:00:00. > :00:17.More from me at 5pm, right packet is time for reporters.
:00:18. > :00:26.From here in the world's news room, we send our correspondents to bring
:00:27. > :00:28.you the best stories from across the world.
:00:29. > :00:37.Richard Conway reports on Syria's World Cup dreams,
:00:38. > :00:42.and asks whether soccer can help to unite a country at war.
:00:43. > :00:45.Football coming back to Syria provides the people with a chance
:00:46. > :00:53.The plight of the people of western Mosul.
:00:54. > :00:55.Orla Guerin reports from the camps in Iraq, struggling to feed up
:00:56. > :01:01.to 500,000 survivors of the so-called Islamic State.
:01:02. > :01:07.They say they have no running water, no electricity, no access
:01:08. > :01:10.to medical supplies, and people in the queue are really
:01:11. > :01:13.afraid that the food is going to run out before they have been able
:01:14. > :01:17.Returning to Crimea, after three years.
:01:18. > :01:20.Steve Rosenberg finds out how people feel about Russian
:01:21. > :01:25.Moscow insists that most of the people who live
:01:26. > :01:35.And from the greatest show on earth - to a ghost town.
:01:36. > :01:38.Six months after the Rio Olympics, the organisers tell Wyre Davies
:01:39. > :01:45.I feel that Olympic Games in Brazil was not so successful,
:01:46. > :01:51.because legacy was not the number one.
:01:52. > :01:54.You might not think football was Syria's biggest priority
:01:55. > :01:58.at the moment, but you would be surprised to hear the country
:01:59. > :02:01.still has a national football team, and it's competing for a place
:02:02. > :02:07.With the country at war, they can't play on home soil,
:02:08. > :02:09.but the national team is still giving many Syrians
:02:10. > :02:15.They played their first qualifying match against Uzbekistan
:02:16. > :02:17.on Thursday, and Richard Conway joined them as they trained
:02:18. > :02:23.They are the nomads of world football.
:02:24. > :02:27.But Syria's players are making friends on their travels.
:02:28. > :02:31.With their country at war, they must play home games on neutral ground.
:02:32. > :02:36.Here in Malaysia, the players are preparing for the most important
:02:37. > :02:41.fixture in their history, while back in Syria,
:02:42. > :02:50.there is renewed fighting in the capital Damascus.
:02:51. > :02:52.TRANSLATION: The condition of the people at home is quite
:02:53. > :02:54.difficult and there is additional pressure over there,
:02:55. > :02:59.We try to forget all those things and focus on the match
:03:00. > :03:03.and training at two hours a day, and with a happy mind-set
:03:04. > :03:13.as well as winning, the match and making the people at home proud.
:03:14. > :03:16.Football is still being played in Syria, but six years of conflict
:03:17. > :03:22.has thrown the domestic game into crisis.
:03:23. > :03:26.The performances of the national team have already given
:03:27. > :03:31.President Assad's regime a propaganda opportunity.
:03:32. > :03:33.But facilities are crumbling, very few countries want to play
:03:34. > :03:35.them in friendly games, and their best players have
:03:36. > :03:51.Syria's coaching staff have the toughest jobs in world football.
:03:52. > :03:54.Six years work in Syria, six years we're training in our field,
:03:55. > :03:56.on not so good field, not in good condition,
:03:57. > :03:59.we can not make any friendly game inside Syria or outside Syria.
:04:00. > :04:02.Give us more, trust with us to make good result in future,
:04:03. > :04:05.because everybody wants to make something for Syria.
:04:06. > :04:10.It is hard work, hard job, hard situation for us.
:04:11. > :04:14.Syria's President Bashir al-Assad wants the perception
:04:15. > :04:17.to be his country is returning to normal and sport
:04:18. > :04:20.helps with that aim, but regardless of his intentions,
:04:21. > :04:24.it's clear that sport, that football coming back to Syria
:04:25. > :04:26.provides the people with a chance to forget about their worries.
:04:27. > :04:37.That need is all the more acute after this week's surprise attack
:04:38. > :04:39.by rebels in Damascus, and the Government's
:04:40. > :04:46.I met the most senior figure in Syrian sport and asked,
:04:47. > :04:49.given evidence of war crimes by the regime, if his country should
:04:50. > :04:55.TRANSLATION: When terrorism and Jihadis came to Syria,
:04:56. > :04:59.it became our duty to defend our schools and hospitals.
:05:00. > :05:03.If a thief arrives at your house, will you let him steal it
:05:04. > :05:11.or will you defend your house and your family?
:05:12. > :05:13.For the first time in six years, Syria's women are preparing
:05:14. > :05:17.to play competitively at international level.
:05:18. > :05:19.They begin their own World Cup qualifying campaign
:05:20. > :05:31.We have the power to participate and we have the hope
:05:32. > :05:36.With all the support we have and the coaches
:05:37. > :05:39.who are helping a lot, we will achieve this.
:05:40. > :05:43.But the war has destroyed football careers.
:05:44. > :05:45.This man was a promising young player in Syria,
:05:46. > :05:49.but fled the violence with his family in 2012.
:05:50. > :05:51.Now living in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan,
:05:52. > :05:54.he works as part of a scheme that provides football coaching
:05:55. > :06:07.He, however, has not given up on his own football dream.
:06:08. > :06:09.TRANSLATION: Of course I still have dreams and ambitions
:06:10. > :06:17.To be famous and play with one of the big clubs.
:06:18. > :06:20.I also met one player who has proven what is possible.
:06:21. > :06:23.Mohammed fled Syria after his brother was killed by a mortar.
:06:24. > :06:30.Leaving behind his career with Syrian Premier League club Al-Majd.
:06:31. > :06:35.He has just signed a contract with a Jordanian Second Division team.
:06:36. > :06:38.TRANSLATION: Yes, it is a success story.
:06:39. > :06:41.It was a dream to play with the club.
:06:42. > :06:44.I was playing for a club back in Syria, and it became a dream
:06:45. > :06:51.When I first came here, I suffered a lot.
:06:52. > :06:55.I had many problems with my documents and my passport.
:06:56. > :06:57.But every time I face a problem, I am more
:06:58. > :07:07.And this is the beginning of the road.
:07:08. > :07:10.Back in Malaysia, those fortunate enough to be pursuing World Cup
:07:11. > :07:17.hopes are focussing on the biggest game of their careers.
:07:18. > :07:21.But this Syrian team also had a unique perspective on why
:07:22. > :07:25.sport matters so much - and so little.
:07:26. > :07:29.Richard Conway, BBC News, Malacca, Malaysia.
:07:30. > :07:33.One month into the renews offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul
:07:34. > :07:38.from the so-called Islamic State, there is new evidence
:07:39. > :07:55.Thousands have fled the fighting in the western half of the country's
:07:56. > :07:57.second city in recent weeks, but 500,000 people are struggling
:07:58. > :08:01.Orla Guerin sent us this report from the edge of Al-Mansur
:08:02. > :08:06.In the clamour for help, many go empty-handed.
:08:07. > :08:12.The gunfire from Iraqi soldiers trying to control the crowd
:08:13. > :08:26.Survivors of the Caliphate now at risk from hunger.
:08:27. > :08:29.Troops not keen for the chaos to be caught on camera.
:08:30. > :08:31.In the distance, smoke from an IS car bomb.
:08:32. > :08:44.But those who flee the fighting here end up in overcrowded camps.
:08:45. > :08:50.There are no good options for the people of western Mosul.
:08:51. > :08:53.Well, you can see here the utter desperation in this area.
:08:54. > :08:56.Local people here tell us this is the first aid supplies
:08:57. > :09:04.They say they have no running water, no electricity, no access
:09:05. > :09:07.to medical supplies, and people in the queue are really
:09:08. > :09:10.afraid that the food is going to run out before they have been able
:09:11. > :09:21.Barely able to walk, but with many mouths to feed,
:09:22. > :09:24.Hamda Mohammed, whose family is living on bread and water.
:09:25. > :09:26."I am crying", she say, "because my children don't
:09:27. > :09:46.This woman has suffered a double loss.
:09:47. > :09:47."IS killed two of my sons", she says.
:09:48. > :10:07.As the troops keep watch, there is tension in the crowd.
:10:08. > :10:14.With the frustration building, this man compares the security
:10:15. > :10:25."What's difference between the IS police and these guys?", he asks.
:10:26. > :10:30."The IS police beat us and they beat us, just for asking for food."
:10:31. > :10:33."Is this the liberation they have brought us?"
:10:34. > :10:36.Nearby, some are returning to this battle scarred neighbourhood.
:10:37. > :10:49.His home was occupied by IS for three months.
:10:50. > :10:51.He says they threatened to hang his wife because she
:10:52. > :11:07.IS knocked through the wall, he tells us, so they could move
:11:08. > :11:17.Their reign of terror has destroyed the fabric of his neighbourhood.
:11:18. > :11:20."We can never live again with those who collaborated with IS", he says.
:11:21. > :11:23."If I catch the man who informed on my wife,
:11:24. > :11:32.The battle for Mosul may now be in its final phase.
:11:33. > :11:35.This ancient city emerging from modern day barbarity.
:11:36. > :11:37.When the Caliphate crumbles, there will be much to rebuild,
:11:38. > :11:51.Orla Guerin, BBC News, western Mosul.
:11:52. > :11:54.It was a move that sparked sanctions from the west and a revival
:11:55. > :11:57.Three years ago, Russia sent special forces into Crimea
:11:58. > :12:04.The take over was followed by a separatist conflict in eastern
:12:05. > :12:10.Ukraine that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in nearly
:12:11. > :12:15.Steve Rosenberg has been back to the region to find out how people
:12:16. > :12:18.are coping with life under Russian rule.
:12:19. > :12:27.Blessed by nature, beset with contention.
:12:28. > :12:30.It's three years since Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine.
:12:31. > :12:34.Pushing east and west into a new Cold War.
:12:35. > :12:38.Today, Moscow is cementing its presence.
:12:39. > :12:45.With a bridge that will bind Crimea to the Russian mainland.
:12:46. > :12:47.With its military, too, Russia's moved its most
:12:48. > :12:51.powerful weapons here, and where ever you go
:12:52. > :12:56.in Crimea you'e left in no doubt who's in charge.
:12:57. > :13:04.She chides western leaders who disagree.
:13:05. > :13:07.We don't understand them because we are already for three
:13:08. > :13:12.We changed our rules, our documents, everything
:13:13. > :13:21.I even have the T-shirt, T-shirt with Putin, and the words
:13:22. > :13:27.are "In Putin we trust", like "In God we trust".
:13:28. > :13:31.Moscow admits its take over of Crimea was a military operation.
:13:32. > :13:39.Days later, after a referendum, not recognised initially,
:13:40. > :13:46.Svetlana had opposed the annexation, but three years on, her perspective
:13:47. > :13:54.They were expecting us, they were happy to have us back,
:13:55. > :13:56.Ukraine are not, they really hate us, they think everyone
:13:57. > :14:03.Even if you were ever pro-Ukrainian or you are now pro-Ukrainian,
:14:04. > :14:06.you are still a traitor because you didn't leave.
:14:07. > :14:13.The White House says it expects Moscow to return Crimea.
:14:14. > :14:21.It's almost inconceivable that Vladimir Putin would perform
:14:22. > :14:24.a U-turn on Crimea and hand this peninsula back to Ukraine.
:14:25. > :14:27.For one thing, the Kremlin doesn't do U-turns, and reclaiming
:14:28. > :14:31.this land for Russia, well, President Putin will regard
:14:32. > :14:33.that as part of his legacy, and Moscow insists that most
:14:34. > :14:36.of the people who live here are happy to be in Russia.
:14:37. > :14:50.Since annexation, the Crimean Tartar community has come under pressure.
:14:51. > :14:52.Its governing body, which had opposed the 2014
:14:53. > :14:58.Human rights groups accuse Moscow of creating a climate of repression.
:14:59. > :15:02.This man is desperate for information about his son, Edvin.
:15:03. > :15:08.A Tartar activist, Edvin was abducted ten months ago.
:15:09. > :15:16.CCTV cameras caught the moment he was seized by men in uniform.
:15:17. > :15:19.Not knowing where his son is is driving him to despair.
:15:20. > :15:22.His heart, he told me, isn't made of steel.
:15:23. > :15:41.And yet this Crimean spring feels calmer than three years ago.
:15:42. > :15:43.Most people here don't think about sovereignty or sanctions,
:15:44. > :15:52.They can't predict the future, so navigating
:15:53. > :16:00.Can Marine Le Pen do what her father failed to do and win France's 2017
:16:01. > :16:08.Her party, the Front National has long had significant support
:16:09. > :16:12.and could now win the most votes in the first round of the election.
:16:13. > :16:15.It struggled in the past due to its reputation for extremism.
:16:16. > :16:17.Its attitudes to issues like immigration, homosexuality
:16:18. > :16:24.As Lucy Williamson has been finding out, Marine Le Pen has been credited
:16:25. > :16:26.with detoxifying the image which her father had
:16:27. > :16:36.A year ago, Boris and his husband Eric left the urban rat race
:16:37. > :16:53.With an orchard, a vegetable garden and pet chickens.
:16:54. > :16:54.Named after President Holland's girlfriends.
:16:55. > :16:57.Boris describes himself as an orphan of the Socialist Party,
:16:58. > :17:00.pushed away by what he sees as the left's cosying
:17:01. > :17:05.Now he says he feels most at home with the leader
:17:06. > :17:09.of the Front National, Marine Le Pen.
:17:10. > :17:18.If it were her father in charge, it would be no,
:17:19. > :17:23.Back then there were skinheads, thugs and fascists in the party.
:17:24. > :17:25.With Marine it's not like that at all.
:17:26. > :17:29.There's an elegance, a bit of restraint.
:17:30. > :17:34.Marine Le Pen has tried to rid her party of the racist,
:17:35. > :17:38.homophobic image it had under her father, Jean-Marie.
:17:39. > :17:42.Several of her closest advisers are now openly gay,
:17:43. > :17:44.and she expelled her father after he described the Holocaust as
:17:45. > :17:52.Where Jews and gay men were once seen as outsiders,
:17:53. > :17:57.the party's target now is immigration and radical Islam.
:17:58. > :18:02.Marine Le Pen is presenting herself as the defender of minorities,
:18:03. > :18:10.against what she says is a growing threat from political Islam.
:18:11. > :18:12.Gay voters, jews and women all have something to fear, she says,
:18:13. > :18:15.and the Front National is the party to protect them.
:18:16. > :18:20.Analysts say the party is now being pulled in two directions.
:18:21. > :18:23.They have said there is a red line we shall never cross any more.
:18:24. > :18:25.It's anti-Semitism, and there Marine Le Pen
:18:26. > :18:29.is definitely different from her father.
:18:30. > :18:33.But if she goes too far, on that line of de-demonisation,
:18:34. > :18:36.she will lose the voters for whom it was a party that,
:18:37. > :18:40.that knocked on the tables strong, that wanted to shake the political
:18:41. > :18:43.system, and her father put it very well.
:18:44. > :18:51.FN traditionalists these days look not to Marine,
:18:52. > :18:58.but to her 27-year-old niece, Marion, a star of the party's
:18:59. > :19:00.conservative wing, whose members often say they preferred things
:19:01. > :19:06.the way they were, under Jean-Marie Le Pen.
:19:07. > :19:10.TRANSLATION: I think that Marion is more like her
:19:11. > :19:15.France really needs strict leadership.
:19:16. > :19:18.It's not OK to say "Let's carry on as we are."
:19:19. > :19:23.And Marion is better able to do that.
:19:24. > :19:26.Marion has much tougher views than her aunt on issues like gay
:19:27. > :19:28.marriage and abortion, and she's made it clear
:19:29. > :19:38.she is a fan of Donald Trump's immigration policies too.
:19:39. > :19:40.TRANSLATION: The famous Muslim ban, as Donald Trump's
:19:41. > :19:48.It's not in our programme right now, but if it turns out there's
:19:49. > :19:53.a particularly high threat coming from a country that is identified
:19:54. > :19:55.with or infiltrated by radical Islam, yes, we could temporarily ban
:19:56. > :20:07.Some say Marine and Marion are a useful double act that allows
:20:08. > :20:10.the party to keep all its members on side, but the glue
:20:11. > :20:15.may only be as strong as the party's electoral score.
:20:16. > :20:18.Power is attractive, even to those who see popularity
:20:19. > :20:30.At the time it was billed as the greatest show on earth,
:20:31. > :20:34.but several athletes and officials involved with last year's Olympic
:20:35. > :20:37.and Paralympic Games in Rio have told the BBC they are angry
:20:38. > :20:39.and frustrated by the failure to provide any meaningful
:20:40. > :20:51.It is six months since the 2016 Games came to an end,
:20:52. > :20:53.and while Brazilian officials insist there were tangible benefits
:20:54. > :20:55.for Rio, others feel the games were plagued by broken promises
:20:56. > :21:01.and lost opportunities, as Wyre Davies has been fining out.
:21:02. > :21:04.For five weeks last summer, Rio de Janeiro was the centre
:21:05. > :21:08.Host city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
:21:09. > :21:17.Exactly six months later, the stage is empty.
:21:18. > :21:20.Rio's Olympic Park, which should by now be operating as a sporting
:21:21. > :21:22.centre of excellence, is eerily quiet.
:21:23. > :21:24.Arenas where medals were won and lost are little
:21:25. > :21:30.Venues that should have been dismantled, some to be rebuilt
:21:31. > :21:36.If there is a legacy here, it's not the one that those
:21:37. > :21:42.who campaigned for Rio to win the games had expected.
:21:43. > :21:45.I feel that Olympic Games in Brazil was not so successful
:21:46. > :21:48.because the legacy was not the number one.
:21:49. > :21:53.We delivered good games, we had a lot of problems and we keep
:21:54. > :21:54.with them and nobody's doing anything for changing,
:21:55. > :22:02.This is the Olympic tennis arena, where Andy Murray won his second
:22:03. > :22:06.For now, this is being run, like many other venues
:22:07. > :22:08.in the Olympic Park, by the Brazilian Sports Ministry,
:22:09. > :22:12.because no private company, nor the local authority,
:22:13. > :22:18.can afford or want to take on the huge running costs.
:22:19. > :22:24.Team Brazil missed its own medal targets at Rio 2016.
:22:25. > :22:25.Archer Ane Marcelle came a creditable ninth place,
:22:26. > :22:28.but has since lost her funding and her coach.
:22:29. > :22:31.Improving on Rio and even making the Tokyo Games will be tough.
:22:32. > :22:35.TRANSLATION: A month after the games they cut everything.
:22:36. > :22:39.My health insurance, my salary, everything.
:22:40. > :22:44.We made history in archery but it's all over.
:22:45. > :22:48.It made me think my sacrifice wasn't worth it.
:22:49. > :22:50.Such was Rio's desperation to get things ready on time,
:22:51. > :22:53.legacy was the last thing on anyone's mind, says one official
:22:54. > :22:55.who had worked previously on the London Games,
:22:56. > :23:06.I never once had a conversation about legacy, at any point or in any
:23:07. > :23:08.discussion I had working on the games.
:23:09. > :23:10.You have to remember, this was the games where
:23:11. > :23:13.we were scrambling to put the event on on a day-by-day basis.
:23:14. > :23:16.There was no time to think about what was going to happen
:23:17. > :23:20.the day after the games finished in September.
:23:21. > :23:21.There were undoubtedly improvements in Rio,
:23:22. > :23:26.In public transport, some infrastructure and the opening
:23:27. > :23:33.I think that there are a few promises that need to be delivered,
:23:34. > :23:38.but I do believe we should have time to work on these promises,
:23:39. > :23:41.and the promise we need to be first of all is the delivery
:23:42. > :23:45.of the Olympic Park, and improvements in the sports legacy.
:23:46. > :23:48.A brand-new velodrome built at huge expense, barely used.
:23:49. > :23:56.A state-of-the-art whitewater course, meant to become a public
:23:57. > :24:02.Wyre Davies, BBC News, Rio de Janeiro.
:24:03. > :24:29.I'm Philippa Thomas, thank you for watching Reporters.
:24:30. > :24:31.Hi there Will Britt is summertime officially starts tomorrow morning