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NEWS STREAM

Sterling's Wife Agrees To Sell Clippers For $2 Billion; Pakistani Woman Killed By Family; Two Arrested After Teenaged Indian Girls Raped and Hung; Who Is Roland Garos?; Crews Scramble To Improve Maracana Stadium Grounds Ahead Of World Cup; Second OSCE Crew Disappears In Ukraine; New Pro-Breastfeeding Campaign In Mexico City Sparks Controversy

Aired May 30, 2014 - 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 we speak to the husband of a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for refusing to give up Christianity and take a special look at the challenges facing women around the world.

Microsoft's former CEO might have a new title soon, owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers.

And we tour the famous stadium set to host the World Cup final, the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

Now three major stories are putting the treatment of women in the spotlight this Friday. In Sudan, one woman is praying that she'll be allowed to stay alive in a case that puts Freedom of Religion front and center.

And outrage in India after two teenaged girls are brutally raped and murdered in a shocking crime there.

And in Pakistan, a woman to be, a mother to be is killed by her own family members.

All three cases have sparked anger around the world.

Now let's start in Sudan. And 27-year-old Miriam Ibrahim (ph), she gave birth to a baby girl there this week, but she doesn't know whether she'll be able to see her daughter or her 20-month-old son grow up.

Now a court sentenced Ibrahim to death earlier this month, because she refused to give up Christianity. And Nima Elbagir spoke to Ibrahim's husband and has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, Daniel Wani thought he had it all, a beautiful wife, a new future.

This is his new reality -- the first glimpse of his baby girl inside a jail cell. His wife's shackles just out of view.

Daniel told us his wife Mariam Ibrahim was accused last September of apostasy, abandoning her Muslim faith. It's a crime punishable by death under Sudan's harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

(on camera): When you met her, she told you she was a Christian?

DANIEL WANI, HUSBAND: She was a Christian.

ELBAGIR: And she was a practicing Christian?

WANI: Yes. She would practice, she would go, perhaps she was even more committed than me.

ELBAGIR: A court here in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, ruled on May 15th that Mariam was guilty and sentenced her to death. The ruling has sent shockwaves both in Sudan and around the world.

(voice-over): Daniel now faces losing not just his wife, but life as he knows it.

(on camera): How did it feel for you to hear that your marriage wasn't valid?

WANI: An "illegitimate" marriage does not result in legally recognized offspreing, which means my son, Martin, and the new baby, they are no longer mine.

There is pressure in her from Muslim religious leaders, that she should return to the faith, and, she says "how can I return when I never was a Muslim? Yes, my father was a Muslim, but I was brought up by my mother.

So this issue that she will "return," I doubt it. I know my wife. She's committed. Even last week, they brought in Sheikhs and she told them, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to change my mind.

ELBAGIR: And your children were baptized?

WANI: Martin, yes. Martin was.

ELBAGIR: And your new daughter?

WANI: Not yet. She's only a day old.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Daniel's case is closely watched throughout Sudan. The Christian community here says they are praying for him, praying that he'll be able to keep his family together.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, Khartoum, Sudan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Daniel Wani is a citizen of the U.S., one of several countries that provide humanitarian aid to Sudan. There are now growing calls for these countries to withhold aid over the death sentence.

Now CNN's world affairs reporter Elise Labott asked the U.S. State Department spokeswoman about that possibility and here is how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: It's not just the United States, obviously a range of countries has put a significant amount of public pressure on in this case. I'm not aware of that option being considered, but we will continue to press through every channel we can our concerns about this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now meanwhile, it's nothing short of a horror story in India. Now a warning here, the images that we're about to show, they are very, very disturbing, but we're showing them in order to make clear the inhumanity and the horror of what happened.

Now police say that two teenaged girls, they were gang raped and then murdered by being hanged from a tree.

They remained there for about 15 hours as angry villagers protested around the bodies and prevented police from taking them down.

Now the victims, they were cousins. They were just 14 and 16-years- old. And it happened in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Now the girls' families accused three bothers of carrying out the attack. And here is what the police superintendent said about the case.

MAAN SINGH CHAUHAN, BUDAUN POLICE SUPERINTENDENT (through translator): The family members complained that they had initially lodged a complaint with the officers at the police station, but they did not pay any heed or give any response. In the morning, the bodies of the girls were found hanging from a tree. We have registered a case now. The family has alleged that the girls were raped before they were killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now two of the brothers accused by the girl's families have been arrested. And police are searching for the other.

A police officer has also been taken into custody, accused of failing to respond when the case was first reported.

Now there have been protests in Pakistan over the killing of a woman police say was stoned to death by members of her own family because they disapproved of the man she loved.

Farzana Parveen (ph) was brutally attacked outside the Lahore high court on Tuesday. Now Pakistan's prime minister has ordered a full report on the attack.

And in another twist, Farzana's (ph) husband has told CNN he killed his first wife so he could marry her.

Farzana Parveen's death was referred to as an honor killing linked to traditional values and religion. But human rights activist Farzana Bari disagrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARZANA BARI, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think honor killing has nothing to do with religion. I think it's all about patriarchy, it's about all about men control over women's bodies, all about male domination in culture and tradition.

However, I must say that the religion has then been used, you know, because the interpretation of religion, which is very much in the hands of this very conservative men normally, they also interpret religion in a manner whereby they create justification for this kind of, you know, culture and customs whereby women's lives are at risk.

Basically, the people have no fear of law, you know, they -- I think because there is a culture of impunity. And as a result of that, people feel free and they can do even these kind of act outside the court of justice, because apparently they feel they can get away with that and also because they are so violent, you know, in their mindset, so extremist and they feel that, you know, without being aware of the consequences -- (inaudible) I think, but for them these things are like this irrational things are so important to them that they will inflict and commit that kind of crimes.

So I think just generally reflect on the sick mindset of the society. And we are moving towards that, because increasingly there are more incidents of intolerance and violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And the threats of violence against women not limited to the countries we just told you about. A World Bank study shows women age 15 to 44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria.

And the situation is especially shocking in Asia and the Pacific region where a United Nations survey shows one in four men surveyed admitted to raping at least one woman. And nearly half of the men interviewed said that they had used physical or sexual violence against a female partner.

So how can you help? Well, you could go right here. Impact your world. It's online. We have a special section. It's dedicated to the missing schoolgirls in Nigeria. And you'll also find links to charities that work to educate girls not just there in Nigeria, but in poor countries all over the world. You can find that at CNN.com/Impact.

Now you're watching News Stream. And straight ahead this hour, another team of international monitors is missing in Ukraine. We'll update you on the dangerous situation in the country's east.

And a new report claims that hackers are zeroing in on top U.S. intelligence targets. And they're using sites like Facebook to do it. We'll bring you those revelations next.

Plus, the biggest bid in NBA history. Steve Ballmer is poised to snap up the L.A. Clippers, but will the former Microsoft CEO seal the deal?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Well, a second team of European observers has gone missing in Eastern Ukraine.

Now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says armed men stopped the four observers about 100 kilometers north of the city of Luhansk on Thursday. They have not been heard from since.

And another team of international monitors has been missing since Monday.

Now let's bring in Nick Paton Walsh. She joins us live from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. And Nick, four more OSCE monitors have been detained. What's the latest?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know little apart from then about 7:00 yesterday evening they lost contact with their headquarters, again, are now thought to be detained. as you said about 100 kilometers north of Luhansk by armed men suggesting again that separatists, or perhaps militants affiliated with them -- such a complicated patchwork now of armed groups -- have, in fact, taken them again.

Now this is a short period of time they've been held. I should point out that earlier this week, another incident happened, the third in fact, in which 11 such monitors were held briefly and then released. Then of course we're still trying to learn the fate of four other OSCE monitors abducted to the east of where I'm standing, east of Donetsk also on the Luhansk border area. They will have been missing and not heard from since 6:00 on Monday.

I should point out also, too, this is now four incidents in total of OSCE members losing contact for some period of time. If we go back a few weeks, remember there were a significant number held by Slovyansk separatists and subsequently released in what many thought had, in fact, been a prisoner swap.

So this, of course, must be making many in the OSCE deeply concerned about the future of their mission here. Remember, they're charged by Washington, Kiev, Brussels, Moscow, virtually everybody in trying to monitor the violence here so it can be deescalated somehow. And how we're seeing what looks like a pattern, it's fair to say, of the OSCE being specifically targeted -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, the detention of these international monitors just underscores the instability there in eastern Ukraine. But there in Donetsk, what is the latest word, Nick, about these talks between the government and separatist leaders, talks to end the unrest?

WALSH: Well, there's very little, frankly, it seems in the way of negotiations.

Serhiy Taruta told Hala Gorani yesterday that he wanted talks, but it was hard to know who to speak to.

We -- I think many people here imagine at some point there could be discussions in France at the D-Day commemorations where Francois Hollande will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president-elect will possibly be in the same room at some point, perhaps hopes that may thaw the ice or begin some international diplomatic process. But talks on the ground here are complicated by the fact that the rebels -- I should say the separatists themselves are fractured.

We've seen here how militants swept in yesterday and cleaned out all the protesters who were occupying the regional administration building (inaudible) headquarters of the separatists. And this is all began, there are now still the same leaders, but we know for a fact they don't get on particularly well with the separatist leadership in Slovyansk, a militant stronghold to the north of here.

So, yes, when Serhiy Taruta says it's hard to know who to talk to, he has a point there. Of course, although when he was speaking to us, speaking from Kiev, it's obviously hard, too, for the pro-Kiev government to maintain any sense of authority, particularly when we see a lot of the time the local police working alongside separatist militants.

So I certainly on the D-Day commemoration services perhaps whether that can spark an international diplomatic move here. But on the ground, negotiations, it seems at this point, thin -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Negotiations seem thin, talks of a diplomatic push. Meanwhile Ukraine's army is it still pushing on with its offensive against the separatists there?

WALSH: It says it is. And it has been saying that almost daily since this operation began. But we only really saw the first I think steely resolve on Monday when they moved in en masse with helicopters and jets to retake the airport from separatists.

That's the first time I think we've seen effectively a successful Ukrainian military operation to take and hold territory. They've had lots of attempts to move into Slovyansk, for example, in the past. We're not seeing moves on a large-scale in Donetsk City at all. We've seen a jet buzz it a couple of days ago twice. I think they're wisely staying out of populated areas like this.

And then you have to ask yourself what level of resources are available to them, what level of resolve is there, and also whether in fact what we saw on Monday at the airport was a bid by Petro Poroshenko to say, look, I do have military power in my arsenal ahead of potential negotiations in the future, not make it look like Kiev can only concede at this point -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: A lot of moving threads to this story. Nick Paton Walsh across it all joining us live from Donetsk. Thank you, Nick.

Now America's National Security Agency is firing back at Edward Snowden saying the intelligence leaker did not protest the nature of NSA's surveillance programs. It says that Snowden's claim that he did raise objections is undercut by an email exchange he had with the NSA general counsel's office.

Now Snowden calls the agency's release of the email on Thursday, quote, "incomplete."

In an NBC interview in Moscow, the fugitive ex-contractor was asked about Secretary of State John Kerry's comment that he should return to face the music in an American courtroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: When people say why don't you go home and face the music? I say you have to understand that the music is not an open court and a fair trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now the White House's clemency is not on the table for Edward Snowden.

Now for the past three years, senior U.S. military and diplomatic personnel have been the targets of an unprecedented cyber espionage campaign from Iran, that's according to a report by the cyber intelligence firm iSIGHT Partners. And Elise Labott has more on how the hackers stayed under the radar for so long and how they used social media to lure in their victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The hackers used social networks in a brazen and creative scheme to spy on high-ranking U.S. and Israeli officials. A new report by a private cybersecurity firm claims those hackers are based in Iran.

TIFFANY JONES, ISIGHT PARTNERS: While it's low sophistication technically, it's actually one of the most elaborate social media, or socially engineered espionage campaigns we've ever seen to date.

LABOTT: Here's how it works. The hackers create identities as journalists with a bogus online news site, News on Air. Sometimes they use real reporters' names, photos and bios. They strike up relationships with friends, relatives and colleagues of their targets on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with the target.

Once contact is made, the hackers send e-mails with links to real news stories in order to establish credibility. Over time, they lure the target to a fake website where they steal their passwords and other credentials.

In all, the report found more than 2,000 connections made by the hackers over the past three years, including a four-star U.S. admiral, British and Saudi officials, journalists and lawmakers. None of them are named. They appear to be after national security intelligence. But what information the hackers took is unclear.

There's no smoking gun pointing to official Iranian involvement, but the report cites circumstantial evidence.

(on camera): Do you think that the Iranian government was involved here?

JONES: We can't say for sure if the Iranian government was involved in this. What we can say is, based on who was targeted, the type of information they were going after, the infrastructure that was used and where it's registered in Tehran and a number of other indicators that we believe there are links to Iranian act.

LABOTT: Facebook says it was made aware of this scheme when alerted by some of its members of suspicious activity on their accounts and how now removed all of those fake profiles from the website. LinkedIn says it's investigating the claims.

The FBI and State Department have received the report and aren't commenting on it directly, but the STate Department says it has known in the past that hackers from Iran have used social media websites to investigate targets, including U.S. officials.

Elise Labott, CNN, The State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: But remember, Iran has been the victim of cyber attacks in the past. In 2010, it was hit by the Stuxnet computer virus targeting Tehran's nuclear program. Now the U.S. and Israel are widely believed to have been behind that attack.

Now ahead right here on News Stream, the Israeli military is asking Arab Christians to sign up, but some Christians are not happy with the new recruitment drive. We'll tell you why next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: It's coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today.

Now we started with the plight of women under threat around the world. A little later in the show we'll look at another close call between passenger planes in the U.S.

But now to Israel. Now Muslims and Christians are exempt from military service in Israel, but now the Israeli army is recruiting Arab Christians.

As Ben Wedeman reports, that is sparking accusations that the army is trying to divide Muslim and Christian Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A 22-year-old Israeli lieutenant leads his men on an exercise near the Gaza border. He looks and sounds like any other Israeli officer his age, but Rawhi Dabbas is different -- he's a volunteer in this conscript army, a Christian Arab from Nazareth.

"From when I was born and I grew up it was my dream to go into the Israeli Defense Forces," he tells me.

Muslims and Christians are exempt from military service in Israel, but recently the army announced it would send letters to every eligible Arab Christian male inviting them to join.

It's a controversial initiative that has raised the ire of many in the Christian community who see it as an attempt to further divide Muslim and Christian Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.

Rawhi himself concedes his decision to enlist alienated many in his community.

"Lots of my friends left me just because I was thinking of going into the army," he recalls. "Now when I go to Nazareth in uniform, some people look at me as if I'm a stranger."

At the moment Israeli officials say approximately 100 Arab Christians join the army every year. They're hoping with this new, more proactive recruiting program, that that number will increase.

In the remains of the Christian village of Ikrit in northern Israel, they won't find any takers.

Wesaam (ph) and Asal (ph) have just been married in the village church, the only structure left standing.

In 1948 during the war that led to Israel's creation, the Israeli army ordered the villagers out of their homes.

Fawzi Nasser was five months old at the time. His family settled in Nazareth, but returned to Ikrit whenever possible.

Fawzi flatly rejects the notion that his fellow Christians should serve in the army.

"We refuse on moral grounds," he says. "To serve in the army that has occupied us and made us homeless."

The Israeli army demolished Ikrit in 1951 on Christmas Eve. That bitter legacy is unlikely to inspire the grandsons of Ikrit's former residents to respond positively to the army's invitation coming in the mail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll take it and take a lighter and burn it up.

WEDEMAN: And some find it difficult to accept that a Christian like Lieutenant Rawhi Dabbas from Nazareth would join the Israeli army.

AMIR TOUMIE, IKRIT RESIDENT: He was born as a Christian as a Palestinian, he's supposed to know the story of the Nakbad (ph), the story of the displacing of the Palestinian people. So if he didn't realize the disaster that Israel has put on us and is put on us, so he has a problem. He has a real big problem.

WEDEMAN: These Christians, at least, are unlikely to fall into line.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Ikrit, Northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now this is News Stream. And still ahead, this former Microsoft CEO makes a whopping $2 billion offer to buy the Los Angeles Clippers and Donald Sterling's wife says she has accepted it.

And Rio's Maracana Stadium gets a face lift just ahead of the World Cup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Now two men have been arrested in the gang rape and murder of the two teenaged girls in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Now another suspect is being sought. And one police officer has been arrested, accused of negligence in the case. Now police say the victims were cousins aged 14 and 16. An autopsy confirms that they were sexually assaulted before they were hanged from a tree.

Now there have been protests in Pakistan over the killing of a woman police say was stoned to death by her own family because they disapproved of the man she married. Now Farzana Parvi (ph) was attacked outside the Lahore high court on Tuesday. Now Pakistan's prime minister has ordered a full report on the attack. And in another twist, Farzana's (ph) husband has told CNN that he killed his first wife so he could marry her.

Now a second team of international monitors is missing in Eastern Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says armed men stopped the team north of Luhansk on Thursday. They have not been heard from since. Ukrainian foreign ministry says pro-Russia separatists are holding four other observers who disappeared on Monday.

Now a recordbreaking basketball deal in the U.S., the former Miscrosoft CEO Steve Balmer has signed a $2 billion contract to buy the Los Angeles Clippers from Shelly Sterling.

Now the deal, it still needs approval from the NBA board of governors. And Donald Sterling's attorney says his client may have to sign off on it.

Donald Sterling, you'll recall, he's been banned from the league for making those racist comments in a recorded conversation.

Now CNN's Rosa Flores joins us now live with more on this story and also with more on the man who maybe the Clipper's next owner.

And Rosa, CNN has confirmed this blockbuster $2 billion deal.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. And you know open of the most important things that a new owner can bring to this team is a new beginning for all of the players, for all of the team, of course and everybody involved in this case. They want to move past this.

However, before that happens, Donald Sterling has to decide to sell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): It is one of the biggest deals in sports history, and the winning bidder, this man, Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, the price tag, $2 billion, handily beating out competing bidders like Oprah Winfrey and David Geffen by at least $400 million. But the deal is no slam dunk. Ballmer has signed an agreement with Shelly Sterling. But the next play belongs to Donald Sterling.

MAXWELL BLECHER, DONALD STERLING'S ATTORNEY: There is no sale and he is not yet agree to sign off, period.

FLORES: His lawyer telling Wolf Blitzer before news of the agreement that while Donald gave her permission to negotiate selling the team, he did not give her permission to actually sell the team.

BLECHER: Not without reaching an accommodation with the NBA, which gives him some form of vindication. The money is not critical to him.

FLORES: The NBA is pushing for a quick sale, trying to ward off a contentious meeting scheduled for this Tuesday where owners will officially vote to force Sterling out. The reaction overnight was quick, with Magic Johnson tweeting, quote, "Clipper fans, you'll love Steve Ballmer as your owner." But either way, Donald Sterling will not leave empty handed. He originally bought the team for $12 million. If the sale goes through, he stands to make over $1.9 billion in profit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now one thing is very clear, and that is that Shell Sterling is willing to sell. She wants to sell. And I want to share with you a quote she released just this morning. She says, "I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve who will be a terrific owner. We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success."

So Kristie, at this point it's a waiting game. The ball is definitely in Donald Sterling's court. He can either decide to sell or to sue, because he does have that right.

LU STOUT: Now Shelly Sterling, she wants to make this sale, we heard in that quote just then. She obviously likes Steve Ballmer.

Let's talk more about Ballmer. I mean, what would Ballmer, a very high profile and also, let's say, high energy tech executive. We've all seen the YouTube clips of him fist pumping away. What would Ballmer bring to the Clippers team and the fanbase as a new owner of the team?

FLORES: You know, well according to Forbes, he is worth $20 billion. He, of course, brings all that capital in. He brings his experience as a businessman. But I think the most important thing, really, is that he does bring a new beginning for that team. Everyone is ready to move on from all of the criticism, from all of the drama, and they just want to do what they do best, and that is to play basketball.

LU STOUT: Shelly Sterling wants to sell, Ballmer wants to buy, all eyes on Donald Sterling now. What's the latest on him and his state of mind in regards to the deal?

FLORES: You know, it's very interesting because his attorney made it very clear this is not about the money for Donald Sterling. He may -- he said it's -- he doesn't need the money. And so what does he want? His attorney says he wants vindication. He wants his name cleared from the association of the word racist.

So that's what he's contending with. And that's the big decision that he has to make. And then of course he also has to pay the $2.5 million fine that was imposed by the NBA.

But, hey, if you get $2 billion, I'm sure the $2.5 million won't be a problem.

LU STOUT: Indeed, indeed. Rosa Flores reporting, thank you very much for that.

Now $2 billion, the Clippers price if four times more than the previous record for an NBA team. But Steve Ballmer, he can afford it.

Now the long-time Microsoft CEO, he's worth some $20 billion. He will also be the richest owner in U.S. sports. And he'll be stealing that title from his former boss, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen who owns the NBA's Portland Trailblazers and the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.

Now the World Cup will kick off in just 13 days. And one of the most famous stadiums in world football, the Maracana Rio de Janeiro, is getting ready for the tournament.

Now it was built the first time Brazil hosted the World Cup back in 1950, and 64 years on the Maracana has been given a facelift in time for this World Cup.

But our Shasta Darlington was not too impressed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not looking so good. It's patchy and gravely in spots. They're obviously trying to do what they can to get it in shape. They don't let anybody walk on it, and they've brought out these grow lamps, but they don't have a lot of time and reportedly 37 games were played in the last 17 weeks.

Now during the World Cup, they're going to play seven matches here, more than any other stadium. The first will be Argentina against Bosnia and the last one will, of course, be the final decider on July 13.

The problem is, this isn't the first time people have complained about the pitch. They obviously haven't done enough about it.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now the Maracana is one of the world's most famous football stadiums, but it also holds very unhappy memories for Brazilians.

Let's take you back to that World Cup in 1950, almost 200,000 people they crammed into the Maracana for the final match between hosts Brazil and Uruguay. They expected a party, and the headline in newspapers that day even showed a picture of Brazil with the caption, these are the world champions.

But it was Uruguay that emerged victorious.

Now seeing Brazil lose the World Cup on home soil is still considered an incredibly traumatic event in the country's history, and one that they'll be hoping that they can avenge when the World Cup final is played in this same stadium on July 13.

Now the French Open where another big name is out. Now women's third seed Agniezka Radwanska, she crashed out on Friday. She was the highest seed left after Serena Williams and Li Na both lost.

Now the upset came just as it looked like the tournament's top seeds were getting back on track on Thursday. Rafael Nadal put the rising star Dominique Thiem in his place with a masterly display to reach the third round. Also moving on to the third is Nadal's prospective semifinal opponent Andy Murray who outclassed Morinko Matosevic in straight sets.

And last year's finalist David Ferrer, he put on a clinic with a straight sets win over Simon Bolelli.

Now the French Open is often known by the name of the venue where it's played, Ronald Garos. And you might assume that it's named after French tennis legend, but it's actually named for a war hero. Christina MacFarlane explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Visit the French Open and you'll be greeted by the names of players who have made their indelible mark on French tennis. But for some fans, perhaps the most important name of them all still remains a bit of a mystery.

Who is Roland Garos?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I think a former French tennis player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he was a player.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can pay me a million dollars, I still wouldn't know.

MACFARLANE: So, to enlighten you, here's a bit of history.

Born in 1888, Eugene Adrian Roland Garos was less known for his exploits on the court and more his acrobatics in the air. Not content with flying aircraft in the usual manner, in 1914, he became the first solo pilot to fly across the Mediterranean Sea from the south of France to Tunisia, setting a new world record.

MICHAEL GUITTARD, ARCHIVIST, FRENCH TENNIS FEDERATION MUSEUM: That's incredible for this period to make this sort of flight. When Roland Garos landing in Africa, using the suits, a great suits with everything of elegance from Paris. And that's the Ronald Garos touch, the French touch.

On the outbreak of World War I, Garos continued to use his aeronautical skills as a fighter pilot in the French air service, earning him the nickname Ace.

But his success in battle was due to one small crucial advantage.

GUITTARD: When you fight in the sky, we have two people in the plane, you have the pilot and behind you have another guy, a soldier, who has a gun, and you try to shoot the (inaudible). Ronald Garos with Raymond Sonier (ph), a great inventor, they worked together on a new system, a system of synchronization. You can shoot through the propeller, that's incredible.

So, with this invention, he was a hunter in the sky. He was a prisoner of war. And he finally escaped. And he go again to the front and he will die.

For me -- it's a little bit funny, but for me it's a kind of Indiana Jones, it's an adventurer. He makes a lot of things in a short life.

MACFARLANE: Even though he lived only 30 short years, Roland Garos is remembered as one of France's most celebrated war heroes, so much so that a newly formed tennis stadium built to host the 1928 David Cup tie was named after him in tribute.

So there you have it, Ronald Garos, the recordbreaker, the war hero, the grandslam.

Christina MacFarlane, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And still to come, another close call at a U.S. airport. After the break, we take a look at what's likely behind a string of similar incidents in recent weeks. Stay with us.

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LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Google has complied with the a European Union court ruling to allow users to remove selected information about themselves from search results.

Now users can fill out a form on this page here if they feel a search result is, quote, inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant or excessive.

Now the form asks for your name, the links for results that you want to remove, and also a copy of your ID to try and ensure that it is indeed a genuine request. And while this shows the Google has complied with the ruling, their CEO is not happy about it.

Larry Page told the Financial Times that the ruling, quote, "will be used by other governments that aren't as forward and progressive as Europe to do bad things."

Now, last week, we told you how two planes at a Newark airport in New Jersey nearly crashed into each other midair. And now this week, a Boeing 737 again came alarmingly close to colliding with a cargo plane, this time in Alaska.

Now Joe Johns takes a look at the recent surge of near collisions in U.S. skies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The cargo plane had just taken off on a collision course with the Alaska Airlines 737 attempting to land at Ted Stevens Airport in Anchorage. On board, 150 passengers and crew arriving from Portland.

Then, shortly after 3:00 in the afternoon, alarms began blaring in the cockpit, an air traffic collision avoidance system on the jet, similar to this one...

COMPUTER: Traffic. Traffic.

JOHNS: ...alerting the crew to "traffic," that another plane was nearby while both were over Fire Island Alaska, just seven miles from the airport, another deadly mid-air crash averted.

MARTY LAUTH, EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY: Usually when you get a TCAS, or the collision avoidance alert, the pilot that gets this reading, most of the time they might have 15 seconds, 20 seconds.

JOHNS: Tuesday's incident is the latest in a series of disturbing near collisions in the last few weeks. On April 24th, in Newark, a plane landing at the airport narrowly missed a plane taking off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was real close.

JOHNS: On April 25th, in the skies near Hawaii, collision avoidance alerts sounded in the cockpits of two planes as they approached each other.

Just this month, on May 10th at JFK Airport in New York, a passenger jet aborting a landing crossed too close to a plane taking off.

The day before that, at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport, a passenger plane taking off veered into the space of another aircraft that had just departed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea what was going on up in there in the tower, but you know, it was sort of gnarly looking.

JOHNS: So why does this keep happening? One former air traffic controller says the pressure is on to keep the planes flying and landing on time.

LAUTH: The controller's job is to keep these airplanes safely apart, but without undue amount of separation between them. Because otherwise now all of a sudden airplanes start backing up and you have a lot of delays and so forth.

JOHNS: The FAA says it is making changes to prevent this from happening in the future. For example, they changed rules for takeoffs and landings at Newark Airport. While officials say this happens every day, there is potential for danger, especially when the weather is bad and visibility is poor.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

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LU STOUT: Now, SpaceX is taking space travel to the next level. The company has just unveiled a new spacecraft to help the U.S. take astronauts to the International Space Station and back. It's introducing the Dragon V2.

Now SpaceX founder Elon Musk says the Dragon V2 will be able to transport as many as seven astronauts for several days.

Now SpaceX is hoping the new orbiter will be ready for its first use in 2017.

Now ahead right here on News Stream, a powerful earthquake rocks southwestern China. Dozens of people have been injured. We'll have the details next.

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LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And time now for your global weather forecast and the latest on that earthquake in Hunan, China. Details with Samantha Moore. She joins us from the world weather center -- Samantha.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Yes, we have seen a lot of aftershocks after this very strong quake. The USGS rating it 5.9 on the Richter scale. And it's very shallow as well, only about 10 kilometers in depth. So it sits right here along the China-Myanmar border. And you can see this is the shake map. And if you look at the scale here, strong to very strong shaking near the epicenter here, which is not that densely populated, but boy we have seen some damage coming out of the region.

Let's take a look at some of the video here, folks out on the streets trying to stay away from these dangerously unstable buildings. They have had dozens of aftershocks since the original quake, some of them 5.8 on the Richter scale.

One of the schools here evacuated, it was damaged by a 5.8 quake just a week ago. Of course this is an area that is earthquake prone. They're quite used to it, but as you can see it has really caused a lot of damage across the region. They have a reports of some 29 people injured. So far that is the count.

And of course, landslides in the area as well.

Of course, this is a very steep area in this mountainous region with these mountains extending it to 6,000 meters, so incredibly high elevations here and very steep terrain.

So as we go back to the shake map, you can see some of the landslides there, you can see how it's not very populated near the epicenter, but then as we pool away from the epicenter a bit, very populated. So they felt shaking here, moderate shaking well away even into Myanmar over the border. So many people affected by this very strong quake.

Other weather, I should say physical mother nature events affecting much of China. Of course the heat that we have seen across Beijing. And we also have the Plum Rains that have set up here, so more flooding possible near Shanghai as this frontal system has pulled up stationary and will continue to see the rain there and the heat to the north.

In fact, these temperatures,which have been mind boggling this week, will continue to stay on the hot side as we head into the next few days. So through the weekend continued warm, but certainly to cool it down once we get into the latter half of the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

So, talking about the heat, this is incredible heat that we have seen across much of India and Pakistan and the next three days here these temperatures staying well above average in an area that is already incredibly hot this time of year before the onset of the monsoon.

So we're seeing this very dry pattern continue. They're waiting for that monsoon to kick in here, so we can see some relief from the heat, but you can see the latest update keeping it stalled across the Bay of Bengal, and it's a few days behind, up to about a week behind at this point, and generally we do see the monsoon starting in in southern India and June 1, that is the official start of the season.

But as you can see, we are not quite there as of yet.

This is the average progression. So it looks like we're about a week behind. And it can come none too soon in terms of cooling them off a bit here.

Of course, it continues to progress, the average progression taking it across much of India as we head through the month of June and bringing with it some much cooler temperatures as the rain moves in. But right now, not a drop in sight.

Back to you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, for the meantime, extremely high temperatures across many parts of Asia. Samantha Moore there, thank you.

Now a controversial new ad campaign has been causing quite a stir in Mexico City. Now videos like this, they're at the core of a media blitz. It's pushing new mothers to nurse. But as CNN's Nick Parker reports, a lot of people aren't happy with the underlying message it's driving home to women.

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NICK PARKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "A mother who breastfeeds is the most beautiful," says this actress. So begins a controversial campaign featuring celebrities designed to encourage nursing.

The message translates to "don't turn your back, give them your breast."

REGINA TAMES NORIEGA, DIRECTOR, GIRE: Basically what the campaign does is say that you have -- if you don't breastfeed you're being a bad mother because you're giving them the back.

So I think that really discriminates and stereotypes women and that's really a concern.

PARKER: The World Health Organization recommends babies should be exclusively breastfed until six months. And they say Mexico is a country of real concern.

CHESSA LUTTER, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Over the last 35 years, what we've seen in Mexico is a decline in exclusive breastfeeding from around 30 percent to 15 percent. That's gone down by half. And what we've seen in other countries, similar countries in many ways to Mexico such as Colombia and Brazil, are huge increases.

PARKER: Ana Pena has an 18-month-old and is also pregnant. She did breastfeed and likes some aspects of the campaign, but...

ANA PENA, MOTHER: I feel they're not very connected with the image, because the mothers are very (inaudible) size, are very skinny, looking very glamorous, and at the same time, talking about a topic in which women feel physically not that attractive, not that glamorous.

PARKER: Opponents of the campaign say it should have connected with poor, less educated mothers. It begins with education.

The World Health Organization says educating mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding must begin in hospitals and health care workers better trained.

Reproductive rights groups say the recent controversy has given them a platform to highlight another key impediment to breastfeeding, it's just more convenient for working mothers to choose formula.

NORIEGA: What we think would be ideal, and upholding human rights of women, would be to have in the same working space a child center, and of course inside the child center a place where you can actually breastfeed.

PARKER: The Mexico City government says it welcomes all of the dialogue created by the campaign. Clashing viewpoints for what is ultimately the same aim.

Nick Parker, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now it was a rare tie at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on the U.S. on Thursday. Now two contestants were declared the winners after they ran out of words to spell correctly.

But the real highlight was this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May have the sentence please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tabatha discovers that while her milkshake brought all the boys to the yard -- oh boy -- oh, I'm sorry, I was reading the wrong thing.

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LU STOUT: If you're not laughing, you probably don't realize that he's accidentally recited the lyrics to the song Milkshake by Kelis, though thoroughly confusing that poor contestant who when he was only a toddler when that pop song was released back in 2003.

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

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