hello. you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm tim willcox. top stories, president obama in asia. will his much promised pivot finally be put into action? he's just touched down in japan for a tour of regional countries looking for better trading ties and u.s. support in their quarrels with china. >> i'm linda yueh. i'm in tokyo. i'll be bringing you the very latest on the u.s. president's tour. after weeks of fruitless searching, unidentified debris is washed up on the australian

shore. it's being investigated for possible links to the missing malaysian airliner. more crew members from the capsized south korean ferry are arrested as divers continue to retrieve bodies. and celebrating st. george, the patron saint of england and also the west bank. also in the program, aaron is here. it's all about the future of the worldwide web. >> absolutely, tim. the question being asked today, who should run the internet? at the moment it's the united states. but as the industry gathers in brazil, the talk is they want that changed. we're asking if it's not the u.s., what's the alternative? hello. it is midday here in london. 3:00 in the afternoon in moscow and 8:00 p.m. in tokyo. where 2 1/2 years after promising a pivot to asia, president obama is back in the region. he's just landed in japan. his message to political leaders

there as to those in south korea, malaysia and the philippines is one of u.s. reassurance. the president's tour focusing on security and trade is missing one key country. china. that despite the fact that china and its frack chous relations with neighboring countrys an issue that's expected to dominate meetings during his tour. let's go to our chief business correspondent who joins us in tokyo with the latest, linda. >> reporter: president obama has just landed. you can see that in terms of traffic around tokyo. this is the beginning of a tricky week long tour that will see him go to three other countries in the region. malaysia, philippines and korea. he's here because the center piece of his second term is the asia pivot. it's a rebalancing of america's geopolitical and economic interests away from europe and the middle east. and towards fast growing asia. but there is a country he's not

visiting, which is china. but that doesn't mean that china's growing military and economic influence won't overshadow every leg of his tour. our japan correspondent, rupert wingfield-hayes, has this report. >> reporter: it's sunday night in tokyo. and the california low riders are out in force. president obama is arriving in a country some still describe as a sort of american colony. nothing symbolizes american power in japan more than the seventh fleet. out in the sea of japan, the huge "uss bonham richard" is about to begin a mock invasion. there are nine. another ten launched in a carrier. no other navy in the world has anything like this. american navy power -- for now.

200 miles over there is china. and right now china is making japan very nervous. this chinese boat is deep inside japanese waters and refusing to stop. china is aggressively asserting its claims to japanese-controlled islands in the east china sea. japan wants to know what president obama will do if there's a confrontation. >> there is a real possibility that the americans might be entangled into an actual combat. simply because of those -- this confrontation between china and japan about the senkaku islands. the americans backed off. it's not about the size of the military capability, which is immense, of course. it's the will of the americans. >> reporter: but with 27,000 u.s. marines based in japan, u.s. commanders say they have

the will and the means. >> i landed on this beach 30 years ago as a young lieutenant. so this shows our staying power, the strength of these alliances. >> reporter: and president obama may have a few questions of his own for prime minister abe. why, for example, did he go out of his way to provoke china with this visit to the yasikuni shrine? home to the spirits of japan's most notorious war criminals? mr. abe's reluctance to accept what japan did during world war ii is not only sabotaging relations with china and korea, but with his most important ally, too. rupert wingfield-hayes, bbc, tokyo. >> reporter: the economic part, the key to the asia pivot in terms of the american economy as a free trade area that president obama hopes to agree on this trip. it's called the transpacific partnership. the ttp.

that will link 12 countries in this region with america. but it's not just the american president who has his eyes set on a free trade deal. the japanese prime minister shinzo abe has also said that the tpp could be key to a second opening of japan and push japan's recovery. so there's a lot at stake there. but it doesn't mean that it would be easy to get such a deal agreed. so i went around japan to sort out what some of the problems might be. springtime. the promise of new beginning. but before you can reap, you have to sow. 80-year-old shigeo endo is preparing his rice fields as he has for over half a century. farmers like him have been protected by the government. there's a 778% tax on imported

rice. he doesn't want to see that end. >> translator: we can't compete with countries like australia or canada. who farm on a large scale. if tariff is abolished, people will tend to go for what is cheaper. i think japanese agriculture will be fatally wounded. >> reporter: he and his family have been shielded for decades. it's a sore point for the americans and the proposed free trade agreement. though the transpacific partnership, or tpp, isn't just about trade. it's the key to obama's asia pivot as he wants to reorient the u.s. toward fast growing asia. but that doesn't make any difference to these protesters.

these are the most vocal critics of the tpp, or transpacific partnership. japan and the u.s. are major trading nations who already trade a lot with each other. so, of course, there's some benefit in having more free trade. what is so special about this one? is it more about who's not at the table? >> abe threw his hat in the ring because he wants to prove to the united states he's a reliable alliance partner. so i think that you can't look at tpp entirely through the economic and trade lens. you have to answer look at it from the angle of strategic advantages and japan's worries about china's regional ambitions. >> reporter: at a local festival, they celebrate the arrival of the new season. president obama wants to celebrate a new spring. a new era.

even a second opening of japan. prime minister abe is hoping for trade to deliver growth. with so much at stake, both abe and obama will want to show progress. but it will be baby steps. joining me to discuss these issues is chuniawatanabe. senior fellow at the tokyo foundation. lovely to speak to you. let me first just ask you, how significant is it that president obama may well throw his weight behind japan in a strategic disagreement, if i can put it that way, with china? >> i think china is the number two economy. usa is the number one. japan is number three. so no way to -- both economies are really interdependent. >> reporter: i suppose that's always why when people watch the tensions in the east china sea

they find it almost puzzling. in terms as you mentioned for the biggest economies in the world, does it make sense to have a free trade area that doesn't include the world's second biggest economy, which is china? >> yeah. and the tpp, the transpacific partnership, is one very important to -- more responsible player in area. so i think -- senkaku islands that japan claimed. but also china claims. so u.s. really needs to avoid any clash. u.s. really want to have more communication between japan and china. so i think the tpp -- china also realize they need their own economic growth with major partner, u.s.

japan and the asia pacific. >> reporter: yeah. i suppose this is one way to get china to, i don't know, agree to open its markets or exchange rates. to be part of the tpp perhaps one day. i want to bring this a little bit more to the relationship between abe and president obama. are we going to hear an announcement that says japan is the strategic partner of america? and if so, more than china, does it matter? >> i think one major -- the big challenge for the both president obama and prime minister abe, i think of how strategic was. of course, clear lly both have declared alliance. how to cooperate in the asia pacific. i think now both governments agreed to review the guidelines for the u.s. transpacific corporation. that's one thing they really

need to discuss about it. also one of the troubles is japan's history not so much with u.s. or the asian neighbor, china and south korea. that's one thing. president obama is helping south korea outside this visit. u.s. really wanted to -- japan should get along with south korea. i think that big agenda. one of the big agenda between president obama and prime minister abe. >> reporter: it sounds like, thank you very much, there's a lot offish shoo us sti issues o. i suppose one of the hard things for president obama is it's a short trip. four countries in just about five days. in order to get agreement on a trade deal and solidify those alliances. joining me just a moment ago, w a,tanabe from the tokyo foundation. but for now, tim, i'm going to hand back to you in london. >> linda yueh in tokyo, thank

you very much in deed. you're watching "gmt." breaking news in the past hour, authorities in australia say they're investigating unidentified material that's being washed up oen the country's west coast. they're investigating it for possible links to the malaysian airliner that went missing last month. police have secured that debris which was found near the town of augus augusta. they're examining photographs of the material to try and determine whether further tests are needed. malaysia airlines flight mh370 went down with 239 people on board. let's go straight to sydney and get the latest from john donnison. do we know what this material is, john? what more information are they giving out? >> reporter: we don't know at the moment. there are some reports in the australia media it's around about two meters long and

metallic. but the australian police have taken photographs of it. and then sent it on to the australian transport safety bureau. and also apparently to the malaysian authorities. now, they're having a look at it. but they've only got photos at this stage. and we've just spoken to the australian transport safety bureau. they say they take all leads seriously, but the more they look at it, the less convinced they are. so i think on the one hand you say, well, the police wouldn't send a photograph of absolutely anything up there unless they thought it was worth looking into. but we do have to be pretty cautious at this stage. >> all right. this search has been going on for weeks now. how far away is this town of augusta from the search zone they've been focusing on? >> reporter: it's a long way. it's about four hours' drive south of perth. it's right in the very bottom southwest corner of australia.

and it's round about 1,800 kilometers off the coast of perth where they have been carrying out this search. so it's a long way. but it has, of course, been almost seven weeks now since the plane disappeared. and you've got pretty strong currents down in that part of the world. and any debris floating about will have drifted a very long way from where the plane actually crashed. and there are people there who say, well, sooner or later, if there is debris floating in the sea, it will wash up on the shore somewhere. but at the moment, as i say, i think we've got to be pretty cautious. there have been many false leads in this investigation in the past what's almost two months now. >> yeah. this search has been exhaustive. it's been very detailed. but fruitless as well. have the authorities there said there will be a timeline put on how much longer they continue to look for this debris? >> reporter: they haven't said that, no. i mean, i was in perth for, well, nearly three weeks

following this investigation. and we spoke to the australian defense minister back then and said, you know, are you worried about the cost and how long this can go on? and he said, well, cost wasn't an issue at that stage. but the truth is they're sending up, what, ten planes a day? there are ten ships in the area. they're carrying out this underwater search. they've still not found a single piece of the plane. now, we heard from the underwater search teams today saying that they've completed 80% of the search area where, you remember, they heard those pings that they thought could have come from the black box of the plane. 80% of that search area has been covered, and they've still found nothing. and there will be people asking how long this can go on. although no one speaking publicly at the moment about giving up. >> jon donnison in sydney, thank you very much. we're bringing you all the developments on that story as well throughout the day here on bbc world news. stay with us here on "gmt." still to come in this program --

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four more crew members from the ferry that capsized in south korea a week ago have been arrested, bringing the total to 11, including the captain. the number of bodies recovered has now reached 150. another 152 are still missing. most of them school children. a memorial service is being held near seoul at the school where most of the victims came from. jonathan head has been dockside this afternoon in jindo. he explains how the government is responding to the pressure from the desperate families there. >> reporter: well, there are four very large cranes that have been deployed around the sunken ferry. they've deployed remote robots as well to scan its position. they're getting everything in

place to start lifting the ferry, the hull of the ferry, up to the surface from the seabed. but they won't do this until all the families agree. and the families were said to have agreed -- spoke to an official yesterday that said, yes, we have an agreement that this operation with the divers will go on for another two days. in other words, until thursday, tomorrow. and then we will start lifting. but there are still families who are just reluctant to see that partly because, of course, there's always a risk to the remaining bodies that they may not be able to get access to inside the hull. there's a risk some may get swept away. i think frankly for a lot of the families it would just ram home the reality that everybody died. there will be no survivors. they know it. they know there can't be survivors. yet, remember, if you haven't received the body of a child that you lost, it must be very, very hard for them. so they haven't yet got that consensus as far as i know. discussions are going on. but they're not being rushed. the south korean government knows it's under intense scrutiny. there's a huge amount of public anger over this. they're handling it quite

delicately. saying they will wait before all the families agree, before they start that lifting operation. >> jonathan head in jindo. there's a growing debate here in the uk about the high price of modern medicines. especially those for treating cancer. the pharmaceutical giant roche is being urged to cut the cost of a ground breaking breast cancer drug because it's too expensive for britain's state run health service. the price of the drug could reach more than $150,000 per patient for a course of treatment. >> reporter: for many women, this is how their breast cancer is confirmed. the beginning of the journey through tests and treatment. survival rates are high. but some women run out of treatment options. their cancer stops responding and spreads too far. now there's a new drug that could be a last resort for some patients. the medicine's watchdog for

england is warning it might be too expensive. unless a better deal is done with the drug company. >> it would be good if they could consider that. this is an important development. this is a drug which it would be good to be able to recommend for routine use in the nhs. >> reporter: this new breast cancer treatment is called kadcy kadcyla. it only works for around 1 in 5 breast cancers and can offer up to six months of extra life. but costs 90,000 pounds per patient. the drug company, roche, says it offers hope for women who've run out of options. but unless it's backed by the drug's watchdogs in england and later scotland, its high price may mean it's not widely available on the mhs. in other news, a funeral service is being held for a key figure in myanmar's struggle for democracy. thousands of journalists

attended. he spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of anti-government propaganda. sherpa mountain guides are meeting international mountaineers to decide whether to continue climb. they're angry after an avalanche last friday killed 16 sherpas. they threaten to strike unless the government offers more compensation for the families of those who died. there's a building speculation in the football world as to who will take over the manager's job at manchester united after the sacking of david moyes. among the early favorites. it's st. george's day in england. but the early christian martyr haass has a special following elsewhere in the world as well. palestinian have a reason thanks to the special connection to their homeland. >> reporter: a familiar flag. the cross of st. george.

in the church below, palestinians honor the saint as a local hero. it's believed he once lived here. near bethlehem. as a roman soldier, he opposed the persecution of his fellow christians in the holy land. and he stayed true to his faith. becoming a martyr. now, this is the way that st. george is remembered all around the world. although it's not really clear how the legend of him killing a dragon got started. many people here see the dragon simply as a symbol of evil. and the saint himself as a guardian. and that's why you find him on the holy bread. and on many homes. the sculptor is kept busy carving the saint. >> riding on a horse.

represents good things against evil which is represented by the -- and we have writing underneath. >> reporter: and george is also one of the most popular palestinian christian names. the family running this coffee shop has a lot of georges. >> now we have ten. maybe in the future we have more. >> our grandfather's name is george. so now my son will name their sons george. because it's my name. >> reporter: the song is about how as christians, they'll pray at st. george's church. but back at the church, you'll find muslims as well as christians come to ask the saint for help. this ritual is said to ward off

sickness. the example set by st. george unites palestinians. and makes him popular with many other nationalities, too. bbc news, bethlehem. stay with us here on "gmt." still to come, gunfire on the streets of brazil less than two months before the start of the football world cup. i've always had to keep my eye on her...

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hello. welcome to "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm tim willcox. coming up in this half hour, one person shot dead as violent protests erupt in rio less than two months before the start of the football world cup. and happy 450th birthday to william shakespeare. now the whole world is his stage. also in the program, aaron is back looking at global tourism. >> absolutely, tim. you think of tourists, there's lots of stereotypes. the loud americans. sorry. the drunken aussie. the japanese with their cameras. increasingly the tourist on the bus, yes, is chinese.

97 million traveled the world last year, spending some $130 billion. and that is more than any other nation on the planet. welcome back. it is the last thing the authorities would have wanted. gunfire and violent protests in rio de janeiro less than two months before brazil hosts the football world cup. the unrest was sparked by the death of a dancer. his family accused police in beating him up after mistaking him for a drugs dealer. one person shot dead. main road in the tourist area copacabana has been closed. we were in rio as the unrest developed. >> reporter: two of rio's main streets running parallel to copacabana beach closed to traffic as police try to contain the violence. at one point, live tracer

machine gunfire could be seen coming from within the pav vow zeen hoe favela. it started with the death of douglas rafael da silva, a popular dancer. according to his family his body was covered in wounds. they accuse police of beating him to death after mistaking him for a member of a local drug stand. huge crowds demanding an explanation for the death gathered near the entrance to the favela which is just a stone's throw from rio's famous beaches and tourist hot spots. several heavily armed military police units were also at the scene amid reports that the main police station inside the favela was also under attack.

pav v pavaozinho is one of -- to restore peace and police authority. with major events around the corner, including the world cup, where thousands of international visitors are due in rio, police have admitted to the bbc that they've lost the initiative in many favelas. brazil's police, meanwhile, are again accused of being far too ready to resort to violence as they try to contain the problem. bbc news, rio de janeiro. >>sylvia. the pacification progress has been rolling out for several years. are murder rates falling? >> the pacification program has been happening for the last five years. the 37 communities in rio that have received that spot of police presence, murder rates have fallen dramatically. of course, you still have problems as shown in this specific case. >> what about police transparen

transparency? when something like this happens, is there a recognizable force which investigates police officers? and does the public trust them? >> that's a big issue here. because that's not really what happens. and in this specific case, there is different versions. police haven't yet come forward with a clear response to what has happened. but a preliminary report has been issued. but a final one will be issued in 15 days. let's see before we judge this specific case. >> when the football fans arrive in under two months' time, will there still be no go areas for them in the favelas? >> well, it's very difficult to say. only 37 communities have been pacified. but rio has more than 100 favelas. of course, there will be no go areas. areas we wouldn't recommend them to go. still the situation is a bit volatile even in the ones that have been pacified. >> it's not just the favelas. i've been to rio recently. even on the beach there you don't see any brazilians walking around with any jewelry or watches on because they know they'll be a target. >> yes, of course.

there was this case recently when a lady was giving an interview and then someone grabbed her necklace. it was shown everywhere around the world. publicity that brazil doesn't really want to have now. >> so what is the advice going to be? and are the authorities confident that they will be able to contain the very high crime levels around the country? >> they're obviously trying hard to do something about it. for example, another community that is on the way from the airport to the city center has recently been occupied by the army in an attempt to bring security to the area. but, of course, it's unpredictable. something like this, you know, no one could predict. it hasn't been planned. it was just a murder -- well, a death that happened and sparked it all. so it's volatile. >> what about those protests we saw in the last year or so about the amount of money spent on this tournament when they wanted infrastructure projects completed? has that now died a way or is

there a still a lot of resentment? >> there's a lot of resentment from certain groups. it has died away in a sense because they became violent because of many different reasons. i think there are lots of people who are reluctant in taking part in those protests. but, of course, close tor to th world cup, we will see different protests from around the country probably of protests coming out. >> turning to the state now here as well, workers killed in the construction there. is everything on target? >> not really. three stadiums are not ready yet. the secretary general of fifa is in brazil. where a new stadium is being recently opened. we still have three to finish and not much time ahead. >> just under two months. sylvia salek, thank you very much, indeed. you can get more on this story on the website including details of the police occupation. elite troops expected to remain in there now until after the world cup.

lots of information. lottin lots of analysis there. bbc.com/news. time for aaron and the business. you're looking at a different story, aren't you? >> absolutely. who should run the internet, tim? that's the question. i'm not going to ask you that. i'm going to ask everybody else. hello there. i ask you a question, you have no answer. hello there. late on wednesday, let's talk about this, brazil passed an internet constitution. the bill of rights lays down its rules for how people gain access and use data on the web. the brazilian president has spearheaded attempts to guarantee privacy and security for ordinary citizens. now, at the moment, most of the world's internet data is held on huge computer servers in the united states. well, today and tomorrow, yes, the industry leaders, they are gathering in sao paulo brazil are gathering to decide how the

internet should be run. katie watson, also, i believe, attending that conference. let's start with this bill of rights. this internet constitution. tell us more about that. >> reporter: this actually predates the revelation from the national security agency about spying on brazil. of course, brazil was incensed by what happened. in fact, the president said she canceled a state visit last year to washington over allegations of spying. this predates it. certainly there was an added urgency to try and pass the law. this law has been seen by a lot of internet users as a great law, big step. it means there's freedom for users, freedom of expression, freedom of information. there has been an added extra in this bill that would have meant that global companies had to keep data from brazilian users within brazil. but that was actually dropped. nevertheless, this was seen as a good step. a big step. of course, this will now be signed into law by president

roussef who will be opening the internet conference that starts later this morning. >> that's interesting. just off the back of what you said. there's some big numbers when you look at the controlling of the internet. i was looking at something like some 80% of our information held in the cloud is held on u.s., big u.s. computer servers. i'm trying to get a sense of this conference. is it aimed at trying to change all of that? >> reporter: this conference really, again, spearheaded by brazil. it was initiated after the revelations from the national security agency. really what they want to do is say, you know, the u.s. may have -- the internet may have started in the u.s. actually more of the users in the future will come from the south. will come from other regions. actually emerging economies need to have more of a say in how the internet is governed. there's going to be delegations from several countries, lots of countries, including activists in private sector and academics. they'll all be coming together to discuss a multistake holder way. how internet governance can be shared.

also keeping in mind the internet needs to be able to run smoothly. there don't need to be any kind of hiccups. this is a discussion point. this is just the start of discussions. i think there'll be more discussions after the next few days. >> katy, just briefly, some may be asking, you no e, if it's not the -- if it's not the u.s. running the net, what are the alternatives? have we heard anything building up, you know, any suggestions leading up to this conference? >> reporter: there's some suggestions perhaps the u.n. could take more of a supervisory role. there's another multistake holder approach. what that means in terms of multistakeholders, really that's one thing that needs to be discussed. this really is looking at a road map of internet governance in the future. this is one thing that will be definitely discussed. because some countries feel that it should go to the u.n. other people feel that it should be looked at more in a more equal way. really this is very much up for discussion. certainly no changes will be made. yes, the fact that there'll be a huge change to how the internet is governed means we have lots of questions. what is the alternative. that will mean the internet can

still function in a very efficient way. >> it's going to be an interesting conference, indeed. enjoy that. no doubt we'll talk to you again soon. thanks, katy. katy watson joining us live from sao paulo. joining in hainan. in 201397 million chinese traveled from the main loond china. they spent around 97 million. last year the number closer to 130 billi$130 billion. within the next ten years china is set to become the biggest travel market in the world, overtaking the united states. the travel writer i spoke to earlier said countries are now -- yes, of course. countries are now doing all they can. they are scrambling to get a slice of the chinese traveler. >> the chinese middle class are traveling abroad in huge numbers. last year, i think, 97 million

chinese citizens went abroad. this year it'll at least be 100 million. and they are huge spenders. they spend a lot of money when they're abroad. they love luxury branded goods. and they like buying them abroad. france has just changed its visa rules this year so if you're accepted for a visa as a chinese citizen, they will turn it around in 48 hours. of course, france is part of the shangon group of 25 countries. that visa will get you into 25 countries around europe. copenhagen, you know, has the busiest airport in scandinavia. it already has a website in chinese. it has mobile apps in chinese and mandarin to help you make the most of your shopping and your arrival and departure at their airport. everyone is out for the chinese visitor. >> they sure are. let's touch on a couple other business stories. making headlines around the world, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones networks, ericsson made $250 million in

the first three months o f this year. up 41% on the same period last year. but sales of the swedish group actually fell. huh? listen to this. ericsson said fewer mobile internet projects in north america and japan basically hurt its revenue. the amount of money it brings in. instead the group made money from licensing its technology to other companies. there you go. the budget closing retailer primark announced it's venturing into the united states. the company owned by associated british foods says it will open its first american branch in boston. look out, boston. they might do that by the end of 2015. it plans to open further stores in the northeast of the country around 2016. there you go. good luck, primark. a lot dpoing on on twitter. follow me. i'll follow you. get me at bbcaaron. that's it with the business. sorry i didn't get a chance to answer that question. >> you're primark's biggest customer. >> i don't think i've ever

entered -- i'm going. you've insulted me. >> you must open your mind. still to come, the u.s. sends another warning to russia against involvement in ukraine. we visit a family of farmers in the troubled east of the country and ask what the locals want to happen next. ♪ [ female announcer ] f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. "f". the performance marque from lexus.

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the war of words continues over ukraine. today, russia accuses the united states of controlling the ukrainian government. it claims washington is now running the show in kiev. it says ukraine -- military operations against separatists in the east during a visit by u.s. vice president joe biden. washington is still warning it'll impose further sanctions on moscow if it doesn't de-escalate tensions. many of those living in the region say they've been unhappy with kiev's government for some time and are turning to moscow for support. the bbc's natalia antelava found out when she met a family of farmers in a village of eastern ukraine. >> reporter: i've just been invited to victoria's house for some tea. and this is the family of farmers. victoria and ganazi are farmers here.

>> reporter: i asked again, do you want to be part of russia or do you want to be part of ukraine? again, they said, it's the wrong question. we just want order. >> reporter: his mother and brother have just arrived. so victor's mom, she has a russian past. but she lives on this side. but has a russian passport.

gets her pension there. her pension is four times bigger than the one she would have in ukraine. but she says don't advertise that too much because they're going to call me a separatist. and that's the last thing i need. i'm almost 70. oleg wants to show me some videos that he says are making him and people here really, really angry. this is, he says, what we are seeing on russian tv. this family is really interesting. because unlike most people that we talk to at demonstrations, pro-russian demonstrations in donetsk, they watch ukrainian television as well as russian tv. they say they're making a very conscious choice to be with russia. and here is why. >> reporter: they're shouting, hang the russians. hang the russians. so you say now, you're telling me we're the separatists, we're

the bad guys? how do you think that makes us feel? >> one family in eastern ukraine. a growing number of actresses are bypassing hollywood studios and producing, directing and starring in their own digital creations. melissa day is one of them. self-confessed video game addict. she's known as the queen of geek. turning a successful acting career into an online video series. she says the digital world opens up new opportunities for women in acting by allowing them to create less stereotypical female characters. >> i started playing video games obsessively, like, 12 hours a day for a couple of years.

i got addicted to a game called "world of warcraft." in between i acted a couple days a month. when i went home i would play video games all day. ♪ when i first got to hollywood, i didn't really know everything that was going on. it took a couple years to get on my feet. and the biggest role i got that sort of lifted me up was in "buffy the vampire slayer." after that i went on to work more and more. but not enough to really keep me as busy as i would like. so about two years into my "world of warcraft" addiction, i decided, i have a problem. >> guys, guys, guys. what are you doing here? >> i sat down and wanted to write a comedy about people i gamed with. that's where it started.

>> fe llicia day, owner of this channel. >> it was 2007. youtube had just started. people didn't know what twitter was. facebook was barely anything. my production partner, who was a friend of mine, read the script and said we should make this online. we could film it ourselves. and just the first part of it and maybe put it on the internet to show it to gamers. because gamers are online. so that's what we did. and we put a paypal on our website not thinking anyone would donate. surprisingly within three weeks we had enough to shoot more of the script. just seeing that we had an audience who wanted to -- wanted to see these stories continue, and they were willing to help us make it, i think women have a much stronger voice in the digital space. because the stakes were incredibly low. there was no bar to entry. there was nobody telling, you know, women, no, you can't pick up a camera and shoot in your house. ♪ here i get to be everything i want to be. a producer. an actor. a writer.

an entrepreneur. if i, you know, going and following some of the other opportunities i'm offered over the years, i would have had to choose one of those things. maybe i won't be the biggest entertainment mogul of the digital space ever, but i could be somebody that someone 20 years younger than me grows up with and says, hey, that girl did that. that woman did that. i could do that. that's a possibility. and becomes, you know, the rupert murdoch of the digital world. next norah ef ron. steven spielberg. on this day in 1564 in a small market town of stratford upon avonn in central england a world famous poet and dramatist was born. william shakespeare. also known as the bard. considered by many to be the gratest play wright of all time. today marks is 450th birthday. preparations are under way in stratford to celebrate the

anniversary. more from the bbc there for us now. quite a lot to come, then. >> reporter: absolutely. this is just the start of celebrations here in stratford upon avonn. information, today tourists are coming into the birthplace where it all began. the house behind me, the timber frame building, that is where william shake peer was born. every year 8 million tourists come here and to the surrounding area. it's important for the economy here as well. something like 15,000 jobs depend on tourism in stratford-upon-avon and the surrounding areas. some would say that today the ambassador for uk trade and investment, digby jones, has urged businesses to invest in the arts. and to really talk up shakespeare and stratford-upon-avon as a means to attract investment into the uk. shakespeare is known across the globe. and right here in stratford-upon avon is home for the royal shakespeare company. let's get a little taste of the

bard's words in german. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: thank you very much. i'm also joined by diana owen. director of the birthplace trust. what is it about shakespeare that is so globally appealing? >> i think, first and foremost, it's because his works appeal to a human level about our emotions and feelings about being lovers, sons, husbands, mothers, husbands, wives. >> reporter: you've been contacted by dignitaries across the world today, haven't you? >> we have. it started in australia 12 hours ago. i just received, actually, a telegram from thailand. from the princess in thailand wishing us a happy birthday. talking again about how shakespeare can be adapted into any culture and any language. in our own library here we have translations of his works in over 90 language.

>> reporter: thank you very much for joining us. the world truly is shakespeare's stage. as i said, this is just the start of celebrations. there's a procession taking place on saturday in the market town, attracting thousands of tourists from across the world. >> thank you very much, indeed. those celebrations continue. that is it from us for today. for me and the team, good day. scott? will it still grow?" roll the clip, jimmy. scotts wraps each seed in a brilliant coating that feeds, protects, and holds in moisture. so growing thicker, healthier grass is easier - even if you miss a day of watering. now let's spread your newfound knowledge! get scotts turf builder grass seed with water smart plus. it's guaranteed. seed your lawn. seed it! anncr: to keep your new grass growing strong, feed it with scotts starter food for new grass.

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sneed and company offer their sincerest condolences, sir, in this most trying hour. grandmama had a good innings, mr. sneed. she was so full of life. i can't believe she's gone. not gone, mr. redpath, sir, merely sleeping. may i have a moment? yes, of course. i shall be in the next room, should you require anything.