Centralised internet. How will this go over with the global audience . Live from our studios in london and singapore, this is bbc world news. Its newsday. Hello, and welcome. Its midnight in the evening here in london, 8am in the morning in singapore, and 9am in south korea. A country which a senior us senator says is no longer a suitable place for us military families to be sent to, due to the provocation from pyongyang. Senator Lindsey Graham was speaking on the eve of the largest everjoint military exercises between the us and south korea. North korea has called the drills provocative too. From washington, laura bicker reports. Weapons experts have described the latest north Korean Missile as a beast, capable of striking the us mainland. There were celebrations in pyongyang, a staged event to declare that north korea is becoming a nuclear nation. This is something the Trump Administration has said it will not accept. The greatest immediate threat to the United States, and to the world. Speaking at a defence forum, the Us National Security adviser had this warning. China has tremendous coercive economic power over north korea. You cannot shoot a missile without fuel. There are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict. But it is a race because hes getting closer and closer. And, umm, theres not much time left. The us is keeping a show of force in the Korean Peninsula, and stealth fighters have been deployed to the region as part of the largest air exercise ever held with south korea. Theyve been dubbed as war games. But a north Korean Television broadcast described the drills as provocation. The us has made it clear it doesnt want war with north korea, but kim jong un has continued to build missiles and sanctions have not stopped him. The International Committee is running out of dimplomatic options. Im going to urge the pentagon not to send any more dependence to south korea. It should be an unaccompanied tour. Its crazy to send spouses and children to south korea given the provocation of north korea. Military experts have warned that a war on the Korean Peninsula would have devastating consequences and north korea would be utterly destroyed. The hope must be that the threat of action alongside stringent sanctions will force the young Korean Leader to change course. Laura bicker, bbc news, washington. We can now speak to drji young lee from the school of International Service at the american university. She joins us from seoul. Are we really that close to a war . are we really that close to a war . |i think it is a very alarming situation. No question. What has happened is that it is not new for north korea to behave in a provocative manner. But this time its capabilities have increased to potentially pose a threat to the National Security of the us directly. It is alarming. But if you have the us and south korea perform the largest ever air drills, is that not a provocation in its own right . It is, in fact, going to be taken as a gesture that, you know, the us alliance is threatening the National Security of north korea. Having said that, though, military exercises are nothing new. It is part of regular us alliance relationships. The context of this military exercise is what is key. The context is that the beast, the latest north Korean Missile described as a beast, is capable of hitting the us. Of course, there are concerns on both sides. But when you have Lindsey Graham saying that dependents of military personnel should not be stationed in south korea, where ill be on it . It shows us how the situation has gotten to. Where are we on this . At the same time, we have a situation with north korean internal situations where we do not have a lot of information. What we have a lot of information. What we have learned from high ranking north korean defectors is that a lot of what kim jong un is korean defectors is that a lot of what kimjong un is doing might have a lot to do with the internal situation that he is trying to strengthen and consolidate his grip on power in north korea. How do you curtail this . The chinese sanctions have not worked, of course. How do you encourage him not to react in this antagonistic way . you encourage him not to react in this antagonistic way . I think that is really the situation that complicates the whole context right now. There is no question china has stepped up its policy Co Ordination with the us. But, there are very different interests when it comes to how to deal with north korea on the pa rt how to deal with north korea on the part of seoul and beijing and washington dc. That is why we should try to make efforts to come together and come up with a possible policy solution so it sends a very strong signal to north koreans. It helps north korea if the allies do not have the same voice and policy. Thank you very much for your expertise. Thank you. Lets ta ke lets take a look at some of the days other news. Donald trump has spent a second day fiercely defending himself after one of his most senior former aides pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. Michael flynn, the former National Security adviser, admitted lying to the Intelligence Agency about conversations hed had with russian officials. In a tweet on sunday, the president lashed out at the fbi, saying its reputation was in tatters. Joining me from San Francisco is mark follman, National Affairs editor of the political and investigative magazine mother jones. Thank you so much forjoining us. Donald trump has renewed and escalated his attacks on the fbi. What does this suggest . escalated his attacks on the fbi. What does this suggest . I think it suggests that, you know, we are seeing donald trump the perhaps more emboldened than he has been ever before. The issue is more volatile. We saw this midweek last week with his tweets of the horrible entire Muslim Videos from the group in britain. Anti muslim. And now with michael flynn. This investigation is rapidly accelerating. I was in washington last week and i can tell you there was a palpable sense the Mueller Investigation is closing in on the oval office. We are seeing donald trump react to that in a way he often has when it comes to the surface. Closing in on the white house . Apart from the tweets, what are the options right now for President Trump from further serious evidence . It is hard to see where he will turn next with this. Frankly, i dont think there is much they can do. The investigation has not been going on for a long time and they seem going on for a long time and they seem to have the Donald Trump Campaign and the people involved in that very much in their sights. I dont think there is much they can do. The way he is reacting is quite troubling in the way it undermines the rule of law. We have never really seen this before. If there is more damning evidence that leads directly to the oval office, what could this lead to . Well, i think that really remains to be seen. You know, the system is built in a way that i think affords a president quite a lot of protection from the legal system and perhaps the political system. It may be up to congress to resolve this. So far, we have not seen a lot on that front, especially with the control of the republican party. They dont have much appetite for Holding Donald trump accountable. We will have to see where the evidence goes. One would think that at a certain point it would no longer be tenable to stand by and allow donald trump to act in these extraordinary ways with no accountability. Is there an option to let go of Robert Mueller and stop this whole investigation . That option is there in theory and it has been talked about. The reporting in recent months suggested donald trump was considering this. But i think to do that would be extremely risky in terms of the politics and the legal frame of this whole investigation. It would put us in truly uncharted territory. Hopefully the special counsel remains in place and is able to do itsjob. Remains in place and is able to do its job. Otherwise we are in for some rough waters. What is your view right now of the total situation . How will this play out . right now of the total situation . How will this play out . I think this investigation is going to continue to haunt his administration in a big way. It really kind of colours everything that he is doing. Were in a volatile set of circumstances on many fronts. The congressional push with the tax bill which is controversial with what is going on in north korea. This investigation, i think, is really constantly in the background of that and a source of great worry for the donald trump white house. Thank you so much for your insight. The National Affairs editor. Also making news today the Saudi Led Coalition has reportedly launched airstrikes on yemens capital in support of the former president , ali abdullah saleh. Mr saleh had been allied to houthi rebels, but their three year Rebel Alliance appears to have collapsed into whats described as a street war in sanaa. Pope francis has left bangladesh after completing a six day visit to asia. On friday, he used the word rohingya for the first time on his trip, having avoided using it in myanmar. On the flight home to the vatican, the pontiff spoke about his meeting in dhaka with a small group of rohingya refugees. It be cried. I tried not to let it be seen. Cried. I tried not to let it be seen. They cried too. The south korean coastguard says thirteen people on a fishing trip have been killed in a collision between their boat and a fuel tanker in the waters west of the capital seoul. A rescue operation is under way for the boats captain and another person who are still missing. No casualties have been reported among those on board the tanker. The remarkable surge in value of the crypto currency, bitcoin, is reported to have created its first billionaires, the american winklevoss twins. They successfully sued the facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2008, accusing him of stealing their idea for a social network, and invested about 11 million in bitcoin. Cambodias democracy has taken several steps backward recently as the Main Opposition Party was banned, its leaderjailed, and most of its leading politicians driven into exile. Long serving Prime Minister hun sen has also accused the United States of conspiring to overthrow him. Over the weekend, he ordered a lavish buddhist ceremony at angkor wat, the seat of cambodias ancient kings, to pray, he said, for unity and peace. Our South East Asia correspondent, jonathan head, was there. Trappings fit for a modern day king. The man who is ruled cambodia for 32 yea rs shows the man who is ruled cambodia for 32 years shows his countrys most famous landmark as a backdrop for this elaborate prayer ceremony. Confusing the tourists, who found their expected route into angkor wat no longer open. At 65 years old, hun sen is visibly slower than he was, but his hold on power is now complete, having just outlawed the only popular opposition party. These prayers, he said, were for peace and unity. By wrapping himself in the ma ntle unity. By wrapping himself in the mantle of religion, though, and the allah of cambodias greatest historic iraq, hun sen hopes to demonstrate that his legitimacy is secure. But this was a largely organised crowd. Many of them schoolchildren. It was not a spontaneous show of support. These girls had no idea why the ceremony was being held. Theyd been told to come by their teacher. All of these people have been brought to this, the most symbolically important site in cambodia for one purpose and thats to impress upon the rest of the population the country is united, despite the distraction of the opposition. But the fact the Prime Minister has gone through all this trouble suggests hes not so sure. The party he outlawed has been doing well enough in recent elections to pose a serious threat. Now its leaders are either in jail or in now its leaders are either in jail orinx now its leaders are either in jail or in x ill. They believed that his drastic move against them actually shows the wily cambodian strongman is worried. If he were sure of himself he would call us back and say, lets go fairly and freely and justly and inclusively. Do you think hes lost his confidence . Hes haunted by the need to hang onto power. Hun sen can command the finest performances, the most spectacular settings and the loyalty of an inner circle which with him has grown very wealthy. But for how long . Within minutes of his departure, it was as if hed never been. People were buying souvenirs and the tourists who more than anything else have enriched this part of cambodia were backin enriched this part of cambodia were back injoining the enriched this part of cambodia were back in joining the wonders of this ancient temple. Jonathan head, bbc news, angkor wat. Youre watching newsday on the bbc. Still to come on the programme over the moon. Sky watchers around the world as the december super moon graces the skies. Its quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor People Living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. I am feeling so helpless, that the childrens are dying in front of me and i cant do anything. Charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippy cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. At 11am this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. It took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. Then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands with and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. Im Kasia Madeira in london. Our top storie on the eve of the biggest ever us south korean air drills, washington says the potential for war with north korea is increasing by the day. Donald trump lays into the fbi as he denies again that his team colluded with russia to get him elected. Smog in the indian capital, delhi, brought play to a halt in a cricket test match between india and sri lanka. Some sri lankan players wore face masks. At one stage two sri lankan bowlers refused to continue, leading to play being suspended. That story is popular on bbc. Com. Lets take a look at some front pages from around the world. Heres the china daily, which reports from the countrys largest internet conference. The fourth world internet conference. The paper quotes president xijinping, saying china wants to deepen integration of the internet, big data and Artificial Intelligence with the real economy. The Financial Times front page for monday has a story about Saudi Arabian financial activity in switzerland. Banks there are reporting suspicious activity to the swiss Money Laundering office. Its all part of crown Prince Mohammed bin salmans efforts to crackdown on corruption, and recover billions of missing dollars. And the New York Times looks at how remote areas of china are catching up with the countrys rich metropolises. The paper writes that thanks to chinas digital revolution, many of these rural areas are connecting to the wider economy in ways they havent before. Chinas fourth world internet conference has opened in eastern china. The event is designed to showcase chinas vision of a more censored and controlled internet. Apples tim cook and alphabets Sundar Pichai are among several leading Technology Executives speaking at this years conference, which comes after a year during which beijing has drastically tightened control over the chinese web. In a letter to the delegates xijinping said before going on to vow that apples tim cook called for security and humanity online, saying im joined now via webcam from berkeley by Shazeda Ahmed, who specialises in cybersecurity and internet policy in china. Miss ahmed, thank you forjoining us. Miss ahmed, thank you forjoining us. There is so much censorship in china and with the internet, why are apple and google being a part of this conference . I think apple and google realise this conference is a great opportunity for them to interact with chinese ceos and get a sense of how the internet is developing in china. In previous yea rs developing in china. In previous years they might not have sent ceos but the conference has come to take ona but the conference has come to take on a great sense of significant, its an opportunity to meet face to face with political elites and executives from Top Tech Companies and these companies realise its indispensable for them to attend. And tim cook is saying that there is a common future, what is the future looking like when they have yet to come to grips with censorship . I think that future is still kind of murky and it is something Companies Like apple are slowly wading their way through by complying with local laws, for example the chinese Cyber Security law that passed this summer, apple was already beginning to make moves for compliance with daily localisation policies before the law came to be passed. I cant say for sure what that future might look like but i do see it as one where Tech Companies will be willing to comply with censorship laws. Of course its the second chinese appearance in two months for tim cook, who met president xijingping in october, do you think after this world internet conference western tech firms will win more government favour . Im not sure if they will win more government favour, i think theyre still trying to figure out what the rules of the road are when it comes to expanding their market presence in china but i do think this is an opportunity to add the very least meet with other companies and see how they can partner with them on things like cloud services. Mac services, but this is a great opportunity for closed door meetings with government officials. So what is the future of censorship and cyber independence Going Forward . think censorship will become more individually targeted as there are a number of different machinery algorithms employed to really detect patterns of how certain types of content become popular and how to shut them down before they become spread. Will have to leave it there. Thank you for your insights, Shazeda Ahmed from the university of california Berkely School of information. Skygazers around the world have been treated to a spectacular sight with the last super moon for this year. The phenomenon happens when the earth is closer than usual in its orbit. Astronomer tom kerss explains why it happens. The moon doesnt appear that much bigger than usual, thats the strange thing. The changes actually rather subtle but because the moons close approach to the earth, and that happens to coincide with the full moon, we technically call this a super full moon, we technically call this a super moon. Full moon, we technically call this a super moon. Its not a very rigid term but its a colloquialism for a full moon that occurs when the moon is unusually close to the earth, as it is tonight and tomorrow morning so it is tonight and tomorrow morning so in this case we are going to see a super so in this case we are going to see a super moon so in this case we are going to see a super moon and there is some game in the apparent size and indeed the brightness of the moon as it makes that closest approach and its fully illuminated from our perspective by the sun. So if you really want to get a dramatic effect, if you go outside and look at the full moon, indeed any full moon, rising and setting, your mind actually produces an illusion, what we call the moon illusion, it makes the moon look larger when its on the horizon and that affect can be more dramatic than the so called super moon so you can see Something Like a super moon any time the moon is full if you wa nt any time the moon is full if you want to. Taking off. Coming up well be taking a look at the Air France Klm groups deal with indias jet airways. We talk to the ceo ofjet airways to see what this new European Alliance means for passengers. And before we go, lets take a look at these pictures. An american football stadium in detroit that was scheduled for demolition has failed to implode despite being laced with explosives. How unsatisfying thanks for watching newsday. Hello once again. Certainly enough gaps in the cloud in the first part of the night for our weather watchers to get a really good view of the nights super moon. After what had been a pretty reasonable day, especially so across parts of Northern Ireland, scotland, the north of england, probably the best of the sunshine here. Thats not to say we start the new date with plenty of gaps around because we have weather fronts not i plenty of gaps around because we have weatherfronts noti million miles away and there may be an odd cloud for there to be the odd across the far north of scotland, showers running through the western side of scotla nd running through the western side of scotland and down through the irish sea. Out east, could be concerned about how dense some of the fog patches will be, not first thing, some mailing in east anglia, the south east and central and southern england but elsewhere, a cooler not start, as you would expect for the start, as you would expect for the start of the year and essentially its a dry one, thats not the case for the north of scotland, quite breezy and wet here, especially in the northern isles. Elsewhere a speckling of showers for northern scotla nd speckling of showers for northern scotland and Northern Ireland but thats the exception to essentially a dry rule, as i say, some of the fog may take time to get away in the south eastern quarter and there may be more low cloud than im showing here, giving a rather great aspect to the day, that gradually drifting from west to east. If youre fog lingers, six degrees could be your hi, elsewhere, eight, nine, ten. Not a great deal happening during the evening, perhaps freshening up the wind, thats a sign of things to come, especially for northern scotland, wet and windy here as we get on during the day on tuesday but elsewhere not a bad day, quite a quiet start to the week. Notice monday and tuesday. However, we begin to change things quite markedly as we get on into wednesday. Here across northern and western parts is either wet and windy orjust for some windy, but at least its coming from the south, thats your mildest day of the week by some degree. Notice how weve got a lot of isobars here, hence that windy nature to wednesday, it becomes more widespread and crucially through thursday the wind begins to change direction. Im just about to show you how extensive that change becomes in the latter part of the week, looked at that, cold air right down and across all parts of the british isles, rather like the middle of last week. Im going to show you the effect on the thames, see how through the day they begin to fall away, ten in norwich at the start of the day when youve got the mild airand wet start of the day when youve got the mild air and wet and windy weather and brighter skies later but the temperatures fall away. The start of the week is mostly fine, then it gets wet and windy and certainly by the latter part of the week, it turns much, much colder