the headlines: the duke of edinburgh, the queen's husband, is involved in a car crash. he's said to be shaken but not injured. one of north korea's top diplomats heads to washington, fuelling speculation of a second summit betweem kim jong—un and donald trump. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also in the programme: asia is the new hotbed for persecution of christians, according to a new report. and the international arrest warrant that means this basket ball star is staying in the big apple, and notjoining his knicks teammates in london. live from our studios in london and singapore, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. hello and a very warm welcome to the

programme. it's midnight here in london, where just a few hours ago, we had confirmation that the duke of edinburgh, the husband of queen elizabeth, had been involved in a road traffic accident. buckingham palace said that the 97—year—old was not hurt. prince philip was driving at the time, and the car landed on its side after the collision near sandringham, the queen's estate in the east of england. our correspondent, daniel sandford, has been to the scene of the accident. the a149 here is a busy road between kings lynn and hunstanton, and vehicles have been going up and down this road all evening at really quite a speed. this is not a place where vehicles drive slowly. what appears to have happened is that the duke of edinburgh, driving his land rover freelander, pulled into this road and was struck by a vehicle coming down the road. now, that vehicle hit it with such force that his freelander was forced on its side, and ended up on its side with the driver's door down here. this is the broken glass

and the broken wing mirror from his vehicle. the vehicle that struck his then ended up in the trees, and frankly, it's quite fortunate that people weren't more seriously injured. yes, it certainly was. our royal correspondent sarah campbell is at buckingham palace, and explained that the duke still likes to get behind the wheel. we know that here's a driver. there are pictures of him driving around. —— we know that he is a keen driver. since 2017, he has largely kept out of the public eye. he retired, he said at the time he thought he had done his bit and he has kept out of the public eye to a certain extent, so we the public eye to a certain extent, so we had not got the evidence that might have in previous years. remember last on windsor castle, i was there when president 0bama and michelle 0bama flew into the grounds of windsor castle, they jumped michelle 0bama flew into the grounds of windsor castle, theyjumped in the car, the duke of edinburgh prince philip drove them to windsor

castle. he has certainly been driving well into his 90s. he is a very fit and healthy man for his age, someone very fit and healthy man for his age, someone who likes to be independent, is the independent, and so driving i am sure will be a part of that. now let's turn to our other main story of the day. a senior north korean negotiator has just arrived in the united states as the two sides try to arrange a second summit between kim jong—un and donald trump. south korean reports say that kim yong—chol is carrying a letter from the north korean leader to mr trump, and is expected to meet the us secretary of state and the president on friday. well, eho is kim yong—chol? 0ur correspondent in seoul, laura bicker, has more details. well, kim yong—chol is pyongyang's former spymaster. in fact, well, kim yong—chol is pyongyang's formerspymaster. infact, it well, kim yong—chol is pyongyang's former spymaster. in fact, it is thought that he ordered the torpedoing of a south korean warship which killed 44 sailors, so he is

quite a controversial figure, which killed 44 sailors, so he is quite a controversialfigure, but he isa quite a controversialfigure, but he is a top rate of kimjong—un quite a controversialfigure, but he is a top rate of kim jong—un and quite a controversialfigure, but he is a top rate of kimjong—un and he does seem to have taken the position of chief negotiator when it comes to these talks over denuclearisation. remember last time, he took that extremely large letter from kim jong—un to donald trump, so we're wondering what message carrying this time. now what does signify is that after seven seven—month stalemate, it does seem that finally there are talks happening about future talks. we have got some kind of movement than that we have not had much movement when it comes to the actual utilisation on the part of north korea. no, there has been a stalemate in the has been a stalemate in the has been a stalemate for a reason. basically, north korea wants the us to act first. it says it wants sanctions or some kind of concession. united states says no, none of that is happening until north korea starts looking as if it is making concrete

moves to start giving up its nuclear weapons, so that is why you have a stalemate. the problem is the only two people who really want to talk to each other donald trump and kim jong—un, there are no other talks happening in other levels, so that is why it seems that preparations are under way at four a second summit, and we think, kasia, that one of the possible venues might be vietnam. we're hearing that vietnam is being considered as a state visit for kim jong—un, it is being considered as a state visit for kimjong—un, it might be hanoi. it looks like kim jong—un for kimjong—un, it might be hanoi. it looks like kimjong—un might be prepared to give a statement in vietnam, so that might be a clue as to where the second summons might be. —— summit. also making news today: president trump has refused to grant the use of a military plane for the speaker of the house of representatives, effectively cancelling an overseas trip for his chief political opponent. mr trump said that the democrat nancy pelosi should stay in washington because of

the government shutdown. mrs pelosi had planned to visit us troops in afghanistan and meet with nato allies. a car bomb has exploded at the national police academy in the colombian capital, bogota, killing nine people. local media say at least 50 more have been injured. initial reports indicate the car was driven at speed through the gates, and then exploded in a car park. the driver is believed to have been killed. president trump has announced plans to expand america's missile defence programme, including the creation of a layer of sensors in space. in the united states from all types of missile attacks. we will terminate any missile launches from hostile powers, or even from powers that make a

mistake. it won't happen, regardless of the missile type or geographic origins of the attack. the french government has launched a contingency plan to prepare for a no—deal brexit. about $57 million has been earmarked for airports and sea ports, and the eurotunnel rail link to britain, in particular. the french prime minister says a no—deal brexit is looking "less and less unlikely". two people have been killed by security forces using live ammunition to supress a demonstration in the sudanese capital, khartoum. police also used tear gas and beat protesters. = multiple arrests have been made. the united nations high commissioner for human rights has criticised the authorities's repressive response to the protests, which began over rising commodity prices. and now, take a look at these incredible pictures

from the swiss alps and something called back down again. top to bottom tookjust 27 seconds. amazing, but very dangerous and please do not try it. thousands ofjobs are at risk, following a decision by the japanese firm hitachi to suspend work on a new nuclear power station in anglesey in north wales. hitachi says that rising costs have put the future of the site at wilva newyth in doubt. some 9000 workers were expected to be involved in building two nuclear reactors, which were due to be operational by the mid 2020s. the news comes two months after another japanese company, toshiba, abandoned its involvement in a plant in cumbria. colletta smith has been speaking

to some of those affected. in less than a decade, this site should have been powering 6% of the uk's homes, but not anymore. and that's a big blow for everyone who'd been banking on that huge investment into this corner of wales. edward farms just down the road from the wylfa site. of course, we've had some people that didn't want it to come and some people that wanted it to come because of the jobs it would bring. people in the region, they were preparing themselves, they were upskilling, ready for these jobs. but also there were a lot of local businesses that were getting ready to supply goods to the local nuclear power plant. preparing themselves by employing new staff, new skills, new machineries. all that's gone now, unfortunately, and nobody‘s too sure where to go. the 400 staff already working for the company have now been put on notice of redundancy. a new nuclear build is a very difficult thing to finance.

and that financial structure, between us as a commercial operation through hitachitti'freug—h uk , , , , government, and the government the line it may resurrect itself. discussions are still going on with the uk government, and that is the glimmer of hope that we must keep in our minds. and that story has been repeated across the eight coastal sites the government had hoped private companies would build new nuclear plants on. although building has begun at hinkley point, two sites had no interest at all, two are still at the talking stages, one was cancelled altogether in november, and now hitachi's two sites have been paused indefinitely. so it's back to the drawing board for those in charge, and the clock is ticking. nuclear has an important role to play as part of a diverse energy mix, but it must be at a price that is fair to electricity bill payers and to taxpayers. we will work closely with hitachi

and the industry to ensure that we find the best means of financing these and other new nuclear projects. the energy market has changed a lot since plans for those new nuclear schemes began. we now import a lot more cheap shale gas into the uk. the products that we use in our houses have become a lot more much cheaper, meaning we can do it on a much bigger scale. even though we've made great strides with renewables, there is always the intermittency issue to have to deal with. and yes, renewables have come down in cost, but nuclear can also come down in cost. if the government decides to invest more in nuclear, it could be that those costs are passed on to current customers, adding a little extra to all of our bills now to keep the lights on in the future. colletta smith, bbc news, on anglesey. the highly anticipated

television debate between indonesian presidentjoko wido and his election rival prabowo subianto has left many viewers disappointed. the two went head to head in the first of five live events scheduled to take place between now and the vote in april, but many indonesians are taking to social media accusing the pair of not challenging each other enough and seemingly repeating parts of old speeches. 0ur correspondent rebecca henschke can bring us reaction from the capital, jakarta. if you take a look at many of the newspaper headlines, it says trading barbs, but on social media, it seems that people are not happy with the first debate. that's right, i mean people gathered together in cafes to watch this debate. there was much anticipation about it with this debate, both candidates's teams were

given the questions ahead of time, so the topics were corruption, terrorism, human rights, quite heated topics that could have created a spicy debate, but instead, what we heard from the candidates last night were quite well prepared statements, they did not challenge each other that much, and also, the running mates and both candidates are also being discussed a lot on social media, particularly president joko widodo's running mate, and he was particularly quiet during this debate. here is a controversial kick, it he is an islamic cleric, i should say, who was chosen to do is stopjoko widodo's should say, who was chosen to do is stop joko widodo's islamic credentials but a couple of times in the debate, he even refused to take pa rt the debate, he even refused to take part in the debates, saying that joko widodo had said enough. thank you so much for that update on the first presidential debate in indonesia. you're watching newsday on the bbc.

still to come on the programme: the big man for the new york knicks fears reprisals from turkey. why enez ka nter couldn't join his team on a trip to play abroad. also coming up on the programme: billed as the largest peaceful gathering now the of now the president qf the united stabs, h9 president at the united states, he sworn in on the steps of capitol was sworn in on the steps of capitol m , to getting

gatti attacked é teargas gatti attacked ; t. anti— % say will on the tour. him the tour. him the - the tour. him the - th ofaur. hi held a - th of aur. hi held a i a i th ofaur. hi held a i a charge >ur. but the in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief, cast barbie. a tide of humanity that is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: the duke of edinburgh is uninjured after being involved in a car crash near the queen's sandringham estate. and one of north korea's top diplomats arrives in washington, fuelling speculation of a second summit betweem kim jong—un

and donald trump. iam sure i am sure the uk papers will be leading on the duke of edinburgh's crash, but lets look at some of the international papers. the international edition of the new york times has more on the al—shabaab militant attack on a luxury hotel in nairobi. it shows men praying at the grave of one of the victims who was among the 21 people killed. passing on memories and lessons. the japan times remembers the 24th anniversary of the great hanshin earthquake. candles were lit in kobe on thursday to mark the event, in which more than 6,000 people were killed. and the south china morning post has a story about illegal villas in the chinese city ofjinan. it has a picture of a luxury villa in the shandong province, which is being demolished after the local government started a campaign against such structures. asia is a new hotbed for persecution against christians,

according to a new report. the christian advocacy group open doors describes persecution in north korea, india, pakistan and afghanistan as extreme and says it is getting much worse in china. the report says that, globally, 2115 million christians will face high levels of persecution this year, including one in three christians in asia. some church leaders say persecution in china is at its worst level since the cultural revolution began, more than 50 years ago. nina shea is an international human rights lawyer who advocates for people persecuted for their religious beliefs. shejoined me earlier from washington. well, persecution can be arranged of ways of oppressing and suppressing

religious belief. so it could be brutal methods such as killing, torture, imprisonment, and it can be more economic measures, discriminatory measures. it can be hi—tech measures like surveillance and cyber attacks. so it's a whole range now. so why is china now among the worst offenders in this report? well, in the last two years, we've seen a well, in the last two years, we've seen a real turning point in china, where it was on the trajectory of being home to the largest christian community in the world. and now i fear that it's going to be very hard to perpetuate the face and to pass it on, because the control of christianity has been - over to christianity has been given over to the communist party, which is self avowedly atheistic, and they are cracking down, closing the biggest

churches, censoring the bible, and handpicking pastors. so is china forcing christians into this so—called north korean model, invisible in the deep underground? yes, i believe that is true. they are moving in that direction. they have already closed some large underground churches. they are closing churches, even those recognised by the government, which are considered too small. so it is a squeeze, a are considered too small. so it is a squeeze, a vice that they are trying to eliminate those churches they cannot control because they are too small or they are not registered, and they are trying to replace the content and they are trying to replace the co nte nt of and they are trying to replace the content of the churches they do recognise, for example, by censoring the bible, by having certain topics, whether the death penalty or migration, off—limits, it is illegal. by banning those under 18 yea rs old illegal. by banning those under 18 years old from entering a church at

all, cutting off pensions of some seniors, and replacing the picture ofjesus christ seniors, and replacing the picture of jesus christ in seniors, and replacing the picture ofjesus christ in some of the a lta rs ofjesus christ in some of the altars with president xi himself. he is a highly paid sports star, but he is too afraid to leave the united states. enes kanter should be in london playing for his basketball team, the new york knicks. instead he is in new york, fearing he could be arrested or attacked if he travels. turkey has issued a warrant for his arrest, claiming he has links with armed groups said to be behind the failed coup in turkey in 2016. he has been speaking to our correspondent nomia iqbal. he is the nba star who is not afraid of confrontation, both on the court, and now off. enes kanter is a wanted man in turkey. the government there claim that he is linked to the failed plot to overthrow the turkish president, which he denies. speaking to me in his home city of new york, kanter explains his fears have been justified. are you worried that you'll be sent back to turkey?

yes, because now everybody was saying, oh, you're just talking about it, you don't have any evidence. but when my team was flying to london, the turkish government put a red notice under my name with interpol. as soon as i left the plane, they would have sent me back to turkey. do you feel you've been proven right? yes. kanter has been a long—standing critic of president erdogan, seen here with theresa may. wa nted anyone who criticises him. from me ever again. but i know it will be very ugly. had a response.

the 26—year—old says it has been years since he had contact with his parents in turkey, for fear of reprisal. he is worried about even going to the shops here in the us on his own. the new york knicks play here at madison square garden, one of the world's most famous arenas, and the nba wants to take basketball around the world. but it seems going global means getting caught up in other countries' problems. kanter admits he feels bad about letting his team—mates down by not travelling to the uk for the match tonight, but believes his cause is bigger than basketball. well, i'm risking everything. i'm risking my life, i'm risking my family, i'm risking everybody i love around me, to highlight political issues, but it comes at a cost. enes kanter says he is now effectively trapped in the country

for years to come. it is billed as the largest peaceful gathering in the world — tens of millions of people coming together for the hindu festival of kumbh mela in the northern indian city of allahabad. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye is there. the holy men go first. these waters are considered most sacred of all in and; , fa m ed stages take a dip, the then new people, helm people, of new - the zeople, - of new -the wind 5, - of new -the wind is - of new -the wind is - but new -th brings is - but new -th brings them| but