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to tackle some of the worst infection rates in the world. carrying the dreams of this country, we will introduce you to an afghan athlete who is out to make an olympic impression. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. tonight in syria, large numbers of government troops and dozens of tanks are being rushed to the country's second city of aleppo. they're headed there to help crush a rebel advance. the obama administration has condemned the use of attack helicopters in the area. our correspondent and cameramen are there and send this report.

>> they have been celebrating victory in part of aleppo city. it is certainly premature. the rebels and residents say they have reason to cheer. >> the rebels have brought us here to show some of the damage they have brought against the government tanks. a design of the -- it is a sign of some of the fierce fighting that has taken place. this is what has happened to the army's first counter-attack. that does not mean the rebels have won. they say they control 70% of the city. that is unlikely. the view from state tv is very

different. >> in a roundup of troubled spots, it said government forces could gain the upper hand across syria. this is what state tv is not showing. what activist says is the city being pounded. nor are they showing the shelling anin homs. we cannot verify this footage. residents tried to get children to safety. it appears to be a gruesome discovery. the media activist whose films this claims these were summary executions. president bashar al-assad is under growing pressure from

events. the general defected weeks ago has spoken out for the first time, calling for a new government. >> in order to preserve the unity of syria and to begin the building of the news syria, which will not be characterized by vengeance or exclusive power. >> this is what the bombing and fighting has done. over 1200 people have died in the last week alone, according to activists. in a war where death is the only certainty. >> for more on the developing events on the grounds in syria and the u.s. response, i am joined from capitol hill by republican senator from georgia. he sits on the foreign relations committee. thank you for joining us. the regime now using air power against civilians. is this the tipping point?

is this what could prompt military intervention? arehe regime's days numbered. they are shooting syrians trying to flee syria. the regime is falling. it is coming to an end. >> people keep saying it is coming to an end and it just keeps getting worse and worse. how significant is this escalation? what can you do? >> embassador rice made it quite clear, we are no longer going to get the russians or the chinese -- we will try to get a coalition of partners who will support a free assyria. it is time to take action. >> haven't you already tried that with the kofi annan peace plan?

>> that that was still within the framework of the un. this would be outside that framework. >> hillary clinton is still talking about a transition of power. we still do not know who the opposition are. >> as was proved in egypt, we did not know for sure then. we found out after the fact. we know there are the terrorists who have come into syria with the activity that has gone on. the iranians are there now. there are some iraqis coming across the border. alle not sure we know who of them are. an asian free of bashar al-assad is a nation -- a nation free of bashar al-assad is a nation we can do business with. >> the regime says they have chemical weapons and they are. -- and they are prepared to use them against outside aggressors. do you believe them? >> i do not believe there -- i

do not believe a word the regime says. they are demonstrating the in the main tactics they are using now. people are asking their government in israel for gas masks now. he should understand that one use of any type of poison gas would be the end of the line for him. >> people keep saying, it is the end of the line. he is continuing to do exactly what he wants. he clearly does not care what you or anybody else in the international community says. >> he has disregarded the international community and he has been enabled by the iranians, the russians, and the chinese. we have to continue to put pressure on the chinese and the russians. we have to bring together coalitions outside the un and within the region to bring to bear pressure on the regime and

support for the resistance. the resistance has grown larger by doubling in the last couple of weeks. they're having much more success than they have had before. the tipping point -- there is no question his days are numbered. >> senator, thank you very much for joining us. capitol hill was a busy place today. tim geithner found himself in the hot seat testifying before a house committee. he received repeated questions about whether he did enough as the president of the new york federal reserve to stop fraudulent manipulation of the key global interest-rate known as the libor. here was his response. >> we were aware of the rest -- the risk that it created the incentive for banks to underreports, but gave them an

opportunity. >> tim geithner went on to say that all of those concerns were passed on to british authorities, who he believed were the proper wants to act. the entire incident has raised serious questions about the entire industry and the roles they played by. for more on the red flags raised, i am joined by the assistant managing editor. thank you for joining us. dozens of big banks are under investigation. how far does this scandal spread? >> it is everywhere in the financial system. this is the biggest financial scandal since 2008. it goes to the heart of the problem. we have lax regulations, we have chinese laws that do not work, we have a system in which their

banks that are too big to fail and too big to manage. most importantly, as we see from tim geithner's testimony, we have a situation in which it is not as if the banks are bribing public officials. they do not have to. the officials are so worried they will go under, they are willing to look the other way. >> when the whole system seems to be involved in this, who is an incredible position to regulate the system? >> i think -- who is in a credible position to regulate the system? >> it comes down to the aggressiveness of the regulators. the resources they are given.

700 regulators trying to regulate to a $360 trillion industry. that is not a lot of firepower. >> huge sums of money and many people will be sitting there and thinking they are helpless victims of this huge machine. how big a blow is this particular incident to public confidence? >> i think it is a huge blow to trust. what is interesting is in the u.s. comment this did not get as much press as the jpmorgan trading loss that happened recently. individuals benefited from rates being lower because a lot of mortgages, car loans. at the end of the day, if we feel the system is not safe, we all suffer. if there is no trust in the system, there is no faith in the

overall system. >> a bomb attack in southern thailand has killed five policemen. the bomb went off outside a school as the police officers were passing by. islamist insurgents have blamed for a campaign of violence. there has been a lot of speculation and now it is official, the north korean leader kim jong-un is married. pictures have been circulating of his wife, ri sol-ju. kim jong-un took over as leader of the country at the death of his father kim jong il in december of last year. the international aids conference is taking place in washington, d.c.. a long list of officials and celebrities have come to take part, but they are speaking in a city with one of the worst hiv epidemics in the world.

the rate of infection in washington, d.c., is on par with some african countries. the majority of those with the disease are black and a recent study shows that in the worst affected neighborhoods, as many as one in eight african-american women are living with hiv. >> almost all of the women in this room are infected with hiv. >> lives in friend -- losing a friend after friend. >> they come from washington neighborhoods. >> they do not put to a future here. >> a basic unprotected sex is comment. and many are in denial. >> called the and not know when something is wrong with your

body -- how do you not know when something is wrong with your body? >> there are a lot of young girl when they think they cannot get it -- young burt women who think they cannot get. >> they will enter into a risky relationship because they need financial support. here in the nation's capital, the rate of infection is doubled in two years. city officials are not sure whether that is the result of new infections or more testing. tunney on runs at testing organization. she says there is a strong link between the spread of hiv and incarceration. one study found that three out of four of the african american men will spend time in prison at some point in their lives. >> he comes home from prison, he

is more likely to have engaged in sex. the woman has probably also been in a relationship with another guy who now may be away. it is this transfer that goes on. >> he spent nearly five years in prison. while he was awake, his partner became infected, but she did not tell him. >> you knew that you were infected. that is the part that i still deal with. >> his girlfriend also has hiv her last partner was also incarcerated. >> it is quite difficult when your fiancee or husband goes to prison. you are out here left alone by yourself. you could be a single woman with

two or three children. you are out here to fend for yourself. sex will be an issue. >> organizations working to control the epidemic said the priority is to get people tested and talking. for them to be as open as these women. >> tragedy of hiv and aids in washington. you are watching "bbc world news america." we will go live to london where olympic fever has taken hold. a healthy dose of controversy is also on the cards. it sounds like a sequel to the movie, long, but this 11-year- old tipoff for quite an adventure. he got on an airplane at manchester airport and headed for rome. authorities are trying to figure

out -- are trying to piece it together. the airline is scrambling for an explanation. >> when a flight to a goth yesterday, nobody realized an 11-year-old boy had sneaked on board - eight tickets and passports. the flight was on its way to italy when the crew realized they had a boy in a seat. he blended in with a family in departures and questions are being asked about security. the boy was mixed in with a large number of children and family members. around the corner, the first of several security checks the boy managed to get passed without any travel documents. he also got past staff at the boarding gate and those on the

door of the aircraft. once on board, there was no headcount. he was not noticed before takeoff. >> one of the things we are doing now on all of our flights is to do a head count aboard the aircraft. we also doubled passport check at the gates. >> he was last seen by his mom at a shopping center not far from the airport. he was next seen on the aircraft. quite how a child managed to walk through some much security and onto a flight will now be investigated thoroughly. >> the olympic games got underway today it would 6 when men's football matches. you did not miss the opening ceremonies. they do not happen until friday. the games are causing

controversy. we're overlooking the olympic park and joins us with the latest. the excitement is building and the football matches are under way. >> the opening ceremony rehearsals have just finished. we are expecting them to be spectacular. ombia versus north korea -- the two teams are lining up. the north korean women find their names displayed on the scorecards -- on the scoreboards under the south korean flag. there was a delight under -- there was a of an hour.

>> we have also already got allegations of dumpioping. athletes are still prepared to take the risk. >> many will tell you that people look -- there are not enough people to test them. the high-profile has been a moroccan runner. one of the favorites for a gold medal after an exceptional year. she is facing a life ban and she is out of the game. the international association of athletic federation told us they had tracked others. a profiling of blood. they are all out of the london olympics. >> social media is causing a bit

of an issue. one of the greek athlete suspended for racist tweets. >> this is voula papachristou. she expressed a call for a far- right party. she also made a comment that was deemed racist. with so many africans in greece, at least mosquitos on the west nile will be able to eat homemade food. not surprising, there was a backlash. she has since apologized. the olympic committee told her to stay in athens. >> it only gets better from here. thank you for joining us. the excitement builds towards the opening ceremonies. more than 200 countries will be taking part.

among them is afghanistan. this opportunity comes at a critical time for their nation. after a decade of war, one competitor is out to show the world a different side to his country. >> he is without equal in afghanistan. he is the only olympic medalist in the history of this country. his bronze in the 2008 beijing olympics was a moment of national celebration, a lack of which afghanistan has all too few of. >> welcome to my house. >> his quality of life was transformed by beijing. for him, the metals are worth as a much more than the personal wealth. >> a first of all, i love my

medals. i of worked so hard to win them. it is my hope that they can cheer my countrymen up and make them proud. >> since starting two years ago, kabul has been talk of bill list of places i've wanted to report a -- top of the list of places i've wanted to report on. this is diving board was once used by the taliban for executions. the other athletes here are hoping -- are helping redefine their country, creating headlines about sports rather than war. nearly four years on from beijing, this gym is the place where he started out.

it is not even the correct width for the mat. he will fight plenty of athletes in london. from what i saw, his competitors would be foolish to underestimate the man. an olympic medal is always a turning point for any athlete. it is the moment when years of hard work in private in places like this become a matter of mass pride of public celebration. that is more true of them than many olympic athletes. if he believes the confide a hard enough as an individual, his country -- if he can fight hard enough as an individual, his country might be better off for it, too. >> it is not does about the

games, but the incredible stories of the players. that brings today's show to a close. you can find constant updates on our website. tomorrow, join us as the broadcast live from london in advance of the opening ceremonies. thank you for watching. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, union bank, and shell. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture

new ventures and helping provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.