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Your World Today
Baghdad Bombing, Baquba Offensive; U.S., Israel Back New Government of Mahmoud Abbas; Hundreds Stuck at Crossing out of Gaza
Aired June 19, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Carnage in Baghdad. A massive truck bomb kills dozens and injures hundreds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was Hamas that attacked the unity government. They made a choice of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The U.S. and Israeli leaders respond to the Palestinian crisis at a White House meeting.
CHURCH: What is Saudi Arabia's role in the complex politics of the Middle East? As King Abdullah visits Spain, we'll talk live to his foreign minister.
HOLMES: And then a trip to the top of the world, where an icy landscape is slowly but surely melting away.
8:00 p.m. in Baghdad, midnight in Lhasa, Tibet.
Hello and welcome to our report broadcast right around the globe.
I'm Michael Holmes.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.
From Baghdad to Lhasa, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
We begin in Iraq, where Tuesday saw the detonation of a massive bomb in Baghdad and the launching of a large-scale allied offensive in Baquba, to the northeast.
Our own Hala Gorani is standing by in Baghdad with the latest on all of this from Iraq -- Hala.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Rosemary.
The latest death toll, and it is a devastating one, numbers coming to us from the Iraqi Interior Ministry, 78 killed, 224 injured. This coming as the U.S. military is launching a major offensive against al Qaeda targets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GORANI (voice over): A few days of relative calm in Baghdad shattered to pieces. A massive truck bomb explodes outside a Shiite mosque, killing dozens and injuring over 200 people. This is the second attack on a major Shia shrine in less than a week.
Last Wednesday, the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra was target by suspected al Qaeda insurgents, turning the mosque's two minarets into piles of rubble. Several days of total curfew kept the violence at relatively low levels, but Monday's brash attack in central Baghdad is reigniting fears sectarian reprisal killings will further plunge the country into a Shia-against-Sunni bloodbath.
As they capital reeled from this latest attack, the U.S. military continued a major offense in Diyala province, a major al Qaeda stronghold. In an operation dubbed Arrowhead Ripper, 10,000 U.S. troops are on an all-out offensive to root out insurgents and dismantle factories that manufacture the car bombs and IEDs that continue to wreak havoc in Baghdad and in other major Iraqi cities.
Monday's truck bomb attack highlighting the difficulty of controlling the violence that kills Iraqis by the hundreds every month, while the number of U.S. troops who have died in combat has continued to climb since the U.S. military's troop increase strategy started in earnest a few weeks ago. Warnings from top U.S. officials that more offensive operations will mean more casualties may already be coming true.
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GORANI: Well, the capital, and the rest of the country, for that matter, is now holding its breath, with real concern that more reprisal killings and increased sectarian violence will take place throughout the country -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now, Hala, as the violence is going on, the U.S. has launched this massive offensive northeast of Baghdad. Tell us a little bit about that and the expectations of this offensive.
GORANI: Well, this is all within the context of the so-called troop surge strategy. That is a strategy to increase the number of troops across Iraq by about 30,000 U.S. troops.
Now, within that context, there are several bi-strategies (ph) if you will. This is an all-out offensive in Diyala province, which is an al Qaeda stronghold, especially Baquba, which is the capital of Diyala.
Now, the timing of this operation is also significant. In September, the top commander for U.S. forces in Iraq is due to give a progress report to Washington, and there are doubts and concerns within the United States as to whether or not the strategy is a winning one. And this all comes amid, of course, declining support for the war in America -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Our Hala Gorani reporting there from Baghdad. Thanks so much -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right. The Palestinian territories may effectively be split by leadership and by land, but the U.S. and Israel say there is only one true Palestinian leader. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met at the White House to boost the new government of Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen. They're working also to further isolate Hamas after its Gaza takeover.
We have two reports for you.
Elaine Quijano is at the White House. Atika Shubert is in Gaza.
Let's start with you, Elaine.
Not altogether surprising, this support being thrown behind Mahmoud Abbas. Although he hasn't been given a whole lot of support until now.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right. Certainly what we heard today from both President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert really was them showing their support for the government, the emergency government put together by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
Both leaders today in the Oval Office reiterating that they remain committed to seeing a two-state, not a three-state solution in the Middle East, a Palestinian state and Israel existing side by side in peace. Now, in the wake of Hamas' takeover in Gaza, President Bush left no doubt that the United States views Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as the leader of the Palestinian people. Mr. Bush calling him a voice for moderation among extremists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: We recognize the president of all the Palestinian people, and that's President Abu Mazen. He was elected. He's the president.
Secondly, we recognize that it was Hamas that attacked the unity government. They made a choice of violence. It was their decision that has caused there to be this current situation in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, as for restarting Middle East peace talks, for his part, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signaled that he is open to doing that, but he wants to see Palestinians do more to fight terrorism. Now, at the same time, the prime minister vowed that Israel would continue to do its part to help Palestinians in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: We have been very, very attentive to the needs of the -- the humanitarian needs of Gaza. And we will continue to provide everything that is necessary in order to meet these humanitarian needs. Israel will not be indifferent to the human suffering in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert meeting for lunch this hour. Both leaders again, Michael, sending that message that they will do what they can to bolster the government of President Abbas -- Michael.
HOLMES: Elaine, very briefly, got a couple of things I want to cover here.
The president said that Mahmoud Abbas is the elected leader of the Palestinian people, is president. That's true. But it is also true that Hamas won that election, and Ismail Haniyeh is the elected prime minister of the Palestinian people.
Any discussion there on how -- because the U.S. has been accused in the past of, you know, having the democracy of wants (ph).
QUIJANO: Well, that's exactly right. Therein lies the dilemma for the White House.
You heard President Bush a moment ago in that sound bite essentially address some of the criticisms that have been leveled at the Bush administration for that position, saying essentially in that sound bite that Hamas militants forfeited any democratic right to lead, to govern when they decided to engage in this violent takeover in Gaza. That has been the United States' position. Also, that because Hamas continues to renounce Israel, to talk about destroying Israel, that there has not been a renunciation of violence, that those are reasons that Hamas cannot be viewed as a legitimate government.
So, for those reasons, we have heard President Bush acknowledge -- acknowledge some of these criticisms today. And also, we've heard his spokesman as well push back on this idea, talking about how while they do, in fact, support the democratic process, they cannot support this government, particularly when it engages in violent behavior like this.
HOLMES: Before I let you go, you are there at the White House. Some news coming out of there about the White House budget director.
QUIJANO: That's right. Rob Portman, who is the budget chief here, expected to be leaving here. We're going to be hearing an announcement expected this afternoon.
My colleague Ed Henry reporting that at 2:40 this afternoon Eastern Time, the president will be announcing this.
Now, the reason this is so significant is because this is a White House engaged in some budget battles with a Democratically-led Congress. And Rob Portman was widely viewed as somebody who could work as a close liaison.
He is a former Republican congressman himself; close ties, of course, to Capitol Hill. We're hearing as well that there is already a replacement in mind, former House budget chairman Jim Nussle. But certainly this is coming at a difficult time, as the administration is trying to push through its agenda, but also engage in these very difficult budget battles with members on Capitol Hill -- Michael.
HOLMES: As always, a busy day for you, Elaine.
Elaine Quijano there at the White House.
Thanks so much -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. We want to go to Gaza now, where hundreds of Palestinian are trying to flee the Hamas takeover, crowding into a concrete tunnel near a crossing with Israel. Now, they want to go to the West Bank, but Israel is refusing most of them passage, saying their lives are not in danger.
Let's bring in Atika Shubert now at the Erez Crossing.
Atika, what's going to happen to these people?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question. At the moment, Israel says that because of security threats, they cannot allow these people to come in through the Erez border crossing. We've been here all day, and while we have seen medical supplies going in, hardly anybody has come out.
The International Red Cross did manage to evacuate several people by ambulance. They were critically injured in some of the fighting recently. But as for those people that are camped out inside, Israel says they can't come in.
Now, most of them are Fatah members and their families. They've been camped out there because they fear revenge attacks by Hamas. And, in fact, last night there was an attack by Hamas militants, killing one person, injuring several others. But still, Israel says because of security reasons they simply will not allow them in.
CHURCH: And they're saying, too, that their lives are not in danger. Clearly, their lives are in danger.
SHUBERT: That's right. They're not top senior Fatah leaders that Hamas has put on its wanted list, but nonetheless, because they are Fatah members, they do fear for their lives.
They're camped out there with their families, and they're refusing to leave. They've been camped out there now for several days in deteriorating conditions. There are no bathrooms there, for example. Israel says it is providing food, water, basic necessities, but again says it will not be able to allow them in.
CHURCH: All right. Our Atika Shubert reporting there from the Erez Crossing.
Thanks so much.
And Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is in Spain trying to enlist support for Saudi efforts to end Palestinian turmoil and to restart peace talks with Israel. We'll talk with his foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in just a few moments.
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CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.
HOLMES: Yes. We're covering the news the world wants to know, needs to know, giving you some perspective that tries to go a little bit deeper into the stories of the day. And let's do that right now.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, a key player in Middle East politics, says he fears the conflicts in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and, of course, Iraq, could explode into a global crisis. King Abdullah was speaking to a newspaper in Spain on the first leg of a European tour.
Well, Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, is with him. He joins us now from Madrid.
And we're going to spend a lot of time talking with you about events in the Middle East. But if I can, if I can begin with this crisis that involves a controversial author, Salman Rushdie, he has, of course, been given a knighthood by the queen, and that's created a lot of concern, particularly in Pakistan, most recently, where officials have come out and said that the fatwa that was placed against him is now valid and he could really -- this knighthood could lead to violence.
What's the attitude of your government to this knighthood?
PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAUDI ARABIA FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, my government doesn't have an attitude towards it. I have an opinion.
I don't know what the criteria of giving knighthood is, but I doubt it is for creating controversy. There are probably many other people who have brought understanding between people, and they would be, it seems to me, more worthy of receiving such an honor.
HOLMES: Let's move on to other things. There's so much we need to cover here.
The Palestinian situation in Gaza, we had the U.S. president and the Israeli prime minister today saying they're backing Mahmoud Abbas.
What do you think of the situation there and what potential it has to really explode? I mean, the U.S. saying that they approve of Mahmoud Abbas as the democratically-elected president, but they don't approve of the democratically-elected Hamas government.
AL-FAISAL: Well, we had an Arab League meeting last Friday, and -- which confirmed the legality of the president. As you know, he appointed the national -- the last government. So, he was elected, but he selected the government. And there is a difference there. But the Arab League stands firmly with the presidency and with the legality.
The situation is tense, and there is an Arab League also committee that is established to look at the events, what happened there, a fact-finding mission first, that report to a ministerial committee, and then hopefully return to the agreement.
HOLMES: What can be done in the short term? The U.S. says it will release funds -- the EU as well -- to the Fatah side of things, to Mahmoud Abbas, but not to Hamas. And, let's face it, there's over a million Palestinians in Gaza who may be waiting a long time to get the benefit of that money.
How do you bring these two together? Saudi Arabia did broker an agreement between Hamas and Fatah. And then only weeks later they're shooting each other.
AL-FAISAL: Well, we had warned when we -- the agreement was signed that unless this agreement leads to acceptance of the national government, which accepts the peace plan of the Arab world, there -- and help is sent to the Palestinian people to see that their conditions will change once they -- they have a government of national unity working for peace, unless these things happen, the fragile agreement will break down. Unfortunately, this is what -- what happens.
So, we're trying to mend the situation. And the most important element of that is a decision that all the people who have left Gaza must return to Gaza. And the Fatah people who was driven out of Gaza must return to their homes.
HOLMES: I want to move on to Iraq if I can now. Obviously a place of great concern to Saudi Arabia. It's in your neighborhood, and there is an awful lot of violence there, and the potential for that to break out of Iraq's borders towards Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, other countries in the area.
Are you concerned about the so-called Shia crescent? And in particular, Iranian influence in Iraq?
AL-FAISAL: Well, we're not concerned about Shia presence in Iraq. They've always been there. They've always lived in peace with their Sunni brothers and the other religious sects and ethnic groups.
What we are concerned is the implementation of the program that was announced by the government of -- of Iraq for national reconciliation, for changing the constitution that was so objectionable to some Iraqis, for the (INAUDIBLE) program that would bring in all the Iraqis for the treatment of all Iraqis as equal citizens. If this program is implemented, and quickly enough, we think that there is a chance for Iraq to be a peaceful country and live at peace with its neighbors.
HOLMES: Very quickly, before we have to take a very short break, I want to ask you -- do you think the Americans should be in Iraq at this time?
AL-FAISAL: Well, they are there. I mean, how can they leave without leaving the country in a better condition than what they found it?
HOLMES: OK. We're going to take a short break now. When we come back, though, we'll continue our discussion.
U.S. viewers will get all the latest American headlines. The rest of us will get to spend a few more minutes with the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. And we're going to talk to him about U.S. influence in the region in general, a lot of other issues as well.
Stay with us.
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CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe, including the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Rosemary Church.
HOLMES: We counted them -- 200.
CHURCH: Every single one of them.
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Here are the top stories of the day --
The U.S. and Israel say that despite the Hamas takeover of Gaza there is only one true Palestinian leader and that is Mahmoud Abbas.
President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel met at the White House Tuesday to boost the emergency government of President Abbas. They are also working on what they call a common strategy to isolate Hamas in Gaza.
CHURCH: Iraqi officials now say 78 people were killed and 234 wounded when a truck bomb exploded near a Shia shrine in Baghdad on Tuesday.
It's the latest in a cycle of attacks on religious sites that began with the second bombing of another Shia shrine, the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra.
HOLMES: The bombing in Baghdad comes as U.S. and Iraqi troops launched one of the largest operations since the 2003 invasion. Operation Arrowhead Ripper it's called and it's aimed at tracking down al Qaeda in Iraq militants in the rest of Diyala province.
The U.S. military says at least 22 insurgents were killed in the first day of this offensive.
Now, while all of this is going on, there is a smaller conflict in Iraq over some prized territories. The new U.S. Embassy. Jonathan Mann has some insight. Jon?
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've heard of mission creep, well, think mission sprawl. U.S. diplomats in Iraq are doing dangerous work trying to rebuild the shattered country, but they and their new embassy under construction in Baghdad may be getting a reputation for living large with plans to only grow larger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: We have the largest embassy, U.S. embassy, in the world, by far, in Iraq, and we continue to keep building up that embassy.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY: We have 1,000 Americans at the embassy in Baghdad. You add the contractors, the local staff that, it comes to 4,000. We just review who we really need and send the rest of the people home?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Ambassador Ryan Crocker isn't apologizing for it. Crocker says he doesn't have the staff he needs. Not the quantity or apparently the quality either.
In a recent memo that's now been published in the "Washington Post," he made the point to his boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Simply put, he wrote, "we cannot do the nation's most important work" if, he said, "we do not have the department's best people."
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MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Part of what you're seeing is a structural constraint on the conduct of American foreign policy. We don't have enough Arabists. We don't have enough foreign service officers in general, and five years into a mission like this, you're going to, therefore, start to have some relatively slim pickings, and I'm not sure what Condi Rice can do about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Ambassador Crocker isn't asking for the most people or the best people. He's by far getting the biggest embassy. A compound inside the green zone that is more than 100 acres. The size of the Vatican, but a lot more fortified.
You don't really get a sense from the pictures from the sky, but this is the size of 80 different football fields. It's costing the U.S. taxpayers more than $500 million to build.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Sometimes when people talk about the $650 million plus embassy, they think of a single building. But, of course, this is a compound with housing and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the embassy buildings. So we're not -- it's not a gold-plated single building for our people. This is really a secure facility that is several facilities that would make it possible for them to really do their work there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANN: Details of the compound were supposed to stay secret, to keep it secure, but computer renderings of several of its buildings were posted on the web by the architect.
By the time the State Department found out and asked them to take down the site, the images had been seen and copied countless times. Back to you.
HOLMES: Jonathan Mann, thanks.
The daily violence in Iraq has resulted in a mass exodus of people. It's been going on for years now. But it's still increasing.
Now, a new report from the United Nations says the number of refugees in the world has gone up for the first time in five years, and that is largely because of Iraqis fleeing their war-torn country.
The report comes ahead of World Refugee Day. That happens on Wednesday. The UN says more than 1 million Iraqis have left since 2006 alone. Some seeking refuge in either Jordan or Syria. Two countries among ten others with the highest refugee populations.
Iraqis also make up the world's second largest refugee group. At the top of the list are the 2.1 million who have fled Afghanistan during its decades of war.
The third largest group of refugees is from Sudan -- 686,000 displaced mostly by that ongoing conflict in Darfur. The UN High Commission for refugees says as of last year there are 9.9 million refugees in the world.
That report does not count Palestinian refugees on the loose and in camps for decades, which, of course, is one of the many long- standing issues in the Middle East. The UN estimates there are more than 4 million of them.
CHURCH: And Chad is yet another nation where ongoing conflicts force people to flee violence. It's also a case where the refugee problems stems from a conflict in a neighboring country. Nic Robertson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Broken pots, burned and abandoned houses, all that's left of the once-thriving villages of Marina and neighboring Tiero, close to the border of Darfur.
Two-and-a-half months ago, more than 10,000, mostly ethnic African Chadians fled an attack here. What happens reveals much of the complexity of fighting that is often viewed as a simple overspill from the conflict in Darfur, where Arab Janjaweed attack Arab African farmers.
MATHEW CONWAY, UNHCR SPOKESMAN: The conflict is being drawn along ethnic lines and seen in many cases it's not a question of one ethnicity against the other. It's a different interest against the other.
ROBERTSON: About two hours drive away in a camp for displaced people, an elder from the villages, Muktar Haroun and his nephews, explain not only did the Janjaweed attack them, but also Chadian rebels. The Janjaweed came riding camels and horses, he said. They attacked at 5:00 in the morning. At 7:00 the rebels came with big trucks. They had heavy and light weapons and they helped the Janjaweed.
Haru (ph) lost a son in the fight, so did his nephew, Edris Esa Omar. They say they only had bows arrows and spears against the attackers' guns. The motivation; not ethnic, but political. The Janjaweed consist of many tribes, and they don't like Chad's president, he said. So they came to us and said, you're supposed to be on our side. And we refused. So they came and attacked us.
Privately some Western officials accused Chad's president of distributing weapons inside these displacement camps. They say he's trying to form militias to fight off the Chadian rebels. The Western officials won't say this publicly, because they're not authorized to do so. And it may harm their relationship with Chad's government.
None in this camp admit they know of such weapons. But U.N. Officials see deepening distrust between ethnic and tribal groups. They say 25,000 Arabs around Tiero and Marena were so afraid of reprisals, they fled to Darfur before the attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the days and weeks leading up to the attack on this village, many Arabs fled to neighboring Darfur in Western Sudan. Apparently worried that this attack was going to take place.
ROBERTSON: A tiny group of Arab traders not far from Haru's camp expressed concern about the violence, but seemed hopeful local reconciliation would hold. One thing all communities do agree on, and that's without peace in Darfur, Chad has little chance of stability.
As more and more villages like these here are ethnically cleansed of their African population, so the separation between ethnic Arabs and ethnic African is deepening.
Nic Robertson, CNN, in the villages of Tiero Mareno, closed to the border with Darfur, Eastern Chad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And tune in for our special coverage on World Refugee Day. Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour will be taking a closer look at the plight of the refugees all around the globe. She's hosting "Passage to Hope" a special one hour report to mark World Refugee Day. That's Wednesday at 11:00 GMT.
HOLMES: A new controversy for the Author Salman Rushdie has some people asking -- will it be sir or no, sir?
CHURCH: That's right. Coming up, British knighthood brings a cry of protest from the Muslim world.
And then --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While the rest of the world continues to argue about what should be done, these glaciers keep getting smaller.
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HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
CHURCH: You certainly are. And we are seen live in more than 200 countries and territories all across the globe.
Well, Pakistan's foreign minister is telling Britain, you should be surprised. At issue, the knighthood awarded to writer Salman Rushdie whose work is considered blasphemy in much of the Muslim world. The controversial author of Satanic Verses, was awarded a knighthood on Saturday for services to literature. Phil Black joins us now from London with more on the details. Phil?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, that's right, there has been yet more condemnation of this decision to award controversial Author Salman Rushdie a knighthood. Much of that anger has come from the Muslim world, Iran and Pakistan in particular, where we have seen protests on the streets. The burning of effigies. And once again, the call for Salman Rushdie's death. But there is anger here in Britain, too. Particularly among the Muslim community.
And much of that anger is directed here at Number 10 Downing Street. The prime minister's office. Because although this is a queen's honor, it is the prime minister who rules and stamps the final list of such recipients that then goes to the queen, who then awards the knighthood. So the British Muslim community say the prime minister should have known better.
For some time he's been talking about dialogues between religion, the building of trusts between faiths and reaching out. They say this contradicts that. It was insensitive and he should have known it would be known it would be viewed as offensive to award this man who wrote a book, albeit 20 years ago, that upset so many Muslims.
Internationally, Pakistan is leading the charge. Its Parliament has passed a resolution condemning this awarding of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie. The most outspoken person there is the nation's religious affairs minister. Let's have a listen to what he's had to say on this.
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IJAZUL HAQ, PAKISTAN MIN., RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: People like Salman Rushdie who do not carry (ph) anywhere in the world. If we start encouraging people like this, I'm sorry the gulf between the Western countries and the Muslim (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is going to widen, and they deserve the feeling of every Muslim who is alive today. Let me tell you that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Pakistan's religious affairs minister calls this an example of the root cause of terrorism.
Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right, Phil Black joining us there from 10 Downing Street in London.
Michael?
HOLMES: All over the world there are people working to make life better for others who need help. Well, too often their stories don't get much attention. Well, this year CNN is trying to do something about it. Each week we're shining the spotlight on everyday people whose dedication to a cause has made a difference. Well, today, a courageous woman struggling to save lives in a place most Americans associate only with fun and sand.
Here is Lydia Caho a today's CNN Hero.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more time looking at me.
LYDIA CACHO RIBEIRO, HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Mexico is a macho country. And if you understand that, then you understand everything else. It's a cultural thing. Owning your wife and your kids, it's a cultural issue, and we are working on changing cultural views. That takes a long, long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, Translator: I'd come home from work and he'd say, didn't I tell you to come home at a certain time? And he would slap me or kick me. He even did it in front of the children.
RIBEIRO: The network that is helping women be rescued from violence and even from death is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's her institution. We are their friends, their sisters, their mothers. We are here to tell them that they are not alone.
My name is Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, I am a human rights advocate. We created a shelter for battered women, and this shelter is a high- security shelter. When a woman comes to center, we give them free services, social work, medical services. Psychological help. They get trained for work, and the kids go to school. They are rebuilding their own lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They rescued me from what I was living. She has done so much for me, after I had given up on myself.
RIBEIRO: We just decided that there was something needed that was far beyond talking about violence and all the things. We had to do something about it. We have succeed.
Last year, the local Congress pass a law, in which violence against women is a crime. It puzzles (ph) me that it's seen as an extraordinary task because I believe that everybody else could do the same thing and Mexico would be very different.
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HOLMES: There's a lot more about Lydia Cacho and her organization on our Web site, and you can also nominate someone you think deserves special recognition for a CNN "Hero" award. All the details, CNN.com/heroes.
We'll be right back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Well, it's often called the roof of the world, and it's disappearing drip by drip.
HOLMES: Yes, glaciers on a huge plateau in Tibet are feeling the heat of global warming, slowly but surely melting away.
CHURCH: That's right, Richard Quest takes a walk in the icy mountains, getting a close look at the effects of climate change.
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RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Majestic mountains, stunning scenery. The tourist words to describe the Tibetan Himalayas are not hard to find. Nor is the language to describe its glaciers, in peril and plight.
Polar bears and Arctic caps may be the familiar faces of global warming, but 4,000 meters in the sky, along the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, the glaciers are also wasting away, and much faster. Tibet's glaciers cover nearly a quarter of China. Scientists believe they are melting at the rate of seven percent a year.
Just ask anyone who toils on the hillside, trying to make a living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The climate has changed a lot. There's less snowfall on the grass, isn't as nice as before. So, the livestock's not as good as it used to be, and we don't eat as well as we used to.
QUEST: The Yangtze River, one of the waterways which carries the pure melted ice through China, eventually providing water to countries like Vietnam and Cambodia. If the glaciers continue to melt at this speed, then rivers like the Yangtze and the Mekong, will start behaving in very abnormal ways.
No wonder the Chinese explorer, Wong How Man is worried.
WONG HOW MAN, EXPLORER: We tend to take these things for granted because we've been able to use it effectively for our livelihood. But in the future, in years ahead, thing's going to change very fast.
QUEST: If nothing is done, and Tibet's glaciers could disappear within 80 years.
(on camera): While the rest of the world continues to argue about what should be done, these glaciers keep getting smaller. And although everyone will eventually feel the effect, for the moment, it's these regional communities that are staring this bleak future in the face.
Richard Quest, CNN, Tibet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you can see more of Richard Quest's travels this weekend as he treks the path of some of today's highly regarded explorers. Lucky guy.
CHURCH: Yes, it's all "In Quest for Exploration" which airs Saturday at 06:00 GMT. And if you prefer, download Quest's podcast at cnn.com/podcasts.
And that's it for this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.
HOLMES: How do you get a podcast? I want one of those.
CHURCH: You're a lucky guy.
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. This is CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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