09/03/2018 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

Our top stories:

The Trump administration says it's

given no concessions to North Korea

over the agreement on a summit

with Kim Jong Un.

South Korea's President thanks

Donald Trump for accepting

the offer, but could it prove to be

a false dawn?

Also in the programme.....

A surprise move by Kenya's President

and Opposition leader,

they promise reconciliation

after last year's bitterly

contested election.

Why increasing numbers of young

British Muslim women are deciding

to wear a headscarf.

She was an American

hero, who disappeared

without trace 80 years ago.

Has the mystery surrounding aviation

pioneer Amelia Earhart

finally been solved?

Hello, and welcome

to World News Today.

Let's talk.

The offer from North

Korea was simple.

The reaction from

Washington, unexpected.

And now the reaction from around

the world to the promise of face

to face talks between the leaders

of the two countries -

has been overwhelmingly positive.

At the opening of the Paralympic

Games in South Korea President Moon

thanked the two leaders for a step

which he said was already helping

to realise a new global peace.

Elsewhere, President XI Jinping

of China spoke with his US

counterpart in a phone call,

praising the "positive aspiration"

of the talks and urging them

to begin as soon as possible.

Meanwhile US Vice President Mike

Pence who recently travelled

to South Korea was quick to point

out that his administration had made

no concessions in order

to secure the talks -

but rather it was North Korea

who caved in by agreeing to discuss

giving up its nuclear programme,

and halt all nuclear

and missile tests.

Our North America Correspondent Nick

Bryant has the latest on the story.

Last night the precincts of the

White House felt more like the

Twilight

White House felt more like the

Twilight zone.

Donald Trump slipping

into the briefing room unannounced

to tell reporters to expect a major

announcement. From the West wind had

a delegation from South Korea to

make one of the most stunning

diplomatic announcements in decades,

announcing a message from Kim Jong

Un.

He has agreed to meet President

Trump as soon as possible. President

Trump appreciated the treaty, and

said he would meet Kim Jong Un. They

hope to achieve demutualisation.

Prior to arriving in Washington they

held a meeting in Pam Yang with a

warm hand of friendship rather than

rattling his usual sabre.

rattling his usual sabre. On state

TV the soundtrack doubled as

diplomatic mood music, the North

Korean leader offered to abandon his

country's nuclear arsenal in

exchange for security guarantees

from the United States. Then came

the sentimental farewell, with an

invitation to Mr Trump, the most

improbable of overtures. Donald

Trump gave his response on twitter,.

The White House claims tough talk

has worked.

They will be met with fire and few

league, like the world has never

seen. Rocket man is on a suicide

mission for himself, and for his

regime.

Washington has been in a whirlwind,

taken completely by surprise,

shortly before the announcement

America's chief diplomat ruled out

talks with Pyongyang.

In terms of

direct talks with the United States,

we are a long way from negotiations.

This is a gamble which offers

Pyongyang a propaganda coup without

much did the matter ground work,

without a guarantee of success. All

Donald Trump's probes and trapeze

lessons have failed to

-- all of Donald Trump's

predecessors have failed to halt

North Korea's nuclear programme.

This is potentially the world's most

combustible problem. This is the

international summit of the century.

As we heard today's announcement

follows a thawing of relations

between North and South Korea. They

marched under a single flag at the

Winter Olympics, the South Korean

president has described the planned

meeting with its unpredictable

neighbour as a milestone for peace.

Powell has the news gone down in the

capital, Laura has been finding out?

For once. The prospect of a stunning

Trump, Kim summit has turned an

impending crisis into an

opportunity. The horror of the

Korean War is not forgotten here.

The fighting ended with no peace

treaty. Future generations hope

these talks will prevent further

confrontation.

I think this will be

a turning point, so this is our

future children will benefit from

living in a more free and peaceful

world.

world.

It's a good thing for both

countries. As a South Korean citizen

is good that the threat of war has

reduced by a little.

Even if things

turn out well it would benefit the

people in North Korea, in the past

when the South Korean president

provided aid almost none of it went

to the common people. I don't think

it will turn out well.

Decades of distrust and suspicion

divides North and south. Hope can be

a bad thing, it's hard to tell what

is real progress and what is

propaganda.

A strong word of

caution, the road ahead is long and

complicated, it is complex with no

guarantee that the North will ever

give up nuclear weapons drizzly, if

at all.

These talks are a huge political

gamble, President's moon and Trump

could be being played by Pyongyang,

or this peninsula could be on the

verge of something it's been

searching for for nearly seven

decades, a peace treaty. This statue

portrays two brothers divided by the

war, in a last, desperate embrace.

There's a sense of cautious optimism

that this unresolved conflicts could

now have a happy ending.

Joining me now is the research

director at the US Korea incident at

John Hopkins School of advanced

International studies. Welcome to

the programme. Both correspondents

describe these talks as a gamble.

It's worth tailoring our

expectations?

I would agree. President Trump will

be surprised when he shows up at

wherever the meeting will be to find

that the North Koreans will not be

offering up their entire programme

as he expects. Calling for an

immediate suspension for all

activities, nuclear programmes.

Rather, the North Koreans will

likely lay out the... Guidelines, to

their plan for some point in the

very distant future. What would need

to be done before they would even

consider abandoning their...

Now we

get to the point. What sort of

demands would come from North Korea

in return for giving up..

I think

they will require the replacement of

the Korean War Armistice with a

peace treaty. They will require the

normalisation of relations, some

sort of negative security assurances

and stop a guarantee the United

States will not retaliate and less

first attacked by North Korea.

Improved, or rather the

establishment of trade relations.

This will take a long time. These

are things the North Koreans had

tried to get, getting back to 1974,

there has been little interest on

the US side to do this. And when we

did have an agreement, the 94 agreed

framework, we couldn't even, with

the agreement in place, the US was

reluctant to move forward in any of

these.

What do you make of the

timing? Does it have to do with the

size of this programme, and the

sheer potential power, or is it how

North Korea perceives Donald Trump?

Two things, actually. I think number

one the North Koreans have the

ability to hedge. They can't

realistically go any further by

mounting up a warhead on a ballistic

missile and firing it. They would

have two, number one, the

uncertainty of having an armed

warhead on a launch pad, it's just

too much for the United States. And

they have no territory over which to

fire this missile, and an ICBM with

a warhead. This has given them some

confidence, confidence to, you know,

begin talks. But I think, also,

there is a great uncertainty

there is a great uncertainty that is

there because of President Trump. He

isn't kept from the same cloth as

past US presidents.

We are dealing

with a slightly different situation.

He is likely to act without the US

responding militarily. President

Trump is suggesting that the US will

attack, and that uncertainty, I

think, frightens and presents a

level of uncertainty for North

Koreans.

Thank you very much indeed.

An aid convoy which entered

a besieged rebel enclave

on the outskirts of the Syrian

capital has crossed back

into government held-territory.

Thirteen trucks carrying food

were unloaded in Eastern Ghouta,

before heading back to Damascus.

This is the emergency aid convoy

inside Eastern Ghouta today.

According to the ICRC it

came dangerously close

to the firing line.

The convoy was meant to deliver

food supplies on Monday,

but was forced to leave

because of ongoing fighting.

Opposition activists say

about a thousand people have been

killed in air strikes and shelling

in just two weeks.

The Syrian war is

in its seventh year.

A staggering 5.5 million people have

been forced from their homes

and into neighbouring countries.

One nation trying to cope

with the influx is Lebanon.

It's taken more than

a million Syrian refugees.

The UN High Commissioner

for Refugees Filippo Grandi

is in Beirut at the moment,

and joins me from there.

Welcome to the programme. What is

the state of flow of refugees at the

moment into Lebanon from Syria?

There really is no significant new

influx. You know what is tragic

about Syria? There was a time when

people fled outside the country,

there was a time, still a time, when

people free within the country. But

for people trapped in Eastern

Ghouta, the people we reached today,

there is no option to stay 03. There

is no more option. How much worse

can it get get for a civilian? This

is one of the most tragic situations

we've seen in a long time from a

humanitarian perspective.

As you write the outline, as we have

said, over 1 billion Syrian refugees

there. To what extent are the

refugees in camps or in urban areas,

and what extent is Lebanon on

receiving support for them?

They are mostly in urban centres,

Beirut and other cities. And in

makeshift settlements. They are not

in organised camps. They share,

largely, the resources of the local

community. They go to Lebanese

schools, those that go to school.

They find work in agricultural

construction, it's a very meagre

existence. The international

community has helped, but what we

are worried about is the persistence

of the Syrian crisis with the

difficulties people have to return

to make the decision to return

prematurely, they won't go back

right now. That support to Lebanon

on and other host countries, Jordan,

Turkey and others, that support must

continue. We must not lower the

guard, we must stay the course,

until the crisis is resolved.

There

is not much prospect of those

refugees returning in the near

future?

You know, they watch the

media, just like us, and they see

what's happening in Eastern Ghouta.

This is on the outskirts of

Damascus, the capital. They see

what's happening in Italy, in other

unstable areas. If you asked them

about their future, they see their

future back in their country, 89% of

survey refugees said they want to

eventually return but not right now.

It's too one stable, too dangerous,

there are too many risks.

The longer

this goes on we are seeing Syrian

children born as refugees in Lebanon

on.

Of course, the big challenges

are the medium and long-term

challenges, education, employment,

and then the impact on host

communities, especially here in

Lebanon. We were at the border with

Syria yesterday. The meteors were

telling us that the scarce water

reserves are completely depleted.

This is why it's important,

especially in a relatively fragile

country like Lebanon to continue to

invest both in the humanitarian

response to support refugees, but

also in the local, local

communities, developmental aid,

which, by the way, can have longer

term beneficial effects if people go

back, these investments will stay

for the benefit of Lebanon and its

communities.

Thank you for joining

us.

Kenya's president and opposition

leader have promised to begin

a process of reconciliation

following last year's

bitterly contested election.

In a surprise move, Uhuru Kenyatta

and Raila Odinga called

each other "brothers".

It came shortly before

the arrival of US Secretary

of State Rex Tillerson in Kenya.

From Nairobi,

Ferdinand Omondi reports:

The country's leading political

figures finally came together

to talk after months of pressure

to do just that.

The opposition leader admitted

the country is on the brink.

The time has come for us to confront

and resolve our differences.

These differences are

becoming too entrenched.

The president, after repeatedly

dismissing calls for dialogue,

explained why he finally relented.

Elections come and go. But Kenya

remains. So as we plan ourselves for

the future, our future cannot be

dictated by the forthcoming

election. Our future must be

dictated by the prosperity,

stability, of our nation and the

well-being of our people.

They presented an image of two men,

who had agreed to resolve

the difference, but it

won't be so easy.

Kenya is sharply divided along

ethnic lines, following the bitterly

contested general elections last

year, that had to be held twice.

The opposition feels the elections

were not credible, and,

in the ensuing protests,

more than 100 Kenyans were killed.

Human rights groups accused

the police of brutality,

and the state of highhandedness.

None of this was mentioned

today, only a joint call

for national dialogue.

Two of the most polarising political

individuals in this country today

came together and repeatedly

called themselves brothers.

It is expected that at the beginning

of national dialogue

might finally lead Kenya

to the much needed healing.

Ferdinand Omondi, BBC News, Nairobi.

Let's go to the White House which is

holding a press rethink. Sarah

Sanders is expected to comment on

the news of talks with North Korea.

Bringing the total number of jobs

created since President Trump was

elected to nearly 3 million. The

federal government is getting out of

the way and the people are

innovating and creating jobs. In

other news the president has

pardoned and AV submariner, he was

22 years old at the time of his

offences and has served out his 12

month sentence. He has been

recognised by fellow servicemembers

for his dedication skill and page to

spirit. He regularly mentored

Younger sailors and served as an

instructor for new recruits. The

sentencing judge found that his ban

stands in contrast to his

commendable military service. The

president is appreciative of his

services to the country. Now I will

take your questions.

The

considerations that are under

discussion is for the location of

this meeting for the president

between Kim Jong Un?

A time and

place have not yet been determined.

We will make those announcements

when more information is available.

Considerations for where this could

take place, I take it you don't want

it in downtown Pyongyang?

We won't

have those conversations between me,

you want the press. Those will be

conversations that take place at a

much higher level, certainly outside

this room.

The South Korean national

security adviser said the US

responded positively to steel

tariffs, can you give us more that?

The president said yesterday there

were two countries that were

specifically excluded, and they

would be the opportunity for us to

negotiate on matters of national

security, with other countries, and

we are doing that with a number of

different countries.

Does the

president think that Kim Jong Un is

sincere about talking about

denuclearisation?

The president is

hopeful that we can make some

continued progress, what we know is

that the maximum pressure campaign

has clearly been effective, we know

that it has put pressure on North

Korea, and they have made some major

promises to denuclearise and they

have made promise to stop nuclear

and missile testing. They recognise

that military exercises between the

US and its ally, South Korea, will

continue. The maximum pressure

campaign is not letting up, with one

step back or make changes, we will

continue in that effort. We are not

going to have this meeting take

place until we see concrete actions

that match the words and director

got North Korea.

Do you think Kim

Jong Un can be trusted has a

negotiating partner?

We are not

negotiating right now. We've

accepted an invitation to talk,

based on them following through with

concrete actions on the promises

they've made.

Can I just ask you one

other thing, Lindsey Graham said, a

word of warning to North Korean

President Kim Jong Un, the worst

possible thing you can do to Donald

Trump is to try and play him. If you

do that it will be the end of you

and your regime. Is he leading the

present correct on that?

I think

Lindsey Graham knows president Trump

is one of the best negotiators,

certainly, he has great confidence

in his ability and he's glad he'll

be the one at the table for the

United States. I think Senator

Graham has been on the other side of

that and knows the capabilities and

termination of President Trump.

Why

did the present accept the

invitation with without any

preconditions, for example releasing

the Americans held their?

That's

something we will continue to

advocate and push for. Let's not

forget is that North Koreans did

promise something, they've promised

to denuclearise and stop missile

testing. They have recognise we are

going to continue in our military

exercises. Let's be clear, the

United States has made zero

concessions. North Korea has made

promises. This meeting will take

place without concrete actions that

match the promises made by North

Korea.

Do you think that two months'

time period is enough time to make

sure they will actually fulfil those

promises? He wants to do this by

May.

We are working on the

determination of the time. Let's not

get lost in the fact that this

didn't happen overnight. This

maximum pressure campaign, this

process, has been ongoing since the

president took office. For the first

time in a long time the USA is

having conversations from a position

of strength, not a position of

weakness like the one that North

Korea finds itself in due to the

maximum pressure campaign.

Does that

mean it might not be made?

Again, we

haven't set a time or location. It

is yet to be determined.

They

promised to nuclear eyes, they...

The message from the South Korean

delegation is that they word

denuclearise. Our ultimate goal has

always been that, and that will be a

part of the actions we seek and

take. We have to see concrete and

verifiable actions taking place.

Sarah, isn't the present giving King

John and exactly what he wants,

respect down starch on the

international stage?

Not at all,

he's getting exactly what he wants.

He is giving the opportunity to have

been North Koreans actually

denuclearise. You have to remember

nothing is changing from the United

States position. We continue the

maximum pressure campaign, continue

working with allies and partners, we

continue to ask them to step up and

do more. Nothing changes from our

side in this conversation.

Will this

be any more than a photo

opportunity? Kim Jong Un gets equal

footing with the leader of the free

world...

I disagree. I don't think

the president is getting nothing.

We've already said many times since

walking in here that the president

will not have been meeting without

seeing concrete steps, and concrete

actions taking place by North Korea.

The president would actually be

getting something, the world would

be getting something if we could get

to a place where North Korea is

denuclearise thing, it is a massive

step, and something that will make

the entire globe much safer. And

even president moon has said that

this is because of the leadership of

President Trump.

I apologise for

this, but given the economic news in

North Korea what words would you use

to describe the present's mood right

now?

He is in a great mood. He's

been in a great mood because we've

had not just a successful couple of

days, a successful year, and we are

very focused on making sure we have

several more.

Politicians seem to be

taken by surprise by the

announcement, was this done in a

haphazard way?

Not at all. This is

part of an ongoing campaign for over

a year. Just because some

individuals leaked to the press

weren't involved in the conversation

it doesn't mean the appropriate

parties that lead those agencies

were not in the room, not part of

that discussion.

The White House

briefing there, saying she was not

prepared to speculate on where they

meeting might take place, which, of

course, it is clear that North Korea

is anxious to denuclearise. The

conditions of that as yet unknown.