London Olympics: 59 days to go; Ukraine Olympic chief steps down - Daily News and Analysis
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The general secretary of Ukraine’s National Olympics Committee (NOC) resigned on Monday following claims by the BBC that he sought to sell tickets for the London Games in the black market. “Volodymyr Gerashchenko has submitted his resignation from the ...London 2012: taekwondo world No 1 selection omission triggers Olympic row - The Guardian
Aaron Cook, the taekwondo world number one whose omission from the British team by his sport's governing body has sparked a huge selection row, could be reinstated after a key meeting of the British Olympic Association on Tuesday.
The, BOA chief executive, Andy Hunt said it was "virtually unprecedented" that it would overrule the selection of British Taekwondo, but the four-strong panel is believed to be seriously considering such a course of action. Cook had been expected to secure the under-80kg nomination in a four-strong team, having retained his European title in Manchester earlier this month. But despite the backing from performance director Gary Hall, he was overlooked in favour of Lutalo Muhammad, who is ranked 10th and would have to drop down a weight division for the Olympics.
The 21-year-old last year quit the British Taekwondo's World Class Performance Programme to train on his own, leading to suspicions that was a factor in the decision. Cook said on Monday he found it "incredible" that Muhammad had been chosen over him.
"I left British Taekwondo's World Class Performance Programme because I felt that their methods were wrong for me. I was not achieving my potential," he said.
"Twelve months after backing myself and creating my team as a result of the financial backing of my personal sponsors, the results show that I was 100% right," said Cook, who will return to the top of the world rankings to be announced on Friday.
"This is my whole life. I will continue to train for the London Olympics until the BOA announce the selected athletes in Taekwondo for Team GB."
In a separate statement, Cook's agent also urged UK Sport – the funding agency for Olympic sport that has invested £4.8m over four years in a sport widely considered a good bet for medal success in London – to "consider the whole process given the role of the British taxpayer in the funding of taekwondo in this country".
If the BOA rules against the governing body, the decision will be open to appeal. Hunt said: "It is such an amazing and extraordinary thing to compete for your Olympic team at your home Games — it can be a life-changer. As an organisation, we take that responsibility massively seriously because it affects people's livelihoods and careers."
'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.
London 2012 Olympics venues: Handball Arena - Daily Telegraph
Hosting: Handball, fencing (modern pentathlon), goalball
Schedule:
Handball: July 28 – Aug 7
Modern Pentathlon: Aug 11 – Aug 12
Goalball: Aug 30 - Sep 7
Capacity: 7,000
Fact: rainwater collected from the venue’s roof will be used to flush lavatories and reduce water usage by 40 per cent.
Post games: sports centre for local community
Test event: Nov 23-27, 2011: Handball, International Invitational (women's), Dec 3-4, 2011: Goalball, International Invitational (women's)
Transport: Stratford (National Rail, London Underground, DLR), West Ham (London Underground, National Rail)
London firefighters 'used as locksmiths' - BBC News
Firefighters in London are being called out nearly every hour to rescue people who have locked themselves in or out of a building or vehicle.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said in the last three years, it has been called out to nearly 22,000 incidents of this type each day.
The brigade said it has been called out to people trapped in cemeteries, toilets and cupboards.
It estimated this costs taxpayers more than £500,000.
In the period 2009-11, the brigade was called to:
- 2,287 incidents where people were locked in
- 1,613 incidents where people were locked out
- 1,409 incidents involving babies or children being locked in cars or homes
- 276 adults and 176 children locked in toilets
- 12 people locked in cemeteries
- 14 people locked in cupboards
- A woman stuck in a fridge and a man shut in a freezer
- A person locked in the luggage area of a coach
- A person locked in a crematorium with a child
- A person stuck in a recycling bin
LFB said it wanted to reduce these types of callouts, saying locksmiths should be called instead unless somebody's life is at risk.
On Tuesday, the force will tweet about every locked in or out incident that its crews are sent to.
'Finished at pub'Dave Brown, head of operations, prevention and response, said: "We get called to an absurd number of non-emergency incidents involving people who have locked themselves in or out of their homes.
"We've even had people call 999 to ask if we can come round and let them into their homes, but then ask for the fire engine to arrive at 11.30 once they've finished at the pub."
He added: "If it's obvious to our crews that it's not an emergency, we won't help and people may well find themselves left out in the cold."
Steffan George, from the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA), said: "In most situations, a locksmith should be with you within an hour.
"It's always advisable to contact a qualified and inspected locksmith, such as those vetted by the MLA.
"I'd even suggest storing the phone number of a local locksmith in your mobile in case you ever need it."
London 2012 Olympics venues: Olympic Village - Daily Telegraph
The Athlete's Village – comprised of residential apartments for around 17,000 athletes and officials – is located on the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London and cost an estimated £324 million to build.
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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