30/07/2012 BBC News at Six

London 2012 organisers act over empty seats - they tell Olympic

officials to use their seats or let them go.

Thousands more collect their tickets sold online for today's

events - organisers say they'll be more over the coming days. We can

do better on this. I think you'll see fewer empty seats and more

people getting to see these fantastic sporting events.

Oh, I don't know what to say. It was going so well, but one poor

dive leaves Tom Daly and Pete Waterfield out of the medals.

Sometimes the sport goes in your favour. Sometimes it goes against

you. It is annoying, but what can you do? After disappointment in the

diving all eyes turn to the pool tonight where three British

swimmers will battle it out for medals.

We'll have the latest from the Olympic Park. Our other main news -

tens of thousands of refugees flee sear qua's second city. Those left

behind are running short of food and water.

Mounting pressure on the eurozone - America's Treasury Secretary flies

in for talks. On the first weekday of London 2012,

we're live with the spectators and communers to ask is the transport

system coping? Cross-country for the country -

Zara Phillips takes the eventing team another step towards a medal.

On BBC London: How the capital coped - commuters

give us their verdict on the Olympic travel experience.

And out of medal contention - but why 18-year-old Zoe Smith still has

something to celebrate. Hello, and welcome to the BBC News

at Six from the Olympic Park. An extra 3,000 tickets have been on

sale for today's events after the organisers took action in the row

over empty seats. Olympic officials from other countries and sporting

bodies have been told to use their reserved tickets or release them.

The sight of hundreds of empty seats for some high profile events

has left would-be spectators angry. Clive Myrie has our first report

tonight. Hundreds of thousands of people

crammed into the Olympic Park today. I got cash in my pocket. I'll put

it in yours for some swimming tickets. But not everyone has a

ticket for what they want to see, and the sight of empty seats

compounds the frustration. Really upsetting, really upsetting. We

applied for about four or five different sports, and, of course,

you know, we only got one. But be careful. Empty seats don't

necessarily mean spare tickets have gone begging. We found these at the

hockey stadium for a match between South Korea and New Zealand - not

necessarily sell-out teams, especially at 8.30am.

APPLAUSE At the riding events in Greenwich,

the stands have plenty of spare capacity.

Pictures like these do, however, make people angry. Perception is

all, and there is no doubt some tickets allocated to certain

organisations have gone unused, so today Olympics organisers try to

head off the rising tide of public anger. We're doing this session by

session talking to the accredited groups, including, obviously,

broadcast media and everybody else and asking whether we can release

for the different sessions tickets back into the public pot. Where we

can, we're going to release those the night before. For David Cameron,

he had taken the tube to the Olympic Park today getting the best

perception of these Games is vital. I totally share that frustration,

and at the COBRA I chaired this morning, LOCOG decided to make

available 3,000 more tickets for sale, also to get the volunteers

and the armed service personnel that are doing a fantastic job -

and to allow them to use more of those seats. So of the 3,000 new

tickets made available today how do you get your hands on one? Go to

the LOCOG website. You can only get them online. There is no point

turning up here to a ticket office in Stratford because these are for

collection only. And this is the scene late if the afternoon for

gymnastics at the North Greenwich arena, troops filling up some of

the empty seats. Where there's spare capacity at the Olympics is

no longer really the point. It's all about getting bums on those

At the Aquatics Centre behind me British hopefuls Tom Daley and Pete

Waterfield lost out in the medals in the synchronised ten metre

platform diving. The competition was won by the Chinese. Sophie

Rayworth is there for us now. It was all down to just one poor dive,

wasn't it? Yes, absolutely heartbreaking for the British pair.

It was packed in here. The noise of the crowd was deafening, and to

begin with, it was all going so well for Pete Waterfield and Tom

Daley. After the first three dives, they were in the lead, but in a

space of just 1.5 seconds, the time it took them to do their next dive,

they slipped into fourth place. In the end, it was the Chinese pair

who won gold, as James Pearce reports.

Day three official programmes! Front-page billing for one of the

poster boys at the Olympics - in terms of popularity, few members of

Team GB come close to matching Tom Daley.

APPLAUSE This event, though is all about the

partnership, not the individual. Pete Waterfield, aged 31, a

relative old man and also a relative unknown compared to his

The first dive of their six was good. It left them joint leaders

and the red-hot favourites. The representative of China - the

Chinese dominate this sport. If Daly and Waterfield were to beat

them, they were going to have to Cheered on by the Prime Minister,

it was all going so well. Halfway through the competition, and they

were in first place. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We'd all been told that the Chinese pair were unbeatable, but with

every dive, the expectation is rising. Here we go, Daly and

Waterfield's fourth dive, and they're still leading. But it was

Oh, I don't know what to say. bad dive, and they'd fallen down

the leader board. He could have been forgiven for wanting to bang

his head against wall. Realistically, his medal hopes were

over. Despite all the support, they finished fourth. The crowd have

been absolutely amazing. I am getting emotional thinking about it

now because it's all of what we have dreamed of and to come fourth

is just so agonising after all the hard work and training. One dive

that the pair will have to reflect on ass the one that's cost them the

After the disappointment in the diving, all eyes now turn to the

pool. You can probably see the swimmers warming up behind me

because this less than two hours' time, three British swimmers will

be going for medals. They'll be hoping to improve on Team GB's

medal haul tonight, and one man who will be watching on very nervously

is Gemma's father and also his partner, Vaughan. What is it like

for you to sit and watch your daughter on a platform like this?

I'd like to think I would be sitting there with a stone-like

stomach, but actually I know I'm going to be leaping up and down

like a dervish. You can tell I lost my voice last night. I'll have none

after tonight. The atmosphere in here was incredible. Absolutely

phenomenal, never heard anything like it. Your job is to keep him

calm. I am trying to. She's up against stiff competition, the

American competitor, who people are dubbing the Michael feps of the

pool. Do you reckon she can do it? Any of the eight can do it. Gemma

lost the bronze medal by less than a blink of an eye. Once you get to

this stage it's all open. She's done quite well. She's done the

heats and the semis faster. I am hoping she can do something for us

tonight. You have been shouting, but does the crowd support help

her? Yes. A lot of people think that the swimmers can't hear, but

they can. You have heard it. The place comes alive. It's amazing.

Two - fourth twice in Beijing. Let's hope she can bring in a medal

tonight. Thank you both very much. And of course, you can see it all

unfold live on BBC One tonight. George?

Thank you very much. Let's talk to our sports editor,

David Bond, who is in the Olympic Park. David, on this question of

tickets, the organisers can't exactly order these other sporting

federations to just hand back their tickets, can they? That's right.

They can't order to give them back. This organisation is part of the

host city contract which London signed back in 2005, but what they

can do and what Seb Coe says he is doing is negotiate with the

federations to say to them, look, what tickets do you need the night

before for the following day's events? And if you don't need them,

then maybe we can reconfigure the various sporting venues and put

those tickets on sale to the public. That's what they did last night.

That's why 3,000 tickets were snapped up. It's a policy which so

far seems to be working. The situation today here on the Olympic

Park and at all the venues across London seems to be that the venues

are fuller, but it is still happening, and that's despite the

fact that LOCOG say they reduced the allocation for the Olympic

family by 15% since Beijing, and the question is, for a public which

has got such enormous appetite to come and see these games is why

having had seven years to organise this they seem to be scrambling to

find a solution now. All right, David, thank you very much. Thank

you. Other news now - Syria's most

senior diplomat in Britain has resigned - telling the foreign

office he could no longer support the violent and oppressive actions

of President Bashar al Assad's regime. His decision comes as

Syrian government forces pounded rebel areas of Aleppo, the

country's biggest city and commercial heart. The battle for

control of the city - now in its His report does contain some

distressing images. The battle for Aleppo is raging,

and parts of this vast, ancient city are now at war.

Which means the ranks of the dead and the wounded are growing. Eight-

year-old Muhammad is peppered with shrapnel wounds from a government

shell. Those who can get out of the city are, desperate to escape the

shelling that doesn't discriminate between soldier and civilian. But

notice how many of them are women and children. The men have stayed

to fight. For those left behind, daily life is a tale of survival.

The bakerry has just opened for the first time in days. It's now the

only place to get food here. The fighters try to control the

crowd that's hungry and desperate. Shortages make life hard. Bombs and

bullets make it unbearable. In Aleppo, it's the weakest that

suffer the most. And yet this battle has only just

begun. The rebels get ready. They have had news government soldiers

are heading this way, and the fighters move along empty streets

to defend the area. SOUND OF GUNFIRE

This war pitchs the government against an armed rebellion. Syrian

against Syrian. And neither side can afford to lose this vital city.

Armed with just light weapons, the rebels face daunting odds as they

race to support a unit that's trapped. The Army's trying to take

back these districts, but the resistance is stiff. Well, the

rebels are now advancing. They believe that government forces are

Ducking behind a wall for cover, a fighter shouts to move, pointing to

snipers behind us. Well, the rebels have now moved up

because the government's been trying to push into this area. It's

a very confused situation. We know there are snipers all around here

because it's an urban area. The sounds ring out, and what you can't

tell is which direction they're actually coming from. As you can

see, the rebels are incredibly tense.

One of the commanders has been shot. He's laying in the gutter bleeding

to death. A truck shot sniper fire to try to get him out, but the

group is attacked, and they have to pull back. Guns blazing, they lay

down covering fire. But by the time the man was hauled up, it was too

late. SOUND OF GUNFIRE

Three commanders from the same base died that day. We pulled back as

more fighters came to help. For awhile, they were pinned down. Then

en masse they shot their way out. It's impossible to predict who will

win this war, but it will shape the destiny of Syria and this region,

and it will leave countless more bleeding and dying. And the time is

just about 6.15pm. Our top story: London 2012 organisers act over

empty seats. Thousands of extra tickets are being released.

Coming up: GB's male gymnasts doing battle for their first ever team

medal. Later on BBC London news:

Making a splash - we meet the man who has helped to deliver one of

2012's most adrenaline-fuelled venues, and how the capital is

coming together to celebrate the Today is the first full working day

of the Olympic games with both commuters and spectators trying to

get across the city. The morning rush hour passed off without any

great incident but the pressure is on right now and one of the main

pinch points is likely to be London Bridge station. Our correspondent

Jon Kay is there. People are streaming through here. They say it

could be did busiest night this old station has seen. Passenger numbers

are up today but because people have been staggering their journeys,

changing routes as advised, actually it has not been quite the

meltdown the pessimists and the Games organisers predicted. Monday

morning. In the middle of London. The first Olympic rush hour.

Brilliant. I am early today. I left at the same time. Even in the City

things are moving freely. How was your journey? Easy. Great. The cost

quite quiet to be honest. It was Berry peaceful. Great. Peaceful?!

It seems many Londoners have followed advice and made

alternative plans. We are pleased with how it is going, everybody at

London Bridge worked well, the Tube. Well. It is not just in the Olympic

park at Deraa and deceit. -- There are empty seats. These people are

working from home during the Games. It is the masses of people, the

commuters squeezing him that the tourists, it helps not to have to

do it. It makes the day more relaxed. I used to working hard?

So on places are busy. At Greenwich they are arriving from all over the

country for the equestrian events. I expected it to take us at least

three hours to get here but it has been really good. It is early days

And thanks to the new wi-fi system installed on the Underground,

Robert Hall joins us live from the platform at Oxford Circus. Robert,

how is it with you? Here we are, one of the busiest transport hubs

in London, but this has been more like a Sunday. A steady flow of

people but nothing like the crush expected. Why? Many people opted to

stay at home, many companies in consultation with TfL asked staff

to stagger working hours, many civil servants in Whitehall doing

the same. Another factor, the events are staggered so you do not

get lots of people coming out of different stadia at the same time.

That helps. There is a problem with pickpocketing amongst the crowds.

Police are concerned and there are extra police are not got the

message is take extra care if you're travelling. -- extra police

about. Now to the Eurozone crisis and the US treasury secretary has

unexpectedly travelled to a small North Sea island for an emergency

meeting with his German counterpart who is there on holiday. There's

growing pressure on the European Central Bank to intervene to help

Spain but that needs the approval of Germany, the eurozone's most

powerful member. Our Europe editor Gavin Hewitt joins us from Brussels.

Why this heightened activity? Holidays are being interrupted, the

US Treasury Secretary at flying to a remote island in the North Sea,

meetings between leaders, phone calls, statements, all of this is

aimed towards trying to reduce the borrowing costs of Spain. That

would avoid the need of that country having a bail-out. The

focus is very much on the European Central Bank. Last week the head of

the bank said he would do whatever it takes to preserve the single

currency. The expectation is that the bank. Buying government bonds

from countries like Spain hoping to bring down those costs. Certainly

the markets like what they here and there is a feeling there will be

some big step taken in the next few days. The focus is very much on a

meeting at the ECB on Thursday. People will look to see what it

will do and what it can do according to its own strict rules.

But one word of caution in this, not just reservations in Germany,

but the ECB have bought bombs before in the past, the impact,

limited. -- bonds. HSBC is setting aside a further �950 million to

cover the cost of compensation for mis-selling products, and fines for

money laundering in the United States. Its chief executive, Stuart

Gulliver said the bank was "very sorry for past mistakes". At the

same time, HSBC reported profits of almost �7 billion for the first

half of the year. More now on the Olympics... Great Britain's men's

gymnasts are currently competing in the team final. The five gymnasts

qualified in 3rd place for the final behind the US and Russia.

Let's cross to the North Greenwich Arena and our correspondent Dan

Roan. It must be getting exciting because I can tell you that Princes

William and Harry have just arrived. It is on for Team GB, they are in

the bronze-medal position in third place. They have gone through five

of their six disciplines in this You can see the Chinese gymnast on

the mat, his final routine on the floor and it will come down to this.

That is how close it is. Back to some of the highlight so far...

Louis Smith, the golden boy in this country, was first up on the pommel

horse. This is the discipline he excels at. A fantastic start. He

was left crying tears of joy on Saturday after a similar

performance. The attention then turned to the Rings, which is

traditionally G B's weakest event. Sam Aldham, the 19-year-old with

something of a shaky dismount from the Rings, which left GB down in

fifth place. Finally Kristian Thomas produced a stunning volte to

bring Team GB back into contention into third place, that is where

they remain now with just one discipline left to go. Very

exciting. If they managed to get a medal it will be the first time

since 1912, 100 years ago, when gymnastics was very different from

now, so in effect they will make history. If they do it it will go

down as one of the greatest team performances of this Olympics and

any previous. So on the third full day of competition let's just see

what's happening with the medals tally. China tops the table with 14

medals, including that gold medal for synchronised diving today. The

USA is in 2nd place. Great Britain is currently 17th. Andy Swiss

reports on the other highlights. They are the strongest of gold

medal favourites for Britain, cat Ranger and Diana Watkins. The pair

have never been beaten in more than two years together and it was not

hard to see why. They seemed to be growing in a race of the Rhone,

smashing the Olympic record as they powered to the final. After three

consecutive silver medals, Grainger on course for that elusive gold.

Inspired, it seems, by the fans. You feel it in your body, it pulses

through you. The crowds are sensational. We both feel lucky, we

have this incredible support from the country behind us and we are

conscious of that. When you physically habit behind you, it

doesn't have to like nothing else. Plenty more action on the water. In

the sailing Ben Ainslie continued his quest for gold at Weymouth

while David Florence and Richard Hounslow were among the British

qualifiers for the semi-finals of the canoe slalom. More home success

at Wimbledon as Laura Robson and Heather Watson won their first

round singles matches. And in the way to lifting the so Lee Smith

lifted twice her own body weight on our way to a British record. -- Zoe.

Beyond my wildest dreams. I competed as an Olympian in my home

town. I am overwhelmed by that. Another impressive display from Ye

Shewen. She was quickest in the 200 metres heats. It already seems the

Games may have unearthed a remarkable talent. Yesterday she

performed in front of her mother and grandfather. Today Zara

Phillips and her Team GB eventing team-mates were in fine form with

their eyes on a medal during the sport's cross-country stage in

Greenwich Park. Joe Wilson was there. The huge crowd of 50,000 for

the second day or were venting. Not all locals were pleased. But it

became a kind of equine festival and a key part of Britain's journey

towards a medal. Normally the equestrian cross country stays

miles out of town but not this time. For the horses here they will

almost feel like they're jumping straight into the City of London.

Cross-country is a test of stamina and courage for horse and rider. At

51, Mary King has conquered most are obstacles and excelled here.

She went to the top of the leaderboard after a round. Others

fell and there were frequent delays, frustrating for those who came to

watch a family member. So many eyes in Greenwich were turned towards

Zara Phillips. Twice she missed the Olympics because of injury to her

horse, now she made up for lost time, flying. 24th after the

weekend dressage, she rapidly gained ground here. But in eventing

riders do not just compete for themselves, their team are medals

at stake so -- at stake. This drove her towards perfection. The object,

clear all fences, precious do manage it, Zara Phillips cracked it,

even if she had lost track of the The crowd there unbelievable. You

can't hear you watch beeping are you to tell you. You have to check.

It is unbelievable. Hopefully didn't take any heads off on the

way! They will be back tomorrow You can see the news and coverage

Now the weather... What we have seen today is more fair weather

cloud across the UK, no sign of any It is quite lucky because there has

been a lot of show was a round the rest of the UK. From space we can

see from the satellite picture there is a lot of cloud coming in

from the Atlantic and that will bring a very different feel to the

weather for tonight and tomorrow. Ahead of that cloud the showers

that have been heavy are decaying and fading away but the thickening

cloud coming in from the West will spill into England and Wales, the

rain is mostly light and patchy. Clear skies in Scotland and it will

be called for the time of year. -- cold. It could be wet at Eton door

late tomorrow. The wind direction could change and that could be

crucial. For other events, we will find a lot of cloud and rain around

in the morning. The tennis could be delayed because of rain. It will

clear to the north. A wet start with Whetton and whether it moving

towards northern England. As we head into the afternoon across

Wales it will be called underneath the cloud and rain and the weather

goes downhill across Northern Ireland. We will have sunshine

across Scotland and heavy showers in the north. Wet weather arriving

eventually across northern England, a poor day through the Midlands.

Across southern England we should see an improvement in the weather

as it brightens up and we get some sunshine. All change as we head