chinese stocks plunge. trading is halted as the world's second largest economy continues to slow. the world news. also to come. >> we are determined not to allow iran to undermine our security saudi arabia cuts diplomatic ties with iran after protestors storm its embassy in tehran. an earthquake hits north-eastern india. there are reports bangladesh are

also affected. the u.s. gun lobby as president obama tries to bring in stronger control measures first, chinese stock markets have plunged by 8%. automatically triggering a suspension in trading. investors reacted to the slow down by selling shares. those worries spread to other markets like hong kong and japan. they're being dragged down as we speak. this mechanism that is triggered when stocks plunge below 5% is meant to stop panic spreading, but it does seem that there is a certain amount of kon c-- contagion. >> reporter: you're right. this mechanism, this circuit

breaking mechanism was supposed to contain market volatility. what happened on monday was it fell by 5%. that was enough to cause trading to be suspended for 15 minutes. trading then resumed with the market dropping by 7%, which meant the market had to halt for the rest of the day. when that market was temporarily closed, after it fell by 5%, it did the very thing it was supposed to stop, it created panic. so we expect the market to open again tomorrow, but it, of course, it will be interesting to see what happens after that dramatic fall today. we have had bigger falls than this, but it is the symbolism of it all because the day was the first day of trading on the stock markets in shanghai and shenzhen and this was going to be the day to show whether this mechanism was working. it woulds certainly working but for all the wrong reasons.

what is wrong with the economy now? manufacturing output is continuing to slow for the 10th consecutive month. manufacturing is continuing to contract. also china's currency is continuing to weaken and, of course, there are concerns about what is happening in the middle east right now in terms of those deepening tensions between saudi arabia and iran. also let us not forget this economy is burdened by two very big problems right now. local government debt and also currency flight. billions of dollars are leaving this country every day because people with the money simply have no faith in the stock market, as we've seen today, and they have no faith in the property market. in china those are basically the only places you can stick your money so at the moment this is a response, then, to some rather negative economic data, but overall the signs don't look terribly good more than generally for the chinese economy for 2016.

>> reporter: yes. it was interesting a few days ago president xi jinping gave his annual new year's eve address and he spoke about the need for pain before prosperity. i think the leaders know that this is going to be another rocky year because chin is atrying to transition the economy away from the industries on which it has been reliant for so long. it wants to philanthropist away to new service industries. some good news because the service sector is performing quite well. that will offer a measure of reassurance to to government leaders saudi arabia has cut diplomatic ties with iran after demonstrators set fire to the embassy in tehran. they were protesting against the

execution of a cleric. nimr al-nimr was among 47 men convicted of terrorism offences. >> reporter: the saudi embassy ablaze in tehran. iranians lash out after leading shia cleric was among 47 men executed in saudi arabia on terrorism charges. the saudi government says it made repeated questions for iran to protect its embassy, but they were ignored. in response, the kingdom has cut diplomatic ties with tehran. >> we are determined not to allow iran to undermine our security. we are determined not to let iran mobilize or create or establish terrorist cells in our country or in the countries of our allies. >> reporter: the execution of nimr al-nimr has prompted protests among shia communities across the middle east. nimr al-nimr and the other man,

including faris al-zahrani, were charged with plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks, targeting civil yaps and security forces. nimr al-nimr didn't deny the political charges, but said he never carried weapons or called for violence. the country is adamant he got a fair trial. iran supreme leader is warning of what he calls devine revenge. >> translation: it is a wrong deed because this blood will trouble them without a doubt. i have no doubt about it. policy makers executed them. the decision makers should not underestimate that this blood will trouble them. it will torment them. >> reporter: iran and saudi arabia have often engaged in a war of words and it is not the first time they've cut diplomatic relations. >> i think that the ties between

iranians and saudis were bound to clash at one point because there are so many challenges facing these two countries. the points of views are die met trickally opposed. >> reporter: the concern now is that the widening rift between these these two powers will have a broader impact across the middle east. gerald tan within the last hour a spokesman for iran's foreign ministry has said as long as saudi arabia keeps creating tension across the nation relations will continue to be strained. >> translation: this indicates its intention and it is wanting, a policy to create tension after

tension and crisis after crisis a professor of middle east politics at the london school of xiks says the stand off could spread to other countries in the middle east. >> you have proxys. they are waging wars by proxies throughout the region. from the ruptures of the diplomatic relations, we are seeing that they're at the lowest point. we could witness further escalati escalation, that what has happened in the last 24 hours could cause gasoline to be poured on, but in addition the two gulf giants could aggravate and exacerbate regional tensions. what is going to happen, the international community was hoping for a diplomatic solution in syria in the next few weeks,

at the end of january. forget about it. people were hoping for a deescalation and ceasefire in yemen. forget about it. i am in beirut now and the situation is very tense. hezbollah was the dominant shia part in lebanon is up in arms trying to rally the lebanese and the muslim population against saudi arabia. the situation is bahrain is very tense. you have sizeable shia communities throughout the gulf. remember, even though saudi arabia and iran are waging a war by proxies for power, for geopolitics, for influence. the particular struggle has taken on sectarian connotations because you have politics. i fear that the current crisis, the remain toured diplomat--

ruptured relations can bring issues in other issues meanwhile there are officials meeting to discuss who should attend the upcoming talks of bashar al-assad's government. the envoy is expected to meet opposition leaders. now to afghanistan where a suicide bomber in a car has blown himself up at a police check point close to kabul's airport. the blast caused no other casualties. it happened close to where a taliban suicide bomber killed a person and won wounded 33 others last week. week security forces have been fighting with gunmen who attacked an indian consulate in northern afghanistan. they take over the neighbouring

compound. police reports say one civilian has been wounded in the gun battle. the gun fight is ongoing at an indian air force base near the pakistani border. it is reported that at least one gunman is holed up in the base. staying in india, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in the north-eastern part of the country has killed at least nine people. it struck close to the border with myanmar. more now from new delhi. >> reporter: the earthquake struck about 30 kilometers west of the capital. it happened in the middle of the night. people say they were jolted right out of their beds, people running out of their homes, screaming, crying. one person we spoke to this

morning said a bell had started to ring in a nearby church. there hasn't been a lot of reports of damage. a lot of the state has poor connectivity before the earthquake happened, so getting information from those areas is only trickling in. the capital has a quarter of a million people as residents has reported at least one building collapse. there are reports that there may be workers underneath. teams are checking that and rescue teams are still on their way to the area lots more to come here, including a fifth employee of a bookshop goes missing. we take a look at a century's traditi

tradition. tradition.

a look at the top stories. chinese stock markets have plunged by 8% and trading has been halted for the day. investigators reacted to these latest signs of economic slow down in china by selling off shares. saudi arabia has cut diplomatic ties with iran after demonstrators set fire to the saudi embassy in tehran. they were protesting against the execution of a prominent shia cleric. nimr al-nimr had been critical

of saw depolicy towards the shia muslim minority. at least nine people have been killed in a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in north-eastern india. it had just hit close to the border with myanmar. three people died in neighbouring bangladesh. pro democracy leaders in hong kong are urging the government to investigate the latest disarpance of a fifth employee. the publisher specializes in political books that are banned on mainland china. a journalist based in hong kong says lee's disarpance has raised concerns about a crack down from the mainland. >> this is very, very chilling indeed because the assumption always was that in hong kong you could publish what you like and that there would be problems on the other side of the border, but if you were here, nobody

could come over here and nobody would arrest you. the officials are being very silent. the only reason we know about this because of a phone call made by his wife in which he sort of indicated that he was on the other side of the border. she says she had no idea that he was leaving. i mean, he has been missing since wednesday. the other colleagues of his have been missing for a much longer period of time. so why are they on the other side of the border medicals there was some kind of operation launched by the chinese authorities. if there is another explanation, we certainly haven't heard about it to the united states where protesters are continue to occupy a building in southern oreg oregon. they're demonstrating against an order for two farmers to go back to the jail. the father and son are convicted of arson on public land in 2012.

they served some time, but a court ruled that their sentences were too lenient and then ordered them back to prison. more from our correspondent. >> reporter: the very specific demands are that the people who are there, the militia men that have gathered, they say they want the federal government to stop encroaching on the lands and rights of ranchers, farmers, loggers, here in this part of south-east oregon and around the american west. those are their very specific demands. they say they're prepared to remain in that wildlife refuge office, that federal office building indefinitely. they say for years. they have put out a call to what they describe as any true patriots around the country to join them. they will give them and give them a place to sleep. they say please bring your weapons as well and take this stand against government encroachment. as i understand it, it wasn't the original court, the original

judge that came up with the sentencing. it was a federal aappellate court that said, no, wait a minute, that was arson on federal land, and that has a five-year minimum mandatory sentence and that was not anywhere near what they had been sentenced before. so that federal judge said, no, to this father and son, you need to go back to federal prison to serve that time. they said they will turn themselves in to serve that time. the family who are headed back to prison have made it clear that they don't have any formal connection with the people who have taken over the wildlife refuge and they do not speak for them a massive mopping up operation is taking place across the mid-west in the united states that more floods are expected. st louis in missouri is one of the hardest hit areas. residents are going back a week after the floods first hit. rorpd high levels in the

mississippi river caused levies to burst. at least 31 people have died across several states including illinois and oklahoma more flooding is expected in memphis, tennessee. venezuela's opposition coalition halgs chosen an outspoken leader as the next president of the nation assembly. he is due to be sworn in on tuesday. the other coalition one a two-thirds majority. the socialist party is vowing to go ahead with the inauguration of all 112 new mps despite a supreme court ban on some of them. more from the capital. >> reporter: today the opposition coalition elected the new president of the national assembly. for many here he is a descent politician and one that they

consider that the country needs at the moment. this is the first time in 16 years that the opposition here will have control of the national assembly. despite being informed by several different factions the opposition has vowed to stay together which is particularly relevant also because the supreme court has just ruled that four of the legislators that were scheduled to be sworn in on tuesday might be blocked from aassuming their post. the opposition says that they will remain defiant and that all 112 of these legislators will be, in fact, sworn in. both sides have called on their supporters to join them on tuesday when they go to be sworn in, which has rewoken fears that the streets of venezuela could again be a stage of the violent clashes in 2014 saw many people dead puerto rico is in desperate financial couple. the island is expected to default on some of its 70

billion dollars worth of debt on monday. there's also a looming food crisis. most food is imported and the island farmers are urging the government to help them increase local production. our correspondent reports. >> reporter: four years ago terra opened this small organic restaurant in is an juan. today her-- san juan. people are packing the tablts. a sustainable farm to table menu and a boost for the local economy. >> what i have seen in the past few years, on one end we became a poster child. something that everybody wants on this island, which is to have good food and good farming practices. >> reporter: now i'm leaving san juan and moving up to the mlts where terra's sister is farming. she is growing organic produce

for the restaurant in san juan. >> time is running out. >> reporter: is there a food crisis in food on the island? >> in terms of sustainablity, yes. studies show we have enough food to last us for two weeks if the ships stop coming, and that includes canned food, even dog food. >> reporter: seafood, meats and statement staples come from the u.s. mainland. neighbouring latin america countries and even china. the ago ki reluctant turl sector is stumbling along, representing 1% of the produced product. they are working towards more local foods being produced >> we developed a plan where we understand that we can increase the local production from 50% of

our consumption to nearly 25%. >> reporter: while the government has implemented a plan to redevelop the island's agricultural secretarior, that includes providing farmsers were sub-sydney decency and farm equipment. things are promising but they need more collaboration with the government. the two sisters are trying to revitalise the allowingry culture of the island, farming and offering organic food for the residents with the hope that people here become less combend entity on imports but more ambitious for the soils of puerto rico to south africa where the government has ee opened the land claims and redistribution program. it is intended to return land that was taken during apartheid to its original owners, bun one indigenous group says it's not benefitting. our correspondent has more from cape town. >> reporter: this man has been living here for more than 20

years. five years ago the local government demolished some of the homes saying they were built illegally, but the community living here determined to stay >> they want to move us again because we are moving in prime land as you can see our view. if you move us, you will move us to our graveyard. you moved parents. >> reporter: some houses were built on an area that was to stay empty on the firebreaks. this community says this is their land. >> reporter: this is what is known as a colored community, an apartheid term given to people of mixed race. for people like barry are reclaiming their indigenous heritage saying they want recognition as the first people of south africa. in district 6 a group of elders perform an ancient ceremony on

what they say is ancestral land. they say they were robbed of their identity and heritage. >> both black and white settled on our ancestral land. so the beneficiaries of that stolen lands, and that land today you will find that aboriginal people don't own not 1% of the ancestral land in south africa. >> reporter: apartheid laws reserved more than 85% of the country's land of minority white population. the government is carrying out land claims in a redistribution process and is also identifying heritage sites, historical landmarks and land originally occupied by them. the process is taking longer than expected it is said. >> in our attempts to address the land question, we are seeing that there should be equity and justice in the manner in which the land is allocated, but that will be done in a responsible

manner where just annie quitable compensation will be paid to those who own the land. >> reporter: officials say they are expecting more than 400,000 land claims and may pay out more than 11 billion dollars in compensation. the only solution will be complete access to rights of land throughout the country to myanmar where aung san suu kyi says building lasting peace in the country is a priority for her newly enacted government. ms aung san suu kyi was speaking at celebrations marking 68 years of independent from britain. myanmar has struggled to reach peace agreements with various minority groups which have fought for greater autonomy and recognition. giant size puppets are no longer used to ward off evil but are

thriving in another way. >> reporter: this man spruces up his giant puppet. it is a tradition belonging to the people on java island. the frame is made of bamboo and hollow allowing the puppet master to kroul inside and-- crawl inside and bring his puppet to life. they were originally made to represent an says tores that could ward ward off evil spirits. they're still extremely popular and sought after at weddings, circumcision ceremonies, even for the inauguration of buildings. children get a kick out of seeing the puppets walk through the streets. >> translation: it is more fun and there is a lot of laughter. it is entertaining. >> reporter: on weekends and

public holidays, puppets are usually at this square in the heart of the old city flanked by colonial buildings. it is where families come for street entertainment, a slice of color, an alternative to a day out at a mall. they're releasing another five pairs of these in the square. even about the competition there's enough for the puppet owners to make a living. people pay to pose with puppets for a photo. he can your honour up to $20 a day. his ambition is to make enough money to own ten puppets. >> translation: it is a tradition, so i want to take a picture with them. >> translation: i think it is important that we preserve our culture. >> reporter: it's the pride people have for these icons of jakart that will ensure the

puppets keep dancing entertaining generations to come there's a lot more, as ever, on the website al jazeera.com >> the wonder of the world's forests... is often found in the creatures that live in them. but the most rare and precious of animals are increasingly falling prey to poachers. the u-n now classifies the trafficking of exotic wildlife... as second only in scale to the illegal drug trade... so vast and lucrative is this black market underworld.... that authorities say its driving more species than ever into extinction.