>> for some, it's an idle pastime. for others, it is literally a matter of life and death. find out what's put bangladeshi bloggers on the frontline of the country's fight against islamic extremists. that's coming up here, on "global 3000." hello, and welcome to the show. brave bloggers -- bangladeshi cybernauts who refuse to be silenced by islamic extremists mexico online -- why internet access and social mobility go

hand in hand and protecting the caribbean -- the race is on to save fragile marine ecosystems from overfishing they know that their names are on a hit-list. and they know being named can be fatal. already, several of the people on the list have been assassinated -- hacked to death on the street with machetes. and yet, these brave writers continue. they do what they've been doing all along -- they sit in front of their computers, and they write what they believe. their styles and their opinions vary, but these bloggers all have one thing in common. they are determined to speak out against islamist extremism, even if they have to pay for their bravery with their lives. >> parvez alam does what a lot of people of his generation do across the world. he's a blogger.

alam writes about religion, and violence, an issue he knows is a contentious one. he receives threats on an almost daily basis. parvez: people actually reminded all the time that i might be the next. but i never thought of stopping to write. >> his name is included on a hitlist comprising 84 bloggers targeted by islamist extremists. their alleged crime? they are accused of being atheists. parvez: i'm only writing against the wahabi, the salafist form of islam, because that kind of islam is very foreign in our country. >> alam has paid a high price for his stance. he had to give up his job as a journalist for fear of being targeted on the way to work. arif jebtik likewise found his name on the hit list.

to protect his family, he meets us in a hotel. jebtik otherwise refuses to be intimidated, and continues to challenge those who would turn bangladesh into a religious dictatorship. arif: we are afraid that there might be much more killing in the next few months. but it cannot change what you believe or what you stand for just because someone is killing. >> fellow blogger avijit roy was already murdered earlier this year, while in dhaka for a book fair. arif had warned him of the danger. arif: i told him i think we should advise him not to come very often, and the publisher agreed. then i left the book fair and just after one hour i heard the bad news. >> roy was murdered on the campus of the university of dhaka. a professor tells us how the killers planned the deed.

shafiul: he was being fooled by the tactics used by the attackers. i heard they spent a couple of hours with him, by hanging out with him at the book fair. they claimed that they were his fans. >> but the men then attacked roy and his wife with machetes. it was february 26 and marked the first in a series of brutal murders. a month later washiqur rahman was hacked to death on his way to work in dhaka, as was ananta bijoy das in the city of sylhet on may 12. the attackers disappeared without a trace. and on august 7, niloy neel was murdered in his dhaka apartment, again by assailants wielding machetes. this time the police did manage

to arrest a number of suspects, known members of extremist groups. so who exactly is behind the hit list? an organized terrorist network? were some of the murders the work of lone perpetrators? the capital, dhaka, is home to almost 10 million people. 90 percent of them muslim, and a considerable proportion sympathetic to fundamentalist ideas, especially in those parts of town where poverty can provide a breeding ground for religious extremism. it's also home to a coalition of islamist organisations called " hefazat-e-islam." the group is opposed to the country's secular-oriented government, as well as bloggers with their outspoken comments. although the group insists its opposition is peaceful. shawat: we condemn vigilante justice in all forms. we are against the use of violence. >> that message was then

compromised by a clear threat addressed to the bloggers and the government. hefazat-e-islam, the self-appointed "guardians of islam," warned of repercussions if the bloggers were not stopped. shawat: we support the peaceful coexistence of all groups in bangladesh. it's the bloggers who are poisoning the climate with their rabble-rousing. if the state takes no action, then it could lead to violence. >> just how charged the climate is became evident the next day. after friday prayers, protesters gathered outside the central mosque in dhaka for a demonstration -- not spontaneous but organized by hefazat-e-islam. their anger this time was directed not at bloggers but at a politician said to have made disparaging remarks about the pilgrimage to mecca. the bloggers may number only in

the dozens, but they reach an audience of mmillions via the internet. just hours after the pro-islamist march, they meet in a secluded courtyard, and insist they are optimistic. arif: it's a secular land the indian subcontinent, especially bangladesh. we have a very long history of secularism. so i believe for the time they're doing some position, but at the end of the day they will not get anything from the general people. >> for a few hours, the hit list seems a long way away. but as they get back to blogging later that evening, they are alone with their posts and their fears. parvez alam believes that history is on the side of him and other activists. parvez: how europe became secular. there were hundreds of years of conflicts where no religion has more power over other religions, or where religion is not a

dominating force in the public sphere. >> it's said that the pen is mightier than the sword. let's hope that's true of computer keyboards as well. a complete change of scene now, as we head to a caribbean island. or, to be more precise, to the narrow stretch of water between two islands -- st kitts, and nevis. just 4 km across, it's prime breeding ground for marine life. or, at least, it should be. can a "no-take-zone" save this ecosystem from overfishing? all will depend upon whether the local fishermen can be brought on board. giant turtles are among the many sea creatures for whom coral reefs are a vital natural habitat. but that home is changing.

>> in addition to the danger of being caught in fishing nets, turtles and manta rays are seeing those reefs dying out .... here, four meters underwater just off the island of st.kitts, the natural world seems fine. but first impressions can be deceptive. just two kilometers away, the coral reefs are in a critical condition. representatives from the fishing authorities of six caribbean nations are on a diving expedition here organized by "the nature conservancy". the non-governmental organisation has launched a large-scale project to investigate the condition of coral reefs in the caribbean -- with the ultimate aim of saving

them. among the guests emerging from today's dive is christopher alleyne from grenada. christopher: it was amazing! to see the corals, the fish, lobster, the life down there is really good. and i like to see what i'm seeing. >> although the general situation around the caribbean's smaller islands is far from good. the strait between st. kitts and nevis is known as "the narrows", measuring less than 4 kilometers wide. this stretch of water is traversed every day by fishing boots, water taxis, cruise ships and local ferries -and that leads to conflicts. the nature conservancy" wants to see the creation of defined zones called "marine managed areas," one would be reserved for fishermen only, the other for tourists. sherry: the fishermen traditionally set their pots in the narrows. but this is the nursery ground.

if their pots are there and they're taking the juvenile fish, then those juvenile fish do not get to live to be old and bigger, and as scientists we know that small fish produce millions less eggs than a larger fish. the longer you let them grow, the more eggs they can produce and the more you get out of your fishery. >> on some days the fishermen's first port of call is inland, to a forest to find wood for new fish traps. they take their wood from myrtle trees, which grow back quickly. they're accompanied by sherry constantine, an environmentalist. she wants to gain insights into the fishermen's daily operations. that will in turn enable her to decide what changes are needed and where.

traps like these have been used for decades here. the fishermen only haul them out of the sea once a week. but due to growing tourism, they are sometimes unable to find their traps when water taxis or diving boats rip their markings loose. sherry: it can be very difficult. as with human nature, when someone has been doing something for a very long time it gets harder to convince them to do things a different way. that's why a fisher cooperative is important as well, because if you have a very good, charismatic leader who can mobilize the fishers to act in a particular way, this person can cause change to happen in the country. we see why the changes are so critical for the fishermen the day after. they set out to sea at 5 in the morning. but the haul for the day is minimal as so often these days. with stocks of profitable fish depleted, the men now settle for smaller specimens that nobody

used to eat. it's often barely enough to make a living, and many have already quit the trade. vincent: it gets really slow. that's why we do other kind of work. >> st. kitts faces a conflict of interests. the island lives off tourism, and hotel operators say the fishermen cast their nets and traps too close to their exclusive beaches. the practice is to be banned in future, to allow the few corals left to survive. alistair: i want to see the fishing industry not just continue but prosper. i firmly believe that strict management of areas like the

narrows, which is a nursery, will be of benefit for the fishing industry, the island and my personal business. >> at a workshop, environmental scientists and government guests from across the caribbean meet to discuss how to resolve the conflicting interests of fishermen and hotel managers. some of the islands already have marine-managed zones, although in grenada's case it took two years to set up. christopher: the same fishermen who said they were going to take bread away from them are now saying we want more protected areas. so they're seeing a diferent impact. >> unless more action is taken soon, however, the corals will die out, meaning even fewer fish. the hope is that the marine-managed area between st. kitts and nevis will allow young sea creatures to reproduce in peace again, and spare turtles the deadly threat of being caught in fishing nets.

>> time now to meet another of our featured "millennium teens" -- young people who were born at the dawn of the new millennium, making them just fifteen years old now. in the spotlight this week, dang van trinh from vietnam. he's a scout, he volunteers with the red cross and he still finds time to master "league of legends." it's a video game, apparently. here he is. >> hello, my name is trinh, t-r-i-n-h. and i live in hue, vietnam.

i go to school, or travel from place to place, just by bike. >> but it's dangerous here? >> it's not that dangerous. you get used to it! i have a younger sister. her name is huyen. she is ten years old and i really like her because she is nice and smart and she alsways let me borrow study tools just like rulers and pens -- pencils, something like that. i want to got to england, because i have three friends

there. i play games. we usually use webcams to talk to each other what i'm afraid of is the height. when i go somewhere that is really high, my body just freezes. my grandfather, he is 72 years older than me. and he told me this -- "you guys are much luckier! back then where a lot of wars. so we usually don't have enough food and water to drink. they didin't have electricity.

so they used fire and candle not to live in the darkness. he told me to appreciate what i've got, because i am much more luckier to be born in a modern socciety. >> you don't have to be fifteen to participate in this one -- parallel to our "millennium teen" series, we've been asking people of all ages around the world what they think the world will be like in 2030. hopefully many things in the world will have changed by then. the list of new global sustainable development goals that the heads of state and government decided on at the united nations is long. what do you think the world will be like in fifteen years time? check out the responses in our online special at dw.com/my2030

-- you'll also find articles, videos and audio reports on the new u.n. development goals for 2030. mexico is currently at the bottom of the pisa table -- the global mechanism for measuring educational attainment amongst under 15s. mexico is also a country in which 69% of the population does not have access to a computer. is there a connection? mois cherem is convinced that there is. he wants to help create access to education and modern technology for everyone regardless of their income. he's the social entrepreneur behind enova, a country-wide project aiming to bridge the digital divide. >> one of the things that mois cherem really loves about mexico is that on practically every street corner you'll find hearty

and affordable home-cooking -- served up by local people to earn a living. such as this joint in cancun. mois cherem asks whether they have internet access or a computer. the women working here wish they did, but they can't afford it. in poorer areas in particular, many people have no access to modern technology -- and therefore not to information either. mois cherem is determined to change that. his company has set up 70 "blended learning" educational centers across mexico. mois: it's something that sounds good to everyone. but sometimes they don't have the opportunity to interact with technology. so she for example would be a very typical user of one of the schools, because she is a housewife. i was explaining that.

we invite both, mothers and kids. so mums go to one classroom and kids go to the other. and the whole family is using technology to improve their lives. >> the two women are interested. thanks to financial support from his family mois cherem went to college in the us. but that's an option not open to most mexicans. just one in four pupils complete high school, and just 13 percent of the population graduate from college. but as elsewhere in the world, a degree is the key to a well--paid job. many mexicans, however, have to make ends meet with odd jobs. mois cherem takes us to an internet café, where anyone without a computer at home can go online.

the connection speed is slow, however, and it's pricey ---- costing 1 us dollar an hour. mois: yes, i remember. i was 14 and the father of one of my good friends had internet in his office. so we went online for the first time. it was very slow. it was in 1994. i just heard this thing called internet, so this time i realized it was going to change things. >> starting with the younger generation. given the appeal of video games for children and teenagers, mois cherem decided to use the fun factor as a medium for teaching content. he teamed up with like-minded friends to found the company "enova". mois: for example if you are an 8-year-old kid and you're having trouble learning math at school, the route is through technology especially blended learning ---- which is e-learning with the combination of a facilitator,

who is helping you. you can improve your math skills, you can improve your reading skills. and then for adults it has to do with productivity. so it affects your abilty to find a job. another key factor is developing contacts with policy--makers, such as here at the world economic forum on latin america. the social entrepreneur is also a prolific networker. mexican president peña nieto is among the guests at the forum today here in cancun. on the agenda, the economic and social development of the country -- which is in part shaped by commitment to action by the private sector. mois: it's a great oppurtunity to meet business leaders to create new partnerships. also to learn from other social entrepreneurs who are working in different context and in different approaches. so there is a big

cross-fertilization of ideas and finally it is also good to let people know about good things are happening in different parts of the region. >> mexico has increased investment in education in recent years, but there are major discrepancies in quality. education should not depend on income, says mois cherem. his educational games are available to everyone. sponsors help with the funding, amounting to $15 million a year -- which can make a difference. mois: the main advantage is that you have very direct impact on people's life, and it is not a by-product of your work, but rather it is the core mission of your work. >> over 100,000 mexicans have already completed training courses at his schools, but he wants to help many more realize their full potential. >> and that report has brought

full--circle: we're back where us full--circle -- we're back where we started, with the importance of the internet! time, then, to remind you that we too have a facebook page andn a website. check it out to comment on the show or share your views on the topics we've covered. also, don't forget that we're still looking for suggestions for our ongoing global snack series. is there a local fast-food delicacy you'd like to share with us? get in touch to tell us about it and you could win yourself one of these stylish "global snack" aprons as modelled here by our previous winner, mitul kansal from bangalore india. that's it for another edition of "global 3000," bringing you reports from around the world. wherever you are, thank you very much for watching and hope you'll tune in again next time. until then, all the best and goodbye. úññ

>> skid row is a neighborhood of 50 blocks, which does not appear on any map of los angeles. [woman vocalizing]