26/07/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Geeta Guru Murthy.

France reels from another horrific attack

An elderly priest in the city of Rouen is brutally murdered by two

men armed with knives, who filmed the attack before

Very, very gentle, kind priest, attentive to people.

He wanted to be at the work until the end.

He was helping the parish priest here.

Police have made an arrest following the attack,

in which several people were held hostage.

President Hollande visited the scene.

TRANSLATION: This group has declared war against us.

We must face up to this war by all means.

I'm Nick Bryant at the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia,

where Bill Clinton is due to speak later.

Last night, Michelle Obama brought a degree of unity to a fractured

party as she heaped praised on their Presidential candidate.

Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons

and daughters, take for granted that a woman can be president

The attacks keep coming, the horror is unimaginable.

Foul attacks in the last two weeks alone in France or Germany, inspired

by so-called Islamic State. Today an 84-year-old Catholic Priest

was murdered in church. Two men armed with knives stormed

into morning mass in the northern city of Rouen and took

several people hostage. A nun who escaped says the attackers

forced the priest to kneel The attackers were

shot dead by police. This scene has become France's

shorthand for horror. Today, the sirens were sounding

for the dead and wounded of saying for an elderly priest and a handful

of nuns and worshippers knifed during their morning service by two

men claiming to wage Father Jacques Hamel was executed

in this quiet local church. Reports say his throat was cut.

He was 84 years old. His attackers shot dead by police

as they stepped outside Jean-Claude had known

Father Jacques for years. This was a peaceful town,

he says, too small to be a target. TRANSLATION: I knew

the priest personally. The nuns were my neighbours,

and they would have lunch together next door.

They were humble people. The priest was a good

man, calm and friendly. Today, the line between president

and public was thin. But this was an act designed

to start a war, create division. An act the president linked

to so-called Islamic State, TRANSLATION: The threat

remains high, very high. This is what we've lived

through over the past few days, We must face up to this war

by all means, whilst respecting The far right leader Marine Le Pen

has described it as another horror Less than two weeks after its last

attack here, France is again faced with the problem of how

to confront its jihadist threat. Police have raided a nearby flat

amid reports that one of the attackers was a local man,

who may have been wearing an electronic tag after trying

to travel to Syria. But this is a national battle,

for the things France values most - its freedoms,

its lifestyle, its identity. Each time, France argues a little

more over the cause of this menace and how to beat it,

and each time, it happens again. With me now is Frederic

Ischebeck-Baum, Intelligence and Security Analyst

at King's College London. Just to let you know, President

Hollande has just been speaking, and he said that the threat from Islamic

militants has never been so great in France. Obviously, he has said

before this is a war. But France is just not equipped to fight a war

with the enemy in its midst, is it? With so many new migrants who have

been welcomed into Europe I Angela Merkel, nobody knows who they are.

Well, the migration and refugee issue is certainly flaring up again

in the whole discussion. The thing as that now we know that one of the

attackers from today happened to be known to the security services.

Occasional failure is something quite natural, sadly, so people

slipping through the net of security is something we cannot avoid.

But we have no idea, with all the people who came in. I know some of

these attacks are not being committed by new arrivals, but the

fact is, people are going to be incredibly fearful and scared, and

the rise of right-wing politics, we have seen it already, it is

inevitable, isn't it, if the authorities got no answer key macro

because these attacks are coming daily.

Yes, indeed. I fear that we will see a shift to the right, obviously.

Stemming from the public fear, as you say.

Do you think, though, that the fact that each new attack is still,

obviously, the horror is so bleak, that there is a risk of contagion?

We have seen four in two weeks. What about the fear of the copycat, the

fact that the media inevitably have to report this?

Yes, this is clearly something we can observe. We can observe three

things, I believe. The first is individuals who clearly have a

well-established link with Islamic State, so they have people behind

these attackers. Then you can see the lone wolves, as we know them,

and then, there are also the typical copycats, so the issue I see here is

that if someone, for example, who has no IS background, they can,

before, during or shortly after the attack, most of the time shortly

before they die, they can just declare that this happened to be in

the name of IS, and this is what makes us deal with the attack.

What are the responses you are hearing about? Germany is talking

about some change now, isn't it? Well, there has to be some change,

in modus operandi, as to how the intelligence of the two services

operate, but again, as I said in the beginning, occasional failure, I

would not want to call it failure, really, but occasional attacks that

do happen... What about the talk of potential conscription in Germany

and a new National Guard and so on? Well, in Germany right now,

conscription is suspended, by the constitution. I haven't heard

anything about re-enacting it yet, but people are talking about

establishing something like the National Guard. These talks have

happened in Berlin today. So we will see where things go. I fear, as I

said before, that there will be a shift to the right.

You think, briefly, that the media is playing a role in this? Yes. In

what way? Should we be doing something different key macro

terrorism needs publicity. Without publicity, without the media,

terrorism fails to achieve its goal. So the best thing would be to cut

off every media from them, but that is, of course, something we can't

do. We will have to leave it there. I do

very much. -- thank you very much. In the US, Hillary Clinton is due

to be formally nominated in a few hours' time by the Democratic Party

to be the first woman The traditional roll call

of delegates could get feisty, unless Bernie Sanders has been

persuaded to effectively And hoping to build on the unifying

speech by Michelle Obama last night, this evening, appearing

at the Convention for the first time as a political spouse,

the former President, Bill Clinton. For more, let's cross

to the BBC's Nick Bryant, Nick, it is extraordinary. I first

saw Bill Clinton speak in the immediate aftermath of the Monica

Lewinsky scandal, when his wife, of course, had been globally

humiliated, and here he is coming to draw attention and proclaim his wife

as a potential future leader. Yes, I covered that in Washington as

well. What amazes me most is, I wrote my first Bill Clinton story

almost 25 years ago! I am feeling like a veterans and night here in

Philadelphia. I think we are seeing a different kind of Bill Clinton in

this campaign. He doesn't quite have the energy, perhaps not the same

magnetism, perhaps not the same sort of overpowering charisma that he has

had in previous years. He made a remarkable speech in 2012 on behalf

of Barack Obama, in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Democrats last

met. Can he do the things I? Big question. And then he repeat the

success last night at Michelle Obama, talking about charisma and

magnetism. She really did deliver an electrifying speech last night, as

you can hear now. In this election, and every

election, it is about who will have the power

to shape our children for the next And I am here tonight because,

in this election, there is only one person who I trust with

that responsibility. Only one person who I believe

is truly qualified to be President of the United States,

and that is our friend, Some speech. Well, joining me here

in Philadelphia is a long-time Hillary Clinton supporter, worked in

the Bill Clinton White House, on the National Security Council, and also

in Hillary Clinton's State Department. Daniel Farmer, welcome

to the programme. When you heard those blues yesterday, as a

long-term fan of Hillary Clinton, had it make you feel? I think the

most important thing to note is, we saw last night a remarkable

experience, where I think the perception that this is a party that

does not, is not unified at this point, is way overblown. We saw over

the course of the evening those blues being minimised to the point

where you did not hear them at all any more. Most you saw laid out such

a stark difference between what Democrats were laying out together,

and unified, compared to the very frightening philosophy that Donald

Trump and his supporters have laid out.

A lot of Bernie Sanders supporters here clearly hate Hillary Clinton.

Not just dislike, but hate her. And her public persona, a lot of people

in the country at large, don't like her either. How does her public

persona differed from the Hillary Clinton you know, and why is she

having so much difficulty with this kind of likeability issue?

First of all, this is a person that has endured just a barrage of

attacks from 25 years, but my experience with her is, and that

virtually anyone who has worked with her, is overwhelmingly positive, and

the reason that we are all such passionate supporters. Not only are

we so frightened by the prospect of a trump presidency, but we truly

believe in this Hillary Clinton, the one that I know is extremely

thoughtful, is a listener, is very analytic, is rigorous, is one, is

funny, writes to my young daughters when they send very Christmas card,

and they now believe, as Michelle Obama said last night, that they can

do anything. Brings back a teddy bear from Afghanistan for them at

some point. And one that I just trust her judgment and their

analysis, anything that she would make a wonderful president. We have

never seen a candidate this prepared before.

So when you look at Hillary Clinton on the political stage, do you see a

different person than the Hillary Clinton you see behind closed doors

and on the diplomatic stage? We certainly saw on the diplomatic

stage where her favourite abilities were very high, and the US stage and

internationally, by the time you laptop is. She introduced America to

the rest of the world again, extreme since her split, and built extremely

successful relationships with the UK, Europe and elsewhere, and

demonstrated this belief in partnership and doing these things

together, not only domestic, but in our international partnerships, as

we saw in Afghanistan, which I was responsible for, with a very strong

and important support of the British others.

So I see someone that I believe in, and I know has the experience and

judgment to be a remarkable president.

We will see how many people agree with you at the end of this

convention, and indeed, at the end of this election. Many thanks.

And with that, we handed back to London.

In for another fun few hours! Thank you very much.

Later today at the Democratic convention, we'll be hearing

from the mothers of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

They were two black men whose deaths at the hands of police sparked

That whole question of all the tensions linked to race in the US

have alarmed similar people across the country.

Singer Michelle Williams sold millions of records around the world

as part of the American group Destiny's Child in the

More recently, she's been speaking out on racial tensions in the US,

as result of a spate of shootings involving black men

The BBC caught up with her on a trip to the UK and asked her how

she reacted to the recent series of shootings.

My reaction is still shock, hurt, questions.

What were they thinking, the fear, and how

Did you know that they were scared for their life?

They don't know what's going on, and then you just shoot them

because you have a gun in your hand and your hand's on the trigger

and you think that's your only choice.

Now, I don't know what goes on in the police academy, and

I thank the amazing good police and authority that there is,

because there is more good, I believe, than there is bad.

Are you trained to get your gun first, or are you trying to

Even just the other day, a man in Miami -

I don't know if you saw - he's lying on the ground, his hands

are actually up, he's saying, "I don't have a gun.

And you still shot him! So it's like, man!

When you're doing right, you still might get shot.

And now, to think that every time a black man

goes out of his house, he has to worry, what is he going

to encounter today that might not end so well?

What, because you're angry, you don't like

them, you think I'm going to take justice into my own hands?

Somebody got a phone call saying, can you come identify this body?

No matter how you slice it, it's all wrong.

Uniting with people different from you, actually being hands-on with

people who are different from you always helps, so that you can no.

Getting out there. Get in the hood. Singer Michelle Williams, speaking

to the BBC. Police in Japan are questioning

a 26-year-old man about the country's worst mass

killing in generations. He's suspected of stabbing 19 people

to death at a residential care home near Tokyo where he worked

until February this year. Many more were injured.

John Sudworth reports. This CCTV footage from outside

the care home is thought to capture the moment late last night

that the killer arrived, This morning, forensic teams

began piecing together the elements of a crime

that is beyond imagination. And Japan is a country

in profound shock. In room after room,

the victims were found Many had serious

mental disabilities. The oldest of those

killed was aged 70. Shortly afterwards, a former

employee at the care home, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu,

seen here in a Facebook photo, TRANSLATION: This wasn't

an impulsive crime, where the suspect just blew up

and grabbed a knife. He went in the dead of night,

opened one door at a time, and stabbed sleeping people

one at a time. Again, this footage is said

to match the timings, and shortly afterwards,

the alleged killer handed himself Uematsu had begun to publicly

express his disturbing view that disabled people, unable to live

independent lives, should be killed, and in February this year,

his employment came to an end after he wrote

to the national parliament. The letter, pictures of which have

been broadcast today, was enough to prompt the authorities

to act, and Uematsu was detained But, just two weeks later,

he was released, returning to live in this house a short

distance from the care home. TRANSLATION: When I worked there,

the staff and tenants Amid the grief, the debate

is already turning to whether more Now a look at some of

the day's other news. There have been two car bomb attacks

at the main entrance to the airport in the Somali capital,

Mogadishu. Bursts of gunfire have

been heard at the scene. At least 12 people are believed

to be dead, many of them The Islamist group Al Shabaab says

that it carried out the attack. Canoeing is the latest

sport to ban some Russian The president of South Sudan has

sacked his long-standing rival, the opposition leader, and replaced him

as first vice president with the former mining minister. He fled the

capital at Cawood Juba earlier this month, after fighting between his

forces and those loyal to the president left hundreds dead.

The Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina says a swift operation

against suspected Islamist militants has saved the country

from what she called "a terrible situation".

Her comments came after police said they killed nine Islamists

at their hideout in the capital Dhaka.

It is not yet clear which group the men belonged to.

From the capital, Anbarasan Ethirajan.

It's hard to imagine that suspected Islamists were living in a quiet

residential area like this one here in Dhaka.

It is hard for the police officers to bring in vehicles through these

They say they started this operation earlier in the morning,

The militants were living on the fifth floor of an apartment

at the end of this road, and the fighting started as when one

at the end of this road, and the fighting started as and when one

of the gunmen threw a bomb on the police officers.

Residents here talk about several hours of gunfights

Nine Islamist militants have been killed.

Bangladesh has been on high alert since the attack on a cafe

in Dhaka earlier this month, in which more than 20

people were killed, most of them foreigners.

Police here suspect that dozens of young men could have been

radicalised, and they could be living in a residential area

like this one here in Dakar, and also, in other parts

The celebrated Egyptian film director Mohamed Khan has

died at the age of 73 after a prolific career.

Khan has been one of Egypt's leading cinematic figures since the 1980s,

making a string of movies tackling social issues.

Soumer Daghastani looks back at his life and career.

Acclaimed by the critics and the public alike,

Khan was one of Egypt's leading cinematic figures

A British national, born to an Egyptian mother

and a Pakistani father in Cairo in 1942, his directing

He was one of the founders of Egypt's neorealism cinema movement.

He led the way in taking the cameras out in the city,

shooting most of his films on the streets of

His 24 films always focused on the lives of ordinary

In many of them, he portrayed the hardships faced by women.

One of his most memorable films, The Wife of an Important Man,

Khan tells the story of a woman married to a brutal police

officer involved in the repression of opponents

Despite being widely celebrated as a great figure

in Egyptian and Arab cinema, Egypt only granted Khan

nationality in 2014, after a presidential decree.

His death has left Egyptian cinema bereft of one of its biggest names,

The first solar-powered round the world flight

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has flown 26,000 miles using only

It landed in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of this morning, at the end

Just to warn you, there is some flash photography

Arriving to great fanfare, the smooth and controlled touchdown

bringing an end to what's been a remarkable and record-breaking

Solar Impulse 2 is the brainchild of Bertrand Picard, who

was piloting the plane for the final time.

Everything is possible. Why don't we dream more?

And when I touch my wheels here, I thought, OK.

The aircraft has the wingspan of a jumbo jet,

Using the sun's rays, it's powered by 17,000 solar cells,

peppered all over the wings, which drive four electric motors.

Its mission, to promote renewable energy.

The aircraft set off from Abu Dhabi on the 9th of March last year,

heading for the Persian Gulf, then across India, China, America,

and lastly Europe, before returning to the Emirates this morning.

The fifth leg of its journey, from Burma

to China, was deemed to be one of the trickiest

by the pilot and his compatriot, Andre Borschberg,

Today, it is the flight to China, Chongqing.

If everything goes well all day, we continue tomorrow

morning with Solar Impulse, to bring into Nanjing.

For the team behind this wonder plane, a chance

now to reflect and consider that maybe, one day in the not-so-distant

future, passenger planes could become a lot greener and cleaner.

And there's just time for one last, tall story.

When it comes to height, it seems Dutch men tower

New research shows the average Dutchman is now 183

But to find the tallest women, you need to travel further east

in Europe and make your way to Latvia.

There women, on average, are 170 centimetres tall.

The research, published in the journal eLife,

has tracked growth trends in 187 countries since 1914.

I wonder if there is a secret, has someone somewhat vertically

challenged! If you know the secret to having tall children, let me

know. See you soon. It certainly looks as though we will

see some rain in the forecast over the next couple of days. In fact,

once you wake up on Wednesday, you could start the day