BBC News with Jerry Smit.
The long-serving President of the governing body of world football, Sepp Blatter, has recognised that the corruption scandal engulfing the Organisation has brought shame and humiliation to football. But addressing the opening of FIFA's annual Congress in Zurich, Mr. Blatter distanced himself from senior officials against whom charges have been filed. He said he couldn't keep an eye on everyone.
I know many people hold me ultimately responsible for the actions and implementation of the global football community, whether it's a decision for the hosting of a World Cup or a corruption scandal. We, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time. If people want to do wrong, they will also try to hide it. Our sports news correspondent, Alex Capstick, has this assessment of the day's events.
This was vintage Sepp Blatter, blame others for the wreckage and then make a pledge to fix it. Not for the first time he's tried to distance himself from a scandal. He did say the next months will be difficult, and to expect more bad news. But he seemed determined to fight on. His speech at the opening ceremony of FIFA's Congress followed a gruelling day. The Head of UEFA, Michel Platini, asked him to step down, an offer he rejected. One of the main sponsors, VISA, threatened to review its relationship with the Organisation. Alex Capstick.
In a whirlwind tour of European capitals aimed at securing support for his proposed E.U. reform, the British Prime Minister, David Cameroon, has met President Francois Hollande in Paris. At a joint news conference, Mr. Hollande said they would discuss Mr. Cameroon's proposals. Mr. Cameroon said the status quo was not good enough.
I believe there are changes we can make that will not just benefit Britain, but the rest of Europe, too. Of course, the priority for Francois is to strengthen the Euro Zone to ensure a successful single currency, and Britain supports that. We want to help the Euro Zone work better, and we do not want to stand in the way of closer integration. So we have different priorities, but we share a common objective, which is to find solutions to these problems.
Prosecutors in the United States have charged fifteen Chinese nationals with developing and running a fraudulent scheme to fake the results of entrance tests to American colleges and universities. The scam involved the use of impostors to sit the texts.
Researchers in Britain say trials in Africa have shown that a mobile phone can provide the same tests as an optician's clinic. The team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have modified a smartphone to carry out eye tests. The test is portable and can be used with little training in remote parts of the world, where there is no access to specialist services.
World news from the BBC.
Two car bomb explosions, which appeared to have been coordinated, have targeted high-profile hotels in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Police and doctors in Baghdad say at least ten people were killed and dozens injured in the explosions, which went off near the newly-refurbished Babylon and Ishtar Hotels just before midnight.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has signed a decree, making military losses in special operations during peace time a state secret. The decree is thought to be aimed at stamping out leaks on the deaths of Russian soldiers across the border in Ukraine. From Moscow, here's Sarah Rainsford.
President Putin has said time and again that Russian forces are not fighting in eastern Ukraine, and yet evidence to the contrary has been mounting, as have reports of an increasing number of Russian soldiers returning home in bodybags. Attempts by activists to confirm those deaths with official sources have failed. From now on, anyone who does have that information and discloses it will be committing a criminal act. Moscow says the only Russians fighting in Ukraine are volunteers.
Federal prosecutors in the United States have indicted the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, for fraud charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Mr. Hastert was charged with withdrawing almost a million dollars in cash from a bank in an attempt to evade the requirement that banks disclose any large cash transactions. The alleged misconduct involved payments to an unnamed individual.
Police in Ecuador have seized around two hundred thousand sharks fins, which were about to be illegally exported to Asia. The fins, often used to make soup, where discovered after raids on nine locations in the port city of Manta. Six people, including a Chinese national, have been arrested on charges of damaging wildlife. The Interior Minister said at least fifty thousand sharks had been killed by the traffickers.