:00:00. > :00:09.This is BBC World News Today with me, Zeinab Badawi. The official
:00:10. > :00:13.death toll for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines is
:00:14. > :00:17.now more than 3500 and is expected to rise even more.
:00:18. > :00:22.Desperate survivors, especially in the worst affected areas, wait for
:00:23. > :00:28.relief. The logistical help from foreign donors is crucial to the aid
:00:29. > :00:36.effort. A lots of houses, if not completely
:00:37. > :00:39.destroyed, all very damaged. It is pretty bad. The roads are getting
:00:40. > :00:41.better, but there is a lot of debris.
:00:42. > :00:44.Also, one of the most controversial policies of recent times, China's
:00:45. > :00:47.one-child policy, is relaxed as part of a series of economic and social
:00:48. > :00:51.reforms. Also coming up: David Cameron breaks
:00:52. > :00:54.away from the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka to meet Tamil leaders and
:00:55. > :01:01.victims of the country's civil war, as the controversy mounts over Sri
:01:02. > :01:04.Lanka's hosting of the event. From childhood friends to political
:01:05. > :01:30.rivals - we look at the story behind the frontrunners for this weekend's
:01:31. > :01:33.presidential election in Chile. It may be a week since Typhoon
:01:34. > :01:36.Haiyan struck the central Philippines and the storm has long
:01:37. > :01:41.subsided, but the number of people killed is rising. The official death
:01:42. > :01:46.toll is now more than 3,500 and the UN says the final figure could be
:01:47. > :01:54.much higher. Many more have suffered the effects of the devastation.
:01:55. > :01:57.The number of people affected has risen to 11.8 million. At least
:01:58. > :02:00.673,000 have been displaced and the typhoon has caused widespread damage
:02:01. > :02:07.to agriculture and infrastructure, with most buildings, homes and farms
:02:08. > :02:10.flattened in the worst hit areas. Aid is now beginning to arrive in
:02:11. > :02:19.some of the worst-hit cities, including Tacloban, from where
:02:20. > :02:26.Jeremy Cooke sent this report. The waters are calm in Tacloban to
:02:27. > :02:33.date. The children play in peace. But, the reality. Their homes
:02:34. > :02:41.destroyed by the giant waves that struck here a week ago. Their love
:02:42. > :02:45.-- young lives changed forever. This girl was badly injured as she swung
:02:46. > :02:50.for her life, the gash in her head now becoming infected.
:02:51. > :02:56.She lives in a ruined hospital while her parents wait for someone to
:02:57. > :03:01.help. She is badly hurt, he says. The
:03:02. > :03:03.doctors say that she really needs to be transferred to another hospital,
:03:04. > :03:11.but they don't have the facilities to treat her here.
:03:12. > :03:15.Amid the ruins and the chaos and the confusion, tens of thousands of
:03:16. > :03:22.children in this one city are homeless. Their schools, if they
:03:23. > :03:27.still stand, become shelters. Classrooms and corridors packed to
:03:28. > :03:34.capacity. Infant babies, who somehow survived the disaster, entire
:03:35. > :03:38.families with no other place to go. In an upstairs dormitory, teenagers
:03:39. > :03:43.reflect on how totally, utterly life has changed.
:03:44. > :03:48.Everything was normal. It was a sunny day. We thought that the storm
:03:49. > :03:57.wasn't true. But, looking at the school now and seeing how the storm
:03:58. > :04:00.happened, how it hit our school, it's like it's never go to be the
:04:01. > :04:05.same. The children and their families here
:04:06. > :04:09.could consider themselves to be the lucky ones. They have survived and
:04:10. > :04:12.they have found themselves a place of safety. The future is still
:04:13. > :04:19.uncertain, but at least they are live. So far, the international aid
:04:20. > :04:23.hasn't got this far. But the teachers, like this lady,
:04:24. > :04:26.are organising for when it does. Everyone, they say, will get their
:04:27. > :04:31.fair share. The requirements are basic.
:04:32. > :04:36.The needs of the people of food and medicine. And the inspiration to
:04:37. > :04:40.move on. Inspiration, yes, but practical help
:04:41. > :04:47.needed as well. There is hunger here, but -- no starvation. They
:04:48. > :04:53.need help, but the children are holding on, despite so much
:04:54. > :04:57.destruction and tragedy. The US military is leading the
:04:58. > :05:00.effort to deliver aid from overseas. A thousand more American troops are
:05:01. > :05:03.expected to arrive in the next few days and helicopters from a US
:05:04. > :05:08.aircraft carrier have been transporting supplies to a number of
:05:09. > :05:11.areas. Wherever the aid comes from, it remains desperately needed.
:05:12. > :05:22.Rajini Vaidyanathan went to see one distribution programme in action.
:05:23. > :05:28.This air base near Manila has become a nerve centre for the US
:05:29. > :05:31.military's relief effort to the Philippines. This aircraft arrived
:05:32. > :05:36.earlier this week from Japan. It is used to survey damage on the ground
:05:37. > :05:41.and helped what Nate relief operations. We were the first
:05:42. > :05:45.journalists on-board to see it work in the aftermath of the typhoon.
:05:46. > :05:49.in the aftermath of the typhoon We are going down to conduct
:05:50. > :05:54.disaster relief. What are we likely to see? It
:05:55. > :05:59.depends on the area, but many houses, if not destroyed, are very
:06:00. > :06:02.damaged. It is pretty bad. The roads are
:06:03. > :06:10.getting better, but there is not a lot of debris. -- there is a lot of
:06:11. > :06:16.debris. The planes are in the air for hours at a time, taking hours of
:06:17. > :06:23.video from the worst affected areas. This play might not be carrying any
:06:24. > :06:26.age, but it is crucial when it comes to humanitarian relief efforts.
:06:27. > :06:30.The camera 's hair are recording the devastation below in a way that she
:06:31. > :06:35.could not see down on the ground. It is able to work out the best basis
:06:36. > :06:43.for aircraft to land in a motor areas, to ensure that those who need
:06:44. > :06:47.the aid the most competitive -- the most can get it quickly. It is from
:06:48. > :06:52.the air that you get a sense of what Typhoon Haiyan has left behind.
:06:53. > :06:57.Under the clear skies, villagers that look like they have been
:06:58. > :07:02.trampled on. Trees light on their side like matchsticks. Picked up on
:07:03. > :07:08.the cameras, a one word message from the ground.
:07:09. > :07:10.Help. As soon as we see that, we can send the quart nuts and have people
:07:11. > :07:18.there immediately. When you first see someone, how do
:07:19. > :07:24.you feel? It makes you feel bad, but it is why
:07:25. > :07:33.you are there. -- we can send the location.
:07:34. > :07:36.A view minutes later, the cameras pick up an image of rows and rows of
:07:37. > :07:42.graves. It is too late for them, but graves. It is too late for them but
:07:43. > :07:52.the crews are determined to reach other people as quickly as possible.
:07:53. > :07:54.One of the most eye-catching and controversial social policies
:07:55. > :07:58.introduced by any government in the last century is to be relaxed. China
:07:59. > :08:01.has unveiled a series of reforms today which include a loosening of
:08:02. > :08:04.its one-child policy. It's also ending forced labour camps and is
:08:05. > :08:07.further boosting the role of the private sector in the economy. The
:08:08. > :08:13.one-child policy began in 1979 to curb rapid population growth. But
:08:14. > :08:16.human rights campaigners say it has led to forced abortions and female
:08:17. > :08:22.infanticide, that's resulted in a gender imbalance. By 2020, experts
:08:23. > :08:29.reckon 24 million Chinese men won't be able to find a Chinese wife.
:08:30. > :08:36.The country's population is also ageing rapidly. 110 million people
:08:37. > :08:39.are estimated to be over 65. And the burden of looking after them is
:08:40. > :08:49.falling on fewer and fewer young people. From Beijing, Martin
:08:50. > :08:56.Patience reports. It is the world's most famous family
:08:57. > :09:07.planning law, but now the one child policy is being relaxed. That could
:09:08. > :09:11.only show a baby bonanza. An official estimate predicts a million
:09:12. > :09:15.extra births a year. Many couples in cities will be allowed to have an
:09:16. > :09:20.extra child. Most of the public seemed to be in favour.
:09:21. > :09:24.This woman says she is trying for her first baby, but she wants to
:09:25. > :09:30.have to, so they can talk to each other.
:09:31. > :09:37.But this man says the new policy is wrong. There are too many people in
:09:38. > :09:41.China already. Fearing a population explosion,
:09:42. > :09:50.China's leader introduced family planning laws 30 years ago. They
:09:51. > :09:56.have also -- often been brutally enforced, with forced abortions in
:09:57. > :10:01.hospitals. But the policy means that the population is rapidly ageing. In
:10:02. > :10:06.1980, there were around 50 million people over 65.
:10:07. > :10:09.By 2010, it had doubled, to more than 100 million. And, in the next
:10:10. > :10:14.20 years, it will be more than 200 million.
:10:15. > :10:17.China may have the world's because population, but it needs more
:10:18. > :10:23.babies. The number of workers here is shrinking, and the costs of
:10:24. > :10:25.supporting the elderly are rising. The big concern for the country s
:10:26. > :10:32.The big concern for the country's leaders is that China will become
:10:33. > :10:36.old before it gets rich. We will talk about this some more.
:10:37. > :10:39.Dr Cheng Li is a renowned expert on China studies at the Brookings
:10:40. > :10:46.Institution in Washington and he joins us now.
:10:47. > :10:51.So, give us your thoughts. Is this real change in China or is it a
:10:52. > :10:58.cosmetic change? No, it is a real change. It is very
:10:59. > :11:02.much expected, because the one child policy was severely implemented in
:11:03. > :11:09.the 1980s and 1990s and in the past decade, it has become looser.
:11:10. > :11:15.Because of free migration and people able to have more children. And
:11:16. > :11:19.also, in the urban area, because of the rise of the middle class, they
:11:20. > :11:24.are not concerned about the penalty of having more than one child. Sadat
:11:25. > :11:34.is providing an environment for a policy change. So people are wanting
:11:35. > :11:41.a complete abolition of the one child policy, rather than this. Some
:11:42. > :11:47.families can afford to have more than one child.
:11:48. > :11:52.But health and education are expensive for other people?
:11:53. > :11:57.Yes, the middle-class in China, like in Europe and elsewhere. If you ask
:11:58. > :12:01.them to have more than one child, many people do not want. But now
:12:02. > :12:08.they have more freedom to choose and the policy will become relaxed. This
:12:09. > :12:10.is important politically and also democratically. And especially
:12:11. > :12:15.economically, because China needs labourers.
:12:16. > :12:20.Yes, let's look at the labour camps, or what is known as education
:12:21. > :12:26.through labour. There have been many people inside China campaigning for
:12:27. > :12:29.its abolition. Is this a good thing, or will the government find an
:12:30. > :12:35.alternative method to try to take care of people it is have done
:12:36. > :12:40.something wrong? It is a wonderful improvement. This
:12:41. > :12:48.is the legacy of the cultural Revolution, the legacy of the soffit
:12:49. > :12:57.system, which did not rely on the legal system, but put people in the
:12:58. > :13:02.labour camp. -- Soviet system. But this is a major improvement on human
:13:03. > :13:12.rights and a major improvement of going to the legal process, rather
:13:13. > :13:14.than going to the government. Local government had lots of authority to
:13:15. > :13:23.arrest people without legal procedure. And is this China moving
:13:24. > :13:30.towards a real free-market economy? The most important news. I think
:13:31. > :13:36.people in China will pay less attention to the one child policy or
:13:37. > :13:40.the labour camps, but the opening up of the Chinese economy to make the
:13:41. > :13:44.middle-class expands, and to have more investment opportunity to
:13:45. > :13:50.consume more, this is a very important development. It is another
:13:51. > :13:57.turning point after 1978, when China started the reform. This is the
:13:58. > :14:01.Chinese government's a second version of opening up. So I think
:14:02. > :14:04.this, potentially, will be very important that the Chinese
:14:05. > :14:08.government and will help the global economy.
:14:09. > :14:16.Thank you for giving us your interpretation of the new economic
:14:17. > :14:18.and social reforms in China. It's not often that a meeting of
:14:19. > :14:22.Commonwealth heads of government gets so much attention, but that is
:14:23. > :14:25.because it is being held in Sri Lanka and three countries are
:14:26. > :14:27.boycotting the summit which began today. The Canadian, Indian, and
:14:28. > :14:30.Mauritian Prime Ministers are staying away in protest at
:14:31. > :14:33.allegations of human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan government. The
:14:34. > :14:37.Sri Lankan authorities deny the claims, which include the deaths of
:14:38. > :14:40.thousands of civilians at the end of the war against Tamil Tiger
:14:41. > :14:41.separatists as well as allegations of torture and abduction. James
:14:42. > :14:56.Robbins reports. of torture and abduction. James
:14:57. > :14:59.Robbins they called them the disappeared. Fathers, sons, husbands
:15:00. > :15:06.who surrendered at the end of Sri Lanka's Civil War and have not been
:15:07. > :15:15.seen since. UN says that only in Iraq are the more who have simply
:15:16. > :15:19.vanished without trace. Today, police stopped their relatives
:15:20. > :15:26.handing in their photos, letters and petitions to the first world leader
:15:27. > :15:32.ever to visit their part of this troubled island. But David Cameron
:15:33. > :15:41.could not see them. He claims this visit to a region which once dreamt
:15:42. > :15:49.of forming its own country will shine spotlight on the abuses of the
:15:50. > :16:04.past as well as the present. There to greet him, protesters, there are
:16:05. > :16:09.signs written in perfect English. They were supporters of this man.
:16:10. > :16:19.The president who welcomed more than 50 leaders to the summit. At his
:16:20. > :16:26.side, Prince Charles. Whilst the leaders talked, David Cameron
:16:27. > :16:32.visited the mean newspaper in the north, its presses smashed and
:16:33. > :16:39.burnt. Who did it? The government said one journalist. And here is
:16:40. > :16:44.why. On the walls of the newspaper office, pictures of the six
:16:45. > :16:52.journalists killed in recent years. Everywhere we went, a reminder of
:16:53. > :16:56.home the president exerts control. A Tamil leader told the Prime Minister
:16:57. > :17:03.there are still 120,000 security forces in this region, four years
:17:04. > :17:09.after the war ended. The Prime Minister's last visit was to offer
:17:10. > :17:15.-- to what the government calls a welfare centre, a refugee centre to
:17:16. > :17:21.you and me. The Prime Minister has said he is shining a spotlight on
:17:22. > :17:26.the abuses of human rights in Sri Lanka. But now that prove more
:17:27. > :17:29.powerful than the legitimacy which this country's president believes he
:17:30. > :17:37.is secured by cheering the Commonwealth summit? -- chairing.
:17:38. > :17:43.David Cameron was clearly moved by what he had seen and he insists that
:17:44. > :17:48.two-day's visit will make a difference. You said you would shine
:17:49. > :17:53.a spotlight on human rights abuses, do you fear that are bigger
:17:54. > :18:01.spotlight is being shone on the president who is saying he is
:18:02. > :18:10.legitimate? After this terrible war ended, what we needed from the Sri
:18:11. > :18:15.Lankan government was more magnanimity, bringing the country
:18:16. > :18:20.together. Here we are in a village of basically refugees inside their
:18:21. > :18:25.own country. They have been here for 20 years or more. They have had
:18:26. > :18:31.children here. They want to go home. I think that is a very powerful
:18:32. > :18:35.message. This is a day that David Cameron will never forget. But the
:18:36. > :18:40.leader of this country is counting on the fact that others will forget
:18:41. > :18:44.and move on. With me is Richard Bourne, a senior
:18:45. > :18:48.fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies here in London,
:18:49. > :18:53.who has been involved in Commonwealth activities for more
:18:54. > :18:58.than 30 years. Do you think the Commonwealth heads
:18:59. > :19:04.of government meeting should have gone ahead in Sri Lanka? No, it was
:19:05. > :19:09.a great mistake. If you think about it, after the Nigerian civil war, it
:19:10. > :19:17.was over 30 years before there was a Nigerian summit. It was plainly far
:19:18. > :19:20.too soon. Just had to settle. These human rights allegations, very
:19:21. > :19:25.serious, should have dealt with. There should have been a process of
:19:26. > :19:34.reconciliation which has hardly begun. Why do you think it has
:19:35. > :19:40.happened then? As I understand it, in 2009, there was a suggestion it
:19:41. > :19:44.should be held in 2011 in Sri Lanka. But the then British Prime
:19:45. > :19:52.Minister, Gordon Brown, persuaded his ministers and others to delay
:19:53. > :19:58.this and the Australians hosted it. I think what was very unfortunate
:19:59. > :20:05.was that the Sri Lankans was left with the expectation of holding it
:20:06. > :20:10.now. And it has the chairmanship of the Commonwealth now? Yes, but this
:20:11. > :20:21.is fairly meaningless. But it is symbolic. This was only invented in
:20:22. > :20:28.1999, so it is a fairly recent innovation and the so-called element
:20:29. > :20:31.to persons group -- eminent persons group who were tasked with
:20:32. > :20:38.modernising the Commonwealth think it should be abolished. There have
:20:39. > :20:50.been three Australian Prime Minister 's .Mac but could there be a move to
:20:51. > :20:56.strip Sri Lanka of this? I know that other countries have been pressing
:20:57. > :21:09.for this. I red of an MP in New Zealand asking for this. -- I heard
:21:10. > :21:15.of an MP in New Zealand. The fact that the Sri Lankan government
:21:16. > :21:24.denies these allegations, saying they have their own justice system,
:21:25. > :21:33.but the Commonwealth is based on shared values, and if there has-been
:21:34. > :21:41.shared values, and if there has been devaluation, should there be a
:21:42. > :21:53.stronger response? Yes. This has been proposed. But leaders have
:21:54. > :21:59.decided not to go ahead with proposals. It would have provided a
:22:00. > :22:03.more objective approach. At the moment, they are very dependent on
:22:04. > :22:07.what the secretary general does or does not want to do and he is
:22:08. > :22:19.concerned with politics. In this case, the Indian Prime Minister is
:22:20. > :22:25.not in Sri Lanka. It sounds very intricate. Thank you.
:22:26. > :22:29.Now a look at some of the day's other news.
:22:30. > :22:33.Gunmen have opened fire on a protest against armed militias in the Libyan
:22:34. > :22:36.capital Tripoli, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens more. The
:22:37. > :22:39.protesters were demanding that a militia from Misrata leave the city.
:22:40. > :22:42.There have been increasing demonstrations demanding that the
:22:43. > :22:46.militias disband or join the army, in line with an end-of-year deadline
:22:47. > :22:50.set by the interim government. Albania has rejected a US request to
:22:51. > :22:54.host the destruction of Syria's stockpile of almost 1,000 tonnes of
:22:55. > :22:58.chemical weapons. Protesters have been demonstrating in Albania for
:22:59. > :23:01.days to voice their opposition to the plan. Albania's prime minister
:23:02. > :23:11.said it was impossible for his country to get involved in the
:23:12. > :23:15.operation. People in chilly go to the polls
:23:16. > :23:19.this weekend to choose a new President and the two main
:23:20. > :23:21.contenders are women who are childhood friends - the former
:23:22. > :23:25.president Michelle Bachelet and Evelyn Matthei. Dr Bachelet is the
:23:26. > :23:29.candidate for a centre-left coalition of parties and has a
:23:30. > :23:33.healthy lead in the opinion polls. She was president between 2006 and
:23:34. > :23:37.2010. She's the daughter of a high-ranking air force officer who
:23:38. > :23:40.died while a prisoner of the military junta led by General
:23:41. > :23:44.Augusto Pinochet. Dr Bachelet was herself tortured and spent some
:23:45. > :23:49.years in exile. Meanwhile, Evelyn Matthei is the conservative Alianza
:23:50. > :23:54.party candidate. She's also the daughter of a high-ranking air force
:23:55. > :23:58.officer and the two families were friends until her father was
:23:59. > :24:03.promoted as head of the air force under General Pinochet. Seven others
:24:04. > :24:08.candidates are also standing. If nobody gets more than 50% in the
:24:09. > :24:17.first round, there will be a run-off. Gideon Long joins us from
:24:18. > :24:21.Santiago. First of all, it is extraordinary
:24:22. > :24:26.that you have these two women, childhood friends, very different
:24:27. > :24:31.histories and backgrounds as the main contenders? Yes, an
:24:32. > :24:39.extraordinary story. They met each other over 50 years ago. They grew
:24:40. > :24:52.up on this year for space in the North of chilly. Their fathers were
:24:53. > :24:59.close friends until the military coup. Dr Bachelet's father was
:25:00. > :25:04.tortured and died in custody. Meanwhile, Evelyn Matthei's father
:25:05. > :25:07.went on to ban the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, Evelyn Matthei's father
:25:08. > :25:12.went on to ban the Armed Forces An incredible personal story behind
:25:13. > :25:20.these elections. How far are these backgrounds relevant to electors? It
:25:21. > :25:24.has not been a huge issue during the election campaign, in part because
:25:25. > :25:30.the two women have tried to play down their past. They think it is
:25:31. > :25:34.more important to concentrate on the issues of the future. But I do
:25:35. > :25:57.wonder if Evelyn Matthei's background has not played against
:25:58. > :26:06.her slightly. Many years ago, she voted for another eight years of
:26:07. > :26:17.rule by military junta. Dr Bachelet is overwhelming favourite to win
:26:18. > :26:23.this election. Education is her number one aim. It has been a huge
:26:24. > :26:26.issue here over the last few years. She was the education for all
:26:27. > :26:37.students. She will pay for that through tax reforms. She wants to
:26:38. > :26:43.these tax reform -- she wants to raise corporation taxes.
:26:44. > :26:49.Thank you. That is all from this programme.
:26:50. > :26:58.From the, and the rest of the team, good night.
:26:59. > :27:10.Good evening. The weekend is pretty much upon us. Tomorrow looks like
:27:11. > :27:14.being a cloud of fear for many areas with the brain across northern and
:27:15. > :27:19.western parts. High pressure will keep it fairly settled a cross their
:27:20. > :27:26.south. The wind is ever present as well. Watch out for the density of
:27:27. > :27:34.this for all the way from the West Country to the wash. The far South
:27:35. > :27:39.East keeping the best of the sunshine. Generally speaking, and a
:27:40. > :27:43.lot of cloud around. The best of the sunshine there. Not doing very much
:27:44. > :27:48.for the temperatures have ever. In the West, the cloud is thickening
:27:49. > :27:49.up. Then maybe the odd spot