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At Least 10 Killed After Tour Bus Crash In Southern Italy; Charges of 79 Counts Of Reckless Homocide For Spanish Train Conductor; Multimillion Jewel Heist At Famous Cannes Hotel; Protests Clash With Police in Nasr City, Scores Dead; North Korean Government Attempts To Connect Kim Jong un With Grandfather

Aired July 29, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now rising tensions in Egypt after dozens of people were killed in protests over the weekend.

The pope says it's not a crime to be gay as he ends his trip to Brazil.

And the return of a Chinese icon, the red flag returns to the road.

Egypt's interim leader Adly Mansour says the country's prime minister will be allowed to wield presidential powers is a state of emergency is called. Now, state of emergency is a loaded phrase in Egypt. You'll recall that there was one in place for almost 30 years during the rule of Hosni Mubarak. It restricted freedom of speech and allowed the police to jail people indefinitely.

And this latest development comes after a weekend marred by violence. Scores of people were killed in Nasr City. It's a stronghold for the Muslim Brotherhood which supports ousted President Mohamed Morsy.

Now Egypt's government has warned that pro-Morsy protesters to end their demonstrations. And many now fear a violent crackdown.

Now Reza Sayah joins us now live from Cairo. And Reza, what is the situation there right now?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, you get the sense here in Egypt that this conflict is inching closer and closer to a very explosive and dangerous stage. On one hand, you have the military backed interim government, on the other hand you have the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsy. They've been in a deadlock for close to a month now.

But what's changing is the rhetoric, the threats, the ratcheting up. Their intensifying and the violence is increasing as well. We're seeing more people being killed, more than 70 killed over the weekend, hundreds injured in what was the deadliest day dating back to the January 2011 revolution. And there are signs that more bloodshed could be coming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH: In Egypt, fear and nervous anticipation is growing for a decisive crackdown against supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsy. For nearly a month, thousands of Morsy backers have staged a sit-in at an east Cairo neighborhood. They won't leave, they say, until Morsy is president again. At this point, chances of a comeback for Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood movement seems smaller than ever.

Morsy and several aids are still in custody. Several Brotherhood leaders are wanted by authorities. And increasingly, Morsy supporters are being killed.

Scores were shot to death on Saturday when they clashed with security forces. It was the deadliest day in Cairo since Morsy was toppled from power in July 3. Human rights groups have condemned what they call the government's excessive use of force.

But the interior minister said it was pro-Morsy protesters who attacked first. Police never fired their weapons, he said. Plenty of amateur video seem to show otherwise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH: It's critical to point out that the overwhelming majority of the victims here in these clashes have been supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsy. And there's growing evidence that many of them have been killed by security forces. But what's remarkable is the lack of outrage and even sympathy from many groups here in Egypt, including groups who claim to be liberal, pro-democracy activists.

And at this point, Kristie, there doesn't seem to be any credible, impartial authority to investigate these killings. Of course the authority that would presumably do so is the same authority that seems to be cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood.

LU STOUT: That's right. But outside Egypt, the violence has been condemned internaitonally. And now we know the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is there in Cairo for talks. Can the international community play a role here to bring an end to the violence?

SAYAH: I think that's going to be key moving forward. When you don't see a lot of concern, a lot of movement here domestically, you have to see what the international community's role is. And you're starting to see a louder voice coming from rights groups, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International who condemned the violence, describing them as excessive use of force by security forces. You also have western powers, Washington, the European Union, they're also weighing in calling on both sides to scale down.

But the problem is, the concern is that no one here - neither the interim government, security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the ousted president seem to be listening at this point - Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Reza Sayah joining us live from Cairo, thank you very much indeed for that.

Now the ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, he has not been seen in public since July 3. And representatives from human rights organizations say that he is being held at an army facility at an undisclosed location.

Now according to Egyptian state-run news website, the group was given permission to visit the site on Friday, but they did not meet Morsy himself. Now instead, the delegation met with his former chief of staff and his secretary who are being held with him.

Now Morsy is accused of breaking out of jail during Egypt's 2011 revolution and killing and abducting police officers and prisoners.

Now if Egypt's interim government is casting Mohamed Morsy as a villain, now the man who helped oust him from office, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is being put on a pedestal. As Ben Wedeman reports, that has some people in Cairo asking whether he will be willing to give up power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not hard to understand who the man of the moment is in Egypt today, the man many Egyptians are dancing for.

Defense minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as the poster says, is the one we trust. It almost looks like a love affair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sisi, he's an all nice man. We love him. We wish he can be our president.

WEDEMAN: Huge crowds, the Egyptian government claims tens of millions turned out Friday to support his call for a mandate to fight terrorism, a thinly veiled code word for the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsy who have clashed violently with security forces since his ouster.

The Egyptian military is playing on people's fears to rally support, worries activists and academic Rasha Abdulla.

RASHA ABDULLA, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO: Whatever it takes to secure us from terrorism, because terrorism is a terrorizing word. You know, you say the word and then things start happening. People give up their freedoms willingly, because they - you know, because you're telling them that you are going to save them.

WEDEMAN: Last Friday's mass rally in Tahrir looked like an explicit enthusiastic endorsement of General al-Sisi, but does it mean Egypt is about to return to the dark days of dictatorship?

(on camera): Is there a danger that, you know, out of the turbulence of the revolution emerges the strong man in uniform?

HISHAM KASSEM, CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVIST: In serious, of course there is the possibility, but you need to bear in mind that for at least six months now people have had it with Morsy and were wanting a way out. Sisi seemed to be a way out. Their jubilant now. But even if he was to come to power, Egyptians now need results. He would have to deliver, you see. The idea of the dictator who would stay there with no accountability is no longer possible.

WEDEMAN: Under Mubarak, protest in Egypt was muted. Since his overthrow, political turmoil, unrest and demonstrations have become the norm.

And until some form of viable, effective government emerges, that's the way it will be, says political organizer Ahmed el-Hawwary.

AHMED EL-HAWWARY, POLITICAL ORGANIZER: Having no political system, having no due process, having no alternative than the street, the people have taken to the streets and have to have it now to go to the streets. So the only insurance -- and this is a very good thing actually, this is not a bad thing -- the idea that people can - like this and do not approve of your - what you're doing, they're going to go and kick you out, this is a good thing, not a bad thing.

WEDEMAN: Just as Egyptians first toppled Hosni Mubarak and then Mohamed Morsy with a little help from the army, there's no guarantee that the next man at the helm of Egypt, whether he be civilian or soldier, democrat or dictator, won't suffer the same fate.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now protests also continued in Tunisia over the weekend following the assassination of a leading opposition figure there. Now Mohamed al-Brahmi was shot and killed last Thursday. And the opposition blames the ruling Ennahda Party for Brahmi's death. And protesters held a sit-in in front of the national assembly calling for lawmakers to resign.

And Reuters reports that police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations in Tunis and the southern town of Cite Bousse (ph). Now the news agency says the secular opposition is considering creating an alternative government to challenge the current Islamist led coalition.

Now the current protests are in some ways reminiscent of scenes like this from 2011 when the country's president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced from office. And that uprising became the first revolution of the Arab Spring. Now the movement was triggered by street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi who set himself on fire in protest against police mistreatment.

And the protests escalated until Ben Ali fled Tunisia after 23 years in power.

Now free elections were held in October of 2011. And the moderate Islamist Ennahda Movement won. And since February this year, two opposition leaders have been assassinated. In both cases, Islamic extremists are suspected.

Now you're watching News Stream, and coming up next in southern Italy a tour bus plunges off a bridge, leaving dozens dead. And officials are still trying to figure out what went wrong.

In Syria, state TV says government forces have taken over a key neighborhood in the city of Homs.

And Pope Francis wraps up a whirlwind trip to Brazil with a surprising new statement. He says it is not a crime to be gay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today. And we started with the aftermath of weekend violence in Egypt. And a little later in the show we'll bring you more on Pope Francis' new comments on a flight back from Brazil. He told reporters that it is not a crime to be gay, saying, quote, "who am I to judge a gay person who follows god?"

We're trying to get you video of the pope's comments. And we'll bring it to you as soon as we get it.

But now to a tragic accident in Italy. Now at least 38 people were killed when a tour bus careened into a string of cars and then plunged off a highway bridge on Sunday. And the bus was carrying a group of pilgrims back from a visit to a Catholic shrine. And some of the victims were children.

At least 10 people on board the bus are known to have survived.

Now journalist Barbie Nadeau is in Rome. She joins me now with the latest. And Barbie, do we know what led to the crash?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, the authorities are really focused on the condition of that bus, whether it was a break failure, whether there was excessive speed involved somehow, or whether there was just some sort of catastrophic problem with that bus that caused it to careen through the traffic and plunge through the guard rail and over the edge to this ravine some 30 meters below.

The most interesting part that the investigators are focusing, though, is an apparent absence of skid marks before it hit that guard rail. And I think they're going to really focus on what - why that bus driver didn't try to brake before he hit the guard rail.

He also hit 10 cars on that busy highway before he hit the guard rail, which would indicate again that he didn't have control over that bus. It wasn't able to stop it or in some way swerve - from hitting those other cars.

Among those people in the cars, there are another 10 people who are injured in one form or another from that aspect of the accident, unrelated to the bus victims themselves.

LU STOUT: Now the driver, as I understand it, he died in this accident. So what is being done to investigate his role in this crash?

NADEAU: Well, they're looking at - they're doing toxicology - an autopsy with toxicology information and things like that to see if he was on any sort of medication, to see if he suffered from any sort of medical emergency prior to losing his life in the accident. All of these will be considered.

But as we understand, the focus is more and more on the bus and less and less on the driver.

LU STOUT: And this is also just another horrific transport accident to take place in Europe. How are people in Italy reacting to the news of this disaster?

NADEAU: Well, you know, for a lot of people it doesn't come as a big surprise, because this is a very treacherous piece of highway in southern Italy. There are lots of accidents on this very narrow road. In fact, Italy's transport minister said they're going to focus on prevention, making sure that accidents like this don't happen by making sure the highways have adequate shoulders, have, you know, good pavement, good markings, things like this.

This piece of highway, though, is known to be dangerous. And it's of no surprise for a lot of people who travel on that road that an accident like this could happen.

LU STOUT: Now a number of people managed to survive this accident, but some with very serious injuries. Any update on their condition?

NADEAU: We know - there's some were really hanging on the verge of life. We keep getting reports that there are 39 dead, 38 dead. And we understand that's because there is a very, very gravely injured person.

Among the injured, there are also children. As we understand, up to six children in hospital of the 10 - of the 10 people in hospital right now that are seriously injured in one way or another. We're talking about, you know, broken backbones and missing limbs and things like that. Very, very serious accident. And the injuries are in line with what you'd expect.

You know, the bus was literally shredded in half when it went over that cliff. And you see the remains of the bus being lifted out. There's not much left of it.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it was such a horrific event and tragic loss for so many people there in Italy. Barbie Nadeau reporting live in Rome for us. Thank you.

Now Pope Francis, he went to Brazil to reenergize a Catholic Church there. And looking at the crowd that turned up at his last mass on Sunday it looks like he did just that. We have more on the papal visit after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.

Now Spain in mourning the victims of last week's train tragedy. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Crown Prince Felipe, they will attend a memorial service later today in Santiago de Compostela. And the crash, which left 79 people dead is Spain's deadliest in decades. Now the train driver is suspected of going too fast around a curve, causing the train to derail. And he was charged with 79 counts of reckless homicide on Sunday.

Now Karl Penhaul is following developments from Santiago de Compostela. He joins us now. And Karl, what more do we know about the driver and his role in the accident?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all I want to set the scene a little bit for you Kristie. We're outside the Santiago de Compostela cathedral. This really is journey's end for thousands of pilgrims who arrive every year to worship here, but today, also, it's a symbolic journey's end for train 151. This is where this evening a memorial mass will be held in memory of the 79 people dead.

And if you go a little closer over towards the railings of the cathedral there, well wishers have left scores of lighted candles, some of the pilgrims have left the sticks that they walk hundreds of kilometers to get here. And a lot of people have taped messages no the railings as well, some of them obviously offering prayers to the families of the people who have lost loved ones. And one also, one message there - bearing in mind that it wasn't just Spaniards that died in this crash, but some Americans, some Latin Americans and somebody from North Africa as well - there's a note there that says, "here in this corner of Spain, nobody is a foreigner."

But of course as you suggest in parallel with the emotional scenes surrounding this memorial mass, the investigation. And that goes ahead.

Well, what we know so far is formally the charges that the judge put to the train driver yesterday, those 79 counts of reckless homicide and an indeterminate counts causing injury by recklessness.

Of course, yes, so far there has been a lot of speculation that excessive speed was a major factor in this accident, but investigators are saying keep an open mind, because also under consideration are technical factors. It has to be considered the state of the lines, the infrastructure and also the safety mechanisms that were in place as well.

Now as far as the driver himself, the judge ordered that he be given a conditional release. We don't know where he headed to, although we do know that his mother lives in a town about an hour's drive away from here. But now each week he's going to have to report to the judge. His passport has been withdrawn so he can't travel. And of course his license to drive a train has also been suspended for the next six months, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Thank you for the update there on the driver and describing the scene behind you as the number of well wishers are gathering for that expected memorial to take place there at the cathedral later today. And they will be there to remember the lives of those - the victims who died and perished in that terrible crash.

And yet there are many survivors, and many survivors who remain in hospital. Can you tell us how they're doing?

PENHAUL: The latest figures that we have from the - from the regional authorities is that 70 people remain in hospital, about one-third of those are still listed on the critical list. You know, yesterday morning, for example, the - one of the crash victims who was in critical condition died as she was - she was an American lady, Puerto Rican origin. It just goes to show that those who are in critical condition are not out of danger yet, that the death toll from the terrible tragedy could rise even further.

The ones who perhaps were not so badly injured have been distributed to a number of other hospitals both in the region and in other parts of Spain so that they can be a little closer to their families, but certainly a lot of work still ahead to care for the injured, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Karl Penhaul reporting live in front of the cathedral where the memorial will take place later today. Thank you, Karl.

Now election officials are counting ballets in Mali after Sunday's presidential election. And it was the first since a military coup toppled the government 16 months ago. And critics of the election say it was rushed. Northern Mali is recovering from the Islamist militant uprising earlier this year.

France intervened militarily and pushed the militants out of the north. And for more than a year, the west African country has been run by an unelected government.

And while the country is moving toward the beginning of a new government, some women in northern Mali are still healing while they bear the invisible scars of the occupation by Islamist militants and Tuareg rebels last year. CNN's Atika Shubert shares their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In June last year, Aminata Toure was on her way to see her uncle when she was stopped by two men on a motorcycle. They raped her on the side of the road.

"They told me to stop," she says. "I refused, but they were armed and they said they would kill me if I didn't stop. One of them held my baby while the other one took me into the bush. Then they did everything they wanted to do."

Aminata is one of thousands of women that the UN has identified as victims of a campaign of sexual violence, carried out by Islamist militants and Tuareg rebels in northern Mali last year. Their stories are only now being heard as French and Malian forces finally push rebel forces back.

UNICEF reported the case of a 15-year-old girl raped by 10 men, and other victims as young as 6-years-old.

Families have told horror stories that Islamist militants forced their daughters to marry at gunpoint, then raped and abandoned them.

To protect their daughters, Nana Toure, a women's aid leader, helps smuggle teenage girls to the south of the country for safety. She explains, "we went from house to house to look for girls to hide them or help them flee. We helped lots of girls to escape."

The UN fears the number of victims from sexual violence may, in fact, be much higher as women are afraid to report the rapes because of the shame they feel.

Aid and government assistance is trickling back to north Mali, but it has not yet reached Aminata Toure. She says she tries to forget about the men who raped her, but she has this reminder, a new born son, another child she struggles to care for despite little help.

Atika Shubert, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now police in southern Italy say that they suspect brake problems may have caused a deadly bus accident on Sunday. 38 people were killed when the bus plowed into several cars before it plunged off a bridge and into a ravine.

Now a special memorial service will be held in Spain today to mourn 79 people who were killed in last week's train derailment and the train's driver has been charged with 79 counts of homicide by professional recklessness.

Many in Egypt are bracing for what they say could be a decisive crackdown against supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy. It comes after scores of people died in weekend clashes in a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold in Cairo. Now Egypt's government has called on pro-Morsy protesters to end their demonstrations.

Now direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will resume in Washington in a few hours from now after a three year stalemate. The announcement came after the Israeli cabinet voted to release more than 100 Palestinian prisoners.

Now the pope's trip to Brazil is over, but that hasn't stopped him from making headlines. On the flight to Rome, the pontiff spoke to reporters telling them that it is not a crime to be gay. The pope reportedly said this, quote, "who am I to judge a gay person who follows god?"

Now the pope also spoke about women. He said the role of women should be more prominent in the church, but says that excludes female ordination.

Now the pontiff spoke to reporters for over an hour and covered many more topics. And he said the canonization of Pope John Paul II would likely happen early next year.

And he even addressed his habit of carrying his own bag onto the plane saying, it helped him feel more, his words, "normal."

Now the pope's ability to connect with people that was certainly evident in Brazil. And Miguel Marquez looks back at the first international visit for the charismatic pontiff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's a guy who knows how to work a crowd. The pope in native headdress, wearing a sombrero, even throwing his own skull cap to frenzied followers.

Then, there was Pope Francis stopping for a drink handed to him by a stranger in the crowd, unheard of.

Then there was the baby kissing, and kissing, and kissing.

We knew Pope Francis was different. We didn't know how it would play outside the Vatican. Now we do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he's humble and he's simple, but he also appreciates like, good things.

MARQUEZ: We now know his missionary message and no nonsense advice is hitting a spot even with non-Catholics.

CHRIS HINES, EPISCOPALIAN: I never really looked at the Catholic Church before Pope Francis. It was just another church, really.

MARQUEZ: Is this the sort of organization you can see yourself joining?

HINES: It is. I actually am thinking about converting right now.

MARQUEZ: Music to Vatican ears. The church has long been losing ground to evangelical churches in Brazil. When Pope Francis visited a Rio slum whose people have largely left the Catholic Church, he prayed with children there, met families in their humble homes, and shook the hands of sanitation workers.

We now know, this is a man not just talking the talk about a church focused on the needs of the poor.

"We cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes," he says, "we must go out through that door to seek and meet the people."

EAMMON SHELLY, ST. ANNE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY: He's got a heart that really wants to be poor. He doesn't just preach about helping the poor.

MARQUEZ: We now know this is a 76-year-old man of seemingly boundless energy. His security racing to keep up. The pope adding events at every turn. Always a smile on his face. And his staff looking forward to the end.

Vatican watcher John Allen says what struck him is watching Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio blossom into the people's pope.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: You didn't see him smile in public. You didn't see him work rope lines. You didnt' see him slap backs and kiss babies, it just wasn't the guy we knew.

Now in the papacy, this man has come alive. It's as if there was a light switch in him waiting to be flipped on.

MARQUEZ: He also sees the pope playing the long game, building popular support, political capital for some heavy lifting and big changes to the church down the road.

ALLEN: If this wonderful impression the pope has created, the impression of honesty and sincerity and transparency, if that doesn't in fairly short order translate into meaningful structural change, then it may well be the honeymoon will end and the hard questions will resurface.

MARQUEZ: Finally, there's one more thing we've learned, nuns, they're just a little crazy for Pope Francis. They really, really love him.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now to the war in Syria now where state TV says government forces have taken over a key neighborhood in the city of Homs. Now Kalidiya (ph) is seen as crucial because it connects the capital to the Mediterranean coast. Rebels had controlled the territory for the past year. Opposition activists say that the government now controls about half of the neighborhood.

Now police in Iraq say at least 43 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in a string of car and roadside bombings, all took place in predominately Shiite areas. And the capital Baghdad was the hardest hit.

Now Nick Paton Walsh is following the story from neighboring Lebanon. He joins us now live from Beirut. And Nick, what more have you learned about this wave of bombings across Iraq today?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is quite hard to get your head around the idea of 20 separate attacks. We're hearing of 11 actually in Baghdad itself, nine of which targeting Shia areas, also the southern city of Basra, predominately Shia, hit as well. And this really comes after weeks of similar waves of car bomb, one series of attacks last week also killing 40, today leaving 200 people injured as well. And it comes after a week of exceptionally bad news for the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

We had that high profile jail break last week on Abu Ghraib, infamous jail there. Perhaps as many as 500 senior militant leaders, many with al- Qaeda links, released during that, perhaps some might say no surprise that we see an uptick in the kind of al-Qaeda linked spectaculars that many will remember from '06, '07, the simultaneous car bombings, wave of car bombings across the country.

But the real fear you see here is that although May caused 1,000 people to lose their lives, this month caused 600 and that doesn't really compare with the bloodshed across the border in Syria where as many as 5,000 are losing their lives each month. Those two wars are becoming one, say the UN. And in fact the battlefields are beginning to merge. And we're seeing that regional conflict many fear begin to actually come to the surface in both Iraq and Syria - Krisite.

LU STOUT: And as we're seeing these two separate conflicts in Syria and Iraq merge into one, I mean, what can be done? And do we need international mediators to step in into both countries to just end the violence somehow? Can they make a difference?

WALSH: Certainly, the international community has no real plan for Iraq or Syria at this particular point. And the most immediate practical effect, for some months now the Iraqi authorities have been deepening and raising the berms along the Iraqi-Syrian border to try and get some kind of control over the passage back and forth of predominately Sunni militants, but I should point out they are also Shia Iraqi fighters going, it's reported, to help the Assad regime too.

So it's back and flow forth that Iraqis going to assist the rebels on the Sunni side in Syria and as I say Shia are going to assist the Assad regime, mirroring the sectarian fault line we saw in 2006, 2007 at the height of U.S. military troubles there that really inflamed Iraq.

But those two wars are becoming one particular conflict, say the UN. But at this point, there's been a lengthy international discussion about how to promote peace talks in Syria. That seems to have gone nowhere. The international community hasn't really started on what it can do about this predominately Sunni al-Qaeda linked insurgency gaining such steam in Iraq, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Syria has been dealing with a long, drawn out civil war. What about Iraq, could Iraq slip into a civil war as well?

WALSH: I think many are concerned that what we're seeing at this particular point, this rise in violence, so much of it not unnoticed, but not given the same attention that the other turmoil across the Middle East now so enveloped. Every country, it almost seems, has its own series of issues when - but Iraq is of course is beginning to slip back towards '06, '07's daily death toll rising. We are seeing these horrifying, almost incomprehensible numbers, simultaneous blasts across the country.

But it's the real fear, I think, that while we've seen the government of Nouri al-Maliki in some ways persecute the Sunni part of the body politic in that country, we're now seeing al-Qaeda linked Sunni militants who have got arms and experience in Syria and Iraq coming back into Iraq, perhaps, and inflaming tensions there.

So real fears that we're going to see that crossborder violence certainly escalate - Kristie .

LU STOUT: All right. Nick, many thank indeed for analysis and in drawing that line connecting, quite worryingly, these two countries Iraq and Syria. Nick Paton Walsh joining us live, thank you.

Now here in the region, Cambodia and its opposition party, has rejected the results of Sunday's national election. Now the ballot handed another win to the long serving prime minister Hun Sen. And riots broke out in Phnom Penh after the polls closed. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party is calling for an investigation into the vote, which it says was marred by regularities. The government has denied that.

Now Hun Sen has been in office for 28 years. When the Khmer Rouge were in power, he was among some former regime leaders who defected to Vietnam. And they fought the Marxist movement until it fell in the mid- 1990s.

Now after a UN led election in 1993, Hun Sen shared the role of prime minister with Prince Norodom Ranariddh, but he then accused his royalist co-premiere of negotiating with remnants of the Khmer Rouge.

And then a bloody takeover followed in 1997.

And there in the street, you're looking at exclusive CNN footage of its aftermath. Now Hun Sen denied the power play and denied that it amounted to a coup, but said it was the government taking appropriate action.

And you're watching News Stream. And just ahead, what is old is apparently new again. The Chinese icon The Red Flag returns to the road.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Apple is under fire again over allegations of poor working conditions at its supplier's factories. In 2010, it was Foxconn that was under scrutiny after a spate of worker suicides there. But now, U.S.-based China Labor Watch says Pegatron is guilty of poor treatment of its workers and says workers put in more than 65 hours a week on average. And over- time was mandatory during busy periods.

Now the report also described crowded living conditions with as many as 12 people living in a single dormitory room.

Now in response to the report, Pegatron said that it would take the allegations very, very seriously. Now the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer also added that it would investigate the allegations and correct any violations that are found.

Now Apple also issued a statement to CNN regarding the report. And a spokeswoman for Apple said this, quote, "their latest report contains claims that are new to us. And we will investigate them immediately." Now Apple added that if its own audits find that workers were not compensated properly, they will require Pegatron to reimburse them in full.

Now staying with China and the return of a symbolic automobile, The Red Flag. Now they were as connected to the Communist Party as Mao Suits. In fact, there was a time when the Red Flags were pretty much the only cars the Chinese made.

David McKenzie reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can tell a lot about a man from his car, but what about a leader and his limo?

In China, it's the distinctively retro Hang Chi (ph), or Red Flag. It takes center stage in choreographed Communist Party theater.

LAURENCE BRAHM, ENTREPRENEUR: Even these three flags symbolize the workers, farmers and soldiers that...

MCKENZIE: Long-time Beijing resident Laurence Brahm owns a pair of the limos. He's something of a Red Flag buff.

(on camera): Why is this such an important national symbol?

BRAHM: Well, every nation that's kind of coming out of agriculture into development and wants to become an industrial power is looking to have its own car. This all really began back in the 1950s when Stalin gave Mao some Russian cars. At the time, you know, Mao said we have to do better.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): On Mao's bidding they hand made the first Red Flags, enormous 20 foot hunks of Chinese engineering with huge Ford engines.

The interior is hardly understated.

But as the memory of Mao faded, so did the Red Flag.

BRAHM: Production was stopped and China for the past decade or more was embracing imported cars - Mercedes, Audis - I mean, look at the leadership. We're all driving luxury cars. And their kids were driving Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Now a state owned company is reviving the Red Flag, riding on a wave of nationalism and nostalgia within the party.

It costs more than a billion dollars for Chinese manufacturer FAW to develop the H7 sedan version. Dealers hope the V6 diesel monster will appeal to buyers' national pride as long as they like it in black.

WANG XIAOQIANG, RED FLAG DEALER (through translator): When we put this car out on the market, we want it to be viewed as a car for serious people, so it only comes in black.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Dealers say that 80 percent of the owners buy Red Flags cash without even taking a single test drive, that's because they're meant to be enjoyed from the backseat.

(voice-over): And at between $50,000 and $80,000, the Red Flag is not for your average buyer. And the sedan will soon be automatically assigned to senior party officials.

BRAHM: Is it national pride to drive your own car, and from a fiscal point of view, why should the nation be giving its leadership imported cars when they can be producing their own? Why not revive the national car? That's what's the bottom line.

MCKENZIE: It's a bet on an icon long overtaken by foreign competitors.

David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, for the third time in just a couple of months, the French city of Cannes is hit with a major jewelry heist. And up next, we'll take you to the scene of a brazen robbery in broad daylight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

You're watching News Stream. And let's return to our visual rundown now. In a few minutes, we'll take another rare look inside North Korea on the 60th anniversary of the armistice that effectively ended the Korean War. But first, an audacious crime in the south of France. An armed robber held up a jewelry exhibition in Cannes making off with millions of dollars worth of gems. And it happened on Sunday in broad daylight at a hotel. And it is the third major jewel heist in the city since May.

Now the other two were tied to the city's famed film festival and also took place in hotels.

Now no one was injured in Sunday's robbery. And authorities are still assessing the financial damage.

Let's cross now to CNN's Erin McLaughlin live from the city of Cannes. And again, Erin, this was a very brazen robbery.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kristie.

Well, a Carlton Hotel is considered to be the place to stay in Cannes, known for its glitz and glamor. It's here that you'll find Hollywood stars during the annual Cannes Film Festival. So people really shocked and surprised that a man, armed with a gun, would enter this kind of hotel and steal millions of dollars in jewelry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): It's a story straight out of a Hitchcock film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Filmed on the beautiful French Riviera.

MCLAUGHLIN: One man walks into a hotel in Cannes, France, and walks out with $53 million in diamond jewelry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Diamonds, the only thing in the world you can't resist.

MCLAUGHLIN: The Carlton Hotel, the setting for the iconic movie "To Catch a Thief," was the site of one of Europe's biggest jewelry heists Sunday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a gun, and nobody stopped him, nobody - - I don't know, there was nobody around. They just gave him $40 million worth of jewelry. It's just incredible.

MCLAUGHLIN: Police say a robber whose face was covered by a hat and scarf threatened to shoot visitors and guests during the hold-up.

Cannes, home of the international film festival, is known for its glitz and glamour. But, lately, it's become a magnet for jewelry theft. In May, a $2.6 million necklace belonging to jeweler de Grisogono was taken from a hotel party. Later that same month, over $1 million worth of Chapur jewels were stolen from a safe in the Novotel Hotel.

This latest heist comes two days after a member of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thief gang escaped from a Swiss prison. However, it's too soon to say if there's any link to this incident.

Authorities this morning are looking for surveillance footage of the crime.

DONALD PALMIERI, GEMPRINT CORPORATION CHAIRMAN: Diamonds are like cash. They're the most concentrated form of wealth on the face of the earth. So they can be very influential in acquiring weapons, in acquiring drugs, or anything else that we want to keep out of society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: Thankfully, no one was hurt in yesterday's heist. Not a single shot was fired. And this morning, more questions than answers here in Cannes as to how this could have happened, why there wasn't more security. Authorities are offering no additional information, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, in your report you call Cannes a magnet to jewel heists, so why is Cannes so prone to these types of robberies?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, it's a question something that no doubt authorities are really taking a good, hard look at. But Cannes is known throughout the world for its glitz, for its glamor, for that annual film festival that attracts movie stars from around the world. And it also has attracted Jewelers. I walked down the street here, you see Cartier, (inaudible) still today, Kristie. There are jewelry displays, diamonds and sapphires, people here really seem to like jewelry. And the thieves, obviously, have taken note.

LU STOUT: Very tempting stuff.

Erin McLaughlin, joining us live from Cannes, thank you.

Now time for your global weather forecast. And there's been another round of severe weather heading for Europe. Now Karen Maginnis joins us from the world weather center with that. Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we have plenty to tell you about as we take a look at what's happening across Europe. You may remember several days ago when we saw extraordinarily high winds and lots of hail, downed trees and power lines, all the way from France extending into Germany.

Well, now it looks like that severe weather is going to transition a little bit further towards the east. So in this red shaded area across northern Italy into Austria as well as into Poland, we'll expect the possibility of severe winds, large hail and heavy rainfall. The hail reported out of the big storms over the last 48 hours the size of apples and softballs.

Well, going into the forecast for Tuesday, we have a trough of low pressure that is developing across western Europe. So in its wake we'll see these disturbances move through and showers and storms are rumbling in replacing some somewhat cooler and drier air, but it's going to take this transition for that to happen. And that transition is going to be in the form of some pretty big thunderstorms over the next several days.

Well, how about some high temperatures over the previous 24 hours. In Vienna, 36 degrees. Now Vienna starts to cool down, it's not going to be as dramatic as we will see in some other places, but right now the temperature in Vienna in the low 30s. Expecting a forecast high of 36 degrees.

But going in towards the middle of the work week, look at Vienna. Temperatures in the upper 20s. So a little bit of welcome cool down taking place. The average high temperature should be around 26.

In Berlin, temperatures running just about average, just about normal for this time of year, which is in the mid-20s. But out ahead of this, that's where we're looking at extremely warm weather conditions, hot in fact, but thunderstorms continue to rumble around sections of central Europe, also into northern Italy. And we'll start to see that develop further across Poland going into the next few hours or so.

Well, in the United States, the state of North Carolina saw some violent weather over the last 24 hours. Take a look at these pictures coming out of that region. They saw very heavy downpours. Some portions of the state up to 300 millimeters. There you can see a high water rescue taking place there. That was fairly common when one storm system in the western portion of the state saw just about 100 millimeters of rain in just five hours.

Now, there are emergency shelters that have opened, some businesses closed. And they are saying that dozens of roads have been closed there as well.

And then for our viewers in Hawaii are eying what is happening with Tropical Storm Flossie.

Now just in the last couple of hours, Flossie has regained a little bit of its strength, but still right now winds associated with this at 85 kilometers per hour. It looks like it is going to be weakening just a bit, but watch out for the potential for gusty winds, heavy surf and some pretty heavy downpours - Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Karen, many thanks indeed for that.

Now North Korea spent the weekend marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. It was a time for the reclusive nation to try to highlight progress, but instead experts say the North deliberately tried to link the current ruler to his grandfather.

Now CNN's Ivan Watson reports from Pyongyang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: North Korea is probably the only country in the world that organizes a festival dedicated to two flowers, red and purple blossoms called Kimilsongia (ph) and Kimjongilia (ph), named after two former rulers of the country, North Korea's founder Kim il-Song and his son Kim Jong-il.

RI SU JONG, FESTIVAL GUIDE: They represent the great feats of our great leaders. And so when we look at these flowers, we feel much yearning for our great leaders.

WATSON: From a very early age, North Koreans are taught quite literally to worship their leaders, bowing before the palace that is the final resting place of both father and son.

For visitors to this strictly disciplined, militaristic society, it's good to be reminded that children still love the little things in life.

(on camera): Who has roller blades? Wow.

(voice-over): But ask a 12-year-old what's his favorite TV show and he answers, "I like cartoons and documentary films about Kim il-Song."

These days, there's a new ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong un, a man in his 20s who should represent a fresh new generation of North Koreans. But recent military parades celebrating the 60 year anniversary of the end of the Korean War look very similar to parades that were held in this same square 15 or 20 years ago.

As part of the celebration, Kim Jong un inaugurated a brand new museum.

(on camera): This gilded museum is the latest stop on our very guided tour of Pyongyang. And it's dedicated to the Korean War built by Kim Jong un, the current leader of North Korea. And we've heard about the colossal life 60 years ago, but if you take a look in here, at the end of the day it still focuses very much in Kim il-Song, the founder of the country who bears a remarkable resemblance to his grandson the current leader of the country.

(voice-over): Experts say the North Korean government is deliberately trying to link the grandson to the image of his grandfather in the eyes of the public. Since the relative wealth of the 1960s and 70s when Kim il- Song was leader, North Korea has gone through a deadly famine. And its economy is now a tiny fraction of the size of South Korea's.

Though today, some North Koreans may have cellphones, they still don't have access to email, internet, or even international calls.

During anniversary celebrations, a top official from China, North Korea's war time ally, stood by Kim Jong un's side. But in recent decades, China has taken a very different, prosperous path of development while North Korea's leadership remains committed to Communism and the dynastic cult of personality.

As it celebrates a 60-year-old war, North Korea still seems to be living in the past.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Pyongyang.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And finally, speaking of political pageantry, Russian President Vladimir Putin, he is no stranger to great photo ops. When he's not flexing his muscles on the international stage, he is flexing his muscles in the great outdoors. Here he is on his latest action man adventure. Now the Kremlin says he landed this 21 kilogram pike on a fishing trip to Siberia.

Now the 60-year-old president has also been snapped hang gliding, horseback riding, bare-chested of course, and diving to the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Vladimir Putin, cultivating quite an image for himself.

And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END