Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of female punk band Pussy Riot, is escorted by police as she arrives at a Moscow court on Monday.

Updated at 9:20 a.m. ET: MOSCOW - Three women who protested against Vladimir Putin in a "punk prayer" on the altar of Russia's main cathedral went on trial Monday in a case seen as a test of the longtime leader's treatment of dissent during a new presidential term.

The members of the band Pussy Riot face up to seven years in prison for an unsanctioned performance in February in which they entered Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, ascended the altar and called on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out!"

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, were brought to Moscow's Khamovniki court for Russia's highest-profile trial since former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted in 2010.

Governments and rights groups, as well as musicians such as Sting, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand, have expressed concern about the trial, reflecting doubts that Putin - who is serving his third presidential term and could be in power until 2024 - will become more tolerant of dissenting voices.

On Monday, supporters chanted "Girls, we're with you!" and "Victory!" as the women, each handcuffed by the wrist to a female officer, were led from a white and blue police van into the courthouse through a side entrance. Streets around the court, on a high Moscow River embankment, were closed.

More Russia coverage from NBCNews.com

They were led into a metal and clear-plastic courtroom cage, where they milled and spoke with lawyers as preparations began. Tolokonnikova, in a blue checkered shirt, lowered her head to speak through a small opening in the enclosure. Two pairs of handcuffs hung at the ready just beside her face.

"We did not want to offend anybody," Tolokonnikova said, speaking to a defense lawyer who stood outside the enclosure. "We admit our political guilt, but not legal guilt."

The band's stunt was designed to highlight the close relationship between the dominant Russian Orthodox Church and former KGB officer Putin, then prime minister, whose campaign to return to the presidency in a March election was backed clearly, if informally, by the leader of the church, Patriarch Kirill.

'Serious problems' with vote that kept Putin in power, monitors say

Symbolically, the trial is taking place in the same Moscow courthouse where Khodorkovsky was found guilty of stealing his own oil in a trial in 2010 that many Western politicians said looked like a crude Kremlin attempt to keep a man it saw as a political threat behind bars.

'Our motives are exclusively political'
The women are charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility.

But in opening statements read by a defense lawyer, who sometimes struggled with the handwritten texts, they said they were protesting against Kirill's political support for Putin and had no animosity toward the church or the faithful.

"I have never had such feelings toward anyone in the world," Tolokonnikova said in her statement. "We are not enemies of Christians ... our motives are exclusively political."

"We only want Russia to change for the better," she said.

Alyokhina's statement said: "I thought the church loved all its children, but it seems the church loves only those children who love Putin."

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Maria Alyokhina, a member of Pussy Riot, arrives at a Moscow court on Monday.

The women looked thinner and paler than they did when they were jailed following the performance in late February, shortly before Putin, in power as president from 2000-2008 and then as prime minister, won a six-year presidential term on March 4.

"She looks like she has been on a long hunger strike," Stanislav Samutsevich said of his daughter. "Her cheeks are hollow … I've never seen her in such a state. I think this is like an inquisition, like mockery."

A reporter on state-run Rossiya-24 television presented a different picture, focusing on occasional smiles and chuckles and an overall air of self-assuredness among the women, who whispered to each other as a prosecutor read the charges.

PhotoBlog: Topless feminist confronts Russian church patriarch

"Look at their faces; they are laughing and joking," the reporter said on the news, adding that a viewer might think they were "continuing the action" they carried out at the cathedral.

Prosecutors asked for the trial, which was streamed live on the Internet, to be closed to the public and the media, saying a "rift in society" and emotions over the case put the defendants and other participants at risk.

Envelope-pushing performances
Pussy Riot, who say they were inspired by bands such as Bikini Kill from the 1990s-era Riot Grrrl U.S. feminist punk movement, burst onto the scene this winter with angry lyrics and envelope-pushing performances, including one on Red Square, that went viral on the Internet.

The collective see themselves as part of a disenchanted generation that is looking for creative ways to show its dissatisfaction with Putin's dominance of the political landscape.

The all-girl group has no lead singer, and, in order that anyone may join, its members don multi-colored balaclavas, which have become its trademark. They numbered five when they formed in November but later expanded to 10 members, though there have been no performances in Russia since their bandmates' arrest.

Among the group's most noted outrageous acts was the drawing of an enormous phallus on a drawbridge in St. Petersburg. Several members participated in an obscene "fertility rite" at Moscow museum, mocking Dmitry Medvedev, who was elected Russian president the next day.

From March 2012: Anti-Putin activists pay high price, but refuse to back down

'Russian superhero' needed?
One member of the group, who spoke to Britain's The Observer newspaper, said members of the band masked their faces to appear anonymous in public to show that "everybody can be Pussy Riot." The 25-year-old, who spoke via video while in hiding for fear of arrest, went by the nickname "Sparrow."

She said a "Russian superhero" was needed at the moment. Wearing masks and costumes during performances, "Sparrow" told The Observer, felt like "having a second life. It's like being Spider-Man or Catwoman. ... When I'm in a mask I feel a little bit like a superhero. I feel more power. I feel really brave. I believe that I can do everything and can change the situation."

Russian Orthodox Church apologizes for Photoshopping patriarch's watch

She also told the newspaper: "It's a bit scary but we're sure what we are doing is right. … When you're doing the right thing you're not scared. Because it's horrible what's happened to the girls."

Anthony Kiedis and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers spoke out in support of the group during the Calif. funk-rock band's July 22 concert in Moscow. Kiedis wore a Pussy Riot t-shirt on stage and both musicians gave letters to Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Church revival
The unsanctioned performance that prompted the arrest of three Pussy Riot members offended many believers in predominantly Orthodox Christian Russia, where the church has enjoyed a huge revival since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

More Europe coverage from NBCNews.com

But while some two-thirds of the country's 142 million people are considered Russian Orthodox, the number of practicing churchgoers is far smaller in a nation where the legacy of decades of official atheism looms large.

Patriarch Kirill has said the church was "under attack by persecutors" and has encouraged pro-church demonstrations including a procession to Christ the Savior in April.

"This is only the small, visible tip of an iceberg of extremists," Mikhail Kuznetsov, a lawyer representing church security guards, said in an interview with the newspaper Moscow News last week. "They are aiming to destroy the thousand-year-old traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, to provoke a schism, and to deceivingly bring the flock not towards God, but towards Satan."

'Harmless civil activity'
The defendants' supporters say the charges are politically-motivated.

In a poll by the independent Levada Center and released by the prominent newspaper Kommersant earlier this month, 50 percent of Muscovites said they did not support a criminal trial for the members of Pussy Riot, with 36 percent supporting the trial.

Pussy Riot's cathedral performance was part of a lively protest movement that at its peak saw 100,000 people turn out for rallies in Moscow, some of the largest in Russia since the demise of the USSR.

Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News staff contributed to this report.

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Updated at 10:35 a.m. ET: HYDERABAD, India -- A fire swept through a train car packed with sleeping passengers in southern India on Monday, killing at least 47 people and sending panicked survivors rushing for the only clear exit once the train stopped, officials said.

Investigators found charred remains of victims still in their sleeping berths and were struggling to identify them.

A railway station worker noticed the burning coach as the overnight train from New Delhi to the southeastern city of Chennai passed through the town of Nellore at about 4 a.m. local time, official B. Sridhar said. Nellor is nearly 310 miles south of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.

Once the alarm was raised, the train was stopped and the passenger car detached from the rest of the train to prevent the blaze from spreading.

The Indian Railways is a vital national transportation grid for the country's 1.2 billion people, cramming 18 million people a day on to ageing trains.

But decades of low investment, a patchy safety record and frequent delays mean India has fallen far behind China in building a network fit for Asia's third-largest economy. 

Electrical short?
Passengers were evacuated once the train was halted.

"Since the fire had engulfed one door of the coach, people had to rush to the other end of the coach to exit," Sridhar told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking from the accident site.

NWS via AFP - Getty Images

Officials and rescue personnel trying to break into a burnt-out railway carriage after a fire ripped through a coach on a speeding express train near the town of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, India on Monday.

He said the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit in the coach.

Massive India blackout leaves 300M without power

The blaze killed 47 people, said Anil Kumar, regional railway manager.

At least 28 other passengers were hospitalized with burns, Sridhar said, adding that at least two of the injured were in critical condition.

AP

Railway workers and officials inspect the burnt coach of a passenger train at Nellore, India, on Monday.

Railway and medical workers were now trying to identify the dead, he said.

"This is a very difficult task, since some of the bodies are charred beyond recognition," Sridhar said, adding that officials are making preliminary identification based on the reservations chart from the train's records.

India has one of the world's largest train networks. Around 20 million people in India travel by train each day.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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JERUSALEM - Mitt Romney made an unannounced trip to one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Western Wall, on Sunday, as the presumptive GOP nominee continued his week-long overseas trip.

Romney, joined by his wife, Ann, and son Josh, along with a bevy of aides, was escorted by American and Israeli security through a throng of well-wishers, press and worshippers gathered at the wall on Tisha B'av, considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar.

Several top Romney donors were also seen at the wall, escorted by aides. A contingent of Romney donors have traveled here for a Monday fundraiser at a Jerusalem hotel.

Romney was shown a diagram of the second Temple, of which the wall is the only remnant.  The destruction of the second Temple by Roman forces nearly 2000 years ago is one of the events mourned on this day, contributing to big crowds gathered there Sunday.

The Rabbi of the Western Wall read Romney a passage, and Romney placed his hand on the wall and appeared to pray. Ann Romney prayed at a separate section of the wall reserved for women. In keeping with tradition, both Mitt and Ann Romney wrote personal messages or prayers on pieces of paper and tucked them into cracks in the wall. An aide said it would not be appropriate to disclose what the couple wrote.

Mitt Romney would 'respect' Israel strike on Iran, aide says

As the Romneys left the wall amidst a crowd of people, Mitt Romney reached out and shook hands with supporters, and many Israelis shouted political messages at him as he passed.

“Mitt Romney! God will make you president because you came to Israel!” one man shouted.

Jason Reed / Reuters

U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney visits the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, during prayers marking Tisha B'Av in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday.

"Free Jonathan Pollard," shouted several other men, referring to an American citizen convicted of spying for Israel, whose case has caused some friction between the two closely allied nations.

Earlier in the day, Romney met with Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli president Shimon Peres. On Sunday night, Romney is due to deliver a speech on the importance of the American-Israeli alliance from Jerusalem, where he will be introduced by the city's mayor.

Romney looks for political lift in Israel after London miscues

Romney aides said the speech would focus heavily on the importance of the alliance, and the shared values that undergird it.

Excerpts released by the campaign indicate it would also address anxieties over the dangers posed to Israel and the world by a nuclear-armed Iran, which a Romney adviser earlier said was an "existential threat" to Israel, adding that a Romney administration would "respect" a unilateral Israeli effort to eliminate Iran's nuclear program if sanctions and other peaceful options failed.

"Today, the regime in Iran is five years closer to developing nuclear weapons capability," Romney was expected to say in his remarks. "Preventing that outcome must be our highest national security priority."

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U.S. drones fired six missiles and pounded a house and car in the Mir Ali subdivision of Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday.

Local villagers said the drone targeted a house where militants reportedly resided.

The villagers said a car has also been damaged in the attack.

Pakistani security officials based in the area said five U.S. spy planes were seen flying over the area during the attack.

A security official said five people had been confirmed dead and four others were injured in the attack.

There was no immediate information about the identity of the victims.

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Local residents however said besides Pakistani militants, members of al-Qaida and Afghan Taliban were also hiding in the area.

It was the second attack by U.S. drones in North Waziristan during the holy month of Ramadan.

Fourteen people, all believed to be militants, were killed in a previous drone attack at Dre Nishtar village of Shawal Valley of North Waziristan.

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Pakistan officials have for an end to U.S. drone attacks.

Ambassador Sherry Rehman, speaking to the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, said the drone attacks have already succeeded in damaging al-Qaida but are now only serving to recruit new militants.

"I am not saying drones have not assisted in the war against terror, but they have diminishing rate of returns," Rehman said, speaking by video teleconference from Washington.

"We will seek an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that," she added.

Pakistan's spy chief, Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, is expected to reiterate the demand in his first meeting with CIA Director David Petraeus, at CIA headquarters in Virginia, next week.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

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Mark Humphrey / AP

An opening ceremony cast member walked with the Indian team during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday.

A woman managed to gatecrash the Indian Olympic team’s march round the stadium at the Games' opening ceremony, it has emerged.

The interloper –- said to be one of the thousands of volunteers who took part in the show –- walked alongside flag-carrier and wrestler Sushil Kumar at the head of the team at Friday's event, causing anger among Indian Olympic officials.

In stark contrast to the athletes, who were dressed in blue and yellow, the interloper was dressed in a red jacket and light-blue pants.

She also sported a broad smile in some of the photographs.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of Games organizers LOCOG, told the daily press conference Sunday that he could confirm “that she was a cast member [of the opening ceremony show], who clearly got slightly over-excited.”

Military drafted in to fill empty seats at London Olympics

“I think there’s a very important point here to take into consideration – and I don’t minimize the fact she got into the Opening Ceremony –  she could not have got in the opening ceremony without having gone through all our security protocols anyway,” Coe said.

“Don’t run away with the idea she had walked in off the street to do that,” he added.

London protesters decry 'Corporate Olympics'

He said he would be speaking to Indian officials about what happened.

The Deccan Chronicle newspaper identified the woman as a graduate student from Bangalore, India.

Read more on the Olympics from NBC News

Indian Olympic official P.K. Muralidharan Raja was quoted by the paper as saying they had been "initially told that she would accompany the contingent ’til the track, but she went on to take the entire lap. There was another man also, but he stayed back and did not enter the stadium.”

Harpal Singh Bedi, Indian Olympic team press attache, told a press conference that the gatecrasher "not only walked, she led our contingent. It looked like she was the leader," according to an AP Television report.

"... if this had happened in India, people would say 'you don't know how to run the Games, security problems,' ... I think this was definitely a security lapse," he added.

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Ivan Alvarado / Reuters

Spectators sit among empty seats during the men's Group A volleyball match between Britain and Bulgaria at the London 2012 Olympic Games on Sunday.

LONDON - Britain was forced to bring in military personnel at short notice to provide security for the London Olympics -- and has now done the same to help fill thousands of empty seats at several venues despite the massive public demand for tickets.

Many ordinary people who applied for tickets -- in what was essentially a lottery – missed out and there were numerous complaints about the allocation process.

But the first day saw rows of empty seats at events including swimming, dressage, tennis, gymnastics and volleyball -- according to reports in The Guardian and Telegraph newspapers -- to the outrage of many, including U.K. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Hunt said the sight of so many empty seats was "very disappointing," according to ITV News. "I was at the Beijing Games, in 2008, and one of the lessons that we took away from that, is that full stadia create the best atmosphere, it's best for the athletes, it's more fun for the spectators, it's been an absolute priority," he added.

London 2012 organizers LOCOG said it was looking into the issue, saying it appeared many of the empty seats were in "accredited seating areas," which are reserved for members of the "Olympic family," such as officials, athletes, their family and friends, journalists, and some corporate sponsors.

Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

Oda / Getty Images

From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Launch slideshow

At the daily briefing Sunday, LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe said most venues were "stuffed to the gunnels," but admitted some of the "tens of thousands" of Olympic family members had either not turned up -- on the morning after the Opening Ceremony and associated parties -- or had only gone for a short while before moving on somewhere else.

There was laughter as he was asked about the logistics of "drafting in the army" to fill seats.

"We won't be cancelling leave," Coe quipped, saying military personnel and others, such as local teachers and students, were simply asked if they wanted to see events when there were unfilled seats. Tickets were also being sold to the public, he said.

Coe, who said 75 percent of tickets went to the public, said he did not expect the situation to continue.

Will Mott/@wmottITV

This picture of empty seats at the swimming heats, for which there had been very high demand for tickets, was posted on Twitter by ITV News producer Will Mott.

"I'm pretty sure this is not going to be an issue that we are going to be talking about in three to four days' time," he said, explaining accredited ticket holders would still be "figuring out" what their duties involved, transport arrangements and other logistical issues this early in the Games.

"I do take it seriously. Where we possibly can, we will get people into those seats where and when they are not being used," Coe added.

Twitter was abuzz with pictures of empty seats and criticism of the large areas without spectators at the affected events.

Sally Bercow, wife of the speaker of the House of Commons in the U.K. parliament, said in a message on Twitter that she was “loving” the Games, but added she was “so cross at all the empty seats. Sort it out FGS! So unfair for all of us who wanted to go :-/”

'How dare they?'
Comedian Jenny Eclair ‏was equally annoyed. “I've seen enough empty seats in my life without watching the Olympics - tragic waste - how dare they?” she tweeted.

And former British newspaper editor and CNN broadcaster Piers Morgan tweeted that “These empty corporate sponsor seats at swimming etc are a total bloody disgrace. Sort it out, Lord Coe.”

London protesters decry 'corporate Olympics'

The Guardian said there were an estimated 500 empty seats at the swimming heats featuring Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte; more than 1,000 at the gymnastics morning section, which was supposed to be sold out; and more than 3,500 at the volleyball.

The Telegraph’s report about the issue had more than 1,000 comments from readers.

“I was at the volleyball last night in Earls Court. Virtually all the prime seats right in front of the court were empty. An absolute disgrace and extremely unfair to the competitors who would surely appreciate a crowd of supportive fans to cheer them on,” one reader, kafkander, wrote.

Olympics party: In shadow of Games, London celebrates

“The time to fix it is now. Simply issue a decree that if people are not in their seats by 45 mins before event start time, the seats will be re-let at cut price cash on the door fees … I would have liked to have gone but couldnt get tickets and/or was disenchanted by all the reports of the Pre Olympic ticket scandals and outrageous pricing,” another, whitevanman, said.

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Jason Reed / Reuters

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney meets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Sunday.

JERUSALEM - Mitt Romney would “respect” Israel's use of military force to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, a senior aide said on Sunday as the Republican presidential candidate began his visit to Jerusalem.

"If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing that capability, the governor would respect that decision," Romney's senior national security aide Dan Senor told reporters traveling with the candidate.

While stopping short of endorsing a preemptive military attack, the comment seemed to differ with President Barack Obama's attempts to convince Israel to avoid any such move.

Gov. Romney’s first meeting was Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who greeted him as a “personal friend and friend of Israel.”

Shaking hands underneath U.S. and Israel flags, the pair signaled that Iran would be top of the agenda in their discussions.

Netanyahu said: "We have to be honest and say that all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota. And that's why I believe that we need a strong and credible military threat coupled with the sanctions to have a chance to change that situation."

Later, Gov. Romney and his wife Ann visited the city's Western Wall.

Sunday’s comments came as a senior Israeli official denied a newspaper report that President Barack Obama's national security adviser had briefed Netanyahu on a U.S. contingency plan to attack Iran should diplomacy fail to curb its nuclear program.

The Israeli liberal Haaretz daily on Sunday quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying the adviser, Thomas Donilon, had described the plan over dinner with Netanyahu earlier this month.

"Nothing in the article is correct. Donilon did not meet the prime minister for dinner, he did not meet him one-on-one, nor did he present operational plans to attack Iran," the senior official, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Peru Police via AP

A Peru police photo shows a yellow tent believed by authorities to belong to U.S. climbers Gil Weiss and Ben Horne near Palcaraju Peak in Huaraz, Peru.

Searchers on Saturday found the bodies of two U.S. mountaineers who apparently plunged 1,000 feet to their deaths on their way down from the summit of a glacier-capped Peruvian peak.

Gil Weiss, 29, and Ben Horne, 32, fell off a ridge after reaching the west summit of 20,584-foot Palcaraju in the Cordillera Blanca range in mid-July, search coordinator Ted Alexander told The Associated Press.

Their bodies will be recovered Sunday, he said.

More at NBCSanDiego.com: Climber remembered by father, friend

Both Weiss, of Queens, N.Y., and Horne, of Annandale, Va., were experienced climbers. Weiss was a repeat visitor to the Cordillera Blanca while this trip was Horne's first.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com 

Both belong to the pullharder.org climbers' collective, and Horne wrote about the first, six-day leg of their trip on its blog, saying they had been buffeted by hurricane-force winds when the two reached the top of the 20,216-foot Ranrapalca.

After a rest in Huaraz, the two set out again July 11 for an excursion of seven to 10 days. Their families contacted Alexander after 13 days passed with no word from them.

Weiss's sister, Galit, said the two were not carrying a satellite phone.

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Horne was a graduate student in economics at the University of California, San Diego. Weiss was founder of a business a Boulder, Colo., business called Beyond Adventure Productions that specialized in organizing and photographing events in remote and spectacular locations.

The Cordillera Blanca climbing season runs from June to September, and the deaths of Weiss and Horne bring to eight the number of mountaineers who have lost their lives in the range so far this year, the AP said.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

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SOS Elephants

These elephants are part of the herd that saw more than 30 members slaughtered.

The government of Chad said it was searching for poachers who slaughtered part of an elephant herd, while a conservation group said it had found an orphaned infant near the slaughter site.

SOS Elephants, which is based in the Central African nation of Chad, said it had counted more than 30 carcasses in the slaughter on Tuesday.

Poachers on horseback fired on the herd, which was across the river from an educational site run by the nonprofit.

The group said on its Facebook page that since the slaughter happened deep inside Chad it was probably the work of a local poaching gang, not armed groups from neighboring countries. 

Photos posted on the page showed elephants with their trunks cut off, indicating the poachers were after the tusks. The illegal ivory trade is booming across Africa due to demand from Asia for ivory trinkets.

SOS Elephants founder Stephanie Vergniault noted that the slaughter was near an oil refinery run by a Chinese company, CNPC. In the past, she posted, "several of their employees" have been caught at the Chad airport "with ivory in their luggage."

SOS Elephants

One of the slaughtered elephants, with its trunk hacked off.

Vergniault on Saturday told NBC News she had contacted the security chief at the airport and he promised to get "his people to double check all luggage, mainly the luggage belonging to the Chinese."

On the Facebook page, Vergniault added it was "very likely" the orphaned infant's mother was among the elephants killed. "Very sad, very hard moments," she wrote.

Vergniault urged Chad to create a special law enforcement unit to protect its elephants, and stiffen prison time for poaching. "The poachers need to go 20 years to jail, not 2 years!" she posted.

A wildlife activist who has followed the work of SOS Elephants said getting milk supplies for the orphaned elephant will be critical. 

SOS Elephants

This orphaned elephant, nicknamed Savi, did not survive after her mother was slaughtered in an earlier poaching incident. SOS Elephants founder Stephanie Vergniault is with her.

"It's difficult to raise elephants, and one problem is getting the right milk formula -- which is very expensive and is shipped from Europe," Laurel Neme told NBC News.

Nicknamed Toto, the 3-week-old male will possibly be shipped to a large elephant shelter in Kenya, said Neme, who tracks wildlife issues on her website. 

"Hopefully what will happen," said Neme, who noted Toto stands a better chance than another recent orphan, nicknamed Savi, that died.

Chad's elephant population is estimated at around 3,000 — a sharp drop since the 1980s, when it had around 20,000, according to SOS Elephants.

The slaughter occurred as nations that are part of a wildlife treaty met to work out issues such as the illegal ivory trade.

As those talks wrapped up Friday, a motion by some African nations to allow the legal sale of ivory from elephants not killed by poachers was tabled for a later meeting.

Conservation groups urged signatories of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to oppose the move, and to get tougher on the illegal wildlife trade.

TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network funded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said elephant and rhino poaching are at record levels and that countries where poaching is rampant should be barred from the international trade in wildlife.

"We should not be shy about using CITES trade suspensions as an international tool to prevent a full-blown elephant crisis," said TRAFFIC's Tom Milliken said in a statement issued by the WWF on Friday.

On Monday, WWF said in a report that "the illegal killing of elephants in Africa is at the highest levels ever recorded, and the epicenter for poaching is Central Africa where elephant populations are experiencing localized extinctions."

Central African governments this week announced a plan to protect their wildlife, but its effectiveness is a question mark.

"It is critical that the plan is rapidly implemented because time is running out for the elephants of this region," Colman O Criodain, WWF’s wildlife trade specialist, said in the statement. 

More world stories from NBC News:

• In shadow of the Games, London celebrates
• Chinese pollution protesters turn violent in clash with police
• Syria regime 'reeling, armed to the teeth' with chemical weapons
• 'Fairy tale': Is the Olympics really neutral?
• Engel: Rebels dismayed over US statement on Syria
• Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe
• After tough London trip, Romney heads to Israel
• Millionaire medalists: Does the Olympic spirit live on?

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Jim Seida / NBC News

Protesters pass a surface-to-air missile site atop a water tower on a residential block in Bow Quarter, London, Saturday. This is one of six missile sites installed around London in case of a 9/11-style attack during the Olympic Games.

LONDON -- Hours after the opening ceremony fireworks echoed around east London, up to 400 demonstrators marched through a neighborhood near the Olympic Park to protest what they called the "Corporate Olympics."

The event, organized by Counter-Olympic Network and supported by 35 groups ranging from Occupy London to ecological and local anti-austerity campaigners, targeted issues including free tickets for sponsors, missile sites on residential blocks and the ethics of Olympic corporations such as BP and Dow Chemical.

“A significant number of people in this country -- about 20 percent, according to a poll -- are not happy with the Olympics because of the involvement of large corporations about which are significant concerns,” said Julian Cheyne of the Counter-Olympic Network. “We are representing their views and making sure that opinion is expressed.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Protester Dana Wojokh from New Jersey was in east London on Saturday protesting the plight of Circassians in Russia.

“It is shameful that BP is a sustainability partner of the Olympics after the damage it did to the Gulf coast with their spill, and Dow Chemicals are not meeting their moral and ethical obligations to help the victims of the Bhopal disaster.”

London cyclists say 'green' Games boast 'a bit of a joke'

The Saturday lunchtime event passed without incident, in contrast to Friday night’s Critical Mass protest –- against the temporary closure of cycle lanes to make way for VIP Games traffic -- that saw 130 arrests.

It coincided with a visit by the Queen to the athletes' village and the swimming arena, and came only 12 hours after the spectacular opening ceremony watched by billions across the world. The protest was significantly smaller than organizers' original estimates of up to 5,000, and at one stage was almost outnumbered by news reporters and camera crews.

Protesters, flanked by large numbers of police motorbikes, began in Mile End and went past the Bow Quarter apartment building whose roof tower is one of six sites around London where the military have installed Rapier missile launchers as part of London’s $877 million security operation protecting the Games.

“This is the heaviest militarization of London since the Second World War,” Cheyne said.

One protest banner read: “International games OK. No to Corporate backed destruction of people’s homes, green space, livelihoods, human rights.”

Jim Seida / NBC News

A crush of media surrounds a supporter of the Olympics during an anti-Olympic protest march Saturday in east London.

As protesters shouted slogans outside Bow Quarter, soldiers guarding the missile launcher stared back from their temporary lookout position at the top of the tower.

As it went along Bow Road, the march was blocked by a small group of local residents who brandished an Olympic flag and chanted back: “Up the Olympics!”

Diane Grieves, who lives on the street, said: “I’m delighted about the Olympics -- it’s really helped the area and brought everyone together. If there weren’t corporate sponsors then the Olympics would be even more expensive for taxpayers.”

Protester George Barda shouted “No to the corporate Olympics” while wearing a T-shirt highlighting the victims of the 1984 disaster at Bhopal chemical plant of the Union Carbide Company, which merged with Olympic sponsor Dow Chemical in 2001.

He was also wearing a pair of shoes and a backpack from Olympic sponsors Adidas.

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“I’m just wearing these shoes out because I have nothing else left,” he explained to NBCNews.com. “I know I’m part of the problem for buying the products but the bigger issue here, which is much more important, is that the Olympics has been taken over by unethical corporate sponsors despite the fact that they only contribute five per cent of the cost of the Games.”

Among the others taking part was Dana Wojokh, from New Jersey, who was highlighting the plight of Circassians -- a Caucasian and Middle-Eastern mountain tribe that was the victim of genocide by imperial Russia at the end of the 19th century centered on Sochi, where Russia intends to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“This is our chance to tell the world what happened to Circassians -- oppression that is still happening, for example in Syria,” she said.

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A spokesman for the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games told BBC News: “The Olympic Games is the biggest event in the world, and big events have always been a magnet for protests of all shapes and sizes; we have planned for this.

"We implore any protesters to consider the impact of any action on the athletes, most of whom have spent half their lives preparing for London 2012.

"We are a sport-loving nation, and ruining sporting events is not the way anyone wants London 2012 to be remembered."

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Syria's military pounded a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Saturday, and a BBC News correspondent in the city reported many families were fleeing to the countryside.

"The sound of heavy skirmishing can be heard all around," Ian Pannell reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, reported helicopter attacks on the central Salaheddine district of Aleppo and fighting elsewhere in the city. 

One opposition activist said he had seen tanks and armored carriers heading for Salaheddine.

The battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city with 2.5 million people, is seen as a crucial test for a government that has committed major military resources to retaining control of its two main power centers, Aleppo and the capital Damascus.  

While neither side has managed to gain the upper hand, the outcome of the uprising is being watched anxiously in the region and beyond, amid fears that sectarian conflict could spread to neighboring countries. 

Turkey, once a friend but now a fierce critic of the Syrian government, joined growing diplomatic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. 

On the approaches to Aleppo from the north, Free Syrian Army rebels were in evidence, while a military helicopter clattered overhead in the distance.

One man in his forties, carrying his family on a motorcycle, said he was fleeing the fighting in Aleppo and heading to the town of Azaz near the Turkish border. 

"We are living in a war zone," he told Reuters. "I and my relatives are just going back and back and forth, trying to stay away from the fighting. We left Aleppo when we saw smoke and helicopters firing."

On the road south from the Turkish border to Aleppo rebel soldiers had set up checkpoints bearing the sign: "This is an FSA checkpoint. May God protect you." 

Military experts believe that while Assad's more powerful military will overcome the rebels in Aleppo and other major cities, it risks loss of control in the countryside because the loyalty of large sections of the army is in doubt. 

"Assad's forces are likely to achieve a tactical victory that will represent a setback to opposition forces and allows the regime to demonstrate its military dominance," said analyst Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group, adding however that the rebels were getting stronger while the military was on the wane. 

Three rebel fighters were killed in clashes before dawn on Saturday in Aleppo, the Observatory said. It said 160 people were reported killed in Syria on Friday, adding to an overall death toll of around 18,000 since the uprising began. 

Video footage provided by the Observatory showed smoke rising over apartment blocks in the city into a hazy sky on Saturday. The sound of sporadic gunfire could be clearly heard. 

Fighting was reported in other towns across Syria: Deraaa, the cradle of the revolution; Homs, the scene of some of the bloodiest combat; and Hama, where a revolt against Assad's father in the early 1980s was suppressed with thousands of deaths. 

At least 10 people were killed on Saturday when Syrian security forces went into Maadameyat al-Sham near Damascus, the Observatory said. 

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Friday that international institutions needed to work together to address the military assault on Aleppo and Assad's threat to use chemical weapons against external enemies.

"There is a build-up in Aleppo, and the recent statements with respect to the use of weapons of mass destruction are actions that we cannot remain an observer or spectator to," he said at a news conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Earlier, Erdogan had cheered on the rebels.

"In Aleppo itself the regime is preparing for an attack with its tanks and helicopters ... My hope is that they'll get the necessary answer from the real sons of Syria," he told Turkish TV.

Cameron said Britain and Turkey were concerned that Assad's government was about to carry out some "some truly appalling acts around and in the city of Aleppo".

In stating this week that it would not use chemical weapons against its own people, but might do so against external threats, Syria caused major international concern about its stockpiles of non-conventional weapons. 

Russia said international support for Syrian rebels would lead to "more blood" and the government could not be expected to willingly give in to its opponents.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions intended to increase pressure on Assad, said Western and Arab nations should exert more influence on rebels to stop fighting.

Russia also said it would not allow searches of Russian-flagged ships under new European Union sanctions governing vessels suspected of carrying weapons to Syria.

The increase in fighting in Aleppo follows a bomb attack on July 18 that killed Assad's defense minister and three other top officials in Damascus, a development that led some analysts to speculate that the government's grip was slipping.

Since then, Assad's forces have mounted a strong counterattack against rebels in Damascus as well as concentrating forces for an expected assault on Aleppo.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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• Chinese pollution protesters turn violent in clash with police
• Syria regime 'reeling, armed to the teeth' with chemical weapons
• 'Fairy tale': Is the Olympics really neutral?
• Engel: Rebels dismayed over US statement on Syria
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Jim Seida / NBC News

A cyclist uses his phone to help navigate around the security gate blocking the bike path along the western edge of the Olympic Park, Saturday, July 21, 2012 in London.

LONDON -- The 2012 Olympics may claim to be the first 'green' Summer Games, but the city’s cyclists have been holding a number of protests -- including one on Friday at which more than 100 people were arrested -- claiming that the authorities appear to think they “don’t exist” or “don’t matter.”

Part of a major commuter route for cyclists down the east side of London -- a path along the River Lea -- has been closed for security reasons because it runs close to the Olympic Park.

And cyclists are also not allowed to use many of the Olympic Lanes set up for officials, athletes and others involved in the Games.

According to the U.K., London is "the first Summer Host City to embed sustainability into its planning from the very start" and it is hoped the Games will "encourage more sustainable living" across the whole of the U.K.

Ruth-Anna Macqueen, 28, a hospital doctor, has been involved in three protests over the closure of the Lea path on the last three Sundays and another is planned for this Sunday.

Macqueen said the path had been closed since the beginning of July, weeks before the start of the Games, and would remain so until September.

'It's on, Let's Go:' The Games have begun

The diversion, Macqueen said, took cyclists onto a busy main road and a notorious roundabout where two cyclists were killed in one month last year.

“Basically people are left with the option of staying on your bike and taking your life in your hands or getting back in your car or public transport,” she said. “It kind of seems to be all part of the ignorance and arrogance by the people at the top -- that either cyclists don’t exist, don’t matter or are not worth any consideration.”

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“You can’t imagine them closing a busy road with no consultation and no warning,” she added, saying the idea that London 2012 was the first green Games felt like “a bit of a joke.”

Macqueen added that preventing cyclists from using some Olympic lanes was “ludicrous.”

'Critical Mass', 'Swarm' protests
During Friday's opening ceremony, an amateur cycling club tried to pedal their way through the security cordon around the Olympic Park. 

The cyclists were identified as members of a monthly cycling event called "Critical Mass" that normally passes through the area, but police had prohibited them from cycling there on Friday evening.

Olympic party: In the shadow of the Games, London celebrates

More than 100 people were arrested on suspicion of breaching protest conditions and causing a public nuisance, Scotland Yard said Saturday.

Officers scuffled with several pro-cycling activists as dozens of cyclists were blocked by police vans from proceeding, Scotland Yard said. No serious injuring were reported.

Elisabeth Anderson, 38, of Camden, took part in another protest Wednesday night by the “London Bike Swarm” over the Olympic lanes issue.

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The “swarm” turned out to be about 14 cyclists and only six actually defied the authorities to ride in the lanes, until they were stopped by police.

“It’s a strange situation. Cyclists are being thought of as an afterthought,” she said. “There could have been a really positive move to push cycling, they could have encouraged officials and others involved in the Games to cycle as well.”

Read more Olympics coverage on NBC's TODAY in London blog

Christian Wolmar, transport analyst and author, agreed the authorities had not done enough to promote cycling.

“The whole thing is completely hypocritical; cycling is just another example of that,” he said. “Cyclists are really considered a bit of a bother, rather than part of the solution.”

Get the latest on London 2012 with NBC Olympics

“It fits in with the whole hypocrisy of the Games – sponsored by Coca-Cola and McDonald's even while it’s supposed to be about sport and healthy living,” he added.

A spokesman for Transport for London said cyclists could use some Olympic lanes, but added that it would not be safe for cyclists to use those lanes which are in the middle of the road, rather than next to the sidewalk.

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From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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“We’ve invested an awful lot of time and money to make it safer for cyclists,” he said. 

A spokeswoman for London 2012 organizer LOCOG told NBCNews.com that the issue was "more one for Transport for London. I’m not sure it’s something we’d comment on.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Carlos Barria / Reuters

A demonstrator smashes a car window during a protest against an industrial waste pipeline under construction in front of the local government building in Qidong, Jiangsu Province on Saturday.

QIDONG, China -- Angry demonstrators occupied a government office in eastern China on Saturday, destroying computers and overturning cars in a violent protest against an industrial waste pipeline they said would poison their coastal waters.

Hours later, the mayor of the city where the pipeline was to have originated said the project was being cancelled, Reuters reported.

The demonstration was the latest in a string of protests sparked by fears of environmental degradation and highlights the social tensions the government in Beijing faces as it approaches a leadership transition this year.

Thousands of protesters marched through the coastal city of Qidong, roughly one hour north of Shanghai by car, shouting slogans against the planned pipeline that would empty waste from a paper factory in nearby Nantong into the sea.

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Demonstrators rejected the government's stand that waste from the factory would not pollute the coastal waters.

"The government says the waste will not pollute the sea, but if that's true, then why don't they dump it into Yangtze River?" said Lu Shuai, a 25-year-old protester who works in logistics.

"It is because if they dump it into the river, it will have an impact on people in Shanghai and people in Shanghai will oppose it."

The state-run Global Times newspaper quoted local residents who said the sewage discharge from the pipeline was expected to be as much as 150,000 tons per day, according to the AFP news agency.

Cars overturned, cops beaten
Several protesters entered the city government's main building and were seen smashing computers, overturning desks and throwing documents out the windows to loud cheers from the crowd.

China begins to admit 'fog' is really smog

An AFP photographer described the scene, saying demonstrators seized bottles of liquor and wine from the offices, along with cartons of cigarettes -- all of which Chinese officials frequently receive as bribes.

Reuters witnessed five cars and one minibus being overturned. Over 1,000 police -- some paramilitary -- guarded the city government office compound in lines.

At least two police officers were dragged into the crowd at the government office and punched and beaten enough to make them bleed.

'Opportunity for democracy': Rebel Chinese village votes

According to the AFP, searches including "Qidong" on China's popular microblogging site Sina Weibo were blocked Saturday. Sina Weibo has over 250 million subscribers.

Earlier posts on Weibo and on Twitter indicated that the protesters had stripped the clothes off the local party secretary, but these reports could not be immediately verified.

On Friday, in an effort to stave off the protest, the Qidong city government announced it would suspend the project for further research.

But many protesters said on Saturday that postponement was not enough.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

A police car lies overturned as protesters occupy a government building during a protest against an industrial waste pipeline under construction in Qidong, Jiangsu Province on Saturday.

"If the government really wanted to stop this project, they should have done it right from the beginning. At this point they are too late," said Xi Feng, a 17-year-old protester.

Local officials took steps to ward off the demonstration and residents received text messages and letters warning that any public demonstration would be illegal.

The reversal came Saturday afternoon, when Nantong Mayor Zhang Guohua announced in a statement that the city would terminate the project proposed by a Japanese-owned paper factory in its jurisdiction. 

Rising discontent
Environmental worries have stoked calls for expanded rights for citizens and greater consultation in the tightly controlled one-party state.

The outpouring of public anger is emblematic of the rising discontent facing Chinese leaders, who are obsessed with maintaining stability and struggling to balance growth with rising public anger over environmental threats.

The protest followed similar demonstrations against projects the Sichuan town of Shifang earlier this month and in the cities of Dalian in the northeast and Haimen in southern Guangdong province in the past year.

China tells US Embassy to stop reporting Beijing pollution

In Shifang, the government halted construction of a copper refinery following protests by residents that it would poison them. It also freed most of the people who were detained after a clash with police.

The leadership has vowed to clean up China's skies and waterways and increasingly tried to appear responsive to complaints about pollution. But environmental disputes pit citizens against local officials whose aim is to lure fresh investment and revenue into their areas.

Behind The Wall: Full NBC News coverage from China
Pictures from China on NBCNews.com's PhotoBlog

NBC News researcher Tianzhou Ye, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Steve Marcus / Reuters

A police car blocks the road Friday as federal and local law enforcement officials take artwork from a storage building in Boulder City, Nevada, in a seizure related to the arrest of German fugitive Ulrich Felix Anton Engler.

A German fugitive sought for five years in a Florida-based fraud scheme that netted more than $100 million has been arrested in Las Vegas, authorities said Friday.

Ulrich Felix Anton Engler, 51, was arrested for being in violation of U.S. immigration law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

He is wanted on criminal charges filed in Mannheim and Hamburg, Germany, courts where he is accused of committing fraud on a repetitive and gainful basis, officials said in a prepared statement. If convicted, Engler faces up to 20 years in prison.

A fingerprint match from a Feb. 11, 2011, drunken driving case in which a Nevada Highway Patrol officer cited Engler, who may have used a different name at the time, helped U.S. Marshals track him down, The Associated Press reported.

“I hope Mr. Engler's victims in this case feel a measure of relief that Mr. Engler's fraud and long run are over and that he will soon face justice in Germany for his alleged crimes," said ICE Director John Morton.

The FBI and local police on Friday seized more than 1,000 pieces of artwork from a storage facility that Engler allegedly rented in Boulder City, about 25 miles east of Las Vegas.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

FBI Agent Patrick Turner in Las Vegas called the action an effort to recover proceeds on behalf of Engler's alleged victims.

Engler is accused of using a marketing company in Cape Coral, Fla., to build an Internet pyramid scheme. From June 2003 to December 2004, it collected almost $101 million from more than 3,500 investors in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, authorities said. Once the money reached the United States, investors lost access to it, they said.

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When the arrest warrant was issued in Germany, Engler was believed to have been living in Florida.

Last year, U.S. marshals and INTERPOL officials in Washington determined Engler was living in Nevada, where he was perpetuating his fraud schemes under a new identity, Joseph Miller, officials said.

He will be turned over to law enforcement officials in Germany, they said.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press and NBC News' Jim Gold.

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Jim Seida / NBC News

Olympic Stadium can be seen in the background as partygoers watch the opening ceremonies on a massive LCD screen in East London.

Updated at 8:45 p.m. ET: STRATFORD, East London – For billions of people watching around the world, Friday night’s 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony signaled the start of two weeks of sporting excitement.

But for nearby residents just outside the main Olympic Park — within earshot of the spectacular show, but separated by 11 miles of electric fence — the celebrations also marked the end of seven years of planning and redevelopment which has transformed the local area and made an impact on many lives.

Tens of thousands gathered in parks to watch the ceremony on giant screens, or hosted parties in apartments and backyards in the shadow of the stadium. Cheers erupted when British cycling hero Bradley Wiggins rang the bell to begin the display.

“For people living in this area, the Olympics isn’t just about these two weeks — they’ve been living with the anticipation and excitement for years — as well as the noise and disruption,” said Stephen McVeigh, deputy head of residential property at Genesis Housing, whose 700-home development includes a 43-story tower, Stratford Halo, under construction yards from the Games.

Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe

“It is incredible, but also a bit strange, to be so close to the excitement and the action, yet still watching on television.”

As McVeigh spoke to NBC News, the Royal Air Force display team — the Red Arrows — roared overhead, coating the urban skyline in red, white and blue trails that drew a huge cheer from nearby streets.

Although the tower is unfinished, workers and corporate guests gathered on the 38th floor from where the view included a section inside the stadium.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Workers and corporate guests watch the opening ceremonies from the 38th floor of Stratford Halo, a 43 story-housing tower still under development in Stratford, London, only a mile from Olympic Park.

Across the River Lea, southwest of the stadium in an industrial zone that has witnessed decades of decline, one local furniture factory decided to make the most of the event by clearing its workspace and yard and converting them into a giant temporary nightclub and bar complex called Fringe 2012.

Jim Seida / NBC News

A bartender pours a customer a glass of wine at one of the many bars in Fringe 2012, a factory turned nightclub just for the Games, on Friday in East London.

Inside, with the music from the ceremony drifting across the river, revelers who had paid up to 25 pounds ($39) cheered their favorite points in the ceremony — including the appearance of live cows and comic actor Rowan Atkinson (best known in America as Mr. Bean) — and joined the stadium crowd in singing the National Anthem, "God Save The Queen."

When the Olympics and politics collide: Is neutrality just a 'fairy tale'?

“We decided this was a better business plan so we applied for a (liquor) license and put a giant screen and turned it into a place for people to feel part of the Olympic experience even if they couldn’t be in the ceremony or get tickets for the events," said Steve Black, whose family has made sofas on the site for generations.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Partygoers watch the opening ceremonies on a massive LCD screen at Fringe 2012.

“Hopefully this will change the area for good — this all used to be factories but soon it will be bars, restaurants, galleries," he said. "It’s a celebration for the area as much as for the opening of the Olympic Games.”

London's 'East End': From haven for gangsters to Olympic showcase

Thousands packed into Victoria Park, about two miles west of the stadium, to watch the ceremony on big screens.

There was an ironic cheer when it began to rain, but the best reaction of the night came when a comedy skit depicted The Queen alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

A major part of the show was an homage to the U.K.’s National Health Service, with nurses dancing and hospital beds arranged to spell out NHS and GOSH, for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

There was applause as performers, many of whom work for the NHS, passed through Stratford subway station still dressed in their stylized uniforms.

Christalene Alaart, originally from South Africa but now living in London and working at the NHS Royal Free Hospital, told NBC News that it had been “quite exciting, knowing there’s 3 billion people whose eyes would be on us, and 80,000 in the stadium.”

She added that her mother had been to see a rehearsal. “She was in tears, overwhelmed with what she saw, also that fact she was there and part of it,” Alaart said.

New Zealander Carina Burgess, 26, an NHS pharmacist in London, said it was “pretty cool to be given that much credit, for a whole segment to be dedicated to the NHS.”

And Annmarie Badchkam, 36, a midwife at London’s Homerton Hospital, said “it was definitely amazing ... thanks to Danny Boyle, it was an amazing experience.”

Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, an academic and expert on the Olympics at Canterbury Christ Church University in England, was among the dancers for part of the show featuring music from the 1980s and 1990s.

“It was extraordinary experience,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or actually part of it.”

She said she regarded herself as a “critical friend” of the Olympics but said taking part in the ceremony had reminded her that the Games was a “big festival … a great festival.”

Professional opera singer Elinor Jane Moran, 31, from London, was among those dancing to current British hip hop music in the show – something she’d never done before and learned during the rehearsals.

She enthusiastically related how she had shaken hands with U.K. hip hop star Dizzee Rascal as he came on stage in an unscripted moment.

“I thought it was extraordinary,” she said of the show, “particularly the Industrial Revolution section and also the nurses were just wonderful.”

“The energy, the passion, was just extraordinary, I thought,” Moran added. “We’re very proud of it, very, very proud of it.”

Spectators were sporting flags from all over the world, from Australia to Brazil, Japan to Canada.

Yulia Semakima, 25, from Omsk, in Russia, who is studying law in London, was among those caught up in the mood of the moment.

“I’m not a big fan (of the Olympics), but now I feel like I’m becoming more and more enthusiastic about it,” she said, dressed in a Russia shirt and cap.

“I think we will be third (in the medal table) after China and then the U.S. I hope we can beat France and Germany,” she added.

Referring to a considerable amount of typically British moaning in the months ahead of the Games, she could not understand why Londoners did not seem “really to be impressed with this.”

One Briton who was definitely enjoying the Games was Lucy Chisholm, 44, from Twickenham, London, who was wearing British flags in her hair, on her T-shirt and had one painted on her cheek.

“I feel very patriotic at the moment. With everything that’s been going on in Britain, it’s been fantastic. We’ve had the (Queen’s) Jubilee and that really brought people together,” she said.

Chisholm said she hoped anyone who had complained about the Olympics “haven’t got tickets,” adding, “We’ve had so much moaning, but that’s what Britons do, isn’t it. Everybody should get together and embrace it.”

Jamaica supporter Richard Woodburn, 32, from London’s East End, was wearing a Jamaica sports shirt and proudly showed a picture on his cellphone of his house bedecked with Jamaican flags.

“They (Jamaica) are going to clean up in the athletics — 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 400 meters relay, men and women,” he said.

“The Games are here — just enjoy it. There’s so many people enjoying it,” he said gesturing to the crowd of thousands around him. “Just run with it.”

Mark Townsend, 46, who was born in Britain, grew up in Canada and whose wife Mariko is from Japan, was similarly upbeat, saying he hoped the Games slogan of “Inspire a Generation” would come true for his children, age 11 and 5.

“My 11-year-old daughter is going to play (soccer) for Canada, Japan or Britain,” he said.

Paul Meikle, a cub scout leader from Castle Rock, Northern Ireland, with a group of more than 40 cub scouts, explorers and adults, said the beginning of the Opening Ceremony was “really, really good” and “well put together.”

He welcomed the decision to start the ceremony with songs from the four parts of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales — saying it was “inclusive of everyone.”

“It’s really, really exciting to be here,” Meikle said. “We’ve come across to spend the first couple of days of the events here.”

He said the scouts planned to watch the cycling road race Saturday, with Britain’s Mark Cavendish among the favorites to win.

At Forman’s Smokehouse, a family-run fish processing company that was forced to relocate to make way for the Olympic Park, managers transformed the forecourt into a spectacular temporary beach-themed bar complete with beach volleyball court, palm trees and champagne counter.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Anna Celeste Walters, left, has a toast with her friends Amy Loudon, center, and Alex Sinclair. They were three of about a thousand people who celebrated the opening ceremonies at Forman's Smokehouse, a family-run fish processing company in East London.

When Sir Paul McCartney performed "Hey Jude," the crowd mirrored those inside the stadium by singing along with their hands in the air.

“London is so buzzing at the moment, and the atmosphere here is incredible,” said Amy Loudon, 25, who traveled across London with her friends Anna Celeste Walters and Alex Sinclair to party nearer the Olympic site. “People seem to be in a much better mood now, after all the moaning.”

Gary Bott, 31, a construction worker, traveled two hours from the city of Cambridge in order to celebrate in London. He was unable to get into the public screening at Victoria Park because it was too crowded.

“It’s much better to be closer to the action, even if we’re watching on a screen,” he said. “There ceremony made us really proud to be British.”

Paco Lima, a 35-year-old soldier from Mexico, was also soaking up the atmosphere at Forman’s — and cheering on his country when Mexican athletes joined the parade.

“The ceremony was great — like a Hollywood production,” he said.

Among those performing in the spectacular show was dance student Jack Ludwig, 22. He told NBC News before the ceremony began: “I don’t think I’ll ever get to do anything like this in my lifetime again, so to be part of it is incredible.

“During rehearsals I was looking up at various spots in the crowd and thinking ‘that’s where the Queen will be sitting, that’s where all the world leaders will be.'”

NBC News' Jim Seida contributed to this report.

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• 'Fairy tale': Is the Olympics really neutral?
• Engel: Rebels dismayed over US statement on Syria
• After tough London trip, Romney heads to Israel
• Millionaire medalists: Does the Olympic spirit live on?
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Olympic and Saudi Arabian officials are in talks with judo chiefs to find a solution after the sport's governing body ruled the Saudi's female competitor would have to fight without a hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

On Thursday, the head of the International Judo Federation (IJF) president Marius Vizer confirmed Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, one of the first two female athletes sent to the Olympics by the conservative Muslim kingdom, would not be allowed to wear a hijab.

Shaherkani is due to compete in the women's heavyweight tournament next Friday, and her participation could now be in doubt.

"We still have one week. She is still scheduled to compete, there's no information that she won't compete," IJF spokesman Nicolas Messner told Reuters. "We still have time."

He said talks were underway between the Saudi Arabian National Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IJF to attempt to resolve the issue.

He did not elaborate on how this could be achieved but said there was "very good collaboration."

IOC spokesman Mark Adams confirmed there had been a meeting on Thursday.

"It was a positive discussion and we are confident a solution will be found," he said. Asked what that solution would be, he said: "There are a range of options."

No one from the Saudi delegation could be reached for comment.

However, a Saudi official had told Reuters earlier this month they expected that the women would have to obey the dress code of Islamic law. He did not elaborate, but other conservative Muslim countries have interpreted this to mean a headscarf, long sleeves and long pants.

Vizer told reporters that Shaherkani would fight according to "the principle and spirit of judo" and thus without a headscarf.

The federation makes the argument that wearing the headscarf would be unsafe. But Human Rights Watch's Director of Global Initiatives, Minky Worden, says a number of federations do allow the wearing of head coverings that comply with religious requirements.

"Many of the judo federations, especially for example the Asian judo federation, which has Malaysia and Singapore, those are women who do compete in headscarves, and there have long been accommodations that are made for religious dress," Worden said.

Shaherkani, who will compete in the 78 kg (172 pounds) category in judo, and teenage 800-meter runner Sarah Attar were the first Saudi women allowed to take part in the Olympics after talks between the IOC and the country.

The decision to allow female Saudi athletes to compete at London was praised by IOC President Jacques Rogge at the time.

"This is very positive news and we will be delighted to welcome these two athletes in London in a few weeks time," Rogge said in a statement in early July.

Saudi Arabia was one of three countries, alongside Brunei and Qatar, never to have sent female athletes to the Olympics but the latter two confirmed earlier this year that their delegations would include women.

“This was to have been a breakthrough for women’s rights," Worden said. "It would be a shame to only have one [woman competing]."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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• Engel: Rebels dismayed over US statement on Syria
• Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe
• After tough London trip, Romney heads to Israel
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Jason Reed / Reuters

U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is recognized by pedestrians at Grosvenor Place in London, July 27, 2012, as he was forced by gridlock traffic to walk from his hotel to the Irish Embassy to meet with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny.

TEL AVIV – After his gaffe-laden trip to London, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is probably looking forward to a warmer welcome on the next leg of his foreign tour: Israel.

Arriving in Jerusalem on Sunday, Romney is hoping the visit will highlight what he argues are the sharp contrasts between himself and President Barack Obama in their approach towards U.S.-Israeli relations, as well as Iran. 

In a speech earlier this week, Romney accused Obama of "shabby treatment" of Israeli leaders, saying “the people of Israel deserve better than what they have received from the leader of the free world,” and promised to take a tougher stance against Iran.

Their differences extend to their personal relationships. The frosty relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama has created a perception that U.S.-Israeli relations have deteriorated. But Netanyahu has a warm relationship with Romney that goes back nearly 30 years, when both worked as advisers at the Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s.

This will be Romney's fourth visit to Israel, his most recent was last year – when he said at a conference that Iran's leaders "represent the greatest threat to the world since the fall of the Soviet Union."

On the other hand, Obama has faced harsh criticism for not visiting Israel during his presidency, although he took a similar trip to Romney’s during the 2008 campaign. And historians note that during his two terms in the White House, Ronald Reagan never visited Israel, while George W. Bush only visited Israel in the seventh year of his presidency.  

Recent polls suggest that Jewish votes in key battleground states, like Florida, are not a sure thing for Obama come November. Although Obama won 78 percent of votes among Jews in 2008, according to exit polls, that support seems to have weakened. A recent Gallup poll of voters released in June showed that 64 percent of registered voters support Obama versus 29 percent for Romney. Those votes could be critical in what may be a close race, analysts say. 

On the eve of Romney’s trip, Obama signed a bill on Friday to strengthen U.S.-Israeli military ties and reassure Jewish voters of his administration’s “unshakeable commitment” to the country. 

NBC News spoke with a number of Israeli and Arab analysts, as well as representatives of Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad in Israel, to get an idea of what they think of Romney’s visit. See their answers below.

How will Romney's visit affect public opinion amongst Israelis?

Shimon Schiffer, Chief Political Commentator for Yediot Ahranot, Israel’s most popular daily newspaper: They are aware of the competition between Obama and Romney. It is a dangerous and delicate situation because Netanyahu identifies with Romney and he is also very close to one of the Republican donors in the party. [He was referring to the billionaire GOP supporter Sheldon Adelson]. I don’t think that what we will see here is a healthy relationship between Israel and the White House for the Democrats. If I was in Netanyahu's position, I wouldn't ask Romney to come now.

Hillel Schenker, Democrats Abroad: The Israeli public traditionally views the Democratic Party as the American party most devoted to Israel. It was a Democratic president, Harry Truman, who welcomed the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and another Democratic President Jimmy Carter, who devoted so much presidential time and energy to facilitate the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty in 1978. Even after his visit Romney will remain an unknown quantity to the Israeli public, so his visit will not alter Israeli attitudes towards the Democratic Party.  

First Read: Obama: White House's Israel play

How will Romney's visit impact voters in the U.S., especially in swing states like Florida?

Mark Zell, Republicans Abroad: While the current president was seeking to appease the Muslim world with his 2009 Cairo address and in his visits to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, he has ignored Israel in his travels and has sought to bully Israel into making concessions against its own national interests. A Romney visit will show voters who are concerned about the state of Israel that a Romney administration will revitalize the Israel-American alliance. 

Hillel Schenker, Democrats Abroad: Many of them will have severe problems with Romney's opposition to choice for women, to national health care, to Warren Buffett’s proposal for raising taxes for the “one percent” (that he belongs to) while pandering to the Tea Party and Christian evangelical right.

The fact that former New York Mayor Ed Koch has declared that he will campaign for Obama in Florida will have a greater impact on Jewish voters in Florida than the visit by Romney to Israel.   

Yoram Ettinger, former Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, D.C. 
The decision by Romney to highlight Israel as a unique ally of the U.S. will enhance his standing amongst most Americans – Christians and Jews – as evidenced by recent polls, which document increasing American support of Israel. It will have particular impact on voters in critical battleground states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.

How do you rate Obama's presidency with regard to relations with Israel?

Mark Zell, Republicans Abroad: The Obama administration has been the most hostile to the state of Israel. The Obama administration has not only been hostile to Israel, but dangerously inept in handling the entire region. Obama has made it a point to create "daylight" between America and its loyal Israeli allies, and a as result has left Israel isolated and twisting in the wind. Whether publicly humiliating the Israeli prime minister, or making what should be automatic vetoes of anti-Israel initiatives contingent on squeezing concessions from the Israelis, this administration has signaled to the world that it is open season on Israel.

Obama has also mishandled the entire region. He poisoned the atmosphere of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process by making untenable demands on Israel. While obsessing over housing starts in Jerusalem, he has helped facilitate the takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood, allowed the Hezbollah takeover of Lebanon and done nothing in Syria as it bloodily disintegrates and loses control of its chemical weapons arsenal. Worst of all, Obama has dithered on Iran, thinking he could make progress just through engagement. The Iranians are happy to talk with him – as they cross one red line after another on their march towards nuclear weapons.

Hillel Schenker, Democrats Abroad: He provided Israel with more security for its security needs than any previous president, $3.1 billion. And financed the ‘Iron Dome’ program which protects civilians in the Israeli south, while putting together a coalition which is using diplomacy and sanctions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

He also declared his vision for an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace, based on the two-state solution, as a cornerstone for peace and stability in the Middle East. Candidate Romney remains an unknown quantity, so it is difficult to predict what a Romney presidency would be like.

Yoram Ettinger, former Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, D.C.: Obama considers Israel to be the aggressor and the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular to be the victims. Obama does not believe in confronting rogue regimes, such as Iran, but rather engaging them in diplomacy and sanctions. Obama is the first American President who shares no affinity to Judeo-Christian values, which are cherished –according to American public opinion polls – by 80 percent of the American public.

What the World Thinks of US? Israel

What can Romney offer Israel that Obama has not delivered?

Hillel Schenker, Democrats Abroad: We have no idea what candidate Romney can offer Israel. Hopefully, he will not back the ideas of his major donor Sheldon Adelson, who has opposed the two-state solution concept which is at the foundation of bi-partisan Democratic and Republican approach, as well as the international community's approach.

Simon Schiffer, Chief Political Commentator for Yediot Ahranot, Israel’s most popular daily newspaper: Israelis want to hear a commitment towards Israeli security especially with regards to Iran. They also want the American embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But I don’t think Romney will act differently as a president. We have to remember that cooperation between Israel and the U.S. in intelligence, security and defense has never been this high as it was during the Obama administration. But there is a difference between how to deal with the Palestinian issue and how to deal with Iran. 

What are the Palestinians looking for in Romney that Obama has not delivered?

Dr. Issa Hassan Abu Zherah - Assistant Professor of Political Philosophy, Al Quds University: We know that U.S. foreign policy has its factors – the complicated elements that affect foreign policy, the three main factors are: Middle Eastern oil, free trade and the security of Israel. We know the unique relationship between Israel and the United States.  

The way in which Americans will formulate their policies after the events of the Arab Spring is what is important to Palestinians…There are three main factors affecting Palestinians: Palestinians don’t believe in the peace process; secondly, they aren't happy with Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority) and have seen nothing after two decades of negotiations; thirdly, many have turned their eyes to the Islamic project. They don’t care about anything anymore…For them the American candidates are a choice between worse and worse. I think the Arab Spring will be in Palestine next. 

What will Romney be discussing in his visit?

Hillel Schenker, Democrats Abroad: Essentially it will be a concentrated crash course on Middle Eastern realities today. He will be trying to accomplish in a very short time what Obama has been doing on an on-going basis throughout his presidency. 

Yoram Ettinger, former Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, D.C.: The recent seismic developments on the “Arab street” highlight Israel's role as the only reliable, stable, predictable, capable, democratic and unconditional ally of the U.S., which offsets the lower U.S. profile in the Middle East and expected cuts in the defense budget.

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Fans of Ethiopia enjoy the atmosphere outside the Olympic stadium before the opening ceremony on July 27, in London.

The Associated Press reports that London greeted the world in a celebration of Old England that was stunning, imaginative, whimsical and dramatic — and cheeky, even featuring a stand-in for Queen Elizabeth II parachuting into Olympic Stadium. Moments later, the 86-year-old monarch herself stood solemnly while a children's choir serenaded her with "God Save the Queen," and members of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

A Great Britain fan cheers outside Olympic Stadium before the opening ceremony on July 27.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

U.S. fans pose with their national flag outside Olympic Stadium on July 27.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Japanese fans pose outside Olympic Stadium on July 27.

Franck Fife / AFP - Getty Images

Mexican fans arrive at Olympic Park before the opening ceremony on July 27.

Matt Rourke / AP

Police officers place their hats on Cynthia Sison, left, and Mercy Mesina, both of the Philippines, outside Olympic Park before the opening ceremony on July 27.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Fans pose at the entrance of Olympic Park before the opening ceremony on July 27.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

A fan wears a dress displaying a Union Jack outside Olympic Stadium before opening ceremonies on July 27.

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LONDON  -- A widow of one of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics has called for spectators to stand and observe a minute's silence and for television companies to turn off their microphones for a minute during Olympic chief Jacques Rogge's speech at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, refused a request by the relatives of the dead and Israeli officials to mark the massacre by the Palestinian Black September group with a moment of silence at the ceremony.

Ilana Romano, wife of Olympic boxer Yossef Romano, said she hoped that broadcasters would "close the microphone for a minute when Jacques Rogge speaks."

She also asked people in the crowd to "please get up for one minute," and stay silent for that period.

"We believe the world is with us," she said. 

In denying a minute's silence for the victims of Munich, Rogge was taking a political stance, Romano said.

Slideshow: Athletes killed at 1972 Munich Olympics

Keystone / Getty Images

Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian gunmen during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

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"I think he makes the political [decision], not me." she said.

'Fairy tale': Is Olympic neutrality really a myth?

Romano, who spoke to NBCNews.com by phone from Israel Friday, went to England with fellow widow Ankie Spitzer to make a personal plea to Rogge to allow the athletes' deaths to be remembered. However, they left empty-handed Thursday night.

Romano argued that the Olympic movement did not need to make any mention that the athletes were Israeli, but simply mark the deaths of members of the Olympic family.

NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas told the Hollywood Reporter that the IOC's decision against holding a minute of silence was "baffling."

More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com

"I intend to note that the IOC denied the request," he said. "Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive."

In a conference call Thursday, NBC Olympics Executive Producer Jim Bell, speaking about Costas' remarks, said they had been discussing how to deal with the issue.

"I think if there is anyone who knows how to handle himself in that situation, have the right approach and tone, it’s Bob and Matt (Lauer).” he said, according to a transcript of the call. “We are going to handle it appropriately and respectfully. Bob has always had a big role in our planning of the coverage, and it’s been a healthy collaborative process.”

'An outrageous wrong'
Speaking at a commemoration in London Friday morning, Harvey Rose, chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, said it was being held "to help right and outrageous wrong."

"I'm absolutely convinced that if any other country's athletes were slaughtered in the way that the Israeli athletes were slaughtered that there would have been a minute's silence," he said.

Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe

"Shames on the IOC for it's clear anti-Israel bias, shame on the IOC for not appreciated and recognizing what the Olympics is all about," he added.

The commemoration, where Israel's ambassador to the U.K. Daniel Taub and others also spoke, was broadcast over the internet.

A minute's silence was held at the event at 11 a.m., when people around the world were asked to remember the dead as part of the Minute for Munich campaign.

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Slideshow: Syria uprising

Stringer / Reuters

After months of protests and violent crackdowns, a look back at the violence that has overtaken the country.

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LONDON -- Two foreign journalists held hostage for a week by Islamic extremists have been rescued by anti-government Syrian fighters, reports said Friday.

Dutch freelance photographer Jeroen Oerlemans, on assignment for Britain’s Panos Pictures, and British freelance photographer John Cantlie were held at a camp by a group of young fighters, Josh Lustig, assignments editor for Panos Pictures, confirmed to NBCNews.com

According to The New York Times, which said it spoke to Oerlemans by telephone in Turkey, the men were hooded and blindfolded and repeatedly threatened with death.

The man hired as a local guide by the men inadvertently led the journalists into a camp controlled by the fighters, who then took the two as hostages on July 19, Lustig said.

"They were only foreign jihadis, I don't think there was one Syrian among them," The Times quoted Oerlemans as saying. He told the newspaper there were between 30 and 100 fighters in the camp.

"They were from all over the world I think," he told The Times, adding their captors, who spoke English, referred to being under the leadership of an "emir."

The men were rescued on Thursday evening when a larger group of fighters, who Oerlemans told The Times he believed were from the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army, entered the camp and forced the extremists to release the journalists.

Rebels dismayed over US statement on Syrian conflict

"They were shouting at everyone, saying how long has this been going on, this is outrageous, yelling at the jihadis, and then they told us, 'You are free.' Our hearts leapt of course,” he told the newspaper.

The revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule began 16 months ago.

PhotoBlog: Who are the Syrian rebels?

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which compiles reports from activists, has said at least 1,261 people have been killed since the fighting intensified in the capital Damascus on July 15. That made last week by far the bloodiest in an uprising in which activists say at least 18,000 people have been killed.

US official: Syrian regime seems to be readying for massacre

'Phew!'
"Overjoyed to have photojournalists Jeroen Oerlemans and John Cantlie - who were kidnapped last week in #Syria - out of danger. Phew!," Panos wrote on its Twitter feed on Friday.

Before heading out to Syria, Cantlie wrote on his blog that he was excited about the assignment.

"I'm thrilled to be going back in with a cool Dutch photographer I met in Libya last year. ... (Oerlemans is) the perfect travel buddy," he wrote.

The captors accused the journalists of being spies and discussed holding them for ransom, The Times reported.

"They were definitely quite extreme in their religious beliefs," Oerlemans told The Times.

Slideshow: Behind Syrian rebel lines

Machine guns operated by motorcycle brakes? Get a glimpse at the rebels fighting against Assad's forces in Syria's mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area.

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"All day we were spoken to about the Koran and how they would bring Sharia law to Syria. I don’t think they were al-Qaida, they seemed too amateurish for that. They said, 'We're not al-Qaida, but al-Qaida is down the road,'" the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The fighters repeatedly referenced the American prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and threatened to kill the journalists, Oerlemans told The Times.

Syria regime 'reeling, armed to the teeth' with chemical weapons

"They would cock their weapons and say, 'Prepare for the after life,' or, 'You better repent and accept Islam.' It was pretty terrifying, I can assure you," the paper quoted Oerlemans as saying.

The men attempted to escape on Saturday night, but were recaptured, Lustig told NBC. Both men suffered gunshot wounds in the attempted escape, reports said. Lustig said Oerlemans was injured in the groin but is apparently recovering in good shape.

Both journalists are now safe in Turkey, Lustig and The Times said.

Full international news coverage from NBCNews.com

Cantlie was on assignment for The Sunday Times of London (site operates behind a pay wall), reports said.

NBC News' Daniel Strieff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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LONDON – The bells were ringing across a green and pleasant Britain on Friday morning to celebrate the start of the Summer Olympics.

From Big Ben to the rusty clanger in our old village school, the noise of the bells could be heard for miles.

The only other sound you could clearly hear above them was that of crunching metal – the sound of a politician slamming his campaign car into reverse.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney came to the United Kingdom to launch an international charm offensive and ended up offending a nation.

On the face of it, his gently expressed doubts to NBC's Brian Williams about Britain's readiness to stage a successful Games were not particularly shocking.

Up until a few days ago, we'd been expressing doubts of our own.

Troops everywhere, long lines and moans: A very British Olympic Games
'Pain in the neck': London's Olympic lanes befuddle, frustrate motorists
Fortress London: UK protects Olympics with biggest security plan since WWII

But now that the Games are officially kicking off, it's party time – and the art of a politician is to judge the mood of the public. And on this Romney – as we say over here – dropped a clanger all of his own.

"Mitt the Twit" screamed the headline in the popular tabloid The Sun. "Who invited party-pooper Romney?" asked the Daily Mail.

Suddenly, Romney-bashing became a new gold-medal event.

Read more Olympics coverage on NBC's TODAY in London blog

At a concert in London's Hyde Park, Mayor Boris Johnson threw Romney's comments right back at him like an Olympic shotput: "There's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready," he asked the 60,000-strong crowd.

To a man, woman and child they shouted back, "Yes we are."

Slideshow: Venues for 2012 London Olympic Games

Oda / Getty Images

From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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British Prime Minister David Cameron was also quick to jump to the country's defense, with a pointed comment sharper than a javelin: "We are holding an Olympic Games in one off the busiest, most active cities in the world. Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."

"Nowhere," of course, meant Salt Lake City. Romney organized the 2002 Winter Olympics there.

Get the latest on London 2012 with NBC Olympics

There were other gaffes: Seemingly forgetting the Labour Party leader Ed Milliband's name and calling him – in a desperate, odd-sounding ad-lib – "Mr. Leader." Spilling the beans about a private meeting he'd had with the ultra-secretive boss of MI6, the British foreign intelligence service. That's one stop short of telling the Russians we're still spying on them.

Oh dear. It's all so different from the other presidential hopeful who visited Britain four years ago. On that occasion there was an air of excitement as Barack Obama charmed his way across London, not putting a foot wrong.

On this one, it feels like someone has tied Romney's shoelaces together.

But like all good politicians he bounced back. On NBC's TODAY on Friday morning he was gracious and warm in his support of the London Olympics – sticking to the script this time.

He can also take comfort in knowing that back home, there are many who will like him even more, just because the Brits like him less.

Ah yes, we may have a special relationship – an "Anglo-Saxon" heritage, as a Romney adviser curiously termed it before the visit. But that doesn't mean we can't throw the pots and pans at each other from time to time.

Slideshow: When the Olympics is your neighbor

A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.

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Andrej Isakovic / AFP - Getty Images

Ivica Dacic's election as Serbia's prime minister has triggered fears of resurgent nationalism in the Balkan country.

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Slobodan Milosevic's former spokesman became Serbia's new prime minister on Friday, promising to promote reconciliation in the Balkans after his nomination triggered fears of resurgent nationalism in the volatile region.

The election marks the first time Milosevic's former party and their allies will dominate the government since they ruled Serbia for a decade in the 1990s — an era marked with wars, international sanctions and economic downturn.

The West is watching Ivica Dacic nervously as the 46-year-old takes the reins of a country bidding to join the European Union little more than a decade since it was bombed by NATO.

'There has been enough blood'
Dacic was Milosevic's wartime spokesman, nick-named "Little Sloba" for his admiration of the former party chief. Dacic's nomination to the post of the prime minister triggered fears of resurgent nationalism in the Balkan country.

In the speech to the parliament on Thursday, Dacic tried to dispel those concerns, promising to advance Serbia's EU bid, press on with reform and promote reconciliation in the region.

He told lawmakers that "there has been enough blood in the Balkans."

"Let us turn to the future and not deal with the past," he said.

Milosevic was ousted from power in 2000 following a popular revolt. He was widely blamed for instigating the bloody Balkan wars that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The wars claimed more than 100,000 lives and left millions homeless.

"Dacic is one of the most intelligent and cunning politicians in Serbia," said Nenad Sebek, executive director of the Center for Reconciliation and Democracy in Southeast Europe think-tank.

"Without ever saying sorry for what his party did during the 1990s under Milosevic, Dacic single-handedly returned the Socialists to the political mainstream in Serbia," Sebek told Reuters.

Slideshow: The charges against Ratko Mladic

Serge Ligtenberg / Getty Images

A career soldier, Mladic stands accused of orchestrating the siege of Sarajevo and the slaughter of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica.

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The Dacic’s Cabinet was approved with 142 votes for and 72 against in a 250-member assembly, ending nearly three months of political uncertainty that followed an inconclusive election on May 6.

Dacic's coalition government includes ministers from his own Socialist Party, from a nationalist Progressive Party of President Tomislav Nikolic as well as several smaller groups.

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Milosevic died in 2006 in custody of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, while on a genocide trial.  

Among the challenges facing the new government are widespread joblessness and a cash-strapped budget amid deepening economic crisis. The average monthly salary in Serbia is around €350 ($429), while poverty is widespread.

Working his way back to power
After Milosevic was ousted in 2000, Dacic assembled a team of young moderates to help overhaul the party, while retaining some of the old faces to appease the elderly ex-communist electorate.

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In 2006 he became party president, and two years later took the Socialists back to power as junior partner to the Democrats, the main party that had helped topple Milosevic. The ultimate pragmatist, he threw his support behind the country's EU ambitions.

"He has an almost computer-like precision when deciding when to forget or remember something," the Serbian daily Blic said.

Within the coalition, Dacic's party controlled state-run energy and gas monopoly Srbijagas and secured funds and close ties with Russia through a partnership with oil and gas giant Gazprom. Western diplomats admit his apparent affinity with Moscow makes them nervous.

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When voters turned against the Democrats and their leader, two-time President Boris Tadic, in elections in May, Dacic saw his chance.

After weeks of negotiating to revive their alliance, Dacic said he was abandoning the Democrats in favor of the nationalist Serbian Progressive Party, whose leader Nikolic had just defeated Tadic in a presidential election.

Nikolic offered Dacic the post of prime minister. He took it, telling a reception last week:

"In this chamber there are many who toppled us in 2000, and I thank them, for if they hadn't toppled us we wouldn't have changed, realized our mistakes and we wouldn't be standing here today."

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Now he must prove he has changed, according to analysts.

"He is extremely smart and likely to be very cooperative when negotiating with the international community," said Sebek of the Center for Reconciliation and Democracy, "but he's still an eyesore for anyone who doesn't have the memory of a goldfish."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Jim Seida / NBC News

Syrians gather in London's Trafalgar Square on Thursday to protest the Assad regime.

LONDON -- As the Olympic torch made its way into London's famous Trafalgar Square, Ammar Masarani stood wrapped in the flag of the Syrian uprising against the murderous regime of President Bashar Assad among a crowd of about 50 other dissidents.

They had waited for almost two hours this moment to highlight the slaughter of more than 10,000 of their countrymen. As the torch went by, they waved their flags, but remained largely silent in order, Masarani said, "to stay within the rules." 

"Most people don't know what's going on in Syria with the Assad regime, so we are out here to raise awareness," Masarani told NBCNews.com. "I'm from Homs, he [Assad] has destroyed most of my city. He's destroyed most of the cities, Homs, Daraa, Hama.  He destroyed them and now he's starting in Damascus and Aleppo."

Given the scale of the problems in Syria, Thursday night's flag-waving demonstration might be a small gesture. However, it is the kind of protest that the Olympic organizers seek to avoid, insisting firmly that sports and politics should not mix and that the high ideals of "Olympism" must not be sullied by partisan campaigns.

More coverage of the Syria conflict

But experts who spoke to NBCNews.com accused the International Olympic Committee of picking and choosing what to regard as political while spinning the "fairy tale" of neutrality, suggesting it was time for the movement to acknowledge reality.

The present IOC's badly handled refusal of the request for a minute's silence for the victims of the Munich massacre at Friday's Opening Ceremony is perhaps case in point. Since the 1972 Games, the Olympics has done little to formally commemorate the dead, and relatives and Israeli officials had hoped the 40th anniversary would provide an appropriate opportunity.

Slideshow: Athletes killed at 1972 Munich Olympics

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Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian gunmen during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

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Instead, IOC President Jacques Rogge and several leading figures in the U.K. held a minute's silence in the Olympic Village on Monday at short notice and without publicizing what they were doing -- after what Rogge described as a "spontaneous suggestion" -- but that only seemed to add insult to injury.

Daniel Taub, Israel’s ambassador to the U.K., told NBCNews.com that the Munich massacre was "beyond politics." The Embassy was holding its own minute's silence Friday, after a last-ditch plea to Rogge by the widows of two of the hostages fell on deaf ears.

"We’re talking about the darkest moment of Olympic history," Taub said.

Toby Melville / Reuters

Sebastian Coe (left), chairman of the London Olympic organising committee, and other officials mark a minute's silence at a ceremony in the Olympic Park in East London on Monday. President of the International Olympic Commission, Jacques Rogge paid tribute to the 11 Israeli team members who were killed at the 1972 Munich Games at a ceremony at the Athletes Village in London on Monday.

“An attack on the Olympic ideals of peace and harmony through friendship and solidarity really requires remembering publicly within the Olympic framework. I would say that’s not politics, it’s humanity. The fear is that a failure to do that becomes political," he said.

“I would say in a very real way the people calling for a remembrance are really standing up for the true ideals of the Olympic Games, not trying to betray them," he added.

Taub said Israelis were puzzled that “something that seems to be such a clear violation of Olympic ideals doesn’t seem to be deserving of commemoration.”

Ilana Romano, widow of Yossef Romano, an Olympic boxer killed in 1972, returned to Israel Thursday from England where she made a personal plea to the IOC to relent. She told NBCNews.com that she hoped spectators would stay silent and the media would turn off their microphones for a minute while Rogge speaks at the Opening Ceremony.

'Pandora's Box'
Jules Boykoff, a former U.S. soccer player and an associate professor in Pacific University’s department of politics and government, said the IOC should recognize they are involved in politics and consider setting up a committee or some other formal way of dealing with such issues.

Boykoff, who is in London researching a book about the Games, said this would open "a kind of Pandora’s Box in terms of the issues they might have to deal with,” but scorned the claim that the Olympics is apolitical.

“The idea that sports and politics don’t mix is a fairy tale that the IOC tells itself to help it sleep better," he said. “It’s obviously thrumming with politics at every level.”

He said an Olympic political commitee might get decisions wrong, but at least people would know “here’s where we [the IOC] are coming from."

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There are suggestions that at least some political issues are decided in secret, for example when planning where to put different nations -- perhaps arch-rivals such as Israel and Iran -- in the Olympic Village. (On Monday, Iran announced that its athletes would compete against Israelis in London. The country faced criticism after some competitors withdrew from events against Israelis at the 2004 Athens Games and 2008 Beijing Games.)

"Politics is taken into account when choosing who goes where, but that's based on guidance at International Olympic Committee level, not by [organizers of] London 2012, and it's agreed by each country in advance -- they know who their neighbors are going to be," a senior official involved in operations told NBCNews.com.

"It's about making sure athletes are comfortable in their living space rather than which countries don't get on," the source said. "Even then, it's a not really an issue. You've got to remember that these guys compete alongside each other all the time and all over the world --they know each other, some of them are best man at the other's wedding and so on." 

However, London 2012 organizers LOCOG denied international diplomacy played any role in the allocation of areas in the athletes' village, saying in an emailed statement "political issues are not a factor."

The Olympic movement does sometimes make open forays outside the world of sport. The Olympic truce, for example, calls for fighting around the world to stop for the duration of the Games.

But, in case anyone was thinking this might offer hope for countries like Syria, Boykoff was scathing. This "really nice idea" was "sort of a farce," he said. "Battles are going to continue across the world, they are not going to stop for the games, as popular as it is."

Flag flaps
Apart from the flag of the Syrian opposition, other flags have been already been causing political controversy at London 2012.

The Games actually began Wednesday with several soccer matches, one involving the North Korean and Colombian women's teams.

North Korea came out to train in Glasgow's Hampden Park stadium, but then walked off the field and refused to return after the South Korean flag was mistakenly used by officials. The game eventually did take place about an hour later with the North Koreans winning 2-0.

On Friday, it emerged that Taiwan's flag had been removed from among a host of others on London's Regent Street over concerns that China would be offended. Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province, uses the flag of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee at the Games, after the IOC ruled it could not use its own flag in the early 1980s.

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And a marathon runner from new nation South Sudan, Guor Marial, will compete under the Olympic flag, after he understandably turned down the chance to run for Sudan -- which fought a decades-long civil war with the South that ended in the latter's independence. He was unable to run for his own country because it has not yet become a member of the Olympic movement.

But apart from Marial, everyone else will be competing for their country and Alan Bairner, professor of sport and social theory at the U.K.'s Loughborough University and author of a book, "The Politics of the Olympics," said the Opening Ceremony would be "replete with the politics of nationalism."

This runs contrary to the initial desire of the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, for athletes to compete as individuals rather than in state teams to avoid overly nationalistic sentiment.

“They talk about the world coming together, but the world comes together with national flags and anthems," Bairner said. "Events at Hampden Park … clearly demonstrated the significance of flags and emblems at supposedly apolitical events –  particularly if the organizers don’t get it right."

Bairner said only flags of competing nations were allowed to be flown at Olympic events and questioned what would happen if the flag of Scotland – part of the United Kingdom – was flown or given to a successful Scottish athlete as they celebrate.

 Scotland has also been racked with concern over the entry of a Team Great Britain in the soccer event. Despite being one country, the U.K. has four international soccer teams -- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- and other countries have questioned whether this is fair. The fear in Scotland particularly was that a Team GB would set a precedent that would lead to the demise of the Scottish national team.

Bairner, a Scot, said the idea was almost unthinkable. "I can't imagine life without Scottish teams in these competitions [the World Cup, European Championships etc]," he said. "For it just to become Team GB, I would lose interest and support Spain or Germany."

He suggested the loss of the Scottish soccer team would provide a "boost" for supporters of independence from the U.K. ahead of a referendum on the issue in 2014.

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Bairner said the IOC tended to pick and choose what they deemed to be political.

It was possible, he said, that the IOC thought a Munich commemoration at the Opening Ceremony would be viewed as “pro-Israel.”

But he suggested it was “just about remembering people who died at an Olympic Games,” and said he thought most people would be "comfortable" with the idea.

Bairner, who said his sympathies tended to be with the Palestinians, said it was difficult to see how anyone could “object too strongly because they would almost be condoning that kind of activity,” and suggest that Olympic athletes were “legitimate targets.”

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The ad hoc approach to political issues has been going on for years.

A few months before the Beijing Games of 2008, Rogge declared firmly that it was a "sporting, not a political, association," as he dismissed the effect of the resignation of filmmaker Steven Spielberg as artistic consultant over China's support for Sudan amid the Darfur conflict.

And in 1936, Avery Brundage, then head of the American Olympic movement and later an IOC president, opposed a boycott of that year's Berlin Games in Nazi Germany for the same reason.

The IOC’s decision to go ahead with the 1936 Munich Games -- awarded before the Nazis came to power partly to help shore up Germany's ailing democracy -- had handed Adolf Hitler a "huge propaganda victory,” Bairner said.

“You compare that with 1968 when [athletes] Tommie Smith and John Carlos do the Black Power salute. They are punished by the IOC for bringing politics into sport," he said, in perhaps an indication of what might happen to any Syria athletes trying to draw attention to the ongoing bloodshed in their country.

AFP - Getty Images, file

U.S. athletes Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos (right) raise their gloved fists in the Black Power salute after receiving their Olympic medals on Oct. 17, 1968.

The treatment of Smith and Carlos likely gives an indication of what might happen to any Syrian athletes who attempt to use the Games to protest the killings in their country.

“It seems they [the IOC] decide what is political at any given time … what they approve of and don't approve of. That’s when they become quite a slippery organization," Bairner said.

NBCNews.com submitted requests for comment from the IOC about the issues raised in this article on Wednesday and Thursday.

Media relations manager Sandrine Tonge said a response would be provided "as soon as we can."

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