Sri Lanka President: 'We Have Nothing To Hide'

Sri Lanka's leader has said his government is ready to investigate any allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses against his forces.

It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to conduct an independent inquiry by March into claims of war crimes - a deadline set by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.

The PM said he would press for an international investigation if the regime fails to hold a credible probe by then.

The UN and rights groups say as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the 25-year civil war against the rebel Tamil Tigers in May 2009.

But Mr Rajapaksa has denied any civilians were killed.

And he has blocked all calls for an independent probe into claims of war crimes committed by government forces against the Tamil population in the northern Jaffna region.

He told reporters there had already been a series of measures including a commission looking into missing people.

The PM's visit is the first by a foreign leader to the region since 1948

He said: "We will take our time and we will investigate into nearly 30 years of war."

He added: "If there are any allegations we are ready to inquire into it. We have nothing to hide. It's a free country. We need time to settle these things."

Mr Cameron is pressing the regime to do more to improve conditions for the Tamil minority and he met Mr Rajapaksa on Friday to discuss the human rights issue.

During his trip to Sri Lanka, Mr Cameron went to the war-scarred north of the island - the first visit by a foreign leader to the region since 1948.

He met families still unable to return to their homes after spending 20 years in refugee camps and was mobbed by protesters who claim relatives were murdered by the state.

The PM insisted he had given a "fair reflection" of the need for improved human rights after cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan suggested he had been given a false picture of his country.

David Cameron pits his batting skills against Muttiah Muralitharan

The spin bowling great, who is a Tamil, said Mr Cameron had been "misled" about the latest situation in the north.

Mr Muralitharan said: "I'm a sportsman and we don't think about politics. My opinion is, there were problems in the last 30 years in those areas.

"Nobody could move there. In wartime I went with the UN, I saw the place, how it was. Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1,000% improvement in facilities."

Mr Cameron said: "The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation.

"I accept it takes time but I think the important thing is to get on the right track. This issue is not going to go away, it's an issue of international concern."

In response to Mr Cameron's comments, a senior Sri Lankan minister reaffirmed that the country's government would "definitely" not allow it.

Economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is the president's brother, said: "Why should we have an internal inquiry? We will object to it ... Definitely we are not going to allow it."

Mr Cameron acquitted himself well when he pitted his batting skills against some "Murali" deliveries at a cricket ground in Colombo.

They were there to talk about the sportsman's initiative to bring together youngsters from Tamil and other communities through cricket as part of post-war reconciliation efforts.

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Helicopter Hits Tower And Plunges To Ground

Two pilots have died after their helicopter hit the side of a luxury apartment building and then plunged to the ground.

The impact was so loud that one resident thought "a war had started".

TV footage showed windows shattered in the upper floors and the mangled wreckage of the aircraft which was almost completely destroyed.

The helicopter's propeller clipped the 38-storey block in the upmarket Gangnam district of the South Korean capital, Seoul, before it came crashing down.

The aircraft, which was owned by LG Electronics, was on its way to a nearby landing field where it was scheduled to pick up workers and head to another city.

Fire official Cha Yang-Oh said 57-year-old captain Park In-Kyu died in the crash.

A 36-year-old vice-captain survived the impact, but died later in a hospital.

LG Electronics said the two were company employees.

Mr Cha said no one was hurt in the I-Park building - which is among the most expensive apartment blocks in the capital.

One of the building's residents, Jeong Young-Woo, 54, said: "I heard a blast sound while I was sleeping, so I ran out. The boom sounded like a war had started."

Seoul was foggy when the tragedy happened but Mr Cha declined to say if the weather conditions contributed to the crash.

Gangnam is a fashionable district that became famous due to South Korean rapper Psy's smash hit music video Gangnam Style.

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Libya: Deaths As Militias Fire On Protesters

At least 40 people have been killed and 400 wounded after militiamen fired on a demonstration demanding their eviction from Libya's capital Tripoli, the prime minister said.

Hundreds of people carrying white flags in a sign of peace, as well as the national flag, and singing the national anthem had assembled in the capital's Meliana Square.

They then marched to the Misratah militia headquarters in the Gharghour district when gunmen inside fired into the air to scare them off.

But when the crowd continued to move towards the building, the gunmen started firing at them, according to witnesses.

Footage aired on the privately owned al-Nabaa television network showed protesters running from gunfire while carrying others covered in blood.

A Reuters reporter said they saw an anti-aircraft cannon firing from the militia compound into the crowd.

The protesters fled at first but came back heavily armed to storm the gated buildings, where militiamen when were holed up until nightfall.

Dozens of army trucks later arrived to attempt to separate the crowds and militiamen in the compound, sealing off roads to prevent more armed people joining the battle.

Witnesses said some of the militiamen were wounded or arrested, while the remainder eventually fled.

Some of the protesters were armed with weapons too

The commander of the militia, Al Taher Basha Agha, vowed in a telephone interview with Libya al-Ahrar accused the protesters of opening fire first.

"Who is the person who is inciting them?" he said. "The evil ones who are using the civilians as a bridge to cross to power.

"Tripoli has not seen a war yet, it will see it soon," he threatened.

Many residents of Tripoli are frustrated with the continued presence of the militia, who are hangovers from the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi and now a powerful force in the increasingly lawless North African country.

The militia frequently fight with other armed factions in the city.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was briefly seized by militiamen himself last month, said his embattled government was working on a plan to drive out all militias from Tripoli.

"There will be no exception," he said. "All militias - including those in Tripoli - will be out."

Sadat al Badri, president of Tripoli's city council, which called for the protest, said tensions were rising over the militias.

"We're going to announce a general strike and launch a civil disobedience campaign until these militias leave," he said.

The militias have rejected calls from the weak central government to leave the capital.

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Afghanistan Bomb: Car Blast Near Talks Venue

A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives-packed car in west Kabul near a compound where Afghan elders will debate a security pact with the US next week.

At least six people were killed and 22 wounded in the blast, said Sediq Sediqqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman. He said the casualties included soldiers and civilians.

Around 2,500 tribal elders and civil leaders are expected to take part in an assembly known as a "loya jirga" next Thursday, to decide whether to accept the draft Bilateral Security Agreement between Afghanistan and the US.

Nasrullah, a witness, said: "I heard a big bang near the jirga site, later saw ambulances carrying people in blood. I saw at least three wounded in army uniforms."

Firefighters clear the area around where the car exploded

A statement issued by the Afghan interior ministry said the attacker was being pursued by security forces shortly before the explosion.

"The attacker driving a vehicle had been identified and was being pursued by security forces. He detonated himself after police opened fire on his vehicle."

Earlier in the day, President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban and their allies to join the assembly.

He said: "We invite them, please come to this national jirga of Afghanistan, raise your voice, raise your objection, and share your views."

The draft pact was hammered out in Kabul last month during a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

But he left without a final deal as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said only a jirga had the authority to decide the contentious issues.

The car blew up in west Kabul

These include a US demand to retain legal jurisdiction over its troops in Afghanistan, which would give them immunity from Afghan law. The request emerged as the main sticking point after Mr Kerry's visit.

The Taliban, whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001, has rejected the jirga and warned members that they would be punished as "traitors" if they endorsed the deal.

If the agreement is passed by both loya jirga and parliament, between 5,000 and 10,000 US troops would stay in Afghanistan to help fight al Qaeda remnants and train the national army.

Washington had been pushing for the agreement to be signed by the end of October to allow the US-led Nato coalition to plan the withdrawal of its 75,000 combat troops by December 2014.

The collapse of a similar security agreement with Iraq in 2011 led to the US pulling all its troops out of the country, which is currently suffering its worst sectarian violence since 2008.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Cameron Pledges Extra £30m

The UK Government is to give an extra £30m in aid to help the relief effort after the devastating typhoon in the Philippines.

Prime Minister David Cameron said it was clear more aid was needed after "watching appalling scenes of mass destruction".

A man tries to repair his roof in a village south of Tacloban

During a news conference in Sri Lanka ahead of the Commonwealth summit, Mr Cameron said: "Today I can announce we are providing another £30m to support the UN and the Red Cross emergency appeals and we are also supplying an RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to help ensure aid workers can move between the worst affected areas and get aid to those who need it."

It brings the total amount of aid donated by the Government to £50m.

Donations by the British public to the Disasters Emergency Committee's typhoon appeal have reached £33m.

The RAF C17 aircraft prepares to unload in Cebu Province

Mr Cameron's pledge comes on the day another RAF cargo plane carrying heavy duty vehicles and medical supplies arrived in the Philippines as part of Britain's emergency response.

The huge C17 transport plane, carrying two JCB diggers, two Land Rovers and a forklift truck emblazoned with stickers reading "UK aid from the British people", landed in Cebu province on Saturday morning.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall, who was onboard the plane, said: "The flight stopped off en route in the Middle East and Singapore and needed three flight crews to make the journey.

A Land Rover hits the tarmac at Cebu airport

"It will now return to the Philippines with more aid in the next few days."

UK ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad told Sky News: "The C17 load is being handed over to the UN immediately so it can be taken to where the need is most.

The devastated town of Tanuan, south of Tacloban

"I've just been talking to the commander here of the (air) base, who is facilitating the movements, and his reaction on hearing of the Prime Minister's commitment is, 'You bring tears to my eyes every time I speak to you, tears of joy'."

Squadron Leader David Blakemore, who flew the plane from Singapore added: "Hopefully there will be a few more missions and we'll be able to support the Philippine people over the coming weeks with the aid effort."

A 12-strong team of British doctors, surgeons and paramedics are already in the devastated country helping to treat survivors.

Sunlight catches a religious monument in the demolished town of Tanauan

Mr Cameron said: "A week after Typhoon Haiyan hit, the scale of the disaster is becoming clearer every day - over 3,600 dead, nearly 12 million affected.

"They are going to need sustained help from the international community as they start to rebuild their lives.

"I'm proud of the fact that the UK has taken the lead in international relief with rapid response of warships, aircraft and equipment."

Authorities in the Philippines have put the official death toll at 3,633, with 1,179 people missing and nearly 12,500 injured.

Mr Bembridge with his partner and daughter. Pic: Channel 4 News

The UN has put the number of dead at 4,460 and said that 2.5 million people still "urgently" required food assistance.

At least 600,000 people have been displaced with many homeless, and large numbers of survivors are struggling without food, water and shelter.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary has confirmed a number of British nationals remain unaccounted for in the Philippines.

Among those feared dead is Colin Bembridge, 61, was staying with his Filipino partner Maybelle, 35, and their three-year-old daughter Victoria near Tacloban when the storm struck.

Residents talk near a fire in a central area of Tacloban City

The Philippines government has defended its efforts to deliver aid, with interior secretary Mar Roxas saying: "In a situation like this, nothing is fast enough."

Workers in Tacloban have been burying scores of unidentified bodies in a mass grave as desperately needed aid begins to arrive.

Charity organisation Save the Children said three lorries carrying household and family hygiene kits will set off in convoy from Manila to reach Tacloban and will benefit 5,000 people.

Additional fuel, which has been in very short supply in the area, will also arrive and enable further distributions to take place over the coming days.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Appeal For £190m In Aid

Aid agencies have launched a joint emergency appeal to get food, water and shelter to victims of the devastating Philippines typhoon.

The United Nations estimates that $301m (£190m) will be needed in aid.

"We've just launched an action plan focusing on the areas of food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable with the government and I very much hope our donors will be generous," humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in the capital Manila.

"That plan is for $301m."

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), made up of 14 aid charities, said its members were already responding to the crisis but the scale of the destruction meant there was "huge unmet need".

People wait to be evacuated from Tacloban

A "huge injection" of funds is needed to get aid through to victims after the typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, made roads impassable and put airports out of action, the DEC said.

Although the official death toll stands at 1,774, around 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in the city of Tacloban alone.

The UN said 673,000 people have lost their homes while a further 11.3 million could be affected after the typhoon, said to be the strongest ever to make landfall, hit the southeast Asian nation.

Police stand next to body bags near Tacloban

Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay is in Hagnaya in Cebu where he said people are begging on the streets because supplies from NGOs have not yet reached them.

He said nearly 100% of the buildings in the town have been damaged.

"There's concern that there is another weather front likely to hit the area with a lot of rain forecast in the next couple of days."

Authorities said they had evacuated 800,000 people ahead of the typhoon, but many evacuation centres proved to be no protection against the wind and rising water.

Homes on a hillside in Tacloban have been obliterated by the storm surge

The Philippine National Red Cross, responsible for warning the region and giving advice, said people were not prepared for a storm surge.

Although weakened, the typhoon, has also killed eight people and devastated farmland since making landfall in southern China. 

DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: "The destruction in Tacloban city, on the east coast, is said to be reminiscent of the Boxing Day tsunami.

"There is currently no food, water or electricity. We can only imagine how much worse the situation will be for families living in towns and remote villages.

People in the devout Philippines still try to use a badly flooded church

"DEC members are doing all they can to get aid through but they need a huge injection of funds in order to do so.

"The priorities are getting food, water and shelter to people in desperate need."

Sky's Asia correspondent Mark Stone, on the island of Leyte, said up to 20 people had been killed by falling bags of rice in the scramble to get to aid supplies from a warehouse.

Stone said he had travelled to the island with people who did not know if their family members were alive or not: "There's no mobile phone network here, no way of communicating."

The DEC includes the British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children.

All of its members will support the appeal and 13 of the 14 are responding either directly or through partner organisations.

The UK is deploying a Royal Navy warship, HMS Daring, and donating £10m of humanitarian assistance in aid for the victims, Prime Minister David Cameron said.

The ship carries equipment to make drinking water from seawater.

Britain will also deploy RAF military transport aircraft in aid of recovery efforts, earmarking at least one C-17 cargo plane to move humanitarian aid and large equipment.

And a 12-strong team of British surgeons and paramedics is being sent to help with the aid effort.

Typhoon Haiyan has made landfall in southwest China, killing eight people

Meanwhile, Australia announced assistance of £5.8m and the US government has pledged $20m in immediate aid and has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the sail to the Philippines.

Japan said it will fly a relief team over to the ravaged country and Taiwan is sending £125,000 in aid.

The United Nations World Food Programme has also allocated $2m (£1.25m) and Unicef is sending emergency supplies.

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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Al Shabaab Denies Gunmen Fled Kenya Massacre

Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents have denied that gunmen who massacred 67 people in Kenya's Westgate mall tried to flee the shopping centre, insisting they were special suicide commandos.

The al Qaeda-linked movement said in the latest issue of its online magazine that the killers were members of a "martyrdom brigade" - and warned that more attacks were coming.

"(The gunmen) were brothers who have volunteered to enter into enemy ranks and cause havoc before being killed by the enemy," the group said.

The magazine does not specifically say the gunmen had died, but it dismissed initial reports by Kenya's army chief Julius Karangi that the men had tried to run away.

The mall was severely damaged during the four-day siege

It said: "Karangi even had the audacity to claim that the martyrdom-seeking mujahedeen were seeking to abscond and escape from the mall."

A special edition of the magazine was released on Tuesday via extremist websites, and was dedicated to the four-day Westgate siege.

It comes a day after four men appeared in a Nairobi court charged with "supporting a terrorist group" over the September attack.

The magazine contains gruesome photographs of the assault, and messages lauding the success of the massacre.

"Westgate was not a fight, it was a message," the magazine said, quoting al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamed Rage. "The real fight is on the way."

It did not name or say how many gunmen there were, but police believe there to have been only four attackers, and not the dozen that security forces had initially reported.

Interpol is assisting Kenya in trying to identify four bodies suspected to be those of the terrorists.

Some media outlets had previously speculated the gunmen may have escaped in the chaos of the fighting, although security sources said they died in a final standoff with Kenyan commandos, who ended the fight by firing anti-tank rockets that sparked a fierce fire.

A police officer outside the evacuated building

Witnesses in the mall described how the al Shabaab gunmen stormed the crowded complex, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff.

The Kenyan Red Cross has said some 20 people are still missing, and there are fears more bodies could be found in the wreckage of the mall.

"Westgate was meant to send a message to Kenyans: get out of Somalia and stop your aggressions against Muslims," the magazine added.

"After Kenya's defiance and its insistence of staying in Somalia, Kenyans should ask themselves when and where will the next attack be? How safe are you in Kenya?

"If you want peace, remove your military from the Muslim lands that they have invaded."

Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia to attack al Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17,700-strong African Union force deployed in the country.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Families Search For Relatives

Survivors Expect Long Wait For Aid

Updated: 1:25pm UK, Tuesday 12 November 2013

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Cebu

For hour after hour, driving into the heart of typhoon-stricken northern Cebu, it was the same picture.

Hundreds of families, picking through the remains of their destroyed homes, hoping to find some treasured keepsakes; and children lining the roadside, for mile after mile, pleading for water, food and money.

It has been four days since Typhoon Haiyan - or Yolanda as it is known in the Philippines - swept across the centre of the country, destroying homes and livelihoods in its path.

So far, in northern Cebu at least, very little aid has reached those who need it most.

Supplies of water and rice are trickling through from independent charities but as we drove north, the scene of destruction worsening the further we went, there was no evidence of any food convoys and no airstrips are operational in the area.

Thankfully there was no storm surge in northern Cebu, but the winds struck with a savagery which stunned residents well used to typhoons, believed to have been in the region of 250 miles per hour.

Bonifacio Reviero said: "We hid in the house with our grandchildren but we could hear the telephone and electricity poles snapping like twigs outside, and branches smashing into the roof. It lasted hours.

"When it was over, the roof was gone and the house was ringed by huge trees, which had crashed down but not on us. I don't know how we were so lucky."

One village lost 12 fishermen when four boats capsized in the storm.

In the hills, miles of banana trees have been uprooted or ripped in half. The coconut trees stand bare and broken. There will be no harvest here for a very long time.

More than 90% of the homes in northern Cebu, an area hundreds of miles square, have sustained considerable damage; many pancaked, storey on storey. 

No one expects help to come any time soon, hence the pleading with passing motorists for money, to buy new building materials as soon as possible. The remnants of their old walls and roofs are spread across the nearby fields.

The injured line the walls of the only medical facility in Bogo City, many of them young children.

In one jam-packed ward of the tiny Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital the very youngest patients lie four to a bed. Since Saturday the hospital has delivered 40 newborns.

Curled up around them on the beds are their hollow-eyed parents, who know they should be celebrating one of the happiest moments of their lives but are unable to amid the chaos and destruction outside; worries about injured relatives, and the knowledge for many that they have no home to take them to. 

Two-day-old Stephen's mother, Maria Janairo, who went into labour a month early during the storm, said it would be a very strange feeling when so many children in the town were celebrating their birthday together every year.

"On the one hand I will be happy that we survived for them to be born, but on the other it will be a haunting reminder of everything we lost."

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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Egypt 'Worst Arab Country' For Women's Rights

Male control of women, and fear of women's sexuality, is present in all societies to one degree or another.

But nowhere in the modern world is it so prevalent as in the Arab countries, according to a shocking new poll from the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Apologists for this behaviour - or those simply too cowardly to admit their embarrassment about this state of affairs - will be furious with the survey but the facts are overwhelming, and the details disturbing.

Thomson Reuters Foundation surveyed 336 gender experts in the 22 states of the Arab League.

Women are still not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia

The poll found that Egypt is the worst for women's rights, that female genital mutilation is endemic, and that there has been a surge in sexual violence since the Arab uprisings of 2011. 

Women have been the biggest losers of the misnamed "Arab Spring".

As some analysts argued from the beginning, one of the dangers of "revolution" would be to unleash the darker forces of Islamism previously kept in check by the brutality of the dictators.

Neither side is a winner in Syria with widespread abuses against women

Reuters quotes the Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy as saying: "As the miserable poll results show, we women need a double revolution, one against the various dictators who've ruined our countries and the other against a toxic mix of culture and religion that ruin our lives as women."

Many correspondents who have worked in Egypt have been troubled by the rampant sexism and sexual violence against women.

Cairo has long been considered the sexual harassment capital of the Arab world by female correspondents, some of whom will only work there with male guards.

Egypt appears a massively sexually frustrated society.

Suzanne Mubarak was trying to eliminate female genital mutilation

This writer - a man - has been groped by men in Tahrir Square several times during demonstrations, and it is far worse for women.

All of my female Egyptian friends acknowledge that harassment is part of the everyday life and they will only go out if accompanied by male friends.

Human Rights Watch reports that 91 women were raped or sexually assaulted in public in Tahrir Square in June alone during the anti-Morsi demonstrations.

Groups have had to form protection squads to allow women to demonstrate, circling them so that gangs of men cannot drag them off to the darker parts of the square.

The "Arab Spring" has brought more pain to women

The survey quotes a UN report from April which said 99.3% of women and girls are subjected to sexual harassment in Egypt. 

Unicef says female genital mutilation is endemic with 91% of women and girls subject to cutting. Only Djibouti has a higher rate - 93%.

During the Mubarak dictatorship, his wife, Suzanne, oversaw a programme to try to eliminate the practice.

Funding for this has fallen since he was overthrown.

Iraq is considered the second worst place to be a woman in the Arab world.

Domestic abuse and prostitution rates have soared as a consequence of the upheavals wrought by war.

Saudi Arabia continues to be the only Arab state where women are not allowed to drive, but the poll suggests cautious reforms are having an effect on society.

Women still need a man's permission in order to work, open a bank account, or travel abroad, but more women are studying and working.

The overthrow of the dictatorship in Tunisia has not resulted in advances for women although the country remains one of the more relatively liberal states.

Some 27% of seats in parliament are held by women, contraception is legal, but polygamy is spreading and inheritance laws continue to favour males.

The war in Syria has had a catastrophic effect on everyone but women have been especially affected by the use of rape as a weapon.

The top five places where it is best to be a woman in the Arab world are Comoros, followed by Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar.

Egypt is 22nd out of 22.

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Typhoon Survivors Expect Long Wait For Help

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Cebu

For hour after hour, driving into the heart of typhoon-stricken northern Cebu, it was the same picture.

Hundreds of families, picking through the remains of their destroyed homes, hoping to find some treasured keepsakes; and children lining the roadside, for mile after mile, pleading for water, food and money.

It has been four days since Typhoon Haiyan - or Yolanda as it is known in the Philippines - swept across the centre of the country, destroying homes and livelihoods in its path.

So far, in northern Cebu at least, very little aid has reached those who need it most.

Stephen was born a month early during the storm

Supplies of water and rice are trickling through from independent charities but as we drove north, the scene of destruction worsening the further we went, there was no evidence of any food convoys and no airstrips are operational in the area.

Thankfully there was no storm surge in northern Cebu, but the winds struck with a savagery which stunned residents well used to typhoons, believed to have been in the region of 250 miles per hour.

Bonifacio Reviero said: "We hid in the house with our grandchildren but we could hear the telephone and electricity poles snapping like twigs outside, and branches smashing into the roof. It lasted hours.

"When it was over, the roof was gone and the house was ringed by huge trees, which had crashed down but not on us. I don't know how we were so lucky."

One village lost 12 fishermen when four boats capsized in the storm.

In the hills, miles of banana trees have been uprooted or ripped in half. The coconut trees stand bare and broken. There will be no harvest here for a very long time.

Bonifacio Reviero sits outside what remains of his home

More than 90% of the homes in northern Cebu, an area hundreds of miles square, have sustained considerable damage; many pancaked, storey on storey. 

No one expects help to come any time soon, hence the pleading with passing motorists for money, to buy new building materials as soon as possible. The remnants of their old walls and roofs are spread across the nearby fields.

The injured line the walls of the only medical facility in Bogo City, many of them young children.

In one jam-packed ward of the tiny Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital the very youngest patients lie four to a bed. Since Saturday the hospital has delivered 40 newborns.

Curled up around them on the beds are their hollow-eyed parents, who know they should be celebrating one of the happiest moments of their lives but are unable to amid the chaos and destruction outside; worries about injured relatives, and the knowledge for many that they have no home to take them to. 

Two-day-old Stephen's mother, Maria Janairo, who went into labour a month early during the storm, said it would be a very strange feeling when so many children in the town were celebrating their birthday together every year.

"On the one hand I will be happy that we survived for them to be born, but on the other it will be a haunting reminder of everything we lost."

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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