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Journalists Win Nobel Peace Prize for Their Work; Explosion Hits Shia Mosque in City of Kunduz; Israel's Drive to Use More Green Energy; U.K. Coastline Threatened with Extreme Erosion; U.S. and China Pavilions Shape Perception in Dubai; Saudi-Backed Consortium Buys Newcastle United. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 08, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:15]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Faces of courage. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to two journalists fighting for press freedom in the
Philippines and Russia.
After a summer of heat waves and wild fires, does Israel have what it takes to go green? I asked the country's environmental protection minister.
Coming up. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WISSE, COASTAL EROSION RISK MANAGEMENT LEADER, GREEN SEFTON: We have an awful lot of visitors to the coastline and they can have in some areas a
detrimental impact on the vegetation and the dunes systems.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: How the climate crisis is ravaging this idyllic English coastline.
Well, I'm Becky Anderson in Dubai. It is a very warm welcome to the show. And we are wrapping up climate and biodiversity week here at Expo 2020 in
Dubai. The theme asks the question, how do we work together to better manage climate change and protect ecosystems?
Well, on this show tonight we are speaking with current and former world leaders, ministers, and ambassadors about passing climate change laws,
battling rising sea levels and caring for vulnerable communities in a time of crisis.
Well, for the first time in more than eight decades, two journalists have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their fight for freedom of
expression in their countries.
Maria Ressa is a former CNN correspondent who has highlighted the growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines. She's the founder
of a digital media company Rappler that has targeted President Rodrigo Duterte's abuse of power. While Dmitry Muratov has defied the Kremlin where
the investigations into wrongdoing and corruption, he is the first Russian to win the prize since Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Well, Matthew Chance is standing by in Moscow with more on the Russian journalist. First let's head to CNN's Will Ripley who tonight is in Taipei
in Taiwan. And the Nobel Committee says well, the award is an endorsement of free speech rights under threat worldwide. Just how unusual is it for
journalists to win this award?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is not only unusual, but it is increasingly unthinkable that a journalist can in the end win against, in
many cases, these corrupt governments that effectively try to bring them down. In Maria Ressa's case, she was facing more than 10 different criminal
charges for reporting, for reporting about corruption, for reporting about the thousands of extrajudicial killings Philippines' war on drugs.
Becky, I remember being there just before President Trump was inaugurated. We spent five weeks. We saw bodies in the street every single night. But
once the new U.S. president was in office, most of the eyes of the world turned elsewhere. Attention was no longer on the Philippines and what was
happening and people kept dying.
Maria Ressa and her team continued reporting and because of their work, there's a historical record of what happened even when a lot of the world
was not paying attention. And she paid the price in terms of time in jail and attempts to shut her down, to shut her newsroom down. But now history
will remember her as the Nobel, you know, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. And even though she lost that battle in the Philippines against the government,
in some ways she's now won the war, Becky, and it's certainly a big win for journalism.
ANDERSON: Yes. And those of us who know her well, she worked here for some time, we can only applaud and congratulate her on this achievement.
She is not alone today, though, Matthew. Muratov is editor-in-chief for Russian investigative newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, which as I understand it
Mikhail Gorbachev helped set up with his Nobel Peace Prize money. Just tell us more.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. When Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, of course, won
the Nobel Peace Prize with the money that he received he helped fund Novaya Gazeta, that investigative newspaper back in the early 1990s. I think the
money was used specifically to buy computers, their first computers, so they could start the process of writing.
The incredible investigative reports that they've overseen since that period. And of course Mikhail Gorbachev had issued his congratulations to
Dmitry Muratov already. There's also been congratulations coming from the Kremlin as well which is perhaps unexpected.
[10:05:01]
But I think it shows the high esteemed with which Novaya Gazeta, this cutting edge for several decades now in terms of investigative reports
newspaper is in this country. They've been focusing since the early 1990s on the abuse of power in Russia, on corruption, on military excesses
committed by the Russian armed forces, and of course on human rights abuses. And they've been holding extremely powerful people throughout that
whole period to account. And the newspaper, through its journalists, has paid a very heavy price for those investigations.
I think they've lost at least six reporters since they started operations who have been -- have died in mysterious circumstances, have been killed
specifically for the investigations that they've been carrying out. Foremost amongst them of course Anna Politkovskaya back in 2006 who was
gunned down outside or inside her apartment block in the center of Moscow after she'd been putting out years of very critical reports about Russian
military actions inside Chechnya.
So they paid a very high price. And Dmitry Muratov saying that this Nobel Peace Prize isn't for him but it's for all those people that contributed
and lost their lives over the years.
ANDERSON: Yes. You're absolutely right in saying six journalists from the publication have been killed in the last 20 years.
To both of you, thank you.
The secretary general of Amnesty International just praised the award on Twitter. Agnes Callamard congratulating both winners and thanking the Noble
Committee for recognizing press freedom. And Agnes Callamard joining us now from London.
You tweeted your congratulations. Just go further. I mean, I've just read out to our viewers your -- the sense of jubilation that you clearly have
today. You're clearly very pleased. Just explain why.
AGNES CALLAMARD, SECRETARY GENERAL, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Well, first of all I'm pleased because Maria is a dear friend and I know what a tireless
journalist she is, what a courageous journalist she is. But I'm really elated that the Noble Committee has recognized the (INAUDIBLE) of freedom
of expression to our world, to the search for peace, to the protection of human rights.
I think this is a formidable moment for all of you, all of you professional media, journalists, who are fighting to keep your work, to keep the public
watchdog role of the media, keeping it going in spite of all the attacks, the killings.
I just want to pay my homage again to Jamal Khashoggi, who paid the highest price along with many others, for fighting for press freedom and wanting to
have a voice. So it is a formidable moment I think for all of those who are putting forward truth, fact against corruption, evidence of human rights
violations and speaking truth to power.
ANDERSON: Agnes, I just want to read part of the citation from the award committee. Quote, "Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to
protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," the committee said.
Little known fact for you, Maria Ressa, who is such a dear friend to you and so many of us who work here at CNN, actually 25 years ago today was
working on our Noble Prize show and she reported on the winners Jose Ramos Porter and Bishop Carlo Ximenes Belo who won for their work back in East
Timor. So that was Maria working at CNN as a journalist reporting on this award 25 years ago. And today she wins the award herself.
Amnesty was awarded the prize back in 1997. How did the award then and since help your organization?
CALLAMARD: Well, you know, the Nobel Peace Prize is really -- it is the legitimacy that is being compared, conferred upon those preceding. So for
Amnesty International to receive that prize, it was a fantastic moment where the work that had been done for the, you know, the last 20 years
before that was finally perceived as a major contribution to peace around the world, to human rights protection around the world.
It's about legitimacy. It's about recognition. It's about protection. And I think all of those three characteristics should also be attributed to Maria
and to Dmitry because they do need protection.
[10:10:11]
They do need to be celebrated for their work and for their journalism.
ANDERSON: And we've talked a lot with you about Maria, of course. We fundamentally applaud Dmitry Muratov as well, who I was just speaking to
about with Matthew Chance, our colleague in Moscow as well.
Agnes, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us.
CALLAMARD: Thank you.
ANDERSON: I need to move on because we have to turn to Afghanistan now where a blast tore through a Shia mosque in the northern city of Kunduz. At
least 20 people were killed and dozens were wounded. According to an official with Medecins Sans Frontieres and a local official says a suicide
bomber was responsible.
The attack underscore the security challenges in that country after the Taliban takeover in August. Our chief international correspondent Clarissa
Ward joining us now with the very latest. She is reporting from Kabul -- Clarissa.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you know the one thing that the Taliban really has to offer the people of
Afghanistan is the fact that it can provide security. But in the last week, we are seeing a real question mark hanging over that promise. With this
blast in Kunduz targeting a Shiite mosque in Khan Abad neighborhood.
As you mentioned, at least 20 people killed according to Medecins Sans Frontieres. Some 90 people injured. CNN spoke with the MSF person on the
ground there who said that their hospital has basically been overwhelmed. It's now at capacity. They can't take any more injured people. And this is
exactly the sort of ugly, bloody, sectarian killing that unfortunately Afghans have become far too accustomed to but which many had hoped would
really stop under the Taliban.
We don't yet know who is responsible, but of course all fingers are pointing in the direction of ISIS-K. This is very much out of their
playbook. And the question now is, what can the Taliban do to try to put a stop to these kinds of attacks, specifically attacks on soft targets like
this mosque which would just have been full of ordinary people on jumah, the Muslim holy day, Friday, at afternoon prayers or noon prayers.
It's a grotesque tragedy and really so many people, Becky, had hoped that this might be something of the past.
ANDERSON: And you're right to point out, I mean, the Taliban underscoring why they believe they were, you know, the right people to be running the
country. They say they want to get rid of corruption. They want to see justice, they say. And they say they wanted to re-establish security. And
clearly, you know, this is a clear indication that is not happening.
How is has the Taliban described or gone into any detail as to how they believe they might fight ISIS-K at this point, Clarissa? Is it clear?
WARD: I would say like the broad strategy is not clear. In the short term we have heard the Taliban announced a number of raids that they've carried
out in Jalalabad, also here in Kabul, in the northern part of the city. They say that they've taken out a number of ISIS-K cells, that they've been
able to kill a number of ISIS-K would-be bombers or terrorists. But more broadly speaking, you know, ISIS-K, it's difficult to know how much support
they have.
But they do have footholds particularly in Nangahar and Kunar Province. And it's difficult to know how exactly will the Taliban deal with this issue
because as the Americans know all too well, when you are in charge, it can be very difficult to stomp out an insurgency. The Taliban has spent two
decades being an insurgency.
Now they are the ones in charge, and it remains to be seen how they will go about trying to stomp out this insurgency and whether ISIS-K could continue
to promote a significant threat going forward -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Clarissa Ward, our chief international correspondent, and a brave and courageous journalist herself who I know will be applauding the
awarding of that Noble Prize today to those two journalists who I know Clarissa will know well. Thank you.
Well, just ahead, more from climate week here at the Dubai Expo, after a summer of raging wild fires, Israel stepping up its involvement in the
global battle against climate change. I'll be talking to its environmental protection minister up next.
[10:15:00]
Then Britain's disappearing landscape. With COP26 only a few weeks away -- and that of course will be held in Scotland -- U.K. conservationists are
out with a warning about coastal erosion there. More on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Israel has been feeling the heat literally. This week we've been highlighting the country's wild fire season. Now almost two months longer
than it was in the 1980s. This was the scene almost eight weeks ago. So you won't be surprised to know that Israel is keen to join the drive to be more
greener. It sent a top delegation this week to a big meeting in Paris to tell U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry that Israel is all in when it comes to a
plan to cut methane gas emissions by 2030.
Well, my next guest says, quote, "We must also stop dependence on fossil fuels, including gas, and set ambitious targets for the transition to
renewable energies." Well, Israeli Environmental Protection minister is just back from that OECD Ministerial Summit in Paris with Kerry. Tamar
Zandberg has big plans including more limits on the use of plastic and more recycling. She joins me now from Tel Aviv.
Plastics and recycling, I get it. But, look, those aren't going to stop this climate crisis, are they, on their own? So we need to talk on a much
bigger scale than that. And you've said at the meeting with John Kerry that the window of opportunity for battling climate change is closing by the
minute. You're right and you discussed that new methane gas initiative. Tell us about that.
TAMAR ZANDBERG, ISRAELI MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Yes, that's true. So the last IPCC report published in August it pointed out, and I
think it was kind of news to the entire world, that methane gas is one of the most disturbing gases being emitted to the atmosphere, and we have to
start reducing this very, very quickly. And as you said, the window of opportunity to do so is narrowing.
So we are committed to reduction of CO2. And now meantime, these are the two main gases that we have to reduce very, very quickly. And still they
will still stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years even if we do so. So the message that John Kerry had, and we were in the OECD, 50 leaders, 50
ministers from 50 countries gathering together and saying this is urgent.
[10:20:00]
We have to act now if we want to make a change. So Israel declared that we will join John Kerry's initiative here to reduce 30 percent of methane gas
emissions by 2030 as part of the growing effort to act rapidly and quickly and efficiently to reduce emissions.
ANDERSON: I'm struggling to hear you slightly. The connection between you and me is slightly weak, although I do, as I understand it, believe that
our viewers have got decent sound from you. So forgive me if I slightly repeat or stand on what you've just been discussing. That will be my fault.
I can't hear you as well as I might.
Look, money and politics playing a major role in the fight against climate change. You've pointed out the climate threat, you know, is a threat to
your national security. And Israel is willing to spend to go greener. It also relies heavily on its natural gas deposits offshore. How do you marry
those two? How do you go greener and ensure that you are secure as far as your national security is concerned and that at the end of the day you're
still making money out of your natural gas?
ZANDBERG: Yes, well, I think actually when it comes to environment, money is not an issue in the very narrow sense. Money, so to speak, is an issue
when you look at the evolving and changing economies all over the world. When you look at the U.S., when you look at Europe that presented a very
new (INAUDIBLE) to 55 economic plan, you see that economies and market and countries are changing to adapt to the climate, to the new climate reality.
Now Israel is in a very unique hot spot in the Middle East. We suffer from hot and dry weather, and climate disasters are about to hit here worse than
in other places around the world. And also our geopolitical reality puts that danger also as a threat to national security. That is the reason that
Israel has to be the forefront of fighting climate change both in adapting and preparing ourselves to extreme weather disasters, to floods, to burn,
to fires.
But also we have an advantage and we have a unique advantages that could change the fight in climate crisis worldwide. And that is our innovation
and our cutting-edge technologies and startup companies that are here and are willing and growing every day in climate technology. So, the answer to
your question, how do we fight the money and the fossil gas and coal industry is a much quicker shift to renewable energy based on the sun, on
water, on the wind.
And we have in Israel a hub of hundreds of cutting-edge startups from food tech to storage of renewable energy. And I believe this will be the key to
shift not only Israel but the entire world toward a new world and green world and a world that also economies evolve around this new net zero
carbon emissions economy.
ANDERSON: Are you concerned about what we have seen this summer as the unreliability of some of the renewable power around the world, not least
that in the U.K., for example? And what is your net zero goal at this point?
ZANDBERG: Yes, so actually my conclusion from the instability of energy prices is that we have to push forward even stronger towards renewable
energy because this is actually -- this is basically the answer. It's part of the solution. It's not part of the problem. And the quicker we get there
and the more reliable the technology is, the better this shift will be.
As for the net zero, we recently set new targets for Israel. Our targets are 85 percent reduction of gas emissions until 2050. I know it's not zero.
You have to remember that Israel has a growing population. I think it's the only -- or the most growing populated country in the OECD. So this is
actually quite a meaningful target we hope to achieve. And I think the technology will be the answer to push us from this target to a true net
zero because in the next decade, in the next two decades and three decades, developing the cutting-edge technology that could store renewable energy
and could make them much more reliable is a key.
[10:25:14]
ANDERSON: With that, we'll leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us.
ZANDBERG: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Well, in another historic part of the world, there is a place where the sea kisses the land on an ancient beach. You can catch glimpses
of the past there from shipwrecks to prehistoric footprints. But what will it be and how will it look in the future?
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz went to investigate the ravages of climate change along one path of the U.K. coastline. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The northwest coast of England where sand moves with the tides, but the climate crisis is
disturbing the rhythm of this ecosystem with more intense storms wrecking a barrier of sand dunes, says local official Paul Wisse.
WISSE: These natural systems do provide an important defense for Sefton. The sand dunes obviously hold an awful lot of sediment that when it's
released on the beach helps raise the level of the beach to reduce the wave impacts.
ABDELAZIZ: Global warming also means rising temperatures and longer tourist seasons.
WISSE: We have an awful lot of tourists and they can have in some areas a detrimental impact on the vegetation and the dune systems.
ABDELAZIZ: And with tourists comes trash. Tom Norbury runs a volunteer group that picks up litter on the beach.
TOM NORBURY, HIGHTOWN BEACH CLEAN: Let people come here and keep it protected, very fine balance. And people just think they can come here.
They didn't realize, you know, it's a special place.
ABDELAZIZ: Coastal erosion is happening at an alarming rate. Experts say large suedes of coastlines here are at risk of retreating more than 65 feet
in the next 20 years.
(On-camera): British scientists warned that if the climate crisis continues unchecked here, it could threaten railways, roads and more than 100,000
homes across the U.K. Coastlines like this one could disappear in the next century.
(Voice-over): On this protected beach, rangers are repairing the sand dunes, home to rare species of lizards and toads. But unpredictable weather
events made more likely by climate change are a threat to recovery, says leader ranger Kate Martin.
KATE MARTIN, LEAD RANGER, NATIONAL TRUST FORMBY: The storms are a real issue. You don't really know when they're coming. We're also getting freak
storm events happening in August and other times of the year. And that makes it a lot harder for us to plan our management.
ABDELAZIZ: Man-made infrastructure blocking the back of the dunes is another challenge, Martin says.
MARTIN: If those dunes can't move and shift as they want to move and shift and can't adapt, then that is an issue because if they suddenly, the dunes
go, then the whole of the sea defense in this area goes.
ABDELAZIZ: But beyond this coastline, humans will also need to adapt their behaviors to preserve these beaches for future generations.
Selma Abdelaziz, CNN, Sefton Coast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right. We are going to take a very short break. After this the calls for action on global warming are urging the world's biggest
polluters, like the U.S. and China, to cut back on relying on fossil fuels.
Ahead, those two countries are going head-to-head here in Expo 2020 and why the U.S. didn't even pay for its own pavilion here. And we'll have the
latest on the partisan fight in the U.S. over whether the country should keep paying its bills.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:18]
ANDERSON: All right. A very warm welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson for you in Dubai this evening.
Two superpowers going head-to-head at Expo 2020 here in Dubai. The U.S. and China are shaping the perceptions of hundreds of business and government
leaders passing through their pavilions. Thousands of visitors, too.
Scott McLean visited both of those pavilions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For some, America will always be a shining city on a hill. At Expo 2020 it's a star-spangled pavilion on
the edge of the grounds. Inside guests are greeted by a full-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch. The message here is unmistakable. Freedom
is what's put America on top.
BOB CLARK, U.S. COMMISSIONER GENERAL, EXPO 2020: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think that this pavilion does a great job of showing our culture, our
values, and that freedom wins.
MCLEAN (on-camera): But you don't look at China a few doors down and think we need to convince the world that our system is better than theirs?
CLARK: You know, we think freedom wins. And this is a great showcase for that.
MCLEAN (voice-over): But the U.S. almost didn't come to Expo, only committing eight months before it was supposed to begin. Because U.S. law
bars using public funds, the pavilion was made possible by the generosity of the Emirati government.
(On-camera): What kind of message does that send?
CLARK: So we had to be resourceful. We had to go to corporate sponsors, other agencies. And we had to talk to the UAE, and our partnership was
strong enough to bring us here.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Bring them here to show case America's past triumphs and future goals for the final frontier, which is about the only thing it
has in common with the other superpower pavilion across the Expo grounds, China, which is also keen to show off its space program. But first guests
are greeted by President Xi Jinping. Inside there's corporate videos, a concept car and a robotic panda.
(On-camera): Nice to meet you. I've been through all three floors of this pavilion and realized there is almost nothing here about Chinese culture,
history and people. Instead this place feels more like a tech convention pushing Chinese companies and innovations and the goals of the Communist
Party like high-speed rail and the Belt and Road Initiative.
JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: They are trying to present a message to the world that China has arrived as a technology leader and as a
world leader.
MCLEAN: You think a lot of people are likely to buy that message?
METZL: A lot of people are buying that message because China's economy is strengthening, because China is so aggressively asserting its influence
around the world. This is a new era of big power competition.
MCLEAN (voice-over): All of it amid worsening U.S.-China relations over trade, Taiwan, Uighur genocide, Hong Kong, the origins of COVID-19 and the
list goes on. China officially declined our interview request, but we ran into the ambassador to the UAE on his way out.
NI JIAN, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO THE UAE: China pavilion, great, beautiful, very beautiful.
MCLEAN (on-camera): You think it looks like the pavilion of a super power? Do you think it competes with the United States?
NI: No. You shouldn't, you know -- OK. And what is symbolic is the happiness to the people of the world. Thank you.
MCLEAN (voice-over): So whose pavilion has the most impact is up to the millions of visitors and business people expected to attend over the next
six months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China is known as a market leader.
MCLEAN (on-camera): I thought America was the market leader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). I think right now they're on the top.
MCLEAN: What was the impression that you took away from the country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly speaking, you know, U.S. is numero uno and will remain numero uno for years to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, the United States have been in power for a long time and the Chinese are an emerging power so it's good to see the
comparison of where they are.
[10:35:05]
MCLEAN: Feel like it's a bit of a competition?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has to be. The world is a competition for the U.S. and China. It's always been, isn't it?
MCLEAN: That's true.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Scott McLean reporting there and he joins me tonight from outside that U.S. pavilion.
So what sort of support did the government here lend to ensure that the U.S. could in fact be here?
MCLEAN: So, Becky, the Emirati government paid $60 million to build the U.S. pavilion, which raises all kinds of ethical questions about human
rights and the rights of the workers who built this pavilion. Human rights groups have long raised concerns about foreign workers who were brought in
to build the Expo site who worked for relatively low pay in the extreme heat.
In fact the European parliament just last month passed a resolution calling on European sponsors and E.U. member states to actually withdraw from this
event in part because of those same concerns.
But Bob Clark, the wealthy Democratic Party donor, who was appointed by the Biden administration to oversee this pavilion, told me he has no concerns
about the rights of those workers. The reason that the U.S. almost didn't make it to Expo was because of funding, not because of human rights
concerns. Clark said that this was simply too big of an opportunity with too big a global audience to pass up on.
But he did tell me though, Becky, that he hopes to be able to convince Washington in the future to actually pay for U.S. participation at world
expos using taxpayer dollars.
ANDERSON: Yes, and the United Arab Emirates, let's be quite clear, rejected as factually incorrect that resolution passed by the European parliament
criticizing its human rights record and calling for the release of peaceful political activists. Let's be clear there.
Scott, Chinese. The Chinese are pushing their Belt and Road Initiative inside their pavilion. The U.S. also making a pitch for trade in foreign
investment?
MCLEAN: You might think they would do that, Becky. But the short answer is no. Now, Bob Clark pointed me to the vast number of Chinese students who
choose to go to university in the United States as evidence that, look, the U.S. doesn't need to court any students or investments or tourists. People
are already well aware of the United States.
What's on display here he says is U.S. values and specifically freedom. There is a G7 led initiative that was unveiled earlier this year to try to
rival the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. It's called Build Back Better for the world. It's aimed at low- and middle-income countries to invest in
infrastructure there. But I toured the pavilion, Becky, and there is no sign of it there.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Scott, thank you. Scott McLean's in the house.
Next up fierce division over a game of two halves, a Saudi-led bid to take over New Castle United is leading to major controversy. We're going to take
a look in "WORLD SPORT" for you after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:30]
ANDERSON: Right. I want to get you up to speed on some of the stories on our radar right now. The U.S. Senate passed a deal late on Thursday
allowing the country to keep paying its bills. Democrats and Republicans reached that agreement to extend the debt ceiling for two months. But
without a larger agreement, Congress will be back at this same fight in December.
U.S. Defense officials have given an update after a number of sailors were injured when an American Navy submarine hit an underwater object in the
South China Sea. Officials say the submarine was operating in one of the world's most difficult undersea environments. The injuries are said to be
minor and the submarine has now arrived in Guam.
And in Hong Kong, a female construction worker was killed following the collapse of a large scaffolding. It happened in the city's affluent Happy
Valley. A total of seven workers were rescued. There has been heavy wind and rain in Hong Kong, which is under a tropical cyclone warning.
Plus U.N. Human Rights Council has shut down an investigation into war crimes in Yemen. Bahrain, Russia and other members of the council pushed
through that vote. Now investigators say all sides have committed potential war crimes in that conflict that has pitted a Saudi-led coalition against
Iran-allied Houthi rebels.
Well, in sport, some controversy after the English Premier League approved the takeover of Newcastle United football club by Saudi Arabia-led group.
Most of the finance coming from Saudi's Public Investment Fund, a company whose private jets carried the killers of Jamal Khashoggi.
Alex Thomas is here to explain -- Alex.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Yes, and the fiance of Jamal Khashoggi is calling this heartbreaking. And also we know that the Premier League has
rubber stamped it despite those fears, human rights group Amnesty International saying it's sports washing at play. But for the fans who have
had to suffer 14 1/2 years or so of Mike Ashley, a despised owner, giving no investments to the team and suffering on the pitch compared to some of
their glory days of the past, there's huge excitement in the northeast of England as to what the new owners, who some say are richer than Manchester
City or Paris Saint-Germain owners could even do.
We've got much more in "WORLD SPORT" in just a moment.
ANDERSON: It's an interesting story in that it isn't just an investment in the football club, of course. But as I understand it, it's a wider
investment in the city of Newcastle. Do we have any detail about that?
THOMAS: Well, we know the Newcastle United Supporters Trust recently held a survey back in which almost 94 percent of fans were in favor. And one of
the spokespeople saying that if you go to St. James' Park, which has hosted major events before, things are falling apart. You know, paint peeling off
the walls, wires where there were TV screen. It needs huge investment. As you say, if the new Saudi-led consortium can bring that, and certainly
there will be some upsides in terms of the local economy.
ANDERSON: Yes. And more on that I'm sure in "WORLD SPORT," a big story in the world of sport. Alex Thomas, with us, and he is back after the break.
We'll be back with CONNECT THE WORLD after that. Stay with us.
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(WORLD SPORT)
[10:57:14]
THOMAS: And that's all we've got for in WORLD SPORT. Becky, back to you.
ANDERSON: That is lovely. All right. Alex, thank you so much.
CONNECT THE WORLD is back after this. Do please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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