Browse content similar to 29/08/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Thousands of people turn out to welcome the Paralympic flame as it | :00:10. | :00:14. | |
arrives in London for tonight's opening of the Games. Carried | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
through the capital's tourist spots, the flame just hours away now from | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
lighting the Paralympic cauldron. This is the scene live in central | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
London as the flame heads towards the Olympic Stadium in Stratford | :00:25. | :00:30. | |
for a ceremony described as both spectacular and deeply human. | :00:30. | :00:33. | |
It's hoped the years of hard work are about to pay off with | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
Paralympic GB setting themselves a target of 103 medals from at least | :00:38. | :00:42. | |
12 sports. Breaching flood defences, hurricane | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
Isaac hits the American coast. Sea water is reported to be coming over | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
one of the levees near New Orleans. Andrew Strauss quits as England | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
Captain. He is retiring from the game in the best interests of the | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
team, he says. It's a very tough decision to make but for me the | :01:00. | :01:07. | |
driver to it all was, quite frankly, my form of the bat, in truth I | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
haven't batted well enough for a long period of time. | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
The Chancellor appears to dismiss the idea of making the wealthy pay | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
an extra tax, suggested by the Deputy Prime Minister. | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
Later on BBC London: The Games lanes are back as the capital | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
prepares for the start of the Paralympics and why cancer patients | :01:24. | :01:34. | |
:01:34. | :01:45. | ||
put London at the bottom of the Good afternoon and welcome to the | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
BBC news at One. The biggest ever Paralympic Games open in London | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
tonight. The Queen will be attending the ceremony which will | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
herald the start of 11 days of competition with athletes from more | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
than 160 countries taking part. The Paralympic torch is on the final | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
stages of its journey to East London for the opening ceremony. | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
Thousands of people have turned out along the route to cheer on the | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
teams of torchbearers and our correspondent Robert Hall is among | :02:12. | :02:18. | |
the crowds at Trafalgar Square. We are expecting the Paralympic | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
flame here shortly. I watched the cauldron being lit, the flame | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
setting off from Stoke Mandeville last night and again there was a | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
palpable sense of excitement and expectation. There is no getting | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
away from the fact this is shaping up to be what Team GB certainly | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
hope, the most successful Paralympics ever. | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
In the streets around Britain's first traditional Hindu temple, a | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
swirl of colour and excitement. The crowds here had been waiting for a | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
glimpse of the flame since first light. Delay had simply served to | :02:52. | :02:58. | |
heighten their excitement. Unlike the Olympic relay, this | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
flame was carried through the night, past the sleeping communities of | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and on into the northern suburbs of | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
London. Teams of five, some who had conquered their own disabilities, | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
others nominated for their generosity and inspiration when | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
working with disabled groups. Among them, the family members who | :03:18. | :03:24. | |
have helped wheelchair racer Hannah become a double world champion by | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
giving up their time to help her achieve that dream. It's amazing to | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
be here. I am amazed there's so many people here waiting to see the | :03:32. | :03:38. | |
torch. I am really proud that I can be part of all of this. Hannah | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
carried the Olympic torch, and she will be racing at the Paralympic | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
Games, so it's all just coming together. It's great. | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
Once again, this 92-mile route will take in some of our most iconic | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
sights. At Lord's cricket ground, torch-bearer s including members of | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
the first pwhreupbd women's cricket team, joining role models from all | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
areas of sport, weaving their way towards central London. I think the | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
torch relay is amazing because you saw from the Olympics how excited | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
everyone got by it and it signals the start of the Games and it's | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
important for the athletes, as well, that they know that the flame is | :04:16. | :04:22. | |
coming closer and closer. A lot of the athletes want to get on it now | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
and competing but the saerp ap -- ceremony and protocol is an | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
important part of the excitement of the Games and generating more | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
support and more interest. Down the road another team found themselves | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
face-to-face with a more unusual audience. London's zoo's penguins | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
providing the backdrop for another photo call as the relay planners | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
work to catch up lost time. The crowds may not have been as | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
numerous but as the miles rolled by, their enthusiasm and support was | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
never in doubt. These were stories of hope and determination | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
triumphing over despair. Where there is life, there is always hope, | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
nothing is impossible. If you only believe. Once again, the eyes of | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
the world are being drawn to Stratford, following the flame to a | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
sporting spectacle. The eyes of the world are being | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
drawn to Trafalgar Square, they're closing the road for the flame to | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
come through, we are running a couple of hours late. There are | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
extra challenges involving disabled people in doing the relay, of | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
course that has to be taken care of. But the team are well used to | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
catching up, to dealing with problems on the road and I am sure | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
that everything will be back on track by the time that all- | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
important opening ceremony comes around this evening. | :05:36. | :05:43. | |
Thank you very much. With a record number of athletes | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
taking part and tickets selling out, it's expected that the Paralympics | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
will generate a similar level of excitement to that seen during the | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
Olympics. The UK team, known as Paralympics GB, has high hopes, | :05:52. | :05:54. | |
aiming to come second in the medals table. Our sports correspondent | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
James Pearce reports. A morning training session in the | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
park for some of the athletes, a final chance to make the most of | :06:04. | :06:08. | |
the emptiness before the crowds descend to the opening ceremony. | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
Elsewhere, there's still work to do. One of the Olympic shops has been | :06:13. | :06:20. | |
turned into a mascot home. The British team had 203 members in | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
Beijing. That's been increased by 50% for London. These will be the | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
biggest Paralympics ever staged and the organisers are confident that | :06:28. | :06:31. | |
tonight's opening ceremony will set them on the way to being the best. | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
It is a radical show. This is not a show to talk about Britain, this is | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
a show to talk about perceptions. Of course, they're using, as it | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
happens, some of the greatest minds this country has ever produced. | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
should we look out for over the next 11 days? Lee Pierson will | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
become Britain's most successful Paralympian if he wins three more | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
golds in dressage. Ellie Simmonds was 13 when she made her name in | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
Beijing. She's back for more in London. | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
Oscar Pistorius is the biggest name of the Games, the 400 metres is his | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
favourite event but he will also compete in the 100 metres, up | :07:10. | :07:17. | |
against Johnny Peacock. All looks set for memorable competition. No | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
wonder the man in charge is so confident. With Beijing the world | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
awakened to the Paralympic Games and the movement, but here we are | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
moving into sustained growth. A premium sports competition with | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
incredible athletes, not just from their performance, but from the | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
type of people they are. Last night the British team was | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
officially welcomed into the athletes' village. Tonight they can | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
be sure of an even better reception when they arrive in the stadium for | :07:44. | :07:51. | |
the opening ceremony. We can talk to James now. | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
They're already calling these the sellout Paralympics. They are | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
almost going to be a sellout. There are still a few tickets available | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
for tonight's opening ceremony, the most expensive categories, �500 and | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
�300 so they might be quite a sellout. But you can see behind me | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
all the volunteers reporting for duty, all working at the opening | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
ceremony tonight. They were the heroes of the Olympics and I am | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
sure will be the heroes of the Paralympics, too. It's quiet now | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
but in a few hours where I am now will be awash with people, | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
thousands arriving for the opening ceremony. So much excitement now | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
around this area and around the city, about what is in store. These | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
are the third Paralympics I covered, in 2000 I covered the Sydney | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
Paralympics and many people after those Games thought it would be | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
hard to beat them, and that does seem almost certain the London | :08:41. | :08:50. | |
Games will do just that, be the best ever. Thank you. | :08:50. | :08:52. | |
People in New Orleans are bracing themselves as Hurricane Isaac | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
travels across Louisiana, bringing high winds and torrential rain. | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
Reports say water has been flowing over the top of one of the flood | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
defences south of the city. It's exactly seven years since the city | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
was devastated when it was struck by Hurricane Katrina. Alastair | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
Leithead reports from New Orleans. Hurricane Isaac hit land as night | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
fell. The darkness adding to the chaos of high winds, driving rain | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
and power cuts. It's entering the stage of the | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
storm where there's nothing anyone can do, but hope their shelter | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
holds and wish the storm quickly on its way. This is the leading edge | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
of hurricane Isaac hitting the French quarter in New Orleans. We | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
have very high winds now, a lot of driving rain and debris being | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
thrown down the streets and inside this garage. People are trying to | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
get out into shelter now, those who haven't already, as the bulk of the | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
hurricane strikes. Seven years after hurricane Katrina, | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
New Orleans was confident it was ready for Isaac. Many people | :09:51. | :09:58. | |
decided to stay, knowing the storm was far weaker than Katrina before | :09:58. | :10:03. | |
it and confident the city would cope this time. They say it's | :10:03. | :10:06. | |
category one, so I am not too worried as much as I was during | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
Katrina. But we still worried a little bit. Just before the | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
hurricane hit, the police and emergency services were out making | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
sure people were getting to safety. On stand-by in case of flooding, | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
which is the biggest risk posed by Isaac. | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
The Gulf coast was being battered as the hurricane approached. A | :10:28. | :10:34. | |
storm surge hit the shoreline. It's a dangerous time. | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
Many people were confident in the new and enforced levees which cost | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
billions. It's the first big test for the flood defences, and there | :10:45. | :10:54. | |
are hours of the storm still. Alastair spent the night in New | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
Orleans and gave us an update on the situation a few hours ago. | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
are in this weird period of time when wur not sure what's going on | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
around town and a lot of power has already gone out, people are | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
sitting in homes hoping that the barricades they've put up will be | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
enough to protect them from the wind and rain and potentially from | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
the flooding. But the confidence they get also comes from the fact | :11:16. | :11:22. | |
that new levees have been built and old ones repaired. The city is | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
confident it can withstand this storm, the size that it is. People | :11:27. | :11:30. | |
appear to be accepting that's the case. Billions has been spent. We | :11:30. | :11:35. | |
won't know until the storm has passed which areas have been most | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
badly affected and who needs help and only then can the emergency | :11:38. | :11:47. | |
services get out in this weather and start to help them. | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
England captain Andrew Strauss has resigned from international cricket. | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
He has been one of the team's most successful captains, winning nearly | :11:55. | :11:58. | |
half his 50 matches in charge but the Test side recently lost their | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
number one spot in the world rankings to South Africa. Strauss | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
was also at the centre of a row with the batsman Kevin Pietersen. | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
Our sports correspondent Joe Wilson is at Lord's. | :12:06. | :12:08. | |
Over the years there have been various reactions from England | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
Captains when they decide to call it a day, you might recall Michael | :12:13. | :12:17. | |
Vaughan's tears. Today Andrew Strauss kept his emotions in check | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
and there was a sense of relief from him, a certainty in his own | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
mind that his best days were behind him. He won't play professional | :12:26. | :12:32. | |
cricket again and ends a career of the highest quality. There is some | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
flash photography in this report which follows. | :12:36. | :12:42. | |
There it is... Andrew Strauss's contribution to English cricket is | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
virtually unmatched. 21 Test match 100s, one short of the all-time | :12:45. | :12:52. | |
England record. As a Captain he was always steadfast. Today he | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
announced he could do it no longer. I haven't batted well enough for a | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
long period of time now and I think for a Captain to perform his role | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
properly it's important that you are not a passenger in the side, | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
but also that people aren't speculating as to whether should be | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
in the side or not. Strauss made a century on his Test debut in 2004, | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
the first glimpse of his talent and his character. He took over the | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
captaincy after Kevin Pietersen left it in a mess and and guided | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
England to Ashes victory in Australia for the first time in | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
nearly 25 years. When England beat India last year they became | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
officially the best Test team in the world. He is one of only five | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
players to have played more than 100 matches for England in Test and | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
one-day internationals and, as such, will be remembered as one of the | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
outstanding cricketers of his generation. But 2012 has seen | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
defeats. He has struggled with his own form, notably this summer | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
against South Africa. And the breakdown in trust with Kevin | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
Pietersen added considerably to the strain on Strauss. Pietersen is | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
still an issue for England to deal with. What happened, I didn't feel | :14:01. | :14:08. | |
kind of undermined me in the eyes of the team in any way. It wasn't | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
something that - it was obviously a difficult situation to deal with, | :14:12. | :14:20. | |
but not in terms of making me more or less keen to leave the side. | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
When England won back the Ashes in 2005 it signalled a start of an era | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
of success. Andrew Strauss was at the heart of it. As he often said | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
himself, when there was a challenge he led from the front. | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
Well Alastair Cook takes over as Captain, that's been on the cards | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
for sometime. But the issue that now faces him and the people who | :14:42. | :14:48. | |
run English cricket is what to do with Pietersen? Can he be | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
rehabilitated into that England dressing room? With him the team | :14:51. | :14:57. | |
could be disunited. They could be inexperienced in the batting side | :14:57. | :15:07. | |
:15:07. | :15:07. | ||
without Pietersen and now without The Chancellor has appeared to | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
dismiss the Deputy Prime Minister's suggestion that the wealthy should | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
pay more tax to help recovery. He said he had already increased tax | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
on very expensive property transactions and the Government | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
needed to be careful that it didn't drive away people who created | :15:21. | :15:28. | |
wealth. The houses of the superrich have long been in the sights of the | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
Liberal Democrats as a source of more taxation, but the party has | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
failed to get the proposal passed the coalition partner. Now, Nick | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
Clegg wants to look at other ways of taxing the wealthy, at least | :15:40. | :15:50. | |
:15:50. | :15:53. | ||
temporarily. In a newspaper interview he said: We as Liberal | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
Democrats have long taken the view that particularly for the | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
wealthiest a tax on wealth, a tax on assets, would be far more | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
effective than an income tax approach, because an income tax | :16:06. | :16:16. | |
:16:16. | :16:31. | ||
approach frankly when you're at the upper end is is so avoidable. Some | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
people have done all right from the coalition and their tox rate has | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
gone down to 45%, but that's not down to the 40% that they were used | :16:40. | :16:46. | |
to in the past. But, on the other hand, they've had hit back at them, | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
higher stamp duty on the most expensive houses that are being | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
transferred. The Chancellor was in Sunderland this morning, launching | :16:53. | :16:58. | |
a new enterprise zone. Since the beginning of the summer he's | :16:58. | :17:02. | |
insisted we're all in it together so should the rich pay more? | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
mustn't drive away wealth creators and businesses. This country needs | :17:06. | :17:12. | |
to compete in the world and earn its way in the world. Taxing wealth | :17:12. | :17:18. | |
rather than income is not a new Lib Dem idea. Though, the detail this | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
time around, is distinctly absent. It could include changes to | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
Interance tax or charges on land, all of which will be discussed at | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
the conference in Brighton next month. After a string of policy | :17:30. | :17:32. | |
disappointments, this could be something that the activists would | :17:32. | :17:41. | |
rally around. Our top story - thousands of people turn out to | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
welcome the Paralympic flame, as it arrives in London for tonight's | :17:45. | :17:50. | |
opening of the Games. Coming up - how hosting the Paralympics changed | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
attitudes to disability in China. Later on BBC London - Britain's | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
most successful Paralympian of all time, Tanni Grey-Thompson tells us | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
what she is most looking forward to seeing. And, the charity in Surrey | :18:03. | :18:13. | |
:18:13. | :18:47. | ||
taking part in tonight's opening Republican delegates cast their | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
votes in an energised convention hall. As the confirmed nominee, | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
Mitt Romney will now get access to 165 million dollars in additional | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
funding, much of which will be spent on advertising. He knows this | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
week is also about something else, something money can't buy. America | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
has not yet fallen in love with Mitt Romney. In polls voters | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
describe the multimillionaire as aloof, unable to relate to them. | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
So, stepping out to change their minds, the person who knows him | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
best. As his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you | :19:23. | :19:32. | |
:19:33. | :19:33. | ||
Mitt Romney was not handed success. He built it. She then spoke in | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
personal terms of what she called a real marriage that had begun years | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
ago in a tiny basement apartment and been strengthened by hen other | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
fight with breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Let me say this | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
to every American who is thinking about who should be our next | :19:49. | :19:56. | |
President - no one will work harder, no one will care more and no one | :19:56. | :20:01. | |
will move Heaven and earth like Mitt Romney to make this country a | :20:01. | :20:08. | |
better place to live. And at the end there he was, teary- | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
eyed and telling her "you were fabulous", as a character reference | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
this speech was as good ags anything -- anything, the question | :20:17. | :20:27. | |
:20:27. | :20:30. | ||
now will it help land him the job? The former editor of the News of | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
the World in Scotland, Bob Bird, has been charged with attempting to | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
pervert the course of justice. The allegation relates to a defamation | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
case involving the newspaper and the former MSP Tommy Sheridan. | :20:40. | :20:45. | |
relates to a series of stories which the newspaper published about | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
the former socialist politician Tommy Sheridan. Sheridan sued the | :20:49. | :20:53. | |
newspaper and won and today Bob Bird was questioned for four hours | :20:53. | :20:56. | |
about the circumstances of that defamation case. He was charged | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
with attempting to perverting the course of justice and when he came | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
out of the the police station he made this statement. I'd just | :21:02. | :21:08. | |
wanted to say I'm really sad and disappointed that things have come | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
to this today. I have always tried to do the right thing in my career, | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
throughout my 30, 40-odd years in skwrorpblism -- journal imand I | :21:17. | :21:27. | |
Tommy Sheridan was later jailed for perjury in relation to the action | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
and two other men, former News of the World men, Douglas White and | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
the Prime Minister's former Director of Communications, also | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
face charges in relation to the perjury case. It's now up to the | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
prosecution here in Scotland to decide how to proceed with all | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
three of these cases. James, thank you. The Syrian President, Bashar | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
al-Assad, has rejected a proposal that refugees from the fighting | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
should be sheltered in a buffer zone inside Syria. In a television | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
interview, Mr Assad also said defections to the Free Syria Army | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
were the result of weak elements leaving the government. Our | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
correspondent, Barbara Plett, sent this report from neighbouring | :22:00. | :22:08. | |
Lebanon. Residents of this suburb are trying to come to terms with | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
the latest outburst of violence in the capital. A powerful car bomb | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
damaged buildings, killing and wounding dozens. This is an area | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
that has stayed largely loyal to the Government, as the Army has | :22:22. | :22:24. | |
unleashed a ferocious assault against rebels in other parts of | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
the city. In this escalating war, the President is trying to project | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
an image of calm and confidence, through an interview heavily | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
promoted by the pro-regime channel. The Government's strategy is | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
working, he says, but at the same time he's rallying his constituency | :22:42. | :22:48. | |
for a longhaul. TRANSLATION: We are engaged in a regional and global | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
battle and we need time to win it. But I can sum it up, we are | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
progressing. The situation underground is better, but we have | :22:55. | :23:02. | |
not yet won. This will take more time. That message falls on deaf | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
ears here, in this town in the north. Most of the people have fled. | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
Those left behind say that's because of shelling by the | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
Government and air strikes. This man has to prepare a grave for his | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
mother who died of a heartattack, triggered by the bombing, he says. | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
He blames the international community for failing to stop this. | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
TRANSLATION: Now the French President is talking, but for what? | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
For nothing. Turkey talks and does nothing. The refugees are waiting | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
at the borders and they won't let them in. A sharp increase in | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
refugees is putting pressure on neighbouring countries like Turkey. | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
It's proposed there is a buffer zone inside Syria. The President | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
dismissed this as unrealistic and it probably is given international | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
reluctance to intervene, but there's growing concern that unless | :23:54. | :24:04. | |
:24:04. | :24:05. | ||
something's done the humanitarian crisis will spiral out of control. | :24:05. | :24:07. | |
Parts of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have been closed | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
temporarily after the discovery of a bomb which is thought to date | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
from the Second World War. One terminal is reported to have been | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
evacuated and some flights have been suspended. An airport | :24:16. | :24:25. | |
spokesman said explosives experts were examining the device. Earlier, | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
in Munich, explosives experts did detonate a large Second World War | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
bomb found under a bar, after the device proved too difficult to | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
defuse. A number of buildings in the surrounding area had to be | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
evacuated during the operation. More now on the Paralympics. Four | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
years after they played host to the Games, China is once again expected | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
to top the medals table. In Beijing the team won an astonishing 89 gold | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
medals - more than double its nearest rival. As our Beijing | :24:50. | :24:52. | |
correspondent, Martin Patience reports, Paralympic success led to | :24:52. | :25:02. | |
:25:02. | :25:08. | ||
changing attitudes in China. Xiao Huan Yi is used to dealing with | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
obstacles in life. He was born blind, but that doesn't stop him | :25:12. | :25:18. | |
getting around Beijing. When he first started making this journey | :25:18. | :25:27. | |
he sometimes took the wrong bus. But now he knows the route. This | :25:27. | :25:33. | |
morning, he's attending a weekly film club for blind people. A guest | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
speaker nar rates what's happening on screen, so the audience -- | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
narrates what's happening on screen, so the audience it follow the film. | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
He says this is one example of how his life's improved. TRANSLATION: | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
In the past, people would talk about you as you walked in the | :25:51. | :25:56. | |
street. Sometimes kids would chase after you. But that almost never | :25:56. | :25:58. | |
happens now. People treat you normally and many are willing to | :25:58. | :26:06. | |
help. The Beijing Paralympics four years ago played a huge part in | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
changing attitudes in China. The longer those with disabilities are | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
no longer seen as charity cases who you should feel sorry for and they | :26:14. | :26:22. | |
are now seen as winners, who should be celebrated. Despite all the | :26:22. | :26:28. | |
progress, many disabled people are overlooked. They are forced to fend | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
for themselves. Campaigners say that China still has a lot of work | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
to do. I think one of the biggest challenges is just the fact that | :26:35. | :26:39. | |
there's an uneven development in China, so the people with | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
disabilities are getting quite a lot of support, but because many | :26:41. | :26:47. | |
are still in the more rural parts of China, then this means that it's | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
much slower paced than in other parts, where it's happening much | :26:51. | :26:57. | |
faster. Xiao Huan Yi says China has come a long way in terms of | :26:57. | :27:03. | |
recognising disabilities, but the journey is far from over. Let's get | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
more now on those final preparations in London for | :27:05. | :27:07. | |
tonight's opening ceremony. Earlier our correspondent, Adam Parsons, | :27:07. | :27:16. | |
went to the Olympic Park for us. Welcome back to the Olympic Park. | :27:16. | :27:23. | |
It feels like just yesterday that the -- The Who were ending the | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
closing ceremony and music surrounding us once again, because | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
tonight it's the opening ceremony of the Paralympics. There will be | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
all those thousands of athletes descending on this fantastic | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
stadium. They will be waiting in the depths of the stadium and the | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
people who will be entertaining them are these guys, the national | :27:45. | :27:47. | |
youth theatre. They've done ceremonies for every country as | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
they enter the village and now this is what we have got - dancing, | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
singing and that spectacular puppet. All sorts of ceremonies. As you saw, | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
I neever got brained by a break dancer -- I nearly got brained by a | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
breakdancer. We'll have a word with a couple of members of the theatre. | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
There is Jackie and Tim. Jackie, this is a very impressive thing. | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
Are you looking forward to tonight? Yes, I am. There are some amazing | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
athletes who you will be welcoming to Britain. That's quite a | :28:20. | :28:25. | |
responsibility? It is, but it's fun as well. They are very open and | :28:25. | :28:31. | |
they make it easy. Tim, just tell us what will you be doing? We'll be | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
sort of welcoming and entertaining the athletes as they make their way | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
to the ceremony. We should be doing that for 90 minutes to all the | :28:40. | :28:43. | |
athletes. They are very inspirational, the group of | :28:43. | :28:49. | |
athletes? Yeah, they are. Incredibly so. Ultimately they are | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
rehearsing like us for their sport and it's an honour to be a part. | :28:54. | :28:57. | |
Thank you both very much indeed. We are going to wish everybody here | :28:57. | :29:02. | |
the best of luck for tonight. The weather at the moment is dry. The | :29:02. | :29:08. | |
forecast was for rain, but at the moment it seems to be a triumph of | :29:08. | :29:14. | |
hope over forecasting. Adam there at the park. We'll look at the | :29:14. | :29:16. | |
at the park. We'll look at the weather. All eyes are on an event | :29:16. | :29:23. | |
off the American coast. We have Hurricane Isaac on the scene. This | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
is the satellite picture. It's quite powerful. It's a category one, | :29:27. | :29:31. | |
with sustained winds of around 80mph. The centre is just to the | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
south-west of New Orleans itself. It's a very slow-moving system. It | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
will track west and north-westwards, along the Louisiana coastline | :29:38. | :29:42. | |
before taking a turn inland. It's across the east of the hurricanes | :29:42. | :29:47. | |
that we have significant storms. Six to 12-foot storm surges | :29:47. | :29:53. | |
battering the coastline and rain for the next couple of days. | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
Flooding risk here. At home, we have a weather front. On the back | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
of this weather front, we'll have squally winds. Then come the | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
showers which are already heavy and thundery across Wales and Northern | :30:03. | :30:07. | |
Ireland and the north-west of England at the moment. Really | :30:07. | :30:09. | |
through the rest of this afternoon's forecast we are | :30:10. | :30:12. | |
expecting further showers to come and go across the south-west of | :30:12. | :30:17. | |
England and Wales. There could be a few heavy ones, but at least some | :30:17. | :30:24. | |
sun between those intense downpours. In you will be lucky to stay dry. | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
There are loads of the showers moving across. Some will be heavy | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
too. In the north of Scotland, rain at times. Quite a cool day. 12 in | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
Stornoway. Some sunshine elsewhere, with rain. The showers that we have | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
at the moment in western England will sweep across the Midlands into | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
the north-east, with thunderstorms breaking out widely. We still have | :30:44. | :30:46. | |
the heavy rain across East Anglia and south-east England with the | :30:46. | :30:51. | |
winds towards the back of the weather front. That front should | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
move away in time for the opening ceremony, so we are pretty hopeful | :30:55. | :31:01. | |
that the weather should stay dry here. Overnight, plenty more | :31:01. | :31:04. | |
showers packing in across many parts. Perhaps some longer | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
spellings of rain across the north and east of Scotland, where it will | :31:07. | :31:15. | |
turn cool. The temperatures down by a few degrees. A cold night in | :31:15. | :31:21. | |
Stornoway. Thursday will be another fairly unsettled day. Bright spells | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
or showers. The majority of the showers will be across England and | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
central and eastern areas, with the weather dry and settled in the | :31:29. | :31:32. | |
north. For Northern Ireland and Scotland, decent weather and sun, | :31:32. | :31:37. | |
but the temperatures not impressive. It will be quite a cold night | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
Thursday night. Into Friday, we are looking at cloud and outbreaks of | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
rain for Northern Ireland and Scotland. Dryer and brighter as we | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
get towards Saturday. In the south across the Midlands, Wales and the | :31:48. | :31:51. | |
south, high pressure, so the weather should be largely dry and | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
settled with bright or sunny spells. settled with bright or sunny spells. | :31:55. | :31:57. | |
Thank you very much. Our top story - thousands of people have turned | :31:57. | :32:01. |