[Kristie Lu Stout:] Welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And we begin in Egypt, where unbelievable scenes of violence at a football match leave 79 dead. And we'll hear exclusively from the head of the Arab League on the ongoing violence in Syria. And Facebook is going public. We'll take a look at some of the staggering numbers revealed by the social networking company. Now, it's one of the bloodiest events in football history. At least 79 people are dead and more than 1,000 injured after riots broke out following a match in the Egyptian city of Port Said. Fans stormed onto the pitch as the game ended 3-1 in favor of the home side, Al-Masry against their visiting rivals, Al-Ahly, from Cairo. Supporters from both sides attacked each others and the players with rocks, chairs and knives. Some people died from stab wounds and others were suffocated trying to escape. As fears rise of further unrest, crowds have gathered in Cairo, and some have been chanting, "Down with military rule!" An emergency session of the Egyptian parliament has been called and three days of national mourning are now under way. The police's handling of the disaster is facing heavy criticism, and Port Said's head of security has reportedly been sacked. These pictures appear to show dozens of riot police lining up before the match, and this is after the trouble began, where the police appear to be closely watching the stadium seats rather than the fans running on to the pitch. And later, the police are seen here. They're running after the battling fans, but they appear to be outnumbered. Forty-seven people have been arrested, and Egypt's Premier League has been suspended indefinitely. The European Union has called for an external investigation into what happened. Let's get the very latest now from Ben Wedeman, who joins us live from Cairo. And Ben, after last night's violence in Port Said, more unrest today in Cairo. What are you seeing?
[Ben Wedeman, Cnn Sr. International Correspondent:] Well, so far it seems that a lot of the Al-Ahly fans are outside of the club headquarters, and they plan on marching to the Ministry of the Interior. So far, however, there hasn't been any notable instances of violence. It's still, by Cairo's standards, fairly early in the day. But people are angry. And, of course, we are in Ahly country here in Cairo. It is the biggest team, very popular here. Many Egyptians wildly enthusiastic about this team and now very angry after what happened in Port Said last night. Many people, of course, here in Cairo are saying not only did the police not provide adequate security, but accusing the police of actually facilitating attacks, the Ahly fans. It's worth noting that these Ahly fans, many of them were participants in clashes with the police last year. They have been in many ways politicized since the resolution and, therefore, not surprisingly, they are also calling for the military rulers of Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to step down over this incident Kristie.
[Stout:] Now, an emergency parliamentary session is under way. What are Egypt's MPs saying about the violence?
[Wedeman:] This is really a fascinating session of parliament, an emergency session called after these events. Now, what happened was that after an opening statement by the speaker of parliament, he called for the live broadcast to be cut. But just as the picture went down, you could hear loud protests from the members of parliament. And just moments later, the picture went up again, obviously as a result of the demands of these parliament members. Now, we've heard one after another calling for the resignation of the interior minister, putting them on trial, holding an investigation, and really going after those security officials they say simply did not do their job in providing security at these matches. But we're also hearing a lot of criticism of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Increasingly, Egyptians are worried that the army simply is incapable of managing the affairs of this country. And it's worth pointing out that over the last few days, there have been a series of high-profile armed robberies in Cairo indicative of deteriorating law and order Kristie.
[Stout:] All right. Ben Wedeman, joining us live from Cairo. Thank you very much indeed for that. Again, Egypt is on edge following these riots. Let's get more now from our Ian Lee, who is in Port Said. He joins us now. And Ian, are you seeing more protests, more unrest there today?
[Ian Lee, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Kristie, the scene right now in Port Said is pretty calm. We got a chance to go into the stadium though and see what happened yesterday, and it is quite a sight. There's trash everywhere. Things are broken. But I think there's a couple things that really stood out to me. First of all, was seeing blood on a lot of chairs all over the place. There was a lot of blood. The other thing was there were shoes everywhere. People were running out of their shoes, trying to get away from the onslaught. And the third probably most amazing thing I saw was huge steel doors that were cemented and tied into the walls were broken down as the surge of people pushed them down to escape the stadium. It was quite a sight to see, the stadium the aftermath of the stadium and seeing all these things that showed just what happened there yesterday.
[Stout:] Yes, you detail some frightening evidence of violence from last night. Have you been able to talk to eyewitnesses? And what are they telling you about what happened and, namely, how the police responded when the riot broke out?
[Lee:] Well, I talked to several eyewitnesses, and what they were telling me was that the police just stood by as the surge went towards the Ahly soccer fans. And a lot of the people who I talked to said that these weren't people from Port Said. There's a lot of conspiracy theories that this is something bigger, this wasn't the fans from the club, that this was planned, and that these were not people from Port Said, that there was some sort of hidden agenda, something else happening. And they're using the example of the police allowing these thugs to go pass them by without trying to stop them, as well as the gate being shut, that the fans couldn't escape. They were essentially trapped in their stands.
[Stout:] Just now we heard from Ben Wedeman, who was reporting on a very stormy session of parliament, an emergency session that's currently under way. A lot of blame being placed on the ruling military council for the violence, for not doing enough. What is the general mood there in Port Said? Who are people there blaming for last night's violence?
[Lee:] Well, people are definitely blaming the government for what just happened. They're saying the police didn't act, there wasn't security. How could these people bring weapons into the stadium is something that a lot of people are asking. They're essentially blaming the government and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for not providing enough security and not checking people for weapons. And this happens. Right now we're at a protest, and people are definitely looking for answers of how something like this could happen in this town.
[Stout:] All right. Ian Lee, joining us live from Port Said, the scene of the disaster that took the lives of at least 79 people. Now, as the U.N. Security Council struggles to come to an agreement on a possible resolution on Syria, violence there rages on. Opposition activists say at least 70 people were killed on Wednesday. And members of the U.N. Security Council, they met to discuss how to respond to the ongoing crisis. Diplomats say that they're optimistic that an agreement can be reached, but there are still major points to work out. Russia and China, which both hold veto power, are adamant that they will oppose any resolution they view as meddlesome. Meanwhile, Western diplomats are supporting a draft that calls for President al-Assad to hand over power to his vice president, but Russia opposes it. Now, that is part of a proposal set forth by the Arab League which calls on Syria to form a new unity government in the next two months. And Hala Gorani sat down with the head of the Arab League, Nabil El-Araby, in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
[Hala Gorani, Cnn International Correspondent:] What is exactly the language that's bothering Russia right now when you're in discussions with Russian representatives at the U.N.? What is bothering them and what can be removed as far as you're concerned to satisfy them?
[Nabil El-araby, Arab League Secretary-general:] Well, I'll tell you what they say. I mean, and they have said it already. They don't want any reference to military intervention and no one is speaking about that.
[Gorani:] Right.
[El-araby:] We don't want any reference to sanctions, and no one is speaking about sanctions as such. They don't want the Arab peace plan which says that the president delegates power to the vice president. We didn't ask that the president should step down, but only to delegate powers to the vice president, which actually, according to their constitution
[Gorani:] And you know, there is a joke now that says Bashar al-Assad is going to demote himself to vice president. Yes. Because that's how seriously people are taking this, you know?
[El-araby:] I didn't
[Gorani:] Right. They're saying it's just toothless, it's going to lead to nothing. This regime is going to continue to employ violence because it's the only way it knows to deal with opposition. Do you think that's true?
[El-araby:] Well, up to now, it's true, but you have to refer that to the world we are living in.
[Gorani:] And if this resolution is passed, and Russia removes every little reference to possible sanctions, possible intervention, possible pressure, then what good will that resolution do?
[El-araby:] It will still put pressure on the Syrian government, because they realize that Russia cannot stand up forever. And they are under great pressure now. And, you know, Russia does not want to be against the people.
[Gorani:] Time is running out. I mean, today, 70
[El-araby:] Yes, yes, people are dying. And even one if one person dies, our conscience cannot take that.
[Gorani:] But in a country of 23 million, 6,000 people have died. This is just a shocking
[El-araby:] It's awful. It's awful. But you tell me, what can be done more than that? You are going to a universal organization which is responsible for world peace. The Security Council is the organ vested with the primary responsibility for peace and security in the world. You cannot go further than that.
[Gorani:] People will say, why was Libya a case that the international community thought required intervention because a massacre was about to take place I'm quoting people. Whereas Syria is a country where a massacre is taking place, and there is no intervention. Why?
[El-araby:] Well, I'll try to answer but it's not my view, personally, but I'll give you some examples. First of all, at one time, Gadhafi's Saif al-Islam threatened that he was going to wipe out the whole city of Benghazi. And they had the means to do that. Secondly, you can say that the as I said to you, political location is different here and there, between Syria and Libya. Thirdly, in Syria, there is a regular strong army. In Libya, there was no army, and some militias headed by Gadhafi's sons, which, I mean, is completely different. And maybe there is no oil in Syria.
[Gorani:] So what are you saying when you say maybe there's no oil in Syria? That the economic motivation was there?
[El-araby:] Could be. Could be. But anyhow, we can add to that that this is an election year in the United States and there are elections in France. And Europe is not in the I'm not going to say bankrupt, but is not in the best economic situation to enter into such a venture.
[Gorani:] When you look at Syria, what do I mean, you say you have hope, but what then gives you hope? What aspect of what's happening right now is giving you hope?
[El-araby:] The fact that such I mean, the regime itself is under pressure from the international and they cannot go on forever. And once the people go to the street anywhere and actually, I told I am saying this in public because I told the leadership in Syria, that once the lesson from Egypt and from the others, but I speak as my own country at that time I was foreign minister, as you know that once the people will go the street, you have to yield to their demands.
[Stout:] And that was the Arab League secretary-general, Nabil El-Araby, speaking exclusively to Hala Gorani. Now, rescue teams, they're continuing the hunt for dozens of people who are still missing off the coast of Papua New Guinea. A ferry believed to have been carrying around 350 people ran into difficulties about 16 kilometers off the coast early on Thursday morning. And officials say 238 survivors have been plucked from the water so far. These photos were taken from one of the helicopters that went into help, showing survivors in escape rafts waiting to be rescued. And these photos, they were taken by Jurgen Ruh, chief executive of Manolos Aviation, which sent two helicopters to the scene. A little earlier, he spoke to CNN about what he saw.
[Jurgen Ruh, Ceo, Manolos Aviation:] So we were out at the scene about 11:00 local time. By the time one container ship and one carrier were in attendance already. We had found about 10 life rafts with approximately 10 people each in the vicinity. And we have identified further ships to go further out and look for those survivors as well. We then went to a few, and when we came back in the afternoon, there was an aircraft from Australia. And the rescue efforts in the total of container ship and two carriers. And we, again, were doing a search advised by the rescue coordination center. And at that time, we were not able to find any further survivors afloat.
[Stout:] Now, the cause of this disaster is still not known, but Jurgen Ruh said that the area is notorious for bad weather at this time of year and strong winds. Coming up next on NEWS STREAM, the U.S. now says it plans to end its combat mission in Afghanistan next year. We'll look at whether that prediction is likely to become reality and, if it does, what it means for Afghanistan. In neighboring Iran, the continuing nuclear program is causing mounting concern in Israel. Have tensions reached a boiling point? And Facebook hopes to update its status to public. That's if Wall Street investors like the look of its friend request.