Thousands of UK border staff (Home Office) will strike the day before London Olympics open, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said. PCS members will strike for 24 hours next Thursday – when many thousands of visitors are due to arrive in the UK. Home Secretary Theresa May said the action was “shameful” as it threatens disruption to people travelling to London fo…
Armed forces in UK are on standby to provide an additional 3,500 troops to help with security at the 2012 London Olympics. It comes amid fears that private contractor G4S would not be able to provide enough trained staff in time. The armed forces were already providing some 13,500 personnel – this could now reach 17,000, meaning summer leave for some troops will likely be cancelled. G4S sai…
…k, around six miles from the main Olympic park, said Her Majesty had been delighted when she told her that she had made the Olympic team. The former sports personality of the year missed out on Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 after her then horse, Toytown, suffered late injuries. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed because we’ve still got a few weeks to go and we all know what horses are like,” she said….
Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo will compete to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics after Qatar’s Doha and Azerbaijan’s Baku were cut from the list on Wednesday. The shortlist was announced at the International Olympic Committee’s executive meeting in Quebec City. Doha and Baku were rejected for a second time in a row after failing to make the final list for the 2016 Games. The wi…
Aerial shoot: Olympic Park London Olympics 2012 This summer millions of people will visit London and the UK for the 2012 Olympic Games which promise to be an unforgettable experience. London is a vibrant and exciting city but this summer there will be lots more to enjoy including many free fun and interesting events being held because the Olympics is taking place in and around the city. Wo…
The White House has announced today that First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the official U.S. delegation to the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. It has become somewhat of a tradition for first ladies to lead the U.S. delegation. Laura Bush performed the duty at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and Hillary Rodham Clinton headed up the delegation at the 1994…
London Olympics 2012 has hardly even had time to enjoy its success and already Rio is attempting to steal its shine, earlier this week releasing the official theme song for the 2016 Olympics. As can be expected, the new song and video showcase the typical laid-back, tropical style associated with the South American gem. The Gods of Olympus Visit Rio de Janeiro, as the song is called, was written…
hree minutes for the first time since King George VI’s funeral. Lord’s cricket ground has turned away spectators trying to get in to watch archery amid confusion over ticketing. The London 2012 website advertised the event’s preliminary rounds as “unticketed”, which some members of the public interpreted as open to the public. But Olympic organizer LOCOG said it had n…
Thousands of Olympic athletes and officials are to begin arriving in London, as questions remain about recruitment of security staff. Preparations for London 2012 are intensifying with the opening ceremony just 11 days away. The first priority “Games Lane” has begun operation on the M4 and the Olympic drug testing lab starts work. Meanwhile, the chairman of G4S has refused to express…
…tity of who was to light the symbolic flame was shrouded in secrecy ahead of the ceremony. The group of seven, chosen by British Olympic champions, each lit a single tiny flame on the ground, igniting 205 petals, one for each competing nation or territory. Long stems then rose towards each other to form a cauldron, signifying unity. The flame made a dramatic arrival via the Thames on a speedboat c…
Angelina Jolie has invited the Duchess of Cambridge to the Olympics party she is throwing alongside fiancé Brad Pitt. The Hollywood couple has hired out London’s Victoria and Albert and are hosting an Olympics-themed Night At The Museum. The party, to take place on 25 July, two days before the official Olympics party, is to be held in honor of sporting heavyweight Muhammad Ali. The glamorou…
The first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympics has been won by China, which ended the first day on top of the medal table. Yi Siling’s victory in the women’s 10 m air rifle was the first of six medals for China, including four golds. Mingjuan Wang took weightlifting gold, Sun Yang won China’s first male gold in swimming and Ye Shiwen, 16, set a world record in the 400 m indivi…
Organizers LOCOG announce that more Olympic tickets will go back on sale after the row over empty seats. It said an initial 3,000 tickets – including 600 gymnastics tickets – were “put back into the pot” and sold on the London 2012 website on Sunday night. More tickets returned by sports federations would be released the night before events, LOCOG added. Transport chiefs s…
…o cheat,” says John Hoberman. He believes the more money you offer, especially in poorer countries, the greater the chance an athlete will be tempted to dope. How much for a gold medal at London 2012 Olympics: • Singapore – $800,000 • Kazakhstan – $250,000 • Kyrgyzstan – $200,000 • Uzbekistan – $150,000 • Russia – $135,000 • Tajikistan – $63,000 • US ̵…
Nick Green, the Australian Olympic team chief, has slammed a newspaper as “disgraceful” for describing triple-gold medallist Leisel Jones as overweight just two days before the start of London 2012. Swimmer Leisel Jones’s physique was today targeted in the Melbourne Herald Sun, which suggested she may be out of shape as she prepares for her fourth Olympics. The paper questioned whether Leis…
ng leading US coach John Leonard to describe her performance as “disturbing”. There is no evidence against her and all medal winners are drug-tested. She is due to race in the final of the 200m individual medley later on Tuesday. Coach John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said her performance reminded him of the East German women swimmers in the 1…
A new scandal has broken after the news the US athletes at the forthcoming London Olympics will wear stylish uniforms designed in the US – but made in China. The news prompted a rare outbreak of bipartisan agreement, with Republican and Democratic leaders highly critical of the US Olympic Committee. “I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves,” Senate majority…
…ard drugs tests. Testosterone is one of the oldest illegal steroids used in sports, and it is commonly used to build muscle. Experts say athletes taking testosterone for doping purposes typically have 200 to 300% more in their bodies than normal. During the study, researchers added green and white tea extracts – or catechins – to the hormone and discovered that they reduced the concent…
…for our country”. “Seven years of waiting, planning, building, dreaming, are almost over – tomorrow, the curtain comes up, the spectators arrive, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 can officially begin.” David Cameron also met the Republican candidate for the US presidency, Mitt Romney, during his campaigning and fundraising visit to London. Mitt Romney had earlier e…
he torch on British soil. After criss-crossing every region of the UK, the flame will be used to light the cauldron in Stratford’s Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on 27 July. At Thursday’s handover ceremony, crowds in the stadium stood beneath multi-colored umbrellas as the national anthems of the UK and Greece were sung by a British school choir and a Gree…
…tral Line, which serves Stratford, was partly suspended • The British Olympic Association says it has asked triple jumper Phillips Idowu to supply details about his injury ahead of the Games after the 2008 Olympics silver medallist pulled out of the Great Britain athletics team’s training camp • On Tuesday, Heathrow is set for its busiest day for Olympics so far as it prepares to handle abou…
…f its contract. The company, by its own admission, stands to lose up to £50 million ($80 million) on the contract, worth a total of about £280 million ($445 million), after being unable to provide the 10,000 staff it had been contracted to deliver. Labour MP David Winnick, who sits on the MPs’ committee, said he wanted to know why G4S had not told the authorities earlier what was going on. &…
ll go to court to try to stop a public sector workers’ strike on the eve of the Games. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt will join Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan in Cardiff for the first event of the 2012 Games. Women’s football is the first event of the Olympics and is to kick off later, two days before the official opening ceremony Team GB coach Hope Powell said opening the Games was a “…
ng said: “My team has been working tirelessly to clamp down on ticket touts. “We have been, and will continue to seek out and take robust action against anybody who tries to cash in on the 2012 Games in this way. “Ticket touting is illegal and is a clear exploitation of those who genuinely wish to experience the Games first-hand.” Two people have also been arrested in relat…
The Brazilian stadium that was due to host athletics at the 2016 Olympics has been closed indefinitely because of structural problems with its roof. The Joao Havelange stadium in Rio de Janeiro was built only six years ago. The stadium was also being used as the main football venue in Rio, while the city’s Maracana stadium is being renovated for the 2014 World Cup. It is an embarrassment fo…
North Korea fires short-range missiles from its east coastNorth Korea has launched three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry said. Two missiles were fired on Saturday morning and one in the…
Cyclone Mahasen hits Bangladesh's southern coast killing at least two peopleCyclone Mahasen has stricken Bangladesh's southern coast, as people packed into evacuation shelters. The storm hit Patuakhali district on Thursday with winds of up to 100…
Cyclone Mahasen prompts massive evacuation from Bangladesh coastal areasBangladesh has ordered the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from its coastal areas threatened by Cyclone Mahasen. The Bangladeshi authorities have raised the…
Taiwan suspends hiring Filipino workers and recalls its envoy over fisherman Hung Shih-cheng killingTaiwan is suspending hiring Filipino workers and recalling its envoy amid a row over the killing of fisherman Hung Shih-cheng. Taiwan said the move showed President Ma…
Nikkei index passes 15,000 for first time since 2008Japan’s shares have climbed past the 15,000 mark for the first time since January 2008, as the yen continues to weaken - boosting the earnings potential for exporters. The…
Rohingya Muslims boat sinks off western Burma while evacuating people ahead of Cyclone MahasenA boat carrying about 200 Rohingya Muslims has capsized off western Burma, aid agencies say. The boat was evacuating people ahead of Cyclone Mahasen, which is expected to…
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