:00:00. > :00:00.dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom.
:00:07. > :00:22.You can't argue with that, can you? Now on BBC News, it's time for
:00:23. > :00:28.Reporters. Welcome to reporters, I am Philippa Thomas. From here, in
:00:29. > :00:31.the world 's newsroom, we send out correspondence to bring you the best
:00:32. > :00:36.stories from across the globe. In this week's programme, battling the
:00:37. > :00:39.traffickers. Reporting from the Amazon on Colombia 's new weapon
:00:40. > :00:45.against the rebels and the drugs trade. These combat hovercraft have
:00:46. > :00:51.been brought from Southampton to the jungle. They will give them a
:00:52. > :00:57.crucial advantage in chasing drug smugglers and insurgents. As South
:00:58. > :01:01.Africa votes, we ask whether the Oscar Pistorius trial demonstrates a
:01:02. > :01:08.different rule for black and white South Africans. While rich white
:01:09. > :01:15.people are more fearful of crimes, the bulk of victims are poor and
:01:16. > :01:20.black. After the Typhoon, our correspondent returns to the scene
:01:21. > :01:26.of the biggest typhoon ever to deal with the disaster six months on. And
:01:27. > :01:35.the question of faith, we visit the mosque which is also a Catholic
:01:36. > :01:39.cathedral. There is a new weapon in the war against Colombia's rebels
:01:40. > :01:43.and drug traffickers. The authorities have begun deploying
:01:44. > :01:48.combat hovercraft in some of Colombia's most troubled provinces.
:01:49. > :01:54.Talks have been taking place between the Colombian government and the
:01:55. > :01:59.main rebel group about ending rebel involvement in the drugs trade, but
:02:00. > :02:04.fighting goes on, with no ceasefire yet in place. Our correspondent has
:02:05. > :02:09.been to these remote settlement with the navy, as it tries to tackle the
:02:10. > :02:13.traffickers. Deep in the jungle of southern Colombia, there is
:02:14. > :02:22.something new on the river. Our vast, heavily armed group which can
:02:23. > :02:26.reach places others can't get to. I have been given a first look as they
:02:27. > :02:30.go into action. These British built combat have a craft have been
:02:31. > :02:35.brought from Southampton to the Amazon jungle, and the navy is
:02:36. > :02:39.hoping it will give them a crucial advantage in chasing drug smugglers
:02:40. > :02:46.and insurgents here in the heart of the industry. Each hovercraft can
:02:47. > :02:52.carry 14 marines and crew. We watch them practice and assault on a mock
:02:53. > :03:01.camp. In this part of Colombia, they operate in areas where much of the
:03:02. > :03:05.jungle is infiltrated by rebels. Both sides in this conflict have
:03:06. > :03:09.committed human rights abuses. There have been allegations of corruption
:03:10. > :03:13.in the military, and even collusion with drug traffickers. Without a
:03:14. > :03:18.ceasefire, the war continues. TRANSLATION: These hovercraft are
:03:19. > :03:27.going to change the whole dynamics of the war. Because up until now, we
:03:28. > :03:31.have only been able to operate half the year. October to January, we
:03:32. > :03:33.can't move, because the river levels drop so far that our boats hit the
:03:34. > :03:45.rocks. At these hovercraft don't need high water, so we can cut off
:03:46. > :03:52.their supply lines. TRANSLATION: I spoke to a pilot and asked how many
:03:53. > :03:57.troops they can carry and what it is like to drive one on one of these
:03:58. > :04:02.rivers. The maximum speed is 35 knots. It can carry six crew members
:04:03. > :04:13.and eight combat troops. It is very exciting. The hull lift above the
:04:14. > :04:19.surface. You can go at incredible speeds. Three months ago, the pilots
:04:20. > :04:24.had never seen a hovercraft in their lives, nor had anyone else here. We
:04:25. > :04:30.are going up the river with people watching us. When we stop on a
:04:31. > :04:33.sandbank and deflate, the people are astonished because it is something
:04:34. > :04:39.new. They have never seen anything like it. The pilot has a nickname
:04:40. > :04:47.for the craft. Does he think of it as a he or she? for me, it's my
:04:48. > :04:53.girl. I care for her very well because she is my new toy. I flew
:04:54. > :04:58.west with the military to see one of their forward bases. Right on the
:04:59. > :05:05.border with Ecuador, where they are facing the deadly scourge. Mines.
:05:06. > :05:11.This was a controlled explosion, but the marines have had to create
:05:12. > :05:16.dozens here, they are deployed to protect illegal crops. Peace talks
:05:17. > :05:20.are under way, but there is no ceasefire. And if the deal is
:05:21. > :05:26.signed, will that mean an end to Colombia's drug problem? We have to
:05:27. > :05:31.be realistic. We should expect, as we have seen in the past, that some
:05:32. > :05:36.crimes, and some criminal gangs, may pop up and appear in some areas,
:05:37. > :05:42.trying to keep up their activities. Back in town, I asked the Colombia
:05:43. > :05:47.is if they had felt the effects of the violence. The whole culture has
:05:48. > :05:54.grown up around the security problem. It is easy to get a gun and
:05:55. > :05:58.use it. in town, I feel fine, but outside, the security situation is
:05:59. > :06:02.terrible. The new hovercraft are unlikely to change that overnight.
:06:03. > :06:05.But they will add to the mounting pressure on insurgents and drug
:06:06. > :06:14.traffickers to end the violence which has plagued Colombia for so
:06:15. > :06:19.long. This week, South Africans went to the polls in the first vote since
:06:20. > :06:22.the death of Nelson Mandela. Security has been a major election
:06:23. > :06:27.issue for those who face everyday violence and sky high crime rates.
:06:28. > :06:32.The Oscar Pistorius trial has brought forward some uncomfortable
:06:33. > :06:34.truths about matters like domestic violence and people arming
:06:35. > :06:38.themselves in self`defence because they lack confidence in that police.
:06:39. > :06:43.As our correspondent reports from South Africa, few voters believe
:06:44. > :06:50.that the law applies equally to everyone. Johannesburg Metro police
:06:51. > :06:56.have arrested four Zimbabwean man... Police are bracing themselves
:06:57. > :07:02.for more violent clashes tonight. Violence, gun crime, people living
:07:03. > :07:06.in constant fear. The Oscar Pistorius trial is forcing South
:07:07. > :07:23.Africa to confront some uncomfortable truths. I fear my
:07:24. > :07:30.children being harmed. My daughter being raped, my granddaughter being
:07:31. > :07:35.raped. It is something that happens in this country. In my children's
:07:36. > :07:42.life. I am all that is there for my children, other than their uncles
:07:43. > :07:48.and aunts. But I have raised them on my own for 16 years. And I am the
:07:49. > :07:55.only person who can really take care of them. So I need self defence.
:07:56. > :07:59.Many South Africans resort to buying firearms to defend themselves
:08:00. > :08:05.against would`be us. People like Sharleen, who is here to get her
:08:06. > :08:09.down licence, have lost confidence in the police. As a woman, it is not
:08:10. > :08:15.that easy to defend myself. Especially when most of the crime is
:08:16. > :08:20.gang related. It is more than one person attack in you. So if you are
:08:21. > :08:24.proficient in weapon use and confident in it, then you will be
:08:25. > :08:30.able to take care of yourself and your family. 45 people are murdered
:08:31. > :08:37.here everyday. The numbers are down but compared to other countries,
:08:38. > :08:41.still high. The Oscar Pistorius trial and white crime in general
:08:42. > :08:47.grabs headlines, but the truth is that why people are less likely to
:08:48. > :08:49.be attacked now in the new South Africa than under apartheid. So
:08:50. > :08:54.while rich whites are more fearful of crime, the reality is that the
:08:55. > :08:58.bulk of victims are poor and black. In this township, one of the most
:08:59. > :09:02.dangerous in the country, there is a feeling that the Justice system does
:09:03. > :09:06.not work for ordinary people. The trial has raised concerns about
:09:07. > :09:11.crime and safety in our society, what do you think about that? I
:09:12. > :09:16.think in the last few months, someone was killed there. The police
:09:17. > :09:25.station is two streets away from us. But their response was that we
:09:26. > :09:31.are not safe. We don't trust our own crops. We live in fear in our own
:09:32. > :09:35.homes. That's how it is. If I had shot my girlfriend I would be in
:09:36. > :09:40.jail right now. Right now. With all my money and everything, I would
:09:41. > :09:45.still be in jail. First degree murder. The only person ever to have
:09:46. > :09:56.got bail for first degree murder. Back at home on the out skirts of
:09:57. > :10:00.Johannesburg. The family has had to make its own security arrangements,
:10:01. > :10:12.at night her daughter organises the local neighbourhood watch. The
:10:13. > :10:18.Internet is full of Oscar and writings on Oscar. It is unfair that
:10:19. > :10:21.him as a known person and a celebrity, someone who people looked
:10:22. > :10:26.up to, is getting all of this kind of attention. Whereas I had a break
:10:27. > :10:31.in in my house, although not much was taken. It was a small case, I
:10:32. > :10:40.understand. At the case was not even opened. So you obviously have the
:10:41. > :10:46.feelings of self blame, why did I stay that long? You need to go back
:10:47. > :10:53.and look at this issue. At the Oscar Pistorius case has forced South
:10:54. > :10:59.Africa to face up to its problems of domestic violence. I don't know what
:11:00. > :11:04.exactly he hit me with. I was trying to defend myself. We were fighting.
:11:05. > :11:10.Every eight hours a woman is murdered by her intimate partner.
:11:11. > :11:17.While I was lying there on the bed in the hospital, there was a big
:11:18. > :11:23.light on my face. Then the decision came to me that I am going to die in
:11:24. > :11:28.this house. I am really going to die if I don't move out. Because I had
:11:29. > :11:35.been advised to move out. And then I decided on the hospital bed that I
:11:36. > :11:44.am moving out. I didn't have a place to go. And the fear disappeared. On
:11:45. > :11:47.that bed. She sought refuge in this orphanage. She became homeless
:11:48. > :11:52.following the divorce from her abusive husband. What is it about
:11:53. > :11:59.South African women that makes them feel so trapped, that they cannot
:12:00. > :12:05.leave these abusive husbands and partners? Most of these women are
:12:06. > :12:10.controlled by culture. They get married to make their parents proud.
:12:11. > :12:15.And some of the choices that... We do have knowledge. We get married
:12:16. > :12:21.without knowing what your rights are. It's not about you, it's all
:12:22. > :12:27.about a man. Because they say, you don't ask him where he comes from,
:12:28. > :12:31.his word is final. For many in South Africa, the Oscar Pistorius case is
:12:32. > :12:37.a distraction from fundamental problems facing the country. A lot
:12:38. > :12:40.of families are going through the same thing as these families, and
:12:41. > :12:44.they don't get the same treatment, their trials don't get televised.
:12:45. > :12:47.They don't get nearly the same scrutiny as he is. And I don't
:12:48. > :12:52.really think it's there. Oscar Pistorius, and that is all that
:12:53. > :12:56.really matters about this trial. Not the justice system working. It is
:12:57. > :13:04.working now, one rich man and one beautiful girl. It's working now.
:13:05. > :13:06.Who else is it going to work for? The case has brought renewed
:13:07. > :13:11.attention to South Africa's problems. But there is a frustration
:13:12. > :13:19.that politicians lack the will and the ability to deliver real change.
:13:20. > :13:23.It was the biggest`ever to strike land at. Six months ago it hit the
:13:24. > :13:31.south`east of the Philippines, with a four metre high storm surge. More
:13:32. > :13:35.than 6000 people died. Our reporter was one of the first foreign to
:13:36. > :13:38.arrive on the scene and he has gone back to find out how people are
:13:39. > :13:45.dealing with the aftermath of the disaster.
:13:46. > :13:51.On the Beach, south of the city, they have come to remember Francisco
:13:52. > :14:00.Cruise and his two sons. His widow lost them all when the huge wave
:14:01. > :14:05.smashed into their house. Today would have been her son's 31st
:14:06. > :14:12.birthday. It is really painful. I cannot describe the pain.
:14:13. > :14:20.Sometimes, I wake up early in the morning and I pray and I thank God
:14:21. > :14:29.she left my daughter with me. I cannot stand on my own without
:14:30. > :14:32.them. Six months after the typhoon ripped this city apart, I have come
:14:33. > :14:42.back to see what has happened and try to find some of those that
:14:43. > :14:53.remain. Hello? Hello! How you? How are you? This is what it looked like
:14:54. > :14:59.the last time I was here. His wife's body was stuck. Close by, a mass
:15:00. > :15:08.grave was being filled with dozens of bodies. This region is clearly
:15:09. > :15:15.still struggling. I try not to bring back the memory because it is very
:15:16. > :15:25.painful. I just forget. Just move forward. I just try to avoid going
:15:26. > :15:33.to the grave because when I go there, I weep. It is tough to
:15:34. > :15:39.remember her again. I don't know what will happen. What is really
:15:40. > :15:44.striking, coming back year after six months, is seeing how hard it is for
:15:45. > :15:48.people in a developing country like the Philippines to recover after a
:15:49. > :15:53.major disaster like this. Unlike in Britain or America, people he had no
:15:54. > :15:57.insurance so they lost their homes, their cars, their fishing boats, and
:15:58. > :16:03.now they have nothing. They have no means with which to start over
:16:04. > :16:09.again. Getting people back to work and earning money is the key. This
:16:10. > :16:15.scheme is run by Oxfam, with money donated eye people in Britain.
:16:16. > :16:25.20,000 fishing boats were destroyed by the typhoon `` by people in
:16:26. > :16:28.Britain. Wives and widows are being paid to weave new fishing nets. With
:16:29. > :16:35.help, people are slowly getting back on their feet. On our last day, we
:16:36. > :16:45.come across a story almost too painful to tell. It is the story of
:16:46. > :16:51.these people. The wave took away her whole family. She is only six years
:16:52. > :16:57.old. She was grabbed from the raging waters, that in the same moment, he
:16:58. > :17:03.lost his own wife and three children. TRANSLATION: Sometimes,
:17:04. > :17:08.even when I'm drunk I still can't sleep. I see my children's faces
:17:09. > :17:12.calling out to me for help. In my nightmares, they are asking, why
:17:13. > :17:25.wasn't I able to save them? I was able to save others, why not them?
:17:26. > :17:29.Without her parents, she faces a precarious future. Without his wife
:17:30. > :17:39.and children, this man says he has no future.
:17:40. > :17:43.A beacon of religious harmony in Spain has now become the centre of a
:17:44. > :17:47.row over religious freedom. The unique and stunningly beautiful
:17:48. > :17:51.religious building at Cordova is both a mosque and a cathedral. A
:17:52. > :17:57.place where Islamic and Christian symbols sit side`by`side. Now, tens
:17:58. > :18:00.of thousands of people in Spain has signed a petition to stop it
:18:01. > :18:03.becoming the property of the Catholic Church. Our reporter has
:18:04. > :18:36.more from Cordova. Welcome inside an architectural
:18:37. > :18:55.jewel, a forest of pillars where Islamic and Christian building work
:18:56. > :18:59.and symbols sit side`by`side. This is the oldest part of the building.
:19:00. > :19:06.Built as a mosque in the eighth century by the Muslim Moorish rulers
:19:07. > :19:12.who controlled as part of Spain. What makes this building unique is
:19:13. > :19:18.that, bang in the centre is a cathedral, built in the 15th and
:19:19. > :19:28.16th centuries by Spain's catholic kings. Today, Catholics attended
:19:29. > :19:35.Mass here almost every day. No one currently owns the building, but the
:19:36. > :19:42.church manages it and, under law, in two years it is set to become the
:19:43. > :19:45.owner. Now, 330,000 people in an online petition have called on that
:19:46. > :19:54.decision to be blocked and this is why. They are trying to change the
:19:55. > :19:58.name and name it a cathedral, only cathedral. They are erasing the name
:19:59. > :20:05.of mosque everywhere. Physically, inside the mosque is full of virgins
:20:06. > :20:11.and Christian elements, more and more. For us, it is a manipulation
:20:12. > :20:17.of history and memory of the building. The Spanish Catholic
:20:18. > :20:23.Church recognises that this was a mosque, but says, for centuries it
:20:24. > :20:31.has been a cathedral. The church, however, says the accusation that
:20:32. > :20:35.they are trying to destroy the history of this building is unjust.
:20:36. > :20:43.TRANSLATION: It would be impossible to wipe out the history of this
:20:44. > :20:46.building. We don't want to, it symbolises the story of Cordova and
:20:47. > :21:03.Spain. So what do the locals call it? Cathedral or mosque? Mosque.
:21:04. > :21:06.Both. The biggest congregation are the tourists, and away from the
:21:07. > :21:10.controversy, the fact that most people regard this as a mosque and
:21:11. > :21:19.cathedral is a unique selling point. It draws millions of visitors
:21:20. > :21:24.every year. That's all from reporters this week
:21:25. > :21:51.`` Reporters. Goodbye for now. Hello there. Saturday was a wild
:21:52. > :21:58.day, we thought strong gale force winds. Plenty of blustery showers as
:21:59. > :22:04.well and on Sunday it is a mixture of sunshine and showers. Perhaps not
:22:05. > :22:05.as many as what we saw on Saturday. Plenty of