fields in eastern zimbabwe -- these are the mirangue diamond fields in eastern zimbabwe. as a result, the organization responsible for stopping the trade of the so-called blood diamonds and oil exports from zimbabwe last year. after some tough negotiation, they have allowed a limited resumption of sales with the possibility of normal trade later this year. in theory, the should be good news for zimbabwe and its unity government which desperately needs hard currency to rebuild the shattered economy. but the president and his allies stand accused of pocketing the vast diamond profits and there are concerns that that could continue. it is a notoriously difficult industry. for a zimbabwean, there is a lot going on. elections are likely next year. campaigns cost money. diamonds could have a destructive role to play. remember, you can catch up on the stories and anything else on their website. you're watching bbc news. the cap on the oil well in the gulf of mexico is holding firm. barack obama em has welcomed the news, but urges caution until there is a permanent solution. u.s.

india is a leading consumer and imports much from canada, zimbabwe, and russia. we have a report from the biggest producer in russia on the dangers in the dust. >> this old soviet propaganda film expels the wonders of the product that gave the city its name, asbestos. from around the world they are lining up to purchase an asbestos simulator. the supplies and less. today they say that russia rather than the ussr are holding the ground more than 10 kilometers long. this is still the biggest asbestos mine in the world and in full operation. half of a million tons are pulled out every year. europe may have banned asbestos, but in russia it is still easy to find. it is extremely dangerous, which is why i am not getting any closer than this. even the smallest particle could cause long-term illness or cancer. yet here it is, openly available for sale and all over russia, still vary widely used in the russian building industry. >> i have been handling it all my life, i am not scared. we are russian, not afraid. >> i have used it many times. look at me. i am fine. >> at

i can remember covering zimbabwe, a country that marched to the front page those days. it actually defied conventional wisdom about africa. that is one of the things i think we are in danger of losing as the media becomes undone, less bundled, people going to the place where they are more comfortable and forgetting about everything else out there. i believe that that is one of our crucial missions as journalists. there has to be a place where people can go to read things that challenge them. >> may be answered your question is that local news needs to focus on the quality of life of the local communities that they cover. you're absolutely right, if you cover the gestalt of the human condition in a community, you will deal with diversity and all of these issues. i am not talking about the public sector alone, that is an absurd dichotomy. if you start writing about the quality of life in a community, maybe people will start to see themselves change the pattern of how they read and interpret. >> you had said there was not a piece of content in this discussion, what about p

guest: i think robert mog by happened to zimbabwe. they had this disastrous land reform program and that led to enormous hyper inflation and very few countries that go through the currency of zimbabwe was running into the millions and billions per dollar. and when that happens, you know, people can't save. people can't invest. you know, people just have to sort of take these wheel bareos full of bills and try to live their lives. and that led to enormous ref gee flows into south africa. for instance, i think there's something like 250,000 zimbab we's liing in south africa today as a result of his policies. and this is something that i think he did to himself. this wasn't the u.s. and the british forcing him to do anything. he wasn't interested in doing. the sanctions are reactions to his policies, not the cause of them. host: to another part of the world, central america. you have a separate watch list that touches on guatemala and honduras. and you make the connection in that piece that policy towards mexico, especially in the drug a

guest: i think robert mog by happened to zimbabwe. they had this disastrous land reform program and that led to enormous hyper inflation and very few countries that go through the currency of zimbabwe was running into the millions and billions per dollar. and when that happens, you know, people can't save. people can't invest. you know, people just have to sort of take these wheel bareos full of bills and try to live their lives. and that led to enormous ref gee flows into south africa. for instance, i think there's something like 250,000 zimbab we's liing in south africa today as a result of his policies. and this is something that i think he did to himself. this wasn't the u.s. and the british forcing him to do anything. he wasn't interested in doing. the sanctions are reactions to his policies, not the cause of them. host: to another part of the world, central america. you have a separate watch list that touches on guatemala and honduras. and you make the connection in that piece that policy towards mexico, especially in the drug a

people have ellen he's guests discuss what should be done to correct the failed policy of washington zimbabwe against cuba. under eight for the full story we've gone to. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. keep . a low key and welcome to cross talk i'm peter all about well he's back fidel castro's appearance on cuban television after four years again puts into focus of on his complicated relationship with washington obama calls u.s. policy on cuba failed what needs to be done to make it a success. you can. discuss the future of u.s. cuban relations i'm joined by cathy areu in new york she's a publisher an author and a journalist in denver we have dr michael bell a tory he's a cuban refugee and a professor at the school of theology and in washington we go to franco's on he's the executive director of the center for a free cuba and another member of our cross talk team yell in the hunger all right folks across talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and first i'd like to go to you frank am obama says u.s. policy towards cuba has faile

i am originally from zimbabwe hoping to return sen. soon. i am fascinated with the digital device and how it poses a dilemma in development. when i look at history, there has been an image -- innovation and information has been engines for change and development throughout history, recorded history. and yet we have seen so many instances to this day we're in for -- innovation and information have perpetuated in justice, inequality, and illiteracy. my question is -- how is it that information and innovation can be used in empowering ways for everyone instead of explicative ways? -- explicated ways? -- exploitative ways? can we put more meaning behind the machines? >> i think your point is excellent. it makes me think back to the time that i spent in aritria. i lived in a small village there and i came back and went to graduate school. i went there with an idealism about technology. i got there and realize there were like three computers and the whole country. i had a conversation when i came back and my friend was saying that the internet wil

our third guest had to make a trip to zimbabwe, but through the magic of skype, will be hearing his voice you will be hearing his voice. there are biographies of front if you need to give them. -- up front if you need to get them. mark has done a lot of research and education, particularly in the western states. we have been focusing a lot on issues on the ground since 2006. we will hear from peter who has been doing a lot of work focusing on this with the world bank and others did we aren't -- and others we will start with mark. thank you, john. i will apologize run away for my laryngitis, but what can you do. what i am going to do is draw from this book that i wrote. the book is broken down into chapters. the first chapters are the beginning of the second civil war. then, it is divided into three chapters which are actually chapters that could be books of all to themselves. one is education in southern sudan, a second is an education for refugees in the region, in the third is education for internally displaced. these are very different kinds of stories and it is quite a big challenge t

funding for democracy programs in countries like belarus, cuba, egypt, iran, north korea, venezuela, zimbabwe. another consequence is that our embassies abroad, and this is painful to hear, are providing less diplomatic support on human rights and democracy. asked about the u.s. position on democracy in egypt, our ambassador to cairo praises the country's press freedom. the american embassy in cairo should be an island of freedom. the american embassy in every country should be an island of freedom. those yearning for greater freedoms in egypt are not alone in facing the era -- ire of their government. so too does the christian community face these hardships. uscir, the commission that recently released a report describing a deteriorating situation for this community. they found that, quote, the reporting period marked a significant upsurge of violence targeting coptic orthodox christians. the egyptian government has not taken sufficient steps to halter oppression of and discrimination against christians and other religious believers. where in many cases the punishers responsible for violence