WELCOME to our live coverage of Day 61 of the Olympic torch relay which sees the flame visit Ashford, Hythe and Folkestone before arriving at Dover for a spectacular evening of celebrations.
Don't forget to send your pictures of the torch relay to rhys.griffiths@northcliffedigital.co.uk or upload them straight to www.thisiskent.co.uk. You can also tweet them to @rhysdgriffiths.
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People turned out to welcome the flame in Tonbridge yesterday (Pic: Sharon Marris)
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Crowds flocked to Tunbridge Wells to see the torch relay yesterday (Pic: Rachel Knight/Maxim)
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The torch convoy passing through Tunbridge Wells on Tuesday (Pic: Robert Streeter)
1.46pm Torch now in Sandgate.
1.09pm Here are some of the latest pictures of the torch as it makes its way through the streets of Hythe:
1.07pm The torch has now arrived in Hythe.
12.36pm Hearing the torch has now left Ashford on its way to Hythe.
12.32pm The torch is due to arrive in Hythe at 1.06pm. Here are some pictures from the town, including a great group shot of the torchbearers:
12.11pm This was the scene in Folkestone this morning where the route for the torch relay has been marked out down Sandgate Road:
12.02pm While the torch takes a break for lunch, here is some of the social media reaction to the torch relay in Ashford this morning:
11.36am Next stop for the torch will be Hythe. If you're out on the route do tweet your pictures of the action to @rhysdgriffiths.
11.22am Want to know where to see the torch later today in Hythe, Sandgate, Folkestone and Dover? Then check out our full street-by-street route guide and map.
11.13am The torch has now reached Ashford High Street.
10.59am Torch has now arrived in Ashford. Here are some pictures of the scenes in the town being shared on Twitter:
10.53am MP Damian Green tells Herald chief reporter Eleanor Jones that he's never seen Ashford high street so busy.
10.52am Torch is now en route to Ashford and is due to arrive shortly.
10.43am Here's the torch in Hamstreet:
10.33am The torch has now arrived in Hamstreet.
10.31am Here are some pictures of Ashford preparing to welcome the torch relay:
10.29am Read more about Nirav, who is from Ramsgate, on the London 2012 website.
10.27am In about five minutes the flame should be in Hamstreet, where torchbearer Nirav Patel will begin the Day 61 relay in Kent.
10.16am The torch is due to arrive in Hamstreet in around 15 minutes. Do send your pictures of the torch relay in your community to rhys.griffiths@northcliffedigital.co.uk or upload them straight to www.thisiskent.co.uk.
9.39am We have got reporters out and about all day covering the torch as it passes through south Kent:
Antony Thrower, @AntonyThrower86 on Twitter, will be in Hythe from around midday.
Mike Sims, @mikesims88 on Twitter, will be in Sandgate from around 1pm.
Adam Westgarth, @AdamWestgarth84 on Twitter, Kathy Bailes, @kjbailes on Twitter, and Phil Hayes, @phil_hayes_ on Twitter, will be in Dover from 5pm.
9.22am We have posted a Newsflare assignment for the Olympic torch relay. Submit your video of the relay in Kent and you could turn your clips into cash.
8.45am Good morning, and welcome to the first day of serious torch relaying in Kent.
We got a flavour of the fun yesterday when the flame passed through Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge, but today we will see the torch arrive in Kent at around 10.30am and begin three days in the county.
Here's what the day looked like in west Kent yesterday:
LIVE: Olympic torch in Kent on Day 60 of relay to London 2012
Thousands line streets to welcome Olympic torch to Tunbridge Wells
Golden girl Dame Kelly Holmes brings Olympic torch to Tonbridge
Source: www.thisiskent.co.uk
London withdraws 500,000 Olympic football tickets - Football
Published: 18 Jul 2012 - 10:46:50
The organisers of the London Olympics conceded defeat Wednesday in selling all the tickets for the football tournament as they revealed plans to slash the capacity of some stadiums.
Organisers LOCOG said more than one million tickets were left unsold, but that figure has been cut in half by reducing capacity at venues including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The changes mean that for the football tournament, 250,000 tickets are currently available.
In addition to this, a further 200,000 football tickets are due to go on sale after being returned by Olympics committees from around the world.
The top tiers of stadiums will be curtained off to hide the empty seats.
A spokesman for LOCOG said: "We are planning to reduce capacity across the venues by up to 500,000 tickets across the tournament.
"This will involve possibly not using a tier, or an area of a ground, in some of the venues.
"This can apply to men's and women's football, if necessary."
A total of 700,000 Olympics tickets are yet to be sold, with 50,000 available for other sports as well as a soon-to-be-returned set of 200,000.
Chief organiser Sebastian Coe insisted on Tuesday that ticket sales were "not in bad shape" despite LOCOG being forced to cut the size of stadiums.
Coe said: "They are in reduced-size venues, of course. We have scaled down the size of those venues.
"We've sold more football tickets than we've sold for anything else.
"We're not in bad shape on tickets. It was always going to be that football tickets were the challenge but I think we'll do pretty well."
Coe admitted though that the heavy rain in recent weeks in Britain was proving "quite a challenge" as the Games edge nearer.
"This is a challenge," he said. "I have joked in the past about putting a roof across the whole country. But, let's be clear -- this is actually proving quite a challenge to us.
"We have got waterlogged sites, resurfacing that is taking place in some areas, particularly in some of the more sensitive and rural sites, Greenwich Park and Eton Dorney.
"We're laying down a trackway and services for spectators and vehicles now and through the Games. Now we are building additional shelters for our workforce.
"At the risk of sounding a little bit like a father about to issue their kids off on an outward-bound trip, let me make the obvious point that we are a northern European country.
"People do need to be wearing the right footwear, the right rain-proof clothing and sun-screen."
Related Team GB News
Source: www.football.co.uk
DivorceYes.com Now Offers Affordable Legal Assistance for Those Pursuing DIY Divorce - YAHOO!
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Source: news.yahoo.com
Olympic torch: Dame Kelly Holmes brings the flame to Tonbridge - BBC News
Dame Kelly Holmes has brought the Olympic flame to her home town in Kent which was not included in the route of the Olympic torch relay.
Dame Kelly said the event was organised after she told relay organisers Locog of "her disappointment" that Tonbridge had been left out of the relay.
The double Olympic gold medallist lit a 2012 torch in the grounds of the town's castle from a Davy lamp.
She paraded it past thousands of people who had gathered around the castle.
"I was very disappointed that Tonbridge was wasn't going to be part of the torch relay," said Dame Kelly.
"Olympic spirit for me is just massive and I think the flame has captured everyone's imagination with the torch relay.
"It's such a shame that my community and the people who supported me didn't get a sense of that spirit, so I went to Locog and explained my disappointment and said 'we really need to put on an event, we're going to have to put on an event'."
Thousands of people, who had gathered on the town's high street, cheered as Dame Kelly walked on to a platform at the end of the castle's grounds.
Homecoming paradeShe held an Olympic torch, which was lit from a Davy lamp on the platform, and she paraded it around the grounds where 2,000 local schoolchildren has been invited.
In 2004, a homecoming parade was held in Tonbridge for Dame Kelly when she returned from the Olympics in Athens where she won gold in the 800m and 1500m.
Dame Kelly said to the crowd: " I will never forget the moment I came to Tonbridge after winning my two golds in Athens.
"I want to say a big thank you to all of you who have come out to support me then and now."
Sir John Stanley, MP for Tonbridge and Malling, said: "Dame Kelly, being a Tonbridge schoolgirl as she was, she has a very special place in the hearts of Tonbridge people.
"I applaud for her being so loyal to Tonbridge she is a national figure, an international figure but she always remembers her local roots."
In a speech after the lighting of the torch, Sir John said: "Dame Kelly, Tonbridge was in danger of being forgotten by the torch, thanks to you the torch has come to Tonbridge."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London 2012: F1 track plan among Olympic Stadium bids - BBC News
A scheme to turn the Olympic Stadium into part of a Formula 1 track after the London 2012 Games is one of four now under official consideration.
Football clubs West Ham and Leyton Orient are bidding to be tenants, as is the UCFB College of Football Business.
An original deal for West Ham to lease the £486m stadium was scrapped last year amid legal wrangling.
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) said bids will be assessed before any negotiations begin.
Plans for a grand prix circuit were tabled by Intelligent Transport Services, in conjunction with F1, according to the corporation.
F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters: "If they were to get permission to do it, then we would be more than happy to do something with them. But we have nothing to do with putting in a bid."
The proposal would reportedly allow another British round of the world championship in and around the stadium in East London.
UCFB, which offers degrees in football business, is based at Burnley FC's Turf Moor ground and is an affiliate of Bucks New University.
It is understood Orient's proposal is based on a ground share with West Ham, although the Premier League club has insisted it is not considering that arrangement.
Asked on Twitter if the Hammers were looking at a ground share with any club in the future, co-chairman David Gold replied: "Absolutely not."
Ecclestone said last month that he had been consulted by the Intelligent Transport Services company about plans to use the stadium for a race.
He told the Daily Telegraph: "This is a firm that happened to be bidding for use of the stadium, not to own it. They came up with a scheme whereby Formula 1 would race around the stadium, inside it, outside it. They wanted to make sure I would be interested."
Ecclestone has separately said that plans for a race on a 3.15 mile (5.1 km) London circuit taking in sights including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square were "no joke".
Orient chairman Barry Hearn refused to comment on a possible ground share, but told BBC Sport he hoped the League One club's bid could succeed.
"There is no point dwelling on the design of the stadium and the faults of the stadium," he said.
"We have to get on with it, we have to make a fist of it and we have to make sure the Government and the people of this country get maximum value for the investment that has gone into the Olympic Stadium.
"Our idea does that and I think it forms part of a legacy that people in this country can be proud of. Bearing in mind this is the only time in our lifetime that we are ever going to hold the Olympic Games, we need to get something out of it.
"A mixture of usages and a mixture of opportunity within the Olympic Stadium will give us the feeling that we have spent our money wisely and that is really what we are trying to achieve. All sides have to exercise common sense and move forward. I think we have created a very interesting scheme that can do just that."
Essex County Cricket Club has dropped plans for tenancy at the stadium after its partner, the University of London, pulled out of the process.
It has already been announced the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium will be reduced after the Games to a 60,000 venue, which retains a running track, and will host the 2017 World Athletics Championships.
The LLDC says it is possible more than one bidder could be successful, with a decision expected in the autumn.
Meanwhile, preferred bidder status has been granted to iCITY for the Olympic press and broadcast centres.
It wants to them into a design, technology and research base that might create more than 4,000 jobs. The scheme includes a conference centre, pedestrian square, cafes, restaurants and bars.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics: nine days to go - live blog - The Guardian
Hello and welcome to today’s Olympics live blog, with nine days to go until the Games begin.
Coming up today:
• The Olympic torch travels from Hastings to Dover, via Ashford and Folkestone. Send your pictures to paul.owen@guardian.co.uk or tweet me @paultowen.
• Hugh Robertson, the sports minister, is due to give a press conference on the Olympic finances at 11.15am.
• LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and other members of the US men’s basketball team hold a “media day” in Manchester. Bryant has slammed the NBA for considering an age limit that would prevent many of the world's top basketball players taking part in future Olympics, calling the idea “stupid”. The US athletics team are also holding a media day.
• Tonight Great Britain’s women’s basketball team are due to play the US at the MEN Arena in Manchester. The US team’s coach Geno Auriemma said they did not mind being among the favourites to win gold. (As Marlo once said in The Wire: “Sound like one of them good problems.”)
Here is today’s news so far:
• Tube services have been disrupted again for the second day running as Londoners wait to see if the already-crowded transport system will cope with the influx of visitors to the Games. A late finish to engineering work meant severe delays to those using the Circle and District lines in the early part of the morning rush hour. There were also rush-hour delays today to London-bound mainline services operated by the Southern train company, caused by a broken-down train.
• South African athlete Caster Semenya has said running in the London Olympics is going to be “special for me”. Semenya won the 800m in Berlin in 2009 aged 18 but was then forced to undergo gender tests after exhibiting high levels of testosterone. She said: "That is in the past … With each year I experience I become a more relaxed athlete. I also know what is important to listen to and what to ignore. I try to run my best always but sometimes I do not and I have to deal with negatives. People ask questions that can make you sad, but I must always stay positive. That's what I have to learn. I have to act professionally. But this is my first Olympics so London will be special for me."
• In more potato-based news following the scandal nobody called “chipsgate”, Thames Valley police have been told they do not, after all, have to tip their crisps into plastic bags so as not to accidentally promote non-sponsoring brands. Locog has apparently told Thames Valley police it’s OK for their officers to eat their crisps straight from the bags they came in. An officer told Australia’s Telegraph: "It is a victory for commonsense, but if we hadn't kicked up a fuss, they would have had us decanting our crisps and pop into unmarked containers."
• The Ministry of Defence is urgently making preparations to call up as many as 2,000 more troops for Olympic security if G4S fails to deliver on its revised target of 7,000 staff in place by next week's opening ceremony, Whitehall sources say.
• Simon Hoggart gives his verdict on G4S chief Nick Buckles’s appearance before the Commons home affairs committee yesterday: “He hadn't known. He hadn't even bothered to find out before coming to the select committee. And he plans to keep the £57m management fee, on the grounds that they will be delivering some of the promised security guards! This is the equivalent of a plumber bursting a pipe, flooding your house, then demanding his call-out fee because he'd already put a lot of work in.” Meanwhile the Guardian’s leader column calls for Buckles to get his hair cut. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down.
• Esther Addley talks to the “Games Makers” – 70,000 volunteers on whom the success of the Olympics depends.
• If you study the Jamaican team when it parades at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games this month, one competitor will stand out, writes Stephen Moss – and it's not Usain Bolt. At 41 Samantha Albert is 10 years older than the rest of the team and the only white Jamaican taking part in the Games.
• On the eve of an Olympic Games that has promised to "inspire a generation of young people through sport", research has indicated a 60% drop in the amount of time dedicated to organising school sport nationwide in the wake of government cuts, writes Owen Gibson.
• G4S should make it easier to beat the privatisation racket, argues Seumas Milne.
• The craving for massive live events is ruining our cities, says Simon Jenkins.
• Zoe Williams meets Ashley McKenzie, the charming London wild child who is throwing off judo's conventions.
• Sean Ingle meets Nicola Adams, a fighter with history on her mind.
• Yohan Blake warmed up for the London Olympics by winning the 100m at a Lucerne meet in 9.85sec last night, his first competitive race since beating Usain Bolt twice at the Jamaican Olympic trials.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Semenya ready to put controversial past behind her at last at 'special' London Games - Daily Mail
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Caster Semenya is looking forward to running in the London Olympics with the controversy that dogged her 2009 World Championships win behind her.
The South African, then aged just 18, stormed to victory in the 800 metres in Berlin but was then forced to undergo gender tests after exhibiting high levels of testosterone.
Semenya was left in limbo and has been unable to kick on from her time of one minute 55.45 seconds in that final, but is now back at the forefront of the event and looking ahead to this summer's Games with optimism.
Test: Caster Semenya (left) was scrutinised after winning the 800m in Berlin
'That is in the past,' she told national newspapers. 'You need to concentrate on the future. I don't have to entertain those things now. I can concentrate on my running, that's all.
'With each year I experience I become a more relaxed athlete. I also know what is important to listen to and what to ignore.
Relaxed: Semenya has founf form again
'I try to run my best always but sometimes I do not and I have to deal with negatives. People ask questions that can make you sad, but I must always stay positive.
'That's what I have to learn. I have to act professionally. But this is my first Olympics so London will be special for me.'
Nelson Mandela has been a major influence on Semenya's career and her fight for equal treatment and she paid tribute to the former South Africa president, who turns 94 today.
'The first time I met Mandela he was just looking at me as a little tiny girl,' she said. 'I was a little bit small but he said: "I believe in you, so you go out there and make me proud". So I kept the spirit and the legacy.
'Everything I do, I do it for him. He made me believe in the dark days after my victory. He inspired me a lot and he continues to do so.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Rent incentives peak on top London offices - Land Securities - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - A lack of top-quality offices in London's financial district was keeping incentives for companies to rent them in check, despite the poor economic backdrop, the chief executive of Britain's largest listed property company Land Securities said.
The shortage meant an average 12-month rent-free period on a five-year lease - a typical incentive used to attract new tenants - was unlikely to increase, Rob Noel said after a trading update on Wednesday.
"Modern efficient space is evaporating," said Noel, describing the London market for top quality office space as "supply-constrained".
Incentives like rent-free periods or paying for an office fit-out become more generous depending on the strength of the lettings market.
Land Securities is developing the skyscraper known as the Walkie Talkie with Canary Wharf Group in the heart of London's insurance district, a sector doing relatively well despite the wider economic crisis due to its counter-cyclical nature.
A 20-year deal with insurer Markel for the 26th and 27th floors of the building at a rent of 65 pounds ($100) per square foot included a rent-free period of 32 months. Noel said there were no extra incentives despite recent media reports that other sweeteners may have been included.
Land Securities said 19 percent of the office floor space in the tower was already let or going through the legal process in its trading update.
The Walkie Talkie is one of several skyscrapers under construction in central London that have suffered from a muted lettings market following of the global financial crisis.
The Shard, the European Union's tallest skyscraper, opened earlier this month, outside the financial district, though it has yet to announce its first office tenant.
Developers are betting that a wave of lease breaks and expiries over the next few years will prompt tenants to move into high-quality new offices.
(Editing by Erica Billingham)
Source: uk.reuters.com
London Welsh sign Evans and Runciman - Yahoo! Eurosport
Evans, a 30-year-old has spent the last six seasons with Plymouth Albion, but only made the full-time switch to hooker for the last two campaigns, having previously operated in the back row and as a prop.
Evans has also represented the Navy in the annual match against the Army at Twickenham, and scored the winning try during the 2010 encounter.
He will combine his role as a Royal Marine sergeant with playing for the Exiles in their maiden Aviva Premiership campaign.
"It's a massive opportunity and I'm really looking forward to next season," Evans said.
"The Aviva Premiership is a massive challenge but we'll see how we get on. Unlike in the Championship we'll really have to hit the ground running, but hopefully with (coach) Lyn (Jones) in charge he'll guide us through."
The 26-year-old Runciman spent last season with Gloucester, having left Welsh after a three year stint at Old Deer Park.
Runciman, who also previously played for Worcester and was capped by England at age-grade level, made 15 appearances for the Cherry and Whites but will be hoping for more first-team opportunities with the Exiles.
"I'm very pleased to be back - it feels like I've never been away," said Runciman.
"It's a great place to play rugby, a great bunch of lads and I'm looking forward to playing under (head coach) Lyn (Jones).
"I watched all of London Welsh's televised games last season and kept my eye on their results. It was great to see the boys win the Championship the way they did. It was testament to the professionalism of the lads and the coaching staff at the club.
"Gloucester definitely benefited my game. I feel fitter than I've ever been and my game management's improved, and hopefully I can add that to the London Welsh squad."
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Kent's jobless falls by nearly 1,000 - Kent Online
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Unemployment dropped by nearly a thousand in the county last month.
Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) across Kent and Medway fell by 971 to 35,963.
The Medway total dipped by 163 to 7,145 (4.2% of the workforce), while the Kent tally fell by 808 to 28,818 (3.2%).
Totals fell in each of the county’s 12 districts, with three-figure driops in Gravesham (down 118) and Swale (down 146).
Nationally, the number of unemployed people fell by 65,000 to 2.58m, a fgigure that was 132,000 on the year.
The quarterly rate was 8.1%, down 0.2% on the quarter. The claimant count stood at 1.6m, up 6,100 compared with May.
The number of women claiming JSA jumped by 8,000 to 530,700, the highest figure since August 1995.
The increase may be due to fewer single parents being able to claim Lone Parent Income Support.
The number of people out of work for more than two years went up by 18,000 to a 15-year high of 441,000.
The number of jobs rose by 181,000, with the largest job increase in the 25 - 34 age group where the number of people in work rose by 79,000 to 6.64m.
The number of employed people 65 and over rose by 52,000 to 929,000, the highest figure for 20 years.
The employers’ organisation the CBI said that despite challenging times, the labour market was showing some resilience. But the rise in the claimant count remained troubling.
Neil Carberry, CBI Director for Employment and Skills, said: “The rising number of JSA claimants, and the fact that we have 441,000 people who’ve been unemployed for over two years, emphasises how important the Government’s Work Programme is.
"We need everyone to get behind the vital Work Programme initiative, to ensure it fulfils its potential for jobseekers, employers, and taxpayers.”
Claimant count on June 14: Kent and Medway, 35,963 (down 971); Medway, 7,145 (down 163); Rest of Kent, 28,818 (down 808); Ashford, 1,973 (down 54); Canterbury, 2,380 (down 75); Dartford, 1,856 (down 82); Dover, 2,649 (down 55); Gravesham, 2,701 (down 118); Maidstone, 2,416 (down 65); Sevenoaks, 1,271 (down 30); Shepway, 2,715 (down 53); Swale, 3,391 (down 146); Thanet, 4,797 (down 69); Tonbridge and Malling, 1,576 (down 28); Tunbridge Wells, 1,093 (down 33).
Wednesday, July 18 2012
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