counterpart xi jinping speak for the first time in month. what it could signal. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. a powerful earthquake has hit the east coast of taiwan, triggering japan and the philippines to issue tsunami alerts. officials say flights were suspended at okinawa's main airport, as a precautionary measure. us geological survey says the quake measured 7.4 magnitude and say the intensity of the shaking was very high. these are some recent pictures from on the ground in hualien, taiwan, where buildings have collapsed and there are reports of power outages. there have been reports of multiple powerful aftershocks in the region, with one measuring at a 6.4 magnitude. and the philippines, which lies to the south of taiwan, has also declared a tsunami alert for its northern coastline. reuters reports that china's taiwan affairs office said they are willing to provide disaster relief assistance. let's go now to emily feng, she's a correspondent for npr in taipei.

what did you experience? 0h, what did you experience? oh, my cosh!, what did you experience? oh, my gosh!. what _ what did you experience? oh, my gosh!. what an — what did you experience? oh, my gosh!, what an eventful _ gosh!, what an eventful morning! i was having a coffee and the entire building started shaking, which is not unusual for taiwan, we get earthquakes every month or so but this is a really big one and the shaking continued and many things smashed in my house. i wasjust cleaning up some glass and the after—shocks have continued, the last one was just a few moments ago. the last one was “ust a few moments ago._ the last one was 'ust a few moments ago. the last one was 'ust a few moments auo. ., w ., moments ago. how impacted other buildinus moments ago. how impacted other buildings around _ moments ago. how impacted other buildings around you? _ moments ago. how impacted other buildings around you? people - buildings around you? people are calm and _ buildings around you? people are calm and people - buildings around you? people are calm and people used - buildings around you? people are calm and people used to. are calm and people used to this, in the last one was just 1.5 years ago but this was on a different scale. people have returned to their houses. the power is on. the internet is working and in the epicentre, in hualien some other power lines are down but so far things will calm and stable. good news. what about the broader impact, you mentioned

there had been tsunami alerts issued for the region and in japan and the philippines? right now, some schools have not gone ahead, transportation is not going ahead and many things are made here in taiwan, and the biggest company has a ready said they have evacuated their staff for safety reasons and stopping production lines as a result of the quake. find as a result of the quake. and he said it _ as a result of the quake. and he said it was _ as a result of the quake. and he said it was fairly - as a result of the quake. and he said it was fairly common for taiwan in the region and how well—prepared people after an earthquake of this magnitude? an earthquake of this maanitude? �* , ., ., , magnitude? buildings are to be earthquake _ magnitude? buildings are to be earthquake resistant _ magnitude? buildings are to be earthquake resistant and - magnitude? buildings are to be earthquake resistant and the i earthquake resistant and the epicentre in hualien is very low lying, it is very low and very few skyscrapers and

landslides are the main issue, hills have been tumbling down and blocking transportation. figs and blocking transportation. as ou and blocking transportation. as you are speaking we saw some images of the buildings that are now leaning over. what are authorities saying now in taipei? what are they advising? to stay calm but people are allowed to return home and they are on a roll alert for after—shocks. they are also looking in the emergency alert system because it was meant to be on alert going out before the earthquake and only some received it. i did not get one so some people are trying to work out what happened with the emergency system.— emergency system. great to get our emergency system. great to get your perspective — emergency system. great to get your perspective from _ emergency system. great to get your perspective from on - emergency system. great to get your perspective from on the - your perspective from on the ground. thank you forjoining us. israel is facing international condemnation over an air strike that killed seven aid workers monday night, including sharp rebukes from the united states, the united kingdom, and the united nations. the group of mostly foreign nationals was working

for us—based world central kitchen, a charity organisation that was delivering food and other humanitarian aid to gaza, including by boat. the organisation says its team members were travelling in a deconflicted zone in branded armoured cars, and had co—ordinated movements with israeli forces. the israel defense force called the attack a mistake. meanwhile, president biden released a statement saying: meanwhile: prime minister rishi sunak posted on x: downing street says mr sunak described the situation in gaza as increasingly intolerable in a phone call with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. lucy williamson has more from jerusalem. and a warning — viewers may find some of the images in her report distressing. hey, this is zomi.

we're at the deir al—balah kitchen. they came from australia, poland, the us and the uk. their mission — to feed people — one of the simplest. in gaza — one of the hardest. and most dangerous. last night, israeli airstrikes hit their convoy, clearly marked with the charity logo of the world central kitchen. seven people killed, including three british nationals. colleagues, distraught, identified their bodies. "these are the people who brought the aid from the sea", he says. "they're all dead, all of them." the workers had been unloading a second shipment of aid brought into gaza by sea. they were travelling back from the warehouse in deir al—balah when their convoy was hit. theirvehicles, more

than a mile apart. translation: it was a direct hit. their vehicles more than a mile apart. they tried to treat some of them and put them in another car in front, but they shelled the car. this is the situation here. anyone who brings aid to gaza is at risk of shelling and death. the remains of the convoy tell the story. the remains of their car straight through the logo that was meant to protect them. i sustained and targeted attack. translation: unfortunately, there was an attack. _ this happens in war. we're conducting a thorough inquiry and we're in contact with the governments for that we will do everything to prevent a recurrence. six months into this war, the questions around the killing of civilians are getting sharper. this was a clearly marked aid convoy, passing through an area without heavy fighting under israeli control. aid agencies say co—ordinating

safe passage with the israeli army in gaza is cumbersome and time—consuming. but it's this kind of event that it's designed to avoid. the un here says it's been warning about something like this for months. we have got people in these i very, very dangerous situations moving around without any comms between the different _ groups or different teams. and then, you know, i last night, for example, there was telephone calls coming from the world i central kitchen trying to make connectionsl and itjust wasn't possible. so you're moving around gaza, no communication between teams. why not? well, because the israelis say we shouldn't have - communications equipment because, if they do, - they could actually be taken i by hamas and used by hamas. i think it's a poor excuse. the first of the victims was buried today — a local man called saif abu taha. gaza, already a byword for grief, is tonight mourning those who came to save lives and paid with their own.

lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. for more on the reaction and growing pressure on israel, i spoke to nimrod novik, who served as a senior policy advisor to former israeli president, shimon peres. amid the condemnation, there are calls for israel to be held to account, what do you think we will see will happen? i think it should be an internal investigation and to be thorough and transparent. i believe everybody in israel is not by the incident but heartfelt to the family of the victims of the different countries. it may lead to greater pressure on israel to cease operations. i don't expect that to happen but it

cannot be ruled out. can expect that to happen but it cannot be ruled out.- expect that to happen but it cannot be ruled out. can i ask ou, cannot be ruled out. can i ask you. there — cannot be ruled out. can i ask you, there are _ cannot be ruled out. can i ask you, there are concerns - cannot be ruled out. can i ask you, there are concerns an i you, there are concerns an internal investigation will not provide answers to what happened. should there be an external investigation? i doubt that. the record _ external investigation? i doubt that. the record of— external investigation? i doubt that. the record of the - external investigation? i doubt that. the record of the idf i that. the record of the idf over the years is that when it doesn't investigation it doesn't investigation it doesn't quite thoroughly and under the watchful eyes of several friendly countries, first and foremost of the us, but also australian, britain, france and others, i think they will be satisfied when they get the findings and the full file of the investigation. i the findings and the full file of the investigation.- the findings and the full file of the investigation. i want to ask ou of the investigation. i want to ask you about _ of the investigation. i want to ask you about the _ of the investigation. i want to ask you about the domestic i ask you about the domestic politics in israel at the moment because we saw protesters demonstrating outside of the canet set again on tuesday and not happy with

the handling of it by the prime minister and more than 130 hostages still being held. what impact if any do you think domestic and end international pressure is having on benjamin netanyahu and his choice to continue military operations. i share the sentiment that the prime minister and his strategy of 15 years of strengthening, and weakening the authority, and weakening the authority, and the government with mia was missing in action in the months following the tragedy and 75% of the public, led by every poll over months, want him gone and the conduct of the war, since it's perspex full — as

purposeful start, we are now in the phase of the fighting which is not a purposeful one and i think the people want to see a different leadership. we want to get out of this crisis and embrace opportunities that may came out of the tragedy and taking care, both are bringing the hostages and opening up the space for a team of superb negotiators to get the better of the leadership. fiiq and of the leadership. 0k. and round the _ of the leadership. 0k. and round the country in a more responsible way then we have seenin responsible way then we have seen in the last 1.5 years. you applauded _ seen in the last 1.5 years. you applauded a — seen in the last 1.5 years. you applauded a group _ seen in the last 1.5 years. you applauded a group of - seen in the last 1.5 years. you applauded a group of leaders on social media, on x, saying

there was no military solution to the israeli—palestinian conflict, only a political one. what is that political solution and how do you get there? the olitical and how do you get there? iie: political solution is and how do you get there? "iie: political solution is only and how do you get there? i“ie: political solution is only one, that i believe in and i believe it is inevitable. that is a two state solution. we are not there and october seven and the ensuing war did not bring us any closer by any means. palestinians and israelis are not in the mood for negotiations right now... if not in the mood for negotiations right now... iii negotiations right now... if i can jump — negotiations right now... if i can jump in _ negotiations right now... if i canjump in there, that precise east appears to be the issue. the current government, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is not ready to talk about a two state solution and negotiations are not there either so how do you get there? i are not there either so how do you get there?— you get there? i believe the only begun- _ you get there? i believe the only begun. since _ you get there? i believe the only begun. since we i you get there? i believe the only begun. since we are i you get there? i believe the j only begun. since we are no longer inapposite purposeful

wall — — in a war, people are realising the government cannot continue running the country with extremist, self—proclaimed, fives, and the tremors within the political system are already felt and nobody knows how long it would take and what will be the shape of the transition into the new one, forced by major public protest, will it shake internal dynamics, nobody knows. but i believe the conventional wisdom, notjust amongst wisdom, not just amongst politicians wisdom, notjust amongst politicians but among 75% of the public, is that before the end of the year we will have a different government. we have to leave the — different government. we have to leave the conversation i different government. we have j to leave the conversation never great to speak with you

tonight. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. mr; tonight. thank you for “oining us on bbc news. around the world and across the uk this is bbc news. let's look at another story making news. working parents in england can now receive more government—funded care for their children. up until the end of march, there were 30 hours per week of funded childcare available for three and four—year—olds. now, there'll be 15 hours per week available for working parents of two—year—olds during school term—time. the government says it will mean tens of thousands more children will be eligible for a government—funded childcare place. here's prime minister rishi sunak. this week it's being expanded to two—year—olds, that's really positive and i've been talking to families for whom that'll be a big difference. we fully funded the programme and increase the rates we are paying to nurseries, making sure there are more childcare places available, more childcare staff available and the future looks bright and it is a really positive intervention which when it's fully rolled out will be worth around £7,000 of support to working parents. but many in the industry are warning that the funding

simply isn't enough. labour said last week it would not commit to the government's plans, calling the system a �*total mess'. you're live with bbc news. us treasury secretary janet yellen is set to begin a six—day visit to china wednesday, for for bilateral meetings and other engagements, including with premier li qiang. the treasury department says the visit will build on the intensive diplomacy she has engaged in to responsibly manage the bilateral economic relationship and advance american interests. presidentjoe biden and his chinese counterpart xi jinping spoke by telephone on tuesday — their first direct talks since november 2023. the white house said the call was "candid and constructive" as the two superpowers seek to keep tensions from mounting. the leaders talked for nearly two hours about a number of issues, including the taiwan strait, us tech restrictions, ownership of tiktok, and beijing's

support for russia. live now to the bbc�*s laura bicker in beijing. what other chinese saying about this call between president biden and xijinping? this call between president biden and xi jinping? when you ut the biden and xi jinping? when you put the two _ biden and xi jinping? when you put the two readouts, - biden and xi jinping? when you put the two readouts, one i biden and xi jinping? when you put the two readouts, one from washington and one from beijing, you would think they are a different call. i spoke for about 90 minutes but while the us side has emphasised china's support for russia during the invasion of ukraine, and author issues in the south china sea, on the chinese side, what they are emphasising is what they are emphasising is what they are emphasising is what they call the insurmountable redline in us— china relations, coming as no surprise to anyone, and that is taiwan. they emphasise they should be no push by the biden administration or any other officials within the united states to push for taiwanese

independence. beijing believes the self—governing island is its own territory and will see that as a complete redline. interestingly, from my point of view when i read the statement, high up in he is baiting's concern that the us may place further restrictions on its technology and trade and i think there have been a number of issues with regards to the us placing sanctions on technology and one of the things in the statement is said is it is not de— risking, it is creating risks. there are some jitters in beijing that further restrictions may come from washington. restrictions may come from washington-— restrictions may come from washington. janet yellen are startinr washington. janet yellen are starting a — washington. janet yellen are starting a six-day _ washington. janet yellen are starting a six-day trip - washington. janet yellen are starting a six-day trip and i washington. janet yellen are starting a six-day trip and is| starting a six—day trip and is expected to press china on overcapacity and green technologies and what the us calls unfair trade practices. how tough do you think the talks will be? i how tough do you think the talks will be?— talks will be? i think there will be a — talks will be? i think there will be a number- talks will be? i think there will be a number of i talks will be? i think there will be a number of areas |

talks will be? i think there i will be a number of areas where it will be pretty tricky for both sides. janet yellen has a ready made clear she wants to talk about the overproduction, particularly in ev and solar panels. china will disagree and they will want to strongly disagree because this is a country whose economy is in a bit of economy. yes, they say they hit their target of 5% last year and many economists would disagree with the figure and they are aiming for an ambitious growth target of a further 5% this year are many economists do not think they will meet that target. the other problem is when it comes to foreign investment, it is at its lowest in china for 23 years. perhaps china will push back a little but it will want to welcome more us business. last week, president xi jinping met with a number of us business leaders and the talks were warm, and he talked about further development and cooperation and talked about it

and china needs the business and china needs the business and it will push back but also welcome more.— and it will push back but also welcome more. really great to net our welcome more. really great to get your analysis. _ welcome more. really great to get your analysis. thank i welcome more. really great to get your analysis. thank you i get your analysis. thank you forjoining us. at the white house tonight, presidentjoe biden and vice president harris were planning to hold an iftar dinner — a fast—breaking meal during the muslim holy month of ramadan — with muslim and arab leaders. instead, the dinner was canceled because of the optics of famine concerns in gaza. according to a white house official, the president made clear he mourns the loss of every innocent life in this conflict and expressed his commitment to continue working to secure an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free the hostages and significantly increase humanitarian aid into gaza. earlier i spoke to sabrina siddiqui, national politics reporterfor the wall streetjournal, for more. sabrina siddiqui is national politics reporterfor the wall streetjournal. great to have you again. the strike on aid workers and their convoy added more attention to the plans for the dinner tonight. tell us what ended up happening. it's interesting because the white house iftar

as a celebration dates back for decades. the first was traced to thomasjefferson in 1805 but it was a tradition under the clinton, bush and obama administrations, trump skipped one but still had iftar dinner with ambassadors from muslim—majority countries. now the white house has a predicament under president biden where they are trying to host what has been a pretty bipartisan and noncontroversial event when they are under so much pressure for the president's handling of the conflict in gaza, so instead of the dinner, i think a lot of the people who were invited, muslim leaders said, with more than a million people starving in gaza, they don't want to sit down to break bread with the white house, so they requested a policy discussion with the president instead, and that's what they did, was sit down to raise their concerns directly about the humanitarian crisis in gaza. some muslim leaders rejected the invitation, there were calls to boycott, and others i spoke to who were there say they felt like it was a rare opportunity to have a direct audience with the president who they believe

is one of the only people who can change the course of the war in gaza. president biden, the white house has pointed to his shifting rhetoric to the war in gaza in the last six months, more critical of israel, looking at the massive civilian death toll in gaza. how is that landing with the arab and muslim american community in the us? a lot of people see, when i talk to them, the shift in tone. and of course they wanted the president to speak more critically of israel's conduct in the war, civilian casualties and again the lack of aid getting into gaza, the fact that there has been a very real and acute risk of famine, but what they have not seen is a shift in policy and that is what a lot of these muslim and arab american leaders and voters want. some attendees at this meeting told the president directly, at what point will the us stop

providing military assistance to israel, certainly at least in the course of this conflict, why is the administration still providing bombs and fighterjets at the same time as asking israel to rein in civilian casualties and that's not happening. the president has called for a temporary ceasefire to release hostages still being held by hamas and to get more aid in gaza but people want a permanent ceasefire, not a six—week ceasefire and going back to the status quo. if you look at the democratic primary in michigan, you had more than 100,000 people vote uncommitted because of their concerns on the israel policy in the white house. we've seen similar patterns in other primaries. what could be the impact on the election in november? it could impact some of the battleground states like in michigan we have an outsized arab and muslim american population. states like georgia, separated by something like 11,000 votes, notjust arab muslim americans, young voters , black voters, a lot of constituencies who typically vote for

democrats were angered by the president's approach to the conflict, so if there is turnout that is suppressed by his handling of the war, that's a problem for president biden, if people vote third party or leave the ballot blank, that's a vote for former president trump which what the white house and biden campaign are trying to convey to these voters. having said that, now we're looking at a rematch between former president trump and president biden, some of these voters i've spoken to are not sure yet how they will vote. some have made up their mind and said they are done with president biden and there's nothing he could do to change their mind, the war was a deal—breaker, but others said trump would be worse so maybe that will bring some of these voters back home to biden and others are watching and waiting to see if there is a meaningful change in policy on president biden's part. then perhaps he could earn their vote. what is the white house saying about its strategy? the white house is saying that they've been trying to host

discussions with muslim and arab american leaders since the start of the conflict, the president sitting down with a handful of leaders in october and senior administration officials have met with muslim and arab american leaders in the white house and even went to michigan to sit down with some of the elected officials over there who were frustrated by the administration's handling of the war and seeking a meeting to talk about potential alternatives to their current approach in policy. they are trying to straddle a complicated line — on the one hand continuing their support for israel and honouring the support for the offensive in gaza, while again trying to be a bit more critical, put more pressure on israel and its conduct in the war. we will see how long they can thread the needle and if they are able to appease the many different constituencies they are trying to keep the support of at this time. interesting reporting. great to have you on. thank you. before we go: a salute to a las vegas icon that

shut its doors for good tuesday. the tropicana hotel and casino has hosted some of vegas's most famous performers from frank sinatra to siegfried and roy.james bond even checked—in in 1971's diamonds are forever. now the 67—year—old strip hotel will be demolished to build a new major league baseball stadium to open in 2028. demolition is set for october. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. weather for the remainder of this week is going to stay very unsettled. it's going to be a frustrating week to try and make plans for those who have children off for the easter break. there will be some sunny intervals, but spells of wind and rain at times, and as we head into the weekend, it will turn windier,

but milder. in fact, in east anglia, we could see a high of 20 celsius — 68 fahrenheit — way above the average for this time of year in that area. bearthat in mind, but we are all starting to be aware that a warmer atmosphere means a wetter one, and you can see these areas of low pressure waiting in the wings to influence the weather story. so the first low is moving through on wednesday, bringing rain into northern ireland, southern scotland. behind it, there'll be a few sharp showers to come, as well, so by the middle part of the afternoon, expect some sunny spells, perhaps more than we saw on tuesday, and temperatures will peak at highs of 15 celsius. some of the showers across northern england, though, could still be quite heavy, and that showery rain will start to drift out of northern ireland, improving here into central scotland. the far north and east of scotland will stay largely fine and dry, with some showers, but a north—easterly wind will make it feel noticeably colder, temperatures a good ten degrees down on where they are further south. so that low pulls away, another one is going to replace it on thursday, and then another significant low waiting in the wings for the

start of the weekend. so on thursday, as that cloud and rain pushes its way steadily north through the night, it will be a mild start to thursday morning. we'll see showery outbreaks of rain pushing their way steadily eastwards throughout the day, so hopefully a slow improvement. but here's the next system already starting to show its hand across cornwall and south wales by the end of the day. ahead of it, with some brightness, we'll see highs of 16 degrees. but that north—easterly wind once again pegging those temperatures back — in aberdeenshire, a high ofjust 16. then, as we move towards the end of the week, this low could bring some very windy weatherfor a time, gales on exposed coasts, a spell of heavy rain moving its way steadily north, and it's this that will tap into that pretty mild air all the way down from the south—west, starting to push its way across scotland now, as well. but don't expect anything prolonged, settled and sunny. there will continue to be showers, longer spells of rain. windy but warm.

are voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk.

i'm stephen sackur. we humans keep pushing the frontiers of bioscience. we now understand the molecular biology that makes us who we are. but we are still figuring out how to use that knowledge. should we screen all human embryos for genetic abnormalities? should we root out mutations? could we be sleepwalking into a new era of eugenics? my guest is the ethicist, disability rights activist and writer tom shakespeare who also happens to live with a genetic condition, achondroplasia, that has restricted his growth. should we embrace difference rather than use science to root it out?