01/10/2016 Reporters

Now on BBC News, it's time for Reporters.

Welcome to Reporters.

I'm Philippa Thomas.

From here in the BBC Newsroom, we send out correspondents to bring

you the best stories from across the globe.

In this week's programme - a new dawn in Columbia,

as an historic peace deal is signed, ending more than five

decades of conflict.

Lyse Doucet asks the country's leader whether the agreement

will be a game changer.

This is the last armed conflict in the whole of the

Western Hemisphere.

The oldest, the cruellest, and the Cold War is really ending.

Giving women a fair chance - Reeta Chakrabarti speaks to Chile's

first female president, who is fighting to change

the country's anti-abortion laws - among the strictest in the world.

The world's most trafficked mammal -

Alastair Leithead examines the plight of the African pangolin,

on the edge of extinction.

The living building aimed at bridging America's racial divide.

Nick Bryant takes a tour of Washington's new

African History Museum.

I think this building comes at an opportune time in America,

to really remind it of its incredibly rich history,

and its own contribution to that integration story.

It's a gorgeous morning today, yeah.

Just hope the wind direction doesn't change again.

And the human swan.

Sarah Rainsford meets the woman who is flying

from the Russian Arctic to Britain in her battle to save

an endangered species.

It's beautiful up here.

There's colours of green and gold.

There's a fisherman there waving at me!

It's one of the world's longest wars, but a peace deal signed this

week in Colombia could mark a new dawn for the country.

More than 200,000 people have been killed, and 8 million driven

from their homes, in more than 50 years of conflict

between the Colombian government and the Marxist rebel

group, the FARC.

The agreement to end hostilities came after four years of talks but,

as Lyse Doucet reports, the people of Colombia

will still have to agree to the deal.

There's been a lifetime of an ugly war in the pristine mountains

of northern Colombia.

Some of the worst atrocities took place here.

And the scars remain.

But people can't forget the brutality of the FARC.

This woman's family fled the fighting, like everyone else

here.

They'd recruit not just men but women too, she says.

We were all afraid we'd be killed.

They'd make you cook for them, then kill you.

And the fear's not gone.

This farmer won't show his face.

FARC murdered his two brothers, but he's ready to make peace now.

We'll eradicate a brand-name, he says, for terrorism,

massacres, disappearances.

I went to meet the deal's chief architect, the president,

in the capital, Bogota.

He told me it was a game changer.

This is the last armed conflict in the whole of the Western

Hemisphere.

Not yet, until it's approved.

It won't end until October the 2nd, you get a yes.

I'm absolutely sure that it will be approved.

Everyone, including FARC, wants this war to end, but at what price?

The fighters are to give up their guns and criminal activity,

including the drug trade.

They'll become a political party, and face a special Tribunal

for their worst atrocities.

The critics say they're getting away with it.

They are not getting away with it.

My instructions to the negotiators was, you go and seek the maximum

justice that will allow us peace.

And I think we struck a good deal.

This deal promises Columbians a better future.

No one says it's perfect, and in Bogota's main square,

we heard worry about the way ahead.

TRANSLATION: These people putting down their guns.

All they've ever done is extort money, commit crimes.

The change will be too extreme.

They'll continue as they used to.

President Santos told us this is the best chance for peace,

to end 50 years of war.

I wish it were true, she says.

Do you have a plan B, if the people of Colombia vote

no on October the 2nd?

We'll go back six years and continue the war with FARC.

That's the plan B.

The campaigns to vote si - yes - or no, intensify.

If the polls are to be believed, a majority does agree the deal

is the best chance to end the war.

Even if making peace will be just as hard.

Lyse Doucet, BBC News, Colombia.

There are only six countries in the world where abortion

is unconditionally illegal, where a woman can be prosecuted

and jailed for terminating a pregnancy, whatever

the circumstances.

One of those countries is Chile, where the country's first ever

female head of state is trying to change the law, introducing

a bill to allow abortion in certain limited circumstances.

But Michelle Bachelet is facing some powerful political opposition,

and the might of the Roman Catholic Church.

Reeta Chakrabarti has been to Santiago to meet her.

Chile is a sophisticated nation in which some old attitudes endure.

Abortion here is completely banned, forcing women sometimes

into terrible dilemmas.

There are private clinics and black-market drugs,

but not for the poor.

Pro-choice groups in shock campaign videos say a DIY abortion

is their only option.

When did you find out...?

I spoke to two women who found they were both carrying foetuses

which had no possibility of survival.

Neither was allowed an abortion, even though Andrea's

life was under threat.

Doctors told Paula to pray, but both had to carry their babies

for months, and give birth to them, without any hope they'd live.

TRANSLATION: I felt just like a zombie, like the walking

dead, who just had to get up every day

without wanting to live.

It was torture.

For my part, I feel powerless, having to live this process

after having my daughter declared unviable.

I suffer unnecessarily, not just me, but my family

as well, until this day.

Hello.

Hello.

President Michelle Bachelet is on a mission to change things.

Previous governments have tried, but her bill to allow abortion

in some cases has gone much further than any other,

and has majority public support.

I told her what had happened to Paula and Andrea.

I think it's awful.

It's awful because I have friends who have gone

through that process, and usually, it really sort

of emotionally destroys the person.

There are some people who might be able to live with that,

and that's OK, but there's a lot of people who really are destroyed

emotionally afterwards, and their lives are changed forever,

so that's why we do believe they should have the

possibility to decide.

But change is slow, and President Bachelet's bill

is limited in its scope.

It only allows for abortion in three particular circumstances -

if a woman's life is in danger, if the pregnancy is the result

of a rape, or if the baby has no chance of survival.

None of this goes down well with the Church, which fears

the bill could eventually usher in abortion on demand.

Many of its flock agree.

Gloria is one.

She was raped as a child by a cousin and was pregnant at just 12.

The family arranged for a termination, which she says

she has never recovered from.

TRANSLATION: In my case, if I had a choice, I would have

had my daughter.

But it wasn't my choice.

Abortion scars you for life.

Before and after.

It scars you negatively for life, and nothing good

comes out of abortion.

Nothing.

Her church is part of the organised campaign against the

government's abortion bill.

Gloria tried to take her own life several times, and her church

has proved a haven.

A typical service here is as much rock and roll as religion.

But the message on abortion is clear.

Michelle Bachelet wants to change both the law

and entrenched attitudes in this male-dominated society.

Women are seen as citizens of second class, and not full citizens.

She faces political as well as social challenges,

but Chile could now be on the cusp of giving its women the choice

their mothers were denied.

Reeta Chakrabarti, BBC News, Santiago.

It's two years since Britain's Royal Air Force joined

the military campaign in Syria and Iraq.

Now the crews have been speaking for the first time

about their missions against the so-called Islamic State.

They say they've carried out more than 3000 sorties and have come

under fire many times.

Jonathan Beale reports from the RAF base in Akrotiri in Cyprus.

These are the crews leading Britain's fight against

so-called Islamic State.

The RAF's already carried out more than 1000 air strikes

in Iraq and Syria.

We watched as they prepared to do war.

We can't identify them to protect their security

and their families back home.

Well, we know it's a dangerous job, and we know that

the threat is there.

There's always a sort of feeling of adrenaline as you're

about to go and do the job.

They fly missions both day and night from their base in Cyprus,

armed with missiles and bombs.

They've already dropped more than 2,000.

But, for the first time, the RAF has also confirmed

that their aircraft are getting fired at too, by the enemy they call

Daesh.

Every aeroplane that flies flies into those sort of danger areas,

and on certain instances, UK aeroplanes have been

targeted by Daesh.

At no stage has Daesh posed a threat to the aeroplane that

has been catastrophic.

They also have to stay alert as they search for new targets.

Each mission can last seven hours or more.

Even above Iraq, the skies are crowded.

Over Syria they also have to keep an eye out for Russian warplanes.

We're flying over northern Iraq, where this RAF tanker is refuelling

British warplanes that are providing close air support to Iraqi

troops on the ground, who are pushing now their way

forward is to Mosul, and we've just seen one of the RAF

tornadoes return, having dropped one of its weapons.

And this is the cockpit video of what that bomb hit.

A barge being used to ferry a truck bomb across the Tigris River.

Are you ever worried about mistakes?

You know, we have a great deal of trust in our weapons that we use,

and the success rate, and in the training

we've all been given.

It would be too flippant to say it's just a day in the office,

but it's what we are trained to do.

In Iraq, the RAF's efforts are now focusing on the liberation of Mosul,

an offensive that will begin within weeks.

It's Daesh-Isis's last stronghold in Iraq.

They controlled nearly half of Iraq two years ago.

Now they're down to just 10%, and it's one remaining city.

So we have the very real prospect of them being pushed out of Iraq.

Two years on from the first British air strikes in Iraq,

and there may be signs of progress, but the mission's not over,

and defeating IS in Syria will be harder still.

Jonathan Beale, BBC News, at RAF Akrotiri.

Now, you've probably never heard of it, but the African pangolin

is the most trafficked mammal in the world.

There are fears that the unusual creatures, whose characteristic

scales are used in traditional Chinese medicines,

could become extinct.

But now new measures have been announced at the Convention

on International Trade in Endangered Species to protect

most species of the pangolin.

Alastair Leithead reports from Nairobi.

It's the most trafficked mammal in the world,

and you probably don't even know its name.

Pangolins are usually nocturnal, and very shy.

They only eat ants and termites, and the demand for their scales

for traditional medicine is driving them towards extinction.

The pangolin is the most endearing, mystical, unbelievable species

of animal you're ever going to encounter in your life.

For Asians, they use the scales in a multiple range of purposes,

from cancer to swelling to arthritis.

They use the pangolin body.

They put it in wine and they pickle the body.

There's a whole array of different things.

And so the Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species, or CITES, will ban the sale.

Elephants are also being hit incredibly hard by traffickers

and poachers, and again Asia is the main market for their ivory.

30% of Africa's elephants have been lost in seven years,

and the killing continues.

But conservationists are divided about what to do.

Zimbabwe and Namibia wants to sell their stores of ivory

to raise money for conservation, but their proposal is unlikely

to win widespread support this week.

Kenya made its position very clear earlier this year, when it set more

than 100 tonnes of ivory alight, saying it's worth nothing

unless left on the elephant.

Well, this is all that's left now of the ivory that was burned,

but it's a technique that Kenya has used before.

This much smaller pile dates back to 1989, the last

major poaching crisis.

It was the first time this was done, and it sent a very strong

signal around the world.

The sales of ivory from some of our Southern African brothers

have resulted in an increased demand for ivory across-the-board.

Rhinos are also being targeted.

Their horns are worth more than twice their weight in gold

on the black market.

The proposal to open up sales is unlikely to pass.

Most countries believe the best way to save the animals is to stop trade

and destroy the market in countries like China and Japan.

It's not just about protecting African wildlife, of course.

Over the next ten days, trees and plants, reptiles

and undersea creatures from across the world will all be

discussed, and the more endangered species protected.

Alastair Leithead, BBC News, Nairobi.

Its designer has described it as "a living building for the black

American experience".

President Obama opened the United States' first

ever National Museum of African American History

and Culture this week.

It's a striking, modern structure, and it's been built by a Brit,

the architect David Adjaye.

He took Nick Bryant on a tour of his iconic project.

This is a building that not only occupies the last vacant plot

on some of America's most honoured land,

the National Mall in Washington, but seeks to fill a gap

in America's national memory.

For decades, African-Americans have campaigned for a museum that

tells their epic story, opened by the country's first

African-American president.

It's sort of changed my career, changed my life, actually.

The architect is British, David Adjaye, who sees

this as his opus work, and rather than designing

a monument, he set out to construct a living building that contributes

to the ongoing racial debate, that reflects the ongoing

struggle for equality.

I think this building helps to really allow people

to understand each other, and to understand how people

are interrelated in many ways, and how the path

forward is not separation but understanding and coexisting.

I think this building comes at an opportune time in America,

to really reminded of its incredible rich history, and its own

contribution to that integration story.

Inside, the building chronicles and often traumatic

journey into freedom.

The shackles and whips of slavery.

The clenched fists of the Black Power salute

at the Mexico City Olympics.

But it's also a celebration of how black culture has come

to define American culture.

These are all real.

Nothing here is a reconstruction, so that really is Chuck Berry's

original Eldorado Cadillac.

So has it been a challenge for a British man to help tell

an American story?

I try not to think about that, because if I did, I would collapse

and I would probably need therapy, because it's a very weighty subject.

But I think what I bring to it is a professionalism

about what I believe architecture can contribute to that issue.

The building is steeped in symbolism.

The form evokes an African crown.

The lattice work recalls the ironwork of freed slaves

in the American South.

Windows look out over landmarks of the freedom struggle,

like the Lincoln Memorial, the pulpits from which

Doctor Martin Luther King delivered his I Have A Dream speech.

David, this building has come to completion as Barack Obama's

presidency is coming to completion.

Yes.

Have you been struck at all by the irony of that?

It's been very beautiful, the irony.

We started when he started his presidency, and he was very

instrumental in helping get the first tranches

of money through Congress, and releasing that to really

get the project going.

And in a way it feels like a wonderful book-end that

from slavery can come a son of America who is of African

descent, who becomes president of the most powerful

nation in the world, and the story goes on.

This is the most important public building to open

in Washington in decades, and surely the most meaningful

structure that one of Britain's most celebrated architects will ever

see to fruition.

Nick Bryant, BBC News, Washington.

Now, could a human follow the flight path of migrating swans

from the Russian Arctic to the UK?

Well, a British woman has begun the first leg of the birds' 7000

kilometre journey, and she's on a motorised paraglider.

Sacha Dench is following the route of the Bewick swan in an attempt

to understand why their numbers have halved in the past 20 years.

Sarah Raynsford has been to meet the woman who is being called

"the human swan".

It's a gorgeous morning today, yeah.

Let's hope the wind direction hasn't changed again.

She's been dubbed "the human swan".

Strapped to a para-motor, Sacha Dench is flying

more than 4000 miles from the Arctic to England,

following the winter migration path of the Bewick swan.

It's beautiful up here.

Colours of green and gold.

There's a fisherman there waving at me!

She's just building up to the next gruelling stage of her trip,

soaring over the forests of northern Russia.

And this is who it's all for.

The Bewick is the UK's smallest swan, and it's fast sliding

towards extinction, so Sacha first headed to the birds' breeding ground

in the Arctic tundra to investigate.

I've never been anywhere that has so few people,

and I can be a couple of thousand feet up and looking down,

and actually I cannot see any sign of human activity,

and I can definitely see why swans and loads of other water birds

come up here to breed, because it's just heaven.

It was so remote that when Sacha's motor failed,

reindeer breeders rode to the rescue.

Now, closer to civilisation, she's hooked up with a ground crew,

and the odd uninvited guest.

That's not how bulls are supposed to behave!

There's a few farms and fields, so you'll be able to come down most

of that without any problem.

The support team are helping plot Sacha's route.

They are also supplying fuel.

Real swans can fly for two days nonstop, but not this one.

And now, after a short rest, she is continuing her epic journey.

This flight is giving Sacha a bird's-eye view

of the Bewicks' migration route.

She's already passed like this over the toughest terrain

in the Russian Arctic, but she has weeks of flying

still ahead, as this human swan makes her way towards Europe.

In rural Russia, just the sight of her is causing a stir.

That's helping Sacha spread the word to communities that live off

hunting that the Bewicks is a protected species.

This woman admits her husband once shot a swan.

I told him he was mad, she says, and it was ringed too,

but she admits that they cooked and ate the bird anyway.

Sacha is hoping her flight might change that, and help

preserve the Bewick swan for generations to come.

Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, northern Russia.

And that's all from Reporters this week.

From me, Philippa Thomas, goodbye.