18/06/2013 BBC World News

Hello, I'm Nick Gowing with BBC World news. Our top stories. Tens of

thousands take to the streets in Brazil in some of the biggest

protests for decades. NATO hands control of combat

operations to the Afghan Government. President Karzai confirms they will

open formal talks with the Taliban. It is indeed a milestone. I want

hesitate to call it an historic day, for the Afghans as well as for the

ISAF coalition. Standing together despite their differences. World

leaders at the G8 summit are believed to be closer to an

agreement over Syria. And it is parents's worst nightmare.

We meet the Thai family still searching for their missing

protests over a 10% increase in bus and train fares. It has turned into

the biggest street protest in Brazil for the past three decades. In the

capital, brass illia, protesters breached security at the National

Congress. They got on to the roof of the willed building. Parents

estimated 100,000 people were on the streets of Sao Paolo alone. Their

anger is being fed by the cost of several major sporting events,

including the football World Cup next year.

Hundreds of thousands on the streets. The biggest demonstrations

in Brazil for two decades. The mood of what started as a peaceful

gathering in Rio de Janeiro soon changed. Protesters threw rocks at

police and set fire to the state Assembly building. The trigger, an

increase in the price of bus fare in Sao Paolo. It is not just of this

thing about the bus and everything. We are here because we want to

change Brazil. We are tired of so much corruption. This is the first

time I really see the people stand for what they believe, even if the

police pull us back we've fought and we won. Protests grew in 11 cities,

in the capital Brasilia the Congress building was stormed. The day had

started peacefully. The imminent World Cup and Olympics a focus. Many

believing money could be redirected to health and education. Some

banners even warned foreigners not to come to the World Cup because of

the billions spent on stadiums. here because I want a better city to

leave, a better country to live. I think this country is not fair with

its people. As the eyes of the world turn to brass ill over the next few

years, Ministers have warned protesters they won't be allowed to

disrupt the current Confederations Cup or next year's World Cup.

On the day NATO forces have handed control of military operations over

to the Afghan Government, President Karzai has announced he plans formal

talks with the Taliban, as soon as possible he said. The formal

handover took place earlier at a ceremony outside Kabul. That is

nothing to do with what we are seeing in the video there. President

Karzai called it an historic moment. He said he would send

representatives to Qatar to open formal talks with the Taliban. Mr

Karzai confirmed in a press conference that Taliban members

would be free to stand in next year's elections. We hope to discuss

that issue later in the programme, particularly the fact that he will

be talking to the Taliban and there is Taliban can stand in elections

next year. Other news this hour, a Hungarian

man accused of overseeing thousands of Jewish deportations in World War

II has been charged with war crimes. The 98-year-old is a former police

officer. He has been under house arrest since last year. His trial is

expected to begin within three months.

Turkish anti-terror forces have detained several people at their

homes in Istanbul and Ankara. It is part of the clampdown on the Taksim

Gezi Park protests. The square and an adjoining park remain the focus

of two weeks of anti-Government demonstrations.

The research ers in the US say pregnant women who've been exposed

to high levels of air pollution are twice as likely to have a child with

autism. It affects many more boys than girls. The strongest

association was found from exposure to diesel and mercury pollution.

Now, I will start again where we were on Afghanistan. It has been a

day when NATO forces have handed formal control of military

operations to the Afghan Government. President Karzai then announced he

plans formal talks with the Taliban. That will be as soon as possible.

The formal handover of security control was at a ceremony just

outside Kabul. President Karzai called it an historic moment. He

said he would send representatives to Qatar to open formal talks with

the Taliban, who were opening an office there. And he confirmed in a

press conference that Taliban members will be free to stand in

next year's elections. I would by all means support Taliban

representation in elections next year. They are welcome to

participate. The Afghan constitution provides for all Afghan Afghans to

participate in the political, economic and civil activities in

Afghanistan. They as Afghan citizens have that right as well. NATO's sexy

general said ISAF forces will be shifting from a combat to a support

role and said both sides should be proud of what they've now achieved.

We have worked hard and fought hard to make this possible. And we can be

proud of what we have achieved together. Your forces are showing

great courage, great skill and making great sacrifice. So, the big

news is not just the handover of control of security. It is now the

formal announcement by President Karzai that he's prepared to open

talks with the Taliban, using their new office in Qatar. What does this

mean? Hamid Karzai has been saying this for a long time, that he is

willing to talk to the Taliban, but the Taliban... He says he is going

to talk to them, definitely. Definitely. The Taliban say they

don't want to talk to the Afghan Government, but the US, whom they

consider the main party of the on complicate. -- main party of the

conflict. President Karzai announced that he will send members of the

council to meet the Taliban presentatives in Qatar. So it is a

big development. This will be the first time that formal talks will

take place. We don't know when, but it will happen in the next few weeks

or months. But it is many months since formally Qatar said an office

would probably be opened there in Doha. What we are talking about

therefore is months of neat diplomacy behind the scenes of

making contacts? The Taliban have been present in Qatar for more than

a year. They met the US officials if, they met the Germans, they met

representatives and diplomats from other countries. And they travelled

from Qatar to Japan, to Paris, to take part in conferences to express

their position. And their view of the future of Afghanistan, but

Karzai was insisting that this office should only be used for peace

talks. It shouldn't be used for recruit. It shouldn't be used for

fundraising, and it shouldn't be seen as an embassy, as an

alternative for the Afghan's embassy in Qatar. So it seems that Qatar has

given those guarantees to the Afghan Government and now they will be

talking to each other in Qatar. But President Karzai said he hopes that

this office will eventually move to Afghanistan and peace talks will

take place in Kabul between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.

What we are seeing at the moment is pictures really but they are not

really relevant to what we are talking aboutment what we are

talking about is the issue of the Taliban here. The fact that the

Taliban are now willing even to consider stand standing in an

election. They haven't said this formally but they have said that we

accept the constitution, that a country should have a constitution,

but they asked for some amendments in the constitution. They haven't

announced formally that they will stand in next year's election, so

this is what we will see. But President Karzai has asked them

again that they are welcome to take part in the elections which are

scheduled next year. Is it clear who Karzai's willing to talk to, and

therefore what the Taliban are? After all, we talk about the

Taliban. The Taliban is many different groups. Is there a unity

of some kind on this big political development? There are two main

insurgent groups in Afghanistan. One is led - he has shown his

willingness to talk, but he has one condition: That foreign forces must

leave Afghanistan. The other is the Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammed

Omar. They will open their office later today. It means that they are

also willing to talk, so this is a development. On one hand we are

seeing the handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

The second part of the strategy is they will talk to the Taliban, which

they hope will result in a political settlement in Afghanistan, but we

shouldn't expect a political settlement in the next few months.

It is a long process and the Taliban's main demand is the full

withdrawal of all foreign forces, but Afghanistan, the Afghan

Government, is now talking to the US to sign another security agreement,

which will mean that some NATO troops will remain in Afghanistan

after the end of 2014. That's the main problem they'll be talking

about in the next few months and years. But still an extraordinary

announcement. It is a big announcement. Thank you very much

indeed. Stay with us on the channel. Still

to come: Looking out for trouble in Lebanon. Fears grow that Syria's

conflict could spill across its borders.

Vanished without a trace - how one family are struggling to search for

their missing daughter. Now to France, where two of the

biggest football stars in the country, Karim Benzema and Franck

Ribery have gone on trial over allegations they paid for sex with

an underage prostitute. The woman, Zahia Dehar, is now 21 and is a

household name in France after launching her own brand of

underwear. Two weeks ago he was celebrating

European glory with the German champions Bayern Munich. Today

Franck Ribery goes on trial in Paris facing allegations that in 2009 he

paid for sex with a girl he knew to be under the age of 18. This is her,

Zahia Dehar, now 21 and a successful lingerie designer employed by some

of the big French fashion houses. Four years ago she was part of a

high class prostitution ring. Ms Dehar told investigators she was

flown to Munich as a birthday present to himself. It was alleged

she had sex with another French star, he is Real Madrid's Karim

Benzema. He denies any such encounter.

TRANSLATION: When you see a young women, a beautiful woman, very well

dressed, with a certain ease, travel alone and cross the Franco-German

border it is very difficult to imagine for a split second that she

could be under age. Franck Ribery has cultivated the image of a family

man. He is married to his childhood sweetheart and he is a convert to

Islam. Since the scandal broke he admitted sleeping with Ms Dehar but

said he didn't know she was so young, and said she lied about her

age. In France soliciting a prostitute younger than 18 is a

criminal offence. Six other defendants are part of this case. It

is being pursued by a magistrate against the wishes of a state

prosecutor. It will be a nervous time not only for Franck Ribery but

his employer, Bayern Munich. This was the Frenchman's most successful

season. They've extended his contract to 2017. A custodial

sentence isn't in the plan. You are with BBC World news with me,

Nik Gowing. The headlines: In Brazil tens of

thousands join the biggest street protests for three decades over the

rising cost of public transport and the expense of staging the 2014

World Cup. As Afghan forces formally take

control of security for the whole country from NATO-led troops, the

President Karzai has said he will open talks with the Taliban, who can

stand in elections next year. While the G8 leaders from the main

industrialised nations of the world discuss Syria in Northern Ireland,

one country already has forces inside the country. They are not

Government forces though. Fighters from Hezbollah, that's the powerful

Shia bloc from neighbouring Lebanon to the West, make no secret of their

involvement. The BBC's Tim Hywel has been in Lebanon and he has found

that the war in Syria is tawrning into a wide ear sectarian conflict

between Shia and Sunni Muslims is. The road to war in Syria runs at

Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. To the east, the hills that mark the border. It

is a road built by Iran, and that is no surprise. The Bekaa Valley is a

vital corridor between the alliance and the militia. Now that alliance

is drag dragging it into the war. This has long been a channel for

smuggling arm into Sirria. Now it is becoming a battlefield. In this town

they are still putting out a fire from a rocket attack. The load

headman says it came from inside Lebanon. He is from Hezbollah and he

believes it is a reprisal by Syrian rebels and their Lebanese allies for

the military support his organisation's been giving to

Assad's forces. Young Hezbollah fighters who died in Syria are

celebrated along the Becca. Among them a 24-year-old. He grew up in

this house and was training to be a medical technician. Now in his

team's eyes he is a martyr. TRANSLATION: We were very, very

proud of him. Everyone thought well of him. His friends, his teachers.

They all said his behaviour was exemplary. The battle of Qusair in

which Mohammed died pitted the Syrian regime against rebels who

Hezbollah regard as religious extremists. Martyrdom is nothing new

for Hezbollah here. The mausoleum of which the former leader dominates

the nearby village. He was killed by Israel in 1992. But parents harder

to explain why Hezbollah members are now being martyred in a fight with

fellow Ayrs in Syria. Hezbollah has been revered throughout the Arab

world for its resistance to Israel. Now it risks losing that prestige

with its open military support for President Assad's regime in Syria. A

complicated pattern of reasons lies behind that gamble. Without sea,

Hezbollah's military supplies from Iran would be disrupted. But it

fears, too, the forces who would replace him. Hezbollah is a Shi'ite

organisation. Its supporters don't see the Syrian rebels as freedom

fighters. They see them as Sunni zealots who won't accept other forms

of Islam. Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, has for years since

sporadic violence between the communities and the Alawites, the

Shia sects that President Assad belongs to. Now the Lebanese Army

has stopped the fighting. No-one knows for how long. As the civil war

in Syria becomes evermore sectarian, it is deepening the old Sunni-Shia

divide across the Middle East, and many fear that Lebanon, this most

fragile of states, will crack under the strain.

In the Sunni districts of Tripoli, as else where is across the Arab

world, Hezbollah, which means party of God, is now referred to as the

party of Satan. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, made efforts last week to

calm sectarian passions in Lebanon. His party needs stability on its

home ground, but Hezbollah will fight on in Syria. We are in a very

new situation. We didn't see the situation from many a hundred years.

If it continues like this, we are go going in a war of 100 of years.

Between who? Between Sunni and Shi'ites. Back in the Bekaa Valley

Mohammed's sister believes Shi'ites today are being targeted just as the

prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein, one of the Shi'ite's great leaders

was in the seventh century AD. way that Imam Hussein and his son

works is the same way that they are trying to kill us. As the war spills

over into eastern Lebanon many on both sides in the region now think

they are in a battle for survival, and outside powers are doing little

to dampen their fears. To Greece, where the journalist at

the state broadcaster ERT are celebrating a return to the air

waves, for the time being. Supporters were jubilant as a court

ruled that broadcasting can resume, a week after the Prime Minister,

Antonis Samaras, is ordered it to be shut down suddenly. The court also

upheld a plan to replace ERT with a smaller, lower-cost brairk. The

abrupt decision caused a huge rift in Greece's coalition Government. It

triggered mass protests introduce the country.

Now to a really shocking statistic. Around the world eight million

children go missing from their homes and families every year, according

to the international centre for missing and exploited children. Some

children leave home voluntarily. Others are forcibly abducted. In the

lathe es of our series on BBC World news we are in Thai land, where aid

workers say tens of thousands of children are kidnapped every year.

Preparing her children for school is something that this mother has come

to dread. Each time her little girls are out of sight the memories start

coming back, of the awful moment two-and-a-half years ago when her

second child, Jiji, disappeared. Every day after school, the

nine-year-old would come to this petrol station to work alongside her

mum, selling flowers. But it was impossible for her to keep an eye on

Jiji all of the time. TRANSLATION: I went into the back of

the car to feed the baby while Jiji was selling flowers with her older

sister. When I came back, Jiji had disappeared. We looked for her

everywhere but all we found was one of her flip-flops on the foot path.

CCTV football shows Jiji looking for customers and then apparently

distracted walking out of shot. Jiji's family have travelled all

over Thailand looking for her. On one occasion they came here to

Pattaya when they received what turned out to be false information

that she had been found. This sleazy tourist town is one of the

destinationed for trafficked children in south-east Asia. There

are hundreds of kids working in streets and bars here, as beggars

and as child prostitutes. Molina spends her nights searching

Pattaya's streets for exploited kids. Many are from neighbouring cam

bodia, sold to traffic traffickers. These children that they are using

do not have favours, they are cannot be trapped, so what we have here is

we are looking for victims but we don't even know who they are.

children who are rescued and can't return home get put into shelters

like this one. Cambodians are less fortunate and are sent back to the

border, where they may well be abused and trafficked again.

Those responsible, if they can be found, off an escape prosecution.

TRANSLATION: In Thai land we have laws regarding human trafficking the

which look very good on paper, but the people who have to enforce it

sometimes don't understand the whole process, and because it is so

complicated and involves so many different agencies, it is easier for

them not to pursue it. The Mirror Foundation tries to keep records of

Thailand's missing children. But it is a small operation funded by

donations. They have just five permanent staff and receive several

desperate phone calls can every day. TRANSLATION: The police know how

many cars go missing each month. They know what type of cars and what

had been done with the stolen cars. But for missing children they have

no answer. They can't even tell us how many children are missing, how

many have been rescued, and what has happened to abducted children.

Jiji's family say they have had to search on their own, with money

given by family and friends. TRANSLATION: Everything has

completely changed. We used to go everywhere as a family. The songs

that we used to listen to, food that we used to eat, all those things we

used to do together we've stopped. For a long time it was just too

painful for Jiji's parents to return to the petrol station where she was

taken. Now they are working there again, hoping that whoever took

their little girl might also bring her back.

Six teenagers and one of their fathers have been found guilty of

kicking a linesman to death in an amateur football match in the

Netherlands, in a game between two youth teams a.

This was a case that shocked a football-crazy nation. Richard

Nieuwenhuizen was volunteering as a linesman at his son's amateur game.

Witnesses described how he was set upon by a number of players. The

defence claimed he had insulted them and died of a pre-existing million

condition. But the judges agreed with the prosecution, that Richard

Nieuwenhuizen died as a direct result of being kicked in the head

and neck. TRANSLATION: The court thinks that

none of the suspects had the intention to kill the linesman but

does think there was possible intent, as they knew there was a

risk of killing him when they kicked him so violently. The teenagers were

given between one and two years in youth detention. Some have said it

wasn't enough, but Richard Nieuwenhuizen's wife was satisfied.

TRANSLATION: This was the highest possible punishment the suspects

could get. That is a relief force, although there is never a punishment

high enough for us, we have to deal with it. All are now expected to

appeal. One of the 16-year-old's lawyers suggested the judges may

have been influenced by pressure in the media. Since the attack, amateur

teams have introduced new codes of conduct, in a hope that what

happened to Richard Nieuwenhuizen will never happen again.

The main news: Hundreds of thousands have joined big protests from

several cities in Brazil. The largest was in Sao Paolo, where more

than 100,000 people took to the streets. The protests began over the