>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc world news." >> riot police moved against strikers as the french parliament passes a plan to raise the retirement age. iraq war files suggesting u.s. forces turned a blind eye to atrocities of iraqi troops. a new crisis for earthquake survivors, a cholera i in haiti kills 140. welcome to "bbc world news." coming up later, big questions for the british navy. why did its most advanced nuclear submarine run aground? coming up, we will be asking what the moon's [unintelligible] how that could help the next generation of space explorers.

>> by a comfortable majority the french senate has approved a plan to raise the retirement age. the conservative government cut short debate by a procedure that put hundreds of opposition amendments to one vote. the measure will be formally adopted by both houses next week. earlier today it riot police broke a union blockade that supplies paris's main airport. >> in the french senate a controversial law to make french people work two more years for their pensions was approved by the senate. it is a reform that has brought thousands onto the streets in protest.

the vote was seen as a victory for president sarkozy and his supporters to accept the results. >> please consider the future of france. please consider the future and of its people. we cannot act the way we used to act. >> a key to the pension reform is french people will receive their benefits later. the retirement age will go to 62 and the age at which a full pension can be drawn well rise to 67. earlier, police pushed through picket lines to break up a blockade outside the main oil refinery near paris. scuffles broke out and some tankers started moving fuel. [unintelligible] >> it is-all the communities of france people are unhappy.

-- it is in all the communities. >> protesters claim the right to strike died today. there are still thousands of petrol stations without fuel. in a small number of areas they are limiting the amount that can be bought. outside the senate the police waited, but france is about to begin a holiday and protesters stayed away. unions vowed to get people back on the streets. >> it is never too late. the government has to react now and open negotiations. >> next week this legislation that has caused so much of people will become law. even then, unions believe it is still worth continuing the fight against pension reform. a new batch of secret military

records just released by wikileaks suggests american commanders knew about but did not investigate torture by the iraqi authorities. 400,000 documents have been published. adam brooks was among a number of journalists should -- journalists shown the files. >> it will be difficult to find out what they have to tell us about the iraq war. the degree to which u.s. forces were aware of the degree to which the iraqi forces were mistreating detainee's. we found many reports. we found them with some ease describing a calling -- appalling torture by iraqi police. using electric drills on people, keeping them underground for months.

all these things were details in reports handed out by the u.s. military. at some point back in 2005 the u.s. military reports were saying no further investigation, suggesting at some point americans were not trying to find out what happened beyond that the initial report. these reports were [inaudible] >> the north american editor told us they have already been condemned by the u.s. government. >> hillary clinton said these put american lives at risk. she condemns them in the strongest possible tone. the pentagon has already issued a statement. all they say is these other observations of tactical units may provide a snapshot of the events. that is far as they go on

commenting. i think the important thing will be listening to what adam said, whether there was any official authorization from anywhere in the chain of command for turning a blind eye. that becomes much more politically important if those incidents occurred while president obama was in office. just from what i have seen from a newspaper, it suggests a couple of those happened last year. if there was any political -- that will be pretty important. i think it happened under the bush administration there will still be questions asked but will have less political significance. >> the u.s. plans to give pakistan $2 billion in fresh military aid. the u.s. secretary of state declared today the u.s. has no strong per partner then fighting

terrorism than pakistan. this is on top of the civilians -- civilian assistance program already agreed. the u.s. treasury secretary urged emerging nations to reduce their huge trade deficits. we are meeting in south korea. there is some resistance. the japan described this as unrealistic. two days after confirming his desire to leave manchester united, wayne rooney is signing a five-year extension. he has described the manager as a genius. a cholera outbreak in haiti. it is another blow for a country still struggling to recover.

eight agencies are rushing in medical supplies into the affected area, but local hospitals are overwhelmed. more greeting and a new fear nine months after the earthquake hit. now haiti is facing its first cholera outbreak. scores of people have already died. a great need to stop the disease spreading. children are at great risk. hospitals closest to the outbreak are unable to cope as staff struggles to fight the diarrhea and dehydration that kill victims if they cannot be treated. some of these patients said they had drunk water from a local canal considered safe. outside the hospital scores more waited at the gates simply

desperate for news. >> the situation is terrible. inside the hospital, they are overcrowded. it is beyond overcrowded. we need help. >> the country has barely started to rebuild after the earthquake. it killed a quarter of a million people and left 1.1 million without homes. help is already stretched thin. the supply of clean water is still precarious. >> there has not been an outbreak of cholera in 100 years, so people will not be very familiar with what to do in terms of recognizing the symptoms and treatment, and how to prevent it from spreading. >> aid agencies are moving fast to focus on that threat of cholera spreading to the crowded cities where thousands are still

living. it is vital the outbreak is contained before it can spread to the capital and threatened a second catastrophe. >> it is the most significant nuclear submarine. it has been an embarrassment for the royal navy. it has not even entered service. it was on trial of the scottish coast when it ran into trouble. the crew could only wait for high tide several hours later. our defense correspondent reports. >> after spending 10 hours stop off this island, it was finally set free and towed to deeper waters. most advanced submarine had to wait for the

high tide. she had become stranded earlier this morning. it can navigate the globe undetected, but did not spot the danger of short. >> i looked out there and the weather conditions [unintelligible] i saw the nuclear submarine 300 yards away. >> the navy said no one on board was injured but the whole remain watertight and there was no threat to the environment from the nuclear reactor. but the pride [unintelligible] only a month ago the royal navy gave us exclusive access to show off their latest weapon. now there are plenty of red faces. this could prove to be a costly mistake. >> submarines are designed to

take everything they are encountering -- there is an expectation [unintelligible] >> they have been testing -- sonar.g the sun the at its heart is a nuclear reactor, it can deploy anywhere in the world within two weeks. it carries an arsenal of torpedoes and missiles. its sonar has a range of 3,000 miles, so no one knows its location, it has 39,000 acoustic panels. there is still the possibility of human error. >> there was no issue with the submarine system. it looks like it is a

navigational error. >> the navy says this was not a major incident but it is a major embarrassment. navy divers will assess the damage to this 1 billion pound boat before she returns to the base. it is out of trouble but that might not be true for all those on board. >> let's round up some other news, a stabbing spree in the philippines has left a teacher, student and elderly man dead. an ex-convict burst into the classroom and herded pupils into a laboratory. he had stabbed nine people. russian prosecutors are demanding one man serve an

extra six years if he is convicted. he is already serving eight years for tax evasion and faces charges of fraud and embezzlement. a court in great britain has convicted a catholic priest of the sexual abuse of young boys over 24 years. james robinson has been jailed for 21 years. stay with us, still to come, anxiety and aimlessness is not for you but for the students suddenly offline and unplugged. seven years after the weapons expert david kelley died the british government released documents suggests -- suggesting he committed suicide. six years ago an inquiry

announced they reached the same conclusion. pathologists have questioned those findings and requested the report be open for public scrutiny. >> david kelly, the weapons inspector who was plunged into -- he was exposed as the source for a report alleging the threat from iraq could be exaggerated. days after he appeared in public his body was found near his home. his death was investigated by an inquiry. he concluded dr. kelly had taken his own life, but he requested the results be kept secret for 70 years to protect his widow and children. this summer a number of doctors raised questions over details. the report had lack of blood at the scene. the government released the full

postmortem report in order to maintain public confidence. the arterial injury resulted in the loss of a significant volume of blood. the orientation and arrangement of the wounds are typical of self-inflicted injury. and the fact that the watch had been appeared to be removed reports to self harm. >> there is no surprise but -- it simply repeats more of that. >> these new details will no doubt be distressing to the family. they may also answer some of the questions which have continued to surround the with death of the weapons inspector seven years on. >> riot police have moved strikers in france as the senate

passes a plan to raise the retirement age. secret war files released alleged the u.s. failed to investigate atrocities by iraqi security forces. the polish government is accusing the catholic church of blackmail in its attempts to stop a law liberalizing treatment for those with fertility problems. catholic bishops have compared this to eugenics that tampers with the gene pool. >> ibf treatment is available in dozens of private clinics but they are not bound by any rules. it costs thousands of dollars but it is not just a financial issue, it is a moral one. the head of the debate, the bishops reminded the politicians the catholic church opposes the treatment because human embryos are killed.

>> treatments is a fine technique for breeding animals, but for humans it is shameful. >> catholic mp's whose support ibf can count on excommunication. a joint bishops' statement called this the younger sister of eugenics. the governor -- government call it blackmail. >> eugenics was a not seem that that to interfere with genetics. ibf fertilization has nothing to do with it. >> two of the laws would ban the treatment. one would sue doctors. those are not likely to become law. they made a catholic but most polls once ibf to be available

for married couples. >> in over a week the democratic party faces its biggest test since obama entered the white house. it is the midterm congressional elections. there are signs they are losing -- losing support among women voters. >> welcome to listeria -- wisteria lane. at least five bedrooms are the norm. this is home to the so-called soccer moms. this is a group politicians aren't desperate to get. >> this might be a wealthy neighborhood but the economic downturn has hit here. >> i watch what i spend. you never know what is coming

tomorrow. >> by by what i need, not what i want. >> the economy is the number one concern. how many of you voted for obama in 2008? three of you. how many of you are going to vote for the democrats in the midterms. that is none of you. polls suggests there are many more women like them who are on short of what way to go. -- who are unsure. women are more likely to turn out with elections and also because they are more likely to vote democrat. which is why the president is doing all he can to appeal to women by hosting a series of backyard chats. >> what is happening to women in the economy. >> he is hoping for a repeat of 2008 where the majority of women

voted for his party. >> democrats were more appealing to them because of issues of education and the economy. >> if the decision is repeated, it could spell bad news for the democrats and how easy it is for obama to govern. >> millions of the [unintelligible] what if they were all taken away? a group of british students who have never known life offline have been trying it out. our technology correspondent reports. >> 3 students facing a frightening ordeal of being unplugged. normally his first waking move is to head for his gadgets, but he is being forced to do without. what will you miss the most? >> e-mail. >> even in the library caroline

cannot escape computers, but she will must -- she must avoid all contact with the modern media world. >> [unintelligible] >> charlotte is trying to avoid a television, music, the internet. >> even here in the student union you have to shut down all media. >> the media is ever -- wherever we go. we are all plugged in . what happens when these tools are taken away? that is what this experiment is about. this university is joining others in showing how addictive young people are to the media. >> they are showing withdrawal symptoms, nervous, isolated. they don't even know what to do.

they are just going around the house in silence. >> what would you do when you get them? >> check my e-mail. >> they have chosen a lovely day to on plug themselves. >> it is nice to be separated for about two hours. i would like to have my phone on me or the internet. >> the nation spends half our waking hours using the media. these young people cannot i imagine being permanently on plug. hot -- permanently unplugged. >> what is the man made of? we may be closer to the answer. >> mysterious and beautiful, the moon has been called many things but now we note it is a treasure trove that moon ducks contain hydrogen and even traces of silver.

these are the findings of one of nasa's strangest experience. an old rocket fired at the moon last year to break the surface with a second spacecraft following to analyze what ever was blasted off. water particles were spotted, but now we have the hard numbers. this is the most detailed investigation of the moon and the's potential for exports. it reveals more water than expected. at the south pole, water makes up 5.6% of the material thrown up. that amounts to 50 liters for every ton of dust and rock. one problem is high levels of mercury were found, so it is not ideal for breeding water. but if you have to hold supplies, having any water on the moon would be helpful for all kinds of uses. no one is planning to set up a

moon base anytime soon but there are long-term projects that show access of water would be key to exploring the rest of the solar system. >> water is made of hydrogen oxide and you can use that to make rocket fuel. that can be helpful for future exports. >> it is 40 years since man last ventured to the moon. president obama has canceled plans for astronauts to return. >> i think this is something that will capture the public's attention it will make the noon an interesting object. -- make the moon an interesting object. >> we still don't know how the water got there. the more we explore our closest neighbor, the more it surprises us.

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