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Tests: Arafat May Have Been Poisoned; Immigrants Seek Asylum in Australia; Kenya Accuses Iranians in Terror Plot; Meet Botswana's Metal Heads; Circumcision Banned In German; Interview with Costa Concordia Disaster Survivors; Interview with Rwandan Genocide Survivor; Rare Caterpillar Fungus in High Demand;

Aired July 04, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL and a happy Fourth of July from me, too. I'm Michael Holmes, in for Suzanne Malveaux. And we are taking you around the world in 60 minutes.

Here's what we got going on here:

In Germany, a man with a gun takes hostages in his home. The standoff is over, but it is messy and several people are dead. Police say the man was about to be a victim, and one of the people he held hostage was the official who came to throw him out.

There was a fire. There were some gunshots. Four people are dead. We don't know yet if the gunman is among them. More details as we get them.

French police raid the home and offices of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. His attorney says the search was part of the investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing. Investigators want to know the L'Oreal heiress Lillian Bettencourt illegally helped Sarkozy during his 2007 presidential bid. France's richest woman allegedly gave 150,000 euros in cash to Sarkozy's aides, that is well beyond the 4,600 euros legally allowed for individual donations.

Now, for Sarkozy, for his part, denies any wrongdoing. He's on a family vacation, in Canada, and wasn't even present during yesterday's raid.

Well, the head of the bank of Barclays is out and this is Bob Diamond. He resigned yesterday in a swirl of charges his bank fixed rates during the height of the global financial crisis. Today, he was grilled, answering questions about the scandal from British lawmakers. Diamond blames the rate-fixing scandal on a small number of what he called reprehensible traders. Barclays is one of the world's biggest banks.

All right. Today, a shocker from the Middle East: The scientist studying the death of Yasser Arafat says he has found evidence that may suggest the long-time president was poisoned.

Now, this is a major revelation. And it's bringing back all sorts of conspiracy theories that Arafat was perhaps murdered, perhaps by Israelis or by Palestinians who were against him on a power struggle. We'll talk in a minute about this alleged poison that was supposedly found in Arafat's belongings.

But, first, let's get live to Jerusalem, CNN's foreign affairs reporter Elise Labott is there.

And, Elise, you were down at the Palestinian Authority headquarters where Yasser Arafat was interred a little while ago. The allegation here is that the man who led the PLO, led the Palestinians, for all of those years -- could have been murdered.

How is this playing out?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Michael, exactly, this study that came out, it was the result of an al Jazeera investigative documentary, the network, and his widow Suha Arafat gave Arafat's toothbrush, his clothing, personal effects to the Swiss Institute to do studies on it, and also look at the medical records.

And what they found is traces of polonium and we talked to PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi, just a time ago, and she said that it confirms suspicions that the Palestinians had all along that Yasser Arafat did not die of natural causes.

Let's take a listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANAN ASHRAWI, PLO COMMITTEE MEMBER: The suspicion that he was killed, that he was deliberately murdered has been there all along and most Palestinians believe that. I personally believe because I was with him and saw him. I saw the transformation and it certainly wasn't natural -- and I talked to his doctors and they gave us several options. And among them, they said among that they could rule out the most logical option, some sort of toxin or poison that was externally induced.

But we didn't have any thread, any of kind of evidence proof. This report (INAUDIBLE) our suspensions are founded, that there was sufficient evidence to say that he was killed, he was assassinated using polonium.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: Now I have to be careful to note, Michael, that the researchers are not saying that this is proof that Yasser Arafat was assassinated or poisoned, just that they found these abnormal traces of this polonium. So, they really don't know what happened, but obviously they want to do more investigation, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, part of that investigation, Elise, is going to be perhaps exhuming his body, digging him up from that shrine where he is at the headquarters at the moment, there at the headquarters and examining his tissue. Now, his wife is saying yes to that and the Palestinian Authorities, they are saying no objection either.

Is that likely to happen?

LABOTT: Well, we don't know right now. Suha Arafat is traveling right now. We spoke to her and she said she has not officially launched a request his body, that he plants to do.

And what the PLO was telling us is, listen, there's no religious reason, no political reason that we shouldn't it. They are saying Yasser Arafat really is the father of the Palestinian people, and they feel that they deserved to know how he died.

HOLMES: Yes, it was incredibly mystery. I was there at his funeral. I had met him on several occasion over the years, just tell us again why this is so important.

Now, we never knew for sure why he died. Why so important to know now, all these years later. This is years ago now, maybe 10.

LABOTT: Well, if you remember at the time, it was a sudden illness, and it baffled doctors and Hanan Ashrawi said, it baffled the people around him, because it deteriorated so quickly. And so the Palestinians always had a suspicion of what happened to him. As you said, there were always a conspiracy theories that, you know, everybody was quick to point the finger at Israel at the time, and what they were saying right now is this confirms, if you look at polonium 210. It's a very controlled substance, certainly not to the Palestinian in just an open forum. It's available to states that have nuclear programs that nuclear work.

And what the Palestinians are saying that Israel has a nuclear program. Of course, that's never been admitted by the state of the Israel, but that Israel has this program. And, of course, this proves the suspicions all along that Israel was involved.

We spoke to the Israeli officials a short time ago, Michael, and what they said is that these accusations are baseless. They are absurd.

And, you know, Yasser Arafat has been dead for 10 years. If you really want to clear this up, why have the Palestinian sealed his medical reports for all this time.

HOLMES: Right.

LABOTT: They're saying open it up those records and you will find the answers to how Yasser Arafat died, Michael.

HOLMES: That's a heck of a mystery. Elise, thanks so much. Elise Labott there in Jerusalem -- appreciate it.

Well, waves of illegal desperate to make a new life are making a treacherous journey to a place they want to call home. It is not taking place in the U.S./Mexican border, either. We are talking about what is happening increasingly and regularly in Australia.

Today, another boat packed with asylum seekers has run into trouble and not for the first time either near the Australian island of Christmas Island.

Amy Laporte is a writer/producer here at CNN. You've done a lot of reporting on this over the years in our home country, Australia. We are both transplants here.

Now, let's talk about the boat first. The seas are very rough, what's the latest of the rescue attempt.

AMY LAPORTE, CNN WRITER/PRODUCER: Well, the Australian navy is actually keeping an eye on this boat. They did not need to board just to establish everyone was safe and well.

And they found that there were 180 people onboard this boat, that they have not been able to get them on to the marine, the safety of the marine boat now because of the rough seas, because of the rough conditions.

HOLMES: Right. It was only a couple of weeks ago 90 would-be migrants died in similar circumstances. These are asylum-seekers who come by boat and represent a small number of immigrants. I think it's 2 percent to 3 percent. But it is a political hot potato and socially divisive.

Tell us about that angle.

LAPORTE: Well, it has divided the country about what to do with the asylum seekers who come into Australia. Do we take them in or send them home or open up the borders to them or do we shut them? And that's really, as I said, divided the country and as such has meant that our political leaders, both major parties, are really refusing to decide anything definitive -- refusing to come up with any definitive policies of what to do.

HOLMES: A lot of them come from Indonesia and that's now part of the political mix -- asking Indonesia to do something.

LAPORTE: Well, a lot of them come from Indonesia, but a lot of them don't. I mean, it's interesting to mention that though they are dubbed Indonesian asylum seekers, they are actually coming from Afghanistan, they are coming from Iraq, they are coming from Sri Lanka, basically war-torn countries, desperate people fleeing their countries, trying to set off for a better life in Australia.

HOLMES: The Indonesians are launching point. I mean, it's political hot potato.

LAPORTE: Absolutely. And the promise to Julia Gillard, actually met with (INAUDIBLE) who basically refused to come up with anything other than an information campaign to try to dissuade the young men from manning these boats. And that's about it.

HOLMES: Which is plainly ridiculous -- I mean, when they are launched by organized smugglers who are charging these people thousands of dollars to get on rubbish boats and may die at sea.

Which brings to me to the next point -- if I actually get to Australia, the Australian criticism has been subjected to criticism. Some countries have called it inhumane.

LAPORTE: Absolutely. I mean, a lot of people say the conditions, once they get to Australia, once they get to the detention facilities are prison-like. I mean, you could just imagine how desperate you would have to be to give up your entire life savings, hand them over to these people, smugglers, and basically get on a boat that is not seaworthy by any stretch of the imagination, and with hundreds of other people set out across rough oceans -- maybe survive and maybe don't survive.

And then once you get to Australia, they'll throw you in a detention center off of the coast of Australia. There you may stay for years before the Australian government decides what to do with you.

HOLMES: It's a big unresolved issue. And you and I know that it is very divisive in Australia. Good to see you. Amy Laporte.

LAPORTE: Thanks for having me.

HOLMES: All right. Here is more of what we're working on in this hour of NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL.

It is shades of the Titanic. We're taking you inside the Costa Concordia where I'm talking to the passengers who are lucky to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody was kind -- everybody was running for their own lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And later, it is decisions of a baby boy used to make on their own. Now, a court in Germany just banned circumcision on boys, Jewish and Muslim groups are outraged.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. Let's go the Kenya now. That's where two Iranian are accused in a terror plot. They were taken into custody June 19th, in Nairobi.

Now, according to the court documents, the two suspects lead Kenyan security officials to more than 30 pounds of explosives hidden at a golf club in Mombasa.

David McKenzie live in Nairobi now with more.

David, what are you learning about this very curious case?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a very curious case, Michael. It is a case that is unfolding. The two Iranian suspects were in a Kenyan high court today, they shuffled in to handcuff each together and heard some procedural efforts.

But it all starred in June when these two Iranians were picked up in Nairobi by police and take tone to Mombasa, the coastal city in Kenya, where they went to a golf course, and they say -- at least the court's documents say that the Iranians uncovered for police some 30 pounds of highly explosive devices which security tell us if used in unison could take down a large building.

The accusation is that these two are involved in some kind of terror plot, the senior officials telling me that it was either striking places here in Nairobi or in Kenya, general or neighboring countries. The worry of course is that they are some kind of wider plot by Iranian operatives, but that is not proven yet, but certainly the earlier indications are if proven, this could be a serious plot that was uncovered.

HOLMES: And what are the Iranians themselves saying and for that matter the Iranian government?

MCKENZIE: Well, the Iranian government has rubbished these claims. They say it's all because of an oil deal that Kenya just announced the timing with Iran. And they say that because Kenya announced this, they are trying to smear the Iranian government.

The enemies of Iran are trying to same smear Iranian, government, particularly Israel, which has made testament on this from the prime minister's office, saying that this just proves that Iran is the quote, "global exporter of terror."

So, this is all playing out both on a domestic level and international level including with the United States, because when these two men were picked up, it was right in the midst of a terror warning that the U.S. embassy had put out on Mombasa.

So, it's unclear whether these two or three events are connected. But I'm sure that as time goes by, this case is going to see, and see if the dots are connected.

HOLMES: Yes, fascinating. David, thanks so much -- David McKenzie there in Nairobi. His beat for us.

All right. It's been almost six months since the Costa Concordia disaster -- you remember this. Thirty-three people died when the ship hit a reef and ran aground and off of the coast of Italy.

Well, Dan Rivers now we talk to an American family who were among the last ones to get off that ship alive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNNM INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When the order to abandon ship was given, Hector Perez and Somia Khan were at a lifeboat. The crew member who had access to the boat told the passengers to calm down.

HECTOR PEREZ, CONCORDIA PASSENGER: As soon as he opened the door, everybody ran towards that emergency boat and pushed him out of the way. Everybody was panicking, everybody was running for their own lives.

A lot of them didn't realize they were going to let the people jump into the boat without an actual seat. Those that realized it, they jumped into the boat, and stayed standing on the boat, and way over 150-people limit.

RIVERS: The boat carrying the two Khan and Perez made it to sea, but even then, they were not safe.

PEREZ: I look up, and I see the emergency boat a go sideways one way, and suddenly, it went this way again and then it fell right on top of our boat.

SOHAIM KHAN, CO NCORDIA PASSENGER: If our boat would have turned when we were evacuating and the second boat fell on us, we would have been dead.

RIVERS: Several life boats couldn't be lowered. And with the ship listing, the problem of evacuating people multiplied.

The Ananias boarded a vote but were forced to the return to the ship wouldn't launch.

Once back on board --

CINDY ANANIAS, CONCORDIA PASSENGER: Bam, the boat flips --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It takes another five to eight degree, more degrees roll toward the starboard side.

RIVERS: One of the crew told the investigators that some officers literally pushed the passengers into the water. For the Ananias family turned around and tried to climb across the ship with nothing to hold on to.

VALERIE ANANIAS, CONCORDIA PASSENGER: The side of the ship is now the bottom of the ship. So you are literally walking on the side of the ship.

RIVERS: The speed with which the Concordia tilted, first one way and then the other, has alarmed maritime experts.

(on camera): This is the Safety of Life at Sea rulebook, the maritime safety Bible, if you like, issued by the International Maritime Authority here in London. It specifies that the ships should remain stable with two watertight compartments flooded and they should be evacuated within 30 minutes.

(voice-over): But the loss of power and the flooding of the pumps and the backup generators had turned the Concordia into a helpless hulk. As the water continued the rise, the ship tilted yet further, more than 60 degrees.

GEORGIA ANANIAS, CONCORDIA PASSENGER: And then I remember us all starting to pray and saying our good-bye good-byes. I can remember thinking, thinking, oh, my gosh, if we're going to die, let's just get it over with.

RIVERS: By now, it was nearly 1:00 in the morning. The Ananias family and dozens of other others were still trying to climb a metal ladder to reach the outside of the ship, but it was still a mad scramble to escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Men pushing women aside, pushing children aside.

VALERIA ANANIAS, CONCORDIA PASSENGER: I put my foot down and I said, this is not going the happen. I'm not going to seat one another man jump in front of this mother and child to get his way. It was not going the happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Dramatic stuff and you can hear more from the survivors and the investigators as Dan Rivers takes a closer look at what went wrong on that fateful night. It is a CNN special "Cruise to Disaster" tonight at 9:00 Eastern.

We she survived a brutal, bloody massacre in Rwanda, and one that killed hundreds of thousands of people, and she has a message for Americans on this Fourth of July -- one that you're going to want to hear. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONA. We are taking you around the world in 60 minutes and all of the news that matters overseas.

Americans marking Independence Day of course with parades and the backyard barbeques and the fireworks, but for one Rwandan American, it is a day of mixed emotions.

Jacqueline Murekatete was 9 years old when her mother, her father, six brothers and sisters were among 800,000 and some say up to 1 million people slaughtered in Rwanda. She and her grandmother escaped the genocide taking cover with friends and family members. Her final stop, an orphanage run by two Italian priests, the grandmother killed soon after.

In 1995, a group brought her to the U.S. in an op-ed piece in Sunday's |"Washington Post," she declares July 4th her day of liberation.

Jacqueline Murekatete joins us now live from New York, and thank you for doing so. Good to see you, Jacqueline.

And having covered the Rwandan genocide myself in 1994, I can see where you are coming from. You know, as Americans eat the hot dogs and reflect on the good fortune they have in this country. You look at freedom and rights from a different perspective.

You hear me, Jacqueline? Tell me about the perspective that you have.

JACQUELINE MUREKATETE, SURVIVOR: Yes. I'm sorry, I had tech issues.

But it is today is a special day. You know, not only in this country, but in Rwanda as you said, because today is liberation day where we remember being liberated from the 1994 genocide genocide. A lot of us clearly remember, you know, remember as the day went that we had home that we would leave again having spent almost 100 days fleeing for our lives simply because of our ethnicity that we were Tutsis in a country that believed that being a Tutsi was a crime deserving of death.

So it is a day when we celebrate our liberation, when we celebrate where Rwanda has been and going since 1994. But personally, it is also a time when I think about my own family that I lost in the genocide, my immediate family and also my extended family and friends who are not here today to enjoy the freedoms enjoyed in America and enjoyed in Rwanda, so it's a very significant day for me and a day of mixed feelings.

HOLMES: Yes, Suzanne Malveaux and I have discussed Rwanda before here on this program and I hope that I never in my life see horror on that scale firsthand. You know, what is the message that you want to get to Americans given your perspective? What are you trying to say to them?

MUREKATETE: You know, in July 4th is for us to celebrate and to go out and enjoy the barbeques and the picnics and all of the ways that you celebrate with our families and friend in this country. But I think it is also important for us to realize that those freedoms and those rights that we are enjoying are not commonplace, and that there are millions of people all over the world living in fear because of who they are, because of what they believe, because of what they look like and really to realize that we should not take those things that we have for granted.

And we should take, you know, individual and collective actions to try and bring those same rights and privileges and freedoms to our brothers and sisters who are in need, and deserve of them.

HOLMES: And you are, of course, a Rwandan American, and you know, I am curious whether in your years of living here, do you think that Americans know enough or care enough about what is going on outside of their borders, and what actually is happening overseas can impact the U.S.?

MUREKATETE: Yes, there is a growing movement of awareness. I have been sharing my story over the past several years and I travel and I speak to students in schools and I speak to other people in conferences.

You know, I think people are becoming more aware of what goes on around the world and they also think that they are probably becoming aware of that as you mentioned what happens around the world ultimately have consequences for us, because we are now living in a global community.

But despite the growing awareness, I also think that it is still a long way to go in terms of being able to prevent these things from happening, because as we speak, we know that atrocities are being committed, you know, in Syria, in Congo and parts of Sudan, in Burma.

So, we still have a long way to go and it is important for all of us as individuals to reflect on what we can do.

HOLMES: Well, on that point, Jacqueline, I mean, you were in Rwanda, the one mass killing genocide where the world did absolutely nothing. When you look at Sudan, Somalia and Syria, do you feel that there is a responsibility there not just for the United States, but for the world in general to act?

MUREKATETE: I think that there is a responsibility. I mean, I think that one of the most disappointing things for the survivors in Rwanda was to learn that why our families were being murdered. The many people in the international community knew what was going on, but it was not a will, a political will to intervene.

So, for us, it is our goal to speak out and to talk about the need for the international community to act collectively and in the face of atrocities and to speak with one voice, and unless we do this, it is always going to be a different country with the same tragedy. I think we really need to reflect on that as a nation, also as international community, and we need to do more, and we can do more.

HOLMES: I couldn't agree more. Jacqueline, I want to ask you this. You know, I have not been back to Rwanda since 1994, and those memories are seared into my conscious, and we have been back and I'm curious how you have seen the change and Rwanda is doing well economically and there have been moves towards the reconciliation process which we have reported on, on this program.

How do you see your country going back now given what it went through those years ago?

MUREKATETE: I think that Rwanda has come a long way and it has been 18 years now since the genocide, and in 1994, you know, now only 1 million people had been murdered. But the country itself was in ashes. When you go the Rwanda now, it is remarkable to see where the country is.

But, you know, on the other hand there is still a lot of charges, because for a country to experience what it experienced, you know, it is definitely going to take a long time. And in terms of, you know, the reconciliation, that is a movement to take a long time and for the people to do what they did in 1994, it took a long time of, you know, a lot of indoctrination and a lot of teaching of hatred, and that's something that's going to take the same amount of time or even longer to undo the type of ideologies.

So, I think we are moving in the right direction, but there are challenges that we need to talk more.

HOLMES: I couldn't agree more and there is a long way to go. But boy, there are great strides taken in Rwanda and it's great talking to you Jacqueline, and enjoyed your perspective.

Jacqueline Murekatete, thanks so much.

MUREKATETE: Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: Important topic, too.

All right. Well, the locals think it is a natural form of -- wait for it -- Viagra and the hunt for it is killing the Himalayan grasslands. That's among the stories still to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.

Turkish military officials today say they have found the bodies of their air force pilots shot down by Syrian forces. Now, this happened June 22nd after the Turkish jet crossed into the Syrian air space and went down in the Mediterranean. There's still disagreement over whether it was still in Syrian air space when it was shot down.

And all of this raised considerable tension between Syria and Turkey. Both countries boosting the troop levels on the border they share.

Let's got to southwest Japan now. More than 25,000 people having to evacuate their homes due to torrential rains, and we mean torrential rains -- a seasonal front brought landslides and in some areas up to two inches of rain were falling every hour. Evacuations have been under way for two days now.

Now, to a growing demand for something that you may not have heard of, it is a small caterpillar fungus that is believed to boost sexual performance naturally. It is found only in the high altitudes. It's earning the nickname Himalayan Viagra. So, it doesn't pop out in the backyard. You won't find it there.

People are flocking to that region now in search of what they think is a wonder drug.

Kyle Knight is a journalist. He's stationed in Nepal, but joins by phone from Italy.

Kyle, first of all, tell us about this fungus -- what it looks like, how it's found and how it's consumed.

KYLE KNIGHT, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, it is a extremely small specimen that sticks out of the ground and looks like a thick blade of grass. What happens before this is that a parasitic fungus then grows up out of its brain and sticks out to the ground and this is what people are looking for. They are essentially looking for a piece of fungus that is attached to a caterpillar corpse that is sticking out of the ground about one to four centimeter centimeters.

HOLMES: Yes, why wouldn't you want to eat that? We should mention that the caterpillar fungus is not only an aphrodisiac, but it has been around for years in traditional healing for a long time, right?

KNIGHT: Yes, it's been used for a number of different ailments, illnesses throughout its history is not particularly well documented, but it is only in the last ten years that the aphrodisiac quality has been marketed around the world.

HOLMES: Well, there is the downside of course. Explain how getting this fungus that is affecting the Himalayan grasslands.

KNIGHT: Well, it only grows at certain altitudes and again, this is understudied, so it is not exactly known where, but however, when -- you know, in one particular district of Nepal, the police estimate 40,000 people will migrate this year for the harvest, and the harvest takes place over the course of a month and it just ended this week.

So you have all of the people coming, and it means more garbage. It means more people trampling on the grasslands and crawling around. Also the harvesting instead, involves digging about an 8-inch diameter hole, so it leaves the grassland sort of pot marks and also thrash just from the general increase in population.

HOLMES: I can only imagine. What does that mean to the people who used lands used traditionally?

KNIGHT: Well, people in interviews that it means that they're yaks and they are cows are not getting enough grass during the warm month. So, they are thinner going into the winter and they tend to die more often. And that means that the local livestock are suffering.

It also means in general, for some people can make more of a profit from the harvest itself, by opening up a small store or guesthouse or something like that.

So, you get mixed reactions from this influx of outsiders in these regions.

HOLMES: What an extraordinary tale. Kyle, thanks so much -- Kyle Knight there, a journalist who's normally in Nepal Joining us from Italy, believe it or not.

Well, when you think of Saudi Arabian fashion, lingerie does not immediately leap to mind, but that could be changing, and fast. We'll have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL, where we take you around the world in 60 minutes and we now take you to Saudi Arabia -- a major social revolution happening there in women's underwear shops. Rima Maktabi reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIMA MAKTABI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not the sort of thing that you expect to see in a Saudi shopping mall, lacey, provocative underwear, and in is a kingdom where women are always completely covered when they are outside of the home, and when they can only travel with permission from the male guardian.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we go buy some lingerie?

MAKTABI: Until January of this year, women here looking to buy lingerie were served only by men, but then something of a revolution, by the standards of this conservative country. A royal decree declared that from now, on only women can sell lingerie and cosmetics.

"(INAUDIBLE) owns this lingerie shop in one of the malls welcomes the change."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not nice when a man explains to the lady what this is and what color you need and what size you need.

MAKTABI: But the change came about only after a lot of pressure. Social conservatives argue that women should not work outside of the home, especially where they might come into contact with men.

Last year, women began to fight back, launching a boycott of lingerie shops, and even conservative women support the change of policy, especially given an estimated 45 percent of Saudi women are unemployed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Women need to work now more than ever, and Saudi men who are looking to get married want women to be working.

MAKTABI: Even so, there are many hurdles for working women in Saudi Arabia. They are not allowed to drive, and there is little public transport, so getting to work is a challenge. Which is why, there is the man working here on this day. And women are still barred from many jobs, but they already work in health and education, so the retail sector would be the next barrier to fall.

Rima Maktabi, CNN, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now you know. They are rocking Africa and defying the stereotypes. We'll tell you about the heavy metal heroes of Botswana when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, when you think of African music, you don't think hard core rockers -- well, you might need to think again. Check out these guys, leather, spike, cowboy hats and not what you would expect to see in southern Africa, but there is a growing subculture of metal heads in Botswana.

Photographer Frank Marshall captures the rockers in hells/angel- style glory, part of his renegade exhibition. And (INAUDIBLE) goes one step further, he takes to Botswana to meet some of the men and hear their music. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERROL BARNETT: Botswana. It's known for its vast wilderness and wildlife areas. But there's a growing musical movement here painting a much different image of the country.

I'm told to get a real sense of the metalhead culture, I need to head to the town of Kayne (ph).

BARNETT (on camera): The leader of this group is named Gunsmoke. So I'm here to see what their daily lives are like and what they can tell us about Botswana's metalheads.

Hey, fellows, I'm looking for Gunsmoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the guy.

BARNETT: Gunsmoke, how are you?

"GUNSMOKE", HEAVY METAL FAN: This is the (INAUDIBLE) my brother (ph).

BARNETT: How are you? I'm Errol. Nice to meet you. Come on down, man. I know this is your rock.

Now, tell me, what does it mean to be metalheads here? I can see some schoolchildren here. They seem to be looking up to you all. Everyone seems to have a lot of respect for you. But what does it mean?

GUNSMOKE: Actually it means a lot. It comes with responsibility. It comes with everything. Try to be a -- portray good (INAUDIBLE). You know, I try to be there (ph) -- try to be a role model to them, I try. I'm not (INAUDIBLE) to be a hard core theme (ph), but actually it's something which is inside our hearts too. It can be hard here at times, but sometimes we need to understand the world we are existing in. we have to balance the equation and I guess you understand what I'm trying the say.

BARNETT: So what is it then about heavy metal music? What is it about the look that is so appealing to you?

GUNSMOKE: Definitely it's all trying to be (INAUDIBLE) looks. We are a (INAUDIBLE). We express ourselves better when we are like this. We become unique, you know. You know, with so many groups around -- we've got jazz, we've got everything you can imagine, no, rock is the one -- number one music store (ph). We need to be extreme. We need to be on the top of the world. We need to prove (INAUDIBLE).

BARNETT: OK. By now I've learned quite a lot about Botswana's so- called metalheads. But I've yet to actually hear the music performed live. And, really, isn't that how you judge any band of any style of music? Well, I've come to a place just outside of Botswana's capital. This area is called Macatzi (ph), because there's a band here called "Skinflint." Their style, African heavy metal. Judging by the attire, I think this is the group right here.

Hey, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

BARNETT: What makes your band different to some of the others I've read about and seen?

GIUSEPPE SBRANA, "SKINFLINT" GUITARIST/VOCALIST: Instead of doing like other bands, you know, we're westernizing their music. We bring African culture to the forefront.

BARNETT: How do you do that?

SBRANA: Well, what we do, we sing about the African mythology and all of these folklores we heard from -- and it's also ancestral, you know. Like we have a lot of ancestral beliefs, you know, like back in the day even, you know, you used to believe that, you know, if someone dies and then you touch the dead person, then gona (ph) will come and take your soul. And all of those kinds of beliefs.

SBRANA (singing): Then gona will take your soul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And that was CNN's Errol Barnett reporting from Botswana.

And while we're at the music business, let's have a listen to what people in my native Australia are hearing right now. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): I don't want to say good-bye. I just want to give it one more try and I'd do anything, yes I'd do anything if you --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: If you're sick of the other Aussie, Golcha (ph), we'll check her out. Topping the charts this week, 19-year-old Karise Eden, a powerful sultry voice that wowed audiences on Australian TV talent show "The Voice."

Got a slip a plug in there for you (ph).

Well, it used to be a private decision between parents and their doctor, but a court in Germany may have changed all that. At least they're banning circumcisions of young boys. Jewish and Muslim groups, well, they are furious. We'll look at it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Let's take you to Germany now, where there is growing anger over a court ruling effectively banning circumcisions of young boys. The court said the procedure causes physical harm to infants that outweighs the parent's right to make the decision to alter their child's body, even if that procedure is part of religious tradition. A very controversial decision. Diana Magnay has more from Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These ornate little costumes on sale in the apply named "Kid's Elegance" store in Berlin's Cotzbag (ph), serve a very special purpose. They're for Muslim boys to wear at their circumcision ceremony, which shop owner Nevzat Cavan says tends to take place between the ages of one and 12.

NEVZAT CAVAN, "KID'S ELEGANCE": Of Turkish (ph) sunit (ph).

MAGNAY (on camera): Sunit?

CAVAN: Sunit.

MAGNAY: Ah-ha. OK.

CANAN: Sunit.

MAGNAY (voice-over): Male circumcision is standard practice for Germany's 4 million Muslims, just as it is for Muslims and Jews the world over.

MAGNAY (on camera): But last week a judge in Cologne (ph) ruled after complications arose in a case involving a four year old Muslim boy that religions circumcision amounted, in effect, to grievous bodily harm against a child with no say in the matter. That his right to physical integrity outweighed his parents' wish to have him circumcised.

MAGNAY (voice-over): Though the ruling applies just to one jurisdiction in Cologne, it has left doctors across Germany fearing prosecution. Jewish Hospital in Berlin has stopped all circumcisions until the legal situation is clarified, though they're worried about the consequences.

DR. KRISTOF GRAF, DIRECTOR, JEWISH HOSPITAL BERLIN: We think that it is possible that Muslimic parents go abroad or go somewhere else in the backrooms of some, I don't know, practices.

MAGNAY: Brit Milah, which is the Jewish circumcision ceremony, traditionally takes place on the eighth day of a baby's life, at the hands of a specially trained practitioner called a mohel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Traditionally it's a double-sided scalpel which is very sharp and very smooth.

MAGNAY: Mohel Mordechai Tzvi tells me this ruling won't stop him from carrying out what he believes is his mission in life.

MORDECHAI TZVI, MOHEL: I will continue doing it, in any case, whether -- whatever it means, because I know that it's important and, for me, it is so to say the most important thing in life.

MAGNAY: But Jewish leaders make clear that in the country that orchestrated the holocaust, they feel this is a serious assault on their faith.

RABBI YEHUDA TEICHTAL, JEWISH EDUCATION CTR., CHABED LUBAWITSCH: This is not just some other custom. This is the basis of what we are. And therefore it is absolutely of enormous importance that as quickly as possible that the German government comes out with a clear statement and creates a situation, a law, a (INAUDIBLE), a clear law that circumcision is respected and accepted as part of religious freedom.

MAGNAY: Despite statements from the foreign minister that the world should be in no doubt that Germany does protect religious freedoms, many of its citizens don't feel so sure.

CAVAN (through translator): We have a phrase which goes, if there are flies in your soup, you can't eat the soup. And what the judge has decided is just like that fly.

MAGNAY: A small thing that sours the sense of belonging for communities still struggling to feel fully accepted in modern German life.

Diane Magnay, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: that is a controversy far from over there in Germany.

We're going to take a short break, though. More NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL, everyone. A couple of stories we want to update you on.

The first one is about a hostage drama that's been going on in Germany. A man with a gun taking hostages in his own home. That standoff is over, but it is messy. Several people are dead. Police say the man was about to be evicted and one of the people he actually held hostage was the official who came to throw him out. There was a fire. There were gunshots. Four people are dead. We don't yet know if the gunman is among them, but some officials are saying that is the case. And we are continuing to follow that story.

In southwest Japan now, more than 25,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes due to torrential rains. The seasonal rain front brought flooding and threats of landslides. In some areas, up to two inches of rain were falling every hour. Those evacuations have been underway for two days now. We're also keep an eye on that.

So, why am I here and not Suzanne Malveaux? Well, she was out pounding the pavement in the nation's largest Fourth of July 10k race this morning, which I am absolutely incapable of doing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN: But we're running for Team CNN. (INAUDIBLE) and Lisa, as well as Jen (ph). We're going to try to do this in less than Howard's time. He says three hours. He's last. We are not --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm praying.

MALVEAUX: We are not going out like that, right, Taju (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm praying for two hours. I'm praying I'll survive. That's what I'm trying to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, Suzanne and Team CNN -- and couldn't run to the mailbox. I don't know how they do this. They were among 60,000 runners out there today. And the team's time, a speedy 70 minutes,. That's all it took to cross the finish line. It would be more like seven days for me.

That will do it for me. You can hear her laughing in the background.

Fredricka Whitfield is up next hour.