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NEWS STREAM
Inside Mogadishu; Al-Shabaab Keeps Aid Out; Difficult Conditions In Refugee Camp; Widespread Drought in East Africa; James Murdoch's Testimony Disputed; Barca's New Man; Contador Concedes; Close Finishes in Tour de France History; NFL Lockout Ending? What About the NBA? One Last Look at "Atlantis." New Aircraft Tested at University of Maryland
Aired July 22, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
We go inside Mogadishu, where thousands are returning to the war-torn capital, desperately seeking food and water.
Two former "News of the World" executives say James Murdoch was mistaken in his testimony to British lawmakers.
And what makes hundreds of people dress up as their favorite comic and movie characters for a convention? We'll hear from an expert in the art of cosplay.
Death, drought, and indifference. Aid groups accuse the international community of falling short as parts of Somalia suffer from famine.
Now, the U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon says the world cannot sit by as Somalis starve. He's trying to spur action with an op-ed in today's "Los Angeles Times."
It says this, quote, "Across the horn of Africa, people are starving. The United Nations has been sounding the alert for months. We have resisted using the F-word, 'famine,' but on Wednesday, we officially recognize the fast-evolving reality. There is famine in parts of Somalia. It is spreading. This is a wake-up call we cannot ignore."
Well, some families are sacrificing their safety in search of food and water. Now, this group is at a camp in Mogadishu. War forced tens of thousands of Somalis from their capital city, and now famine is bringing them back. Here's Jane Ferguson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE FERGUSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new horror has reached the streets of Mogadishu. Hunger.
These people fled the civil war here in Somalia's capital city. Now, they're back, desperate for food and water.
Huma Isaak's (ph) husband died of starvation. She says she traveled 400 kilometers to get here in a desperate bid to keep her children alive.
"My car was blocked by a panicked group of women trying to get some food. Please help us!" this woman shouts. "I am sick!"
But there is little help for the thousands who come here. The weak transitional federal government controls only part of the capital and has been fighting the al Qaeda-linked group, al-Shabaab, for years.
Al-Shabaab controls most of central and southern Somalia and, in the past, banned foreign aid agencies from working here. But with the country in the grip of a drought, they recently lifted the ban.
Still, aid agencies are wary of the risks of working in this dangerous country, leaving these people trapped, too weak and poor to make it to the U.N. camps in neighboring Kenya. So, they've come here to the capital in search of help.
FERGUSON (on camera): Tens of thousands of Somalis have arrived in Mogadishu just in the last few days. But despite that, this remains one of the hardest places in the world to get food aid to.
FERGUSON (voice-over): This is a very dangerous country. As a foreign reporter, I could only be on the streets for a few moments at a time before driving away, as the threat of kidnapping is very real.
The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the OIC, hopes to persuade more aid agencies to come in under their umbrella. Al-Shabaab is more willing to allow Islamic charities to distribute aid in their areas.
A delegation from the OIC visited Mogadishu on Wednesday to bring food and discuss bridging the aid gap.
The U.N. says this war-torn country needs an extra $300 million in the next two months, and the president made this plea.
SHEIKH SHARIF SHEIKH AHMED, PRESIDENT OF SOMALIA (through translator): The situation is very severe, and the conditions are very harsh. We are requesting that the international community assist the Somalis, those within Somalia and the borders. We urgently request quick help.
(BABY CRYING)
FERGUSON: But for many Somalis, aid may come too late, especially for starving children. Amina (ph) is six months old and suffering from severe malnutrition. Next to her is Bakko (ph), a two-year-old boy too weak to stand.
And the queue grows longer every day as the desperate come to the capital in search of help. Jane Ferguson for CNN, Mogadishu, Somalia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Absolutely heartbreaking images, there. Now, Bakool and Lower Shabelle experiencing famine, but the U.N. says aid workers have limited access to these areas in red because of Al-Shabaab militants.
The radical Islamic group controls much of southern and central Somalia, including portions of the capital of Mogadishu.
Now, Al-Shabaab is believed to have several thousand fighters with ties to al Qaeda. It has been waging an insurgency against Somalia's government since 2006, and officials say that the conflict is worsening the impact of the drought.
Al-Shabaab has made it difficult for foreign aid groups to operate, and the U.S. (sic) humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK BOWDEN, U.N. HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR SOMALIA: United Nations organizations are actually working in Shabaab areas and where they -- as another organizations, they have accepted a number of organizations and have honored their commitments to them in terms of ensuring the safety of personnel.
It varies very much by area to area. The local communities are particularly important in their commitments and I think, in many ways, our commitments are to the local communities, the elders and others, who have been very important in ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Al-Shabaab has objected to the U.N.'s use of the world famine. And just a short time ago, a spokesman for the group reversed a pledge to allow foreign aid workers into affected areas.
Many Somalis are seeking help in the neighboring country of Kenya. UNICEF says more than 10,000 refugees arrive each week at the Dadaab camp. It was intended for 90,000 people, but nearly 400,000 desperate individuals are already there. David McKenzie shows us the conditions in the camp.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the edge of the Dadaab camp. It's where Somali refugees are streaming into in the thousands every week.
It's the children really who are the worst. Many of them are malnourished, most of them seem to have some kind of respiratory problem because of the dust and the wind that's blasting through here.
They're living in terrible conditions like this. They're in these huts which are basically constructed out of tarpaulins. They cook in this tiny little space with no shelter.
And when they come here, they come expecting help. They come expecting food, water, the basic dignity that refugees should get when they move to another country. But here, they even have to go out into the outer areas to defecate, because there's no latrines for them, and they say they're worried there could be a disease outbreak in these areas.
While people talk politics and al-Shabaab and getting aid into Somalia to help the situation, it's here in this Dadaab camp where the people are the worst off.
David McKenzie, CNN, Dadaab, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: And of course, Kenya is suffering from a drought as well. So are Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda. Mari Ramos joins us now with more from the World Weather Center. Mari?
MARI RAMOS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the drought is widespread and it's a huge, huge concern across much of east Africa.
And I want to go ahead and show you, here, our drought monitor. This is what measures where the drought is, and it actually updates about every week or so, and I want to show you the latest one that we have.
Notice how widespread the areas of drought across the northern areas are. Weak drought, moderate, severe, and then extreme. This area right in here, the hardest hit, as far as the drought is concerned, it includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda.
And of course, as we get over here, this northern part of Kenya also affected by drought.
I want to take you back over here towards Somalia, and you'll notice that, particularly in the northeastern corner here, they've actually not had officially a drought, but there is a weak drought across these areas to the south.
This is the current condition, but you've got to remember that they have had a drought ongoing already for the second year in a row, this has put it in a situation where the conditions are so dry, it's the driest it's been in about half a century, so it's very significant.
This red over here that you see on the map, this is the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, the ITCZ. It's where the trade winds from the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere meet. It's an area, a band of clouds that circles the entire globe.
And it -- you can pretty much count on this to follow the summer, it follows the sun. So, this is where it is right now in July. But in January, it was way down here. As you can see, this is the normal location of the ITCZ. Notice, it brings you this dry season right over here across the horn of Africa.
They call this the lean season because it tends to have very little food. But then, we get to the long rainy season, it's called the Gu, they call it the Gu rains. It happens between April and August.
And as the ITCZ moves through here, it's supposed to bring some beneficial rain across these areas. Well, that hasn't happened, not only for Somalia, but like I showed you on that other map, across many areas here.
Now that we're in July, well, it's already moved to the north, so there's little hope for rain into areas here to the south, and that is what is affecting the upcoming harvest.
This next image I want to show you, Kristie, is a little bit different. It shows us the vegetation. It's a satellite imagery that can read what vegetation is dead and what vegetation is alive. And it shows you the difference from one to the other.
Notice back over here across central parts of Ethiopia, all of this green that we see here in South Sudan, despite the drought. Kenya actually looking pretty normal, and some areas here are green.
But notice as we head back over here to the coastal areas and southern parts of Somalia. Dead vegetation. And that is a huge concern.
Here we are in mid July where this area is supposed to have had the rain. It's coming off of the rainy season, and this is also the area that is the hardest hit with the famine.
And notice all of this brown that's over these areas. This is a big concern because vegetation is what they need for their livestock, of course, and then that's another source of food and another source of income, and that also has suffered greatly.
So, it's a domino effect, as I was telling you yesterday, and this is just another example. Back to you.
STOUT: Now, Mari, you alerted us to this situation there in east Africa many weeks ago, so thank you for these constant updates on the situation there. Mari Ramos, there.
Now, 11 million people in east Africa desperately need help. Several aid organizations are mobilizing to fight the famine.
If you want to lend a hand, you can start by logging onto the Impact Your World page on our website. You'll find a list of reputable charities plus up-to-date information on the situation in the horn of Africa. It's all at cnn.com/impact.
Now, in the U.K., doubts are being raised about James Murdoch's testimony before a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday. Two former "News of the World" executives say the younger Murdoch was mistaken when he said he was unaware in 2008 of an e-mail suggesting hacking went beyond a single reporter.
Now, Murdoch, however, says he stands by his statement. The parliamentary committee may ask Murdoch to clarify his comments today. Atika Shubert joins us, now, from London with the latest. And Atika, tell us more about the mistaken evidence that James Murdoch has been accused of giving.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a critical e-mail because, remember, "News of the World" had said that the case of phone- hacking at the time had just been isolated to one private investigator and one reporter who had requested that illegally-obtained information.
And what this e-mail showed is, it actually addressed another reporter at "News of the World," so it showed that this phone hacking went just beyond that isolated case.
Now, what James Murdoch testified to Parliament was that he did not know of that e-mail when he decided to clear a payout to a phone-hacking victim.
Now, what "News of the World's" lawyer -- previous -- ex-lawyer and ex-editor are now saying is that, in fact, James Murdoch did know about the existence of that e-mail.
And this is important, because it makes it seem is that, if James Murdoch knew of the existence of that e-mail, it seems as though he cleared this massive payout of more than a million dollars to a phone-hacking victim in an attempt to cover it up.
And this is what some of the allegations are that are out there.
Now, as you point out, James Murdoch says he stands by his testimony to Parliament. But as you can imagine, the committee members in Parliament are not happy about this. They want to know more, they're demanding for more information.
And in fact, one member of Parliament, Tom Watson, has already asked the police to investigate the situation. And another lawmaker, Chris Bryant, has even written to the exec -- non-executive directors of News Corp to ask for, not just James Murdoch to be suspended, but also Rupert Murdoch to be suspended because of this.
So, it does seem to be having quite the repercussions, Kristie.
STOUT: All right. So, what exactly will be happening next. Do we -- are we going to see an investigation? Or is it very likely that we'll see James Murdoch explaining himself again to British policymakers?
SHUBERT: Well, it's recess at the moment. But yes, he may be asked to call -- to explain himself again to the committee. And of course, we're waiting to see what happens with the police investigation.
The fact is, he was not under oath when he was actually testifying at Parliament. However, if you do like to Parliament, to the House of Commons, if you try and mislead members of Parliament there, then it is considered a contempt of Parliament, and it is, actually, punishable.
But what it really depends on is the political will of the committee itself, whether or not they want to pursue this more. At the moment, they're just saying, "We want more clarification from James Murdoch, and we want the police to investigate."
STOUT: Atika Shubert joining us live in London. Thank you very much, indeed.
Now ahead here on NEWS STREAM, a deal is on the table. But will it actually mean an end to the NFL's months-long lockout? We'll have a live update.
Plus, the bills are piling up for Libya. We'll look at the high cost of conflict and the impact it's having on people there.
And hacking attacks. South Korea says it has become a big target. We'll tell you who has them worried.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: Welcome back. Now, the best football club in Europe just got better. Barcelona added another weapon to their arsenal on Friday. Pedro Pinto in London has that and more. Pedro?
PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie. European champions Barcelona confirmed the signing of Chilean international Alexis Sanchez today. The Spanish giants will pay Udanese $37 million up front with a further $16 million possibly being added to the deal at a later date.
Barcelona had been negotiating with the Italian club for several weeks while the player was in action at the Copa America with Chile.
The 22-year-old winger has played 40 times for his country, scoring 12 goals. He started his career back home in Chile, at Cobreloa before representing Colo-Colo, and then River Plate of Argentina, as well.
At the Tour de France, three-time champion Alberto Contador has conceded defeat after losing valuable time to the leaders in Thursday's 18th stage. The Spaniard is in seventh place, nearly five minutes behind yellow jersey-holder Thomas Voeckler, with only three days left in the race.
The 18th stage was all about Andy Schleck, the Luxemburg climber, runner-up to Contador in 2009 and 2010, crossed the line first after breaking away from the peloton in the Alps. He shortened the gap to Voeckler in the overall standings to just 15 seconds, the Frenchman barely holding onto his lead.
The next couple of days should be thrilling. The top four are all separated by just over one minute. The race will come to an end on Sunday in Paris.
Now, this could be one of the closest decisions ever in the Tour. Let's take a look at some of the closest tour finishes. Now, cast your minds back to 1989 when American Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by eight seconds. Four years ago, Alberto Contador was too strong for Evans, but only by 23 seconds.
There are new developments in the United States regarding the NFL lockout. Team owners approved a new labor deal on Thursday night. Now, it's up to the players to agree to the conditions.
The lockout started four months ago with owners and players wanting more rights and, of course, more money.
Let's get the latest from Atlanta, where there are talks taking place on Friday. Our Joe Carter is there right now. Joe, this is not a done deal just yet. What is happening today?
JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You said it, Pedro. Not a done deal yet. As of last night, the owners, 31 of the 32 teams, agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement. That agreement then went to the players.
The players now have until Tuesday to come up with yes or no vote. They also have until Tuesday to re-constitute or re-certify as a players' union.
Now, this deal, Pedro, is unprecedented. It's 10 years long. It's the most lucrative, the most financially beneficial for both sides the NFL has ever seen. But from the owners' perspective, it's going to start football on time only if the players agree to this.
PINTO: Joe --
CARTER: Pedro?
PINTO: -- I wanted to ask you about the deal and what exactly is in the way of players and owners agreeing now. The revenue overall, I've seen, we've been reporting, is around $9 billion in the NFL. How will it break down both ways?
CARTER: Well, at this point, we understand that the big financial principles of this deal are agreed upon on both sides. There's been a handshake deal that most of the big issues have been resolved.
But some of the smaller issues, that have to do with 401Ks, supplemental revenue sharing, yadda yadda ya. A lot of stuff that doesn't matter to the average American football fan. They just want to know if football's going to be in play come September 8.
So, now it goes to the players, as I said, and they can -- they need to decide whether or not it's a good deal for them.
But there could be a number of issues, small issues, large issues, that could hang up this deal. At this point, it's all speculation. We're not quite sure exactly if the players have agreed to exactly what the owners wanted.
It's not a perfect deal. It can't be. It's some 500 pages long. You wouldn't think that everybody's going to be happy from both sides.
But it's a deal, quintessentially, that's going to get football back on the field on time, and that's what's important to an American football audience. A lot of people in a lot of cities here in the States.
PINTO: Joe, thank you so much for your update, and you'll be on this story throughout the day. Hopefully, we'll have some kind of agreement in the next few days.
There does seem like there will be a new collective bargaining agreement, then, in place in the NFL soon, but what about the NBA?
The owners locked out the players in the beginning of the month after their last labor deal expired. Experts are worried that the upcoming season could be shortened or even canceled since owners and players are a long way apart in what they want.
Owners want a higher percentage of the overall revenue and stricter salary caps. Players want more compensation on short-term and long-term contracts. No talks are scheduled at the moment.
That is a quick look at the sports headlines. Kristie, back to you in Hong Kong.
STOUT: Pedro, thank you. Well, now that the U.S. has retired its Space Shuttles, what is next in aerial innovation? Take a look at this. It takes off like a helicopter but flies like a jet, and it's being developed for military use. Just ahead, we will take this to a wind tunnel and test it out. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: It's Friday night here in Hong Kong. Welcome back, you're watching NEWS STREAM. Now, later today, the crew of Space Shuttle "Atlantis" will be welcomed back to Houston. I want to take one last look at the Shuttle's historic landing.
"Atlantis," making a fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, and you can see right there the Shuttle's plasma trail behind it.
The International Space Station crew witnessed this sight for the final time on Thursday. Astronaut Mike Fossum managed to capture this as they watched.
Now, the Shuttle was a remarkable achievement when it debuted back in 1981, so what type of flying craft will turn heads in the future? Well, you're about to see a prime candidate. It's called the AD-150, and it's being developed for possible military use.
Now, Brian Todd went into a wind tunnel to help test it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here to test out the propulsion capability of the latest wave of unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs. This is a model of the UAV system that we're testing out here, it's called the AD- 150, made by American Dynamics Flight Systems.
And what's unique about this vehicle is it's going to have the ability to actually lift off vertically like a helicopter, and then take off horizontally at speeds of up to 340 miles an hour.
It'll do that with the capability of this mechanism here called a nacelle. It looks like a propeller. It's going to enable this UAV to actually lift off and then transition like this for horizontal flight.
What we're going to be testing out is the ability of this mechanism, the nacelle, to actually make the transition to avoid a crash and actually get this thing into flight after it takes off horizontally.
What they want this UAV to be able to do is to fly ahead of the Osprey helicopter, which actually drops off troops and carries payloads, to fly ahead of it, maybe pick up some intelligence and even strike targets if necessary.
This will have the capability of striking targets, of gathering intelligence, and also carrying a payload of up to 1,000 pounds.
Now, we're going to test out the nacelles' propulsion capability here at the Glenn Martin Wind Tunnel at the University of Maryland. This has the capability of generating winds of up to about 240 miles an hour, but we're not going to be going nearly that fast with the wind in this chamber. It's going to be about 30 miles an hour.
So, let's go and see how the test of the propulsion capability of the nacelle is going to go.
Into the wind chamber, now. They're using smoke to test out the -- to actually be able to visualize the air flow, see if this thing really has the capacity to transition from a vertical to a horizontal thrust and to be able to propel the UAV forward.
This nacelle is smaller than the actual nacelle that's going to be on the UAV. That one's a lot bigger because the UAV we're talking about is about 17 and a half feet from wingtip to wingtip. This is just to test out that thrust capability.
We're now going to talk to the president of American Dynamics, Wayne Morse, to see how it's performing.
All right, Wayne, you've seen it now in the wind chamber, you've already tested this thing out on the computer. Does it have that thrust capacity to actually lift off vertically and then transition to a horizontal flight?
WAYNE MORSE, AMERICAN DYNAMIC FLIGHT SYSTEMS: So far in test, our results are extremely encouraging, absolutely.
TODD: Now, the military's going to want to put wounded soldiers on UAVs, maybe have a human payload on there. Does this UAV have the capacity to do that?
MORSE: Yes, with the thousand-pound payload from the AD-150, you can actually easily do that mission. But there may be some future testing required, but it's well within its capabilities.
TODD: All right, Wayne. Well, good luck, thanks very much.
The makers say that they want to have the first flight ready by January 2013. Each one of these vehicles is going to cost the military a few million dollars, but the manufacturers say that's a lot less than the average UAV of similar size.
Brian Todd, CNN, College Park, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Now, still ahead on NEWS STREAM, the price of war. Conflict in Libya has taken a serious human toll, and we'll show you how it is also hurting the economy.
And in Karachi, Pakistan, more than 1,000 people have been killed over the past six months, and the reason may not be what you think.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: This is CNN, the world's news leader. You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.
In the U.K., two former "News of the World" executives are disputing James Murdoch's account of what he knew about the phone-hacking scandal. They say Murdoch misled British legislators on Tuesday when he said he was not aware in 2008 of an e-mail apparently showing the hacking went beyond a single reporter. Murdoch says he stands by his testimony. Prime Minister David Cameron says Murdoch has questions to answer in Parliament.
Chief nuclear envoys for North and South Korea held talks on nuclear issues earlier today on the sidelines of the (inaudible) meeting in Bali. The specific agenda of their discussions is not known. The North pulled out of six party talks in 2008.
The United Nations will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss how to drum up aid for millions of people facing starvation in east Africa. Now the meeting will take place in Rome. It will include senior representatives from member nations as well as U.N. agencies, NGOs, and development banks.
Now Greece is being granted another bailout from the European Union. In a meeting in Brussels on Thursday European leaders agreed to a new $157 billion loan package for the debt laden country. They say the new package is aimed at preserving the Euro and preventing a potentially much worse Euro zone crisis.
Now the new aid package, it lowers interest rates and extends the payback time period for Greece's current loans from the EU and the IMF. Now European leaders say it should be enough to cover all the country's financial needs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT: We would like to make clear that Greece requires an exceptional and unique solution as regards to our general approach to private sector involvement. All other euro (ph) countries, it is again the heads affirmation, solemn (inaudible) affirmed that inflexible determination to honor fully the (inaudible) individual sovereign signature.
You know that it is a point which we consider extremely important. I think it is the clearest clarification we could expect from the heads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Well, stock markets have been taking the bailout news especially well. And for more on the numbers, the reaction, and what it all means for the Euro zone, stay tuned for World Business Today. That's in less than half an hour from now.
Now the Libyan government says five months of civil war have cost the country's economy some $50 billion. Compare that to last year when Libya was one of the few countries in the world to post double digit growth. Ivan Watson went to the capital to see what has changed and what has stayed the same.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sometimes it's hard to believe this country is at war. Families pack the beach outside Tripoli playing and swimming seemingly oblivious to the conflict that threatens to tear this country apart.
Does this feel like a normal summer?
NABIHA, TRIPOLI RESIDENT: Yes. There is no difference.
WATSON: Nothing different.
NABIHA: No it's usually. Everything is as usually.
WATSON: No one is afraid of the fighting?
ZAKARIA FORGIANI, TRIPOLI RESIDENT: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I live here.
WATSON: Yeah.
FORGIANI: Born here (inaudible). No problem.
WATSON: But one problem everyone seems to face, long gas lines. People wait days to fill their gas tanks. Gas shortages caused after NATO's blockade brought activity at Moammar Gadhafi's sea ports and air ports largely to a halt.
This month, the government intervened with, quote, large amounts of funds to keep prices of other basic commodities like rice, sugar, and flour from going up.
ABDULHAFID ZLITINI, LIBYAN MINISTER OF PLANNING AND FINANCE: When in a crisis situation like this, traders tend to profit more than they should. And therefore there is an intervention.
WATSON: Gadhafi's minister of Finance says so far the conflict has cost Libya an estimated $50 billion, nearly half of it due to the loss of oil exports.
ZLITINI: The income foregone (ph) because of the stoppage of the increase of the export of oil is something like $20 billion.
WATSON: Harder to estimate, the damage done to a multi-billion plan to modernize Libyan infrastructure. The countryside is now dotted with unfinished apartment buildings left frozen after foreign workers and engineers fled the fighting this winter to neighboring Tunisia.
Also frozen, billions of dollars in Libyan government assets invested oversees. Western governments are threatening to hand this piggy bank over to the rebels.
The increasingly isolated Tripoli government has been organizing what it calls million man marches, Gadhafi and his supporters say they'll fight the rebels and their NATO allies to the end. But this defiance costs money as Zlitini compares Libya's dwindling government coffers to a piece of meat.
ZLITINI: This shouldn't last long, otherwise you will be eating the fat and meat and very soon arrive to the bones.
WATSON: For now, residence of Tripoli certainly aren't going hungry, while Gadhafi himself insists he isn't going anywhere.
Whether or not the sun is setting on Moammar Gadhafi's 41 years in power is still a matter of debate. For now, ordinary Libyans are trying to make the best of a very difficult situation, enjoying today and not sure of what tomorrow may bring.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Tripoli.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now it's Friday and in Syria that usually means a day of protest after prayers, and today is no exception. Activists say hundreds of thousands of people are marching in one eastern city alone. On Thursday, government opponents say armed forces targeted protesters in the city of Homs.
This video from YouTube is said to show a store and residential building on fire. The voice on the tape says women and children were killed inside. Now CNN can't confirm the authenticity of the claim or any of these images that we find on YouTube.
Now protest organizers and witnesses, however, tell us that Thursday's violence in Homs left 10 people dead. It also destroyed buildings and cut communication lines.
Now violence in the streets of Pakistan's largest city has killed hundreds of people in the last few months. And that is sparking fear among residence. Now Reza Sayah ventures into the streets of Karachi where this is plenty of chaos and some say very little law and order.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Karachi, Pakistan, a city gripped by violence. Riots, shootouts, more than 1,000 killed in the past six months. At least 80 killed in a four day span this month.
SANA BUCHA, TV ANCHOR: You don't know who will get you. When.
SAYAH: Sana Bucha is one of Pakistan's top TV anchors. Never has she seen this much fear in Karachi, she says.
BUCHA: That fear factor that you will find in Karachi, you won't find in terrorism related areas.
SAYAH: There's no question Karachi has been Pakistan's most violent city over the past few months. Reasons for the violence are often as confusing and chaotic as the city of Karachi itself.
Roughly 15 million people from at least a half a dozen ethnic groups call Karachi home. Police and analysts say Karachi's violence is often fueled by bitter ethnic rivalries and political parties vying for power in this mega-melting pot.
BUCHA: It's like this entity that everyone wants to control, to kind of relegate their power.
SAYAH: It's the lack of law and order that many here say has created this gang style mentality among political parties. The same political parties that are supposed to fix this city.
Each party seems to have its own turf, usually off limits to rivals.
SAUD MIRZA, KARACHI POLICE CHIEF: That creates the problem, because of the turf war.
SAYAH: Karachi Police Chief Saud Mirza says political parties often insight the violence. When they're not happy they stoke up their supporters.
MIRZA: Most of these ethnic communities are being guided by them, being manipulated by them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have to work together if they want to bring peace in the city.
SAYAH: Government adviser Sharpudine Memon (ph) says political parties are not solely to blame, but they're key to ending the violence.
In any city, it's the police force that's on the front lines of crime and violence. It's their job to stop it. But here in Karachi it seems the police don't have any power to stop the bloodshed.
Aren't they in control?
BUCHA: The police? Are you kidding me? No.
SAYAH: Are your police officers sometimes afraid to go into areas?
MIRZA: Of course.
SAYAH: Chief Mirza says his force is badly outnumbered, but insists change is coming: higher salaries, better equipment and plans to hold peace talks with warring factions.
Bucha is not as optimistic.
BUCHA: I don't see an end to this until out politicians mature.
SAYAH: Reza Sayah, CNN, Karachi, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: One of Britain's most well-known artists has died. Now Lucien Freud passed away at his London home after an unspecified illness. He was the grandson of famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Now Lucien Freud was known for his highly stylized portraits, paintings were sometimes considered unflattering images of his subjects. In 2008, one of his nudes sold for more than $33 million, an auction record for a living artist.
This art dealer says of Freud lived to paint and painted until the day he died. He was 88.
Now ahead on NEWS STREAM under attack: now South Korea says the North has a new high tech weapon which could spell war, cyber war that is. We'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now Microsoft's revenue rose to over $17 billion in the last quarter, so what's behind the boost? The reason may surprise you. Now Windows is the dominant desktop operating system, but that is not helping Microsoft's bottom line. Now the company said tablets are eating into PC purchases and that led to sales of Windows shrinking 1 percent. So no wonder the next version of Windows will also run on tablets.
But Microsoft's other old standbys are still going strong. For example, Office. Sales of Microsoft Office rose 7 percent, shrugging off competition from free online services like Google Docs. And the Xbox 360 maybe six years old, ancient by video game console standards, but it is still raking in cash. Sales of the Xbox 360 soared 30 percent in the last quarter.
Now in South Korea internet hacking attacks are on the rise. Now the fear is that it could be just the beginning of a full on cyber assault from the north.
Now Paula Hancocks got the inside scoop from a former North Korean hacker who defected to the south.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the first lines of defense in South Korea. Onlap (ph) tracks hackers and builds defense systems to protect companies and governments. Cyber attacks against South Korea are increasing. And Seoul is pointing the finger of blame at North Korea.
Over the past couple of years South Korean governmental and military sites have been hacked as well as local banks affecting people's ability to access their money, showing no one is safe from the recent surge in cyber war.
Kim Hung-Kwang defected from North Korea in 2003. Before that, he was a computer expert and trained would-be hackers in the basics of computers. He has no doubt the most recent attacks in March originated in North Korea despite Pyongyang's denial.
He says, "North Korea's military saw the merit of cyber attacks and gained confidence. They received a direct order from Kim Jung-il to first expand the unit to 1,000 people, and then to 3,000 people."
Kim says hackers are treated well and they're given food and housing. It's considered a very good job in North Korea. They also travel abroad to China and Russia for computer training.
He says, "Pyongyang soon understood that cyber hacking gives them strategic power over South Korea. And it's cheap and fast. It is asymmetrical power, because North Korea is not connected to the internet, so South Korea has no way to counterattack."
Security company McAfee raises one concern, a report states the malware used to carry out the attacks was configured to disable itself after 10 days. So the attacks could be seen as a practice run.
PHILIP H. KIM, CEO, AHN LAB: At the subtext, we have questioned ourselves why they did that, because they didn't ask for anything and there was no political agenda and they didn't ask for any money and so on. But we just told ourselves that maybe this is just kind of experimentation, trying to find out some holes and secret holes (inaudible) in the systems.
HANCOCKS: Cyber war is cheap and easy for North Korea, a reason why many experts believe the attacks are likely to increase. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Now geeks from around the world are gathering in San Diego for Comic Con. As the name suggests, it began as a comic convention, but it has grown far beyond that to celebrate all forms of pop culture. Now it is the place to be to launch new movies, toys, and games and to hang out dressed as your favorite character.
But of course comics still have a prominent role at the convention. DC Comics is using it to showcase the relaunch of many of its most popular characters. The company's co-publishers explain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN DIDIO, CO-PUBLISHER, DC COMICS: Well, the best part about what we're launching right now is we're launching 52 brand new titles, brand new number ones featuring all of our known characters and some of our lesser known characters. In some cases, some brand new characters. It's funny, because I mean from my standpoint is what we're doing right now is we're fighting for the soul of comics.
JIM LEE, CO-PUBLISHER, DC COMICS: The stuff that we produce, the super heroes, American comic books, it's a uniquely American art form. Super heroes are such a huge pop -- part of pop culture, not just in America, but the world over.
The easy thing in all this would have been to sit back, sit in (inaudible) bus and not change anything, really, because that way the fans are going to be happy, I think. But ultimately I think their real happiness lies in creative -- challenging the characters creatively.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the reaction is like a year from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: One of the defining sights of Comic Con is this: fans dressed up in their favorite costumes. And it's not just comic book characters like Captain America here. Can you guess who these guys are? You're looking at rebel pilots from Star Wars, of course. And this guy is dressed up as Snake from the Playstation 3 game Metal Gear Solid 4.
But not all costumes are as easy to identify, like this next one. I have to admit we're not too sure what this costume is supposed to be. So if you got an idea send me a tweet. I'm at Klustout.
But what motivates people to dress up like their favorite movie character, or well, like a slab of bacon? Well, let's an expert explain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEAGEN MARIE, COSPLAYER: A thief with an affinity for leather. A gun touting archeologist. A megaphone wielding psychopath. I'm an assassin. I'm a gear -- actually I'm Meagan Marie and I'm a cosplayer. Cosplay without a doubt is a craft, it encompasses so many different forms of art - - painting, sculpture, clothing design, learning how to do all these different skills it's a challenge and it's something I absolutely enjoy.
When you put on one of these costumes it is literally instantaneously empowering. It's such a high.
Anya is one of -- well, she's one of the only female -- she was one of the debut females in the game Gears of War. And I was just always drawn to her by her latent strength. And she's just always this very multifaceted character.
Four years ago when I started coming to Comic Con more seriously I decided to look for a make-up artist and I found Hydred (ph). She puts that final little bit of polish on your costume and really makes everything pull together wonderfully.
I think that it's a disservice to work so hard on a costume and then just have a couple of snap shots from a -- you know, with bad lighting from your camera phone. If you're in costume you want to be able to show the world. So I knew that there was a battleship, the USS Midway, right in San Diego Bay. So we showed up there today. We tried to do some calling ahead and then showed up today for a photo shoot and they let us on the ship and we got to pose with various props and against the planes and it was really -- to date, I've done quite a few shoots for my costumes, it was absolutely the most successful, the most fun and exciting to do.
I love comic books. I love video games. I've always wanted to be a super hero somehow. Costume play, cosplay let's you do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Meagan, you're awesome.
Now up next here on NEWS STREAM, a heat wave in North America has everybody trying to keep cool and weather forecasters finding new ways to describe images like this. Ahead, our Jeanne Moos has her take.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now we are keeping an eye on the hurricane off the coast of Mexico. Let's get more now with our Mari Ramos. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.
MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, yeah. That hurricane, Kristie, got up to a category 4 hurricane here on the Saffir-Simpson scale in the U.S. And it's a big storm. And when a storm is that large it's going to cause some problems for the surrounding areas. Fortunately, the bulk of the weather, of course, staying out at sea as you can see here from the satellite perspective, but those outer bands, and because of the motion of the storm, some very high waves all along the coastal areas here of Central parts of Western Mexico. So that's a concern. It looks like, like I said, most of the rain will be staying away.
As the storm continues to move to the north and west here, it's going to continue to weaken. Now it's a category 1. It doesn't look half as intense as it did, not even you know, 24 hours ago. Winds are down to about 145 kilometers per hour. Because it's out at sea, it's not that big of a concern.
But you have this margin of error here, and it includes this southern portion of the Baja peninsula here in the southern portion of the peninsula here in Mexico. That includes Cabo San Lucas and Los Cabos, some populated areas here to watch out for.
It doesn't appear at this time that the storm itself will be moving through here, but you could get some winds that are going to be at tropical storm strength and that's that warning was posted over this area.
We could see that change as we head into later on today. Either way, very high waves are expected and some coastal flooding will be a concern in this region.
So we'll definitely continue to monitor that for you.
Let's go ahead and move on. I want to stay in the Americas and head south into Chile. Let's go ahead and roll that video that we have for you in Chile. See, this wouldn't be a big deal, Kristie, until I told you that this is one of the dry parts of Chile. And these two meters, in some cases, of snow that they've gotten is more than they get in five years worth of time. So five years' worth of snow in just a period of 24 hours. It's huge. It has caused a lot of problems in this area. We're expecting the weather to continue to improve here throughout the day today, but they're calling it the white earthquake, because so many people are trapped in that southern portion of Chile there with that -- with those condition.
If that's a little too frosty for you, let's go ahead and switch gears and head to the U.S. Look at these temperatures. This is the heat index. These are some of the temperatures that were recorded in the last 24 hours. It's a combination of the heat and the humidity. It's, well, you know -- you know, 49 degrees. I just can't even believe these temperatures. But it's very dangerous conditions. And unfortunately, we're going to have another very hot day across areas here of the Ohio Valley and all the way back into the northeast where we should start to see a little bit of an improvement as we head into the weekend, but we have still two more days of intense heat.
Look at all of these advisories over here. And it's pretty amazing when you think about one-third of the continental U.S., Kristie, is under these heat warnings or advisories. It's over 120 million people that are suffering from this intense heat right now. Very dangerous conditions. Like I said, relief finally on the way as we head into the weekend.
Back to you.
LU STOUT: Yeah, unbelievable reach this heat wave has. Mari Ramos there. Take care. And I'll see you next week.
Now when temperatures get as high as they are right now in the United States, laws and good taste stop us in the media from being too colorful about how we describe the heat. Our Jeanne Moos looks at some of the more creative ways broadcasters are talking about the temperature.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's really, really hot when the weather forecast reads like a romance novel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a scorcher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweltering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flirting with 100.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You love the hot weather, but you are hot.
MOOS: But sometimes the word hot just doesn't generate enough heat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pressure cooker.
MOOS: Especially if you're a weatherman looking for new ways to say the same old thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really got some blowtorching heat coming for tomorrow. And tomorrow we are back on the burner, not the back burner, we're back on the burner. Oh, do the wheels come off the wagon.
MOOS: And while we're all gasping for air like fish out of water, reporters are taking the temperature on the grass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 155 degrees.
MOOS: In the New York subway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The temperature reads 100 degrees.
MOOS: On a swing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 131 degrees.
MOOS: We're talking heat so oppressive that sometimes it's hard to spit out the words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the heat indexes, the heat -- heat and humidity combined.
MOOS: The current heat wave has been christened with a four letter word meaning an area of high pressure that's compressing hot moist air beneath it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to turn now to that heat dome. And when we say heat dome...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This whole hot dome...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This big dome...
MOOS: All this talk of domes conjures up visions of heat radiating UFOs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A giant heat dome surrounded by a ring of fire.
JOHNNY CASH, SINGER: I fell into a burning ring of fire.
MOOS: Put some water on it, the heat wave is alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shows the heat gobbling up most of the country like a virus.
MOOS: But if you want to see the newscasters most appropriately dressed for the heat wave.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to naked news in brief.
MOOS: And in brief, even they are covering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What officials call a heat dome.
MOOS: But at least the heat dome left Al Roker feeling hot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When will it end? Al has some answers.
MOOS: It's not every day Al gets labeled too hot to handle. The heat wave brings out a wave of weather chefs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put this egg in this pan out under the sun for about an hour. This is the result. It's fried right to the pan.
MOOS: But the Julia Child of weather reporting is ABC's Matt Gutman, cooking steaks.
MATT GUTMAN, ABC NEWS: We're going to see if we can cook it on the dashboard of this car. Dashboard reads 151 degrees.
We came back about two hours later.
It's probably about medium-well.
MOOS: Well done, Matt. Now let's see you eat it.
CASH: And it burns, burns, burns, that ring of fire....
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And that is NEWS STREAM, but the news continues at CNN. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.
END
