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Muslim Demonstrations Spread; Derek Jeter Ties Willie Mays In 2-0 Win Over Red Sox; British Royal Family Upset Over Published Topless Photos of Kate Middleton

Aired September 14, 2012 - 8:00   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.

And we begin in Egypt. Now demonstrators are gathered in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square, sometimes violent anti-U.S. protests continue across the region.

And Chinese ships arrive at a group of islands claimed by both China and Japan.

And William and Catherine are hugely saddened after a French magazine publishes topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Now U.S. diplomatic missions around the world are bracing for more protests as word of an inflammatory anti-Muslim film spreads, so do the demonstrations.

Now people have now taken to the streets in about a dozen nations and territories. Friday is a traditional day of protests in the Muslim world. And there are fears it could bring renewed violence.

Now we are already getting reports of shots fired in Yemen's capital. Looking at pictures we've just received from Sanaa. And we'll bring you much more on the situation there as we get it.

Now Egypt has seen four straight days of demonstrations. The ruling Muslim Brotherhood had called for nationwide protests on Friday, but it has now canceled all but one in Tahrir Square. Now police have tried to clear the area, but with no success. Now Tahrir Square is just a few kilometers from the U.S. embassy.

Now the Egyptian army is building a wall of concrete blocks on a road leading to the embassy to keep the crowds away.

And here is the scene in Cairo right now. Live pictures of your screen. You see people still gathering outside in Tahrir Square as the anti-U.S. protests continue. Now clashes there have injured more than 220 people. And in recent hours we have seen people throwing rocks and police carrying batons and shields, have responded with tear gas. And we'll bring you a live report in just a moment.

Now in Libya, a top government aid says that four people have been arrested in connection with Tuesday's deadly attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. But the aid says that the four are not directly tied to the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Now the allegations against those arrested and their identities have not been released. And the U.S. is trying to determine if a militant group planned the assault on the consulate and used protests against a controversial anti-Islam film as a cover.

Now following Tuesday's attack in Benghazi, U.S. president Barack Obama ordered security beefed up at U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world. And CNN world affairs reporter Elise Labott joins us now live from Washington.

Elise, the protests are growing, the tension is rising, how is security being enhanced at these U.S. missions worldwide.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, basically every post has been having meetings over the last 48 hours since that attack in Libya. And since these protests have been rocking the region in front of U.S. embassies, trying to make sure whether the posts need additional U.S. personnel, do they need more law enforcement from the local government? As you mentioned in Egypt, the Egyptian government is putting a wall. There are other things they can do such as barbed-wire. So it's a combination of the U.S. seeing how many more assets it can put out there. For instance, there is a U.S. warship headed to Libya to protect U.S. facilities in Tripoli. Or it's working with the host government to make sure that they're doing everything they can to prevent violence. And also asking governments and credible voices like Imams in the country to speak out against violence, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now the Libyan interior ministry says that four people have been arrested over that attack in Benghazi. What does the U.S. make of this announcement?

LABOTT: Well, I think they're going to be looking for the Libyans to initially to -- the investigation. But the FBI will be very much involved. We don't have word yet from the U.S. government specifically about these arrests, but this is the kind of thing that the U.S. is going to be looking for the Libyans to do very quickly.

LU STOUT: And why is the FBI leading this investigation?

LABOTT: Well, when there's a death of an American and when there's an attack against Americans, while the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon do their job, it's really the job of the FBI in terms of legal and law enforcement any type of investigation, because if these people were eventually were to be tried in the United States, then the Justice Department would take the lead. So FBI lead investigative agency.

LU STOUT: OK.

And what is the latest thinking there in Washington about the attack in Benghazi? Was it a premeditated attack?

LABOTT: I don't think they had any -- what they're saying anyway is officials say they don't have any specific or credible information, if you will, that an attack was being planned. They didn't know it was going to be planned in advance. But they do see, because of the sophistication of the weapons that were used and the level of ability they were able to penetrate the compound with such precision that this was a preplanned attack. But they didn't know, the U.S. government didn't know necessarily beforehand that this was taking place.

LU STOUT: And thinking about the security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi before the attack, was it a soft target? Was it not being adequately protected?

LABOTT: Well, the U.S. government maintains, the State Department maintains that it was protected, that there was this outer rim which -- of Libyan security which is, you know, very common at U.S. diplomatic posts. The host government has like a local contingency force and then they were penetrated that and then they also had guards at the main complex.

Obviously we see that it wasn't enough, because they were able to get through. And basically my understanding from the consulate is that there was kind of a half mile between an outer perimeter and the main complex. So once they got past the outer perimeter into the main area they certainly were able to overtake the guards there.

I mean, there's going to be a lot of investigating and finger pointing as to whether there was enough security. U.S. says there was, but the fact that this was able to happen clearly means that there wasn't.

LU STOUT: All right. Elise Labott joining us from Washington, thank you.

And as we've mentioned, protesters, they remain on the streets on Cairo. Ian Lee is watching the situation there for us. He joins us now.

And Ian, moments ago we saw that live shot of the scene there in Tahrir Square. There are many people there, but it's safe to say that the protest is dying down, that the tension is a bit lower?

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually what we have been seeing is the crowd in Tahrir Square grow steadily.

Earlier today it was a few hundred, now you could say it's around a couple of thousand people. But they're being relatively peaceful. And it isn't a large protest that we've seen in the past where you can get tens to hundreds of thousands of people. And really if you go -- there in Tahrir Square if you go 100 or 200 meters from the square toward the U.S. embassy that is where the clashes are happening right now between protesters and police.

I was down on that street earlier today and this is what I saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Well, it's Friday now and this battle here near the U.S. embassy has been going on since Wednesday night, continuous battle. And as you can see just from the battle there's debris everywhere. But right now what we have is we have the army constructing a concrete wall. And this is a tactic we've seen in the past when protesters tried to storm the ministry of interior. And this tactic seemed to be successful as protests weren't able to breach these walls and we saw the protest fizzle out.

This is no-man's land basically. We've seen ebb and flow of protesters through this area. You can see from the debris on the ground, this is heavy fighting going on here. Right now the police have pushed the protesters back toward Tahrir Square, but really throughout the day you'll see ebb and flow right through here, put protesters at time with upper hand pushing the police back and the police, using tear gas, using other means, pushing the protesters there. As of now, that's where the protests are. But we're expecting this ebb and flow throughout the day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: And right now that wall that I showed you in that video, protesters are right at that wall. And that wall is about 30 meters from the U.S. embassy wall. Police are behind that firing tear gas at the protesters, water cannons, trying to keep them away. We did see protesters with metal rods trying to break down that wall. So far they're unsuccessful.

LU STOUT: Now U.S. officials, they've been telling Reuters that they believe a local talk show last weekend that showed parts of the anti-Muslim video, that talk show was the trigger for the violent attacks and these protests that are still underway in this fourth day in Cairo. Was this talk show the flashpoint for the unrest?

LEE: Well, it definitely was one of the catalysts, one of the ways that this unrest started. There are definitely talk shows that have showed this and have called for mass demonstrations and called for people to go out into the streets to defend Islam.

Once you get that started, then it comes to social media that spreads it, word of mouth, and really just spreads like wildfire throughout the country where people are hearing about this video. And they don't necessarily have to see it, they just have to hear about it to get their blood boiling and get people onto the streets.

LU STOUT: Ian Lee reporting live from the Egyptian capital, thank you.

Now let's take you live to Libya. Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is in Benghazi. And Arwa, the Libyan interior ministry says that arrests have been made. Four people have been arrested. What more do we know about this?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We also got that confirmed from the head of the general national congress. Mohamed Magariaf who we saw at the compound where the attacks took place. The four individuals believed to have been involved in this assault exactly what group they are being linked to, that information not being disclosed at this point in time.

But Magariaf did tell us that they do now believe that they are part of one of the many extremist groups, armed groups that are operating especially in the eastern part of the country and of course in the city of Benghazi itself. The government now believing that this attack was pre- planned, deliberately carried out to inflict maximum damage on key western interests, the United States especially. The intent of the attackers, the government believes, to drive a wedge between the Americans and the Libyans.

Now the government also, though, fully aware that it needs to somehow reign in at these various groups that operate especially of this part of the country with near impunity. Magariaf, though, reluctantly admitting that at this point in time, the government quite simply does not have the capabilities to take on these types of armed elements, Kristie.

LU STOUT: We've been hearing about the name of this militant group Ansar al-Sharia is believe by some to be behind the attack in Benghazi. Is the government naming this militant group? What more can you tell us?

DAMON: Well, we've been hearing that the government is trying to initially convince this group to lay down its weapons. It does realize that this was one of many groups that it needs to disarm that are operating on the street. The group in and of itself is believed to be an al Qaeda style Sunni Islamist group.

Now they have come out and denied that they were involved in the attack on the consulate in and of itself. But this is one of many groups that the government does believe that could perhaps have been behind this attack.

But again, this all goes to underscore something of the grave consequences that could potentially lie ahead of the government, continues to be incapable of disarming this and the other groups that do exist here. The government risks losing even more credibility, not to mention risks losing even more control over what does take place.

LU STOUT: Yeah, there's so much at stake here. Is the government capable of disarming these militant groups?

DAMON: At this point in time the very simple answer to that is no it is not capable of doing this. It does not have a nearly strong enough, large enough, well armed enough, well trained enough force at its own disposal. It has a very, very grave problem with these different armed groups that are roaming around the country. Some of them are remnants of the revolutionary forces that fought the Gaddafi regime eventually of course bringing that down, but has been refusing to lay down their weapons, or quite simply don't have enough confidence in the government to even have the initiative to want to lay down their weapons.

Some of them are even more sinister. Some have formed post-Gaddafi taking advantage of the security vacuum, establishing themselves as these extremist entities, but all again underscoring just how vital it is for the government at this point in time to somehow have a plan to be -- to put into place.

But as we were saying, the head of the general national congress himself saying that, yes, they're doing their best, but no they do not have the capabilities at this point in time to be able to address this very, very serious problem.

LU STOUT: Arwa, one more question for you, this one about the mood among the people in Libya, is it different from what we're seeing in Egypt? Is the anti-Americanism not there to the same degree?

DAMON: You know, Kristie, from the moment that we landed overnight, every single Libyan who we have been speaking to has expressed their anguish, their story, their horror, their disgust at what took place. And they do want the world, the Americans, and especially the family of those who died to know that those who carried out this attack, they do not represent Libya. This is not why people took up arms against the Gaddafi regime, this is not the type of country that so many risked so much to try to establish. People are utterly horrified. And in fact in Benghazi, we have been hearing that ever since this attack took place there in fact have been pro-U.S. demonstrations here.

So most certainly the widespread sentiment is not one that is anti- American at this point in time, at least not amongst all of the Libyans that we have been talking to.

And every single individual also underscoring that very vital issue that they do want to see their government disarm these militias, bring the streets under control, bring the guns under the government's control and actually set the country on the course that the revolution initially intended it for.

LU STOUT: Well, it's an immense challenge for the government. Arwa Damon on the ground reporting live from Benghazi, thank you Arwa.

And we have this just in to CNN, media reports from Sudan say that eyewitnesses saw police firing tear gas on protesters that were trying to storm the British and German embassies in Khartoum. Now we are watching the situation there. We'll bring you more as we hear it.

And just to repeat, reports from Sudan say police fired tear gas on protesters trying to storm the British and German embassies.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, the dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea shifts into higher gear. Now China sends ships to surrounding waters. And we'll tell you how Japan is responding.

And a volcano erupts in Guatemala, burying villages in Ash. Thousands are forced from their homes.

Also, a French magazine publishes topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge while she was on holiday prompting a strong reaction from the royals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now we are hearing reports of violent protests in Sudan. Journalist Ishma'il Kamal Kushkush joins us on the line now from Khartoum. He is outside the German embassy. And describe the scene around you.

ISMA'IL KAMAL KUSHKUSH, JOURNALIST: We have thousands of protesters that marched from the grand mosque in central Khartoum, a call was made yesterday for protesters to protest outside of the German and U.S. embassies today after Friday prayers. Protesters are in the thousands. A few were able to jump into the embassy and pull down the German flag on which the riot police started firing tear gas on the protesters.

I see a protesters at the moment pulling back because of the effect of tear gas.

LU STOUT: Why are they directing their anger at the German embassy?

KUSHKUSH: According to the imam at the grand mosque in Central Khartoum, an organization in Berlin, Germany redistributed the caricatures, the cartoons, the Danish cartoons that were published a few years ago and placed them on the mosques of Berlin. Muslim organizations in Berlin, according to the imam, had complained, but did not get the response they wanted to hear from German authorities on which here in Sudan people are protesting against the German embassy.

Now, I understand that there are also protests taking place outside the British embassy in Khartoum. What have you heard?

KUSHKUSH: Yes. The British and German embassy happen to be right next to each other.

LU STOUT: OK.

So, the protest really it's being directed at the German embassy.

What do you know about the status of the embassy compound and also the personnel inside?

KUSHKUSH: There is no information as far as the personnel inside the embassy. Friday, I would assume that no one is inside the compound. There's riot police outside. We haven't heard of any injuries or of anyone inside the compound being hurt.

LU STOUT: OK. And how many protesters have gathered.

KUSHKUSH: The protesters are in the thousands. I would say at least 10,000.

LU STOUT: At least 10,000. And who makes up these protesters? Are they students, tell us about their background.

KUSHKUSH: The protesters are students, members apparently of various organizations: Suki Brotherhood, college students, religious organizations, regular citizens. The protesters were (inaudible) after Friday prayers in the central mosque in Khartoum. It's one of the largest. And many citizens (inaudible) just joined with the crowd and marched on to the German embassy.

I see black smoke coming out right now apparently from the embassy assuming it's some sort of fire.

LU STOUT: I'm sorry. And the source of the smoke your saying is from inside the compound or outside?

KUSHKUSH: It's -- it's coming right next to the compound. It might - - it seems like it's a fire right outside of the compound. There are trees in that area. From where I'm standing, that's what seems to be burning at the moment. I can't tell if it's inside the compound or right just outside.

LU STOUT: OK. OK. And before we let you go, we also want to hear about on this phone line I can make out what sounds like the beating of drums. Are the protesters there, are they chanting any slogans? Are you seeing any banners? What are they saying, what are they asking for?

KUSHKUSH: The banners include "we are defending our prophet," "down down USA," you know, "respect our honor" and so forth.

The chants and the drums seem to be coming from some Suki Brotherhood. I can't really make exactly what they're saying.

LU STOUT: OK. Isma'il Kamal Kushkush, thank you very much for reporting on the scene for us. That was a journalist joining us on the scene from outside the German embassy in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. He was reporting 10,000 protesters outside the German embassy. And those protesters directing their anger to Germany, but also hearing the chance down with America, down with USA.

You're watching News Stream. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now a heated territorial dispute between China and Japan is ramping up. On Friday morning, six Chinese maritime surveillance ships arrive near a group of islands in the East China Sea known as Diaoyu in China and Senkoku in Japan. Now China's state run news agency reports that the ships are there to patrol and for, quote, "law enforcement." Japan's coast guard says the vessels entered Japanese water despite warnings. And chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura says Tokyo will intensify its own patrols of the area in response to the, quote, unprecedented scale of invasion of Japanese waters.

Now the Coast Guard says the ships have since left the area.

Now Friday's events followed the Japanese government's deal to purchase several of the islands from a private Japanese owner earlier this week. And China calls the move illegal and invalid.

Now China and Japan appear to be digging in and holding firm. Stan Grant and Alex Zolbert look at both sides of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stan Grant in Beijing.

Look at these newspaper headlines, "Diaoyu Islands Cannot be Bought." It's a very simple answer to the question here on the streets who owns Diaoyu Islands, as far as these people are concerned they belong to China, always have, always will. They say that their claim dates back centuries. China simply does not recognize the treaties that Japan relies upon to claim the islands for themselves.

Now this is a dispute that is rooted in history. It also fanned by age old animosity between China and Japan. People here still demand an apology from Japan for the invasion and occupation of China during the 1930s and 1940s and the brutality of that. In recent weeks there have been protests outside the Japanese embassy and consulate that sometimes have turned nasty, Japanese businesses have been attacked.

This is about nationalism. It is about history. It is also about the rights to the rich resources that lie under the sea there.

But at the end of the day China and Japan do a lot of trade together. Just how much is China prepared to put on the line to claim Diaoyu Islands?

ALEX ZOLBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Neither side is backing down. Here in Japan the message is the same. Quite simply, people here say the islands are ours.

They do point to those treaties at the end of the Sino-Japanese war in 1895, treaties that they say are international law. They say this is really about money, that China didn't raise these concerns until the late 1960s when scientists began speculating about huge reserves of oil and natural gas in the region.

But, speaking of dollar signs, this couldn't come at a worse time for Japan's economy. Take, for example, its tourism sector. Nearly 1 million Chinese visitors so far this year. And talk in the paper today about those visitors saying thanks very much, but next time we'll head elsewhere.

Alex Zolbert, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, multiple aliases and a criminal record. Now we're on the trail of a mysterious filmmaker whose anti-Islam movie has sparked global protests and deadly attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: OK, let's update you on our breaking news. Police have fired tear gas on protesters that were trying to storm the British and German embassies in Khartoum. A journalist on the scene said he said approximately 10,000 protesters were outside the German embassy. He also saw a fire outside the German embassy.

Now let's bring up live pictures from Tahrir Square in Cairo. Now Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood canceled a planned nationwide demonstration against an anti-Muslim film, except for what's happening right here in Tahrir Square.

Now, Libyan authorities meanwhile say that four people have been arrested in connection with the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday. Four State Department personnel, including Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed.

Now the U.S. is increasing security at its Middle East embassies after there were calls for more protests this Friday against an anti-Muslim video.

Afghanistan is now joining the growing list of countries where anti- U.S. protests are erupting. As anger continues over a controversial film denigrating Islam.

Now let's go to Anna Coren. She's in the Afghan capital of Kabul. And Anna, reports of anti-American protests there in Afghanistan. What have you heard?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. We're hearing that there were protests in Nangahar Province (ph) in the east of the country bordering Pakistan. About 3,000 Afghanis took to the streets chanting "Death to America" in response to this video.

You have to remember that after Friday prayers it was anticipated that there would be violence. We haven't heard of any reports of violence here in the capital. But obviously it's still early, it's just gone 5:00 pm, so it may be some time before word filters back about what is happening around the rest of the country.

But it does seem that the government has been proactive about trying to discourage people from protesting. They certainly blocked YouTube so people couldn't see this inflammatory video. They also repealed to religious leaders to I guess discourage people from taking to the streets and to really promote tolerance.

But, Kristie, we caught up with the ambassador here, the U.S. ambassador James Cunningham to speak about the security threats obviously to the embassy here in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The attack has obviously raised some concerns about security of U.S. embassies and consulates around the world. Here in Kabul you are obviously a target. Are you worried?

JAMES CUNNINGHAM, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN: We're always worried every day. Every day we get new information about new possible threats, our security postures continually under review. But I'm not any particularly any more worried after this incident. We have great people here and a great system to keep us safe.

COREN: Ambassador, the video that sparked the protests in Libya and Egypt, it could very well create unrest here in Afghanistan. That's obviously a major concern for President Karzai. Do you share the same concerns?

CUNNINGHAM: Yes, absolutely. Matter of factly, we are -- after this, I'm going to be issuing a statement condemning the video and the violence that has taken place already and urging the people of Afghanistan, although they are offended by this, not to react with violence. This is not worth human lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Now, Kristie, President Obama contacted President Karzai here and basically said that the video does not reflect America, it doesn't not reflect American views.

Now the reason that he did contact the president is because of history. Just a year ago back in March of 2011 in response to the U.S. pastor Terry Jones burning the Koran there were violent protests here, there were riots that broke out. Seven UN workers were killed along with 16 Afghan civilians, 90 people injured. So that was the concern for President Karzai.

President Obama and also U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton she also contacted President Karzai to reassure him that it is not a representation of American views -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now has security visibly stepped up around the U.S. embassy in Kabul? What did you see?

COREN: We believe that it has.

We went to the U.S. embassy late yesterday. And to tell the truth, Kristie, it was pretty easy for us to get through. Of course you go through several checkpoints, you have to put your gear through X-Ray machines. The dogs come and sniff it to make sure there's no bombs, no explosives. I mean, that is the normal procedure, but it was nothing out of the usual. But we do believe that since yesterday, they have stepped up more security around the embassy.

There were those attacks on the embassy in September of last year when the Taliban really attacked the embassy and also attacked NATO headquarters. That was a siege that lasted some 19 hours.

So everyone is obviously on high alert. As I said, it's just gone 5:00 pm here in Kabul, in Afghanistan. And so far there isn't the widespread violence that was anticipated. So let's just hope, Kristie, it stays that way.

LU STOUT: Now we know that the Afghan government has been blocking YouTube in Afghanistan to sort of stem the outrage. Do you think that block has worked?

COREN: I definitely think it has worked, Kristie. You know, they were very proactive about that. The government met. They had an emergency meeting, if you like, shortly after that video was released, because they knew of the ramifications, going on history, going on what happened last year, they did not want to see the outbreak of violence.

And, you know, in my interview with Ambassador James Cunningham, he said yes, of course this video is assaulting -- insulting to Muslims, but it is not worth dying for.

So I think by the fact the government blocked YouTube, it really ensured that that news, that video didn't get out into the public, into the mainstream public the way that perhaps the comments by Terry Jones, or the actions by Pastor Terry Jones last year did.

So it was a good move, it was a smart move by the Karzai government, because at the moment we are not seeing too much violence on the streets.

LU STOUT: All right.

Anna Coren joining us live from Kabul, thank you.

Now in a letter to the editor -- and this was published in the New York Times -- Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood offers condolences to the American people for the loss of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and three other Americans. And it condemns the anti-Muslim film that sparked violence across the region.

Now the letter also reads, "we do not hold the American government or its citizens responsible for acts of the few that abuse the laws protecting freedom of expression."

Now it was meant to be a short getaway before their official trip to Asia, but up next it wasn't as private as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge thought. We'll delve into the scandal that palace officials say is a grotesque invasion of privacy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now thousands of protesters have marched on the German and British embassies in Khartoum and Sudan. It's the latest demonstration against the online film insulting Islam. We have seen similar acts at more then a dozen countries. But the others have targeted U.S. diplomatic missions.

Now a journalist on the scene tells CNN that a few demonstrators were able to jump into German embassy grounds and to pull down the German flag.

Now riot police, they fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back. And AFP reported that the building was set on fire.

And we're now hearing from our reporter on the ground that the building is on fire. The German embassy in Khartoum is, quote, totally on fire -- excuse me, no personnel believed to be inside. The German embassy is on fire in Khartoum. Earlier when we were talking to our freelancer based on the ground in the Sudanese capital he reported seeing gray smoke rising from the embassy compound. He believed at the time that that source of the smoke was outside the compound. But now he's reporting that the building itself is on fire, but no personnel reported to be inside.

We'll continue to keep track of developments there. Any casualties, the level of destruction, the level of violence, and also where the personnel are. Again, this involves the German embassy in Sudan, in Khartoum where these anti-U.S. protests have spread now directing their violence toward the German embassy as well.

Now we'll continue to monitor that situation for you.

Now meanwhile, we have our Mari Ramos. She's watching a super typhoon in the west Pacific in Asia. And she has the very latest on that. She joins us now from the World Weather Center -- Mari.

MARI RAMOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kristie. Yeah, lots going on. Let's go ahead and get right to this.

This is a storm that has been threatening the area for a few days already. At the beginning of the week I was telling you how it was starting to form there just east of the Philippines and it has continued to move on a bit farther to the north now. And it has developed quick quickly. You can see it right over here.

The concern with this storm is that it's headed in an area where just, what, maybe two, three weeks ago was hit by another storm that was similar in size and scope? So that's going to be a huge concern over the next few days.

Now when we look at the wind associated with this weather system, you're looking at 278 sustained, 278 kilometers per hour sustained winds and then gusting to more than 330.

As the storm continues to trail northward, that's when we get into the Ryukyu Islands here for you guys in Okinawa, that could be a concern across all of the islands here, because the storm is headed in your general direction.

Now, the forecast itself will take it past the island and then eventually possibly having an impact in Western Japan or the Korean peninsula. It's still a little bit too early to tell. We still have that margin of error. It can trail a little bit more to the west or a bit more to the east and that would depend on the impact.

And even after it passes the island, notice the winds close to 200 kilometers per hour. And by the time it gets to the Korean Peninsula or western Japan winds could still be close to 170 kilometers per hour. And on top of that, of course, the very heavy rain, huge concern for these areas that are already saturated with weeks and weeks of heavy downpours.

Let's go back to August 20, that's when we had Bolavin, that other storm that formed in this general area right in here. That one moved to the Korean Peninsula. They're still reeling across North Korea from this storm.

And then, now, here we are a few weeks later. And then we have this forecast track potentially similar to what we had before with Bolavin going into a very vulnerable area, of course, as far as the potential for damage from a tropical cyclone.

I want to take you south and talk a little bit about what's happening across southeast Asia. Still very heavy rain across this entire region. The concern for flooding across Bangkok is still there. We have rain that's falling right now over this area. Some of that rain will be locally heavy. And usually the threshold is about 100 millimeters of rain in a period of 24 hours.

We're seeing similar -- conditions similar to that, because normally that wouldn't be a problem, but we have all of the runoff coming off from areas to the north where the flooding has been tremendous. And that runoff will continue headed south. And that could cause some flooding into areas farther to the south. The metropolitan area of Bangkok is again under alert for the potential for flooding.

Notice again we're looking at some locally heavy downpours across that entire region stretching from southeast Asia to the Bay of Bengal back over into parts of India.

Pakistan, across the central and southern parts of Pakistan, I think it will remain mostly dry. The rain expected to be across the north, areas that have also suffered from significant flooding in the last 24 hours.

Now, very quickly, a volcano erupting in Central America again. This is the Fuego Volcano, that means fire, by the way. It's only about 15 kilometers from the city of Antigua, but far enough from the capital that those more densely populated areas are not at risk.

There have been evacuations across this area, Kristie, because of the erupting volcano. And one of the concerns, as you can see from this iReport, is the pyroclastic flows, the ash of course, and because it has been raining the potential for mudslides near the base of the volcano. Back to you.

LU STOUT: All right, thanks for watching that for us. Mari Ramos there.

Now Alex Thomas, he's going to be live next to tell us about the latest world sport news. And he will explain why this baseball player is in such a rush to leave the game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now thousands of protesters have marched on the German and British embassies in Khartoum in Sudan. They're both located right next to each other there in the Sudanese capital. And this is the latest demonstration against an online film insulting to Islam. A journalist on the scene tells CNN that Germany, which is the target of these protests is quote, "totally on fire." But no embassy personnel are believed to be inside. And that's because, again, according to our journalist on the scene Friday is a holiday on Khartoum so no embassy personnel are believed to be inside.

Now earlier, riot police, they fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back. And we have seen similar action in more than a dozen countries around the world targeting U.S. diplomatic missions. And we'll continue to follow this story for you.

Now, it is only week two of the new NFL season, but the Packers have proved its too early to write off their chances. We got the sports news now with Alex Thomas -- Alex.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hi, Kristie. Aaron Rodgers says the Packers offense needs to improve. Despite a win over the Bears that ends a worrying losing streak.

Last season ended in disappointment for Green Bay who were then soundly beaten by the 49ers in game one. However, they dominated Jay Cutler and his Chicago side on Thursday night to go 1-1 for this season.

Let's pick up the action in the second quarter. And the Packers fake a field goal allowing Tom Crabtree to take it all the way for a 27 yard touchdown.

And later in the quarter, Green Bay extends its lead when Tramon Williams intercepts a pass from Cutler and the home team finishes off their drive with a field goal.

By the fourth, Chicago was on the score sheet, but Cutler's nightmare continued when Williams intercepts again. And for the next play, Aaron Rodgers puts the result beyond doubt when he fires it down the middle to Donald Driver for a 26 yard touchdown. Final score, 23-10 in favor of the Packers.

Now, after a run of 14 consecutive losing seasons, the Baltimore Orioles have a guaranteed winning record in this baseball season after their 3-2 win over Tampa Bay. They remain tied at the top of the American League East with the New York Yankees. The Yankees also won last night, beating the Red Sox in Boston.

At the top of the seventh with runners on first and second, here's Derek Jeter bringing home Steve Pierce with a single to short center. And it tied the 13-time all-star with Willie Mays on 3,384 career hits, that's 10th on the all-time list. The Yankees win 2-0.

Now weather conditions at the women's British Open golf championship were so bad at the start of today's second round that not only was play suspended, but organizers have canceled the scores of the competitors that did get on the course. So the overnight standings remain unchanged with 15-year-old amateur Lydia Ko only two strokes off the lead.

The South Korean born Kiwi became the youngest ever winner of an LPGA event last month. And she birdied her opening hole in the first round before picking up another stroke at the 16th. Ko had teed up at the tenth, but played the front nine after the back nine. And her birdie here at the par 5 four hole was one of five in an even par total of 72 on Thursday. A good score on a day when windy conditions made the going tough even for top players like Karrie Webb, the Australian that's won so many -- well, she's won all four of the women's majors at various stages of her career.

She birdied the par 3 15th in an opening round of 71.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal are the big four in men's tennis, but none of them will be in action in this weekend's David Cup semifinals. Switzerland, Serbia and Britain aren't through to that stage. And while Spain is in the last four, Nadal is injured. The defending champions, with home advantage against the United States.

The other semi sees last year's runners up Argentina take on the Czech Republic.

Now a few months ago we showed you Derek Jeter's history making part in the Yankees MLB win over the Red Sox, but it was also a big night for one of the Boston players. Second baseman Dustin Bedroya went into the game knowing his wife Kelly was heavily pregnant with their second child, but he was shocked to be told once the action had started that she'd gone into labor and he had to rush to the hospital.

Look at the replay and you don't need to be a lip reader to see what he exclaimed after one of the coaches called him over to share the news.

Without him, Boston lost, but Bedroya definitely a winner on the night, because his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Many congratulations to them both.

More, not on that story, but in plenty of others in World Sport in just over three hours time. For now, back to you in Hong Kong, Kristie.

LU STOUT: I love that reaction shot there, that was classic. Alex Thomas, thank you.

Now the London Olympic games finished just last month, but all eyes are already on the next games in Rio de Janeiro. And Shasta Darlington is there and has been getting an update on the progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With its carnival culture and samba spirit, there's no doubt Rio de Janeiro knows how to party. But the city has to get serious if it wants to be ready to host the Olympic games in 2016, the first time ever for South America.

We sat down with Rio's mayor to talk about preparations.

EDUARDO PAES, RIO DE JANEIRO MAYOR: I'm concerned about everything. You can never be relaxed in an event like the Olympic games.

DARLINGTON: He says his biggest concern is making sure Rio de Janeiro comes out the winner.

PAES: There are two kind of games: there are the games that uses the city and the city that uses the game.

DARLINGTON: The city is hard at work on venues. The samba drome, site of Rio's carnival parades, is being adapted to host the archery competition and the marathon.

The athletes' park has already been delivered.

But the Olympic Park, the site of more than half of the competitions, hasn't even been started. First, the city plans to relocate some 3,000 people living there.

Another big challenge is security.

PAES: Security is the thing that concerns us every day, you know, it's something that we're not beautiful for the games, it's something that the city needs to build for itself.

DARLINGTON: Police have invaded many of the city's violent hilltop shantytowns, seizing control from drug gangs.

Now, they have to prove they can maintain control.

And then there's transportation in this sprawling city of almost 12 million people. Officials have bet on new, dedicated bus lanes and expanded subways and roads.

Rio has the added challenge of the 2014 World Cup to be staged all over Brazil.

We visited works at the Marikana Stadium which will necessarily be done well before the opening Olympic ceremony is held there.

To find out what Brazilians think, we head to the beach.

"It's a great opportunity to give our city more visibility," he says. "We aren't very strong in the Olympics, so it's also a way to create a new sports vision."

The clock is ticking, not just for Rio, but for Brazil, which hopes to rank among the top 10 when the games are played on home soil.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now a controversy has struck the British Royal Family again. A French magazine has published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge. Now the photographs were taken while she and Prince William were on holiday in France last week.

Now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are currently on an official tour of Southeast Asia and CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster joins us now live from the Solomon Islands, that's the next stop on their tour. And Max, what is the royal family saying about these photos?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an interesting. We knew these photos were coming. We had some guidance last night from the magazine that these pictures are going to come out, the palace is aware that they were going to come out. But when they did initially come out, I had some conversations with them. And then we had a response that the duchess was upset by claims that these pictures had been printed and then confirmation that they were the original pictures.

And in a very strongly worded statement, Kristie, from the palace, unusual in these situations, but the wording is particularly outspoken, and that is particularly unusual as well, but talking about the photographer in the publication invading the couple's privacy in a grotesque and totally unjustifiable way. They're very, very angry about this.

You get a real sense that William personally is involved with the response here, because there's a reference to Diana. They're saying the incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. We know that William was particularly affected by the way his mother was hounded by the press. Some say that he blames the press for the death of his mother. So he's making a reference to that.

Some people say it's not comparable, but there is a concern here in the palace of the relationship is breaking down between the media and the royal family, a relationship which has worked quite effectively in recent times where the press leaves the royals to a private life. It's breaking though.

But not the UK, I have to say, Kristie, this is the French publication. It happened in Australia before the U.S. but not in the UK yet. They haven't picked up on these pictures.

LU STOUT: That's right. And this is an overseas issue, and definitely an issue for them to protect their privacy while overseas.

Max Foster reporting live from the Solomon Islands.

Now we want to bring you one last update on the situation in Sudan. Now thousands of protesters have marched on the German and British embassies in Khartoum. We have a journalist on the scene telling us that the German embassy is completely on fire. Now the AFP news agency quotes the German foreign minister saying all embassy staff are safe.

Now it is unclear why the European embassies have been targeted. We have, though, seen demonstrations against the U.S. in more than a dozen countries. They were triggered by an online film seen as insulting to Islam.

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

END