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Human Rights Groups Criticize Saudi Arabia For Public Flogging; Charlie Hebdo Magazine Sold Out; al Qaeda in Yemen Claims Responsibility for Charlie Hebdo Attack; Pope Francis Canonizes For Sri Lankan; Are Virtual Traffic Lights Future In Traffic Control? Search Crews From 8501 Fuselage

Aired January 14, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

MANISHA TANK, HOST: Hi, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. And a warm welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

The first issues of Charlie Hebdo since the terror attack sells out as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility for that attack.

The pope calls for forgiveness and reconciliation in Sri Lanka following the country's long civil war.

And searchers find the fuselage of the AirAsia flight that crashed in the Java Sea.

Hi, now exactly one week after the massacre at the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the Yemen branch of al Qaeda has

claimed responsibility. This claim comes in a video that was posted online. It was a 12 minute long message and AQAP's commanders says his

organization chose the target, plotted the attack and paid for it as well.

As investigators work to verify the claim, you'll remember that before he was killed suspected attacker Cherif Kouachi told French television that

he met this man Anwar al-Awlawki, the American-born Muslim cleric who was an al Qaeda recruiter and also a supporter based in Yemen. Well, he was

killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Charlie Hebdo published its first issue, meanwhile, since that terror attack today and the initial print run has all but sold out in France.

Brian Stelter is CNN senior media correspondent and he joins us now live from Paris.

People turned up to find they couldn't get hold of a copy, but what's important is many people turned up to buy this magazine.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. It was an unusual sight in Paris this morning. Even before the sun rose here, there were long lines

at news stands, even at the one outside my hotel window. And by the time sunrise actually came, the issues were sold out. The workers at some of

these news stands told people to come back tomorrow. They hoped to have more copies then.

This really goes to show how much interest and how much solidarity there is with this magazine, which was by the way, not that popular before.

It used to print 60,000 copies and hopefully would sell half of those on a good week. Well, now it was going to print 3 million. And they have just

upped the total to 5 million copies and those are going to come out as the days go on. So I have a feeling we'll see more long lines tomorrow at news

stands.

TANK: And many, of course Brian, wanted to see what the team, the remaining team, of course, at Charlie Hebdo would actually publish today.

STELTER: Yeah, that's right. You know, it has been a wide range of reactions to this cover and to this magazine. I've looked through it, and

I can tell you it is an extraordinary tribute to the slain cartoonists. In some cases, it shows some of the unpublished work of those cartoonists.

But, you know, it does not make any apologies for its positions, for its mockery of religion, for its mockery of politicians, it gets right back

to that. If anything, this magazine is doubling down, especially with the cover image of the Prophet Mohammed.

Of course, any depiction of Mohammed is deeply offensive to some Muslims, not all, but some Muslims. And we have already heard some sharp

criticism of the decision to go ahead and publish it. It's being described as needlessly provocative, needlessly offensive.

But of course that is something, one of many things, that this magazine stands for. And I don't think it's any surprise they ultimately

decided to go with that cover.

TANK: Indeed. And you know what, Brian, on this program right now we're going to hear from a survivor. But before we do, a survivor of that

horrific attack, it's been very important for the people who remain in that scene, who remain working at the magazine to have published this issue, to

have worked through it, the beginning of being able, one hopes, to get through this really traumatic time.

STELTER: Yeah, you know, I have a feeling that in some ways having to get back to publishing, having to have some semblance of normalcy, was

probably good for some of these survivors. It gave them a calling and it was a statement to actually have this magazine come out one week to the day

after the attack. I mean, it happened at about this time here in Paris last week.

Now, of course, they're going to take a break. They're going to come back in two weeks with another issue. In between, of course, we will have

funerals for some of the people that died last week. And I have a feeling some of the surviving editorial staff will have a chance to collect their

thoughts and take a breathe before coming out with the next issue in two weeks.

TANK: OK. We'll leave it there. Brian Stelter who is there at the Charlie Hedbo offices. Thank you so much.

So now we want to take a step back to the attack that has provoked the passionate social and political reaction that we've been seeing. One of

the survivors of the Charlie Hebdo massacre was given his first interview. His name is Jeremy Gant (ph). And he was one of the two maintenance

workers inside the magazine's offices when the gunmen stormed the building.

He spoke to CNN's Jim Bittermann.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY GANT (ph), SURVIVOR: We only had time to lift our heads up, someone shouted, "Charlie." (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) know, we are

maintenance men, it's our first day, while trying to protect myself (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANK: And his colleague Frederic Boisol (ph) later died in his arms. And we should tell you that that was Boisol's (ph) brother that you saw

sitting next to Jeremy Gant (ph).

So, let's return to the new video from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It's claiming responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo,

but not the kosher grocery store.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is following developments from Beirut in Lebanon. And, Nick, I'm sure that for security agencies that will be a very

important thing that they will have noted from that video that you've seen.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly what is fascinating to see, disturbing as the whole network really is,

particularly for those who lost loved ones in Paris, is the sort of rivalry between, it seems, ISIS and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula possibly is

forming. You see elements of it perhaps here.

The al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula video is clear. It claims the Kouachi brothers as being heroes, in their terms, who were assigned and

accepted and fulfilled their task.

But it does say that Ahmed Coulibaly, as you mentioned that attack on the kosher grocery store, was not one of theirs. And his involvement at

that time was a coincidence, a fortunate one, they say, because Coulibaly himself left behind a video in which he pledged allegiance, biyat, as it's

know, to the head of ISIS Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

Now, that's key because in northern Syria, for example, al Qaeda affiliates, not AQAP but other affiliates, are in fact at times clashing

with ISIS. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they fight for resources. A messy picture.

But in this sort of broader global jihadist movement at the moment, it is clear that this video -- and we have very little reason to doubt, given

the authenticity of its spokesperson who gives the message, Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi, but it does come from AQAP. This appears to be that group trying

to sort of redefine, as it were, sort of disturbing rivalries, I say, some element of the global jihadi movement. And they are clear that they

believe their senior leadership from Ayman al Zawahiri, the successor to Osama bin Laden, remember him, a name we haven't heard for awhile since

ISIS came to prominence, that he was involved in some of the planning and to an American citizen Anwar al-Awlawki, killed in a drone strike in 2011

was, quote, operationally involved in this.

So, key things here. And as you point out, investigators are going to have to try and match the reality, the movements of the brothers, their

contacts, where they got the money from, how the planning came around with the claims in this video. Are they real, or is this a posthumous bid by al

Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula who have slipped off the sort of spotlight, so to speak, in the last few years or so.

Now ISIS have risen up. Is this a bid for them to try and put themselves back on that rather disturbing Jihadist map -- Manisha.

TANK: As they try and answer question like that, Nick, one wonders also whether they'll be able to perhaps use this video and get any clues as

to some of the other suspects that they're tracking. Of course, Hayat Boumeddiene remains on the run.

WALSH: Well, she is. She's thought to be in Syria. There's an other element to this whole story. We've heard from one French source the

perhaps Cheric Kouachi was in Syria in August of last year, that's yet to be confirmed by any officials on the record. But there is the potential

that somehow, these two networks overlap.

Now as we say in this video AQAP are clear that the act of Coulibaly was a fortunate coincidence, paraphrasing their unfortunate terminology

there, because he was an ISIS operative who happened to know the Kouachi brothers on sort of street level, so to speak, inside Paris.

But you potentially have here a very worrying phenomenon for security investigators. al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda seemingly

increasingly less modish, terrible word to use, but less so much on the cutting edge of the jihadist movement. Now ISIS have moved forwards and

dominating so much of Syria and Iraq.

AQAP operating on this operation, potentially planned years ago. But at the same time, ISIS in a different franchise almost, also causing havoc

and bloodshed on exactly the same day.

Militants who knew each other working for networks possibly who at times are rivals. Very confusing for intelligence agencies, very

troubling, frankly, that this sort of franchise operation can often work in harmony, you might say. Sorry, again, choice of words in a bloody act like

this -- but troubling for investigators indeed, Manisha.

TANK: You know, generally, Nick, with this story it is hard to choose the words, I have to say.

Thank you very much. Nick Paton Walsh there with that analysis. Nick, of course, has seen that video that claims responsibility for those

attacks in Paris. Thanks again, Nick.

Still to come here on News Stream, the pope's message of peace is resonating in Sri Lanka as the country heals from years of war. We'll take

you there live for the latest.

Plus, the fuselage of AirAsia flight 8501 has now been found. Details from Jakarta are just ahead.

And serious concerns over Saudi Arabia's treatment of a local blogger. We'll tell you why human rights groups are taking notice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Now to Sri Lanka where Pope Francis has delivered a message of unity to the country on the second day of his trip to the nation. The pope

visited a Catholic shrine in Mudhu (ph), a town in the heart of Sri Lanka's former war zone. He urged Sri Lankans to reconcile and forgive each other

for a better -- a bitter civil war.

Earlier in Colombo, he canonized the nation's first saint.

Well, Sumnima Udas is in Colombo and joins us now.

And Sumnima, it's quite remarkable, quite incredible to see the number of people who turned out to welcome him in a country that still grapples

with ethnic tensions.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Hundreds of thousands of people -- I don't know if you can still see the

road behind me -- but the entire beachfront was turned into a makeshift church of sorts and there's where the canonization of Sri Lanka's first

saint took place, and that's also where the pope, Pope Francis celebrated mass.

These people had come from across Sri Lanka, many of them camped all night to catch a glimpse of the pope. And he actually arrived early to

this mass this morning just so he could get off his Popemobile and meet some of these people informally. And then of course he proceeded to the

north, which is perhaps the most important part of this trip, at least as far as Sri Lankans are concerned, because this is a region that not many

people, at least of this stature, have reached out to. This is where people suffered the most during that decades-long civil war.

So, a lot of those images that we've been seeing today of families who lost their loved ones during that war, of people who even lost their limbs,

coming there to see Pope Francis. And it's a blessing that many were saying is the blessing of their lifetime -- Manisha.

TANK: Yeah, I heard that he spent quite a bit of time in the Popemobile going through the crowds and was quite exhausted afterwards.

But just moving on to the situation in the country right now, of course it's a new political dawn for Sri Lanka and coincidental that Pope

Francis should be there around the same time. What has that meant for sentiment?

UDAS: Yeah, the timing really couldn't have been better, Manisha. And you really do get a sense that this is a new beginning for Sri Lanka,

that this is a new era. You've just got a new government that was sworn in just a few days ago, a government that really doesn't have the baggage of

that decades-long war. It's a government that can really start afresh. And also you get a sense that Sri Lankans are looking to create a new

identity of sorts for this country. As the arch-bishop of this country told us, Sri Lankans really want to show the world that this is a country

where there can be peace, this is a country of peacemakers.

And when you talk to people here, it's quite interesting, they keep pointing out that Mahinda Rajapaksa, the previous president of this

country, the man who ruled this country for the past 10 years. he was exactly the man, the president they needed, to end that war, to bring peace

to this country.

But now Maithripala Sirisena, the new president who was sworn in a few days ago, is exactly the man this country needs to carve out a new future

for Sri Lanka -- Manisha.

TANK: And just finally, Sumnima, I mean so far on this program we've talked so much about extremism and terror and, you know, part of that

coming from religious divides, but here we're talking about a story where people of all faiths came together to welcome Pope Francis. And he,

himself, has talked about reconciliation. He's talked about unity. It really does stand out.

UDAS: It's a message that resonates across all the various religious groups here, the various ethnic groups. Again, only 6 to 7 percent of the

population here is Catholic. But still a lot of the people that we saw out there to welcome Pope Francis were not Catholic. And so you do get a sense

that even though reconciliation in the long-term is going to be difficult, there's a lot of practical matters, a lot of political matters, that still

have to be sorted. Reconciliation at the emotional level, perhaps the spiritual level, can be achieved and that is something Pope Francis has

certainly conveyed in Sri Lanka. He's certainly bridging that divide, if you will, right now.

TANK: OK. Sumnima, we'll leave it there for now. Sumnima Udas who has been monitoring that visit. Thank you so much to you and the rest of

the team in Colombo.

Well, after Sri Lanka, the pope will be visiting the Philippines, which is one of Asia's most devoutly Catholic countries. Anna Coren now

looks at the preparations made to welcome the pope and to make sure that he stays safe.

(BEGIN VIDEOATPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the Philippines prepares for the arrival of Pope Francis for what is expected to be the

largest gathering of Catholics in the world, security is at an all-time high in this Asian archipelago.

Now more than 30,000 military and police will be deployed for his five day visit, which has been described by the Philippines top military

commander as the biggest security nightmare of the government.

Flights will be canceled and a no-fly zone put in place for when the pontiff arrives on Thursday.

Now the Philippines has reason to be concerned if history is anything to go by. There have been two assassination attempts on pope's while

visiting Manila. The first, back in 1970 when Pope Paul VI was stabbed on the tarmac by a man dressed up as a priest, the second in 1995 when Pope

John Paul II arrived for World Youth Day just days before authorities spoiled an al Qaeda suicide bomb attack when explosives detonated

prematurely.

Well, the Philippines Islamic extremist group Abu Sayyaf, has recently pledged allegiance to ISIS. The Vatican has downplayed any rumors of an

ISIS plot, assuring that no additional security measures will be taken on this trip.

The Popemobile, while heavily armored, will not have bullet-proof glass following the wishes of Pope Francis.

Now to give you an idea of the level of excitement, authorities are expecting up to 6 million people here in Manila to the outdoor mass to be

staged in this park, which will be a papal milestone. The largest congregation of Catholics to ever come together was here in 1995. When

Pope John Paul II gave mass, 5 million of the faithful turned up.

The Philippines has been a priority for Pope Francis ever since it was hit by the devastating typhoon Haiyan back in 2013. He will be visiting

survivors and families of victims in Tacloban where he will be delivering his message of mercy and compassion. He's also expected to talk about

climate change.

Social commentators believe the timing of the pope's visit is important. They are hoping that he addresses issues like social justice,

poverty, divorce and corruption, because they believe that for the Catholic Church to be relevant not just here in the Philippines, but around the

world, it needs to change.

Anna Coren, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Now, Indonesian officials have some somewhat sobering, but important new images to analyze in their investigation of AirAsia flight

8501. The latest on that search when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Search teams in the Java Sea have located the fuselage from AirAsia flight 8501. The discovery was confirmed by an underwater camera

that captured these images of the wreckage. They show the main body of the plane still partially intact with one of the wings still attached.

CNN's David Malko is tracking this breaking development for us. He joins us now live from Jakarta, Indonesia. And as much as this moves the

investigation along, David, it's harrowing news, really, for the families of those who lost their lives in this crash.

DAVID MALKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Manisha, sobering is as much as families wanted some news, as much as search and rescue officials wanted to

find this, wanted to find the main wreckage, when you look at these pictures it is just difficult to look at. One of the employees from

AirAsia, one of their media team that I have been talking to sent me a message a few minutes ago saying we are all heartbroken. And in fact, when

you look at that fuselage, most of it, about 100 feet or 30 meters of it, you just have to remember, 162 people, passengers and crew, presumably have

lost their lives and many of them are inside that wreckage.

You know, Manisha, looking down at that passengers manifest, you have four, five, six even seven people from the same family, many flying from

Surabaya to Sinagpore, to celebrate the New Year's holiday. We've spoken to many of them over the past couple of weeks.

This, of course, families were hoping for some news, hoping for any kind of -- any sort of word of their loved ones so that they could continue

the grieving process, perhaps, start moving towards closure. Manisha, it appears at this point, that they may not have to wait any longer.

TANK: Indeed.

And this will also be an important part of putting together the investigation to try and figure out what actually happened to this plane.

Earlier in the day, we heard about those black boxes being found. And as I understand it, the data is being analyzed.

MALKO: Absolutely, Manisha. I mean, investigators telling us they have almost every thing they need at their fingertips 18 days into the

search effort. That is certainly promising news in the sense of, you know, their outcome, their goal on chief investigator tells me, is to figure out

what went wrong and prevent it from ever happening again. The cockpit voice recorder has been downloaded. We heard that investigators and

trained pilots were listening to that recording.

Of course, that's a grim task as well, because they know it ends. The question is just how it ends. What happens in those final minutes after

the crew requested a change in altitude. And a turn, we will learn more about those pieces and how they all come together.

Investigators say they could know something in a few days or a few weeks. It will be likely be much longer, perhaps months, even a year

before that final report comes out and we learn exactly what caused this flight to go down -- Manisha.

TANK: And talking of the what caused it to go down initially many speculated it could have had something to do with the weather and we know

that that region is really subject to a lot of storms at the moment.

Has there been anything else said about that? Are people saying sit tight let's wait for the investigation to happen?

MALKO: Well, Manisha, you had one search and rescue official coming out a couple of days ago and saying, oh, based on what I've seen with the

debris I think the plane exploded when it hit the water. But, you know, investigators have really dismissed that. What's clear is the plane did

break apart. It's in pieces on the floor of the Java Sea, really very difficult images to see, especially for these family members.

But, investigators here saying, you know, it's too early to speculate. One in particular saying, you know, look we have all of this information at

our fingertips. We have everything we need. We will find the answer. And we will make sure that we can do our best that this tragedy, that a tragedy

like this does not happen again -- Manisha.

TANK: OK, David, we'll leave it there. David Malko and the rest of the team in Jakarta, thanks very much for that.

MALKO: Still to come here on News Stream, a blogger in Saudi Arabia received a painful sentence. And his wife says it was merely because he

talked about Islam online.

And the man accused of running the online marketplace Silk Road is on trial in New York. He faces serious charges. But do authorities even have

the right man?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is claiming responsibility for last week's attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The group says the attack was

planned at least three years ago. The claims come from a video that was posted online.

In France, the initial print run of the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo has sold out just hours after hitting the newsstand. The weekly satirical

magazine printed a record 3 million copies with plans to stagger the release. In response to today's sales, the magazine says it will print an

additional 2 million copies.

New images show the fuselage from AirAsia flight 8501 sitting at the bottom of the Java Sea. They were taken by a camera from a remote

controlled submersible. If the weather is favorable, divers are to be sent down for a closer look on Thursday morning.

A possible ammonia leak has forced the U.S. crew of the International Space Station to evacuate one area. They are now sheltering in the

station's Russian segment. NASA says everyone is safe. Flight controllers believe it may have been a false alarm triggered by a faulty censor or

computer.

Now, attention is on Saudi Arabia, this after a blogger there was publicly flogged for insulting Islam. He's been sentenced to 50 lashes

every Friday for 19 weeks.

Human rights groups are denouncing the punishment. And some are calling the treatment hypocritical. Becky Anderson has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He spoke about god and his prophet, the men say in Arabic. Moments later, police bring out

this shackled prisoner. He is lashed 50 times.

Ensaf Haidar says she believes this unverified cellphone video shows Saudi police flogging her husband Raif Badawi.

ENSAF HAIDAR, RAIF BADAWI'S WIFE (through translator): Every lash killed me. There are no words to describe how I felt.

ANDERSON: The activist started an online forum in 2008 that his wife says was meant to encourage discussion about the faith.

Badawi was arrested that same year, charged with insulting Islam.

After a lengthy legal battle, a Jeddah court sentenced the blogger to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. That means the ordeal is not over.

Badawi will be lashed 50 times every Friday for 19 more consecutive weeks.

Speaking from Quebec in Canada, Haidar called for her husband's immediate release.

HAIDAR (through translator): Respect the right to opinion. Raif did not do anything. Raif did not carry a weapon. Raif's only weapon was his

pen.

ANDERSON: Human Rights Watch condemned the sentence on Saturday saying publicly lashing a peaceful activist merely for expressing his ideas

sends an ugly message of intolerance. Saudi Arabia is showing a willingness to inflict vicious and cruel punishments on writers whose views

it rejects.

Days earlier, the Gulf state had condemned the terrorist attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris saying it was, quote,

"incompatible with Islam."

A chorus of criticism quickly grew online, ridiculing the double standard. This cartoon shows a red line representing a split. The side

labeled outside shows a flowery statement in support of free speech, the other half marked domestically recreates the flogging.

The Saudi foreign ministry refused to comment to CNN on Badawi's case, citing it as a legal issue, not a political one. Allies in the west now

asking how can a nation that whips and even beheads stand against ISIS for the same.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Drug trafficking and money laundering: these are some of the charges facing the man who has been accused of running Silk Road, an online

black market known for selling drugs. Fake passports, among other illegal items.

The trial of Ross Ulbricht began on Tuesday in New York. And one thing prosecutors are trying to prove, that they have found the right man.

That's potentially difficult, because anonymity is central to how Silk Road actually operates.

So, users access the website using a software called TOR. It covers up their online trail so they can browse anonymously. Silk Road's

mastermind went by the screen name Dread Pirate Roberts. Prosecutors will need to prove that this was indeed Ross Ulbricht.

Another question of interest, how did investigators track down Silk Road's server? The FBI claims a weakness in the website revealed the

servers location, but Ulbricht's supporters claim agents may have hacked into the server using a secret method.

So, we'll have more on News Stream after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Right.

Now last week at the Consumer Elecronics Show, we showed you some of the latest offerings in driverless cars, but have you heard about virtual

traffic lights? Well, in this week's Tomorrow Transformed, Richard Quest looks at a system that could ease our rush hour headaches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First came the cars, then came the traffic. As more of us took vehicles to the road, our

productivity went down, our stress levels went up.

Today, real-time technology equips drivers with information that may not eliminate traffic, but at least we know what lies on the road ahead.

For Boston commuter Debbie Bain that makes all the difference, a navigation app on her smartphone gives her real-time traffic updates.

DEBBIE BAIN, COMMUTER: Now, knowing that information doesn't change the fact that I'm in traffic, but I'm much calmer about it now than I feel

like I used to be. Does it fix traffic? No. Does it eliminate traffic? No. But it arms with the information to be able to figure out what to do

with that.

If the future could eliminate traffic, that would be awesome.

QUEST: Debbie is using today's technology. Now, imagine going a few steps further.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University say they can reduce commute times of urban workers by 40 percent using virtual traffic lights.

OZAN TONGUZ, PROFESSOR, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: With this technology, traffic lights will be created on demand when a conflict is

detected that both of us are trying to cross this intersection. And they will be torn down as soon as we don't need it.

QUEST: Virtual traffic lights are only possible because of connected vehicle technology, which the U.S. hopes to mandate for all cars in the

future.

TONGUZ: So, our solution, leverage this capability and say since cars can talk to each other, we can manage the traffic control at intersections

without infrastructure-based traffic lights.

QUEST: The virtual light is delivered to the driver to a display unit.

TONGUZ: When the driver is looking through the windshield he sees on the windshield that going straight is a green light, turning right is a red

light.

So they come. They gradually stop at the intersection. So for 30 seconds, the vertical direction continues their trip. And after that 30

seconds the responsibility of acting as a virtual traffic light passes over to the other direction.

So in a round robin fashion, this continues. And it's a seamless process. The driver doesn't get involved in this decisionmaking.

QUEST: The developers say virtual traffic lights will cut carbon emission, reduce accidents and perhaps most usefully every day, cut those

annoying commute times.

TONGUZ: What we are proposing is actually it's almost like we are giving additional life to people, life that is wasted on the road.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Remarkable technology. Let's hope if they do it, it will also be cyber secure.

And that's it from News Stream. I'm Manisha Tank. But please don't go anywhere. World Sport with my colleague Alex Thomas is up next.

END