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Israeli Against Israeli; Blair's Africa Agenda; Alleged CIA Kidnapping; Manchester United Uproar

Aired June 30, 2005 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Israeli against Israeli in Gaza, a place where there are sharply different visions about Israel's future.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A posh golf resort in Scotland the setting for an appeal to help Africa's poor. World leaders are honing their cases.

CLANCY: They say they knew nothing. The Italian government says it was in the dark about an alleged CIA kidnapping on its soil of a suspected terrorist.

VERJEE: And mad about Manu (ph). Fans roll out an unwelcome mat for the team's new owners.

It is 7:00 p.m. in Gaza, which the Israeli military declares a closed military zone. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: It's 6:00 p.m. in Rome, where questions about what they knew and when they knew it. I'm Jim Clancy.

Welcome to our viewers around the world to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: Unfamiliar scenes that pit Israeli against Israeli are become more commonplace just weeks before Israel plans to pull out from Gaza and part of the northern West Bank.

CLANCY: Israeli soldiers, for their part, raided a Gaza hotel Thursday. They removed Jewish extremists there who had barricaded themselves inside several weeks ago. That move came hours after the army sealed off the entire Gaza Strip.

Guy Raz joins us now from Jerusalem -- Guy.

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Israelis simply haven't witnessed this level of internecine violence in recent memory. The battle now between opponents of the government's plan to withdraw from Gaza, and the soldiers sent to evacuate them, is reaching unprecedented levels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ (voice-over): A fortress no more. Israeli police commandos forcibly removed hard-lined squatters from this abandoned hotel. Until Thursday, it was a settler stronghold, occupied by 150 of the most die-hard Israeli nationalists. The Gaza settlements are now a closed military zone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which means that people who have no reason to be there will not be allowed to come in.

RAZ: The army is preparing the ground to evacuate all the settlers from this occupied strip of land in six weeks time, but the settlers' most ardent supporters won't relent, raising fists against the soldiers sent to pull them out.

SHARON FEINGOLD, ISRAELI ARMY SPOKESWOMAN: What has been happening in Gaza in the last few days is extremely disturbing. And we are monitoring the situation very closely.

RAZ: This Palestinian man in Gaza was left in critical condition after a right-wing lynch mob attacked him. Israel's security minister vows to track down those who took part in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army remains on high alert after a series of clashes with fighters from the militant Lebanese militia Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets and gunfire at an Israeli military outpost on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAZ: Jim, with less than six weeks to go before Israel plans to pull out of those occupied areas, the government is bracing itself for a long, hot summer of violence -- Jim.

CLANCY: It still is said that the majority of the Israeli public supports this pullout, supports the prime minister in his efforts. Why?

RAZ: Well, most Israelis simply see Gaza as untenable. As you know, Jim, there are about 8,000, 8,500 Israeli Jewish settlers who live in Gaza, among 1.3 million Palestinians. It requires several thousand soldiers to protect them, millions and millions, hundreds of millions of dollars to protect them.

And essentially, most Israelis simply do not see Gaza as a strategic location. And many Israeli Jews essentially say there is no historical Jewish biblical connection to that strip of land that Israel has now occupied for nearly 38 years -- Jim.

CLANCY: Guy Raz, reporting to us there live from Jerusalem. Thank you, Guy.

VERJEE: A little bit of background now about the small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast known as Gaza which is densely populated more than a million Palestinians.

CLANCY: Sandwiched among them live about 8,000 Israeli settlers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLANCY (voice-over): For many Israelis, settlers or otherwise, the images of Jews evicting Jews from their homes is deeply troubling. Some of those fighting the evictions aren't from Gaza at all, but from West Bank settlements, Israelis who fear they could be next.

Twenty-one settlements built in Gaza claimed large swathes of sea front and staked out strategic positions that divide the Gaza Strip like security fingers. Numbering about 8,000 in all, or less than one-half of one percent of the population, the settlers lay claim to 30 percent of the land.

With hefty government subsidies, they prospered among 1.7 million Palestinians of whom 60 percent live below the poverty line and 40 percent are unemployed. This week, settlers dismantled some of the greenhouses that will enable them to move their lucrative flower and vegetable growing businesses elsewhere.

Some sources estimate that even paying $300,000, to $500,000 to each of the 1,500 Israeli settler families, Israel will be saving money within two to three years. The reason? Protecting the settlements from Palestinian militants costs Israel more than $130 million a year.

The biggest political risk, according to some, is that the militants will claim victory for driving the settlers out. In rare agreement, Palestinians and Israelis announced all of the settler dwellings will be demolished. While the Israelis didn't want to witness the triumphant takeover of settler home, Palestinians weren't eager to see running battles over who among Gaza's impoverished would claim them.

Palestinians voice bitterness at the attention now focused on the settlers' plight, noting far more of their own homes. Some 4,000 have been demolished in Gaza in recent years by Israeli bulldozers. Far more of their people left homeless with no outpouring of sympathy, and certainly no half-million-dollar payoffs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Although Israel said this week that coordination of the pullout was improving, the Palestinians are denying it. After the pullout, they complained Israel will still virtually control all of Gaza's access to the rest of the world by air, land and sea.

VERJEE: Israel says gunfire between its soldiers and Hezbollah fighters erupted on Thursday near the border with Lebanon. Hezbollah denied any exchange of gunfire in the Shebaa Farms area. This comes one day after Israeli warplanes attacked two Hezbollah positions after the militant groups struck Israeli outposts in the area.

Meanwhile, Israeli planes dropped leaflets in southern Lebanon neighborhoods, calling on Beirut to take control of its border area and prevent Hezbollah from escalating tensions.

CLANCY: On the Lebanese political front some important developments. Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has seen the realities of the political situation now and is appointing a new prime minister from the anti-Syrian bloc. Fuad Saniora was a former finance minister and aide to the assassinated former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. He must now form a government that will be approved by the parliament. Results from recent elections created an anti-Syrian majority within that law-making body.

VERJEE: Just days after his election, controversy over the new president's role in the 1979 U.S. hostage-taking. A number of former hostages at the U.S. embassy in Iran say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a key figure in the takeover.

Ahmadinejad was a college student in 1979 when militants stormed the embassy and took the staff hostage for 444 days. Now, at least three of those hostages say they recognized Ahmadinejad while watching television coverage of the Iranian election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ROEDER, FMR. HOSTAGE: It stopped me cold in the middle of the room, and I knew it wasn't one of those things where, gee, you know, that's a familiar face. I knew absolutely and immediately where I had seen that guy before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK SCOTT, FMR. HOSTAGE: We knew from what other guards had told us that he was a leader, and he was what I'd call a hard ass. And even some of the regular guards referred to him as being very strict and very anti-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: But other former hostages say they're not so sure. And Ahmadinejad has reportedly told aides that he had no part in the hostage-taking.

CLANCY: Pop stars and politicians all set to share the spotlight in the fight against global poverty. Ahead of next week's G8 summit, concerts, of course, are going to be staged all around the world. That happens this weekend.

It will take place from the U.S. to Tokyo. Live 8 organizers led by Bob Geldof want to pressure the powerful group of eight nations to ramp up aid to the developing world.

Now, earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush outlined his priorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our greatest challenge is to get beyond empty symbolism and discredited policies, and match our good intentions with good results. First, overcoming extreme poverty requires partnership, not paternalism. Economic development is not something we do for countries, it is something they achieve with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is hosting the G8 summit at Scotland's Gleneagles Resort. Now, he's counting on securing full debt relief for African nations. Mr. Blair spoke a bit earlier with Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, and she joins us now live from London.

A little bit more on that interview, if you please -- Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, precisely. One of the key features of the G8 Summit is to get all the world's top richest countries, the G8 countries, to increase their aid budget, their foreign aid budget, from where it is now, to 0.7 percent of the GNP, and to give that to foreign aid.

Right now, countries such as Britain, France, Germany, give between 0.3 percent and 0.4. The United States is at rock bottom, at 0.1 percent, 0.16. That's 10 cents on every hundred dollars. The aim is to get it to 70 cents on every hundred dollars.

So that's -- that's the aim. So it's not just about giving out aid, but it's also about making structural differences in the way they tackle trying to get Africa out of extreme poverty.

We spoke to Prime Minister Blair, who's the driving force behind, putting this at the top of the G8 Summit. And he talked about how it was a moral imperative.

We asked him, how was he going to make sure, how was the world going to be able to drag Africa out of extreme poverty? And let's be clear, this is the kind of poverty that kills, the kind of poverty that means people live on less than a dollar a day.

How is it going to happen if big, powerful countries like the United States, despite some of the promises President Bush has made, simply will not ramp up their foreign aid budget to 0.7 percent? This is what Prime Minister Blair said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What I would ask him to do and hope that he will be able to do is increase significantly the amount of aid that's going to Africa. I mean, he's doubled (ph) it already. I would like to see a -- effectively doubling of the amount of money that America is paying, because I think that tied to the proper ways of using that money, to things like education and dealing with killer diseases, to water sanitation and infrastructure, the proof is there, it can make a real difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And Mr. Blair was quite firm on that. He did say it can make a difference, a minimal investment, simple solutions, things like malaria nets, for instance, to help 80 percent of the people in Africa who die of malaria every day.

Things like getting children into school. Thing like getting a generator, or proper seed and fertilizer to farmers. All those things make a difference. And he said tackling this kind of extreme poverty was, for him, not just an economic issue, but something much deeper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAIR: There's a strong moral reason because there are thousands of children dying every day from preventable diseases. There are millions of people who have died in circumstances that were preventable in Africa over the past few year through conflict, through famine, through disease. And I think there's a very strong reason of self-interest as well.

Africa's a continent of mixed religion and mixed races. If we end up with the continent continuing to get poorer, and its people devoid of any hope, I think that could cause us huge problems in the future. So I think there are reasons of self-interest, but frankly, there's -- the moral cause is uppermost in my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And also, Jim, to the question of the cynics, who say, how can we keep aiding Africa when so many of the governments are corrupt, siphoning off millions of dollars, sabotaging all sorts of western programs and others that are designed to help? Prime Minister Blair said, look, obviously, good governance, accountability, reform in many of those governments, is very, very necessary. However, he did say that poor people, those who, as I say, are affected by the kind of poverty that kills, they cannot and must not be held accountable for their bad governments. He said it's not their fault.

He also said -- and this is quite important -- that the European Union, America, other countries, must end the kind of unfair trade subsidies, farming subsidies, that prevent Africans form access of foreign markets and from being able to sell their goods. And certainly many of the African leaders who have taken on good governments and reform and democratic principles are insisting that no amount of debt cancellation or aid will be enough. There must be reform in the trade policies, and Blair agreed with that as well.

CLANCY: Christiane Amanpour, live in London. Important points, all.

You can tune in and see more of Christiane's interview with the British prime minister. That will air on Sunday. She is going to be hosting a 90-minute special about the problems facing Africa, part of our continuing coverage. "Africa at Risk," as we examine the issues that confront the African continent. Be sure to tune in.

VERJEE: Next on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a low-key incident that's created a diplomatic row between Italy and the United States.

CLANCY: What the Italian government has to say about the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. We've got new developments on this story.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back. You're watching an hour of world news here on CNN International.

Now to the CIA scandal in Italy. The Italian government says it had no prior knowledge of the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan two years ago.

Let's bring in our Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci.

Alessio, the U.S. ambassador's been summoned by the Italian prime minister.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: That is correct, Zain. Today, the Italian government official was speaking in parliament. And he did say that the U.S. ambassador to Rome, Mel Sembler, has been summoned, indeed, by the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

We do understand that the ambassador is now in the U.S. And he is expected to return to Rome in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Italian government officials are also saying they never authorized this alleged CIA operation. And also, documents viewed by CNN early this morning suggests that at the highest levels, Italian intelligence officials did not know about this alleged CIA plot to kidnap a suspected terrorist. However, this is not what we are hearing from U.S. sources back in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCI (voice-over): According to Italian authorities, when he was kidnapped in broad daylight two years ago, the Egyptian-born cleric known as Abu Omar was walking down this street in Milan on his way to the nearby mosque. He was a long-time terrorist suspect, and was under surveillance by Italian police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Italian nation of police, but also many intelligence services from Europe and the U.S. consider him an important asset (ph) of a radicalism in Europe and in Italy as well.

VINCI: Italian prosecutors believed the CIA organized his abduction. And in court documents obtained by CNN, it is asserted the suspect was first driven to an airbase in northern Italy then transferred to Egypt, whether, according to the same documents, he was interrogated and possibly tortured.

(on camera): The operation, as claimed by Italian prosecutors, appears to have the hallmarks of what is known as extraordinary rendition, whereby U.S. agents seize a suspect and transfer him to a different country to be interrogated without court approval.

(voice-over): Abdel Hamichani (ph) knew Abu Omar. He tells me that a year ago, Abu Omar was briefly released and put through a phone call to his wife in Italy.

"In Egypt, he was kept locked up for many months," he says. "Nobody knew anything. When he called us, he told us that he had been tortured, that they treated them badly, that at the airbase, too, he was beaten."

After that phone call, the Egyptian police arrested him again and put him in jail.

Abu Omar's whereabouts are currently not none. An Italian judge last week issued 13 arrest warrants against the alleged CIA agents for what the warrants charge was their role in the cleric's disappearance. They are now considered fugitives under Italian law.

Among those sought by Italian police, a former U.S. consul in Milan who investigators believed organized the operation. Court documents obtained by CNN assert the operation was meticulously planned. Prosecutors claim cell phone records link the time and place of the 2003 kidnapping to the alleged agents who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at Milan's best hotels, rented cars, and paid bills with credit cards.

A source close to the investigation says that would appear to indicate they behaved as if they were not concerned about being spotted. But Italian government officials deny Italy had prior knowledge of the alleged CIA operation and have summoned the U.S. ambassador in Rome to explain.

"It cannot be hypothesized that such an operation would have been authorized," he said, "nor that any Italian agencies would have been involved."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VINCI: And the same U.S. sources in Washington are telling CNN's David Ensor that, as it is the case with renditions, should the matter become exposed, the agreement between the Italians and the Americans is that, either declining comment, or basically -- basically denying any knowledge of the issue. And that is what the Italians appear to be doing at this time.

Zain, back to you.

VERJEE: CNN's Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci -- Jim.

CLANCY: Now let's take a look at some of the other stories that are making news in the U.S.

Time Incorporated says it strongly disagrees with a court order, but will turn over subpoenaed records from journalist Matt Cooper about the leak of a CIA operative's name. That move follows a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear an appeal in the case.

Cooper and Judith Miller, of "The New York Times," were facing jail time for refusing to reveal their confidential sources to a grand jury. U.S. agricultural officials say a cow infected with the mad cow disease was born in Texas. They say the animal had been tested and never entered the human or pet food supply. This the first time the brain-wasting disease has been confirmed in a cow born in the U.S.

Bank of America is buying MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. That deal would create the biggest U.S. credit card issuer. The merger would mean a loss of some 6,000 jobs.

VERJEE: Coming up later, the start of the G8 is less than a week away.

CLANCY: And preparations for the related Live 8 events also building up. We're going to be talking with one of the performers, a singer who wasn't even born when Live Aid made history 20 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Well, time for a check on what's moving the markets in the U.S.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

VERJEE: We're going to update our top stories in just a moment.

CLANCY: Also ahead, fighting insurgents in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan.

VERJEE: And welcome to Manchester, England, where the not-so- welcoming committee greets the new American owners of their beloved soccer club.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Here are some of the top stories we're following.

The Israeli army closed off all settlements and occupied Gaza and police raided a hotel where Jewish extremists has barricaded themselves. They oppose the government's planned pull-out from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank. But slated for mid-August, the move comes after a day of intense clashes between the Israeli army and the extremists.

CLANCY: U.S. president George W. Bush says he will work to double aid to Africa and other developing nations at next week's G8 Summit in Scotland. But in a speech Thursday, Mr. Bush said only those nations involved in reform can expect major increases in aid.

VERJEE: The Italian government denies it knew in advance about an alleged CIA kidnapping in that country. Italian prosecutors are seeking the arrests of 13 people they say are American agents. The kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan, in February of 2003. The cleric was later taken to Egypt, where he reportedly was tortured. Sources tell CNN's David Ensor that the CIA obtained the approval of their Italian intelligence counterparts.

As we mentioned earlier, coalition forces say they have now secured the site where a U.S. military helicopter crashed in the rugged area near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. Military officials report the status of 16 service members on board is still not known.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has just returned from Afghanistan. Now, she reports on the U.S. military's efforts to conduct a war there against terrorism under extreme and hazardous conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the war that is not Iraq. Afghanistan's Hindu Kush, mountain peaks rising more than 10,000 feet along the border with Pakistan, some of the world's roughest terrain. CNN took these exclusive pictures in 2003 while traveling with U.S. troops in Chinook helicopters similar to the one that crashed on Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.

STARR: For weeks, all along this border, U.S. and Afghan troops have been fighting insurgents. Nobody thinks Osama bin Laden is here. This is a military offensive against suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that are here. Just days ago, CNN visited the border again.

(on camera): We're just about two miles from the Pakistan border at a military base deep inside the mountains of Afghanistan, a base that is operated by U.S. special forces. The troops here tell us they are in almost constant contact with enemy forces, people trying to infiltrate across that Pakistan border.

(voice-over): The senior U.S. commander was predicting more attacks in advance of the September parliamentary elections.

LT. GEN. KARL EIKENBERRY, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES, AFGHANISTAN: The kind of tactics that the enemy will use we're already starting to see them. Continuation of IEDs, a continuation of attacks against soft targets, blowing up the mosque. These are a group of terrorists and criminals that will use any tactic they can to try to stop this democratic process.

STARR: There are disturbing signs of increased organization and funding.

CAPT. BRANDON TEAGUE, 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION: The past four, five months, they've -- they've been well-equipped. They all -- they have standardized equipment, AK-47s, grenades, communication equipment, signaling equipment.

STARR: Colonel Patrick Donahue's says his troops remain on the offensive. COL. PATRICK DONAHUE, 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION: The type of enemy we're facing is more of the insurgent cell operating in the interior. These are the ones that are bombing the -- burning the schools and dropping the hand grenades in the girl schools, intimidating voters. These are -- this is a new threat that has just emerged in the last month.

STARR: No one can say who fired small arms and rocket-propelled grenades against the helicopter that was brought down, but along this border, in this other war, U.S. troops in combat is very much a reality.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: In Jakarta, at least one person has died after the collision of two passenger trains during rush hour. More than 80 people are said to be injured. A train packed with commuters slammed into the back of another train that was stationary on the tracks. Several trains were derailed. Heavy rains has made evacuation of the trains difficult.

CLANCY: Well, gearing up for Bob Geldof's Live 8. That's still to come here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: One of the performers at this weekend's concerts is a new British singing sensation. Her name is Joss Stone. She talks to us about how it feels to be part of the successor to a musical event that changed the world. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Spain has become the fourth country to recognize gay marriages. The Spanish parliament defied conservatives and Catholic groups to pass a measure giving same-sex couples marriage, divorce and adoption rights. The vote in the 350-seat Congress of deputies was 187 to 147 with four abstentions. Gay marriage is also recognized in Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands.

CLANCY: Well, a who's's who of pop and rock stars are gearing up for the big Live 8 concerts that are going to be held all around the world this weekend.

VERJEE: Yes, the goal really is to put pressure on the G-8 on global poverty. Now British soul sensation Joss Stone, she wasn't even born when Live Aid made history in 1985.

CLANCY: But now she is one of the report this time around. No doubt about that. Monita Rajpal sat down with her in London to ask her about Live 8's potential impact on her generation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOSS STONE, SINGER: Just the fact that we're all coming together, so many thousands upon thousands of people coming together, kind of makes a little bit of a point, you know. So I go out and say something, or if people my age, like the young generation, say something enough, then hopefully people my age will listen, just like they did 20 years ago.

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you could say something now to Prime Minister Blair, to President Bush, what would you say to them?

STONE: Well, there's eight people, as far as I know. All they have to do is agree on the right thing. It's not hard. That's all what I would say. I mean, that's just so simple.

RAJPAL: Why then, is it important for you to be a part of this?

STONE: Because it's disgusting what's going on. It's just unnecessary. It's just not right. And it doesn't have to be. In all honesty, sometimes life isn't fair, but in this case, it doesn't have to be that way. It just takes a couple people to agree.

RAJPAL: As an internationally renowned artist, what responsibility do you think you have?

STONE: I guess when you become, like, into the public eye and people see awe lot, you do have a responsibility, but nobody tells you about it.

RAJPAL: Is it something you have to learn by yourself, that all of a sudden I'm here up on the public stage, public arena and I have to...

STONE: Yes, You have to be careful. I can do whatever I want. But it's just weird, because like take Britney Spears, for instance, the poor girl, man, she's just having fun, but she doesn't realize she does have a responsibility now, but nobody told her about it. So I get it, I do have a responsibility to say the right thing. But, I'm always going to be honest. I'm never going to lie just to please people. I'm always going to give my opinion. Nobody can ever suck that out of me. If it's wrong or right, I'm going to sail it.

RAJPAL: How does it feel then, they're saying that this is a history-making event. They said Live Aid was certainly a history- making event. This will be as well. How does it feel to be a part of that?

STONE: It's kind of cool. It is good. It's so scary. Oh my God, it's like, a couple years ago, I was sitting on my ass watching TV every day. And now there I am singing in front of 150,000 people and more. I mean, it's just very weird for me. And there's so many singers up there, that I've been doing it for years and years and years. I'm not sure it's not as weird, but I'm pretty sure it's weird for them too, because it is history.

RAJPAL: Do you think people your age are more aware about what's happening around the world now?

STONE: They are now, yes, because of this. Before, I didn't -- I wasn't.

RAJPAL: Even after September 11th?

STONE: September 11th, yes, from that point, I definitely think that it's become more apparent, and now all of this stuff is just huge. It's everywhere, Every single day in your face, and there's no way you can ignore it.

RAJPAL: Because you travel so much because you are exposed to so many different cultures and people, do you feel you've become more sensitive to the plight of desperation around the world?

STONE: Maybe. I think I'm just overly sensitive anyway. I always have been. I don't think -- I mean, traveling, it does -- it lets you see a lot. But, to be honest, I don't see that much. I just work. I go into my hotel room, I go to sleep, I wake up, I do interviews, and then I get on a plane and go to the next one. So it's not like, I go out there and meet everybody, because I have no time.

RAJPAL: Finally, I want to ask you one question. Tell me about your thought process and what's going through your mind, in the sense here's this girl from Devon, now on the world stage, possibly influencing millions of people around the world to help. How does that make you feel?

STONE: It's pressure, pressure, isn't it, really? God, it would be so embarrassing if I fell over. That's kind of what I think.

RAJPAL: We'll keep our fingers crossed that you don't.

STONE: Yes, I just want to sing right and do my thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, we also have a special week of programming planned for the Live 8 concert, and the G-8 summit. "Africa at Risk" features a 90-minute summit hosted by CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. That will include her reports from Ethiopia. She just returned from there. Plus, interviews she's just done with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and South African President Thabo Mbeki. Our special coverage begins right here on CNN this Saturday.

VERJEE: Let's check some other stories making news now in the United States. Canada's health minister says he's considering banning the bulk export of prescription drugs to other countries, including the United States. The minister says his country can't be the drugstore for the United States. Many U.S. citizens travel to Canada to get their medication, because it's cheaper than buying near their homes.

The U.S. Army announced it met its recruiting goal for the month of June, after missing targets for four previous months. As of Wednesday, the Army has signed up more than 6100 recruits for the month. Its goal was 5,650, the military had lowered the target significantly after several months of lagging enlistments.

And parts of New Hampshire are ringing out from a string of powerful thunderstorms. Streets in Manchester flooded within minutes, causing cars to get a stuck on the road. The storms also sparked some firs and power outages. More than 2,000 customers without electricity, after high winds brought down tree limbs and utility poles.

CLANCY: Well, we're going to have a short break, but there's a lot more to come here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: Yes, still ahead, are they just very hip police officers? Or does it have something to do with their hips? we are going to tell you why these men spend time on the job boogying instead of making busts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Well, off the drug squad, on to disco duty. Police in Thailand are actually spending part of their time dancing to bouncy music, and it's not for fun.

VERJEE: No, it's actually all about a very serious problem that they're having, the battle of the bulge. For more, we turn to our, I think, fairly slim correspondent, Aneesh Raman, who's on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are two things these men have in common. They are all Bangkok police officers, and they've all got one of these. It's an unlikely battle of the bulge, a two-month mandatory weight loss program for police with waist lines over 40 inches. The bosses, it seems, don't want this as the face of the force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The police here are certainly overweight. It is not just a matter of being fat, it's also creating a bad image.

RAMAN: One that's getting worse. Annual physicals showed half of Bangkok's police are becoming dangerously obese. And for those like Sergeant Nitok Sisaur (ph), who weighs 280 pounds, it's starting to take a toll. "I'm fat, very fat," he says. "So I have to diet. It's hard to put on my clothes, because they are so tight."

Not to mention his polyester uniform. Out on the streets, Nitok's exercise is minimal, a few hand movements here and there. His dinner time stall, now off-limits. And if motivation starts to wane, passing by, every so often, that other 50 percent, the skinny cops.

(on camera): For a lot of the big guys like Sergeant Nitok, the bulge is actually an extension of the work. His days are long. His food breaks are infrequent. And it spells disaster, because when the day ends. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They come to their home, open the refrigerator and eat everything.

RAMAN (voice-over): So this program is about more than just sweating away the excess. There's yoga for the brave, and also, dietary education. On the Bangkok streets, it's about the basics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is dangerous for themselves, if they let themselves be overweight. So that's the point.

RAMAN: Another point, slimming down is dangerous for the criminals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I'm going to commit a crime, I'd rather have the fat cop than the slim cop.

RAMAN: Fat cops be gone. In Bangkok, the hope is that the change will be permanent. At least that's the hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's really good, working hard, the entire body. But after the two months, I have to try and find time.

RAMAN: And then there's the other issue. Slimming down solves one health risk, sucking in exhaust fumes all day raises another. In Bangkok, for now, that's another problem for another day.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, some Britons today are saying damn Yankees, and they are not talking baseball, they're talking football, or soccer.

VERJEE: Well, this is the big story in the sporting world. Because of the American investors takeover of the richest soccer football club?

CLANCY That's right, Manchester United. The sons of Tampa Bay Buccaneer's owner Malcolm Glazer visited Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium for the first time since he acquired the franchise.

VERJEE: But as Jim Bolden tells us, they got more than they bargained for from fans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOLDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the welcome Manchester United's new owners got Wednesday night. The sons of Malcolm Glazer had to be whisked away from the team stadium in a police van after hundreds of angry fans descended on the ground when word got out the Glazer's were looking over their family's $1.4 billion purchase of the world famous club. Fans are vowing to force Glazer to sell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He'll go before us. If it takes one year, ten years, 12 years, we'll still be here.

BOLDEN: Despite the violence and death threats, Glazer now owns 98 percent of Man U shares, adding the soccer club to the family's ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football team. Man U was purchased with loans that fans fear will have to be paid back by increased ticket prices and by holding back money that would have gone to buying new players.

SEAN BONES, SHAREHOLDERS UNITED: Manchester United supporters are the customers of this company. And the customers of the company are against the owner, and the numbers that they are, 93 percent last independent survey. That the owners have got nowhere to go.

BOLDEN: Reaction to the Glazer takeover is in stark contrast to the welcome Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich received when he bought London's Chelsea soccer team two years ago.

KEVIN ROBERTS, SPORTSBUSINESS: I wonder, actually, whether it's not to do with being American, but already, Glazer seems like a remote personality. He doesn't come across in the media, or his sons, as being warm, approachable, and genuinely committed to the club.

BOLDEN: Manchester United Stadium is known as the theater of dreams. The Glazer sons found out during their brief stay that many fans want to turn it into a nightmare for the new owners.

Jim Bolden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And finally to China, where an addictive pleasure is tempting teens.

CLANCY: We're talking about the Internet. Apparently the problem getting so bad that China has opened its very first treatment center for Internet addicts.

VERJEE: An official estimates puts the number of net addicts at 5 million. At $50 a day, treatment at the addiction clinic is costly for Chinese families.

CLANCY: But with Internet use booming, the clinic says it has no shortage of patients. Tip for the parents, I think they should just unplug their children.

Well, there's more news straight ahead here on CNN. I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. This is CNN.

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