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Worst Yet To Come For Australia's Wildfires; Kerry, Fabius Meet To Discuss Spy Allegations, Friends of Syria Meeting; Off the Charts Pollution In Northeastern China; Is Obamacare Girl Still Smiling?; Roma Community Backs Couple Accused Of Abducting Little Girl

Aired October 22, 2013 - 08:00   ET


MONITA RAJPAL, HOST: I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Firefighters struggle to contain the blazes raging across parts of Australia.

We look at allegations that Kenyan soldiers looted the mall attacked by terrorists.

And Nokia's CEO speaks to CNN about the company's long awaited tablet.

Firefighters tackling massive bush fires in southeastern Australia are preparing for the worst as dangerously hot weather sets in. As one high ranking official put it, on Wednesday fire conditions could be, quote, about as bad as it gets.

Officials in the state of New South Wales fear lives could be at risk. They are warning people to steer clear of the Blue Mountains.

The string of wildfires is already 1,600 kilometers long, stretching from south of the coast of Brisbane to east of Canberra. The worst are here to the west of Sydney. And all the fires have burned an area roughly the size of Los Angeles.

Well, Robyn Curnow is one of the -- is in one of the worst affected areas in Winmalee on the of the Blue Mountains National Park.


ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Resident tell us that within 50 minutes, more than 40 of these homes on this one street were up in flames, engulfed by these Australian wildfires. And these are the kinds of scenes across this street. Houses razed to the ground, scenes that authorities don't want to be repeated across this region.

But they are concerns that these fires could spread, because temperatures and heavier winds are forecast for Wednesday. So authorities have issued warnings. They've closed schools. They've told people if they need to evacuate, they need to do it now, because these perfect conditions for wildfires are set to make this area very, very dangerous, particularly on Wednesday.

So what are the firefighters doing to try and stop the fires getting to urban areas like this?

Well, we've seen them back burning, trying to get ahead of these fires, try to contain them. Because, of course, remember many of these fires are still raging out of control.

Authorities here saying that they're hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, preparing everybody for what they say are some of the worst fires in the history of New South Wales.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Australia.


RAJPAL: Well, more than 1,500 additional firefighters are being brought in to battle the flames, that's on top of the 1,000 firefighters already on the job. Many are volunteers who have come from across Australia to lend a hand.

A local fire commissioner says they are facing a fast-moving and highly dangerous situation.


SHANE FITXSIMMONS, COMMISSIONER, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE: The latest projections are indicating that we may have made a significant in-road into just how far these fires are likely to advance over the next 24 and 48 hours. I just don't know how far they're going to run yet. None of us know how far they're going to run yet. But what we do know is that together we have done everything we can to limit just how far those fires run.


RAJPAL: Well, the Herculean effort is taking its toll. And you can see these firefighters in Blue Mountains simply laying down exhausted. Others have been letting off steam with a game of ball.

Well, the weather is not helping the firefight. New South Wales has been dry for months now. And high temperatures and strong winds have been feeding the flames. Residents are doing what they can to protect their homes, but the weather has them worried.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just so dry. You know, there's been no rain for months and months. And so the last big fires that we saw, it just didn't move as fast and it wasn't as dry. And you know what, everyone is saying this is October. What's January going to be like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, we've had this before. But this is -- the bush is unbelievably dry here. We haven't seen it like this. We haven't had good rain. We've had an inch of rain in about four months.


RAJPAL: This is October, what's January going to be like? That's still a few months away.

Mari Ramos is at the world weather center with a look at what's happening today. And Mari, they're saying tomorrow could be the worst day and worse is yet to come.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORERSPONDENT: That's right. And we say tomorrow, we're talking about Wednesday here, Monita. That's the day that the winds are expected to be quite strong as a coldfront begins to move through that region.

We're already starting to see the winds pick up across the area.

Let's go ahead and start, first of all, with the rainfall. We heard those residents there mentioning how dry conditions are. So here you have the color chart. This is what we're looking at. Of course, the darker the color the worse it is. I'll go ahead and move it out of the way here so you can see what I'm talking about.

Look at this, all of these oranges, that's 70 percent below. These are precisely the areas that we've been talking about that have these fires just to the west of Sydney. And can you see right there just over the S of Sydney, you see that red spot right there, those are areas that are 90 below the average. Their normal rainfall between July and September.

So here we go, we get to October and this is what we have, all of these fires that spark up very, very quickly.

The other thing to keep in mind is the fire seasons. Basically when fires normally start to -- when they're more likely to pretty much when we begin to see the cooler weather again.

So of course as we head into this area of Sydney, this, between October and January, that's why you heard that person there say what's going to happen by the time we get to January.

Remember, right now it's just the spring. Yeah, it's hot, it's dry. But it's not as dry as it's going to be. And it's not as hot as it's going to get.

As we head into December and January, temperatures in this part of the world can get up not only the mid-30s on a normal day, but into the 40s even. And then of course very dry conditions. And of course, no rainfall.

So that's the future.

Let's go ahead and look at right now. This is what we have. We have an area of low pressure coming in here across the south. You can see the line right here, that indicates the cold front ahead of it. You're saying, well, Mari, there's a lot of cloud cover right there. Look at that. Is there any rain coming down? Yeah, there is some. We were checking some of the rainfall totals. Sydney has had, what, a sprinkle. That's all the rain that they've had. Less than a millimeter of rain.

Look right here as we had south of Canberra, that's where we're seeing the more significant rainfall just to the south of Sydney into Canberra and then in areas farther to the south into Victoria. Much needed rainfall in those areas.

But unfortunately those areas that are being affected by the fire are only getting strong winds, lightning at times, and maybe a sprinkle or two, nothing that could be significant enough to actually help put out the flames.

So, this is where we are now with the winds on the increase and the fire danger increases. The rain remains mostly to the south, as I was saying. Once the cold front comes through, those winds are going to shift yet again, which is another dangerous situation for the firefighters. And of course that could also spread the fire.

But then we'll see temperatures cooling down. And even after the front moves through and into Thursday morning, we'll still be looking at conditions that will still be breezy.

So, in other words, Wednesday will be tough, but Thursday, even into Thursday morning, as you can tell from this map here from this graphic here that indicates the wind speeds and the wind direction, you can see that it remains variable throughout most of the day, gusty at times. And then even into Thursday morning we're still looking at winds that could be quite strong even in the greater Sydney area. That's why that total fire ban is in place, because what happens, Monita, is any little fire that would start would cause some significant problems over these areas. The fires could spread very, very quickly.

Current conditions in Sydney right here, winds out of the west at 28 kilometers. The Wednesday forecast, 32 degrees for the daytime high. That front comes through, temperature cools off. Not cold, but definitely a lot cooler with 10 degrees cooler than it had been. But it's still breezy and that's a concern.

The spot fires, those are those fires that just -- you have a fire in one area, those embers get carried up and start a fire somewhere else. Experts have said that in this part of the world, those winds can carry those embers -- get this Monita -- up to 30 kilometers away. That is why they have that total fire ban in place and say if you see a fire call emergency personnel and get out of the way, because any fire that starts could spread very, very quickly and it's a huge concern for people in these areas.

Back to you.

RAJPAL: Mari, thank you very much.

This is News Stream. Ahead on the show, human rights groups hit out at U.S. drone attacks suggesting strikes in Pakistan and Yemen could constitute war crimes. We'll bring you details on that.

And they were saluted for their bravery during last month's terror attack in Nairobi, but this newly leaked video called into question the behavior of some soldiers at the Westgate mall.

Plus, why two 747 jumbo jets came dangerously close over Scotland. Stay with us for that.


RAJPAL: Welcome back. You are watching News Stream. And this is a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today. And we started with the fires continuing to burn in southeastern Australia.

Later in the show, a Roma couple is charged with abducting a girl, but they maintain that they adopted her.

But first, some U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan could amount to war crimes, that's according to Amnesty International. A separate investigation by Human Rights Watch zeroes in on U.S. drone strikes in Yemen and finds what it calls violations of international humanitarian law.

Both reports found drone strikes against alleged terrorists have in several instances killed innocent civilians.

Human Rights Watch warns the strikes have so angered the Yemeni population that they could become what it called a recruiting card for al Qaeda.

For more, Saima Mohsin joins us now live form CNN Islamabad.

Has there been any reaction from Islamabad on these reports against these drone strikes in Pakistan?

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Yes, Monita. We haven't heard from the U.S. so far, but we have heard from the Pakistan foreign ministry which rebukes a lot of allegations by Amnesty International saying that Pakistan stands accused of a range of human rights violations, possible complicity. Let's not forget that CNN spoke to former President Musharraf a few months ago who said that, yes, he had said that it was OK to carry out a few drone strikes under his -- and during his tenure.

Of course, this is a government -- a different government today. But the Pakistan foreign ministry says that it believes that drone strikes are against international law. It's asking President Obama and the government to end drone strikes.

In fact, the Pakistani prime minister is in the United States this week. He's due to meet President Obama saying that he will bring up this issue.

And of course let's not forget it is the Obama administration under which these signature strikes, which they're called, which are targeting -- they don't know the victims' identity, but they do monitor behaviors and that's how they carry out these strikes. Those went up under President Obama far more than under the Bush administration -- Monita.

RAJPAL: Saima, if the foreign office there in Pakistan is saying that this is against international law, these U.S. drone strikes are against international law. Are they going as far as to say that they are violating Pakistani air space?

MOHSIN: Yes, it's an interesting stance, isn't it, Monita? And one of the questions I asked them this morning was, well, if it is against international law and if the Pakistani government is unhappy about this, why are you allowing drones to enter your air space? Well, that wasn't a question they were willing to answer. They said -- our only stance is that these are unlawful. And we're going to call on the Obama administration to end them.

But Amnesty International very damning not just of the Pakistani government, but also the United States saying that these are unlawful killings. And some of the drone strikes could be tantamount to war crimes -- Monita.

RAJPAL: All right. Saima, thank you for that. Saima Mohsin there for us from Islamabad.

They were supposed to be securing Westgate mall after last month's terror attack in Nairobi in Kenya, but instead some soldiers are now accused of taking the opportunity to steal items from stores.

Nic Robertson has more on a newly leaked videotape that is raising a lot of questions.


NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Securing Westgate mall, Kenyan army soldiers stride through the Macamat Department Store (ph) close to where one victim was shot to death hours earlier, one, then another soldier, peels away to pick up objects from displays.

Impossible to see what they've taken, but this video leaked by Kenya's police, is fueling allegations by shopkeepers of army looting.

We don't know what he's picking up. He's picking up something.

ATUL SHAH, MANAGING DIRECTOR, NAKUMATT HOLDINGS: Yeah, that is something I can see many of them have picked up here on the video. But that's our customer service counter, so I cannot physically say what it was.

ROBERTSON: Atul Shah is the boss of Macamat (ph), says there was more than $16 million worth of goods there. But he can't say for sure there was looting, because his store burned shortly after this video was recorded.

SHAH: No, we cannot say that, because we -- everything inside our store is burned. We cannot account for what was there, what is burned, what is looted. So I cannot specifically say there was anything looted.

ROBERTSON: But the video still has him asking questions. In particular, this soldier who enters a money exchange booth.

And this soldier is now going inside the money change booth. What was kept below the shelf where he's looking right now?

SHAH: I'm sure that must be the (inaudible), although this doesn't -- it's outsourced, must be some trays and some paperwork and other things.


SHAH: Cash, of course. Of course, it's a cash business.

ROBERTSON: The soldier can be seen rummaging on the shelves. When he emerges, he is looking around.

And then when he comes out, he seems to put something in his pocket.

SHAH: Pocket something. Whether that's something that he's removing, putting, we cannot tell.

ROBERTSON: Again, the video is inconclusive. But it's what Shah saw himself when he was allowed back in that has him most concerned.

SHAH: I went in. There were actually opened a couple of teams which were saved from the fire. And we could say they had been forcefully opened, the cash tray.

ROBERTSON: So somebody had actually been in and opened the till up, taken money?

SHAH: Yes. Assumed, because they were opened by force.

ROBERTSON: And no money found inside.

So far, he says, the army has told him nothing of what happened in his store.

More than a week before this video was released, Kenya's Ministry of Defense issued a statement rebutting the allegations of looting, saying that securing the Westgate mall here was a joint operation and that the army has a long history of outstanding performance. But they did say they would get to the bottom of the allegations and have urged members of the public with evidence to come forward.

Maybe this video, already in police hands, is just what they are looking for.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.


RAJPAL: You're watching News Stream. Still to come, too close for comfort.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that two airplanes with two pilots in each airplane -- everybody got it wrong initially.


RAJPAL: We'll tell you how two jets came within 30 meters of each other in the skies over Scotland.


RAJPAL: Welcome back.

It was a very close call for two jumbo jets in Scotland this summer. More information is now emerging about the planes which had to act quickly to avoid a collision.

The problem appears to be a serious case of miscommunication. Aviation correspondent Renee Marsh joins us now from CNN Washington with more on this -- Renee.

RENEE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Monita, those two planes they were about to cross the Atlantic. And this morning, investigators say this near collision in the sky was due to pilot error.

But what we still don't know this morning is why these pilots got it so wrong.


MARSH: Midair over Scotland, two 747 jumbo jets carrying up to 1,000 passengers are on a path to collide. British investigators say it's because the pilots didn't follow the instructions from air traffic control.

STEVEN WALLACE, FORMER FAA CHIEF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: This is very hard to explain because it appears that two airplanes with two pilots in each airplane, everybody got it wrong initially.

MARSH: The problems started when one plane, jet two, asked the control tower for clearance to climb in altitude. It was cleared. But that put it at the same altitude as another plane, jet one.

The two planes were now on a converging path and moving closer by the second. The controller realizing that stepped in to prevent a collision.

WALLACE: He gave instructions to the pilot on the right to go to the right and on the left to go to the left. The conclusion of the British investigators was that each pilot did what the other pilot was instructed to do and the planes turned toward each other.

MARSH: At their closest point, the two planes were about 3 miles apart horizontally and 100 feet vertically. That's under the minimum separation requirement.

WALLACE: We have several layers of protection, and we got down to some of the last ones here. One pilot saw the other airplane, and said so, and the collision avoidance system activated properly.

MARSH: The plane's automatic alarms alerted the pilots and they corrected their paths.

Former FAA accident investigator Steven Wallace says it's rare four pilots get the instructions so wrong. But the safety nets kicked in and that, he says, should give comfort to airline passengers. He adds there hasn't been a collision between U.S. airliners since 1978.


MARSH: Investigators, they remain at a loss this morning for answers as to why four pilots, two in each plane, misheard or misinterpreted the control tower's instructions. And that's despite at least one of the crews repeating the instructions correctly -- Monita.

RAJPAL: Yeah, there's so many questions around this story. And, OK, so we -- what we do know is that according to these reports the planes were, what, 30 meters apart, a rough estimate, I'm assuming. What -- how far apart should they be?

MARSH: Right. So in this particular area, they should be about 1,000 feet vertically apart and about five nautical miles horizontally apart. So they were well within -- they were well under that.

Investigators, again, this morning, they still don't know why they didn't follow these instructions, but they were able to rule out the possibility of call sign confusion, because the call signs for the two planes were so different. However, there is one thing that they are also looking into is whether the pilots were distracted in the cockpit at the time.

RAJPAL: All right. Renee, thank you so much.

This is News Stream. Coming up, new allegations of U.S. spying in France is not happy about it. We'll tell you what happened when the French foreign minister met his U.S. counterpart today.

Plus, the investigation into the alleged abduction of a little girl by a Roma couple in Greece. Could the case be expanding?


RAJPAL: I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are the headlines.

Firefighters battling massive bush fires in southeastern Australia are preparing for the worst. Conditions are expected to deteriorate in the coming hours. Higher temperatures and stronger winds are in the forecast. As one high ranking official put it, Wednesday could be, quote, "about as bad as it gets." The fire front is already 1,600 kilometers long.

Amnesty International says U.S. drone strikes on terrorist targets in Pakistan may constitute war crimes. And Human Rights Watch says some strikes in Yemen violate international law. In newly released reports, the groups say civilians are too often the victims. The reports come as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prepares to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

Details are still emerging after the latest school shooting in the U.S. It happened Monday at a middle school in Nevada. Police say a student killed a teacher and injured two students before taking his own life.

Let's return now to our top story, the devastating bush fires in southeastern Australia. 200 homes have already been destroyed. And officials fear there could be more damage and every loss of life if conditions deteriorate on Wednesday.

One of the worst affected areas is Winmalee on the edge of the Blue Mountains national park.

Robyn Curnow met some families there who have lost almost everything.


CURNOW: Home after home after home, blazes bypassing one side of the street devastating the other.

This was Christy Daschke's home, which she shared with her husband Jake. Only the clothesline untouched by the blaze, the pins still hanging in the scorched air.

If there's one thing you could go in there and get, what would it be that you wished survived?

CHRISTY DASCHKE, WINMALEE RESIDENT: It would be my photos, photos from the computer where the -- on the computer or the laptop or whatever, wherever I could have gotten them from -- my photos, yeah.

CURNOW: Photos of what?

DASCHKE: A honeymoon, the wedding. My wedding album, photos of me as a baby, as Jake as a baby, my whole 12 years with Jake. We don't have a record of any photos to show my children of, you know, me growing up with their dad.

CURNOW: In the true Aussie way, her family and friends are taking a break after spending the day clearing up. They say they will rebuild.

TIM PARSLEY, FIREFIGHTER: Back burning is used to actually remove the fuel away.

CURNOW: Across the valley, firefighter Tim Parsley says even those on the fire frontlines have been affected. His sister lost her house, too.

PARSLEY: Yeah, she lost it. She lost everything. Her son managed to find her wedding ring in the rubble and a few other things, but everything else was gone. So -- but, you know, the thing I said to my sister was you got out with your life. And we're sitting here having a conversation about it and that's all that matters.

CURNOW: This valley is filled with smoke. Fighters working down on the ground unseen to stop the advance of the blaze.

This is what firefighters have been doing across this region lighting controlled fires to contain or at least slow down the spread of these blazes. And it's all to protect a community of 1,500 people who live just up that way.

Despite a massive mobilization of firefighters, officials say that on Wednesday the weather could fuel the fires even more as hotter temperatures and even stronger winds are forecast.

ROB ROGERS, DEP. COMMISH. NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE: We'll just give it our best shot. I've been doing this for more than 33 years and this is the most difficult fire scenario I've faced.

CURNOW: And, if it is as bad as they warn, scenes like this could be repeated many times over.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, the Blue Mountains Australia.


RAJPAL: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius this morning to discuss allegations the United States intercepted millions of phone calls in France. The two diplomats also talked about the situation in Syria ahead of a Friends of Syria meeting later this Tuesday.

Atika Shubert joins us now live from London. Let's -- Atika, let's begin with this conversation that John Kerry had with his French counterpart. Certainly couldn't have been a very comfortable one.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. It's quite -- it was over a breakfast meeting and started with a bit of, you know, light commentary from John Kerry making a joke about press taking pictures of the breakfast. But he didn't even get a smile from Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister of France. And instead, Fabius apparently in the meeting pressed him for an explanation of these spying allegations on French civilians.

But it appears that from the public statements we've seen from Kerry that he would not confirm or deny these allegations and certainly didn't offer any sort of apology, only said that they would continue to consult with the French government over these allegations.

So it was perhaps a bit of a rocky start, but he quickly transitioned into talks about Syria, which are, of course, still ongoing here in London.

RAJPAL: Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about this Friends of Syria meeting. And I'm curious to know what is possibly on the agenda, what they could be talking about when not just too long ago it had been decided that regime change wasn't what was in the works at least when it comes to these countries that are involved in this meeting.

SHUBERT: Well, the big focus here is preparation for the talks in Geneva next month. Now a date hasn't been set yet. And it's not likely we're going to have a date come out today, but the whole goal of this meeting is to sort of prepare the groundwork for that meeting, but especially the Syrian National Council, the opposition trying to make sure that they will not only come to the Geneva meeting next month, that they are also prepared for it.

Take a listen to what Foreign Secretary William Hague had to say.


WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: We want the moderate opposition in Syria to know that we are behind them in going to Geneva, that we will continue to help them in many ways. And of course to persuade them that this is the way, this is the only way in the end to solve this tragic and bloody conflict in Syria.


SHUBERT: Now, we've just seen that Syrian National Council President Jarba has said that he will only -- that he will not attend the Geneva conference unless the discussion and the entire meeting is towards the objective of getting Bashar al-Assad out of power in Syria.

But this is something that the United States and other countries attending the Friends of Syria meeting here have all stated they want as a goal. They want to see a transition from the Assad regime to another government, another democratically elected government.

How you achieve that transition is what they're trying to tackle. And that's what they're hoping to discuss in Geneva next month. Today's meeting is really about planning those Geneva talks.

RAJPAL: All right. Atika, thank you very much for that. Atika Shubert there live for us from London.

The monthly U.S. jobs figures have just been released. 148,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in September, that's worse than analysts were expecting. But the jobless rate has fallen to 7.2 percent, that's the lowest level since September 2008.

Investors and economists have been kept waiting for the numbers for more than two weeks now, because as you know the U.S. government shutdown meant the Bureau of Labor Statistics couldn't compile the data until now.

Of course, we'll have much more on the jobs report next hour on World Business Today.

A Roma couple in Greece has been charged with abducting a girl known only as Maria. They are being held pending trial, but insist they adopted the child from her biological mother. Members of the Roma community in Greece have now released this home video showing the little girl dancing.

Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the identities of the Roma couple's other children.

Erin McLaughlin has been following the story closely. She joins us now from CNN London with more on this -- Erin.


Well, there's still more question than answers surrounding this little girl only known as Maria. The charity that has launched a public appeal to try and find her real parents say there are around 10 cases of missing children that they are looking at very seriously, cases from the United States, Canada, Poland and France.

Meanwhile, members of the Roma community are rallying around the couple now charged with her abduction. They released a video that they say shows she was happy and cared for.


MCLAUGHLIN: She spins unsteadily on her feet. The little girl dancing in this home video is thought to be the child known as Maria, the fair-headed girl found by police living in a campsite in Greece. The footage was handed out by members of the same Roma community now at the center of an international mystery.

With her in the video, a woman who has been identified as 40-year-old Eleftheria Dimopoulou, now charged alongside her 39-year-old husband Christos Salis with abducting Maria and falsifying documents.

DNA tests later confirmed that Maria was not their daughter.

PANAGIOTIS PARDOLIS, SPOKESMAN, SMILE OF THE CHILD: There was bad living conditions, poor hygiene. I saw the girl was found under -- in a state of neglect both physically and psychologically.

MCLAUGHLIN: Amid tight security, the couple made their first appearance in court. Members of the Roma community gathered to express their outrage at the charges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It isn't fair, to be honest, because the woman had the child since it was very young. She raised it. She had not stolen it. A Bulgarian woman gave it to her. She did not steal it. It is unfair.

MCLAUGHLIN: Their lawyer says the couple admits to illegally adopting Maria, but says that there was no kidnapping involved.

Meanwhile, the couple are being remanded in custody. Questionnaire swirling around the identities of their other children. The ages of six of them are within 10 months of each other.

The priority for police is to find out who Maria's real parents are.


MCLAUGHLIN: Now, medical tests indicate that Maria is between five and 6-years-old, which is older than previously thought. Meanwhile, we're also hearing from officials in Athens that she received a birth certificate this year, which is pretty unusual. The officials who issued that certificate are now suspended and under investigation, Monita.

RAJPAL: All right, Erin, thank you for that. Erin McLaughlin there live for us from London.

Facebook is changing its policy to allow users to post graphic videos of violence online. It may -- in May, the social network issued a temporary ban on videos showing beheadings. Well, that's now been reversed. The new policy is that images that glorify violence or expose a woman's breasts will still be banned. Facebook allows anyone 13 and older to become a member. The company issued a statement saying Facebook has long been a place where people turn to share their experiences, particularly when they're connected to controversial events on the ground, such as human rights abuses, acts of terrorism and other violent events.

People share videos of these events on Facebook to condemn them. If they were being celebrate, or the actions in them encouraged, our approach would be different.

The U.S. president says there's no sugar-coating problems with the government's health care website. Just ahead, we try and track down the woman who has become the unintended face of the fiasco.


RAJPAL: Welcome back.

This week on Leading Women, Eva Chen. She is the CEO of computer security company Trend Micro. And she is one of only a handful of women around the world at the helm of a tech company. And today she tells our Kristie Lu Stout about the unique advice that has guided her to success.


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: When Eva Chen took over computer security company Trend Micro in 2004, she became one of the few women leading a high profile tech company in the world.

What's it like being a tech CEO who is a woman and also a non-hardcore engineer? Is it tough?

EVA CHEN, CEO, TREND MICRO: It's tough, but it's fun, right. Lots of times I say I'm walking to the meeting room. Nobody expects me to know anything about technology. And if I start to draw on the whiteboard some technology, they're really impressed. So that's an advantage.

And I think the other advantage is that because I'm not hardcore engineer, so I always not there to ask questions, even stupid questions. And by asking questions, actually unveil more potential from the engineers.

LU STOUT: Chen grew up in Taiwan and studied philosophy inspired by her father and grandfather.

CHEN: Among the family, I remember even my grandpa say so. He say, any technique you can learn, but most important thing is how you think. So philosophy in our family, we believe, is the way to train how you're brain works.

LU STOUT: But it was a graduate school job in a computer lab where she first discovered her talent and love for technology.

CHEN: Actually lifetime I was giving a speech in Korea's women's university. And they were asking me, well women how do I find a job, a good job that feeds me. And my answer is that don't find a job, find your passion.

LU STOUT: Four years after graduating with two masters degrees, she followed her passion, co-founding Trend Micro with her sister and brother- in-law in 1988.

CHEN: My mentor is our chairman, our co-founder Steve Chang. His famous word was be yourself. But do you think what feeds your solution and when I took over the CEO role from him, that is his only advice.

LU STOUT: Chen has followed that advice and passes it on to her current employees.

As Trend Micro continues to grow, she remember where it's been and where it's taken her.

People sometimes forget just how difficult it is in the early years to be an entrepreneur. It's not that easy.

CHEN: It's not that easy. It was very difficult, but also every time you overcome one obstacle you feel you'll learn something and you grow. That's the joy of entrepreneurship and taking charge.


RAJPAL: Still ahead here on News Stream, this is not early morning fog, it is smog in northeast China. We'll have more on the city where air pollution is literally off the charts.


RAJPAL: Welcome back.

You are looking at Nokia's new tablet. The Finnish phonemaker took the wraps off long awaited Lumia 2520 tablet just a few hours ago. It runs Microsoft's Windows RT. And that's a variation of Windows 8 that won't run old Window's apps.

Nokia's CEO Steven Elop talked about today's announcements with Leone Lakhani.


STEVEN ELOP, NOKIA CEO: And what you saw is a range of different products to appeal to different people, whether it was the introductory Asha products that we introduced. But we also went to the very large with our very first tablet introduction, the Lumia 2520.

LEONE LAKHANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, in terms of the Lumia, I remember there was great promise they were launched, but there were also quite a few glitches -- poor sound quality, phones freezing, difficulty connecting to the wi-fi, those are the type of glitches you've tackled now?

ELOP: Well, we've tackled glitches, but more importantly, we continue to introduce great new capabilities. We introduced new products that celebrated great steps forward in design, in imaging, as well as a series of new experiences on how all of these products work well together.


RAJPAL: Now, the new tablet comes over a month after Microsoft announced it would buy Nokia's devices business for over $7 billion. If that deal goes through, it means -- it would mean that Nokia's new tablet would compete directly with this, Microsoft Surface 2, which is the same size and runs the same operating system as the Lumia 2520.

Nokia's tablet announcement comes just hours before Apple is expected to unveil new iPads. Apple sent out this invitation to an event that will begin in just a few hours. Reports say a thinner iPad as well as an iPad mini with a sharper screen, well they're on the way.

Apple does occasionally drop hints about what they are announcing in the invitation. This one says we still have a lot to cover, hinting that perhaps we'll see more than one product at the event. But other invitations have been clear. This one was sent out before last month's iPhone event, the colored circles turned out to be a hint that new iPhones with colored backs were on the way.

And last year, Apple sent out this one for an event on September 12. We've darkened the shadow underneath the 12 to reveal the hint at the product they announced. It was, as you can see, the iPhone 5.

Now, you might have some trouble seeing our next story. This is the street view in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin. Visibility there has gone down to as little as 20 meters. The city has disappeared under a thick -- under a blanket of thick pollution.

The extreme fog forced officials to issue a red alert today.

The site tracks -- that we're going to show you here -- this site tracks air pollution in China. We zoomed in on the area of northeastern China around Beijing. The reading is up to 500 in Harbin. Now that is the maximum level on the scale.

Just last week, the World Health Organization said air pollution is a carcinogen. Officials blame low wind and smoke from the burning of farm crops for the smog in Harbin. And while the Chinese government has announced new regulations to improve air quality, as David McKenzie reports there seems to be no quick fix.




LAU: It feels like bad that this is bad for the people, but it's good for the business. But then on a sunny day you feel happy, because you can go out and do stuff.

MCKENZIE: Lau sells an innovative facemask.

LAU: It's quite simple, because it's basically just -- like -- magic tape here.

MCKENZIE: And China's smog is good for business.

LAU: So you clip it on like this.

MCKENZIE: Imported from the U.S., it's designed to filter out harmful particles and gases for long-term health benefits.

LAU: You can't go back in time, right, to go back in 10 years OK wearing a mask.

MCKENZIE: The damage is done.

LAU: Yeah, it's already done.

MCKENZIE: The difference between a blue sky day here in Beijing and a pollution one can be dramatic. Right now it's rated as very unhealthy by the U.S. embassy monitoring site. But in Harbin in northeast China the pollution has been off the charts.

Dense, acrid smog brought this northern city of 10 million to a standstill. Schools are shut. Dozens of flights canceled. Highways closed. Visibility down to almost zero. Pollution 40 times the WHO recommended standard.

The local government blamed it on Harbin's coal-powered central heating, turned on over the weekend. But critics say China's pollution is a terrifying side effect of the country's decades' long obsession with growth.

Wary of social unrest, Communist Party officials have announced new stringent measures. They want to meet their own acceptable standards by 2020, WHO standards by 2050.

LAU: You have to breathe in through your nose and...

MCKENZIE: That's good news for Lau's growing business. He's struggling to keep up with demand. Catering to all kinds of tastes. Selling a product for the new reality of China.

Do you think people are getting used to wearing something like this?

LAU: I think it's OK.

MCKENZIE: It's a reality that could last for decades.

David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.


RAJAPL: Well, from health hazards to health care. And this website seems to be getting a lot of attention, but not for the right reasons. It's the sign-up page for U.S. President Obama's signature health care plan, a law that some Republicans oppose so strongly they tried to take away its funding during that recent budget showdown in the U.S.

The Obamacare website has been riddled with technical problems. It's supposed to be able to handle tens of thousands of health insurance applications at once, but users report error messages, long wait times and a host of other problems. The situation has become so bad the president has been forced to do some damage control publicly admitting the sites needs to be fixed and fast.

While the criticism has left the U.S. government more than a little embarrassed, the PR nightmare is providing plenty of fodder for America's comedians. Take a look.


JAY LENO, TONIGHT SHOW HOST: Sign of a rough day today, another rough day. A friend of mine was given six months by his doctor, not to live, just to sign up for Obamacare. It'll take six months to...

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: They're saying that if you are in need of health care you have two choices, you can wait for them to get the site fixed, or you can enroll in medical school, graduate and then just take care of yourself, which will probably be faster.

JON STEWART, DAILY SHOW HOST: Fear not, help is on the way.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had some of the best IT talent in the entire country join the team. And we're well into a tech surge to fix the problem.

STEWART: A surge. Your website is so (EXPLETIVE DELETED) we have to use the same strategy we used to salvage the Iraq war?

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, CONAN: President Obama is urging Americans who are having trouble with the Obamacare website to sign up for healthcare by calling a 1-800 number. That's the -- yeah, the number is 1-800-We didn't think this through.

KIMMEL: President Obama addressed these issues in a speech this morning. He said there's no excuse. He said he's frustrated. And then this happened.

OBAMA: To lift from the American people, the crushing burden of unaffordable health care, to free families from the pervasive fear that one illness -- I got you.

KIMMEL: Well, there you go, now that's Obamacare. As long as you get sick in the presence of the president you're covered.


RAJPAL: Now, when you log on to the health care website you see this young woman here. And Jeanne Moos tries to find out if she's still smiling now that she's become a symbol of the website's woes.


JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Have you seen the mystery girl? She's not missing, but she is almost impossible to miss.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: The troubled launch of President Obama's healthcare law...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bust roll-out of health care has not only embarrassed the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Credibility death spiral.

MOOS: She's been floating across our TV screens, smiling out at us from our computers.

(on camera): Online at least this isn't the face of Obamacare. This is.

(Voice-over): And critics are having a field day tweeting congrats, rapidly smiling splash page stock photo girl, you're now the most despised face on planet earth.

How would you like having your face associated with phrases like "problem plague".

(on camera): Watch your back, newscasters. She's behind you. Screen left.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN EARLY START ANCHOR: Takes the heat for the Obama website glitches.

MOOS: Screen right.


MOOS: When we asked about her identity, the company responsible for building much of the Web site didn't call us back nor did Health and Human Services.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is not a sort of lickety-split process.

MOOS: A small company that originally worked on the home page told us she was part of the mockup from the design folks.

We checked stock photo files, but couldn't find her face as even being defaced. Does she have Obamacare, someone tweeted.

Obamacare girl isn't getting the love the original Obama girl got back in 2008.

Some are crushing Obamacare girl by comparing her to Joey on "Friends".

MATT LEBLANC, ACTOR: As of today I am officially Joey Tribbiani, actor/model.

MOOS: But Joey's dream modeling job became a nightmare when he saw his photo plastered all over New York on a poster warning "VD -- you never know who might have it".

Are Obamacare girl's friends snickering like Joey's?

LISA KUDROW, ACTRESS: We're just laughing. You know how laughter can be infectious.

MOOS: But Obamacare is the treatment, not the disease. While the original Obama girl sang of health care reform.

Poor Obamacare girl gets the cold shoulder. And all she does is smile. The enigmatic, normally sought health care.

Jeanne Moos, CNN.

(on camera): If this is you, call me.

(voice-over): New York.


RAJPAL: And I'm Monita Rajpal in Hong Kong. And that is News Stream for this Tuesday. The news continues here at CNN. World Business Today is next.