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Chinese Inspectors Seize 800 Tons of Putrid Meat Bound for Markets; Death Toll Surpasses 1,000 in Pakistani Heat Wave; ISIS Attacks Kobane Again; Greeks Attempt to Reach Last Minute Debt Deal with Creditors. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired June 25, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:10] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Over 1,000 people are dead in Pakistan's punishing heat wave.

Another food scandal shakes China as authorities seize frozen meat that's decades old.

And explosions in Kobane as ISIS pushes back in the Syrian border town that was recently liberated.

The crushing heat in Pakistan has claimed more than 1,000 lives. Many people have been doing whatever they can to cope with the sweltering

temperatures. They say the government is not doing enough to help.

Hospitals need ice and beds. And they have treated thousands of people in the past few days. And there are fears the death toll will

continue to rise.

Now Karachi's largest operating morgue is over capacity and one central cemetery is full. Saima Mohsin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At one of the city's central graveyards, there's no room for the dead. Mohammad Aktal (ph) is a

gravedigger here. He's struggling to find places to bury people, carving out this thin sliver of soil between two graves to bury someone's loved

ones.

"The situation here is on the brink," he tells me. "There's just no room and we're scraping out bits of land on the edges to find somewhere,

anywhere. With hundreds dying, we have to find somewhere for them to be buried."

He sounds dejected and defeated.

"Now people are opening up old graves and buying their dead in them. I bury eight to 10 people a day. And I'm working day and night, 24 hours."

As we walk through the cemetery, I noticed how cool it is. It's the gift of the trees, he says. Salvation from the sun.

In fact, we found several elderly people seeking shelter here, a bizarre place to find refuge.

Some struggling to breathe in the heat.

"Splash water on your face," he says. "Splash water or you'll die."

This graveyard is one of the closest to the hospitals and the morgue where patients and the dead are taking over. There's no room for them

there. And there's no room to find a final resting place here.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Karachi, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And remember, this terrible heat wave started on Friday.

Now let's bring in Saima Mohsin now live from Karachi. And Saima, the death toll from the heat wave now past 1,000. So what is being done to

prevent more loss of life?

MOHSIN: Well, as far as the government is concerned, precious little, Kristie. There's a lot of frustration and a lot of anger that the

government wasn't prepared in the first place, didn't provide enough awareness to the public about the heat and what they should do.

And now in response they seem to be failing at every level. Hospitals are full to capacity but unable to deal with the people. They don't have

enough beds. And then as we saw in my report the last two days, the morgues attacked. They don't have power to keep the cold storage units

cool. And now we're seeing the graveyards are full.

It's a really tough situation. And it really exposes the lack of infrastructure and lack of good governance in this part of Pakistan.

And you mentioned the rising death toll, well (inaudible) see that increasing because, Kristie, these are the official figures. These are the

figures we know from government hospitals or officials who are trying to monitor this. But there are many, many rural, remote communities in

(inaudible) province which is -- a lot of it is desert beyond Karachi. There may be people that are burying their dead very quickly and not

reporting it at all.

And then there is, of course, a string of private hospitals, because there are not enough government hospitals, or adequately equipped ones,

that also are treating people for heat stroke.

So, that figure of more than a 1,000 is likely to be a conservative one -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: So, the death toll is likely to rise further. The situation there very, very challenging. So, Saima, how are people getting

by? How are they coping with this extreme heat, especially now during the fasting month of Ramadan?

[08:05:00] MOHSIN: Yeah, this month is turning out to be a bigger test than perhaps it was supposed to be. The month of Ramadan is a month

where you fast from sunrise to sunset to find empathy with the poor, but people seem to be punishing themselves beyond the need to do so. In fact,

imams are reminding them that they don't have to fast if they're not well enough to do so.

But we are seeing an incredible community spirit here. Once again, we're seeing residents helping each other out, the rich stepping forward as

well, a lot of donations being made, food being handed out on the streets and drink as well, which is usually the case in Ramadan, but certainly I

think it's a lot more than we've seen.

People really trying to step up and help one another give their neighbors food and drink. And also, a lot of people reminding each other

that their obligation to fast doesn't just have to be in this month in this punishing heat. They can fast and pray and offer Ramadan fasting another

time in the year, too.

So, there is a big community spirit, but that's because there is such a vacuum of governance -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Saima Mohsin reporting on how people are coping during this very punishing heat wave. Thank you, Saima.

And the high temperatures in Karachi have eased a little, but people they are still waiting for the relief of the monsoon.

Now CNN's Chad Myers joins me now with the forecast -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Krsitie Lu, yes, I don't even think the monsoon will get here for another couple of weeks. And it's the

humidity that is in place, but the rain that is not in place.

And although our temperatures have gone down the past couple of days, our heat index, that heat and humidity added together really has not gone

down. It is still very hot across this area.

The current index in Karachi is 42. Now it has been as high as 52, I get it, but it's about 5:00 now in the afternoon. Things are beginning to

cool down.

Here is where we were on Saturday, the temperature, the air in the shade was 44.8. Today, we were somewhere around 36. So, it's going the

right direction, but the heat is still very high, the heat index is high because the humidity is still there and in fact going up.

The heat has come down, but the humidity has come up. So meeting together somewhere, where Karachi today, somewhere between 49 and 51 will

be the heat index. And the heat continues for tomorrow, it continues for Saturday and Sunday, heat index tomorrow. Karachi will be 43.

That's above your body temperature. Your body temperature is 37. So, if the heat index is above your body temperature, you can't even wet

yourself down with water and hope for the evaporation to cool you off, because it wont work, because the heat index is higher. The humidity won't

allow the water to evaporate. Your sweat doesn't evaporate as well.

And so although we're cooling down slightly, it is going to be awhile for -- now this was a late arriving monsoon in India, too. We talked about

the deaths in India, because the monsoon was late. This monsoon is also late, although almost on time here for the very farthest west part of it.

So we should be somewhere along this red line and we're very close now, July 1, July 15, where two weeks away probably for Karachi to really get

the almost sometimes punishing rains, but they'll take those rains, they'll take the clouds, they take the lower humidity in the afternoon as the rain

comes in, because the temperatures here at 34 right now in the afternoon are still going to be high all the way through the night.

It's not even cooling down through the evening.

It's nice when it gets down into the 20s in the evening, but it hasn't done that now for weeks, Kristie Lu.

LU STOUT: And Chad Myers reporting on the crushing heat wave there in Pakistan and what makes it so deadly. Thank you so much for that, Chad.

You're watching News Stream. Still to come on the program, a meat scandal that will make your stomach churn. China confiscates some 800 tons

of smuggled frozen meat bound for supermarkets, some of it more than four decades old.

Also ahead, Kobane in crisis: ISIS militants have returned to attacked the embattled Syrian city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:10:54] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, in a month long crackdown, China has seized 800 tons of rotten and tainted meat, most of it headed for restaurants and supermarkets in

Hunan province.

Now some of it dates back to the 70s. And as Ivan Watson reports, it is not China's first dealing with poisonous food.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERANTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The butchers here, as you can see, are making kabobs. And they've been telling me that their

meat is fresh and safe and they don't do any tricks like adding water to beef, which he says some other people do to try to raise the weight and try

to make more money off of sales.

Now, we're here in this popular Beijing market, because another food safety scandal has rocked this country, created some real outrage. And the

details of it are frankly very revolting.

You've had customs agents who have conducted raids in at least 14 different provinces across the country. They have confiscated more than

100,000 tons of frozen meat, which they say is not safe. And they've arrested more than 20 people that they say were involved in smuggling

unsafe and in some cases rotting meats.

Now some of the customs agents, they discovered that some of the meat is believed to be older than the customs agents themselves,. some of it

dating back to the 1970s.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't feel good about this. The meat is on your dinner table. Was there any inspection at all?

Think about it, we could be eating bad meat.

WATSON: This isn't the first time that Chinese have learned about a really disturbing food safety scandal, but the worst of them probably took

place in 2008 when it was discovered that a chemical called melamine was being added to baby formula, to baby's milk. Thousands of children got

sick, at least six infants believed to have died as a result of this.

Now, the Chinese legislature, it has passed a new law that will go into effect in October. And it's supposed to make more strict penalties

for people who add inedible substances to food. But in the meantime, this latest scandal involving 40 year old rotting meat, well that's only going

to further shake confidence that people have in the food that they serve on their dinner tables and the food that they eat in restaurants.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now ISIS is once again attacking a Syrian border town that Kurdish forces fought long and hard for earlier this year. This video, it

shows an explosion that tore through Kobane earlier. And it wasn't the only bomb that went off.

And there were other attacks as well.

Local fighters say ISIS militants sneaked into Kobane wearing Kurdish uniforms, and some are said to be holed up inside the town.

Now again, this is town that Kurds managed to take back from ISIS after a drawn-out battle earlier this year.

Now let's go straight to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh now. He is monitoring developments in Syria from nearby Lebanon. And Nick, is this true? Have

ISIS fighters reentered Kobane?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But it appears to have been a bid to I think sow fear inside Kobane amongst that

frankly not enormous population that's been able to live in the ruins of that city.

Early this morning, as you described, it seems that they used YPG, Kurdish military uniforms, to get themselves inside that city.

Suggestions, in fact, some of them even spoke Kurdish according to eyewitnesses, knocking on doors in that town, telling people to come out

and then opening fire upon them.

A spokesperson for the Kurds there telling me that a large number of civilians were killed because simply they came out, thought these people

were friendly and then discovered them open fire.

It's unclear really how many have lost their lives in this morning's attack. Two car bombs appear to have proceeded it. One came from the

south, I'm told, a truck, and there has been some what appears to be surveillance video showing a white truck, in fact, also detonating in that

particular area.

The source I spoke to there, the official inside there saying actually they were looking more at a motorcycle that may have come in from the

northern direction.

Now there's been a lot of speculation to any of these vehicles crossed in from Turkey. That's not what the official I spoke to has suggesting at

this stage. And there's a lot of open ground around Kobane, which people could use to infiltrate were they to choose to do so.

But at this stage, we are told by this Kurdish official there are a number of ISIS militants still inside one building there that the Kurds are

trying to flush out at this stage. It appears to have been a flurry this morning, rather than a longer-term bid to reclaim territory by ISIS,

Kristie.

LU STOUT: Some (inaudible) video of these new attacks there in Kobane.

And meanwhile, another ISIS offensive in al Hasakah. What's happening there?

WALSH: Well, I think you need to look at this really I think in the context of the past two weeks in which ISIS has lost substantial ground to

the Kurds, particularly Tal Abyad, a vital border town, like Kobane which they use to get people in and out of Raqqa. That is now in Kurdish hands.

So, this morning we are hearing this news of a two-pronged offensive against Kobane, but also against Syrian regime forces, it seems, in

Hasakah. That's substantially more to the east of Kobane.

Now this perhaps is a bid by ISIS to suggest, and there is no suggestion here of substantial amounts of territory being retaken by them.

It's a bid, in fact, by ISIS to try and show that they can lurch forward when perhaps seen to be on the back foot.

And I think many also are wondering quite whether the Kurds are looking to amass firepower to the north of Raqqa, the capital of ISIS's

self-declared caliphate. And then try and harass that particular city. Maybe these two attacks are a bid to try and distract ISIS, occupy them

elsewhere, sorry, distract the Kurds, occupy them elsewhere, so they can't in fact pressure Raqqa -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And will it succeed in distracting the Kurds? I mean, especially in Kobane, can Kurdish forces succeed in fending off this new

offensive there?

WALSH: Well, it appears according to what they're saying that they have for the most part under control what is happening in Kobane. Though,

of course the situation is always constantly fluid.

I think you have to bear in mind this appears to have been a bid to get into that town through subterfuge, through the use of Kurdish uniforms,

rather than a flat offensive into one particular side.

Interesting to note, though, that they say the Kurdish official I spoke to that there were attacks from both the east and the west of that

city. And it is a vitally symbolic town, because of the level of attention they've got so close to Turkish border, so filmable by the journalists who

watched that battle play out, and the coalition airstrikes that ultimately swung it around. And now frankly the damage to that town so substantial

and enormous, its very little really left there to fight over in terms of a city that can foster life in the future -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Nick Paton Walsh reporting on these multiple ISIS assaults this day in Syria, many thanks indeed for your reporting,

Nick.

Now the CEO of Takata has apologized for the death and injury caused by his company's airbags. They have been linked to at least eight deaths

when faulty bags exploded. The largest ever recall of faulty cars is getting even bigger. Toyota and Nissan are now recalling an additional 3

million vehicles because of new information from Takata.

Now 176 million airbags on the driver's side, and 162 million on the passenger side, are being recalled.

Now still, no deal between Greece and its creditors, and now allegations of bias and unfair treatment coming from the Greek camp. Harsh

words from the Greek prime minister ahead on News Stream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:04] LU STOUT: Zooming in to Hong Kong right here. Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

Now let's bring up an official version we have of the show today. Now we've already told you about that oppressive and punishing heat wave in

Pakistan. A little bit later in the show, we'll show you a school that helps North Korean defectors adjust to life in the South.

But now, in Brussels, the heads of state in government who make up the European Council, they are to start discussing migration and security in

the European Union.

Now tensions are rising among member countries over migrants. Now the summit comes against a backdrop of chaotic scenes in the French port of

Calais here thousands of migrants have gathered in a camp and some are prepared to take risks to make the journey across the channel. Hala Gorani

has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Running after trucks on a busy highway.

Migrants storm a road in Calais, making a desperate dash for open vehicles to hide in.

A police siren sounds, dispersing the small crowd and with batons officers force them off the trucks.

Chaos and desperation just a few hundred meters from the entrance to the Channel tunnel. Most of the migrants here are from Sudan, Ethiopia and

Eritrea. And all say they have nothing left to lose.

You're willing to take the risk to jump on one of these trucks?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

GORANI: But it's dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, it's dangerous because of -- there it is war we will die. And here we are going to die even.

GORANI: The attempt to hitch a ride almost seemed pointless at times, trying to open the doors of cars loaded on to a truck. These two men

apparently wondering if they could fit under this vehicle.

The desperation we see here is leading people to try just about anything to make it across. They'll jump on board the truck, sure, but

some will actually hold on to the undercarriage of the vehicles.

They say they'll do anything because Britain holds the promise of a better future, something they tell me they are just not finding here in

France.

25-year-old Said (ph) is from Afghanistan.

Why do you think life is better in England?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because England gives more opportunity, because you can work there. In France, you cannot work.

GORANI: Lorry drivers here are largely patient. We saw them calmly inspect their vehicles for clandestine passengers. But this man, whose

truck was overrun by migrants, was in no mood to carry an extra load today.

Inside, migrants come out from every corner. The driver bangs on boxes with a metal crowbar, others emerge. But did more climb on to the

truck than came out? Hard to say.

Amid all the chaos, moments of humanity. A driver hands a migrant a bottle of water and gets a thumbs up as a thank you.

Today, authorities have started building a fence near this makeshift camp to keep illegal migrants from storming the highway. Eventually, it

will be several kilometers long.

But until then, these scenes will be routine. The ferry strikes on Tuesday highlighted a crisis that's been ongoing here for years.

In the distance, men lie flat on the roof of more trucks. Will they make it? Will they get caught? Either way, they're willing to take a

life-changing risk to find out.

Hala Gorani, CNN, Calais.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, Greece and its creditors are racing the clock in Brussels as debt negotiations go down

to the wire. We've got a report from Athens just after the break.

And later in the hour, we take you inside a small school in suburban Seoul where young defectors from North Korea are learning how to live

outside the world's most reclusive state. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now the intense heat in Pakistan has killed more than 1,000 people. And there are fears the death toll will rise even more. Hospitals there

are overwhelmed and frequent power outages are making the situation even worse.

Now South Korea's health ministry says Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has killed two more people to bring the death toll there to 29.

Now 77 people are currently being treated for the virus and there have been a total of 180 MERS cases in the South Korean outbreak.

Now EuroZone ministers have resumed talks with Greek leaders in Brussels after late night negotiations failed to break the deadlock.

Athens has just days to persuade Europe to hand over the bailout cash it needs to hold off a default on June 30th, that's when Greece must make a

loan repayment of nearly $2 billion to the International Monetary Fund.

North Koreans who have managed to defect to the south often go through extreme culture shock. And for many, the journey out of the north passes

through China and eventually to South Korea.

Now, one school in Seoul tries to help young defectors adjust. And Kathy Novak has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY NOVAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Starting from scratch, a class in their mother tongue. These North Korean children grew up

speaking Mandarin, because their parents made the risky trip across the border to China, and even then they weren't completely safe.

"Living in China," Chai Yun-hye (ph) explains, "there are people who seize North Koreans. If you are caught, you are sent back."

They have a lot more freedom here, but also a lot of catching up to do.

"Sometimes other children make fun of my imperfect Korean. I hear them saying why is this Chinese person here in Korea? Go back to China."

Even those who grew up in North Korea can struggle with language. Textbooks are vastly different on either side of the border, not to mention

the curriculum.

The principal can vouch for that. She was a teacher in the north.

"In North Korea," she says, "the most important subject of study is learning about the revolutionary history of Kim il-Sung and Kim Jung-il.

She tells her students to appreciate their life here, because where they're from children are going hungry and here after lunch there's even time for a

break.

At this school, these kids are getting access to things they would have never seen in North Korea. No propaganda videos here. They're

watching SpongeBob SquarePants.

While they don't have to worry about food or life under a dictatorship, it can also be tough to just fit in here. After seven years,

even the principal is still adjusting.

"It's not easy, it's very difficult," she says. "There are many days when I cry alone. Some days it is very painful and I can't help but ask

myself why do I live like this?"

She hopes with a bit of extra help, it won't be quite as bad for these kids.

Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:31:53] LU STOUT: And we'll be live in Athens after the break. AS Greece has just days to persuade Europe to hand over the bailout cash it

needs to hold off a default on June 30.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now some Palestinians in Jerusalem have a new grievance against Israel. They say a new highway project has literally split their

village in half. It is now part of the evidence that Palestinians will turn over to the International Criminal Court accusing Israel of war

crimes.

Now CNN's Oren Liebermann caught up with one long-time resident whose heart is broken over what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the Palestinian village of Beit Safafa, Abu Ali (ph) has built a life. Now the city of Jerusalem

builds a road

You feel it in your heart?

"It hurts in the heart," he says, "in the blood."

Now 86 years old, Abu Ali (ph) stares out upon a place he no longer recognizes. He says construction of the Begin highway extension split his

village in half without helping anyone in Beit Safafa.

"It was more beautiful than Tel Aviv, the most beautiful on Earth," Abu Ali (ph) says. "They destroyed it. They want to separate us because

they don't want Arabs."

Israel says the highway extension has been planned for years, and that it'll cut down on traffic jams and commute times around Jerusalem.

Construction of the road here in Beit Safafa was approved by the Israeli supreme court last year over the objections of the village.

That's exactly the point here, Palestinians say they're not treated fairly in the Israeli court system. As they see it, their only option is

to go to the ICC.

Beit Safafa is part of the evidence that Palestinian leadership will turn over to the ICC, the International Criminal Court, which is looking

into what's happening in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

The evidence covers settlements, treatment of prisoners and the Israeli military.

[08:35:24] MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PLO CENTRAL COUNCIL: Our goal is to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable and not to let them get

away with their crimes. Our goal is to guarantee that war crimes will not be repeated.

LIEBERMANN: Israel has objected to the Palestinian Authority joining the ICC, so has the United States, saying the process could disrupt

potential peace talks.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon says the decision of the Palestinians to join the ICC as an attempt to move processes against

Israel is political, cynical and hypocritical. The government of the PA that is unison with the murderous Hamas organization that carries our war

crimes like those carried by ISIS is the last one that can threaten to present a case to the ICC in The Hague.

The first Palestinian ICC case seems worlds away to Abu Ali (ph) who worries less about what will happen in court and more about what's

happening now in his hometown.

"They didn't leave us anything -- the school, the cemetery, the mosque. How will the kids go to school afterwards? There will be no

street," Abu Ali says. "They divided the village."

ICC court cases can take years at which point Abu Ali says there may not be a village here to worry about.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Beit Safafa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the stakes couldn't be higher for Greece. Wednesday's stalemate a clear illustration of pushback from its EuroZone lenders after

last night's talks failed to deliver a deal, Greece accused its creditors of blackmail.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took to Twitter to voice his frustration saying, quote, "the repeated rejection of equivalent measures by certain

institutions never occurred before neither in Ireland nor Portugal. Now this odd stance seems to indicate that either there was no interest in an

agreement, or that special interests are being backed."

Let's get the view on these 11th Hour negotiations from the Greece capital. Journalist Elinda Labropoulou is monitoring talks from Athens.

And she joins us now.

And Elinda, the Greek debt crisis, it is building up to a showdown. Where does it stand right now?

ELINDA LABROUPOULOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at the moment from what understand at the Eurogroup there are two separate

proposals, one from the Greek side and one from the creditor's side. But both of these documents have been leaked to the press, so there doesn't

seem to be as much of a difference in the two. And yet enough of a difference for the two to submit separate proposals.

This, of course, again throws everything up in the air, because quite sure what can be agreed today ahead of an EU summit later today, which was

the a time that we were expecting we would have probably a final agreement on this, because as we all know, time is running out. Greece's bailout

ends at the end of the month, and Greece has no access to the markets or any other form of funding. And at the same time, it has to make a payment

to the IMF.

So, just this morning you have to understand in Athens it's been a very tense time with all kinds of conflicting reports coming in, the stock

market jumping up and down, all European markets especially being affected every time that we had anything coming out of the meetings.

And of course all this is putting the Greek prime minister in a very difficult, some say impossible position, because if there is some kind of

an agreement where Greece does not seem to be one of the main partners, one of the main people behind it. And then he brings this back to Greece in

order for this to be ratified in parliament before anything else can go ahead. It will be very difficult to see it voted in.

So, between now and the end of the month, what we have is a lot of very fast developments and what the very serious developments for Greece

and Europe.

You know, fast developments, but also just so many uncertainties. Uncertainties over the pace of talks in Brussels, uncertainty of if there

is a deal if it can be sold to the Greek parliament. And also, Elinda, assuming that everyone is on board -- the creditors, Greece, Greek

parliament, if there is a new deal, how long would it last? And when would Greece need a new funding plan?

LABROPOULOU: Well, one of the key issues that Greece, with the support of the IMF, has been pushing for is for the issue of debt

sustainability, and debt relief in particular, to be addressed. This is something that for the Europeans being considerably less willing to discuss

at this point.

But this is really the key issue. It's been the key issue for months, because unless there's a long-term plan, and there's a plan for growth, it

will be very difficult not to end up in the same position very soon again.

[08:40:12] LU STOUT: The issue of debt relief very, very critical for Greece. And if a deal between Greece and the EU can not be worked out

in the next few days, what will happen?

LABROPOULOU: Well, then, we're looking at a possible default at least to the IMF from the Greek side. There have been all kinds of fears that

this could lead to a potential Grexit. So an exit for Greece from the EuroZone. Some take this even a step further saying that this could even

lead to Greece leaving the European Union.

But, after looking at something that's unprecedented -- no, this is not -- there's no provision for this in any of the EuroZone agreements. It

was always going to be a union where somebody cannot leave. We're looking at a new territory and it will all depend on even if we have a Greek

default, what this default would entail, what the technical details would be to see where that would lead next.

But, really, this is very new territory. So it's not quite clear what the repercussions would be.

LU STOUT: Yeah, to avoid a messy default and its repercussions it is indeed crunch time for Greece and the EU.

Elinda Labroupoulou reporting live for us from Athens. Thank you for that.

Now, former dictator from Panama Manuel Noriega is apologizing from prison.

Now in a televised statement, he asked for forgiveness for the country's past military rule. Noriega has been in prison for 26 years. He

still faces several charges of human rights abuses stemming from his six year rule.

The 81-year-old Noriega said that he wanted to bring closure to the military era.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL NORIEGA, FRM. DICTATOR OF PANAMA (through translator): I'm asking for forgiveness from everyone who feels offended, affected, wronged

or humiliated by my actions or those of my superiors in compliance with orders, or those of my subordinates in the same state, and in the time of

the responsibility of my government, civil, and military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Now, after the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, Noriega was convicted of drug trafficking charges in the U.S. He served time there and

in France before being jailed in Panama.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END