Agency, citing the staff there, saying north korea fired a Ballistic Missile. Not long after that, we got a statement from the pentagon saying at broxly130pm, 18sogmt, we detected a probable Missile Launch from north korea. It went on, were in the process of assessing the situation and will provide Additional Details when available. Also, south korean officials are being quoted saying they believe the launch was made from a city called pyongsong. It was reported this missile was fired over the sea between south korea and japan. Its worth adding that yesterday japan detected radio signals which suggested north korea may be preparing for another Missile Launch. Lets speak to our correspondent live at the us state department. Any missile test is going to be significant. Do we have any going to be significant. Do we have a ny clu es going to be significant. Do we have any clues as to what kind of missile this was . Pentagon said initial reports are that its an intercontinental Ballistic Missile. But it was determined that this test launch did not pose a threat to north america oi not pose a threat to north america or to us allies. In terms of the actual launch, based on figures from the pentagon from the south koreans and japanese, it flew about a thousand kilometres. It reached an altitude of 4,000 kilometres, which is higher than a previous similar launch back in july. Is higher than a previous similar launch back injuly. It broke up into pieces before it landed in the sea of japan. So into pieces before it landed in the sea ofjapan. So still into pieces before it landed in the sea of japan. So still problems with the missiles, but clearly north korea is developing its missile capability despite sanctions and the us campaign to isolate it. Its been two months since the last test. I guess with this one happening, there goes the theory that perhaps pyongyang was cooling on the idea of pursuing this. Yeah, its always speculation. About why pong yong does what it does or doesnt do what it doesnt do. Two months without a missile had some hoping that perhaps the campaign was working, that perhaps pyongyang was considering the talks that the americans are asking for. This being on the Pre Condition that it agreed, that ultimately it will give up its weapons programme, something that pyongyang has said it will never do. There are more simple explanations for why they might not have been firing missiles. At this time of year, they dont tend to fire a lot of missiles because of the weather. Who knows, we did get a bit of a statement from President Trump in the last few minutes. He said, well the last few minutes. He said, well take care of it. The defence secretary is in the room, weve had a long discussion, it is a situation that we will handle. But mr trump was a bit more preoccupied today with domestic issues than this test. Barbara, thank you very much. Barbara, thank you very much. Barbara read thering from the transcript of this statement from donald trump, which has been supplied to all the main news organisations. I can play you some of what the president has been saying. Here it is thank you very much. As you probably have heard, and some of you have reported, a missile was launched a little while ago from north korea. I will only tell thaw we will take care of it. We have general mattis in the room with us. Weve had a long discussion on it. It is a situation that we will handle. Well take care of it, well handle it says the president. We await details on precisely how he intends to do that. Lets carry on talking about donald trump. He was supposed to be meeting kong compressional leaders today to thrash out extending the funding of the Us Government. That meeting was going to include the senior democrats nancy pelosi and chuck shcumer. Then he tweeted what could probably go wrong with a tweet like that . Not long after that, they put out a statement in other words they pulled out of the meeting. On top of all this, the president s trying to assemble enough support on capitol hill to get tax reforms through. Theres a lot going on. Ive been talking to katty kay in washington. Here she is on whether the democrats can actually by pass donald trump when it comes to government funding. Not entirely. In the end they will have to deal with the white house. This is the problem that all members of congress, from both Political Parties have. Look, its not easy for them on capitol hill at the moment. They wake up every morning wondering who is going to be the latest senator to be criticised on twitter by the president. Hes now, by the latest calculations, criticised one in five republican senators publicly. You might think that makes capitol hill say ok, right, were backing away from all. This in the end they need the white house there to get the votes through for things to get on the phone, to call up members of congress, to call up call up members of congress, to call up the senators. They do all have to work together. But youre seeing this, lets face it, slightly school ya rd battle this, lets face it, slightly school yard battle going on between nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer and President Trump, and you wonder when the adults will return to washington. Part reason theyre going through this dance is its not just about government funding, its about broader issues such as immigration, is that right . Yes, thats what the democrats last time around, that they did do a deal with President Trump to keep the government open for three months. In return, they thought they had a deal on these so called dreamers, the young people who were brought to america by their parents illegally, but who were given protected status under president obama. They want to protect those young people. They thought theyd got some kind of deal from the president in order to do that. They will carry on holding out for that. They dont want to be seen as backing away from protecting the dreamers. Thats probably the sing the most important issue that theyre going to ask for in exchange for helping keeping the government open. Thats one thing i want to ask you about. The other is tax. Stay with us, please. Because while that meeting may not be going ahead, there have been meetings between donald trump and republicans. Hes trying to sell his tax reforms to them. Its not proving plain sailing. This report from the non partisan Congressional Office wont help. Its numbers show those earning less are likely to be ha rd est earning less are likely to be hardest hit by the changes. If you look at the assessment of a data reporter not New York Times. He says in 2018, 30 of the middle class will be hit hardest by these plans. By will be hit hardest by these plans. By 2027, it could be between 50 and 100 . I guess donald trump would dismiss the New York Times as fake news, its harder to dismiss a non partisan report. News, its harder to dismiss a nonpartisan report. Right. Ithisi this is a game of pick your expert. I spoke to a senior republican senator just about a couple of i spoke to a senior republican senatorjust about a couple of hours ago, who sits on the finance committee. Hes the guy whos been responsible for trying to usher this tax reform proposal through. I put it to him that there are these reports out there and that this tax reform bill will actually increase the american deficit by Something Like 2 trillion. He said he prefers to believe the other economists not saying that. When you get into economics you pick the statistics that seem to pack up your particular proposal. We know that according to opinion polls, this tax reform plan is not particularly popular with the american public. If it gets passed into law and people start feeling it, if the middle class starts feel it, if the middle class starts feel it, some time around the end of next year, heading into the mid term elections, they may say, listen, this was the Republican Party who gave us this was the Republican Party who gave us a this was the Republican Party who gave us a tax reform plan which has made us poorer not richer and were not sure we want to vote these people back into office. What the republicans are saying is that this tax reform plan will increase Economic Growth in the country and that will lift up everybody and everybody will be better off because of that. One broader question for you. I remember a of that. One broader question for you. I remembera while of that. One broader question for you. I remember a while back now, rahm emmanuel, when chief of staff for president obama at 2008 saying at the beginning of your presidency you have the most Political Capital and you have to decide how to spend it. Donald trump had a lot of Political Capital, were approaching the end of the year and its not clear in terms of legislation what hes got in return. Clear in terms of legislation what hes got in return. Yeah, you and i might feel were in a washing machine every day with the trump administration. So much news, so many administration. So much news, so ma ny tweets administration. So much news, so many tweets are sent out, so many people being criticise. If you look in terms of legislative achievements, this has been a spectacularly uneventful presidency. They havent done all the things they wanted to do, despite the fact they wanted to do, despite the fact they have the house of representatives, the senate, the white house and the Supreme Court in their favour. Thats a white house and the Supreme Court in theirfavour. Thats a problem white house and the Supreme Court in their favour. Thats a problem too. Voters are going to say, hold on, we handed you guys an enormous amount of power and you havent used it to achieve very much for us. We want some kind of results, which is why this tax reform bill, which is arcane and a bit dry, it is politically very important. They need a within and they would like it win and they would like it before the end of the year. You can see catty and Christian Fraser on beyond 100 days. Now next we turn to myanmar. You might have thought the pope would wa nt to might have thought the pope would want to use his visit there to talk about the Rohingya Muslims. They are victims of text book ethnic cleansing, according to the un. But he didnt. In a speech earlier, there was plenty on leaders in myanmar respecting human rights, but not a word about the rohingya. Thats not an oversight. This word itself is potent in myanmar. This is how the rohingyas refer to themselves, but many in myanmar dont use it. They refer to them as bell gallies. In other words bengalis, by not using that word the pope opted out of controversys way. Over 600,000 rohingya, mainly from rakhine state, have gone into the bangladesh because of a military crack down. That crack down began in august, after attacks by rohingya militants. The director of Human Rights Watch cuts to it in his criticism saying so some stark criticism for the pope. Bear in mind at this point we saw from the bbcs jonathan pope. Bear in mind at this point we saw from the bbcsjonathan head that pope francis is meeting senior military figures, butjonathan says anything he says will they actually influence these uncompromising figures . Jonathan says that seems doubtful. Our correspondent has been covering the popes visit. A military band announces the arrival of pope francis. A world away from the terror felt by 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who, since august, have fled into bangladesh. Today pope francis met with myanmars de fa cto pope francis met with myanmars de facto leader, aung san suu kyi. With Human Rights Organisations urging him to name the rohingya as victims, despite myanmar not recognising them as citizens. Myanmars civilian leader, who shares power with the army, spoke first, acknowledging the focus on rakhine, where rohingya have lived for generations. As we address long standing issues, the support of our people and of good friends, who only wish to see us succeed in our endeavours, has been invaluable. Aung san suu kyi chose to say little about the crisis. Expectations then shifted to pope francis. Translation the future of myanmar must be peace based on respect for the dignity and right of each member of society. Respect for each ethnic group and its identity, none excluded. Pope francis praised the united nations, but he did not refer to the uns accusation that myanmar has engaged in ethnic cleansing. And while he said the future of this nation must include all people, regardless of their race and religion, he did not use the word rohingya. Those working with Rohingya Refugees say the pope surrendered his moral authority by not offering an explicit criticism. But many in a country thats 75 buddhist were relieved he didnt mention the rohingya by name. Translation it was wise of him not to use the world. The world is hearing the wrong message. The pope may also have been mindful of potential repercussions for another religious minority. Christians make up religious minority. Christians make upjust 6 religious minority. Christians make up just 6 of the population here and many have travelled to take part ina and many have travelled to take part in a special mass, where pope francis will preside tomorrow. Inafew in a few minutes we turn to nairobi, where the president has been sworn infora where the president has been sworn in for a second term. On the streets of nairobi today there wasnt unity. The British Government is introducing new measures aimed at reducing the numbers of deaths and serious injuries during child birth. Independent investigations will now be carried out into a thousand cases every year, where the babies die unexpectedly or are left with a severe brain injury. Coroners could be given the power to look at stillbirths for the first time. The uk has some of the highest levels of stillbirth in western europe. The chief executive of sans, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, explains the gravity of the situation. Were talking about 5,500 a year, which is 15 every day. I think thats a figure that not many people know and is far too high. I think the idea of reducing the number of deaths by 20 by 2020 is manageable. And bringing in the focus to 2025 is really important because then we keep the momentum going. This is outside source. Were live in the bbc news room. Our lead story concerns north korea. Its fired a Ballistic Missile, according to the south koreans and americans, again raising tensions on the peninsula. We bring you the main stories from bbc world service. One of the most prominent saudis being held in an anticorruption prominent saudis being held in an anticorru ption drive is prominent saudis being held in an anticorruption drive is reported to have been freed after more than three weeks. Several members of the saudi royalfamily three weeks. Several members of the saudi royal family have tweeted theirjoy saudi royal family have tweeted their joy that the prince saudi royal family have tweeted theirjoy that the prince has been released, though there hasnt been official confirmation. Irelands deputy Prime Minister has stepped down in the midst of political crisis that threatens the countrys government. Revelations over a plan to discredit a Police Whistle blower when she was justice minister. Well, weve learned more about the Royal Wedding next year. Prince harry and the american actress Meghan Markle will marry in may. It will take place at st georges chapel in Windsor Castle. Were also told that Meghan Markle will become a british citizen and the royal family will be covering the cost of reading wedding and reception. Cost of the wedding and reception they have, in the words of their spokesman, been overwhelmed by the amount of support theyve received from britain and elsewhere in the world to the news of their engagement. And now, harry and meghan are starting to organise the wedding, taking charge over all aspects of the ceremony themselves, according to their officials. As they do so, other members of the royal family have been expressing their happiness at the news of the engagement. William and i are absolutely thrilled. Its such exciting news. Its a really happy time for any couple. We wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment. Americas loss is ourgain. Were all this happy moment. Americas loss is our gain. Were all absolutely delighted, as you can see, theyre so delighted, as you can see, theyre so happy. Sometimes, you know, in a climate where were surrounded by a lot of bad news, its a realjoy to have a bit of good news for once. The first big decision in terms of the Wedding Planning is the venue. The ceremony will take place inside Windsor Castle in the historic st georges chapel. The month on the invitations will be may, a precise date has still to be decided. The 15th century chapel, festooned with the banners of the knights of the garter is where harry was christianed. The disadvantage is the size. It can seat only 800 guests, fewer than half the capacity of westminster abbey. It is, though, a more intimate setting. It was where the marriage of the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall was blessed in 2005, after their wedding ina blessed in 2005, after their wedding in a register office. In windsor today, reaction to having another Royal Wedding in the town was predictably positive. Absolutely amazing. Were so excited about it. Jo thats fantastic. Really nice, yeah, lovely. It will be good for windsor as well, really good. |j yeah, lovely. It will be good for windsor as wel