This is bbc world news. Its newsday. Its 7am in singapore, midnight in london and 7 30am in pyongyang, where north korea and the United States are still waging a war of words and agreeing on very little. Speaking in new york, north koreas foreign minister, ri yong ho, said President Trumps recent assertion that its leadership would not be around much longer amounted to a declaration of war. But the white house described that interpretation as absurd. Heres what mr ri said. Translation the un charter stipulates individual Member States right to self defence. Since the us declared war on our country, we have every right to take countermeasures, including shooting down us strategic bombers, even when theyre not yet inside the air space border of our country. The question of who wont be around much longer will be a nswered be around much longer will be answered them. The white house had its regular press briefing not long afterwards and addressed the issue of north koreas threat to shoot down us aircraft. Its its never appropriate for a country to shoot down another countrys aircraft when its over international waters. 0ur aircraft when its over international waters. Our goal is still the same, we continue to seek the peaceful denuclearisation of the arrium peninsular, thats ourfocus. Doing that through both the maximum diplomatic and economic pressures possible at this moment. Nada tawfik, our new york reporter, spoke to us earlier. We saw last week at the Un General Assembly north korea at the top issue diplomats were discussing. Everyone expressed concern about this escalation and war of words thats been going on between north korea, the leader, kimjong un, and President Donald Trump. We even heard the Chinese Ambassador today adding to the words we heard from the un spokesperson, saying that its getting absolutely too dangerous. They ambassador, john allen, said basically this was time for everyone to tone down the rhetoric, get back to negotiations because he said the only other option was a complete disaster. But there are some experts who are saying that despite all of this fiery rhetoric between north korea and the United States, there would be any conflict and it is just all talk. Well, weve certainly seen in the past these points of escalation between north korea and the us. If youve looked in the past couple of weeks, north korea has really ignored the recent Un Security Council resolutions to try to get them to pull back from their nuclear programme. In response, the us has shown force by sending just as early as saturday bombers into the region. The closest theyve gone north of the demilitarised zone in the 21st century, just again to show that President Donald Trump has military options in dealing with north korea. And the former secretary general of the united nations, ban ki moon, has told the bbc he believes the situation on the Korean Peninsula is the most serious since the korean war ended in 1953. That interview is coming up in a ten minutes time. Our other top story this hour five days after Hurricane Maria battered puerto rico, the island is still struggling to recover and conditions are getting worse. The white house has said it will continue to do everything it can to provide assistance to those affected. At least three million residents are still without power. Cbs correspondent David Begnaud is in puerto rico. The governor of puerto rico tells us more aid has arrived but the question is, where is it . We have for the last five days been driving across the northern part of the country from west to east and weve not seen distribution lines or convoys bringing relief aid. The Us Government says, for example, millions of litres of water have arrived but again we ask, where is it . The governor says, i promise you, its here. In terms of hospitals, were told fuel is being sent to them, hospitals are being prioritised. There was a tweet earlier today from a doctor input taricco said we have run out of diesel at the Childrens Hospital and children will die if we dont get fuel. There is a dire situation at the airport this morning in san juan. People have literally been sleeping on the floor for the last three orfour sleeping on the floor for the last three or four nights sleeping on the floor for the last three orfour nights hoping to sleeping on the floor for the last three or four nights hoping to get off the island, people who havent had food or water, people in need of dialysis, blood thinner make up, medication, we saw children stripped naked by their parents sleeping in sweat in strollers. The lines at the baggage counter word dark, there we re baggage counter word dark, there were no agents and there were probably 1000 people in line this morning. It was cooler outside but nobody wanted to go outside because they didnt want to lose their place in line. People were literally panicking. Also this hour china has largely blocked the whatsapp messaging app, its the latest move by beijing to step up surveillance ahead of a big communist Party Gathering next month. Whatsapp was the last of facebook products to still be available in mainland chinas. The move by beijing is a big setback for chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg who has been pushing to re enter the chinese market. The companys Facebook Service has been blocked in china since 2009, and the image sharing app instagram is also unavailable. The german chancellor Angela Merkel may have secured a fourth term in office but her party the christian democrats lost over a million voters to the far right in sundays election. Mrs merkel says she wants to win them back, but she starts in a weaker position and has to build a new coalition government. Translation of course this shows we havent responded satisfactorily to the themes and situations important for the people. As party leader i ta ke for the people. As party leader i take my share of the responsibility. The former us congressman Anthony Wiener has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for sending sexually explicit messages to a teenage girl in 2016. The scandal played a role in the president ial election, because his wife worked as an aide to hillary clinton. Scientists have said that while the numbers of giant pandas appears to be increasing, the spaces in which they can live are getting smaller. The International Union for the conservation of nature moved the panda from its endangered list last year. But the latest satellite imagery shows that the habitat for giant pandas was 1. 7 smaller in 2013 than in 1988, when the animal was listed as endangered. The bbc has launched a new Language Service for its radio and online output. Bbc news korean will broadcast for the Korean Peninsula and also for korean speakers around the world. The bbc said it wanted to serve accurate and unbiased information about the world to meet a basic human right. This story is proving very Popular Online on social media. Britains prince harry and his girlfriend the american actress Meghan Markle have made their first public appearance together. The couple, who have mostly avoided the spotlight, were seen at the Invictus Games in toronto, an International Sporting event set up by the prince for injured soldiers. More on that story at bbc. Com. To anyone whos been following japans political scene, it was no surprise to hear Prime Minister shinzo abe announce a snap election. Mr abe says he needs a new mandate to deal with the growing threat from north korea. In a televised address, he said hed dissolve parliament on thursday. His announcement, which was expected, comes amid signs of improving support for mr abe over his handling of the north korea crisis. Joining me now to talk about the Upcoming Elections is sarah burke, tokyo bureau chief at the economist. Thanks forjoining us. If we look at the surveys weve seen an improvement in the popularity ratings of Prime Minister shinzo abe but is there any chance of a surprise that his ruling party could lose in the elections . I dont think were going to see the lvp lose the election, i still think it gained the majority of seats and nobody is too worried about that but it might lose the supermajority it currently has. It would only to lose 1a seats i think to lose that majority, that supermajority. Thats whats needed for supermajority. Thats whats needed foerare supermajority. Thats whats needed for mr are they to change the constitution, which is one of the things he didnt mention yesterday but we know he would like to do abe. What about the opposition . Then they have any viable candidate or platform to challenge mr abe . This is one of the reasons mr abe has decided to call the election now. The opposition is in a bit of disarray. Its not been in a good state for a while injapan but the democratic party, traditionally the main opposition, has seen a few defections of late and theres a new party being started and headed now we learned yesterday by popular tokyo governor. That could prove a challenge to mr abe but its not really got off the ground yet, its still in the initial stages so calling it now means that is the calling it now means that is the call that party becomes any real threat to him. The opposition is saying mr abe is calling these early elections in an attempt to avoid questions about cronyism scandals that were due to start in parliament on thursday. Thats right. Critics, including the opposition, saying this is an election mr abe is calling to save his skin, not for the good of the country, first of all because there were scandals there were due to be more questions about and by dissolving the parliament we can avoid that and secondly, north korea has really shored up mr abes poll ratings and people say, well, at this time when theres a heightened crisis and we dont know what to do with north korea we need a parliament that can function and instead because of the poll ratings going up we will have no parliament because it looks like it will help mr abe in the election, so it will help mr abe in the election, so thats what critics and people in the opposition are saying. So thats what critics and people in the opposition are sayingm so thats what critics and people in the opposition are saying. If he becomes Prime Minister again, what should be his priorities in this new administration . Most people here would like to see the economy, that is why yesterday we saw that was one of the things mr abe was stressing, the fact he will put in another 2 trillion stimulus package, 18 trillion stimulus package, 18 trillion us dollars, together. The tax hike due in october, 2019, and probably wont be popular, he will use that money for education programmes. He didnt mention the constitution, which he would like to change, the controversial article nine to allow japan change, the controversial article nine to allowjapan to change, the controversial article nine to allow japan to have change, the controversial article nine to allowjapan to have a normal armed forces. Theres a lot of suspicion that is something he will focus on and the population here would much prefer the economy is sorted out rather than that. Sarah burke, tokyo bureau chief at the economist in tokyo, thanks for your insights. Thank you. Nearly 50,000 people have left their homes on the indonesian island of bali because of fears that a volcano could erupt for the first time in more than 50 years. The evacuations come after two days of heightened seismic activity around mount agung with hundreds of tremors and signs of magma rising to the surface in recent days. A short time ago, i asked Richard Arculus from the Australian National university. The number of earthquakes has increased and the level in the crust at which theyre taking place as shallow. The last few have been taking place within a couple of kilometres of the. In terms of probabilities of eruption i would say its odds on. Probabilities of eruption i would say its oddson. Are you likely to know or see what the impact of it is likely to be . Depending on the size of the eruption. The indian authorities are used to dealing with these kinds of things, they have a lot of eruptions in this country and they are good at handling these disasters in the past. It all depends. If it has a major eruption of the size that took place 50 years ago, which injected a lot of ash into the atmosphere, that could have a considerable local and regional effect on, for example, air traffic. That seems to be what many people are talking about, what happened there 50 years ago because of its impact on the tourism industry. I know were not in the betting game but should tourists watching this programme thinking about bali as a destination be thinking against their travel plans . I wouldnt personally but one would have to be mentally prepared that if an eruption took place and air traffic was disrupted you might want to be prepared to sit around in bali for a while. Di exclusion zone doesnt include the major tourist destinations, theyre protected by the topography. Ash might fall on them but thats tolerable, its a question of when youre travelling away from bali in the event of an eruption. You said the authorities there are very much prepared for a possible eruption. Talk us through what the actual provisions might be that they are putting in place . Theyve evacuated a large number of people from the exclusion zone. The size of the exclusion zone is based on the areas of the volcano that we re on the areas of the volcano that were devastated 50 years ago. The plan really is the volcano might behave in the same way and they are moving people away, particularly from the valleys and close flanks of the volcano, because those were destroyed by the dense power crust flows, these flows of lava and ash and dust that came rapidly down the fla nks and dust that came rapidly down the fla n ks of and dust that came rapidly down the flanks of the volcano up to 100km h or more and theyre very hot and theres no getting away from them. So the exclusion zone is essentially on the more than, eastern and south to south western flanks. Thats not a place to be and thats why theyve moved people out. Of course the problem is taking care of these people. One are agricultural workers, they have crops and animals to ta ke workers, they have crops and animals to take care of, and the longer this goes on the uneasy about people will be. Theres a loss of income of course for this people and of course theres 50,000 people that thou have been moved, thats a lot of people to have sitting around waiting for something to happen. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme if at first you dont succeed, try, try and try again. We meet 13 year old lily rice, who hasjust made history. We find out how. Ben johnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. All the athletes should be clean going into the games. Im just happy that justice is served. It is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. Tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. All the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. Its no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world. And so the British Government has no option but to continue this action, and even after any adverse judgement in australia. Concorde had crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. Thanks are joining im rico hizon in singapore. Thanks arejoining us. Im Babita Sharma here in london. The white house has dismissed as absurd north korean claims that President Trump has declared war on the country. Fears are growing that a volcano could erupt on the island of bali 50,000 people have been evacuated from their homes near mount agung. The taxi company uber has admitted it has made mistakes but insists it will appeal against the decision by transport for london not to renew its operating licence. It has promised to make changes and will meet london transport officials for further talks. That story is popular at bbc. Com. Lets take a look at some front pages from around the world. Chinese troops taking part in live fire drills is the picture on the front page of the south China Morning post. These are the first combat Training Drills at chinas only overseas military base in djibouti, where troops had to deal with temperatures around a0 degrees celsius. And we were just talking about uber, well, its troubles in london might be good news for one of its competitors, thats according to the financial times. The american Ride Hailing Company lyft now its sights set on the city while uber tries to have its licence reinstated. A luke warm welcome for apples new iphones in beijing is covered by the business pages of the china daily. The lack of queues and enthusiasm at Flagship Stores is being put down to home grown brands like as huawei becoming more popular. Babita whats trending . You are trending rico i have always wanted to say that but what you did last night on this programme has gone viral. Well you and youre new pal elmo you saw it here on newsday first and a clip of yesterdays interview has gone viral. Rico interviewing elmo from sesame street is proving very you know, elmo, that is what we need today. Rico interviewing elmo from sesame street is proving very popular on bbc. Com. Thank you everyone for watching plenty of countries are betting big on on the space industry developing communication satellites and exploiting technologies like gps tracking. The latest country to get in on the act is australia one of the few major developed countries not to have its own National Space agency. The government has Just Announced plans to change that. Alan duffy is associate professor of astrophysics at Swinburne University in melbourne. He spoke to me about australias space ambitions. This has been a long time coming. Australia is one of two developed nations alike in its own space agency. We have a great legacy in space. We built and launched our first satellite 50 yea rs launched our first satellite 50 years ago. It puts a third in the world after the us and the ussr. We managed to miss a lot of opportunities. Hopefully, with this new National Space agency, we can rightfully claim our place as part of this worldwide endeavour and do justice to our history and legacy in this field. It is indeed a big business right now. More than 400 billion us dollars. Where can the strength of australia be now, in which areas of the space industry . Australia post is a unique challenge asa australia post is a unique challenge as a nation australia poses. We spent a lot of money accessing other nations images of our own region. The first thing i suspect the National Space agency will do will be create a team and bring together expertise in space imagery so both benefit everything from farmers and agriculture, telling them about moisture in their soils to fisheries and Industries Like the mining sector. Australia will absolutely rea p sector. Australia will absolutely reap the benefits of this National Space agency and brings together all the people that can build and develop space imagery and those who need it. More now on the latest tensions between north korea and the United States of america. Ban ki moon the former secretary general of the un, and also a former foreign minister of south korea has been speaking to the bbc about his serious concerns of the rhetoric being deployed between the two leaders. Since the end of the korean war in the 1950s, we have not seen such kind of heightened tension levels. It isa kind of heightened tension levels. It is a very dangerous situation. Even during the height of the cold war including the soviet union, they have never threatened to use Nuclear Weapons unless they are attacked by Nuclear Weapons. North korea has blata ntly Nuclear Weapons. North korea has blatantly and publicly threatened that they will strike the United States with Nuclear Weapons. Now they have threatened again to test they have threatened again to test the Hydrogen Bomb in the pacific 0cean. We have never seen this kind of blatant threat, public threat. What needs to be done . How does the level of tension get reduced . This level of tension get reduced . This level of tension has gone too high, almost to a dangerous level. It is not desirable, whichever side they may be. We must defuse the level of tension. A 13 Year Old Girl from wales has become the first female in europe to complete a wheelchair backflip. Lily rice is trying to raise funds to take part in the wheelchair motocross world championships. What a backflip congratulations, lily rice. You have been watching newsday. Stay with us, well be looking at a new company that hopes to break the traditional business mould and a lot of other things as well. Well explain. And before we go, weve already brought you one story about britains prince harry, but take a look at this picture now it appears prince harry has found his lookalike and its Prime Ministerjustin trudeaus official photographer. The photographer, adam scotti, was photographing mr trudeau at the Invictus Games in toronto when mr trudeau turned the tables by grabbing the camera to snap a picture of the two redheads. Mr scotti then posted the image showing the uncanny resemblance on twitter. Hello. The week started on a fairly quiet note across many parts of the british isles. We had a week were different close by which really pepped up different close by which really pepped up the cloud at cross central and eastern areas. 0ut west, different story. Sunshine to be had at first thing on monday and again late on in the day, some areas were quite badly affected by fog. There is the weather front gradually fizzling all the while as the pressure builds in from the continent. But there will still be a legacy of clout first up and i think you will really notice it in the first part of the day. Leaden skies but look at the temperatures, 13 15 for many. Just a bit cooler when the skies today clear for a time overnight. There could be some fog patches around. Leaden skies for many of us for the first part of the date but you get a sense from the picture that as the day goes on, there is greater hope of seeing sunshine as the day goes on. First part of the day. A little bit cloudy along the eastern shores. Just the chance of one or two isolated showers across the northern half of britain. Northern ireland, quite nicely away from the noticeable breeze. There is the chance, come mid afternoon, of seeing a few showers across the north and east midlands, maybe to east anglia as well. Many of those will tend to fade if you see them at all. Temperatures top 20 degrees also. A little bit more in a way of breeze on wednesday across the north east quarter of scotland. The freshening wind and the cloud filling in all the wail all the while across northern ireland, and into the far south west of england and wales. The weather front works its way in from the atlantic. Generally speaking, the further east you are, the drier and brighter your day will stay. Top temperature, again, not bad for this time of day year. Again, not bad for this time of day year. Cooler in the breeze in the far north east. Thankfully, the Fourth One Day International between england and the west indies is going to be at the oval in the south east quarter of central london. That should not be interrupted by the rain until perhaps very late on in the day because the front does make progress later on on wednesday. By thursday, it will still be producing quite a wet start to the day across eastern parts of the british isles. 0nce eastern parts of the british isles. Once that is away, a decent day. Im Babita Sharma with bbc world news. Our top story north koreas foreign minister accuses america of declaring war on his country. The white house says the suggestion is absurd and condemns north koreas claim that it now has the right to shoot down us bombers, even if theyre outside its air space. China has largely blocked the whatsapp messaging service, the last of facebook products to be available there. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg had been pushing to re enter the chinese market. This story is trending on bbc. Com. A 13 Year Old Girl from wales has become the first female in europe to complete a wheelchair backflip. Lily rice is raising funds to take part in the wheelchair motocross world championships. Thats all from me now. Stay with bbc world news. Now on bbc news its time for hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur