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Your World Today

G-8 Summit; Iraq Violence; U.S. Military Deaths; Vying For 2012 Olympics

Aired July 05, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE PEARCE, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: The United States is the biggest kind of climate criminal, if you like. And the White House...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Environmentalists put the heat on Washington ahead of the G-8 summit for its opposition to a global treaty on climate change.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Militants attack one of the most revered Hindu shrines in India, igniting a deadly gun battle with police.

CLANCY: And bringing out the heavy weights as the fight goes down to the wire. One of five cities battling to host the 2012 Olympics will soon rise to the top.

It's 5:00 p.m. in Edinburgh; 9:30 in the evening in Ayodhya, India; and midnight in Singapore, where the 2012 Olympic host will soon be announced.

I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International.

CLANCY: What to do about climate change and what to do about aid to the world's poorest continent, those are the issues high on the agendas of leaders as the world's wealthiest nations gather for the G- 8 summit in Scotland Wednesday.

VERJEE: Security is tight at the Gleneagles Resort north of Edinburgh for the three-day event.

CLANCY: More than 10,000 police there on standby. They blame a hard-core of activists for scuffles on Monday which brought some of the Scottish capital to a standstill.

VERJEE: Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof, who had arrived in Edinburgh, rejected violent demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB GELDOF, LIVE 8 ORGANIZER: So we're really, really, really, really not interested in that stuff at all. We're the people who came in vast hundreds of thousands on Saturday and vast billions around the world. That's who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The U.S. is the only G-8 country that has not ratified the Kyoto protocol on climate change. U.S. President George W. Bush says meeting the emission reduction targets would wreck the U.S. economy.

Senior International Correspondent Walter Rogers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Polar ice caps retreating at an alarming rate. Oceans heating up, expanding, threatening coastal cities. More than a few species, even humans, may be threatened by climate change. Blame itself, however, is flourishing.

PEARCE: The United States is the biggest climate criminal, if you like. And the White House and Bush administration is still refusing to acknowledge that climate change is really happening.

RODGERS: Whoa. Read his lips.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In terms of climate change, I've always said it's a serious long-term issue that needs to be dealt with.

RODGERS: How it's dealt with is the rub. The agreement known as the Kyoto protocol went into effect in February, but the Bush administration has steadfastly refused to sign on. Yet, the U.S. does spend the most money researching ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By contrast, Europe wants to impose Kyoto targets to reduce those emissions in the hope of slowing global warming.

JULIAN MORRIS, INTERNATIONAL POLICY NETWORK: There was a lot of pressure from environmentalists to sign up to something. And so the Kyoto protocol was that something. Kyoto is a very costly agreement and it has very few benefits. So in that sense, it was absolutely the right move on the part of the United States not to ratify.

RODGERS: With numbers of cars on roads increasing, demands for energy soaring across the globe, greenhouse gas emissions, most notably carbon dioxide, are rising above the Kyoto targets almost everywhere, a glarg failing acknowledged even by environmentalists.

PEARCE: There should be no country in the world who right at this stage is congratulating themselves on their emissions control. I think we have a lot of work to do.

RODGERS: Developing countries China, India, Brazil, all big polluters, were given a free pass at Kyoto, so why the America bashing among global environmentalists?

MORRIS: It's not politically correct to try and impose restrictions on poorer countries, but on the richest country in the world, well, it's got to be the most evil, surely.

RODGERS: Deep, meaningful cuts in greenhouse gas emissions would still be so economically disastrous, no politician anywhere is advocating that just yet. So, instead, they continue to campaign for Kyoto, arguably cleansing their consciences without doing that much to clean up the planet's air.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: A thoughtful message coming from the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI's top adviser on justice and peace says he hopes the G-8 summit will nudge the United States to open its eyes to the problems of Africa. Cardinal Renato Martino says the U.S. has to do much more because of its wealth and its history of slavery.

Martino also called Americans the most generous people in the world. Martino was the Vatican's ambassador to the United Nations for 16 years.

A little bit later this hour we're going to have a special report coming to us from southern Africa. Lesotho, a country of nearly two million people, a country whose beauty masks its poverty, half of the people in this country live on less than $1 a day. So how can the G-8 summit actually help them? More on this story about 20 minutes from now right here on CNN.

And be sure to tune in to our special coverage, "Africa at Risk." It continues throughout this week. Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour examines issues that face the continent. Our 90- minute special, including reports on poverty in Ethiopia, conversations with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, all that and more, 17:00 Greenwich Mean Time, less than an hour from now.

VERJEE: Checking the latest from Iraq. Insurgents have ambushed a vehicle en route to the Baghdad airport. At least three female airport employees were killed. It's just the latest of scores of attacks against civilians somehow seen as collaborating with the U.S. or Iraqi officials.

Now, as Aneesh Raman reports, insurgents are also focusing on high-profile diplomatic envoys.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Iraq on Tuesday, diplomats again the target, specifically diplomats from Muslim countries. First, this morning, at around 7:00 a.m. local, Bahrain charge d'affaires shot at by gunmen in a pickup truck as he was driving in western Baghdad. His aides say he was only slightly injured, shot in the hand. They also say that this appears to be an apparent kidnapping, not an apparent assassination attempt. Bahraini officials saying that he will likely be brought home, and their mission here temporarily closed.

Later in the day, in the afternoon, Pakistan's top envoy to Iraq, Mohammed Khan (ph), he was shot at while traveling in a three-car convoy. His aides say he was not injured whatsoever. His bodyguards returned fire.

Pakistan now likely to move him out of the country. Reports also that they may close their mission here as well.

Now, this all comes just a few days after Egypt's top envoy on the cusp of becoming the first Arab ambassador to Iraq. Ihab Sherif was kidnapped while driving near his home. There have been no claims of responsibility, no signs of how he is at the moment. But today, Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, his spokesman hit home the point the situation on the ground remains so volatile and that diplomats, especially these high-level diplomats, need to take security into their mindset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): With respect to the abduction of the Egyptian ambassador, it was quite odd to see the ambassador leaving his house with no protection. Everyone in Iraq knows that no senior official should go out without sufficient protection.

RAMAN: Now, the implications of these recent events are quite serious in the diplomatic realm. Iraq has been begging its Arab neighbors to reestablish diplomatic ties to send ambassadors.

You will recall at the end of June U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on the Arab neighbors of Iraq to do just that. Days later, Egypt became the first country to respond to that call. Now the only Arab ambassador in Iraq is in kidnappers' hands.

For many of the Arab countries, though, it is not simply about supporting Iraq. It is about essentially the situation on the ground, which remains incredibly dangerous. And now, with a message from insurgents, the stakes clearly higher.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: The bodies of two members of a missing U.S. Special Forces team have been located in Afghanistan. The search for another Navy SEAL continues in the rugged eastern region along the border with Pakistan. One team member has been recovered alive.

We get more now from Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the search stretched into a sixth day, only one navy SEAL of a missing four-man reconnaissance team remains unaccounted for in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. A senior official tells CNN the bodies of two of the SEALs have been located, but how they died is unclear.

So far, only one member of the four-man SEAL team has been found alive. A statement confirming the Saturday rescue said the U.S. commando was given medical treatment at Bagram Airfield and was listed in stable condition. Sources told CNN his wounds were superficial and said he had provided some details about what happened to the rest of the team.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is a team that is very close to each other because of the conditions they have to go through to survive. And so picking up the one individual give them some very interesting information.

MCINTYRE: Meanwhile, the U.S. military is confirming a number of Afghan civilians were killed Friday when a U.S. B-52 bomber dropped six satellite-guided bombs on a compound believed to be an operating base for militants who shot down a U.S. helicopter last week as it attempted to extract the Navy SEALs.

LT. CINDY MOORE, SPOKESWOMAN, U.S. FORCES, AFGHANISTAN: I think certainly U.S. forces regret if there is a loss of innocent lives. And we follow very stringent rules of engagement, specifically to ensure that noncombatants are safe.

MCINTYRE: A statement put out by the U.S. military blame the deaths on the militants. "When enemy forces move their families into locations where they conduct terrorist operations," it said, "they put these innocent civilians at risk."

(on camera): The U.S. military knows a lot more than it's saying about the fate of the missing SEALs, but insists making the information public now would serve no purpose while the rescue and recovery operation is still under way.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Barely a week before the tenth anniversary of notorious wartime massacre in Bosnia, police say several bombs were found planted at Srebenica's memorial center. Bosnian Serb police say they were informed of the explosives by the European peace force in Bosnia. Police have sealed off the location and have sent in bomb disposal experts.

Toward the end of Bosnia's war as many as 8,000 Muslim men and boys were captured and killed when Bosnian Serb troops overran Srebenica. In July of 1995, it was Europe's worse mass killing since World War II.

Coming up, we're going to check some of the stories making news in the United States.

CLANCY: One involves a fireworks display that did not go as planned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: We'll have details of the Independence Day accident and more after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

CLANCY: And right now we're going to focus on some of the stories that are making headlines in the U.S.

President Bush urging special interest groups to tone down all that rhetoric over his upcoming Supreme Court nomination. Some Republicans have warned that possible nominee Alberto Gonzales is not conservative enough on issues such as abortion and affirmative action. The president told "USA Today" he will interview possible candidates in the coming weeks.

Sheriff's officials in Idaho say now they believe the missing 9- year-old Dylan Groene is dead. This after the discovery of human remains in western Montana. Dylan's 8-year-old sister Shasta was found alive on Saturday in the company of a registered sex offender who is now in custody on suspicion of kidnapping.

VERJEE: The oohs and the ahs turned to ouch Monday night in Florida when a rocket from an Independence Day fireworks displayed veered off course and exploded near spectators. Seven people were treated for minor burns at the scene and released.

Amazing surveillance video from Bellevue, Washington. Thirty- four-year-old Derrick Walker (ph) had just started to fuel his car when the vehicle burst into a ball of flames. Walker came away unhurt, and thanks to the quick-thinking station owner, the fire was quickly doused. Unfortunately, though, the 1977 Ferrari was a total loss.

CLANCY: The end of the Ferrari in dramatic fashion.

Well, a fierce bidding war in Singapore right now coming down to the wires. Five cities are competing to host the 2012 Olympic games.

VERJEE: And in less than 24 hours, the world is going to find out just who won.

Jim Bittermann looks at one city many believe is the odds on favorite. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the stadium where Paris officials hope to stage the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, they were whipping up one final display of French passion for the games. As the clock counted down to the moment when the site for 2012 will be announced, tens of thousands of obedient fans draped and seated themselves by the Olympic colors and cheered as sky divers also flying the Olympic colors deftly zeroed in on the Paris Olympic logo.

It was hard to imagine the last-minute track and field event would change any minds among the Olympic decision-makers, but the organizers of Paris 2012 say they want to show what they call French fervor, the enthusiasm that they hope will give Paris the edge. Enthusiasm which has not always been evident in the past.

(on camera): Officials here say what may help them most to win is defeat. Twice before Paris has bid to host the Olympic games and been rejected. This time, however, they say they are coming at it with more engagement and less arrogance.

(voice-over): When the site's election committee breezed through here back in March, their host pulled out all the stops. True, there was that embarrassing national strike right in the middle of the committee's visit, but Paris 2012 spin meisters say that just showed how well the city can handle two events at the same time. Besides, they say the unions are all for the Olympics because it's believed they'll create 60,000 temporary and 20,000 permanent jobs.

JEROME LENFANT, PARIS 2012 COMMITTEE: All the French unions have signed agreement saying that they wanted to back the bid, they understood all the benefits the workers France could take from winning and organizing the Olympics.

BITTERMANN: But it's not just the jobs. With Parisian precision, the French point out that while they're spending 27 million euros -- that's more than $32 million -- just to prepare the 2012 bid, the economic fallout if Paris gets the nod will be a thousand times that figure.

One reason? Organizers estimate they'll only need about four billion euros in new construction because good transportation is already available and many event sites already exist, because, the French sports minister says, the government has always invested heavily in sports.

JEAN-FRANCOI LAMOUR, FRENCH SPORTS MINISTER (through translator): In France, we have understood that sports makes a major social contribution. You can, for instance, educate through sports.

BITTERMANN: The handicappers say Paris is the favorite to host the 2012 games, but despite that, and the fact that one day last month the city turned its glitzy main street into a sports arena just to show a little more of that French fervor, everyone here from bakers to bicyclists is nervous with anticipation about the decision in Singapore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody speaks about this in Paris.

BITTERMANN: As much as anything else, the French seem to need this win for the pride of victory after their two agonizing defeats in the past.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Now, be sure to join CNN Wednesday when the IOC announces the winning city. That announcement expected to come at 11:30 hour, French Mean Time. We will have live reports from each of the Olympic contenders. And for the latest any time, click on our Web site. The address: cnn.com/worldsports.

VERJEE: Still ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, a disputed holy site comes under attack in India.

CLANCY: That's right. Militants striking at the heart of a religious controversy. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Indian police say they have killed five militants who attacked one of the country's holiest and most disputed sites. The shootout taking place in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya.

A sixth militant was killed when he detonated explosives strapped to his body. Three police and two civilians were wounded in the firefight.

Hindu-Muslim tensions in Ayodhya have a history. It's a history that dates back more than 500 years. In 1992, a mosque was torn down by a mob of Hindu extremists, sparking religious riots all across the country.

VERJEE: Time for a check now on what's moving the markets in the United States.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CLANCY: We're going to have a roundup of the main stories coming up ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: And also, a conversation with Jordan's ambassador to the United States on Iraq's insurgency as diplomats from Arab countries becomes targets.

CLANCY: Also coming up, a report on women in Afghanistan, women determined to lead others into a safer future.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello. And welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And these are the stories making headlines around the world.

Expectations are high, security tight. It is the eve of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

Leaders of the world's top industrialized nations are beginning three days of talks Wednesday. Global warming, aid to Africa, debt relief all high on the agenda. Protests are expected during the summit, but the streets of the capital, Edinburgh, right now very quiet.

VERJEE: The bodies of two missing U.S. Navy SEAL troops have been recovered in Kunar province of Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. One SEAL was found alive and another remains missing. The four-man team had called in reinforcements last Tuesday. A military helicopter responding to that request crashed, killing all 16 servicemen on board.

Foreign diplomats are again in the line of fire in Iraq. Insurgents shot at the car of Bahrain's charge d'affaires in what is being described as a kidnap attempt. He was slightly wounded.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, Pakistan's envoy in Iraq was also targeted by gunmen. No injuries reported in his convoy that returned fire. These attacks come just three days after Egypt's top envoy was kidnapped off of Baghdad's street when he went to buy a newspaper. Iraqi officials suggest the insurgents are trying to weaken support for the new government among Arab and other Muslim nations.

Joining us now with perspective, Jordan's ambassador to the United States, Karim Kawar. Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. What do you see as happening? What do you see is the concern or should be the concern of the diplomatic corps?

KARIM KAWAR, JORDANIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Thank you, Jim. Well, we in Jordan take the position that we are the ones who cannot afford the failure in Iraq. We have to support the Iraqi government. We condemn those acts of terrorism. And we have to coordinate our efforts to make sure that this phase -- we succeed in bringing about stability in Iraq and in the region.

CLANCY: Many people inside this new government in Iraq have called for Arab states, Muslim states, collectively, to stand up and give a sign of support to this government. In other words, to keep the insurgency from unraveling the fabric of legitimacy that they have.

KAWAR: Well, we're trying to do our share in Jordan. We have -- as you remember, our embassy was the first to be attacked in Baghdad. This does not deter us. Our charge d'affaires has been very active over the past two years there. We are training Iraqi police in Jordan. We're training 35,000 over two years and half of them have already gone back. As we speak, Jordan is hosting an Islamic conference that condemns violence, that those are crimes. Islam as a religion does not condone such acts. Those are crimes and are not supported by any religious backing.

CLANCY: All right. How do you see the strategy of the insurgents playing out here? is it going to be effective? Already we see -- it was announced that Pakistan's ambassador is probably going to be pulling out to Amman, Jordan, for safety.

KAWAR: Safety, of course, remains an issue. And I think we're working with the Iraqi officials on addressing this issue. But that should not stop those governments from supporting the Iraqi interim government and moving forward. The insurgency has had its effect, as you are well aware, in many areas. But in terms of the political effort, that should not stop.

CLANCY: Four Arab states right now, and particularly those that have come under attack already in Baghdad. Is this a time to stand up and be counted?

KAWAR: Well, it's important for us to be vocal, that such acts do not deter us, that we remain determined to support the process, because there is no alternative. But at the same time, we need to ensure the security of our diplomats in Iraq. Jordan, as a neighboring state to Iraq, will do everything it can to help the Iraqis in this phase.

CLANCY: Mr. Ambassador, do you see the situation getting better in Iraq or deteriorating right now?

KAWAR: Well, certainly, the number of insurgencies has increased, the number of casualties has increased. Yet, the political process seems to be heading in the right direction, as we see the drafting of the constitution process gets under way. The inclusion of the Sunni representatives in that process in that is crucial. We need to make sure that all segments of Iraqi society are included and have a say in the future of Iraq. We need to make sure that everyone subscribes to the process and supports it.

CLANCY: Jordan's ambassador to the United States, Karim Kawar, I want to thank you very much for joining us...

KAWAR: Thank you, Jim.

CLANCY: ... on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

KAWAR: Thank you.

VERJEE: Life for women in Afghanistan has changed dramatically since the fall of the Taliban, but in some ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Barbara Starr explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Afghan women, publicly meeting to discuss the crisis in the healthcare and safety of women. It's an issue that Dr. Masooda Jalal, the minister of women's affairs, is urgently trying to bring to the world's attention.

DR. MASOODA JALAL, MIN. OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS: ... say that the health status of women and children in Afghanistan right now is like quiet tsunami.

STARR: Officials estimate every day some 70 women and 700 newborns die from lack of medical care. On the streets, women may now move openly. Their rights are guaranteed. But Dr. Jalal says the reality is grim.

JALAL: Violence is going on and even some indicators show that it is increasing. Forced marriages is going on, child marriages.

STARR: She says some women are so desperate, they are even setting themselves on fire to commit suicide.

JALAL: This is the worse situation for woman that we should talk about this issue as soon as possible.

STARR: Jalal has one solution to fight the rising violence.

JALAL: To have the Islamic colors starting, talking, for women's rights and asking men to stop violence and announce that but forced marriages, children marriages, all type of these violences are a non- Islamic action.

STARR: Jalal, a one-time presidential candidate, a physician and mother, worked for the United Nations during the Taliban rule, but wore a burka and stayed home much of the time. She's determined to improve life for young girls. Today, 60 percent of girls are kept out of school.

JALAL: Because there is no teaching materials, equipment, and because of lack of awareness among parents about the importance of education for children, particularly for the girls.

STARR: Jalal shows us a theater where women used to gather, a scar of the Taliban era.

JALAL: They burned this and they destroyed it and they didn't want it to be existing anymore. So five, six months that I have taken responsibility and so much you get to build this back.

STARR: This first minister of women's affairs in the new Afghanistan now determined to lead Afghan women into a safer future.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, for the -- those attending the leaders of the world's richest nations, attending that G-8 summit, the focus certainly on aid to Africa. One small country in southern Africa is Lesotho. It is a land-locked kingdom that illustrates many of the problems faced by the rest of the continent.

Neil Connery reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL CONNERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Another child has just died needlessly in Africa in the past three seconds. Poverty and poor healthcare act as a deadly combination throughout this continent. We've come to one of the poorest parts of one of Africa's poorest countries to meet those most at risk.

(voice-over): Out here, many communities are beyond the reach of the modern world. There's no electricity, no running water and medical help is a two-day trek away on horseback. This is the only way to get around here in the forgotten part of Africa's mountain kingdom.

We stopped to talk to one family whose daily struggle reflects this nation's battle to survive. Matiki Lethiani (ph) is 69 and looks after his four grandchildren. Their parents died two years ago. Rafilo (ph) is three and showing early signs of malnutrition, along with his brothers. At the school, they get a little food for the young ones, he tells me, but there's not much here. He shows me the last sack of grain the family has to get them through to the next harvest.

Food aid is distributed only to the most vulnerable. The U.N.'s World Food program is rationing food, because there's not enough donor money for the poor and hungry. This is their only lifeline. With their wait for food over, they start their long journey home.

We head across the valley to meet up with a retired doctor who travels three hours once a week to run the only clinic around here for miles. 20,000 people rely on Dr. Mosothu's dedication. Despite his shortage of medicines, he does his best to help those in need.

Masacala (ph) is suffering from TB. It's the second time in five months. Lesotho spends 150 million pounds a year on debt repayments. Dr. Mosothu believes that money would be better spent on the health system.

DR. MAKHETHA MOSOTHU: They do make a very big difference because the availability of that money, if it was going to be distributed to the (INAUDIBLE) like those who will actually enhance the quality of the social census that are going to be arraigned out to these people.

CONNERY: To outside eyes, Lesothu's beauty can disguise the suffering its people endure. Half the population live on less than $1 a day.

Ratiki (ph) and his family feel alone in this forgotten land. Rafilo's future, like so many throughout this continent, hangs in the balance. Will the world's richest country do the right thing?

Neil Connery, ITV News, La Sutu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Still to come, keeping it green at the Olympics.

CLANCY: When YOUR WORLD TODAY returns, we're going to see how the potential hosts are planning to minimize the environmental impact of the Games in 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Let's check some other stories making news now in the United States. The mother of the American teenager missing in Aruba since the 30th of May wants two recently released suspects to stay in the country. A judge on Monday ordered the release of 21-year-old Depak Kalpoe and his 18-year-old brother, Satish. The brothers have been held in custody for nearly a month without being charged. Just a short while ago, the missing teen's mother issued a tearful plea for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: Do not allow these criminals to walk among your citizens. Help me by not allowing these two to get away with this crime. It is my greatest fear today that the Kalpoe brother will leave Aruba. I'm asking the Aruban officials to notify the United States State Department in the event these suspects try to leave this island. I am asking all nations not to offer them a safe haven. I am asking this in the name of my beautiful, intelligent and outstanding daughter, who I haven't seen for 36 days, and for whom I will continue to search until I find her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE A deadly riptide has claimed the lives of two swimmers in New Hampshire. Police say lifeguards had just gone off duty on Monday night when they received an emergency call. Rescuers pulled a total of 12 people from the water at the resort 50 miles north of Boston. A 10-year-old boy remains hospitalized.

Tropical Storm Cindy is approaching the Louisiana coast, where it's expected to make landfall within 24 hours. Weather forecasters have extended a warning eastward along the Gulf Coast to Destin, Florida. Cindy's packing sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, and experts say the storm may intensify, but don't expect it to reach hurricane strength.

CLANCY: As the winner of the 2012 Olympics is set to be announced on Wednesday, word today Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev is threatening that Olympic athlete will be at risk from his forces if Moscow wins in its bid. In a statement on a Web site, Basayev is quoted as saying there should be no doubt that Chechen rebels would bomb Moscow. CNN of course cannot verify the authenticity of that Web site.

VERJEE: An event as big as the Olympics can have a huge negative impact on the environment.

CLANCY: And with new regulations from the International Olympic Committee, Jim Boulden reports on how the five bidding cities have to create a green games in order to win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): London is already clearing the derelict sites where some of the Olympic venues would be built if it gets the 2012 games.

DAVID STUBBS, LONDON 2012 MANAGER: Deprivation levels in terms of employment, health care and education are significant. So it's a forgotten part of London, but...

BOULDEN: London is promising to regenerate a polluted part of the city where unemployment is higher than in many parts of Europe. And after the games the area would be turned into a 200-hectare park.

STUBBS: If you just look at the Olympics as two weeks, then you can never make that sustainable in that little bubble. But it's not about two weeks. We're bidding now, seven years before the games actually happen, and the key thing is legacy. It's what this site will be like in 20, 30 years down the road.

BOULDEN: The International Olympic Committee says that the games these days must not only not damage the environment, but must actually improve the environment of a city. Previous winter games have been criticized for the cutting down of trees, and summer games for too many new roads, not enough sustainable public transport, and for venues that damage the local ecosystem.

ROGER LEVETT, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT: The amount of environmental impact it could have could be enormous. On the other hand, it could also have a very positive effect. And one of the things that most interests me is, because it's such a prestigious event, because everybody gets so excited about it, it's a wonderful opportunity to shift the way that we do things in the longer term, and not just for the fortnight that it actually runs.

BOULDEN: With that in mind, Paris will convert to low-emission buses and will also lose solar-powered stadiums. The Madrid games would use only renewable energy. And London says its games will create zero waste by recycling everything. That could include having the new venues built using the rubble of buildings torn down to make way for the games.

LESLIE CARNALL, BYWATERS RECYCLING: All the waste that comes from demolition sites can be returned, sorted, and then go back as hard coal (ph) and used for the bases, the foundation for the new builds.

BOULDEN: To help its bid, London got a number of environmental groups to sign up to its plan.

SIMON LEWIS, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: We've been, you know, very concerned right from the off to make sure that we or other NGOs won't use it as a kind of a green wash or a green front for this bid. But, you know, there's been none of that. We've been fully involved from the beginning. BOULDEN: Environmentalists promise to make sure London fulfills its promises, especially if it loses, and to make sure the games don't add to London's pollution.

LEWIS: We've got to have really good incentives for people from all western Europe to come here by train, not by air. And I would be looking for a commitment not to have a net increase in air travel as a result of the games.

BOULDEN: With tens of thousands of people descending on an area for a short period of time, the Olympics will have an impact on one city's environment. But with the help of companies that specialize in sustainability, the 2012 games might become known as the green games.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CLANCY: Well, still ahead, it wasn't just the French waiters serving up insults.

VERJEE: No, no, it wasn't. The off-the-cuff remark on cuisine ruffled diplomatic feathers and national pride as G-8 leaders gathered for their summit in Scotland. We'll bring you details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: As world leaders prepare to attend the G-8 meeting, one of the most asked questions just might be, what's on the menu.

VERJEE: And the British found some remarks attributed to the French president a little bit hard to digest.

Nick Martin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK MARTIN, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): Relations between Britain and France have never been so tense. First it was the war in Iraq, then the problems in Europe.

Now, it's an attack on our food. At this private lunch in Russia, the French president said the only thing the British had ever done for European agriculture was mad cow disease. He said, British cuisine was bad.

He also criticized haggis, a dish certain to be on the menu at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles. The off-the-cuff remarks have ruffled diplomatic feathers at a time when France and Britain are going head to head over the Olympics.

But Tony Blair isn't letting an age-old rivalry get in the way of Britain's bid to win the 2012 Games. TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I won't see that the G-8 summit will be an anticlimax after it, because that would be undiplomatic. And, you know when I go there we'll be in the presence of very diplomatic people.

MARTIN: Britain desperately warrants to stage the Olympics in 2012. The problem is, so do the French. And that is why the pressure is on.

So why are relations between the two so bad? Last week, Britain made a determined effort to be nice to the French. At the display to mark the Battle of Trafalgar, sensitive language was used to re-enact the war.

And, of course, Britain's love to holiday and France. Thousands travel to enjoy the wine and cheese, but it's clear that old rivalries remain.

Nick Martin, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: And so a little indigestion in YOUR WORLD TODAY.

I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Stay tuned for our special report, "AFRICA AT RISK."

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