• Theresa May, the home secretary, has raised the prospect of the private security firm G4S paying for the 3,500 extra troops who are to be deployed to police the Olympic Games, after the firm admitted it was having “issues” providing the number of security guards it was contracted to. May said the government was going to talk to Locog – who made the contract with G4S – about the financial penalties in the contract, and was not going to pay out for the troops if G4S ought to pay financial penalties that could cover that sum. Labour’s Tessa Jowell is calling for G4S to be paid “substantially less than the large sums of money in the original contract”. May also came under fire for having said on Monday that she was “confident our partners will deliver a safe and secure Games". And she promised to compensate troops and their families financially and with Olympic tickets.
• Readers saying they work for G4S have been in touch with the Guardian to complain that vetting, assigning shifts, training and other preparations for the Games have been poorly organised, inadequate and chaotic. On a Facebook page people who would have liked to have been G4S security guards complained that the private security firm had been unable to handle the numbers of applicants they had, leading to the shortfall now being made up by troops.
• Two female athletes will compete for Saudi Arabia at the London Games, the International Olympic Committee announced today. Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani will compete in the +78kg judo competition while runner Sarah Attar will take part in the 800m. This comes after months of talks - with Saudi Olympic chiefs at one point insisting no women would be allowed to take part.
• Olympic athletes arriving at Heathrow from next week face potential transport delays after the Highways Agency said it was unable to guarantee that urgent repairs on the M4 motorway would be completed by Monday.
• Temporary staff hired to shorten the passport queues at Heathrow and other south-east airports during the Olympics have no immigration background or experience, and have only received basic training, the official immigration watchdog has warned.
• There are mixed feelings in Weymouth and Portland, Dorset, about the staging of the Olympic sailing regatta there, as despite official denials rumours still swirl around the area that Olympic organisers are going to set up barriers to prevent people with sea-views from watching races or are banning those with views of the sailing area from having people to stay.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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