hello. you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm lucy hockings. new evidence that boko haram carried out their deadliest attack last week. these satellite images show the massive destruction of two nigerian towns. in this remote and dangerous area we're asking what's being done to help those to survive. president hollande says he'll defend the right for all religions. he says islam and democracy are compatible. >> it is the muslims who are the first victims of fanatism

fundamentalism, and intolerance. two, three, four five. >> the buildup to the oscars begin today, with the nominations announced shortly. will "boyhood" repeat its success at the golden globes. now the impact of those lower oil prices on the industry itself. >> and i can tell you, the uk notes the oil industry is getting hammered by those plunging oil prices. it is expensive to get oil out of the north sea. anything below 60 bucks a barrel, and it's just unprofitable. bp is set to announce job cuts with one leading expert telling us that britain's oil industry is close to collapse. it's midday in london 7:00 a.m. in washington and 1:00 in baga, in northern nigeria, the

site of what some groups are calling boko haram's deadliest act yet. satellite images released by the human rights group, amnesty international show the scale of widespread destruction that the group has inflicted on the town. we'll look at detail in those images in a moment but first, estimates of just how many people died range from 150 to 2,000. and that illustrates another major problem, just how hard is it to get reliable information out of the area? and take a look at this. this map shows places that have been linked and targeted to attacks by boko haram in just the last week. we just heard from the u.s. secretary of state as well, john kerry. he has called the recent violence in nigeria a crime against humanity. from lagos, will ross. >> reporter: these images released by amnesty international show the devastating image of a major boko haram attack. the first satellite images were taken before the day the jihadist strucks. then four days later, burnt out

buildings can be seen in baga town. amnesty says 620 buildings were damaged or completely destroyed by fire. in the nearby settlement of doron baga, on the shores of lake chad more than 3,000 structures were targeted. the well-armed gunman initially captured the military base before shooting whoever they could in baga and the surrounding villages. much of the northeast of nigeria is extremely inaccessible and dangerous. so much so that these first pictures of the violence around baga, have come from these satellite images. they show the destructive nature of the group, boko haram, but they don't give us anymore clues as to how many people were killed in this violence. the extremist group has a long track record of violence against civilians. the nigerian government says no more than 150 people were killed in baga but people fleeing suggest the number is far higher. one eyewitness told the bbc that

the jihadists have detained hundreds of women in the captured town. they wouldn't be the first to be held against their will by boko haram. more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from chiboch nine months ago are still not free. the nigerian military has managed some successes, repelling recent boko haram attacks. but the jihadists seem to be growing in strength. on a visit to nigeria, the former head of the united nations spoke to the bbc about the crises in the northeast. >> the brutality. the murdering of innocent women, children, and men cannot be condoned. they are determined to instill fear and intimidate the population in the whole area. and obviously, the government with the support of international partners, should do whatever it can to end the insurgency. >> reporter: half a million people have now fled the

violence and headed to the main city of maiduguri. there they can get some help but the humanitarian agencies cannot get to the worst-hit areas. this conflict is destroying communities and tearing helpless families apart. the baga attack marks an escalation in the crisis. will ross, bbc news, la gost. . >> let's show you those satellite images again and pick through what they show in a bit more detail. the first image here you can see the village of doron baga as it was photographed by satellite on the 2nd of january, before the boko haram attack. the areas in red show healthy vegetation. but compared to this this is the image taken five days later. there's much less healthy vegetation hundreds of buildings have been razed to the ground. well it's very difficult, as i mentioned, to get information from northern nigeria. our colleagues at bbc monitoring help us gather information from all over the world. let's speak now to our african

security correspondent, tommy, from southern england. an eyewitness account that i was reading, when asked about the death toll said well no one stayed behind to count the bodies. we were all running ahead, to get out of the town ahead of those boko haram fighters. it appears that these eyewitness accounts is are really valuable right now. tell us some of the other things that we've been hearing from the north. >> well, across the north, we hear these horror stories. these people come face to face with the militants, but the problem is that when it comes to collating this information, talking about figures, for example, it's these very people who are the ones going through, undergoing this traumatic event, who are the same ones who estimate these figures. which is why for example, the nigerian military will come out and counter and say that it's very difficult for you to say 2,000 people for example, in the baga case were killed. and they go with a lower

estimate. of course, we know that they have their own reasons for courting these lower figures. but at the same time because people are going through these experiences when it comes to saying how many people have died, of course they can quote any number because of the kind of situation they've been through. >> so we're still trying to establish how many people die, tommy, and we may never know. one of the things we definitely do know though is that there were many, many survivors, many of whom have fled to maiduguri as well. how is that city coping with the influx of people? >> well, maiduguri, as well as other cities like yola and even across the border in for example, cameroon where people have fled have been seeing this influx of people fleeing the violence. there are camps being set up you know, around the government in collaboration with international organizations, the red cross, and others so they've been sort of taking people in but as the violence continues, it's likely that this humanitarian situation could

escalate. we know that boko haram has taken over large parts of the states. and if they expand and continue moving further, then of course this humanitarian situation could get worse. we've seen lots of camps set up with 3,000 people 5,000, 6,000, all across this region. so that could be apart from the security situation, this humanitarian crisis could be one to look out for in the near future. >> and tommy, of course the elections are in a month or so. is this the biggest issue under discussion in nigeria at the moment? >> i mean, in nigeria, if you go through the papers in nigeria, everybody's talking about the politics as opposed to the actual violence that's going on. so it appears as though this situation is taking a backseat to -- with prevalence to the politics grid. and of course, the situation is being featured and questions are being thrown right across from the ruling party, as well as the

opposition, as to how better this can be handled. but politics as an issue is probably what's being discussed, what the key topic in the media, on the streets, in nigeria, as opposed to what people are going to expect that this escalating security situation would be the one that's bothering people. >> okay, tommy, thanks so much for that. also to remind you, in the past 15 minutes or so we heard from the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry saying what happened in baga is a crime against humanity. but there is so much more for you at bbc.com/africa, on nigeria's struggle with boko haram. also, those satellite images are on the website as well. so do go and log on and check it out if you want more details. let's get some other news. colombia's president has promised to begin negotiating a definitive cease-fire with farc guerillas who have been waging a campaign against the state for more than half a century. after two years of talks in cuba the president has said on television that peace is closer than ever.

a new study suggests a lack of exercise could be an even bigger killer than obesity. researchers from cambridge university, that's here in the uk studied more than 300,000 people over a 12-year period and concluded that a lack of exercise could be killing twice as many people as obesity. a woman who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of the ex-king of spain, juan carlos will have her case examined by the spanish court. she says her mother had an affair with him in the 1960s, while he was married and a crowned prince. the case can only be heard because the king lost his immunity to prosecution after his abdication last summer. as france deals with the fallout from last week's terror attacks in paris, president hollande has insisted that islam is compatible with democracy. he was speaking at the arab world institute in paris, and he promised to protect all

religions. president hollande also said he had take strong action against anyone threatening them. he also said muslims were the main victims of fundament tachlism and intolerance. >> radical islamism has been feeding influences. all the miseries and inequalities. it is the muslims who are the first victims of fundamentalism and intolerance. we should also remind people and i do it every time wherever i happen to be in the arab world, that islam is compatible with democracy. >> well to bring you some breaking news we've just received in the past few minutes or so pope francis has just

arrived in the philippines. he's been speaking to the press on board his airplane. and what he has said is that there are limits to freedom of expression, when religion is insulted. he was directly commenting on the paris attacks. that line just coming to us in the past few minutes or so. let's take you to paris now. tom is there for us. tom, president hollande really working hard obviously, to calm what is still a very tense country at the moment. >> reporter: absolutely. i think his message was twofold, number one to express his gratitude to arab countries who have shown their solidarity with france in the last week or so following those deadly attacks which killed 17 people here in paris last week. but also to express his own solidarity and reach out to france's own muslim population. remember, this country is home

to the biggest muslim con tin jens in western europe. and i think there have been numerous people in those communities, muslim communities here in france who have been rattled by the attacks themselves, because of smaller scale, minor counterattacks and tensions within those communities. and i think this was his opportunity at this speech at the arab world institute, to say islam is part of the solution not the problem, and it is radical islam that is as he said in that clip there, that is affected and influenced by the contradictions in society. but standing shoulder to shoulder secular society can rebuild itself and can grow stronger. >> tom, you have not heard this line. it's just come to us on the soap news agency, but france's cyberdefense chief has been speaking and he says 19,000 french websites have been hit by cyberattacks since the attacks of last week. this i guess, is just another example of the security challenge now, facing french

authorities, as they deal with the aftermath of the attack. >> yes, absolutely. and i think it's another sign of just how vigilant the french security authorities have to be. and indeed how, you know, authorities, security authorities across europe, have to be so vigilant as well about the possibility for further attacks, which may not necessarily be of the kind we saw last week but perhaps, those cyberattacks. and you know i think, you know this is really a country which is still on edge. it is still coming to terms with what happened, citiesit is still burying those who died in the attacks last week. and we've just actually seen in the last few minutes, a very moving ceremony for one of the cartoonists, tignous, who died in the attacks on the "charlie hebdo" offices. so i think, yes, just as the authorities struggle to reassure the population they must also

enforce these security and anti-terror legislation, which is also in take place, but they also talk of them coming out with new, tougher legislation, which will preempt any further possible attacks. so that is i think, the ongoing effort on the part of the french government at the moment. >> tom, thanks so much for the update from paris. do stay with us here on bbc world news. still to come what it's like to wear an ebola protection suit. and more importantly, how to take it off again safely. [container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪ [container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪ introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back.

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an indian driver from the web-based taxi firm uber has gone on trial, charged with the rape of a passenger in december. delhi that has banned uber and other taxi firms for failing to carry out adequate checks on drivers.

now let's check in outside the court in delhi. thank you for being with us. of course this case is being followed very very closely. it's happening at a court there in delhi. did we hear from the alleged victim today? >> reporter: yes that was the big testimony of the day. she did give an in-camera testimony, so media was not allowed to report on the details of this but something everyone in the courtroom was looking forward. and the police have very confident about the case. they have put up about 24 prosecution witnesses. so it's not going to finish anytime soon but even this scene of the trial has surprised many because it's less than six weeks after the alleged incident, and this is how you fastrack for indian standards. because normally cases here go on for years and years. and especially in cases, it goes on endlessly. but this is the new fastrack

court set up by the delhi government after the december 2012, which caused global outrage and everybody was talking about how slow the justice system is in india. >> shillpa, thanks so much from outside the court there in delhi as that trial gets underway in the fastrack court in the indian capital. you have seen the lengths that health workers have had to go to west africa as they treat victims of ebola. they wear a huge amount of equipment for their own safety. >> reporter: i've been reporting on the ebola outbreak for many months now, and every time i come to a country like sierra leone and spoke to health refugees, they tell me how difficult it is to be aware of the equipment they use to treat patients. here at one of the treatment centers, has suggested that i try on some for myself and you'll take me through the process. >> yeah.

basically, the first thing is to put on the gloves. >> i'm already feeling very hot in here. and have only been in it for like five minsk, right? >> yeah. >> okay. i'm all kited up now. obviously, i'm not going into the red zone but i am going to sit in it for 10 15 minutes, just to get a sense of what it's like. but already, i mean it's taken about five or ten minutes to get into this kit, and in that time i'm already sweating bucket loads. so to be in this for an hour at a time like the medics are, is quite difficult to imagine. and i can't go further up. >> even those that are standing there. we just now wait for the decontamination. that is the most dangerous moment.

>> okay so we've had a walk around. how many minutes have i been in now? it's 12:27. >> 15 minutes. i've been in this for 15 minutes. i feel quite out of breath. i mean i'm drenched. i'm completely drenched inside here. i feel quite tired, even though we haven't really done very much. i mean if you're claustrophobic, you couldn't do this job at all. you just want to rip this off. but obviously, you can't do that. we've been nowhere near the red zone. if we had, we would be going to a whole different place now, which takes ten minutes, ten more minutes of standing in this. >> and then you have to take your. >> look look at this! oh gosh. >> i can give you some -- >> i was in there for about 15

minutes. i just walked up and down just outside the center. the medics that are doing this they go inside for an hour at a time. they are dealing with very sick patients. i kept touching my mask i kept wants to touch my face. if you do that you have to leave. i got a very small sense for what it's like in there, but really, i find it difficult to imagine how they do that every day, every day for an hour at each shift, three times a day. >> our correspondent in freetown. well the eyes of the world, the phone world, at least, is going to los angeles in just over an hour's time. because then we will find out who the writers of the world's prized movie ceremony will be. the oscar's short list likely to include the coming of age drama, "boyhood." earlier in the week, it triumphed at the golden globes.

but the other things we're talking about, "the theory of everything," also expected to get their share of nominations. jason, is "boyhood" going to do as well at the oscars? >> i think it will. it's sort of the winner is the one with the most nominations. of course that doesn't always trance late into victories on the night, like "the color purple," 11 nominations and he got none. but it doesn't have special ervegts. although it was made over 12 years. so we'll end up with 10 nominations, but six or seven would be impressive for an indy film like "boyhood." >> and made over 12 years. it was remarkable in terms of the scope and scale. >> and the continuity. we didn't do that 12 years ago, matching it all up. it's a real feat of filmmaking.

it's really unlike anything else, and i would be happy for that to get the kind of bunk up that the nominations, the spotlight, the increased focus that something like this does for a small film. >> it might give a director nod there. let's take a look at "the grand budapest hotel." what i found amazing, the films you've told us to look at they're not these big blockbusters we normally expect to see. >> that's why you see the eyes of the world, tuning in you're thinking have i seen these films? they're kind of, "the imitation game" and everything else more hefty in their subject matter. but the films that do well around the world are the animated films, "the lego movie," the blockbusters "the guardians of the galaxy," you're not going to find them here. the only one you might find is christopher nolan's "interstellar." he directed the batman movies and came back with a big sci-fi movie this year. so there is that and the chance

of that. but we're looking for effects categories, to see the ones you know and love the films you might have seen. the rest of themakemaking staff to say, we don't just make big movies. i think the oscars are losing the big ground whereby the big movie is the one that everybody goes to see. they're advertising themselves in the run-up to the oscars and say, try your hand at these movies. >> because, if they win, that just means so much nor terms of money. but what is a nomination do? >> a nomination gives you the chance if you're an actor like eddie redmayne or cumberbatch, you're suddenly thrust into this spotlight. you're what they call in hollywood hot. so in these six weeks, there's no way hotter than being an oscar nominee. and you can parlay that into much bigger parts next time.

and i think it's kind of like a general election and it makes people and go and see films like they wouldn't either. films like "still alice," which are more to be nominated for or "the imitation game" with cumberbatch. >> it's not far off. we'll have full coverage of the nominations for this year's oscars for you in a special program at 13:25 gmt. jennifer will rejoin everyone there. [container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪ [container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪ introducing the first-ever lexus nx turbo and hybrid. once you go beyond utility there's no going back. you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you.

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i'm lucy hockings. in this half hour a sense of excitement and anticipation in the philippines, as pope frances arrived. they made it. two rock climbers have made history by scaling 900 meters of sheer granite rock face in owe semi semity national park. we'll get insight as to just how difficult it was from someone

who's climbed that same rock six times. now looking at the incredible ride of a chinese tech giant. xiaomi lucy. it is a company that only started making smartphones three years ago, and now it is the third biggest maker in the world. and today it's staked its claim to apple's crown by launching the me note. certainly challenging the iphone 6 plus. there's even rumors it could be making an american launch. pope francis is continuing his tour of asia. he's arrived in the philippines to a procession. his trip to the country will last five days. the country has 80 million roman catholics. a special open air mass will take place on sunday. speaking to journalist, he did comment on last week's attacks in france. he said there were limits to

freedom of expression, especially when insults or ridiculed someone's faith. and another controversial issue, he also says that climate change was mostly man-made. adding, it is man who has flat nature in the face. our correspondent, rupert wingfield hayes is in manila for us and he joins the crowds as they waited to welcome the pope. >> that's the first glimpse people here have got of pope francis, since his plane touched down on manila's national airport about a half an hour ago. they have been waiting patiently for him. and you can see the excitement here of the crowds here. the airport is several kilometers away. we're in the middle of manilla, but there are literally tens maybe hundreds of thousands of people lining this boulevard, all the way from here to the airport, waiting for him to arrive and also waiting for the motor gate to come past here this evening, in the hopes they

can just catch a glimpse of him in his limbousine as he passes here. >> here comes the pope's motorcade. and you can hear the excitement in the crowd building here as the pope's car approaches. and there's a really unexpected bonus here. because we were told the pope would be traveling in a closed limousine this evening on his trip into manila. as you will see any moment now, he is in an open popemobile. there he is very clear for all the crowd here to see. and this is really really why everybody has turned out here tonight to see the pope in person. there he is. i mean this is what everybody has said they want to see. they don't want to watch this on tv. they want to come out on the streets and see the pope in person. that is exactly what they've seen this evening. but in a country of 80 million catholics, that means enormous crowds. >> rupert likethere with the crowds in manilla.

the fbi has charged a man in ohio with plotting to attack the political heart of the united states, the capitol building in washington, d.c. christopher cornell was found after trying to buy firearms and rounds of ammunition on wednesday. he also posted medias on social media supporting violent jihad. >> reporter: this is the moment that the fbi sweeped in on a man they believed was planning an attack with guns and explosives on capitol hill. christopher cornell, age 20 had gone to buy two semiautomatic weapons, and 600 rounds of ammunition. >> in terms of our cooperation with law enforcement, that's something that we do every day. it's a part of who we are, as a responsible firearms dealer. and so that was not out of the ordinary. the fact that it was something of this scale, we had no idea. >> reporter: christopher cornell had come to the attention of the authorities after an informer

had noticed his messages on social media declaring support to the militant group, islamic state. cornell is supposed to have posted on twitter last year i believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything. the fbi alleged he'd also researched making pipe bombs and had looked into traveling to washington, d.c. he'd also told an undercover agent that members of congress were enemies. security has inevitably been tightened on capitol hill though the fbi has been stressing there was never any imminent danger to the public during their investigation. meanwhile, christopher cornell's father admits his son may have posed the messages about violent jihad out of anger, but he says his son was just a mama's boy, and wouldn't have been able to carry out any actual attack.

>> and joining us now with business aaron, we're talking about oil every single day. it seems there's real problems in the industry too. >> obviously. and a benefit from the lower oil prices of the oil industry itself. kind of takes a hammering. let me explain. hello, there. let's start with the oil company, bp because we know it just announced in the past hour or so job cuts following a review of its north sea operations. just more evidence that the uk's north sea oil industry is being battered. it is being hammered by these plunging crude prices. now, brent crude, which is extracted from the north sea, it's expensive to get it up out of the ground in the north sea. experts tell us anything below 60 bucks a barrel and it's just unprofitable. talking of $60 let me tell you where the price is right now. and here is the worry. you can see brent crude, it's up slightly, but it is $48.71 a

barrel. if you look at light crude, traded in the u.s., basically, u.s. oil prices $48. but prices have fallen by a staggering 60 plus percent in the past seven months. and that is causing the industry problems indeed. let's get more. saab, great to have you on the program. you know bp has been down since that tragedy in the gulf of mexico. but it does appear that i guess a huge and very fast drop in the oil price has forced people or companies like bp just to get a step on it and get these job cuts out faster than previously thought. >> yes, certainly. and i think the key thing with bp as you said they have been downsizing since the deep water crisis. and what we've seen with the oil price dipping, and as quickly as it's falling as well it's basically forced their hand that they've had to make these cuts. but we've got to look at them in context as well.

if you look at bp as a large entity, 11,500 employees across the world, 3,500 across the north sea, it's relatively small compared to the overall size of the company. >> and bp is not the only one being affected. it is having an impact on the industry job cuts by other oil makers. but also quite worringly, a pullback on huge investments by the industry. >> yeah certainly. the offstream projects they've been cut back. we've seen shale, $6.5 billion project with the kaqatarry, they've shelled that now. and they've already had $2.2 billion of write-downs so far. that's in terms ever of actual expiration, they're looking the to invest around about $1 billion this year. that's been cut to $200 million. it's not just those two years. we've got premiere oil is another one, thinking about shopping plan. and they've reduced their investments by 40% this year. so it's certainly not just the old ones it's also some of the

ones farther down the stream as well. >> and does this suggest that those oil companies and those that work in the industry kind of believe that these lower prices are here for a bit of time, at least, anyway? >> yeah, i think so. you know, a lot of these projects they were putting together in the first instance they would have set it around 70 bucks a barrel. it's going to take time for us to actually see a recovery here. we could see even further weakness before we see any good news for the oil price. >> we appreciate your time. thank you! he was in our newsroom. now, i want to tell you a story that is a huge story. it's rocking the markets here in europe. the swiss currency as risen dramatically, last time i saw, up about 30% against the euro. it follows a very unexpected decision by the swiss central bank to abandon its policy of pegging the frank to the euro

which kept the value of that currency below. let's explain more with our geneva correspondent, imogen. what has happened? >> a lot of people rasking themselves that question. we know the swiss national bank took the decision 3 1/2 years ago to peg the frank to the euro at a level of one frank 20 to the europe. now, that was to protect swiss exports. over 60% of swiss exports going to the european union, during the euro zone crisis. now, today, the swiss nationalback has said we don't need it anymore. the franc is not as overvalued as it was and we think its peg sun justified. the market have reacted in a very different way. as you said, the franc has soared. swiss exports up 25% more expensive.

a holiday in switzerland just got 25% more expensive. traders in zurich are describing this as carnage. there's a funny little hashtag trending on twitter, called franc francageddon. >> does this suggest that those in switzerland bank basically believe that for example, the european central bank is about to do something big. because they're worried about the value of the euro, and that could be impacted if the european central bank launched for example, a big stimulus program, right? >> well yes, i think there has been speculation about that. there's also been speculation that we have seen from the start of this year and with the politics in greece the election coming up renewed possibility, depending on who gains power, of

greece exiting the euro or just not signing up to these austerity measures. we know there's big movement in greece not to do that which could lead to exiting the eurozone by default. now, switzerland, with this pegging of the franc against the euro has bought a lot of euros, strengthened the european currency. now there's a cynical theory that maybe the swiss national bank doesn't think there's a point. >> imogen joining us live from geneva. china's xiaomi has staked the apple's crown. it is now the world's third biggest smartphone maker and the most valuable tech start-up. and unveiled its flag ship, me note, its challenger to apple's iphone 6 plus. why is a product launch from a chinese phone gaining so much international attention? i'll tell you why xiaomi is one

of the first big chinese brands to make its presence felt around the world. there are even rumors of an american launch. >> the first thing they did right was selling phones in china. every one phone out of four in the world are sold in china. if you do well in china, you'll do well in general. >> they're lucky they've got the huge market and that's their home market. but they're good products. as an expert how do their products compare with the samsungs and the apples? >> so the products are very high end, very good very good quality, and they have the price of what you would see from samsung. >> do they compare? like, we don't get them here? we don't get the xiaomi. and that's the -- is that the key to future growth and success for the company? i mean this rumor about a u.s. launch and getting, i guess, phones here in europe? >> yes, partly. i think they're targeting first growth market.

they're planning to go to brazil and russia. >> let me just touch on a couple of other stories making headlines all around the world. official figures show that germany expanded by 1.5% last year. the company's public finances were also. india's central bank, it made a surprise move today to cut its interest rates to 7.75%. why? thanks to lower inflation, that's low oil prices helping, the move came ahead of the bank's weg meeting next month and the experts say it paves the way for further rate cuts in india. tweet me on twitter. you can get me @bbcaaron. that's it with the biz for right now. >> thanks, aaron. fancy a trip to the rio olympics? >> yeah! >> we'll find out after the break of just how you'll be able to buy a ticket. stay with us.

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i'm lucy hockings. the top stories this hour. amnesty international has released satellite images of the nigerian town of baga showing the scale of destruction after last week's attack by boko haram. president hollande says islam is compatible with democracy and france will protect all religion. some hot tickets will be sold for the olympics in rio in 2016. let's take you straight there. we can join julia who is following this for us. what details do we have julia? >> well lucy today the rio 2016 committee is launching the ticketing program, which means the website will be open for people to register.

and from then on whoever is registered will receive updated information, all the details about sales, and this is a way of starting to get people involved and to make it more real. sales, per se will only begin in march, and the tickets to the games will cost -- well the prices start at around $20, but those are the cheapest. but 7.5 million tickets will be made available and the organizers are emphasizing that half of them will cost $100 or less. >> how are the preparations going with the tickets? is everything on track? >> rio's mayor, he recently held a press conference here saying that everything is on schedule with the exception of one project that he named specifically, the running behind three weeks, but that's no

matter of concern. he has projects going on in the city, infrastructure projects connecting the metro line of rio to the west side of the city where most of the games will take place. that is still very challenging. the deadline is december and there are still several stations that need to be built in time for this connection to be complete. and today authorities have already announced that one of the stations in between won't be ready, but they're saying that the connection is complete will be complete. it's an example of the scale of the construction work going on for many people outside of brazil this is the in-between years. we had the world cup last year we're having the olympics next year and this is a little bit maybe dead in between. but for real it's really a crucial year and residents here are having to be very patient with lots of construction work going on all over the city traffic jams road blocks but it seems that construction happening here will leave a longer-lasting legacy than the world cup, with more investment being made in infrastructure and

not just in sporting venues. >> julia, thanks for joining us. and looking at the day behind you, couldn't be a better day to sell rio to the world. well they said it could be done, but two rock climbers have made history by scaling 900 meters of sheer granite rock face in yosemite national park. they only used ropes to prevent themselves from falling. kevin jorgeson and tommy caldwell climbed it. >> on day 19, tommy caldwell and kevin jorgeson were just dots on the giant granite rock face but through a zoom lens they could be seen climbing the last stretch to the top. their families watched those agonizing last few minutes. a mother praying nothing would go wrong. and then they reached the top

together. tommy's dad and his young son were delighted. >> we're probably going to really encourage him to get a shower. >> reporter: on the top, their partners were waiting for them having hiked the long way around. reaching the summit of this vast block of granite in 19 days in one climb, is a huge sporting achievement. it took a great deal of physical and mental strength for these two climbers to do something which has never been done before. >> fans and fellow climbers had watched history unfold. >> it's a bunch of unprecedented things. nobody has spent eight years trying to do one climb. nobody's spent 19 days on a continuous push trying to do a free climb. i don't really look at it in terms of a climb. it's really this heroic narrative, in a sense.

>> president obama even tweeted his congratulations. you remind us anything is possible he says. the celebrations are continuing. and getting down well that was going to be far easier and far quicker. bbc news in yosemite california. >> i'm joined now on web cam by sheffield by tom lan dell a professional rock climber and coach. tom has climbed el capitan on six different occasions. tom, we've just been hearing about the physical and mental strength and dexterity that it takes to achieve what these two men have achieved. but give us an idea of what it must have been like for them. >> well one of the big parts is that you're up there for so many days in a row, you kind of feel isolated from the world and it's your own little world on this vertical rock face and to reach the top is an amazing feeling, and anyone who climbs that face knows it. >> what about their skin? does that suffer quite a lot of damage in the climb? >> yeah. well because their main contact

is their skin which is dried out by chalk, then it suffers a lot of damage but nothing any different from many of the top rock climbers deal with. and it's really part of the game. >> so they're well used to that kind of discomfort. why do they choose to climb at night, tom. >> one thing that makes very hard climbing more possible is that if you have cool temperatures, your skin friction improves. so by climbing at nighttime, the rock temperatures lower, and you climb a lot harder. >> how do you sleep up there, then? >> you will sleep up there. so they'll spend their time on things called port ledges which are portable camping hammocks. and, because they are on there for 19 days then they would have spent multiple nights up there, and that's the way to live up there, really. >> doesn't sound comfortable to me. how much time goes into sort of forming a strategy in terms of

what they've had to do. >> yeah they've been at it multiple years, but really this comes up, these guys have been climbing nearly their entire lives, so it's not just six to eight years of preparation, it's a lifetime worth of experience which goes into this. and that's why it's so hard and the achievement is so great. >> is this the hardest free route in the world, that they've just managed to climb? >> yes. this isn't the hardest free route in the world, but it is the hardest free route on el capitan. that's kind of an important distinction to make. >> where else in the world do people climb like this in such challenging circumstances? >> so what we have in rock climbing is a grading scale which describes the physical difficulty of how hard it is to go from the bottom to the hop. and the grading scale, which is sort of put to this climb that they've just done puts it right

at the top. not at the very top. it's most remarkable for the fact that this is very nearly at the top of the grading scale, but in the style that there is which is big wall climbing multiple-day efforts, it's very much at the top. >> and tom, is there a part of you that feels a little bit jealous, wish it could have been you that had managed this? >> i think realistically, i wouldn't have been able to do it. so i would never feel jealous of this. i feel inspired. >> because you simply don't have the physical abilities, these two men have that kind of exceptional dexterity and strength? >> yeah, for sure. they're a better climber than me and they've put a huge amount of effort into it as well. so the preparation makes these things that seem impossible suddenly do become possible. >> okay. tom, thanks so much for giving us insight. president obama saying on twitter that their feat remind us that anything is possible. now what's coming up with lisa. >> thank you very much. stay with us.

in a few minutes wooebl, we'll be live in papua new guinea. and we'll also have special live coverage from hollywood as the nominees to this year's oscar awards are announced. that is coming up next on "impact" with me. see you soon. hi, this is jennifer... ... i will be out of the office until monday... ... and won't be checking voicemail during this time. i'll reply just as soon as i get back to work. sail with the number one cruise line in alaska. save up to $500 during our 50th anniversary sale. call your travel consultant or 1-800-princess. princess cruises. come back new.

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repulse shuttle has cleared docking bay three.