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Older Harbaugh Victorious: Ravens Win Super Bowl; King Richard III's Remains Discovered Beneath Parking Lot; Malala Speaks For First Time Since Surgery; Resident Of Qursaya Island In Cairo Fight To Stay

Aired February 04, 2013 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now on the night where virtually all eyes in America were on this stadium, the lights go out at the Super Bowl.

And the Pakistani girl shot for standing up to the Taliban is in stable condition after major reconstructive surgery.

And British researchers think that they have found the final resting place of King Richard III under a parking lot.

Now people cannot stop talking about Super Bowl LXVII. The Baltimore Ravens barely held on to take the NFL title. Beyonce sang her biggest hits during halftime without lip syncing, but the buzz is about this: the blackout. About half of the Superdome went dark and stayed that way for some 35 minutes. Now the power outage ground the game to a halt and it took the headlines away from an exciting game.

Now the Ravens looked like they had sealed the game with its incredible play. Jacoby Jones took the kickoff at the start of the second half and returned it all the way for a touchdown. It is the longest play in Super Bowl history and gave the Ravens a 22 point lead.

But the 49ers fought back. They had a chance to win the game right here, but the final pass, it fell incomplete. And despite the complaints, the 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, it was his older brother's Baltimore Ravens team that won the Super Bowl 34-31.

And after the game, CNN's Rachel Nichols spoke to the victorious John Harbaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: So this was maybe one of the most anticipated family matchups in sports history. What was it like for you through all these moments seeing your brother on the other side of the field?

JOHN HARBAUGH, BALTIMORE RAVENS COACH: It was incredibly hard, but I was really proud, you know, just looking across the field and seeing Jim over there and watching him coach and watching him compete and watching him bring his team roaring back after the lights went out like I kind of knew he would, because that's what he's done his whole life, I just couldn't be more proud of him.

NICHOLS: You can appreciate that, while they're roaring back against you?

HARBAUGH: I wasn't real happy about it, you know, and I didn't feel really good about some of the things we were doing and the way we were playing, but I just knew that they'd be there because I know that they reflect his personality. You know, and I think he's a great coach. I think he's the best coach in football right now based on what he's accomplished.

NICHOLS: And for you to celebrate when you also know your younger brother is having such a bad moment, how does that change that final moment for you as the confetti is coming down?

HARBAUGH: Yeah, that's really hard. You know, I just -- you just don't really feel the jubilation. I mean, I felt it for all of our guys and everything, but that is a really strong mixed emotion. I really don't have the words to describe it, but it was really, really tough.

NICHOLS: What did your parents say to you after?

HARBAUGH: They were just -- they were mixed -- they were really happy and they were really thrilled and they were really disappointed and really devastated at the same time.

NICHOLS: And for your team, you guys have been through so much. The injuries alone, and again during the game one of your best players Haloti Ngata goes down. What was it like for you to be able to come through after all of that?

HARBAUGH: I mean, to me that's kind of -- that's the metaphor for the whole season and for who these guys are. It's just always been that way with our team. They just keep fighting. They don't get discouraged. They get frustrated, but sometimes frustration is one of the -- frustration is a great motivator. And they came roaring back all season and really for the last five seasons.

NICHOLS: And the last question i'll ask you is just about the blackout. I know that you guys tried to manage that break. And then afterward, there was some confusion about the headsets. You wanted to make sure that your team had the same fair advantage as everyone else. What was the whole experience like?

HARBAUGH: It didn't even matter in the end, because they did such a great job of getting the headsets up and running. And I was talking about possibilities. And I just shouldn't have overreacted the way I did. I felt bad about that.

NICHOLS: But it was something more manage.

HARBAUGH: Yeah, it was one more thing to manage. I thought -- you know, really and truth the 9ers did a better job of that. You know, they came back after that and did a great job.

NICHOLS: Well, you guys won the end of the game, so that's got to be a good thing, too. Congratulations.

HARBAUGH: Thanks, Rachel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now some 71,000 people attended the game and millions of people tuned in on TV. And they were all surprised by that sudden blackout. Now the energy company Entergy quickly tweeted this, quote, "we are working with Superdome officials to troubleshoot the issue. Power is being provided to the building."

Now the stadium followed shortly with this, "we had a temporary power outage and we're working to resolve the issue."

Now they recently put out a joint statement saying that a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system. Now that triggered a breaker to flip and that cut the power.

Now this abnormality is still being investigated. Our Mark mckay joins us now with more from New Orleans. And Mark, you were there, so what was it like when the lights in the Superdome went out.

MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it was one of the more bizarre moments certainly in Super Bowl history. I've done four of them, never seen anything like that. 72,000 fans also wondered what went wrong as just after the halftime, just after Beyonce had finished, just after we saw an electrifying return, the kickoff return for the second half touchdown kickoff for the touchdown for the Balitmore Ravens, we saw the lights go out.

It was a surreal scene. Banks of lights going out. The scoreboards going completely dark. We were wondering how long it would last. The public address announcer came on and told us that it would be -- power would be resumed shortly. Well, it took about 30 minutes for that power to actually come back on. It had everyone -- the fans, the coaches, the players wondering what went wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY LEWIS, RAVENS LINEBACKER: I think that's the first time that's probably ever happened in the Super Bowl, you know, and for something that strange to happen you just had to keep your focus, you know. Because we were on a roll, we were on a roll just then. And to stop that momentum the way it did, you know, you saw the way things started to shift.

VONTA LEACH, RAVENS FULLBACK: I wouldn't say it reflects poorly on the city. New Orleans is a good host. I think the power outage was just one of those things. No matter where the Super Bowl at, I think Beyonce performed, everybody's power is going to go out. My power might have went out in Baltimore we seeing her perform on stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: No direct connection, Kristie, that Beyonce caused that power outage. You did a really good job of explaining as to what the utility, or the company that services the dome believes happened. The investigation will continue. What it did was take the entire spark out of the Baltimore Ravens. They actually had a 22 point lead when the lights went out and they had to hold on for dear life as San Francisco made an incredible second half comeback, but fell just three points short -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, your use of the adjectives -- you know, spark, electrifying in particular very apt given the blackout. I mean, do you think the power outage changed the game?

MCKAY: Well, it certainly did slow the Ravens momentum. They looked like they were getting ready to blow San Francisco away.

For the 49ers to come back in that second half, they would have had to mount the biggest second half comeback in Super Bowl history. And Colin Kaepernick and company did that. After the power went out, after that 30 minute break, they got -- hate to use the term again -- they got their spark back and were able to get back into this game and go right to the very end.

But, yeah, there was a momentum shift. And if the San Francisco 49ers, Kristie, had come back and beaten Baltimore, maybe that talking point would be a whole lot bigger this morning here in New Orleans.

LU STOUT: That's right. And a lot more anger online and everywhere else talking about this game.

Let's talk more about the champs, the Ravens. I mean, it's safe to say that when the playoffs started nobody gave them much hope of winning it all. So how did they do it in the end?

MCKAY: Well, they ended up in many ways riding the back of their inspiring leader, a polarizing controversial figure, but in the end the leader, Ray Lewis, he -- the linebacker -- going out a winner, retiring after 17 seasons in the NFL. Their coach was really calm this week. You know, one of the big story lines as we've been talking all week long here in New Orleans was the brothers, John on one side, Jim on the other. Jim the stern, curt coach of the San Francisco 49ers, John more relaxed, more easygoing. And perhaps his team played the way the coach acts. He is a very laid back guy. This team did not get ruffled when they saw that San Francisco was coming back in the second half. And they were able to pull it out.

But Ray Lewis, what a great career. And he goes out now a two-time Super Bowl champion here in New Orleans, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, Ray Lewis, the clash of two brothers, so many great storylines coming out of the Super Bowl. Mark mckay joining us live, thank you.

Now some companies saw a shining opportunity during the blackout. Nabisco was one of the first with this ad for Oreo. And it read, "you can still dunk in the dark." A pretty bright idea, if we do say so.

And the people at Tide laundry detergent, they had a similar idea. Their ad says, "we can't get your blackout, but we can get your stains out."

And Audi just couldn't resist a swipe at its competitor. This tweet says, "it's sending some leds to the @mbusasuperdome." Now the stadium's full name is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

As you can imagine, the game is being called the Blackout Bowl. And the outage, it was the number one Twitter related moment of the Super Bowl generating some 231,000 tweets per minute.

Now we'll have plenty more highlights and reaction from the Super Bowl in the hours ahead right here on CNN. Just watch world sport in just under four hours from now. That's 1:00 am Hong Kong time.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, the fighting in Syria has displaced millions of people inside the country, but it's getting harder for them to find a safe corner.

And reform in Myanmar sparks a youth culture revolution. We'll take you inside.

And the search for an American tourist in Turkey ends with heartbreak for her family and friends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now as the civil war in Syria grinds on and the death toll rises, many people have left everything behind in a desperate search for safety. Now Fred Pleitgen has this report from the capital Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: While the streets in central Damascus are fairly quiet, fierce fighting in the capital's suburbs can be heard and seen throughout the day.

This woman tells us her name is Jamila, she says her house in Aleppo was destroyed during the battles there. She fled to the relative safety of Damascus with her two children, one only a month old. But now she sees the violence closing in on her again.

JAMILA, DISPLACED SYRIAN (through translator): We are afraid. Sometimes I want to take all my things and sleep outside in the park because it is safer than being indoors.

PLEITGEN: Jamila says she depends mostly on handouts from private people to get by. The U.N. estimates that around two million Syrians have been internally displaced because of the ongoing conflict and many of those who remain in the government-controlled part of the country try to make it to this part of the capital.

That's where we meet Raida who left her husband behind in the suburbs of Damascus when fierce fighting broke out and he hasn't been heard from since. Now she has to support four children on her own.

RAIDA, DISPLACED SYRIAN (through translator): I am not the only one whose life has been destroyed or whose husband is missing. Everyone in this country has a missing person or a destroyed home or is displaced. Many, many have gone through this. We have been through so much. We have suffered and have come to hate life because of all these problems.

PLEITGEN: We wanted to show you one of the places where people like Raida are staying. Syrian government agents prevented us from doing so.

(on camera): There are many internally displaced people here in this area of Damascus and most of them stay in the lowest cost hotels they can somehow afford. We tried going into some of these hotels and talking to these people but most of them were afraid, which is also due to the fact that there's a heavy presence of plainclothes security forces that are shadowing us.

We went into one hotel and it took only two minutes for two officers to show up and say we had to stop working even though we have permission to film in all of Damascus.

We can't go into the hotel?

(voice-over): When we asked for an explanation the undercover agent says we need an additional permission to film in hotels and then he disappears. Meanwhile the shelling and clashes in the suburbs of Damascus continue leaving more and more people fleeing for areas they hope are safer at least for a while.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And while the plight of people inside Syria continues there is more diplomatic saber rattling. An Iranian official says that Israel will regret what he called its latest aggression against Syria. It's believed that Israel carried out an air strike inside Syria last week. And over the weekend, remarks by Israel's defense minister seemed to back that up.

Now for the very latest, I'm joined now live by Mohammed Jamjoom in Beirut. And Mohammed, first, there's been a warning from Bashar al-Assad directed at Israel. What did he say?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Kristie. Yesterday there was a statement that was issued by Bashar al- Assad on Syria's state news agency in which he said that Syria would be able to respond forcefully to the Israeli aggression toward Syria, this air strike that the Syrians claim was carried out against a scientific research facility in the Damascus countryside.

Bashar al-Assad said that with the military might of the Syrian army that they would be able to counterattack. He also said that this air strike proved that Israel, in conjunction with other hostile foreign powers, were working to try to actively destabilize Syria.

Now this is interesting, because it comes a day after pictures were released on Syrian state television purporting to show the aftermath of this airstrike. The Syrians claim that the airstrike happened on a -- what they call scientific research facility in the Damascus countryside, an area called Jumriyah (ph). But what's more interesting about this is that there's too narratives about where exactly this airstrike hit.

The Syrians say that it hit this facility. Other officials have said, no, this airstrike hit a convoy that was taking weapons from Syria trying to deliver them to Hezbollah on the Lebanese border. And while as you stated the Israeli government has not yet confirmed this airstrike, yesterday Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak seemed to suggest that they did carry out this airstrike and that it was against a convoy that was heading towards the Lebanese border -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now Iran has also weighed in. It's warned Israel that it will regret last week's airstrike inside Syria. What is Iran saying? And also remind us how is Iran involved in all this?

JAMJOOM: Well, there's been a long standoff between Iran and Israel partly because of Israeli fears of the Iranian nuclear program. Israel has said on many an occasion that if they feel that it's justified that they will strike against Iran's nuclear program. So there is that tension that has been mounting for quite some time between both countries.

Now yesterday you had from the Iranian side, which is one of Syria's few remaining allies, you had Said Jalili, he's a top official, he's the head of the Supreme National Security Council in Iran. He traveled to Damascus yesterday. He met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and he reiterated Iran's full support towards the Syrian government, the Syrian people. He praised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his leadership. But he also more importantly said that Iran was willing to stand with Syria against any outside aggression toward Syria and specifically he stated that they were willing to stand with Syria against any aggression they faced from Israel - - Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Mohammed Jamjoom reporting on the rising tension in the Middle East, the focal point Syria. Thank you.

Now to some breaking news on the Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousufzai. Now doctors at a hospital in Birmingham, England say that she is in stable condition after undergoing more surgery on Saturday, now this time to repair her skull and to help restore hearing in her left ear. And now, for the first time since her attack, she has spoken on camera.

Now last year, she was shot in the head and neck by Taliban gunmen for speaking out in favor of education for Pakistani girls. And now we are hearing her tell her story in her own words.

Now this is a dramatic new development. Let's bring in Dan Rivers who joins us now from outside the hospital in Birmingham where she is recovering.

And Dan, what is she saying?

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really pretty remarkable isn't it? The first time that we will have seen her speak since she was shot on the night of October last year. She underwent more surgery on Saturday, five hours of surgery at the moment, but doctors here are saying they're very pleased with her progress, that it's been a success and that she remains stable. She's awake and talking to staff.

The video you are about to see if her talking before this operation. But hopefully we'll bring you more video of her talking afterwards.

But let's have a little listen to Malala Yousufzai talking about all the support she's received.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALALA YOUSUFZAI, GIRL'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Today you can see that I'm alive. I can speak. I can see you. I can see everyone. And today I can speak and I'm getting better day by day. It's just because of the prayers of people, because all the people -- men, women, children, all of them, all of them have prayed for me. And because of these prayers -- and because of these prayers, god has given me this new life. And this is a second life, this is a new life.

And I want to serve, I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child to be educated. And for that reason, we have organized Malala Fund.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: So talking about the second life that she's been given from this terrible incident which it's remarkable that she survived at all, let alone, Kristie, being able to speak and having very little long-term brain damage. I mean, from what the doctors here are saying she should make an almost complete recovery.

What they've done over the weekend is inserted a titanium plate over the hole in her skull that was partly caused by doctors removing a section of the bone to allow her brain to swell in Pakistan. They've covered that with a titanium plate. They've given her a cochlear implant to restore hearing to her left ear. And they say if it all goes well, and it sounds like it has, that she should make a complete recovery with complete restoration of her hearing within 18 months.

It is just remarkable how well she's doing given that she was shot at point blank range by Taliban gunmen last October.

LU STOUT: And Dan, it is just so heartening to see Malala and to hear Malala and to hear her continue with her campaign for girl's literacy and education. She's obviously doing very well. Of course, this video that we were able to screen just then was taken before the most recent operation over the weekend.

She said in that video that she's getting better day by day. And Dan, you were telling us the doctors expect her to make a full recovery. But how long would that take? And what's next for her on this long road to recovery?

RIVERS: Well, they're saying that the operation that she had over the weekend was going to be the last surgical procedure they would do. So in terms of the serious surgery, she's through that now, which is great.

In terms of the rehabilitation they're saying that might take a year-and-a- half to fully allow her brain to sort of cope with this cochlear implant. It's a piece of electronics, basically, that's been implanted in her head to restore the hearing, to do the job that the ear would have done. So it will take awhile for her to get stereoscopic hearing back, which will enable her -- at the moment she can only hear in her right ear, which makes it difficult to hear -- you know, to pin down the direction of the noise. She can't hear which direction a car is coming from, or which direction a voice is coming from. With this cochlear implant, which is a pretty routine procedure these days, she will have that facility restored. So that's going to be very important for her going forward.

But I think it's just very, very lucky that the path of the bullet didn't damage any critical parts of her brain. So in terms of, you know, motor functions, motor skills. She's able to walk. She's got complete use of her limbs, her hands, and her speech as well and memory all seem to be completely unaffected.

LU STOUT: All right. Dan Rivers joining us live from Birmingham with this very -- this fresh video, incredible video in of Malala Yousufzai, the first time we've been able to hear her, see her, listen to her speak since that terrible attack last year. We wish this brave young women the very, very best.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up in just a moment, a 500 year old mystery is finally solved. And we'll bring you the story of how this skull once wore the crown of a king.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong. You are back watching News Stream.

And it is the stuff that archeologists live for, a skeleton found last year under a car park in the English city of Leicester has been confirmed as that of a long lost king. Now British scientists announced that DNA testing conclusively proves the remains are those of Richard III, king of England from 1483-1485 when he died in battle.

Now this is the 500 year old mystery solved by modern science. For the very latest we're joined now live from Leicester by CNN's Erin mclaughlin. Erin, just tell us more about just how they were able to confirm that the skeleton was that of Richard III.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. Well, let me first just give you a sense of where I am located. For over 500 years - - for over 500 years this was a resting place of King Richard III. What was once a church choir, the location of a church choir, is now a municipal car park. It was here that a panel of experts found Richard III's remains. They described it as a shallow, hastily dug grave. They found the remains without a cloth or any sort of coffin.

Today, they revealed their findings, a culmination of months of detailed analysis including DNA analysis, radiocarbon dating, environmental samples, they looked at all of that very carefully. Let's take a listen to what they had to say about some of the DNA analysis that they conducted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TURI KING, PROJECT GENETICIST, UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER: And I can now tell you there is a DNA match between the maternal DNA from the descendants of the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains that we found at the grave dig.

In short, the DNA evidence points to these being the remains of Richard III.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Confirming the discovery that the remains were indeed that of Richard III. That was our Erin mclaughlin reporting earlier live from Leicester, England, the site of the discovery. Apologies for the choppy connection there.

Now you are watching News Stream. And coming up next, pop culture was once discouraged by the authorities in Myanmar. And you'll see how young Burmese are blazing a new trail forward with music, fashion, and technology.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now France says it wants to see its troops out of the Malian city of Timbuktu and other cities and quickly replaced by an African led force. Now French foreign minister Laurent Fabius made that comment on French radio. Now France sent soldiers into Mali last month to assist government forces in rooting out Islamic rebels in the north.

Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro has made his longest public appearance since 2010, turning out in Havana on Sunday to vote in parliamentary elections. The 86-year-old put his health issues to one side as he chatted with supporters in the capital. And last week, Cuba took on the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, but it remains subject to a U.S. trade embargo.

Malala Yousufzai has made her first public statement since she was shot by Taliban gunmen last year. In a message recorded before she underwent reconstructive surgery last weekend, she said that she is getting better every day. And doctors say Malala's surgery was a success and that the 15- year-old is in stable condition, talking to hospital staff and her family.

Now the Balitmore Ravens have won the Super Bowl, but the game may be better remembered for a blackout in the stadium. Now the game was halted for over half an hour while they worked to get the lights on. And when the lights finally came on, the Ravens withstood an incredible comeback by the San Francisco 49ers to win the game 34-31.

And staying with sport and a stunning new report has revealed that hundreds of matches at the top level of European football were fixed. Amanda Davies has more now -- Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie, yeah, it's a major international investigation that's been carried out into football match fixing. And it's discovered corruption in 380 professional matches across Europe, including World Cup qualifiers, European championship games and two matches in European football's flagship event, the Champion's League.

The European Union police unit Europol have been holding a press conference on Monday morning in The Netherlands to present the findings of what's being described as the biggest investigation into match fixing ever held. They discovered 425 people involved, including match officials, club officials, and players from across 15 different countries.

Names of clubs and individuals haven't yet been released, because of criminal investigations. And the Europol director Rob Wainwright said that they will be in touch with the president of European football's governing body UEFA. And described it as a sad day for European football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREAS BACHMANN, BOCHUM PROSECUTION SERVICE: At present, we are investigating 355 suspects from more than 15 countries. The chart shows you which places the suspects come from. By far, the most of them, of course, live in Germany. From November 2009 to date, we have issued 20 arrest warrants and 86 search warrants for flats and company premises in Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and the UK.

Our investigations showed that the ring has placed bets of more than 16 million euros, giving a profit of 8.5 million euros. Of this, we have been able to document more than 10 million euros of stake money and about 5.4 million euros net profit from written documents obtained from the betting organizations. We have secured bribe money of more than 2.1 million euros.

We assume, however, that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: Well, speaking to CNN exclusively last month, the FIFA general secretary Jermoe Valke describe match fixing as a disease that could kill football. And while this investigation is the most comprehensive to be carried out, so far there have been other corruption rackets exposed in recent times like the Italian scandal in 2005-06 that saw champion's Juventus and other clubs relegated. There's also investigations currently going on in South Korea and South Africa. So that phrase, the tip of the iceberg, Kristie, is probably not too far wrong, sadly.

LU STOUT: Yeah, major story. This is a global match fixing probe. Amanda Davies reporting for us. Thank you.

Now Myanmar has received a lot of attention in recent month as its government opens the country to the international community, but the effects are not limited to politics. Now CNN's senior international correspondent Dan Rivers introduces us to some young people who are pushing pop culture forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: They are sassy, outspoken, and hip and they're hoping to take Asia by storm. No, this isn't the latest Korean K-Pop band, this is Me N Ma Girls, a clever play on words with the name of their country Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The five piece girl band is just one facet of a youth revolution in this previously repressed country that is suddenly opening up to the west.

AH MOON, BAND LEADER: Now there is no censorship. There's no censorship for the, can I say, for the video clips. So we can -- and the lyrics. We had to show them our lyrics. And if there is political lyrics, which is not good, which is about the government, we couldn't sing it. And yeah -- and the singer is band, and now we can sing.

RIVERS: And the censorship didn't stop with the song words, even their dresses were vetted.

MOON: One thing were not allowed is the short ones, low tops and low sequined (ph) tops and we just sexy and the colorful hair, black lipstick. No, no was just too western -- or, yeah -- they think that this is alien culture.

RIVERS: And the appetite for all things western is insatiable. The internet is spreading and it's changing young lives.

This is a rehearsal for a modeling contest. These young hopefuls have been plucked from obscurity in a country that has been pretty obscure itself. Since 1962, the military has run Myanmar, locking it in a cultural time warp, exacerbated by western sanctions, which meant people here had little exposure to the outside world.

But now the sanctions are gone, young people like Kinko (ph) are adopting the latest fashions, hairstyles and music tastes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like R&B.

RIVERS: R&B, okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: R&B. I prefer R&B.

RIVERS: While the generals are trading military uniforms for politician suits, the young are also changing the way they dress.

Suddenly, the young people of Myanmar are much freer to express themselves through music, through dancing and through art. And they're loving every minute of it.

And across town, the market is suddenly pulsing to a new rhythm, with Zol Lat's (ph) heavy metal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There's much more freedom now. It's getting much better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's more freedom to write and play whatever we want.

RIVERS: Dan Rivers, CNN, Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Metal in Myanmar, great story there.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, what happened to this American woman who went missing while vacationing in Turkey. Now the search ends in tragedy for her loved ones and a lot of questions for police.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

You're watching News Stream. And this is a visual rundown of all the stories we're covering in the show. We've told you about the discovery of Richard III's skeleton. And later, we'll tell you what's upset a Japanese pop star. But first, police have found the body of an American tourist lost in Turkey. Now Sara Sierra went missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul last month. And Ivan Watson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Turkish police made the grim discovery on Saturday, a woman's body hidden behind the old stonewalls of this ancient city. Within hours, police identified her as Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old mother of two, a native of Staten Island, New York. Sierra had been missing for more than a week after disappearing during what was supposed to be her first foreign vacation. Turkish police suspect she's been murdered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It has been determined she was killed with a blow to the head. For us to get concrete details of the case, we need more time to investigate. It's not right to say anything about the ongoing interrogation of detained people. She was a tourist traveling alone.

WATSON: These are the last known images of Sierra. Security cameras caught her on the night to January 20th, walking alone inside an Istanbul shopping mall. Sierra flew from New York to Turkey on January 7th solo, because a friend canceled coming along at the last minute. She was an amateur photographer who shared her photos of Istanbul's mosques and skuline with friends she met on Instagram.

Sierra is believed to have met some of these Instagram acquaintances during her stay in Turkey and during a short side trip to Amsterdam. Sierra's husband, Steven, sounded the alarm after she failed to board her flight back to New York on January 21st. Days later, Steven and Sarai's brother, David Gimenez (ph), flew to Istanbul to help Turkish police with the investigation.

In an interview with CNN last week, it was clear Steven, a New York City transit worker, was beginning to fear the worst.

STEVEN SIERRA, HUSBAND OF MISSING AMERICAN WOMAN IN TURKEY: The long with her missing, um, you're hoping that she's OK, wherever she's at. That she's not hurting. That she's not cold. That she's being fed. That she's not consumed with fear.

WATSON: The shocking news of Sierra's death devastated her family who have tried to protect her two sons from news of their mother's disappearance. As friends and family grieve in New York, police in Istanbul have an urgent question to answer, who killed Sarai Sierra?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And I want to show you where in Istanbul police think this happened. And police say that her remains were found in Istanbul's low income Sarayburno district by the ruins of its ancient stone walls. Now this historic area is popular among tourists and it includes the Topcopi Palace (ph).

Now to Egypt where the recent unrest is not confined to Cairo. Now, clashes have occurred in other places like Qursaya Island where military and business interests are focused on some prime real state. As Ben Wedeman reports, it's all about land, power, money, and the Egyptian revolution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Land is honor, goes an old Arabic saying and for Egypt's impoverished farmers, it's life itself. For generations, the people of Qursaya Island in the Nile, have tilled the soil here and fished the murky waters, scratching out a living while the city of Cairo has sprawled around them.

Real Estate agents like to say it's all about location, location, location. And this island has all three in the Nile, south of central Cairo, with lots of fresh air, plenty of sunshine, fertile soil and a beautiful view.

Investors have long had their eyes on Qursaya. And here they know it.

"We're not squatters," says resident Madgi Hussain, "we've been living here from father to son. We have rent receipts and electricity receipts going back decades."

The people of Qursaya don't own the land, but rather lease it from the state. Six years ago, the government refused to renew their leases and began moves to evict them. The Egyptian army claimed the land and took control of several parts of the island.

A court confirmed the resident's right to remain on Qursaya, but before sunrise one day last November, the Egyptian army sent in troops officially to evict trespassers.

Clashes ensued. One resident, a fisherman, was shot dead. And 25 others were arrested and are now awaiting trial. At a press conference in January, the Egyptian army insisted it had no intention of evicting anyone. Their only interest, Colonel Ahmed Ali (ph) told reports was.

COLONEL AHMED ALI, EGYPTIAN ARMY (through translator): To build moorings for boats to patrol the river and prepare these areas as part of the defense plan for the capital in the event of crises or tensions.

WEDEMAN: Not everyone buys that. The army controls a vast commercial empire, including hotels, factories and agrobusiness.

Around Qursaya, it has banned fishermen from going out in their boats at night near its positions where the fishing is best.

"Like this," says fisherman Sayid Abbas, "the army is stopping people from making a living." And Sayid has seven mouths to feed.

The only way to get on to Qursaya is by a hand pulled ferry for the equivalent of seven cents to cross a thin strip of the Nile. No roads here, only dirt paths. And unlike traffic choked Cairo, there's not a car in sight.

Um Khatib, busy cutting alfalfa, scorns the promise of a new Egypt and says the new rulers are as deaf to the poor as the old ones.

"What revolution," she asks dismissively. "This revolution has done nothing for us."

Khalid (ph) was born and raised on Qursaya and hopes his two daughters can grow up here.

"I'm happy with what I have," he says. "As farmers, as fisherman, we don't want more than our daily bread. In Egypt we say the sea always wants more, those who have money don't need more, but they like it."

The slogan of the Egyptian revolution was bread, freedom, and social justice. But on this island, they're in danger of losing their bread, their livelihood. 25 people are behind bars. No sign of social justice here.

As dusk approaches, residents cross the water back to their quiet island, their island, but for how much longer?

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Qursaya Island, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, a very public apology and penance, a Japanese pop singer seeks forgiveness for breaking the rules of her band.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now a strong winter storm is bringing heavy snow, wind and rain to South Asia. Let's get more now with our Mari Ramos. She joins us from the world weather center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Krisite, yeah. It's been a pretty nasty across many parts of this region. One of the hardest hit areas across Islamabad, for example, they've had rain, significant rainfall over the last couple of days and just in the last few hours winds were howling up to 70 kilometers per hour in the middle of a thunderstorm. So this is pretty significant. It's been very windy in New Delhi as well.

I want to start you off with pictures of the snow, though. And look at this, this is in Kabul. And, yeah, quite a bit of snow on the ground here as well. By some estimates maybe about 10 centimeters of snow. There aren't a lot of readings here as far as telling us how much snow has actually fallen in this region. But you can see in this picture people have it past their ankles. So, that's a little bit of an indication. And they look happy, so some people enjoying the winter weather.

However, for many people it is very difficult. And this is the contrast. Here you see a woman. She is begging for money in the middle of the street. The street is wet. There's wet snow falling and the cars are just driving right by.

Her situation and millions more that are in similar conditions. According to the UN, there may be as many as 3 million people in refugee camps like the ones you see right here.

You see these three children there in the photograph. And if you look closely, the one in the middle doesn't have any shoes on. And look at the homes, they're made out of really mud and these mud huts. This picture taken before the snow started falling. We understand that now there's a lot of snow on the ground across these areas here.

Area of low pressure will continue making its way across this region here. The heavy snowfall will start tapering off probably by tomorrow across northern parts of Afghanistan. But it will continue across northern Pakistan here and then also across northern India.

I was telling you New Delhi has been very windy as well and rainy. The rain will probably be heavier overnight tonight and as we head into tomorrow. And that will spread to areas farther to the south here into those northern plains.

So a lot going on with this weather system. And like I said, this is not something that is going to end very quickly.

Some of the warnings that have come out from a different weather departments in Pakistan and also in India, especially in the higher elevations with the heavy snowfall that we're expecting and also with the wind, the likelihood for avalanches is high or landslides also where it's not snowing and it is raining. The rain has been very, very heavy.

Look at these estimates for snow. In Srinagar, over 40 centimeters of snow expected. In Gilgit in Pakistan over 37 centimeters of additional snow expected. This is taking -- not taking into account what's already on the ground. So that's pretty significant.

And notice how the colors get a little bit lighter here as we head into Afghanistan and areas farther to the north.

So this is a big winter storm system. And it is a slow mover.

Talk about winter weather, let me show you this next set of pictures. This is from China. And here there were about a thousand people, Kristie, that were left stranded because of the wintry conditions. You see there at the airport. You know, if you're flying, you never want to see this kind of stuff, because you know you're going to be on the ground for a long, long time.

They did a pretty good job of cleaning it up. But the airport was one story. There were a lot of problems on the roadways that had to be closed down as well, because they're not as quick to clean up, of course. Kilometers and kilometers of highway.

Come back over to the weather map, the heaviest chance for snow is going to be here as we head across the Korean peninsula and also across parts of Japan. Of course this is big travel weather also across much of China for the lunar new year celebrations that have already -- the travel period has already begun. So we're looking at weather that should be relatively quieter as we head to the next few days compared to what we had before.

And last but not least, we have yet another weather system coming in across central parts of Europe, this one bringing some very windy conditions. The rain has remained away from London for now, 10 degrees there, 5 in Glasgow, 10 in Paris. And notice the coldest air still here to areas to the east.

I think I have one more graphic to show you -- there we go -- temperatures in the south. 13 in Marseilles, 12 in Rome, 12 in Madrid.

Back to you.

LU STOUT: Wow, some -- with the exception of that area, some very challenging weather conditions all across the world. Mari Ramos there, thank you.

Now a teen pop star in Japan, she has made a tearful online apology for breaking one of J-Pop's cultural codes of honor as Alex Zolbert now reports the scandal highlights a curious pop phenomenon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX ZOLBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A startling apology by a young woman who some say did nothing wrong. 20 year old pop star Miname Minegishi tearfully apologizes to her fans with her head shaved as an act of contrition.

"Everything I did is entirely my fault. I'm so sorry."

Her mistake, she says, "spending the night with a singer from a popular boy band.

Minegishi has been demoted within the Japanese super group AKB48, a group that started in this district of Tokyo.

"I know she wanted to say sorry, but shaving her head is too extreme," this girl says.

"Shaving her head, it's a bit crazy."

"She is a Japanese idol. I guess she does have to follow the rules of the group."

While the girls are not banned from dating, they are encouraged to maintain an image of innocence and purity for their fans. But critics say the group's videos are anything but conservative, showing young girls in very skimpy outfits.

And just how popular is this band? Shows at this theater sell out almost every day and have done so for years. These days, there are nearly 90 members in the band as well as offshoots in other countries.

The fans choose who the superstars will be, voting for their favorites after buying a CD, of course.

It's a music democracy that is minting money, and again generating controversy.

Alex Zolbert, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now you heard Alex say that AKB48 has nearly 90 members. It actually holds the title of world's largest band in the Guinness Book of Records. Now this is the official website. And the girls perform in four different groups of about 20. And the structure means that one team can perform daily in Tokyo while others go on tour.

Now singing competitions are continually held to bring in new members all between the ages of 14 and 20. And as you can see, Minami Minegishi, she has been demoted.

And despite her tearful apology she has been dropped down to trainee status.

And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END