15/09/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Lebo Diseko.

The headlines: Back on the campaign trail -

Hillary Clinton returns to the presidential race

She says she's "doing great" as she jumps on a plane jetting off

to the battleground state of North Carolina.

Meanwhile, Donald trump outlines his plans for the US economy,

Violence breaks out between far-right extremists

Britian finally gives the green light for a nuclear deal

in the country's ambitious space programme.

Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail in the race

for the White House - four days after her team revealed

She will appear at a rally in North Carolina later.

Meanwhile, her rival Donald Trump has just released results

from a recent medical examination with his doctor

and announced his plans for US economy.

Gary O'Donoghue is in Greensboro, North Carolina,

How did she look? Did she look in good health? How is she doing? She

got on her plane about half an hour ago, one hour ago. People who were

there said she may have looked a bit tired but otherwise looked pretty

fine. When she comes on to this stage in about two hours, she will

be heavily scrutinised. Everybody will be looking for signs of that

pneumonia and they will see what toll it has taken, if she has

properly recovered. They will want to know, especially this crowd, who

will largely be supporters of hers, they want to know she is back on the

front foot and ready to take on Donald Trump began. This has been a

big blow to her campaign. Four days of constant speculation about if she

is well enough, up to being president of the United States. A

forced four day hiatus in the campaign, which she can ill afford

less than eight weeks from the election. There is a lot of ground

for her to make up this afternoon. Her performance will be key to that

today. How does she do that? Kabashi did she take hold of it and turn it

into a positive story for her? -- how does she do that and take hold

of it. She will move the debate onto some of the policy issues where she

thinks she is strong and she will want to highlight, as she has tried

to do, the lack of governmental experience of Donald Trump, some of

the things he has said about the US military, for example. Which are

really damaging politically, in this country. Some of the things he has

said about women as a way of galvanising the female vote in this

country. There are things like that where she knows she can land some

punches. But she has been on the back foot for some time. I think you

are starting to see the effect of that. You have to be cautious about

opinion polls. But some of them have had the sampling dates within this

area where she was unwell, where there were questions about her

transparency again, and you are seeing a narrowing in the poll of

polls in terms of the national vote to 1.8% and crucially, crucially, in

some other swing states, like Ohio and Florida, neck and neck in

Florida, pretty much. Donald Trump in one recent poll ahead in Ohio.

What has Donald Trump been saying about the economy and also his

health record? Has he grabbed the narrative from Hillary Clinton even

on this day she returns on the campaign trail? I think the

publication of this summary of his health and physical from last week

was an attempt to keep the focus on that issue, as you would expect.

That is what political opposition does. Largely speaking, apart from

his weight, the doctors seemed to give him a reasonable bill of

health. It is not as much detail as we had from Hillary Clinton on her

help. Another batch of data was published by her doctor this week.

Donald Trump, his big speech on the economy this morning, he is hitting

some issues which play well for him, talking about jobs, creating more

jobs, bringing jobs home, as he said, from other parts of the world,

from Mexico, trying to create more growth in the country and higher

wages. They play right into the American heartlands and she has to

have an answer, as well. Thank you for bringing us up to date.

Far right extremists have clashed with asylum seekers in the town

About 20 migrants were set upon by around 80

people, forcing police to call in reinforcements.

Officers say they were hit by bottles as they tried to keep

The town attracted negative headlines earlier this year

when locals cheered as a fire burnt down migrant housing.

We can speak to an asylum seeker in the area. He told us what happened

last night. TRANSLATION: Last night, about 140-150 residents of Bauwesen

attacked a for refugee minors. Most of them come from Syria. They

attacked them and beat them up. They assaulted them with broken beer

bottles and smashed glass. In January, exactly on New Year's Day,

these neo-Nazis attacked the. They started throwing tone -- stones. --

attacked the campsite. They went to the street leading to the campsite

and sat and drank alcohol. They used alcohol as an excuse. They told

police that they were drunk it happened. I have a seven-year-old

daughter. She goes to school everyday. I am very concerned for

her safety. She walks alone for less than one mile on her way back. I am

always scared she might be assaulted physically, or sexually.

Let's cross to Berlin and speak to our correspondent

Damien McGuinness who's been following the story for us.

How have people been reacting where you are? It is interesting because

it seems quite unclear what started these clashes. A lotta people are

interpreted according to their own political beliefs, if you like.

Left-wing politicians and human rights activists across the board

have condemned what they see as right-wing extremism committed

against asylum seekers. But the police earlier today and some

politicians in the region were it happened has said the asylum seekers

started the violence. What appears to have happened is they were about

15-20 underaged asylum seekers gathered in the square. This has

become a meeting point for young people. Both asylum seekers and

local residents. At the same time and on the same square, there were

about 80 local residents. Police say young asylum seekers were the ones

that started throwing bottles at these residents, who reacted

violently and aggressively with xenophobic comments. Police at that

stage stepped in to try and separate the two groups and the scuffles got

even worse. Police say they have now imposed a curfew on the young asylum

seekers and have also imposed a ban on them drinking alcohol. But a

lotta people are saying the main problem is right-wing extremism.

Even in that region, the president of that region recently said Saxony,

the land, the state where this village is located, said it does

have a problem with right-wing extremism. The country is now

debating it and it is not only seen on the one hand as an issue of a lot

of asylum seekers, and possibly substandard accommodation, but also

an idea of right wing extremist behaviour and how you can deal with

that. Thank you. The British Prime Minister has given

the green light for Britain's first At a cost of ?18 billion pounds -

that's $24 billion. The reactor, Hinkley Point,

will be built by the French company EDF, with significant

investment from China. Supporters say the plant is vital

to reducing Britain's reliance on fossil fuels,

but critics argue the deal Here's our Political Editor Laura

Kuenssberg. Were they really going

to stop the engines, drive the diggers away

and give up on years of preparation,

chuck away millions already spent? Statement, the Secretary of State

for business energy and industrial Ministers did pause

and they are now pressing go. Hinckley unleashes a long overdue

new wave of investment in nuclear

engineering in the UK, creating 26,000 jobs

and apprenticeships, providing a huge

boost to the economy. Under the ?18 billion

deal the new Hinckley The Chinese plan to build another

nuclear plant at Bradwell in Essex. The government will take a special

share in that and any future projects, giving them some more

control over infrastructure The deal was first

signed last year amid a welcome for the Chinese leader that

could hardly have been more lavish. There were nerves around Westminster

about the huge cost, The Chinese involvement

in new nuclear But with a change of boss,

a change of heart. one of Theresa May's first acts

was to delay the decision to pour The government created a crisis,

they sent shock waves through the industry and unions

alike, risking a diplomatic dispute with one of our key future trading

partners and in the end, all they have done is pretend to give

themselves powers which they already Ministers say there will be

an important new framework to check up on all new big

projects, and they hope Hinckley will keep

the lights on at Big Ben

and everywhere else. The risk is controversial

and expensive. When Theresa May moved into number

ten, the National Security Council already been agreed

and those close at that

stage said there is no fundamental difference

between But imagine she had gone

ahead straightaway. The brand-new Prime

Minister would have been waiving through one of the most

controversial deals in history, There is no difference

and one has to wonder high diplomatic price,

potentially a high price in terms of cost and investment,

was it worth it? Now there is an official go-ahead

next stage on the ground can start, but no project like this has been

All the fuss and political hopes for Hinckley could

Now a look at some of the days other news...

An explosion on a tourist boat off the Indonesian island of Bali has

killed two people and injured at least 14 others.

Police say an Austrian woman was one of the dead.

The identity of the second victim is still unclear.

Officials have ruled out a bomb, saying a short circuit near the fuel

French riot police have fired teargas and stun grenades

Some of the protestors, who are angry about labour reforms,

At least one demonstrator and five police were injured.

It's the latest outbreak of violence over the controversial

new laws, which were pushed through by the socialist

Serious negotiations on Britain's exit from the European Union cannot

begin until the end of next year - that's the warning from a former

Herman Van Rompuy, the former president of the European Council,

said discussions on the main issues would have to wait

until after elections in France and Germany in May and September.

A former hitman from the Philippines has told a congressional hearing

that the current president, Rodrigo Duterte, personally shot

dead a government agent when he was a city mayor.

Edgar Matobato also claimed that Mr Duterte ordered him and other

members of a death squad to kill about one thousand suspected

These are explosive allegations related

He rid the city of crime but there have

been startling claims as

The Senate has been holding an investigation and a

former hit man has been giving evidence.

Edgar claims he was part of a

death squad that killed 1,000 criminals and political opponents.

TRANSLATION: They have been ordering us to kill,

we do not even know the

names of their victims, they just call and ask us to kill someone.

He said one victim was fed to the crocodiles and the president

personally killed a government agent with his submachine gun.

credibility of the President, I'm just telling the truth about what he

The President's spokesman said there had already

been an investigation into the allegations,

The government office said they were lies and

But there are uncomfortable parallels with his

Either you will kill me or I will kill you...

3,000 drug suspects killed in shoot outs with police

The president faced a storm of criticism but remains

unrepentant as the death toll rises.

If I am the one facing the grief, what 100 lives...

Shocking though these accusations are, they will not,

come as a surprise to most people in the Philippines.

They knew his reputation when he was still mayor

of Davao and elected him president anyway.

The last time Russians voted for a new parliament, in 2011,

claims of ballot-rigging caused mass street protests.

Since then, the jailing of activists and tougher laws

against demonstrations has taken the wind out of

On the eve of Sunday's parliamentary election, there's widespread apathy

So, a quarter of a century after the collapse of

the Soviet Union, are Russians losing interest in democracy?

We are on a journey to a remote part of Russia.

Speeding along the northern Dvinar river.

On board are election officials and a ballot box.

It doesn't have a polling station, but then

there are only three registered voters living here.

It is off to find a place where the islanders can

vote early in Russia's Parliamentary election.

With a few tweaks a village kitchen becomes a voting

After casting her vote, this 84-year-old settles down for a nice

She has two loves in her life, her flowers and her president.

When Vladimir Putin raised my pension I cried with

I do not know what that is, she says.

I asked the same question here and receive so many different answers.

Democracy is when there is order and security and no

It is some kind of struggle for something, she says.

To these Russians, democracy was all about free and

Here and across Russia there were unprecedented

anti-government street protests sparked by vote-rigging in the

Among the protesters here was Alexander.

The opposition movement, he said, has faded and with it hopes for

A lot of the people, they do not think about

They go for fishing and for the gardens, they

are thinking about their children, their families and they do not want

Crucially, most Russians still trust Putin far more than the Parliament.

The Kremlin rules Russia through a power vertical, with

Vladimir Putin at the top and all other

institutions, including the

Parliament, below him and subservient to him.

But with economic problems rising, the danger

for the Kremlin is that if people start to doubt the legitimacy of

those other institutions they will pin all their hopes on the one man

At this farm there are as many cows as there are Russian

MPs, but it is in Putin they trust here.

TRANSLATION: Our people can ask him directly for

ballot box is heading off to another island.

But Russians are not expecting a new parliament to make

They think they've got a president for that.

After battering Taiwan, Typhoon Meranti has hit

south-eastern China, bringing strong winds and flooding.

Parts of Fujian province are without power -

but so far there are no reports of casualties.

Here in Xiamen, in southern China, people are trying to get back

into the daily routine following last night's storm.

The warning went out that the most powerful typhoon to hit this

part of the coast since 1949 was on the way.

strongest winds to reach anywhere in the world so far this

year, so you can imagine people were worried.

370 kilometres an hour, faster than one of this

You walk around to survey the damage and it seems not that bad

considering, but the city got flooded with drains overflowing,

blocking entrances to buildings and housing complexes.

Military police have been mobilised to bolster the

They are racing against time to clear debris before

a second smaller typhoon hits in the coming hours.

This is the road leading to the main train station,

perhaps the biggest damage has been to transport infrastructure.

As you can see the military police are trying

to clear the road so that people can get better access.

All this comes during a national holiday, plenty of

people from this province would have planned a trip away for the mid

Lots of other travellers would have come here also

from all over China but instead they will have to be content with a

long weekend at home, spending it with their friends and families.

China has launched its second experimental space laboratory.

It's planning to get a permanent space station in orbit

The Tiangong 2, or 'Heavenly Palace' - blasted off just after 10 pm local

Next month, two astronauts will go to the station to do research.

Space exploration is a national priority for China,

which is the third country, after what was then

the Soviet Union, and the US, to launch people into space.

Well, we're joined by someone who has been watching China's space

programme evolve over the last three decades - Phillip Clark

People often refer to this as a new space race but in fact the Chinese

are not racing anybody. To have a race you have got to have a police

two people. The Indians do have dreams of racing the Chinese with

unmanned lunar and Mars missions but China is out there on its own as far

as manned missions are concerned. So China is not really watching anyone

and is doing its own thing. What does China wants to achieve? It has

made it a national priority, why? China regards itself as the new

superpower. And it looks around the world and it sees that superpowers

have got piloted space programmes. Therefore, they decided to develop

their own. It also has the advantage that space technology has got a spin

off for earthbound uses, because it uses the same technology which has

been developed for space on the ground. That technology would not

have been developed otherwise. The Chinese look at it from that point

of view. You say it is about power and technology but the US is not

happy about it. Do they have anything to be worried about? Well,

at the moment there are only two countries that can launch people

into space, the Russians and the Chinese. The Americans threw away

the ability to fly people into space five years ago. So if anything the

Americans can start learning from the Chinese. The Americans will not

be able to start flying people into space four police two years. That

will depend -- for at least two years. That will depend on how

unmanned test missions are going to be. Two astronauts will be going up

shortly but what will they be doing there? Tiangong 2 will primarily be

a science laboratory. The crew will spend nearly 30 days in orbit with

technical experiments being down, remote sensing... Unfortunately that

is all we have time for on the programme but I know that he will

certainly be watching this for us as this unfolds. Thank you for watching

us on World News Today. Next, the weather but from me and the rest of

the team, goodbye.