a riverside spectacular to open the asian games. where else in the world can you see a show like this? so big, ambitious, so expensive. few ordinary chinese got close, of course. security is a big concern. but they managed as they could to catch a glimpse. and of the city center, we found fans. >> of these asian games make us feel that our country is more powerful than other countries. >> more powerful? >> yes, more powerful. >> it is an opportunity for china's leaders to show the people how far they have come. it helps to reinforce the message that this is now a modern, prosperous nation, a giant in asia. china will win the most medals here. it is a sporting superpower. these games are a chance to test young athletes. opening night went off without a hitch. bbc news. >> i just briefly, is strike closed most of the cultural attractions on friday. it is a protest against government plans to cut nearly $400 million from the culture budget over three years. the latest headlines for you this hour on bbc world news. supporters from burma

the g-20 marks a coming of age for south korea, building on its economic credentials as an asian giant, but many here still remember a time when prosperity was barely a dream. , capital of seoul korea. >> at the end of the korean war, seoul and its people were struggling to survive. archives show a ruined city, major thoroughfares reduced to rubble. this is the very same seoul street nearly 60 years later. it has been a remarkable transformation from being an international battlefield. south korea literally rose from the ashes, transforming itself from one of the world's poorest countries to one of the richest. and the transforming is still going on. seoul is a city of continuous construction, spending the money that flowed in from the high- tech korean brands that have gone global. it means south korea has experienced opposite ends of the wealth spectrum all in the space of a generation. wein the 1960's and 1950's, received development aid from other countries. we want to give the to other communities, what we have received. >> are there lessons for the developing world in what you ha

the g-20 marks the coming of age for south korea, building on its economic credentials as an asian giant. but many here can still remember a time when prosperity was barely a dream. >> this is seoul, capital of korea. today, it is a shell. >> at the end of the korean war, the people were struggling to survive. archive footage shows major thoroughfares reduced to rubble. >> and this is the very same street nearly 60 years later. it has been a remarkable transformation. from being an international battlefield, south korea literally rose from the ashes, transforming itself from one of the world's poorest countries to one of the richest. and the transforming is still going on. seoul is a city of continuous construction, spending the money that flows in from the caribbean plans -- the korean brands that have gone global. it is the change of a generation. >> in the 60's and '50's, we have development aid from other countries. we want to give back in terms of community development. >> are there lessons from the developing world in what you meant to exit -- managed to achieve in the last 20 year

a riverside spectacular to open the asian games. where else in the world would you see a show like this? so big so ambitious, so expensive. the ordinary chinese got close of course. security is a big concern here. they managed as best they could to catch a glimpse. in the city center we found this. >> the asian camps make our -- our country is better and a proud power that -- than other countries. >> more powerful. >> more powerful and stronger. >> big events like had are an opportunity for the leaders to show their people how important the country is, how far it has come to help reinforce the message that this is now a modern prosperous nation, a giant in asia. china will win the most medals here. there's little doubt. it is a sporting superpower. for all of the teams, these games are a chance to test young athletes aiming for glory in two year's time. opening night went off without a hitch. the host will hope the next two weekes are just as successful. >> bbc news guangzhou. >> closing most of the cultural attractions in italy. it

they sent their largest ever delegation to the asian games. china has always dominated the middle table. they usually play off second place between japan and south korea, competing for the runner- up position. for all the nations here, the importance of the asian games is that it is a big staging plays on the way to the 2012 london olympics. it is the first taste for some of the old -- of the athletes for their first international olympics. >> rahm has gained another tourist attraction, an ancient temple that has reopened. many are angry at the government's plan to slash arts funding. hundreds of museums and galleries will be closed in protest on saturday. >> nearly 2000 years after it was built, rome's colosseum has lost none of its power to impress or draw crowds. now in its shadow, another ancient treasure has reopened. much of its roof may be missing, but the temple of venus in rome still hints of the skill and ingenuity of a lost age. >> this is an intriguing monument, not just because it was the biggest tumble in the area, but because it

asian and europe, flat or mostly down. the euro zone has pretty much been taken over. mix in the fact that we have also seen a jump in u.s. treasury yields and it pushes the dollar higher. copper has seen gains amid concerns that china could take further steps to stop this. >> let's pick up on that lame- duck sessions in the u.s. congress. the name says it all. with the new congress now beginning until january, what can be achieved between now and then? james joins us live from washington. earlier in the program we were hearing about the tax cuts. that will be the key element, is it not? >> congress has punted on this for almost one year. they could have reached some kind of deal, but they have not. there seems to be some headway. a couple of senators over the weekend indicated that they might let the tax cut to expire for people making over $1 million. it is a significant change and could be a welcome sign. republicans had huge gains in the house of representatives and said they did not want to raise taxes on any one. republicans have the rhetorical upper hand. they c

the g-20 marks the coming of age for south korea, building on the economic potential of an asian giant. many here can still remember the time when prosperity was only a dream. >> this is seoul, destroyed by the shifting tides of war. >> at the end of the korean war, its people were struggling to survive. ruined cities, major thoroughfares reduced to rubble. >> this is the very same street nearly 60 years later. it has been a remarkable transformation. from being an international battlefield, south korea literally rose from the ashes, transforming itself from one of the world's poorest countries to one of the richest. >> the transformation is still going on. seoul is still the constructing, spending the money from its brands that have gone global. it has experienced opposite ends of the wealth spectrum in the face of a generation. >> in the 1950's, 1960's, we were dependent on aid from other countries. we wanted to give back to the international community. >> are there lessons for the developing world on what you have managed to achieve over the last 20 years in terms of economic develo

." >> returning to his childhood home, president obama lands in indonesia on the latest leg of his asian tour. the american leader is hoping to use this special relationship with the country to show he is reaching out to the muslim world. >> indonesia has more muslim people living here than any country on the planet, and so he will be coming here to the biggest mosque in southeast asia. >> welcome to gmt. i'm jonathan charles, with a world of news and opinion. george bush insists he was right to allow the wa waterboarding of terror suspects. it is midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, and 7:00 p.m. in jakarta, where indonesia is welcoming back barack obama , who spent his childhood there. he will find a nation that is not as enthusiastic about him as it once was. many indonesians believe he can make sufficient progress reaching out to islam and helping them out of poverty. >> back in indonesia, his old home, for the first time as american president. he had canceled twice before because domestic politics kept him in the u.s. but today, barack obama finally arrived in jakarta and at h

also coming up in the program -- president obama arrives in seoul on the latest leg of his asian tour. and the beginning of the end for harry potter. the stars look back on 10 years of film wizardry. >> thank for joining us. david cameron has used the main spreach of his trip to china to stress the virtues of open, democratic government. in an address to university students in beijing, mr. cameron told his audience the political freedom, an open media, and the rule of law provided the best path to stability and prosperity. >> china's leaders like to be flattered. in fact, david cameron has brought the biggest ever ministerial and biggest delegation to china has gone down well here. china's president welcomed mr. cameron, praising his efforts to improve britain's relations with cameron. mr. cameron is 20 years younger, but china's leader describes the cabinet ministers as very young, but full of drive and energy. britain's prime minister responded that he puts the highest value on britain's ties with china. and this is why. business and cash. mr. cameron wants to focus on trade with ch

the president of the spanish federation passed a note to the asian federation and the note said congratulations, we're going to win it. so they believe they are going to host the world cups but it's a big decision, because both had been thrown out if they had been found to have broken the rules. 2018 and 2022. but it will only be 22 men now who will vote on december, and on friday, tomorrow, there will be a specially convened meeting of the executive committee with the head of fifa. so upset about the allegations they may say we're going to split the vote and only decide on 2018 and then we may decide 2022 who may host having two courts simultaneously. we've got this credit issue. it's about the credibility of fifa and the honesty within. boy we sit play for us. it's very strategic and tactical as well, isn't it? whether this has been a good theodore dad day. >> and the money is always involved and put up front. in other words, we'll help you develop football in this part of the world. that's all perfectly fine. it's when it comes to actually selling your vote, clearly fifa looks bad and every

we also know that ensuring asian pacific sovereign and corporate bonds debt has increased. the cost for south korean government debt has increased by something like 15 basis points. they are heading for the biggest rise since may of this year. and the south korean has fallen. we will see if they will implement any measures to put a lid on the fall. they will go to the safe havens. >> you are watching bbc world news. still to come images capture the moment an explosion ripped that you a coal mine in new zealand. 29 miners are still missing. >> the israeli parliament passed a bill setting new conditions for any withdrawal from occupied territories. it requires a two-thirds majority before any land in the golan heights or east jerusalem could be creeded to syrians or palestinians. if it fails to get the majority it must be put to a national referendum t. is condemned by the palestinian government. the e.u. envoy to haiti says sunday's elections must go ahead despite the epidemic of cholera. four of 19 candidates appealed for it to be delayed to tackle the disease but the envoy

and american has been pourg into these emerging economies on the asian communities. much more to talk about. >> millions of dollars that have been paid out by the british government to former detainees, part of a settlement to avert legal battles with individuals who claim u.k. authorities were aware of their torture and should have prevented it. >> the most well known of the men have been a man detained in pakistan in 2002. he was then flown by the americans to ma rocco where he claims he was brutely tortured. he was one of the detainees suing the government for mistreatment while being held on suspicion. >> the case has become a huge headache with the mi 5 and mi 6. with hundreds of lawyers plowing through records, so ministers have decided to settle and the government has agreed to pay out millions of pounds to the men and some half a dozen others whose mistreatment may have been witnessed by british. >>en inquiry to the allegations was held. it's all part of an attempt to draw a line under an episode that's caused huge damage to the repation of mi 5 and mi 6 and