03/12/2016 Reporters

That's Chelsea apologising profusely to Gary Johnson. We will pause now

and it's time for Reporters. In the BBC newsroom we send out

correspondence to bring you the As Syria's President Assad edges

towards victory, we report on warnings of one of the worst

massacres since the Second World They are hitting us

with everything from all sides. Steve Rosenberg meet the man

taking Stalin to court for It suddenly dawned on me

but I had solved the case. This strength was coming to me

from Stalin's victims. The Great Barrier Reef's

worst year ever. Hywel Griffiths examines

the damage being done to the world's biggest living

structure by rising water What used to be a living

rainbow of colour has been When a girl can be

herself no more, I One of the biggest selling

artists of her generation, Alicia Keys talks about life, music,

make up and Donald Trump. I'm disappointed

that so much hateful rhetoric and sexism and bigotry

would be rewarded with the The UN has described it

as a descent into hell. The city of Aleppo could

be witnessing one of the biggest massacres since

the Second World War after President Assad's forces stepped

up their offensive in the east of the city this week

and the rebels retreated. The humanitarian situation has been

described as almost beyond the imagination, with up to 30,000

people fleeing the fighting. As Lyse Doucet reports

from Damascus, Aleppo is fast becoming one

giant graveyard. Bombs are dropping

again on East Aleppo. It is already a wasteland

after years of war but the search for targets doesn't stop,

nor does the desperate quest to find This is the agony of daily life

and death in Aleppo. For those who Remain

trapped in what the UN calls a slow motion

descent into living hell. There is a lot of

bombing, devastation. They are hitting us with everything

from all sides. As Syrian forces push

forward and rebel fighters retreats, thousands

of families are seizing the moment. They are on the move with whatever

worldly goods they can carry. Many are heading to

the government side of Aleppo. At the centre it is Russian allies

handing out blankets. Among those who make it here,

some say they would have left rebel territory sooner if

they had been able to. There are also reports young men

are being detained and questioned by Syrian

security forces. The momentum is clearly

with the government. This video filmed by its

military shows what rebel fighters left behind as they fled

in the face of a stunning advance. Syrian forces backed

by the Allies have recaptured nearly half

the rebel held territory in the east of the city

and they are not stopping. And Aleppo MP shows me

where the battle is heading next despite calls for

the suffering to stop. The human suffering

should end, but the only way it ends is when

terrorists leave our city. It is our duty to get

rid of terrorism. Terrorism should not be

in Aleppo and should They are vowing to take back

all the city within weeks but rebel commanders say

they are not giving up. For now, the battle goes on,

whatever the human cost. From the conflict in Syria

to the human rights situation in Turkey, where the UN special

investigator has been investigating

claims of torture. Five months after the attempted

coup there have been allegations of rape and abuse

by the security forces and tens of thousands of people have been jailed

in a crackdown that has been condemned by activists and several

Western governments. A warning, the report

from Istanbul does contain details some viewers

may find disturbing. Turkey calls it its 911,

rebel soldiers bombing parliament in Then came the purge,

around 125,000 people have been sacked or suspended,

with 40,000 arrested. As battered suspects were paraded,

stories of mistreatment We have now heard

worrying new testimony. This woman represents

some alleged plotters. They can no longer talk to lawyers

without police interfering. They had head injuries

from being banged against walls, broken ribs

from beating, cuts to their arrests I saw the policeman

throttling my client. Detained soldiers appear badly

injured in this video In another, the guards

offer a few final blows. But it's not just coup

plotters targeted. This person was arrested

for suspected links to the PKK In this Istanbul police station,

he alleges barbarity. They said, we will rape your

wife in front of you. They beat me and tied

weights to my testicles. Then they took me to a darkroom

and tried to rape me. Maybe I will forget

the other tortures but the sexual one is carved into

the dirtiest corner of my heart. We've heard similar

claims, this medical report of two other detainees

describes injuries to the genitals. With a state of emergency, political

opponents are being rounded up. This son of an opposition

MP was detained and now bears the scars,

including a fractured vertebra. There was nonstop violence,

slapping and kicking. If it was just a couple of officers

you might think it was isolated but it was different police units

and they tortured us The government ignored our

interview requests but the justice minister tweeted,

there is no torture in Turkish prisons, those who say otherwise

are slanderous if The prison is up with new arrests

as the purge widens. What has happened since the coup

has created a climate of fear. Some lawyers, doctors and police

who we tried to interview pulled out at the last minute,

afraid to speak up. The state of emergency

gives the authorities sweeping new powers

but not to torture. From the shadow of the coup,

hidden stories are emerging of Whatever Cubans thought

of Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader or dictator, his death has

united the nation. Tens of thousands of people filled

Revolution Square in Havana Many world leaders were also there

including the presidents of Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia,

Venezuela and South Africa. But many Western leaders

did not attend because of Fidel Castro's disputed political

and human rights record. Barbara Plett-Usher reports from

Havana on Cuba's farewell to Castro. They gathered to say goodbye

to the man who has shaped their country and their lives

in a square that once echoed Joined by international leaders

who shared Fidel Castro's revolutionary history, and benefited

from his support, leftists from Latin America, African

rebels turned presidents. Commander-in-chief Fidel Castro

accepted many enemies and survived hundreds of assassination

attempts because of his unapologetic Go well, Comrade Fidel,

you have run your May your soul now rest

in eternal peace. But in death as in life,

Fidel Castro divided Most Western nations said

lower-level delegations, held back by his contentious political

and human rights record. His people spoke only

of socialist achievements In particular we are

very thankful with him because without him I could not

study without paying. He is an example of

a leader, he is a world leader because in every

part of the world Fidel This is the kind of sendoff that

Fidel Castro would have relished. Once again, Revolution Square

overflowing with people, his old allies remembering his glory

days at the height of his power, tributes to his brand

of revolutionary socialism. The revolutionary

slogans did not hold In many ways, the world has moved

on from this vision. But Cuba is honouring a man

who changed history. It has been a long search

for justice for Denis Karagodin. He spent the last five years

trying to find out who executed his great-grandfather in

1938 during the purges of the Stalin era and in Russia, a country

so secretive about its violent past, he's not only to track

down those responsible, but as Steve Rosenberg reports

from the Siberian town of Tomsk, he's even received

an apology from the We are underground in Siberia,

in the cells of Stalin's Denis Karagodin's great-grandfather

Stepen was brought here in 1937, arrested on trumped up

charges of spying for Japan. Decades on, his

great-grandson resolves to It was unlikely they

would still be alive. Ever since his arrest

on December the 1st 1937, my family has been trying

to find out what happened to him. I decided that now it

was my turn to drive. What followed was five years

of painstaking detective work until finally, Denis obtained this, his

great-grandfather's execution order and the names of the three

men who shot him. It suddenly dawned on me that I'd

caught them, I'd solve the case, I felt so strong and this

strength was coming to me from Under Josef Stalin,

hundreds of Soviet citizens -- hundreds of thousands of Soviet

Citizens were declared enemies

of the people and executed. After his death, the new Soviet

leadership rehabilitated But it could not bring the innocent

back from the grave. In Tomsk, this is thought to be one

place where the bodies were dumped, on the edge of town

in a giant ditch. What is so remarkable

about Denis Karagodin's story is that, in a country

that is so secretive about its violent past, he has

managed to document everybody he says played a role

in his great-grandfather's murder, from the politburo down to the men

who pulled the trigger. And now he intends to go to court

to make sure those people are convicted posthumously

of their crime. But this is also a story

of reconciliation. A few days ago, Denis received

an unexpected message. It was from the grand

daughter of one of his He wrote back, my family

will never blame you. But the truth is it relied

on ordinary people to run it, to do And there were so many victims that

many in Russia still struggle to make sense

of a brutal past. It's one of the most spectacular

wonders of the natural world and the largest

living structure. But Australia's Great Barrier Reef

is in need of urgent protection. A new study has found large sections

of the reef have died. The damage, known as bleaching,

has been caused by record water temperatures,

which have killed off the algae on which the

Coral feeds. Hywel Griffiths was given exclusive

access to follow the The planet's largest living

structure struggling for survival. This Coral should be alive

with colour but it is These scientists are

part of a team that assess the health of the

entire Great Barrier Reef, an area the prognosis is bad, on average,

two thirds of the Coral has died. Been coming here for 30 years

and to see it in this -- 20 years and to see it in this

state is devastating. In April there were a hell of a lot

of colonies in that area, they were badly bleached, some

were already dying, now we go back and there is

just no Coral. Revisited Lizard Island,

where the impact was worst. For three months, water temperatures

would be at least above one Celsius on average, enough to cook some

of the Coral and make others start after expelling the colourful

organisms which convert sunlight So what used to be a leading rainbow

down there has been left largely lifeless

and brown and white. In this one northern part of

the Great Barrier Reef, scientists think 90% of the Coral

has been killed. Scientists from across the world

are looking at the impact here, not just on Coral

but the entire ecosystem. It eventually forms part

of the human food chain. Corals create a living

space for the fish, they provide a food source for

something, so they are really the foundation,

like the buildings in a city, and without the buildings

are city is gone. This is a man-made problem,

the scientists conclude. The warming temperatures are caused

by carbon emissions. The question for those

who live and work here is As these events keep happening

on an increasingly small timescale, We are still pumping carbon dioxide

into the atmosphere and this Fast and scale, the reef is a huge

industry, 2.5 million people visit Vast in scale, the reef

under-Pinochets a huge industry. 2. 5 million people visit each year.

The impact has been far less severe, only 6% of the

Businesses are keen to stress that this part of the

reef is alive and well but they are also mindful of the future.

Without the Great Barrier Reef we would not

survive, so it is absolutely the utmost importance

that we ensure our politicians and everybody else in

our community and around the world are doing what they can to ensure

Survival will depend on how warm these waters become.

2016 is set to be the hottest year on record.

It may already have seen one of the Earth's

Hywel Griffiths, BBC News, from the Great Barrier Reef.

Now, if you look at the Premier League, you may not

believe this but not all footballers around the world are the pampered

It is especially true if you come from Africa.

A survey of nearly 14,000 footballers from around the globe by

the world footballer's union Fifpro suggests that life for the vast

majority of African footballers can be a brutal affair.

As Piers Edwards has been finding out.

Some African footballers light up state-of-the-art stadiums in Europe,

earn vast wages, when major trophies, they live the dream.

-- win major trophies and live the dream.

At the other end of the scale in Africa

Contracts are not worth the paper written on,

meagre salaries often come late, and there is the all too

Just getting injured can have a profound

impact, even in a country that has produced countless stars.

This Ghanaian player, whose words we have

voiced up because he wanted to remain anonymous, is one of many to

I also got an injury and went home to treat myself.

They decided not to give me salary. They said it was a punishment for

me, because hi gone home. It's brutal, but the norm.

Nearly nine in ten players in the Congo say they don't

40% of players in Africa do not have one

and this figure rises to 65% in Cameroon.

It is not fair that footballers sign a contract and

This is one of the major problems for those players.

On top of a lack of job security, there is the threat of violence.

DR Congo is the worst when it comes to

the number of violent attacks on players by other players.

It also has the highest rate of players attacked by fans.

In Ghana, players are ten times more likely than the

global average to be physically attacked by club officials.

I have seen players attacked by managers or

coaches because in Ghanaian football the financials are low so everybody

If a player had a contract with a club, a lot of

people in the club, like the management and some

of the coaches, and people around, want to get

And if they don't get anything, they will start

Fifpro found that wages come later in Africa than anywhere

The better security, medical care and a vast

riches on offer overseas explain why so many young Africans will do

Finally, she won 15 Grammy awards, she is one of the

biggest selling artists of her generation.

Alicia Keys, the American singer-songwriter and

actress, has made new headlines in recent months with her refusal to

wear make-up as part of her campaign to give women more freedom.

As part of the BBC's 100 Women series, she's

been talking to Babita Sharma about her childhood and what Donald

Trump's victory says about today's America.

# When a girl can't be herself no more

# In the morning from the minute when I wake up

# What if I don't wanna put on all that make-up

# Who says I must conceal what I'm made of...#

What happened with you with the decision you had very

publicly to say, I'm not going to wear make-up anymore?

I was becoming very, very overly concerned with

other people's opinions of me and I just realised

there was so much I had learnt, we all learned, as

women, there are all these images and expectations and all these

particular pressures and it is not about make up or no make up, and all

that, it is about what makes you comfortable.

When I want to wear make-up, that is my choice.

Why do you think hip-hop does portray women in a certain way that

I grew up in a very tough neighbourhood.

When you grew up in America, when you grow up

in black America, it is very, very hard,

it is very emasculating, and when you've finally

made even the smallest anything, you really want

We own cars and we own items and we own women and we

own things, and that is what makes you successful.

The whole world is built on capturing and dividing and

conquering and it is an illusion but I get it.

You've said in the past about Donald Trump that you don't

listen to anything he has said, you don't care about what he thinks

He's going to be your next president, 45th president of

I'm disappointed that so much hateful rhetoric and sexism

and bigotry and racial slurs and intolerance would be rewarded

Alicia Keys, thank you for being part of our 100 Women

Alicia Keys talking to Babita Sharma.

That's all from the programme this week.

From me, Christian Fraser, goodbye for now.