London 2012 Olympics: 50 days to go until the opening ceremony - This is Dorset
London 2012 Olympics: 50 days to go until the opening ceremony
10:05am Thursday 7th June 2012 in Latest By Laura Kitching
TODAY marks 50 days to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
This week the world’s best sailors are battling for victory on borough waters at the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta.
In just over seven weeks time the selected Olympic contenders will return to Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour to race across the 10 Olympic sailing classes.
Weymouth Olympic windsurfer Bryony Shaw said: “50 days means we’re coming to the final few weeks run-up.
“At the moment I feel like my preparation is going well, I’ll have more idea at the end of this week.
“It’s been really nice to see everyone get together over the Jubilee weekend and to see the national pride there and all the entertainment and fireworks up in London.
“I’m sure we’ll put on a good show for the home Games and hopefully it will be a couple of weeks for everyone to really enjoy.”
Olympic festivities in Dorset will ignite on Thursday, July 12 with the arrival of the Olympic Torch Relay.
The flame will arrive in Shaftesbury and travel to Dorchester and through West Dorset before reaching Osprey Quay, Portland, where it will travel by water to Weymouth Beach for official evening celebrations.
The free but ticketed event has capacity for 12,500 people and wristbands can be applied for from 7am next Tuesday, June 12 at dorsetforyou.com/sailing2012 The torch relay will resume its journey on Friday, July 13 at around 7am from Portland Bill and journey around the island before travelling across Weymouth, through Purbeck and into east Dorset.
Portland sailor Ali Young, selected to represent Team GB in the women’s Laser Radial dinghy event, is looking forward to watching her Skandia Team GBR teammate Katrina Hughes carry the flame through Osprey Quay.
She said: “50 days to go is another milestone.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, a lot of little small gains we can make between now and the start.
“I’m sure the excitement will grow and the country will get behind the Games.
“The torch relay will really hype it up around here.
“I’m looking forward to it and watching Kat carry the flame but then it will be head down and get on with the job.”
The London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, July 27 will be complemented by a Coastal Voices mass choir performance on Weymouth Beach and the Battle for the Winds three-day performance across the borough.
Olympic sailing races will begin on Sunday, July 29 and run until Saturday, August 11.
The Paralympic Games opening ceremony will take place on August 29.
Find out more at the website london2012.com/joinin
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ian king says...
10:40am Thu 7 Jun 12
Watch London Olympics live on YouTube - CIOL Network
East London Assault: Man Dies - lbc.co.uk
7th June 2012
Detectives are appealing for witnesses to come forward, after a man who was assaulted in East London last month, died in hospital.
Officers were called at 20.20hrs on Monday the 21st of May to Woodman Parade, Woodman Street at the Victoria Docks in Canning Town, where they found 43 year old Zahir Bouchia injured on the street.
He was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but died in the early hours of the 6th of June.
Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command under Acting Detective Chief Inspector John Nicholson are now leading the investigation He said:
''We believe that Mr Bouchia was assaulted at a property in Shaw House. He was then dragged by his ankles to the corner of Claremont Close and Woodman Parade where he was dumped until emergency services attended. I would urge any witnesses to come forward and help us bring those responsible to justice"
Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 0208 345 3985.
Alternatively, to remain anonymous please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A man's already been charged GBH with intent in connection with the incident - and has been remanded in custody.
'Ground-breaking' changes for London cancer patients - BBC News
The way London's cancer patients are treated changed on Thursday in a move the NHS hopes will save up to 1,000 lives a year.
Cancer services in the north and east of the capital have combined to be called London Cancer - responsible for more than three million people.
It has brought together hospital specialists, GPs and scientists.
Patients can now receive specialist care at major cancer centres and then the rest of their care closer to home.
London Cancer's chief medical officer Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones said: "We've got some of the best scientists and clinicians in the country in our capital city but we need to get them to work together much more effectively for the benefit of patients.
'Compete with the best'"I think this is a real opportunity to do something ground-breaking for our patients.
"We've been given the opportunity to think really big and to plan services for a population of three and a half million people in north and east London, so this means we can now compete with the very best in the world."
About 13,600 people die from cancer in London each year and more than 27,000 are diagnosed with the disease.
One patient is 46-year-old black cab driver Mark Fitzpatrick.
He is one of the first to experience what life will be like for future patients.
In January he was diagnosed with cancer at Barts Hospital. Since then he has been receiving his chemotherapy treatment at Whipps Cross Hospital - 10 minutes from his home - meaning he does not have to travel into town.
He said: "It's not a journey you'd want to do on a regular basis, particularly at the beginning - because if you are particularly ill you don't want to be travelling into central London.
"It's just so handy to go to your local hospital. I mean, I live 10 minutes away, it just makes life so much easier at a time when you don't feel well.
"It's nice to be treated locally as it's a small unit and they treat you particularly well."
At the moment the average survival rates for cancer in London one year after diagnosis are worse (63.8%) than the rest of the country (66.5%).
Satisfaction rates amongst patients are also lower.
It is hoped this new network, and one for south and west London, to be launched later this year, will change that.
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