:00:01. > :00:04.rapidly. Homes in Pembrokeshire and Swansea have already been flooded.
:00:04. > :00:14.There are 11 warnings in place in England and Wales and more than 170
:00:14. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:28.flood alerts. Now it's time for Reporters.
:00:28. > :00:35.Welcome to Reporters. We send correspondents across the globe to
:00:35. > :00:41.bring you the best stories. We go on the trail of a reported massacre
:00:41. > :00:48.in Syria, the trail of blood in a village where locals say 100 people
:00:48. > :00:56.were killed in their homes. We go to Mali, mutineers from this army
:00:56. > :01:01.have defected and switched sides to join the Islamist rebels. Age is
:01:01. > :01:10.just a number in the virtual world. We find out why many Rory McIlroy
:01:10. > :01:17.people are getting into computer games. -- older people. We begin in
:01:17. > :01:23.Syria, the scale of the killing is becoming more and more apparent.
:01:23. > :01:28.Reports of crimes against humanity could be referred to the ICC. The
:01:28. > :01:33.UN Security Council is so far split over whether to do so. A BBC team
:01:33. > :01:37.found evidence of recent killings that took place on the edge of Homs.
:01:37. > :01:46.Local people say at least 100 people were killed and burned in
:01:46. > :01:52.their homes. Some viewers may find this report disturbing. The Army
:01:52. > :01:57.took us in. This village is just around the corner from their base.
:01:57. > :02:03.As we enter the village, some of the man who survived are on the
:02:03. > :02:10.street. There is a powerful sense of shock. One woman starts telling
:02:10. > :02:17.her story as soon as she sees us. They stormed into my house, she
:02:17. > :02:21.told me. They slapped my face, I fell on the floor. They beat and
:02:21. > :02:26.stripped me and my daughters. Most of the killings took place in
:02:26. > :02:32.houses down this hill. The Army say they have taken away the bodies.
:02:32. > :02:39.They say it is not safe to go further. We persuade them to let us
:02:39. > :02:45.take another route. In the first house they take us to we see a
:02:45. > :02:55.charred body. There is a bullet hole in the centre of the forehead.
:02:55. > :03:00.
:03:00. > :03:09.We spot another house next door. The full horror emerges. There is
:03:09. > :03:16.blood on the cement and a body is straddling the doorway. One is
:03:16. > :03:22.rolled in the yard. They are in positions suggesting they were
:03:22. > :03:28.trying to flee. These people have been shot and burned. The bottle of
:03:28. > :03:33.fuel is still there. Another grim discovery. A trail of blood from
:03:33. > :03:37.the kitchen. At least two people seem to have been killed here,
:03:37. > :03:45.their bodies dragged away. The floor is still littered with a
:03:45. > :03:52.bullet casings. Around the back, even more bodies. A woman,
:03:52. > :04:02.completely charred, in her bed. The soldier with us said hundreds of
:04:02. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:07.men came across the fields, he said they were from the Islamist group.
:04:07. > :04:11.This is a Sunni Muslim village. People worried this is the
:04:11. > :04:19.beginning of sectarian violence. TRANSLATION: These villagers
:04:19. > :04:24.support the government. Others gave us the same account in front of the
:04:25. > :04:31.soldiers who surround us. One person managed to speak to us off
:04:31. > :04:36.camera. She told us the Army was there that day, some had apologised,
:04:36. > :04:43.others were acting without orders. That version seems to tally with
:04:43. > :04:50.what activists say, this was the work of pro-government militia.
:04:50. > :04:56.Sunday we will know for certain who did this. -- some day. A war crime
:04:56. > :05:02.happened here. We go to Mali, another country in the midst of a
:05:02. > :05:12.violent split. French forces in the Mali army have been making gains in
:05:12. > :05:22.the fight against Islamist rebels in the north of the country. The
:05:22. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:27.BBC watched as French and Mali forces secured key towns which the
:05:27. > :05:31.Islamists had taken in January. France takes another step deeper
:05:31. > :05:37.into this conflict. Crossing into rebel-held territory in central
:05:37. > :05:43.Mali. We have come with them, this town was controlled until last week
:05:43. > :05:48.by Islamist militants. Some may still be in the area. The French
:05:48. > :05:56.quickly begin to check the nearby houses. The population seemed
:05:56. > :06:06.relaxed now. They are keen to show us the wreckage of their week-long
:06:06. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:13.ordeal. Fees are pick up trucks destroyed he tells me by French
:06:13. > :06:18.helicopters. -- visa. We find a seven more charred vehicles nearby.
:06:18. > :06:24.They were hit with great precision, French special forces presumably
:06:24. > :06:30.helping to direct the air strikes. The Islamists chose to attack this
:06:30. > :06:35.town for a reason. This is it. The Army garrison packed with weapons.
:06:35. > :06:42.Not as well gardener as you might expect. The rebels, more than 100
:06:42. > :06:49.of them, took the town in one day. -- guarded. The Islamists have left
:06:49. > :06:57.now. The French air strikes did their job. Before they fled, they
:06:57. > :07:02.look to the Arsenal. Right now, the battle is over. Mali's hit-and-run
:07:02. > :07:08.insurgency may be just beginning. The French insist they are keen to
:07:08. > :07:14.let Mali's demoralised army to do their share of the fighting.
:07:14. > :07:19.However, from what we have learned, the Army is part of the problem.
:07:19. > :07:26.This soldier has agreed to show me why. He he'd in town when the
:07:27. > :07:32.garrison was overrun. The Islamists came to his home to look for him
:07:32. > :07:36.and trashed his belongings. Some of the rebels are foreign, but he
:07:36. > :07:44.knows that others are former colleagues from his own army unit.
:07:44. > :07:50.Do you know the names of these people? Would you recognise them?
:07:50. > :07:55.Yes, they defected last year when the rebellion started. When they
:07:55. > :08:02.came back last week they were Islamists. Another soldier
:08:02. > :08:08.confirmed the story. Yes, many of our comrades became our enemies.
:08:08. > :08:13.Now we will hunt them down and tell them all. The threat posed by
:08:13. > :08:19.foreign Islamists is real here, but the fact that some were members of
:08:19. > :08:25.the former members of the Mali army, it is a reminder of how many of
:08:26. > :08:31.this country's problems are home- grown. No simple solutions for
:08:31. > :08:38.Mali's complex rebellion. Ethnic tensions are part of the problems
:08:38. > :08:43.in Mali as they are in so many places around the world. Muslims in
:08:43. > :08:47.Burma's far west have borne the brunt of Inter communal violence.
:08:47. > :08:53.Thailand officials have been selling boat people to human
:08:53. > :09:03.traffickers. Thousands have fled to see in the last few months. Many
:09:03. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:08.have been heading east to Thailand. The government says it is taking
:09:08. > :09:15.the allegation seriously and will investigate. From Thailand, our
:09:15. > :09:22.correspondent has sent this report. Two months ago Ahmed fled ethnic
:09:22. > :09:28.violence in Burma. With 60 others he travelled for 13 days on a
:09:28. > :09:36.flimsy wooden boat across the sea. They were caught by the Thailand
:09:36. > :09:42.Navy not far from sure. The father of eight thought his ordeal was
:09:42. > :09:46.over, in fact it had just begun. Officials traded him with human
:09:46. > :09:53.traffickers who held him in a camp in southern Thailand and demanded
:09:53. > :09:59.over $1,000 to let him go. The broker said to me we bought it from
:09:59. > :10:03.the police. If you do not pay you will die here. We do not care. For
:10:03. > :10:11.more than one month he was held prisoner and badly beaten before he
:10:11. > :10:16.found the money to buy his freedom. Ahmed is just one of thousands of
:10:16. > :10:21.Muslims fleeing Burma by sea. He is not the only one to be sold by a
:10:21. > :10:29.Thailand officials. We looked into the fate of his boat which arrived
:10:29. > :10:33.on New Year's Day of the holiday island of Phuket. On January 2nd,
:10:33. > :10:36.the women and children were brought onshore. The local journalist
:10:36. > :10:42.caught the moment when they were driven north towards the land
:10:42. > :10:46.border with Burma. It was announced they were being deported. The
:10:46. > :10:51.tracks did not make it as far as the border crossing. A deal had
:10:51. > :10:59.been struck by corrupt Thailand officials to sell them to people
:10:59. > :11:03.smugglers. A source very close to that deal told me that 1.5 million,
:11:03. > :11:08.or about 50,000 US dollars was transferred from a broker in
:11:08. > :11:12.Malaysia and paid to Thailand officials. In returned the 73
:11:12. > :11:18.Muslims were sent back out to sea, some were very close to here. But
:11:18. > :11:23.they were now in the custody of people smugglers. We took our
:11:24. > :11:30.information to the foreign ministry. We asked for a response. These are
:11:30. > :11:36.serious allegations. Investigations have to be undertaken. We cannot
:11:36. > :11:42.conclude at the moment who these perpetrators are. We are determined
:11:43. > :11:47.to get to the bottom of the problem. At the same time, Thailand's
:11:47. > :11:52.government is doing his best to take care of these people on the
:11:52. > :11:57.basis of humanitarian principles. With the sea conditions favourable,
:11:57. > :12:06.boats now arrive on Thailand's coast almost every day. Many are
:12:06. > :12:11.simply relieved to have survived The police take the 88 people on
:12:11. > :12:16.the boat away while a decision is made on their future. Burma has
:12:16. > :12:20.rejected them and the Thai people are keen that they can't stay.
:12:20. > :12:28.Homeless and without friends, it is only the traffickers who seem to
:12:28. > :12:31.want them. 2013 looks set to see a
:12:31. > :12:36.continuation of the economic hardship that has gripped Europe
:12:36. > :12:41.for the past few years. Across the Continent, people are coming to
:12:41. > :12:45.terms with the prospect of living with years of austerity. Our
:12:45. > :12:53.correspondent has been to Germany to meet the migrant workers leaving
:12:53. > :12:58.behind their old lives in hard hit southern Europe.
:12:58. > :13:07.They flew in from the sunny skies of Spain to the cold damper of a
:13:07. > :13:12.German Wynter. This is Europe's great migration. Today, five more
:13:12. > :13:19.nurses. All of them have jobs lined up here and all of them are going
:13:19. > :13:25.to have to learn German fast. Why have you come here? Because I think
:13:25. > :13:31.that it's a good job and a good opportunity to start working here.
:13:31. > :13:35.Is this a new life for you? Yes, and new life. All they have brought
:13:35. > :13:40.from their old lives is squeezed into a suitcase or two and none of
:13:40. > :13:46.them has a return ticket. How difficult was it to leave Spain?
:13:46. > :13:53.have my girlfriend there. I left this morning and this is hard for
:13:53. > :13:59.me. My parents, my grandfather is old. I don't know if I am going to
:13:59. > :14:03.see her another time. This is very hard. Every day, more and more a
:14:03. > :14:07.ride from southern Europe. But unlike previous waves of
:14:07. > :14:12.immigration, this one involves highly skilled and highly educated
:14:12. > :14:16.and motivated individuals, who are simply desperate for work. And
:14:16. > :14:23.Germany is desperate for them. There is an ageing population here
:14:23. > :14:27.and they want educated workers to come. But for those who do, it is
:14:27. > :14:32.still back to school. These are Spanish engineers with six hours a
:14:32. > :14:41.day of intensive German learning. And it is not just the young.
:14:41. > :14:47.need a lot of time, a lot of effort and it is really difficult to learn
:14:47. > :14:51.German. Difficult even when you can speak some. This man is an IT
:14:51. > :14:56.specialist and he lost his job because of the Spanish crisis. Now
:14:56. > :15:02.he wakes each day at 4am to deliver Germany it spread. This is not the
:15:02. > :15:10.life he imagined. -- eats bread. TRANSLATION: After three months, if
:15:10. > :15:14.you don't have the job, you have to decide whether to stay or get
:15:14. > :15:17.another job. There will be many more like him. European
:15:18. > :15:25.unemployment is still rising and the educated jobless will travel
:15:25. > :15:31.wherever they can to build a future. In these austere economic times,
:15:31. > :15:35.finding work is of course vital for many of us. But what we do with our
:15:35. > :15:39.free time is also changing. We have heard about the growing number of
:15:39. > :15:43.women playing computer games in their leisure time and now we see
:15:43. > :15:49.all the people getting immersed in the virtual world. It seems that
:15:49. > :15:59.for many over 65 sq, games are not just a hobby, they are a way of
:15:59. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:09.staying alert. -- 65s. There is somebody! With age comes experience.
:16:09. > :16:16.In this case, video game experience. I played this once in 94 and we had
:16:16. > :16:22.a hilarious time. -- with my friend who is 94. This woman has been
:16:22. > :16:27.playing video games for 40 years. What do you enjoy about it now?
:16:27. > :16:35.Finding something new in the game. Getting on to the next stage or the
:16:35. > :16:41.next event or whatever. And then the achievement of finishing it.
:16:41. > :16:48.you think it actually keeps you active mentally? Definitely.
:16:48. > :16:53.Because a lot of them, as well as adventures and fighting, they are
:16:53. > :16:58.puzzles. Working out how to do something and when to do it. Today,
:16:58. > :17:07.she plays on this giant 65 inch screen, mainly to help with her
:17:07. > :17:14.eyesight. A far cry from this. In the 1970s, this became the first
:17:14. > :17:23.mainstream video game. In the 90s, we saw the rise of Super Mario. It
:17:23. > :17:28.transcended age with its design and format. And indeed naughties, it
:17:28. > :17:38.was extreme sport that proved to be very popular with older generations,
:17:38. > :17:40.
:17:40. > :17:46.helping with physical agility. Blitz game Studios, one of the
:17:46. > :17:55.largest independent video game games for Talbot and smartphones
:17:55. > :17:59.with the mass market appeal. It is not just a very small market. We
:17:59. > :18:03.aim between 6-7 year-olds to 12- year-olds. Now the market is huge
:18:03. > :18:09.and there is no reason why middle aged women or all the people might
:18:09. > :18:17.not want to play these new video games. -- all the people. We are
:18:17. > :18:21.demons now. She also plays puzzles on her iPad and now enjoys games
:18:21. > :18:29.that are less fast-paced. But don't be fooled. After some serious
:18:29. > :18:34.playing time, she has still got game. There we are. That's it.
:18:34. > :18:39.Cuba is of course renowned for its rich and vibrant culture. Popular
:18:39. > :18:44.the world over. Now, there is a new trend that borrows from British
:18:44. > :18:48.culture. The red, white and blue of the British flag is all the rage in
:18:48. > :18:52.Cuba and is being sported by young student of VicRoads, fingernails
:18:52. > :18:57.and has even been spotted as tattoos. For some it is just a
:18:57. > :19:03.fashion symbol but others believe it began with the London Olympics.
:19:03. > :19:13.Our correspondent took a trip to find out more.
:19:13. > :19:23.This is Havana. Full of symbols and signs. The Cuban flag,
:19:23. > :19:24.
:19:24. > :19:34.revolutionary slogans. But all of a sudden, a new image has hit the
:19:34. > :19:36.
:19:36. > :19:42.TRANSLATION: The British flag was introduced to Cuba a few months
:19:42. > :19:48.back and everybody is wearing it now on T-shirts, shorts, bags. We
:19:48. > :19:52.have even got trainers that light up. This flag is now absolutely
:19:52. > :19:56.everywhere. Young Cubans are wearing it on their tops, trousers,
:19:56. > :20:01.belts and shoes. I have even seen young boys with the British flag
:20:01. > :20:05.shaved into the back of their heads. The union jack is very hot in
:20:05. > :20:11.Havana. What is it all about? I thought the man who could help me
:20:11. > :20:16.find out is the British ambassador, whose car is one of the trendiest
:20:16. > :20:26.in town. Hundreds. Every day you drive around and the little bags
:20:26. > :20:35.are very popular. All the guys have these little bags. Caps as well.
:20:35. > :20:38.You are saying they are very cool because of the Olympic Games. I
:20:38. > :20:42.asked what he knows about England and he says it's a beautiful
:20:42. > :20:46.country, the people are great, the women are beautiful but he says he
:20:46. > :20:55.does not know a lot more about it than that and he needs some money
:20:55. > :21:00.to get there. When the Olympics was in London, it left an impression on
:21:00. > :21:03.Cuba. The fashion is not just for clothes. This is one of many male
:21:03. > :21:13.bars there are in old Havana. Have a guess what they are painting in
:21:13. > :21:15.
:21:15. > :21:18.here. -- nail bars. I thought I'd get with the fashion. They say they
:21:18. > :21:28.get up to 15 clients a day asking for the union jack.
:21:28. > :21:36.