>> only on al jazeera america. voters in niger head to the polls with the president seeking a second term, but one of his main rivals is behind bars. welcome. i'm peter dobbie. you're watching al jazeera live from headquarters in doha. victories for donald trump and hillary clinton in the race for the white house. five killed and a trail of destruction across the fiji islands. australia offers to help with the cyclone clean up. also this hour loan and scared, we look at the flight of child

refugees trying to make it to europe. top story, voting in niger's presidential election well under way. around 7 million people registered to vote in the country. the current president has been criticized for his handling of security threats which is one of the main issues. a state of members of the jury has announced-- state of emergency was announced after attacks from the boko haram. despite political instability, the world bank says niger's economy grew by 6.5% in 2014. the u.n. says it is still one of

the least developed countries with high rates of illiteracy and disease. our correspondent is outside a poll at the moment. what is it like so far? >> reporter: there is not much, but we are seeing now the beginning of the vote. in a few minutes i think as you can see behind me in this high school there are at least four or five classrooms where they have established the boxes brought here just a few minutes ago. there was a scene here of activity when they brought those boxes one our later than scheduled. we have several observers also who came and the representatives of the parties, so everything looks in shape and in place for this to start. we don't see many people queueing, but i have been in touch with some of the observers in other locations where they described some longer queues in

other centers. this election is very important for the country because the opposition, which is coalescing has already decided to coalesce so they can challenge the president. it is very interesting election because issoufou's camp is betting that he will win the first round and that is going to be unprecedented here. they are saying, the opposition, declares that he has won in the first round, that means the election is rigged because the distribution of powers between the opposition and the government and the nature of politics in the area usually doesn't allow any victory in the first round what are the big issues for the voters? >> reporter: the first issue, of course, is the economy. we have been talking to young people in the streets and also to politicians and the opposition and the first were

employment and poverty. people are complaining they don't have jobs. it is a very young country in terms of top legislation. the average age is about 15 to 25 here. so there is a lot of people who are either coming out of schools and seeking jobs or out of these schools and, therefore, for years they have been roaming around looking for jobs, not finding a way to secure their livelihood. the main issue, the second issue, is security. this country is one of the four or five countries leading war on boko haram in this area. it has been one and a half years now since they started the campaign in the lake region. they have sent troops inside niger for six months in a campaign to crush boko haram. they came out from that saying that they had weak ended boko

haram. we have quarter of a million refugees and displaced people in the region. people here, particularly opposition, are describing this on the failure on the part of the government. this is a major issue here thanks very much. it has been a big night in the race for the white house in the states. hillary clinton won the democratic caucus in nevada. in south carolina donald trump again won the republican primary. he no longer has to worry about jeb bush. he quit his bid to be president. marco rubio won the contest over ted cruz. hillary clinton had 52% of the

vote in nevada. >> reporter: for donald trump back to back wins. first new hampshire and now south carolina >> there's nothing easy about running for president i can tell you. it's tough, nasty, mean, vicious. it's beautiful. when you win it's beautiful. >> reporter: if this was a goodnight for the billionaire businessman, it was an awful night for jeb bush. he was the choice of many in the party establishment. it wasn't enough. emotionally he stepped out of the race. >> the people have spoken. i really respect their decision. so tonight i am suspending my campaign. yeah. >> reporter: south carolina is an important and significant stop in this campaign. although the republican party here remains older, whiter and

male, the state itself is very diverse and the trump campaign will be seeing if he can win here. texas sin terror ted cruz believes the next if you contests give him a chance of a few more wins, but marco rubio performance in south carolina suggests he will now become the anti-trump candidate, the person the party establishment will pack, especially now that bush has gone >> this has been a long road, there were many people here, many good people, many whom would have been a front runner in any other year. now it is down to three. i know that our campaign gives us the best chance not just to come together, not just to support our family but to unify the country and to grow this movement. >> reporter: republicans would have had one eye on the events than and the democratic caucus, there a win for hillary clinton. the lead she enjoyed weeks ago

almost wiped out. she took day swipe at the vermont senator too >> we are not a single-issue country. we need more than a plan for the big bang. the middle-class needs a raise and we need more jobs. >> let's put this thing away and let's make america great again. thank you very much. >> reporter: donald trump's candidacy was thought to be a joke and it would soon disappear. he is now the republican front runner and he can't stop smiling a visiting professor at ucl ais with us and says that although some clarity is emerging, it is still far from over >> the democratic establishment is breathing a lot easier with mike huckabeeing the front runner and the republican establishment is really in a

panic about what they're going to do about donald trump. hillary clinton was really saved by african american voters. they were with obama in 2008 and 2012. now they're with her. without their support she really would not have won nevada. that will be a problem for sanders as the campaign continues. republicans are in a defiant mood. that's what he sells. he sells defiance. he defies everybody, the establishment of the republican party, the press, the common sense sometimes. he defies the pope, but there are voters out there who are really in a defiant mood. happiness and politics is a divided opposition and donald trump is winning with a third of the vote but he has got a split opposition against him. the theory sl that if one gets out, the other will become the

anti-trump. some of those voters could go to trump. the polls show he is ahead right now and his performance is south carolina can only help. he won a big victory in north hampshire with a north-eastern state and he won in south carolina which is a conservative southern state, two different kinds of states and he won them both police in the u.s. state of michigan has detained a suspect for killed seven people after a shooting. at least people have been injured. police say the suspect is you a 45 year old resident and they've recovered a weapon from him reports are coming in of twin bomb attacks in the syrian city of homs. the explosions hit the zara district killing 14 people. the syrian president bashar

al-assad says april ceasefire is possible but rebels must make a genuine offer. bashar al-assad says any troops wop come with conditions. he singled out turkey for criticism for not exploiting any potential break in hostilities. from the opposition high, it says it is ready for a ceasefire but troops must come with guarantees from the syrian regime's allies, russian and iran to hold fire. on the ground syrian forces are pushing forward on to aleppo backed by russian air strikes. they have taken a control of a power plant. live to the border and our correspondent. it is the ceasefire and laying down a line in the sand, the interview with bashar al-assad, talking about preconditions. >> reporter: yes.

a very different statement from a statement he made a few days ago when he said there cannot be a ceasefire until all terrorist groups lay down their arms. he also mentioned that the syrian government's aim is to go to the whole country. russia said it was not in line with russia's policy of pushing forward a diplomatic process because syria and russian have been accused of trying to find a military solution to this conflict instead of a settlement. now we are hearing the president say a ceasefire is possible if it is not exploiltd by terrorist groups, that these groups will not be able to resupply themselves and they will not be able to get any weapons from turkey. so this is a new position of the government and we heard the opposition say that they too are ready for a ceasefire, but they too represented their conditions. russia must stop the hair strikes.

seizures on communities must be lifted but at the end of the day it is not the government and the opposition who are sitting down and negotiating a truce. it is the united states and russia. they have been involved in consultations over the last few days agreeing on the details of the truce. according to the u.s. secretary of state they have made some progress. it has been constructive, but key issues need to be resolved. you cannot implement a ceasefire in syria until the international community greece on a list of who is a terrorist and who is not. that's why we're hear to add al-qaeda and al-nusra to be added because at they are on the ground, russia will use this as an excuse to keep hitting moderate rebel positions one will remember the peace talks at which staffan de mistura has said they will not be reconvened in geneva later

this month, at this point the idea of sitting down with al-nusra or speaking to anyone who deals with alnulls is not acceptable. is that something seriously on the table, do you think? >> reporter: it is not about talking to al-nusra. they have designated al-nusra as a terrorist organization, but the problem on the ground is this is a group that operates in areas where the rebels operate. al-nusra does cooperate with these rebels on some front lines, at the end of the day the rebels say we do not agree with their ideology but they are helping us in the fight against the regime. so this is why the opposition feels if al-nusra is excluded, and that was the initial proposal that was put forward. if it is excluded along with i.s.i.l., then russia can continue to carry out attacks against the group and say they are hitting the moderate rebels. this is a complicated picture on the ground.

already the government has been able to control much of the aleppo northern countryside gaining really the upper hand, but it doesn't really have the decisive upper hand not until it encircles the city of aleppo and controls the border city. that's why they're fighting back because they know if they lose the two territories it will further weaken their hand on the negotiating table still to come for you here, police investigate what could be the biggest ever financial scam in china. plu plus. >> it was not transparent controversy in uganda as the veteran president is elected for a fifth time. fifth time.

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welcome back. the top stories. there have been two bomb attacks in homs. killing 25 people. voting has began in niger where the president hopes to claim another term. he has been criticized on his handling of threats in boko haram and equal. donald trump has won another republican primary, this time in south carolina. jeb bush has quit his bid to

succeed his brother. hillary clinton won the democrat caucus in nevada. australia has offered to help fiji recover after the cyclone hit on saturday. it has been the strongest cyclone ever recorded in the island nation. at least five people have died. >> reporter: heavy rains and winds continue to sweep across fiji although the cyclone has now passed. >> because of tropical cyclone winston, that has affected all of the country. cabinet has declared a state of natural disaster for the whole of fiji. >> reporter: a nationwide curfew has been imposed. many have stayed at home instead of going to government shelters. many are flimsy and may not have stood up to winds. this is what it looks like from space. it is a picture showing the eye of the cyclone right over the

south pacific. it is now heading west away from more than 300 low lying islands scattered across the ocean which makes up the fiji islands. crops will be damaged from the massive amounts of rain. >> winds in some parts of the country was really destructive, especially one of the islands in the northern group reported 125 not winds. >> reporter: boats and ships in the path of the cyclone may still be in danger. crews within 550 kilometers of the storm have been told to check in regularly. people living in the third largest city had done as much as they could to protect their homes and businesses. >> most of the shops are closed and they have stocked up. there's big queues at the at ms.

>> reporter: if the wind eases up on sunday, government planes will fly over the island to assess the impact and conveying anyone needed to hospital. while people fix the damage the police in china are investigating what could be the country's biggest ever financial scandal. 21 people were arrested on suspicion of defrauding many. >> reporter: the online lenders downfall was trumping it on state media. the same broadcaster aired commercials promoting the company days earlier. now it was reporting how the firm had taken more than 7 billion dollars from investigators. this man was one of them. he told me he signed up last november putting in more than 450,000. in their gloss a proceed sures--

glossy brochures had promised annual returns of almost 15%, money supposed to be for online borrowers. >> translation: every day when you turn on the tv right before cctv prime time news there was always the ads. i don't know why all this official news outlets supported it. we can't say how real or unreally now. we did our research and we thought it was backed by the government. >> reporter: less than two years after the firm began trading it suddenly shut down last december. this scandal has highlighted a system in which there may be two and a half thousand person to person lending flalt forms with investors often failing to recognise the financial risk - platforms. he says he was misled. >> translation: the government needs to give investors a clear

reply. it has been too long. we consulted some lawyers and they say the investors should take responsibility. that made us panic >> reporter: for some panic has turned to protest. social unrest is what the government fears most, especially when it involves 900,000 disgruntled investors who thought they were buying into something the government endorsed. the firm's offices remain closed but the authorities are urging investors to register their claims, raising hopes there could be compensation. following the protest, police arrested 21st firm's employees with the owner making an on air confession. more arrests are possible as investigators say they want to know if corrupt government officials were also involved. adrian brown

a fifth term has been won by the president. besigye remains under arrest. he says the election was rigged police surrounded the house of besigye as the vote was completed and the results were announced. two other politicians were under what they called house arrest but what the police called preventadtive arrangement. the result was announced. >> the commission declaration that museveni has won the election of 2016. i do not the chairman acknowledged some problems but said things had largely gone well. the opposition said that this result is fraudulent and there is rigging. observers say there has been

rigging and there has been criticism fr criticism. >> it was not transparent, it was very badly organising things and so i would say it is a failure of the work of electoral commission. >> reporter: while the results were read, some listened on the radio. others watched football. police and soldiers deployed heavily in some neighborhoods. back at besigye's house, the party leader tried to enter but he was not allowed. >> the president museveni and those who he is working with in the scheme are scared to death. they say they are afraid >> reporter: supporters of president museveni prepared to celebrate, opposition spoufrters awaiting for their leaders to be

able to make their next move -- supporters the government is australia says a refugee baby being treated at a brisbane hospital will not be immediately deported. medical staff have been refusing to discharge 91 year old girl known as asha until a home environment has been identified. the immigration minister said she will be moved into community detention inside australia, but he expressed that at some point the family will return to nauru. one of the greatest challenges facing europe is the refugee crisis. europol said ten thousand teenagers have disappeared. our correspondent speaks to young refugees on the greece-macedonia border. >> reporter: they set-off from

their homeland for a better life. soon a hash reality set in. >> translation: i went to macedonia five times. reaching serbia once. each time i was sent back to greece. >> reporter: these days only syrians, afghans and iraqis are allowed to continue their journey. europe remains closer to other nationalities while regarded economic migrants not rev secrecy. these boys are stranded on the greek side of the border. unprotected and valuable to gangs and smuggling rings. many wanted to tell us their stories but not their names. >> translation: there was four of us. we were trying to cross and we found mafia in front of us. we ran. there was one taken from us and

they raped him. an estimated one thoird of those landing on greek shores recently are children, but no-one knows exactly how many of them are travelling alone. >> they declare that they are adults or they are relatives from other adult members and they were travelling or alone like adults or with unknown people and we had minors from 12 to 14 years old who were alone. >> reporter: that is the story of a boy who escaped from the town in sinjar in northern iraq hoping to reach his family in germany. he was lucky to end up in a shelter in greece. >> translation: it is very scary p. we don't know what the smuggler will do to you, take you into the forest, rob and rape you. it happens and it will continue.

some of my friend friends worked hard for money but were beaten and now sdamentd. >> reporter: a 16-year-old says he lost contact with his travelling campaigns. they have gone silent on social media. still, despite the risks, these travellers will try to sneak across border and hoping that by day break they will be safe and one step closer to their designation a new documentary film about the refugee crisis has won the golden bear at this year's berlin film festival >> the golden bear for best film goes to this one it focuses on the life of a young boy living on an italian island. he spent six months filming on

the island. always good to hear from you. click on the icon on our website and you can drop us an email or talk to anyone via facebook and twitter. it's all on there aljazeera.com in pakistan, it's cheaper to buy a hit of heroin than food. the country is infamous as a major transit point for heroin and cannabis from neighboring afghanistan to the rest of the world. but its also fighting it's own battle with addiction. i'm steve chao. on this edition of 101 east, we ask if pakistan can i