this is newsday on the bbc. i am sharanjit leyl in london. at least 17 people are shot dead at a high school florida. a former student is arrested. it is over for south africa's embattled president, jacob zuma. he says he will resign. i'm rico hizon in singapore. morgan tsvangirai, the veteran zimbabwean opposition leader and prime minister, dies. and globally, more than a0 million girls marry each year as children. we speak to a child protection advocate who says this needs to stop. live from our studios in london and singapore, this is bbc world news. it's 1am in london, 9:00 in the morning in singapore and 8pm

in the evening in florida where a shooting at a high school has left 17 people dead and many injured. police say they have arrested one man, and identified him as a former student. many students hid in classrooms until they were rescued by police. running for their lives. students flee classrooms in panic. inside the 3—storey building, hundreds of others lay hiding from a gunman on the loose. as they fled out of school, some were still clutching their valentine's day balloons. as soon as the firearm got pulled and kids were evacuating, i heard five pops. and i was like, "that's is not a drill," we never did a drill like that. you hear about this all the time but you never expect it to happen right here.

everyone knows around here is a safe place and you don't expect this to happen. but when it happens, you're just taken aback. dozens of police cars sped to the scene. pa ramilita ry units moved in to confront the shooter. they carried out a wounded student, improvising emergency transport, and a street corner became an emergency room. the more badly injured were stretchered away, and then, a suspect, handcuffed by police on the roadside. he was taken into custody one hour after he left stoneman douglas, after he committed this horrific, homicidal, detestable act. he's been identified as a former student, nikolas cruz, apparently expelled for disciplinary reasons, and with a social media profile showing an obsession with guns and violence. bill hayton, bbc news. i spoke to david willis is in washington. the sheriff in broward county

confirming the figure of 17 fatalities in the shooting three outside the school premises, and two in hospital, or on their way to hospital. all of them from gunshot injuries. and it does appear that there is at least a dozen people who have also been taken to hospital, and some of those are thought to be suffering from quite severe gunshot injuries. one eyewitness was quoted earlier on as saying it was just blood all over the place. clearly a very, very distressing afternoon for these young people. very distressing. as you said, david, we have also got a confirmation of the attacker‘s name, apparently nicolas de jesus cruz, a former student. we know that according to the miami herald, this is somebody who was a former student.

the sheriff confirmed he was expelled for disciplinary reasons. at the school, they were telling people to look out for him. it was claimed in previous weeks that he had some sort of motive to harm students and so he was not to be allowed on the premises with any sort of backpack. david willis. a presidency that hung in the balance has finally fallen. south africa's jacob zuma has resigned with immediate effect, after mounting pressure from his party the anc to go. he faced persistent allegations of corruption and will now be formally succeeded by cyril ramaphosa, the new leader of the anc. our africa editor fergal keane has more. the moment of decision came late when the former guerrilla fighter

at least recognised he could not win. president jacob zuma addressed the south african nation and faced reality. i was just yards from him when he said the decisive words. the anc should never be divided in my name. i have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect. and, with that statement, jacob zuma has brought to an end the most controversial period in the history of post—apartheid south africa. history, happening in a late—night statement, after a day in which it seemed he might still fight on. in pretoria, the seat of the presidency, rumours of an imminent resignation had rippled all afternoon. yet when he made his first appearance of the day on state television, he was

defiant and defensive. zuma the victim. what have i done? i have explained many times that this process... there's nothing i've done wrong. this is policy. what people are saying, this is a new phenomenon. what is the problem? at the same time, in cape town, anc mps were meeting to decide whether they would support a motion of nonconfidence to drive jacob zuma from power. the decision came quickly and was decisive. we are now proceeding with, as the chief whip, to proceed with a motion of no—confidence tomorrow so that president zuma is removed so that we can proceed to elect president ramaphosa. a populist, a crowd—pleaser, he appealed to the anc grassroots, and with their backing, he became party leader in 2009, even though he already faced

serious corruption charges. i interviewed him just as he was about to become state president. many people think you are crook. is that so? i want to see those people so they can tell me why they... are you a crook? me? i don't know. i have to go to the dictionary to learn what a crook is. it was his relationship with this family, the guptas, indian immigrants, which created the public outrage which finally forced the anc to act. the guptas are accused of using their relationship with the president to acquire assets worth millions of pounds. so powerful, it's alleged, they could hire and fire cabinet ministers. today, they too felt the pressure. this was a police raid on their compound in johannesburg. seemingly untouchable until now, criminal charges could be imminent. if ever you wanted proof

of the change in political temperature, this is it. the police seem at last to have found their courage. by the end of this dramatic day, jacob zuma seemed friendless, politically isolated, resigning before he could be humiliated in parliament. fergal keane, bbc news, pretoria. kumi naidoo is chair at the solidarity group africans rising that work for social inclusion and shared prosperity across the continent. he told me what this means for the anc‘s future. it offers a possibility that the anc can recover some of its lost appeal to the south african people. the decade ofjacob zuma has been a decade of corruption. and there is a possibility now of a fresh start, but there are many challenges ahead. but i think the anc itself, given that president zuma chose his words to tell his supporters not to engage in violence and so on, hopefully means

it will go smoothly, but we wait to see what happens in the next 48 hours. and cyril ramaphosa will face these challenges. what kind of leader is he? he played a major role in the negotiations process towards our constitution. he was the chair of the body that drafted the constitution. he is known as a seasoned negotiator. he played the role in northern ireland and in parts of africa for conflict resolution and so on.

he is a businessman and a politician. he does have a very good set of skills to actually manage to hold the anc together as a party, but also recovering... we have state—owned enterprises that have been looted to tremendous levels by president zuma's allies. we have the electricity body absconded, various other agencies are on the state of bankruptcy. so, he has his work cut out for him. and the big question is, what happens to the charges against president zuma the allegations he faces? i think the people of south africa want equality. i think we expect president ramaphosa will not do anything inappropriate. morgan tsvangirai, the veteran

zimbabwean opposition leader who fought robert mugabe's regime for many years, has died after a long battle with cancer. shingai nyoka takes this look back at his life. as a rookie challenging one of africa's ruthless and most shrewd leaders, the odds were always against morgan tsvangirai. what he lacked in formal education and liberation war history, he made up for in boldness. and his popularity soared. as leader of the trade unions, he led the largest anti—government protest since independence, cutting the union's traditional ties with government. disillusioned with the de facto 1—party state and a biting economy, zimbabweans were ready

for an alternative. the mdc was born, in contrast to the exclusionary politics of robert mugabe. he welcomed everybody. he managed to bring together the students, the workers, farmers, traditional leaders, veterans of war, businesspeople... stunned by his popularity, zanu pf‘s response was brutal, with endless beatings and assassination attempts and charges. he suffered his first defeat to morgan tsvangirai who pulled out because of vote rigging and violence. he was cheated. morgan tsvangirai accepted it. he would have been

prime minister, i mean president, at that time. i, morgan tsvangirai... many were disappointed when he agreed to serve under mugabe in a power—sharing agreement. in the following elections, he lost heavily. he blamed rigging. his critics said he lost that ability, abandoning his working roots. it was not mugabe or the endless party splits that ended his career, it was colon cancer. he failed to unseat mugabe, but many will remember him as the working class heroes whose fight for democracy ended the mugabe era. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme:

a staggering number. globally, 1a million girls marry as children each year. we'll discuss how the problem can be combated. nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the final soviet troops were going home, their withdrawal in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered, and that has a terrible effect on the morality of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions on the streets. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way, there was no letup in the eruption itself.

lava streams from an event low in the crater slow down into the sea east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. they've called it mir, the russian for peace. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm sharanjit leyl in london. our top stories: at least 17 people have been killed and at least 20 people were injured after a shooter opened fire in a florida high school. the shooter is now in custody and has been identified as a former student. south africa's embattled president jacob zuma, says he will resign effective immediately. it follows days of defying orders from the country's ruling anc party

to leave office. 0xfam's director in asia has told the bbc she is aware of past cases of misconduct involving some of the charity's workers in the philippines, bangladesh and nepal. senior 0xfam officials have met the uk charity commission, which is investigating the organisation's handling of abuse claims against former staff in haiti in 2011. 0ur correspondent angus crawford has the latest. a scandal made in the poverty of haiti's shanty towns, where a small number of aid workers became exploiters. it continues to send shock waves through the entire sector. and today, new revelations from 0xfam about other under—reported cases involving its workers. there were cases in the philippines. there were also cases in bangladesh. there were whistle—blowers coming forward in bangladesh, as far as i know. there was also a case, i think, in nepal. abusers exploit the chaos

and confusion of natural disasters, like here in 2013 during typhoon haiyan in the philippines. and lan mercardo says even if they are caught and disciplined, charities are not warning each other about unsuitable staff. not yet. but that's a practice that we need to start. because... you know, the funny thing about cases like this is we always see them as reputational risks, no? but the way to manage reputational risk is not to keep silent. but in disaster zones, speed is key. charities scale up their efforts within hours, employing thousands of new staff in what can be a lawless vacuum. when the first crisis passes, sometimes within days or weeks, many move on to a new emergency, and possibly a new employer. so a problem for the whole sector,

but one the international development secretary wants tackling now. unless you create a culture that prioritises the safety of vulnerable people, and ensures victims and whistleblowers can come forward without fear, we will not work with you, and unless you report every serious incident and allegation, no matter how damaging to your reputation, we cannot be your partners. she's looking at the possibility of setting up a worldwide register of aid workers, and tomorrow meet officers from the national crime agency, which says it's closely monitoring events. this british charity today dismissed a member of staff accused of sexual misconduct while at 0xfam in haiti in 2011, something he failed to tell them when he applied for the job, and tonight 0xfam has revealed that last year it sacked its country director in haiti for mismanagement and inappropriate behaviour. angus crawford, bbc news. also making news today...

us vice president mike pence says that the trump administration is open to holding talks with north korea, but stressed that this would not equate to negotiations. pence spoke after attending the winter olympics in south korea last week, at which he avoided contact with a north korean delegation that held talks with the south korean leadership. it's accurate to say we want to make sure north korea understands this, and, if there's an opportunity for talks that can communicate the fixed policy of the united states america to them, the president has made it clear — he always believes in talking. but talking is not negotiation. talking is understanding one another. there is no daylight between the united states of america and south korea and japan on our commitment to continue to intensify our maximum pressure campaign on north korea until they abandon their nuclear

weapons programme. donald trump's long—time personal lawyer has admitted privately paying an porn star more than $100,000 a month before the us elections in 2016. the managerfor the porn star ‘stormy daniels‘ says her client is no longer bound by a non—disclosure contract after the admission and now free to tell her story. globally, more than 1a million girls marry each year. today, over 700 million women alive were child brides. despite laws against child and early forced marriages in many countries, the practice remains widespread. in vietnam, some cases have resulted in the kidnapping of children who are forced into marriage. earlier i spoke to rasa sekulovic,

the regional head of child protection of children rights advocacy group, plan international, who is working to end child marriages. it's a serious issue and it's a global phenomenon that robs children, and particularly girls, of their childhood, and any opportunities to thrive or develop to their full potential. how is this happening, rasa? it's a very complex phenomenon, it's not new, and it's happening for a variety of reasons, including gender inequalities that actually reduce girls to their traditional roles, reproductive roles and expectations. it's also happening because of economic scarcities, economic pressure on families to marry off girls because of lack of other options. it's happening also because of lack of proper laws, or proper law implementation. it's a variety of reasons. it is indeed a very complex problem, but what must be done by governments here in asia to combat this issue?

actually, a lot has been done, and this complex phenomenon also requires a complex series of interventions. governments are aligning their laws, but laws are just legal frameworks. the laws as we know are just starting points to actually combat any negative trends. first of all, girls themselves, communities and families, need to be aware, and we need to challenge these norms that are underlied by gender inequalities and gender stereotypes. of course, economic safety measures targeting these vulnerable families should also be prioritised, but more than anything, more opportunities for girls, girls‘ empowerment. in which particular asian countries, rasa, is this problem most common? sadly, our region, asia and pacific, tops off some of the global lists of child and forced marriage

prevalence, and it really varies from bangladesh, where there is the highest prevalence of girls that are married off early, to vietnam, where the numbers are lowest, but actually numbers can be tricky as well, because it's also about severity of these incidents. and most of these girls cross over to mainland china. how does this happen? actually it happens in different parts of the region, and it happens for a variety of reasons. as i mentioned, it happens because borders are not properly controlled, or borders are porous. it happens because girls and families trust people who actually earned their trust and promised them opportunities and prospects of a better life, and it also happens in those remote areas, even though it happens in urban places as well, because it's easier to smuggle, to kidnap and smuggle girls across the borders. is it

isita is it a busy addition to news based at the happy chinese new everyone's. —— that is it. and before we go, let's remind you of our top story. officials in florida in the united states say 17 people have been killed and at least 1a injured after a man opened fire at a high school. police say they've arrested an eighteen—year—old suspect, believed to be a former student at the school, the marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. thanks forjoining me.

time we updated you on the weather prospects for the whole of the british isles for the next few days or so. wednesday started in a pretty wild and woolly way across the north—western quarter of scotland. as ever, our weather watchers were there to capture the evidence for us, but things improved dramatically. come a little further south, not far really, troon beach and ayrshire. the difference, you had to get rid of this big old weather front which really made a difference. started dry enough across the eastern side of the british isles but, as that moved in from the west, it brought quite a bit of cloud and rain. thankfully that's moved away. thursday starts on a brighter note for many, a drier note, though not necessarily, because certainly across western spots, particularly the north—western quarter of the british isles, there will be showers. elsewhere, bright enough and breezy sort day. quite a few isobars on that chart, and it makes a difference whether you are in the northern half of the british isles or the south, because further north,

you are in the circulation of the big area of low pressure — there's quite a bit of wind, and it's got quite a bit of northerly in it, which makes it feel that much cooler. come a little bit further south, and a little ridge of high pressure is trying to calm things down. still breezy. there's a lot of isobars on that chart. the wind an ever—present right across the british isles. but i think the bulk of the activity found across the north, so if you are spending the day across southern parts, and here i'm showing you the real detail — it's almost like, if you need reading glasses, we've just put them on to see exactly where those showers are, and you can see them peppering through western scotland and northern ireland. the bigger picture, yes, we know there are words on that page, but we take those glasses off and we get the overall sense of what's going on. here are those temperatures. five, six, seven in the north, ten, 11, possibly 12 in the south. taking you out of thursday, pushing on towards friday, not a great deal changes, save perhaps a greater influence from this little ridge of high pressure coming across the southern half of the british isles,

killing off what showers there may have been on thursday. less in the way of breeze, but there's just not enough influence from that ridge of high pressure to keep this rain away from the western side of scotland, maybe later on into the fringes of northern ireland, but the temperature differential just beginning to ease up here — seven or eight in the north, ten or 11 in the south. what about the weekend? it starts off none too badly. it's not wall—to—wall sunshine, but i need you to keep that little area of low pressure in mind, because it may on sunday give some parts a little bit of rain. otherwise, it's not a bad weekend. i'm sharanjit leyl with bbc news. our top story: at least 17 people have been killed — including some students — and around 20 injured when a shooter opened fire in a florida high school. south africa's embattled president jacob zuma, says he will resign immediately. mr zuma made the announcement in a national address. his party, the anc, told him he had to step down or face a vote of no—confidence on thursday. us vice—president mike pence says that the trump administration

is open to holding talks with north korea but stressed that this would not equate to negotiations. mr pence spoke after attending the winter olympics in south korea last week, at which he avoided contact with a north korean delegation that held talks with the south korean leadership. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk.