04/02/2013 BBC World News

$:/STARTFEED. This is BBC World News. Our top stories - a worldwide

investigation into football match- fixing, finds evidence that

hundreds of games, including World Cup qualifiers were rigged. This is

match-fixing activity on a scale that we have not seen before,

involving hundreds of criminals and corrupted officials and players.

Pointers to securing regional stability. Britain's Prime Minister

is hosting talks with the Presidents of Afghanistan and

Pakistan. No bones about it - researchers in Britain say that DNA

from a skeleton found under a car park is that of King Richard III.

And tens of thousands are on the streets of Phnom Penh for the

European police say they've uncovered evidence of football

match-fixing on an unprecedented scale, both within Europe and

beyond. They have pin-pointed hundreds of suspicious matches and

say more than 400 corrupt players and officials may have been

involved. After looking into games that include European Cup and World

Cup qualifiers, the police agency says that match-fixing originates

in organised crime syndicates in Asia. The head of Europe poll says

he believes criminals have made millions of euros. We have

uncovered an extensive criminal med work -- network. A total of 425

match officials, club officials, players and serious criminals from

more than 15 countries are suspected of being involved in

attempts to mix more than 380 professional football matches. The

activists form part of a sophisticated, ogged crime

operation -- organised crime operation, which generated over

eight million euros and involved the payment of at least two million

euros in corrupt payments to those involved in the matches. I've been

speaking to our sport roarer and he told me the scale of the corruption

is shocking. This investigation has involved five EU countries and it

would be fair to say that the German force has led the way. It's

about 380 possible games that were rigged since 2009 in Europe. 300

games outside of Europe, maybe also fixed. 425 suspects, officials,

referees and gangsters and players arrested. It's a huge investigation.

Large sums of money and very, very real criminality involved. Any idea

of what will happen now in terms of individuals being pursued? Some

people have already been charged. Some people have been charged and

some people have been improved. The investigation started if 2005, and

we have had some of the ringleaders imprisoned. One of the games that

we talked about, or what Rob Wainwright talked about was the

Champions League came that took place in England in the last three

or four years. They can't identify the game because this is all on-

going. The details are emerging and the press conference continues.

It's very hard to nail down what actually happens next, but Europol

is on it aand Interpol and the police forces in five EU states are

all over it now. As western forces prepare to withdraw combat troops

from Afghanistan, President Karzai has questioned whether they were

fighting in the wrong place. He is in the UK for kaubgz with his

Pakistani counterpart and the -- talks with the Pakistani -- with

his Pakistani counterpart. He says the presence of foreign troops in

the country has been fuelling the violence. With me now is a reporter

from BBC Urdu and a reporter from BBC Pashtu. Anything knew that he

is saying? He has repeated, but he has been saying that the western

forces should be focusing on the militants and that is what the

Government has been saying. They are saying they've moved to

Pakistan in the tribal areas and he is also saying that some of the

raids killed or captured civilians and then a lot of people are taking

up arms and started fighting the Government and the international

allies, so this is what he has been criticising that the force should

focus on this and unshouldn't be arresting or killing civilians.

These are very familiar themes. Obviously the allegation against

the Pakistani Government's have been down the years and that

including they've been supporting the Taliban. Over who influences

the leaderboard there. Actually, they have been blaming Pakistan for

supporting some Taliban groups, especially networks based in the

northern tribal areas of Pakistan. I think the most important thing

about these talks is that not only the President of Pakistan is here

to negotiate terms, but the Pakistani army chief and the

intelligence chief, the chief of ISIN is also there. What

specifically are you expecting could come out of this? Well, there

have been talks in the past and nothing concrete came out of those

talks. What comes out of these talks, the thing is since Pakistan

basically tried to convince the international forces that Pakistan

is part of the solution, not part of the problem. No-one in the

region sees it like that and that's here and in the United States.

international community is realising that Pakistan is part of

the solution, because these intelligence chiefs are there in

these talks. From -- is that a line that will be plausible to people in

Afghanistan now as they look ahead to 2014 and the NATO troops coming

out. What are the fears of ordinary people living in Kabul and beyond?

Well, the fears of the people in Afghanistan are the following -

that there might be a repeat of the 1990s when neighbouring countries

of Afghanistan were supporting their own favourite groups, who are

fighting against each other. It was a proxy war of regional players.

The fears have been building up for so many years. We see the talks.

What do you think Mr Karzai wants from this? He wants two things. He

wants Pakistan to play a positive and constructive role. He says that

the Taliban leaderboard is based in Pakistan and he says that Pakistan

can influence the Taliban to take part in the peace process and

secondly, he also wants the international community to press

rise or convince the regional players not to -- pressureise or

convince the regional players not to get involved. The main focus is

on the peace process. Afghanistan has a peace roadmap for 2015, so

they want the Taliban to join the government and cease fighting and

they'll talk about the withdrawal of foreign forces, which will

happen by the end of 2014. They want the vacuum not to be filled by

non-state forces so it's in the interest of Pakistan and

Afghanistan that they co-operate and they come up with a plan and

strategy to make sure that the vacuum is not filled by militant

groups, which would destabilise both countries. Gentlemen, thank

you. In other news, French war planes

have carried out air strikes in Mali's north. 30 French jets

targeted training centres and fuel depots near the border. A former UK

Government minister has pleaded guilty to perverting the course of

justice over claims that his ex- wife took blame for a speeding

offence a decade ago. Chris Huhne had originally pleaded not guilty,

but changed his plea hours before his trial was due to start. His

former wife, Vicky Price, has previously pleaded not guilty to

the same offence. The President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou has

confirmed that French special forces are protecting the country's

Uranium mines. This decision was taken after the recent hostage

crisis. The former Cuban leader, Fidel

Castro made a surprise public appearance to cast his vote in the

general election. He hasn't been seen in public since last October,

fuelling speculation about his health. He stood down as President

six years ago. In the past hour, scientists have confirmed that a

skeleton found in a car park in Leicester is almost certainly that

of the notorious king, Richard III. If you know your Shakespeare, he's

the hunchback king who had hifz nephews imprisoned and subsequently

murdered in -- his nephews imprisoned and subsequently

murdered in the Tower of London. Here is the moment. Beyond

reasonable doubt the individual exhumed in September 2012 is indeed

Richard III. We have just lost that clip. We will go live to Leicester

and join Louise Hubble. You were in that dramatic press conference.

What exact proof do they have? There was a real sense of drama

here and spontaneous applause broke out in the hall which it was

announced that the remains beyond reasonable doubt do belong to

Richard III. As you say, it was a complex process to reach this stage.

Basically, it is a DNA match between DNA recovered from the

remains of Richard III and DNA from two living decepdants through the

maternal line. -- descendants through the maternal line. One is

Michael inson and the other one wishes to remain anonymous, but has

provided that precise comparison and that is why the scientists and

the archeologists are so sure that though remains do belong to Richard.

So many fascinating details. So many details, in fact, that a

literary expert is saying that literature will indeed have to be

rewritten or reanalysed certainly, because of the findings. One of the

findings from the skeleton expert was that Richard was very slender

and feminine. And there are plenty of literary references to the fact

he was described as weak and the experts here were saying that may

be in fact because of his slightly feminine appearance, rather than

his manner of his kingship. We heard far more details about the

skeleton, the wounds that it sustained. He was killed after the

battle of Bosworth in 1485. We heard the exol tonne had ten wounds.

A large wound from bladed weapons, -- skeleton had ten wounds, a large

wound from bladed weapons and one on the cheek. There was a real

sense of excitement, not just at the announcement, but what it will

mean for literature and literary reassessments and also the fact

that here in Leicester it was announced that the bones will be

put in the cathedral. Someone asked for a state funeral, because there

is obviously much controversy around his life. He was massively

vilified and referred to across so much literature and art? Absolutely.

He does have a notorious reputation, I think it's fair to say. The

Richard III Society, his appreciation society, they sparked

off this whole search for his remains and they are hoping that

the findings here will lead to a re-evaluation and the fact we know

he had a crooked spine, which was described in literature, but there

was no evidence at all for the fact he had a withered arm, which

features in literature. I've been down to the cathedral down the road

and certainly on Friday they were - - they have a memorial stone and

that was being buffed and polished and I think there is a real sense

of excitement there that Richard's remains will be re-Intered there

and there is a feeling that for many years Richard has been

presented as a villain and now we have far more information about him

and hopefully people would like to see something of a rehabilitation

of his character. Thank you very $:/STARTFEED. Plenty more coming up

including: A semblance of normal life in the conflict zone, we

report from Homs, a city in the centre of the very worst of

violence. And on World Cancer Day we hear how

a diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. The stories of three

people who are now living with cancer.

To Cambodia where hundreds of thousands of mourners have been

paying their last respects to King Norodom Sihanouk. He died last

October. After lying in state for three months his body will be

cremated later today. Many see him as a hero and credit him with

overseeing a rare period of stability in the country's history.

For three days, a stream of people filing past the gilded sarcophagus.

Much of the country has come to a halt as Cambodians of all ages paid

their final respects to King Norodom Sihanouk in the royal

palace that was at times his home and during the Khmer Rouge years, a

virtual prisoner. We love him because we felt he was so close to

the people, said this woman, and he did so many things for his country.

The schoolgirls say their generation revere him just as much

as older generations because they have all read about the things he

did before they were born. He was crowned King more than 70 years ago.

He was prime ministers six times, exiled twice and ousted by ecu.

Today they were selling photographs from all the extraordinary faces of

his life. King Norodom Sihanouk lived such a long and tumultuous

life and one full of contradictions. It is very hard to sum up just how

good or bad he was for Cambodia. Nobody is doing that. They are

marking the loss of a giant personality who shaped much of

their country's independent history. And given how bad that history has

been in recent decades, many of them associate him with the former

golden age of the 19 50s and Sixties. This is a very big moment

for a Cambodia. I think Cambodians living in the country remember only

the good things from him. Saying that until 1970 we were happy and

we did not have war. Then he left in 1970 and we started having

problems. It is a sentimental recollection of a flawed but bury

romantic figure of a monarch. They know they will not see his like are

again running the country. -- very romantic. This is BBC World

News. The headlines: A worldwide investigation into football match-

fixing has found evidence hundreds of games, including World Cup

qualifiers, where rig. The British Prime Minister is host

informal talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to try to

secure peace across their joint border.

The city of Homs has seen some of the most ferocious fighting in

Syria. Estimates suggest 20,000 people have died within its streets

over the past two years. That is one-third of the total number of

deaths in the whole of Syria. What is daily life like for those who

remain in the City? A fight to win the game. In this

part of Homs children get a chance to forget the war. Everyone is

trying to make the breast of breaks between the fighting. This

playground is part of a newly built market set-up by the local

community. Backed by the Government, dozens of shops were hastily put up.

This man is in charge. He told me there was an urgent need.

TRANSLATION: We have a huge influx of displaced people who could not

get to work. They started selling goods on the pavement, so the

neighbourhood suggested building shops on a new piece of land.

needed because so much of the city has been destroyed. People are

eager to tell their stories, but do not want to appear on camera,

fearing arrest by security forces if they speak their mind. This man

tells me he used to have a well- paid job, but now he is selling

fruit to try and make a living. He says he was forced out of his home

for more than a year now and is living with 20 other members of his

family in one single flat. Everyone is grateful to get back to normal,

but behind the scenes, there is a lot of anger. This young man who

also lost his well-paid job is selling cosmetics. He tells me

everyone is tired and there will be no end to the suffering a less

serious for give each other and make a new start. This project

gives a window of hope for those who lost their means of living, but

given the scale of the crisis it is not enough. What people make here

hardly feeds them, but for most who were hit by the violence there is

no such opportunity. You cannot forget the war altogether. Before

we left the market a jet fighter screamed overhead. Look at the

destruction here. It will take more than a small market to make up for

this. The residents are not back yet in this area. It is deserted

and destroyed and this is one of the many areas of Homs that are

just as ruined. Belgium's most notorious convicted

paedophile and murderer, Marc Dutroux, goes before a court today

to put forward his case for early release. He was jailed for life in

2004 for abducting, imprisoning and raping sheet -6 teenage girls in

the 1980s. Marc Dutroux, a man whose crimes

horrified a nation. Few in Belgium believe he should ever be freed so

appalling were the acts which he was responsible for. Emotion is

still raw in Marcinell, south of Brussels. The house where he lived

has been dogged. The should not be released if he has not committed

the full sentence. Four other cases, why not? But not in this case.

There is a 90% chance of him reoffending. This person is not

well in his head and we should not pay the price. But Marc Dutroux's

lawyer says his bid for freedom is justified if only to highlight the

solitary confinement he is kept in. TRANSLATION: He knows he does not

have much to lose and this can draw attention to his condition, to his

fate, because there is a lot to say on his detention conditions which

are not worthy of a civilised state in the 21st century. Last year,

Marc Dutroux's ex-wife, Michelle Martin, was released from jail 16

years into her 30 years centres. The decision was met with fury,

protesters demonstrating outside the convent that had given her

refuge. She had been jailed for complicity in the deaths of two

girls. The girls were Cup -- are held captive in the basement built

by her husband and they had starved after she failed to feed them. For

many the prospect of this man ever tasting freedom is unthinkable.

Where he goes from here is once again in the hands of Belgian

justice. Every year nearly 30 million new

cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide. Nearly two out of three

of these are in developing countries. As treatments improve

more people are surviving than ever before and on World Cancer Day we

have been hearing the stories of three cancer survivors.

TRANSLATION: I am 39 years old and I was diagnosed with breast cancer

when I was 32. TRANSLATION: I am 29. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's

lymphoma in 1988 when I was five years. TRANSLATION: I am 56 years

old and I had breast cancer. offer emotional and practical

support to these people who are receiving treatment. Whenever they

have cancer patients and they call me. TRANSLATION: When you first get

the news that you believe it is a lie, that something is wrong. You

want them to double check and that is what I did. I asked them to

double check because I could not believe it. TRANSLATION: I knew

about the disease, I am medically trained, but none of that matters

when you are diagnosed. I was like every other patient, a scared pace

and, afraid to visit the doctor. People on the whole have the

information they need, there is more information and screening

centres. But outside the capital there are villages with no

information. We have very little knowledge about cancer, so even the

patients themselves do not completely understand the disease

that they have. They have very little knowledge about it.

TRANSLATION: When I was in hospital other patients who came to the

capital were on their own and I decided I wanted to help these

people. I started my awareness campaign when I was still receiving

treatment and I continued working on it for about a year. Now in this

group we just want to spend time together, not only to top about the

cancer, sometimes we want to share other family problems or good news.

Cancer survivors. From Colombia, Uganda and torture.

At least eight people have been killed in a bus crash in southern

California. The bus was driving along a rural mountain road when it

collided with a pick up truck. More than 25 people were injured. It

took police one hour to free them from the wreckage. Our top story

today: Within the last our European police say they have uncovered

evidence of football match-fixing on an unprecedented scale. Both

within Europe and beyond. They have pinpointed hundreds of suspicious

matches and say more than 400 corrupt players and officials may

have have been involved after looking into games that included

European Cup and World Cup qualifiers. Match-fixing originates

in organised crime syndicates in Asia. It covers the match officials,

club officials, criminals and players involved from 16 different

countries and the scale of corruption is larger than anything

they have ever seen before. Also, the confirmation from

Leicester in the Midlands that the skeleton they had buried underneath