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from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to "newsday". >> these are the headlines. kabul under attack. militants target the embassy and nato headquarters. >> the taliban tried to test transmission but they cannot stop it. transition is on track and it will continue. >> record levels of poverty in the u.s.. one in six americans, 46 million in -- below the poverty line. >> wen jiabao is set to open the summer world economic forum. we will bring it to you live from the coastal city. >> gunfire has continued overnight in kabul.

at least 12 people have been killed in closing -- including six dozen fighters -- including some fighters. >> it is 2:00 a.m. in london. broadcasting to you on pbs in america and around the world. this is "newsday". gunfire has continued overnight in the afghan capital of kabul. at least 12 people have been killed including six taliban fighters. nato said it will not derail the pullout of troops by the end of 2014 but one politician has called for everything. our correspondent reports.

>> running for cover. from a taliban assault in the heart of the embassy district. the police opened fire on the attackers high above them. the taliban bought with them an arsenal of weapons. here on one of the city's busiest streets a rocket lands. you can see the smoke from the explosion. gunfire all over the area. this is the u.s. embassy near isaf headquarters. this seems like a significant attack. gunfire broke out across the neighborhood. we headed for cover. the target was the u.s. embassy. guard took up positions on the roof. inside, they scrambled for cover. nato soldiers joined the afghan police. this area became a war zone.

afghan and international soldiers taking aim at the taliban hiding inside the building. the gunfire was heavy and sustained. attack helicopters were called in to fire on the insurgents. this taliban attack started with a suicide bomber. militants fired on the u.s. embassy and isaf hq from a building that was under construction. the police station in the airport were attacked. the taliban -- 10 hours later, one fighter is still alive in the building. afghan security forces needed foreign help to combat the threat. >> the reacted quickly. they brought the helicopters in. they responded well.

isaf helped them and the situation got under control. >> the attack would have lasted longer without isaf assistance. they have the taliban on the back foot, isaf said. >> austin andrews was in the neighborhood when the attacks occurred. welcome to bbc news. can you tell us where you were when the attack started? >> when it started i was a short distance away. shortly after they began, a small contingent of foreign media move down. as close as i could get was the roundabout near the square and

from that vantage, we were able to get a bird's-eye view on what was going on. >> how long were you there? >> i was down there for about three hours. that was the main seat of the fighting. that was where the afghan and air forces were. it started dissipating around 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. local time last night. there has been continued sporadic bursts of gunfire and explosions as well. it has been quiet for five or six hours. although there has been another rise in helicopters who are making the rounds out there for the last 20 minutes or half hour. >> what have you been doing in that time? >> the last time, we have been holed up in the compound.

the mood on the streets was quite dire. parts of the area were under lock down. national police had a serious roadblock out. >> are you confident enough in the security in kabul that you want to stay? attackink yesterday's shook the face of a lot of people, ex-pats and residents alike. to arrive to town to yesterday's attacks as well as sunday's attacks, the situation, i feel like it is deteriorating. >> surprising and disappointing figures coming out of the u.s.. >> that is right. official numbers are released in the united states showing that one in six americans is living

in poverty. the u.s. census bureau said the income of the average household fell by more than 2% last year and 46 million americans are now poverty-stricken. african-americans and hispanics are disproportionately affected. the released wirt -- the figures were released as president obama began his tour to promote his job creation plan. our correspondent in washington give us the details. >> it is 15.3% of the population that is living in poverty, the highest rate since 1983. 46.2 million people. the census bureau tells us that 49.9 million, shy of 50 million people in america are now without health insurance. these are the results, these figures of an economy that is in terrible shape. growth is minuscule, job creation is around zero. employment seems to be stuck at

9%. the figure of those living in poverty is can delivered by poverty threshold which is a certain all-out -- amount of income for family size. for a family of four, the poverty threshold would be $22,340. if you think about the world, that would be quite a lot of money when you consider there are 1 billion people living on less than $500 a year. in terms of america, $22,314 is the threshold below which 46.2 million people are now living. that is a lot of people in poverty as you said. very gloomy reading. >> in other news, eight people have been killed and many others injured in a collision between two trains in southern india. a passenger service ran into the rear of another train that stopped at a signal. several carriages were derailed.

a group representing victims of sexual abuse by catholic priests asking the board to investigate three senior cardinals for alleged crimes against humanity. a new york based legal charity said they failed to prevent child abuse. a vatican lawyer called the case "a ridiculous security stunt -- publicity stunt." the government mentality is the main barrier in the middle east. palestinian statehood was not an option but an obligation, mr. erdowan said. workers were fighting to control the power station. three of the reactors were overheating and a cloud of radioactivity had escaped following the powerful earthquake and tsunami. more than 100,000 people within

90 kilometers court ordered to leave their homes. our science correspondent is one of the few journalists who have ventured back to the deserted town. >> than it cleared ghost town. we have arrived in a long street of shops and there is no one here. for a few miles inside the exclusion zone, the react -- radioactive cloud blew over here six months ago but experts have assured as radiation levels have now fallen. a local farmer has slipped as past security. this is the main street, right? >>it is completely empty. he wants this to see how his community has suffered. it was hit by the earthquake and tsunami but then by the leak from a fukushima -- to the fukushima plant. this is the main street. it is completely deserted. motorbikes abandoned, shops

completely empty, no traffic at all. weeds growing up in this court here. shops wrecked in the earthquake completely untouched. all the time that we have been here, the radiation levels have been surprisingly low. if you get down to ground level, it shoots up. no problem for us on a quick visit. what scientists are wrestling with, how dangerous this contamination is and will continue to be in the long term. it was back in march that explosions at the nuclear power plant released review active materials. lakes contaminated some areas more severely than others but everyone'everyone was ordered o. now some decided to stay on. the ruins of a farm, spiders have taken over. their web stretch over everything.

he wants to show us something. this is a distressing sight. this is a cattle shed. the owners were not able to release their animals. there were two that died and in each pens, two more. some animals broke threfree. he wants to keep his community going. >> there are no services here. gas, electricity, or water. people want to come back. even my mother and father. the wish to die here. after three hours here we check our radiation dose it is look roughly half what you get from a chest x-ray.

now he refuses to think about radiation. he is determined to stay on. he lives by candlelight. most of his food is 10. a dog is his only companion. he wants his town to return to normal. it will be a long wait. >> you're watching "newsday". as militants stepped up their attacks in afghanistan, [unintelligible] >> the father of richard hamilton died, 89. a team of british detectives has arrived to help investigate the murder of a british tourist and the kidnapping of his wife. officials have expressed fear. the attack happened at these

zebari village near the somali border where our correspondents at this report -- sent to this report. >> as we approached, men in suits were leaving the crime scene. the british police had earlier indicated a team of investigators would be sent. they checked into the thatched cottages, all very different from this resort's usual type of visitor. they look like they're here to work for them relax. the room in which they were staying is still cordoned off. david was shot dead here. his wife, judith, was taken away by the gunman in a speedboat. this is what the foreign office is saying. officials believe the attack was preplanned and western tourists were deliberately targeted. the suspicion is the al qaeda linked group al shebab have done it and they have taken her to

somalia. a kenyan men has been arrested in report -- connection with the attack. people next to the resort say he had been forced at gunpoint to leave the tour to r. this man told me to carry out air raid you would need local help. >> you must get them and show them the way. >> there has been no word of a ransom demand. reports suggest judith is profoundly deaf which would make her ordeal even more challenging. what this says -- and this is "newsday". >> troops and police in kabul are battling to contain an

attack by taliban minute -- militants. >> levels of poverty in the u.s. have reached record highs. 46 people -- 46 million people live below the poverty line. more now on our top story. the assault is the latest in a series of attacks that undermine the fragile stance of security in kabul. eight people have been killed at headquarters. suicide bombers manage to get inside the intercontinental hotel. here is our security correspondent. >> it has become a familiar sight. a truck bomb explodes last weekend at a nato base in northern afghanistan, killing five, wounding dozens. this was a largely safe area. no longer. taliban and other insurgents have crept closer to the capital. the cat captured but they are doing their best to make the transition from nato to afghan control look doomed.

>> we're witnessing the taliban tried to test transmission. but they cannot stop it. transition is on track. it will continue. >> that is because political decisions have been taken to speed up the training of afghan troops and hand over security to them. nato says afghan troops performed well today. afghan troops and their allies are always went to be back this attack but that is not the point. this was not about taking territory. the insurgents wanted to prove they could puncture isaf defenses and strike at the nerve center of the afghan capital. coalition casualties have been rising steadily until this year. neither side can win all right but what is the taliban try to achieve? >> what they tried to do is to demonstrate internally in afghanistan and externally in

the u.s. and elsewhere they still have sufficient capability to maintain not only presents but a real threat to the government of afghanistan. >> which is why peace talks with the taliban are inevitable. 10 years ago they were beaten. there to be given an office of negotiation in the gulf. >> across the border in pakistan, the taliban is climbing responsibility for an attack carried out in the northern part of the country. killing five children and their were injured. let's cross over to debra in london for other news. >> it has been reported that more than 80 people died in flash floods and landslides that have hit parts of north and central thailand. the weather forecast agency said intense monsoon rain is

likely to worsen. 200,000 families have already been hit by floods and mudslides. our correspondent reports from bangkok. >> this is what weeks of torrential downpours have done to parts of thailand. this is what the province looks like now. it is over one hour away from the capital city, bangkok. people using boats to try to salvage whatever they can from their devastated homes. almost 1 million people have been affected by these floods. about one-third of thailand's provinces have been declared disaster zones by the government. the heavy rains have led to landslides, damaging scores of houses and trapping many. more bad weather is expected in the coming days which could affect their efforts. more than 80 have lost their lyves and many more extreme

believable. the biggest challenges to reach those in remote areas. authorities say they are doing all the can, handing out food and aid packages to those who have been affected. critics say the prime minister overseas tour is ill-timed. instead of meeting with dignitaries abroad, they say the new leader should be at home to deal with this crisis. the floods have followed days of heavy seasonal rains which caused rivers to burst their banks and the fear is that bangkok could be next. this is the area in bangkok which gets hit by flooding first period when bangkok experiences bad weather. the possibility of flooding in the next few days because more bad weather is expected. the new government has been criticized for what some say is a slow response to the natural

disaster. the prime minister said she is committed to finding a long-term solution for flooding. >> more than 1500 political and business leaders are in the chinese coastal resort of dailin. it is one of the biggest global business gatherings in china. the chinese premier, wen jiabao, will be opening the events in a few minutes' time. i am joined by our correspondent. what is he expected to say? >> we're not sure. we do not have a published version of his speech but what i expect him to talk about, he has responsibility for the chinese economy. i expect him to give his view of chinese economic growth and

the president global economic issues of the day. there is a debt crisis still in the european union and in the united states. a historic debt downgrade. i expect he will be giving his views on those issues. also there is a sense around the world that countries want china to step in to take on one of the leadership roles. in terms of the global economy. it will be interesting to see what he says, what kind of role china sees for itself. there is demand from its trading partners for china to allow people to spend more, to allow its currency to rise more in value against other currencies. hopefully boosting imports into china. imports in august in china rose to record high of more than 30%. this kind of growth we have not seen before. this may be a harbinger of

things to come. if the consumer cannot afford to buy more, perhaps it will do so and help pull the entire global economy out of the slump we think it might be now. there are worries there might be another financial crisis or global economic crisis on the cards and the world is looking to china to see what kind of role it may play in helping to lift global growth. >> you talk about the yuan. do you think he will acknowledge the pressure to that currency? >> absolutely. his previous speeches, he will be talking about the currency. it is an issue that has been on the table for many years. the difference this year is china is under a lot of pressure. inflation is very high. still running at more than 6%. inflation is a sensitive topic. they are aware that one of the

reasons for the arab spring was the high price of goods that people pay. china is trying to bring down inflation and one fairly easy way of doing this is to allow its currency to rise in value. we have started to see this. the currency continues to rise in value against the u.s. dollar. there does seem to be political will in beijing to allow its currency to rise further against the u.s. dollar and other currencies. the trading partners are happy. it gives chinese consumers much more buying power than they have been used to in 30 years. i do expect him to tackle the currency issue. i expect him to tackle inflation. he said over the last few months tackling inflation is china's no. 1 priority. i think the premier is speaking right now. let's go to him and see what he has to say on these issues.

>>[applause] >> respect chairman, ladies and gentlemen. first of all, i would like to -- [unintelligible] to express my deep heartfelt congratulations and the warmest welcome to all the participants. the summit has gone for five

years. in the five years' practice, the form has been >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank.

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