22/02/2014 Reporters

collapse. Now on BBC News, Reporters.

Welcome. From here, we send our correspondence to give you the best

stories from across the globe. This week, the journalists branded part

of it is held by the Egyptian authorities. We report on a court

case C Net crackdown on freedom of speech.

-- seen as a crackdown. Behind these walls, the three men are sharing a

cell. They are allowed to exercise for one hour a day. Central

Africa's Muslims under siege. Andrew Harding reports on the villagers

torn apart by revenge attacks by Chris -- Christian militias. This

was quite a big village. More than 6000 people. Now, this is all that's

left. As California suffers its worst drought in a century, we

question why farmers are effectively transporting billions of gallons of

water. Rio's mean streets. We report on

whether Brazil's pacification programme will make it safer.

And forget robo humans, we investigate how the future world of

work robots might be much smaller scale.

This has been a complete mystery, as to how a creature with a brain the

size of a pinhead can process that information.

It is the case campaigners say is symbolic of the Egyptian authorities

sweeping crackdown on freedom of speech. Three Al Jazeera journalist

went on trial this week, accused of broadcasting false news in joining

or assisting the Muslim Brotherhood, class as a terrorist group in

Egypt. They say they were doing their job. The three include an

award-winning Australian journalists. They are being held in

one of Egypt's most notorious prisons and many believe the prison

and is a message to all journalists to toe the government line.

A heavy media turnout to cover the media on trial. The venue, the high

security prison column -- complex where the journalists have been held

for two months. Relatives came to show support, including the brother

of the Australian correspondent Pete Greste. Mentally he is strong.

Obviously he is prepared for a long haul. He actually warned yesterday

that they aren't out until they are out and, until that occurs, they are

holding out well. Entry was strictly controlled and we were not allowed

to bring our cameras in. Many believe freedom of speech in each of

these also on trial here. Inside, the three journalists, Mohamed Adel

Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste, appeared in metal cages. Al

Jazeera insists they were just doing their jobs and telling all sides of

the story. The journalist deny allegations of aiding or joining the

now banned Muslim Brotherhood. During a break in the trial, the Al

Jazeera journalist gave us a gripping account of their conditions

in prison. They said they are locked up for 23 hours a day, denied access

to newspapers, TV and writing materials. They say they haven't

been given a chance to properly prepare a defence. They hadn't seen

the evidence against them. Today in court, there was no translator for

Peter Greste. Senior officials say the Al Jazeera team will get a fair

trial and, as long as journalists abide by the law, they won't wind up

in the dock. In Egypt we have more than 1000 correspondence,

representing more than 200 agencies and media. -- correspondents. None

of them have been exposed to that because the abide by the law.

Several other defendants appeared in court, complaining of being kicked,

beaten and tortured in custody. One said he was only told about the

trial how was before it began. The case was adjourned until March the

5th. An exodus of Muslims from villages

in the Central African Republic is under way. They are fleeing to

neighbouring Chad and seeking refuge from attacks by a Christian militia

known as the antiblack. The militias say they are taking revenge for

atrocities against their communities by Muslim militants.

-- anti-balaka. The vigilantes have just left the village. Now it is

time for the Muslims to bury the dead.

They are weeping for the local mayor, killed during the night along

with his son and another boy. This man is overwhelmed. And there was

his over brother and a rare voice of tolerance in a nation consumed by

rage. -- older. He had held the job for 14 years. But he died here, tied

up, shot and hacked to death aside his son, outside the mosque. All but

a handful of local is have now fled into the bush. We are scared, he

says. Where are the French to protect us? We have been abandoned.

This was quite a big village, about 6000 people. Now, these are all that

are left. Less than 100. What they desperately asking for is some

international peacekeepers to come and stay here and insure that they

are safe. -- ensure. French troops are beginning to push into the

countryside and reinforcements are coming but not fast enough to

protect every was the community now under siege. As for the killers, we

found these men close by. Members of the Christian militia group known as

the anti-balaka. They are high on drugs and delighted about their's

death but they say it wasn't their work. TRANSLATION: It's good he

died. He was a Muslim. We don't want any of them to remain in this

country, even if he was a good man. He was a Muslim. No surprise then

that there are scenes like this. A crowd of Muslims scrambling for food

at a military airport. They have been waiting for weeks, for a plane

abroad. The roads are still too dangerous. They are hungry and

desperate. Some talk of a lawn war to come. -- lawn war. A Muslims will

seize back half of the country. For now, they want to get out.

California is suffering its worst drought for this entry. While many

farmers are unable to get the water they need, one crop, with voracious

thirst, is booming. It is called alfalfa, a form of hay being sold in

bulk to China. But because it needs so much water, people say it is like

exporting many billions of water from California every year. Alistair

Leithead went to meet the farmers who are making hay while the sun

shines. The reservoirs of California have

been turning to dust. After the driest year on record, the state is

suffering an historic drought. This drought has a far reaching impact.

He would have green grass here on the hillside, anywhere from four to

eight inches tall. So, he has to buy hey, forcing him to sell one fifth

of the herd. But in another part of California, the fields are a wash

with Colorado river water. Farmers here make a wildly year-round sun

shines. It is alfalfa. A low value and thirsty crop for animals.

Increasingly a moneymaking export. The fastest growing market is China.

The alfalfa hay is compressed into smaller bales. Wrapped for

transport. And loaded into containers. America's trade with

China means many of these come back empty, and filling them with Hague

makes them cheaper to move alfalfa to Beijing that a neighbouring

valley. -- with hay. Critics say it is like exporting water. We look at

how much water is being exported through alfalfa, what you see is

about 100 William Gallas of water per year, just from California. --

billion gallons. It is a huge amount. Enough for about 1 million

families, one years supply. They have always used flood irrigation

here, where there's no real incentive to conserve water. This

man does what he can but he says the exporting water argument is

nonsense. He makes profit and sees this as the best use of his water.

The cities use 70% of their water to irrigate the golf courses. If you

talk about inefficiencies, is it more efficient to use water for a

golf course? For the movie stars? Or more efficient for 120 farmers to

grow crops and exported and create this mass economic engine that

drives the country? In a land where there is little, cattle farmers

disagree. John objects to the cost of pay. That's nothing compared to

the resentment we feel when Hague is exported overseas. -- hay. It could

be here and utilised. We need to start thinking about other things,

other than making a dollar. But money does persuade people to save

water. In LA, there is a subsidy to replace thirsty lawns with desert

plants. It helps but urban areas can do a lot more. This is the Los

Angeles River. Essentially just a big drainage canal. When it rains,

this fills up with water, which flows right out to the sea. Tel 40

has to balance the demands of urban users, the environment and

agriculture. -- California has to balance. Many people are questioning

the sustainability of the place is a wash with water doing well out of

exports. It is a global market but water is a finite resource and they

would like to keep it flowing here. If you like your football, you will

know its just five months to go until Brazil host the World Cup and

security is still a big issue for the authorities. Until recently,

most of Rio 's shanty towns where a no go area for most people but a

much-publicised pacification campaign has changed that. Some

people may find images from this report disturbing. They call this

the jungle. It's just a stones throw from the city 's famous Copacabana

beach. Until recently, most of Rio 's shanty towns were no-go areas for

the police. But a much-publicised pacification programme of putting

permanent police here has not been universally welcomed and shootouts

are common. Even here, the favelas have never been properly pacified.

It's not easy. The graffiti here says no entry to the police and over

here, it says death to the police. Armed drugs gangs are still in power

here and in recent months, tensions between them and the police have

come to the surface. The local police commander says that after the

local death of a senior gang member, he and his men became

targets. TRANSLATION: Many people associated with the gangs blame us

when somebody dies. The reality is they are the ones trying to kill us.

Violent crime is again on the rise in some parts of Brazil. The number

of guns and the extremes of wealth and poverty result in some shocking

and brazen attacks, like this recent bike jacking in Sao Paulo. As the

video runs on, the assailant is shot by an off duty policeman,

highlighting another problem, that of summary justice and vigilantism.

In another part of the city, Douglas 's parents show me the spot where

their unarmed 17-year-old son was shot dead from a passing police

car. TRANSLATION: As he lay there, he kept on asking, why me? Whiny?

The police say they only shoot to kill if their own lives are in

jeopardy but at least five people died every day last year at the

hands of police in Brazil. Not the sign of a mature developed society,

says one senior prosecutor. We need to grow like a nation. We need to

grow like our economy. We need to grow our society. We don't get to

this with the kind of violence we have today. With the world 's focus

on Brazil, the immediate response has been to flood the beaches and

tourist spots with armed police. It might provide security for the World

Cup but this country has more substantial issues with violence to

overcome. As Rio prepares for the World Cup,

the Winter Olympics in Sochi come to a close this weekend and the race is

already on to see who will be hosting the Winter Olympics in

2022. China, which hosted the summer games in 2008, is hoping that its

joint bid between one northern city and the capital city of Beijing will

bring it Winter Olympics glory. Eight years from now, China wants

these mountains to be hosting an Olympic Games. It hopes it will

inspire a new generation of competitors in a country not known

for its winter sport. But the bid faces an uphill battle. We will just

carry out a small experiment. It normally takes two minutes for the

men to finish a downhill ski event. Let's see how long it takes me to

ski down the slope. By my reckoning, I did that in under two minutes and

what you have to remember is that professional skiers will probably do

it up to three times quicker than I can. If you want to hold a downhill

event, you will probably have to find a bigger hill. On the slopes,

there is no shortage of enthusiasm For the bid. This woman says it

would be wonderful to watch the Olympics on her doorstep. This boy

says that if the bid is successful, he will come here every day. This

may look like a winter wonderland but this is only the second time it

has snowed this winter. All of this is artificially made. Look at the

surrounding hills and they are almost completely bare. It begs the

question, can you host a Winter Olympics without any real snow? The

resort 's PR manager says it won't be a problem. It's cold enough here,

she says. We will just use artificial snow like in Sochi. 200

kilometres away from the mountains is Beijing. If the bid is

successful, the capital will host the ice in events such as skating.

That does not include cycling on ice. Over the past few days,

pollution has hit hazardous levels. While Beijing cleaned up for the

Summer Olympics, in the winter time, the pollution is worse, making it a

much more difficult job. China has shown it can host a spectacular

Summer Olympics but many see the bid for the Winter Games as something of

a longshot. Now, for anyone who has been

anticipating a future often seen in science fiction movies, with robots

looking like us, you could be waiting for a while. Scientists say

the next generation of robots will be much less lighthouse and more

like smaller creatures fish and aunts. -- like us and more like

smaller creatures like fish and insects. In the 1950s, this is how

we imagined robots would be like in the future. 60 years on, this is how

they have turned out. It looks like a toy car, but actually, it's an

intelligent robot that can see and learn. It's navigating its way

through this obstacle course all on its own. This is the ant they are

based on. Research teams sent several weeks studying it in Spain

and based on what they learned, this is what they made, a robot that can

make its way through rough terrain. This is an ounce 's eye view of the

world. As you can see, the picture is coarse and simplified. Even so,

it is an awful lot of visual data and it has been a complete mystery

as to how a creature with a brain the size of a pinhead can process

that amount of information. You imagine these robots as ranges that

can go out and monitor changes in pollution levels, for example, and

that are autonomous and indeed can actually learn as they are out there

and change their behaviour according to what they are encountering. The

problem with building humanoid robots is that they are too

complicated. Better to focus on something more simple like fish. The

inspiration is a group of organisms, a group of fish, that live in the

rivers of the Amazon. Those rivers are very murky and as a result, they

have had to evolve a different way of sensing and that is electro

sensing. This is the robot fish. A camera on it shows how it avoids the

coloured obstacles. It's using electric fields to build up a

picture, rather like radar. In murky waters, it can be used to assess

damage in oil spills. It's too dangerous for divers and cameras

cannot see. These robots are based on termites, working together to

build a nest. And here is one based on a grasshopper. It seems that

increasingly, robot builders are drawing their inspiration from the

animal kingdom. If you have ever tried to build a robot yourself, you

cannot help but be amazed when you look at a simple animal and how well

it interacts with the world, how many competencies it has, how

robust, low powered and adaptable it is. There is a lot we can learn. No

robot servants to look after us in the foreseeable future. Some might

say thank goodness for that. That is it from Reporters for this

week. Goodbye for now. Wind and rain feature in the

forecast for the next 24 hours. Heavy rain across Northern Ireland,

western Scotland and northern parts of England and Wales. Certainly over

the higher ground of Western England and Wales, it will be