>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> welcome to newsday on the bbc. >> the headlines. >> the typhoon is the largest storm to hit the philippines this year, forcing more than 100,000 people to leave their homes. >> and president obama warns that the crisis is scaring the world. just as worries emerged about greece. >> six months since the start of the uprising, syria accuses western companies -- countries of trying to create chaos. anti-gaddafi stronghold from the east since the first time. 11:00 a.m. in singapore, 4:00 a.m. in london.

broadcasting on pbs in america and around the world. this is newsday. a powerful typhoon has hit the philippines, bringing wind of upwards of 170 kilometers an hour. the largest storm to hit the philippines this year and has forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people. heavy downpours and wind in the capital. flights are grounded, stranding thousands of people. they are about two hours from the capital. described conditions where you are and what you have heard inout the toll so far an

manila. >> i am on the eastern side of the island where a majority of filipinos live. it has been raining solidly for about 11 hours. the wind is high and a lot of the areas are flooded. the hotel is completely flooded. we are hearing from the eastern side that a typhoon has already struck a couple of hours ago. a lot of trees are down. we are trying to get more information and it is pretty difficult. on the western side, here we are waiting for the typhoon to hit. it is currently even worse in the capital where there is a lot of concern. the low-lying areas are

traditionally affected by floods and landslides. >> what are the philippine authorities doing to start a rescue effort? >> late last night, they were encouraging people to leave the area. they were going to be hit the most. you can't take people out of the entire island. nonessential travel plans. they are encouraging people to stay inside if at all possible. they will contain the advantage from typhoons.

[unintelligible] people and my hotel are staying in the hotel. people are doing the best they can to stay out of harm's way. >> will leave it there. now the congressman from the province of aurora that is currently being hit, they are closely following the progress of the typhoon. >> a number of the roads have been rendered on passable because a number of people have been evacuated. that is about five hours, six

hours, seven hours ago. lately, it has been mostly the wind that has been quite strong. >> how quickly has the government been in the past to restore damaged facilities. >> i think in terms of rescuing people, evacuating people, the government has done its share bid. what is cause for concern is the long-term damage. that has been concern. in terms of the evacuation and rescuing people, i think the government has learned, because as you mentioned, we were hit by typhoons every year. >> we know that flights have been cancelled. the have been stranding thousands of people.

how long before things return to normal. >> i can't tell you that for certain. i just received word that the trend lines shut down as well. it makes it be -- it difficult for people to get around the city. it is more vulnerable, closer to the mountain. a second level of a flood alarms have been raised. i think it is the strongest storm we have experienced since 2009. it was really difficult because they have cars floating around. it has not reached that level yet, but that is what people are afraid of. >> i am joined abnow by richard gordon. richard, it is not the first

time that a storm has hit the coast there. what is going on in terms of the evacuation efforts? >> right now, the red cross is busy. high wind, it is bring in water all the way to the boulevard. -- bring in water all the way to the boulevard. -- bringing water all the way to the boulevard. in the meantime, [no audio] >> richard, we're having trouble hearing you, as a result, possibly, of the storm. if you can still hear us, we know there have been storms like this in the past. how much damage are you expecting from this one? does the red cross get much help? >> of the red cross does not

receive money from the government, we are independent. [unintelligible] in the meantime, the damage is expected to be big. right now, there are already power interruptions. agriculture will be damaged again, hopefully not as bad. in terms of infrastructure, there are damages right now. by and large, we are doing better than in the past because we have been able to institute a national disaster risk reduction efforts. that is why people are swifter in evacuating. the govermennment is more -- [applause] -- [no audio]

>> richard, we've lost you. president obama says the financial crisis is here in the world. there is still a lot of work to be done and until any comprehensive plan is agreed on, tackling the eurozone crisis. robert has more. >> european governments are inching towards a rescue plan. it would be a 50% reduction, it would reduce the debt to 170 billion euros. the greek finance minister denies he has been negotiating. officials tell me something different. they say there is wide acceptance that greece can't

recover unless the debt burden is reduced in this way. but because this kind of help will cause pain for its creditors, the second element of the rescue package would be an injection of tens of billions of euros. it will absorb losses from a greek default. the world's most powerful investors are italian and french banks in particular, these banks have found it harder to borrow. banks that can't borrow can't land and they are more vulnerable to collapse. the final element of the rescue package would be to massively increase the firepower of the bailout fund for european financial stability. so that it can provide financing for countries like italy that are struggling to borrow from

commercial investors. leaders have agreed that it will have 440 billion euros. investors don't believe it is enough. the idea is to make 2 trillion euros between the bailout fund and the european central bank. that might worry taxpayers. especially in the biggest economy, germany. >> there is the direct loan from politicians because there is the notion that everything that involves the bank is potentially dangerous. >> with markets fearful that the weak economy is heading back to recession, the crisis in the eurozone could be calamitous. >> we could have bank failures,

social and political unrest across the continent. it is not a pretty sight. >> world leaders hope that an ambitious rescue can be agreed upon in the next five-six weeks. there are formidable obstacles, we will be living under a financial shadow of fear for some time. >> syria has accused western countries of trying to create chaos that would dismember the country. >> the united nations general assembly, the foreign minister sent his government to crack down on protesters and blamed for an intervention. -- foreign intervention. >> any objective analysis in and around syria will demonstrate that the purpose of the unjust

anti-syria campaign currently under way is to attack this model of coexistence that has been the source of pride to our people. how can we are otherwise explain media provocations? what purpose could this serve other than total chaos that would dismember syria and consequently adversely affect its neighbors? what else could this course to achieve other than spread western hegemony. and expand israel's interests. i assure you that our people are determined to reject all forms of intervention in internal affairs. we can continue to pursue security and stability. >> of the crisis began six months ago, and the united nations says 2700 people have been killed. the bbc and other news organizations have made repeated attempts to gain official access

to syria. finally, they have been granted a visa. this is her exclusive report. >> we have been trying to take the road to damascus. i have been coming to syria for years. what has changed after six months of protest and a brutal crackdown? you don't feel it here in the heart of the old city. damascus hasn't lost its charm, but there are no tourists to enjoy it. business is suffering. i did not expect people to openly criticize the government. one man happily told us on

camera that there were no problems later whispered that he could not tell the truth. you start to see similar faces. there is clearly some genuine support for the president. hong >> everybody here, the population [unintelligible] >> this is new footage of protests obtained by the bbc panorama program. this kind of video made by activists, the government calls lies. they say they are terrorists. >> the government calls everybody a protester.

>> activists who did believe in dialogue and no longer do. he tells me the government tried to force people off the streets with violence. it failed. this could be a moment of no return. no one here can say when the end will come and what kind of syria will emerge. bbc news, damascus. >> you are watching news day. still to come, we speak to families and students and india that say cast divisions are a major cause of suicide. more than 2 million people have been affected by rain in india. 80 people have died and some areas have been cut off by rising water. heavy monsoon rains have been

battering ndf for the past fortnight. >> waiting for help. these villages are some of the 2 million people stranded by -- or their homes are under water. this is the only way to get around. patterns of northern and eastern india. the government launched operations to help those in the worst hit areas. hundreds are being used to carry the stranded to safety. national rescue helicopters have been dropping food parcels through remote parts of the country. >> supplies have been going on since yesterday. and all steps are being taken by the administration to bring relief to the people. >> for those that do escape the

floods, this is now their life. living out in the open with the few possessions they've managed to save from their homes. more rain is forecast in the coming days. many of these people were already living in poverty. the flood has made their lives even more precarious. >> the un security council has begun preliminary discussion of the application for full membership of the united nations. the president abbas appealed that decision on friday. if they secure the necessary votes, the u.s. is expected to veto the resolution. >> the headlines this hour, the largest storm to hit the

philippines forces 100,000 people to leave their homes. >> president obama warns that you're a's financial crisis is gearing the world. just as new worries emerged about greece. >> ambassador richard murphy is the former u.s. secretary of state. he says he wasn't surprised by syria's claim that the west is involved in anti-government campaigning. >> we have been hearing it from the first day, six months ago and started in the southern town where there was brutality against teenagers and a security services picked them up for putting graffiti on the town wall, critical of the regime that. from the beginning, it has been an accusation that this is outside, for an intervention designed to take over syria

along with the rest of the area serving israel. it is a very tired of fema. >> nevertheless, it sums up the feeling towards the west. given that, what do you think the foreign countries can do? what part should day, if any, apply? >> they have to let things develop in syria. europe has joined in sanctions, sanctioning syrian oil exports. that will not have an instant effect, but it will be a significant squeeze on the syrian economy. i think that the regime has shown it is resilient, determined, and has worked of the theme of four generations since they took over that they are used to being isolated and

used to being persecuted in the name of defending arab interests. >> in libya, there has been fifth fighting in the home town of colonel gaddafi. forces loyal to the authorities entered the city and supported by nato planes. the loyalists have been pushing up fierce resistance. from there, the correspondent reports. >> the new libyan flag came one step closer to fly in across the whole country. they gather as they have every day to advance. civilians fled the city and have been told of the rebels would cut their throats. instead, they were welcome. they're waiting for you, he says.

but the advance has been cautious. the first sign that today was going to be different with a captured gaddafi tank. the second was the smoke coming from the roundabout. the green flag was still flying. but it became clear that they were entering the city. this is the moment that they have broken the interest, celebratory gunfire. they have made it through. but as the troops move forward, we pull back and take cover.

the battle for the streets begins. despite the civilians still living in this city, both sides traded rockets and heavy gunfire. shelves mounted around us as they fought for control and the last hour of daylight. >> one of india's top universities is often seen as a passport out of poverty for lower caste students. some said that is not always a happy environment. there have been 18 cases of suicide by lower caste students. to this year. >> is been a year since the death of her 25-year-old son. he was the first in this village to have made it to the country's, a college for medicine.

caste discrimination is rife in india. this was a dream come true. a dream turned sour. >> he used to tell us that he was alienated by his professors said he would sit at the back of the class. he was looked down upon because of who he was. >> this is one of the top medical institutions. is a place for a lower caste students, but this is where he ended his. almost a quarter of places have to be reserved for lower caste students. but these policies have caused tension across campuses. students said they are made to feel unworthy of their place.

>> the teachers say that lower caste students don't study hard. they don't understand that everything in our lives rest on our selection. >> college officials rejected this, saying that the atmosphere is of interaction. >> [unintelligible] some come from depression, and is the case for this. we take precautionary steps and have found anti-stress counseling for the newcomers. newsday. watching >> a reminder of our main news this hour. a typhoon has struck the philippines closing the stock exchange in the capital.

thank you for joining us. >> 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. >> union bank offers unique insight and expertise in a range of industries.

what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.