18/10/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Tom Donkin.

A major step forward in the fight against the so-called Islamic State.

That's President Obama's verdict on the battle for Mosul as Iraqi

forces and their allies close in on the city

Melania Trump is standing by her man - she says his comments about women

Remembering the victims of the Aberfan disaster 50 years ago -

a special report on how a Welsh mining community was let down

Black people don't even talk about race, nothing is attributable to

colour anymore. It is all mitigating circumstances. The only people

discussing race with any courage are loud, middle-aged white men, who

reminisced the Kennedys and Motown. I meet the award winning

author Paul Beatty to talk about his new novel that satirises

race relations in modern America. President Obama has described

the start of the military operation to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul

from so-called Islamic State The city has been under

the extremists since the summer of 2014 and dislodging them

is expected to take many weeks. From the south,

Iraqi Security Forces - backed by coalition air strikes -

have captured a string of villages. From the east, Kurdish

Peshmerga forces have also Our Correspondent Orla Guerin

is travelling with them In the distance, Mosul,

a city in waiting for deliverance It is the last bastion of IS in

Iraq, but for how much longer? On the horizon today,

black smoke from burning oil. The extremists trying to thwart

attacks from the air. As the net closes on so-called

Islamic State, the risks are increasing for those trapped

down below in Mosul. There's the danger of coalition air

strikes, IS could try to use the local population as human

shields, and if and when Iraqi forces make it inside

the city, they could be Here's what IS wants

you to see from inside Mosul - its latest propaganda video paints

a picture of normality. Anyone daring to say

otherwise could be beheaded. "Thank God everything

is fine," says this man, A year ago, they were driven

from this area by air strikes and troops from Iraq's autonomous

Kurdish region, the Peshmerga. They took us to see what IS may have

in store when the battle Chlorine gas attached

to an improvised mortar. As the Peshmerga advanced

deeper into IS territory, This hidden layer was uncovered

in villages captured yesterday. "They built a bedroom

to rest," he says. The extremists had the basics

for survival hidden from view. The authorities here hope

they will run out of hiding places Our correspondent Richard Galpin

is in Irbil in the north of Iraq. He joins me now. Richard, are there

any signs yet of anyone leaving the city? Well, there are some reports

coming in from various agencies saying that some families, the quote

is about 100 families, who apparently have started leaving

their homes in the kind of south-eastern area of Mosul. We

can't confirm that ourselves, but certainly, there do seem to be some

initial indications of people at least trying to get out of areas at

least where they think there may be an attack in the coming days or

weeks. The aid agencies have been preparing for quite a long time for

a huge out flux of people, they are expecting hundreds of thousands of

people to try and get out of the city. Once the Iraqi army and the

Peshmerga fighters and the others involved in this offensive against

IS start really closing in on the city. At the moment, we are not sure

how long that could take. It could take some time or it could be quite

quick, it is difficult to tell at this moment, but there are extensive

preparations by the UN and other aid agencies to look after and shelter

hundreds of thousands of people. How are the Allied forces going to

manage this exodus and make sure just civilians are leaving? Well,

that's a very good question. Our understanding is that there will be

one root out and that, of course, being for civilians to get out when

the fighting gets really close. We understand that Iraqi forces, we are

not sure exactly which ones, will be on that road and will be trying

their best to check the people who are coming out, because obviously

they want to stop the Islamic State fighters from being able to flee,

get out, and be able to fight another battle another day, but

obviously that can be a very hard task of the kind of numbers people

are talking about are actually realised and there are hundreds of

thousands of people on the move. Aid agencies are talking about it

potentially being the biggest humanitarian crisis of the year. You

are in Iraq and if Mosul is liberated by these forces, what does

it mean for the influence of IS where you are in Iraq? Well, it is

enormous. It would be an absolute hammer blow to Islamic State. It is,

of course, as we all know, the place where the leader of ices declared

the caliphate for both here and Iraq and Syria -- ISIS. And Mosul will be

the last big urban centre which IS control outside of Syria, it would

leave them only rack in Syria. It would be enormous impact. IS would

have some control in the north and east of Iraq, but essentially, their

control of the big swathes of territory would be over. Richard,

thank you very much. Now a look at some of

the days other news. Russia says it has halted

its air-strikes on rebel-held neighbourhoods in Aleppo,

48 hours ahead of a planned pause. The defence minister,

Sergei Shoigu said Russian and Syrian forces were stopping

their bombing to allow preparations for civilians and fighters to leave

Aleppo during a scheduled Mr Shoigu called on the rebels

to take advantage of this Austria's backtracked on plans

to demolish the house after a panel of experts said it had

not been their recommendation. The government had said that

a new building would take its place. But in a new statement, the

government backed the experts' view into an administrative building

or something similar The British bank NatWest has denied

reports of the Russian international

television channel R-T. A bank spokesperson said a letter

about account closures was sent to one of the station's

suppliers, not RT itself. The spokesperson said the accounts

had neither been frozen Ministers in the UK will choose next

week which of London's airports should be expanded to meet

the growing demand for air travel. Both Heathrow and Gatwick

want to build new or longer runways. But a final decision by Parliament

won't be made until next year at the earliest,

after a public consultation. It's been delayed repeatedly

because of environmental concerns. The head of the International

Olympic Committee says he's confident that the cost of the 2020

Games in Tokyo can be brought down. Thomas Bach's comments follow crisis

talks with the city's new governor. She wants to reduce the costs,

which are now projected to exceed $30 billion,

that's over ?24 million , and more Just three weeks ahead of the US

presidential election, Melania Trump has insisted

that her husband, Republican candidate, Donald Trump

is a "gentleman" and that women who've made allegations

against him are lying. She also said that lewd comments

he made about women, that were caught on videotape,

did not represent the man she knows. If we are under attack, what do we

do? A protest this morning outside the tram headquarters in

Philadelphia. There is ongoing outrage over the billionaire's

obscene remarks that were caught on tape and the allegations that he

repeatedly sexually assaulted women. We are sick of him, sick of his

comments and we don't want a sexual assault as our president. I think he

is a sexual predator, I think he has zero respect for women. He is also a

racist. In the midst of this storm, a serene Melania Trump, wife turned

character witness prepared to forgive her husband. Those words,

they are offensive... and he apologised to me,

and I accept his apology. It's in the American suburbs

that this election will be decided and here female voters often

have the decisive say. Andrea is still voting Trump

and thinks Bill Clinton I think Bill Clinton

is the epitome, the epitome, And for Hillary to tolerate

that, she's just as bad. But a new poll, in the Philadelphia

suburbs, found that Donald Trump trails Hillary Clinton

by a staggering 43% amongst female voters, the kind of numbers that

spell disaster for his campaign. Nick Bryant, BBC News,

Philadelphia. President Obama has been talking

about the campaign. as he put, "discredit the elections

before votes have even taken place". And he used Florida,

which has a Republican The notion that somehow if Mr Trump

loses Florida it is "Those people" that you have the lookout for. That

is both irresponsible and, by the way, doesn't really show the kind of

leadership and toughness that you want out of a president. If you

start whining before the game's even over, if whenever things are going

badly for you and you lose and start blaming somebody else, then you

don't have what it takes to be in this job. That was President Obama

speaking. Will Donald Trump's comment

about women, affect the fortunes of other Republican candidates

running for office in November? A number of senior Republicans have

been distancing themselves from him. Our North America correspondent

Rajini Vaidyanathan The seasons have changed and so much

else since Donald Trump scored his first victory

in the Republican primary Now we are just weeks away

from finding out whether he will When Americans go to the polls

in November, they won't just be electing a president,

but a number of other offices, as you can see from this

ballot paper here. Everything from Governor to Senator,

all the way down to Sheriff But this election, many

Republican candidates have withdrawn their

support for Donald Trump. So the question is how

will this make a difference? Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

are far from perfect. Kelly Ayotte is one of those

Republican names on the ballot. She is seeking re-election

to the US Senate and recently withdrew her support for Donald

Trump. I cannot vote for Donald Trump based

on what he has said and done and the actions he talked

about in those tapes. I'm disappointed it took her so long

to withdraw the endorsement. At this diner in Chester,

New Hampshire, many Republican leaning voters believe Ayotte's

decision to dump Trump She must think that he's not

going to do that well, so she wants to distance

herself from him. I would vote for Kelly Ayotte

for election and the most part, most of the Republican candidates

that are rerunning for election that are already in office and it

would take a snowball in hell before When you are not all together,

you know, it hurts the party. One of New Hampshire's most

influential newspapers has backed the Republican presidential

candidate for more than a century, but this time they have broken

with tradition and are endorsing I think Ayotte is doing

the right thing. It may cost her the election,

but I think it hurts, rather than helps down ticket

Republicans that Trump is on the top And it may be one of those sea

changes where the whole Congress Mr Trump still has a large

support base in this state. For many of them, congressional

races don't even matter. I don't think that the Republicans

have done a particularly good job in their control of the house

and Senate either, so as much as we like to see those seats

retained, in the end, if we're not getting anything done,

then what difference does it make? Both Donald Trump and Kelly Ayotte

need to win here in November, but the Republican split in this

small state could have a big impact This week, the people of Aberfan

in south Wales are having to relive the terrible events of half

a century ago, when a mountain of coal waste

collapsed onto the village school, claiming the lives of 116

children and 28 adults. The scale of the disaster made

headlines around the world and people gave generously

to support the shattered community. But as Huw Edwards reports,

the families of Aberfan had to fight a fight that started on that Friday

morning in October 1966. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: We are now

returning to the newsroom. Disaster struck suddenly this

morning at the small Welsh coal-mining village of Aberfan

near Merthyr Tydfil. At 9:15 on the last morning

of lessons before half-time, At 9:15 on the last morning

of lessons before half-term, Pantglas Junior School was buried

underneath a mountain of coal waste. The scale of the loss,

116 children and 28 adults, is still difficult to comprehend

half a century later. What happened at Aberfan was one

of the greatest disasters in the modern history of Wales,

indeed the modern history And it's important to get

one thing clear. It was a man-made disaster,

it was entirely foreseeable, and it happened because of

a combination of negligence, One of those who survived

the disaster, her life still overshadowed by the events

of 50 years ago, is Gaynor Madgwick. She was eight at the time

and lost her brother Carl and sister She has since written a book

about her experiences. We met in the Memorial Garden on the

site of the old school in Aberfan. The ceiling of the school had come

in and it landed on half the children and I had a radiator

which had come off the wall I just remember looking at another

friend of ours who had literally tried to climb up through the roof,

which was on top of the children. And said, I'm going

to get help, I was whisked away in the ambulance

to Saint Tydfil's hospital. And I remained there, isolated,

I feel, for over three months. And it was then in the evening time

that I was told that my brother Within weeks of the disaster,

an official tribunal was set up under the Welsh judge,

Edmund Davies, I should hate to think that anybody

would connect me with any But getting straight answers

from the National Coal Board, the public body

which owned the mines, The chairman of the National Coal

Board was Lord Robens, and he denied any responsibility

for the disaster and kept on insisting that it

could not have been foreseen. We have our normal procedures

for ensuring that pits are safe, but I'm bound to say that we have no

procedure that tells us that there is a spring deep

down under a mountain. This is the site of the old

Merthyr Vale colliery. This is where coal waste was put

in trams and then sent across the valley and piled high

on the mountains opposite. And those tips used

to dominate the landscape. And there was plenty of evidence,

based on previous incidents, that piling this waste on wet

mountainsides was an exceptionally By the time the report was

published, the National Coal Board had been forced to admit

that the disaster was foreseeable. It was blamed unequivocally

for what had happened. But no one was

disciplined or sacked. I only wish that Lord

Robens was here today. They should have been sent to jail,

lost their jobs. There were still coal tips

above Aberfan and people quite But no one was ready to pay,

not the Government, The families lobbied the Welsh

Office in Cardiff, demanding help. What they got instead

from the Welsh Secretary George Thomas,

was the bill. He wanted the local community

to use their charity fund Of course they will pay

what they can afford. But the scheme will depend

on what they pay. It took 30 years for the people

of Aberfan to regain the money It was finally repaid

by the Welsh Government and today the gardens and memorials

of the village have been restored, giving the families the sense

of justice that they surely deserve. Collectively, we have been able

for 50 years to get I have always said

Aberfan is a family. We have shared our thoughts

and feelings, so many good things have come out of Aberfan

and you have to think They are courageous,

courageous people. That was Gaynor Madgwick,

a survivor of the Aberfan disaster, speaking to Huw Edwards in this week

of the 50th anniversary. Some breaking news this hour,

Belgian media are reporting that 15 people are being held hostage by

armed men in a supermarket in Brussels. Police are on the scene at

the moment with a helicopter overhead. There is no information at

this stage to suggest it is terror related. Breaking news, 15 people

being held hostage by armed men in a supermarket in Brussels. No

information yet that this is terror related.

He's been called the "funniest writer in America",

but Paul Beatty's novels cover the very serious topic

His latest - The Sellout - is a satire about a man

who tries to reintroduce slavery and segregation

and it's been shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize.

and he began by reading a passage from his book.

Black people don't even talk about race,

nothing is attributable to colour anymore.

loud, middle-aged white men, who reminisce the Kennedys and Motown.

If a few freelance journalists in Detroit and the Americans who sit in

their basements pounding away on the keyboard, proposing measured and

well thought out responses to the torrent of racist online commentary.

Part of your book, but you think it is true, there needs to be a wider

discussion about race in the US? Sure, why not? Is it true? I think

that passage, what it is getting out, is the way people talk about it

and I think it is changing a little bit in the past few months, but I

think there are things that people want to say about race that they are

afraid to say, for being castigated. There is a phrase in the States,

they say "Playing the race card" all the time, so if you complain, it is

out of bounds and there is something wrong with what you're saying, it is

not valid. So I think people are afraid to step in that and if you do

say something, people feel it put you into a box. What kind of thing

do you think people are afraid to say? It's weird, because you know,

this book, I finished this book almost two years ago, so things have

changed but I think one of the things was talking about job

discrimination, housing, all these kinds of things, and I think people

censoring themselves, not just about race but about gender, about a lot

of things. But I think because of the police brutality and these other

things, Trump, these things have been amp took to another level, so

there is rhetoric and that rhetoric is at pitch where people have to

counter and, you know, Trump, a large part of his appeal is

race-based. If anybody's playing the race card, it is him. So if there,

there's no doubt. Part of the thing that got him to where he is was his

fervour about Islamic migration and the Mexican border, all that, and I

think that has tapped into another anger because the demographics of

the country are changing and it is something no one is really talking

about in any real kind of way about what that really means. America is

never who it thinks it is, but even at that level... And he has made

these kind of quirky appeals to and Latino voters, people... Like people

know he is not serious but there is something that touches a sensitive

bone, who does care about these things? One thing people are not

talking about is the level of poverty in America, that is

something no one talks about. However one thinks, is that tied to

race or not, that is one thing people do not talk about at all.

Your book is a satire, there is a powerful scene where the narrator's

father is shocked by the police are unarmed, something you could read

about in the papers in recent times. Is it a locator map about this

stuff, do you think? Yeah, I think so. -- is it OK to laugh. It is not

someone laughing about the thing, it is my take in retrospect about an

imaginary act and it is that weird thing about, what's funny? The act

itself by doubly funny but the analysis can be funny, the inside

out thing can be funny -- the act itself might not be funny. I think

it is always OK to laugh. I say that guardedly, that can be interpreted

in a lot of ways, but when you are moved to laugh, you need to laugh.

More now on the US election and rock star Bruce Springsteen has been

speaking to our arts editor will compote is about the state of the

presidential race. Part of what is going on is that you have 30 or 40

years of deindustrialisation and globalisation of the economy, so

there are a lot of people that were left out of that whose voices have

been fundamentally ignored and not heard. These are folks who feel that

Donald Trump as been listening to them -- has been listening to them

and speaks for them on some level. I think he is a conman. Just before we

go, we will update you on the breaking news we brought earlier,

the hostage situation in Brussels. 15 people were detained in a

supermarket but we are now seeing news reports that the man involved

has surrendered to police, so an apparent end to that hostage

situation in Brussels. That is all from the programme, next time, it is

the weather, but for now, from me and all the team, goodbye. See you

next time. The pressure chart I am just about

to show you will become really quite familiar to you over the next few

days as we approach the weekend, simply because things