welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: we're live in taiwan as rescue teams search the partially destroyed buildings after a major earthquake. the aftershocks continue — with one eyewitness talking to the bbc when this happens. oh, my god. there is an after—shock, sorry. asian stock markets show early signs of recovery after a roller—coaster ride in global share prices in the past 2a hours. the us vice president mike pence arrives in asia to meet japan's prime minister — and before heading off to the winter olympics. and we have lift off — for what's being called the most powerful rocket ever built. a strong earthquake in taiwan has left a ten—storey hotel tilting

perilously. rescuers are searching for people trapped inside. two have died and about 200 are injured. about 150 have been rescued from pa rtially—colla psed buildings in the city of hualien, a popular tourist destination. these are the latest pictures just coming in. when we look at this hotel, in the long shot, you can see ina hotel, in the long shot, you can see in a moment that it is tilting at an extraordinary level. what looks like the ground floor is in fact the third floor. the rest of it has sunk below ground. until recently we were

told there were several people trapped inside. 1—man was rescued largely because he had his phone with him and he could shine a light from the phone. rescuers, they knew then that someone was inside and they were able to zero in on the light. | they were able to zero in on the light. i think they were able to zero in on the light. i think we can speak now to indie, who was following events from taipei. —— to cindy lui. 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. 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. we will be returning to cindy lui in

just a little while. the earthquake struck just before midnight local time. 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 very 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 the latest from our taiwan correspondent cindy sui. what is the latest, particularly with the two people trapped? authorities say that the rescue workers including firefighters and soldiers are still trying to find these two employees who were working on the first floor of the hotel that partially collapsed. there are some reports saying that they are finding signs of life but it is too early to say. what has been encouraging is that a third employee who was trapped on the lower floor was found alive a few hours ago. he was not

even injured at all. he had his mobile phone with him and a flashlight. he was able to contact authorities to tell them where he was. they are hoping to also find the other two employees a light. amazing to look at, that hotel, as we see, what does look like the ground floor is in fact the third floor. three floors have been crushed below that. exactly. this is the worst affected building. the b one floor, first and second floor we re one floor, first and second floor were crushed. it is amazing that anyone survived but as i said earlier, one did. the upperfloors, most people had climbed out. they say they rescued over 100 people from that hotel alone and rescued others from other buildings that have also tilted on their side. authorities to say that they have not been any more reports of missing people or those unaccounted for. they find that reassuring but they

are not taking chances. there are combing through all the affected buildings with sniffer dogs and life detection equipment to make sure that nobody is still inside. we are looking at the live shots right now. just after ten a.m. and daylight helps rescuers. how prepared are people in this area for earthquakes. isa people in this area for earthquakes. is a common? taiwan gets many earthquakes every year and i would say that this month was especially unusual because we have gotten around 100 earthquakes this month according to the central weather bureau. that is unusual. people are used to earthquakes but it is not common to have so many in such a short period of time. it has unnerved many people, especially ahead of the lunar new year holiday next week. the fact that this earthquake happened exactly on the

same day it nine years ago when another earthquake killed 117 people in southern taiwan, that caused the economy to collapse. we do not see that damage in this earthquake but authorities say there could still be more after—shocks and earthquakes to come. many people are nervous about what will happen in the next few days. inevitably, people will wonder as they look at these pictures of collapsed buildings, they will wonder about building regulations. we are not reassured by what has happened, especially with the earthquake that happened two years ago, the building standards here are not high and many buildings were built decades ago when standards we re eve n built decades ago when standards were even lower. many corners were cut in the building that collapsed. in that case, we were shocked to learn that the inspectors and investigators, they built an entire

apartment block using substandard steel and not enough of it, even plastic bottles to fill some walls. that was shocking, that an entire apartment block would go up in a city and the government officials we re city and the government officials were not monitoring the construction quality. there are reports that in many parts of taiwan, especially in taipei, that many buildings will not survive a major earthquake. thank you for that. after another day of sharp fluctuations on the world's stock markets, american and asian stocks have largely bounced back, reinforcing the analysis that the recent sharp falls were more of a market correction than a crash. in a moment, an update on the picture in asia, first here's our north america business correspondent, yogita limaye. i was on the floor of the new york stock exchange when the opening bell

rang and after that the dowjones industrial average plunged 500 points. and now it is up over 500 points. and now it is up over 500 points at close. it has had a massive swing of over 1000 points today. the market seems to have changed direction but the volatility has definitely not gone away. i have spoken to traders on the floor of the stock market today and they expect the market will remain choppy until the end of this week. that could potentially have a knock—on effect on markets around the world who will be watching what is happening here. it has been a good day compared to what we saw yesterday. that is evidence of what a nalysts yesterday. that is evidence of what analysts have been saying all along, but there is nothing to panic about just yet. the fundamentals of the us economy remains strong. let's speak to our reporter monica miller who's in singapore. all this has been sparked byjobs news from the us, good news, essentially, for the economy but it did suggest that borrowing costs and

interest rates may rise. if you are feeling queasy from the movements of the global index over the last few days, you are not alone. this morning, investors here in asia are taking their lead from wall street and we are starting to see a sea of green return to the marquee, compared to the drastic sell—off is over last few days. —— return to the market. the japanese market rebounded 3% after it fell 5% on tuesday. it suffered its worst loss since the november 2016 election of donald trump. the south korean market opened up a little over 6% due to positive news coming from earnings from samsung. in australia also seeing positive signs. the arrows are turning north, that is seen as arrows are turning north, that is seen as being positive. 0verall, arrows are turning north, that is seen as being positive. overall, the markets here are seen to be at

leased back on track. markets here are seen to be at leased back on tracklj markets here are seen to be at leased back on track. i suppose it is an inevitable that volatility in the american market is felt in asia and many traders who first pull their money out of risky emerging markets had it that the fundamentals of the economies are strong, aren't they? there. i spoke to an analyst this morning who reminded me that even with the losses that we are experiencing over the last two days, the market was able to hold on to some of the gains they had compared to one year ago. she said that while jitters may be abated for the time being, she said there is concern that possible interest rate hikes in the us, they spoke about three or four now. even though it still seems strong, the economy, she says we could season sell—off in the weeks to come. —— see some sell—offs in the weeks to come. most federal agency funding has been

extended until march 23 but the bill contains no changes to immigration law, a key point of contention in the stand—off between republicans and democrats that led to the partial shutdown last month. the senate will vote on the bill on wednesday. in the last few hours it has been reported in south africa that president zuma is preparing to stand down as soon as a list of conditions have been finalised. mr zoomer is accused of being unfit to govern and there has been a wave of corruption allegations. the wikilea ks founder, julian assange, has lost his application to have his arrest warrant lifted by a court in london. he's breached bail and confined himself to the ecuadorican embassy in london for five years. he had been facing extradition to sweden to answer sex assault claims, but these have since been dropped. he still fears extradition to the

united states. but have you with us on bbc news. stay with us, there is much more to come. seeking the medicinal effect is of music. why doctors and patients are turning to song. 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. our top stories: rescue teams continue to search buildings left devastated after an earthquake hits taiwan. two men are believed trapped. asian stock markets show early signs of recovery, after dramatic moves in global share prices in the past 2a hours. the us vice president, mike pence, is injapan on tuesday, where he is about to meet

prime minister abe. before he left the us, mr 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. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonell is in pyeongchang ahead of the games. we 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. you know, 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. now, of course, some people in south korea go along with this view that north korea is being rewarded too quickly by having the joint hockey team, and having a senior north korean politician visit, having the north and south korean teams marching in together. and yet others think that

vice president pence saying he's 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, some think that's a little rude, frankly. others in south korea think it's a bit of a sort 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're going to suddenly think, oh, it's ok for north korea to have nuclear weapons. and 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. in greece, prosecutors have been

handled a file naming ministers in connection with the bribery scam. the swiss pharmaceutical company is accused of bribing officers to sell its products at inflated prices at the same time greece was suffering huge budget cuts. the alleged cost to the state was $3.7 billion. the company says it is cooperating with the investigation, and several people on the list have denied any wrongdoing. kenya's main opposition leader, raila 0dinga, has given his first international interview since his unilateral presidential inauguration. in an exclusive interview with zeinab badawi for hardtalk, he said he wanted to bring an end to electoral fraud. if we do not solve the dispute over the 2017 elections, there will be no 2020 two elections. because, if you get away with stealing, rigging, the way they did this last time around, there is no guarantee that 2020 to

will be different. so what we are trying to do is to bring to an end electoral fraud, trying to do is to bring to an end electoralfraud, imposing trying to do is to bring to an end electoral fraud, imposing what you call an electoral coup on the people, basically a coup d'etat, when the people voted one way, and the government, because they had taken the electoral body hostage, then declare different results, and then declare different results, and then impose themselves on the people. the kenyan opposition leader, raila 0dinga, talking to zeinab badawi there. and you can see the full version of that interview on hardtalk at 4:30am gmt, right here on bbc news. we all know music can lift our spirits, but can it also soothe our troubled bodies? well, the kennedy centre in washington is doing research with the national institutes of health, exploring the links between music and wellbeing. the areas of study include how doctors treat autism, alzheimer's and ptsd. here is a closer look. when i am playing, certain medicine,

like an antidepressant, for me. i don't think that i have dementia. nothing else seems to matter at that time. we know that people who are losing cognitive function have lost other kinds of memories. it is remarkable sometimes what they have retained in terms of music. it wasn't textbook dementia, because he sometimes could remember things, and... my cognitive function was very high. it's devastating already to know that the man that i love and that i married almost 16 years ago is gradually changing, and i'm going to miss my best friend. sorry. its 0k. to miss my best friend. sorry. its ok. i still have you. we have

studied at some level how music and the brain interact, but we haven't really had the tools to look at it as precisely as we can now. i think we are on the cusp of a new forward motion here, to try and understand the science of music, and the therapeutic potential of music. lot of research is going into studies to see whether or not music can be an effective tool in pain relief, to relieve anxiety, to help with depression. i believe there are enough studies to say, absolutely, and we see it here in our programme every day. lennon life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street. here we go. no one can really argue it. the

thing that is difficult in a very scientific environment is, we have to build the evidence pyramid to prove it in the way that science will accept it. it seems like i feel a lot more confident when i'm playing music, or driving, doing something. we can both care about the arts, and we can care about science, and we can look at the place where they intersect as an opportunity for a real exciting observations about what the human is all about. —— what being human is all about. —— what being human is all about. 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 center at 8:16 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 center, while the third headed for a drone ship in the middle of the atlantic 0cean. 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 9 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. and before we go, if you are 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 cars were worth more than $115,000 each. it is part of president rodrigo duterte's bareknuckle approach to law and order. 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. 0ur 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—east scotland, but generally, across eastern scotland and 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 some 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 outbreaks of rain continuing to sink southwards and eastwards. in fact, the rain looks likely to turn heavier particularly 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. this is bbc news. taiwanese emergency services say they have freed nearly all the people reported missing when a ten story building partially collapsed in the eastern port of hualien after an earthquake late on tuesday. other buildings were also damaged and the risk of aftershocks and gas leaks continues.

after another day of sharp fluctuations on the world markets, american and asian stocks have largely recovered. japan's nikkei opened more than 3% higher, and hong kong's hang seng index rose more than 2%. analysts say markets were due a correction after a long period of rising prices. the us vice president mike pence is injapan where he is about to meet prime minister abe. it's 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. he says he will tell the truth about north korea at every stop. now on bbc news...a look back at tuesday in parliament.