27/01/2013 Reporters

rapidly. Homes in Pembrokeshire and Swansea have already been flooded.

There are 11 warnings in place in England and Wales and more than 170

flood alerts. Now it's time for Reporters.

Welcome to Reporters. We send correspondents across the globe to

bring you the best stories. We go on the trail of a reported massacre

in Syria, the trail of blood in a village where locals say 100 people

were killed in their homes. We go to Mali, mutineers from this army

have defected and switched sides to join the Islamist rebels. Age is

just a number in the virtual world. We find out why many Rory McIlroy

people are getting into computer games. -- older people. We begin in

Syria, the scale of the killing is becoming more and more apparent.

Reports of crimes against humanity could be referred to the ICC. The

UN Security Council is so far split over whether to do so. A BBC team

found evidence of recent killings that took place on the edge of Homs.

Local people say at least 100 people were killed and burned in

their homes. Some viewers may find this report disturbing. The Army

took us in. This village is just around the corner from their base.

As we enter the village, some of the man who survived are on the

street. There is a powerful sense of shock. One woman starts telling

her story as soon as she sees us. They stormed into my house, she

told me. They slapped my face, I fell on the floor. They beat and

stripped me and my daughters. Most of the killings took place in

houses down this hill. The Army say they have taken away the bodies.

They say it is not safe to go further. We persuade them to let us

take another route. In the first house they take us to we see a

charred body. There is a bullet hole in the centre of the forehead.

We spot another house next door. The full horror emerges. There is

blood on the cement and a body is straddling the doorway. One is

rolled in the yard. They are in positions suggesting they were

trying to flee. These people have been shot and burned. The bottle of

fuel is still there. Another grim discovery. A trail of blood from

the kitchen. At least two people seem to have been killed here,

their bodies dragged away. The floor is still littered with a

bullet casings. Around the back, even more bodies. A woman,

completely charred, in her bed. The soldier with us said hundreds of

men came across the fields, he said they were from the Islamist group.

This is a Sunni Muslim village. People worried this is the

beginning of sectarian violence. TRANSLATION: These villagers

support the government. Others gave us the same account in front of the

soldiers who surround us. One person managed to speak to us off

camera. She told us the Army was there that day, some had apologised,

others were acting without orders. That version seems to tally with

what activists say, this was the work of pro-government militia.

Sunday we will know for certain who did this. -- some day. A war crime

happened here. We go to Mali, another country in the midst of a

violent split. French forces in the Mali army have been making gains in

the fight against Islamist rebels in the north of the country. The

BBC watched as French and Mali forces secured key towns which the

Islamists had taken in January. France takes another step deeper

into this conflict. Crossing into rebel-held territory in central

Mali. We have come with them, this town was controlled until last week

by Islamist militants. Some may still be in the area. The French

quickly begin to check the nearby houses. The population seemed

relaxed now. They are keen to show us the wreckage of their week-long

ordeal. Fees are pick up trucks destroyed he tells me by French

helicopters. -- visa. We find a seven more charred vehicles nearby.

They were hit with great precision, French special forces presumably

helping to direct the air strikes. The Islamists chose to attack this

town for a reason. This is it. The Army garrison packed with weapons.

Not as well gardener as you might expect. The rebels, more than 100

of them, took the town in one day. -- guarded. The Islamists have left

now. The French air strikes did their job. Before they fled, they

look to the Arsenal. Right now, the battle is over. Mali's hit-and-run

insurgency may be just beginning. The French insist they are keen to

let Mali's demoralised army to do their share of the fighting.

However, from what we have learned, the Army is part of the problem.

This soldier has agreed to show me why. He he'd in town when the

garrison was overrun. The Islamists came to his home to look for him

and trashed his belongings. Some of the rebels are foreign, but he

knows that others are former colleagues from his own army unit.

Do you know the names of these people? Would you recognise them?

Yes, they defected last year when the rebellion started. When they

came back last week they were Islamists. Another soldier

confirmed the story. Yes, many of our comrades became our enemies.

Now we will hunt them down and tell them all. The threat posed by

foreign Islamists is real here, but the fact that some were members of

the former members of the Mali army, it is a reminder of how many of

this country's problems are home- grown. No simple solutions for

Mali's complex rebellion. Ethnic tensions are part of the problems

in Mali as they are in so many places around the world. Muslims in

Burma's far west have borne the brunt of Inter communal violence.

Thailand officials have been selling boat people to human

traffickers. Thousands have fled to see in the last few months. Many

have been heading east to Thailand. The government says it is taking

the allegation seriously and will investigate. From Thailand, our

correspondent has sent this report. Two months ago Ahmed fled ethnic

violence in Burma. With 60 others he travelled for 13 days on a

flimsy wooden boat across the sea. They were caught by the Thailand

Navy not far from sure. The father of eight thought his ordeal was

over, in fact it had just begun. Officials traded him with human

traffickers who held him in a camp in southern Thailand and demanded

over $1,000 to let him go. The broker said to me we bought it from

the police. If you do not pay you will die here. We do not care. For

more than one month he was held prisoner and badly beaten before he

found the money to buy his freedom. Ahmed is just one of thousands of

Muslims fleeing Burma by sea. He is not the only one to be sold by a

Thailand officials. We looked into the fate of his boat which arrived

on New Year's Day of the holiday island of Phuket. On January 2nd,

the women and children were brought onshore. The local journalist

caught the moment when they were driven north towards the land

border with Burma. It was announced they were being deported. The

tracks did not make it as far as the border crossing. A deal had

been struck by corrupt Thailand officials to sell them to people

smugglers. A source very close to that deal told me that 1.5 million,

or about 50,000 US dollars was transferred from a broker in

Malaysia and paid to Thailand officials. In returned the 73

Muslims were sent back out to sea, some were very close to here. But

they were now in the custody of people smugglers. We took our

information to the foreign ministry. We asked for a response. These are

serious allegations. Investigations have to be undertaken. We cannot

conclude at the moment who these perpetrators are. We are determined

to get to the bottom of the problem. At the same time, Thailand's

government is doing his best to take care of these people on the

basis of humanitarian principles. With the sea conditions favourable,

boats now arrive on Thailand's coast almost every day. Many are

simply relieved to have survived The police take the 88 people on

the boat away while a decision is made on their future. Burma has

rejected them and the Thai people are keen that they can't stay.

Homeless and without friends, it is only the traffickers who seem to

want them. 2013 looks set to see a

continuation of the economic hardship that has gripped Europe

for the past few years. Across the Continent, people are coming to

terms with the prospect of living with years of austerity. Our

correspondent has been to Germany to meet the migrant workers leaving

behind their old lives in hard hit southern Europe.

They flew in from the sunny skies of Spain to the cold damper of a

German Wynter. This is Europe's great migration. Today, five more

nurses. All of them have jobs lined up here and all of them are going

to have to learn German fast. Why have you come here? Because I think

that it's a good job and a good opportunity to start working here.

Is this a new life for you? Yes, and new life. All they have brought

from their old lives is squeezed into a suitcase or two and none of

them has a return ticket. How difficult was it to leave Spain?

have my girlfriend there. I left this morning and this is hard for

me. My parents, my grandfather is old. I don't know if I am going to

see her another time. This is very hard. Every day, more and more a

ride from southern Europe. But unlike previous waves of

immigration, this one involves highly skilled and highly educated

and motivated individuals, who are simply desperate for work. And

Germany is desperate for them. There is an ageing population here

and they want educated workers to come. But for those who do, it is

still back to school. These are Spanish engineers with six hours a

day of intensive German learning. And it is not just the young.

need a lot of time, a lot of effort and it is really difficult to learn

German. Difficult even when you can speak some. This man is an IT

specialist and he lost his job because of the Spanish crisis. Now

he wakes each day at 4am to deliver Germany it spread. This is not the

life he imagined. -- eats bread. TRANSLATION: After three months, if

you don't have the job, you have to decide whether to stay or get

another job. There will be many more like him. European

unemployment is still rising and the educated jobless will travel

wherever they can to build a future. In these austere economic times,

finding work is of course vital for many of us. But what we do with our

free time is also changing. We have heard about the growing number of

women playing computer games in their leisure time and now we see

all the people getting immersed in the virtual world. It seems that

for many over 65 sq, games are not just a hobby, they are a way of

staying alert. -- 65s. There is somebody! With age comes experience.

In this case, video game experience. I played this once in 94 and we had

a hilarious time. -- with my friend who is 94. This woman has been

playing video games for 40 years. What do you enjoy about it now?

Finding something new in the game. Getting on to the next stage or the

next event or whatever. And then the achievement of finishing it.

you think it actually keeps you active mentally? Definitely.

Because a lot of them, as well as adventures and fighting, they are

puzzles. Working out how to do something and when to do it. Today,

she plays on this giant 65 inch screen, mainly to help with her

eyesight. A far cry from this. In the 1970s, this became the first

mainstream video game. In the 90s, we saw the rise of Super Mario. It

transcended age with its design and format. And indeed naughties, it

was extreme sport that proved to be very popular with older generations,

helping with physical agility. Blitz game Studios, one of the

largest independent video game games for Talbot and smartphones

with the mass market appeal. It is not just a very small market. We

aim between 6-7 year-olds to 12- year-olds. Now the market is huge

and there is no reason why middle aged women or all the people might

not want to play these new video games. -- all the people. We are

demons now. She also plays puzzles on her iPad and now enjoys games

that are less fast-paced. But don't be fooled. After some serious

playing time, she has still got game. There we are. That's it.

Cuba is of course renowned for its rich and vibrant culture. Popular

the world over. Now, there is a new trend that borrows from British

culture. The red, white and blue of the British flag is all the rage in

Cuba and is being sported by young student of VicRoads, fingernails

and has even been spotted as tattoos. For some it is just a

fashion symbol but others believe it began with the London Olympics.

Our correspondent took a trip to find out more.

This is Havana. Full of symbols and signs. The Cuban flag,

revolutionary slogans. But all of a sudden, a new image has hit the

TRANSLATION: The British flag was introduced to Cuba a few months

back and everybody is wearing it now on T-shirts, shorts, bags. We

have even got trainers that light up. This flag is now absolutely

everywhere. Young Cubans are wearing it on their tops, trousers,

belts and shoes. I have even seen young boys with the British flag

shaved into the back of their heads. The union jack is very hot in

Havana. What is it all about? I thought the man who could help me

find out is the British ambassador, whose car is one of the trendiest

in town. Hundreds. Every day you drive around and the little bags

are very popular. All the guys have these little bags. Caps as well.

You are saying they are very cool because of the Olympic Games. I

asked what he knows about England and he says it's a beautiful

country, the people are great, the women are beautiful but he says he

does not know a lot more about it than that and he needs some money

to get there. When the Olympics was in London, it left an impression on

Cuba. The fashion is not just for clothes. This is one of many male

bars there are in old Havana. Have a guess what they are painting in

here. -- nail bars. I thought I'd get with the fashion. They say they

get up to 15 clients a day asking for the union jack.