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Your World Today

Continued Riots in France; Kashmir Opening; Deadly Tornado in Midwest

Aired November 07, 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.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A country on edge. Sundown in France brings fears of yet another fiery night of riots.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Chaos in Kashmir crossing the line of control.

VERJEE: Has avian flu infected human in China? Officials wait for the test results.

CLANCY: And in the Middle East, life from death. An extraordinary gesture of peace from a Palestinian family.

VERJEE: It's noon in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in Paris. I'm Zain Vergee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: All of France is on edge as night falls on a country in shock after 11 days of escalating street riots.

CLANCY: And Zain, we have our first casualty being officially reported, a death that has been -- has involved a person in Paris who was beaten earlier during those riots. These are the latest developments.

A 61-year-old man died of his injuries. He was beaten Friday in a Paris suburb.

VERJEE: More than 1,400 vehicles were torched, and nearly 150 people were arrested overnight. The interior ministry says 34 police officers were injured, and two of them seriously

CLANCY: French President Jacques Chirac says the top priority is to reestablish security and public order. He also acknowledged, though, the need to address the roots of this violence.

VERJEE: The unrest has now spread right across France, from Lille in the north, to Nice and Marseilles in the south. We're going to go live to the streets of Paris in just a moment.

CLANCY: But first, Penny Marshall takes us through the worst night of violence thus far. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PENNY MARSHALL, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice over): This rolling outbreak of violence entered a new and dangerous phase overnight. Police across France were pelted with petrol bombs in the worst rioting yet. And as these European city suburbs begin to resemble lawless ghettos, two policemen have been shot and seriously wounded.

The police seem to be struggling to restore order.

"They really shot at the officers," said this police chief. "This is real, serious violence. Not like the previous nights. And I'm very concerned."

The violence has also spread beyond the capital Paris. Cities like Toulouse, (INAUDIBLE) and Lille have all seen gangs of angry youths clash with riot police on the streets. This is now the 11th day of worsening lawlessness, and the government is trying hard to appear in control.

An emergency cabinet meeting was called this morning. Afterwards, President Chirac emerged, saying the government had taken a number of new measures to further reinforce the actions of police and justice, because today he said the absolute priority is to re- establish security and public order.

PRES. JACQUES CHIRAC, FRANCE (through translator): We also understand as the situation is evolving and the way things are going that the respect that everyone has for justice and equal opportunity should remain.

MARSHALL: Overnight in Paris, police discovered a bomb-making factory which they say suggests these riots are being in part organized. But they began spontaneously 10 days ago, sparked by the accidental death of two youths trying to avoid a police check. They've intensified daily ever since, fanned by the strong line taken by France's interior minister.

"Order has to return to all the neighborhoods of our territory," he said this morning. "This is not a choice. It's an obligation. We will take the time we need, but order has to come back."

As France clears up after this social unrest, there are real fears that after 11 nights of consecutive violence worse may still come.

Penny Marshall, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Wire reports are saying that a town outside Paris is preparing to enact a nighttime curfew. It's the latest attempt by local governments to try to rein in the violence.

Becky Anderson joins us now live from Paris.

Becky, why is it taking so long for the government to get this under control?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very good question. You've been reporting there that the president has said that law and order must be restored. But Zain, at this point an awful lot of concern that this Monday night may be the 12th night of riots. Not just in Paris now, but, of course, across the country, as you've been suggesting.

Some people say that law and order hasn't been established because the government here simply hasn't addressed the issue. Let's remember that special committee only held by the president on Sunday to address these very issues.

The issues are these: that the bonnier (ph), the neighborhoods outside of Paris where there are an awful lot of second and third- generation immigrants, many of those North Africans, many of those Muslims, Arabs, people with no work -- there's 50 percent unemployment, some five times as much unemployment as there is elsewhere in France -- many of these people unemployed and not earning anything like the regular wage in France. That, they say, is the reason that they have stood up and decided to fight the government.

Now, let's remember that the reason, the spark for all of this rioting came on October the 27th, when two young lads running away from police who had asked them to stop and were going to question them, ran away and were accidentally electrocuted in a substation where they were hiding.

So the government here has an awful lot to do. It needs to address the issues. And the interior minister, Mr. Sarkozy, is being blamed by those who are rioting. And these are adolescents, and many of them don't know each other from separate bonnier (ph).

Many people suggesting these are disparate groups who are now standing up and effectively telling politicians that they don't like what's going on, that they are being discriminated against. Mr. Sarkozy has called these people "scum," and they are using him as effectively their target now for abuse -- Zain.

VERJEE: Is the government working with Arab and Muslim leaders of these communities to try and quell the violence?

ANDERSON: It is. And we will hear from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin in about two hours from now. He will call for law and order once again, but we also expect him to address some of the issues that those who are rioting and those from the communities that they represent are suggesting that needs to be addressed.

So we will hear from the prime minister shortly.

One of the main Islamic groups in France has called for a fatwah on this violence. They say they do not agree with what's going on. This isn't the way to go about getting your political, social and economic demands met. But at this point not a lot of people's voices being listened to.

VERJEE: CNN's Becky Anderson reporting to us from Paris.

Thanks, Becky.

CLANCY: And we want to get your thought on this developing story.

VERJEE: Yes. E-mail us.

Our "Question of the Day" is this: What is causing the increasing violence among immigrant communities across France? Send us your comments at YWT@CNN.com. Tell us your name, where you are from. And we're going to read some of your e-mails later on in our program.

CLANCY: All right. Let's turn to South Asia now.

Pakistan and India opened a checkpoint along the line of control that divides the disputed region of Kashmir. It was an official opening. This unprecedented move between the South Asian neighbors part of the ongoing effort to try to help the survivors of last month's earthquake.

But Stan Grant, who is there right on the scene, right literally on the line of control, says the Pakistani police then disbursed hundreds of frustrated villagers who hoped that they, too, could cross into Indian territory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was supposed to be a day of peace. Instead, nearly 60 years of frustration and heartache erupted.

Kashmiris on the Pakistan side of the line of control make a run for it. Police and soldiers move in.

(on camera): The army is moving now on the protesters. You can hear the fire around us. They're firing into the air, but people are up on the hill. There is always the risk here that someone really, really could get seriously wounded, if not killed by this fire.

(voice over): The people retreat to a hill, with chance of free Kashmir. This man makes a dash with his child in his arms. Another man and young boy also intercepted, refusing to move.

So much for reconciliation.

The Pakistan and Indian military chiefs meet halfway. The first time this checkpoint at the Poonch River has been opened in nearly 60 years.

(on camera): I'm literally walking in two countries at once. Here, Pakistan. Here, India. This is the contentious line of control.

Already, we've had Indian officials come across and tell us not to cross over here. This is the line that the two countries have fought two wars over, and people here still dream of crossing to be reunited with their families.

(voice over): Relief supplies to earthquake victims exchanged. But despite promises, no people allowed to cross. A political logjam stopping names being cleared. Pakistan military blaming India.

BRIG. GEN. TAHIR NAQVI, PAKISTANI ARMY: I think so, maybe, because we already (INAUDIBLE), and we haven't got any lists from them. We have prepared our lists. (INAUDIBLE), but they are not ready to separate at this point of time.

GRANT: For the local people cut off from relatives for half a century, it is all too much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, we are going to go into Kashmir.

GRANT: We watched them gather on the hill. And when our cameras moved closer, the slow burn ignites.

Pakistan's soldiers have fought two wars with their nuclear neighbor India for control of Kashmir. For 60 years, the Kashmiri people caught in the middle. Today has shown nothing has changed.

Stan Grant, CNN, Poonch checkpoint, Kashmir line of control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: India's foreign minister has been relieved of his responsibilities over allegations related to U.N. oil-for-food scandal. Natwar Singh was named as a beneficiary of corruption in an independent report on the $64 billion oil-for-food program. Singh will remain in India's cabinet without an official post. He denies that he profited from the program.

CLANCY: The U.S. Supreme Court agreeing now to consider a case that allows a challenge to President Bush's power to create military tribunals to judge incarcerated terrorism suspects. Justices agree to review an appeals court ruling on whether Osama bin Laden's driver can be tried for war crimes before one of those military tribunals.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni native. He is being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Bush set up the special military commissions two months after the September 11 attacks. Hamdan's case is likely to be heard in February or March. It could set a precedent.

VERJEE: British Prime Minister Tony Blair defended his government's anti-terror legislation in his monthly news conference. The country's main opposition parties and many labor lawmakers are opposed to the measure. Among other things, it allows for the detention of terror suspects for 90 days without charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The numbers of people that are likely to be held for up to 90 days are very small. Even with the 14 days, they're very small. They're less than 20. But the point is, the people that you're talking about may be the people who are the difference -- holding them and detaining them may be the difference between preventing a terrorist attack and not preventing one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The House of Commons is scheduled to vote on the measure on Wednesday. It was drafted after July's bomb attacks on London's transit system.

CLANCY: In the Middle East, Syria's foreign ministry says now that Damascus has received an expected formal request from U.N. investigators to interrogate several Syrian suspects. Now, the suspects have been implicated in the February assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri, or wanted for questioning, anyway.

News agencies quoted a Lebanese source as saying one of those to be questioned is the brother-in-law of President Bashar al Assad. Syrian officials strongly deny any involvement in the Hariri assassination.

VERJEE: Still ahead, efforts to head off a possible bird flu pandemic.

CLANCY: As health officials are gathering right now in Geneva, China takes a stringent measure to try to limit the threat. We'll have details of that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello. And welcome back. This is CNN International, and our program that's seen live around the world and in the United States is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

The chief of the World Health Organization says the world has to be prepared for a possible global influenza pandemic. Lee Jong-Wook was addressing hundreds of health experts and government official in Geneva. They're discussing a global strategy in case bird flu mutates to spread easily among humans. World health officials stress that every country prepare an action plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID NABBARO, U.N. COORDINATOR: Each country needs standby capacity for public health, for acute hospital care, reserves and the ability to get services to where they're needed, because viruses will explore the crack in our defenses. But at the same time, we must not shackle each other to unreasonable conformity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Chinese authorities have ordered all live poultry markets in the capital city to close immediately. Beijing also says six million birds have now been destroyed. This move coming as China investigates what could be three possible human cases of bird flu.

Jaime FlorCruz is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A 9-year-old boy from China's Hunan province quarantined when he developed a high fever after coming into close contact with sick birds. He has since recovered, but one question remains, was he infected by this H5N1 strain of bird flu?

China is now asking the World Health Organization's help to find out.

JULIE HALL, WHO, CHINA: The 9-year-old boy, the government is reporting, that there is something that they call a suspicious positive. We believe that that means that there is a sample that has been taken that has obviously shown something that is of concern, but cannot at this stage be 100 percent confirmed as a positive of H5, and that further testing is needed.

FLORCRUZ: That is quite a turnaround. Over a week ago, Chinese officials said the cases of the 9-year-old boy and his elder sister who died of pneumonia were not bird flu related.

CHEN XIANYI, CHINESE HEALTH MINISTRY (through translator): The Hunan Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the China CDCP conducted bird flu lab tests on the sample from the patient, and the result was finally confirmed as negative.

FLORCRUZ: But WHO experts say it's actually good that the Chinese are being extra cautious.

HALL: And we're not surprised by this. Initial tests, the tests that are taken early in illness, can often miss a diagnosis of H5. And what's important is that additional tests are then done later on in the disease to look specifically for antibodies to see if the patient has been exposed and being infected with the H5 virus.

FLORCRUZ: China has not reported human cases of bird flu, even though it is more prone to such an epidemic.

China has 14 billion poultry, or 20 percent of the world's total. Seventy percent of these birds are in farm areas where public sanitation is poor.

Chinese officials have pledged to take more effective measures to contain the spread of bird flu. Six million birds have been destroyed in four regions hit by the epidemic. Now China seems ready to take more measures with international assistance.

HALL: And what we're looking at then in the short term is very much focusing on containment of this virus and rapid response whenever there is an outbreak. FLORCRUZ (on camera): China has shown it is capable of rapid response in dealing with SARS and other epidemics. What China needs now, experts say, is more public awareness so that people will report cases when they first appear.

Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: You can find a timeline of flu pandemics, as well as some commonly questions and answers on bird flu, on our Web site at CNN.com/birdflu.

CLANCY: Rescuers are searching for possible survivors in the wake of a deadly tornado in the United States.

VERJEE: Meanwhile, survivors describe the harrowing ordeal.

That and a look at some of the other news in the United States, that's coming up next.

This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, though, let's check on stories making headlines in the U.S.

First, breaking news. This is in Maryland, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

A school -- an elementary school in lockdown. The doors are locked down at Arrowhead Elementary. School officials saying the children are fine but they're looking for a man in the area with a gun. More on that story just ahead.

Also today, search crews still looking, but they say they don't really expect to find more victims in the wake of a deadly tornado in the Midwest. The search is centered in and around Evansville, Indiana. That's where 17 people are confirmed dead.

Another four deaths reported to east in a neighboring Warrick County. Most of the victims have been found in a trailer park. The twister ripped through the area around 2:00 in the morning when most people were asleep. Today the National Guard helps the search and rescue efforts.

Our Ed Lavandera is in Evansville with the latest -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, officials here are, as you mentioned, kind of wrapping up their search and rescue efforts and trying to -- now the process of recovering what is left behind here in this mobile home park. Right now, the crews are going through a lake that is about six feet deep and about 200 yards wide. There's a lot of debris from mobile homes. There's a slight concern that perhaps someone might be in there. They just want to make sure that that is not the case.

And now the talk is beginning to shift as to when survivors of people who lived in this community can begin to return home. We spoke with the sheriff in this area just a little while ago about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: You said you don't want people to come back yet. Why is that?

SHERIFF BRAD ELLSWORTH, VANDERBURGH COUNTY, INDIANA: Well, it's still -- we want to make sure that we've searched fully. But if people, the residents, come back, it's still a dangerous scene. We have the gas and we had all the utilities cleaned up. But as you can see, if people start crawling around in this equipment, there's sharp metal and glass, and so that causes a major problem.

We don't want to see people hurt. We're going to bring the people back in, and we're going to let them search through their belongings. We think they need that. They know they need to see that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Now, there is talk that perhaps tomorrow they will begin allowing some people to come back and not live here. This is an area where it's not inhabitable at the moment. But they're maybe considering allowing people to come home, look for personal belongings that mean a lot to certain people, and perhaps allowing them to do that tomorrow.

But that is definitely not set in stone yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed Lavandera, live from Evansville.

Thank you for that.

Pete Rose, Jr. is facing federal indictment for alleged truck trafficking. The son of Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader turned himself in today to federal authorities in Nashville, Tennessee.

DEA agents accuse Rose of conspiracy to distribute GBL. That is considered by some a muscle-building steroid. Rose is said to be cooperating with authorities.

So what is this drug? Dr. Robert Millman of New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center joins me on the phone right -- with more on that.

Doctor, hello.

Hi.

KAGAN: What is GBL?

DR. ROBERT MILLMAN, NY PRESBYTERIAN WEILL CORNELL: It's -- the more common name is gama hydroxybutyrate, GHB. And it got some fame as a date rape drug.

It's a sedative hypnotic, a central sedative hypnotic, so that if you take a little bit you get drowsy. And if you take slightly more, you go to sleep. And if you take slightly more, you can overdose and be unconscious. And there have been deaths reported.

KAGAN: So it does have a legitimate purpose in the medical world?

MILLMAN: Well, no. The myth is that it -- that it builds muscle. But I think that mostly people are saying that it hasn't been so useful in building muscle at all.

And it really doesn't have much of a use in the medical world, except as a sedative hypnotic. You know, another sleeping pill. And I don't think it adds anything.

KAGAN: And as you say, it could be very dangerous, even leading to fatalities.

MILLMAN: The most dangerous part about it is that it's an odorless clear liquid, and you don't really know the dose. You're buying it on the street.

So you could be getting a concentrated version or a dilute version. Dilute would mean you'd get drowsy and maybe go to sleep a little bit. Concentrated, you could overdose and die.

KAGAN: Dr. Robert Millman, thank you for filling us in on GBL.

MILLMAN: Thanks.

KAGAN: Just about two hours ago at the U.S. Supreme Court, justices there agreed to consider a challenge to the Bush administration's military tribunals for foreign terror suspects. The case presents a major test to the government's wartime powers. The case was filed by attorneys for Osama bin Laden's personal driver.

The fight against the deadly drug crystal meth, it is taking place somewhere you might not expect. That story is coming up at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM."

Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a break.

I'm Daryn Kagan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Zain Verjee. CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And these are some of the stories we're following right now on CNN.

A 61-year-old man becomes the first fatality in 11 days of rioting across France. He has been in a coma since Friday, when he was badly beaten in a suburb of Paris. The violence escalated when more than 1,400 vehicles were torched and dozens of police injured in clashes. President Jacques Chirac rack now says reestablishing security and public order is his top priority.

VERJEE: Pakistan and India have opened a checkpoint along the line of control that divides the disputed region of Kashmir. The move is part of ongoing efforts to help survivors of last month's earthquake. But soon after the opening ceremony, trouble broke out when Pakistani police dispersed frustrated villagers when they tried to cross into Indian territory. Only relief goods allowed to cross the lines of control for now.

CLANCY: Hundreds of health experts and government official meeting in Geneva today. They're discussing the global strategy to deal with bird flu in case it mutates and become as human pandemic. The United Nations health agency says suffering will be, in its words, "incalculable" unless the world is prepared. The World Health Organization is hosting a thee-day strategy session.

VERJEE: The director-general of WHO says every country should prepare an action plan to combat a possible global influenza pandemic. Lee Jong-Wook joins us now from Geneva. Thanks so much for being with us.

LEE JONG-WOOK, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WHO: Thank you.

VERJEE: What is it that every country should do, needs to do, right now?

JONG-WOOK: Well, that the -- clearly every country should have a plan. And plan is just paper, so that plan has to be acted on. This is a very important and we like to have simulation exercise based on the plan. And clearly that, based on this, we have to find shortages and we have to fill this gap.

VERJEE: What kind of plan are you talking about? What are some of the discussions that you've been having? I know that boosting surveillance and reporting is certainly one key aspect.

JONG-WOOK: Well, clearly, yes, in a simple word, that is when something happens that they have to share this information. They have to inform us because if we don't know, we cannot take action. So that clearly, what we want to know is when there's a global pandemic outbreak happens, that we like to know as quickly as possible and then deploy the drugs and the human resources and so on and so on.

VERJEE: How different are some of the strategic issues that you're talking about, in terms of happen approaching wealthier countries versus poorer, developing countries? Because it's in those poorer countries where people will live close to animals and birds, and they don't have a lot of money to throw at the problem.

JONG-WOOK: Well, clearly this is one of the major problems because there's no incentive for people to report some strain happening in their domestic animals. And if they don't report or we can't know about it much later, then we cannot take action. So that clearly, the compensation for this poor farmers critical. And that would be no problem in Netherlands but that will be a problem in Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia. So that clearly that has to be tackled.

VERJEE: Is a human pandemic in inevitable? Is it only a matter of time?

JONG-WOOK: Yes, it is. Clearly that -- the signs are clear. And if we ignore this, that will be just not responsible for us and others. And no head of state or government can afford to be caught off guard.

VERJEE: How much time are we talking about? I know it's hard to pinpoint and be specific, but when you look at the difference strains of H5N1, what do you think would be your best estimation in your expert opinion?

JONG-WOOK: In terms of time? But, clearly I know it is coming and I'm sorry, but I really don't know when this will happen. This can happen next month, this can happen within next six months. But I know it is coming, but we don't know exactly when this is coming.

VERJEE: What kind of strategies are you discussing about coordination between different countries around the world with different continents on containing and preventing bird flu?

JONG-WOOK: Well, that clearly that good surveillance is very important, because we want to know what is happening and we want to deploy the medicines and the professionals to contain it, to slow down it. But at the same time, that we have to develop the vaccines, we have to think about distributing the antiviral drugs so that -- and good communication is also very important. We want people to understand what is a pandemic, what is not pandemic. And I just want to know -- I want to see that the people eat the chickens and eggs today without worrying about harmful effect.

VERJEE: The director-general of the World Health Organization, Lee Jong-Wook, speaking to us from Geneva and giving us some perspective on bird flu. Thank you.

In the midst of bloodshed and death, an incredible gift of life.

CLANCY: When we come back, we're going to tell you the story of one Palestinian couple and their touching gesture of peace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. Welcome back. Iran's foreign minister says Tehran will submit a peace plan to the U.N. to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now this comes just a week after Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad says Israel should be wiped from the map. The proposal calls for Palestinians and Israelis to vote in a referendum on how the conflict should be resolved.

On another front, Tehran's offered to resume negotiations with three E.U. powers. The E.U. says it's considering the offer, but has renewed a call for Iran to freeze its uranium-enrichment work.

CLANCY: Amid all the death and destruction that you often see here on your television screen that characterizes what's going on today in the Middle East, there's a Palestinian couple that's made a touching gesture in the name of peace.

While mourning the loss of their 13-year-old child, they gave the gift of life.

Here's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the death of a Palestinian boy has come life for six others, all of them Israelis. Last Thursday as the teenage boys of Jenin were throwing stones at Israeli troops and Palestinian militants opened fire, 12-year-old Ahmed Al Fatig (ph) was playing with a toy gun nearby. The Israeli soldiers thought it was real and shot him in the head. He was rushed to hospital, but died the next day.

In the midst of so much pain, so much loss, Ahmed's parents decided to donate their son's organs, in their words, to bring hearts closer, and maybe to bring peace closer as well.

"I did not say the organs would be for a Jewish child, an Arab child, whether Muslim, or Christian," says Ahmed's father. I wanted to bring the world's attention to my child. Instead of planting a olive branch, he plants a peace of his body."

Twelve-year-old Samak Maqban (ph) receives his heart, the transplant a success.

"She's been sick for five years," her mother says. There's been no donors until this wonderful family donated the organs of their child to Israeli children. A teenage girl was given Ahmed's lungs, his liver divided between a baby and a middle-aged woman. A 5-year- old boy received one kidney, a 4-year-old girl the other. In all, an incredible gift of life in the midst of so much bloodshed and death.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Chilean authorities say Peru's fugitive former president, Alberto Fujimori has been arrested after his surprise arrival in Santiago. Fujimori fled to Japan from Peru in the midst of a corruption scandal in 2000. He traveled to Chile from Japan on Sunday to try and relaunch his political career and stand for president of Peru next year.

In Peru on Sunday, hundreds of Fujimori supporters rallied to support his election campaign. He faces charges of corruption and of abuse related to death-squad murders in the 1990s.

CLANCY: U.S. president George W. Bush is on the final leg of a somewhat turbulent Latin-American tour. He's in Panama now where some familiar scenes have been playing out in the streets. Let's get the latest now from Lucia Newman. She's in Panama City -- Lucia.

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jim.

Well, certainly unlike his visit to Argentina, then Brazil, here President Bush has been received with open arms, especially his free- trade policies. Now, at this very moment the president and first lady are at the Panama Canal. It was built, as we all know, by the United States at the turn of the last century, and it is universally considered a work of wonder, an engineering work of wonder, very, very important to commerce around the world, and as we all probably have forgotten, once upon a time it was impossible to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and vice versa. Nowadays, the super tanker goes through it because of the Panama Canal no longer having to circumvent around Cape Horn.

Now the president earlier met with President Martin Torrijos, his host, and business leaders, to discuss Panama's main demand here, and that is if conclusion of a bilateral free-trade agreement with the United States. President Bush said that he was committed to it, but it did not give a date.

Also at that news conference, the president was asked about a thorny domestic issue, and that is torture. He asked whether or not he agreed with some, that the CIA should be exempt from the use of torture when it comes to finding terrorism. Let's hear what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. We are gathering information about where the terrorists may be hiding. We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct is within the law. We do not torture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWMAN: Now, Jim, after lunch the president and first lady will visit the City of Knowledge. This is an educational-and-research complex that was built on what used to be a U.S. military base here in Panama. That is, of course, before the Panama Canal and all territories that surrounded the canal zone reverted back to Panama after -- in accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty, which, Jim, was signed between president Jimmy Carter and the father of the current Panamanian President, Omar (ph) Torrijos -- Jim.

CLANCY: During the course of this trip down to the Summit of the Americas by President Bush, we have seen some street riots, if you want to call them that, literally led by leftist leaders like Hugo Chavez.

Now, give us an idea here. Are people in Latin America so much against President Bush? Is it politics that's driving this? Or is it economics, are even the failure of some of those leaders to deliver jobs and a better life to people in Latin America?

NEWMAN: Jim, it's a mixture of all those three things you just mentioned. Recent polls show that many, many Latin Americans dislike the United States. They are very upset -- or they certainly disagree with the war in Iraq, which means they focused a lot of their distaste on President Bush himself. But it's not just the U.S. president; it's also economic policies, which they feel have not delivered the goods on democracy.

And right, in fact, here in Panama, in contrast to Argentina, there have been some protests, but very small so far. In fact, at a neighborhood called Echorio (ph), which was burned down during the U.S. invasion of Panama back in 1989, a lot of the locals gathered there to demand that President Bush take note of their woes. They say that they have not been duly compensated for the damage that was caused during that invasion. Their homes were burned to the ground. They say they want President Bush, who is here now, to take note of their needs and not just those of the business leaders in this country -- Jim.

CLANCY: Lucia Newman, our Havana bureau chief, traveling with President Bush now in Panama. Thanks so much, Lucia.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CLANCY: The new Harry Potter film series continues to cast a spell on fans. Some of them young, predictable, but others not so young.

VERJEE: Thousands of them braved the rain for the world premier of the fourth installment. Ahead, we're going to tell how this one's different from the three that came before it.

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CLANCY: On and off rain in London didn't seem to dampen the spirits of thousands of Harry Potter fans on Sunday.

VERJEE: Nope, absolutely not. They showed up for the world premiere of the fourth Harry Potter film, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite teenage wizards.

CLANCY: Now, this is a movie that opens in cinemas beginning on November 18. And as Lindsay Janis (ph) tell us...

VERJEE: It's quite different from the other three. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDSAY JANIS (PH), CNN CORRESPONDENT: Harry Potter is back on the big screen and his army of fans are back for more wizardly adventure. They might be screaming for real when they watch the film. That's because "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is darker and scarier than the first three in the series.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE, ACTOR: It's terrifying. It's very intense.

EMMA WATSON, ACTOR: I think it's scarier. It's much more of a thriller than ever has been before.

JANIS: And it's nothing like what you would expect from a children's film. In the U.K., kids below the age of 12 won't be able to see it without an adult.

Director Mike Newell, well-known for his films "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Donnie Brasco," is make no apologies.

MIKE NEWELL, DIRECTOR: The book is PG-13, you know. And if you disappoint the book audience, then you've really cut the legs out from under yourself. You know, you've got -- you have to deliver the book. The book's really scary. But if a little child wants to go on and see it, and takes its parents -- and I hope that we've made a film that's interesting to the parents as well.

JANIS: Harry seems doomed from the very start, when the goblet of fire mysteriously spits out his name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry Potter!

JANIS: It forces him to compete in the potentially deadly tri- wizards tournament.

GRANGER: I'm scared for you.

JANIS: He encounters fire-breathing dragons, menacing merpeople and a bloodthirsty maze. Harry must also face his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes.

RALPH FIENNES, ACTOR: It want him to be really, deeply, humanly evil, not an idea of evil.

JANIS: And as if all that weren't enough, they're coping with the onset of adolescent angst, too. At a press conference, the stars were asked whether they had boyfriends and girlfriends.

WATSON: No.

RADCLIFFE: I don't. Not at the moment. I have had, but not at the moment no.

RUPERT GRINT, ACTOR: I'm learning to drive at the moment, so that's taking up my time. JANIS (on camera): Harry Potter's teenage stars begin work on the fifth film in just a couple of months. For now, though, they're enjoying time in the limelight and they'll be hoping that in just a week and a half's time, Harry Potter will begin working his magic at the box office yet again.

Lindsay Janis, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Well, some people will go to any lengths to get into the Guinness Book of World Records.

CLANCY: Proving that point, contestants came from all over the world to Germany, testing their strength and showing off some unusual skills.

VERJEE: Yes, like this woman, who came from India, hoping to become the first woman to blow up a hot water bottle like a balloon until it burst.

CLANCY: Wow. One man pulled a three-ton vehicle with his teeth. He says he lost a few while training for this feat.

VERJEE: And a participant from Switzerland intends to tear up a 750-page telephone directory in less than three seconds.

CLANCY: Thirty seconds. Three seconds? I don't know about that. There he is. This is the phone directory. I don't know what the juggling was. Let's see if he can do it in three seconds. One, two, three.

VERJEE: Three. We don't know.

CLANCY: It was intact when I last saw it. Now, to the inbox. We've been asking viewers -- and this is a serious point -- what's causing the increase violence among immigrant communities across France. A lot of responses.

VERJEE: Yes, some good e-mails from you.

Dr. Charles Norsu (ph) from France says: "You can come to France with love from Africa, learn their language and spend several years in their university to obtain a doctorate's degree. If you're black or Arab, only an odd job when their employers decide to give you one is waiting for you. (INAUDIBLE) might understand why these kids of 14 to 21 are so angry because of their future. They're black or Arab but they were born here and they are French."

CLANCY: Carl Olson (ph), an American expatriate living in Germany, adds this: "The rioting in France has nothing to do with jobs and equality. These are teenage hooligans out for a macho game against the police."

VERJEE: Ywt@CNN.com. Send us your views. We always like hearing from you That's it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and this is CNN International.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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