welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm steve lai. the headlines. hundreds of people escape an airliner that bursts into flames after a collision with a coastguard plane at an airport in tokyo. officials in japan say at least 55 people have died and many are feared trapped beneath rubble after monday's powerful earthquake. they are still trying to piece together the extent of the damage and how many people have been killed and injured. life from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it is news day. welcome to bbc news. we begin injapan. officials at

investigating an aeroplane collision. this is the moment the passenger plane skidded down the runway on the airport on tuesday before a collision with a japanese coast a transport plan. people filmed the panic as smoke from the engine filled the cabin. five people on board the smaller aircraft died. it was heading to deliver supplies to people affected by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the province of noto. passengers told bbc what it was like inside the plane. translation: assault if i had s - read translation: assault if i had spread and — translation: assault if i had spread and only _ translation: assault if i had spread and only about - translation: assault if i had spread and only about ten - translation: assault if i had spread and only about ten and i spread and only about ten and 15 minutes. i spread and only about ten and 15 minutes-— 15 minutes. i can only say it

was a miracle _ 15 minutes. i can only say it was a miracle and - 15 minutes. i can only say it was a miracle and we - 15 minutes. i can only say it was a miracle and we could| 15 minutes. i can only say it - was a miracle and we could have died _ was a miracle and we could have died if— was a miracle and we could have died if we — was a miracle and we could have died if we did not evacuate at that— died if we did not evacuate at that point. our correspondent, suranjana tewari, is at haneda airport with more on the reaction on the ground. haneda airport, behind me, is slowly resuming service — about 100 flights were cancelled as a result of that collision on the runway. now, mostly domestic flights, international flights have been taking off and landing, as well, but really extraordinary images coming in. and people here are just digesting what happened when those two planes collided, leading to that massive fireball on the runway — and this, just 2a hours after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook many prefectures across the country, especially in the northwest, and with tremors being felt as far afield as tokyo. the moment of impact.

ajapan airlines plane skids down the tarmac at tokyo's haneda airport, after a collision with a smaller plane operated by japan's coastguard. inside the air bus, chaos, as passengers see heat and smoke billowing from an engine. and in the terrifying moments that followed, the plane finally comes to a stop. "get me out," she screams, as passengers panic. within moments, and as the cabin fills with fumes, inflatable slides are released, allowing hundreds of passengers and crew to scramble to safety, miraculously unharmed. translation: i was wondering what happened, then i felt - the aeroplane tilted to the side of the runway, and ifelta big bump. the flight attendants

told us to stay calm. i can only say it was a miracle. we could have died if we didn't evacuate at that point. a huge fire quickly takes hold and overwhelms the passenger aircraft, and then, this. those on board the second plane were not as fortunate. five of the six people aboard died, though the pilot escaped. that aircraft was travelling to near the epicentre of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. the crew were carrying food and preparing to help with the rescue effort. authorities here at haneda airport deployed 100 fire trucks to try to control the blaze, and it took more than six hours. experts say it is because of japan's strong safety record

and the training of its staff that the crew were able to respond so effectively in time. translation: we will work with the transport ministry | to determine the cause of the accident. the scene needs to be preserved for that, but we will try to get airport operations going as quickly as possible. investigators will be desperately looking for answers as to how two planes were on the runway at the same time. an extraordinary moment, but coming so soon after a powerful earthquake, japan finds itself facing two tragedies in as many days. suranjana tewari, bbc news, tokyo. i've been speaking with professor ed galea, who is the director of the fire safety engineering group at the university of greenwich. i asked him what he made of how the cabin crew responded to the incident to evacuate the passengers. well, the cabin crew did an absolutely astounding job in successfully evacuating all passengers and crew from the aircraft. they had a really difficult,

challenging situation. this was not an easy evacuation, because you only had three exits that were serviceable. so even in the certification of the aircraft, they would've had four exits available, and they would've been in operable condition. in this particular incident, the only had three exits available, and they weren't in an optimal distribution or in optimal circumstances. so how remarkable was it that all the passengers were evacuated? is that rare in such an instance? look, you'd normally hope you get everybody off an aircraft in an emergency situation, and the planes are designed to evacuate everyone in ideal conditions within 90 seconds. but as i say, this accident was farfrom ideal. the aircraft was nosedown, which means inside the aircraft, it was

difficult for passengers to move, especially if they had to go back up to use the rear exit. the front exits, the slide, because it was nosedown, the slide would not deploy correctly — they were on a very shallow angle, which means the flow of passengers down the slides was very slow. and conversely at the back of the aircraft, because it was tail—up, the slide was very, very steep, which means it was very dangerous for passengers going down that slide. and in one of the videos, you can see the crewmember at that number four exit, that rear exit urging passengers forward, that they've got a torch in their hand and waving it around, urging passengers to come back to the exit and go down that slide. that crewmember did an absolutely astounding job, he should get a medal. what then are the key lessons to be learned from this incident involving two aircraft? from the evacuation point of view, one of the things that made this

accident evacuation successful was that the passengers were well—behaved, in that they didn't take their luggage with them. i can't see a single passenger in any of the video i've seen on the ground that have got their luggage with them. if this had happened in the west, say in europe or the united states, a vast number of passengers would've tried to take their cabin luggage with them. and that's really dangerous because that'll slow down the evacuation. in this accident injapan, i think one of the key takeaways from this is, passengers, don't take your luggage with you when you are evacuating. and that's what they did in this accident, and everyone managed to get off. the coastguard plant involved in the collision was meant to deliver supplies to people affected by mondays 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the province of noto 55 people have known to have died and many were feared dead as rescuers raise time to save those trapped beneath the rubble. ——

race. our correspondentjean mckenzie is in the region and has spent the day trying to reach the town of wajima close to the epicentre. sirens. this is a race for survival. rescue workers stream throuthapan�*s isolated noto peninsula, the roads blocking their way. they're trying to reach these worst—affected areas in the north where people are trapped under their collapsed homes. many families were out at temples celebrating new year's day when japan was hit by its strongest earthquake in 12 years. nomura—san thought his shrine was going to collapse. "the whole gate was swaying. "the alleyway was swaying too. "the children had to squat on the floor "so as not to fall over," he told me. alerts chime

as we travel towards the epicentre, we're alerted to another earthquake. these aftershocks keep coming. further in, old wooden homes have been brought to the ground, not made to withstand the ferocity of japan's enduring quakes. toshio iwahama lives here alone after losing his wife. at 82, he doesn't know how he'll manage the repairs. translation: we always have earthquakes around here, - but ijust didn't think we'd get a big one like this. i didn't take it seriously. i thought we were safe here. this is only the tip of the destruction. we are trying to get closer to the epicentre, to a city where we know that at least a dozen people have died and many more are trapped in their homes that have collapsed. but we are struggling because, if you look at this road here, it is completely ruptured. and this is what we

keep coming up against, these and this is what we keep coming up against, these roads that are totally blocked off, and even these emergency services here, these rescue teams, have been struggling to reach people in these worst—affected areas. so we are still trying to piece together the extent of the damage, and how many people have been killed and injured. some firefighters have managed to get into the wrecked city of wajima and are searching for survivors. but the death toll is expected to rise. the people here have lived through many an earthquake, but never felt tremors of this magnitude, which have shaken both their surroundings and their sense of safety. i'm spoke to professor nobuhito mori, who is the deputy director of the disaster prevention research institute at kyoto university. he told me about some of the challenges rescue teams are facing. the main challenge of how to reach the main area of the

epicentre. it is very remote and the road is very narrow along here. ithink and the road is very narrow along here. i think it is difficult to approach in most areas. that is a big challenge at this moment. we understand buildin: at this moment. we understand building designs _ at this moment. we understand building designs in _ at this moment. we understand building designs in japan - at this moment. we understand building designs in japan are - building designs injapan are made with earthquakes in mind but we have seen a number of buildings and homes collapsing under the strain of the earthquake. what do you put that down to? in earthquake. what do you put that down to?— that down to? in this case damage — that down to? in this case damage is _ that down to? in this case damage is very _ that down to? in this case | damage is very significant. that down to? in this case - damage is very significant. the earthquake was very strong which exceeds our structure design level. additionally, these areas are very remote and very aged. i believe many old wooden houses do not renew

earthquake regulations since 1981. �* ., , earthquake regulations since 1981. a, , earthquake regulations since 1981. ., y a, 1981. and early warnings and cuick 1981. and early warnings and quick and — 1981. and early warnings and quick and effective _ 1981. and early warnings and quick and effective advice . 1981. and early warnings and quick and effective advice to| quick and effective advice to the public, did we see good evidence of that being done here? ~ ., ., ' here? we have two different warnin: here? we have two different warning systems. _ here? we have two different warning systems. one - here? we have two different warning systems. one is - here? we have two different warning systems. one is an| warning systems. one is an earthquake early warning system and the second is a tsunami early warning system. the earthquake early warning system is a prediction from the first wave before becoming man shocks of the second wave. i think the earthquake early warning system worked pretty well in this area from the epicentre.— from the epicentre. since 2011 earthquakes _ from the epicentre. since 2011 earthquakes in _ from the epicentre. since 2011 earthquakes in japan - from the epicentre. since 2011 earthquakes in japan often - earthquakes injapan often conjured boards of the fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. has there been any evidence of similar concerns this time around?— evidence of similar concerns this time around? there is a similar nuclear _

this time around? there is a similar nuclear power - this time around? there is a similar nuclear power plant l similar nuclear power plant across the present at this time. there was minor trouble around the nuclear power plant. however, all, there is no severe impact on the nuclear power plant around that area. there is lots more on the story on our website. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. sometimes a simple knock at the door and a friendly greeting mean more than we know. ronnie and paul first met through age uk's befriending scheme during lockdown. that meant phone calls at first, but face—to—face meetings soon followed. now they're firm friends — particularly since ronnie lost his wife earlier this year. we're both in the same situation, you know, and he's very good to talk to, and we can talk to each other about different stuff.

i was just saying the other day, if age uk folded, we'd still be friends. i don't think we've ever had a cross word. i genuinely look forward to seeing ronnie, and there's no "i'm the volunteer" and befriending scheme, and somebody's feeling a bit vulnerable. so, that's gone now, our relationship with ronnie is on an equal standing. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. let's turn to the war in gaza and hamas says its deputy political leader has been killed in a drone strike in lebanon. hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by many, says that israel is to blame for the attack. israel has insisted his death was not an

attack on lebanon. a hamas senior official killed in a hezbollah stronghold. this is the aftermath of the blast in the heart of the dahiyeh neighbourhood, beirut�*s southern suburb. hamas's deputy leader saleh al—arouri and several others died in the explosion. local media has said this was an israeli drone strike, but the idf has told the bbc they will not comment on reports by foreign media. this blast comes at a very volatile moment in the region. it was condemned by the lebanese caretaker prime minister najib mikati, who said israel wanted to drag lebanon into a new phase of the conflict. israel has not said it was behind this attack, but government adviser mark regev made this point — that whoever did it, this was not an attack on the lebanese state, but rather a surgical strike on hamas leadership. saleh al—arouri was a senior hamas figure on both the political

and the combat fronts. he helped establish the group's military wing, the izz ad—din al-qassam brigades. on october 7th, he was with ismail haniyeh, the head of hamas, watching footage of the deadly attacks in israel. al—arouri was one of the most closely connected hamas officials to both iran and the iran—backed hezbollah group in lebanon. he is seen here with iran's supreme leader, ali khamenei. this is his west bank house in his home town north of ramallah, destroyed by israel's military after october 7th. and this is ramallah tonight. hamas supporters mourning a leading figure and vowing revenge. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, jerusalem. former us president donald trump is appealing a decision by maine's top elections official to disqualify him from appearing on the republican presidential ballot there in this year's election.

the secretary of state announced her ruling last week saying the constitution prohibits anyone involved in an insurrection from holding office. republicans are appealing a similar ruling in colorado by the state's highest court, though he'll remain on the ballot there for now unless the us supreme court intervenes. spanish footballerjenni hermoso has testified to a madrid court that a kiss from former federation madrid court that a kiss from formerfederation president luis rubiales was not consensual. the former federation chief denies the allegation. ajudge will federation chief denies the allegation. a judge will now decide if mr rubiales should be tried for sexual assault and coercion. parts of the uk have been battered by storm henk. it's caused transport disruption and flooding. gusts up disruption and flooding. gusts up to 80 miles an hour have

been recorded in exeter airport. taiwan is to hold presidential and parliamentary elections onjanuary 13. rising tensions with beijing are a major election issue in the polls. china sees taiwan as a renegade province which, according to beijing, needs to reunite with the mainland. the islands current president tsai ing—wen is stepping down after eight years in power. w brent christensen from provo, utah, is the former director of the american institute in taiwan, the organisation overseeing the unofficial us relationship with taiwan. earlier, iasked him how could beijing react if taiwanese elect william lai as he appears to be particularly disliked by china. obviously they will be very unhappy, but i don't think they can be surprised. beijing obviously does not like lai, claiming he's a dangerous separatist. but listen, i don't think any democratic progressive party candidate would be any more welcome, and the current dpp president, tsai ing—wen, has come under

similar attacks for her refusal to accept the �*92 consensus and for her other sins. beijing just fundamentally has a very deep distrust of the dpp and its leaders, so i suspect that cross—strait relationship has been rather tense over the past eight years of that tsai ing—wen presidency, so i think we can anticipate that that would continue with a lai presidency. china's president xi, in his new year's address, reiterated that "reunification" with taiwan was inevitable. how heavily does the china factor weigh on this election, versus domestic bread—and—butter issues? i think it's very important for this election. we saw with the recent debates that there was a lot of focus on the cross—strait relationship,

on what sort of relationship taiwan should have with the prc — whereas in previous election campaigns or debates, they were more focused on domestic issues. so i think people are very, very focused on how this outcome could affect the cross—strait relationship. now, there are question marks over the us commitment to support taiwan — military funding was tied up in the ukraine package that is stalled in congress. what are the priorities for washington here, and how committed is president biden to supporting taiwan? well, i'm certainly aware of the statements the president and his top advisers have made, but i'm not really in a position to say how the united states would react to an attack on taiwan. but i think it is also very clear — i mean, we have actually a legal commitment to support

taiwan's self—defense, as spelled out in the taiwan relations act — the united states regards any unilateral actions to change the status quo across the taiwan strait by other than peaceful means as a threat to the peace and security of the region. the us has a long—standing commitment to taiwan, to support its self—defense, to provide what are called defence articles and services — those are planes, guns, tanks — to enable taiwan to maintain a sufficient self—defense capability. the south korean opposition leader, leejae—myung, is recovering in intensive care after emergency treatment in hospital in seoul. an attacker stabbed him in the neck in the city of busan. the injury is not thought to be life—threatening. mr lee was surrounded by camera crews and journalists when a man posing as a supporter lunged at him with a knife.

the attacker was immediately overpowered and arrested. the skull of a huge and ferocious sea monitor that went on display to the public today. it's believed to have lived more than 100 million years ago. more than 100 million years auo. �* more than 100 million years ato, �* ., , ., more than 100 million years auo. �* ., ., ago. and was one of the most fearsome _ ago. and was one of the most fearsome predators _ ago. and was one of the most fearsome predators the - ago. and was one of the most| fearsome predators the planet has ever seen. our science editor has this story. coming face to face with a jurassic sea monster. this is the skull of a pleiosaur. i think it's incredible. i the skull of a pleiosaur. i think it's incredible. i think it's very — think it's incredible. i think it's very terrifying. - think it's incredible. i think it's very terrifying. eating i it's very terrifying. eating all those predators. it it's very terrifying. eating all those predators. it has big teeth. all those predators. it has big teeth- it's _ all those predators. it has big teeth. it's remarkably - all those predators. it has big teeth. it's remarkably well. teeth. it's remarkably well preserved _ teeth. it's remarkably well preserved and _ teeth. it's remarkably well preserved and the - teeth. it's remarkably well. preserved and the specimen teeth. it's remarkably well- preserved and the specimen is also complete.—

also complete. this is exemplary- _ also complete. this is exemplary. this - also complete. this is exemplary. this is - also complete. this is| exemplary. this is the also complete. this is - exemplary. this is the best you will ever see. exemplary. this is the best you will eversee. it's exemplary. this is the best you will ever see. it's top of the food chain. there's nothing bigger than this. so it fed on everything. it fed on its own kind, it fed on anything it gets its teeth into.- gets its teeth into. this gigantic— gets its teeth into. this gigantic reptile - gets its teeth into. this gigantic reptile lived i gets its teeth into. this| gigantic reptile lived 150 million years ago. it would've terrorised the oceans, passing prey with a single bite. the fossil was found halfway down a cliff face in dorset. it took a team dangling off ropes to extract it from the crumbling clay. over the next ten months, layer upon layer of rock was painstakingly removed until it emerged. researchers think it's a species new to science. i think this is a young a species new to science. i think this is a young adult, or a not fully grown one. there's certain features on the skull that would suggest that. for

example, some of the bone fusions are not quite complete, which is a feature of young specimens. this is hugely important specimen because of its beautiful preservation and it's prepared in such a way you can see all the important features. can see all the important features-— can see all the important features. �*, ., ., , , features. there's no doubt this hue features. there's no doubt this huge skull _ features. there's no doubt this huge skull is — features. there's no doubt this huge skull is impressive, - features. there's no doubt this huge skull is impressive, but l huge skull is impressive, but where's the rest of it? come and have a look in here. inside this floor is a tantalising glimpse of what's left to find of the body. we have a few neck vertebrae, a shoulder bone, and the team is certain the rest is still in the cliffs. they want to get it out. the skull is two metres long, so there's another eight metres left to extract. so there may be more of this beast to come. but it is recovered, the museum may need to build a new extension to fit it all in. researchers estimate its bite force would have been the same

range as a t—rex, earning it the nickname of searex. that's all for us. hello there. the weather should be calming down a bit now. it'll take a while for the flood waters to recede, but the winds have dropped. earlier on tuesday, we had a gust of 81mph at exeter airport, then the strong winds moved into the southeast with a gust of 69mph at heathrow airport. well, that's storm henk, and it's now tracking its way into europe. it'll bring some snow in scandinavia — it's very cold here. this low pressure is not a storm, but it will bring some showers. the more persistent rain has cleared away, mind you, but we have seen a lot of flooding just recently. the heaviest rain actually fell over the hills of wales — that's fed into the river systems in the west midlands and, a short while ago, there were over 200 flood warnings on rivers in england. these are the temperatures

we're looking at for the start of wednesday — not too cold out there, typically 5—6 celsius. we've still got some more persistent rain in the far northeast of scotland, could be a bit wintry up in shetland, some strong winds for a while here. some strong winds, too, blowing through the english channel, in the southwest of england. not as windy as it was on tuesday. and elsewhere, it'll be a mixture of sunshine and showers, maybe some more frequent showers coming back into scotland, pegging the temperatures back a bit here. those numbers a little bit lower than we had on tuesday, but not by a great deal. now, this low pressure will still sit to the west of scotland as we head into thursday. this feature here is causing us a few headaches, the track seems to be changing a little — it's now moving a little furthersouth, more into northern parts of france. there is the threat of some rain coming through the channel islands and into the far southeast of england. otherwise, a fairly quiet day, more in the way of sunshine, fewer showers, still some cloudy, damp, and breezy weather into the far northeast of scotland. temperature—wise, we're looking at around 8—9 celsius typically, so it is beginning to get a little bit cooler, and that trend will continue as we head

towards the weekend. we are going to find, instead of low pressure around, though, pressure will rise — now its low pressure that's brought all the wet weather recently and all the flooding, but high pressure will build in in time for the weekend. that'll bring in some colder air, may get a northeasterly breeze for a while, but certainly a change in weather type is on the way eventually. some much—needed dry weather to come as we head towards the weekend and into next week. it does mean, however, it will be colder, generally dry with some sunshine, but we're likely to have some frost at night. goodbye.

news website. the better. spot on the electric car sector heats up as chinese carmaker byd outpaces tesla in sales for the first time. plus well taken drugs in tiny doses making more efficient at work. we take a look at some of the woes around this trend in the united states. —— worries. hello and welcome to asia business report, i am steve lai. we begin with byd, the chinese ev maker that officially overtaken the american giant tesla in total fourth—quarter sales. tesla �*s record deliveries up more than 480,000 vehicles in the last three months of the year was not enough to cement his position in the top spot. the companies deliveries are

the closest estimation to sales figures. our