London 2012: Richard Faulds named in Team GB's shooting squad - The Guardian
The former double Olympic champion Richard Faulds and world No1 Peter Wilson will lead Great Britain's 10-strong shooting squad at London 2012.
Team GB will compete across all three disciplines on the Olympic shooting programme – shotgun, pistol and rifle – at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich.
Wilson, who claimed first place and a world record at the World Cup in Tucson this year, and the veteran Faulds joined the Team GB chef de mission, Andy Hunt, at the announcement on Monday at the New Armouries in the Tower of London.
Faulds, 35, has been selected for his fifth consecutive Olympics, having claimed double trap gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney, which was Britain's first triumph in trap shooting since 1968.
"To compete on home turf is an absolute honour for me," said Faulds, who qualified for the final of the 1996 Atlanta Games aged 19, on what was his Olympic debut, and has gone on to win four world championship titles.
"Competing in London won't differ much from previous Olympic Games and we will all have to cope with the usual difficulties which come with competitive sport. The home crowd will be a huge advantage to all of us and having the support of family and friends is very important to me.
"I am very excited about competing in London and I still remember exactly where I was when I heard that London was to be the host city. I remember thinking, 'Maybe I won't retire just yet.'"
Wilson, 25, won the 2011 World Cup and European Championship titles. The Dorchester sharp-shooter is relishing the opportunity to shine at London 2012. He said: "I have been training relentlessly for the last six years just to have this opportunity, it really is a dream come true.
"Having a crowd of any size right behind you is always very special but it's going to be such a boost to have the home nation behind me. Thankfully I tend to raise my game when it matters."
Elena Allen, a 2010 Commonwealth Games double gold medallist, will represent Team GB in the women's Olympic skeet class.
There will be Olympic debuts for Edinburgh's Jennifer McIntosh, 20, and Harlow's James Huckle, 21, who are the youngest members of the British shooting squad.
Hunt said: "The shooting squad possesses a good balance of youth and experience and it is great to announce current world No1 Peter Wilson and former Olympic gold medallist Richard Faulds, who will both be able to pass on their experience to the younger members of the team.
"It is exciting that the likes of Jennifer McIntosh, James Huckle and Georgina Geikie have the opportunity to compete at an Olympic Games in the early stages of their career and their potential bodes well for the future of British shooting."
Team GB Olympic shooting squad
(place of birth followed by current home in brackets)
Elena Allen Olympic skeet (Moscow, Newport)
Richard Brickell Olympic skeet (Newbury, Newbury)
Rory Warlow Olympic skeet (Plymouth, Plymouth)
Peter Wilson Olympic double trap (Dorchester, Sherborne)
Richard Faulds Olympic double trap (Guildford, Highclere)
Georgina Geikie 25m pistol (Oakhampton, Exeter)
Jonathan Hammond Prone rifle (Aberdeen, West Virginia)
James Huckle Three position rifle (Harlow, Harlow)
Ed Ling Olympic trap (Taunton, Wellington)
Jennifer McIntosh Air rifle (Edinburgh, Aberdeen)
'Judgement Day killer thought London imam antichrist' - BBC News
A blind Muslim cleric was strangled by a man who told police he had killed the "antichrist" and that it was Judgement Day, a court has heard.
Hamza Boutouil, 25, attacked Maymoun Zarzour with an ornamental rope at Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, north London, on 2 September last year, the Old Bailey heard.
His defence claims that he was criminally insane at the time and should receive hospital treatment.
He was living in the country illegally.
Picked up pigeonThe imam, known as Sheikh Maymoun, had been blind from a young age from injuries he suffered in his native Lebanon.
After the killing, as witnesses were giving descriptions to the police, Algerian Boutouil returned to the centre and was "raving", the court heard.
Prosecutor Jonathan Turner QC told the court: "Among the things he was saying, which bystanders translated from Arabic so the police could understand, was that he had killed the antichrist, and that by that he meant the imam, and that this was Judgement Day."
It is accepted that Boutouil killed Sheikh Maymoun.
The prosecution argues that he should be found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
In the hours before the killing, between 02:00 and 04:00 BST, Boutouil was seen behaving strangely on CCTV.
Covered in bruisesHe confronted a man and then two girls in the street before picking up a pigeon and walking off with it.
Later he went to the welfare centre and was heard shouting "Allahu akhbar" (God is great) repeatedly and was behaving strangely during morning prayers.
At about 08:40 BST he spent about an hour alone with the imam and killed him, the jury heard.
The primary cause of death was strangulation. Sheikh Maymoun was also covered in bruises consistent with a struggle.
Mr Turner said: "Whatever else had happened in that room, the imam had not sold his life cheaply. He had fought back, despite his blindness."
Boutouil, who entered the country last July, was living in a squat near Wood Green, north London.
Flirty Rita Ora impresses London crowds at 'X Factor' auditions - Digital Spy
London 2012 Olympics venues: North Greenwich Arena - Daily Telegraph
Hosting: Artistic gymnastics, trampoline, basketball, wheelchair basketball
Schedule:
Artistic Gymnastics: July 28 – Aug 7
Trampoline: Aug 3 – Aug 4
Basketball: Aug 8 – Aug 12
Wheelchair basketball: Aug 30 - Sep 8
Capacity: 20,000
Fact: In June 2008, the London auditions for the fifth series of The X Factor were filmed at the arena
Post games: will continue in its existing state as music and exhibition venue.
Test event: Jan 10-18, 2011: Gymnastics (Artistic, Trampoline, Rhythmic), Olympic qualifier
Transport: North Greenwich (London Underground), Charlton (National Rail)
London 2012 providing boost to ‘Brand Britain’ - sportbusiness.com
A survey of 6,000 consumers by Deloitte, the official professional services provider to London 2012, found that around 80% of respondents from China and India are more likely to want to visit Britain in light of the publicity surrounding the Games. More than 60% say they would like to buy more British products, whilst 77% want to learn more about the UK as a whole. The research also shows that 76% of respondents in China and India associate the Olympic Games with the UK, a higher proportion than consumers elsewhere in Europe or the United States. Only the UK’s history, universities and London itself are attributes more closely associated with the UK in the minds of Chinese and Indian consumers.
“London 2012 clearly provides a direct and immediate opportunity for consumer businesses,” said Nigel Wixcey, UK head of consumer business at Deloitte. “However, our research shows the potential is there for a longer term benefit too, but only if companies are prepared to exploit the opportunity. As the global population is evolving, so consumer spending power is shifting. The emerging middle classes of China and India are increasingly powerful consumers of Western goods – both as visiting tourists and increasingly as strong consumer markets develop in their home countries. This trend will continue to accelerate over the next few years.”
Deloitte has noted that the impact of the publicity surrounding the Games has not been so pronounced in Europe and the US. However, despite this around half of consumers surveyed in France, Germany and the US said they are more interested in visiting Britain as a result of publicity surrounding the Games, whilst roughly a fifth would like to buy more British products.
Simon Oaten, director in the consumer business industry at Deloitte, added: “There has always been a strong underlying demand to visit Britain, but London 2012 is giving the UK a shot in the arm. Given the UK economy’s growth prospects, it is important for consumer businesses to develop relationships with overseas customers, particularly from markets such as India and China. Retailers and hospitality operators in the UK who understand the shifting global demographics will reap the rewards. London 2012 provides the UK with a unique moment, a unique competitive edge over other countries.”
London 2012 Olympics venues: Hadleigh Farm - Daily Telegraph
The farm is owned by the Salvation Army and covers a 550-acre site including grassland and woodland, making it a visual treat for spectators.
To get the venue up to scratch for hosting the event a new temporary course will be created within the farm, while temporary grandstands and facilities are also due for erection.
Spectators can access the farm via road, with the M25 and A13 providing easy access, or national rail from Fenchurch Street in London, while affordable general admission tickets should keep the event within the reach of regular fans.
After the Olympics the temporary structures will be taken down although discussions will take place to explore what course will be left in place for future use.
Useful links:
Olympic mountain bike schedule
You can also use our unique and fully interactive London 2012 Olympic Schedule to plan your Games.
GM's Vauxhall announces new Astra at UK plant - Yahoo Finance
LONDON (AP) -- General Motors' Vauxhall plant in northern England will build the company's top-selling Astra vehicles, the automaker said Thursday — a relief for U.K. politicians who had lobbied its American owner to keep the plant open.
The announcement comes after workers at the Ellesmere Port plant, near Liverpool, overwhelmingly backed a job deal which turned the factory into a 24-hour-a-day operation, a key cost-cutting measure pursued by parent company GM Europe.
GM Europe lost $700 million in 2011 and has been struggling to turn around its Opel and Vauxhall brands. It had been feared the company would close the Ellesmere Port facility in favor of consolidating production elsewhere — such as its headquarters in Ruesselsheim in Germany or Gliwice in Poland.
In a separate announcement, Opel said that the Ruesselsheim plant would switch to producing other models.
GM's announcement — which comes with a 125 million pound (nearly $200 million) investment and 700 extra jobs — is a break for leaders such as British Business Secretary Vince Cable, who fought to keep the British plant open.
Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking from the northern city of Manchester, called the decision "a fantastic vote of confidence."
"The U.K. government gave this its full backing. The unions supported the necessary changes. The workforce has responded magnificently. It is a British success story," he said.
Cable, who at one point traveled to the U.S. to plead the plant's case, told BBC television that no financial inducements were offered to General Motors Corp. to keep the U.K. facility open, saying the move underlined that Britain is "a good business environment for the motor industry."
Production of the new car is due to begin in 2015, with at least 160,000 vehicles scheduled to be produced every year.
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