:00:25. > :00:29.Good afternoon. Welcome to BBC News from our
:00:29. > :00:32.Olympic studio where dark clouds are threatening and the winds are
:00:32. > :00:37.building. Lord Coe has said London 2012
:00:37. > :00:40.organise letters do all they can to fill empty seats at venues. A
:00:40. > :00:44.number of events have failed to be filled to capacity. It's thought
:00:44. > :00:48.the seats were allocated to sponsors and Olympic officials.
:00:48. > :00:53.Lord Coe has pledged empty seats will not be a problem as the Games
:00:53. > :00:57.continue. Not the images of London 2012 which
:00:57. > :01:02.anybody had wanted or expected. Empty seats at volleyball this. Man
:01:02. > :01:07.was looking rather lonely during a tennis match at Wimbledon. A
:01:07. > :01:10.similar story yesterday in some areas of the Aquatics Centre during
:01:10. > :01:14.swimming. They'll need to draft many more members of the armed
:01:14. > :01:18.forces in than this, if they are going to fill all the gaps. I don't
:01:18. > :01:22.think you will be seeing this as an issue, long-term through the Games.
:01:22. > :01:26.What we have been able to do, because, yes, it is obvious some of
:01:26. > :01:31.those seats aren't being used that's why we have put the military
:01:31. > :01:35.and students and teachers in there. The Olympic Park is busy. Many of
:01:35. > :01:40.the people inside enjoying it have spent more than a year trying to
:01:40. > :01:44.get hold of tickets for events that are meant to be sold out. In the
:01:44. > :01:47.Aquatics Centre behind me at the top, the cheaper seats, all booked
:01:47. > :01:51.by members of the public, are packed. But look down to the
:01:51. > :01:56.poolside and the more expensive seats right at the front, lots of
:01:56. > :01:59.them are empty. I must admit it is abit
:01:59. > :02:02.disappointing but I guess you can't make people turn up and if it is
:02:02. > :02:07.corporate tickets, it is a shame they are not being used. REPORTER:
:02:07. > :02:11.If I were to say to you, you could queue for half an hour, any tickets
:02:11. > :02:16.that haven't been used might be returned would you be happy to wait
:02:16. > :02:21.to go in Absolutely. Definitely, definitely, definitely. Lewis Smith
:02:21. > :02:26.is our best-known gymnast but yesterday even he was surrounded by
:02:26. > :02:30.empty seats. All those competing in that venue and other Olympians, too,
:02:30. > :02:35.will hope this is an issue that will soon be resolved.
:02:35. > :02:38.Well, one of the Britain's best medal hopes today is currently
:02:39. > :02:43.defending her Olympic title. Nicole Cooke is competing in the women's
:02:43. > :02:45.road race. Our sports correspondent Dan Roan is at the finish at
:02:45. > :02:50.Buckingham Palace. Thunder and lightning where you are. I think
:02:50. > :02:55.you have had some as well. How is she doing? We are about an hour
:02:55. > :03:00.into this four-hour race. Lizzie arm stead and Nicole Cooke,
:03:00. > :03:06.Britain's two best female cyclists are both well-placed. A long way to
:03:06. > :03:09.go. After a false start by the male cyclists yesterday where Mark
:03:09. > :03:13.Cavendish, amidst so much hopes and expectations failed to win
:03:13. > :03:17.Britain's first medal of the Games the focus has shifted to their
:03:17. > :03:21.female counterparts today. Nicole Cooke knows exactly how it feels to
:03:21. > :03:25.win the first gold medal of an Olympic Games for Britain. She did
:03:25. > :03:30.that four years ago. Interesting today she is very much in a support
:03:30. > :03:33.role for Lizzie arm stead, who is regarded as Britain's best female
:03:33. > :03:36.sprinter, the leader of this team. As you have said, the conditions
:03:36. > :03:40.though are very different from yesterday. Heavy rain in west
:03:40. > :03:46.London and throughout the Surrey countryside where this course goes.
:03:46. > :03:51.It's shorter than the course for the men, just two circuits of Box
:03:51. > :04:01.Hill. It is challenging, in three hours' time we'll see how they have
:04:01. > :04:02.
:04:02. > :04:08.done. Other n other news, activists in Syria say rebel-held areas of
:04:08. > :04:14.Aleppo continue to be bombarded by forces.
:04:14. > :04:20.This report contains some pictures that can't be ipbtly verified.
:04:20. > :04:24.It is not yet clear which way this city may go. So far the rebels seem
:04:24. > :04:29.to be holding firm in the quarters where they have taken control.
:04:29. > :04:33.The regime forces have vastly more firepower at their disposal and
:04:33. > :04:37.rebels have seized a number of government tanks with machine guns
:04:37. > :04:41.that can help ward off attacks from the air.
:04:41. > :04:44.The state forces certainly aren't having it all their own way. Even
:04:44. > :04:48.with fairly light weapons, determined fighters can be very
:04:48. > :04:53.hard to root out and can do a lot of damage.
:04:53. > :04:57.But the government forces still have many more tanks and heavy
:04:57. > :05:03.artillery which have been bombarding rebel-held districts to
:05:03. > :05:06.try to soften up a the resistance. In Damascus these tactics succeeded
:05:06. > :05:11.in bringing the city back under control.
:05:11. > :05:15.But even state television isn't making extravagant claims of
:05:15. > :05:21.victory in Aleppo yet. It said only that the troops had inflicted heavy
:05:21. > :05:25.losses on what it called "armed terrorist mercenaries."
:05:25. > :05:29.Whoever ends up controlling these streets will have secured a highly-
:05:29. > :05:33.strategic hub city that dominates the north of the country. For the
:05:33. > :05:36.rebels, it would provide an ideal springboard for what they call the