:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News, it's time for Reporters.
:00:15. > :00:20.I'm David Eades, and from here in the world's newsroom,
:00:21. > :00:23.we send our correspondents to bring you the very best stories
:00:24. > :00:28.In this week's programme: Sliding back towards anarchy -
:00:29. > :00:30.Fergal Keane reports from the Central African
:00:31. > :00:33.Republic where only the UN are keeping the peace.
:00:34. > :00:36.Standing now on the bridge at Bambari, between the Christian
:00:37. > :00:39.and Muslim districts, it's clear to me that
:00:40. > :00:44.without a United Nations presence, there would be slaughter here.
:00:45. > :00:50.21st-century fratricide - Rupert Wingfield Hayes investigates
:00:51. > :00:53.the killing of the half-brother of the North Korean leader,
:00:54. > :01:01.The Cold War at its very coldest - Jonathan Beale reports from Nato's
:01:02. > :01:02.most northerly border, Norway's Arctic Circle,
:01:03. > :01:05.as the alliance steps up its defences against Russia.
:01:06. > :01:07.It is a pretty inhospitable place, but every day, all year
:01:08. > :01:14.round, the Norwegian army is patrolling this border.
:01:15. > :01:17.Also, tensions in the Straits of Taiwan as China flexes its muscle
:01:18. > :01:20.against what it sees as its breakaway state.
:01:21. > :01:22.Carrie Gracie reports on Beijing's attempts to stop
:01:23. > :01:29.To let Taiwan float off towards independence -
:01:30. > :01:31.well, that, to Beijing, would be unthinkable.
:01:32. > :01:37.Amol Rajan reports from Germany, the first country to use the law
:01:38. > :01:42.With elections coming up, there's a growing determination
:01:43. > :01:52.And capturing the secrets of the galaxy - Pallaba Ghosh
:01:53. > :01:55.reports on a project to link 12 telescopes around the world to take
:01:56. > :02:07.The United Nations says it's willing to use further
:02:08. > :02:09.force against militias in the Central African Republic
:02:10. > :02:12.to prevent country from sliding into anarchy.
:02:13. > :02:14.Thousands of UN peacekeepers have been deployed there
:02:15. > :02:18.Rival Christian and Muslim militias began fighting in CAR more
:02:19. > :02:24.Thousands of civilians have sought shelter at the fragile UN red line
:02:25. > :02:32.Well, Fergal Keane has been there, and found only the UN keeping
:02:33. > :02:39.Out in the countryside, the UN has already fired
:02:40. > :02:42.the first shots to ward off an assault on Bambari.
:02:43. > :02:45.But the town itself is divided between rival militias.
:02:46. > :02:50.Muslims live in the centre of town, the Christians on the other bank.
:02:51. > :02:54.Civilians protected by soldiers of the United Nations.
:02:55. > :02:58.Every burned building here speaks of lives erased when the country
:02:59. > :03:05.descended into sectarian massacre in 2013.
:03:06. > :03:06.Civilians slaughtered, hundreds of thousands
:03:07. > :03:18.Now, amid fears of renewed violence, there's no hope of going home.
:03:19. > :03:25.TRANSLATION: Leave here? I don't think so, this man tells us.
:03:26. > :03:29.Here, we're protected by the United Nations.
:03:30. > :03:31.Civilians are facing renewed terror from warlords.
:03:32. > :03:34.These are Christians, but it's not as simple as just
:03:35. > :03:40.Numerous warlords fight for power and wealth.
:03:41. > :03:42.Veronique's husband was murdered, leaving her to care
:03:43. > :03:52.Madeleine lost her husband and three of her five children.
:03:53. > :03:53.TRANSLATION: They were killing people.
:03:54. > :03:58.They were going from killing to killing.
:03:59. > :04:07.Some people even lost their children as they were running.
:04:08. > :04:10.One name kept cropping up here, a Muslim warlord they blame
:04:11. > :04:17.TRANSLATION: His name creates fear and terror.
:04:18. > :04:29.When he sent his men to Bakara, all the people ran away.
:04:30. > :04:37.He and his bodyguards live directly opposite the UN HQ.
:04:38. > :04:40.You portray yourself as a protector of the people,
:04:41. > :04:43.but there is another view of you, and that is that you
:04:44. > :05:02.Everything that happens is reported by people.
:05:03. > :05:06.If I was a ruthless killer, people could not live peacefully near me.
:05:07. > :05:09.The UN escorted us back across town to meet Ali Darassa's enemy.
:05:10. > :05:17.The leader of a Christian militia also accused of atrocities.
:05:18. > :05:24.Meet General Gaetan, and his deputy, who calls himself General Tarzan.
:05:25. > :05:27.The fighters hid their guns while we were there,
:05:28. > :05:29.but General Gaetan was blunt about his own role.
:05:30. > :05:36.TRANSLATION: Yes, I have thousands of men ready
:05:37. > :05:48.The self-styled protectors thrive because the government is weak.
:05:49. > :05:51.There are too few peacekeepers, and troops are of mixed quality.
:05:52. > :05:58.It's a familiar story of peacekeeping in the modern age.
:05:59. > :06:02.But tensions around Bambari are now so dangerous,
:06:03. > :06:06.the UN mission's top officials are flying in.
:06:07. > :06:09.Diane Corner is a veteran British diplomat now trying to ensure this
:06:10. > :06:10.country doesn't slide into chaos again.
:06:11. > :06:26.And then Gaetan, who waits in a room next door for his enemy to leave.
:06:27. > :06:28.In this prefabricated office, the international community
:06:29. > :06:38.Diane Corner tells them the UN is willing to fight.
:06:39. > :06:44.I'm giving very clear message is that we are going to do
:06:45. > :06:47.I'm giving very clear messages that we are going to do
:06:48. > :06:49.everything to prevent a battle in Bambari, that we are
:06:50. > :06:51.reinforcing our positions, that the UN is impartial.
:06:52. > :06:54.We're not taking sides with either one group or the other.
:06:55. > :07:03.And that we expect them to respect the civilian population.
:07:04. > :07:05.In the protected zone, the old life of the lost villages
:07:06. > :07:15.A father studies, planning for a future beyond all of this.
:07:16. > :07:19.But the calm depends on the UN continuing to enforce its red
:07:20. > :07:29.Over the years, I've seen the failings of human missions,
:07:30. > :07:31.Over the years, I've seen the failings of UN missions,
:07:32. > :07:35.And yet, standing now on the bridge at Bambari,
:07:36. > :07:38.between the Christian and Muslim districts, it's clear to me that
:07:39. > :07:40.without a United Nations presence, there would be slaughter here.
:07:41. > :07:50.Now, in the 21st-century, fratricide is normally confined
:07:51. > :07:55.to the history books, but this week's News
:07:56. > :07:57.to the history books, but this week's news
:07:58. > :07:59.of the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's
:08:00. > :08:02.leader, is writing a new chapter in the strange history
:08:03. > :08:05.He was apparently poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia,
:08:06. > :08:07.waiting for a flight, and there is widespread
:08:08. > :08:13.speculation that North Korean agents were responsible.
:08:14. > :08:16.Now, Kim Jong-nam had been critical of his half-brother's regime,
:08:17. > :08:18.and he had left North Korea after being passed over
:08:19. > :08:21.Rupert Wingfield Hayes, who was detained in North Korea
:08:22. > :08:24.just last year, has been investigating his death.
:08:25. > :08:28.This is Kim Jong-nam, whose body is thought to be the one
:08:29. > :08:36.Officials there said he died after being sprayed in the face
:08:37. > :08:41.with something at Kuala Lumpur Airport.
:08:42. > :08:44.South Korean media immediately claimed North Korean agents had
:08:45. > :08:46.assassinated Kim on the orders of his own younger
:08:47. > :08:53.North Korea's young dictator has been tightening his grip
:08:54. > :08:59.on power, ruthlessly purging potential opponents.
:09:00. > :09:07.Last year, I saw for myself how strange North Korea can be.
:09:08. > :09:11.I was detained and expelled for insulting the Kim leadership.
:09:12. > :09:13.Much more telling is what he did to his own uncle,
:09:14. > :09:17.Jang Sung-taek was hauled away from a party meeting,
:09:18. > :09:27.Has he now also eliminated his brother?
:09:28. > :09:30.Kim Jong-nam was once his father's favourite, being groomed
:09:31. > :09:35.to one day take over as North Korea's supreme leader.
:09:36. > :09:38.But his downfall began here in Tokyo, when he was caught sneaking
:09:39. > :09:46.These pictures of his humiliating deportation from Japan are said
:09:47. > :09:48.to have deeply angered his father, North Korea's late
:09:49. > :09:54.His place at his father's side was taken instead
:09:55. > :09:58.by his younger brother, Kim Jong-un.
:09:59. > :10:02.Kim Jong-nam then went into exile in Macau.
:10:03. > :10:05.In interviews, he repeatedly said he had no interest in power.
:10:06. > :10:13.Kim Jong-nam, although he had been quiet and lying low for a while -
:10:14. > :10:18.not low enough, it seems - had gone off-message badly before
:10:19. > :10:21.he had said some stuff about not believing in hereditary succession.
:10:22. > :10:25.And maybe, in this kind of a system - think medieval Europe -
:10:26. > :10:27.any other possible claimant to the kingship could
:10:28. > :10:33.In the 21st-century, fratricide is normally
:10:34. > :10:39.Yet again, North Korea is showing it is not a normal country.
:10:40. > :10:45.Rupert Wingfield Hayes, BBC News, in Tokyo.
:10:46. > :10:48.Right, we're going to take you now to the most northerly
:10:49. > :10:52.border in Nato's defences, to Norway in the Arctic Circle.
:10:53. > :10:56.Russia is building up its forces in the region.
:10:57. > :10:58.That's causing concern for the US, which has
:10:59. > :11:01.Hundreds of American Marines had been deployed there
:11:02. > :11:07.Washington's also sending thousands of troops to Poland and the Baltics
:11:08. > :11:14.Jonathan Beale reports from the Arctic on a new Cold War tension.
:11:15. > :11:17.Winter in the Arctic Circle, and the days are at
:11:18. > :11:27.The Norwegian border guard have to go out in all kinds of weather,
:11:28. > :11:31.keeping an eye on their neighbour, Russia.
:11:32. > :11:33.This is the Nato alliance's most northerly border, and at times,
:11:34. > :11:38.But every day, all year round, the Norwegian army
:11:39. > :11:46.I don't think we can say that there is a lot
:11:47. > :11:52.They have had a high activity here in the North all along.
:11:53. > :11:53.So they are training well and preparing themselves,
:11:54. > :12:08.Russia's flexing its military muscle in the high North,
:12:09. > :12:11.staking its claim on a region that's thought to have more oil
:12:12. > :12:15.But the new US Defence Secretary has called Russia's moves
:12:16. > :12:23.It's not reached the levels of the old Cold War,
:12:24. > :12:28.Further south, US Marines are now being trained by the British,
:12:29. > :12:30.learning how to survive and fight in the Arctic.
:12:31. > :12:40.For many, it's their first time on skis.
:12:41. > :12:43.What I'm going to go through now is another method of moving,
:12:44. > :12:49.But this training is serious and has now become a regular rotation,
:12:50. > :12:54.a persistent presence of US forces in Norway, a key Nato ally.
:12:55. > :12:57.It's always important to have a military presence
:12:58. > :12:59.and a cooperative agreement with our Nato allies.
:13:00. > :13:01.And then, when Russia says this is unhelpful,
:13:02. > :13:05.this is causing tension, what do you say?
:13:06. > :13:09.I say that we continue to support the Nato strategic alliance,
:13:10. > :13:12.and we allow the politicians to work through what they have
:13:13. > :13:19.Tensions and competition between East and West are nothing
:13:20. > :13:23.new for the people of Norway, but like the rest of Europe,
:13:24. > :13:26.they're getting mixed messages from the new US administration -
:13:27. > :13:29.the Defence Secretary, James Mattis, who is talking tough on Russia,
:13:30. > :13:34.but a president who appears to want closer ties.
:13:35. > :13:41.I'm more afraid of Donald Trump than Putin.
:13:42. > :13:44.REPORTER: When you look at Vladimir Putin and Donald
:13:45. > :13:46.Trump, which of those two worries you more?
:13:47. > :13:48.How could you possibly pick just one?
:13:49. > :13:52.I'm actually more worried about Trump than Putin,
:13:53. > :13:56.because Putin is like a control maniac, but Trump is
:13:57. > :14:07.For Norway's border guards, it's still business as usual,
:14:08. > :14:11.but these are also increasingly uncertain times, when no one knows
:14:12. > :14:19.Jonathan Beale, BBC News, in the Arctic Circle.
:14:20. > :14:21.Now, from new tensions between America and Russia to US
:14:22. > :14:28."One China, one government" is now President Trump's official position.
:14:29. > :14:30.He had previously threatened to re-examine that policy but then
:14:31. > :14:33.agreed to honour it in a phone call to his Chinese counterpart,
:14:34. > :14:40.One China relates to the status of the island of Taiwan,
:14:41. > :14:42.which does have its own government but which Beijing sees
:14:43. > :14:46.Carrie Gracie has been to the Taiwanese capital, Taipei,
:14:47. > :14:48.to see whether people still have an appetite
:14:49. > :14:59.People in Taiwan have more freedom of expression than people in China.
:15:00. > :15:01.After 70 years of governing itself, this noisy democracy
:15:02. > :15:15.In this animation studio, they are not just mocking
:15:16. > :15:20.their own president, but Mr Xi and Mr Trump as well.
:15:21. > :15:23.I mean, we have 1,800 missiles pointed our way,
:15:24. > :15:25.but at the same time, you know, in Taiwan,
:15:26. > :15:29.we have absolute freedom to do anything we want,
:15:30. > :15:32.so you know, I think satire is definitely one of the good things
:15:33. > :15:34.that we need to push, because it helps Taiwan
:15:35. > :15:45.It's threatened to retake Taiwan by force.
:15:46. > :15:48.And it sailed its aircraft carrier past the island last month to show
:15:49. > :15:51.For Beijing, this, the island of Taiwan,
:15:52. > :16:02.It's the piece they say will finally reunite a nation broken up
:16:03. > :16:05.and humiliated by colonial powers two centuries ago.
:16:06. > :16:07.To let Taiwan float off towards independence, or even worse,
:16:08. > :16:10.to let it become part of an American-led alliance
:16:11. > :16:14.against China in these waters, well that, to Beijing,
:16:15. > :16:30.The Taiwanese navy is no match for China's.
:16:31. > :16:33.It's the American fleet which protects Taiwan.
:16:34. > :16:37.Back in December, it looked as if Donald Trump would go further.
:16:38. > :16:39.He took a call from the Taiwanese president and hinted
:16:40. > :16:48.Now, President Trump has backed down.
:16:49. > :16:51.In his phone call with President Xi Jin Ping,
:16:52. > :16:53.he returned to the so-called One-China policy that Beijing
:16:54. > :17:01.insists on, and many Taiwanese reluctantly accept the status quo.
:17:02. > :17:03.TRANSLATION: Ideally, I'd choose independence,
:17:04. > :17:06.but in the real world, independence is impossible.
:17:07. > :17:14.Messages of peace for the year ahead that Taipei's Lantern Festival,
:17:15. > :17:16.but their future is fragile, caught between an unpredictable
:17:17. > :17:27.Their hopes and fears are low priority to both.
:17:28. > :17:38.Now, how much of what we read online do we really believe?
:17:39. > :17:41.Well, the rise of so-called fake news has made us question social
:17:42. > :17:44.media more than ever, and Germany could be the first
:17:45. > :17:47.country in the European Union to use the law to try to stop the rise
:17:48. > :17:53.There's a growing demand for legislation to fine Facebook
:17:54. > :17:55.if it refuses to take down a false story.
:17:56. > :17:57.And Facebook, in turn, has appointed its own
:17:58. > :18:02.Well, our media editor, Amol Rajan, has been to Germany,
:18:03. > :18:04.and reports on the fight against so-called fake news.
:18:05. > :18:11.Saint Reinold's Church in the German city of Dortmund has been standing
:18:12. > :18:17.After raucous celebrations in the square outside
:18:18. > :18:23.the church on New Year's Eve, the American website Breitbart
:18:24. > :18:27.suggested it had been attacked by a 1,000-strong mob.
:18:28. > :18:30.The website claimed Islamists chanted Allahu Akbar -
:18:31. > :18:32.God is great - and waving Al-Qaeda flags.
:18:33. > :18:42.And the vicar mentioned in the Breitbart article,
:18:43. > :18:45.which is still online, fears the consequences.
:18:46. > :18:51.I was astonished because it was a lie.
:18:52. > :18:55.The Reinoldi church was not burn down.
:18:56. > :19:06.There was no Allahu Akbar cryings, and no flags from Islamic State.
:19:07. > :19:08.This woman works with refugees in a community centre
:19:09. > :19:13.She believes fake news makes her job harder.
:19:14. > :19:19.I think it is not easy to work for refugees at the moment,
:19:20. > :19:21.because we have elections in Germany, they try to find
:19:22. > :19:23.everything about bad news, in order to use this
:19:24. > :19:26.for their opinion, and in order to change the political
:19:27. > :19:42.Saint Reinoldi in Dortmund has become a powerful symbol
:19:43. > :19:52.of the international reach of fake news.
:19:53. > :19:55.The false story about this church has helped to harden
:19:56. > :20:01.And with elections coming up, there's a growing determination
:20:02. > :20:05.Here in Berlin, one party in the ruling coalition wants
:20:06. > :20:11.We want to force Facebook to build a permanent contact agency
:20:12. > :20:15.where the law enforcement can reach them 24 hours, for the whole week.
:20:16. > :20:18.Second point is, we will define periods, and in that
:20:19. > :20:20.period they have to react against fake news.
:20:21. > :20:23.And the third thing is that they have to pay a high fine
:20:24. > :20:28.if they do not react against fake news.
:20:29. > :20:30.These are independent fact checkers now used by Facebook,
:20:31. > :20:37.Refugees get the driving licence for zero, for no money.
:20:38. > :20:45.If they discover fake news, they mark them as false and send
:20:46. > :20:51.a signal to German-speaking users of the social media platform.
:20:52. > :20:55.A lot of this fake news is only focused to bring
:20:56. > :20:57.hate to our communities, and when this hate comes
:20:58. > :20:59.to an election point, and people made up their mind
:21:00. > :21:03.on election day on the basis of hate and lies, then it's a big
:21:04. > :21:11.Anas Mohd Amani knows what that feels like.
:21:12. > :21:14.He fled Syria and came to Germany in 2015 as a refugee.
:21:15. > :21:17.When the German Chancellor visited the hostel he was
:21:18. > :21:29.Together with the claim that he was a terrorist.
:21:30. > :21:33.TRANSLATION: It made me feel very bad.
:21:34. > :21:37.I've found work, I go to school here.
:21:38. > :21:40.Then I found out people were seeing me as a terrorist.
:21:41. > :21:49.Many Germans fear that false stories online could stoke the rise
:21:50. > :21:54.Fake news seems unlikely to disappear any time soon,
:21:55. > :21:57.and what's happening here could help determine the future
:21:58. > :22:07.Now, how do you capture an image of a black hole?
:22:08. > :22:17.They can be as tiny as an atom or heavier than 1 million suns.
:22:18. > :22:20.And they are normally millions of light years away, anyway.
:22:21. > :22:22.They are also invisible, a place in space where gravity pulls
:22:23. > :22:24.so much that even light can't get out.
:22:25. > :22:26.Well, despite all that, researchers in the US have managed
:22:27. > :22:29.to link 12 of the world's radio telescopes to try to take
:22:30. > :22:32.pictures of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy.
:22:33. > :22:36.Pallab Ghosh has been to see what they've found.
:22:37. > :22:39.This is our galaxy, the Milky Way, a swirl of stars and planets,
:22:40. > :22:46.At its centre, it has a heart of darkness,
:22:47. > :22:53.It's an object with immense gravity that pulls in everything around it.
:22:54. > :22:58.It's so strong that it even sucks in light.
:22:59. > :23:01.In a few weeks' time, researchers here will try
:23:02. > :23:07.So, there's a tonne of excitement around getting this picture.
:23:08. > :23:12.We are all really looking forward to getting the data in April
:23:13. > :23:13.and making that first picture, and not only because it's just
:23:14. > :23:17.going to be super cool to take the first picture of a black hole
:23:18. > :23:19.and see what it looks like, the immediate environment
:23:20. > :23:21.around a black hole, for the first time, but also,
:23:22. > :23:24.we can use it to verify that these theories of general
:23:25. > :23:30.So, how are scientists down here on Earth going to see the black
:23:31. > :23:34.No single telescope is powerful enough, so 12 of them,
:23:35. > :23:38.all around the world, will be linked together,
:23:39. > :23:43.and the images they collect will be fed into a computer in Boston.
:23:44. > :23:46.Now, our galaxy is a vast spiral, with the Earth
:23:47. > :23:52.And the black hole is right at the centre,
:23:53. > :24:01.It's four and a half million times the mass of our sun.
:24:02. > :24:03.No one has ever seen it, but scientists think it looks
:24:04. > :24:10.And very soon, they'll find out if they're right.
:24:11. > :24:15.It's a mind-boggling amount of data, stored on dozens of hard drives,
:24:16. > :24:17.flown in from telescopes all across the world.
:24:18. > :24:24.It will take the team here months to go through all the information.
:24:25. > :24:27.It's a massive quantity of data, and we have to record onto many
:24:28. > :24:32.So, this is a module that contains very large hard drives,
:24:33. > :24:35.and this module holds about as much data as 100 laptops,
:24:36. > :24:38.and we have to record on multiple of these modules just
:24:39. > :24:43.And we have numerous telescopes in the array that
:24:44. > :24:45.are all recording simultaneously, so in total we collect enough data
:24:46. > :24:53.The project is the brainchild of Professor Shep Doleman.
:24:54. > :24:58.He's waited 20 years for this moment.
:24:59. > :25:02.Black holes have been mysteries forever.
:25:03. > :25:05.It's been almost the Holy Grail for astronomers to be able to image
:25:06. > :25:08.and probe the area right around the point of no return,
:25:09. > :25:13.What we're going to learn is how black holes feed and swallow some
:25:14. > :25:18.The scientists here may have their first image by Christmas.
:25:19. > :25:20.And it'll help them discover how galaxies are created,
:25:21. > :25:23.and what the centre of our own Milky Way is really like.
:25:24. > :25:35.And, on that dark matter, that's it from Reporters for this week.
:25:36. > :26:02.Hello there. Well, for some of us today it felt almost spring-like out