World's eyes on London ahead of opening ceremony

London began the final countdown on Friday to the opening ceremony that will officially kick off its Olympic Games, with some 120 world leaders arriving in the British capital for the spectacle.

Organisers expect more than a billion people worldwide to watch the event on television, while tens of thousands will see the show live at the Olympic Stadium in east London.

The Olympic torch was making its way down the River Thames onboard the Gloriana, the royal barge of Queen Elizabeth II, on the last day of its 10-week Olympic torch journey around Britain.

In Westminster, Big Ben chimed for three minutes from 8:12am (0712 GMT) to ring in the Games, 12 hours ahead of pre-ceremony entertainment scheduled to start at the symbolic time of 20:12pm.

The huge bell at the British parliament was joined by...

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