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Protests Rage in Pakistan over Jailed Justice; Brits Find Friendly Fire Death Unlawful; Japanese Court Convicts Horie of Securities Fraud
Aired March 16, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: A matter of deep concern. The U.S. keeping a close eye on growing protests in Pakistan, a crucial ally in the war on terror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MASARU TAKAGI, MEIJI UNIVERSITY: Livedoor was Japan's Enron. The accounting was a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Reversal of fortune. One of Japan's youngest and brightest business stars falls from grace after a crackdown on corruption.
CLANCY: Now, that's dedication. Diving deep to gurgle a good luck song is just one sign of the cricket craze sweeping India.
MCEDWARDS: All right. And sexy or sexist? Spain says this ad humiliates women. So one of the world's biggest fashion houses fights back. It is 9:00 p.m. in Islamabad, 5:00 p.m. in Madrid. Welcome to our report broadcast around the globe. I'm Colleen McEdwards.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. From Washington to Tokyo to Mumbai. Wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
MCEDWARDS: Well, the stakes are high in Pakistan, where a political firestorm is brewing over the suspension of the nation's top judge.
CLANCY: And the United States says it's deeply concerned about these developments in the country that is a vital ally in the war on terror.
MCEDWARDS: In Islamabad and other cities, the decision by President Pervez Musharraf sparked another day of angry protests.
CLANCY: Police firing tear gas at lawyers and other demonstrators, and then detaining scores of political activists.
MCEDWARDS: Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was suspended a week ago. The protesters say the move is unconstitutional and they say this is all motivated by politics.
CLANCY: Now, police stormed the offices of a private television station in Islamabad, they broke windows, and they scuffled with the staff. The channel was able to broadcast live pictures for hours of helmeted police carrying shields and batons, even as they burst into the channel's building. One reporter with a GEO TV stations has this firsthand account of that incident.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMID MIR, GEO TV REPORTER (through translator): I tried to stop the police and tell them that this is against the law, they pushed me aside and dragged me and said that I'm under arrest. Our security guards saved me from the police.
In the meantime, the police entered our office from the back door and started breaking stuff. Police entered the offices from three different doors and they are all from the Punjab Police. They harassed us for about 20 to 25 minutes and came out shouting slogans of long live Punjab Police. And one inspector was reporting to someone that they have completed their operation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Later, President Pervez Musharraf apologized for that incident, the invasion of the television station, and promised action against those who were responsible.
MCEDWARDS: Well, this incident may do little to boost the image of Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, promising to restore democracy. With parliamentary elections due within a year, the issue comes at a pretty sensitive time here.
Musharraf is expected to seek another presidential term. Now this incident has both fueled suspicion that Musharraf may not give in to opposition demands to give up his post as army chief. And you know, he promised to do that, that was something he promised to do, give up that post, back at the time of the coup. Hasn't done it yet. The opposition has been pushing him for years.
CLANCY: At the same time, when you look at freedom of the press, under Musharraf, that GEO TV station and several others started broadcasting, there's a mix here, there are other political undertones that are really saying -- talking a lot about displeasure with Musharraf over some of his policies. It's all coming to a head here.
MCEDWARDS: Yes. And it is interesting the way people are rallying around this judge. I mean, this is a president who has been pretty careful for a guy who came to power in a coup, it kind of looks like the way people are rallying around this judge that maybe the government is taking on the wrong person here. So they're being careful.
CLANCY: All right.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Well, the killing of a British soldier four years ago in a friendly fire incident in Iraq has been deemed unlawful. And that is the finding of a British coroner's inquest on the soldier's death in a U.S. air strike. The announcement was made in Oxford, England. We are joined there now by Paula Hancocks -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Colleen. Well, this verdict has certainly been a long time coming for the family of Lance Corporal Matty Hull. There were tears in the courtroom from the widow and also from Matty Hull's mother, when that verdict, unlawful killing, was recorded.
Now the families say that they have been struggling to reach this point and there have been many obstacles put in their way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Lance Corporal Matty Hull died less than one month into his first tour of duty in Iraq. Killed when his convoy was attacked by U.S. warplanes. A friendly fire incident, a British coroner ruled was entirely avoidable, and unlawful. It is the verdict Matty Hull's family sought for four years.
SUSAN HULL, WIDOW OF MATTY HULL: Great sense of relief that it's over and we heard what we wanted to hear. But, in fact, what that means for us is that it was entirely avoidable, Matthew's death was entirely avoidable. And so it's tinged with sadness, too.
HANCOCKS: Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker has consistently said the lack of cooperation from U.S. authorities made his job harder. He said the U.S. withheld information, calling it a "profound disservice to those who have lost their lives in the service of their country and the families left behind who simply want to know the truth."
Lance Corporal Hull's widow, Susan, made a personal plea to President Bush Thursday to release evidence. But to no avail. This is the cockpit video of the attack on March 28th, 2003, video the Pentagon tried to withhold from the coroner's court until it was leaked by someone to The Sun newspaper and widely publicized. It is clear, when the two U.S. pilots are told of their mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. This sucks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in jail, dude.
HANCOCKS: Hull's widow was originally told by U.K. officials the video did not exist. The ministry of defense said, after the verdict: "We are very sorry for confusion and upset caused over the handling of the cockpit footage. Susan Hull said today that she hopes that lessons will be learned as a result of this inquest. We will do all that we can to ensure that this is the case."
Hull's widow and mother broke down in tears in court when they heard the verdict.
HULL: We can draw a line and move on with our everyday lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Now even though this British verdict is not legally binding in the United States, it certainly is embarrassing for both governments and it highlights the fact that cooperation between two allies on the battlefield does not necessarily translate to cooperation in the courtroom -- Colleen.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Paula Hancocks for us there. Paula, thanks.
CLANCY: And in Iraq, more U.S. troops are heading into the fray. Leaked plans from the Pentagon indicate the general in charge of the U.S. forces in Iraq wants -- say his needs more helicopter support. Now CNN has learned Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has signed off on nearly 3,000 additional troops to provide that support. Now that would push the latest headcount of troops involved in the buildup to 31,000, that's 30 percent more than President Bush originally called for.
MCEDWARDS: Well, he wowed the public. He shocked the conservative Japanese business world. And he also made a heck of a lot of money. But a Japanese court convicted Takafumi Horie of securities fraud Friday, a ruling that he says he will appeal.
Eunice Yoon has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was supposed to be the poster boy of the new Japan. Instead, Takafumi Horie is the poster child of Japan's crackdown on corporate corruption. On Friday, the 34-year-old entrepreneur was found guilty of violating securities laws for his Internet firm Livedoor and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. It's a shocking verdict for a man who made his name shocking the Japanese establishment.
TAKAGI (through translator): Horie was a hero. He gave young Japanese hope that they could become young entrepreneurs, too. But this ruling shows no one is above the law.
YOON: Horie's fall from grace has been one of most dramatic in recent Japanese economic history. In a corporate culture that looks down on tough tactics, Horie built his $50,000 start-up into a $6 billion media empire through a series of aggressively acquisitions, including an attempt to buy a baseball team and a prominent television station, Fuji TV.
His casual freewheeling capitalist style made him so popular, he ran for parliament, a seat he ended up losing. But the rapid expansion at his firm planted seed of his doom.
TAKAGI (through translator): Livedoor was Japan's Enron. The accounting was a mess. There was a will to change Japan's corporate activities.
YOON: Prosecutors exercised that will last year, raiding Livedoor's headquarters and arresting Horie on charges he used dummy companies and illegal stock splits to inflate his company's earnings. The raid shocked Livedoor investors, triggering a sell-off so massive it caused the computers at the Tokyo Stock Exchange to temporarily break down. Analysts say that shouldn't happen again, as Japanese regulators push to turn Tokyo into an international finance center. In fact, they say the verdict is a sign authorities there are getting serious about raising accounting standards.
Yet, to Horie, it is just the old guard's way of squashing the newcomer. He plans to appeal, promising to take on another part of the Japanese establishment, the judicial system, next.
Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCEDWARDS: You know, this 34-year-old was known for being very flamboyant. Did you know he once tried to buy a baseball team, once tried to run for office, had the backing of the government at the time and he has got a bunch of books out on how to succeed in business. Don't know if they'll be bestsellers anymore.
CLANCY: Well, he can write another one, maybe on how to avoid prison, because he is on appeal right now. And a lot of people say the reason he's so much in hot water was that flamboyant attitude that he had. Some saw it was defiance.
All right. Let's check some of the other stories that are making news today.
MCEDWARDS: That's right. We want to begin with Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
CLANCY: He is bloodied, but he is unbowed. Tsvangirai leaving a Harare hospital on Friday, vowing to continue his battle against the regime of President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai perennially in the opposition, said his spirit would not be dampened by police violence. He's the head of Movement for Democrat Change in Zimbabwe and he called his injuries part of an orgy of beatings handed out by police.
MCEDWARDS: The head of Cuba's National Assembly says President Fidel Castro is in, quote, "perfect shape" to run for re-election next year. Ricardo Alarcon says Mr. Castro is doing fine and continues to recover from emergency intestinal surgery that he had last summer. Mr. Castro is 80 years old. He served as Cuba's president for 47 years until stepping aside for his brother Raul after his illness struck.
CLANCY: In Washington a star witness up on Capitol Hill, Valerie Plame Wilson, the former CIA operative whose identity was leaked four years ago, is testifying before a House committee. That leak, of course, prompted an investigation and ultimately a perjury conviction of a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Plame believe she was outed in retaliation against her husband who criticized the Bush administration's pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
MCEDWARDS: Well, it has always been a national obsession, but these days cricket mania has kind of gone off the charts, even for India. CLANCY: And with Cricket World Cup under way right now, Indian fans are trying every means possible to help their team to end generation-long drought.
MCEDWARDS: Satinder Bindra found out how far some will go for the love of the game.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If this doesn't look like your normal game of cricket, you're right, it isn't. This is a special effort by scuba diver Savir Bosh (ph). He man is playing a game of cricket under water, his way of wishing the Indian team luck in the Cricket World Cup, a once every four years tournament to decide the world's best team.
"I'm shooting a song under water for the World Cup," he says. "We want India to win the cup this time."
It's the sentiment shared by tens of million across the cricket- loving nation. The South Indian fans have toiled for days to construct the World Cup, cricket's most coveted prize, out of sand. And this giant cricket bat and ball, another expression of their devotion for team India.
Dozens of hardcore fans are also shaving of their hair, a traditional Indian way of seeking divine intervention.
"We've shaved our heads," he says, "and are praying for the success of the Indian cricket team."
At the moment, cricket is so big in the nation's collective conscious that some garment manufacturers are cashing in by weaving images of cricket stars on saris, the traditional dress still worn by most Indian women.
(on camera): Indian last won the World Cup in 1983, 24 years ago. This time, most cricket pundits believe Australia will take home the cup. But try telling these budding cricketers that. Many of them say their team still has a good chance.
(voice-over): India's cricket team realizes it's under enormous pressure. All the captain is promising is the team will do its best.
RAHUL DRAVID, INDIAN CAPTAIN: Not, you know, romantic about it. I just think that we've got a job to do, I believe we're a good team and we have got to out there perform like a good team now.
BINDRA: Meanwhile, the scuba divers have completed their special underwater video for team India. India's first game is against neighbor Bangladesh on Saturday.
Satinder Bindra CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: You have got to love them. They love their sport.
MCEDWARDS: They sure do.
CLANCY: All right. We're going to take a short break. But a U.S.-proposed missile defense system in Europe stirring a lot of debate.
MCEDWARDS: Still ahead here on YOURWORLD TODAY, the U.S. says it is necessary to protect the continent from Iran. But Russia is saying, not so fast.
Also ahead...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many people do you think have died in Darfur?
ABDALMAHMOOD ABDALHALEEM, SUDANESE AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Nine thousand.
ROTH: Only 9,000?
ABDALHALEEM: Nine thousand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Human rights activists say Sudan's version, and you heard it there, of what's happening in Darfur is a far cry from reality.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODY WILLIAMS, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER: There are no more thresholds to be crossed or facts to be found about the situation in Darfur. Innocent civilians continue to suffer and die. They do not need more reports. They are pleading for protection. It is our view that the Human Rights Council must take action to alleviate their suffering and give the people of Darfur hope for their future in peace and security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to CNN INTERNATIONAL and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: We are covering the news of the world and we are looking at some of the stories that really affect it, like the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
MCEDWARDS: You just heard from Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams. She was talking to the U.N. Human Rights Council, talking about the need for immediate action in Darfur. CLANCY: But as our own Richard Roth reports from the United Nations, although there has been plenty of talk, there hasn't been a lot of action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): Despite all of the people dying painfully slow deaths from malnutrition and dehydration in Sudan, the world's leaders still have yet to do anything substantive to stop the genocide.
TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: It's scandalous, indeed, in terms of the suffering of the people there. And we cannot let this slip back down the international agenda.
ROTH: But the Darfur dilemma has now been on the U.N. radar for nearly four years, but still nothing.
BILL PACE, WORLD FEDERALIST MOVEMENT: This is a catastrophic failure of the international community, and the U.N. system in preventing genocides in the past.
ROTH: There have even been arguments over whether a genocide has been committed. Two Sudanese men have, in fact, have even been accused of war crimes. But Sudan isn't buying it.
ABDALHALEEM: It's not a genocide. This is blown out of proportion.
ROTH: The United Nations estimates at least 2 million people displaced and 200,000 people dead.
(on camera): How many people do you think have died in Darfur?
ABDALHALEEM: Nine thousand.
ROTH: Only 9,000?
ABDALHALEEM: Nine thousand, yes.
ROTH: Other estimates put it at at least 300,000, 400,000?
ABDALHALEEM: No, no, no. This is dramatization to serve their objective of calling for international troops to come and invade the country.
ROTH (voice over): But there is no cavalry to come to the rescue. Under U.N. rules, if a country doesn't want troops to come in, the U.N. backs off. Sudan also has friends on the Security Council. China buys a lot of oil from Sudan and stands ready to block stiffer action against Sudan.
WANG GUANYA, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We don't agree that at this stage sanctions is a way that will help the peace process.
ROTH: The current president of the Security Council is from a major African country, but can only offer sympathy.
DUMISANI KUMALO, SOUTH AFRICAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: It tears your heart apart. It makes all of this look like what are we doing?
ROTH (on camera): You can be sure that someone, somewhere in the United Nations system is already planning on one of their "lessons learned" symposiums. The obvious problem is, there is still no peace in Darfur.
Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCEDWARDS: You know this whole situation has prompted a lot of cynicism about the U.N. and its ability to actually get in there and do anything.
CLANCY: Well, it's the U.N. system, as we hear again, is it really the U.N.? One of the lost boys of Sudan talked with me a couple of weeks ago and he said the people, the governments, really, of China and Russia are drinking the blood of my people. What was he talking about? China invests in oil there. It gets oil from the Sudan. Russia gets paid for arms that are being sold to the Sudanese with the money that is coming from China. And that is what is producing a lot of the cynicism because the U.N. system is tied up.
MCEDWARDS: It is powerful statement. All right. If you're a political leader, it certainly pays to have a thick skin.
CLANCY: It seems that whatever you do, it's bound to offend someone. Now that was made quite clear yesterday in Guatemala. Mayan spiritual leaders performed a so-called cleansing ceremony on a temple that the U.S. president visited earlier in the week.
MCEDWARDS: Mr. Bush is widely criticized in Guatemala for his foreign policy. The U.S. government meanwhile, still feeling the negative effects from a CIA-sponsored coup in Guatemala back in 1954 and also for its support of the military governments ever since.
CLANCY: All right. A check of the markets is just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I feel freedom. I can see again the sky, moon, sun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCEDWARDS: They fled Iran in 2004 and have only now reached their destination.
CLANCY: And one of the wonders of Borneo, a great cat that is putting diversity back on the map.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first a check on stories making headlines in the United States.
Public exposure, an outed CIA operative says her identity was, quote, carelessly and recklessly abused. Valerie Plame Wilson appeared before a House committee to testify about the leak that she says blew her cover ended her career. Wilson rejected claims that she was not covert when her identity was leaked in 2003. She described how she learned she had been exposed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE PLAME WILSON, FMR. CIA OPERATIVE: I found out very early in the morning, when my husband came in and dropped the newspaper on the bed and said, he did it. And I quickly turned and read the article and I felt like I had been hit in the gut. I -- it was over in an instant. And I immediately thought of my family's safety, the agents, the networks that I had worked with and everything goes through your mind in an instant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: No one has been charged with revealing Valerie Plame Wilson's identity. Last week, former Cheney top aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of perjury and other charges related to the case.
The nation's top prosecutor fighting for his job. Each day Alberto Gonzales may be closer to losing it. The latest blow from President Bush's top political guru. New e-mails raise questions about Karl Rove's role in the firing of federal prosecutors. Specifically a White House e-mail suggests Rove was involved in the process earlier than the administration has admitted. Later today we'll hear from President Bush's top legal aides, they'll tell Democrats in Congress whether they'll allow a high-level White House officials to testify.
Tears in Brunswick, Georgia, the body of 6-year-old Christopher Barrios found alongside a road just three miles from where he disappeared on March 8th. A convicted sex offender, his parents and their friends are in custody. Police say the four stymied investigators with conflicting stories about the young boy's fate. And today authorities say they'll all face murder charges. Friends describe Christopher Barrios as a kind, quiet boy. Police say they know the motive for the slaying. They're not talking about it just yet though. An autopsy is planned.
Will a last-minute mystery witness clear five police officers? A New York grand jury trying to answer that question today. The officers accused of shooting an unarmed man on his wedding day, 23- year-old Sean Bell, killed in 50 rounds of gunfire outside a nightclub last November. The new witness came forward just two days ago. Authorities say he told the grand jury he saw someone fire at the undercover officers and he heard the officers identify themselves. The victim's father plans to hold a news conference next hour. He will respond to the decision to allow that last-minute witness. CNN will bring it to you live at the top of the hour.
A major snowstorm in the Northeast and air travelers are feeling the pain. JetBlue is leading the list of airlines canceling flights. JetBlue says it has canceled all of its flights out of New York City and that's more than 20 flights. The airline says the cancellations will free up crews and gates. Other airlines have also canceled flights including Delta and Northwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: A spectacular fire near Sacramento. Take a look at this, a 300-foot stretch of railroad trestle in flames. Hundreds of people stopped to watch the fire. So many in fact, Sacramento's rush hour traffic backed up. The blaze also disrupted rail traffic for Amtrak and cut power to businesses in the area. No word on what caused the fire.
At the top of the hour in the "NEWSROOM," we're live in Brunswick, Georgia, where the search for a 6-year-old missing boy ended so very tragically. New charges possibly against the four people in custody.
The latest when we Don Lemon and Kiran Chetry at 1:00 p.m. Eastern in the "NEWSROOM." Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Heidi Collins.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe, including the United States. We are going to get to our top stories in just a moment.
But actually on the line with us now, we have Morgan Tsvangirai. He is the opposition politician who's been in hospital after allegedly being beaten about the head after a rally, after being detained at a rally that happened on Sunday.
Mr. Tsvangirai, what is your condition?
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, OPPOSITION LEADER: Well, thank you very much. My condition is greatly improved. I've been decided (ph) this morning. I've recovered tremendously. And I want to thank the doctors and nurses for looking after me.
MCEDWARDS: What happened? Tell us what happened.
TSVANGIRAI: What happened was that we had a scheduled rally by the Zimbabwe campaign, which is the coalition of the opposition leaders. But led by the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance. This was supposed to be on Sunday.
This meeting supposedly was canceled by the police. In terms of our laws, they don't need to seek permission to have a prayer meeting. But my colleagues, we had gone there to investigate and find out why the police were blocking the meeting. We were then arrested. And I had gone to the police station to find out what had happened to my colleagues when there was -- found my colleagues in this situation which then also included me.
MCEDWARDS: Robert Mugabe has essentially said to the international community, "Go hang." I think that's the quote. He seems unconcerned by this, unconcerned about the turmoil around it. What's your response to that?
TSVANGIRAI: Well, I'm sure that any normal being would be disgusted by that kind of defiance and that kind of disregard and heartless comment. I equally am astounded by a man who is supposed to be leading the country to celebrate violence against his own people and especially innocent civilians where he uses commandos to beat up civilians. I find this totally outrageous.
MCEDWARDS: Where does this leave your opposition movement, Mr. Tsvangirai? Does this make you a little more concerned about holding meetings that could be perceived by authorities to be political rallies which aren't supposed to take place? Or does this make you more energized, more determined?
TSVANGIRAI: Well, this physical threat or physical harm to individuals, and me included, has not had any effect at all in discouraging further work of the opposition. In fact if at all, it has further strengthened our resolve to globalize the people of Zimbabwe.
It is a regime, a rogue regime which has embarked on attacks on people. And I think that the whole community across the political divide is disgusted by the way things have turned out in Zimbabwe.
MCEDWARDS: Mr. Tsvangirai, are there still legal proceedings pending here? I mean, I know there has been some confusion around the courts. It's very tough to get information about exactly what's going on. What's your understanding of what's next?
TSVANGIRAI: Well, what's next as far as legal -- legal processes is concerned is that there is no case to answer because they've never charged us. In fact, the attorney general has refused to prosecute, because there's nothing to prosecute us on.
I went to a police station, and I would have expected them to respect the -- to protect people. Instead, it's become a torture chamber for our people. So as far as the legal process is concerned, it's dead and buried. There's no further legal challenge that we are going to answer for.
MCEDWARDS: Mr. Tsvangirai, there was a lot of confusion, too, about what exactly your condition was. Can you just confirm whether you are out of the hospital, expected to make a full recovery? Tell us the situation.
TSVANGIRAI: I was -- I went to -- in which they confirmed the injury on the head may have confirmed some brain injury. Fortunately, that has been disproven; that is not the case. So the doctors are satisfied that my condition is on the recovery part. I am also satisfied that I'm on the recovery path. I'm out of danger. And I'm at home now, released.
Two colleagues who are still in the Sekai Walu (ph) hospital as a result of these attacks in Khupe. And I'm hoping that they'll have a speedy recovery, too. And I'm hoping to resume our duty.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Morgan Tsvangirai, saying he will resume his duties as the opposition leader in Zimbabwe. Thanks for talking to us.
CLANCY: All right.
Well, from politics now to nature. It's hot, humid, and home to some of the most biologically diverse habitats in all of the world. The thick forests of Borneo allow thousands of unique plant and animal species to thrive, making it a true wildlife treasure.
But scientists warn the world's third largest island is facing a grave threat from deforestation, which puts the incredible variety of species there in danger.
Now over the past year, one year alone, 52 new species of animals and plants identified in just one place, Borneo. Now, we showed you the latest one yesterday, the clouded leopard. Scientists say these new discoveries underscore the urgency of protecting this unique habitat.
Let's bring in Carter Roberts -- Roberts. He is the U.S. president of the World Wildlife Fund. He's joining us now from Washington.
Why should we be enthused about this, Carter?
CARTER ROBERTS, U.S. PRESIDENT, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: Well, this is the most amazing animal, first of all. Spectacularly gorgeous. It's new to science. And the fact that we've discovered it gives us hope that there are these places on earth, like Borneo, where they are wild enough, in fact, enough where we are bound to discover new species every year.
It's also an amazing story of science and discovery. It's a combination of DNA testing and also these remote cameras that we and other organizations have put in the field. That this past year we have found, as you mentioned, 52 species, new species, of creatures. But also been able to track clouded leopard, many other mammals.
But also the lives of people there, indigenous people, but also one of the most chilling photographs, of people lugging chainsaws into this forest to cut it down.
CLANCY: You know, I was fascinated, too, by the way you track some of the mammals that we're talking about. You use remote cameras?
ROBERTS: Yes, we put in place, we call them camera traps. They're remote cameras that are triggered by movement, and they take, over a period of months, an array of photographs of whatever happens to cross their path, whether it's a tiger, or a new species, a clouded leopard, or even people performing for the camera, sometimes taunting the camera.
And it enables us to have a presence and an understanding deep in these forests around the world.
CLANCY: Well, you know, these pictures of this leopard, unbelievable. Just the way that it is in its beauty and its rarity.
ROBERTS: It is a stunning animal. And it's a reminder to me and my colleagues at World Wildlife Fund of the need to redouble our efforts to protect its habitat. The governments of Borneo recently declared the heart of Borneo declaration to create a network of 23 nature reserves.
And we're working to support them in that effort. We're also working with big companies around the world that source products like timber, coffee, and palm oil that lead to the destruction of these forests.
CLANCY: The local people are also interested in preserving a lot of this, aren't they? They see a future here.
ROBERTS: Well, they do. First of all, these forests are the source of clean water, livelihoods for them. This leopard also has had a mystical, almost religious significance to indigenous groups, who have regarded it, because of its mysterious nature, its sheer beauty, as a symbol of the forest and also the symbol of the spiritual nature of Borneo.
CLANCY: Carter, as we look at this, what is the odds -- what are the odds we're going to discover more here?
ROBERTS: Oh, we -- the odds are 100 percent we will. This is a vast, rich forest. We have much more research left to do.
The only thing that will keep us from discovering more creatures is our own -- our actions in destroying this habitat. All the more reason for us at WWF to work with local communities and big companies to make sure that these forests exist into the future. And I'm hopeful that we can make that happen.
CLANCY: Carter Roberts, the president of the U.S. chapter of the World Wildlife Fund, I want to thank you very much for being with us, sharing some of these incredible photos. We all love it.
ROBERTS: It's an exciting moment for all of us in the conservation community. And I look forward to coming back and telling you what we find next year.
CLANCY: All right. We look forward to it, too.
All right, Colleen, that's our report. What's going on in Borneo, I think everybody is fascinated by it. A lot of viewer response coming in about some of these pictures, especially of that cloud leopard.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, they are beautiful. Jim, thanks a lot for that.
We're going to take a short break here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, but we'll be right back.
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MCEDWARDS: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
CLANCY: And we're trying to bring you some of the stories that come from more than 200 countries and territories all across the globe.
MCEDWARDS: Well, for 10 months they had no access to showers, slept on floors and essentially survived on food scraps.
CLANCY: Forced to live a life in limbo, trapped at Moscow's International Airport.
MCEDWARDS: This may sound like a movie, but this was all too real for an Iranian mother and her two children. Shannon Patterson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANNON PATTERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tearful family reunions are not unusual at the airport. But this one played out like a Hollywood movie. Zahra Kamalfar's journey to Vancouver began two years ago, when she and her two children fled Iran.
DAVOOD GHAVANI, IRANIAN CANADIAN CONGRESS: She was lashed, and she was in prison, and she was persecuted. And she fled the country because of that.
PATTERSON: The family hoped to make its way to Canada as refugees, but was detained in Russia and spent ten months living in limbo in the Moscow airport, just like Tom Hanks' character in the movie "The Terminal".
Eventually, they were granted refugee status by the United Nations. And friends and family in Vancouver waited anxiously for their arrival. But at YVR, the family was detained again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zahra was smoking on the plane. She was not aware of any regulation on the plane or airport regulation. So, they are stopping her for a while.
PATTERSON: Eventually, the family was released and reunited with Zahra's brother, who hadn't seen his sister in 13 years.
ANNA KAMALFAR, ZAHRA KAMALFAR'S DAUGHTER: Thank you, thank you so much. The Canada government and the people of Canada.
ZAHRA KAMALFAR, IRANIAN REFUGEE: Now I feel freedom. I can see again a sky, moon, sun.
PATTERSON: Overcome by emotion, Zahra collapsed on her way out of the airport. She was overcome again when she stepped onto Canadian soil for the first time, an emotional end to a long ordeal. And for this family, the beginning of a new life.
Shannon Patterson, CTV news.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCEDWARDS: Just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY, an ad campaign designed to be provocative.
CLANCY: Yes. So provocative that it has now been banned in Spain and infuriated the women in other countries, as well. Al Goodman gets to the heart of the matter, coming up next.
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CLANCY: All right. Very interesting story here. Latin men always think that they really know what's on the minds of women and, you know, how it should be approached.
MCEDWARDS: Sure. Right.
CLANCY: Dolce & Gabbana call it creative liberty.
MCEDWARDS: The Spanish government, though, and others, as well, say it denigrates women.
CLANCY: Now, instead of being hip and stylish, the Italian designers are accused now of being fashion backward for an ad that appeared in a number of men -- this is men's fashion. It's in men's magazines.
MCEDWARDS: A whole bunch of men's magazines.
The designer label, not alone in being criticized for a fashion faux pas here. Al Goodman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do you see in this ad by Dolce & Gabbana? A lovely woman? Four chiseled men? That's not what Spain's government sees. It says the ad might incite violence against women and wants it banished.
MARIBEL MONTANO, RULING SOCIALIST PARTY (through translator): It's possible this could contribute to domestic violence when men think they own and possess women.
GOODMAN: But Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are seeing red. In a statement, the designer said, "Following strong criticism by Spanish authorities concerning an image from Dolce & Gabbana's men's advertising campaign, accusing it of violence against women, we announced the withdrawal in Spain of the entire campaign" Dolce & Gabbana blasted Spain for censorship. They also yanked the ad in Italy after similar criticism from the human rights group Amnesty International and an Italian labor union.
Miguel Palacio is one of Spain's top designers. He knows Dolce & Gabbana and can't imagine they meant to get into this mess.
MIGUEL PALACIO, FASHION DESIGNER (through translator): This ad campaign has many connotations, very sexy. But at no time is it meant to denigrate or be negative. It's just provocative.
GOODMAN: Dolce & Gabbana's headquarters in Milan and their store in Madrid declined our request for an interview.
Domestic violence is very much on the mind of Spain's government. Nearly 70 women were killed here by their husbands or boyfriends in just the past year.
(on camera) Advertising campaigns for top fashion designers are expected to be cutting edge and cause maximum impact. But the question is, when do you cross the line?
(voice-over) Another famous Italian designer may be finding out. Giorgio Armani's new ad for children's clothing also raised an outcry in Spain.
ARTURO CANALDA, MADRID CHILD PROTECTION CHIEF (through translator): If you remove the Armani sign from the ad and just see the girls, you have a picture similar to ones promoting sexual tourism.
GOODMAN: Canalda says he's sure Armani didn't mean to offend anyone, but he's asked Spain's advertising council to consider banning the ad.
All this in a western European democracy where there's easy access at newsstands and online to sexual material. Are top fashion designers held to a higher standard? Miguel Palacio thinks the latest uproar will cause designers to think even more carefully before launching their next ad campaigns.
Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, you may have felt it and now we know it, well, for sure. This winter in the northern hemisphere said to be the warmest on record.
MCEDWARDS: That could be. I don't know, though. So says the U.S. government agency. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is that agency, and it said that an El Nino condition in the Pacific Ocean and also general trends toward warming temperatures were the reasons behind it.
CLANCY: Now, since record keeping began more than a century ago, the ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1995. But the debate goes on. What's causing it?
MCEDWARDS: Yes, that's right. Many politicians in the U.S. government know this. They probably would like to shoo Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" right off the airwaves.
CLANCY: That's right. For the liberal bent. Now, here's ac lip of Stewart, highlighting the curious calendar the Democratic leaders are using in trying to end the Iraq war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON STEWART, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL'S "THE DAILY SHOW": They're in charge of Congress, and they finally proposed strong, clear and concise legislation to get America out of Iraq.
REP. DAVID OBEY (D), WISCONSIN: Our troops must be out of a combat role by October -- I mean by August of -- of 19 -- of 2007.
If they -- I'm sorry. That's right.
STEWART: I know that -- you're welcome. I know that he might have sounded a little bit confused there, but unfortunately, that is the actual name of the bill, the "Troops out of combat role by October -- I mean, August -- of 19 -- No, wait, August 2007. 2008! I mean 2008!" bill.
It's a bit of a confusion named for the bill. But the bill itself is exquisitely simple.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE): If all the benchmarks are met, our troops are out no later than August of 2008.
If they haven't made any progress by July we begin the 180 days.
If by October, say some progress is made...
Dates that are fraught with meaning are July 1, 2007. And then the next date is October 1, 2007. No matter what, by March 2008.
STEWART: So -- so get ready. And be sure to mark several of your calendars.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, you know, the Democrats may have not thought that through very well but obviously, the writers there at Comedy Central and the Jon Stewart show did think it through, and they do it every week. It's really funny. It leans to the left a bit but...
MCEDWARDS: No one's safe. No one's safe.
CLANCY: No matter which side you're on. Whichever side you're on, you're going to get a laugh.
MCEDWARDS: They actually put together an international version of "The Daily Show "for us at CNN International. So our viewers in Europe and Latin America can catch "The Daily Show: Global Edition", as it's called, with Jon Stewart.
CLANCY: That's right. Right here on CNNI Saturday, 2130 hours GMT. That's 10:30 p.m. Central European Time.
That's it for this hour. I'm Jim Clancy.
MCEDWARDS: And that is funny stuff. I'm Colleen McEdwards. This is CNN.
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