:00:00. > :00:17.France. Now on BBC News, it's time for
:00:18. > :00:22.Reporters. Welcome to Reporters. I'm Tim Wilcox. From here in the world's
:00:23. > :00:25.newsroom, we send our correspondents to bring you the best stories from
:00:26. > :00:27.across the globe. In this week's programme, fighting an invisible
:00:28. > :00:33.killer. Tulip Mazumdar travels to the source of the West African Ebola
:00:34. > :00:35.outbreak that is killing hundreds. A few days ago, health workers
:00:36. > :00:39.couldn't even get into this village, but they have made a breakthrough
:00:40. > :00:42.here today. People are bringing out their sick relatives, and they're
:00:43. > :00:48.agreeing to be checked over for symptoms of Ebola. Back in the USSR.
:00:49. > :00:52.Stephen Sackur visits the enclave in Moldova which wants to be part of
:00:53. > :01:21.Russia. Do you see your future more in Europe or with Russia? The gay
:01:22. > :01:32.cure. Chinese clinics that claim they can eradicate homosexuality.
:01:33. > :01:35.And we get a closer look at a dating website. And the real life Billy
:01:36. > :01:39.Elliot. Rebecca Jones meets the Yorkshire lad turned ballet star.
:01:40. > :01:45.Billy had it a lot harder than I did, to be honest. I didn't go down
:01:46. > :01:49.in a coal mine. It is West Africa's invisible killer. Ebola is one of
:01:50. > :01:52.the world's deadliest diseases. Nine out of ten cases are fatal, and it's
:01:53. > :01:55.spreading. Nearly 700 people have died from the virus. Some airlines
:01:56. > :02:01.have now stopped flights into Liberia and Sierra Leone as concerns
:02:02. > :02:04.grow about the outbreak. But there is hope. Health officials say early
:02:05. > :02:07.diagnosis and treatment is key to survival, and they're travelling to
:02:08. > :02:11.infected areas to teach people how to spot the symptoms of the disease.
:02:12. > :02:14.Tulip Mazumdar went to one of those remote infected areas, Gueckadou in
:02:15. > :02:21.Southeast Guinea. She sent this report.
:02:22. > :02:27.The latest and one of the youngest victims of Ebola. Wrapped in layers
:02:28. > :02:35.of plastic bags is the tiny body of this four`month`old boy. His family
:02:36. > :02:39.are too scared to attend his burial. So he is carefully laid to rest by
:02:40. > :02:41.strangers. The virus spreads through contact with a patient's body
:02:42. > :02:50.fluids, so health workers seal themselves in suits, where
:02:51. > :02:56.temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius. In anonymous grave in the middle of
:02:57. > :03:01.the forest for this little boy. As one victim is buried, another
:03:02. > :03:16.suspected case is driven to a treatment centre. `` an. It's
:03:17. > :03:19.relentless and harrowing work. This woman looked after him in his final
:03:20. > :03:25.moments. TRANSLATION: I was there with him just before he died. I had
:03:26. > :03:31.been feeding him milk. I stepped away for a short break. Then I was
:03:32. > :03:45.called back and he was dead. I was totally devastated. At times I just
:03:46. > :03:52.go outside and cry. In remote villages devastated by Ebola, the
:03:53. > :03:55.fear is everywhere. That fear is helping spread the virus. Some
:03:56. > :04:00.people believe medics are actually bringing Ebola here and harvesting
:04:01. > :04:03.organs from the dead. But after yet another death, community leaders
:04:04. > :04:12.here agreed to hear the truth about Ebola and, crucially, how to stop it
:04:13. > :04:16.spreading. A few days ago, health workers could not even get into this
:04:17. > :04:19.village. But they have made a breakthrough here today. People are
:04:20. > :04:25.bringing in their sick relatives and are agreeing for them to be checked
:04:26. > :04:29.for the symptoms of Ebola. This man convinced his sick mother to get
:04:30. > :04:34.help. She had a high fever and had been vomiting for days. There have
:04:35. > :04:40.been seven deaths in this small village so far, but medics say many
:04:41. > :04:45.more could be infected. Samples from affected villages come to this
:04:46. > :04:57.makeshift diagnostics laboratory. British scientists are among those
:04:58. > :05:00.testing for the virus. When you see a negative case coming through from
:05:01. > :05:05.a patient who was previously positive, it is a celebration
:05:06. > :05:08.because you know they have been treated and they might be released
:05:09. > :05:11.soon. Sometimes you're also seeing patients who are brought in and are
:05:12. > :05:20.very young, and they're testing positive and it's very sad. It's
:05:21. > :05:22.visiting time back at the treatment centre, and 13`year`old Alphonse,
:05:23. > :05:30.himself an Ebola survivor after getting treatment early, has come to
:05:31. > :05:36.see his little sister. It is good news. Initial tests have come back
:05:37. > :05:40.negative. But Ebola is a cruel and indiscriminate virus. Their mother
:05:41. > :05:50.also has the illness and may not survive. As this crisis rages on,
:05:51. > :05:56.there are likely to be many more stories like hers. Infected,
:05:57. > :05:58.isolated and fighting an invisible killer. Tulip Mazumdar, BBC News,
:05:59. > :06:02.Gueckadou. Visitors say it's like being back in
:06:03. > :06:05.the USSR. The hammer and sickle symbol stand high, statues of Soviet
:06:06. > :06:09.heroes stand tall, but this is Europe, far from Russia. We're
:06:10. > :06:12.talking about Transnistria, a breakaway mini`state in Moldova,
:06:13. > :06:14.whose leader wants to follow the path taken by Crimea in Ukraine:
:06:15. > :06:22.integration inside the Russian Federation. It has led to Moldova
:06:23. > :06:25.being caught up in a trial of strength between Russia and the
:06:26. > :06:31.European Union. Stephen Sackur has been given rare access to the
:06:32. > :06:34.pro`Russian enclave. One of the most tense border
:06:35. > :06:40.crossings in all of Europe, yet, it doesn't appear on any map. This is
:06:41. > :06:48.the road into Transnistria, a breakaway mini`state inside Moldova.
:06:49. > :06:51.We were granted rare access to this pro`Russian enclave where the hammer
:06:52. > :07:02.and sickle flies high, Soviet heroes stand tall, and it feels for all the
:07:03. > :07:05.world, like you're back in the USSR. The Transnistrians put on a show of
:07:06. > :07:14.their special forces but they didn't want us to see the 2000 Russian
:07:15. > :07:18.troops permanently stationed here. The Transnistrian economy is a
:07:19. > :07:21.basket case, propped up by Moscow. When it comes to the conflict in
:07:22. > :07:23.neighbouring Ukraine and the showdown between Russia and the
:07:24. > :07:47.West, they have predictable loyalties. Do your see your future
:07:48. > :07:49.more in Europe or with Russia? The leader of Transnistria, Yevgeny
:07:50. > :07:55.Shevchuk, wants to follow the path taken by Crimea. Integration inside
:07:56. > :08:02.the Russian Federation, never mind the fact this is sovereign Moldovan
:08:03. > :08:24.territory. Mr President, do you feel here that your land is Russian?
:08:25. > :08:29.Moldova's capital is just an hours drive west of Transnistria. In
:08:30. > :08:35.Chisinau, they have just celebrated a new partnership deal with the EU.
:08:36. > :08:37.These Moldovans, Romanian speakers, not Russian, see Europe as their
:08:38. > :08:47.path to prosperity but, as in Ukraine, they fear Moscow will
:08:48. > :08:52.intervene. And Russia has already made its first move. Moldova's wine
:08:53. > :08:55.industry has been hit hard by a Russian import ban imposed as
:08:56. > :09:07.punishment for Moldova's cozying up to the EU. The sales at this winery
:09:08. > :09:10.are down by a third. Suddenly, Moldova feels vulnerable. Well, the
:09:11. > :09:13.tragic developments in Ukraine, which is just in our neighbourhood,
:09:14. > :09:18.are is very dangerous for the region and fpr the continent. We see the
:09:19. > :09:21.entire, very fragile security architecture which was in the
:09:22. > :09:33.process of being built and it is now basically destroyed. Moldova's
:09:34. > :09:39.capital has a European vibe but this is still Russia's backyard. It would
:09:40. > :09:43.be easy for Mr Putin to flex his muscle here and as the standoff with
:09:44. > :09:56.the West intensifies, he just might. Stephen Sackur, BBC News, Chisinau.
:09:57. > :09:58.It is more than ten years since the Chinese authorities stopped
:09:59. > :10:01.regarding homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder but some
:10:02. > :10:06.clinics still offer treatment claiming that they can cure Accra to
:10:07. > :10:09.patients. But if a landmark case heard this week succeeds, it would
:10:10. > :10:25.be outlawed. `` gay. Downy gloomy corridor lies proof of
:10:26. > :10:30.the prejudice that lurks at the heart of the Chinese medical
:10:31. > :10:32.professional. China declassified homosexuality as a mental illness
:10:33. > :10:44.well over a decade ago. But, clinics like this one... Are easy to find.
:10:45. > :10:52.This doctor tells me he kills up to 70% of his gay patients, using
:10:53. > :10:57.counselling alone. He can describe the so`called "aversion therapy" ,
:10:58. > :11:02.offered elsewhere. One common method is electric shock, he says, when the
:11:03. > :11:07.patient has a gay thought, we electrocute them. China's gay
:11:08. > :11:11.community has begun to fight back. Being gay is not an illness, this
:11:12. > :11:18.protest banner at a Beijing medical conference reads. But the delegates
:11:19. > :11:23.respond. We cannot support homosexuality, these doctors so,
:11:24. > :11:28.although we do try to understand it. `` doctors say. Now, for the first
:11:29. > :11:33.time, China has allowed gay conversion therapy to be challenged
:11:34. > :11:36.in the courts. TRANSLATION: I had electric shock therapy only once.
:11:37. > :11:41.Imagine those who have had it many times. He put himself through it to
:11:42. > :11:51.gather the evidence, and now wants the courts to ban it. It is a battle
:11:52. > :11:56.that is being fought elsewhere. This video is of a gay pride march in
:11:57. > :12:00.London in 1979. More than 30 years on, the notion of the gay cure in
:12:01. > :12:07.Europe and America has not gone away. The medical consensus in the
:12:08. > :12:12.West today, of course, is that there is no good evidence that sexual
:12:13. > :12:15.orientation can be changed. Some people suggest that attitudes in
:12:16. > :12:23.China have been slower to evolve, because of the one child policy, and
:12:24. > :12:27.the heavy confusion and pressure on people to get married and produce a
:12:28. > :12:34.family here. Attitudes in China are changing fast. Shanghai now holds an
:12:35. > :12:38.annual gay pride event, and `` which is proof of that. The court case, it
:12:39. > :12:45.is hoped, will be a step forward, saying that the enduring medical
:12:46. > :12:49.prejudice has to stop. `` showing. The war in Syria has cost thousands
:12:50. > :12:53.of lives, but is also threatening the country 's heritage. Known as
:12:54. > :12:57.the cradle of civilisation, Syria boasts thousands of historical and
:12:58. > :13:02.religious sites but many have been damaged, some completely destroyed.
:13:03. > :13:08.In a skirt has established an observatory to monitor the state of
:13:09. > :13:10.the cultural heritage and stop the smuggling of artefacts. Our
:13:11. > :13:18.correspondent has been to Aleppo to investigate.
:13:19. > :13:20.This is a castle in Syria, one of the most important preserved
:13:21. > :13:26.mediaeval castles of the world, dating back to the 11th Central. ``
:13:27. > :13:31.11th century. It hasn't been spared the scars of war. The Syrian
:13:32. > :13:35.government has attacked it, as rebels were hiding there. But it is
:13:36. > :13:46.not the only historical site that was under fire. This synagogue dates
:13:47. > :13:51.back to 720 BC, and was destroyed in May by government shelling on the
:13:52. > :13:57.eastern suburb of Damascus. The damages have extended to other
:13:58. > :14:04.cities, like Aleppo. Aleppo is Syria's largest city and has been
:14:05. > :14:08.hugely damaged by the war, and I am standing in one of the main squares
:14:09. > :14:12.here. Over the last two days I have been here, and I've seen a lot of
:14:13. > :14:19.damage across the country. To my left here, there is a mosque that
:14:20. > :14:25.has been hugely damaged, it's a historical site. And just behind me,
:14:26. > :14:33.the old city of Aleppo. The old bazaar was hugely damaged. It is a
:14:34. > :14:38.UNESCO listed city and has paid a high price during the war. Syria 's
:14:39. > :14:43.heritage is not only destroyed, but also stolen, and many pieces may
:14:44. > :14:46.never return. These photos, obtained by the Lebanese director of
:14:47. > :14:53.archaeology, show monuments that have been struggled out of Syria by
:14:54. > :14:56.traffickers, but were luckily found. Authorities in Lebanon have managed
:14:57. > :15:01.to stop many attempts of illicit trafficking of artefacts. We are
:15:02. > :15:09.seizing the objects, with the help of Interpol and the Lebanese forces,
:15:10. > :15:13.and we are investigating whether these objects are archaeological
:15:14. > :15:17.objects of `` or whether they are fake. These books have just been
:15:18. > :15:25.found and being verified. Most artefacts they find are being sent
:15:26. > :15:29.back to Syria. The war in Syria is unlikely to stop any time soon. With
:15:30. > :15:34.the level of human losses mounting every day, the 1000 `year`old
:15:35. > :15:40.heritage could well remain on protectable.
:15:41. > :15:43.`` unprotected. If you use the Internet, you are subject to
:15:44. > :15:51.hundreds of experiments at any given time. That is how dating sites work.
:15:52. > :15:56.So, said the website OkCupid, in the disclosure that it has been catching
:15:57. > :16:01.up users who are unsuitable for one another. It comes after news that
:16:02. > :16:05.Facebook conducted a secret psychology experiment on nearly
:16:06. > :16:10.700,000 users. Stephen Smith put out a lonely hearts ad to find his
:16:11. > :16:17.perfect mismatch. I am not Julie God and dashed Julie
:16:18. > :16:22.garden. She is a hot singer songwriter, he is a dishevelled
:16:23. > :16:27.record executive. `` I am not Julie Garland. Of course, Kira Knightley
:16:28. > :16:44.and Mark Rafer low get it together, in this summer 's wrong com, begin
:16:45. > :16:48.again. `` rom com. `` Mark Ruffalo. What about the rest of us? Some put
:16:49. > :17:00.the details on dating websites like OkCupid. Hi there, what, these old
:17:01. > :17:07.threads? Just some sports casual. Subscribers sign up in good faith,
:17:08. > :17:11.you know the kind of thing. GSOH. All my own teeth, but OkCupid were
:17:12. > :17:16.deliberately setting them up on bad matches, where, on paper at least,
:17:17. > :17:20.they only had 30% compatibility, although they were told by the
:17:21. > :17:34.website it was more like 90% compatibility. Parental advisory, in
:17:35. > :17:39.match with Nikki Minaj. I didn't see that company. I'm worried about
:17:40. > :17:43.their manipulating people 's minds, thoughts and emotions. It is a case
:17:44. > :17:48.of how far they go with these experiments. What seems to be
:17:49. > :17:52.missing to me is the cage. In another of its so`called
:17:53. > :18:01.experiments, OkCupid brand profiles with photos, but no text. Daschle
:18:02. > :18:03.ran. Guess what? People went on looks alone. It was so shallow.
:18:04. > :18:22.OkCupid said the following. This comes after Facebook was
:18:23. > :18:27.accused of being unethical, for trying to influence the emotions of
:18:28. > :18:31.almost 700,000 users, through the newsfeeds that they were exposed
:18:32. > :18:36.to. What we are now dealing with is commercial organisations, for whom
:18:37. > :18:41.they do not have a responsibility to protect their customers, their
:18:42. > :18:45.clients, from harm. Frankly, you've signed your life away as soon as you
:18:46. > :18:50.tick the box and say, I agree to the terms and conditions. The rules are
:18:51. > :19:04.being rewritten. Or, as my date says, maybe you all weird is my
:19:05. > :19:09.normal. `` maybe your weird. Now, do you remember the story of
:19:10. > :19:12.Billy Elliot? The boy from the mean streets of Yorkshire who became a
:19:13. > :19:15.ballet star? Life often imitates art and indeed, Xander Parish, from Hull
:19:16. > :19:17.in Yorkshire has become the first British dancer ever to join the
:19:18. > :19:21.illustrious Mariinsky Ballet in Russia. Now, he is back in the UK
:19:22. > :19:24.and Rebecca Jones has been to meet the real life Billy Elliot.
:19:25. > :19:27.On stage and in the spotlight. Xander Parish is Romeo in Romeo and
:19:28. > :19:44.Juliet, one of the greatest roles in ballet. It was great to see it being
:19:45. > :19:49.brought and made more mainstream. I think Billy had it harder than I
:19:50. > :19:54.did. I didn't have to go down the coal mines! Away from the gilded
:19:55. > :20:00.grandeur of Covent Garden, is the school of dance and theatre in Hull.
:20:01. > :20:12.But, it was here, at the age of eight, that he started dancing.
:20:13. > :20:16.Vanessa Hooper taught him ballet. . She can still picture a small boy
:20:17. > :20:28.arriving for his first lesson 20 years ago. What do you remember? I
:20:29. > :20:32.remember this enthusiastic little boy up running into class with his
:20:33. > :20:34.sister and his black shorts and T`shirt, looking very out of
:20:35. > :20:37.control, rather like Bambi on ice and then, eventually he started to
:20:38. > :20:41.understand the technique and I realised he had these beautiful legs
:20:42. > :20:48.and feet. Now he is in a very different class. From Hull, he
:20:49. > :20:52.joined the Royal Ballet but no`one took much notice of him and he
:20:53. > :20:55.became increasingly frustrated. It took a visit from the Mariinsky
:20:56. > :21:01.Ballet to spot his potential and invite him to join the company in
:21:02. > :21:06.Russia. He remembers arriving in St. Petersburg. It was about three in
:21:07. > :21:09.the afternoon and it was already dark. The plane was coming into the
:21:10. > :21:13.city and all I could see was an orange glow of ice and snow and
:21:14. > :21:19.steam rising off these rather grim looking buildings and I thought, I
:21:20. > :21:23.want to go home right now. But I didn't, I stuck it out and I'm glad
:21:24. > :21:32.because it has been absolutely brilliant. Now he is returning home
:21:33. > :21:34.a star. Quite a journey for the Yorkshire lad turned Russian
:21:35. > :21:40.romantic lead. Rebecca Jones, BBC News.
:21:41. > :22:02.That is all from Reporters for this week. From me, Tim Wilcox, and the
:22:03. > :22:06.team, goodbye for now. Some of us had a lovely weekend with
:22:07. > :22:07.a good deal of sunshine,