>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. shell. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> the day many people thought they would never see. burma's opposition leader is to stand for election. the president of football tells the bbc he's sorry and he's hurting over his controversial comments on racism in the sport. britain and germany square up on how to solve the eurozone crisis. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm david eades. also coming up in the program -- how battlefield lessons on blood transfusions could be saving more civilian patients. and find out what this little yorkie made of life in the fast lane. >> hello. thanks for being with us.

the burmese pro-democracy leader, aung san suu kyi, has said she will stand for election toss parliament following a series of political reforms. her party, the national league for democracy, has agreed to register for upcoming elections. and the meeting of asian nations in bali, president obama said he had spoken to mr. chi and will be sending his secretary of state to burma next month, the first such trip there for 50 years. we'll be gauging response to that view from burma a little bit later in the bulletin. also, though, within the past hour, in fact, the fifa president, sepp blatter, has told the bbc he's sorry for causing offense following his controversial statements on racism in football. he also says he won't resign. in an exclusive interview with the bbc sports editor, the 75-year-old said it hurts, i'm still hurting. he admitted it was a serious incident, as he called it, and that he had used unfortunate

words which he deeply regretted. he said, "i can only say i'm sorry for all those people affected by my deck l.a. rations. my sight against racism and discrimination will go on. it will never stop." well, that interview with sepp blatter only just ended. it was carried out by our sports editor, david bond. >> i think he was genuinely shocked. i mean, it was an extraordinary interview. i can't remember ever seeing him look quite as sort of humbled and contrite. he wasn't the usual sort of fifa figure who we're used to, sort of managing to bat away all the criticism or difficult questions. he genuinely looked quite shaken by it all. i think he made repeatedly his case that he's long been a fighter against racism in football. and i think he just hasn't quite grasped that what the point he was trying to make had

been so offensive. i think it's just taken him this long for him to realize it. and, of course, this will now lead to questions over his leadership, whether he's useable at the age of 75 to be leading fifa through what has been an incredibly turbulent period in their history and the period in his presidency. and, again, by saying sorry, people say now he looks -- he looks weak, but i think those people who have been criticizing over the last 48 hours, at least now that appears to have had an impact on him, and he does appear to be showing some contrition. >> david bond there. i wonder if it's going to bring an end to the criticism. sepp blatter's original remarks widely condemned, in particular by british representatives, players among them. david beckham, for example, describing the comments as appalling. >> i think the comments were appalling. i think a lot of people have said that.

i don't think the comments were very, you know, very good for this game. you know, i have no power with who goes and who stays within fifa, and i don't wish to have that. but, you know, there obviously is and has been racism throughout soccer and in life over the last few years. but i do think, especially being around the england team, being around the f.a., the f.a. do a lot of work with kicking racism out of the game, and i think they've made huge strides in the last 10, 15 years. but, you know, it's still there. and it can't just be swept under the carpet, and it can't just be sorted out with just a handshake. >> the views of david beckham. russell is here now to get a slightly broader perspective on this. the condemnation has been rife. the apology pretty humble, too.

but not everyone is sticking the knife into sepp blatter. >> no. as we have been discussing over the last few hours, this story has caused particular outrage in the u.k., and the reaction elsewhere has been less severe. and there's one man in particular who spoke out to the bbc within the last couple of hours, a south african minister by the name of tokyo sexwale, who went into fire fighting mode. there was a picture of blatter and sexwale. as a man who was imprisonned during the apartheid era, clearly fifa made the point they've done a lot of work to combat racism in the sport. rio ferdinand, another player, said on twitter, fifa clear up the comments with a pic of him posing with a black man. i need the hand covering eyes symbol. he wasn't impressed. we can hear from the man himself, and he's been in recent touch with the fifa president. >> i am satisfied to state that

i had a telephone conversation with mr. blatter this morning, where he indicated that he will be issuing a statement apologize without any reservation, beyond the statement that he issued earlier. i wanted to say it takes a big man to say i'm sorry. in fifa, we kick the football and not a man. >> well, he certainly said sorry. that's true. he also said, as far as racism on the field of play goes, finished, zero tolerance. this was a good lesson for me as well. i suppose those will say, all in all, this has been a good issue to be thrown up in this way in terms of tackling the issue. >> yes, and it's a very topical issue at the moment. in the english premier league is in the headlines at the moment. the england captain, john terry, is alleged to have made some racism comments. he strongly denies that, but the football association are looking into it.

they're also waiting for a police investigation as well before they decide whether it's a case to answer. and also, the uruguay national has been charged with using racism comments, and that seems to boil down to the nuance of the word he used. he's not denying that he used some fairly strong language as they had a bit of a bustup in the game, but he's saying, well, it's language that is used by his own teammate. >> and he suffered a lot worse than that, you're saying, in times gone by. >> yes, but the question is, is it still offensive, even if somebody has said it to you, up say it to somebody else, are you causing offense, and therefore, is it an offense? >> russell, thanks very much indeed. right, let's gets back to the situation in burma, because the pro-democracy leader, aung san suu kyi, has confirmed she will stand for elections to parliament following a series of political reforms. her party is the national league for democracy. it's agreed to register for

upcoming elections. we can go live to david lorn outside the headquarters of the n.l.d. in the former burmese capital, rangoon. i suppose it's fair to say, it could conceivably be a highly historic moment. >> this is a historic moment for burma and certainly for the national league for democracy, what looks like a ramshackle street corner really near rang an, -- near rangoon, but it's a focal point. only a year ago, they decided obstacles put in the way of them by the government were too great and they weren't going to try to stand in elections. they've now agreed, after what was said to me by several people here, was a difficult meeting, because some of them said we ought to wait longer to get more out of the government, but they have agreed that they will register for these

bielections, 48 byelections next year, and most significantly, aung san suu kyi said at the meeting she is inclined to stand, she has the will to stand. all of those are code for what she told me clearly on the bbc yesterday, aung san suu kyi told the bbc that she would be agreeing to stand today and that's what she's done. >> david, in terms of further steps, we talk about some members of the party wanting more. we've been waiting for, perhaps that may be putting it too strongly, the possibility of political detainees getting out in the course of this week. any sign of that happening? >> no, they haven't been releapsed, but the party believes that aung san suu kyi has a secret deal with the new reformist president, and they're taking her at her word. she's been told by the president that all prisoners will be released, so they're saying, well, that's fine, that's enough for them. so one outstanding obstacle, which did cause some discussion

at the meeting, particularly from committee members who come from border regions was the continuing and worsening ethnic warfare. they want to see more progress from the government, a cease-fire before they come into the political process. but in the end, they, too, agreed with this historic decision by the national league for democracy. the party originally founded by the nationalist hero, aung san suu kyi's father, aung san, as the founding party, if you like, of burma, that she would stand in these elections next year. >> david, thank you very much indeed, david loyn speaking to us from burma. the former sri lankan general credited with defeating the tamil tigers has been sentenced to three years in jail for making false allegations against the government. general sarath fanseka was accused in 2009. she's called for closer

eurozone integration. he's described himself this week as among the skeptics on europe and lashed out at what he called out of touch e.u. institutions. but ads the german chancellor, angela merkel, hosts talks with david cameron, what they will share is a pressing need for action to resolve the eurozone debt crisis. en route to germany, the british prime minister also held talks with other e.u. leaders in brussels. >> first to brussels and breakfast meetings with the man at the top of the european bureaucracy. it's all smiles for the cameras, of course, but what was going to be a routine series of meetings in europe has taken on a new importance for mr. cameron because of the crisis in the eurozone. when david cameron and angela merkel have met before, the chemistry between them has seemed good. when they sit down in berlin later today, there will be tough issues on the table, issues at the heart of europe. how deep should integration be?

how far should individual countries be inside the euro tent and how to keep that tent from weathering the storms of the financial markets. the german leader wants ever closer cooperation. >> of course there are contentions. this demands a great deal of political sensitivity from us, but i personally want a europe with great britain in it. >> mr. cameron talks of a more flexible vision of a network. >> one with the flexibility of a network, not the rigid of a bloc. >> the money traders will be watching carefully. they know there are real differences in these positions. david cameron is expected to ask mr. merkel to use the european central bank as the lender of last resort to eurozone countries in trouble. but germany is opposed to anything that smacks of printing money. berlin thinks that leads only

one way -- to inflation. another difference -- in germany, there's talk of a tax on financial transactions that might help finance the loans required by greece,ity lee, and others. but britain sees that idea as a tax on the big banks of the city of london. across the countries of southern europe, demonstrations against austerity continue. britain and germany may have their differences, but they both want the contagion in the money markets and scenes like these on the streets to stop spreading. mark doyle, bbc news. >> we're getting a panoramic view there of many of the southern european countries, and aaron is here to bring us more, well, deeply gloomy figures about spain as they head for the election. >> yeah, absolutely. we've seen what happens with elections, and you get a new leader in place, and we've seen it inity scomplee greece, and the market is going to take emotion a new person or cabinet

at the top. but we're talking about spain. the focus is spain. spain has now once again become the new weak link of the eurozone. let me break this down, because we're talking about overall debt for a country compared to what the country manufacturers, earns, and sells. we always talk about italy and have been for some time, italy's debt to g.d.p. is at 120%. that's a very large, astonishing number. some new figures have been brought up by mckenzie, a company looking at spain's books. spanish debt as a collective household debt, corporate debt, financial debt, and government debt, is at 363% to g.d.p. that is an astonishing number, and they say the big jump in spain's debt took place when spain became a member of the eurozone and got the borrowing bug. in fact, they increased that debt by 171% once they joined the euro and started getting access to cheap money. it's a huge problem.

the markets borrow 3.6 billion euros, and they paid a pinch just under 7%, the horrible level where you go it's all unraveling. financial experts say it's on the precipice, the eurozone is on the precipice, and they believe greece, by the first quarter of next year, will be out, followed by ireland and portugal. it's a real mess at the moment. i'll have more on the "world business report" in about 15 minutes' time. >> aaron, thank you very much. thank you for watching us here on "bbc world news." i'm david eades. i'll be bringing you in a moment the struggle to rebuild christchurch nine months after the earthquake which devastated new zealand's second city. international pressure is mounting on the syrian government. germany, france, and britain have tabled a resolution calling for an end to human rights violations in syria. the resolution includes the arab league's planned deadline

for an end to the violence, and it's already been backed by several arab countries. at the same time, russia's foreign minister has said that the syrian opposition used armed force against assad and could plunge the country into civil war. richard galpin reports. >> so far this week, the violence in syrian towns and cities has been relentless. even as the arab league deadline for an end to the bloodshed fast approaches. and in these circumstances, there seems little chance the syrian government will comply with the deadline to pull its forces back and let in foreign observers. at the moment, the main opposition groups are from the majority sunni population, trying to overthrow a regime led by minority facts, and there are other divisions, too. >> i think when you look at the makeup of syria, we have kurds,

sunnis, christians, muslims, it's a far more scomplict fabric. and as a result, this is why i think all of us in the international community are concerned, because if it starts to unravel, it's not going to be a sort of straightforward libyan scenario. it will be an even more complicated scenario. >> a further complication, the support president assad enjoys from the militant islamic groups hezbollah and hamas, which syria has long sponsored. then there's its ally, iran, whose revolutionary guard apparently advised mr. assad on how to suppress protests. there's also its neighbor and trading partner, iraq, which abstained on the arab league vote and further appealed is russia and china, still wary of joining the criticism of damascus. so even as the conflict in syria looks more and more like a civil war, you can sense this

in the international community on effective, concerted action to halt the violence, and it remains extremely unlikely. richard galpin, bbc news. >> president hugo chavez of venezuela has ordered thousands of national guard troops on to the street to tackle widespread violent crimes. the president placed these troops under new command to be known as the people's guard. it was sworn in on thursday, and the aim is to operate in the capital caracas, along with two neighboring states. it's the rising levels of murder, kidnaps, robbery, which have made venezuela one of the most dangerous countries in latin america. crime certainly expected to be a major issue, if not the issue in next year's presidential election. >> this is "bbc world news." i'm david eades. these are the headlines -- burma's pro-democracy leader is to stand for election, the

first test of her popularity in 20 years. the president of world football says he is sorry for causing offense with his comments on racism in football. we're going to stay with that story, because david davis is the former executive director of the english football association and joins me now. david, thanks for coming in. i just wanted your response to what sepp blatter has had to say, because this is contrition big time. >> well, yes, it is, a full apology from mr. blatter, he's sorry it hurts, and still hurting, he says, it was a serious incident. unfortunate words that he used, and he deeply regrets those words. and, you know, it is a full apology, and it will be foolish not to see it in that light. >> it's not as if everyone has condemned what today say, and i think it's fair to say the english have probably been driving a lot of this sort of attack on blatter.

>> rather than the english f.a., i feel there's no question that this subject is regarded with the utmost seriousness and great sensitivity. and the reaction of some of the players, particularly one thinks of rio ferdinand, but others as well that has given much of this. >> you mentioned period in order. david beckham has said the same, and yet we are in a country where the captain of england's football team is under a cloud at the moment over allegations of racist comments against a fellow player. >> and that shows, david, the microscope that english football is under week in, week out. that is the reality. it has its upside, financially not least, and the rest of the world is watching and listening. >> let me just ask you about blatter then. he has certainly rode a long road back, deep regrets what he said. it's not the first time he's,

frankly, put his foot in it on issues, homophobic comments as well have been made. is he a man who should be striding the world stage of the biggest sport in the world at the age of 75? >> the reality is that it's only a few months since 186 nations voted for mr. blatter. it's entirely correct that england was not one of those countries. and england has got to recognize that fact, and increasingly, i think the relatively new leadership of the f.a., again, relatively new leadership of the f.a., does recognize that and is building new bridges within europe anyway. but the fact of the matter is that racism, the campaigns i'm proud having played a part in using football to fight racism starting that joint campaign, but also some other groups in the mid 1990's. we've made progress, but has racism been eradicated from football on or off the pitch in

england, let alone other countries? no, it has not. >> still a long way to go. david, thank you very much. new zealand may well be celebrating their recent victory in the rugby world cup, but for residents of christchurch, nine months after the earthquake which claimed 181 lives, that mood of sporting celebration is matched by one of uncertainty about the future. we have a report from new zealand's second city. >> it was the moment when christchurch changed forever. february's earthquake struck at the very heart of the city with terrifying force. 181 people lost their lives, and the nation was left in shock. almost nine months on, new zealand's famed garden city remains in ruins. $11 billion has been invested by the government into reconstruction, but with plans yet to be approved, progress is slow.

the task of recovering from the christchurch earthquake is proving a long and painful one, this is the red zone, the worst hit inner city, and they won't be open until april at the earliest. an estimated 20,000 people have left the city, and among those that remain, there's frustration. how is the recovery effort going, do you think? >> very slow. considering what they want to do and been done. >> our city is dying. it's gone nowhere. if you're out in the suburbs, people are there, tremendous streets where you can't actually drive. >> as far as having all the infrastructure, everything completing up to speed, it be be a very, very long time, five, six years plus. yes, i do understand the frustrations, but i have to keep my head clearly in a space that looks some years out and make sure that every decision we make now is going to build a more secure future.

>> the disaster cost christchurch the rugby as the a.m.i. stadium was due to host, and the local economy continues to suffer. how has business been affected? >> it's really bad. it's quite quiet, as we would expect, and so is foot traffic. >> this tv station was one of the worst victims, losing its headquarters and many staff. today it's back on air from studios that, until recently, were used for a local newspaper. each broadcast speaks of defiance. >> we have seen, as a symbol of the recovery, because people are saying, hey, listen, you lost 16 out of 27, and you've done it, you've come back. if you can do it, canterbury can do it. >> despite rich resilience, they continue to struggle with

long-term uncertainty. the task of recovering from its darkest day, perhaps the greatest challenge the country has ever faced. >> just want to take you to a slightly lighter story. may not seem so at first sight. this is of a little yorkie in arizona, a yorkie terrier dog which was charging up and down a very busy highway there. just have a look at the pictures here. what has happened is it jumped out of a car which had been involved in a crash and was then just fleeing up the highway. you can see the police got involved to a certain extent, but the dog just kept on going, crossing the busy highway itself, getting more and more fatigued, but still managing a quick spurt to evade the police officer one more time until finally he does manage to corner him and take him away, not before the yorkie tried to take a little bite out of him as well, we're told, at the same time. that's on the website. if you just put in a search of dog and arizona, you'll find the yorkie again.

but also much more on all our main stories. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. union bank. and shell. >> this is kim - about to feel one of his favorite sensations. at shell, were developing more efficient fuels in countries like malaysia that can help us get the most from our energy resources. lets use energy more efficiently. lets go.

>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.