welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: after the taiwan quake, the aftershocks. the 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. asian stock markets show early signs of recovery, after a roller coaster ride in global share prices in the past 2a hours. the families of those killed in an ira bombing in london's hyde park are awarded legal aid to sue the suspect. and we have lift—off, for what's being called the most powerful rocket ever built. hello.

a strong earthquake in taiwan has left a 10 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. this is the scene live right now, i think we can show you those pictures just coming in. two people killed, 114 injured, according to the latest government figures. it is believed there are two men trapped inside there, you were working on the front desk of the hotel. that extraordinary scene, as rescuers we re extraordinary scene, as rescuers were pointing out, what looks like the ground floor is in fact the third floor. andrew plant has the latest. daybreak in taiwan. the power of

this quake now becoming clearer, buildings partially pushed over, lower floors crushed. buildings partially pushed over, lowerfloors crushed. here, you can see cars beneath the rubble as emergency workers use hammers to smash glass, still searching for anyone who might be still inside. people worked through the night, rushing to help those trapped in their homes. fearing the buildings we re their homes. fearing the buildings were about to come down. here, a child is lowered from the kitchen window. at least four high—rise buildings are close to collapse, their foundations crumbling after a violent earthquake which was close to the surface. it struckjust before midnight, its epicentre a few miles off the island's east coast. this man says ijust walked out before the floor collapsed, i did not see where it fell to, now there are three people inside. the report asks him on which floor, he replies we re asks him on which floor, he replies were on the third floor. they are

fine, they just called were on the third floor. they are fine, theyjust called me. everything just started shaking, the bed started shaking. everyone kind of started screaming. one eyewitness described the moment the quake struck, after—shocks happening even as she was being interviewed. 0h struck, after—shocks happening even as she was being interviewed. oh my god, this is an after—shock. i'm sorry is. with several high-rise buildings badly damaged, many fled to the streets and parks, away from the scattered debris. roads have been lifted and split under local hospital damaged with more than 200 people injured. by daylight, the perilous state of these buildings is clear. the tremors were felt more than 160 kilometres away. search teams now using specially trained dogs to try to make sure that no one is left trapped inside. tens of thousands are now without water after the quake which caused extensive damage across a wide area.

the government here says the country has already suffered more than 100 much smaller earthquakes in just the last week alone. our correspondent cindy sui in taiwan has more on the rescue operation. the so say that the rescue workers, including firefighters and soldiers, are still trying to find these two employees, who are working on the first floor of the hotel that partially collapsed. now, there are some media 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 a lower floor, it was actually found alive a few hours ago and he was not even injured at all. basically, he had his mobile phone with him and a flashlight and he was able to contact the authorities to tell them where he was. they are hoping fifiéfé fifi fi§§ tfiés §f§ ffiéifié it??? fif'éfé fifi fi§§ tf-és §f§ f'f‘e'f'é ff"??? also fifléfé f§5 “55 tflée 5f5 flflel'flé fflife also if 95:5 , ,

pre amazin: g;:; gf—ej pretty amazing g look at. g live. pretty amazing just look at. that hotel, as we see it, what looks like the ground floor, you are saying is in fact the third floor, the floors below that crushed. exactly, this was the worst affected building. the b one floor, the second floor, the third floor of the michael were all crushed and it is amazing that anyone survived that. most of the people have gotten out. —— most of the floors. the authorities are saying however that they are not getting any more reports of missing people of people unaccounted for, so they are reassured by that i are not taking any chances. they are combing all of the buildings affected with sniffer dogs and detection equipment to make sure there is nobody else involved.

i think it isjust sure there is nobody else involved. i think it is just after ten sure there is nobody else involved. i think it isjust after ten in sure there is nobody else involved. i think it is just after ten in the morning now, daylight obviously helps the rescuers. how prepared for earthquakes are people in this area, how to them? well, taiwan gets many earthquakes in this area and i would say that this month was particularly unusual. we have had 100 earthquakes since may five, according to the central weather bureau, which keeps track of the earthquakes, and that is quite unusual. people are quite used to earthquakes but it is quite unusual to have so many in such a short period of time, so it has unnerved many people, especially ahead of the lunar new year holiday, which is coming up in a week. another earthquake struck southern taiwan, killing 117 people. that earthquake caused an entire apartment block to collapse. we not seen apartment block to collapse. we not seen that kind of damage in this earthquake but the authorities say

there could still be more after—shocks and more earthquakes in coming days, so many are quite nervous about what could happen in the coming days. and inevitably, people are going to be wondering looking at these pictures of collapsed buildings, they will be wondering about building regulations. exactly, and we are not reassured by what has happened in the past, especially that earthquake that i just the past, especially that earthquake that ijust mentioned, that happened two years ago. the building standards here are not that high and many of the buildings were actually built decades ago, when the standards were even lower and a lot of corners were cut. in that case, we we re of corners were cut. in that case, we were shocked to learn from the investigators that the developer actually put up an entire apartment block using substandard steel and not enough steel at all, and he also used even plastic bottles to fill some of the walls, so that was quite shocking that an entire apartment block and go up in the city and the government officials not be

monitoring the construction quality. so, there are reports that in many parts of taiwan, especially even taipei, the capital, there are many major buildings that would not survive a major earthquake. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the us house of representatives has approved another stop—gap bill to keep the federal government from shutting down. it extends most federal agency funding until 23rd march, but it contains no changes to immigration law — a key point of contention in the standoff between republicans and democrats that led to last month's three day partial shutdown. the senate, we're told, will vote on this bill on wednesday. within the past few hours, it's been reported in south africa that president zuma is preparing to stand down — as soon as a list of conditions has been finalised. he was meeting earlier with cyril ramaphosa, deputy president and leader of the ruling party, the anc. mr zuma is accused of being unfit to govern, following a wave of corruption allegations.

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 right after that, the dow jones industrial average plunged 500 points. and now look at it at clost, it is up over 500 points. it has had a massive swing of over 1000 points today. to answer your question, 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 that markets will remain choppy until the end of this week. that could potentially have a knock—on effect on markets around the world as well, who will be watching what is happening here very closely.

it has been a good day compared to what we saw yesterday. that is evidence of what analysts have been saying all along, that there is nothing to panic about just yet. the fundamentals of the us economy remain strong. let's get more on this from barry eichengreen, who is a professor of economics and political science at the university of california in berkeley. professor, good to talk to you. is it you're feeling that everyone got overexcited about this? my view is that it is much sound and fury signalling nothing. because volatility happens? it happens when you have rising interest rates, programme trading, and talk about a weak dollar. the same mix of ingredients that led to the 22% drop in 1987. this is small potatoes by

comparison. and i guess people tend to worry less when the volatility is confined to the equity markets. if you would be if it spilt over to the so—called real economy? you would be if it spilt over to the so-called real economy? the fear would be that it would spill over to the banking system first, everyone tells us that the banks have been strengthened since the global financial crisis. we might be about to find out whether that is true and people also worried it would spill over to the housing market, which has not happened yet either. what is your feeling on this? has not happened yet either. what is yourfeeling on this? are quite has not happened yet either. what is your feeling on this? are quite a lot of analysts saying that we are actually globally no better prepared for a real market crash than we were in 2008? that is my worry. most banks still have very low interest rates, so they can't cut. —— central banks. there is no fiscal space in countries like the united states because we have already used it, at the worst possible time, so we have to hope that the economy remains resilient without help from the

official sector. why do you think that the lessons have not been learnt, that the action has not been taken? is learnt, that the action has not been ta ken? is that learnt, that the action has not been taken? is that the government is not willing to take on the big players? i think it is partly the unwillingness to take on big players, it is partly ideology. in my country, the republicans have denied for the last ten years that markets can get it wrong. they blame the last crisis on the federal housing agencies, on government itself, so i think there is a tendency to deny and to forget, and we are already actively forgetting the lessons of the 2008 crisis. professor, it sounds like we're going to be talking to again. thank you very much indeed. thank you. the us vice president mike pence is due to meet japan's the us vice president mike pence is

due to meetjapan's prime minister shinzo abe. this is before the winter olympics, which begin on friday. stay with us on bbc news. women gather to celebrate the events of 100 years ago when the women were first given the right to vote. 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. victims of the hyde park bombing had been awarded legal action. john

collapsed when he was given assurance he would not be prosecuted. it was a terror attack from another time, the 20thjuly 1982. an ira car bomb detonated near hyde park, then another device exploded under a bandstand nearby. amongst those killed were four soldiers from the household cavalry, squadron quartermaster corporal roy bright, lieutenant anthony daly, lance corporal jeffrey young, and trooper simon tipper. he was then just 19—years—old. for his family, this has been a long and continuing fight for justice. i can sleep easy again. my brother can rest easy where he is now, and that's all i ask. i don't ask any more. i don't want nothing from this whatsoever. all i want is the truth. john downey was the prime suspect.

convicted of ira membership in the 1970s, he was charged with the bombing in 2014. he always denied any involvement, but his case collapsed. as part of the good friday agreement, john downey had been sent an on—the—run letter, it gave him an assurance that he would not face trial. the scheme was heavily criticised. tony blair, whose government implemented on—the—run letters, fiercely defended them. without having done that, we would not have a northern ireland peace process in place today. being able to pay for a civil action is a major breakthrough for the families of those who lost their lives here. there is a long legal road ahead, but now, they have hope. seven horses were also killed

in the hyde park bombing, one that survived was sefton. in the aftermath of the horrific attack, the horse's recovery captured the public‘s attention. the hyde park campaign forjustice now has renewed vigor, even though the impact and pain of events decades ago still lingers. daniela relph, bbc news, hyde park. in greece, prosecutors have been handled a file naming ministers in connection with a bribery scam. a 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 odinga, 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. setting up a people's convention. it

will deliberate on the resolutions that are coming from the regional assemblies on how they want matters to be handled. we want electoral justice. the second thing is independence and leadership. and three, reform of the police force. numberfour three, reform of the police force. number four is restructuring and strengthening the resolution. in the five, restructuring the executive power and finally, inclusion, five, restructuring the executive powerand finally, inclusion, ethnic inclusion, in the government. what

will you do? you set up this convention, what will you do, macho statehouse, the national assembly, say we demand the changes? —— march on. we will not do that. we will not remove him. you will accept him as president? we do not recognise that president. that is because he lacks legitimacy. he says you have committed high treason. you have accepted you have committed a treasonous act as a no. i did not commit treason. i am saying that kenyatta has no legitimacy. october 26, less than 20% voted for him. you have explained that. do you want a third election? we want another election. when? we will attempt it by august this year. the kenyan opposition leader,

raila odinga, 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. theresa may has called on more women to enter politics in a speech in parliament this evening to mark 100 yea rs parliament this evening to mark 100 years since some women were given the vote for the first time. addressing female parliamentarians and campaigners, she said the suffragettes deserve greater recognition for their struggle 100 yea rs recognition for their struggle 100 years ago. we were there. in the oldest part of the palace of westminster, tonight reserved for hundreds of female parliamentarians, past and present. theresa may said this was the living legacy of the suffrage movement. every one of us is here today because the of the heroic, tireless struggle of those who came before us. women who led a campaign, not just for themselves or theirfamilies, but for generations as yet unborn. disrupting parliament was a key

tactic for suffragettes, some invaded the commons chamber, others chained themselves to statues. archive: we have waited too long for political justice, we refuse to wait any longer. over time, the protests became more aggressive. so they would come in here, wait to see their mps and then they would jump on the seats and shout, "votes for women. we are not slaves." it got so bad, at the end of 1906/1907, on valentine's day in 1907, they decided they would ban women from central lobby. so it's particularly nice that we're standing here today. and finally, after years of struggle, the edwardian radicals got their way and here it is, the act of parliament that extended the right to vote to all men over 21 and to women for the first time. the sixth of february 1918, one of the most significant milestones in british democratic history, and a date that changed this place forever.

it wasn't until 1997 that the face of parliament really changed, when 101 women joined tony blair after his landslide victory. and tonight was an opportunity to reflect on the contribution made by women in public life. i'm amazed at how much was achieved since the 1960s and ‘70s where everything was changed in terms of women's belief in themselves as equal, their role in the family, their role in the world of work and their belief that they should share decision making in parliament. i think it's incredibly important to have women's voices in public life because then you have women's lives ta ken seriously by governments who are trying to influence the shape of policy. power in our society is still hoarded in the hands of men, particularly rich, white men, whether that's in business, in politics or in the media, from the gender pay

gap, to pregnancy discrimination, to sexual harassment. there's so many issues still to address. so 100 years on, women here are proud of their achievements, but few think their work is done. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. 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 ocean. and, apart from its power, it is this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough 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, as the drama of this launch is celebrated back on earth,

mr musk saysrhis car could be to a billion years. victoria gill, bbc news. yes, there is a car in space. but you might want to look away. thousands of vehicles have been destroyed in the philippines seized during drug busts. it is part of president rodrigo duterte's bare knuckle approach to law and order. more on that at any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. 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 clipping into north—east scotland,

but generally, across eastern scotland and down into the heart but they should do so fairly 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 only 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, and 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. the latest headlines: reports from taiwan say a number of people are still missing after a powerful earthquake there. it has killed at least four people, left more than 200 injured,

with around 100 and 50 still missing. residents have been warned not to return home, because of aftershocks. a ten—storey hotel has been left tilting at a precarious angle. 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 2%. analysts say markets were due a correction after a long period of rising prices. the world's most powerful rocket has been launched into space from cape canaveral in florida. it's the brainchild of the billionaire elon musk, he's calling it a game changer. the rocket had a dummy payload — mr musk‘s old sports car, which could now go around the sun for a billion years. an urgent review has been ordered into the way doctors in england