05/04/2016 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me Tim Willcox.

The first big political casualty of the Panama Papers.

Iceland's Prime Minister resigns after allegations he concealed

millions of dollars worth of investments in an offshore company.

In other revelations from the Panama papers,

Fifa's new president Gianni Infantino signed off on a contract

with two businessmen who have since been accused of bribery

Wooing voters in Wisconsin - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are under

pressure, as opinion polls say they're both trailing their rivals

in the latest US presidential primary.

Also coming up, as part of the US Marine force in Afghanistan, Lucca

served hundreds of missions before being injured.

Now Britain is bestowing her with one of its highest honours.

It's being seen as the first big political casualty of the leak

of millions of documents from a Panamanian law firm about

The fallout from the huge data leak from the company Mossack Fonseca has

Now Iceland's Prime Minister has been forced to resign

after documents appear to reveal he and his wife concealed millions

of dollars worth of investments in an offshore company.

Our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins has the latest.

The Prime Minister of Iceland is the first major casualty

of the massive Panama Papers leaks which have shone a powerful

spotlight on the secret world of offshore finance.

Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson was accused of concealing millions

He insists he has done nothing wrong.

But huge crowds in front of the Icelandic parliament

disagreed, some estimates say one tenth of the population took

This is where the global scandal originated.

A Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

11 million documents held here are passed to a German

newspaper which shared them with over 100 media organisations,

They show how the company helped clients launder money,

Mossack Fonseca says it has never been charged

When the Prime Minister sat down for a series of interviews,

he was challenged about allegations that he was involved

Now, he has walked from high office and tonight the journalist who got

the interview told the BBC he is stunned and said

the crisis goes far wider in Iceland.

The population of Iceland is around 330,000.

So far we have found around 800 offshore companies

I think we are setting another world record here!

Tonight, the Icelandic president rejected the calls

for a snap election, saying he needs to consult

Mr Gunnlaugsson might be going, but the government of Iceland

is in turmoil as the fallout from the Panama Papers spreads.

Let's cross now to Reykjavik to talk to the journalist you saw in that

report, Johannes Kristjansson, who directly confronted

the Prime Minister over his family's connection with

we saw a dramatic interview. Are you surprised how quickly this is moving

now? Yes, the till you the truth, bash back to tell you the truth, I

have only been thinking about working on this story for ten months

with other media partners. I was just doing my work. I didn't think

so much about the consequences. This story is huge, and the fact that the

Prime Minister walked out of the interview, it made the story they go

because of that. -- bigger because of that. He didn't know that you are

going to ask about that. Did he deny everything or did he say there was

no trust? What exactly did he say when he was walking out? He didn't

deny all of it. But he didn't tell us much. He said he had to go

through some files to remember, and he got angry and he walked out of

the interview. We invited him for another interview, to talk about

this company. We did it not once, not twice, but three or four times.

So he had in the world to explain. -- he had all the time in the world.

What precisely has the Prime Minister done wrong? Has he done

anything illegal? It is not about illegal. It is about the ethical

standard of the most powerful man in Iceland. It is not about the legal

aspect of the story. People here in Iceland are thinking about the moral

and ethical. Because he stands to benefit from the banking system

because of his investment. Can you explain that? He and his wife owned

the company together until the last day of December 2009, when he sold

his 60% to his wife for $1. And when he was negotiating with the

president of the S manic banks -- the Icelandic banks, so, he was on

both sides, or the negotiating table.

The new Fifa Presidential Award and is the latest name to come out of

the Panama papers. He

signed off on a contract with two

businessmen who have since been

accused of bribery. It was meant to be a new start

heralding a new era for Fifa. Everyone in the world will applaud

us and we will applaud all of you with what we will do with Fifa in

future. At just five weeks since Gianni Infantino's election, it is

the past that threatens to cast an early shadow over his new rain. The

Panama Papers have already implicated world leaders. Now the

most powerful man input all has been dragged into the scandal. Among

millions of leaked documents is this 2006 contract, a deal signed off by

Gianni Infantino when he was a director at Uefa with an offshore

company might want to stop it paid ?60 million for three rights of

broadcast rights in Ecuador, then sold it on to a TV company for

almost three times the price. Cross Trading was own by these two men.

They were invited by US prosecutors last year as part of an FBI- let

corruption investigation. The authorities allege that as the

owners of Cross Trading, they paid millions of dollars in bribes over

several years to South American football officials to secure TV

rights to regional soccer tournaments. In a statement Uefa Mac

said... According to Fifa, this is a matter

for Uefa. But the problem facing Gianni Infantino as he settles into

light in syrup is that it turns out, initially, Uefa then I is doing

business with any of those individuals indicted last year when

asked by a German newspaper. But the Panama Papers reveal that denial to

be false. It is more damaging revelations for Fifa and Uefa. And

again it begs the question, how many more transactions are there like

this that we don't know about? What sort of checks to be ball in

football do about the countries with which they have transactions and who

audits those deals after they have been completed? Uefa says that it

will cooperate with the FBI if asked to do so, and there is no suggestion

that Gianni Infantino or TeleAmazonas is guilty of any

wrongdoing, but the step was to be another setback for Fifa.

With me now is our Sports News Correspondent, Richard Conway.

How common is it for middlemen to act as brokers for TV rights? It is

not uncommon for this to happen, but in this instance, what the Panama

Papers have revealed as the details behind this. What we know from

partners and sources are the numbers involved. We know that Cross

Trading, this company, as Dan Rowan explained in his report, paid

$111,000 for these rights but then sold them on an Ecuadorian TV

company for triple that price. So they made a lot of money. And the

Ecuadorian TV company feel as if they were effectively done out of

this money because they were acting as the middleman on this. So it

doesn't uncommon, but as you said before, there was no allegation of

wrongdoing on the part of Gianni Infantino. But on that point, you

said that he has done nothing wrong. But it is embarrassing for him. When

this was put to Uefa last year, about, have you had any dealings

with any of the people or companies involved in the big US corruption

probe that we saw last year, with dawn raids, people indicted in May

2015, they came back on two occasions and said no, we have had

no dealings with them. Now, they have said that there were dealings

but it was an open and competitive process that happened and this was

one of many thousands of deals done over Champions League rights. Will

the ethics committee get involved now, or what is the procedure? It'll

be interesting see how this develops. One very senior source at

Fifa said that in the interest of transparency this matter should be

seen by the ethics committee because if there is nothing to hide, then

there is no problem and it can be examined and dealt with fairly

quickly. Where is Fifa in terms of the restructuring that means today

please? It is five months since Gianni Infantino was elected as Fifa

president. He was introduced as a break from the old regime. He

introduced a package of reforms. This Congress in Mexico in a few

weeks is about consolidating those reforms and looking to the future.

They wanted to restore trust within three years. That was their aim.

Thousands of migrants being held in camps in Greece

That could slow the rate of returns to Turkey under

The European Asylum Office says more than 60 of its officers will arrive

on the island of Lesbos tomorrow to begin "admissibility

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford is in Lesbos.

This is the main detention camp here on Lesbos for migrants arriving

here now and we've just come up here to find a big group of men

mainly behind the main fence here who have been protesting.

Some of their signs and say, "If you deport us, we die".

Others are just saying, "Freedom".

They've been shouting as well, "Freedom",

We understand that most the people here taking part in this

process are Pakistanis, although I have seen

I've spoken to a volunteer who's been working in the migrant camps

here on Lesbos who says that she knows many of these men

and she says they do have legitimate claims for asylum.

The problem is, they are worried those claims will not be considered

and that they may be deported on the next ferries

They've just darted shouting "freedom" again.

This is the a peaceful protest for now, the right

For the moment, it seems fairly calm.

This is about people trying to express their fear and worries.

Apart from these Pakistanis and Afghans, there are also a lot

of people from Syria in this camp, people who have applied for asylum

and who expect those applications to be considered.

The problem is that that seems to be a very slow process.

It seems that there aren't at this point enough officials,

enough asylum experts, to consider those claims fully.

We are expecting many experts, many assistants, to come

from the EU to help with that process, but for the moment

Of course, not just this crowd here, but everybody inside this camp

is very concerned about one thing - they say they don't want to be

sent back to Turkey, they want to stay here in Europe.

The Swiss government has criticised a decision by a school to exempt

male Muslim students from shaking hands with female teachers.

Two students argued that Islam limits physical contact

The Justice Minister says shaking hands is part of Swiss culture.

Americans in the state of Wisconsin are heading to the polls today

in the latest round of the US Presidential Election primary race.

The most recent opinion polls for the Republicans put

He says he could easily win the Republican nomination

if the third candidate, John Kasich, drops out.

For the Democrats, Bernie Sanders currently has a small lead

There was high turnout from early hours

Wisconsin plays an important role with both of the presidential

On the Republican side, Donald Trump was stumping hard for votes

But he's behind in the polls and if he loses here,

winning the nomination will become a tougher battle.

He even brought his wife out to try and sweeten his message,

hoping to recover from a week of missteps that played

70% of women now give him a thumbs down.

Something he dismisses, along with any other evidence

I think that I'm going to do very well with women.

We just had a big meeting, many women at the meeting,

and they liked me best because they say I'm best

with the military, best with the borders, best

for security and I'd said, I'm going to be best

for women's health issues, much better than Hillary,

Donald Trump's main rival, the Texan Senator Ted Cruz,

sees a chance to make up for lost ground.

He can't beat the front runner by winning this state alone,

but it would give him crucial momentum, especially

as the party's heavyweights also want to sink Trump's chances.

I don't care what he says any more, I don't care what he tweets,

what I'm focused on is how do we solve the real

America has real challenges, and these are serious times.

This is not the time for a circus sideshow.

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders is also

looking to keep up momentum after a string of recent victories.

Wisconsin looks good for him, but he did need to wind big and keep

winning big to catch up with Hillary Clinton.

That looks almost impossible, but Mr Sanders's strong showings

and ferocious fundraising are making life tough for her.

Now a look at some of the day's other news.

Groups campaigning for a change to the abortion law

in Northern Ireland have criticised the prosecution of a woman

who bought drugs online to induce a miscarriage.

Unlike the rest of the UK, abortion is only allowed

in Northern Ireland if a woman's life is at risk or there

is a permanent or serious risk to her mental or physical health.

The woman was given a suspended prison sentence.

Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces have agreed on an immediate

ceasefire after nearly four days of fighting in the disputed

Ethnic Armenians have controlled the mountainous enclave

The conflict, which ended in 1994, flared up again on Saturday.

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma has survived an opposition

The motion was tabled after the country's highest court

ruled he had violated the constitution by refusing

to repay some of the millions of dollars of public funds

The International Criminal Court has thrown out charges

against Kenya's deputy president, William Ruto, over

post-election violence, but stopped short of acquitting him.

It leaves the way open for a possible future prosecution.

Both men denied charges of crimes against humanity in connection

with the deaths of more than 1,000 people in violence

Our correspondent in The Hague, Anna Holligan,

It's been a busy three years since the Kenyan deputy president,

William Ruto, and his coaccused, the radio presenter Joshua

They have both denied three charges of crimes against humanity,

murder, forcible deportation and persecution.

The violence erupted in late 2007, following a disputed election.

And soon, what began as political riots quickly turned

The Kenyan opposition leader accused the then-president

More than 1,300 people were murdered.

Approximately 600,000 were left homeless, too afraid

It was Kenya's worst wave of violence since independence.

Mr Ruto's defence team argued the charges against him

The ICC prosecutor withdrew similar charges against the president

in 2014 in connection with the same post-election violence.

This case has led to a high-profile campaign

against the ICC amongst some African nations,

who accuse the court of demonstrating bias

A criminal gang has been jailed for stealing rhino horn and Chinese

antiques worth almost ?60 million from museums around the UK.

The 14 men were said to have caused significant cultural loss

to Britain, and the value of what they stole

dwarfs the robbery last year in Hatton Garden.

Our correspondent Robert Hall has more.

They were dubbed "the Rathkeale Rovers", after the Irish town where

Six of the key players were family. John and Richard O'Brien,

their uncle Daniel O'Brien and their brother-in-law

Their targets were collections of high-value Chinese artefacts and,

Some of these people were experts in their own rights.

They would often attend antique fairs and auction houses,

so they have a really clear understanding of what's desirable,

what's selling and what's high-value.

Some of them were experts and they knew they could sell the items with

This series of crimes took place over four months and involved more

The men at the top, the planners, didn't take part in the actual

break-ins, so mobile phone tracking was crucial in establishing links

with other gang members and putting callers in the right place,

Two gang members who snatched a Ming dynasty vase at Durham's

Oriental Museum were tackled before they could escape.

In Norwich, another raid verging on incompetent

when four of the gang tried to steal a rhino head

during opening hours, but it

One member of staff kicked the man. Another grabbed their head and run

off with it. Ramon Fonseca a month later,

the gang spotted a rhino horn cup in Sussex but when the latest

recruit strolled through the door, they look went for the wrong cup

and they were grabbed by staff. Foiled again, they returned

to Durham Oriental Museum, checking out the galleries

and smashing their way in. They hid ?2 million worth of Chinese

artefacts in a hedge but one burglar forgot where he put them

and they were recovered. The gang were now desperate

for success and a new plan took them to the Fitzwilliam

Museum in Cambridge. On a spring day in 2012,

three gang members They took a particular interest

in the Oriental galleries. Just before half past seven

the following evening, In just a couple of minutes,

the burglars grabbed 18 objects with a market value of ?40 million

which have not been seen since. It is a betrayal of trust. These

objects belong to the public. And their theft by a series of selfish

individuals has changed that. They are no longer on display.

A criminal network that's thought to have operated across Europe

has been closed down, but the treasures that

belong to all of us have yet to be recovered.

A military dog who lost a leg when sniffing out a roadside bomb in

Afghanistan has been honoured at a ceremony in London. Lucca, a

12-year-old German shepherd, was employed by the US military. But on

Sangita Myska reports. front leg when a bomb went off.

Her hand were tied the medal round. It is the highest honour that a

military animal can achieve in combat and it is well-deserved. It

is on measures like this in a rock in 2006 that Lucca work to keep

hundreds of Allied troops say. Sent outside of army patrols, she

searched for and discovered IEDs, arms discovered cache

and even insurgents. it is a bond that the soldier who

trained Lucca says is unbreakable. We treat them just like Marines. And

our job is to properly employed a dog and just look out when we are on

patrol. It is a true team effort. Was during the last day of

everlasting mission in Afghanistan when she tripped and IED. The mashed

but -- the massive explosion severed leg and she suffered terrible wounds

to her chest. She was finally retired and return to the handler.

He says that it is her that he owes his life. In my worst moments in, I

lost one of my fellow dog teams in a clean-up operation south of Baghdad.

Lucca has been described as a symbol of hope and inspiration. The saw

Jaws whose lives she saved would certainly agree. Asch Magbi

soldiers. The primers rob Iceland has resigned

after allegations that he concealed millions of dollars worth of

investments in an offshore Company. Revelations also about the new Fifa

president Gianni Infantino, he signed off on a contract with two

businessmen who have since been accused of bribery. There is no

suggestion that Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong.

For now from me and the rest of the team, goodbye.

Some sunshine and some water made for a fairly