13/05/2012 Reporters

stunned by the win. Now it is time for Reporters. Ceasefire. What

ceasefire? An alarming upsurge of violence grips Syria. We report

from Homs, the heart of the uprising. We watch Azerbaijan

prepare for the Eurovision Song Contest. But will human rights

overshadow it? And Guam overrun with an infestation of snakes. We

see how the locals are fighting back. Welcome to Reporters. We

start with Syria. The advanced team of UN observers were meant to try

to bring peace to the country. Now they have come under attack

themselves. A bomb exploded as the UN convoy headed to Deraa, hitting

a military truck, injuring soldiers but none of the UN peacekeepers.

Our correspondent has this exclusive report from Homs, where

battles between the opposition and the Government continue. They

called Homs the capital of the revolution. Today much of it is a

virtual ghost town, deserted, devastated. The Syrian government

rarely gives the media permission to enter here. We are travelling

with a small team of unarmed UN monitors trying to maintain the

fragile ceasefire. Tough job. There is no truce in Homs, only the

destroyed city. Notice how slowly we are moving through this

neighbourhood. The Syrian police and military have left us. They

have left us in an area controlled by the opposition. Not a single

person is on the streets. The area is completely destroyed. The first

people to welcome us are fighters from the Free Syrian Army, not

afraid to show their faces or their guns. They are under fire. State TV

says. They says. They I was dead, but here I am. They don't deny they

are still fighting, but insist they did not start it. Then the football

star turned popular revolutionary singer turns up with a message for

Kofi Annan. His plan is not working, he tells me. The tanks are still on

the streets and snipers are still killing people. Last year he sang

to thousands of peaceful protesters about his hopes for peace. Now he

sings his lament for the martyrs. Back to the other side, to the

government's seat of power. The government insists Homs is not

divided. You say some people are afraid of the Army, he says. But I

tell you ma tell you maeople want the Army to protect them. Then it was

time to meet the monitors. He says the plan will work, but it will

take time. Homs used to be such a vibrant city. It took one year to

destroy it. It is hard to imagine how long it will take to rebuild.

Human rights groups have been calling on the organisers of the

Eurovision Song Contest to ensure that this year's host country,

Azerbaijan, stops imprisoning the opposition, beating journalists and

destroying homes in the name of development. In the run-up to the

event, Azerbaijan's presidents said the accusations by Amnesty

International and Human Rights Watch were part of a shameful

campaign to tarnish the image of the country. Homes ripped apart in

historical Baku as developers linked to Azerbaijan's elite move

in. Thousands of people have been evicted, many unhappy with the

compensation on offer. This man is still living in the rubble. He said

one night a demolition gang caved in his roof as he slept with his

wife and son. Amidst the destruction, a brand-new concert

hall. Baku is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest and the

government is using it as a showcase. Staging this year's

contest has brought much wanted attention to the ambitious young

country. But it has also brought an unwelcome spotlight on to the

country's poor human rights record. Jamal Ali was arrested last month

for insulting the president. Then, he says, he was beaten. I had a bag

on my head. I was handcuffed. I was sitting on a chair with my legs on

another chair. They were beating me on my heels with a stick, for two

hours the first time and three hours the second time. In hospital

we found a journalist with severe concussion and two broken ribs

after guards from the state oil company attacked him. All

opposition protests were banned for five years until two months ago.

Now in the Eurovision spotlight, three have been allowed. But

beneath a portrait of the president's father, a senior

official dismissed human rights groups' concerns and claimed the

government had widespread popular support. TRANSLATION: Even among

those whose homes have been demolished and among journalists,

99% are satisfied. Only 1% are unhappy. The regime is propped up

by the country's huge oil and gas wealth. The money is transforming

Baku. But the crushing of dissent has made this the most

controversial host city yet for the Eurovision Song Contest. Israel is

being urged to re-route its controversial separation barrier

away from the lands of an ancient Palestinian village with a unique

agricultural system. Israel says the 400-kilometre barrier saves

lives and that its route is determined only by security

considerations. We report from the West Bank village which lies on the

path of the separation barrier. Water, water, everywhere. In a

region where the supply and availability of water is a major

logistical and political concern, the Palestinian village of Batir

has it in abundance. It is the same system used in the Roman period. We

are still using it right now. more than 2,000 years, natural

springs have given life to the village and its fields. The simple

irrigation system used is as it was in ancient times. The water is

shared between the village's eight main families. Fruit and vegetables

are renowned for their freshness and quality. Built on the side of a

steep hill, the village boasts one of the last living examples of

traditional terraced agriculture. It is a system under threat from

Israel's controversial separation barrier. Plans have not yet been

finalised but if the barrier is built here it would cut the ancient

village off from about 35% of the villages in ancestral lands.

Because of the way the irrigation system works, villagers say the

land will be lost forever. The land is the most important thing in our

life. Without land, we don't have anything. For us Palestinians,

because we don't have resources. We just have land. Not far from the

village, Israel's barrier is being built on occupied Palestinian

territory around another village, al-Walaja. Swathes of the village

lands cut off on the other side of the huge concrete wall. So special

is Batir that some anthropologists want it to be given protected

UNESCO status. A barrier here, they say, would destroy a traditional

way of life. It is something extremely old but it is still in

use with the same function. It is something unique. Much of the

village's land lies on the Israeli land of the so-called Green Line in

the bottom of this valley. In a statement the Israeli Defence

Ministry said routing of the barrier is based purely on security

considerations and that potential damage to the area would be

minimised. For the first time in more than 40 years Japan no longer

generates any of its electricity from nuclear power. Before the

disaster at Fukushima last year Japan had 54 nuclear reactors

supplying nearly one-third of the country's energy needs. The last

one has just been switched off for routine maintenance, but local

communities have refused to approve it restarting. We report on the

Once it was a symbol of Japan's belief in a nuclear future. The

biggest nuclear power station in the world. We were taken through

the heavy watertight doors, into the maze of corridors inside. Write

to the control room for the reactors built to power Tokyo. One

by one all Japan's nuclear-power stations have been shut down and

now the output is zero. This is the very heart of the power station.

That music is a warning that the airlock is open. Over here, that

water, that is where the nuclear full -- nuclear fuel is being

stored. And that secular structure is the top of the reactor itself.

Before the disaster and Fukushima Japan relied on nuclear power for

nearly one-third of its electricity. The nearby town faces a choice

between Fiat and economic collapse. The power station is the biggest

employers up but like other communities they are reluctant to

allow it to be restarted, weary of another Fukushima. At the lights

must be kept on in Tokyo. The metropolis that consumes vast

amounts of power. To prevent blackouts imports of gas and other

fossil fuels have risen dramatically. Never before have the

Sea terminals been so busy. But it comes at a price. More expensive

electricity. They are constructing huge new sea walls. They say they

are large enough to withstand any possible tsunami. The Japanese were

told that Fukushima was safe only to see it tipped into meltdown.

Convincing people now will not be easy.

South Korea is planning to open and you have eco-tourism site along its

frontier with North Korea. The so- called demilitarised zone created

at the end of the Korean war is the most heavily fortified frontier on

earth. Lucy Williamson has been looking at the marketing of Korea's

military past. As tourist sites go, the frontier between North and

South Korea offers more than the usual souvenir T-shirt. A living

piece of the Cold War guarded by one million soldiers and another

one million land mines buried along the ceasefire line. The Prince into

the heart of the world's last divided country. Having people who

come here from South Korea, the people who have a heart for the

North Korean people, they're here because it is as close as their

hearts can get. Father people, this is the closest you can get safely

to a sort of active militarised zone. But South Korea's government

wants to rebrand this area as a place of peace, not war. With the

opening of a new eco-tourism zone along these own. The wide buffer

zone along the frontier has been tightly restricted for more than 50

years. That, say environmentalists, has created an untouched nature

reserve among the battlefields with thousands of species, where cranes

and Korean flying squirrels. TRANSLATION: By turning this into

an eco-tourism sewn it would change the way people see it. They have

been coming here to see the last divided country, to see part of the

Cold War. In the future we hope they will come to see the wildlife.

But even past conflicts are not always easy to forget. Hidden in

farmland is somewhere the tour buses do not go. These are the

graves of North Korean and Chinese soldiers killed during the Korean

War 60 years ago, all part of South Korea's pass, but also passed --

part of its present. Remains like these are being found all the time.

The war soldiers 14 has never formally ended. The two countries

are bound by an uneasy truce, not a peace deal. But along this region,

reminders of the military past are being revised. Like this fence.

Bill's 40 years ago to keep out North Korean agents. -- it was

built. But the military tensions themselves are stubb

raise. -- to get rid of. The Tiny's

territory of Guam looks every bit an island paradise but an

infestation of brown tree snakes has given it the unfortunate

nickname of Snake Island. The locals have had enough and are

fighting to evict them from the island. It all started with one

must always make. But today on this tiny Pacific island there are

millions. The brown tree snake might not look much of a menace but

this unwelcome guest has become an nemesis. There it is. This is a

typical size for the brown tree snake. Can I touch it? That we know

when you feel comfortable. You have got him. -- let me know. This snake

is one of the most successful invasive species in the world.

Since it arrived 60 years ago it has decimated the local wildlife.

This forest used to be full of sounds, and now it is silent. There

are now more than 6,000 snakes per square, top on a qualm. They preyed

on the small birds until they drop off. It has switched its feeding

preference. It goes after anything. We thought that populations would

decline after it wiped out the birds. But it just switched what it

fed on. Rodents, lizards, small mammals. Now the locals are

fighting back to save their beautiful island. Desperate times,

though, call for desperate measures. This is an air drop with a

difference. Mice are laden with poison are parachuted down to

unsuspecting snakes below. It is the latest weapon. But it is a

battle on two France. -- France. Conservationists are also trying to

stop the reptiles from spreading to neighbouring islands. Dogs have

been trained to sniff out any unwanted hideaways. It is a huge

task. Every item of cargo is checked before at least the island.

But letting the snakes estate is not an option. Researchers have

gone to Hawaii and look at their economy and tried to apply the

impact of the snake to Hawaii. They found it could result in $400

million per year. It includes healthcare for humans because they

hurt people. It includes damages to the power system. It includes lost

revenue associated with declining tourism. People are not as likely

to travel there. The infestation is on such a colossal scale is maybe

too late to bring it under control. For now the island serves as an

example of what happens when an invasive species takes hold.

Watching a man hit people with a stick and eat sausages to a

crocodile may not at first seemed like ideal entertainment for

children. But this particular blend of slapstick humour and cruelty has

been drawing crowds to Punch and Judy shows for centuries. This year

they celebrate their 300 and 50th anniversary. We report on an

ancient British seaside Mr Punch is a man with the message.

If anyone gets in Your Way hit them with a big stick. Over hundreds of

years across the world he has hit them all. Hang on. One question. He

is a very bad man. He is a clown. He is a mass murderer. He uses a

slapstick like this and he delivers a stylised blow. It is the other

side of the Quine from a magic wand. And they are puppets. I am

wondering whether it Tom and Jerry... Yes, that was a bank of

being whacked. Punch has always been changing. He exists across the

world and arrived in Britain and was first spotted in Covent Garden

in 1662. 350 years later, and Nationwide birthday party is being

planned. He is soul old people have forgotten there is more to him than

meets the eye. -- so old. Over the years there has been punched and

Joan, punched and Toby. And he has always upset somebody.

Victorians were concerned about, should we see the devil or the

ghost? No concerns about what you might do to your wife or at baby.

There is laughter in the air. in the innocent days of the 1940s

and 1950s, punched used to carry out a hanging. No longer. There are

new characters now. The favourites remain. Crocodiles, sausages, the