:00:11. > :00:15.Welcome to BBC World News. I'm Babita Sharma at the BBC studios
:00:15. > :00:17.overlooking the Olympic Park. Competition is beginning for the
:00:17. > :00:23.first medals of the London Paralympic Games after a
:00:23. > :00:33.spectacular opening ceremony. In all, more than 4,000 athletes from
:00:33. > :00:34.
:00:34. > :00:35.165 nations are competing in the And I'm Martine Dennis. Also in
:00:35. > :00:38.this programme: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
:00:38. > :00:45.denounces his hosts in Iran for threatening to destroy Israel and
:00:45. > :00:50.for denying the Holocaust. Under fire. Banking giant Barclays
:00:50. > :00:54.chooses one of its own staff - Antony Jenkins - to be its new boss.
:00:54. > :01:04.And keeping an eye on the storm. An overnight curfew in New Orleans as
:01:04. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:19.Welcome to Day One of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. We're back
:01:19. > :01:22.at our studios overlooking the Olympic Park and the same electric
:01:22. > :01:25.feel good feeling that surrounded this part of London two weeks has
:01:25. > :01:32.returned for these Games and indeed marking a special return of the
:01:32. > :01:34.Paralympic Games to their spirtual roots. Last night, London staged
:01:34. > :01:36.the biggest opening ceremony the Paralympics has ever seen.The
:01:37. > :01:40.80,000 spectators in the Olympic stadium in Stratford, East London,
:01:40. > :01:50.were told they would be inspired, dazzled and moved over the next 11
:01:50. > :01:57.
:01:57. > :02:03.days. David Bond reports. Can any sporting event have received a lift
:02:03. > :02:07.of quite like this? Two weeks after the Olympic party ended, London was
:02:07. > :02:15.again the centre of the sporting world, as the Paralympics burst
:02:15. > :02:20.into life. As with Danny Boyle's celebrated show, this ceremony also
:02:20. > :02:26.started with a fly-past. In so many ways, it was to be a very different
:02:26. > :02:30.kind of show. Watched by 18,000 people, there was a lead role for
:02:31. > :02:34.Professor Stephen Hawking, chosen as the guide for a story which
:02:34. > :02:39.focused on the role played by science in pushing the boundaries
:02:39. > :02:45.of human knowledge and Endeavour. While these Games are ultimately
:02:45. > :02:50.about world-class sport, they are an invaluable opportunity to change
:02:50. > :02:55.the way disabled people are feud. For the Queen, no daredevil
:02:55. > :03:00.entrance. Her arrival was a more traditional affair. Other members
:03:00. > :03:05.of the Royal Family were also here. It was over to the athletes - more
:03:05. > :03:10.than 4000 from 164 countries - who will make this the biggest sports
:03:10. > :03:13.event after the Olympics. For the British contingent, this is their
:03:13. > :03:18.chance to follow the record- breaking lead set by Team GB during
:03:18. > :03:23.the Olympics. On a night which constantly challenged attitudes
:03:23. > :03:29.towards disability, of the Stella moment was left to the end. The
:03:29. > :03:34.honour of rewriting the cauldron fell to Margaret Moore, who won
:03:34. > :03:39.Britain's per -- first Paralympic gold medal. It was a spectacular
:03:39. > :03:49.finale to a ceremony that entertained and engage the mind. It
:03:49. > :03:49.
:03:50. > :03:53.is up to the sport and competitors to continue that theme. In the
:03:53. > :03:59.aquatic centre, just down there, some of the gold medals will be
:03:59. > :04:08.given out to date in the swimming discipline. 28 goals medals up up
:04:08. > :04:10.for grabs. -- 28 gold medals are up for grabs. Well, earlier I spoke to
:04:10. > :04:20.Conrat Atangana, the first and only athlete to represent Cameroon at
:04:20. > :04:43.
:04:43. > :04:48.the Paralympics. His team leader HE SPEAKS FRENCH. The preparation
:04:48. > :04:57.has got that high. I have had good preparation with my coaches and so
:04:57. > :05:01.on. I am privileged to represent Cameroon. That was a little earlier.
:05:01. > :05:06.Thibaut said when they went into the stadium for the opening
:05:06. > :05:09.ceremony, they were completely wowed by what they saw. They said
:05:09. > :05:15.they were in traditional Cameroon dress. The temperature dropped a
:05:15. > :05:22.little bit in London and they were cold. It is looking cloudy at the
:05:22. > :05:27.moment but the rain has subsided for a while. 165 Nations are here
:05:27. > :05:35.to experience the weather and Paralympic Games. More than 4000
:05:35. > :05:42.athletes are taking part. Our correspondent has this guide on who
:05:42. > :05:48.to look out for. Now it is the turn of the Paralympians to take centre
:05:49. > :05:52.stage -- stage. 2.5 million tickets have been sold. There is an
:05:52. > :06:02.estimated television audience of a billion. Who should we be looking
:06:02. > :06:02.
:06:02. > :06:08.out for? Here at the athletics stadium, one of the most eagerly
:06:08. > :06:14.anticipated events is the men's 100 metres. Locked in battle will beat
:06:14. > :06:19.the current Paralympic champion, Oscar Pistorius. Up against him,
:06:19. > :06:29.Jerome Singleton. Those could be pipped to the post by the Briton,
:06:29. > :06:30.
:06:30. > :06:34.Johnny Peacock, the new world record holder. Here at the Aquatics
:06:34. > :06:41.Centre, 148 medal events will be taking place in cinema - as I go
:06:41. > :06:46.swimming and diving. Britain's Ellie Simmonds, who was 13 when she
:06:46. > :06:51.won two golds in Beijing and the American, who has been breaking her
:06:51. > :07:00.records recently. Competing in her last Games, the South African, who
:07:00. > :07:04.will be hoping to add to her collection of 10 Paralympic medals.
:07:04. > :07:12.The Velodrome is the venue for the cycling. The British are expected
:07:12. > :07:17.to dominate the track. Lookout for the Czech Republic competitor. He
:07:17. > :07:24.needs two more medals to become the most successful Paralympian cyclist
:07:24. > :07:30.in history. One of the events to be staged at the basketball arena will
:07:30. > :07:35.be wheelchair rugby. Not for the faint-hearted. The hot favourites
:07:35. > :07:44.are the Americans. Expect to see sparks fly when a clash with the
:07:44. > :07:48.runners-up from Beijing, Australia. -- they clash. That is just a few
:07:48. > :07:58.of the individuals and teams to keep an eye out for. Many more will
:07:58. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:06.have the chance to make a name for Last night's opening ceremony
:08:06. > :08:16.culminated in that Paralympic torch, which has been doing the rounds
:08:16. > :08:22.over the last week. It was actually carried by Joe Townsend, who was
:08:22. > :08:28.injured in Afghanistan. He carried it by the zip wire to the centre of
:08:28. > :08:38.the Olympic Stadium. That ceremony was watched by 80,000 people. We
:08:38. > :08:45.have plenty more to come on day one of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
:08:45. > :08:49.In the meantime, lots to tell you on the business. Barclays is one of
:08:49. > :08:57.the world's biggest banks. A new man was announced as chief
:08:57. > :09:03.executive. Anthony Jenkins is his name. Let's have a look. Not a
:09:03. > :09:07.stranger to Barclays. He was the boss of the retail side of business.
:09:07. > :09:15.Many will consider that the boring side of banking - the nuts and
:09:16. > :09:19.bolts of banking. It is a U-turn for the bank. He replaces Bob
:09:19. > :09:24.Diamond. Bob Diamond came from the investment side - the side that
:09:24. > :09:30.makes a lot of money. It is the riskier side of the bank. The bank
:09:30. > :09:37.is trying to get back to basics and makes sure it has two distinct
:09:37. > :09:43.separate operations. It comes at a time when his plate is very full.
:09:43. > :09:46.Late last night, the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation
:09:46. > :09:52.into the way but is Macro raised money back in 2008, at the time of
:09:52. > :09:58.the financial crisis. -- Barclays raised money. Instead of getting a
:09:58. > :10:05.government bail out, it went to raise money in the Middle East, and
:10:05. > :10:08.there are allegations of bribery. A lot at stake. Ralph Silva is a
:10:08. > :10:15.banking analyst. He thinks Mr Jenkins is the right man for the
:10:15. > :10:20.job. He has actually taken over command of the Titanic after it has
:10:20. > :10:28.hit the iceberg. I think he can plug these holes. He comes from the
:10:28. > :10:35.retail side. The biggest problems is the brand. -- prop -- problem.
:10:35. > :10:41.They need to get the public to believe in it. I think this is the
:10:41. > :10:50.right choice. Is it also a part of the direction of the bank? The
:10:50. > :10:55.investment side is always the riskier side of the business. Many
:10:56. > :10:59.core retail banking, boring banking. They are becoming more measured.
:10:59. > :11:04.They are becoming better in making sure they do not have all their
:11:04. > :11:09.eggs in one basket. When the economy recovers, investment
:11:10. > :11:14.banking makes the most amount of money. Retail banking is the safe
:11:14. > :11:19.bet. That is put in safe hands. Barclays will be better because it
:11:19. > :11:21.is more divided. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called on struggling
:11:21. > :11:24.European nations to get their finances in order. His comments
:11:24. > :11:27.followed a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing
:11:27. > :11:34.today. In a press conference after the meeting he said that he was
:11:34. > :11:36.worried about the eurozone crisis. Our correspondent in Beijing,
:11:36. > :11:45.Martin Patience, explained why the Chinese are so concerned about
:11:45. > :11:51.Europe's troubles. China is the biggest exporter in the world. It
:11:51. > :11:56.is facing a slowdown in its own economy. Why? One of the large part
:11:56. > :12:01.of the reason is we're seeing a drop in demand from Europe and
:12:01. > :12:05.elsewhere. China wants Europe to get back on its feet as quickly as
:12:06. > :12:10.possible. What role they will play in that is not clear. They have
:12:10. > :12:15.said they will continue to invest in government bonds. A few months
:12:15. > :12:21.back when there was talk of Beijing investing in a bail out fund. No
:12:21. > :12:25.word on that. Japan Airlines plans to raise more than $8 billion by
:12:25. > :12:30.selling shares on the stock market. JAL went bankrupt in January 2010
:12:30. > :12:33.and has been reorganising its business since then. Cost cuts have
:12:33. > :12:36.helped the company return to profitability and, if all goes to
:12:36. > :12:40.plan, its shares will start trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on
:12:41. > :12:50.September 19th. There could be disruption to services at Lufthansa
:12:50. > :12:53.on Friday. Cabin staff are planning to walk out after wage talks failed.
:12:53. > :12:57.The union is not saying which airports will be affected, or when,
:12:57. > :13:06.until six hours before the industrial action begins. Cabin
:13:06. > :13:11.crew want a 5% pay rise after three years of zero increases. The
:13:11. > :13:13.airline has offered 3.5%. Hyundai Motor has reached an agreement with
:13:13. > :13:17.South Korea unions leaders to end strike action. Under the tentative
:13:17. > :13:20.deal the company is scrapping night shifts from March of next year. To
:13:20. > :13:23.compensate it will invest more than $250 million in factories to help
:13:23. > :13:33.boost output. Unions say that in return staff will halt strikes that
:13:33. > :13:38.
:13:38. > :13:41.Bad is it for the business news. Reports from Australia suggest that
:13:41. > :13:47.16 more people have been plucked from the ocean after their boat
:13:47. > :13:52.sank off Java. Earlier, six others had been picked up after spending
:13:52. > :13:59.nearly 24 hours in the sea. It is thought the boat may have been
:13:59. > :14:04.carrying up to 150 people in total. Rescue services are all looking out
:14:04. > :14:11.for more survivors. A major summit of the world's non-aligned nations
:14:11. > :14:17.is taking place in Iran. The Egyptian President has used a
:14:17. > :14:22.speech to condemn the Syrian government of President Assad.
:14:22. > :14:28.Iran's state TV said they had to leave for a media interview. That
:14:28. > :14:33.might have been just an excuse. Ban Ki Moon is also in there -- no mood
:14:33. > :14:39.to play around. He has been denouncing the attitude of Iran
:14:39. > :14:45.towards Israel. Claiming that Israel does not have the right to
:14:45. > :14:55.exist, or describing it in racist terms, it is not only utterly wrong
:14:55. > :15:02.
:15:02. > :15:06.but undermines the very principles A massive fences being built across
:15:06. > :15:10.the Sinai desert. And we hear from one of Britain's
:15:11. > :15:17.most successful paralympian medal- winners, Baroness Tanni Grey-
:15:17. > :15:21.Thompson. In the United States, Mitt Romney's
:15:21. > :15:25.running mate has promised that Republicans will create 12 million
:15:25. > :15:31.jobs in the next four years if they are elected. Paul Ryan told the
:15:31. > :15:35.party's convention that they would hold down spending and accused
:15:35. > :15:41.President Obama of a line government debt to spiral.
:15:41. > :15:46.Businessman, Governor, troubleshooter, husband. The CV is
:15:46. > :15:51.well known but somehow, questions still persist. Who is Mitt Romney
:15:51. > :15:57.and what does he stand for? On the second night of this convention, it
:15:57. > :16:01.fell to his youthful running mate to provide an answer. The man who
:16:01. > :16:05.will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful, faithful and
:16:05. > :16:14.honourable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of
:16:14. > :16:18.marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he is a fine man.
:16:18. > :16:25.And after four years of getting the runaround, America needs a
:16:25. > :16:30.turnaround and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney.
:16:30. > :16:36.Tampa this week is a curious mix. The convention and the less
:16:37. > :16:41.conventional. We canvassed voters in a hit Cuban enclave which once
:16:41. > :16:47.made Tampa the cigar capital of the world. What comes into your mind
:16:47. > :16:52.when I say Mitt Romney? I am unsure. Why are you unsure? Neither of them
:16:52. > :16:56.will give me any information I want. The stuff I am hearing is just
:16:56. > :17:01.rhetoric and I want to hear something positive. I do not think
:17:01. > :17:06.he is very genuine. If he would be more genuine, I think he is saying
:17:06. > :17:11.what people want him to say. I do not think he is for the common
:17:11. > :17:15.people. In a world where thousands of jobs were destroyed...
:17:15. > :17:21.Throughout the summer, Mr Romney has been defined by his opponents
:17:21. > :17:26.as the Obama campaign ploughs thousands into adverts portraying
:17:26. > :17:30.him as an out of touch tycoon. And yet they are neck-and-neck in the
:17:30. > :17:36.polls. Tonight, up on that stage, Mitt Romney will have his best
:17:36. > :17:39.chance, perhaps his last chance, to define himself on his terms. He
:17:39. > :17:44.will be talking not just to the partisan audience in this hall, but
:17:44. > :17:54.to the millions of Americans back home. Just over two months from now
:17:54. > :17:55.
:17:55. > :18:00.will decide his fate. These are the top stories here at
:18:00. > :18:06.BBC World News: The biggest Paralympic Games ever held are
:18:06. > :18:11.under way here in London. Speaking at a conference in Tehran, the UN
:18:11. > :18:17.chief Ban Ki-Moon has reprimanded Iran for denying the Holocaust and
:18:17. > :18:22.Israel's right to exist. Tropical Storm Isaac is still
:18:22. > :18:25.lashing New Orleans and its surrounding areas. The storm has
:18:25. > :18:30.now been downgraded from a hurricane but it is still causing
:18:30. > :18:34.havoc as it moves slowly across the region. Levees ins low-lying New
:18:34. > :18:38.Orleans have stood firm but sea water has breached barriers in a
:18:38. > :18:43.town south of the city. Alastair Leithead reports.
:18:43. > :18:47.Hurricane Isaac battered New Orleans, seven years to the day
:18:47. > :18:53.since Katrina had devastated the city. It did not have the same
:18:53. > :18:56.power, but dumped her a lot more rain. This time, the ladies held.
:18:56. > :19:01.Billions have been spent in improving defences and this time,
:19:01. > :19:05.the city centre was not badly hit. The conditions here are still
:19:05. > :19:08.appalling. We have driven half-an- hour out of the centre of New
:19:08. > :19:12.Orleans to a community called Braithwaite which has been one of
:19:12. > :19:16.the worst affected near the city centre. This community of 2000
:19:16. > :19:23.people felt just the wrong side of the flood defence wall that was
:19:23. > :19:27.built. When the storm hit, the levy burst, the water flooded over the
:19:27. > :19:33.top and this is the level of people's houses. They had to be
:19:33. > :19:37.rescued. It was different outside the protective walls. Dozens of
:19:37. > :19:43.people were trapped after water flowed over the levees and quickly
:19:43. > :19:49.inundated homes. Many had to be rescued from their attics or
:19:49. > :19:58.plucked from the rooftops. This parish was badly hit, as were other
:19:58. > :20:03.areas outside the city's main flood defences. Let me focus in this
:20:03. > :20:09.parish. On the east bank there was over topping near Braithwaite of a
:20:09. > :20:14.non- federal levy. This was an area where there was a mandatory
:20:14. > :20:18.evacuation called at noon on Monday. The force of the hurricane was felt
:20:18. > :20:22.all the way along this section of the Gulf coast. As the storms well
:20:22. > :20:26.flooded coastal areas and winds back to be sure. With the rain
:20:26. > :20:34.still falling and the high winds battling the region for the second
:20:34. > :20:38.night, the full extent of Isaac's impact is still not certain.
:20:38. > :20:42.Egypt has reportedly withdrawn several tanks near the Israeli Gaza
:20:42. > :20:45.border. They were deployed their earlier this month as part of a
:20:45. > :20:49.military operation against militants in the Sinai peninsula.
:20:49. > :20:55.The BBC's Middle East correspondent reports from the Israeli Egyptian
:20:55. > :21:00.border. If good fences make good neighbours,
:21:00. > :21:06.Israel and Egypt are starting to look like a very good neighbours.
:21:06. > :21:10.The Israeli government is working on a 240 kilometre fence. The aim,
:21:10. > :21:16.to keep the uncertainties of the Arab Spring safely on the other
:21:16. > :21:22.side. On the Israeli side, they are working the potato fields as normal,
:21:22. > :21:26.or what passes for normal here. Earlier this month, heavily armed
:21:26. > :21:31.Islamist extremists in a stolen Egyptian armoured vehicle, crashed
:21:31. > :21:38.through the fence near these fields. They were intercepted and killed,
:21:38. > :21:48.but the attack has changed the atmosphere. This was always called
:21:48. > :21:50.
:21:50. > :21:55.the Peace fence. We have never threatened from Sinai and we hope
:21:55. > :22:00.this was an isolated incident and we hope it will not happen again.
:22:00. > :22:06.For more than 30 years, Israel's peace treaty with Egypt kept this
:22:06. > :22:11.border quiet. Never produced warm, deep relationships, but it did mean
:22:11. > :22:19.an absence of conflict. Now as the Arab Spring continues to evolve,
:22:19. > :22:28.things are beginning to look much more uncertain.
:22:28. > :22:33.Four times, Israel and Egypt went to war in the Sinai desert. These
:22:33. > :22:38.images from 1967. When they finally stopped fighting and signed a peace
:22:38. > :22:43.treaty in 1979, it brought a kind of stability to the Middle East.
:22:44. > :22:48.The frontier between Israel and Egypt is long and lonely. Israelis
:22:48. > :22:54.see it as a soft target for any extremist planning to cross it off
:22:54. > :22:58.fire rockets over it. They trusted the ousted Egyptian President Hosni
:22:58. > :23:03.Mubarak to keep this border quiet. Now that Egypt has a President
:23:03. > :23:08.drawn from the Muslim Brotherhood, they are not so sure. At Israel's
:23:08. > :23:15.Red Sea resort of Eilat which is right on the border, for now, it is
:23:15. > :23:23.business as usual. Above the town and Iron Dome anti-missile battery
:23:23. > :23:29.keeps watch. The town's mayor says he piece suits everyone not just
:23:29. > :23:35.Israel. Egypt has put billions of dollars of tourism in Sinai he says,
:23:35. > :23:40.I hope they protect that in this me we will certainly protect ourselves.
:23:40. > :23:45.Israel got decades of stability out of peace in the Sinai. A diplomatic
:23:45. > :23:53.achievement that transformed the Middle East. Now on the border,
:23:53. > :23:56.they watch anxiously for signs of change.
:23:57. > :24:01.The London Paralympics are well under way. They started this
:24:01. > :24:05.morning. There was the opening ceremony last night. In the middle
:24:05. > :24:10.of that ceremony was Britain's most successful Paralympian, Baroness
:24:10. > :24:14.Tanni Grey-Thompson. A short while ago I asked her if she felt these
:24:14. > :24:18.Paralympics were about more than just the sport. It is about one
:24:18. > :24:21.person winning and everyone else not, but the Paralympics has a
:24:22. > :24:26.really strong secondary message which is about changing attitudes
:24:26. > :24:30.towards disabled people. We have seen it in a lot of countries
:24:30. > :24:35.around the world, countries which do not have social programmes for
:24:35. > :24:39.disabled people do not send teams for the Paralympics. I was a wonder
:24:39. > :24:44.couple of years ago. They are still dealing with the aftermath of the
:24:44. > :24:53.genocide. Three Sport they brought the two sides together. Sport is a
:24:53. > :24:57.powerful to break down barriers. How would you assess British
:24:57. > :25:02.attitudes to disabled people and to disability as an issue? How would
:25:02. > :25:06.you access -- how would you assess the UK's attitude right now?
:25:06. > :25:09.think it is difficult because disabled people are either shown as
:25:09. > :25:14.potential paralympians representing their country and winning gold,
:25:14. > :25:19.which is very powerful, or a lot of the media coverage is that disabled
:25:19. > :25:23.people being cheats and benefit scroungers. Neither of that is the
:25:23. > :25:28.reality. I think one of the things the Paralympics does he start to
:25:28. > :25:31.allay some of those fears that disabled people scrounge off
:25:31. > :25:36.Society. There is still some discrimination out there. It is not
:25:36. > :25:40.perfectly at. Physical access is getting better but there is a long
:25:40. > :25:44.way to go and whether that his transport or buildings or education,
:25:44. > :25:49.we could do more. I think if people get behind the Paralympics and the
:25:49. > :25:55.athletes, that means we have an ability to keep fighting for some
:25:55. > :25:59.of those changes. Finally, you what a wheelchair racer, your Britain's
:25:59. > :26:03.most successful Paralympian, are you missing not completing this
:26:03. > :26:07.time around? Not really. There was a little bit when I saw the team
:26:07. > :26:11.last night that made me think, it will be great to do and I'm sure
:26:11. > :26:16.when I go to the athletics and sees some of the British guys winning, I
:26:16. > :26:23.would like to do that. But you can only do that if you train 15 hours
:26:23. > :26:26.a day it every week and I cannot do that anymore. I am much happier
:26:27. > :26:32.watching from the sidelines now. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
:26:32. > :26:36.Now, here is a bit of good news. Eating chocolate can help prevent
:26:36. > :26:40.strokes, according to new research in Sweden. They found that men who
:26:40. > :26:45.had a little more than a standard chocolate bar every week were 17 %
:26:45. > :26:50.less likely to have a stroke than those eating none at all. However,
:26:50. > :26:54.you are not supposed to eat too much because that is equally