflect racist beliefs. lawmakers even within the gop disagree on whether the president use the explosive term. >> the president also talked about the possibility of a government shutdown with the clock ticking. the sides remain far apart on a deal for d.r.e.a.m.ers. boris sanchez is traveling with the president. he has more to are us this morning from west palm beach. >> reporter: the president taking a few moments before dinner with house majority leader kevin mccarthy on sunday night to answer reporters question and he made news on a variety of fronts. for one having to answer that uncomfortable question that came up this week after the president reportedly made some disparaging remarks about african nations and haitians during a meeting with lawmakers at the white house. h

is it basically designed to drive a wedge between washington and seoul. i'm sure that's the main call if there are maybe others but that's the main objective this is not a new tactic the north will often try and raise tensions and then try and split the united states from its allies by being making consolidate gestures to one side or the other if anything it's a bit surprising how long it took the north korean government to do this since they had the election of a president of south korea who was more inclined towards negotiating with the north than his predecessor and so this is not a not a new development we've been we've been here before in the past it hasn't proved that successful primarily because the north was unable to make the kind of concessions needed to really change south koreans orientation and i think that's going to be the same challenge this time for that for the counting richard the white house welcomed they announced with the north korea was going to participate in the winter olympics for the play down the significance of it is is the ad

holding its first high level discussions with seoul since twenty fifty. france's president is pushing for stronger ties between his country the european union and china and will be signing several deals with chinese leader xi jinping is offered to open up funds to chinese investment. and any radiant oil tanker that collided with a freighter off time is east coast on saturdays still on fire dozens of rescue boats spent three days trying to control the base rescuers are looking for thirty one crew members who are still basic. pro-democracy activists in hong kong are in court again over their roles in mass protests in twenty fourteen. eagles conard benny ty and eight others are attending a pretrial hearing they face charges of incitement connected with their roles in the movement demonstrations sarika has more from hong kong. this is the pretrial hearing for nine pro-democracy activists who've been child's withinside in public nuisance for their role back in the twenty four st occupy hong kong protests which shut down parts of the city but almost three month

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south korea's top nuclear envoy and his japanese counterpart are meeting in seoul it comes a day before the first high level talks between north and south korea in more than two years there a gathering is expected to focus on pyongyang's participation in the upcoming winter games in kyung chon the saudi led coalition has denied who the rebels claim is that they shot down its military jet in yemen sada province the saudi air force says the pain crashed because of a technical failure it also says the two pilots have been rescued iranian backed hoofy rebels have been fighting government forces supported by saudi arabia in yemen egypt's former prime minister ahmed shafik has ruled himself out of the running for the upcoming presidential election shafique said in november he intended to run later this year but he's not pulled out of contention saying he is not the perfect person to lead state affairs and iran is banning the teaching of english as a subject in primary schools education officials want to stop what they call a western cultural invasion primary schools will focus more on promoti

kathy novak is in seoul. the olympic torch is making its way through central seoul carried by celebrities including k. pop stars and athletes here in going home one square it is traveling on a royal carriage in a reenactment of a traditional procession more attention has been focused on the winter games since north korea agreed to participate in a recent poll more than eighty percent of south koreans said they supported north korea taking part though more than half do not want the government in seoul to cover the delegations expenses. i think it is unreasonable for south korea to pay those countries around the world are coming north korea should not be an exception because all know that if you gave them to me to north korea's participation might help the olympics but not necessarily south korea. the two koreas are expected to meet in the coming days to discuss the north's participation it's a significant shift in into korean relations before high level talks on tuesday there had been no official communication

pop stars on the streets of seoul is b.l.m. take torch arrives to mock the way to get. how i was still got some re-instatement snow coming off the turkish mountain the system around the black sea around the caspian sea long line of cloud here she can see that pushes all the way up towards the himalayas that's where we're going to see the main area of disturbed weather as we go through the next few days that's the main everybody do have some cloud and right we'll see some sort of the mediterranean start for seeing some cloud and right that wet weather just not seeing into coastal parts of syria lebanon jordan also seeing some wet weather supply rates around sixteen celsius on sunday monday should brought not attempt just picking up to around seventeen degrees but by that stage possibility of what is to wintry flurries there just around the the north of iran meanwhile is fine in tribe warm and sunny across arabian peninsula getting up to twenty five twenty six celsius over the next couple of days perhaps a little more of a breeze just coming in here in qatar as you go on

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in seoul. following his tweet about north korea, president trump has gone on the offensive again tonight, this time to launch an extraordinary attack on his former chief strategist, steve bannon. what provoked it were reports that bannon had described a meeting between the president's son and a russian lawyer during the presidential election campaign as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic". it's understood the comments will be published in a book next week. the president has hit back with a statement tonight, claiming steve bannon had nothing to do with helping win his presidency. mr trump says, "when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind." 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, is at the white house. this is an extraordinary outburst, even by the standards of donald trump. fiona, i thought it would take quite something to eclipse donald trump's tweet about kim jong—un, it now seems that the president and steve bannon are engaged in a battle for who has the biggest button and the m

correspondent florence living now who has been monitoring the address from the south korean capital seoul how much of a softening of the starts to word south korea is that that message florence. what relations between the two koreas really have been at their lowest point in decades so this is a really a piece overture that north korean leader kim jong un is making now on the relationship hasn't been very good between the two koreas in part because the previous south korean administrations have taken a more hardline approach when it came to dealing with north korea but south korean president in who only took office in may is more of the liberal now north korea seems to be appealing to that side of the south korean leader there was specific mention of the upcoming winter olympics and paralympics it's to be hosted in pyongyang chung just eighty kilometers south of the heavily border five heavily fortified border with north korea now north korea is even saying that it is willing to send a delegation something that south korean officials will no doubt be very happy to accept even though knows

live in seoul, next. ♪ we know life can be hectic. that's why, at xfinity, we've been working hard to simplify your experiences with us. now, with instant text and email updates, you'll always be up to date. you can easily add premium channels, so you don't miss your favorite show. and with just a single word, find all the answers you're looking for - because getting what you need should be simple, fast, and easy. download the xfinity my account app or go online today. >>> welcome back. north korea officially accepting a proposal to have peace talks. face-to-face negotiations scheduled to begin tuesday, one day after kim jong-un's birthday. cnn's will ripley is monitoring developments live from seoul. so glad to have you here with your perspective. you understand the situation very well. the fact they are talking for the first time in two year, how significant? >> reporter: it's significant that they are talking, and the number one item on the agenda is to work out the logistics for getting a north korean delegation here for the olymp

rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in seoul. six people have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to the banned far—right terror group national action. the five men and one woman were detained during raids in cambridge, banbury, wolverhampton, leicester and stockport. all six are being held at a police station in the west midlands. a homeless man who was hailed a hero for helping some of the injured at the manchester arena bombing, has pleaded guilty to stealing a purse and a mobile phone from victims of the attack. chris parker appeared at manchester crown court earlier today. danny savage is outside the manchester arena for us. chris parker became famous after the manchester arena bombing. he was the homeless guy who rushed in to help people, that's what everyone believed because that's what he told eve ryo ne believed because that's what he told everyone in the aftermath of the bombing. but afterwards, when investigators started looking at the cctv, a different story began to unfold. although he did help some people, he