>> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering

specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> an aging population. a crisis in china that needs to be tackled now. it poses is significant threat to ages powerhouse economy. >> it has seemed unstoppable. that may be about to change. a soaring number of elderly and the costs that it will bring.

>> welcome to gmt. also in the program, india's coalition government scrambles to support as it faces a backlash over economic reforms. protesters taking the streets of new delhi. a london spy killed after being poisoned by a radioactive cup of tea. 7:00 in the morning in washington and 7:00 in the evening in beijing where officials are seeking ways to deal with an aging population crisis. the communist party is preparing to install a new generation of leaders to run the country for the next decade. they are coping with one of the fastest aging populations in the

world. the number of people over the age of 60 in china is going to double. this special report in central china, where it has one of the largest aging populations in the country. >> his story is in china's story. he has lived through hardship and famine. his parents died of starvation. he is now 79. life expectancy here now rivals west.westhe china has not built a comprehensive system of pension and old age care. they fend for themselves. their children all far away looking for work. >> i never thought what would happen when i am old. i don't know where my kids are.

i guess i will die and no one will know been been >> it is a lonely fate that many here now face. there will be more retired people in china then the entire population of western europe. this is where the young people have come, to its factories where the labor force has driven their economic growth been big as the number of elderly is rising, china's birthrate has collapsed. it will soon be just two people to pay for every one person's pension today. >> the burden is going to be heavy. our parents are going to get old. we will have to support them and pay for our child education. >> it has seemed unstoppable.

that may be about to change. this crisis and a soaring number of elderly and the cost that will bring maybe what ways to china's growth down. china has prospered while its workers have been young. china's biggest on-line travel agency, set up when he was just 30, is now worth billions. and older work force will make china far less competitive. >> china is going to enter a more developed stage. if we do not have enough entrepreneurs or young firms, then you have trouble competing. >> this is what awaits china. a future in a hospice in beijing. he is 72 and has parkinson's disease. he is 60 and has lung cancer.

the bonuses of an aging population. -- the illnesses of an aging population. he has bowel cancer. >> at night, suddenly you realize the guy in the next bed has died. there was one night where i was the only person alive here. i am used to it now. >> how to make china a caring nation, not just a richer one, will be one of the great challenges faced by china's next leaders soon to take charge. >> this is an issue causing great concern in china and around the world. i will be speaking to the chief executive of help age international.

trade unions in india have been staging a day-long strike. the government says the reforms are is central to revise a slowing economy, but small shops appearfear they are going to bet of business. >> preventing their fury against supermarket giant. these protesters want to keep them out of india. it is a political backlash against the plan to bring in more investment. it has given the opposition to a platform. political parties from the left and the right united in protest. this is just one of several protests taking place across india today. the president of the main

opposition. politicians, trade unions, businesses [indiscernible] across india, shops and businesses shut down. otherwise bustling markets completely deserted. they had little to worry about. the opposition plans to keep the pressure on. >> we are to be blamed. the people have entrusted us the duty to ensure the governing is properly done.

>> the prime minister has spearheaded the reform plan bank one of the biggest partners in this coalition government has pulled out and he now faces a serious challenge penn bank despite the protests, not that many came out onto the streets. a sign that perhaps not everyone in india is unhappy. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories. thousands of miners at the marikana complex have returned to work. 44 people were killed during a violent protests. an agreement was reached with lonmin earlier this week. the united states says that china has apologized for allowing a group of protesters

to vandalize the u.s. ambassador's car. it was pelted with objects and flag was damaged. beijing says it is investigating the incident. while a video continues to fuel protest, one of the actors it is filminsuing the film maker for . she says she was told she was appearing in and adventure film based in egypt. to what is believed to be the case of a u.k. soldier giving birth to a baby on the frontline. she gave birth just days after the area came under attack from the taliban. it was a bit of a surprise because she did not know she was pregnant.

>> the soldier from the royal artillery has been serving in afghanistan since march. two days ago, she complained of severe stomach pains. her son was delivered safely at the field hospital. he was born prematurely during the 34th week of her pregnancy. the specialist pediatric team from the hospital will now travel to camp to help provide care to the soldier and her baby on their flight home. mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital and are receiving the best possible care. it is not military policy to allow women to deploy to military operations if they are pregnant. it is believed this is the first time that the british soldier has given birth on the front line.

over 200 service women have been sent home since 2003 when it was discovered they were pregnant. last year, another female soldier gave birth to weeks after returning from her six- week tour of duty. this case may spur further debate about whether more medical checks are needed before being deployed to the front lines. >> still to strain in spain. stepping up their fight for independence. more ice has melted in the arctic ocean, more than any other time in 30 years. the summer melt has now reached its peak. politician from the environmental committee have called for a complete halt to

oil and gas drilling until better safeguards are in place. >> scientists have noticed a steady increase in the summer ice melt in the arctic for the last 30 years them but the rate this summer has taken them by surprise. the ice left is about half the average amount seen this time of year. these images show the scale of the problem. around 1 million square miles of ice is still left. the average is usually 2 million. that means an area 12 times the size of the united kingdom has vanished, setting a new record. the figures come at a time when the environmental committee has called for a halt of oil and gas

drilling in the arctic. they went to see a coordinated response plan for accidents, and limited to financial liability for oil companies if an accident occurs, and a sanctuary to be protected from drilling. much of the ice will return now that the polar winter is approaching, but now we are in uncharted territory. the remaining place is known to be thinner and weaker than before. >> you are watching gmt from bbc world news. with the number of chinese over the age of 60 expected to double, country's leaders are seeking ways to deal with the

crisis. mass protests across india against rising fuel prices and a move to allow retail giants into the country. it is time for the business news. i wish i could be surprised about the subject we are going to talk about. >> a lot of people were surprised how bad these figures were coming out of europe. looking at how businesses are reacting. it is not complete about the entire eurozone but they get an impression on what is going on in countries like germany. germany is not too bad. the private sector, generally not too good but it is managing to stabilize. germinate looks all right. periphery countries very weak indeed. we had hoped -- that ecb

announced its bond buying program. however, that has not happened. >> we do not break out for all of the countries at this stage, but we do break out for france where there is much worry and the fastest rate of contraction since 2009. is joining the rest of the periphery countries. >> he is hoping that over the coming months there might be a pickup as businesses get more confident knowing the ecb is there to buy out bonds. >> the fact that the ecb is

ready to buy bonds, this has helped out with spain because it has had a bond sale. >> it is quite interesting. people are prepared to buy their bonds because they know in the background the ecb is ready to buy the bonds off of them. you have got to behave in this way. spain does not want to do that at the moment. but they are prepared to buy the bonds because the ecb is standing by at the moment which keeps bond prices up and the yield down so the market is quite happy. how long is this going to go on for? at the moment, it seems there will be quite a lot of pressure from other eurozone countries for spain to face up to the fact that they will not get their deficit down as quick as they would like.

>> pressure from fellow europeans but then on the 21st of october there are regional elections. that is the home base. with those out of the way, we are thinking the middle or the second half of the fourth quarter -- that is when spain will step up and agreed to the conditionality that is necessary for the ecb rescue package. >> the one thing you can take away is you get a sense that they are slightly in control of the situation. it seems from what he was saying that getting pressure from other governments -- they will go down that road of asking for a bailout. >> it all comes down to confidence. >> the ecb has said we are going

to buy those bonds but of course if we do you have to meet these conditions. >> let's hope that they meet them. thank you very much. a pre-in quest hearing in britain against a former spy who was poisoned with radioactive material in 2006 after being given a cup of tea in london. >> alexander, a former russian security officer and fierce critic of the kremlin who met a slow painful death in a london hospital. at first his illness was a mystery. it was determined to be radioactive poisoning. the trail was followed across london. they found traces at a sushi bar he had eaten at and then

also at the millenium hotel. alexander drank tea here at the bar of the hotel with russian visitors. that is the moment police believe the radioactive poison was administered. they had enough evidence to charge this man, now a russian mp who remains in russia. with no prospect of a trial, his widow has pushed for an inquest. >> i would like to know who killed him and y. >> today's hearing is designed to set the guidelines for the full inquest. a central question of how far it will go. >> we saw in the report that his

wife obviously very keen to get some answers. the purpose of a hearing is to get us more answers. >> it is actually to set out the guidelines or the scope of the inquest itself and how it will be conducted and what information can be put into the public domain. the inquest is not likely to start until early next year. it was clear this was a targeted assassination of a british citizen carried out by agents of a foreign state on sovereign territory. the anticipated the inquest would show this was state- sponsored nuclear terrorism on the streets of london. this is just the pre-inquest. . there will be other hearings to discuss what should be allowed

at the main hearing. >> why has it taken so long? >> it is quite clear that there must be a criminal prosecution before an the inquest. these proceedings must be complete in ordinary circumstances before in inquest can take place. it is an inquiry to see how someone can about their death. in this case, what happened was the criminal proceedings -- the case was stalemate. two men were charged with the murder who are both russian citizens. they will not be extradited. the criminal case could not go ahead. his widow was very keen that the inquest take place to find out what happened. >> thanks very much. i think it is quite interesting

following this. we will speak to you soon. the prime minister is due to meet with the president amid struggle and the northeast region. it has nearly run out of money. many blame the funding crisis on the spanish government. >> [peole chanting] >> they want catalonia to be a country. catalan nationalism is already potent. it has been energized by the country and this region's economic crisis. the regional government here has almost run out of money. >> almost every month, the catalan government needs to ask

the central government for extra money even to pay the salaries of public servants. >> even the most vulnerable are affected. elderly patients at this care home have still not received their monthly payment for july from the government to cover their 24-hour care. she is 90. >> these politicians are not helping me as they promised they would. >> most of the money used to care for these people come from the catalan government. but many cattle lands blame their shortage on spain. they argue catalonia pays 15 billion bureau's more every year in tax to the spanish government

then did it get back in funding from madrid. no doubt the economic crisis has galvanized support not only for renegotiation with the central government but also the idea that catalonia should be independent from spain. >> [indiscernible] >> despite a record turnout, independence is a long way from becoming a reality. economics are changing the politics of this region. >> time now to hear about a budding new artist. it is a little bit abstract. it is because she has a rather

unusual way of producing this work. she is an elephant and paints with her trunk. >> the elephant, a budding painter and bold experimentalist with color. >> she likes to dot with lines. asian elephants have a one- finger digit. it is a type of enrichment. they love to learn. they are super smart. for them, something super exciting to do. >> all for a good cause. the hour work will be put up for auction and all proceeds -- the artwork will be put up for auction and all proceeds given to charity. >> let me talk to you about a theme park ride in the united

states which lasted longer than planned. it broke down. the thrill seekers were left suspended 100 meters in the air. they were stuck there for four hours before being rescued. >> makes sense of international news at bbc.com. >> funding of this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank.

>> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. presented by kcet, los angeles.