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UN Calls for Access To Yarmouk Camp; A Look at California's Historic Drought; Yemen Fast Descending into Civil War; Saudi-backed Militias Battle Houthi Rebels; Revisiting Afghanistan's Gulnaz, Forced To Marry Her Rapist. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 07, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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


[08:00:11] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Saudi airstrikes and militia fighters try to push Houthi fighters back as Yemen slides further into chaos.

A horrible story from Afghanistan. A woman forced to marry her rapist.

And we'll also be taking an in depth look at California's historic drought, one that could change the way of life in America's Goldent State.

Yemen is fast descending into what could soon become an all-out civil war. Just in to CNN, Saudi-led coalition airstrikes have hit a town -- in a

school, excuse me -- in a town in the southwest, killing at least three children, that's according to the education ministry.

These Saudi-led air raids to repel Houthi rebels have made life there increasingly dangerous for civilians.

Meanwhile, Saudi-backed militia have been attacking Houthi fighters across several provinces. The ramped up violence is also fueling an exodus of

Yemenis as well as foreign nationals.

Well, let's go now to Yemen for the latest developments there. Journalist Hakim al-Masmari is in the capital Sanaa. And he joins us now.

Hakim, first of all, we have been hearing more and more reports about this growing humanitarian crisis. Just give us a sense of what life is like for

the residents in that city now.

HAKIM AL-MASMARI, JOURNALIST: Very dramatic and very worrying right now in Sanaa, because the humanitarian crisis is taking place in a country that

has 15 million people poor. 60 percent of the population are already poor even before the war started.

Right now, there's food shortage. Perpetual shortage. Blackouts. Electricity blackouts for 48 hours continuously.

But this is basically heading towards the same exists as Syria was two years ago we are still remaining destroyed. And the president of Syria

remains. And Yemen is the same thing, where President Hadi and the Houthis will both remain while Yemen is on its way to getting destroyed.

STEVENS: And just give us a sense of what's happening on the streets day to day at the moment. Is there violence? Are there still clashes going

on?

MASMARI: In Sanaa, there is no violence. It's completely under Houthi control. And that is why it is safe.

Aden, an otherwise is a difficult or a different scenario. Aden right now is seeing the most violent days in its history with dozens are killed on

the streets. Random citizens are forced to take arms, because -- to defend themselves against the Houthis who they believe, or claim, are invaders.

This is a situation where the Yemenis seeing right now where two sides of the military are fighting one another, each one claiming to be the right

side and (inaudible) is happening where the military (inaudible) because of a split.

STEVENS: And as is so often the case, civilians are caught in the middle.

We've just heard a report of a Saudi airstrike in which three schoolchildren were -- died because one of the rounds hit a school. How

bad, or how many civilians casualties are you hearing about at the moment Hakim?

MASMARI: This is very sad. Right now, 90 percent of those killed have been civilians. 800 civilians have been killed since these attacks took

place.

Like today, for example, the attack that took place in (inaudible) province where three children were killed, it was targeting a military base. And it

misstruck 400 meters away where a school was located and three kids, innocent children were killed on their way towards lunch break while they

were in school. And the school was destroyed, partially destroyed, and this is the case where the Saudi airstrikes try to target military bases or

camp grounds, but it results civilians actually (inaudible) women or children.

STEVENS: Hakim al-Masmari, thank you so much for joining us from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Well, this certainly appears to be little promise to an end to the fierce fighting, at least in the short-term.

Well, Pakistan's defense minister says that Saudi Arabia has asked it to provide aircraft, warships and troops in the battle against Iran-backed

Houthis.

Well, our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now from Jizan (ph) in Saudi Arabia.

Nic, that request by Saudi for troops and weapons from Pakistan, does that suggest that a ground invasion could be imminent?

[08:05:07] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly suggests that a Saudi-led coalition here needs and wants

additional support and the sort of support he's talking about there additional troops would seem to indicate that they want to be able to put

more boots on the ground.

So, you would have to read into that. They would like to keep their options open. The Saudis saying that the idea of putting in ground troops

hasn't gone off the table.

What the analysts and people close to the situation will say is that the situation in Yemen is very complex and complicated, that it is easy

relatively to get a force in on the ground. It's how to do you -- what do you want to achieve and how do you get that force out. And if they're

going to be there for a long time, which would be the implication of putting ground troops in, they would definitely need the support from

countries like Pakistan.

So it seems to indicate at this stage that that plan of potential ground troops is still alive.

What we've seen up on the border, though, is the Saudi -- Saudi security forces in defensive positions. We went up to take a look. This is what we

saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Bone shaking tracks so steep Saudi security trucks struggle. A slip down the wrong side here lands you in Yemen. On the peaks,

something new, Saudi army and border guards joined forces sharing fresh dug trenches. Servicemen here say Houthi attacks are rare, the last a week ago.

The commander says they are ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we see them approaching, we treat them as enemy and we protect ourselves. And we don't want an incident

like what happened to the first martyr.

ROBERTSON: Three border guards killed since Saudi airstrikes over the border began almost two weeks ago. No shortage of expensive top class new

weapons here.

It's what's happening beyond this border front line that's less well known. Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Houthis, loyalists to the former president, loyalists for

current president, the army, southern separatists, people's movements, tribes. It's all competing interests.

Competing interests on what may be temporary alliances. You only have to look at the most intense fighting in Aiden to see how that's playing out.

Several hundred dead, a humanitarian disaster looming.

Houthis apparently gaining in a battle for control of the deep water port attacking Saudis, as well allies, loyalists of the current president,

people's movement and separatists. These allies don't all back the Saudi goal, a united country. But if together, they can hold the port, Saudi

reinforcements could land and help defeat their common enemy, the Houthis.

Along the coast, Al-Qaeda in (inaudible), Al-Qaeda defeats the southern separatists, but further north Al-Qaeda kills the enemy of the southern

separatists, the Houthis. Around the capital, Saudi planes bomb Houthis and allies, the Yemeni army, HQ, a loyalist of the former president.

Across the country, the tribes looking out for their own have fluent allegiances. Houthis in some places, Al-Qaeda in others, and some support

the Saudis. Back on the Saudi side of the border, things seem simpler, only soldiers and border guards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): we all have one mission here. And we are working hand in hand with the army to achieve that.

ROBERTSON: Sounds easy, but beyond Yemen's silent peaks, a multisided war looms where anything can happen.

Nic Robertson, CNN, on the Saudi-Yemen border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Members of the Iraqi military are paying their respects after a grim discovery near Tikrit.

This was the scene near the site of a mass grave where it's believed that as many as 1,700 bodies may be recovered. That's the number of Iraqi

soldiers ISIS says it captured and executed in the area last June. The city has just been liberated after weeks of fighting.

And still ahead on the show, a shocking story from Afghanistan. A woman raped and then jailed and then forced to merry her attacker. A CNN

exclusive report next.

For parched California, a storm is approaching. We're going to be at the World Weather Center for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:11:00] STEVENS: Welcome back.

Now to a CNN exclusive. Four years after an Afghan woman was imprisoned for adultery following her rape, her life has taken an even more shocking

turn. She was released from prison, but forced to marry her attacker to fit back into society.

Well, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke to her and the man she must now call her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here is one portrait of how an Afghan family formed, and of women's rights in Kabul in 2015.

First, Asadullah raped his wife's cousin. He was convicted and jailed for it. The beautiful girl here whose name means smile, is the child from that

rape. Born in jail because her mother, Gulnaz here was charged with adultery under what passes for Afghan justice as her rapist was married.

Yet it got worse for Gulnaz still, to be accepted into Afghan society again, she had to marry, to marry him, because her rapist's second wife.

Now, things are said to be OK, settled. Their third child is on the way.

ASADULLAH, HUSBAND AND CONVICTED RAPIST (through translator): If I hadn't married her according to our traditions, she couldn't have left back in

society. Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now she doesn't have any of those problems.

(AUDIO GAP)

GULNAZ, FORCE TO MARRY HER RAPIST (through translator): ...agreed to marry him. We are traditional people. When we get a bad name, we prefer death

to living with that name is society.

WALSH: This is a home built around crime where Asadullah's first wife lives unseen, where little smile has a home among his seven other children.

Global uproar led the then President Hamid Karzai to pardon Gulnaz of adultery in 2011. She was offered asylum abroad, but was pushed into this

deal living here.

He still denies the rape happened, saying she was told to make it up.

ASADULLAH (through translator): Now she's beside me and knows that it was not as big as they had shown.

GULNAZ (through translator): No, I am not thinking about it any more. I don't have a problem with him now. And I don't want to think about the

past problems.

WALSH: Gulnaz did not look at her husband once in our meeting.

GULNAZ (through translator): My life is OK. I am happy with my life. It is going on.

WALSH: While he lets her talk alone. He still stands outside.

Four years ago, she told me she was raped, but now backs his story. Yet she says her family wouldn't have taken her back until she married hi.

GULNAZ (through translator): My brothers opposed the marriage and told me to take my daughter and go to Pakistan to live with them instead. But now

we're married. They disown me and won't see me again.

WALSH: At 23, could anyone have imagined that their life would have turned out like this?

GULNAZ (through translator): No. I couldn't fulfill my wishes in life. I married this man. I cut relations with my family only to buy my daughter's

future.

WALSH: Global outcry, a presidential pardon, billions of American dollars on women's rights. And still it ends like this: a family built on one act

of assault.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: You're watching News Stream.

And still ahead on the show, California (inaudible) worst drought in decades. We're going to be talking to a NASA scientist about what's led to

this crisis and what can be done to solve it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:46] STEVENS: A very vibrant looking scene looking across Victoria Harbor to downtown Hong Kong. Welcome back to News Stream. I'm Andrew

Stevens filling in for Kristie Lu Stout who is taking a well earned vacation.

Now, it's nicknamed the Golden State. California's image is well known around the world from the excess of Hollywood to the success of Silicon

Valley, but now Californians are having to contend with a new major challenge, the lack of water, an historic drought is forcing residents to

endure yet another week of mandatory water cuts. Now, though, a storm is on the way. So will that bring any sort of relief for California?

Let's go to CNN's weather correspondent Chad Myers now. He joins us from the World Weather Center. Chad, first of all, just put this in context for

us as just how bad this drought is and what sort of relief this story is going to offer.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is so bad, Andrew, that farmers can take the water that they have been given, their allotment, and they can sell the

water to cities for more money than they can make growing crops.

And so there will be fewer crops in California this year, because the farmers will simply say go ahead and take my water and pay me for it. I'm

not going to grow anything. There just isn't enough land.

Now you can't do that with long-term things like almonds or grapes or things like that, because you just can't replant them tomorrow or the next

day or next year. But you could do that, you could say I'm not going to grow any tomatoes this year. We just don't need them, because you need the

water for something else.

Yes, rain is on the way. But about 30 millimeters of rain. Honestly, not enough to put a drop in this.

California needs about a half a meter just right over it in the next I would say month just to get back up to anywhere near normal.

The problem is snow pack. Andrew, in California, they take the snow on top of these very high mountains, the Sierra, and that melts slowly, at least

it's supposed to melt, slowly over the summer into the rivers, into the reservoirs and then they use that slowly, but there's no snow pack. Only 5

percent of snow pack right now across that California -- 5 percent where they should be. So there's nothing that's going to be melting in July.

There will be no snow left, it'll be all gone.

So the issue is we won't have that snow, that long-term water coming out of the mountains if you only have 5 percent.

Now we're going to pick up probably 20 centimeters of snow in some spots, 15 to 30 above about 4,000 feet, 1,200 meters, that's where it'll help.

But we need feet of snow on top of this. In fact, we need feet of water just to catch back up. It has been such dry season.

If you think about this, if you want to make a half of kilogram of beef. And you're going to sell that, you need 7,000 gallons of water just to make

one meter of -- 7,000 liters, that's about 2,000 gallons of water to make one half of a kilogram of beef.

So a lot of water intensive and they just don't have it out there, Andrew.

[08:21:42] STEVENS: Chad, really appreciate the context that you've put there.

I'm sure you've been asked this question many times, is this -- can we say this is a result of global warming? And if it is, obviously this is going

to be a much longer term problem isn't it? I mean, these sort of conditions are likely to persist.

MYERS: They're likely to persist, but we can't blame it on any one thing right now, because in fact 2004, 2009 were very wet seasons and they just

didn't -- it just hasn't rained, it hasn't snowed in about three or four years. It's been a four year drought.

Now if this would be a 50 year drought, we could say, oh yes, absolutely. But this is a short-term perturbation not a long-term -- we hope --

persistent effect.

STEVENS: Yeah, fingers crossed.

Chad, thanks so much for that.

Chad Myers there putting it in some great context for us.

Now, with no quick end, as Chad says, to this drought in sight, what can be done to fix California's water crisis? Well, Kristie spoke to Jay

Famiglietti. He is a water scientist at NASA. And she began by asking whether the state's mandatory water cuts are necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY FAMIGLIETTI, WATER SCIENTIST: I think it is. I think the state government actually gave the population of California a lot of space to act

on their own. And we didn't step up and do it. And so I think the mandatory restrictions were necessary.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And just how bad is the drought in Californai?

FAMIGLIETTI: It's as bad as you read about it and probably worse. We've had no snow this year. There's very little water in our reservoirs. That

means we'll be relying more and more throughout the year as the year goes on, on our ground water. And the ground water is already being fairly

rapidly depleted. So, we certainly have our issues cut out for us this year.

LU STOUT: And in addition to the governor's call for a mandatory water restrictions, what else does the state of California need to do to address

its water crisis?

FAMIGLIETTI: Well, we need to be thinking in the medium term and the long- term about really rethinking the way that we're handling agriculture, probably rethinking the types of crops that we've been planting. Certainly

in the cities we need to be relaxing our ideas and letting our ideas go about having a great big green lawn. We just can't afford it with respect

to water.

LU STOUT: 80 percent of California's water goes for agriculture. And the agriculture from California goes to Californians, to Americans to consumers

all over the world. is the water crisis in California not just California's problem, but a problem for the world?

FAMIGLIETTI: You're absolutely right. The food that we grow in California is exported around the world. So people will feel it if we start to cut

back on our agriculture and that's probably what will happen. So there will be ripple effects with respect to food security and even economic

security.

LU STOUT: And how does NASA figure into all this? What is NASA's role in somehow monitoring the use of water in California?

FAMIGLIETTI: We have developed methods using our satellites to monitor how the groundwater storage is changing in ways are difficult to do from just

ground-based data alone.

So we get that get that space-based large area view, which I think really paints this more dire picture than we're able to see just by looking at

small regions around California.

[08:25:09] LU STOUT; And what is the root cause of the drought in California. Is it human consumption, or is it related to climate change?

FAMIGLETTI: It's really a mix of climate change and natural variations and human consumption. If there were no humans here, there would really be no

problem. And we do use a lot of ground water for agriculture. So that's a big part of the problem.

We are seeing the natural variations, because of El Nino or the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. But there is this long-term backdrop of global change

that is leading to rising temperatures that's leading to less snow in the mountains and that literally means less trickle down of water from the

mountains into our reservoirs and into our aquifers.

LU STOUT: And back to the 25 percent mandatory water restriction introduced by the governor of California this week. That means brown

lawns, that means shorter showers, that means swimming pools won't be full. Will there be a backlash, or are the people of California on board with

this?

FAMIGLIETTI: No, there was a recent poll that was done of last month some time. It really said that Californians were ready for it.

I think that we were mentally ready for it, but I also think that we need to be pushed by the governor and he did that.

You know, it's difficult to give up a relatively rich waterway of life that we have here in the United States and in California. And I think that we

needed that push.

LU STOUT: And Jay if the situation remains the same in California, there are no changes in water consumption, paint a picture for us of what

California could look like 10 years from now.

FAMIGLETTI: Well, we will cut back, because we have to. But if we don't, we are looking at really much, much less water availability, the demise of

agriculture in California. It will just become -- you know, we'll start over the decades with no changes we will revert back to the desert that --

the desert environment that is really the natural environment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And that's a water scientist Jay Famiglietti there on a growing crisis for Californians, indeed for the entire country.

Now based on satellite data analysis, California needs a staggering 41 trillion liters or water to recover from this current drought, that's about

how much water flows over Niagara Falls in 170 days. Gives you an idea.

Now, more than 40 years ago, Don McClean wrote the famous song American Pie.

(MUSIC)

STEVENS: Also known as the song of the century. For years, fans have been guessing what cultural references are hidden in the enigmatic lyrics.

Well, there's no more guessing. The manuscript of McClean's 1971 hit is up for auction. It's estimated it'll fetch about $1.5 million and the winning

bidder will receive 18 pages of McClean's personal notes as well as typed drafts charting the song's creation. And, most importantly, the meaning of

those lyrics.

Problem solved, perhaps.

Still to come here on News Stream. As Kenya reels from the attack which took 147 lives, calls for increased security from al Shabaab. We'll be

live from Garissa.

Also, testimony and closing arguments are in, now the jury is about to start deliberating in the Boston Bombing trial. the defendant could face

life in prison or death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:12] STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

In Yemen, Saudi airstrikes targeting a military base in the city of Eib (ph) have hit a nearby school. Local officials tell us that at least half

a dozens students were injured. The rebel controlled education ministry says three students were killed.

A new Amnesty International report is calling for authorities to investigate attacks on women's rights activists in Afghanistan. The group

says female activists are being deliberately targeted and accuses government officials of not doing enough to protect them. Afghan President

Ashraf Ghani says that his government is, quote, committed to protecting women's rights.

The United Nations is calling for humanitarian access to the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. ISIS has been battling for control of

Yarmouk, which is near Damascus. UN officials say the 18,000 refugees in Yarmouk are trapped by the fighting and their lives are, quote, profoundly

threatened.

Now in Kenya, the massacre of 147 people at Garissa University has prompted calls for the government to do more to prevent attacks from al Shabaab

militants. Protesters held a march in Nairobi demanding better security for schools. CNN's Christian Purefoy joins us now from Garissa, the site

of that massacre, of course.

And, Christian, just want to get your perspective on whether these protests about his alleged lack of security are fair, are they justified. Is the

government not doing enough to protect schools to keep Kenyans feeling safe?

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the foreign minister, Kenyan foreign minister on Amanpour last night said that the government's response

was adequate, Andrew. But, yes, there have been protests and all sorts of questions raised about the response, particularly the response time.

Garissa, where we're standing, is about a five hour drive from the capital of Nairobi where the special forces unit that is dedicated to taking on

these sorts of problems came -- come from.

But they took a much longer -- and journalists got up to this university long before the special forces unit.

The crux of that problem is that when they did arrive they seemed to deal with the problem very quickly.

So we're left with the question how many people died before they arrived that didn't need to? And that is one of these things that the students are

protesting about, Andrew.

But also, you know, Kenyans understand al Shabaab's Somalia is an enormous issue that's going to take a long time to deal with. But in the meantime,

they want to feel safe when they're asleep in their student bed. And university schools are soft, easy targets for these terrorists as they've

proved on numerous occasions.

So these protests are mostly by students wanting to know that the government is listening and making them feel safer, Andrew.

STEVENS: Yeah, it's very difficult, isn't it? Universities tend to be big, sprawling campuses and actually providing effective protection can be

difficult.

Christian, thanks very much for that. Christian Purefoy joining us live from Garissa, the site of the massacre of 147 students there.

Now in the U.S. jurors are about to begin deliberations in the trial of Dzhokar Tsarnaev. He could face life in prison or even the death penalty

for working with this brother to set off bombs at the Boston Marathon two years ago.

The defense and prosecution made their closing arguments on Monday.

CNN's Alexandra Field reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last Richard family photos, Martin is eight. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is standing behind him. Before -

- after. Martin's entire body shattered, broken, eviscerated, burned. Lindsay Liu didn't plan to be there that day. It's her last day. Crystal

Campbell lives less than a minute.

The defense doesn't deny that it's the defendant you see here on Boylston Street, dropping his backpack in front of the Forum restaurant, running

away with the crowd. It was him, star attorney Judy Clarke acknowledges in opening statements, and it's him shopping for milk at Whole Foods 20

minutes later.

But Clarke argues in the plot to lead a path of destruction, Tamerlan leads; Dzhokhar follows. Tamerlan heads towards the finish line, then the

first blast. Twelve seconds later heads turn, the second blast.

Two months before the bombing, prosecutors say Dzhokhar borrows a gun from his friend, the same .9 millimeter Ruger used to kill Officer Sean Collier.

[08:35:52] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officer down! Officer down! All units.

FIELD: Surveillance video captures two men on the MIT campus approaching his squad car and taking off.

The gun is used again later that night, prosecutors say, when 56 shots are fired at Watertown Police. The firefight ends with Tamerlan dropping his

gun, heading into a hail of bullets. Dzhokhar, driving over his brother's body before abandoning the Mercedes and hiding out in a dry-docked boat.

The words he etched, "Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop." The note he wrote bloodstained, bullet- riddled: "We Muslims are one body.

You hurt one, you hurt us all." Proof, according to prosecutors, that they felt they were soldiers. They were mujahedin and Boston was their target.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Now, it was Tamerlan who built the bombs, bought the material, did the bulk of the research, the defense argues. We don't deny that

Dzhokhar participated in the events, but if it were not -- excuse me, but if not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened, they said.

Now, some daredevil cyclists are adding a new piece of high tech to their arsenal. After the break, we'll take a look at a 3D sensor that's breaking

new ground in tracking extreme sports athletes midair.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Welcome back.

Mobile technology is connecting, well, everything now -- our cars, our homes, even our fitness regiment.

Now there's a real-time 3D sensor that syncs up the extreme sports athlete. And our Ricard Quest reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is courage in name and nature.

Impressive stuff. So what's the technology behind it?

CASEY HAUSER, XENSR: Well, what we're doing here is taking GPS to the next level with making it 3D. So what you're seeing (inaudible) product and we

have (inaudible) that gives you stream like in your smartphone or another device. It doesn't give you an vertical accuracy for anything. But what

we want to know, like you saw before, is how high our friends are jumping. So this is packed with more sensors, accelerators, gyroscopes,

magnetometers. And what it does is allows you to see everything in full 3D -- jump height, distance traveled in the air, air time.

RICHARD: So, it's a GPS...

HAUSER: (inaudible)

[08:40:00] QUEST: And what do they do with it -- all right, so you get a 3D view of this thing going up and down and around and around. But what

use is that?

HAUSER: We wanted to use it for competitions, you know, becuase at the end of the day when we were riding we decide which one of our friends

jumped higher. We didn't know. It became who was talking louder or anything like that. So we wanted the hard facts.

And by doing this now, we could say, OK, you jumped three feet, but I jumped three-and-a-half. And I beat you there. And now in that idea,

we've got competition.

So where you have X Games or any of these other subjectively-based competions in action sports, now for the first time we're (inaudilbe) in

the field in the moment to know who is going to beat out the other guy.

QUEST: What other sports would you use this on?

HAUSER: Well, you can use it for snowboarding or skiing, mountain biking.

We started in wind surfing and kite boarding, actually.

Big wave surfing where you don't know exactly how big the waves are. There's a lot of applications in sports, but as well as outside.

QUEST: This is all about the connected athlete isn't it?

HAUSER: Precisely.

QUEST: Tell me what it means?

HAUSER: Well, for us when we started we wanted to know how high you can jump. But then like you said, what if you can find it out in real-time, or

what if you can use it for another application? What if you don't want your phone? So with all the devices that you see now at MWC, there's lots

of tools for the rider. And at our foundation, the core is what do they want? And if they want to see it on their wrist, or in their goggle or

sync it with their video, our question is how can we make that easier for them?

QUEST: How do you stop? There are no breaks on a BMX!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Richard Quest getting down there.

Well, here's a connection that a lot of people in China don't want to hear about. Golf there has become the latest target of the corruption

crackdown. Beijing has announced that it's closing 66 golf courses. And it has been illegal to build anything golf related for over 10 years now.

A senior government official has also been put under investigation for participating in a golf event.

This isn't China's first crackdown on the sport, either. Beijing has had a long and complicated history with the pasttime that Mao Zedong referred to

as the sport for millionaires.

And you can head to CNN at Money.com for an in depth look at that uneasy relationship.

And that's it for News Stream. I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

END