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Markets Bounce Back; China Stock Crash Triggers Global Uncertainty; Train Terror Attack; Speculation V.P. Biden Closer to U.S. Presidential Run; Three Suicides May Be Linked to Ashley Madison Hack; Slowdown in China Puts Pressure on Oil Prices; Russian Military Court Sentences Ukrainian Filmmaker; Brazilian Toucan Gets New 3D Printed Beak. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 25, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center.

And of course we're starting the show with a focus on volatile global markets. The day after the big fall we're not seeing a big bounce for U.S.

and European markets and China took action after another disastrous day for the stock exchange there.

Well, we'll have more on that shortly. First, though, let's take a look at the Dow, about 30 minutes after the opening bell, blue chips are up around

300 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are posting similar gains.

To Europe now: it's late in the trading day and the major markets are all up, mostly in the 3 percent to 4 percent range.

We're covering the story from all angles. Maggie Lake is tracking the markets in New York; Andrew Stevens is in Hong Kong with the details on big

moves from China's government.

We'll come to you, Andrew, in just a moment. I just want Maggie to unpack the numbers we're seeing today.

I mean, this time yesterday, the Dow, Maggie, had lost 1,000 points. We're now up over 300.

What do you make of all of this?

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN HOST: Yes, cooler heads are clearly prevailing today, Robyn, some human beings involved in the action, it would seem. And we are

rallying; people are taking a look at the risks out there. They're responding very positively to the moves that China made to step in after

its market closed. Andrew will go into detail on that in a moment.

But let's also put this into perspective. We're up 300 points. Futures were indicating a gain as much as 600 points. So we're not quite seeing

the force of the rally that a lot of people had hoped for. And I think that's because although people are feeling a little calmer and a little

more relieved, there's still a lot of caution as to whether the Chinese authorities really have control over this situation.

Are they doing as much as they can?

And can we really trust the numbers coming out?

And I think people sense that there is more volatility to come as all of these markets kind of reprice global risk. So definitely feeling a relief;

some people calling it turnaround Tuesday and there is more calm in the market. But there is still a sense that we have a long way to go. We're

not quite through this period yet. Certainly feels better than being down 1,000 points, though, Robyn.

CURNOW: Indeed, turnaround Tuesday. So all eyes now -- in a lot of play here -- all eyes now though on the Fed and what it does next.

LAKE: That's right. There is. And it's -- once again, it's amazing, isn't it, that we are back to looking to central banks, not only the

central bank in China, what they can do and will do to support the market, but what this means to the Federal Reserve. Everyone really thought the

Fed was on track to raise interest rates in September, the first time in many, many years we were going to see that, an attempt to return to more

normal policy.

But now with this market volatility, can they do that? Will that cause more uncertainty? Does it tie their hands?

Yesterday it seemed to be off the table; today, we've had traders just last hour, "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" and analysts saying maybe they still will.

There's a window, they want to do it. And maybe that would actually somehow help and stimulate the economy. I think this is a conversation

that's going to go right up to the day that they sit around that table. I think there is uncertainty within the Fed.

This, of course, is so important because it's going to impact currencies around the world. It's going to impact confidence. And we want to see

what they say about all this volatility and all of this deflationary risk we still see.

One thing to point out, though, Robyn, even if they do raise rates, we are still at such historical lows. A lot of people saying it wouldn't even be

a tightening. It would just be sort of ratcheting back to still normal but very, very stimulative. So it's important to keep that in mind.

But I think it's fair to say, Andrew, that it is all really about what happens with the People's Bank of China.

CURNOW: Exactly. Maggie, we're going to leave it at that.

And, indeed, Andrew, I mean, how do you think it's going to all play out? The Chinese have cut interest rates, taking other action.

Is it going to work?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll they've cut interest rates before, Robyn. They've cut interest rates several times before, five times

if you include this one, since last November. And patently, up until today, it hadn't had the desired effect. Whether or not the 25 basis point

cut does have the effect remains to be seen. But people I've been speaking to since say that may be unlikely to stir a lot of life into the Chinese

economy.

It may, though, provide some sort of respite for the market. We've seen two massive days of selloffs in China and now there are 7.5 percent fall

today on top of the 8.5 percent yesterday. And people in China, these investors in China have been looking to the central authorities to do

something, to help them.

And we had two days of radio silence from the China authorities, broken after the market closed today with this move, an interest rate cut and plus

they are freeing up more money for the banks to lend to people -- obviously now at a lower rate because the interest rates are lower -- by cutting back

--

[10:05:00] STEVENS: -- this thing known as the reserve requirement ratio, which fundamentally frees up money.

What is likely to happen -- what they're hoping will happen -- is this will calm investors' nerves. You might get a bit of a respite from this

relentless selling we've seen.

As to actually stimulating the economy in a meaningful way, the jury's out on that; probably less likely. But one thing to keep in mind, Robyn, here

-- and this is interesting. This is sort of a tyranny of distance, if you like, interesting to listen to Maggie talking about how people in New York

view China.

Research notes here in Hong Kong today from lot of the big banks, a lot of the researchers based here in Hong Kong, say the Chinese economy isn't as

bad as the bears are making it out to be. They say that there are pocket of hope and that, yes, we did have a bad number but there are other

indicators which are showing the economy is performing not as badly as you'd expect.

So that's the view from the ground here, if you like, compared with the global view, which is still very bearish on China.

CURNOW: OK. Andrew Stevens, we're going to leave it at that. Thanks so much for joining us.

Now let's talk about why China's economy is having such a big impact, though, on world markets. I'm joined from New York by CNN global economic

analyst Rana Foroohar. Rana has reported extensively from China. She's also the assistant managing editor for "Time" magazine.

Thanks a lot for coming into the studio. And, Rana, explain this to us. Many people, though, have been sounding the alarm on China for a while now,

that it's really the next big threat to the global economy.

How do you think this is going to play out, bearing in mind what Andrew's also just said?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very interesting. In some ways this market crash is sort of the echo of 2008. So back then, American

consumers, Western consumers stopped spending, pulled back, deleveraged. Somebody had to pick up the slack on that and that somebody was China.

So over the last few years, they have been brewing up this epic debt bubble. To the debt-to-GDP ratio in China is now about 300 percent, which

is more than three times the U.S. rate.

So this is really an unprecedented debt bubble and it's now popping.

Now to go to your point about how, you know, maybe the view from Asia is a little more bullish, China's a big country, just like the U.S. It's got

bright spots. We've got Silicon Valley, but we've got a lot of parts of the Rust Belt that aren't doing very well.

China has a lot of ghost towns where real estate is standing empty. It's got a big shift that it needs to make still to being a consumption economy.

So no matter what Tim Cook of Apple says about how many gadgets the Chinese are going to buy, consumer spending relative to government spending is

still quite low and that needs to be rebalanced.

CURNOW: There's also the question of just how interconnected -- you're talking about Tim Cook -- but just how interconnected is China's economy

not just to the rest of the world but specifically how will its fortunes, in fact, ricochet around emerging markets?

FOROOHAR: Oh, it's huge for emerging markets. There are any number of commodities, rich emerging markets, that are essentially plays on the

China's story, so parts of West Africa, Brazil, Russia, these are all countries that rise and fall based on Chinese energy and raw material

demands.

And so when you see a slide like you have over the last few years in China, those countries really are in trouble. And it, again, it sort of

illustrates this thing, this bigger point that the global economy has not rebalanced. You've still got the West and, in particular, the U.S. sort of

pulling this consumption engine along.

You've got a number of emerging markets that are -- have a tremendous amount of hot money flowing out and a Chinese rebalancing and

restructuring, a deep restructuring of the economy that still needs to happen.

CURNOW: OK. So let's go to China then.

What are the political implications of all of this?

FOROOHAR: Huge. I actually think that China is at the most delicate political moment that it's been at for 20 years. Xi Jinping, the leader of

China, is trying to consolidate power. As part of that, he's been doing a corruption purge. You've seen a lot of leaders in many parts of the

country go under or be sent to jail.

And some people think that's good. Some people think that he's consolidating power in order to carry out reforms that are going to make

that shift that I was talking about.

Other people say, hey, maybe he's the new Mao. And maybe political risk is a lot greater in China than we thought it was in the past. And I think

that's something markets are responding to, particularly when you see the kind of schizophrenic policy moves that you have over the last few weeks,

where you've got the government supporting the markets to the tune of 400 billion and then suddenly saying, OK, we're going to let them fall.

So who's in charge, what are the decisions, markets are very worried about this.

CURNOW: OK. Great to have your perspective, Rana, thank you so much for joining us.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

CURNOW: OK, we'll have much more on the markets throughout the day. But you can also follow stocks on cnnmoney.com and read about how this selloff

compared to past drops.

[10:10:00]

CURNOW: You're at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Still ahead, the suspect accused of plotting a terror attack on a French train has been brought to

court. We're live in Paris with the latest.

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CHRIS NORMAN, BRITISH TRAIN HERO (voice-over): I'm not going to be the guy that just dies sitting down.

CURNOW (voice-over): Hear from one of the men who helped bring down the gunman, why he says fear didn't stop him from taking action. All that and

more here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK.

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CURNOW: ISIS has released photos that appear to show the destruction of an ancient temple in Syria. In the images, you can see a large explosion at a

2,000-year-old temple in Palmyra. It's just the latest act of cultural vandalism by the extremist group.

The U.N. cultural watchdog, UNESCO, condemned the temple's destruction as a, quote, "war crime."

Fourteen people have been detained in a joint anti-terror operation by Morocco and Spain. The suspects were arrested in a Madrid suburb as well

as several locations in Morocco and they're accused of being part of a network that recruited foreign fighters to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The family of a man who was shot while trying to bring down a gunman on a French train says his condition has worsened. Mark Moogalian was shot in

the neck as he attempted to take the gun away from the shooter on Friday. His sister-in-law says his health deteriorated overnight. Four others,

including three Americans and a Briton, were also involved in subduing the gunman on the train. One of those men, British citizen, Chris Norman,

spoke to CNN earlier about his actions.

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NORMAN: My position was that I'm not going to be the guy that just dies sitting down, being shot, trying to hide somewhere. You know, you really

need to be prepared for action. And although in the first instance I was really -- how can I put it -- I was really scared -- in fact, I remained

scared throughout most of the intervention -- I decided that really you need to -- you know, if you're going to die, at least try and do something

about it and try to make a contribution to bringing him down, if that's what it turns out to be.

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CURNOW: Chris Norman there.

Well, in less than an hour, French prosecutors are set to announce charges against the alleged gunman. Ayoub El-Khazzani has been taken by motorcade

to the main court in the French capital.

Our Martin Savidge joins me now from Paris.

He's been -- his lawyer's been saying that robbery was his only intent. Is anyone buying that?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outside of the attorney, no, I don't think so, maybe the suspect himself. But, no, there are very few people

who buy this, that he allegedly found the weapons that he used -- and he had a number of them, apparently in some kind of a suitcase in a park in

Brussels and that his intent was merely to get on this train --

[10:15:00]

SAVIDGE: -- and somehow take money from people.

No, no one outside of the attorney, who has put this forward, is buying into that. So what we're expecting is that in a short time, the suspect

will go before a judge here in France and it's likely that it'll be charged. We expect those charges to be related to terrorism but we won't

know until the prosecutor has that news conference, which is scheduled for just a short time from now.

And we also expect to hear more about the investigation, such as, you know, what do they know and where is this investigation headed? And is it

possible that he is linked to any known terrorist organization -- Robyn.

CURNOW: What's the mood like in Paris? It's been a tough year.

SAVIDGE: It has been very tough. And I think the French president today was saying that we always -- meaning the people of France -- always have to

be aware that this is now a new reality and that we have to be ready to face the possibility of another terrorist attack, to be vigilant.

The other issue that's been brought up here is of course security on the trains and that is one that is pressing on many people's minds. Right now

there is no security like you might go through, say, to get on board an airplane, to get on board a French train.

If you're going to be inspected it used to be a random event. So that is also, too, part of the conversation here.

CURNOW: OK. Martin Savidge in Paris, thank you so much -- and of course we will carry that press conference live when the prosecutor does speak and

give some idea as to the charges and the status of the investigation. We'll bring that straight to you.

And of course you're at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Still to come, Hillary Clinton may face a major challenge in the Democratic race

for U.S. president. But find out why there's more and more buzz about Vice President Joe Biden.

And the dark side of a massive hack: at least two suicides could be linked to the breach of a website for married couples seeking affairs. The

fallout from the Ashley Madison hack -- that's next.

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CURNOW: Just want to take you straight to the U.S. markets. Let's check in on how they are trading right now.

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CURNOW (voice-over): There they are. Let's just see -- up over 345 points, rallying quite strong after yesterday's huge losses.

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CURNOW: Now there's increasing speculation that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is closer to jumping into the Democratic race for president. A

senior Democrat says U.S. President Barack Obama has given Biden his blessing and that this buzz about a weekend meeting between Biden and

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, a left-wing favorite.

Let's get more on this story from senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.

Hi, there, Joe.

Can Joe Biden knit together a competitive campaign so late in the game?

And also against rather powerful Hillary Clinton machine?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think those are the big questions as he ponders all of this, look, the real question for him is

whether he can knit together the kind of organization when many of the top Democratic volunteers as well as experienced campaign veterans are already

committed to other campaigns.

There's also an issue of fundraising, whether he can get fundraisers --

[10:20:00]

JOHNS: -- and donors in the tent when so many of those are also committed, many of them, of course, to Hillary Clinton, who has quite an organization,

a formidable organization, already up and running.

So these are the things he is trying to look into as he meets over the coming days and perhaps the next two or three weeks with Democrats from

across the spectrum to figure out if there are enough people out there and enough resources to actually make this thing work -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Political, is he seen as Obama's heir?

And is that a good thing or a bad thing?

JOHNS: There's not a lot of room or distance between President Obama and Joe Biden. He is seen as a very likable person here at the White House and

that stands him in good stead. On the other hand, the real question, I think, is what's the difference between Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton?

Because they go back in Democratic politics quite a ways. So these are the kinds of things that he'd also have to figure out how to differentiate

himself.

One of the things that's come up over the last 24 hours -- call it spin, if you will -- is Biden suggesting apparently to friends and people close to

him that he doesn't think Hillary Clinton would do a good job with the issue of economic equality, which Biden sees as a huge issue. He sees that

as a liability for Hillary Clinton because she's made so much money giving speeches and because of her connection to The Clinton Foundation.

So he's going to have to draw some real contrast between himself and Hillary Clinton if he decides to get into the race -- Robyn.

CURNOW: So with that in mind, what does this mean for Hillary Clinton? Is it just like a -- is a little irritant or is this potentially a very

serious problem for her in terms of that nomination?

JOHNS: A lot of the questions here in Washington are about the Hillary Clinton email problem and just where that's going, even some fundraisers

suggesting they're just a little bit concerned about how this could all turn out.

And if you look at the polling it is pretty clear that Democrats see Joe Biden as a pretty good second choice in the event Hillary Clinton stumbles.

Now Hillary Clinton's campaign has been asked some questions about Joe Biden. And so far they've been very complimentary, careful not to say

anything ugly or mean. Privately, when you talk to people who have been in Joe Biden's circle, they are a bit concerned about the idea of him running.

On the other hand, many of the people on the progressive side, the liberal wing of the party, if you will, have already suggested that they're pretty

happy with Bernie Sanders, who's already in the race -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. Well, then let's widen it out a bit. Joe Biden is very likable. There's a great sense of seeing him as sort of an Uncle Joe.

What does it mean if he -- if he is, if he gets the nomination and he's up against the Republicans?

How does this play? How does this play in terms of the greater theater of this -- of this presidential run, which is really still more than a year

away as well, we must not forget.

JOHNS: Yes, right. Well, and it all depends -- we'd have to agree -- on who the Republican nominee --

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CURNOW: Yes, that's why I'm leading you onto that question --

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: Right. And I'm not ready to predict that. But I can tell you that one of the things Joe Biden's known for in Washington, D.C., is candor, his

ability to sort of speak his mind in sometimes to the detriment of his own political message. That is one thing.

Another thing, I think, is his connection with blue-collar Democrats and even some Republicans out in some of those tough states, like Pennsylvania

and other places, where Democrats have often been called Reagan Democrats.

So Biden has that innate ability to speak to blue-collar America, which some other Democrats might not be able to do -- again, on the downside, the

question is whether his candor could, at the end of the day, cost him some votes.

CURNOW: Well, it certainly hasn't cost Donald Trump any votes, being straight-talking, has it?

Thanks so much, Joe Johns there at the White House, appreciate all your perspective and analysis. Thank you.

Now police in Toronto, Canada, are investigating two suicides that could be linked to the hack of Ashley Madison. That's the dating website for

married people seeking affairs.

Thirty-two million accounts were leaked last week, exposing celebrities, politicians, government employees, lawyers and many more.

Laurie Segall joins me now live from New York.

This story -- I mean, it has so many levels to it, doesn't it? And I mean --

[10:25:00]

CURNOW: -- now this news that perhaps two people have killed themselves because of what happened. It's terrible.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly not a victimless crime, I'll say that. You have the Toronto police coming out and saying they're

investigating links into two suicides, that they believe these people are people who had their data leaked.

Another one here in the United States, a San Antonio police captain committed suicide days after his information was leaked. I've confirmed

that his information was on the site, although it appears he had never really done any transactions or used a card.

So you're really beginning to wrap your head around the fact that this isn't a victimless crime, Robyn. And I'll say this: we're also looking at

hackers who are trying to extort people. We have a copy of an email sent from a hacker to people on the list, saying if you don't -- if you don't

pay me $200 -- or the equivalent of one bitcoin, which is this digital currency on the Web -- I'm going to tell your significant other that you're

on this list. You have seven days to do this.

So you're really beginning to see that there is a huge backlash and so many people are affected by this hack -- Robyn.

CURNOW: So many people affected by the hack. Any more details on who did it, they did it? And the investigation into it?

SEGALL: We know -- we initially know that this is a group that calls itself the Impact Team. We know that they consider themselves hacktivists,

that they did this because they believe this site was immoral.

But we don't have too many details on whether or not they're making much progress with the investigation. The Toronto police said yesterday that

it's going in a quote-unquote "positive direction." They've also offered a reward, $400,000, to anyone who has any information that can lead to their

arrests.

So you do get the idea that they're really, really searching for leads at this point -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. Laurie Segall in New York, thank you very much for joining us.

SEGALL: Thank you.

CURNOW: This is the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Ahead, how China's economic slowdown is impacting emerging economies. We'll have a live report. Stay

with us.

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CURNOW: Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here's a check of the headlines.

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CURNOW (voice-over): A big rebound today on Wall Street after Monday's rout. Right now the Dow industrials are up over 270 points there, European

markets and most of the --

[10:30:00]

CURNOW (voice-over): -- Asian markets are also much higher today.

A boost in global markets put even more momentum after China's government announced it's lowering interest rates and making it easier for banks to

lend money. Beijing took action after the benchmark Shanghai Composite plunged 7.5 percent, its straight second day drop. It's off 42 percent

from its June high.

In France, prosecutors are set to announce charges against a suspect in an attack on a train headed for Paris. Moroccan national Ayoub El-Khazzani

was taken earlier to the main court in the French capital.

Meanwhile the family of a man who was shot trying to disarm the gunman says his condition has worsened.

North Korea and South Korea have agreed to end their standoff. South Korea is shutting down propaganda broadcasts on the border and the North has

expressed regret over land mine blasts that wounded two soldiers.

Pyongyang is also lifting the, quote, "semi-war state," announced last week when tensions escalated.

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CURNOW: The extreme volatility we're seeing in the markets has its roots in China and economies of emerging nations are being particularly hard hit

by China's slowing growth.

CNN emerging markets editor, John Defterios, is in Abu Dhabi; David McKenzie is in Johannesburg.

I'm going to start with you, John. Let's talk commodities, mostly falling across the board.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, falling has been the trend, Robyn, that's for sure. We got a slight respite today after China's

central bank decided to cut interest rates to try to prop up the market. We had a lot of bleeding. In fact, a 15 percent correction in Shanghai.

That's where they cut interest rates. But the link between China and commodities is a very strong bond.

Just one example: for oil, for every nine barrels produced around the world, one is consumed by China. And this is consistent throughout

commodities. I wanted to bring up a commodity chart to show you the correction we've seen in 2015 and the slowdown in China and why we see this

drop.

Look just in 2015, the correction for 22 raw materials -- gold, grains, oil -- down 16.5 percent. If you go back a year, clearly a bear market, down

30.5 percent.

The other thing that's not being talked about in the emerging markets as much is the trillion dollars that hasn't left the emerging markets,

particularly the commodity producers in the last 12 months. And this is keeping pressure on the emerging market currencies and this will continue.

We even saw South Africa, for example today, produce growth or negative growth of 1.3 percent in the second quarter. Expect more of that going

forward -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. So what's been the impact going forward, for producing countries, like Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq, Russia? Are there fears of

unrest? What are the political consequences here?

DEFTERIOS: It's amazing. The countries you talked about, only Russia is not a member of OPEC. The other ones are. And right now we have this huge

battle taking place for global market share while China is slowing down.

This is being led by Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries who have big savings. But the countries you talked about have a breakeven price.

Listen to this: oil is trading around $40 a barrel today. Their breakeven price is between $100 and $125 a barrel. That would include Russia as

well.

And most of these countries depend -- there are about 90 percent of their revenues on energy. So this collapse of some $70 in the last year is

putting a lot of pressure on these governments to revamp their budgets.

But I would go -- fair to say that it's probably the biggest threat to stability going forward, because they don't have many options today because

of this downward pressure, particularly if China goes from the 9 percent growth we've seen for the last decade, down to 6 percent going forward.

This will hurt demand. We're seeing the same trendline in Japan. And right now nobody's blinking. Nobody's willing to cut productions. They

want to hold onto the market share. So continued pressure and something worth watching.

CURNOW: OK. Just stay with us. I want to talk to David.

John mentioned briefly there a new number showing South Africa's economy contracting.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Extremely alarming to some economists I've spoken to because the consensus number they believe would be a growth

of 0.3 percent, Robyn. So a slowdown or contraction of more than 1 percent is significant news indeed.

We've seen broad drops in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, all key sectors in the South African economy. And it's not just the pressure from

China, which does play a major role as John mentions, in the health of these economies and others on the continent.

There's also the domestic political issues and some say the lack of planning, which has put the energy crisis into the spotlight here in South

Africa again, which is creating these macroeconomic headaches for South Africa -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Massive power cuts in South Africa.

Let's talk Africa generally, though. When you travel across Africa -- and we both have a lot, David -- you really can't escape the influence of China

and particularly --

[10:35:00]

CURNOW: -- the boom off the back of commodities in Chinese growth.

What do you think the impact of what we're seeing in China is going to be on the continent?

MCKENZIE: Well, it's going to be massive. But it really requires some nimble footwork by governments in Africa, which aren't always known for

their nimble footwork. You have countries like South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Sierra Leone, just to name a few, which are heavily dependent on

exports and trade deals with China.

It is worth remembering, though, that the Chinese economy, they still have this enormous surplus to their economy. There is a debate out there

whether the stock fluctuations you've seen in China really have any bearing on the real economy in China.

But, yes, the commodities numbers are very depressing for African countries. But the investment from China may continue. You've also seen

this trend of just ordinary Chinese infiltrating the African markets and putting retail space there in places that didn't have it before.

So it's not all doom and gloom. And one area of optimism potentially is the middle class in places like South Africa and Zambia, which could help

push the economies upwards.

But right now, as one economist told me, it's a very precarious situation indeed at least for South African economies -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. David, thanks so much.

Just want to get a last question, just bearing in mind, to John on what David was saying there, do you think African, particularly African

governments, because David and I have covered the story so extensively over the years, but do you think developing economies really managed or dealt

with the commodity boom well enough?

And how are they going to be judged by their citizens and -- on the situation now?

DEFTERIOS: The simple answer is no, Robyn. We had a 10-year commodity boom. This is the time to push ahead with reforms, whether it's here in

the Middle East with the very high oil prices or the demand for precious metals that you see in Africa or the commodities like rubber coming out of

Indonesia and Malaysia like palm oil.

They've had this income because of the demand from China and the rising boat of China lifting all other boats in some of these emerging markets.

And I think the Achilles heel in the global economy now is really this capital flight and the fall in commodity demand. It's kind of very similar

to me to the 2008-2009 crisis when we saw the capital flight then and even going back to the Asian financial crisis of 1998 and 1999. This is

something that could bring down the global economy, instead of growth of 5- 6 percent in some of these emerging markets, particularly in Africa, we're probably looking at growth of 3.5-4 percent. Sounds decent but very low

for a developing economy to create jobs.

CURNOW: OK, John Defterios and David McKenzie, thank you both for your perspective and analysis. Great having you on the show.

DEFTERIOS: Thanks, Robyn.

CURNOW: You're at the INTERNATIONAL DESK.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Coming up, a Russian military court comes down hard on a Ukrainian filmmaker. Find out why he was accused of terrorism and why

critics say it's all political.

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CURNOW: A Russian military court has sentenced a Ukrainian filmmaker to 20 years in prison. Oleg Sentsov --

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CURNOW (voice-over): -- was accused of heading a terrorist group in Crimea after it was annexed by Russia last year. The trial was condemned by

Ukraine, rights groups and movie directors. A codefendant was sentenced to 10 years.

Phil Black is monitoring the story in London. He joins us now from our studio.

He's saying he was tortured.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He does say that, Robyn, that's right. He certainly denies the charges, as you say. Oleg Sentsov is accused of

plotting terrorist attacks within Crimea itself, arrested in May last year, about two months after the Russian annexation of that peninsula, which had

formally been considered without too much doubt to be part of the Ukrainian state itself.

Denied the charges in his final address to the court before sentencing. He told the court that he wished the Russian people would have courage, that

they wouldn't be so afraid, that they would believe that the government of Russia can and will change.

But then ultimately, once his sentence was read out, along with that of a co-accused, both he and the co-accused together singing the Ukrainian

national anthem. The other man was another activist named Oleksandr Kolchenko. He got 10 years.

Now this case has received quite a deal of international attention, notably from the European film industry. There have been a series of petitions,

where some of Europe's biggest, most celebrated filmmakers have put their names to his cause, to his case, initially calling for clarity over the

charges, concerned over his continued detention without charge and then ultimately calling for his release as well.

Some of those names: the Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar; Roberto Benigni; English director Steven Daldry; Mike Leigh; Ken Loach; big names

there. And indeed also from international governments as well, from the United States, from the Ukrainian government in their view, a sense of,

they say, was a Ukrainian political hostage -- Robyn.

CURNOW: OK. Thanks for your perspective. Phil Black there in London, thank you.

A Brazilian toucan is getting a new lease on life, thanks to 3D printing. Tieta was rescued from an animal fair in Rio de Janeiro by federal police.

The top part of her beak was broken, possibly after she was mistreated by wildlife traffickers. It means she couldn't eat or take care of herself

properly.

So Brazilian researchers came up with a novel idea. They used a 3D printer to make her a new beak. It took them three months to design and print it.

But just three days to get used to it. She's now happily back eating well.

Well, that does it for us here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Don't go anywhere. "WORLD SPORT" with Kate Riley is up next.

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