11/03/2017 Reporters - Short Edition

From here in the world's news room, we send our correspondents to bring

you the best stories from across the globe.

Owen Bennett-Jones finds the Pakistan army back in control

of the tribal area on the Afghan border, after a huge military

operation to clear out Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Around one million people from north Waziristan fled

when the conflict was at its height, and the question now

Carrie Gracie investigates Beijing's new measures

The Chinese economy is still fuelled by coal.

And in the one party state there is little the public can do,

to force the politicians here to deliver air fit to breathe.

Fergus Walsh meets the researchers unlocking the science of thought.

The tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border have

long been associated with militancy and lawlessness.

The ancient tribal customs, with their emphasis on both

revenge and hospitality, have been challenged in recent

years by violent Jihadis, imposing Sharia, not tribal law.

North Waziristan became home to Al-Qaeda, the Taliban,

and Jihadists from all over the world, but as Owen Bennett-Jones

reports, after a long and bloody military campaign,

the Pakistani army is now firmly in control.

For years now, these remote areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border have

In 2014, the Pakistan army launched a campaign

to win back this land, and today virtually all

The militants left behind this roadside bomb factory.

Capturing facilities like this has made a difference.

There used to be thousands of bomb attacks in Pakistan each year,

The army reckons its operations here are the most successful

anti-Jihadist campaign the world has yet seen.

So somewhere it was the IED that was a threat to you,

somewhere it was small ambush or different, so different incidents

happening in different areas when we were trying to get them.

Just like Aleppo and Mosul, the army caused massive destruction

When the battle was raging, the entire population left.

The effort is now on to get them back.

Around a million people from north Waziristan fled when the conflict

was at its height and the question now is will they come back?

So the army has built facilities like this school,

that can take 1,000 children - not open yet - but it is hoped this

will attract people to come back thinking there are ways they can

live here, and get their children educated.

A few hours' drive away in the city of Peshawar,

traders say the number of bombs has gone down, but they

The survivors say they are determined to resist the militants,

If you don't get over it, you don't get to live,

because you see, if people become stuck in that psychological

depression and that kind of thing, you can't cope with your studies,

you can't cope with the world, you can't see the beauty of life,

so you have to cope up, and all we did, we all did

There is a growing nationalism in Pakistan.

Some militant groups remain strong and haven't been

challenged by the state, but there is also a rejection

of those Jihadis who attack targets on Pakistani soil.

Owen Bennett Joan, BBC News, north Waziristan.

In China the government wants to invest billions on renewable energy.

They want to encourage the use of new vehicles. Carrie Gracie has

taken to the streets of Beijing to find out. Everything in China is on

a massive scale. The problems... And the solutions. Cars are to blame. It

is scrapping the worst offenders. But this ritual in the wreckers

Yarde is a losing battle against 30 million new cars taking to the roads

this year. If these people want clean air, then they have to change

their behaviour. -- clean air. China has two kick its addiction to fossil

fuels. For this Beijing couple, the morning commute is a his and hers

divide. He is part of the problem. And she is part of the solution.

Meek little blue, harmful emissions, zero. To beat the petrol heads,

China subsidises electric vehicles and makes them much easier to

licence. On smoggy days, little blue does not face restrictions like

other car is. This woman is proud to do her bit for a cleaner air.

TRANSLATION: The pollution is terrible for our health and for the

image of Beijing. But I don't have to feel guilty even on smoggy days.

I tell my friends they should get one, too. Gathering winter fuel

allowance. To beat the smog, all of the villagers have banned the

burning of coal. And this 70-year-old farmer is forced back to

the old ways. The fire heats their brick bed. The government did give

them an electric heater. But on their pensions they cannot

afford to switch them on much. Winters are a sub zero. He tells me

he is more worried about his electricity bill than about the cold

or the smog. He is wearing thick layers of long johns. Beijing can

clean the air when it wants to. Like now for the annual session of its

rubber-stamp parliament. But it can't do it for a long because

despite the push for a cleaner vehicles and cleaner heating, the

Chinese economy is still fuelled by coal. And in the 1-party state there

is little the public can do to force the politicians to deliver a fit to

breathe. Carrie Gracie, BBC News, Beijing.

It's one of the most prestigious awards in the world of science. A

prize of almost ?1 million for cutting edge research aimed at

understanding the brain. This year it has been won by three British

neuroscientists further work on how the brain uses a system of chemical

rewards to help us make choices. They have been speaking to Fergus

Walsh. How do we motivate ourselves in life, whether it is the choices

we make about the food we eat, cream cake or fruit, to the friends we

make? Thanks, Fergus. The pleasure of a Hauge, or the goals we set

ourselves artwork to succeed or by a better car. What underpins our

decision-making is a chemical in the brain called dopamine, which is

released whenever there is a reward. This sense of reward, which can

sometimes be equated with happiness, pleasure or simply a desire to do

something, has been crucial in Newman evolution. The three

neuroscientists who shared the prize in Denmark have spent 30 years

studying the dopamine reward pathway command say it underpins all our

choices. You look at a menu in a new restaurant. Should you explore a new

type of cuisine? You make a prediction of what it might be like

and you try it. If you try it and it is better, it gives a positive

signal. Next time you return to the restaurant, you are likely to choose

it. If it is not, you will choose it. There is a dark side. Dopamine

can reassert poor decision-making and leads to compulsive behaviour.

Parkinson's disease -- disease... Drugs that boast -- boost dopamine

levels can sometimes bolster addictive behaviour. Can often have

negative effects, leading to excess gambling. I have had numerous

patients who, when treated with these drugs, have resorted to

gambling, often secretive. This has resulted in the tragedy of them

losing their entire life savings. The three prizewinners are all based

in the UK, which has a track record of world leading brain research.

Their work will help in the development of treatments for

patients with psychiatric illnesses, like schizophrenia, where the brain

reward system goes wrong. Fergus was, BBC News. That is all

from Reporters for this week. From May, Philippa Thomas, goodbye

for now. -- from me. Good evening. We had quite a bit of

sunshine in the north-west and the South and east today. Where the sun