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New Arrest, Developments in U.K. Terror Investigation; Extra Precautions Taken for July 4th Holiday; Radical Students Battle Security Forces in Islamabad

Aired July 03, 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 INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Doctors of death. A troubling twist in the British terror probe. Medical doctors as far away as Australia are suspected of being potential killers.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL COLLINS: Violence erupts at a radical mosque in Pakistan, where security forces battle militant students.

CLANCY: The White House defends against charges of cronyism in its decision to erase Scooter Libby's jail time.

MCEDWARDS: And a CNN Hero. A famous makeup artist helps Afghan women tailor new lives.

CLANCY: It's 5:00 p.m. in London right now, 8:00 p.m. in Tehran.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

MCEDWARDS: I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Brisbane to Blackburn, Islamabad to Washington, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

The dragnet extending overseas now as a troubling profile emerges in Britain's terror probe. Investigators say most of those accused of plotting to take lives were professionals charged with saving them.

We have many developments to cover in this case, including another arrest and more evidence of a medical connection.

Let's get right to Adrian Finighan, who is at Scotland Yard right now.

Adrian, the latest in the case, the latest in the investigation?

ADRIAN FINIGHAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two more arrests, Jim, made earlier today about five hours ago in Blackburn, a city in the northwest of England. Police went to an industrial area of the city and apprehended two suspects.

Now, at this stage, they're saying it's far too early to say whether those arrests can be linked to the investigation that's under way into the foiled terror attacks in both London and Glasgow. But there was an eighth arrest made in connection with that plot. This time in Brisbane, Australia.

A 27-year-old Indian doctor, Mohammed Haneef, taken into custody as he was about to board a flight out of the country, we're told, on a one-way ticket.

Another doctor is, to use a British expression, a quaint one helping police with their inquiries. He's not been formally arrested in Australia, but both he and the arrested doctor once worked in Liverpool, in the northwest of England.

Now, among the seven suspects in custody here in the U.K., at least two are doctors. We have Iraqi-born Bilal Abdulla -- it's believed that he worked at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Glasgow -- Dr. Mohammed Asha, a 26-year-old Jordanian.

Remember that police made two further arrests at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Glasgow at the weekend. And the fact that there are so many links to hospitals, to doctors, now has people asking the question here in the U.K., was there some sort of terrorist cell operating within the United Kingdom using the health service as cover?

Jim.

CLANCY: Let me ask you something. As we look at doctors coming into the U.K., perhaps with a terror plot in hand, how many foreign- born doctors really work in the U.K.?

FINIGHAN: All right. I'm going to read you some statistics here, Jim. The General Medical Council, which is the organization which oversees doctors in this country, has the figures.

For doctors registered by their country of qualification origin -- that's not by their country of birth, their nationality -- there are a total of 239,019 doctors registered to work here in the U.K., out of which some 89,459 were qualified overseas. That's about, what, 37 percent of the workforce.

Now, the health service says that it carries out rigorous checks before appointing staff, including verification of identity, checking registration with the GMC, checking work permits. The Criminal Record Bureau also goes through records before anyone is recruited. Any overseas practitioner has to prove their qualifications.

Now, there's something called highly skilled migrant fees (ph), the fast-track people like health workers and doctors through the immigration process. The question now people are asking is, are those checks rigorous enough? And police have expressed their incredulity that anyone, if it turns out that these people are involved in this plot, who are supposed to be involved in a caring profession and taken the Hippocratic Oath, could be involved in something which was designed to kill and injure ordinary people -- Jim.

CLANCY: Adrian Finighan reporting there live outside New Scotland Yard.

Adrian, as always, thank you -- Colleen. MCEDWARDS: Well, let's pick up where Adrian left off right there.

Highly trained, respected, even brilliant -- those are all words used to describe the medical doctors allegedly at the center of this plot to set off car bombs in Britain.

Senior International correspondent Matthew Chance looks at that troubling aspect of this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They're dedicated to saving lives, not taking them. All the more incredible, then, doctors appear at the core of Britain's latest terrorist threat.

Doctors like Bilal Abdulla, of Iraqi origin, subdued by police after escaping the burning SUV that rammed into Glasgow airport. It's understood he worked at a local hospital with two other medics now in custody as well.

Another doctor who has emerged as a leading suspect in the Glasgow attack and the two failed car bombings in London last week is Mohammed Asha, a medic in his late 20s, arrested with his wife in the Britain Midlands. As police swept his home for evidence, his father made a desperate appeal from Jordan.

"I'm sure he's no links to any of this," he says. "Since he was born, he's never undertaken this kind of activity."

But there are other doctors now under suspicion, too. Near Liverpool's most famous street, police are scouring two locations in search of evidence.

A 26-year-old Asian man now confirmed by hospital sources as a doctor was detained in the city on Saturday night. And the police have now sealed off the home of another doctor in the English county of Staffordshire. He's believed to be a colleague of Jordanian Mohammed Asha, but police say they won't confirm that he's a suspect.

(on camera): Of the figures now formally under arrest, at least six are known to work in the medical profession, including a man named as Mohammed Haneef, arrested by Australian police in the city of Brisbane.

The idea people in such positions of trust could some way be involved in a conspiracy to commit mass murder is a bizarre and a shocking twist.

Matthew Chance, CNN, in central England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: In the wake of the failed terror strikes there is heightened security and calls for increased vigilance in the United States. CIA Director Michael Hayden issued a memo calling on his staff to stay focused on counterterrorism.

CNN obtained a copy of that memo. It's titled "Staying on Target".

This is part of what it says...

"Events in Great Britain since last Friday serve as a reminder, if we ever needed one, that this remains a dangerous world and that our work in defending America is as important as ever."

MCEDWARDS: Well, this terror scare has raised concerns across the Atlantic, right around peak travel time, especially for Americans. Tomorrow the Independence Day holiday in the United States, and authorities are taking some extra precautions to make sure that major transit systems are safe.

Let's bring in Allan Chernoff now. He's at New York's Penn Station.

Allan, what's going to be done?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, it already is being done. In fact, right behind me is the main waiting room for Penn Station here, where many trains leave. And we have increased security from the Federal Transportation Security Administration, a special step being taken today and through the next few days for the July 4th holiday. We have behavioral observation specialists, also air marshals and rail inspectors, as well, all in Penn Station right now patrolling, making sure that everything is OK.

Now, this is not in response to a specific nor to a general threat. It is merely precautionary. But it does complement steps being taken by the other authorities that patrol here at Penn Station, also at Grand Central Station on the east side of Manhattan, and it is all part of a measure being taken at eight major cities around the nation.

The TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, calling this their VIPER unit. It stands for Visual Intermodal Protection and Response teams. This happening in New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco.

Now, again, not in response to any threat. Merely precautionary steps being taken right now -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Allan, are the travelers you're talking to pretty easy going about this, or do you get a sense that people are concerned?

CHERNOFF: Colleen, this is something that people are used to here in New York City, have been used to since 9/11, as a matter of fact. Since 9/11, we have had security patrols very, very present here at Penn Station. People walking around, in fact, with submachine guns.

It is something that we have gotten used to. The National Guard always on duty here, New York City's police department, and, in addition, police forces from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and Amtrak. So it always is quite present here in New York, today especially so.

MCEDWARDS: Yes, all in a day's work. Got you, Allan.

Thanks a lot.

Allan Chernoff at Penn Station for us.

CLANCY: All right. Let's check some of the other stories that are making news right around the world.

(NEWSBREAK)

CLANCY: To Pakistan now, where security forces clashed with students outside a radical mosque. At least six people reported killed. Authorities have been locked in a tense standoff for months with students at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, students who have mounted a vigilante-style anti-vice campaign in Pakistan's capital.

We get more now from Tim Lister.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A simmering dispute bursts into open confrontation between radical Islamists and Pakistani security forces. Long a center of opposition to President Musharraf, the Lal Masjid mosque now resembles more a fortress than a place of worship.

The violence began when about 150 militant students attacked a police checkpoint close to the mosque. They were joined by dozens of women from a religious school attached to the Lal Masjid chanting in support of holy war.

The police fired tear gas. The students fought back with sticks and guns. Several of them opened fire on the security forces. Two police officers and a paramilitary sergeant were reported killed, and mosque officials say several students also died.

Hospitals admitted dozens of people suffering from the effects of teargas, and police cordoned off the area. At one point, there were appeals over loud speakers in the mosque for followers to begin suicide attacks. Militant students, some with their faces hidden, held their ground outside the mosque armed with sticks and in some cases rifles. The violence extended to other sites in the capital, with students attacking one government ministry with rocks and setting fire to buildings.

Many come to the Lal Masjid from conservative tribal areas near the Afghan border, and the mosque's leaders are open about their sympathy for the Taliban and al Qaeda. An attempt two years ago by the security forces to enter the mosque as part of an investigation into the London bombings of July 2005 was repelled. And more recently, the clerics at the Lal Masjid have led a controversial anti- vice campaign in the capital.

For President Musharraf, it's yet another challenge, and one just a couple of miles from the seat of government. Last week, he alleged that suicide bombers with an al Qaeda-linked group were in the mosque.

As he seeks to extend his rule, Musharraf is already locked in conflict with opposition parties and the judiciary after suspending the chief justice of the supreme court. Now events at the Lal Masjid have become his most pressing concern.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Coming up, taking on another member of the so-called "axis of evil".

CLANCY: That's right. Is Iran fighting a proxy war in Iraq? Our own Michael Ware looking into that prospect, that Saddam Hussein's old enemy may have joined the fight against U.S. forces in Iraq.

MCEDWARDS: It looks like Scooter Libby will not be going to jail after all thanks to a last-minute move by the U.S. president.

CLANCY: And then a little bit later, one of Tehran's new best friends helps cool down a situation that has Iran's drivers burning mad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We're covering the news that the world wants to know, needs to know, in some cases, and trying to give you a little bit more perspective into the stories of the day.

MCEDWARDS: That's right.

As the U.S. military struggles to deal with Iraq, it is increasingly looking like it may be tangling with another member of what U.S. President Bush famously calls the "axis of evil". Remember that statement?

Well, the U.S. says new evidence has come to light that Iran may be waging its own war against the U.S. in Iraq. But Iran is responding already, saying the U.S. is making baseless claims to try to cover up its own mistakes.

Michael Ware brings us the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These American soldiers might not know it, but they have a bounty on their heads, according to U.S. military intelligence. A senior U.S. military official tells CNN Iran's Quds Force is offering reward money to Iraqi militia who kill GIs. The Quds force is an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

U.S. officials are unwilling or unable to offer details of the bounty claims. But with Iranian-made bombs tearing into American armor, and plots to kidnap coalition soldiers unfolding, the threat is being taken seriously.

Much clearer, say U.S. officials, is Iran's chain of command. They insist Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other senior Iranians know the Quds Force is involved in killing coalition soldiers.

(on camera): When you say senior leadership in Tehran is aware of the Quds Force's activity, are you talking about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei?

BRIG. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, U.S. ARMY: I'll leave it at senior leadership in Iran.

WARE: Put it this way: do you think it's possible he doesn't know?

BERGNER: That would be hard to imagine.

WARE (voice over): And the Quds appear to have help. CNN broke the story that this man, a Lebanese Hezbollah special operations commander, was arrested inside Iraq by U.S. forces in March. His name, Ali Mussa Daqduq.

U.S. officials say he was working with Iranian-backed militia known as the Special Groups. The U.S. military says that interrogation of Daqduq and the Iraqis he trained, as well as documents found with them, have provided the most striking evidence yet linking the Quds force to violence in Iraq.

BERGNER: He was directed by Iranian Quds Force to make trips in and out of Iraq and report on the training and operations of the Iraqi Special Groups.

WARE: The U.S. military says Daqduq and the Quds Force helped plan an attempt to kidnap five American soldiers in Karbala on January 20 that ended with their killings, that the Quds funded the Special Groups militia in Iraq with up to $3 million a month, and that the Quds ran three training camps near Tehran to prepare Iraqi military recruits for operations against coalition forces.

American officials say they have videotaped confessions, as well as electronic intelligence, meaning intercepted communications or satellite imagery, to corroborate these allegations, none of which impresses this former consultant to Iran's nuclear negotiating team.

KAVEH AFRASIABI, FMR. CONSULTANT TO IRAN: This latest allegation against Iran by the U.S. military has the potential to derail future U.S.-Iran dialogue on Iraq security. Iran has flatly rejected these allegations against it and may reevaluate or reassess its expressed willingness for further talks with the U.S. on Iraq's security.

WARE: The U.S. government may not have much enthusiasm for such talks anyway.

SEAN MCCORMACK, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: They say that they want to play a more helpful role in Iraq, that they want to help stabilize Iraq. Well, these kinds of activities serve exactly the opposite purpose.

WARE: The role that Iran wants to play in Iraq might not be one America decides it can live with.

Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Well, the business news now.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello and welcome back to our viewers joining us from more than 200 countries and territories around the globe, including right here in the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Jim Clancy.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards.

Here are some of the top stories we're following for you.

In the Pakistani capital, security forces and militant students exchanged fire. This was all during a standoff at a radical mosque. At least six people were killed. Clerics at the mosque challenged the government by launching a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign several months ago. Now, during the clashes, a loudspeaker from inside the compound called on followers to carry out suicide attacks.

CLANCY: A short time ago, the U.S. president said he may still grant a full presidential pardon to former aide Lewis Scooter Libby. George W. Bush threw out Libby's 30-month prison sentence, calling it excessive. Libby, of course, convicted of perjury for lying to federal prosecutors about who outed a former CIA operative.

MCEDWARDS: An eighth person has been detained in connection with the attempted terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow. He was picked up in an airport in Brisbane, Australia, where he worked at a hospital.

In the meantime, two men have been arrested in England, also on terrorism charges. Police say, though, it's not clear yet whether they are part of the investigation into these attacks in London and Glasgow, or whether it's something separate.

CLANCY: All right. We're learning more about the investigation. The U.S. taking a much closer look at what has gone on. They've been tracking it since last week. We first heard about the attempted terrorist strikes in downtown London. Kelly Arena joins us now from Washington.

Kelli, what are you learning?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Jim, U.S. officials tell CNN that the people behind the terror in London have direct connections to Al Qaeda in Iraq and that at least some of them were recruited by Al Qaeda while they were living in the Middle East.

They say it's still too early to say exactly who did the recruiting. As you know, Al Qaeda has been looking to recruit people who could easily travel to the U.S. and Europe and assimilate well. These men, who have been arrested, certainly fit that bill, Jim.

CLANCY: Has Al Qaeda had a long-standing interest in doctors? We're learning that seven out of eight these people, in one way or another, linked to the medical trade.

ARENA: Most definitely. Al Qaeda has shown a consistent interest in recruiting doctors. It's number two, Ayman Al Zawahiri is an ophthalmologist. Counter-terrorism experts say that the reason is doctors offer expertise in biological and chemical capabilities. They have access to radiological material like medical isotopes. So, you know, that's why it makes them a very attractive recruiting target.

CLANCY: All right. As they look at this, they're saying that they hatched this plot, or it may have begun in Iraq. What is that telling officials, how are they bouncing this off the notion that Iraq itself has become a training ground?

ARENA: Well, you know, Jim, it's been a concern for a really long time, that Iraq is breeding a whole new generation of terrorists, who have had an opportunity to test their tactics, especially in urban warfare over in Iraq. Counterterrorism sources say that concern is now a reality. We are seeing those tactics and people, as well, being, you know, sent out to do harm elsewhere. It's exactly what Al Qaeda has called for publicly.

Kelli Arena, there, with an update, a national security update as the U.S. has an intense interest in what is going on, reporting there that, of course, the U.S. is now saying that they believe this was a plot, this British plot, was hatched in Iraq.

Thank you, Kelli.

ARENA: You're welcome.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Well, British authorities say the mobile phones found after that failed London car bombing on Friday have given them a wealth of information about these attempted attacks. But just how does mobile phone technology help the police? You might be surprised about this. Lawrence McGinty has that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE MCGINTY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They're everywhere. We couldn't do without them. Neither could the police, because mobile phones send out not only voices and messages but also vital clues.

(On camera): When the police discovered mobile phones in the two car bombs found here in the heart of London last Friday, they knew they had struck oil. Because nowadays mobile phones can tell investigators who you've been talking to, what you've said, and even where you've been.

(voice over): So just what can they find out from your mobile? Well, first they can read off numbers you've dialed, calls you've missed, and numbers that have called you. That's how they linked the Haymarket car bombs to Glasgow.

Then they can read text messages you've sent and received, including deleted messages in some cases. Thirdly, they can work out which mast you were last connected to. That's just how they caught the Soho (ph) murderer.

It was evidence that Jessica Chapman's mobile phone was in or near Ian Huntley's house that trapped Huntley and led to his conviction. But perhaps the most powerful tool is tracking. Service providers can tell which mobile cell the phone was in when calls were made. In London, these can be only fifty yards apart.

Each mobile mast looks at three wedges, 120 degrees across. And that helps to track calls across different cells. Fingerprints, DNA, CCTV, and now in some cases, the criminal investigator's most powerful weapon is the humble mobile phone.

Lawrence McGinty, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Well, many people in Britain's Muslim community are trying to do something about the situation, trying to make sure attacks don't happen again. The Muslim Council of Britain is organizing a conference on Saturday. It's going to involve some key imams, some community leaders in London, trying to bring people together.

I spoke earlier to Iqbal Sacranie, the senior advisor of the organization and I asked him what the moderate Muslim community is doing about extremists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IQBAL SACRANIE, MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITIAN: We need to go to the mainstream community and tell them, first of all, of course, there is no two issues in terms of utter revulsion and condemnation of these acts of criminality. But we need to go beyond that. How do we address this issue? Of course, we need to be part and parcel of the mainstream, whenever there's any information or awareness. There's no question about it. We need to be proactively involved. At the same time, try to take the state a bit further in making sure you get the confidence of the community together. We ask headquarters (ph) and once the Muslim community is treated as part of the community, as part of the mainstream community, the mutual trust and mutual confidence is so crucial for mainstream organizations to work together with the agencies.

MCEDWARDS: You know, I'm curious about your thoughts on the issue of radicalization. I mean, how does -- if you look at the suspects in this case, two of them at least, doctors, young, bright people with nothing to gain, and everything to lose. How does that segment of the population become radicalized? What do you think?

SACRANIE: Well, this is precisely the area which we need to address. You know, sometimes we have been hearing that it's to do with the socioeconomic conditions, sometimes we hear the tremendous influence from overseas, coming in from certain websites. Now when we see professionals, as you rightly pointed out, people who have nothing to lose in life, have been successful, yet they go about in carrying out this acts of criminality.

It is a very disturbing situation. I wish we had the answer. Saying, well, that's where we're going wrong. But what we need to do is explore further. This exploration, working together, can only be effective if the government agencies take (ph) the Muslim community in confidence, treat them as the mainstream community. That it is nothing to do with religion. It's nothing to do with the Muslim community, at large. It's due with the issue of criminality that is within the community. We have to identify and deal with it on that basis.

MCEDWARDS: Iqbal, how do you feel about politicians in Britain are handling this?

SACRANIE: I think we see a bit of fresh air at the moment with the new prime minister, the new home secretary, the messages that have been coming out in the last few days, I think have been great signs of encouragement. They're talking about inclusivity, they're talking about issues where the communities need to tackle issues together. They're talking about winning the hearts and minds of the community.

These are matters which are absolutely vital. This gives the confidence, which was lacking in the Muslim community, when you look previously. When there was a constant reference to Islam, Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic terrorism, somehow linking the Muslim community with acts of terror, that had been counterproductive. So, I think it is a very positive side.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: There, again, Iqbal Sacranie speaking to us earlier about the moderate Muslim community's reaction to this.

We want to return now to the story about the commuting of the sentence for Lewis Scooter Libby, a top White House aide. The U.S. president is at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He's been handing out Purple Hearts there. And just a few moments ago, this is tape. This is comments he made about this case, which is causing a huge political controversy in the United States. Let's listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, red tape issues in the past that the military is working hard to cure. But when it comes time to healing broken bodies, this is a fabulous place. I am constantly amazed at the character and courage of those who wear our uniform. That's no more vividly displayed than here in this place of healing.

I want to thank our soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and women for their service to the country. I thank their families. As we ahead into the Fourth of July, we're a fortunate nation to have people who are willing to volunteer in the face of danger to help secure this country in the long run.

I'll be glad to answer two questions from you.

QUESTION: Mr. President, are you willing to rule out that you eventually pardon Scooter Libby?

BUSH: First of all, I had to make a very difficult decision. I weighed this decision carefully. I thought that the jury verdict should stand. I felt the punishment was severe. So I made a decision that would commute his sentence, but leave in place a series fine and probation. As to the future, I'm, you know -- I rule nothing in and nothing out.

QUESTION: Mr. President, federal sentencing guidelines call for jail time in these kinds of cases of perjury and obstruction of justice. Why do you feel otherwise and are you worried that this decision sends a signal that you won't go to jail if you lie to the FBI?

BUSH: I took this decision very seriously on Mr. Libby. I considered his background, his service to the country, as well as the jury verdict. I felt like the jury verdict ought to stand, and I felt like some of the punishments that the judge determined were adequate should stand. But I felt like the 30-month sentencing was severe, and made a judgment, a considered judgment, that I believe is the right decision to make in this case, and I stand by it.

Thank you all very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: The U.S. president there saying he will not rule out a full pardon, somewhere down the road for Lewis Scooter Libby.

He made a decision to commute the sentence, which means Lewis Scooter Libby still faces a fine, over $200,000 in fines, and still has a conviction hanging over his head. A full pardon, though, not ruled out.

CLANCY: All right. We're following that case minute by minute. Some of the reaction to it -- there's a lot of it from both the Republicans and the Democrats, of course. But don't go away. We've got more to come right hear on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: We do, including a look at unrest in Iran over government fuel rations. Are international sanctions taking a toll here? Take a look at this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

CLANCY: That's right. Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories right across the globe.

Well, Iran is launching its own 24-hour English language satellite television news channel, that reports available on the Internet. An effort to counter what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims is the West's influence in covering news. The network says it has correspondents, 30 of them, posted around the world, including in Washington and in New York, Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Mr. Ahmadinejad had this to day. I'm quoting here, "Today media is the number one tool for world dominance. It paves the ways for invasions. It leads and directs invasions, and also stabilizes the positions of invaders after the invasions and occupations." That was his focus at the inauguration.

MCEDWARDS: All right, well, one positive story the Iranian news network can cover -- Venezuela has come to Iran's aid. It has agreed to sell gas to its anti-U.S. ally. A week after the Islamic republic imposed rations on fuel, that set off some violent riots, actually. Iran, of course, is an oil-rich nation. So, what's behind the government's sudden decision to turn people away from the pumps? Zain Verjee reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERGEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the streets of Tehran, it's not nuclear weapons they care about. It's gasoline.

Iranians are having major problems at home getting fuel for their cars. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just jacked up gas prices by 25 percent and then ordered rationing. Iranians who gorged on cheap gas are furious. Stations on fire, violent protests on the streets, a crush to fill up for those who can afford it. Ahmadinejad could even squeeze himself out of a job.

TRITA PARSI, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: I think this is going to be an unpopular decision and it's probably not going to help him in his reelection.

VERJEE: Despite a wealth of crude oil underground, Iran doesn't have enough refineries producing gasoline, and is forced to get it from outside. But some experts say the gas rationing is a smart move ahead of possible new international sanctions over the nuclear standoff. PARSI: By the time there may be some sanctions on gasoline to Iran, the Iranians will either be self-sufficient or they will have already artificially decreased the amount so much that the sanctions themselves will not be seen as very effective.

VERJEE: U.S. officials say that's not in the cards.

SEAN MCCORMACK, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We weren't looking at imposing sanctions on the oil and gas sector. That's something that still holds.

VERJEE (on camera): President Ahmadinejad has been criticized for mismanaging the economy, but experts say he's the only Iranian leader willing to do what no one else had the guts to do -- raise gas prices. Zain Verjee, CNN, at the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Straight ahead, "CNN Heroes".

MCEDWARDS: We're going to meet a makeup artist to the stars, who headed home to a life much less glamorous, but more fulfilling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: People all around us, every day, you know it, who are doing extraordinary things to make our world just a little bit better.

CLANCY: We're going to introduce you to one. Take you to Kabul, Afghanistan, show you a world-renowned makeup artist, who returned home to help the women of his country build a future for themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And explain to me everything you want to explain.

MATIN MAULAWIZADA, "COMMUNITY CRUSADER": OK. Afghanistan offered me a lot, and I wanted to bring a little something back. It's a tiny project, but I wanted to really make sure to bring something.

The Afghan women have survived years of war, years of suppression. Still they do, and they prevail. So, to me, the strength of Afghan women is just remarkable, and I wanted to work with them.

Widows, in particular, rely on the mercy of their families so they kind of become servants to them. I wanted to kind of change that one person at a time if I could.

My entire point was to make sure that widows and women will be able to proudly work and be proud of their work, and work outside their house, and provide well for their families.

It's just amazing. It sells itself, really.

They read and write equivalent of a fourth grader now. Mentally, they're prepared to go to work. They know how to take measurements. They know how to write measurements. Once they learn enough, they will basically be businesswomen.

Look at the embroidery on this. I'm hoping I would send them to courses they could actually manage a business, grow a business. My whole dream is for them to basically have the confidence to see beautiful objects that they're making and know that people are enjoying and appreciating them.

They are doing the work. All I'm offering is basically an opportunity for them to show what they have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Weave your own stories. CNN.com/heroes. Learn more and spread the word.

MCEDWARDS: And that is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. This is CNN.

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