18/03/2012 Reporters

Those are the main stories. It is On full alert in dangerous waters -

we report from a merchant tanker dodging pirates off the coast of

Somalia. As increasing numbers of abductions and human rights

violations take place in Sri Lanka, we asked if the death squads have

returned. And politics rocks in South Korea.

The report on the middle-aged commentators attracting a pop star

following. Welcome to Reporters. NATO naval

ships are warning of any increase in pirate activity of Somalia.

Recently, several vessels had been attacked. It is hard to understand

a cat-and-mouse game being played out. As security correspondent was

allowed on board a merchant Tander. He sailed all the way through the

piracy high-rise career. It is believed he was the first

broadcaster laws to cover this route. He's out from Muskett,

witnessing first-hand how an armed security team copes with the threat

Leaving Muskett harbour to embark on what for me is a difficult, but

important voyage. This 100,000 tonne tanker will be our home for

eight days. We are getting on board this tanker and they are loading

all the supplies on first. You can see the razor wire up there. They

are going to be hardening the ship a bit further on as we enter into

It has an armed protection team on board it to defend against pirates

who use small, fast boats. We are currently coming up to here, aren't

One was actually pirated their four days ago. Night and day, the watch

officers monitor the radar, the sentries scan the seas. As we

entered the dangerous the sea lanes between Yemen and Somalia, a

Chinese warships occurs to escort us in convoy. -- appears. After two

days, the convoy and that and we are on heroin in the Gulf of Aden.

So many Djibouti, a situation develops. -- somewhere near. The

officers on what had spotted suspected pirates ahead. Bishop has

activated its water cannons to make boarding more difficult. The Quorn

is to tell them they had been spotted. Now, the on-board security

team is summoned. We have a couple of boats dead ahead. Former Royal

Marine commandos, they have a well- rehearsed drill. Opening fire is

the last resort. The two boats you can see there are a suspected

pirate mother ship and a skiff being towed behind it. We have had

a bit of an unknown here because by the ship in front and his ship are

pretty convinced that these are pirates checking us out. They could

be innocent fisherman, but they have taken no chances. They have

shown weapons just to make sure that whoever is in the book boat

ahead knows they will have a rough time of. The suspect vessels move

off, reported the threatening another vessel soon afterwards.

BC's here are full of such craft. Pirates use them to stick upon

should such as these, take them over and demand multi-million-

dollar run since -- ransoms. One of our crew is still wanted by his

experience on a ship that did not have armed guards. Four times they

shot rocket-propelled grenades. We now feel relieved because of the

armed guards that we have. There is plenty that ships can do to make it

harder for pirates to get on board. Razor wire, electric fences and

simply speeding up often work. Recently, shipping companies have

been turning to more robust measures. Putting armed teams like

these on ships is controversial. Recently, a town in guards

mistakenly shot and killed in be an innocent -- in his and Indian

fishermen. The team leader on our ships a Somali pirates are well-

armed and determined. Once we have gone through all the other

escalation methods and we have deemed that weapons are the final

choice, we were fired several warning shots. The use of lethal

force is an extreme and very last resort. Bishop's company policy is

to always put armed teams on this road. So far, no armed vessel has

ever been attacked. The captain has no doubts. It makes a very big

difference. Having the security team is the best solution to

protect the ship against piracy. Maritime piracy of Somalia is down

from last year's highs, but with such rich pickings still to be had,

there is likely to be ever more pressure on companies to consider

using armed guards. Day-in, day-out, thousands of seafarers will still

be running the gauntlet of some of the world's most dangerous

The civil war in Sri Lanka may have ended three years ago, but the

repercussions of the conflict still reverberate through the country.

There are numerous accounts of human rights abuses. The US has

been putting its weight behind a UN human rights resolution, AIS

initial bank and government to explain how it intends to ensure

justice for its people. -- asking the Sri Lankan government.

A prayer for the Hindu date is his almost all she has at the moment.

Since this woman, life has become a night there since her husband was

matched by eight hard bend at their front door a month ago. Transpac he

was screaming, calling for help, hanging on to the gate. There were

people in the street, but no-one came to help. They pushed me down,

then they dragged into the van and pushed inside. After that, they

vanished. The men, 810 more businessmen had already been held

by the police for more than two years over alleged association with

the Tamil Tigers, which he strongly denied. He said he was severely

tortured in detention. Just before his complaint of torture come up in

the courts, he was adopted. He is not the only victim. Human rights

campaigners say they were dozens of human -- suspected abductions since

January. One was here at the Law Courts. Of the 32, only five have

escaped. Seven had been found dead. 20 have just vanished. Then, there

were these people. Last year, they organise these protests for people

whose loved ones had disappeared at the war's conclusion. In December,

in the north, they themselves banished, seemingly abducted as

they prepared for another demonstration. Government as

security forces deny involvement and say they are trying to solve

the various cases. We are conducting investigations into the

matter and we will find the perpetrators. Some people would say

that you have death squads these days in Jamaica. No, not at all. We

totally deny that allegation. days ago, something unusual line

happened. One of the notorious white vans, said to be behind so

many abductions, was caught on camera after a man said its

occupants tried to snatch him. The crowd apprehended the would-be

abductors, that turned out to be soldiers. The military denied plans

to kidnap anyone and released the men. Meanwhile, the rule of law is

being flouted. Disappearances are continuing and distraught families

are wondering if they will ever see their loved ones again.

In South Africa, almost 20 years after the end of apartheid, the

state education system is so poor that 5,000 children, most of them

back, are switching to private schools each year. The country has

seen a huge rise in low-cost independent schools in response to

be failing state sector. At correspondent reports from the

Get ahead high, a low-cost private school in the Eastern Cape. This is

the new phase of education in South Africa. Most of the children are

black and good results and discipline a top priority. Far from

being kids of the country's elite, their families are scraping

together the thousands of dollars a year in fees, let down by skates --

state schools. Meet the 17-year-old and his aunt. His parents dead,

Sheen has cares for him. -- she now cares for him. She is among a

growing number of adults worried that strikes and insecurity are

undermining state schools. There is no security for the children.

Others are carrying weapons at Another day, another class. Five

hundreds of thousands youngsters are flocking to schools like this,

a dramatic response in a country where half of children leave

without a secondary certificate. For our hundred thousand children

are making the switch every year. Many of their parents are teachers

from state schools -- 500,000. This is the principle of Nonkqubela

Secondary. It is home to some of the best minds in the South African

history. Despite their best efforts, the head teacher struggles with

appalling conditions. It is a typical example of the state we

have in this school. What impact does the poor infrastructure have

on the school? The poor infrastructure reduces the number

of classrooms. The teacher is not so interested in teaching at the

school. Absenteeism and stock shortages are faced by many state

schools. The government says 80% of them are failing and it promises

change. Two decades after the end of apartheid, that it -- poor

administration and neglect are turning some classes into an

underclass and people are turning to private education.

South Korea is in the grip of an unlikely political agitator as it

prepares for elections next month. A weekly pot cost of conversations

between four political commentators as an irreverent tone and a

fiercely anti-government tone. Its viewers are disaffected voters in

their 20s. The last time four men with shaggy

hair to produce this kind of reaction they turned out to be the

biggest musical celebrities in the world. These guys are not the

Beatles. They are not even pop stars. They are political

commentators with an apse for anti- government sat up. A pot cast

called Yun-Ji. They are willing to say anything. They do not hide.

They are honest. They do not try to hide their feelings. This goal has

begun protesting, from the wartime sex slaves to the free trade

agreement with the US. Today she is joining more than 1,000 after fans

on a two-hour journey outside Seoul to a jail where one of the host is

serving time for slandering the President. The programme regularly

makes serious allegations against the President. It has already been

banned by the military and judges have been penalised for using its

catchphrases. Is its appeal simply the allure of gossip? That is what

our critics always say, that we are spreading false rumours and taking

advantage of free speech. Many of the things we say turn out to be

correct. People criticise us and they are afraid of what we say.

What really makes these unlikely celebrities fries and into the

establishments are their fans. Younger voters may hold the key to

the upcoming elections this year and this -- through this programme

many are discovering politics for the first time.

Amongst the crowd are entrepreneurs and even civil servants. Many have

not taken part of a process before but this counter-culture has

created thousands of new uptakes. 25 years after democracy began in

South Korea political debate just got a lot more interesting.

Now to the story of folk magic. How do you ward off evil spirits?

Researchers in Australia think they have the answer following a six-

year study. They found items are more than 100 buildings put there

in the early 19th century. The items only came to light during

modern-day renovations. We report from Sydney.

A world famous bridge, an ancient country house and an old convict

prison. What links these three sites? The practice of black magic

in 19 century Australia. The story began in role Tasmania. It is where

a historian, Ian Evans, was invited to give his opinion on some strange

discoveries. During some third renovations in the attic they came

across some remarkable items. Dozens of shoes and clothes dating

from the 19th century. For Ian it was the start of a six-year

investigation into the practice of hiding items to ward off evil

spirits. They offered protection in the form of shoes and other items.

It served to decoy in the evil spirits away from the people.

fact, researchers working on this project so they have banned items

in more than 100 sites across Australia in every conceivable

building. Here, it is a different story.

Under the famous landmark, workers dug this tunnel. They made another

find. Here it is. A show. A fragment of a shoe discovered in

1998. It is the issue of a child or a young person. Certainly not one

of the workers. He believes it was put here during the construction of

the bridge in the 1920s to fight off spirits. At the Sydney convince

prison, under these stairs, another revelation -- convex. He is is it.

A shirt of a convict. Every kind of item hidden by all kinds of people.

The practice was brought by settlers to Australia to protect

their families. They did not have available to them at the medical

knowledge that is available today, 0 the medication. They lived in

fear of illness that would take away their child. Immigrants in a

strange land relying on old practices for comfort.

Now think of the fresco art mural and your mind has works by the like

of Michael Angelo or Leonardo da Vinci. Countless figures in complex

stories painted on the walls of sacred places. The fresco it is

associated with the glories of the Italian Renaissance. It is not

entirely consigned to the past, as our reporter has been finding out.

The art form is alive and well in the town of Pisa.

Brushstrokes of depression stroke. Characters come to life. -- after a

brush stroke. Luca Battini is engaged in a large project. He is

working in the best traditions of the Italian Renaissance fresco. It

is the story or of Rainerius, taking shape in the Church of San

Vito. They say there is nothing of this kind being produced on this

scale anywhere else. The pains, the colour and the style are all true

to the past. -- paints. As Luca Battini completed the first stages

of his fresco, he glimpsed a little of the world of the great of the

Renaissance, like Michael Angelo. TRANSLATION: You are tired and cold,

fed up with the scaffolding. Your legs hurt and your back hurts. You

spend hours and hours bent over, working on small details. I have

learnt exactly what the Masters of the 16th century were told. It is

not just the techniques that are in keeping with the past. Renaissance

fresco artist drew living local citizens into their work and this

piece also will feature dozens of people from the surrounding town of

Pisa. The Christ figure has the face of a local postman. Also in

the first go is Dario Bertocelli. Now he has seen himself in it for

the first time. Seeing how he will, in a way, the immortalised for

centuries to come. He says it makes him feel privileged, a citizen in

the past and the present. This building was badly bombed during

World War II, when a Renaissance fresco was destroyed. There are

still dozens of figures to paint and years of work ahead. Eventually