typhoon haiyan smashes through the philippines, leaving a trail of death and destruction. [ ♪ theme ]. hello there. you're watching al jazeera. also on the program - the final push for a nuclear deal with iran. a third day of talks begins in geneva. no stability, no security, no one in control - the forgotten crisis in the central african republic. >> and i'm andrew thomas in china - a big meeting of

communist bosses in budget -- beijing, why it could be felt in rural areas like this. a huge rescue operation is beginning after the strongest storm to hit land since records began, smashed no the philippines. more than 24 hours on, there's no access to some of the worst-hit areas. marga ortigas reports. >> reporter: the full impact of typhoon haiyan's impact is being revealed. the most intensive storm to hit land falls has affected millions of people. the true extent of casualties and damages is unclear. communication points are down across most of the worst-affected islands. >> translation: it's terrible. the winds were so strong, i have to rebuild my home. this is a tragedy.

>> typhoon haiyan was the 24th storm to hit the philippines, and the amount of rain fall was not as great at previous typhoons, typhoon haiyan uprooted trees, brought down concrete poles, swept away concrete polls and brought in storm surges up to 5 metres high. >> we are removing debris from roads. >> wanting to be proactive the government issued warnings, evacuated coastal areas and put first responders in place before the storm hit. there's only so much that you can do to prepare for a storm. >> the main thing will be snert the first instance. obviously thousands of houses are damaged or destroyed, likely to be tens of thousands. if you compare what that means in the last 24 hours to what happens to damage from last

year, you can expect maybe around 200,000 damage. >> the government has set aside 1.5 milli 1.5 million for relief operations. international aid has been pledged. those that survived say they have never seen anything like typhoon haiyan, and all they can do is pray there are not more like it on the way. >> let's look at the path of the storm. typhoon haiyan it had the central island of samar on friday, with windows of more than 300 k/hr. it travelled west through leyte, and cebu, and landed on panay and is moving to vietnam. we are joined by marga ortigas, who is in manila. has the scale of the damage - now it emerges now that the storm has passed - there must be an enormous rescue effort that

needs to be undertaken. are they coping, the rescuers on the ground? >> they tried to be as proactive and prepared as they could be before the storm hit. nothing could prepare them for the extent of damages that are coming to light. there's a lot of international aid that is pouring in, pledges coming in, government neighbours - from neighbouring countries volunteered to send in aid when the government should request or allow it to hit the worst affected areas. the problem has not been the lack of preparedness. many of the islands had first responders in place before the storm hit. but the problem is nobody has been able to reach the people as well. coordination has been difficult, and it's been difficult to try to transport medical goods and relief - relief goods to the areas that most need them. many roads impassable, floodwaters remain high on many of the islands. the bridges that connect some of

the islands collapsed and many of the people that are holed up in places where they have sought shelter can't inform the authorities of their exact location precisely because communication lines are down. it's been more than 24 hours. >> marga ortigas live in the philippine capital, manila. thank you, marga. >> world powers and iran resume talks in geneva. it's a third day of the negotiations over iran's nuclear program. james bays is in geneva for us. james, good to see you. we have been hear, i think, during the course of the morning already from french foreign minister laurent fabius - he has been talking and describing some of the stumbling blocks that remain. it seems that there's still work to be done here. >> there is still work to be done. as you say some talks started, buts only talks between the international parties - the so-called p5 plus one.

the permanent members of the security council and germany, who are relating the international community. john kerry is in another meeting with the european foreign policy chief catherine ashton. when you try to get information from the u.s. side, the state department using the same phrase they use persistently using the phrase, "they are trying to narrow the gaps between the two sides." a little more information coming from the french, from laurent fabius, talking about some stumbling blocks and what happens to the uranium that's been enriched to the level of 20%. that being one of the stumbling blocks here. we have spoken to some iran jan officials in the last few minutes, telling al jazeera that they don't expect the iranian foreign minister to sit with the p5 plus one for about three hours. and they say negotiations are

within that p5 plus one group. they share the same aim, but they are six different countries represented and will have slightly different views on how to proceed. one of the key players is not seer. that's sergei lavrov. he's joining others who cancelled plans to come here. the next push will wait until he arrives. >> presuming they find a way to proceed on this. we are talking, really, about first steps at best, with a much lengthier and more complex process that will have to follow all of this to reach a final resolution. >> yes, it would only be an interim agreement between the p5 plus one and iran. something that will in some ways limit iran's nuclear program,

limit its enrichment of uranium, and at the same time then the you rainiums would get an easing of their sanction, it would be a first step, but be important coming as it does after the election of hassan rouhani, after the phone call that took place in new york during the u.n. general assembly. i think probably if it's an interim agreement probably by the end of the day, if that happens - it's not there yet - we would be calling it historic. >> james bays, our diplomatic editor live in geneva. the talks in geneva are the most recent to take place since the revolution in 1979. president hassan rouhani vowed to make progress on the domestic front. we have this report from tehran >> reporter: in iran there's a list - on it names of political

and criminal. many are students and academics caught up in the 2009 election. this is one of them. he was on that list for four years, that meant with no official explanation he was banned from attending university. >> translation: i was in journalism and during the incident i was briefly arrested. last year i took the exam from the masters drunk ahrmadinejad's ruling. i was told i was not allowed to study. >> that is until now. he has been allowed back to university. he thanks the new president for that. one of iran's reported, economic and political minds says hassan rouhani has used his first 100 days in office to begin the process of taking the country back from radicals.

he, himself, was gaoled in 2009, and banned from teaching. >> i have been in gaol for more or less one year. personally i have no complaint, because it has been a cost which i should pay for my nation and my country. and i am so happy that after the four or eight years, everything is clear at the moment for everybody. >> those eight years belong to the previous government of arma dinna jaed. who fired hundreds format sharing ideology, gaoled thousands - journalists, human rights campaigners, activists and academics. it closed dozens of papers and blacklisted agencies of journalists. since the election the judiciary released hundreds of prisoners. many are in gaol or under house

arrest. including the reformist greens movement. in iran's complicated system, what iranians conclude is that the domestic situation is changing - but slowly. since hassan rouhani's election, so many iranians have received their freedom. when it comes to human rights, gender equality, many are hard pressed to see any improvement. the constitution is still the constilt use, the law the law -- constitution the constitution and the law the law. the president swore to uphold it. syrian jets bombed along the border with lebanon. this is the colour moon area, 60 comes north of the capital. syrian opposition groups are due to meet in istanbul for talks to decide whether to attend planned peace talks in geneva.

>> bangladesh police arrested five members of the main opposition party. it comes ahead of a 3-day nation strike called by the bangladesh national party to begin on sunday. rob reynolds is in dakar and says the arrests were unexpected. >> reporter: they came as a surprise. there were reports and a lot of hints that there might be a solution in the offing to bangladesh's political crisis, involving elections due to take place in january. and the demand by the opposition party led by the that a non-partison caretaker take office to oversee the elections, meaning that the current prime minister would have to step down. there has been some reports of progress toward a negotiation

along those lines, that perhaps the spark of parliament would step -- speaker of parliament would step in and become prime minister. the bnp called - what if the third in three weeks, a general strike shutting the country. it seems as if that may have prompted the governing party to take action. not only will the five senior members of the party arrested - four of them were ministers in a previous government. and one was a very senior aid. riot place surrounded the offices of kalides in a more or less upscale part of dakar. more to come - including - restoring law and order in benghazi. armed groups that helped to

overthroe muammar gaddafi are rampant. and why a star of the miami dolphin american football team is being sued in a case having implications beyond the locker room. jonathan martin

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the top stories on al jazeera. a major rescue operation is getting under way after the strongest storm to hit land since records began smashed into the philippines. more than 24 hours on there's no access to some of the hardest hit areas. more than 100 are known to be

killed, the figure will rise. >> we've been able to make contact with our team on the ground in one of the worst-hit areas in the philippines following the storm. our correspondent is on the line with us from tacloban in leyte province. it's good to have you on the phone. we have heard little from anybody from the eye of the storm, from the worst-hit areas to find out what is going on, and what it was like. can you tell us what it was like to sit through this enormous storm? >> basically remember in an area called a small village, which is by the coastline of leyte province at around 6:00 pm. at 4:40 in the morning, we felt the

wrath of it. we set up a live position. in 35 minutes, the winds became too strong for us to stay put, so we moved to the second floor to set up. from there i could see roofs being blown away are and trees swaying like paper, and just a matter of 10 minutes the water started going quickly all the way to the second floor we were in, and we were trapped. some of the hotel guests that were also with us there started going up in the same area. we had nowhere else to go. we broke in. we broke into a stock room where water was there. we broke in and managed to get in, but the water was going up. me and my colleague climbed up by the roof, by the ceiling, ready to jump to the water.

we managed to find massive empty gallons - empty gallons of water. we held on to it, in case we had to jump. we were holding on to the ceiling. the whole roof just was blown away in an instant. that's when we knew that we were the eye of the storm. it was right above us. for the next hours it was the wrath, it was the noise, the sound was incredible. it's hard to explain, it's like a beast. you can't see it, you feel it, there was debris flying away. for two hours we were exposed. we were lucky to be covered with a solid concrete wall. that was the only protection we had from the debris, from the water, and it took about two hours before the water re-seeded. from there we made our way out. we had - everything else that we had had been swept away.

we had nothing left except the clothes on our backs. the camera was broken. we started heading out. the wind was so strong. we saw a lot of dead people. everything has been flattened and destroyed. it was a coast down, and it's incredible how two hours of this massivive typhoon flattened the province. >> what an extraordinary story? i wanted to ask what kind of devastation are you looking at as the storm passed, and presumably, hopefully some rescue efforts are underway. >> well, this is the problem at this point. there's massive looting in the street, they are looting every establishment around, from convenience stores, to battle companies, to - i mean, everything that has been taken -

even here in the province, supposedly the capital. the streets are full of people, people who are sick. yesterday we were in a hospital. practically the hospital is working in the dark with doctors who have been working more than 24 hours. the dead are brought in. they are not working with trusty or cannedals, clean water -- candles, clean water. there's no food available or hotels. there's no way to get foods. it's a difficult situation for those who have been looting and managed - it's unknown how the situation is going to be. we are not seeing rescue operation, we are seeing a lot of choppers flying overhead. there's lawlessness on the ground. people become more desperate, the situation is more precarious. >> m amongst the lawlessness,

there must norms shock amongst the people -- must be enormous shock amongst the people who knew the storm was coming but didn't know it would be so big and hit them so hard, so fast. how are people coping with the shock of what's happened? >> reporter: well, the government is saying that they tried to conduct forced evacuations, in areas where villagers live by the coastline. what we were saying, there was local costal villages, but everything was flattened. the government is estimating that about - at least - at least 20,000-30,000 must have been killed, and more would die because those who need rescuing won't be able to get that soon. the roads are impassable. the destruction is incredible.

people are wounded and are in the streets asking for help. we spoke to the secretary interior and secretary of defense. they have said the problem is getting aid to those that need it most. it is difficult, because only tacloban city is the one you can make communication with. the world food program is here. this area - it's a few hours - but people are forced to walk, wounded, trying to get to the town, looking for any help they can. the situation is very, very desperate. >> our team describing a scene of devastation, thousands may be

dead in the wake of typhoon haiyan. >> months ever seizing power in the central african republic, seleka rebelsar facing another attack. in a third and final part of the eerz on the for -- series on the forgotten crisis, we have a report from bua. >> reporter: soldiers arrive too late. most of the people that used to live in the village are hiding in the bush. locals say members of seleka, who are part of the government forces, targeted them as they search for a group of rebels, alling themselves anti-balika. >> translation: after burning our houses they took our cows and slit their throats. >> reporter: local commanders say it was a bushfire, not them

that burnt the village. they showed us where anti-seleka fighters allegedly attacked their base with ak-47s and mortars. they say they defeated more than 1,000 rebels, but can't explain why four of the soldiers, and eight anti-balaka men died. we are told these are pictures of the dead rebels, dressed in military uniforms with green ribbons. and local charms around their necks. >> these rebels are facing a rebellion of their own. it's not clear if the enemy is a group of people or if they are well armed, disciplined and loyal to the former presidents. >> francois was toppled in a coup. several members of his farmee went on the run. some say the former president is

funding anti-baleka in an attempt to retake power. >> translation: most of anti-baleka is a members of the former president's army. i have seen them, there were around 30. >> the rise of anti-b an leka complicated the situation here. seleka are mainly muslim and anti-baleka christian. there's a fear this could turn into a religious conflict. this is a monk who spent 20 years helping people here. he says enough is enough. >> translation: never has this country been so humiliated by this rebelian, crisis. we have seen regular systematic, sustained looting. >> anti-baleka rebels are on the move again. some say they are heading east. whether they are vigilantes or

former soldiers intent on taking power, everyone here is certain they will strike again. a reminder you can stay up to date with all the news on the website - aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. now, the deputy communications communication minister in ghana has reportedly been sacked saying she'll stay in politics until she made a million dollars. victoria hama said "if you have money you can control people." >> china's communist party leaders are beginning a 4-day meeting in beijing. the decisions taken there could set the country's direction for the next 10 years. we have this report from south-west china. >> this woman has lived in beijing all her adult life.

she's not officially a resident. they don't hold a beijing registration certificate because the parents came originally from a rural province. that matters. without the certificate they can only pay for lower-paid jobs. the children are restricted to certain schools and can't apply to the city's university. >> we pay tax like beijing people, but we are treated like a second-class people. >> for rural chine e the system peels -- chinese, the systematic feels like part of a con. the government encourages urbanisation but discriminates. >> in cities land and property ownership is established and

people can buy, sell and raise money by mortgaging it. but not here. people have plots allocated to them, they can't trade them. this man would like to sell his 700 square metres and recons he'd get about 50,000 if he could. >> i'd use the money to rebuild my house and send my daughter to a better school, to get a better education. allowing people to raise capital could help to raise the economy, putting disposable income in the hands of others. >> translation: if we narrow the gap between earnings in the city and the country it would be a good thing. >> speakulation is that rural aform is a top of the agenda issue for communist party bosses. >> the government is aware of the grievances of rural chinese,

including those living in cities. reform, land rights and a system in beijing will be slow. it could be an in the weekend's plenary that it begins. there it is. don't forget the latest on the website - aljazeera.com. "real money." >> this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show. join our conversation over the next half hour on twitter to use the handle #real money. the government added 204,000 new jobs ito