27/02/2016 Reporters

Welcome to Reporters, I'm Phillipa Thomas.

From here in the world's newsroom, we send our correspondents to bring

you the best stories from around the globe.

In this week's programme, a scar on India.

Naomi Grimley reports on the women who're victims of acid attacks.

After seeing the mirror, I howled and screamed so much.

I said things like "my face has been ruined" and "it would have been

And, murder, back stabbing and corruption in the American

election, but it's not the real thing.

We meet Kevin Spacey as he's honoured

The most satisfying aspect is when people talk to me

about the character I played as if it's a three dimensional person.

It's the ultimate act of malice committed by a man on a woman,

every year hundreds of Indian women are victims of acid attacks,

and its use as a weapon against women seems to be getting worse.

It's often a vicious response to rejection of marriage offers

or sexual advances and it destroys the women's lives.

Victims are frequently shunned by their own communities,

But one charity is trying to help acid attack victims

to get back their confidence and their lives.

Naomi Grimley has been to visit the project

You may find some images in her report distressing.

In the shadow of the Taj Mahal, they found a sanctuary of normality set

up by a local charity. Like any other waitresses, they take orders

from tables and chat to the steady stream of backpackers who passed

through town. Rani is the newest arrival

and the story of her attack which left her blind

is all too familiar. It was one-sided love and he used

to follow me around. One day he accosted me in the street

and tried to force himself on me. So after a few days,

he attacked me with acid. They wanted me to agree to that man

and let him do as he pleased. But I didn't want to be involved

in the trappings of love Rani says the women at the cafe have

given her the strength and support Working here isn't just

about earning a living, it's also about regaining a life

and because many of the women here were scarred when they

were very, very young, rediscovering their confidence

is part of the key to survival. These women have already

become local celebrities. Here, they're filming a video

for the cafe website. Dolly was just 12 when she was

attacked, yet another case She recalls the moment she first

saw her face. TRANSLATION: After seeing

the mirror, I cried and howled I said things like "my

face has been ruined. And "it would have been better

if I died, why did you save me? But my mother told me that

I'm still beautiful, I don't cover my face any more,

I live my life my way. As evening falls, Dolly

and her colleague chat and laugh about the places they would

like to go and the things Their advice to other women

who've been scarred is, Disfigured once yes,

but empowered now too. With a small camera, we film on two

awards, patients with a paralysing condition related to the Zika virus.

Roxanne mumbles some words to a nurse, hardly able to move any part

of her body. She had Zika. There is a drastic shortage of the antibodies

needed to treat these people. Doctors are worried the government

is grossly under reporting the number of Zika cases. TRANSLATION:

Most doctors think there have been anything from 400 to 500 cases of

Zika. -- 5000 cases. We know this because of the patients with the

tell-tale symptoms. Venezuela is not the only country in the region

trying to cope with the Zika outbreak but the crisis here is

exacerbated by underfunded hospitals and an almost broken health care

system. In Venezuela, people are dying because they cannot get access

to basic drugs. Ten-year-old Paolo has survived leukaemia but he is now

in another battle to get the drugs he needs to stop the illness

returning. Medicine is his family will have to pay for. He will also

eventually need a bone marrow transplant. TRANSLATION: It is

really expensive says Paolo's mother. It is almost impossible to

get a bone marrow transplant in Venezuela. Paolo has lost two many

friends in the last year, all of them waiting for an operation. One

of Venezuela's leading heart surgeons says the health crisis is

so acute, the UN should declare a humanitarian emergency. Most of the

patients with cancer we see are dying. People with hypertension are

dying. And especially people with heart disease. Health ministry did

not respond to requests for an interview. But with hospitals

delaying operations because of a lack of equipment, it is the

patients who continued to suffer. The National Portrait Gallery

in Washington has a complete Now there's also an impostor

on the walls, Frank Underwood, the fictitious President

from the House of Cards It raises questions

about the crossover between popular culture and politics,

something many observers of the current presidential campaign

have been pondering. Jane O'Brien went to meet

President Underwood. They say we get the

leaders we deserve... The political machinations

of Frank Underwood have mesmerized Now his character, played

by Kevin Spacey, has stepped off the screen and on to canvas

at Washington's I suppose I should be pleased that

I'm going to be hung Of course if they knew

what was in my basement, they wouldn't hang me so close

to Lincoln, they would hang me It was unveiled at a gala

with all the razzamatazz Who is in that portrait,

Frank Underwood or Kevin Spacey? This to me is the most satisfying

aspect of what I'm able to do for a living, is when people talk

to me about the character I played, as if it's

a three-dimensional person. The painting is the work of one

of Britain's leading portrait artists Jonathan Yeo who's painted

Spacey in character before. You are trying to find

the inner truth of someone, trying to unmask them and get

through to who they are, whether it's something

they are trying to show you or not. The actors are basically

in the deception business, trying to convince you that

they are someone else. The better they do their job,

the harder it is for me to do mine The gallery has a long tradition

of showing actors in character, but rarely have the lines

between reality, fantasy and contemporary culture been

so completely blurred. Season four of House of Cards

seeing Frank Underwood I'm Frank Underwood

and I approve this message... So what does he or Spacey

think of the real thing? Americans generally get it right

and we'll probably figure it out. We'll look back on this time and go,

wow, that was crazy. There have been times

when the presidential rest's felt like episodes of the House of Cards,

hopefully though no-one will vote That's all from Reporters for this

week, from me,