>> 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 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." >> hurricane isaac makes landfall. the storm surge has already spilled over a levee and the south of new orleans. will the mass of new defensive and the big easy bear arms? quite a lot of driving rain. people are trying to get out. of those who have not already. hello and welcome. coming up in the program, the indian supreme court holds a death sentence for the loan- surviving gunman. and as the olympic games start today, we lifted the inspiration of origins from a doctor who realizes sports could help people rebuild their lives. hello. it is midday here in london. 6:00 in the morning in new orleans where hurricane isaac is now 50 miles away. it made landfall last night near the mouth of the mississippi river. the center is now pushing to the northwest. many residents have opted to hunker down despite torrential wins. isaac promises to test a new levy system spent after the damage of hurricane katrina. he was there for katrina and is in new orleans now. >> hurricane isaac hit a land. the darkness adding to the chaos of high winds. this is entering the storm where there is nothing anyone can do but which the storm quickly on its way. this is the leading edge of hurricane isaac. very high winds now. a lot of wind and rain. people are trying to get out now. and a bulk of the hurricane strikes. >> seven years after hurricane katrina, new orleans was confident they were ready for isaac. many people decided to stay in shelters, knowing the storm was far weaker than katrina and confident the city would cope this time. >> this is a category one. i'm not as worried as i was during katrina. i am still worried a little bit. >> just before the hurricane hit, the police were out, making sure people were getting to safety. on standby, in case of flooding, which is the biggest risk. the gulf coast was being battered. it is a dangerous time. many people were confident that the new and enforced levies. there is still a storm to weather. bbc news, new orleans. >> the gentleman on the phone now is troy gilbert, a writer in new orleans. how bad are things at the moment? >> action, really, not less bad. this is only a category one storm. we are dealing with maybe sustained winds in the city. this is really not that big of a deal. the problem is its continuing and continuing. >> described where you are at the moment. has there any damage at all to any buildings? >> the no. well, where i am in new orleans is on the lake front of the city. a little neighborhood that is a part of the city. it was completely devastated during katrina. but right now, no. it is just kind of windy and rainy. my neighbors are all around. there are growing. it is as windy and raining. the problem is that it is continuing. normally these little minor category one storm will pass through and a last maybe 12 hours. but hurricane isaac is stalling. we have already been almost 24 hours into it. now we will be another 30 hours. >> in terms of what? the amount of water? our people confident that the $14.5 billion on the new levy system will hold a? or has there been doubts about that? >> well, number one, the storm is not really going to test that. the levees that failed during katrina, those are dealing with a category 3 storm. this is a category one right off of our coast. this is not going to test those. this is primarily a reign of vent. there is a pumping system that can handle about an inch of water an hour. the storm is lingering in dumping about two to 3 inches an hour. >> best of luck. troy, a writer in new orleans. the hurricane has taken on some of the attention in florida where the party has formally adopted mitt romney as its candid it -- candidate to challenge barack obama. ann romney says he achieved business success. >> new jersey, 50. romney. signed and sealed, but can mitt romney deliver? this is the moment the nomination officially became his as republican delegates cast their vote. >> mitt romney will now get a hundred $65 million in additional funding. he knows this week is also about something else. something money cannot buy. >> america has not yet fallen in love with mitt romney. in polls, they describe him as aloof unable to relate to him. stepping out to change their minds, the person who knows them best. >> as his partner on this amazing journey, a kentucky he was not handed success. he built it. ann romney then spoke in deeply personal terms of what she called a real marriage that had begun years ago in a tiny basement apartment and had been strengthened by her own fight with breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. >> let me say this. to every american who is thinking about who should be our next president, no one will work harder. no one will care more. no one will move heaven and earth like mitt romney to make this country a better place to live. >> at the end, there he was. teary-eyed and telling her, you were fabulous. this speech was as good as anything at mitt romney has heard. the question, will it help lend him the job? bbc news, tampa. >> the supreme court has upheld the death sentence for the surviving gunman in a move by. it is one of 10 that laid siege for almost three days. it's good to ensure north who joins us live. the death sentence is very rarely carried out. will he appealed for a final time against it? >> we are still waiting to find out what his responses to this. but he does have a few more options. this is not quite the end of the legal road. he can, apparently, ask for a review of the ruling that was handed down today. if that does not go his way, he can ask why the supreme court ruling. if that fails, he can finally make up before clemency to the indian president. it could still be some time before this case reaches its end. certainly, there is a lot of pressure for a speedy conclusion. this is the frustration we have been hearing today about why it has taken so long to get to this point. there is still a lot of anger about what happened. >> they seem to be dragging their feet on their territory. >> that is right. for some time, they denied a that he was a national. in fact, it was eventually his father who confirmed that indeed he was born there. that s death certainly not been very helpful in pursuing the case. the indians are adamant that the whole organization was organized from pakistan. the also said that pakistan is still sheltering the man they believed to masterminded the attack. the man who had a 10 million- dollar bounty place on his head by the americans. the arguments go on. the indian government's hard- line position on this is supported by most indians. >> thank you very much. bringing some breaking news of coming to us now. we just heard that he has designed for professional cricket. he will be replaced by alistair cooke. he said he was unhappy with his former and it was the best decision for himself and the team. england recently lost their number 1 ranking to south africa. the chinese state media is reporting that a former official has left the country after embezzling more than $30 million. let's go to beijing and get more on this. this is a major problem, isn't it, for the authorities? >> that is right. in many ways, we had the railways minister who was fired from his job for embezzling an enormous sums of money. just to put this all into context, last year the chinese central bank mistakenly released a report. in it, it said that 10,000 officials over a period of 15 years dating from the mid-1990's had stolen over $100 billion. just to put that into perspective, but the scale of this problem works out to $10 million. so, you are right. there is a huge amount of anger over officials in china. one of china's leaders have come out and said that corruption poses the greatest threat. >> i suppose the problem is this lack of transparency the higher up you go. >> that is right. that is exactly the problem. when you look at china's top leaders, they are completely off limits. senior officials just below them, sometimes corruption is tolerated to a degree we do not know about. akaba if there is an issue, he will be dealt with by the party and not by the ruler at the law. sadly, what you're seeing across the country is that this problem is becoming more and more acute. i think authorities know it is a real problem. they are trying to take action against it. i think many people think that is just talked to improve their standing among the people. >> thank you very much. still to come, going back to where it all began. now, it is a first for the music world. planet earth is to broadcast one of their songs on mars. a will i.am. song was beamed back to earth. ♪ >> scientists at nasa are more used to what -- to launching space missions them songs. this is the curiosity rover with songs in space. it is the first time a song has ever been broadcast from another planet. it's rider is a u.s. citizen. >> i did not want to do a song that was done on a computer. i want to show human collaboration and have an orchestra there and something that would be timeless. you know, and translate into different cultures. not have a hip-hop beat or a dance beat. >> the march from does not have speakers on board, so the song would not have been heard on the planet. but as a more serious side, the 17 cameras are returning detailed colored pictures of the surface of mars. nasa says it is our recent more data than all the other grover's combined. curiosity will continue sending its findings helping us better understand the mysteries of the red planet. >> don't forget, you can find out much more about the curiosity rover's mission on the website. and have a curiosity itself is coping with conditions. >> this is gmt. floodwaters overflow a levee. hurricane isaac continues to pound the southern louisiana. the indian supreme court clears the way for the execution of the only surviving gunman involved in the attacks in 2008. guess who is alongside me. >> not me, but probably for millions out there, they should be keeping an eye on this story. a strike is pretty imminent. talks broke down yesterday. after three years of zero pay increases, they're asking for a 5% increase. the airlines were only offering around 3.5%. we should remember that these airlines can only offer so much. that is because many will say, look, they are struggling to compete against the non unionize of low-cost airlines. more importantly, the non unionized big state carriers. if a strike does go ahead, it will do that. this will cost the airlines millions of dollars of losses every single day. the experts are telling us, the mighty carrier, it will get through it through this. >> there is no getting around the damage that will be caused, but you are right. a powerful organization. with a bit of planning, it is possible for companies to ride out this sort of trouble, provided they have cash on hand. if you're caught, the british airways had this problem. they went on strike, but it cannot bring the airline back to its knees. >> staying with airlines, the luck of the irish. >> exactly. i don't think he is never heard the expression, and never say never. for the third time, tried to take over the irish rival. it has been like a dog with a bone. it wants all of it. they said, hang on, there are only to the real major operators. you can pretty much forgot all competition. to increase competition. it is asking these airlines to come in and out of dublin so it can get around this disapproval. despite what happens, the experts say, look. just not a good mix. listen. >> that a single -- a single aircraft type. what do see about this coming together. >> the european commission has just come out and said that deadline is now increased to the 14th of january. >> thank you very much for that. in a confident and, at times, mocking performance, the president has vowed that his sources will weigh in on what he describes as a global war against his country. from neighboring beirut, barbara reports. we are just going to try for one more moment. i am sorry. i think we have lost her. we will try to come back to that. in the meantime, we focus on london again the flame is on route to the olympic stadium. here is the torch passing through in the last hour. the origins can be traced back who started this final unit during the war. i think most of us can tell. the parallel vix the count. >> modern paralympians train. thanks to the energy and vision of one man. >> he was a jewish refugee who fled nazi germany and helped found the spinal injuries unit here. for more than 30 years he bullied and cajoled, inspired patients. he used sports to transform their lives. >> we started with soldiers in the war. we start skipper's. and then i saw how these men react psychologically. >> on the day of the london olympics in 1948, he organized the first games. in that -- since the 1960's, the sports have been accepted into the olympic movement. >> he played table tennis. >> he was quite severe. and with the paraplegics. but behind it all, there was the tremendous kindness. he made you realize that he wanted to do the best for you, but you had to pull your way. britain's para lampions -- paralympians. the had been written off as incurable and left to die. >> that is one path of his legacy. another part is committed to helping disabled people to fulfill their potential weather as athletes, individuals, or as members of society. >> one of the greatest co him a huge debt. >> he believes that disabled people should be living a normal life. at the time when lots of people probably thought he was slightly mad for thinking that disabled people could. he just did it. >> he is now commemorated by a new statute. a man with a passionate belief in the power of support to restore not just people's fitness, but their self-esteem and their dignity as well. hasukraine's a high court rejected her seven-year prison- term. her trial is seen by many as politically motivated. french prosecutors have opened a murder investigation for the palestinian leader. he died in a military hospital the official explanation was that he died from natural causes. his widow believes he was poisoned. the archbishop labeled his support. it just a quick update. hurricane isaac has made landfall in louisiana and is now moving north. that is it so far.