05/10/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Tom Donkin.

Here's the Headlines: Hurricane Matthew leaves a trail

of destruction across Haiti - thousands have been displaced

Portugal's former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres looks set to be

the next secretary-general of the United Nations.

A contractor for the US National Security Agency has been

charged with stealing top secret information.

And how long are we going to live for?

Scientists say 115 is likely to be the best we can hope for.

It's the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean in nearly

a decade, and already it's killed at least nine people.

So far the winds, rains and storm surges of Hurricane Matthew have

hit Haiti the hardest, causing at least two deaths.

Cuba and the Bahamas have also been in the firing line,

and as the storm moves north, the United States is next.

President Obama has said people should, "Hope for the best

but prepare for the worst", and a mass evacuation is underway

But in Haiti, they're trying to pick up the pieces.

The UN says the country has suffered its worst humanitarian

disaster since the earthquake six years ago.

Nick Bryant has this report from the capital Port au Prince.

Disaster must often seem like a way of life

for the hard-pressed people of Haiti.

This morning, the residents were trying to make this journey on foot.

A journey that they could previously have made by car.

The bridge linking the main road from

the capital to the worst affected communities in the south of this

It has severed this town in half and severely

Homes have been swamped by the deluge of rain.

And destroyed by 140 mile an hour winds.

This shanty dwelling only just survived the

But here, just a few yards away in what now

looks like wasteland, the homes of four

families were washed away as

the flood waters rushed down the valley.

These are the people made homeless, these are the children

whose futures seem to be continually blighted by tragedy.

The epicentre of the 2010 earthquake was

So it's not just sorrow they are feeling, but

The children have just started school, their mother told

me, and their new uniforms were washed away.

This storm has left a trail of third world destruction, and this country

is struggling to cope. As Hurricane Matthew moves north,

and more than a million people in the US start to move out

of its way, forecasters are examining the different paths

the storm could take. Tomasz Schafnernaker from the BBC

Weather Centre explains. Here's the uncertainty in the

weather forecast. So as we see, the storm moves over the Bahamas on

Thursday and then it is the central and eastern coast of Florida that is

not used to intense horror games, if the storm stays 100 or 200 miles out

to sea, it will not be as bad as the impact lance. Dash-mac they not used

to intense her retains. It could be here, are to be way out there. This

could mean many days of very destructive winds and storm surges

still to come. If you don't recognise this man now,

you probably will soon. He's Portugal's former

Prime Minister Antonio Guterres - and he's poised to become the next

secretary general of the United With none of the five permanent

members of the Security Council opposing his nomination,

he's likely to be confirmed Mr Guterres has been head of the UN

refugee agency for ten years. Nada Tawfik is at the United

Nations for us now. Good to see you. Apart from maybe

the Pope and the US president, there are few jobs which have as much

exposure and air miles. Antonio Guterres is not one who shies away

from the spotlight. And he is also used to international diplomacy, so

he seems like a pretty good candidate. Yes, and I have to say,

the reaction to his election has been very positive. He has been an

advocate for the rights of refugees when the world is seeing the largest

refugee crisis really since world War II. He has groups such as human

rights watch really praising him and says that he is an advocate and hope

that he continues to do that once he becomes the UN Secretary-General.

And really, Antonio Guterres during this whole process of when he was

interviewed in the UN General Assembly, diplomats said that he

really stood out, that he had the vision for the top job, he had the

most experience to offer, and so while there were criticisms that a

woman should have taken this post after we have had eight passed mail

Secretary-General 's, the British ambassador Matthew Rycroft told me

that it really was in fact that he was the best candidate. At the start

of the names on the ballot were female, so a lot of people were

hoping for the first one in 70 years of the organisation. But what needs

to happen now for Antonio Guterres to get over the line here? Well, now

the Security Council is going to finalise their recommendation

tomorrow to a vote in the Security Council. None of the permanent five

members have vetoed him. He has the majority supported the council, so

that is likely to go through. They will send a recommendation over to

the UN General Secretary, the body that has to make the final decision

on that. We do not know when the final vote will take place, but I

have to say, it is all must assured at this point that he will be the

next UN Secretary-General after getting through the Security

Council. Thanks very much. Now let's take a look at some

of the day's other news. Almost 6,000 people

were rescued from the They were on board boats

trying to reach Europe It's one of the largest number

of people rescued in a single day International donors are meeting

in Brussels to raise billions more They are expected to

pledge 3 billion dollars Afghanistan will be asked to do more

to tackle corruption and to take back tens of thousands

of failed asylum seekers. Poland's Deputy Prime Minister has

said proposals put before parliament for a near-total ban on abortion

will not be implemented. A citizens' bill backed

by the Catholic Church aims to ban all abortions except

if the mother's life is at risk. On Monday, tens of thousands

of people protested about the plan. The US Justice Department says

a National Security Agency contractor has been charged

with stealing highly It said the documents obtained

by Harold Thomas Martin were critical to a wide variety

of national security Our correspondent Gary O'Donoghue

joins us from Washington. Gary, we mentioned eight contract

that was being charged in the same breath as Edward Snowden,

responsible for the biggest leak in NSA history. What more do we know

about these charges? We do know for a start that Martin worked for the

same contractor that Edward Snowden worked for, so that will send some

shivers up the few spines here in Washington, I think. What we know is

that his house and his car were searched on the 27th of August and

they recovered a number of what they would describe as highly sensitive

documents. Six in particular they are interested in that they say were

from intelligence sources, and if they would have been disclosed they

could have revealed some sensitive sources and capabilities. Now, these

charges that he is facing Ark -- have the potential to put him in

jail for ten years. We are deciding statement from his lawyers who said

that Mr Martin loves his family and loved his country and there is no

evidence that he was intending to be traded. This will worry a lot of

people in Washington. The Obama Government has spent so much money

protecting itself from hacks and external forces, but they can't

fully protect themselves from those home-grown threats of leaks from

within. So this will really work the some people in the securities is

judgment. Yes, it certainly will. It is early stages in this case,

obviously. We don't really know the nature of the information this man

is meant to have had, why he had it, what he intended to do with it, but

it is embarrassing there is no question. And coming off the back of

the revelations a couple of years ago from Edward Snowden, people will

wonder what lessons have been learned. Thank you very much, Gary.

A man armed with a knife has wounded two Belgian police officers

in an attack described by the authorities as

It happened on a street in northern Brussels. The suspect was arrested

after being shot in the leg by officers from another unit.

We now know that this man, the attacker, has been identified as

police as a 43-year-old man of Belgian nationality. His name has

been given. That is standard practice here, not to give his full

name but instead the initial of his surname. He was taken to hospital

for treatment for a gunshot wound to his leg. That was sustained when he

was arrested. Now, he had attacked two police officers north of the

city centre in a residential area but close to a main busy road that

runs through there. And eyewitness described to Belgian media how he

had lunged at one police opposite, knocking him to the ground and

continue to strike blows on that officer as the officer tried to pull

off into the bushes. We know he was armed with a knife. He then turned

on a second officer, winded them, left them bleeding and was then

apprehended when a police patrol unit arrived, shot him in the leg, a

scuffle happened, the injured in office and there by breaking their

nose and was then taking -- taken away. We say they are treating this

as a potential terrorist attack swat the prosecutors are saying. The man

himself may have been known to them but the police officers injuries are

not life-threatening. The Vice Presidential candidates

Tim Kaine and Mike Pence took each other on in their first

and only televised debate. It was their one big chance to take

centre stage but they spent most of it talking up their bosses,

as well as launching bitter attacks on the reputations and policies

of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was all quite feisty,

but as Laura Bicker reports, neither man managed to deliver

that knock-out blow. Senator Tim Kaine was

Hillary Clinton's attack dog and accused Donald Trump

of not paying his taxes. It was up to Mike Pence

to take a defensive stance. He went through a very difficult

time but he used the tax code just the way it is supposed to be used

and he did it brilliantly. How do you know that,

you haven't seen his tax return? Because he has created a business

worth billions of dollars. Again and again Tim Kaine tried

to hit the Trump campaign I cannot believe that Governor Pence

would defend the insult driven If Donald Trump had said

all of the things you said he said in the way you said he said them,

he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton

levelled when she said that half of our supporters were

a basket of deplorables. The Virginia Senator often

interrupted the Governor's answers. He ended up talking

about Donald Trump more than Hillary Clinton,

and he didn't manage The problem with nuclear

proliferation is that some fool or maniac could trigger

a catastrophic event, Senator, that was even beneath

you and Hillary Clinton The pressure was all on Mike Pence

tonight after a dreadful week He gave a decent performance, quite

confident, but will his attempts to defend his boss resonate

with voters when there is just 34 The British Prime Minister says

she wants British companies to have the maximum freedom

to operate in the single market But Theresa May told

the Conservative party annual conference that she

wants to keep control of immigration and stay outside

the jurisdiction of European courts. It was quiet resolve that propelled

her onto the main stage less than 100 days ago. What is my vision for

Britain? My philosophy, my approach? The referendum changed everything.

It is her time now. In June, people voted for change and that change is

going to come. Because of the quiet resolution that took place in our

country just three months ago. A revolution in which millions of our

fellow citizens stood up and said they were not prepared to be ignored

any more. So stand by for a meritocracy. Easy to say, much

harder to make it happen. I want is to be a country where it doesn't

matter where you were born, who your parents are, where you went to

school, what your accent sounds like, what got you worship, whether

you are a minority women, gay or straight, black or white, all that

should matter is the talent you have and how hard you are prepared to

work. Three months ago, it might not have been hurt. Now firmly in

charge, Theresa May wants to take a party down a different road. It is

time to remember the good that Government can do. Time to reject

the ideological templates provided by the socialist left and the

libertarian right. And to embrace a new centre ground in which

Government steps in to act on behalf of is all. A Tory Prime Minister

applauded for praising the state. It was a speech about basic beliefs. To

the audience here and far beyond. But you -- but above all, it was his

portrait of the leaders she hopes to be. But political success is

determined over years, not one platform performance. Theresa May's

offered to you? And do the right thing and the Government will be on

your side. The state can be a force for good. She wants to skip up

voters in the middle as Labour moved to the left, but ultimately, she

will be judged by what he does and what he says on the platform.

Bringing this hall to its feet, the Tory party together, is one thing.

Persuading the country to follow her now is very different.

The Syrian army says it will reduce air strikes and shelling

The announcement comes after increasing international

criticism against the Syrian government and Russia

in their joint campaign to retake the contested city.

Meanwhile earlier today, the UN said last month's attack

on an aid convoy was most likely the result of an air strike,

At least 18 people were killed when lorries unloading supplies

The US believes Russian warplanes bombed the convoy,

Let's speak now to Louisa Loveluck from the Washington Post who's also

been investigating the attack on the convoy.

Does the UN assessment tally with what you found?

No. When news of this broke, a lot of people but it was a mistake. And

when you look back, you see that the coordinates of the aid convoy were

marked and there was also a brush and drawn in the sky until the last

minute monitoring the movements of the convoy and what we found when we

spoke to eyewitnesses and we analysed a lot of footage and

photographs was that this was a sustained and possibly even for our

attack. It involved both Syrian helicopters and Russian warplanes.

It was first attacking the aid convoy and then attacking the rescue

workers who arrived to try to help the injured and dead. Aleppo is a

conflict is all now so it is difficult even for aid agencies to

get in, who have protection. Our new conducting your research and

analysis from where you are in Washington? Well, we were lucky

enough to speak to several eyewitnesses. Several of them were

rescue workers who arrived at the scene. Some of them are actually

showing in the footage at the moment. We also spoke to several

other people who did not go on record but were very helpful in

telling us what they had seen. We then moved on and we looked at

social media, videos and pictures, and that turned out to be the most

helpful was we went back to photos of the debris. We looked at the bomb

fragments that were found and found and time and time again they showed

that these were Russian munitions that were found in the degree along

with the bodies of the aid workers. Russia today have said that they

will reduce the amount of strikes in and around Aleppo. Do you hold out

much hope that those promises will be fulfilled in the weeks ahead?

Well, it is very difficult to say at the moment. But I think there has

certainly been a pattern over the last Europe Russian intervention

where Russia has said one thing and then quite frankly it has done

another. This aid convoy was something that was meant to come

with the guarantee of safety from both Russia and the Syrian

Government and of course that did work. If these are strikes to

reduce, it is certainly not an end to the war around Aleppo. It would

seem to be that the Russians are pushing to have the area emptied of

civilians and I think that is something that would really

radically change the area around Aleppo and the Fermanagh during

crisis there. Just briefly, you have studied Aleppo and spoken to people

who live there on the ground. It seems like it is a massive flash

point at the moment. If it does indeed follow in the coming weeks

and months, what does that mean for the opposition in Syria? One thing

it does mean is that the Government would be able to cling onto its hope

of finishing this war with the whole of Syria under its control. If the

rebels do lose it after four years, it would be a crushing psychological

blow to an insurgency which has really seen the northern provinces

and particularly east of Aleppo as the heart of their fight. They would

probably pull back. They would go to areas in the North. But ultimately,

it could well be the beginning of the end for this insurgency. Louisa,

thanks very much. As I mentioned to Louisa, in the last hour, the Syrian

Government has announced a reduction in the number of air strikes on

Aleppo. Armed Forces have been cutting of all terrorist supply

routes. The announcement comes after international criticism of the

Government and Russia has joined the campaign to retake the city from

rebels. It takes extraordinary

physical and mental strength to complete a marathon -

so imagine how much it takes to run That's the same as jogging

from here in London to Sydney. Well, British man Ben Smith has

been doing just that. Today, he's finished the challenge

in the city of Bristol. Karin Giannone caught

up with at the finish. We are at the finish line, 401 days

after the challenge began. Ben Smith is here. He made it. Then, it was

hard not to shed a tear when you came across with all those children.

What was going through your mind? I was in a bit of shock. I am going to

be perfectly honest with you. I started to feel it as I came into

Mullany and square, seeing all the people who turned out to support

this and running with the people that have run with before. It has

been a magical experience. It has been incredible. The way you feel

today to what motivated you to start this in the first place. Take us

back to that motivation. It all started where I was ten years old

and I went to school and I started to get bullied. I was made to feel

weak. I was made to feel not good enough. And unfortunately, I was

bullied because I was gay and that lasted for eight years and it got to

the point when I did not want to be here. I felt like I couldn't be who

I wanted to be and be strong. To now, I am stood here in front of you

having run 401 marathons and no one has ever done that before in 401

days. Idle stronger than ever and I feel proud to be who I am. What

happens now? What is going to happen to you? I'm going to go off and have

dinner with my family in a bit, so that we can celebrate. As of

tomorrow, plans start to be put in place for the 41 foundation which

will carry on the legacy of what I have created here. We have such an

engaged following of people who have been so supportive and want to

season change and hopefully people will start having conversations now

and not feeling ashamed about who they are going through bullying.

That is what we wanted to try to get out of this. That is the grassroots

movement that I wanted to create. Then, thank you very much. It has

been an amazing experience to see how Ben was welcomed back to

Bristol. It has made a mark over these 401 days. For 13 months, he

has been running constantly. Ben Smith, back in his home city

of Bristol after a journey that's Human life expectancy increased

steadily throughout the 20th century, but the trend has slowed

over the last few decades. Now scientists believe we may

be reaching the limit A team from America,

looking at numbers from around the world,

suggest that 115 years old is the best most

of us can hope for. Our medical correspondent

Fergus Walsh reports. Aged 112, Bessie Camm

is the oldest person in Britain. The former nurse was born in 1904

when Florence Nightingale was still alive, and the First

World War a decade off. I never had a quarrel

with a soul in my life. I've always been an easy-going

person who listened. But no one has come close to

matching Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 aged 122,

the oldest person who ever lived. Research in the journal Nature

suggests human life span More and more of us are living

to a ripe old age. Just look at how life expectancy has

risen relentlessly since 1900. Apart from dips in the First

and Second World Wars. And notice that women,

the red line here, generally live In the UK there are now more

than half a million people aged 19 - aged 90 and over, more than double

the number 30 years ago. The number of

centenarians is soaring. From 3,500 to 14,500,

a fourfold increase. But, while more and more of us

will live beyond 100, researchers say the maximum age

of death has plateaued And only a handful of individuals

worldwide will live beyond that. At the moment most people die

between about 65 and 95. That is likely to shift upwards

with current health trends, although of course the wave

of obesity amongst the young We may start to see

the population splitting along Scientists are trying to discover

how to halt the natural ageing process, but until they do,

few of us can hope to match Just before we go -

this year's Nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded

to three European scientists. Jean-Pierre Sauvage,

Bernard Feringa and Fraser Stoddart were honoured for their work

on what's been described They're actually molecules

with controllable movements, which can be used to perform tasks

on a microscopic scale. But for now from me and the rest

of the team, goodbye. Rain-bearing low pressure systems

over the Atlantic are currently being blocked from coming

to our shores by a huge