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U.S. Airstrike Targets Veteran al Qaeda Leader in Libya; South Korean Schools Reopen; A Look at the World of Hellenic Coast Guard; Syrian Refugees Pour from Tal Abyad; Despite Court Order, Sudanese President Leaves South Africa. Aired 8:00a-9:00p ET
Aired June 15, 2015 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:26] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.
Now claims that a U.S. airstrike has killed a veteran al Qaeda figure in Libya. South Korean schools reopen despite the threat of MERS. We'll
speak to a medical expert who is at the forefront of the SARS outbreak.
And half a billion dollars in one weekend, Jurassic World makes a huge splash at the global box office.
In the coming hours, the United States hopes to confirm the death of a senior North African terrorist. It launched an airstrike in Libya to
target Mokhtar Belmokhtar. The veteran al Qaeda figure was said to be behind the deadly 2013 siege of a gas facility in Algeria.
Now the Libyan government says the strike succeeded in killing Belmokhtar.
But let's get the latest word from the Pentagon. Barbara Starr is there. She joins us now. And Barbara, what is the U.S. saying at this
point about the strike that targeted Belmokhtar?]
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRSEPONDENT: Well, Kristie, they are confirming that he was the target, but they say that they still need to
confirm that one of the people killed there indeed was him, confirm the identity, that expected as soon as they are able.
But they want to be very sure before they make a public announcement.
This airstrike was aimed based on, by all indications, recent intelligence they got that he had moved to this area, perhaps for some sort
of meeting. Not really clear. It was not known that he was traveling in to Libya.
But the U.S. had intelligence and they moved ahead very quickly, conducting this airstrike. This is someone, of course, that the U.S.
wanted to get very badly -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yeah, and tell us why the militant targeted in the strike Mokhtar Belmokhtar, what more have you learned about him and the threat he
posed?
STARR: Well, indeed. You know, he was virtually the head of al Qaeda, the al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa, very elusive, had been a
very deadly operative for a number of years. But the U.S. in particular, was going after him because of that 2013 siege of the gas plant in Algeria,
a siege that saw several hostages killed, the siege the U.S. believed he was behind.
And subsequent to that 2013 incident, in fact, he was charged in U.S. federal court with -- let me just read it to you, the charges included
hostage taking, kidnapping, providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. So all of that part of the
portfolio of evidence, the U.S. says, that made him very much a target they wanted to get.
LU STOUT: Yeah, and the U.S. airstrike, it took place in Libya. So what does that say about the level of terror activity in the country and
also America's willingness to help end the chaos there?
STARR: Well, you know, I'm not sure that this strike alone relates to the situation on the ground in Libya as much as chaotic and difficult it is
for the Libyans who live there, obviously. But it's a very odd situation not knowing that he had, you know, would have any reason to travel into
Libya, but obviously did for some reason, very much focus on going after him.
But it does show that the U.S. felt the situation was secure enough in the air that they could use manned aircraft, that they could put a pilot
over Libya, that there would not be a threat, an air threat from the ground -- Kristie.
LU STOUT: All right. CNN's Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon, thank you.
ISIS staged seven car bombings near Baiji, Iraq over the weekend. It claims that they were all carried out by foreigners. At least 16 people
were killed. And some media reports speculate that a British teenager, Talha Asmal carried out one of those suicide attacks.
Now he is featured in new propaganda from ISIS.
Asmal's family say that they are devastated and heartbroken after recognizing him in these photos. They say that he never exhibited any
violent or radical views.
Now Kurdish fighting forces are battling ISIS militants in Syria. They're trying to retake the strategic town of Tal Abyad.
Now the escalating violence has sent thousands of Syrians running to nearby Turkey.
And on Sunday, a desperate crowd broke down a fence at the border in order to cross. Some had waited there at the border for days.
Now Turkish media says that nearly 3,000 Syrian refugees flooded over the border in less than two hours.
And a short time ago, Turkey allowed in another group of Syrian refugees. And Arwa Damon filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:05:24] ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are understandably quite upset as they are just being allowed to come across on
this day. Those women were just saying it's beyond a nightmare.
We've seen groups of people also dumping water on themselves. It's been fairly difficult for them on the other side. Some of them having to
wait overnight, women, children, babies all of them.
This is just the latest round of individuals that are fleeing the latest bout of fighting. In this particular case, we are talking about a
vital town called Tal Abyad on the other side of the border that is under ISIS control. And there, there are Kurdish fighters along with some Arabs
who have encircled the town. If they are able to capture it, and Tal Abyad is just out of eyesight on the other side of that wall, they will have cut
off one of the key ISIS strategic routes to their stronghold of Raqqa.
You can see also the Turkish military readying themselves along this border.
People were in such a panic a few days ago in some cases that they literally forced down this wall in some areas.
And for so many of those who are coming across, this is not necessarily the first time that they have been forced to flee. Some we
were talking to who were living in Tal Abyad said that there were refugees there as well.
They didn't want to necessarily live under ISIS, but for some of them it was a better option than living in insecurity than having to make the
choice to come across and end up as refugees.
Arwa Damon, CNN, on the Tal Abyad-Akchacelet (ph) border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: An incredible glimpse into the refugee crisis there.
Now, the UK government has yet to respond to a new report by Britain's Sunday Times claiming that Russia and China had decrypted more than a
million classified U.S. documents obtained from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The Sunday Times cites senior British sources saying western
spies have been moved from their posts as a result.
Some people are throwing the credibility of the report into question.
Now for starters, it does not explain how British officials know the documents were decoded.
Glenn Greenwald, one of the journalists who first broke Edward Snowden's story, is among the skeptics. And earlier, he told CNN he
believes that this is all part of a government smear campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN GLENNWALD, CO-FOUNDER, THE INTERCEPT: Well, it's filled with lies.
For example, Edward Snowden has always said that he took no documents with him when he left Hong Kong. That he's never had any documents with
him in Russia, that he gave it all to journalists and then destroyed his own copy.
So, The Sunday Times reporter wants to help the government by claiming, no, Edward Snowden did have documents in Moscow. And the way
they tried to do that was by saying that my partner David Miranda was detained in Heathrow after coming back from visiting Snowden and receiving
documents.
That is a total lie. David Miranda was never in Moscow prior to being detained at Heathrow. He had never met with Edward Snowden.
I believe The Sunday Times has now just deleted that paragraph without any indication that they did so.
Or they say, Snowden downloaded 1.7 million documents. The NSA itself says that they have no idea how many documents Edward Snowden downloaded,
that they're able ever to figure it out, because their systems don't allow that.
And so the article is just filled with lies in order to help these anonymous people in government who are too cowardly to say these claims
themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Glenn Greenwald there.
Now one of the journalists who wrote The Sunday Times report defends the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HARPER, THE SUNDAY TIMES: We picked up it awhile ago. And we've been working on it and trying to stand it up through multiple sources. And
when we approached the British government late last week with our evidence, they confirmed effectively what you read today in The Sunday Times. So,
it's obviously allegations at the moment from our point of view. And it's really for the British government to defend it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: And that's the view from The Sunday Times.
Now the U.S. charge Edward Snowden with espionage back in 2013. In March, his attorney said that Snowden would return to the U.S. if he felt
he could get a fair trial.
Unconfirmed local media reports say that Sudan's president has left South Africa that as a court there considers and international criminal
court request to arrest him on war crimes charges.
Now let's go live to Johannesburg for more on this story. And CNN's Diana Magnay joins me now. And Diana, he is wanted for war crimes. He was
ordered to stay put. So how is it that al-Bashir has reportedly left South Africa?
[08:10:00] DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's supposed to have left a couple of hours ago. There were journalists around
the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Pretoria who photographed the Sudanese presidential jet taking off despite, as you say, this emergency order that
was implemented by a high court on Sunday to make sure that he didn't leave.
South Africa is a signatory to the Rome statute, which underlines the International Criminal Court. It is, therefore, obliged under
international law, and also because that treaty has been adopted into South African constitution under its own domestic law, to arrest him when he sets
foot on South African soil.
Now the argument of the state in today's high court hearing is that because he was the guest of the African Union he had been granted
diplomatic immunity and was therefore, you know, wouldn't be arrested.
But the fact of the matter is, if he has left, and it's not just the local journalists at Waterkloof, but it's also the Sudanese government who
say on his arrival this evening at 6:00 p.m. in Khartoum we will be holding a press conference, it would appear that the South African government has
essentially ignored an order from its courts, which is a very serious situation for a government that should be respecting its own justice
system, Kristie.
LU STOUT: A very serious situation indeed as you point out. As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to arrest anyone charged by the
court.
I mean, there must be huge outrage to these reports that South Africa has allowed al-Bashir to leave. What has been the reaction to these
reports?
MAGNAY: Well, across the African continent the perception, the populist view of the International Criminal Court is pretty poor. It's not
just the African Union, but many people here who feel that the ICC is a western organization. The U.S. is not a signatory. And that it only
targets African leaders and it does so unfairly.
However, the fact that President Bashir, if he has left, has been able to leave is also remarked upon on the (inaudible) by journalists who I've
been speaking to, without much surprise that South Africa has allowed this to happen. And there seem to be various loopholes that it will have been
able to use.
And for example, the order went out yesterday to ports of entry, to immigration officials at those ports of entry, to make sure that he didn't
leave, but the state says today that his name wasn't on the passenger list for the Sudanese jet which took off from Waterkloof so they can't be sure
whether he's on it or not.
And perhaps if his name wasn't on a passenger list then an immigration official at Waterkloof wouldn't have checked for him.
Now these kinds of circuitous arguments are pretty much par for the course, I think people here will believe. And most people expected that
somehow South Africa would wriggle out of its international obligations in this instance, otherwise they wouldn't have given him the assurance when he
came here that he would be immune.
LU STOUT: And, Diana, we have just learned here at CNN, learned from Sudan, state media, that al-Bashir has indeed left South Africa.
We'll continue watching this story, especially as he touches down in Khartoum if and when that happens.
Diana Magnay reporting for us live. Thank you.
Now you're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, CNN goes on patrol with the Greek coast guard. And we'll show you how they're
helping to save migrants in the Aegean Sea. It's an exclusive report.
Also ahead, the Georgian capital cleans up after devastating floods, but emergency crews also have another important task: tracking down scores
of escaped zoo animals.
And many children, they finally return to school in South Korea, but the battle against the deadly MERS outbreak is not over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:51] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.
And here in Hong Kong, thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets over the weekend ahead of a landmark vote on electoral reforms.
So activists are slamming the proposal, which says that Hong Kongers can vote for their next leader, but they can only choose from candidates
approved by a mostly pro-Beijing committee..
And as Hong Kong debates its political future, police have arrested nine people after seizing what they call a trove of suspected explosives
and weapons. Unconfirmed local reports say those arrested are radical pro- democracy activists.
Now as Italy bears the brunt of the migrant crisis in Europe, Greece is also seeing a growing tide of desperate migrants crossing the Aegean
Sea.
Our Isa Soares joined the Hellenic coast guard on patrol in this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Under the cover of darkness, the Hellenic coast guard leaves the harbor to patrol the Aegean.
A team of four. Their job is to spot migrants making the perilous crossing to Greece and rescue them before the tide turns.
Within 40 minutes of our journey, a vessel is spotted ahead.
A closer look reveals a rubber dinghy with six men paddling their way to Greece.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One by one.
SOARES: Weak and wet, their brought to safety, relieved to be alive.
For the coast guard, this is a delicate yet critical role they must take on.
"When they see us and they understand they're in our waters, they collaborate. They stop the engine and then we board them on our boats,
transfer them to the island of Kos.
Once they've been dropped off, we return to sea. And soon enough, another dinghy spotted in the darkness. Crammed inside are 44 people,
mostly young men.
As dawn breaks, the challenge of the job at hand is revealed, 10 nautical miles, or almost 19 kilometers of vastness that must be watched
closely.
There may only be a six kilometer distance between Turkey and Greece, but the journey is still very much a perilous one, and for the Hellenic
coast guard, the number one priority is to save lives.
To date, no migrant has died on their watch, a point of pride for these coast guards who until recently had been patrolling drunken tourists
in the sea.
"We are very proud and we feel satisfied with the results," he tells me. "During 2015 until the end of May, more than 5,000 migrants have
entered the Island of Kos. In the last two years, there have been 38 arrests of smugglers."
By early morning, their overnight efforts are clear for all to see. Here, sleepy and exhausted, children, women and men huddle together in the
port looking to authorities for direction.
But it takes time, because they too are overwhelmed by what they are seeing.
Still, they cope, because nothing quite compares to the life adrift with these migrants, nor the life of peril and persecution they've left in
their wake.
Isa Soares, CNN, in the Greek Island of Kos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: And in the country of Georgia, crews are cleaning up the damage caused by deadly flooding over the weekend, 12 people were reported
killed in the storms and the streets of the capital were filled with debris.
Now flood waters also raged through a zoo in Tblisi freeing scores of animals.
Now residents were urged to stay inside as crews tried to round up bears, lions, tigers and other zoo escapees. Now CNN senior international
correspondent Matthew Chance has been following this story from Moscow. He joins me now live. And Matthew, we've been just looking at these surreal
images of lions, bears, even that hippo roaming the streets of Tblisi. What's being done to round up the animals? And also especially to find the
people who are still missing?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right. Absolutely extraordinary scenes were seeing out of Tbilisi, the capital of
Georgia right now as the authorities desperately try to bring the situation under control.
Of course the flood waters from the flash floods on Saturday night, Sunday morning have utterly devastated the center of the city, causing
enormous floods, sweeping property and cars away and of course inundating the zoo, which has created a very difficult complication to give you an
idea of just how complicated, there were 600 animals inside the zoo. Half of them, we're told are now unaccounted for, some of them, most of them
perhaps, have been killed by the flood water, but others are still on the loose inside Tblisi and in the surrounding areas. They've made their way
to outlying high areas to escape the flood water.
And some of the animals extremely dangerous. Talking about lions and tigers and wolves, bears, there's a prominent image that's been making the
rounds on social media of a bear clinging to an air conditioning unit on the side of a building.
One man is said to have found a hyena on his balcony.
And so all these extraordinary animals sort of basically in hiding now in and around Tblisis. And obviously they pose a massive risk to the
citizens of that city.
The army has been deployed to try and round up the stray animals, to shoot those animals that they can't safely bring back into their custody as
it were. But it's a very difficult situation and obviously it's a situation that's also developing.
There are at least 12 people, we should say, that have been dead so far, but that number, because of the nature of the situation, is expected
to rise over the coming hours.
[08:21:41] LU STOUT: Wow, it's just extraordinary scenes in Tblisi where rescue work is still underway. Matthew Chance reporting for us live.
Thank you.
Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come, as the MERS virus continues to take its toll in South Korea, we talk to a medical expert
about what's being done to contain the outbreak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Welcome back.
Now in just a few weeks Singapore will celebrate 50 years since independence. And all this week, we'll be taking a look at how this tiny
city-state has a master plan for its future.
Now in today's Future Cities, we journey upward. Andrew Stevens shows us how in a nation with almost nowhere to grow, a different kind of
skyscraper is taking shape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:25:13] ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our journey begins on the streets. And like most cities, we're surrounded by
people, traffic and skyscrapers. But look past all that and there's something different here: green. And it's starting to be seen everywhere,
including places you wouldn't expect.
There are trees, and then there are these trees. The green thumb behind them, a local architect with a vision to trade glass an concrete for
blossoms and branches.
Has the modern city moved too far away from nature now?
WONG MUN SUMM, FOUNDING DIRECTOR WDHA ARCHITECTS: Yeah, I think so.
STEVENS: Wang Mun Summ and his team have set out to change that. He wants to show us how here, at the Park Royal on Pickery (ph).
It may look like a garden in a hotel, but if you ask Wong it's the other way around.
SUMM: What we wanted to do was to raise it just about the trees so that you're actually above the tree canopies and you don't actually see
traffic. What you get -- it opens up the view completely.
STEVENS: What's typically inside has been moved outside.
This is the corridor to the rooms.
SUMM: Absolutely. Guests actually say that they really enjoy the fresh air and they're also been able to smell Chinatown.
STEVENS: And you feel much more a part of the city.
SUMM: Yes. Yes.
STEVENS: We head to Wong's office where amid the books and blueprints are given a glimpse of what's to come: a tower that takes the concept of a
building that breathes and grows it to new heights.
It's two-and-a-half times more green air then there was with the basic plot of ground.
SUMM: Yes, absolutely. Every architect has a kind of social responsibility of trying to bring back at least one-to-one replacement of
greenery.
We did have a Chinese developer who came to us, came just knocking on the door and he's been staying at the Park Royal. And he said, I would
like to do one of these in the next five years in China, because I'm launching a major brand in China. And...
STEVENS: 200 (inaudible).
SUMM: And we said we don't do it like that.
STEVENS: Across the street, they do build big, so big this will soon be the tallest structure in Singapore.
The developers have a name for it, a vertical integrated city. And next year its 64 floors will be filled with offices, condos and a luxury
hotel.
On the surface, the Tanjong Faga Center (ph) couldn't seem more different from Wong's garden in the sky. But as we reach the top, we
learned from our guide, a town planner turned private developer, that both projects share a similar goal.
CHENG HSING YAO, MANAGING DIRECTOR GUOCOLAND SINGAPORE: What we do is going to bring benefits to the district. And when the district does
better, we will also reap the benefits.
STEVENS: With that in mind, the team looked closely at mixed use projects in New York and Tokyo. And then they made a choice to scrap plans
for one more building on the site, and instead to transform that space into an urban park.
YAO: Integrating the community and bring the community to this development is a very big part of our planning and programming.
STEVENS: It may be a few years before that final vision is realized, but as Wong Mun Summ reminds us, every decision made now counts.
SUMM: At the end of the day, we are actually building for the future. And we like to show the path of how to build the future as well.
YAO: Andrew Stevens, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Interesting designs for the future there.
You're watching News Stream. And still to come, South Korea's struggle to contain the spread of MERS. We'll speak to a medical expert
who has just returned from that country as part of a WHO task force.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:20] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.
Now Sudan says President Omar al-Bashir is expected back in Khartoum a few hours from now. A South African court was considering whether to
arrest him and had ordered al-Bashir to stay in the country. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.
al-Bashir was in Johannesburg for the African Union summit.
There are conflicting reports on the fate of a senior North African terrorist. Libya's government says Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed by a U.S.
airstrike. But the U.S. has not said whether the strike hit its target. Belmokhtar is blamed for the deadly attack on a gas plant in Algeria in
2013.
Another large group of Syrians has arrived in Turkey. They are trying to escape an escalation of violence as Kurdish fighting forces battle ISIS
militants near the border.
On Sunday, a desperate crowd broke down a fence and illegally crossed into Turkey.
In South Korea, officials report five more cases and one more death from Middle East respiratory syndrome. 150 people have contracted the
virus since the outbreak hit the country nearly a month ago, 16 have died.
And despite the new cases, thousands of South Korean children are getting back into their routine, many schools across the nation reopened
this morning. Kathy Novak reports from Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHY NOVAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's back to school at Yeong Jon (ph) elementary. It's one of thousands of schools around the
country that have reopened today after being shut as a precaution because of the MERS outbreak.
The World Health organization recommended that classes should resume because transmission of the virus has not been linked to schools here in
South Korea or elsewhere.
But staff are being extra cautious. They've been taking the children's temperatures. Two students who had slightly high fevers were
sent home just to be safe. And the children are being taught to practice better personal hygiene. They're being told to wash their hands often
just like adults.
The move to reopen schools should go some way to allaying fears in the community, especially among parents. The World Health Organization has
reiterated that there appears to be no evidence of transmission into the public.
But there have been more confirmed cases of people who have contracted MERS within health facilities and the death toll continues to climb.
And experts say it's too early to predict when that will end.
Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: Let's get more now on the MERS virus and South Korea's handling of the outbreak. Malik Peiris is a professor of biology at the
University of Hong Kong. And you recently return from a fact finding trip with the WHO team from South Korea. You're back here in Hong Kong. Thank
you joining us.
As Kathy Novak just reported, the number of cases are on the rise, but the schools are reopening again. Are you optimistic? Do you feel that the
South Korean government has the situation under control?
MALIK PEIRIS, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Well, over the last 10 days or a week, the South Korean authorities have been enhancing their control
measures. And it seems on the basis of the new clusters of cases that are appearing that this is markedly reduced so that the measures that are put
into place are working.
However, there is quite a distance to go. So I think the next two weeks will be critical to see whether the outbreak really comes under
control.
LU STOUT: So, still quite a distance to go.
What else does South Korea need to do?
PEIRIS: I think they have got all the measures in place now. It really needs to be implemented with vigilance and thoroughness. And also
look for transmission in the community, because so far transmission primarily has been at the hospital level, which is reassuring to some
extent. So, in other words, the pattern is similar to what we have seen in the Middle East.
So, as we get the transmission in the hospitals under control, we need to be having high surveillance in the community to make sure it doesn't
spill out into the community.
[08:35:20] LU STOUT: And science behind the virus, how is MERS transmitted from person to person?
PEIRIS: Well, it's largely transmitted by droplets, that is by coughing and sneezing from one person to another.
LU STOUT: Like SARS.
PEIRIS: Like SARS, but also like SARS it is very stable on surfaces. So the virus can survive for more than a day. And it is also probably
being transmitted by that route.
LU STOUT: There is no cure. There is no vaccine. Is that going to change any time soon?
PEIRIS: Well, there is no specific anti-viral agent or a magic bullet specific for MERS. But there are treatment modalities, such as supporting
patients respiration with oxygen ventilation and many things.
So there is a lot that can be done, although we don't have a specific anti-viral agent, nor do we have a vaccine any time soon.
LU STOUT: And the origin of the virus, the link to camels, what precisely is the link? How did the virus cross the species barrier?
PEIRIS: So the virus has been in camels for quite a long time, for many decades as far as one can tell now. And it's occasionally crossing
from camels to humans in the Middle East. And even more rarely it is transmitting from human to human. And you get these clusters of cases.
But that is a very rare occurrence.
The problem now in South Korea is that there is this human to human transmission. And that needs to be controlled by standard public health
measures.
LU STOUT: The -- we have this cluster of cases in South Korea. Human to human transmission. You find that very worrying.
This is the largest outbreak outside of Saudi Arabia. Are you optimistic that the outbreak will end in just a few week's time?
PEIRIS: Well, the outbreak in Saudi Arabia was brought under control. When that outbreak went on for at least two months, and probably even
longer. And the outbreak was larger, at least 250 lone cases, probably more than that in real time more or less.
So, I think it's perfectly possible to bring this outbreak under control. We just need to push on with the measures that are in place.
LU STOUT: And lessons learned so far from this ongoing MERS outbreak in South Korea and applying them to other populations, especially here in
Hong Kong, very jittery after experiencing the SARS outbreak of over a decade ago. And of course you were on the front line of that. You brief
government officials here in Hong Kong. What did you tell them about what they needed to know about MERS?
PEIRIS: Well, they updated them with what we have understood from the mission. Hong Kong, of course, has got a whole raft of measures up in
place. And so I think there are no additional steps that are required in Hong Kong.
And I think also because of the measures taken in South Korea to prevent, now completely prevent anybody who is on the contact list from
traveling, the chance of it spilling out of South Korea is probably reduced.
LU STOUT: OK.
Very encouraging to hear. Malik Peiris, thank you so much for joining us here on the program to tell us more about what you've learned about the
outbreak in South Korea and the reasons why you're optimistic that it could be controlled and that the human to human transmission won't go beyond
South Korea. Fingers crossed on that. Thank you so much.
Now, after a long slumber, the Philae lander has finally woken up. Up next, what scientists say they are now learning from the first space probe
to land on a comet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:21] LU STOUT: Ah, another sparkling night here in Hong Kong.
You're back watching News Stream.
Now the first space probe to land on a comet is back online, even after a seven month long nap. The European space agency says that the
Philae lander woke up on Saturday and transmitted what it dubs a hello.
The probe shut down after landing in a shadowy spot that prevented it from getting enough sunlight to stay powered. And scientists are now
waiting for Philae to send back more of the data that it has obtained.
Moviegoers around the world flocked to the theaters this weekend for the opening of Jurassic World. And the thriller has brought in a whopping
$511 million, making it the biggest global opening ever. The previous record was set four years ago by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part
II.
Universal's fourth entry in the dinosaur franchise has far exceeded analysts expectations. It's also the second biggest U.S. opening in movie
history. The top spot, still held by the Avengers in 2012.
Now Jurassic World's lead actor Chris Pratt has become one of Hollywood's biggest stars, but according to an interview with Entertainment
Weekly, it hasn't always been easy for him to land the leading role. He told the magazine that he walked out of a failed audition for Avatar
thinking this, quote, "I would never have that thing."
Now that thing being the so-called It factor that studios are looking for.
Never say never, though. Look at where he is today, the leading man of the record breaking hit.
And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.
END