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Terror Plot Thwarted in Britain; Iran Suspected of Role in Karbala Attack; South Korean Fisherman Reunited With Family After 31 Years

Aired January 31, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: British security sources say they have thwarted a terror plot that involved plans for the gruesome murder of a British soldier.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The U.S. military accuses Iran of involvement in an attack on a military compound in Iraq.

CLANCY: A tearful welcome home from a family of a South Korean fisherman who spent more than 30 years in captivity in the north.

GORANI: And in the fight to save the Amazon rainforest, overseas consumers might be surprised to find out which side they're actually supporting.

CLANCY: It's 5:00 p.m. right now in London, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad, Iraq.

Hello and welcome to our report that is broadcast around the globe.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani.

From New York, to Seoul, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Now, we start with this story. British security sources call it a terrorist plot with a troubling new tactic, potentially.

Police say nine suspects have detained in Britain's second largest city in a major operation that "by no means is finished." The suspects were allegedly planning an Iraq-style abduction that would end with a gruesome execution.

Our international correspondent Paula Newton joins us now live from Birmingham with the details -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And hello, Hala.

Not surprisingly, in fact, police would not confirm what our security services have confirmed to us, and that is saying that nine arrested were involved in, as you say, an Iraq-style plot to actually snatch someone off the streets of Birmingham and kidnap them and torture them and then videotape their execution. This has really taken the entire community by surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice over): It is an unnerving terror tactic taken right from the streets of Iraq and possibly imported here to Birmingham, England.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I confirm that just in the very last few minutes we have arrested a ninth suspect on the motorway in the Birmingham area. I think that illustrates to you that remains a dynamic, fluid operation, and this is by no means finished.

NEWTON: After arresting nine suspects, police fanned out in the early-morning hours to at least a dozen locations. Not just where the suspects lived, but where they worked, scanning computer, documents, mobile phones, searching for any evidence they could find in what could be a new twist on terror.

Security sources tell CNN the plot involves snatching a British Muslim soldier and torturing and executing him in the most gruesome of ways -- a videotaped beheading that would have been posted on the Internet.

The allegation that some in the Muslim community wanted to make an example of one of their own stunned many here. This man is a good friend of one of those in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a really (INAUDIBLE). I can't believe it, you know, this happened on our doorstep. You know? It's just a bit of a shock.

NEWTON: This is a close-knit Asian community with strong ties to Pakistan. Friends of those in custody say the allegations are startling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). But he was all right. Got along fine with everyone. No problem, nothing, whatever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a good guy. I have known him for -- I've known him since I was a little kid. And I'm shocked, yes.

NEWTON: Kidnappings resonate globally. The plot, if proven, carries a political motive. Sources with knowledge of the investigation say demands would have been made that British troops pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan. A message to those described as traders of Islam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would not be a total surprise because we know that their ideological brethren have carried out these tactics before. We all know about Iraq and Zarqawi, how he has really made this tactic into a strategy almost, and how devastating the effect was of the various kidnappings that were carried out in Iraq in 2004.

It really put him on the map, media-wise. It really established his reputation. So I'm not surprised at all that they are trying to learn from what their brethren are doing in other parts of the world, and are trying to adapt and imitate these tactics and bring them to other arenas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Sources tell CNN that his investigation was under way for months, that they were under surveillance. All the residents we speak to hear say they didn't notice anything going on of that nature.

They determined that this was the time to make their raids, to make their arrests, because they felt that this plot was actually getting very close to be executed. You know, it has to be said this is a big victory for counterterrorism efforts here in Britain. But it is also a very disturbing development, because it means that the terror campaign is very stubborn, and it shows that it will continue to change, adapt and mold itself to what those people believe is most effective -- Hala.

GORANI: Right. But no charges have been brought forward. Oftentimes we hear news of arrests and then people then released. When do we know if anything tangible -- if any tangible accusations and charges will be brought forward against these suspects, Paula?

NEWTON: Well, I want to -- I want to go back to something we mentioned earlier, and that was the fact that police will not confirm any of this to us. We get this from our independent sources. And the reason is because of the legal proceedings here in Britain.

Police have spoken all day and so has the British government about not wanting to jeopardize any legal proceedings in the future. What this means, Hala, is that this will only be proven or disproven in a court of law. And the fact that unlike other jurisdiction that we're used to, we will most likely not hear any details of what actually happened in this plot until we get to court.

Having heard that, that's quite unsettling for people in these communities, because they're left with certainly some of the information that's out in the media, but it does have them looking over their shoulders. The police have addressed that and said, we know that the community is concerned, but they feel they need to protect every single item in this investigation to make sure that when and if they do go to court with this case, that it is an air-tight case -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. A long process, still.

Paula Newton live in Manchester -- Jim.

CLANCY: We're shifting our attention now to Iraq.

They used sophisticated tactics, weaponry, and communications equipment, and there is a reported connection to the Shia Muslim Mehdi militia of Muqtada al-Sadr. The attackers who launched a deadly raid on U.S. forces in Karbala are being scrutinized by the U.S. military and its investigators. They are looking into the possibility Iran may have played a role.

Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with more on this developing story -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, let's be very clear right off the top to everyone. This is a theory that investigators are looking into, not a conclusion yet. But they are looking at evidence and they are looking at the possibility, they say, that either Iranians or Iranian-trained operatives were behind that January 20th sneak attack on a compound in Karbala in Iraq in which five U.S. Army soldiers were killed, obviously targeted by the attackers.

Now, why are investigators looking at this? What evidence do they think they might turn up?

What they tell us, what our sources tell us, is the attack was too sophisticated, to well-coordinated, for it to be carried out solely by the types of people that they have so far seen in either the Mehdi army or other groups in Iraq. The attackers had U.S.-style military uniforms, as we know, SUV vehicles of the type used by U.S. troops. Some of them spoke English quite well.

They went into the compound, they got past checkpoints. Somehow they managed to do that. There are a lot of theories about that.

But all of this leading to a look at the possibility, sources say, that it was Iranians behind it. And as you point out, Jim, one of the things that has concerned the U.S. greatly over the last several months is that breakaway elements of the Mehdi army, the Shia militia group, are now finding their loyalties with Iran. And there may be new connections there that are quite disturbing -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. The investigation continues.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, our thanks to you.

Well, let's check some of the other stories of the day.

(NEWSBREAK)

GORANI: Now to a story that spans from South to North Korea and then comes back again.

CLANCY: That's right. It begins three decades ago on a South Korean fishing boat, and it has a rare happy ending.

Sohn Jie-Ae picks it up from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Cries of disbelief as two former shipmates are reunited.

"Yungzu (ph), is it really you?" The hug becomes a huddle as other former North Korean captives join in.

Thirty-one years ago, just days after setting sail off South Korea's west coast, Choi Uk-il says his fishing boat was captured by North Korean naval ships. He was just 36. He and a crew of some 30 fishermen were taken to north and most were never heard from again.

"We were all kept together and educated about North Korean leadership, (INAUDIBLE) and Kim Jong-il," says (INAUDIBLE). A group which dedicates itself to bringing back the abductees helped Choi escape to China and enter the South Korean consulate. They also organized this reunion of Choi with other former North Korean captives.

Now, 67 years old, Choi entered the south two weeks ago to a tearful reunion with his wife and four children. His children, who he left as toddlers and babies, are now as old as he was when he last saw them.

"Don't cry, let's not cry anymore," he tells them. But Choi cannot hold back tears as he talks about his time in the north. "I had nothing to eat, nothing to wear, and I was under surveillance all the time," he says.

(on camera): Despite his tragic story, Choi knows that he is one of the lucky ones. The South Korean government says that nearly 500 of its citizens have been abducted by North Korea and another 500 POWs were never returned after the Korean War. The North Korean government denies all of these charges.

(voice over): While not being specific, Choi says he's now ready to be of whatever use he can be to his country, South Korea.

Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Growing tensions between Iran and the United States getting the attention of Iraq's prime minister.

GORANI: Well, we'll hear what he had to say coming up.

Also ahead, boys, boys, boys, and not enough girls. It's the result of years of China's one child policy.

We'll have that story and more.

You're with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: That's right. This is where we bring CNN's international and U.S. viewers up to speed on some of the most important international stories of the day.

Well, the growing tensions between Iran and the United States worrisome to Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki.

GORANI: He says he's concerned the tensions could evolve into a proxy war inside of Iraq itself. In an interview with CNN, al-Maliki laid out his concerns and talked about what it's going to take to bring security back to his country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is the nature of Iranian activity in Iraq today?

NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): All the regional countries want to interfere in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Arabic countries like Jordan and Saudi. And each one of them has his own reason to interfere in Iraq.

Some of them come from the position of facing America in Iraq. For some of them it's about the sectarian confrontation in Iraq. And for others, from the position of political confrontation in Iraq.

Interference exists in Iraq. And we have talked about it frankly and clearly, whether it was by trafficking weapons or supporting specific sides. And when our delegations go to those countries, their message is: Stop your interference in Iraq, because we will not allow you, no matter how good our relations are.

For example, Iran is Shiite and we are Shiite. And we have many Shiites in Iraq. But this does not justify Iran interfering in Iraq. We respect this relationship. We will not allow such interference to exist.

Also, Iraq is an Arab country. The majority are Arabs. But this also will not justify for Arab countries to interfere in Iraq.

WARE: Is American intelligence wrong when it says Iran is working to kill American soldiers in your country?

AL-MALIKI (through translator): I didn't say it does not exist. And the Americans, when they say that their intelligence is saying that Iranians are killing their soldiers, it means their intelligence is based on information that they got. And this is not an obscure thing.

There is a struggle between Iran and America. And we have told the Iranians and the Americans, we know that you have a problem with each other, but we're asking you, please, solve your problems outside of Iraq.

We do not want the American forces to take Iraq as a field to attack Iran or Syria, and we will not accept Iran to use Iraq to attack the American forces. But does this not exist? It exists, and I assure you it exists.

But it is based on the struggle between the two countries. And from our side, we're trying to stop the effort to have a struggle in Iraq.

We're always encounseling the two sides to negotiate and to try to find an agreement away from Iraq. Iran and America, we are ready to pay efforts to solve the problems between them if it is possible. But not on the account on Iraq.

Iraq has nothing to do with the American-Iranian struggle. And we will not let Iran play a role against the American army. And we will not allow American to play a role against the Iranian army. And everyone should respect the sovereignty of Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Now, correspondent Michael Ware, of course, who sat down with the prime minister in that interview, joins us now live to talk a little bit more about it.

Michael, what is the nature of the prime minister's relationship now with the United States?

WARE: Well, clearly, the prime minister of Iraq and the U.S. mission here on the ground have thrown their lot in together. He firmly believes that the current plan to secure Baghdad with a surge of 21,000-plus American soldiers will work.

Nonetheless, he leaves the door open for an escalation, an increase in U.S. troops. Nonetheless, there's evidently friction in the relationship.

He made it very clear to s, that he believes America has made a number of strategic blunders. He seems that he feels he's been forced to run a race with a horse that's been nobbled (ph).

He says that terrorism in this country has grown because of the strategic errors that America made in the past in building the security forces that he now has. He also vowed that his forces could take over security in this country within three to six months, but it will mean increased support, principally financial and arming, by America.

So, obviously, this is somewhat of a prickly, difficult relationship that's under great strain -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Michael Ware reporting to us there live from Baghdad.

GORANI: Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we'll check business headlines.

CLANCY: And then a little bit later in our program we're going to show you what's happening today in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and why it matters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

GORANI: Well, there's not been any official reaction to the intimation by U.S. officials, but Middle East correspondent Aneesh Raman was recently in Iraq. He joins us now live via broadband from Egypt to discuss these developments.

Now if it's indeed proven to be true, if there is actual evidence to link Iran into operations inside of Iraq, what effect would that have inside of Iran, do you think, Aneesh?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it would be powerfully significant and that we've seen for some time now U.S. military official say that Iran continues to arm, train and fund Shia factions within Iraq. We've seen for some time Iran continually deny that. But this investigation, these charges being made by the U.S. military, are essentially the first direct link between Iran and attacks that are being committed inside of Iraq. We'll have to wait and see what evidence is produced. Keep in mind, as well, there are some Iranians still in coalition-force custody in Iraq. But if it is proven, it exists potentially as a direct and overt of act of war by Iran against the United States. It could ratchet up the tensions in a country that is already crippled by tensions between Shia and Sunni Iraqis.

Another dynamic, U.S. verse Iran on Iraqi soil isn't something that country needs, and is why the country's prime minister today has said he doesn't want a proxy war being fought inside of Iraq -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Now if there's alleged interference from Iran and accusations directed toward Iran, it is also the case for other regional actors and neighbors of Iraq, why is the U.S. more concerned with what Iran is allegedly doing.

GORANI: Yes, we've seen a number of Iraq's neighbors come under criticism for not doing enough. Syria is first among them for allowing foreign fighters to continue crossing that border into Iraq, but Iran essentially faces a longer list. Iran has been growing in terms of prominence in the Middle East. That has risen concerns like where I am, Sunni Egypt, Sunni Saudi Arabia, Sunni Jordan. They are all increasingly banding together to try to get Iran's influence curbed, not just in Iraq, but in a broader sense, in the Middle East. Iran has influence in Lebanon, in the Palestinian areas. And in Iraq, the allegations are of active involvement, not just in the political sphere of Iraq, but as well in terms of Shia factions that are fighting on the ground.

So Iran has faced more direct criticism, but keep in mind that broader context of the Sunni-Shia split that's really emerging among the government's here. And when it comes to Iran it's all about Iraq. When it comes to Iraq, in these countries it's all about Iran -- Hala.

All right, Aneesh Raman, live in Cairo. Thanks, Aneesh -- Jim.

CLANCY: Let's go into the heart of Europe now, where in Germany arrest warrants have been issued for 13 people suspected of being CIA workers. They're wanted in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a German citizen, who says he was taken into Afghanistan and tortured.

Details now from our own correspondent Frederik Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For over two years Khaled El-Masari has been fighting in court. The 13 arrest warrants issued today come after German authorities got intelligence from Spanish police. All 13 suspects are believed to be CIA operatives, but Munich state prosecutors say the names on the warrants are all aliases used by the alleged undercover agents.

"Our next step will be to find out the real names of those suspected in the case," says state prosecutor Alrez Staff (ph).

Khaled El-Masari, a German of Lebanese descent says he was abducted by CIA agents while on vacation in December of 2003. On a CIA plane he was taken to Afghanistan, where El-Masari says he was held for several months, interrogated and beaten severely.

El-Masari was released in May 2004, but he says he wants those that tortured him brought to justice.

"Why did this do this to me. I want to know how this mistake could have happened. I want an apology," Khaled El Masri said in the 2005 interview with the Reuters agency.

While the case is not straining German-American relations, experts say it could cause a stir between law enforcement agencies across the Atlantic.

JAN-FRIEDRICK KALLMORGEN, ATLANTIC INITIATIVE: I think the Germans, and the United States and the Europeans (INAUDIBLE) work together very closely on the (INAUDIBLE) on terror. And every incident like that is probably causing more distrust for us not doing much good for close cooperation.

PLEITGEN: Neither the CIA nor the U.S. embassy in Berlin have commented on the case. While the United States acknowledges that such renditions have taken place in the past, the Bush administration says it's been assured no suspects have been tortured.

(on camera): The German arrests warrants aren't valid in the United States, but German authorities say that if any of the suspects try to enter a European union country, they'll be arrested. That is, if their real identities are ever discovered.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, since the war in Iraq, U.S. foreign policy has become quite unpopular across Europe. So when the Pentagon said it wanted to expand a military base in Italy, some residents said, not in my background.

Alessio Vinci has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vicenza is already home to close to 3,000 U.S. troops belonging to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a unit currently split between Italy and Germany. The Pentagon wants to reunite them all here by building a new base across town from the old one, bringing the total number of soldiers to about 5,000.

But the plan has sparked demonstrations in the city of 150,000, where a recent poll showed over 60 percent of the population is against base expansion. Some are ideologically opposed to anything the Americans are doing here, and vented their anger toward local authorities, who had approved the project by a narrow margin.

Others appear mainly concerned with the environmental impact and the traffic jams a new base will create.

"Did you see the project," say this retired teacher. "They would build huge barracks, five stories high for thousands of soldiers. How can the government allow this? The road leading to the airport is already jam packed."

(on camera): Demonstrations like this are becoming a daily fixture here in Vicenza. They have been so far mostly peaceful, but the people here say that when the construction work begins at the base, they will increase the pressure even further.

(voice-over): But most people we talked to say they were for the expansion, because a new base means new jobs for locals.

"I'm in favor," she says, "and I don't think that the young people who demonstrate realize the labor market here is shrinking, so we need them here."

U.S. military officials in Vicenza issued a statement, saying the new construction will blend with the surrounding community. The existing base, with its 800 souls, is Vicenza's largest employer. Expanding the base would create more than 2,000 construction jobs, and pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy over the next five years.

Vicenza's mayor is all for base expansion.

"We are not simply saying yes because it's good business. We're saying yes, because this city belongs to a country which is an ally of the United States. So we have to show that we can be an honest, loyal and serious ally," he says.

Anti-base demonstrators say they won't give up, and have created a permanent outpost near the construction site. This man says he loves America, but thinks Vicenza should look for different economic projects.

"We already have a base here," he says. "Why don't we focus on tourism or on bringing more students and universities here."

But the project is approved, and construction is start later this year, and the base should be ready by 2011.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Vicenza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right. Well, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY. And coming up, we're going to take you deep into the Amazon rainforest and talk to a man who's witnessed firsthand its slow but steady destruction.

GORANI: And is that a ghost in the Grammy machine? The Police are reuniting at the annual awards show. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Tough question -- did the White House try to suppress warnings on climate change? At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, one scientist said his comments were censured by a Bush administration official. Now that official later left the White House and went to work for a major oil company. Others testified they were pressured, or felt they were pressured, to edit their work. While the White House maintains it does not hinder research and seeks balance on the issue of global warming.

Well, a new report on climate change due this Friday in Paris could forever change the way that we view global warming.

Now for most of us, it's examining the effects of global warming a bit like watching the hour hand slowly moving on the clock. It happens too slowly for any of us to notice. Well, that hour hand may soon become the minute hand. Some say even the second hand. Scientists say we have to act now in order to stop global warming.

Case in point, the Amazon, some environmentalist say it is at a tipping point. And without intervention, we risked watching it disappear forever.

Journalist Scott Wallace reported on what many see as the last of the Amazon in January's cover story for "National Geographic" magazine. During his journey there, Wallace witnessed the onslaught of modern man deeper and deeper into the rain forest in search of more land, timber and wealth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT WALLACE, "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC": Well, it's pretty startling. If you travel around the Amazon, You can see the agricultural frontier is advancing, particularly in the central Amazon, where there's been a lot of wholesale clear cutting, making way for soy fields and mechanized farming. In a lot of instances, it greed. You have timber mafias who are moving in to take precious hardwoods. They open up previously untouched parts of forest. They get in there very deep and start cutting out. You know, they do selective logging. But what happens is, once that road is cut, it acts as a conduit for all sorts of other forces, landless squatters, land grabbers, land sharks, to move into that area and to begin to deforest, and we've seen that throughout the Amazon in the course of the last couple of decades.

CLANCY: The timber industry clears the land, the mills spew smoke across the Amazon, then the rainforest disappears into grazing land for cattle or fertile fields of soybeans. What's driving this? It may be easy to point a finger at Brazil. But as the "National Geographic" reports, U.S. government figures show that European countries are buying up nearly half of Brazil's soybeans. China, another 20 percent. The beef coming from Brazil, a third of it anyway, ends up in Europe as well, with Russia buying 19 percent.

And when it comes to timber, Europe's 28 percent pales in comparison to the U.S., where fully half of all of Brazilian woods are shipped.

WALLACE: I don't think a lot of homebuilders and furnituremaker in the United States are particularly aware of the providence of their wood or exactly how it comes out of Brazil and some of the other Amazonian countries.

But in many instances, this wood is harvested illegally. It not only decimates those particular species, but it opens up these avenues for penetration by other settlers.

CLANCY: It's not only the forest being pressured, Wallace says, the people of the Amazon and small farmers are being pushed aside. If their Amazon was peaceful once, the peace has been broken. This was a memorial for Sister Dorothy Stang (ph), an American-born nun killed by hired gunmen in 2005 because she tried to prevent ranchers from taking the land away from pheasants. Nearby the crosses of more than 750 other victims of land wars here.

WALLACE: There've been hundreds of murders over the course of the past couple decades in this area, and a lot of people who are resisting these forces of deforestation, really, and greed live in fear and often in hiding.

CLANCY: Wallace says the Brazilian government stepped up action after Sister Dorothy's murder. He saw agents drilling holes to plant explosives and disable an illegal airstrip used by absentee farmers or ranchers.

WALLACE: Actually there are some very positive signs from the Brazilian government. They are interested in controlling the deforestation in certain areas. They have declared protected areas, and are expelling illegal ranchers or those who don't have title to land in these protected areas.

CLANCY: But Wallace cautions, any optimism about the Amazon's future may not be supported by the facts.

WALLACE: As we are speaking here, dozens of football fields worth of rainforest are going to be destroyed just in the few minutes that we're talking right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CLANCY: In just a few minutes, dozens of football fields of the Amazon destroyed. And why do scientists think it's at a tipping point? As Wallace pointed out in his article, the Amazon produces a lot of its own rainfall, and the more that it's destroyed, the more to process is accelerated of reducing that rainforest to something that doesn't help the planet.

Hala, back to you.

GORANI: All right, you're with YOUR WORLD TODAY. When we come back, there is a shortage of girls in China. Chinese tradition and government regulation conspire to create a shortage of women there, and it's only getting worse.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Well China's booming, but there's one thing there's not enough of. Guess what? Women.

GORANI: Women, absolutely. In less than 15 years, officials predict there will be 30 million more men of marriageable age in China than women.

CLANCY: Now the main culprit, we're told, is China's one-child policy. And as John Vause tells us, the country's gender imbalance is likely to get worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is this a little boy or little girl?

(voice-over): To put it simply, China's running out of girls.

(on camera): It's a little girl, OK.

(voice-over): And the gender imbalance starts here at maternity wards like this one in a Beijing hospital. The nurse says each month, there's always more baby boys than girls. But Janying Nan (ph) isn't concerned for her newborn son. He can get a foreign wife, she jokes.

And that may be the only option for many by 2020 when China's government predicts there will be 30 million more men than women, an unintended consequence of the strict one-child policy.

In a culture that values males more than females, many parents opt for sex-selective abortions and infanticide to ensure their only child is a boy, leading to a birth rate of 118 boys for every 100 girls.

Even now, in big cities like Beijing, young men are finding young women in short supply. Sun Bo had so much trouble meeting that someone special, three years ago, he quit his job as a software designer and started a speed dating service. Women have higher expectations of men, he told me. They want them to have a car, a house. And with more men, there's more competition. He's doubled his income, but is still looking for love.

Leave the big cities and head to China's countryside and the gender imbalance is much worse, 130 boys for every 100 girls.

KHALID MALIK, U.N. RESIDENT COORDINATOR IN CHINA: If you do not have boys some how, people feel your future is not secured, especially when you're old and you need some support.

VAUSE (on camera): And study after study has warned that millions of unhappy, unmarried men will lead to social instability with an increase in crime, especially kidnapping of girls and women to be sold as brides or sex workers.

(voice-over): The government concedes there's problem and for years have been trying to convince parents to value their daughters. But it will be along time before the gender imbalance tips the right way, leaving millions of China men to grow old as confirmed bachelors.

John Vause, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: There may be a shortage of women in China, but there's no shortage of awards shows out there on your TV screen. There's going to be another one now.

GORANI: Yes, I mean there are the movie award shows, there are the musical award shows and someone might just call the police. The legendary '80s group has called and its reuniting apparently.

CLANCY: That's right and we're going to get a report on that from Sibila Vargas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Every Breath You Take," "Message in a Bottle," "King of Pain," music of The Police.

Sacred to a generation that came of age in the 1980s. But for almost a generation, fans have had precious few chances to see the band perform live until now.

NEIL PORTNOW, PRESIDENT, RECORDING ACADEMY: We were looking for something that would be really eye-opening and earth-shattering.

VARGAS: The Recording Academy has announced The Police will reunite on the Grammy telecast next month.

PORTNOW: People are thrilled that this band is back in business and reuniting and going to be out there playing the music that people love so dearly for so many years. VARGAS: Word of the reunion comes 30 years after the band was formed in England. The Police, Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, skyrocketed to fame in the late 1970s. With songs like "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and their first hit, "Roxanne."

But in 1984 at the height of their commercial success, and just six years after putting out their first album, The Police abruptly split amid reports of feuding between the band mates.

Since then, Sting has enjoyed a lucrative solo career and Copeland has written numerous movie scores. Copeland, who also directed a documentary about the group's early days, says rumors about the band's differences have been greatly exaggerated.

STEWART COPELAND, FORMER POLICE DRUMMER: There's this myth that we fought all the time, The Police was always fighting. And I sorted of believed it myself, except when I look at this footage, I realize that we actually were very fond of each other.

VARGAS: Their last public performance came in 2003 to commemorate their induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

(on camera): For Police fans, the biggest question is whether the Grammy gig is a one-shot deal or could a reunion tour be in the works?

(voice-over): For now, the band's label is keeping mum on the band's future plans. Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: That's going to get a lot of people to tune in.

GORANI: Right, well that is it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

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

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