12/11/2013 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Philippa Thomas. They need food

they need water, they need shelter. We will have the latest on the

international effort to get help to the millions in need in the

Philippines and we will hear from those who wait for help to come We

need food. Only food. No money, no places. No televisions. No cell

phones. No technology. Food. We need food. The government in Egypt is

expected to lift the state of emergency and curfew, but the

country remains bitterly divided. So, with a's the authorities' next

step? Also coming up, a second day of protests in Bangladesh. Garment

factory workers demanding better pay and conditions. The story behind

these haunting images of vanishing tribes. The photographer joins us in

the studio. Hello and welcome. There is growing

desperation among survivors of the super typhoon that hit the

Philippines as many face a fifth night without food, without clean

water and without shelter. Many of them in the pouring rain with

another storm approaching. The UN has launched an appeal for more than

$300 million to help relief efforts. The focus right now is on

distributing aid. The BBC's correspondents have the story for

you from the communities still waiting for aid and from the

epicentre of the disaster, the coastal capital of Tacloban on the

island of Leyte. First, Jon Donnison. Rain was the last thing

people needed here today. After a night of thunderstorms, the homeless

and the helpless are doing what they can to put a roof over their heads.

In the neighbourhood of this village the clean-up has begun. It may look

futile, people are doing their best to restore order. They are wondering

when help will arrive. People are having to help themselves. They are

whatever they can to rebuild their homes and their lives and survive.

The question surely, where do you start? This is just one block in one

neighbourhood in one city. Everyone here has remarkable stories of how

they survived the typhoon. My house collapse. I go into my toilet, I

hold the toilet. The survivors are still vulnerable. Clean water is in

short supply. Here they are using a T-shirt to filter out the filth so

it can be used to cook with. People here are resilient, determined to

get their lives back. They need help and soon. We can survive without

these houses. It's OK for us, we can sleep anywhere. We need food. Only

food. No money, no place, no televisions, no cell phones, no

technology. Food. We need food. To get it, some are increasingly taking

matters into their own hands. Another big food warehouse was

ransacked here today. As the word got out, hundreds rushed to grab

what they could. Five days after the typhoon struck, people here are

still having to help themselves It's clear that getting aid into the

country is one thing, getting aid out to those who need it is another.

George Alagiah flew from Cebu City on an aid flight into Tacloban,

seeing for himself the difficulties involved. Flying time to Tacloban,

the heart of the disaster zone, is about 45 minutes. The captain warned

us he might have to dodge a few storms on the way. So far, much of

the aid effort is concentrated on the big towns. It gets worse than

this. It gets worse as we get nearer Tacloban. From 300 feet above ground

you can see how many villages have been affected. Helicopter mercy

missions would be ideal, but there is a problem. One of the pilots had

a bad experience. They land and the people just ran towards the

helicopter and grabbed everything they could. It posed a danger to the

helicopter, crew and the people who rushed in. You can't really blame

them, they are just desperate? Exactly, sir. They are really

desperate. They really need immediate help. They are really

desperate at times. Roads have been cleared in this area, other

infrastructure from electric pylons to factories have been destroyed.

Much of Leyte province is given over to agriculture, mostly coconuts

sugar cane and rice. You can see mile upon mile of crops has been

destroyed. Rural farmers here have lost a whole growing season. They

will be dependant on food aid for months. Tacloban lies on the other

side of a ridge of mountains. Our pilot tried several passes, but the

weather was closing in, no choice but to turn back. It was too risky.

The rain is too thick. The clouds are too close to the ground, we

really couldn't get through. You get a sense of how difficult the aid

operation must be. Philippine owes are a resilient people. This is not

the first storm they have had to weather, it won't be the last. If

nothing else, they have their faith to cling on to. The Filipino

government has pledged to leave "not one living person behind", no matter

where they are. Of the millions affected by Typhoon Haiyan, many are

in remote and inaccessible parts of the island country. Our

correspondent travelled from road from Cebu City to the far north of

the island where so far no aid has reached. On Cebu Island the road is

littered with the remains of what the storm left behind. Homes turned

to matchsticks. Trees stripped or flattened. Every village has a

terrifying story of the night the storm hit. Where is your house? My

house is there. This is your house here? Yes. Gina was inside with her

husband and three children when the roof flew off. This is the roof

here, it came straight off? Yes They had to battle the wind to reach

the safety of a neighbour's home. The rain is still falling. We saw

two small teams working on the power lines, a desperate task for so few

people. All along the road children have been sent out to the ask for

help. It's been slow in coming. These people collected a few sacks

of rice together and drove up to the first place where they found people

in need. It didn't take long. The line was soon up the road. We are

packing rice, canned goods and medicines. The further you go north,

it's very badly affected. She was right. The wind tore this roof off

in one piece. So much damage and four days on, help has not arrived.

# Please, if we could have, for our people, some of them are dying for

hunger. We need help and assistance of some kind-hearted people. On the

northern tip of Cebu Island the storm hit the hardest. Some were

lucky and needed to patch holes Other also have to start from

scratch. As we made our way into this area, where the majority of the

damage has been done, pretty much every house has either been

flattened or had its roof taken off. The people here say the island

surround -- islands surrounding it are even worse. There are so many

remote places along the typhoon s trail of disaster where people are

waiting for help. The British public has been urged to help victims of

the typhoon in a video appeal by 14 UK charities. On 8th November,

Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines. It was one of the

most... The Disasters Emergency Committee has asked for money to

help survivors. The British government has promised to match the

first ?5 million given by members of the public. With me is Rachel

Obordo, a British-Filipino journalist. She has written about

the people living in the Philippines who are no strangers to natural

disasters. You have been trying to get in touch with your father? We

have been trying o contact him for a few day, not heard anything. No one

is picking up on the tone or not getting a dial tone? The best I can

try is ringing or texting him. I think I've accepted this is the

reality that it is for many people who have family there and are

waiting to hear from them. It does add that personal element, doesn't

it, to everything we have been saying about the impossibility, even

of knowing the scale of the trouble. We haven't really got a handle on it

all yet? No, of course. There are plenty of places in the Philippines,

I'm sure, TV crews haven't managed to reach there. There are places you

hear about all the time, but other places we really don't know. The

Philippine people are used to natural disasters. Typhoons happen,

perhaps a o dozen a year, in a sense people might have thought we will

get through this one as well. It was on such a scale it has taken

everyone by surprise? Yes, Philippine owes experience 24

typhoons a year. The problem is we tend to have only one word for

storm, you can say that to people in English it won't register, they

think it's another one, we have had it before. I just think many people

just couldn't estimate just how badly this was going to hit us. The

government was trying to prepare, wasn't it? There were evacuations

and warning, didn't quite register? Of course. There isn't blame on

anybody's part. It's the reality of living in that country and being

used to typhoons. I think the government has done everything that

it can to try and evacuate people, a lot of people, for them, their home

is the most important place for them. I wouldn't be surprised if a

lot wanted to stay there. People are pretty ril sellient, they are pretty

well used to having to cope with this kind of weather disaster. The

pictures we have seen, one of the problems, if aid can't get through,

if food can't get through, when it does people rush for it, of course

they do, there is the danger of order breaking down? Of course.

There has been reports of looting. I don't think this is a reflection on

any of the people there. This doesn't make them bad people, they

are very, very desperate. This is why it's important that anybody who

can help in anyway to provide relief to people on the ground should

donate if they can. We heard all the appeals and the money coming in

Thank you for joining us and providing some insight. Reports from

Egypt say the government is in the process of litting the state of

emergency and curfew. The restrictions were imposed three

months ago after the overthrough of the president, Mohamed Morsi. Heba

Morayef is director of Human Rights Watch in Egypt joins us from Cairo.

What is the position there? Thursday is clearly the day when it will end,

for sure. The the lack of clarity is today's administrative court ruling.

It ex-spires because to extend it further there would need to be a

referendum. The government isn't lifting the state of emergency, that

is an important distinction. What do you think the government's next move

might be? They clearly want to maintain control? Well, they have

been drafting a very repressive demonstrations law. Today sources

within the presidency were saying that the President, interim

president, with legislative power, will issue that new protest law

within hours and ahead of the full lifting of the state of emergency.

That is bad news for Egypt because this would effectively allow the

Ministry of interior to ban any protests it has the discretion to do

that. Looking at the state of life in Egypt today, something else that

was issued today was a report by the Thompson Reuter's Foundation saying

if you look at the Middle East, 22 Arab countries, Egypt is the worse

place to be a woman. Now, how do you read that? Is it because of a rise

in sexual violence or is there more to it than that? The rankings are

problematic they look at particular aspects of human rights. In terms of

sexual violence in the public's fear that is a very, very serious problem

for women in Egypt. Every woman experiences it on the streets in

Egypt cities on a daily basis. In that term I would understand why

Egypt would have come out first perhaps. I think there are also

other aspects to womens' rights Serious concerns relating to

discrimination against women in personal status laws. Integration of

women in society, participation in economic life, That I think is where

the ranking, looking outside Arabia, becomes somewhat more difficult to

understand. When you try to sum up what is happening in Egypt at the

moment, in terms of political freedoms, in terms of political

atmosphere, how do you see it? Is it a sense of still being in limbo I

think this is a period of stalemate in Egypt. There is deep

polarisation, Muslim Brotherhood supporters see the situation in

Egypt in one way and the rest of society is somewhat in denial about

that situation. There isn't really a process of political debate across

that divide. There also aren't any political negotiations that would

move Egypt forward, in a sense. The authorities keep talking only about

the Road Map, a referendum will not address the deep problems and the

deep polarisation in Egypt related to the massacres that occurred which

haven't been investigated. Relating to the ultimate political exclusion

of the most organised political force in the country over the last

few amongst. Thank you very much. -- months.

Now look at some of the day's other news. A member of the Russian punk

group, Pussy Riot, has been sent to medical prison unit in Siberia, that

is according to Russian Interfax agency. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has

not been seen since the 22nd of October, and has been on hunger

strike since September. She and another band member serving two year

prison sentences after a protest in Moscow Cathedral last year.

China's leaders say they have agreed on an agenda for reform over the

next decade. Around 200 members of the party's Central the have been

meeting behind closed doors in Beijing. They have agreed a greater

role for markets in the allocation of resources, and no state agencies

will be left to work out the details of reform.

The moderate conservative cleric, Hassan Rouhani, is marking his first

100 days of office as Iran's president. Hassan Rohani six season

-- succeeded mass mood at the minute that -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after

winning just over 50% of the electoral vote. Since coming to

office, the has reached out to the West, beginning diplomatic moves

towards a deal on Iran's nuclear programme in the hope of easing

international sanctions. Racal is in Bangladesh have fired

tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse Garment factory workers who

have been protesting for a second day over the wages and conditions.

It is an industry that earns 20 billion US dollars in exports but

whose workers are among the laws pays in the world.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. There were injuries

on both sides. The angry workers broke the gates of our factory. At

one stage he set fire to our belongings. They entered the factory

and damaged chairs and tables. Scores of factories have remained

closed for another day. These workers complain their wages are the

lowest in the world, $20 per month. A government panel has proposed a 7%

hike. Manufacturers are still resisting and they are of the view

that it will damage the industry, second only to China. Workers are

frustrated with the delay. A salary of 5000 doesn't meet our need.

Nothing in the market cost less than 50 Dakar. You cannot get anything

below that range so play -- explained to us how we can live with

a salary that now. A clothing factory complex collapsed killing

1100 people. Since then global retailers and the government have

promised to improve conditions. But seven months on, little has. The

fatal fire at a textile plant last month highlights the safety

concerns. 4 million workers in Bangladesh make cheap calls for

Western consumers. Many have perished in unsafe factories. For

the rest, higher wages and now a matter of survival.

There have been protests against low pay and were working conditions in

Cambodia as well. At the -- least one person is known to have died in

clashes with police and Phnom Penh. Hundreds of workers from a garment

factory tried to march on the office of the Prime Minister. As riot

police stopped them, it is reported that several others were injured in

more than 200 -- two dozen arrested. Technology has transformed the way

we see the world, and has arguably made it a smaller place, with people

able to connect in an instant to others thousands of miles away. But

with everything increasingly accessible, it is also easier to

crowd out vulnerable cultures. It is photographer Jimmy Nelson has tried

to document vanishing tribal cultures around the world in a major

new project called "Before They Pass Away" . Jimmy Nelson joins me now to

talk us through some of his extraordinary images. Where was this

taken? This was in north-western Mongolia. They are of the Khazaks.

They are very athletically powerful, they make you stop and

stare. It is very deliberate, they are made on a traditional plate

camera. I spend many hours are organisation -- organising these

pictures. I actually believe they have something to teach us in their

authenticity. As we look at the next picture, I want to ask how long you

spend with people. You need to gain their trust and you're setting up

this is better conversation. An enormous amount of time because this

is done on a traditional plate camera. It requires enormously long

shutter speeds. You have to develop the -- a relationship with your set.

There is a whole relationship that has been developed prior to making

these pictures. As we look at men and women, this is an incredible

image. You are looking at cultural 's that are vulnerable or vanishing.

You are creating historical images. I am trying to make beautiful images

are very beautiful people, making them icons to encourage discussion.

We want them to make us aware of how special they are and how authentic

they are and remind us of where we come from. I regard them as

emotionally far wealthier than we are, although we have all the

material wealth, they have cultural and emotional well. There is a

balance we should achieve between the two parts of the world. By

drawing attention to them, in a way you might drop on more tourism. That

is inevitable. Many places will be difficult to access for a long time

anyway. No matter how remote I was, we were never more than two days

away from the Internet full top in a very short period of time, many of

these evil had telephones. And many more will get smartphones, so they

will be contracted by the developed world and they will want it. They

are right to come to it but we should form a discussion with them

as to how special they are at, and perhaps they already have a wealth

that we have lost and that they should be in courage to take them

with them. Hence these very formal portraits. Look at these pictures.

It was inspired by an icon of mine, an American photographer. This is in

Papua New Guinea. A famous American photographer who photographed the

last North American Indians. He was also trying to wake Americans up to

the fact that these people in their dignity are very beautiful. They

died as a culture. Through his inspiration, I would like on an

international scale to do the same, but try and avoid the loss of this

authenticity as it develops into the global world. As we have seen these

group portraits, you talk about them getting smartphones, but the kind of

materials that go into smartphones are consumer demands. The mining and

Papa New Guinea is extraordinary. All these people are alike finding a

needle in a haystack for cultures. An image like this inspires me. It

reminds me of the famous film Avatar. That was a digital fantasy,

but one of the reasons we were tracked to it was the harking to

nature and harking back to balance. I am encouraging my children to go

here, and to aspire them into thinking that if you still live in

this extraordinary environment, in 1992. The classical charts for

several months. In 1997 has Song For Athene was played at the funeral of

Diana, Princess of Wales. We'll leave you now with a short clip

And an images and music, that is where we are leaving this programme.

Next we have a weather up date for you. From me and the rest of the

team, goodbye. Hello. With clear skies this

evening, it is turning very cold outdoors, frosty in places. At least

some sunshine, particularly more southern parts. The fine weather in

the South will affect this area of high pressure. But we have this big

low coming in, bringing with it some rain. That Chile, frosty start

across the South, with some fog for spring. For north and west, the

winds will strengthening year. By the afternoon we will see the cloud

they can across the north of England. Across East Anglia and the

south-east we should hold onto that sunshine for longer. After that cold

start, temperatures at 10 degrees