:00:19. > :00:28.Britain wins its first medals at the Olympics. Lizzie Armitstead
:00:28. > :00:31.shines in the rain to take silver in the women's road race. The most
:00:31. > :00:38.special thing I have ever experienced. It was crazy. So
:00:38. > :00:47.inspiring. I didn't even feel my legs. And there's a bronze in the
:00:47. > :00:50.pool for Rebecca Adlington. Games organisers pledge to tackle the
:00:50. > :01:00.problem of empty seats at some venues, as sponsors deny they are
:01:00. > :01:06.to blame. Syria's Foreign Minister vows to crush the rebels in Aleppo.
:01:06. > :01:09.Fears are growing about more civilian casualties. Republican
:01:09. > :01:19.Presidental candidate Mitt Romney receives a warm welcome in Israel
:01:19. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :01:40.Good evening. Great Britain has won its first medals of the 2012 games.
:01:40. > :01:47.Cyclist Lizzie Armitstead took silver in the women's road race and
:01:47. > :01:57.this evening Rebecca Adlington won a bronze medal in the women's 400m
:01:57. > :02:01.
:02:01. > :02:05.freestyle. Unlike Mark Cavendish at this cyclist knows what Rory is
:02:05. > :02:10.like. Nicole Cooke was the first of the Beijing gold medallists but for
:02:10. > :02:15.years on her job was to support young good team mate Lizzie
:02:15. > :02:21.Armitstead as she bid to obtain eight -- get past male counterpart
:02:21. > :02:26.in stormy conditions. Everyone wants a medal, hopefully we can be
:02:26. > :02:34.first to deliver. Team GB had every reason to be confident but the
:02:34. > :02:40.return of British summer made A contest was punctuated by a
:02:40. > :02:45.series of punches and pilots'. This was road racing at its most
:02:45. > :02:49.treacherous. With huge home support lining the course again the race
:02:49. > :02:55.was as dramatic as the weather. After a series of attacks came the
:02:55. > :03:02.key moment. Dutch favourite Marianne Vos and Russian Olga
:03:02. > :03:09.Zabelinskaya with the breakaway. Back at base the tension was rising
:03:09. > :03:12.and British medals seemed assured. The question was which one? After
:03:12. > :03:22.87 miles of attrition came this thrilling final sprint along the
:03:22. > :03:37.
:03:37. > :03:41.Mall. It's just really strange. I Team GB are on the podium. It may
:03:41. > :03:45.have come a day later than hoped for but thanks to this courageous
:03:45. > :03:49.performance the hosts are off the mark, their first medal of these
:03:49. > :03:53.games. Lizzie Armitstead came so close to the ultimate prize but
:03:53. > :04:03.this medal could just be worth its weight in gold. Team GB will hope
:04:03. > :04:07.
:04:07. > :04:09.it is just the first of many. Rebecca Adlington won a bronze.
:04:09. > :04:12.Elsewhere Andy Murray has been on court, beginning his challenge for
:04:12. > :04:19.Olympic singles glory, and Zara Philips has been competing in the
:04:19. > :04:24.Equestrian events. Andy Swiss has the rest of the day's action.
:04:24. > :04:28.She was the golden girl of Beijing and now could London raw Rebecca at
:04:28. > :04:31.Linton to another Olympic title? She started as the slowest
:04:31. > :04:35.qualifier for the 400 metres freestyle final, not her preferred
:04:35. > :04:45.distance. But cheered on by the home crowd she gradually moved up
:04:45. > :04:51.
:04:51. > :04:57.through the field and clung on with Her reaction, delight rather than
:04:58. > :05:02.disappointment. The crowd is amazing. This is what I wanted.
:05:02. > :05:06.This is what gets us from fourth to third and onto the podium. I know
:05:06. > :05:11.so many people wanted me to get gold, sorry for that, but I tried
:05:11. > :05:16.my hardest. No gold this time but another medal for the fans here are
:05:16. > :05:21.the Olympic Park to celebrate. There was plenty more British
:05:21. > :05:25.success on day two. A fine display in dressage from Zara Phillips
:05:25. > :05:32.watched by a few well known relatives. She kept Britain's a
:05:32. > :05:41.equestrian team in medal contention. After losing in the doubles Andy
:05:41. > :05:45.Murray won his opening singles match at Wimbledon in straight sets.
:05:45. > :05:50.Ben Ainslie began his quest for a 4th Olympic medal in impressive
:05:50. > :05:59.style. While Beth Tweddle produced a breathtaking performance in the
:06:00. > :06:03.gymnastics as Britain's women team qualified for the final. A first
:06:03. > :06:10.victory for the men's football team, Ryan Giggs on the scoresheet as
:06:10. > :06:20.they beat United Dhamrait -- United Arab Emirates. So let's see what
:06:20. > :06:38.
:06:38. > :06:41.the medals table looks like. China leads with a total of 12. The head
:06:41. > :06:44.of the London games organisers, Lord Coe, says military personnel,
:06:44. > :06:47.students and teachers will be offered tickets after seats at some
:06:47. > :06:49.events were left empty for a second day. The problem has attracted
:06:49. > :06:59.public anger, and the British Olympic Association has said it
:06:59. > :07:18.
:07:18. > :07:21.wants to see "every seat filled". James Pearce reports.
:07:21. > :07:24.This was the volleyball venue. Not the image anyone expected at London
:07:24. > :07:28.2012. Watching tennis at Wimbledon also believed to be lonely for this
:07:28. > :07:31.man. -- proved. They will need more members of the Armed Forces than
:07:31. > :07:35.this to filling gaps. You will not be seeing this is an issue long-
:07:35. > :07:39.term through the games. -- as an issue. Some of those seats are not
:07:39. > :07:41.being used which is why we put the military in their and students and
:07:41. > :07:45.teachers. A number of recent Olympics have had problems with
:07:45. > :07:48.empty seats. It 0.8 million tickets have been sold, 5% went to what is
:07:48. > :07:50.called the Olympic family, for example, the sports federations.
:07:51. > :07:54.The Games organisers say the sponsor seats have been filled, so
:07:54. > :07:57.if the empty seats to not belong to sponsors, then whose are they?
:07:57. > :08:00.London 2012 said many have been set aside for international sporting
:08:00. > :08:04.federations. In the aquatic centre here are the cheaper seats, all of
:08:04. > :08:07.them bought by members of the public. It is packed. But look down
:08:07. > :08:17.to poolside and the expensive seats at the front, many of them are
:08:17. > :08:17.
:08:17. > :08:23.empty. It is disappointing. I guess you can't make people turn up and
:08:23. > :08:27.if it is corporate ticket it is a shame they are not used. If I said
:08:27. > :08:30.you you could wait here for half an hour and any unused tickets might
:08:30. > :08:35.be returned would you be happy to wait? Absolutely. Yes! Definitely,
:08:35. > :08:45.definitely! Many others have not managed to get to the Olympics at
:08:45. > :08:50.
:08:50. > :08:53.all. The Robinson family applied for tickets and are not enjoying
:08:53. > :08:56.seeing the empty seats on TV, having failed. I felt it is very
:08:56. > :09:00.unfair. I have had negative feelings towards the Olympics which
:09:00. > :09:04.is awful. At one stage has said I refuse to watch it. But that is not
:09:04. > :09:07.how it is. But very angry about it. There is no shortage of spectators,
:09:07. > :09:10.hundreds of thousands have been to the Olympics today. The challenge
:09:10. > :09:20.for London 2012 is to make sure if there are spare seat inside venues
:09:20. > :09:29.
:09:29. > :09:33.Our sports editor is there tonight. After the first weekend the best
:09:33. > :09:38.feeling is just that sense that Team GB does have some medals?
:09:38. > :09:41.Absolutely. It will be a huge relief to Team GB to be off the
:09:41. > :09:45.mark and have that silver for Lizzie Armitstead and the bronze
:09:45. > :09:50.for Rebecca Adlington. Huge pressure on the home athletes to
:09:50. > :09:54.deliver here at the home games. If people thought Rebecca Adlington
:09:54. > :09:59.was the favourite going into that race then you only have to look at
:09:59. > :10:02.her joyous reaction at getting bronze. The 400 metres freestyle is
:10:02. > :10:07.not her revenge, it is the 800 metres which comes later, even she
:10:07. > :10:13.had written off her chances. So there is definitely a sense of
:10:13. > :10:16.relief around the camp. And relief for organisers that pictures with
:10:16. > :10:20.athletes with medals round their necks might take away the focus
:10:20. > :10:23.from the banks of empty seats we have seen. LOCOG say they are
:10:23. > :10:29.getting to grips with the problem but if it continues they might have
:10:29. > :10:39.to take some stronger actions because members of the Olympic
:10:39. > :10:47.
:10:47. > :10:52.family were supposed be sitting in their seats. In today's other
:10:52. > :10:55.news... Syria's Foreign Minister has warned that the whole Middle
:10:55. > :10:58.East region will become unstable if rebel fighters are able to defeat
:10:58. > :11:01.the government of Bashar Al-Assad. The army has continued to pound
:11:01. > :11:04.rebel strongholds in Aleppo for a second day, raising fears about
:11:04. > :11:08.civilian casualties in the city of more than 2 million people. Jim
:11:08. > :11:18.Muir reports from Beirut. The battle goes on but it is unsure
:11:18. > :11:21.
:11:21. > :11:24.which way it will swing. Getting strongly motivated guerrillas out
:11:24. > :11:27.of cities is not easy, they may be lightly-armed but there clearly
:11:27. > :11:31.dangerous. As the crisis deepened the Syrian foreign minister held
:11:31. > :11:34.what he called extremely fruitful talks in Tehran. He said the regime
:11:34. > :11:44.was determined to drive the rebels out of Aleppo, just as it did in
:11:44. > :11:50.
:11:50. > :11:54.Damascus. TRANSLATION: They plotted for a battle. They moved to Aleppo
:11:54. > :11:58.where their plans failed, too. Aleppo rebels were busy preparing
:11:58. > :12:03.for a showdown that both sides know will be crucial. They are not under
:12:03. > :12:13.such pressure apparently that there is not time for a bit of relaxation.
:12:13. > :12:15.
:12:15. > :12:18.But even when they sleep of war is never far away. Some of the
:12:18. > :12:26.inhabitants remain in the line of fire, others have fled to safer
:12:26. > :12:35.areas or across the nearby border to Turkey. The Jordanians have
:12:35. > :12:39.opened a big camp to cope with the flood of refugees. The flow across
:12:39. > :12:43.the border has quadrupled to around 1000 a day and more are to come.
:12:43. > :12:50.The battle for Aleppo has only just started and both sides know that
:12:50. > :13:00.whoever wins it may win the war. Our correspondent has just outside
:13:00. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:07.Aleppo tonight. What have you witness today? It has been a case
:13:07. > :13:14.of the battle continuing. This is now a fight to the bitter end.
:13:14. > :13:17.Aleppo is key to the success of the rebels and the survival of the
:13:17. > :13:27.government of the President. So we have seen government forces
:13:27. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:33.essentially targetting neighbourhoods, the area we are
:13:33. > :13:36.Rhian -- we are in at the moment, there has been chanting and people
:13:37. > :13:40.ready with guns to going to the city. The Channel -- challenge for
:13:40. > :13:44.the rebels is to keep the supply line open. The challenge for the
:13:44. > :13:47.government is to try to get into these heavily built up areas. The
:13:48. > :13:51.terrain does not work to their advantage but what they say is
:13:51. > :14:01.whoever wins Aleppo were essentially when Syria in the long
:14:01. > :14:03.
:14:03. > :14:06.The Republican candidate for the US President see mitt Romney has been
:14:06. > :14:10.making pro-Israel commenced in a visit to the country. He said he
:14:10. > :14:14.would respect an Israeli military strike on a nuclear-armed Iran. He
:14:14. > :14:24.angered Palestinians when he referred to Jerusalem as the
:14:24. > :14:29.
:14:29. > :14:34.The man who wants to be America's and ex-president has come here to
:14:34. > :14:38.pledge passionate friendship with Israel. Offering a prayer at the
:14:38. > :14:44.Wailing Wall with 100 days to go before the election, Mr Romney is
:14:44. > :14:50.not so much caught in the Jewish vote -- both at home are stressing
:14:50. > :14:55.he would take a harder line at home. The auction should be excluded. We
:14:55. > :15:04.recognise Israel's right to defend itself and that it is right for
:15:04. > :15:08.America to stand with you. As he met the Israeli prime minister at
:15:08. > :15:13.advisers made clear if Israel attacked Iran to stop its nuclear
:15:13. > :15:22.programme, Mr Romney would respect that. Music to the ears of Benjamin
:15:22. > :15:27.Netanyahu. He said the greatest danger in the world is if the
:15:27. > :15:32.Ayatollah's regime possesses nuclear weapons capability. I could
:15:32. > :15:36.not agree with you more. With just 100 days to go what the opinion
:15:36. > :15:40.polls suggest is a tight race, Mr Rodney came here to make a point,
:15:40. > :15:50.but everybody knows this election is about the economy and the battle
:15:50. > :15:57.
:15:57. > :16:04.The latest figures were worse than expected. Some economists are
:16:04. > :16:09.alarmed. We're at the highest risk of a second recession we have had
:16:09. > :16:15.since the financial crisis began. The Romeu campaign argues Barack
:16:15. > :16:18.Obama is scornful of people who build their own businesses.
:16:18. > :16:23.course Americans build their own businesses. Everyday hard-working
:16:23. > :16:29.people sacrificed to meet a payroll, create jobs and make our economy
:16:30. > :16:32.solid. Mr Romney flies to Poland before returning to the US. He
:16:32. > :16:35.hopes a familiar prescription of tax-cuts, spending cut and less
:16:35. > :16:45.regulation as well as a more aggressive foreign policy will put
:16:45. > :17:04.
:17:05. > :17:14.When we watched the parade we saw India happily parade through, but
:17:15. > :17:19.
:17:19. > :17:23.there was one woman and nobody knew who she was. Notice anything
:17:23. > :17:27.strange about this picture? Just who is the woman in red? Not
:17:27. > :17:29.content to tag along at the back she is way out in front, shoulder
:17:29. > :17:32.to shoulder with the flag-bearer wearing jeans, smiling and waving
:17:32. > :17:36.like the rest of the Indian Olympian team. The problem is
:17:36. > :17:40.nobody has a clue who she is. The Indian media was alive, who was she,
:17:40. > :17:43.or why was she there? One paper claims to have named the face but
:17:43. > :17:49.it is not confirmed. The IOC has launched a formal complaint. We
:17:49. > :17:55.want to know what happened. We are not saying the world has fallen
:17:55. > :18:00.apart but they want to know what happened. Cue Sebastian Coe to shed
:18:00. > :18:05.some light... She was a cast member who clearly got slightly over-
:18:05. > :18:09.excited. She should not have been there but she clearly started in
:18:09. > :18:19.that venue and I will be speaking to the Indian delegation. Remember
:18:19. > :18:20.
:18:20. > :18:25.this man, a harmless prankster, he had a knack of turning up uninvited.
:18:25. > :18:28.At the tennis, cricket matches, motor racing. It seems the mystery