LONDON — Thousands of people lined British streets to welcome the Paralympic flame as it arrived in London ahead of the games' opening ceremony.

The flame, which is being carried by some 580 torchbearers in total, will visit London landmarks, including the Abbey Road crosswalk made famous by The Beatles, before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium in east London.

The 24-hour torch relay began Tuesday night in Stoke Mandeville, about 45 miles northwest of London, the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge are expected to join thousands at the opening ceremony this evening.

The ceremony is directed by director Stephen Daldry, known for the movies “Billy Elliot” and “The Hours.”

BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a broadcast today that his government forces need time to win the country's civil war, which he says has drawn in regional and international powers.The remarks are a sign Assad's regime may be hunkering down for a drawn out struggle against rebels on a multitude of fronts, including Damascus, the capital and Assad's seat of power, Aleppo, the nation's largest city, and a string of cities and towns across the Arab nation.The comments, given in an advance expert of a television interview to be aired in full later in the day, also appeared to reinforce Assad's remarks to a visiting Iranian official over the weekend that his regime would continue the fight against the rebels “whatever the price.”“We are fighting a regional and global war, so time is needed to win it,” he told privately owned Dunya television, which is majority owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad and one of Syria's wealthiest men.