:00:23. > :00:28.That is the latest BBC News. It is Does Al-Qaeda have a foothold in
:00:28. > :00:31.Syria? A special report from inside the country.
:00:31. > :00:38.The doors are no more than prisoners come and go as they
:00:38. > :00:44.please. Norway's model prison where few former convicts reoffend.
:00:44. > :00:54.And a world of white elephants. Alan Johnson fillets -- visits the
:00:54. > :00:55.
:00:55. > :01:01.Sicilian town where grandiose sporting plans (unwanted legacy.
:01:01. > :01:05.A rebel group in Syria has told the BBC that Al-Qaeda fighters are
:01:05. > :01:09.active inside the country. A commander from the Free Syrian Army
:01:09. > :01:14.claims opposition forces have been offered money, weapons and other
:01:14. > :01:19.support from Al-Qaeda militants but have turned it down. Syria restrict
:01:19. > :01:23.access to journalists but our correspondent and cameraman have
:01:23. > :01:29.been back inside the country to try and assess the influence of the
:01:29. > :01:37.Islamists in the country's revelation.
:01:37. > :01:45.Syrian rebels. This looks like a bloody fight just to survive. But
:01:45. > :01:50.the ultimate goal is to overflow -- overthrow President Assad. The
:01:50. > :01:56.Americans support them and so does Al-Qaeda. Ironically, they are on
:01:56. > :02:03.the same side as Syria. Western governments or worry that the wrong
:02:03. > :02:09.people might benefit if they do fear. The front emerged with an
:02:09. > :02:16.internet video earlier this year. They say they are to harvests, back
:02:16. > :02:25.from other wars to fight in Syria. Some believe this is the future in
:02:25. > :02:29.Syria. The numbers were quite small but they have grown. The hard
:02:29. > :02:36.element of the opposition, the armed and combat experienced people,
:02:36. > :02:44.up from either Libya or Iraq. There at the vanguard but are pushing out
:02:44. > :02:50.all other forms of opposition. regime says that this is the result.
:02:50. > :03:00.The blame bombings in Damascus on Islamist. Some Syrians did go to
:03:00. > :03:08.Iraq to fight. They came back with al-Qaeda ideology. This man fought
:03:08. > :03:13.in Iraq. He says he was defending his tripe in both countries.
:03:13. > :03:20.Despite appearances, he does not like Al-Qaeda. He fears them. He
:03:20. > :03:25.says he does not believe they are behind the recent bombings. This
:03:25. > :03:34.lie has been used over and over by the regime, he says. The regime
:03:35. > :03:40.lies all the time. They even lie about the weather. Many fighters
:03:40. > :03:48.are deeply pious. There is a moderate tradition of Islam here.
:03:48. > :03:53.At odds with Al-Qaeda's harsh ideology. The Daily suicide attacks
:03:53. > :03:58.have not yet come to Syria. Following this kind of distraction,
:03:58. > :04:05.sometimes, there is an offer of help from Al-Qaeda. We have learned
:04:05. > :04:11.of a direct approach to a Muslim cleric. Money, weapons and other
:04:11. > :04:14.support have been put on the table. The people here turned them away.
:04:14. > :04:19.More than a year into the revolution, people are getting
:04:19. > :04:29.desperate. They warned that if the West fails to come to their aid,
:04:29. > :04:29.
:04:29. > :04:37.Al-Qaeda will step in. At a free army command base, they say they're
:04:37. > :04:43.fighting for democracy, not Sharia law. The senior officer has this
:04:43. > :04:52.warning... TRANSLATION: I told the UN, the Syrian people can't take it
:04:52. > :05:00.any more. Our children killed, are women raped, our houses destroyed.
:05:00. > :05:05.If no-one helps us, we will turn to the devil himself. If Al-Qaeda is
:05:05. > :05:11.here, the numbers are small. We did not need their supporters will see
:05:11. > :05:21.their influence for many months. That could change the longer this
:05:21. > :05:24.
:05:24. > :05:27.goes on. They will find plenty of chaos here.
:05:27. > :05:32.Now to a shocking report of exploitation of former war young
:05:32. > :05:36.woman. Every year, thousands of women are smuggled from Mexico to
:05:36. > :05:41.the US and forced to become sex workers. The harbour of this trade
:05:41. > :05:49.is a small town in central Mexico where many are involved in this
:05:49. > :05:54.form of slavery and everyone knows about it.
:05:54. > :06:00.As millions go about their lives in Mexico City, a hidden trade in sex
:06:00. > :06:09.trafficking ferocious. This is a hub for Women recruited from across
:06:09. > :06:19.Mexico and sold into prostitution in the US. TRANSLATION: At first it
:06:19. > :06:19.
:06:19. > :06:25.was 30 clients a night. My pimp was extremely violent. Almost to the
:06:25. > :06:32.point of killing me. She was smuggled to New York by her
:06:32. > :06:38.trafficker who abducted her own Mexico. This is the epicentre of
:06:38. > :06:46.the sex trafficking trade. I met a woman there who works with the
:06:46. > :06:52.victims. -- a man who works with the victims. TRANSLATION: They show
:06:52. > :06:57.them houses that most people can't afford. The women see an
:06:57. > :07:05.opportunity of having a better life. They can't imagine they will end up
:07:05. > :07:09.suffering sexual exploitation. went to see for ourselves. The time
:07:09. > :07:19.thrives on such trafficking. The traffickers live in mansions like
:07:19. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:25.this. It does not seem safe to film openly. Virtually everyone is
:07:25. > :07:31.either involved in the human trafficking trade or has knowledge
:07:31. > :07:36.of what has gone on. If everyone knows, why aren't the traffickers
:07:36. > :07:43.prosecuted? Because of corruption. Even the Federal Government
:07:43. > :07:49.struggles to make arrests here. TRANSLATION: They're so well
:07:49. > :07:58.organised. The traffickers have a network of informers in other towns
:07:58. > :08:02.that control who enters. Alyssia's trap per smuggled her to New York
:08:02. > :08:10.where she was delivered like a pizza to men who called the numbers
:08:10. > :08:16.on these cards. They're treated as cheap take-out food. It is listed
:08:16. > :08:20.as delivery, the rate advertised and the women are a commodity to be
:08:20. > :08:28.consumed in thrown away. finally escaped. She wants other
:08:28. > :08:36.women to be on their guard. TRANSLATION: Don't trust a man.
:08:36. > :08:40.Don't just believe the pretty things he will tell you.
:08:40. > :08:45.The trial of Anders Breivik has brought Norwegian justice some
:08:45. > :08:50.international criticism recently. There is not much arguing with the
:08:50. > :08:54.success of the Norwegian prison system. One open prison on an
:08:54. > :09:00.island boasts of reoffending rates of just 16% among its former
:09:01. > :09:04.inmates. That compares to a European average of more than 70%.
:09:04. > :09:13.The prisoners run a self-sufficient community, farming, fishing and
:09:13. > :09:18.cooking for themselves. Even the ferry to this island is
:09:18. > :09:22.run by the inmates. He community that farms, fishes, feats and
:09:22. > :09:27.entertains itself. Although Anders Breivik is highly unlikely to
:09:27. > :09:31.experience the relative luxury, some of Norway's most serious
:09:31. > :09:40.offenders see out the final years of their sentence here, learning
:09:40. > :09:46.new skills and self-awareness. is a place I came to change my
:09:46. > :09:50.criminality. It is not all about the work. In summertime, we have
:09:50. > :09:55.our own beach. We can lay there all day and enjoy the sun. Do you like
:09:55. > :10:01.it here? It is difficult to say you like it but when you're in prison,
:10:01. > :10:05.it is a nice place to be. Because reoffending rates are the lowest in
:10:05. > :10:12.Europe, the man in charge does not care if he is accused of running a
:10:12. > :10:20.holiday camp. If you have a Cordle bad time here, it is not important.
:10:20. > :10:29.It is important to create a situation where inmates can
:10:30. > :10:34.discover respect for themselves. There are prisons where inmates
:10:34. > :10:44.spend 23 hours a day in their cells. This prisoner comes and goes as he
:10:44. > :10:47.
:10:47. > :10:51.pleases. There are plenty of home comforts. Here, we have the TV and
:10:51. > :10:56.over here at washing and to the pressures, a laptop but no wireless
:10:56. > :11:02.connection. Prisoners here can call home when they want. Even those who
:11:02. > :11:05.committed the most violent offences in the past can be selected come
:11:05. > :11:10.here where unarmed guards and various farm animals are the
:11:10. > :11:18.companions. Trying to escape war picture back to -- back in a
:11:18. > :11:26.conventional prison. You're so free but you're not free. You go out,
:11:26. > :11:32.shop, make food, you can play ping pong. But you still want to leave?
:11:32. > :11:36.Of course. I want to go home to my family. For the Ireland's
:11:36. > :11:46.attractions, this is not a place any of the inmates say they plan to
:11:46. > :11:48.
:11:48. > :11:53.One question which comes up time and again about Afghanistan is what
:11:53. > :11:59.will happen after the departure of foreign combat troops. This was
:11:59. > :12:05.discussed at the recent NATO summit in Chicago. A possible answer may
:12:05. > :12:15.be found in the Afghan city of Jalalabad where Afghan forces are
:12:15. > :12:18.
:12:18. > :12:24.already in control. A moment of calm in a city on it. On the
:12:24. > :12:30.surface like looks like it is getting better. Regular cricket
:12:30. > :12:39.matches attract a sell-out crowd. In the city centre, now under
:12:39. > :12:43.Afghan control, signs of a boom. I hitched a ride in one of
:12:43. > :12:53.Jalalabad's signature rickshaws to see a city that I last visited
:12:53. > :12:59.seven years ago and discover this is still a place of mixed fortunes.
:12:59. > :13:05.Rehearsals at the City's only made the studio. But the security has
:13:05. > :13:13.allowed more film-making, but it is still a Taliban target. As NATO
:13:13. > :13:18.pulls back the director of years a Return to the past. TRANSLATION: I
:13:18. > :13:23.am 100% concerned. The Taliban are still threatening us, telling us
:13:23. > :13:29.not to work with the government. head out of the city to the
:13:29. > :13:34.mountains along the border with Pakistan with an escort of armed
:13:34. > :13:42.police, wearing local quotes in an effort to blend in. This is Taliban,
:13:42. > :13:47.not NATO, country. The fields are again blaming with opium poppy, the
:13:47. > :13:52.source for most of the horror when on Britain's streets. The
:13:52. > :13:58.government wants to destroy some of the poppy fields. We have no choice
:13:58. > :14:08.but to grow it, claims the farmer. We are very poor and we do not get
:14:08. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:17.any help. But any deal has been done and the eradication team will
:14:17. > :14:24.not go too far. This looks like a serious effort to clear opium poppy,
:14:24. > :14:29.but this is just one small area. All around here there are hundreds
:14:29. > :14:33.of other fields which have been left untouched. And all the signs
:14:33. > :14:39.are that farmers are planning to grow even more opium poppies this
:14:39. > :14:44.year because they're worried about the future after NATO pulls out. In
:14:44. > :14:49.this border region many fear that next door Pakistani will now roll
:14:49. > :14:53.in and squeeze the still fragile country. A decade of NATO
:14:53. > :15:02.intervention may not have changed as much as America and its allies
:15:02. > :15:08.vote. Andrew North, BBC News, eastern Afghanistan. When it comes
:15:08. > :15:11.to architecture or Italy has much it can be proud of. It is home to
:15:11. > :15:16.some of the world's most spectacular buildings lie at the
:15:16. > :15:21.Coliseum and the watery wonders of Venice. But these days not every
:15:21. > :15:25.Italian building project can be seen as a success. Alan Johnston
:15:25. > :15:31.has been looking at Mach one particular town in Sicily seems to
:15:31. > :15:36.have had more than its fair share of disasters. In the shadow of the
:15:36. > :15:42.volcano Mount Etna this was designed, bizarrely, as a polo
:15:42. > :15:48.field in a place where nobody plays polo. The money ran out and the
:15:48. > :15:53.project was abandoned half finished. Just up the road and elaborate
:15:53. > :15:59.Children's park when the job has ever played. And this is the calm
:15:59. > :16:07.swimming pool when nobody has said this one. Abandoned nearly 20 years
:16:07. > :16:12.ago, it was designed by Salvo Pat donate. He said the funds of just
:16:12. > :16:18.dried up, as they did in the other watched projects across this town.
:16:18. > :16:23.He spoke of his sadness that Hizbul has never seen a drop of water,
:16:23. > :16:30.that a thing that the Tehran wanted has been left to rot away. In the
:16:30. > :16:36.old days they finished buildings properly but now it's people live
:16:36. > :16:40.with the wreckage of several grand schemes that failed. Local
:16:40. > :16:46.community activists are desperate to find some use for these
:16:46. > :16:49.crumbling monstrosities. TRANSLATION: The idea is to make an
:16:49. > :16:54.agony Museum and start talking about these buildings as works of
:16:54. > :17:00.art. They share elements and they have their own in complete
:17:00. > :17:05.architectural styles. Now be is a chance that the doors of this
:17:05. > :17:12.unfinished theatre just might open after 60 years. There is at last
:17:12. > :17:16.eight and completed. The council says hard lessons have been learned.
:17:16. > :17:20.TRANSLATION: We have to be sure we have the money to complete the
:17:20. > :17:24.buildings from start to finish, otherwise it is better not to
:17:24. > :17:29.promise things that will come to nothing. But so much needs to be
:17:29. > :17:36.put right, not least these so- called multi-functional Hall where
:17:36. > :17:42.there has never been a function. In a way, this time armed's story is
:17:42. > :17:47.the story of the whole of Italy. In the past, both here and across the
:17:47. > :17:52.country, there was just too much reckless spending. Now the town is
:17:52. > :17:57.left wondering what to do well all these useless buildings and at a
:17:57. > :18:03.national level it is struggling to cope with its vast national debt.
:18:03. > :18:13.Younger Italians are inheriting the mistakes of a previous generation,
:18:13. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:20.forced to labour under a legacy of waste. BBC News, Sicily. The first
:18:21. > :18:25.state of-the-art needed in case of African township of Berkman. The
:18:25. > :18:30.stages in probably one of the most famous neighbourhoods and the world,
:18:30. > :18:40.so we cloaking Johannesburg, once named to President Nelson Mandela.
:18:40. > :18:43.
:18:43. > :18:50.-- Sir -- so we spoke. If the world is a stage and then as though we to
:18:50. > :18:55.do once the leading role. Final rehearsals before this season opens
:18:55. > :19:00.in a South African township. And where they did to locate it and at
:19:00. > :19:06.the heart of the struggle against white minority rule, we are the
:19:06. > :19:10.songs and stories of hardship still resonates. The symbolism of these
:19:10. > :19:17.is that it is the first the to the new government have built since
:19:17. > :19:22.they have been in power. Subsidised by government, it marks a bold
:19:22. > :19:26.architectural statement. The aim is to attract visitors from the
:19:26. > :19:31.neighbour would and around the world. This massive amphitheatre is
:19:31. > :19:36.part of the complex and it is steeped in history. This is the
:19:36. > :19:42.very spot where Nelson Mandela's daughter addressed crowds as he
:19:42. > :19:50.spent time in jail. She promised them that one day he would return,
:19:50. > :19:54.which she did, as Supp Africa's first black President. Eight their
:19:54. > :20:00.number of the 5 million residents of superweed may remain poor,
:20:00. > :20:06.struggling to afford even the basics. Trying to sell the idea of
:20:06. > :20:14.the theatre is difficult. It is a challenge. We have faced bigger
:20:14. > :20:19.challenges. In 2010 we were in the midst of recession but we managed
:20:19. > :20:25.to pull it off. I am confident that the people of Soweto will come to
:20:25. > :20:32.about it. Another challenge is to actually get people to the theatre.
:20:32. > :20:42.The vast majority rely on minibus taxis but they do not run or might.
:20:42. > :20:43.
:20:43. > :20:47.Transport is not a problem for some. So wet turf is rapidly changing. An
:20:47. > :20:52.emerging middle class is transforming what was once the
:20:52. > :20:57.neighbourhood of Nelson Mandela into a vibrant economy. Restaurants
:20:57. > :21:02.are bringing in Crowle us and said to our fashion stores. Our arts and
:21:02. > :21:07.culture are driving development here. There is no shortage of
:21:07. > :21:17.talent in the township. A new generation to be targeted players