i'm rico hizon in singapore. this is newsday on the bbc. the headlines: after the taiwan quake, the aftershocks. those trapped inside the toppling buildings take the brunt. an eyewitness is talking to the bbc when this happens. oh my god. this is an after—shock, i'm sorry. positive early gains as asian stock markets open, and after us shares bounced back from a roller coaster ride for the world's stock markets. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. also in the programme: the us vice president mike pence arrives in asia ahead of a meeting with japan's prime minister. and it's liftoff for the rocket claimed to be the most powerful ever built.

live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. glad you could join us. it's 9am in singapore, 1am in london, and 9am in the coastal city of hualien in taiwan — where an earthquake has struck. it registered 6.4 but because the quake was so shallow, it's done major damage. at least two people have been killed and many others have been injured. rescue teams worked throughout the night to free those trapped in collapsed buildings. the quake struck 1a miles northeast of hualien, shortly before midnight. one eyewitness was on air with the bbc when an aftershock hit. here's laura westbrook. responders rushed to the scene as the destruction becomes clear.

a woman screams as she jumps from a building and people rush to help her. it may have been a 6.4 quake here in hualien but it was quite shallow and violent. one eyewitness describes the moment the quake struck. we were all in bed. everything started shaking, the bed started shaking and everyone started screaming. like others, she fled onto the street. but while she was being interviewed by the bbc, this happened... oh my god. this is an after—shock, i'm sorry. oh my god. my goodness. yeah, so we were told to go to the road and stay on the road. but we are having a few after—shocks.

after the initial shock, they came every five minutes, and now every 20, they have not been as frequent but they're still happening. that was the biggest one so far in terms of after—shocks. the bottom two floors of the marshall hotel have completely gone. it leans dangerously on its side. more than 100 people were trapped inside buildings. responders used cranes to help free people from the top storeys. those on lower floors were able to climb to safety on their own. hundreds have been taken to hospital. many people who fled are on the streets and in parks, huddled under blankets, looking dazed and afraid. making things worse, after—shocks have been hitting throughout the night. taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes. but residents here say this is the biggest one they have experienced in a decade. laura westbrook, bbc news.

let's get some more on the story. and earlier, i spoke to our correspondent cindy sui in taipei, who was shaken out of bed as the quake struck. well, there have been several after—shocks after that one. in fact, nobody could sleep well last night, not even those in taipei, about160 kilometres away. even i felt the earthquake when it struck, i was shaken out of bed. so a lot of people spent the night in parks, some have been put into shelters, schools, gymnasiums. they have been told not to go back to their buildings because there may be more after—shocks and they have also been told that there may be gas leaks and explosions in some of the affected buildings. definitely a very difficult night for everyone. we know that there have been two deaths confirmed and a lot of concerns over those trapped in a collapsed hotel as well as a residential building.

tell us the latest there in terms of rescue efforts. the latest ijust heard from the fire department in hualien city is actually pretty good news. they say that so far they seem to have found everybody that has been unaccounted for, everybody reported missing. except for two employees working at the front desk in the lobby of the marshall hotel, which is the worst affected building. that building lost its basement one, first and second floor. those three floors were crushed. what you see on the images on tv, the lowest floor is actually the third floor. amazingly, they were able to find an employee who was on b1 and that employee told reporters early this morning that he had his mobile phone with him and also a small flashlight. that helped rescuers find him relatively quickly, within four hours after the earthquake. the other two employees

at the hotel are still missing. also making news today: stock markets in asia, europe and the united states have seen further volatility, after dramatic falls in global share prices yesterday and overnight. investors have been concerned about the prospect of interest rates rising in the us. the nikkei index has been opened in the last hour, and we'll have more on how that's doing in a few minutes. there are reports that south africa's president jacob zuma could resign — if he can agree a deal with his deputy, cyril ramaphosa. mr zuma has been under huge pressure to quit to avoid a power struggle. a state of the nation address he was due to give on thursday has been postponed. three hong kong pro—democracy activists have won their appeal againstjail sentences given to them for their role in street protests in 2014. the territory's court of appeal overturned the sentence handed to them for leading what became known as the umbrella movement. one of them, joshua wong, spoke outside the court after the ruling.

i would say it is not a victory at all and there is no cause for celebration. because the court had defined the umbrella movement as a violent action, which means that it might cause more people jail sentences in the future because of the straight guidelines. more than 1200 security guards have been withdrawn from the winter olympics in south korea because of an outbreak of norovirus. the organisers have brought in military personnel to replace the guards ahead of the games, which are due to get under way on friday. now, if you're a car lover, you might want to look away. in the philippines, officials have bulldozed more than two dozen luxury vehicles seized in a nationwide crackdown on crime and corruption. some of these cars were worth more than $115,000 each.

it's all part of president rodrigo duterte‘s bare—knuckles approach to law and order. let's talk more about the markets, and the drastic swings that have been experienced in the us, as well as europe and asia, in the past few days. with me is our asia business correspondent, karishma vaswani. were now in the second hour of trade, how are the nikkei and all the asian index is faring? as you would expect, asian markets taking their cue from what you saw in us markets overnight. losses being recovered today with the nikkei in japan up about 2%.1 recovered today with the nikkei in japan up about 2%. i think that the volatility that you see in the united states is also being seen out here in asia simply because of the fa ct

here in asia simply because of the fact that as the expectation the us interest rates, for them to go higher, at a steady pace, we were talking about this yesterday, that markets in asia will also be affected simply because they are considered riskier assets than perhaps a bond or us equities, where investors might be putting their money back into. now, things are looking more, but it is a trend, more volatility to come. there are fears about inflation and interest rates, on the backburnerfor the day. i think you have got to take a longer term perspective on this in any case. if you are a trader and are buying and selling minute by minute, you would be extremely concerned about the volatility, but until it spills over into the general economy and there are no signs of that happening yet, acting for the long—term economic fundamentals of the us and many economies in asia are possibly stronger than what we have seen in

recent yea rs. stronger than what we have seen in recent years. japan, for instance, which was stuck in this spiral of no growth, low growth, low wage growth, now you are starting to see that stabilise gradually. notwithstanding the slowdown in china, south east asia is looking remarkably upbeat. economic fundamentals in this part of the world are looking really good. all right, thank you so much for your update on the asian markets. japan, korea, australia, all in positive territory. the pictures had just come into us from the taiwanese earthquake. they show rescue efforts which are ongoing. i can tell you that the 6.4 magnitude earthquake which hit hualien in, it in taiwan that, three dead, two injured, and several buildings have been partially collapsed, all

tilting. local media are reporting that there may be seven tilting is injured. the live pictures are at the moment, it can see, it is morning in taiwan right now and those rescue efforts continue, even though police have said that people, there are no reports of people being trapped and they have rescued 149 people so far from that marshall h, which was the building that was collapsed earlier, that you heard oui’ collapsed earlier, that you heard our correspondent talk about. 149 people rescued from that hotel. —— marshall hotel. us vice president mike pence arrived in japan on tuesday, where he is set to meet with prime minister abe. in a press conference in alaska, pence told reporters that he would be telling the truth about north korea at every stop. this is the start of a visit to asia

that will take the vice president to south korea for the start of the winter olympics, which begin on friday. our correspondent stephen mcdonell is in pyeongchang, ahead of the games. i asked him if mr pence's visit was being eagerly anticipated. here in the mountains of pyeongchang, people are all naturally excited about the sport getting started. there's a lot of enthusiasm for the winter olympics, which will begin in the next couple of days. but in terms of the visit from vice president mike pence, there are different views. of course, some people in south korea go along this view that north korea is being rewarded too quickly by having a joint hockey team and having a senior north korean politician visit, having the north and south korean teams march in together. yet others think that vice president pence saying that he is going to try and, well, remind everybody non—stop about the crimes that north korea commits in terms of human rights abuses and its nuclear weapons programme, something

that's a little rude, frankly. others in south korea think it is a bit of an overreaction from the trump administration. they would argue look, we know what north korea is like. just because they send a troupe of performers or because there's a joint hockey team, doesn't mean we are going to suddenly think it is ok for north korea to have nuclear weapons. they think it's a little demeaning that the americans feel they must come here and tell everybody how it is with north korea, when they know perfectly well what north korea is like. that's right. the games aside, politics is being closely scrutinised as well and along with the vice president of the united states you also have the ceremonial head of north korea attending on friday. even though there is a slim chance they may meet, this would be the first chance for a very senior us leader to potentially meet a north korean counterpart since bill clinton did that in 2000.

so, what are the odds of that actually happening? yes, well, technically, the north korean head of state is the most senior north korean to have ever come to south korea since the end of the war. it's not nothing that he has turned up here. if this 90—year—old veteran of north korean politics was able to meet with mike pence, that would be quite something. but i'm not sure that's going to happen. firstly, the us side may not want to give north korea what they see as a propaganda win in that respect, and the north koreans are also quite nervous in terms of meeting with anybody, frankly, least of all with the trump administration. who knows? the olympics brings about remarkable things at times and we might see such a meeting in the coming days. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme... it's liftoff for the rocket that's claimed to be the most powerful ever launched. also on the programme: are children facing a "cyber pandemic"? we talk to the author of a report who believes we are. this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, after 27 years injail, is to be set free unconditionally. the aircraft was returning from belgrade, where

manchester united had entered the semi—final of the european cup. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given the yachstwoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: emergency services work throughout the night to save people trapped in buildings after an earthquake hits taiwan. asian stock markets showed early

signs of recovery. beer made from wheat instead of barley is the latest offering from north korea to its citizens. state media claim it's an exclusive technique that enables them to offer the beer to the people — all part of kimjong—un's plan to lift living standards. that story popular on bbc.com/news. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. the financial times looks at the drive to get more vietnamese behind the wheel, with the creation of the country's first national car. vingroup is firing on all cylinders to get the new vehicle on the road within two years. they're to be unveiled at the paris car show in october. the south china morning post pays homage to one of the world's most distinguished experts on chinese civilisation. professor jao tsung—i passed away at the age of 100. his studies spanned eight decades and have been called irreplaceable. and finally, the japan times says

the marriage of princess mako has been delayed. the reason? apparently it's due to a lack of preparation. the eldest granddaughter of emperor akihito was supposed to tie the knot in november. now she'll have to wait until 2020 to take the plunge. those are the lead stories of key publications around the world. in trending, two hollywood celebrities are sparking discussions online. they are indeed. it's been sparked by a video posted by uma thurman that shows her in a car crash on the set of kill bill in 2003. she had apparently requested the footage for 15 years and put it on instagram when she finally got it. the actress says she had worries about the state of the car,

but that quentin tarantino persuaded her to go ahead with the scene. the film director said allowing the actress to drive that car is "one of the biggest regrets" of his life. the internet, smartphones, and social media — the impact they have on children is never far from the thoughts of parents and teachers. but are we really facing what some experts call a cyber pandemic? well, a new report believes we are. it found that over half of 8—12—year—olds are exposed to cyber—risks, such as cyberbullying, fake news, and online sexual abuse. the number of those at risk rises in countries undergoing rapid digital improvements. 71% in egypt and the same percentage in indonesia. by 2020 it's estimated that over 725 million children aged from eight to 12 will be online and more than 90% of these will be from those countries experiencing that rapid rate of digital penetration.

and those countries are where cyber risks are greatest. earlier, i wasjoined by yuhyun park from the d0 institute, an international coalition that aims to empower individuals with digital intelligence skills, and published this report in association with the world economic forum. she started by telling me about the dangers of the speed of technological developments for children. especially we see that, just like you describe, the nation having the rapid digital transformation, the speed of their internet adoption and mobile penetration does not follow with adequate protection for the children. why did you decide to focus on the eight—year—old to 12—year—old age group? focus on the eight—year—old to 12-year-old age group? excellent question. i called it a golden time to rescue. it is the primate, about ten yea rs

to rescue. it is the primate, about ten years old children start to have their own smartphone. —— prime age. that is when they start engaging with social media gains in an active way. at the same time, developmentally, it is the age they start forming the digital habit, a sense of normality. whatever they do in this age group will lead to a long—lasting impact on their identity, relationships, so this is the rate of us to intervene. it is like driving. before you have a cart you know how to drive a car, safety at the same time. with digital media and social media you know how to use the same... these days parents of these children, from ages eight to 12, we live in a very busy world, these smartphones, this technology gadgets, basically, give them the opportunity to view videos, to be exposed to a video world that a loss

of us did not experience in the past. that is true. i am also a mother, i have two kids, exactly eight and ten years old. i strongly believe in technology, it provides the most potential to the children, but this age group, there is more of a risk than opportunity from my standpoint. what should be done now to intervene and turn this negative into a positive? exactly. that's way we developed this methodology. it is like iq and e0. the step is digital citizenship, and to use digital media ina citizenship, and to use digital media in a safe way. what we are starting is a global movement for every child on the planet on the internet to give them d0.

every child on the planet on the internet to give them dq. those are some of the dangers of kids getting on the internet. now, sharanjit, there was much excitement over a rocket launch? yes, rico, just a few hours ago the world's most powerful rocket was launched into space from cape canaveral in florida. the falcon heavy launcher is made by spacex, the company owned by the american entrepreneur elon musk. it is carrying a dummy cargo for its maiden voyage, as our science correspondent victoria gill reports. five, four, three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once, and lifted off from kennedy space centre at 8:45 uk time. less than ten minutes later, in a carefully choreographed aerial dance, its boosters separated and headed back towards earth. two landed simultaneously at the kennedy space centre, while the third headed for a drone ship in the middle of the atlantic ocean.

and, apart from its power, it is this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. spacex's ambitions have previously produced some high—profile failures. this falcon nine rocket exploded on the launchpad in 2016, destroying a $260 million satellite. but this test makes falcon heavy the most capable rocket since saturn v, the vehicle that nasa used to take the first astronauts to the moon, almost half a century ago. now the us space agency, already one of spacex's customers, will watch this test closely. this could be a candidate for launching more advanced robots, and ultimately humans, on missions to mars. but, ever the showman of commercial space travel, elon musk let loose his own tesla roadster into space, complete with a space—suited mannequin in the driving seat, and david bowie on a loop on the radio.

as the drama of this launch is celebrated back on earth, mr musk says his car could be on a journey around the sun for up to a billion years. victoria gill, bbc news. amazing. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we will be taking a look at the asian stock markets and how they have reacted after wall street's volatile session overnight. stay with us. and before we go, let's take a look at this photo. a wild animal on the loose? armed police were sent to a farm in scotland after a nervous farmer spotted what he thought was a beast in the cowshed. but when the armed response turned up they were faced with a cuddly toy. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello. it feels like we've been stuck in the deep freeze over the last few days, and that's not going to change

very much during wednesday. cold air remains firmly in place, and some of us have some snow on the ground, as well — that weather watcher picture from north yorkshire on tuesday, where we have the lying snow, particularly. there is the risk for some ice during wednesday. a widespread frost, certainly, to start the day, because we are still firmly ensconced in this cold air. something a little bit milder out in the atlantic, but we won't feel the effects of that just yet. for the time being, this area of high pressure giving most of us a fine, dry but cold start to the day, under largely clear skies. our towns and cities down below freezing, but out in the countryside, those temperatures really have been dropping away. the sorts of temperatures we'll have to start the day — between about —5 and —11 degrees. still some snow potentially for a time across east anglia, and the south—east, as well, this weather front tending to push away and another weather system starting to show its hand out west. that will start to thicken up the cloud through the morning across the western side of scotland. perhaps just one or two showers

in clipping into north—west scotland, but generally, down into the heart of england and wales, there will be a fair amount of sunshine. some extra cloud for northern ireland. the odd shower, maybe, for west wales and the south—west of england, and still some of those snow showers taking time to clear away from the far south—east. but they should do so fairly smartly during the morning, in most areas, and then a nice slice of sunshine. eastern scotland, and particularly england and wales, seeing plenty of crisp winter sunshine during wednesday, but this frontal system will thicken up the cloud out west. outbreaks of rain, and ahead of that a spell of snow for a time, particularly across scotland. still a chilly feel to the day. now, as we go through wednesday night, we'll bring this band of cloud and rain, and some snow on its leading edge, further southwards and eastwards. but we start to pick up more of a south—westerly wind, so that's going to bring slightly milder air. these are your overnight lows, edinburgh, belfast down to four degrees. the coldest weather to start thursday morning will be across the south—eastern corner,

where the skies stay clearest. but that's where we'll have the best of the sunshine during the day on thursday, this band of cloud and rain continuing to sink southwards and eastwards. in fact, the rain looks likely to turn heavier across parts of wales and northern england as we get on into the afternoon. something brighterfollowing on behind for scotland and northern ireland, but with a fair rash of showers, a slightly milder day. but as we push that weather front away, we get back into the cold air, with some further snow showers for the end of the week. our top story. an earthquake in taiwan has killed two people, and injured 200. emergency services continued to sift through partially destroyed buildings after the 6.4 magnitude quake hit. there are reports that south africa's president jacob zuma could resign — if he can agree a deal with his deputy cyril ramaphosa. mr zuma has been under pressure to quit to avoid a power struggle. and this video is

trending on bbc.com. the most powerful rocket in the world has blasted off, making a clean getaway from florida. by the american entrepreneur, elon musk, and it's carrying his old sports car. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and our top story here in the uk: