they want to be like thailand in many ways, but are also fearful of the influence of thailand.d you can see this, for example, in something like the spread of hiv/aids, which is a very serious problem in thailand, and one that the lao government is, you know, anxious to deal with before it becomes a serious problem in laos. narrator: for some laotians, the pull of the global economy is irresistible. inthavong: i think it's a question of trying to make the best of that change-- to take the good things and leave the bad aside. and it'll be interesting to see whether the social development can keep pace. fox: laos is a country that has many possible futures. it is a country that still has pristine forests and free-flowing rivers. laos is a country that may be able to structure its development in a way that is truly sustainable-- development that actually leads to an increased standard of living, but not at the expense of the environment, or of a very special and distinct culture. inthavong: narrator: although its history and geography have long isolated laos from its neighbors and

for thailand it can be more expense for this production. >> reporter: thailand will develop biplastics industry. it already has many companies that make ordinary plastics. farmers in thailand grow large amounts of sugar cane. thai government officials have looked at these factors and developed a road map for industry. >> every year we have 28 million allow them. it can be used as bio plastic. thailand has great potential to be the center bioplastic company in this region. >> reporter: the strategy has attracted interest of major companies. one of them is nature works. a leading u.s. manufacturer. executives are studying plants to build their factory in thailand. >> we sell more in asia than we do in europe. when we were thinking of building another plant and we decided to build this plant not in united states, for us asia was a very likely place. two years, three years from now thailand will be one of the global hubs. >> reporter: products made from bioplastics are making their ways into the hands of environment talanironment tallal environment tala conscious customers. officials with

thailand is one of the biggest markets for ivory. this district is at its center.s here carve the material into various items which sell for high prices. shop owners insist that they don't use illegal ivory. >> translator: we don't do anything wrong. we don't kill any elephants in any country. but we have no chance to defend ourselves in the international arena. we are trying to cooperate, but i can't say if others comply as well. >> reporter: scientists want a conventional and international treaty on international species and flora and fauna. bans the cross-border trade of ivory. but it doesn't apply to trade within countries. since the thai domestic market is largely unregulated, it is the perfect place to render illegal ivory smuggled in from africa. wildlife groups demand that the thai government impose an outright ban on all ivory trade. >> there are measures in place to try to control the trade in ivory, but it's clearly not working. and really the only way to prevent the extinction of the elephant is to close the market. and unfortunately, the spotlight is o

. >>> separatist violence in southern thailand shows few signs of abating. two separate attacks have hit the region. patchari raksawong in bangkok has the details. >> two consecutive bombings left six people injured. the attacks came one day after a break through agreement between the thai government and muslim insurgents to hold peace talks as early as this month. the first bomb went off friday morning outside a busy market in one of the three muslim dominated provinces in southernmost thailand. investigators found explosives on a motorcycle parked in the area. at noon, a separate blast occurred in front of the peace police headquarters. the site is about two kilometers from the location of the first bombing. local police told nhk that the bomb was hidden in a car. no one was hurt in this second attack. following the bombings, thai prime minister said that the agreement to start peace talks does not mean the violence will stop immediately, but all parties concerned see the deal as a sign of hope. malaysia brokered it. and wants to remain involved in the pea

. >>> as thailand's economy continues it's impressive growth, so too does it's citizens spending pour. eager to capitalize on that newfound high disposable income, more overseas companies are looking to the country for expansion. nhk world looks at the new demand, and how it plays out in the world of thai tv shopping. >> reporter: the south korean tv shopping companies launched a channel in thailand last fall. >> translator: this product spares you the trouble of doing deep cleaning. >> translator: today we'll show you an incredible south korean vacuum cleaner. >> reporter: the expansion to seven countries, including china, india and vietnam. tackling emerging economies. sales are building every year. over 200 inquiries flow in every day. that's more than dowel the number from six months ago when the channel started. i'm currently at the korean tv home shopping warehouse. as you can see, there are many products such as the machine, frying pan, supplements, and the most popular right now, exercise equipment. south korean products account for 70% of the items. its strategy is to do the

they fly the family to thailand. to say what do you think? >> thailand?and?inst thailand? >> eric: for greg and andrea that watches it religiously. do you they they love him or don't want to be dumped on national television? >> dana: it's a crush. and i could be on the cover of "people" magazine. the women you mention thinking, yeah, give it 12 years, sister. >> andrea: they don't want to lose to other women. it's not about getting dumped. they don't want to be the one to go home first. >> dana: plus, he said he was in love with both of them and had to make a choice. >> greg: how is that possible? how about a dating reality show called "bobbing for bob. s" are you up for that? >> bob: it depends who is in it and if it's in thailand. >> andrea: who are the bobbys? gregg is a pun. >> bob: listen what eric had to go through. and his wife is a nice lady. >> andrea: i actually think we should put you on the millionaire match maker with patty. >> greg: there you go. >> andrea: right? why don't we put you on? >> bob: if you waste a second of the precious time that t

>> flyer in hand, he books the short flight to a remote part of thailand.y he arrives on site but with mixed emotion. >> i was certainly nervous. excited, but there was a fear there. >> he is prepped for the leap of a lifetime. >> as soon as you pay, you are weighed immediately and they choose the correct bungee cord for your weight. then a gentleman puts the harness around your legs and you step onto a kind of platform. and this platform, like, raises electronically. the harness looked fine, and it was the first time i've done a jump. they basically said, don't worry. it will -- we attach everything. your job is to jump. >> as the elevator rises, he scratches his head, second-guessing his decision but still committed to the jump. >> i was full of adrenaline. it was a huge rush, so excited but also scared. my head was saying, what are you doing? why on earth would you want to do this? >> overcome with fear, a would-be jumper bows out. he is up next. wrestling with uncertainty, he steps toward the edge. >> just jump. >> just jump? >> with a quick prayer, 165

they were found at a plantation in southern thailand. human smugglers confined them for six weeks. >> they hit us with wood, punched and kicked us. we were divided into small groups by the smugglers. we were afraid of what would happen to us. >> reporter: most hope to find production among its muslim majority. there's another threat. human smugglers catch them who want to go to malaysia and hide them in southern thailand. >> translator: after we were caught at sea smugglers carried us away in sacks and put us on a truck. they threatened us. they tried to force us to pay 2,000 so because we have no money they beat us. >> reporter: we travel to an island that's become a main smuggling group to malaysia. one night in january some 50 people were abandoned here. this is a cabin where they took shelter after survivoring a sea journey. they were hiding with no idea to go or what the future would hold. they were confined without food or water. smugglers took what money they had and abandoned them. on the island we met a man who works inside a sm

they promised to end a loophole that allows people to sell illegal tusks in thailand.n africa with 35,000 killed each year. thailand's prime minister promised to put pressure on china also. >>> coming up, how queen elizabeth is doing after being admitted to the hospital. plus, a look at the diet that let's people eat anything think want five days a week and they say the diet changed his life. and meteorologist leigh glaser is up next with the accu-weather forecast. >> giants on the winning and >> giants on the winning and share cactus league highlights. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot, even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely... looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. >> ama: queen elizabeth ii i

while we were filming, a load of ivory was intercepted in southern thailand. the man driving was a police officer. some say the trade will never be stopped -- stopped unless the kingpins are caught. >> you might get the little man -- men arrested, but the guys who invest in the operation to acquire large amounts of ivory have never been intercepted. >> i read it inside a toy hippo. the government promised to fight -- ivory hidden inside a toy hippo. >> now to a cave crusader who has the northern english city of bradford asking who is behind the batman mask. the super hero has left thousands city and pop -- popped up on the other side of the atlantic. he handed over a wanted man to the police after making a citizen's arrest. >> bam, kapow, zap. it sounds like the most exciting thing to happen at this police station in bradford. when that man brought in a suspect, the reality was a bit more sedate. -- batman brought in a suspect, the reality was a bit more sedate. the caped crusader chatted with the man he brought in. the identity of the man in the batman costum

. >>> transport officials in thailand are planning to build a high speed rail network across their country. japanese rail operators are hoping to win the contract. they're showing off their technologies in the thai capital to drum up support. officials from the railway company are showing pictures and models of the shinkansen train. the prime minister became a fan of it when she rode it last year. >> i hope we can raise thailand's railways to international standards by learning about japanese system. >> thai officials plan to build high speed rail links between the capital and other cities. they plan to start accepting bids as soon as september from firms that want the contract. the japanese are competing with companies in china, germany and south korea. >>> thousands of people waiting to go home. tons of debris waiting for disposal. vast tracts of land waiting to be restored. overcoming the challenges of japan's 2011 disaster won't be easy, but step by step, people are moving forward. find out how on "the road ahead," every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time, right here on "newsline." >>>

. >> he probably thought he is going to thailand. that is happening to a lot of people. >> amazing wardrobe name, thailand. that's a million dollar idea. partner with me, rodman. >> in a point related to kevin, what do you do when your cool factor runs out? he is no longer an athlete. >> i thought you were saying i was president cool anymore. >> no. retirement from sports. >> allen iverson is one baby mama away from being dennis rodman. >> earrings, nose ring, tattoo it work when's you are 25. but when you are 55 it is pathetic. >> you know what, that was the dirty little secret about rodman. go back when he played with the pistons and he was a snivling home body who was a dork. he married a girl with dyed hair and the rings on her face and the most uncool thing you could possibly -- >> don't talk about carmen electric trough that way. >> she reaped the std reward of the first union. the uncool thing you can do is follow your wife and do what your wife is doing. he stole her identity and that's the result of it today. >> i don't know

for "nightline," in the golden triangle in thailand. >> good gig.nks. >>> time for tonight's closing arguments. pope francis has finished his first full day of leader of over a billion catholics. so many challenges facing the church these days from declining numbers in the pews to sex abuse after decades. guiding the faithful will be anything but easy. where should francis focus his attention in these early days? you can weigh in on the "nightline" facebook page or tweet us at "nightline" or at bill weir at abc. thank you for watching abc news. we'll see you back here tomorrow night.

the role of the army in the security of southern thailand in the future. at the moment, there will be no negotiations taking place between the thai government and representatives of those separatist groups who are in malaysia. at the moment, they are just east talks. also some concern about security over the coming days and weeks -- peace talks. also some concern about security over the coming days and weeks. some groups don't believe in the process at the moment. >> yemen is the worst place in the world to be a woman according to the world economic forum. other recent, popular uprising has allowed some who were -- but a recent, popular uprising has allowed some women who were repressed to speak out. >> she is a you many -- yemeni who was sold as a child bride. she became a symbol of a crushed childhood. now she shares her dreams for a future with the lady who has become the pride of you many -- of yemeni women. she is the first one to win a nobel peace prize. >> i want her to stand by my side and put an end to child bride practice in yemen. >> a source of

inaudible] and so the indian epiics actually the indian epiics for very common in cambodia and bali and thailand and there is a different aesthetic. all southeast asia and asia there are a lot of similarities. >> he is a male entity. he is not -- are you referring to the story? >> it's interesting you should say that. a unique indian concept is one of half male, half female. and that is -- unlike some dances the solo dancer portrays all of the parts in the story. you can portray a feminine aspect and then masculine aspect with the bow and arrow. the male has to portray feminine and the female has to portray masculine. there is a very fierce dance and a soft sort of dance and every dancer has to learn all those aspects. it's very, you know, my teacher i call him a guru in this art form you have to study very, very hard. you have to learn about all the cultural aspects. he says it's liberating because he enjoys and has to learn to bring up the feminine aspect. he's a strong character it's a challenge for him and he likes it. the stories are metaphor cal. i don't look at this that this is a man or

let us remember, thailand is not a being systemic country.ted through the entire global financial system. >> is this comparable to the crises that spread in your view? >> well, in my view what is going to happen is a kind of con today january that is what different. it's definitely different from the russian buyers or from the tai situation. it's going to be predominantly households, firms and everyone in europe looninging at their banks and thinking twice about keeping money there. my expectation is we will see more capital controls. we won't call them capital controls. we will call them different things. but in effect, a suspension of what tobin has called sand in the wheels to slow down a hemorrhaging is what's ahead of us. >> it's going to be a busy weekend for that. that's for sure. >>> seven years ago the founder of twitter sent his first tweet. the rest is history. we'll look at how twitter has changed the world. first, what do grain prices and ronald reagan has that. >> we're going back further than that. these are oats that can somet

the dai ethnic's homeland was around -- and they expanded south into today's it thailand and south. the customs have much in common with those countries. shouts rise from groups of dai people. it means water. dai people yell out the word for water not only at festivals but whenever they want to express feelings of joy. this is the traditional way of splashing water. the festival grew from a ritual of using the bow of a tree to sprinkle well water drawn in the new year. the idea is to wash away misfortune for the coming year. the second day. festival, the temple. according to the dai calendar, the first day of the water splashing festival is new years eve. the second day is an empty day and the third and final day welcomes the new year. on the empty day, all old things are said to decay. in order to purge any defilement from the previous year various buddhist rituals are performed. white threads are tied to the fingers of the buddha statue. these threads are stretched from the monk's heads and dangled above worshippers. the blessings pass from the finger through the threads. meanwhil

prime minister xinhua of thailand just stated she has supportive of banning the ivory trade in thailandidn't give a timeline for that. so that's a positive development, but we need to keep pressure on the international community to actually do something about this because remember, this is really important. this isn't just you know, back in the day, people would assume these were poachers that would go after individuals trying to feed their families. a lot of it is organized crime, so it's cheap money to make with attack helicopters to get this ivory and sell it and a lot of these institutions that use that money to support human trafficking drugs et cetera. it's of course an issue for all of us to e see these majestic creatures disappear and it's important for us to remember that we need to continue to put pressure on our elected leaders and make better choices as consume consumers. >> philippe kus tow, thank you for informing us. thank you. >>> sometimes, the best wheeling and dealing happens of course over maybe a beer. a glass of wine. yes, even at the uniteded nations. but a u.s. d

central thailand will see highs reaching over 40 degrees. in north america it's mostly quiet. but rainshowers will develop across arkansas and missouri. this is the place where warm air from the south is colliding with the cold air mass blanketing the northeastern part of the u.s. and eastern canada. so temperatures have been on the lower side across the east. only 12 degrees in new york city. actually new york has been experiencing the coldest march since 2001. the lower than average temperatures across the east will prolong into easter weekend. but across the west looking mild. 23 in la and 16 degrees in seattle. u.k. a spring officially started last week, but winter conditions prevail in many parts of germany, skiers in the mountains in central germany were not complaining. they're making full use of the snowy conditions. the brisk weather didn't seem to phase people on the beach. some locals were even surfing the rough waves. some people didn't mind the cold. now in terms of the precipitation, severe weather is likely to persist across the south. we are seeing a low system

here in thailand, income generated from it is second only to narcotics. >> for many police forces theyave also -- the problem has been telling between animals that are illegal and those who are not. the un is helping with seminars like these. also making international rules simpler. admitting they are at the moment losing the fight, un officials say they hope strengthening law enforcement in countries that have become key transit hubs, those responsible for trafficking wildlife will no longer be able to operate as freely as they do now. al jazeera, thailand. >> on the way -- arsenal's manager says there is plenty to think about after his team's latest premier league loss. that story in a moment. ♪ >> welcome back. here is a wrapup of the day's sport. >> thank you very much. arsenal's price may have dropped a few dollars after they lost a crucial premier match. the buildup dominated by reports that middle east -- a middle east consortium was planning to make a bid for the london club. arsenal has since dismissed claims, but they are now five points from the qualifications for next that

central thailand will see highs reaching over 40 degrees. around north america it's mostly quiet but rain showers will develop. this is the place where warm air from the south is collidesing with the cold air mass blanketing the north eastern part of the u.s. and canada. temperatures have been on the lower side across the east. only 12 degrees in new york city. new york has been experiencing the coldest march since 2001. the lower than average temperatures akros the west will prolong into easter weekend.ckr will prolong into easter weekend.rkros the west will prolong into easter weekend.okros the west will prolong into easter weekend.skros the west will prolong into easter weekend.skros the west will prolong into easter weekend. the west will prolong into easter weekend. the extreme cold still gripped the northern area. many people have been badly affected. seems some people are welcoming the extended winter. let's go to some footage. spring started last week but winter conditions prevail in many parts of germany. skis ers were not complaini

this illustrates just how few thailand is to try to decontaminate huge tracts of land. >> this is fukushima's district, 1 kilometer from the center. they're busy with the cleanup and the cat -- it decontamination. radiation levels are higher here, but what was radioactive was never evacuated. a local teacher, who does not want to tell us is named, it shows us around. everywhere you go, you see blue sheet covering up piles of waste. >> the irradiated soil was supposed to be buried, but it is not always possible because of power lines and water. >> they live with radioactive waste literally on their doorstep. greenpeace says it is impossible to decontaminate entire cities. near the main train station, they detect radiation hot spot giving a reading of almost 40. spending one day you're would expose it to the maximum safe level of radiation for a whole year. >> this is a nuclear waste. there are no two ways about it. it should only be handled by experts. >> nearby, an information office about decontamination and we asked them about a hot spot. >> i do not believe you can measure such high levels

thailand, myanmar, scattered thundershowers. bang kroft at 5 degrees see the. . it's been slamming the area with snow to. mainly dry across the eastern half of the u.s. you may see a little scattered somehow couple of storms will be moving across height high border and that could bring heavy snows to the dakotas, mississippi and iowa. toward the south of that system, warm temperatures are dominating the area, bringing some fire weather conditions. it's quite windy out there in houston. we're above your average at 26 degrees we've again. but chilly for your air. you may even see some snow showers to your tuesday. mainly drew across the skies. we'll be denied weather on tuesday when a system moves in. madrid, due to this ongoing rainfall that's not going to be going any pr. we'll be moving into the mediterranean p regions. heavy snow is impacting the region. . warm air is predominant. . i'll leave you now with our extended forecast. >>> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more updates a

members of the biggest drug smuggling gang on the river which runs through several countries including thailand, vietnam, and laos. they were convicted in 2011 and there were killed by lethal injection in the southwest. two u.s. navy sailors have been jailed for raping a woman on the japanese island of okinawa. the men pleaded guilty to robbing and raping the women in a car parked in october. one sale and was sentenced to 10 years and the other nine years. was sentenced to 10 years. an army private has pleaded guilty to 10 charges that could send him to prison for 10 years. bradley manning deliberately passed on government information to wikileaks. but he denies and other charges including one of knowingly aiding the enemy. now this report. >> the uss bradley manning committed the biggest league ever of classified information and charged him with 22 felonies. united states says. serioustall most charges, including aiding the enemy, the onetime intelligence analyst said he was not guilty. however he did plead guilty to 10 less serious charges including giving classified information to an unautho

some had accused thailand of fueling the slaughter of elephants because it's domestic ivory trade --its domestic ivory trade was largely unregulated. the illegal trade of rhinoceros horns was another subject at the conference. some in china appear to have found a way around the ban. we have this report from hong kong. >> the gates are closed. the signs are clear, warning people to stay away as there are dangerous animals inside, but there may be other reasons that visitors are not welcome here. this is just one of several controversial farms across china that has a permit to breed rhinoceros extensive -- ostensibly for research purposes. >> they are live rhinos coming into china to be bred in captivity, so that the corn 0-- horn can be shaved from them and potentially put into the commercial trade. illegal.e that is china is one of the signatories to an international treaty to protect wildlife against exploitation that could serve -- that could threaten their survival. but traditional chinese medicine believes rhino horns are a cure-all for everything for headaches -- for everything

. >> this is a video that was captured in thailand. these people are waiting for a delicious treat.ut you're not going to imagine what this woman is creating on this. she put down a ba man na, she ma smashed it and koifrtd all with chocolate. then she starts maneuvering it, passing it around, breaking in the strawberries. >> it's beginning to so lil lid phi, it looks like. >> that's a cold, cold, freezing cold table. >> mixes and she works it altogether. she works it and is works it. then we see her start spreading this mixture on this table. it starts solidifying and freezing. eventually, the entire thing is frozen and look at what she does with it. she starts rolling it. getting these really cool frozen rolls of deliciousness. >> now they're like frozen ka knollies. >> basically. she puts them in a cup and hands them of to the guy that sounds like he's going to taste it. and it sounds like it's delicious. >> pretty good. >> chocolate, strawberries and bananas. you really can't go wrong. one question, what is it? how a camera in a strange place makes for a viral hit. >>> and back b

there was time between the thailand crisis and the korean crisis. there was time between the korean crisis and the russian default. we remember that as one keeper of financial instability, but there were long roles -- one period of financial instability, in there were long rolelulls between. you can get sucked into complacency by along period a relatively -- by a long period of relatively robust markets. any individual can save more and rebuild his or her balance sheet. but in a world where my spending is your income, if every individual tries to save more or every country tries to save more, the result is just lower incomes. in the end, you don't have more savings. that is the risk on the path that europe is following. >> larry summers, thank you very much. thek news at -- around world. syrian planes have bombed northern lebanon for the first time according to the u.s. state department here they have accused damascus of a significant escalation of the conflict -- state department. they have accused the mask is of a significant escalation of the con

we're seeing unseasonably heavy rain, focusing on thailand because a little low is moving through.ther small low pushing through japan. that is responsible for a few snowflakes, but generally things looking quite promising across eastern asia. 16 in shanghai. 14 in beijing, and just into double figure there. and tuesday highs in places that we are seeing high temperatures in the very low single digits. and looking pretty good 20 degree for the high temperature will last through the beginning of next week. looking at lows as well. seeing this for the high last week. a really big improvement. just a little bit of the last of the winter snowfall this evening. into the americas, again, a very much still winter across the northern plains. in fact, blizzard warnings posted for eastern montana and western north dakota. are you being advised to bring winter survival kit with you if you are traveling there. pretty treacherous stuff. 20 cent meters of snow. 30 in some places and buffeted by strong winds. storm is show moving. will push into illinois and iowa. not to forget the central canadi

the national revolution front is just one of many insurgent groups active in thailand's southern provinces. they have discussed if talks with the brm alone will do anything for security. >> translator: i believe the brm is the main group that can help reduce violence. so we're talking to the right peep. as brm chiefs can communicate with the arms forces on the ground. >>> the thai government and the brm plan to hold talks regularly. >>> government officials from japan, china, and south korea have wrapped up talks on try lateral free trade. the represents discussed investment rules, deregulating the service sector and other issues during talks. ten working groups are due to discuss coordination of customs clearance, rules on certificates of origin and other specific topics. china and south korea are not involved in the u.s.-led transpacific partnership, a separate free trade framework that japan intends to join. japanese officials hope that concluding an fta with its asian neighbors will further boost exports and investments. whether the negotiations will go smoothly remains uncertain. japa

joining us on the phone from thailand marc faber, managing director of marc faber limited.e's publisher the "gloom, boom and doom" report. marc, good evening, good morning wherever you are? >> good morning for me, thank you. >> thanks for joining us. >> and thank you very much for the very kind introduction. >> well, plenty of people, you're not alone, have been saying they expect the u.s. stock market to go lower. they expect gold to go higher. in your view why hasn't that trade worked out yet? >> well, first of all, since the year 2000 when some people in media organizations were touting stocks, gold has way outperformed stocks. in recent months it is true that stocks have performed better than gold, but it's a different risk profile. secondly, i'd like to just remind you and your viewers. today is march 777, 2013. march 6, 2009, exactly four years and one day ago the markets bottomed up. we're up very substantially. >> right. >> i think investors today are rushing to stocks to be reminded of that. >> okay. but, i mean, when you look at the drivers of this market, you hav

they were made to be sold only in thailand.over $100,000 selling these ill ported textbooks on ebay. he got sued and he took it autumn way to the supreme court. today supreme court said that first sale applies to things made overseas as well. what that means is that you can now, or you can still sell anything that you buy that has copy righted material in it on ebay. even if it is made overseas. that would include books that are published overseas, but perhaps computers that contain software. even some kind of watches that have trademarks in them. lots of products. your car that you buy, your foreign car, it has probably copy righted material in it. maybe software. if this case had gone the other way, then anybody who is reselling used items. libraries loaning it out. used book stores, churches raflg things off, garage sales, flea markets, ebay, potentially anybody who sold that stuff could have been sued. today by a vote of 6-3, the supreme court said no. once you buy it, it is yours to sell. >> so smiling a bit more today. th

. >> teams are searching what is left of a refugee camp in thailand after fire killed more than 42 people. the fire swept through the camp over night. about 100 thatched huts were destroyed in the blaze, thought to have been caused by a cooking accident. more than 3,000 refugees lived in the camp. they fled fighting in myanmar. and at least 20 people have been killed since violence broke out wednesday between budists and minority muslims. whole neighborhoods have been burned down as rival groups with knives and sticks rioted. over 2,000 people are living in temporary shelters because of the violence. now, for the first time, two ving leaders of the catholic choimp have met. pope francis is and pope benedict talked in a closed doors encounter outside rome. >> he greeted the -- pope francis as he got off the helicopter. the two men got in a car together and rode to the chap -- chapel where they held prayer together. it's never happened in the history of the catholic church and despite the fact that the vatican has said there will be no public appearances, many here are hoping they will see

. >>> in thailand, another little baby is making his debut. a baby koala just 7 months old has opened his eyes and emerged from his mother's pouch for the first time still clinging close to mama bear. this little tyke looks pretty shy and sleepy most of the time. but visitors flocked to the zoo to see the tenth koala cub born at the chiang mai zoo. he's a cutie, too. >>> and here's a riddle for you. what does "sesame street" have in common with justin bieber and lady gaga? 1 billion youtube views. in a new video celebrating the milestone, the sesame street channel uploaded their first video in 2006. they now have a whopping 1,374 clips and counting. children want to watch the same thing over and over again. >> and they love it. i'm probably responsible for a couple thousand of those. >> is that how you baby sit or called effective childcare? >> he uses the ipad. he can scroll and click on the "sesame street" videos. >> mine is 14 months and does the same. >>> time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on

. >> some of thailand's separatist groups are due sit down for peace talks in kuala lumpur. the two largest groups will not be prevent. since 2004, more than 5,000 people have been killed. banks in cyprus are preparing to reopen after 12 days on ockdown. we look at what savers will have to deal with in a few hours' time. by nother demonstration angry and confused cypriots, this time at the gates of the presidential palace. ordinary people, not radicals, still trying to come to terms with what is happening to their country. with anxiety over jobs and future generations. t is obvious who they blame. no one can take more than $3800 in cash out of cyprus in one visit. no checks can be cashed and a person's credit and debit card ransactions will be limited. the capital controls should mean there is no mass withdrawal of cash, but the truth is no one really knows how people are going to react. for ordinary cypriots, it is this ongoing sense of uncertainty that is the real nightmare. in a place built on russian tourism and the good day of banking, their high end fashion business is

now, this case involved a student from thailand who came to the u.s. to study.ing textbooks and noticed that the ones printed in english back in thailand were actually a lot cheaper. so head his family ship them over. then he thought maybe i could run a little business. his family was shipping thousands of books and he was selling it running a pretty thriving business selling these books that were much cheaper than the books made in the u.s. the publisher sued but today lost in the supreme court. so this means you can continue to sell those things on ebay even if they're made overseas and you won't get sued. >> nice to know. nbc's pete williams. thanks so much. >> you bet. >>> remember this? sarah palin with the big gulp. well, new york city mayor michael bloomberg is still on a health kick and here is what is next on his list of bans. just over a week after a judge struck down new york's attempt to outlaw those large, sugary drinks, bloomberg wants the nation's first of its kind law requiring retailers to hide their cigarette and tobacco products. >> these laws

. >> fore taste of married life this week all eyes on thailand and while they lived it they no doubt magical moment play out on tv. >> yes. l. >> sean offered catherine the final rose and dazzling cut diamond wasn't shy about flashing our camera in new yor york. and they are not waiting to tie the thot. >> we don't want it to be long. we are ready to get married but we have to make sure everything is ready. >> getting to the happy moment was a major journey for sallyann who is visibly torn about choosing catherine over very shocked lindsay. >> this is july, really painfu painful. and it's a nightmare. really didn't see this coming. >> hi strong feelings for licensed situation. i came to realize like i loved the person lindsay was and i was in love with cavity richbility i couldn't say goodbye to her. >> have you part of the family. >> another mainly factor in the decision-making process. catherine winning over the family 2 elements that will be a part of the wedding day. and while the date up in the air one thing for sivrnlt our wedding is on tv and excited about all of it. we are ho

. >> dropping out of these elephants in thailand. >> a canadian businessman is feeding them coffee beans shall we say reharvesting them after they move on through. after they are cleaned, dried and ground up, the beans are said to produce a coffee like no other, a taster talked to abc's muhammad lila. >> reporter: and you trieded the coffee. >> yes, it's rich and smooth. >> reporter: you're saying it's rich and smooth but right in the background. >> i understand. >> they call it black ivory coffee and don't worry, muhammad tried as well. it might be well but it will cost you believe it or not, 50 bucks per serving. >> that'll wake you up. >> you got to be kidding me. oh, man. >>> now something of a food follow-up, if you will. you may recall earlier this week we introduced you to a 4,000-calorie burger. there he is, a breadless double cheeseburger with six strips of bacon and tons of cheese. >> rather have that than the elephant mess. brace yourself. here comes the baco, yes, it is a taco but as you see the shell is entirely made of bacon, winner of a baseball food contest. you'll have t

. >> an attack by suspected militants has marred the start of peace talks between thailand and islamic insurgents. three thai soldiers were killed by a bomb just hours before a meeting between government representatives and rebels got under way in malaysia. they are hoping to end a decade- old conflict that has claimed 5000 lives. >> in britain, an inquest is opened into the death of a russian oligarch at his home in london. police said the 67-year-old tycoon was found dead on his bathroom floor with his neck down. there were apparently no signs of a struggle. he was living in self-imposed exile after falling out of favor with the kremlin. >> in germany, the latest unemployment figures are out for the country, and they showed the labour market stable despite the turbulence in the eurozone. still, the growth in jobs in recent years seems to have dissipated somewhat. >> rather than going on hiring sprees, german companies are focusing on holding onto the workers that they have. the more specialized the skills involved, the harder they have to work to keep that talent. >> employees of thi

at the conference, taking place in thailand, is also addressing endangered species.theast asia has one of the biggest markets of illegal game, pushing many to extinction. our reporter was on a task -- accompanied a task force in cambodia. >> like preparing for a military operation, they get everything in the shadows. this is the wild life rapid rescue team of cambodia and they are hunting animal traffickers. in the only team of its kind in southeast asia. killing wildlife is big business in the region. a team has to police 23 provinces. since the task force started 12 years ago, 50,000 endangered animals were saved and up to 75% of a legal business disrupted. >> it also sends a message to people who have tried it recently, but what we are about and if they continue to try it it is likely they will be charged and have to face a court. >> we rode along as research for offenders. today's target -- a string of restaurants along the major roadway connecting the capital to the north. the team is a combination of military police and forestry administration. the work with a