>> 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, 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? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to "bbc world news." live from our studios overlooking the olympic park. i am george alagiah. coming up in this program -- badminton players accused of planning to lose. and investigation is underway. >> it will take that very seriously. it is unacceptable. >> a battle that will decide the fate of the nation. on words of syria's assad

the conflict in aleppo. tributes to the author, gore vidal, who died at the age of 86. if you are good enough, you are young enough. we will meet the oldest olympian taking part in the 2012 olympics. >> hello and welcome to day five of the london 2012 olympic games. breaking news to bring you. in the last few minutes, team gb's first gold medal in the women's rowing pair final. australia took silver. new zealand got the bronze. the last 24 hours have seen the

very best and worst of the olympics. on tuesday night, the american swimmer, michael phelps got his 19th medal, making him arguably the best olympian of all time. a elsewhere, in badminton, players and charged with not doing enough to win their matches. a fixture between china and south korea turned into something of a farce when both sides seemed as if they were trying to lose, apparently to ensure an easier final. china says they were just saving energy. the country's own olympic authorities have launched an investigation, saying they opposed the behavior. the matter did not end there.

a second career in pair also appeared to engineer a defeat. it's unclear what sanctions will be applied. the federation will hold a discipline meeting ahead of the quarter final meeting later today. for reaction in china to the reaction, let's hear from our correspondent in beijing, martin patience. >> the state run news agency severely criticized the chinese pair. is says the spirit of fair play is more important than winning gold medals. they've spoken out very strongly against these two female competitors. as you said, they said they were simply conserve the energy for the quarter finals. all of these teams were through to the knockout stages. what we've heard from chinese officials, they are launching their own investigation into this issue.

certainly, most people are not buying that. >> how are the charges against badminton players been received on the streets of the south korean capital? >> [speaking foreign language] >> i do not believe that south korean athletes would do such a thing. i think korean players understand the spirit of fair play. after putting in so much effort to prepare for the olympics, why would they do such a thing? >> [speaking foreign language] >> when i heard that a chinese team had been involved, i was not so surprised. when i heard the south korean team also tried to lose is not acceptable. >> i guess they do feel pressure. maybe they feel like they want an easier way to get into the semifinals for the finals. i still feel disappointed. i think they should just try fairly to get a gold medal, not using this. >> some reaction on the streets.

in the last hour, the chairman of the london organizing committee has given his assessment of last night's events. >> yes, depressing. who wants to sit through something like that. i was at badminton yesterday afternoon. i sell a british competitor tear -- assault a british competitor and nearly fell to progress. i know the badminton federation very well. they will take that very seriously. it is unacceptable. >> needless to say, this has caused a reaction around the sporting world. many of you have been posting comments on our facebook page. here are some of your thoughts so far. peter says, "change the rules so this cannot happen. it is against the spirit of the games."

"the blame can never be laid on individual athletes. they have their country's best interest to think about." she says, "it is a serious offense in other sports. it should not be expected in the olympics." have your say on that story or other sphers. ok, let's get some more on this with my colleague, who is from the bbc's chinese service. somebody said this is part of sports. you do it strategically. there's nothing wrong with this. >> you're not surprised -- it

happened -- the chinese, in the past, when two chinese face each other. this is very dramatic, only because the rules changed by the badminton world federation. in order to avoid competitors' to ensure they have more of a chance to win the gold. >> you say there was a rule change which meant the knockout stage does not come until later. in the group's stage, every match does not necessarily count. what about the chinese officials? we heard in the opening ceremony a few days ago about the olympic spirit. that has seemed to be thrown out the window. >> no one would come out as a winner in such a case.

it created such a situation and then they have already launched a disciplinary hearing. the chinese olympic committee really wants to show the new image of chinese athletes. they want to compete. they want to show the spirit. that's what they want. not the individual athletes. they cannot blame -- all our best efforts to win the gold. >> it is tricky thing for china. a couple days ago, you have this marvelous athlete who did brilliantly. people started saying, this cannot be right. the chinese authorities stood up for her. do you think there will be an expectation by the chinese authorities to show they are interested in fair play and perhaps come down tough? >> that's exactly what they want to do. in terms of her achievement, the

thing for the chinese is a very tricky situation. they did not say something to clarify the atmosphere yesterday. in these cases, a wait-and-see approach. they may take further and a stiff afterwards. >> to go back to the beginning, you said this is not particularly new, this type of behavior. the >> inside the chinese national team, i do not think it is new. if one player has a chance to win against eight former, -- against a foreigner, why not guarantee the goal for us? >> we've got to stop.

thank you very much for being with us. more on the breaking news. in the last few minutes, great britain's first gold medal of the game in the women's rowing finals. it was a tight battle for second and third place. australia took silver. new zealand got the bronze. later, the women's quadruple and men's finals. it is all happening on the river thames. our correspondent is nearby. from the british point of view, just to start off with, this is a great day, a great moment. >> a great day from the british point of view. it is the start of what everybody in britain hopes will be a gold rush. also a great day for the rowing community in great britain on the thames. this is one of the great growing.center's ever-growinof

one of the oldest clubs in this area. we've just been watching the race you have been referring to. great excitement. difficult not to be drawn in. we can hear the roar of the crowd. what did you think? we watched those pictures. they were off to a great start. >> it looks great from the start. they were really in control. goose bumps all around. >> they have only been working together for a couple of years. is that unusual? >> it is. it usually takes longer to get competent and any sport. rowing is so technical. they've done a great job. >> they had that frustrating loss to new zealand in the world championships. new zealand was really no where. >> it is a brilliant performance. they do what they were doing. they were in control. i am sure they're happy.

>> what is the key to success on that lake? >> having grit and determination. it is a long way. if conditions are good, take advantage of it. >> i am not in the market for predictions. do you see a little bit of a gold rush? >> i sincerely hope so. now that we've got one, there will be more to follow. >> thank you very much. a real sense of atmosphere here. 3 this is a fantastic place to be celebrating the sport of rowing. you cannot fail but to feel a part of it. this is the first time this club in so many others will be drawn into the excitement. >> thank you very much for that, robert. let's leave olympics.

the fate of our people and our nation past and present and future depends on this battle. those were the words of syrian president bashar al-assad in a written address to his forces. they are currently locked in conflict with the rebels in aleppo and elsewhere. opposition forces say government aircraft pounded rebel positions in aleppo overnight and refugees continued to flee the city. joining me from beirut is jim muir. what are we to make of this statement from president assad? we have not heard from him in a couple of weeks. >> that is right. i do not think that's very exceptional. this was a message to the army on the occasion of its national day. it was founded 67 years ago today. he published a letter and in our meat magazine.

it's not a situation where you read a lot into him not appearing on tv. he said the battle, what he called a multifaceted conspiracy, obviously backed by outside powers, etc., and he regards the whole thing as an outsider onslaught. it is basically a peptalks saying keep up the good work and what you are doing is really important for everybody. >> we often see these pictures of the fighting and the conflicts, but more and more, we are seeing pictures and hearing about the plight of civilians. this is turning into quite a humanitarian crisis now. >> it is. in the last few weeks since the big offensive began and the big bomb that killed four top security figures, including president assad's brother-in- law, the whole thing has moved

up a notch. damascus and aleppo, two big cities, have now got caught up. the population in aleppo is something like 2.5 million people. they had not been expecting that. they had been largely spirit of the complex of far. that's one reason why we are seeing more people leaving the country and a lot of internally displaced. there has been intensified fighting. four times as many people crossing the border into jordan. a lot more refugees on the move inside and outside of the country. >> amnesty international has released a statement accusing the government of human rights violations. they say the security council ought to refer this to the international criminal court. this is a security council that has not been able to agree on

anything so far. they are whistling in the wind, amnesty international. >> i think they are. there's no way the security council can act as one. the russians and chinese are not minded to do anything. it is simply not going to happen. the saudis and others have given up on the security council. later, they will have a meeting of the u.n. general assembly where they will be pushing a fairly hostile resolution against syria there. they will try to revise the arab league initiative. of course, we've heard reports on nbc -- unconfirmed but not the ninth -- that the rebels have been given anti-aircraft missiles that have made their way from aleppo to the turkish

border. that could negate the syrians use of airpower. a>> thank you very much. thank you. we will leave it there. this is "bbc world news." the first gold medal in rowing in the first gold for the host, great britain. after becoming second to the australians, the british athlete decided to go shopping. she had no real expectations of doing well. she traded retail their before gold medal glory. today she tells us her amazing story of the tokyo games in 1964 for our olympic postcard. >> i travel to tokyo as a favorite in the four hundred meters. that's where i had hopes to win

the gold medal. fate was against me. i came second. i ran a personal best. the lady in front of me was a yard ahead. that brought us to the 800 meters, which i have only actually run twice in my life before. i was considering doing a bit of shopping instead of competing. i qualified from the heat. in the semifinals, i qualified again as the slowest in the race. the thing that was keeping me going was the fact that i was a sprinter. i knew that if i could still be with them in 150 meters to go, had a chance at the end. that is how it happened. i passed her and won the event and they knew world record --

and a new world record. i think there was a gap of six or 7 meters. it was a happy day for me and tremendous relief especially after the disappointment of the 400 meters. >> it is not an olympics for yet, but described as a physical act and certainly drawing audiences. contact juggling involves -- >> this is "bbc world news." the headlines -- the badminton world federation starts disciplinary action. no letup in the fighting for aleppo, president assad said syria faces battles that will determine the fate of its people. get the very latest now

on the sporting side of the olympics from my colleague on the other side of the stadium. >> george, thank you. as you know, we are the global scoreboard. in the last few seconds, the ukraine has won gold in rowing. also, as george mentioned a few minutes ago, a long way for the olympics host. great britain has picked up their first gold medal of london 2012. again, it is in the rolling. -- it is in rowing with helen glover and heather stanning. they cruised to victory ahead of the australian pair. new zealand claim to the bronze. it is quite an amazing story.

four years ago, she had barely picked up an oar. her partner was an army captain. just to recap, ukraine. the united states win another medal with the bronx. the london olympics chairman has described tuesday's controversial badminton matches as depressing and unacceptable. the badminton world federation is still meeting behind doors. there's no indication of the timing of any announcement. it's now just a few hours until the eight women are due to compete in the quarterfinals. remember, expulsions are an option at this stage. it will have to decide whether the competition is more damage by the absence or by keeping them in.

obviously, it must be proved that the all intended to lose. that is all for now. >> thank you very much. one of america's most successful and distinguished writers and commentators, gore vidal, has died at the age of 86. his nephew said he died in los angeles on tuesday evening. he said mr. gore vidal suffering compilations from pneumonia. it was known as a witty personality, play writer, and screenwriter. a look back at his life. >> one of america's greatest writers. educated, articulate, with the. he belonged to the american establishment, yet was one of its most outspoken critics. gore vidal was born into one of america's most famous -- his grandfather founded the state of oklahoma. his cousin was al gore.

he was constantly in demand. jackie kennedy was his stepsister. gore vidal's wit and stylish manners complemented those of her husband, president kennedy. u.s. involvement in vietnam radicalized him. he was fearless in his condemnation of both the war and those who defended jim muir >> -- and those who defended it. >> shut up a minute. .> no, i won't >> they were well treated by those who ostracize to them. >> his art, like his politics, scandalized many. a film featured a transsexual lead character. eventually, he retired to live in suspended isolation in italy, but never ceased to talk about

what he called the united states of amnesia. >> this afternoon, great britain's silver medalist competing in the women's race. this is followed by the men's race, which will see bradley wiggins going for gold. over to you. >> george, thank you. two more exciting events. first, the women's, and the next few minutes. there are 25 riders. they will go on this time trial. this time, they are not racing each other. they are bracing for themselves. they are proving it to themselves. the british silver medalist from the road races in here. she is not really the favorite. the defending champion is the

american and the dutch rider and the swedish rider. the women's race should be pretty thrilling. a lot of people here are here for the men's races, which start somewhat later. bradley wiggins will show his stuff. he worked very hard in the road race on saturday. he was trying to push forward. it did not manage to get him to a metal. there was a bit of a worry. bradley williams has said he was very excited about the prospect of going here for gold. if he does not get a medal, there will be a lot of disappointment in britain. this is the track. we have the men's track right behind us. there are the british flags.

also, venezuela, sweden, spain, canada. >> all right. thank you very much. stay with us here on "bbc world news." there is plenty more to come. there is plenty more to come.