>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, shell, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations.

what can we do for you? >> at shell, we believe the world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying cleaner-burning natural gas to generate electricity. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is the eighth producing ethanol, a biofuel made from renewable sugar cane. >> a minute, mom! >> let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. >> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to "bbc world news." i am george alagiah. top officials arrived in london four days before the opening ceremony. the ioc president says he will

not be playing the blame game regarding security. deadly attacks across iraq. reports of continued fighting in as assadecond city orders efforts to be redoubled. >> just to take a look at this -- four days to go until the opening ceremony. on friday, the athletes will gather in this stadium behind me and the world's biggest sporting event will begin. it has been a wet summer so far

in britain. the forecast is pretty good. the transformation of this part of east london, in fact one of the poorest in the country, is extraordinary. not all the venues are here, but many of them are. the aquatics center, the basketball arena, all ready for just over two weeks of action. let's show you a live shot from the olympic park. as i just said, right behind me is the olympic stadium. that is where bolt, among others, will be defending his record. let's go to central london and talk to my colleague. ben, the international olympic committee is headquartered in the building behind you. >> that is right, george. this is where the ioc have chosen to base themselves. they've also taken significant

presence in two other major london hotels. the ioc members met with athletes today. today, been gone across the olympic village to see the facilities and what's going on there for themselves. >> the president of the ioc has been asked about the security, as we have been hearing about a lot in london. what did he have to say about that? >> he was asked about the security situation and the government's decision to bring in troops. he said, quite simply, there was a problem. a solution has been identified. he is happy with the solution. he said, "it is time to move on." he said he is perfectly confident with the security situation surrounding the london olympics. >> we will leave it there. no doubt we will be coming back

to you time and again over the next few hours. the democratic republic of congo now and the rebel movement calling movementm-23 has made swift -- movement calling itself m-23. gabriel gatehouse has gotten into the rebel-controlled areas. not everyone is up to date with what's going on in this troubled nation. >> the rebel movement started in april when a number of army officers from the congolese army defected and proceeded to make slow advances against their former comrades in the congolese army.

we are about 100 miles from the nearest big town, goma. this is now under rebel control. the rebels tell me they have halted their advance voluntarily. despite a large u.n. peacekeeping contention, they say they can easily advance on this town, the key town of goma. >> there is quite a diplomatic row starting over exactly who supports these rebels. i gather america has accused rwanda of supporting them. >> pretty much everyone has accused rwanda of supporting them. the united nations has come out with reports they presented to the security council. human rights watch has also presented their own report. these allegations are strenuously denied both by the movement here, by the rebels, and by rwanda itself. some of the commanders i've been

speaking to from the u.n. peacekeeping force said what they saw was a very sophisticated equipment and quite sophisticated tactics. while the offices were not making direct links with rwanda, but they said basically, i draw your own conclusions. you've got to ask, where is all that support and equipment coming from. >> thank you very much. thank you. at least 80 people have been killed in a series of attacks across iraq. many of the victims were caught up in a car bombing to the south of baghdad. there were also blasts in the capital. rami ruhayem has been following

the developments. >> they seem to be targeting primarily security forces, army, as well as police checkpoints, a convoy and even some police officers were targeted in their homes. also, a number of incidents involving civilians in public places, especially in baghdad. a huge casualty toll. some are reporting 80. some are reporting 90. in any case, it is a very bloody day in iraq. >> hundreds of people in colorado have taken part in an outdoor service of remembrance for the victims of last week's shooting at a packed cinema in aurora near denver. earlier, president obama spoke to survivors and relatives of victims. beijing has been hit by the heaviest rain in almost six decades. authorities say 37 people died after 170 mm of rain fell in the

city. downpours have also hit the southwest provinces, causing landslides and flooding. arab league foreign ministers have called on the syrian president, president bashar al- assad, to resign as soon as possible. they have also offered his family safe passage out of syria. the european union foreign ministers also discussed syria. they are understood to be considering more sanctions, including checking ships and planes suspected of carrying weapons. the syrian army appears to have pushed back the rebel groups, which have launched an assault on the capital of damascus. government forces have recaptured two districts. state tv says a number of foreign mercenaries were killed. a spokesman for the rebels said they had seized control of an army college north of the city of aleppo.

ian joins me on the phone. why don't you give me a background to what you have been doing there? >> thank you, george. we are on the outskirts of aleppo city. parts of the city came under a fairly sustained bombardment by government artillery. we are to the south of the city, one of the areas. we have seen hundreds of rebel fighters moving toward what is syria's largest city, its economic capital, rather than its political capital. we are hearing reports of fierce clashes taking place in at least four or five areas. we believe the number of civilians have been wounded and taken to one of the main hospitals. also, there have been reports of civilians fleeing the area.

we have not seen that yet. >> the thing about aleppo is that it is the economic part of the country. any disturbances there have been magnified effect. >> that is absolutely right. it will have a magnified effect. i think it would be absolutely premature to try to give the impression that the government is going to lose control of aleppo anytime soon, but they are facing a number of rebellions in different districts. the prospect of losing control of aleppo will be a huge concern to the assad government. the >> i do not know how much you can say about this, but there are reports -- one is talking about the free syrian army and various islamist groups. can you shed light on that? >> we have met hundreds of fighters in different areas, but

primarily in the north. there is no one i would describe as a islamist fighter or in islamist militants. that does not mean there are not reports. i'm a journalist the other day -- i met a journalist the other day who went to the crossing with turkey. he said there were a number of foreign fighters in control of that checkpoint now. i cannot verify that, but there have been a number of reports along those lines. even if it exists, it is fair to say it's not a significant level. when you speak to the guys on the ground, they do not seem to have an appetite for this. most of them are sunni muslims. at the moment, they are -- they are not necessarily radicals as we know it.

they talk about what they want to achieve. their backgrounds are fairly ordinary. they are farmers, mechanics, laborers, who said they have been forced to take arms to defend themselves. in the eyes of the government, these people are terrorists who have received weapons from overseas. there's a fairly good evidence that those weapons have been coming in. >> we will leave it there. as the fighting in syria shows no signs of ending, all sides in the conflict are accused of deliberately targeting children. a report by the international charity, or child, says there is killing, rape, of the auction, and the recruitment of child soldiers -- killing, rape, abduction, and the

recruitment of child soldiers. >> the center is called a child friendly space. >> these syrian children are like children everywhere. they love to color. passing things note children should have to see. their families still live in fear. that is why we are not showing any faces. this project in northern lebanon tries to build trust. in plays like this, children learn to deal with conflict. this boy insists, "he started picking on me." the girl says, "you two should

make up." this is not child's play. the girl lives with a terrible story. >> [speaking foreign language] >> a bomb hit my house. my mother said thank god we are still alive. one of my friends died right in front o-. f my eye. we were playing together. my mother said we had to leave,. . >> most seriously in this war are children. this family has seven under the age of 11. they are renting land for livestock and some shelter. the children's father did not make it here. their mother tells me they know why. >> [speaking foreign language] >> my oldest daughter saw him on the floor with the blood on his

head. there was blood. >> just across the border, the battles rage. a brutal war. even the most innocent are not scared. -- are not spared. >> wearier because the olympics are just a few days away. the latest round of a sports news. >> thank you very much. we have some breaking news. chris hoye has been confirmed as an olympic flag bearer. it was confirmed. he won three gold medals and has

four career goalds to his name. it seems that not only winning the tour de france -- in nine days, bradley will be aiming for his fourth gold medal. before that, his attentions will be turned to helping teammates when the roadways on saturday -- when the road race on saturday. he is the joint most successful british olympic athlete. he tied on six medals. one more will put them into the record books once again. the open championship winner for the second time, 10 years after the first did the job.

the australian have led the tournament by four shots. in a twist of cruel sporting fate, he finished on six under par. consistently making up ground. -- a stunning 15-footer. now some of the hottest favorites at the london olympics are the u.s. men's basketball team. a warmup game in spain on sunday. the u.s. dream team won gold 20 years ago. the current nba stars twice held a 20-point lead. argentina and twice once they come back. it gave the americans plenty to think about. they made the impression of a u.s.. in a tough challenge on live ron james. in the end, it was pretty close. the u.s. won by 86-80.

george, you are fully up to date now with all the olympic news. >> thank you very much. this is "bbc world news." olympicead -- greece's tragedy. there. it is too broke to get its olympics to this year's competition. >> cuban dissidents say a prominent opponent has died in a car crash. he was 60 years old. he spoke out against the communist government of fidel and raul castro. >> he spent decades challenging cuba's communist regime. his death is seen by supporters as a huge blow to the country's

pro-democracy movement. >> [speaking foreign language] >> he has had an accident and died. that's all we know. at this time, his wife and family have left the hospital. we are not sure if they were able to board a plane or not. >> cuban authorities say he died in a car crash outside the city. witnesses say his car crashed into a tree. paya later campaign to reform cuba's one-party state. he delivered the signatures to the cuban assembly in 2002. this simple act was seen as the biggest non-violent campaign to change its political system after the cuban resolution. that year, he was awarded the human rights prize. he was also nominated twice for the nobel peace prize. his supporters say his legacy

will be the inspiration he gave to pro-democracy campaigners. >> forest fires in northeastern spain have killed three people and cut transport links with france. reports say two of those who died jumped into the sea to escape flames that have engulfed their cars. roads have been closed. train services have also been suspended. >> this is bbc news live from london. at least 80 people have been killed in a series of attacks across iraq, thought to be targeting the security services. the head of the international olympic committee has told the bbc he is happy with london's security arrangement. just eight years ago, greece was

celebrating its athletic history by staging the olympics. this year's games, one of the smallest in three teams in memory. the reason -- the country is too broke to afford it. many of the venues bill in athens in 2004 now stand idle. >> the glory days of 2004 reduced to this. eight years since the greece basked in the olympics. times have changed. the financial crisis has struck sports. the greek delegation in london is the smallest in two decades. with facilities crumbling, olympic hopefuls try to balance their dreams with lack of resources. >> we did not have money for the facilities. we did not have money for training, for preparation. it is difficult. everything is difficult.

>> it makes it hard. >> it is very hard for us. >> some estimates put the cost of the athens games at 10 billion euros. what is to show of it? the sporting a legacy left to rust. >> it's almost impossible to see now, but what this was once the kayak area. today, these venues are symbols of what has happened to greece. the country could never afford the olympics and other grand infrastructure projects after joining the euro. as it wore off, reality and decay set in. pride of hosting the games has begun to abate. >> athens solve the real price -- athens saw the real price. >> we have the new airport. we have new roads. we have new technology, communication.

transportation was one of the biggest problems. of course there was overspending. of course there were mistakes. yes, the olympic games were positive for greece. >> many wonder what went wrong ever since. there's no money to fix the air conditioning in this facility. athletes are left to swelter. the eight years on from the games, a greek sports have had a hard landing. was it worth it? >> we do not have much money now, maybe because we have the olympic games in 2004 here. i am not sure. maybe we should not have had them. >> greek athletes hope for great things in london, in spite of, rather than thanks to conditions back home. the ancient and modern olympics were born in greece. now this country is left to wonder how much further there is to fall. >> before greece, australia

played host to the olympics in sydney in 2000. it earned the title of the best games ever from the then ioc chief. athletes are hoping to deliver again in london. david eades is at the training camp of the australian athletics team. >> we are not on the starting blocks, but we are not far off. this is about 50 kilometers from where the olympic park is based. it's the temporary home to the australian athletic squad. among them, the reigning olympic pole vaulting champion. he has not been in great form recently, but it seems like he is beginning to get back to his best. i wondered whether that made him feel that his competitors were

starting to worry about him again. >> i am not the favorite guy. it is good from my point of view. it's good to have my name in the conversation. i would rather start slow and finished stronger than the other way around. i'm happy with the way it is going. i have an opportunity to keep improving. >> have the preparations got exactly as you wished? you are in a building that is older than australia itself. does this suit you? >> we have good pole vaulting networks. >> not necessarily here. >> i have not had a proper chance to see what it was going to be like. >> take a look at these. these are australia's colors, of course.

they are on the track. one thing australians are adamant about is they have been made extremely welcome here. all they have to do now is deliver the metals. >> thousands of people have lined the streets, waiting for the olympic torch to pass on its way to the olympic stadium. a police officer took it upon himself to keep the cro