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Egyptian Security Forces Killed In Sinai; Interview with Prince William; Rafael Nadal Wins Cincinnati Masters; CNN Cities: Johannesburg
Aired August 19, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Tonight, grim times as Egypt marks another day of violence. We ask the tourism minister what the ongoing instability means for the country's struggling economy.
Also ahead...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: He's a little bit of a rascal, we'll put it that way. So the guy reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I'm not sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Raising a royal baby, how Prince William feels about being a new dad, an in depth interview on CNN.
And poking Facebook: find out how this 30-year-old Palestinian hacked into the popular social network.
Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World.
We begin tonight with a brazen attack on security forces in Egypt, the deadliest of its kind in years. Assailants armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed two buses in the Sinai peninsula earlier today killing 25 soldiers. Now the soldier's bodies arrived back in Cairo a short time ago.
The attack comes just hours after dozens of Muslim Brotherhood detainees died in police custody.
But Egyptian prosecutors, meantime, will keep deposed President Mohamed Morsy in jail for at least 15 more days while they investigate new allegations against him. But his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, is now a step closer to being released. A court cleared him of a corruption charge, although his legal troubles are far from over.
Well, much of Egypt's Sinai peninsula has been lawless for years, but the situation has gotten even worse over the past few weeks. Today's attack happened near Rafah, a northern city bordering Gaza, that is far from the Sinai's tourist destinations to the south like Sharm el-Sheikh. But in recent days, some European countries have warned tourists to stay away from those resorts because of the widespread unrest in Egypt.
Well, we're going to talk to the tourism minister a little later this hour. Let's get an update now, though, on today's developments. Nick Paton Walsh is live tonight in Cairo. And Egypt, Nick, remains a powder keg with deaths on both sides continuing to inflame this divide.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And certainly the attack you mentioned in the Sinai, state media reporting that the soldiers were in fact going on leave. And pictures have been widely circulating in the media here in civilian uniforms seemingly showing them shot execution style by the side of the road. Of course, we can't independently verify the authenticity of those pictures.
But it will fuel the government's narrative here that they are facing terrorism across the country in which they lump the Muslim Brotherhood using incredibly harsh rhetoric against them for the past few days.
The difference, though, Becky we've seen in the past 48 hours is much less brotherhood presence on the streets. It almost sometimes it seems none. They called off key rallies on Sunday. They've not really had much of a presence around today. They condemned the attack in the Sinai. And of course we heard late last night that 37 Muslim Brotherhood prisoners being transported in the convoy from one prison in Central Cairo to another in the north of the city, while in a confrontation with police, some state media suggesting a failed jailbreak or a police officer being held hostage, 37 were suffocated by the use of tear gas by police.
Now I should bring you some breaking news. The U.S. State Department in Washington has come out and said quite clearly that it believes these deaths were suspicious. They won't elaborate on why they believe that to be the case, but it's another example of the opening gulf now we're seeing since the crackdown five days ago between Washington and Cairo. Despite many people really saying that that relationship is probably going to endure in terms of aid, just right now there's an awful lot of rhetoric one against the other -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh in Cairo for you this evening.
Well, despite all the violence, the deadly violence, Egypt's interim foreign minister says he believes the country is on the right path. NabIl FaHmy made the remarks during a trip during Sudan saying Egypt will soon have, and I quote, "a democratic and open government." He also spoke today to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NABIL FAHMY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: If look at the history of all countries in transformation from authoritarian rule to a democracy, they've all had bumps on the road, many of them have taken actually almost 100 years to get this done. And we do not have time to do that. It has been a very frustrating few weeks. And we mourn seriously all the bloodshed and all the losses irrespective of their affiliation politically.
But, yes, the commitment to the roadmap still is to (inaudible) it's going to take a bit more time, however, because we need to stabilize security so people can think rationally rather than emotionally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You can hear the minister's full interview on Amanpour, that's about an hour from now, 10:00 p.m. London, 1:00 a.m. here in Abu Dhabi.
And stick with us this hour, of course, as I said, we've got the tourism minister on at the bottom of this hour.
Well, European Union foreign ministers are set to hold emergency talks on Wednesday to discuss Egypt. At stake, nearly $7 billion in aid which was pledged last November to help the country's transition to democracy.
Well, earlier I spoke to my colleague John Defterios about the complexities surrounding that money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the structure of the aid that goes to Egypt, Becky, is almost as complex as the European Union structure which is 28 countries. So it's hard to build a consensus. It's fair to say that Germany is leading this charge as it did with Turkey when we had the uprisings there and suggesting that the talks with Turkey wouldn't go at a very fast speed.
So this -- take a look at the regional strategies, the broader neighborhood strategy, they call it. $6.7 billion -- agriculture aid, development aid, even arms sales all mixed into that big package going forward.
But there was some criticism that the European Union after the Arab Spring was on the wrong side of history, that it wasn't engaging in the southern flank of Europe. And they wanted to be on the right side. They put the money forward. Now they're saying, wow, we have human rights challenges and we don't really like this policy, perhaps we should put the breaks on.
ANDERSON: So what we've seen recently then is this criticism from the north, as it were, from Europe. Egypt being, to a certain extent, pivoting away from its northern neighbors at this point and looking to the Gulf region for more support. How does that work out?
DEFTERIOS: Well, it's a logical step, because the Gulf states have the oil wealth. It's not that simple, of course, because there's complexities within the Gulf states. There's six of them. Let's take a look at the smallest one, that is Qatar.
In the last couple of years, it's been very aggressive with its foreign policy. You remember its moves into Syria, moves into Libya, moves into Egypt. In fact, Qatar put $8 billion on the table for the Morsy government to try to make sure this transition went very well much to the anger of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait who stepped in with $12 billion since this government was nudged out.
So we have six country within the Gulf states. Rest assured that Saudi Arabia is one of the main pillars, the other main pillar is Egypt. Now that the second the pillar is a bit wobbly, you see that Saudi Arabia is going to step up to the plate here. And expect with a new emir in Qatar with Sheikh Tamim. He's only 33-years-old. I don't expect a lot of noise out of Qatar right now. I think they're going to come together more than they're going to be breaking apart.
ANDERSON: So the picture at the moment, which is one of a divided Gulf region, you're suggesting to me it might not be the picture in the short to medium term, right?
DEFTERIOS: I think they've learned their lesson in the last couple of years because of the Arab Spring having all these different voices. And the quote that we had today from the Saudi foreign minister I think says quite a bit. All countries that take such negative attitudes towards Egypt should know that the blaze and ruin will not be limited to Egypt alone.
What's he's suggesting here right now, if we don't get Egypt right at 84 million people, have a problem with Syria, Libya, Iraq as well.
Let's get it right. Let's see if we can get the roadmap to go forward for the next nine months to elections, let's not bail out so quickly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: John Defterios talking Egypt for you. More on that at the bottom of this hour.
It is 10 minutes past midnight here in Abu Dhabi. You're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, the moment dads around the world wondered, well how he made it look so easy, the Prince tells all about installing that car seat for the very first time and the joys of fatherhood.
You're 60 seconds away. We're taking a very short break. Do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right, you're back with CNN. This is Connect the World. Let's get you moved on.
He may be a future king, but he's right now just an ordinary new dad. But Prince William sat down with CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster for what was his first interview since he birthed a Baby George.
Well, they talked about fatherhood and that moment when the new family stepped out of the hospital and into a media frenzy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: I think more shock and dauntingness was the feeling I felt. But it was -- the thing is it was -- I think I was on such a high anyway, and so was Catherine about George that really we were happy to show him off to whoever wanted to see him.
As any new parent knows, you're only too happy to show off your new child and, you know, pretend that he is the best looking or the best everything.
FOSTER: There's the baby, the new royal heir in the United Kingdom.
You were comfortable there?
WILLIAM: Yeah, I felt, again it's, it's not somewhere I enjoy being. I know that the position I'm in that's what's required of me to do.
And I think it's, you know, it's one of those things, I'm, you know, it's nice that people want to see George, so, you know, I'm just glad he wasn't screaming his head off the whole way through.
FOSTER: That moment when you came out with the car seat. I mean, we had some warning that you might be doing that.
Fathers around the planet will be cursing you for doing it so easily.
WILLIAM: Believe me, it wasn't my first time. And I know there's been speculation about that. I had to practice. I really did.
I was terrified that I was going to do some -- you know, it was going to fall off or the door wasn't going to close properly.
So I had actually practiced with that seat, but only once before.
FOSTER: And your decision to drive off. I remember that moment as well. That was the most nerve-wracking thing for me, having my family in the car.
But that was something that you were clearly determined to do.
WILLIAM: Where I can be I'm as independent I want to be, the same as Catherine and Harry. We've all grown up, you know, differently to other generations. And I very much feel if I can do it myself, I want to do it myself.
And there are times when you can't do it yourself and the system takes over, or it's appropriate to do things differently.
But I think driving your son and your wife away from hospital (inaudible) is very important to me. And I don't like fuss, so it's much easier to do it yourself.
FOSTER: And you didn't stall.
WILLIAM: I didn't -- well, it's an automatic, so that's all right.
FOSTER: The interpretation of the imagery we saw there around the world was that this was a modern monarchy and a new way of monarchy.
But was it that? Are we reading too much into it? Is it just you doing it your way, you and your wife doing it your own way?
WILLIAM: I think so. I'm just doing it the way I know. And, you know, if it's the right way, then brilliant. If it's not wrong -- if it's the wrong way then I'll try to do it better.
But, you know, I'm just -- I'm quite -- I'm really headstrong about what I believe in and what I go for. And I've got6 fantastic people around me who give me great support and advice.
FOSTER: The prince says baby George is already quite a character.
WILLIAM: Well, yeah, he's a little bit of a rascal. We'll put it that it. So he either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger. I'm not sure.
But he's doing very well at the moment. He does like to keep having his nappy changed and --
FOSTER: You did the first nappy?
WILLIAM: I did the first nappy, yeah.
FOSTER: It was actually a badge of honor.
WILLIAM: Was a badge of honor, exactly. I wasn't allowed to get away with it. I had every midwife staring at me, going, you do it, you do it.
He's a little -- he's growing quickly, actually. But he's a little fighter. He kind of -- he wriggles around quite a lot, and he doesn't want to get in his seat that much, which is a little bit of a problem.
But he's...
FOSTER: So you're up a lot at night?
WILLIAM: A little bit.
FOSTER: Pretty tired?
WILLIAM: Not as much as Catherine, but you know, she's doing a fantastic job.
FOSTER: How is she? OK?
WILLIAM: Yes, very well. For me, Catherine and our little George are my priorities, and Lupo, so...
FOSTER: I was going to ask you about Lupo. How's Lupo coping?
WILLIAM: He's coping all right, actually. As a lot of people know who have got dogs and bringing a newborn back, they take a little bit of time to adapt, but, no he's been all right so far. He's been slobbering sort of around the house a bit, so he's perfectly happy.
FOSTER: And how are you about going back to work?
WILLIAM: Well, as a few fathers might know, I'm actually quite looking forward to going back to work.
FOSTER: Get some sleep.
WILLIAM: Get some sleep. Exactly, yeah. So I'm just hoping the first few shifts I go back I don't have any night jobs.
FOSTER (voice-over): One of his great passions is saving endangered species in Africa. He has wants his son to experience the same Africa that he saw as a boy and a young man to spark in his son a passion for preserving the rarest wild animals much as his father did with him.
You talked about your father possibly whispering quietly in your ear as he...
WILLIAM: Sweet nothings.
FOSTER: ...as a young boy.
Are you going to do the same for Prince George because it's such, it's a cause that you care so deeply about. Would you like him to pick up on it?
WILLIAM: Probably. At this rate, I'll probably whisper sweet nothings in his ear. I'll have toy elephants and riders around the room. Cover it in sort of, you know, lot of bushes and things like that. Make him grow up as if he's in the bush.
FOSTER (voice-over): He says the possibility of his son carrying on royal family's legacy in Africa isn't his immediate concern.
WILLIAM: At the moment, the only legacy I want to pass on to him is to sleep more and maybe not change his nappy quite so many times.
FOSTER (voice-over): Like any new mother or father, parenthood has surprised and amazed Prince William.
WILLIAM: I think the last few weeks for me have been just a very different emotional experience, something I never thought I would feel myself.
And I find, again it's only been a short period, but a lot of things affect me differently now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Max Foster joining us live from New York with more on his interview. And a very modern monarchy, or so they'd have us believe. You talked about that, Max, sleepless night, nappies and horror of horrors, no help I believe. Seriously?
FOSTER: You know, they just talk about that small little unit. And I think that's what's interesting, really, about what William is doing here. He's being a hands on dad. He's not using this army of staff around him. And Kate's hands on as well.
It is a new type of monarchy, because that just wouldn't have happened before, not in their parents' generation or the generations before. But he's saying he's not trying to send out a message, he's basically saying this is me being me and it's the way I want to do it and hopefully it's right.
There's a bit of a gamble there, I think Becky, actually, because there is this mystique around royalty, which a lot of people like, you know, that's part the attraction, but he's breaking that down and coming across as normal deliberately.
ANDERSON: Max, famously, Princess Diana, his mom, tried to instill a sense of normalcy in both his and Harry's lives. No mean feat. And what you say was then a royal family less inclined to break protocol.
What did he say about how her influence might shape him as a family man?
FOSTER: Well, he never talks about her, in my experience, in great depth in a personal way. He's obviously -- you know, it's his memories with her are so treasured, he doesn't necessarily want people in on them. But what he does talk about is his public work. So I talked to him about his work in Africa. And I said, you know, what would your mother thought of that? And he talked about how she would have understood a lot of the work he's doing with young people and with communities, and that in a way is legacy to her. And that's what he wants to do, sort of work on her legacy, not focus on all the sort of horrific stories that we keep getting about the car crash, that he really wants to leave behind.
ANDERSON: Max, thank you for that. Max, is in New York for you this evening. Prince William as you've never seen him before.
And you can see more of Max Foster's interview in our special program, Prince William's Passion New Father, New Hope, that is September 15 on CNN.
Coming up after this short break on Connect the World a firsthand look behind the scenes at Johannesburg, South Africa from a fairly unique perspective, the city's own mayor. CNN's brand new series The City is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, they're doing what it says on the box Connect the World here on CNN. Live from Abu Dhabi tonight. I'm Becky Anderson for you.
Now, Rafael Nadal is known as the king of clay, but could he soon be crowned king of the hardcourt as well? The Spaniard topping John Isner in Sunday's Cincinnati Master's final, his 15th straight win on the hard court.
Let's cross live now to Alex Thomas who joins us from CNN Center.
He now ranks number two in the world. He's had some problems this year, but his -- we're into the next grand slam, is he the man to beat do you think in the upcoming U.S. Open?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORREPSONDENT: Never write off Rafa Nadal seems to be the new tennis cliche, Becky.
Let's not forget this is just less than two months after he lost on the opening day of the Wimbledon Championship, starting all the conspiracy theories, is his knee problem coming back? It's worse than we think. Remember he was injured at the start of the year. Since then, he's won nine of 12 tournaments, something like that. He's unbeaten in 15 matches on the hardcourts when we know that his specialty is on the clay. And here we are, exactly a week away from the start of the final grand slam tennis tournament of the season, the U.S. Open as you say, in New York. I wonder if Max is going to hang around for that, probably not.
But Rafa Nadal has to be seen as a huge contender after going up to number 2 in the world rankings. Novak Djokovic certainly lost to him this -- in this last week. And all the rivals in the men's singles will be worried about him, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yep, all right. Well, we're looking forward to that.
Let's do a bit of soccer. Amazing result for Barcelona. Man City in action right now. What's the chances of they do what Barcelona did (inaudible) do you think?
THOMAS: Well, it's two very different situations, because in Spain's La Liga, although it's world famous, really Barcelona and Real Madrid don't just dominate, the gap between them and the other clubs seem to get wider and wider. Remember, they hog most of the TV money there.
Barcelona have a new manager, a 7-0 win is the perfect start for him. Lionel Messi scoring twice.
But then being substituted before the end, slightly controversial. Messi always used to insist on trying to play every minute of the game. The new boss says that's all been arranged in advance. It's a long season.
Messi on his way already with two goals. But remember he scored 75 goals in all competitions last season. But Manchester City, it's a far more competitive English Premier League. The opening season this weekend as well. Already victories for Manchester United, Tottenham, and Chelsea. All the other title rivals, Manchester City looking to win back the Premier League crown they won in 2012. And they're already 3-0 up tonight against Newcastle. All stars on the score sheet. David Silva, Yaya Toure amongst the scorers. Sergio Arguero as well. So it like the new boss of Manchester City, Manuel Pellegrini is also off to an absolutely 100 percent start, Becky.
ANDERSON: A man who knows his Spanish football as well. He's going to have to get used to the British style of things. But it sounds like he's got a -- looking at a result tonight, at least. Good stuff. Thank you for that.
Alex Thomas there with the latest out of the world of tennis and football.
Now, what would you do if you were mayor for a day? On CNN's The City series this week, we're going to visit five cities on five continents talking to mayors about their vision for the future. Well, in Johannesburg, the mayor shows CNN how he is shaping his city's urban future. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PARKS TAU, MAYOR OF JOHANNESBURG: My name is Parks Tau, executive mayor of the city of Johannesburg in South Africa.
Johannesburg is a bustling urban metropolis in South Africa. It is the leading commercial center of our continent.
Currently, African cities are experiencing a huge increase in population. The levels of migration and people that are coming into our cities presents, of course, its challenges in terms of providing services and infrastructure, but it is through urbanization that you have greater potential to develop and grow cities.
There are (inaudible) essentially runs along dedicated bus lanes which are exclusively for use of the (inaudible).
One of the issues that we needed to address is mobility inside the inner city. So if we're able to reduce congestion -- well, we're getting the response that we anticipated in the sense that we see more and more people patronizing the parts of the transit system and using it as their primary mode of transportation.
We are at Lehigh (ph) which is a new settlement. The intention is over the next three years to restore (ph) 110,000 (inaudible) and so far we've reached a target in the past year of 26,000.
By the savings that you're able to achieve from this year, and it's essentially 1 ton of carbon savings per unit per annum, which really translate to a savings of about 50 percent of the cost of electricity. So this is significant, particularly for poorer income households in the city of (inaudible).
We're in Orange Farm (ph) visiting a (inaudible) project which means we grow through family (ph). Food security is critical in the city of (inaudible). We estimate that about 42 percent of the poor people of Johannesburg are food insecure. For us to overcome our past of division, it is through creating a society where everybody has access to prosperity.
This particular project involves a cooperative that has come together to create a food garden, a city (inaudible). We provide training and support, including providing the citizens access to the Johannesburg fresh produce market.
When I (inaudible) to climate change, when I (inaudible) to the (inaudible) of the city, I'm certainly convinced that the future in terms of civic development will take place in Africa, because in fact this is where the most activity is taking place. And we have the opportunity not to repeat mistakes of the past.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Johannesburg.
You can check CNN's digital site for more. And you can catch the series all week here on Connect the World. Tomorrow, the city will focus on Rotterdam in The Netherlands, a city adapting to contend with rising sea levels.
Well, the latest world news headlines, as you would expect here on CNN at the bottom of the hour.
Plus, with all the street violence, even more tourists are choosing to skip Egypt as a destination. We'll speak live with the country's tourism minister after this short break.
After your headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Half past midnight in Abu Dhabi. Welcome back, this is CNN, here's your headlines.
The bodies of 25 Egyptian soldiers killed in the Sinai today have arrived back in Cairo. Authorities say suspected Islamic militants used rocket-propelled grenades to ambush buses carrying soldiers. The attack happened near Rafah, which is a city bordering Gaza.
Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius has been formally indicted for the Valentine's Day killing of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp. At a hearing today, he was charged with planned and premeditated murder, which comes with a mandatory sentence of life behind bars. His trial is scheduled to begin March the 3rd, with the state possibly calling more than 100 witnesses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If they do end up calling all 107 witnesses, this could be a very, very long trial. After all, the defense will want to rebut the evidence of the state's witnesses, they'll be calling their own witnesses as well, and this -- it's a very unusual number of witnesses to have on a list at this stage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A team of UN inspectors are in Syria beginning an investigation into whether chemical weapons are being used in the country's civil war. The Syrian government has agreed to the terms of the visit. Both the government and rebels have been accused of using the weapons.
British officials are under pressure to explain why they detained the partner of the journalist who broke Edward Snowden's leaks to the world. David Miranda, partner of "Guardian" writer Glenn Greenwald, seen here on the left, was held for nine hours at Heathrow Airport on Sunday. Authorities seized his laptop, his phone, and other materials, we're told. Sir Greenwald is furious and says he will publish more documents. The White House has been quick to distance itself, saying that it knew the move was coming but did not request it.
Returning to our top story for you now on the ongoing violence in Egypt. The death of an Egyptian activist shedding an unflattering light on how the protests there have been handled. Nick Paton Walsh reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what happened when police first got hold of protester Shareef Seyam, according to this activist video. And this is where, five days after the brutal police crackdown, his friends gathered to mourn. Even now, it was hard to find a safe mosque.
WALSH (on camera): They're mourning here in small numbers, nervously, with a sense of fear that's entirely understandable when you learn how their friend Shareef came to die.
WALSH (voice-over): Khama (ph) collected and washed Shareef's unrecognizable body for burial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): His torso was fine, but his face -- the doctors told me he was suffocated, and because of that, his face was swollen like a soccer ball to the point you could not make out his features, and his skin was totally black.
WALSH: The story we heard of his journey to that moment is sickening. After this arrest, he was among hundreds herded by police into this stadium from the Rabba al-Awadiaya mosque where police and protesters were clashing.
Some were battered there, said this lawyer, whose phone rings constantly with families asking for help to find loved ones missing in the crackdown. In Shareef's case, one day there was good news, the next, the worst.
AHMED HLYM, COURT OF APPEALS LAWYER (through translator): Emotionally, it was difficult for us. We could not bring ourselves to call families and tell them that their son, who we found alive yesterday, is now today dead. It's like these people are prisoners of war. Usual laws don't apply.
WALSH: Shareef's last Facebook posting said, "I'm all right. I'm detained and Cairo Stadium. Tell my parents not to worry, and I'm in the inside hall. Call my father."
He was moved to a central Cairo prison and then put on convoy headed to the city's north. One van in the convoy, state media said, took a police officer hostage. Police retaliated with teargas and 37 prisoners suffocated. Shareef was one of them, activists said. He was buried Monday after five days of hell.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Egypt's deadly political turmoil is hitting the tourist industry hard, even in the height of the summer. In 2010, tourism accounted for 11 percent of Egypt's GDP, more than $8 billion. Fast forward a year, 2011, and it was grim. Following the political revolution, tourism had slowed by a third.
It did begin to pick up at the end of 2012, the sector rebounding about 18 percent. But recovery really varies by region. Cairo suffered much more than places like Luxor and the Red Sea. 2013 was looking up, but the recent violence in the past month has prompted mass cancellations and warnings to not visit the country.
Well, hundreds of dead, thousands injured. Understandably, countries around the world warning their citizens not to travel to Egypt, which for many is a country on the brink of a protracted state collapse.
We're joined by Egypt's tourism minister, now, Hisham Zaazou. He's in Hurghada, one of the country's top Red Sea resorts. And how are things there? Just how bad are things in the tourism industry as a whole?
HISHAM ZAAZOU, EGYPTIAN TOURISM MINISTER (via telephone): The connection is quite bad, but I can hardly hear you. But if you're asking about the situation of tourism in the country at large in Hurghada or the Red Sea in particular, I can tell you, I'm not too happy, because the main source markets in Europe, with the exception of Britain, has issued travel advisories that are quite negative for people to come over.
In spite, I understand, that many of the consumers would love to come over to Egypt, this part of Egypt in particular at this time of the year, by the Red Sea, which is quite safe and stable. And the situation is reflected by the fact that there is no curfew hours or restriction about curfew here in this part of Egypt as well as the southern Sinai.
ANDERSON: All right. OK. With respect, sir, I think it's clear that the images that people around the world are seeing coming out of Egypt are frightening, both them and their governments.
You were a member of the government during Mohamed Morsy's presidency. You resigned in the wake of his last speech on June the 26th. You're back now with this interim government, which there is talk of them deciding that they might disband the Muslim Brotherhood.
That would hardly be a move to foster inclusion in politics going forward. Would that be a move that you support, the delegitimazation --
ZAAZOU: Definitely. Definitely.
ANDERSON: -- of the Muslim Brotherhood, disbanding the group.
ZAAZOU: Listen. The government, this interim government you are referring to, of which I am part of it, has already -- is working on what we call the road map for a full democracy in the coming few weeks and months. And part of it is -- was mentioned that there is no exclusion for any faction of the political parties in Egypt, including political Islam.
At last, the only measure or base for that is not to use violence as a means of expression. So, if this is the base, everybody's welcome to join the wagon of a full democratic Egypt in the coming weeks and months to come.
ANDERSON: Let me get --
(CROSSTALK)
ZAAZOU: For sure, the inclusion is beginning --
ANDERSON: OK, let me get this clear, though, sir. I asked you whether you would support the disband -- hang on, sir. I asked you whether you would support the disbanding of the Muslim Brotherhood. Are you telling me would? That you want to see the end of that group?
ZAAZOU: No, I'm saying that I want to see the end. I heard the word "inclusion." The connection is not quite well at my end. I'm saying we are --
ANDERSON: Apologies, thank you for clarifying that.
ZAAZOU: -- the current interim government is welcoming the inclusion of any party in the coming inclusion, including political Islam parties in Egypt. And --
ANDERSON: OK.
ZAAZOU: Provided that they denounce violence.
ANDERSON: Let me ask -- let me put this to you, sir. And you clarified your point. Let me put the next question to you, because it's an important one. You talk about the need to stop this violence. One assumes you mean on both sides.
Just this evening, in the past couple of hours, the US State Department has voiced deep concern about the deaths of Muslim Brotherhood members, prisoners who were in custody in Egypt. They term these deaths suspicious and have said that it does not believe that he Islamist group should be banned. What do you say to the States when they call these deaths on the Muslim Brotherhood side "suspicious."
ZAAZOU: No, I -- think this is an unbalanced approach to the situation. You need to see the picture from all sides. First of all, the government's security forces do not attempt with violent acts in the first place.
If they act in self-defense in all the cases, and there are so many documented videos of these situations starting from the sit-in at the Rabba al-Awadiaya that you have mentioned earlier and up-to-date.
If you're speaking about what you mentioned, now, nobody is speaking also about the lost lives of the Egyptian army soldiers in Sinai today, this morning. Or yesterday. So, you need to see the picture from all sides --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Let me -- let me clarify that, sir, because it is important. Let me -- hang on. Let me clarify that we did talk about those deaths at the beginning of this show, and you made a very good point. We need to report on both sides of this story, which we are doing here at CNN, so I'm glad you brought that up, and I'm just clarifying that point as well.
Let me move on. The European Union, we know, is debating whether to suspend $7 billion worth of aid at this point. What effect would that have on the Egyptian economy. You've already discussed the impact this political turmoil is having on the tourism industry, which is incredibly important to Egypt. What impact would this suspension of aid from the EU have going forward?
ZAAZOU: Well, I'm sorry and regret if the way forward by the European Union is to adopt such a resolution in that respect. I think they should first investigate all aspects and take a closer look and see what is the intentions of the current interim government for the future of this country before it attempts to take a measure that actually deters the way forward for the stability -- the economic stability of this country.
But at the same time, I'd like to refer you to the remark of our Egyptian Foreign Ministry that if this is the case, this will not stop the Egyptians from moving forward with their country and their democratic path and their economy. We will continue our path regardless of anything because this is the future of the country.
But we regret that our -- one of our main partners, which was the European Union, is considering such an act.
ANDERSON: All right. And with that, sir, I'm going to have to leave it there, but we appreciate your time tonight, and it's important that we have as many voices on, particularly those from the government at this point, so we appreciate your time here on CNN. The interim tourism minister talking about the impact on his country of the current political turmoil.
Live from Abu Dhabi, you're with CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Mark Zuckerberg might be changing his settings on Facebook after his page was hacked. We'll talk to the man who pulled it off after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: If you've ever seen a contortionist move, you've probably either thought "wow" or "ow." Or perhaps both. Well, as part of CNN's Art of Movement series, Nick Glass went to Las Vegas to find out how they twist their bodies in ways which, quite frankly, seem impossible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK GLASS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gamblers won't know it, but here come the girls. The contortionist girls, sweeping through the casino. These are the stars of an aquatic Cirque du Soleil show called "O," which has been running in Vegas for almost 15 years. Twice a night, five nights a week, they do their contortion act, and they take our breath away.
SANDI CROFT, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: I remember having a hard time always watching them, but being fascinated, and I couldn't stop watching them.
RIA MARTENS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: It's so fluid and so -- almost magical, the way they can move their bodies. I think it's breathtaking. I still watch it, and I go, wow.
GLASS: There are about 20 contortionists working in Las Vegas, almost all of them women, and almost all of them from Mongolia. All the girls tell almost exactly the same story. They were entranced by the art at a very young age.
ODMAA BAYARTSOGT, CONTORTIONIST: I have one hand.
GLASS (on camera): Do you remember the first time you knew about contortionism?
BAYARTSOGT: Yes. I think it was beautiful. I was seven years old. One day, I was watching TV and there's a girl was doing contortion. I was in love first time I saw that. And I was like, "Mom, I can do this too!"
Since then, I was trying to be a contortionist. I thought everybody can do this, so I showed it to my mom, and my mom was shocked that I can do that.
NARANGUA DULAMSUREN, CONTORTIONIST: It was hard, but I really liked it. When I saw the girls doing it, I really wanted to do it like them. So, we trained two hours a day the first couple of years, then six days a week --
GLASS: How old were you then?
DULAMSUREN: I was five.
GLASS: How could you be so dedicated so young?
ENKHJARGAL DASHBALJIR, CONTORTIONIST: I really liked it. Who cannot love contortionism? It's beautiful.
(LAUGHTER)
GLASS (voice-over): The art form dates back to the 16th century and is rooted in the old nomadic lifestyle and in religious ritual. Buddhist monks believe being physically flexible opened up the mind. Poses mimicked nature.
The art form has grown hugely in popularity since the 1940s, when the state circus was established. Today, there are multiple contortion schools throughout Mongolia, with pupils as young as five. The simple truth is, Mongolian girls want to be contortionists, just as boys want to be wrestlers.
CROFT: I guess when you you maybe want a top athlete baseball player, sometimes you look in America. We need a contortionist? We go look in Mongolia. When they dance, they have a natural flexibility, even with their folk dance of Mongolia. It's just part of their culture to have this extra bend and delivery with their movement.
GLASS: The girls train every day for three hours or more. It seems somehow irresistible. In the circumstances, you just have to say it: come on, girls, show us some moves.
TURCHIMEG TURBAT, CONTORTIONIST: This is three legs, then begin push up. This is more -- more hard.
CROFT: They surprise me very much with their strength, when they can bend themselves into a pretzel. But after they've done that, then they push themselves up and they have their whole body weight on one arm. And I just think, how do they do this?
GLASS: Nick Glass, CNN, Las Vegas.
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ANDERSON: Some of that makes you want to wince, doesn't it? I'm just glad that Nick didn't have a go. All right.
Coming up after this short break on CONNECT THE WORLD, we'll meet two girls that may seem to be worlds apart, but Lillian and Ziggy have much more in common than you might expect. That after this.
And one users post causes a firestorm for Facebook. That story just ahead.
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ANDERSON: Ten to 1:00 in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. Lillian is 16 years old and lives in Hong Kong. Ziggy, also 16, lives in Atlanta in Georgia in the States. But despite living on opposite ends of the globe, they both have busy lives outside of the classroom and are figuring out what it means to be a girl in today's world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LILLIAN, AGE 16, HONG KONG (through translator): This is a community center. I started coming here since I was very young and joined their events. My brother and I would also come to play toys, and I would also do readings here sometimes.
This week's volunteer work is to lead a camping trip for kids. Maybe it is because my mom always does volunteer work and that inspires me to do the same. And I also wanted to see more of this world.
ZIGGY, AGE 16, ATLANTA, GEORGIA: I really like to write. Oh! I like those! I like to just hang out with my friends. I don't have any athletic capabilities whatsoever, so that's not a hobby. But I think all of those are important, to have a social life, but then work on the things that you want to put in your future later on.
(LAUGHTER)
ZIGGY: We go to the movies. We go out to eat. We do a lot of eating, really. Teenage girls like to eat. Sometimes we shop, get our nails done.
LILLIAN (through translator): Usually after school, maybe go to the mall near school and hang out there for a bit. Usually when you get out of school, you don't really feel like going home just yet, so I usually walk around the school campus area, buy some snacks, or go to the book store and see what new books they have, or just chat with friends.
If we do go out, we usually go shopping for clothes or go sing karaoke, or sometimes there are club activities that are compulsory, so we go.
ZIGGY: I guess my hobbies, you could say that I'm kind of laid back, but I'm a big people person. Typically, when I'm doing something, I'm out with a bunch of people. I love to be in big crowds. So, I'm a sociable person. I like to be around people, I like to make people laugh.
(LAUGHTER)
LILLIAN (through translator): I get on the internet. I also watch Japanese and Korean television series and am trying to teach myself Japanese and Korean. I love to read crime novels, romance, all sorts of books.
ZIGGY: I think it's important that we're social with each other, because a lot of times, especially as African-American young girls, it's important because society puts us down that we all are together. We're all that we have, so it's important that we all get together, love each other.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A Girl's World series here on CNN. Now, a Palestinian IT specialist recently discovered a major security flaw in Facebook and reported the issue several times, but he wasn't taken seriously. Khalil Shareath (sic) decided -- Shreateh, sorry -- decided to post something on the site that couldn't fail to get Facebook's attention. CNN's Jim Clancy has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Khalil Shreateh is a 30-year-old information technology specialist who fairly rocked Facebook's world last week with a single post. You see, Shreateh used his barely-running five-year-old laptop to find a security breach no one else has ever uncovered, and he showed it to them by posting to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's personal timeline.
KHALIL SHREATEH, PALESTINIAN IT SPECIALIST: to find a way to post to other Facebook users' timeline, this is dangerous, so dangerous, because it will allow people to make public ads without paying Facebook money.
CLANCY: In other words, spammers could post ads to anyone's timeline on Facebook, whether they were friends or not. Shreateh showed us copies of his e-mail exchanges with Facebook security experts, who at first said it wasn't a bug, and then said they couldn't see it even when he posted on the timeline of one of Zuckerberg's friends.
If they wanted proof, Shreateh thought, he would give it to them.
SHREATEH: So, I posted to Zuckerberg's timeline, making one print- screen and opening the post, making the second print-screen, and immediately, less than one minute, I got some security software engineer asking me, "Please, send all the details to my e-mail."
CLANCY (on camera): Shreateh lives in the bustling city of Yatta, south of Hebron on the West Bank. Unemployment here hovers above 22 percent, and it's especially tough on young people. Khalil himself hasn't had a job in two years. He was hoping that Facebook would reward him for the security flaw he discovered, but apparently, that's not to be.
CLANCY (voice-over): Facebook says it regrets that Khalil Shreateh broke the terms of agreement by posting on Zuckerberg's personal page. Therefore, he's not eligible for a cash reward that he estimated would be anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars.
SHREATEH: I really needed that money. I spent more than two years looking for a job. Jobless everywhere here. Cannot find a job, it's hard to find a job.
CLANCY: He has become a local celebrity, with the media and small crowds gathered outside his home. And up in the city center, we sample the local opinion in the matter.
CLANCY (on camera): Does Khalil deserve money from Facebook?
CROWD: Yes!
CLANCY: For finding this?
CROWD: Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And deserves a job and deserves some position in security for them.
CLANCY (voice-over): Shreateh says he has gotten other job offers, but he thinks many are from hackers who want to exploit his discovery, and he wants no part of that.
SHREATEH: Really, I feel proud to be a Palestinian and finding something like that on Facebook. I'm really proud.
CLANCY: Jim Clancy, CNN, on the West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, that was CONNECT THE WORLD just before 1:00 in the morning. "Amanpour" follows this. You've been watching CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching. Good night.
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