The Olympic torch is taking the scenic route to the Highlands as it passes Loch Lomond and Loch Ness.
The flame is being carried 169 miles by 92 torchbearers from Glasgow to Inverness on Saturday, the second leg of its eight-day tour of the country.
The first torchbearer of the day was 16-year-old Emma Baird who was nominated for her determination in overcoming health problems to play sport.
Despite suffering Upper Femoral Epiphysis and spending time in a wheelchair she is now part of her school football team.
Emma passed the flame to veteran Olympian Hamish Hardie MBE who competed as a yachtsman in the 1948 London Olympics.
Mr Hardie, who is currently the vice-chair of the Clyde Maritime Trust, took the flame on board the restored Glenlee Tall Ship on the River Clyde.
He said: "It is a great pleasure and honour to welcome the Olympic Torch on board Glasgow's ship Glenlee. It is the only Clyde-built sailing ship still afloat in Great Britain and was built in 1896 - the same year that the first Olympic Games were organised by the International Olympic Committee."
The torch is being carried through Luss, Tarbet and Crianlarich on the banks of Loch Lomond before touring the Highlands.
The flame will travel across Loch Ness by boat from Fort Augustus to Drumnadrochit and visit the weekend RockNess music festival at Dores.
Soul-pop star Emeli Sande will carry the torch during the relay as well as perform at a torch celebration concert for the second night in a row.
Ms Sande will join dance acts and local performers at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness, following her performance in Glasgow last night.
The Brits' Critics' Choice winner said: "I think that's going to be a really special moment. It's a real honour to get to do that. I wasn't expecting it. I can't wait.
"I don't think within my lifetime we're going to be able to do this again, have the Olympics in my country, so it's definitely something I'll look back on and it will always be a fond memory."
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Source: news.stv.tv
London 28 Widnes 24: Bucking Broncos throw Vikings with late show - Daily Mail
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Antonio Kaufusi grabbed a last-gasp try as London snatched a dramatic victory over Widnes in the Stobart Super League basement battle at the Stoop.
Kaufusi burst over from close range as the hooter sounded to haul the Broncos off the foot of the table - at Widnes' expense.
It was a cruel blow for the visitors, who looked set to claim the two points after try braces from Cameron Phelps and Frank Winterstein.
Triumph: London Broncos hauled themselves off the bottom of the league
The hosts welcomed back both Jason Golden and Julien Rinaldi after lengthy spells out with injury, although both Michael Witt and Chris Melling were forced to miss out.
Widnes were able to restore Jon Clarke at stand-off, although Joe Mellor sat out the clash following his suspension for a dangerous tackle against Huddersfield last week.
Having beaten the Londoners 38-30 on their own patch earlier this season, and buoyed by last weekend's defeat of the Giants, Widnes approached the game in confident mood.
The visitors made the brighter start, Phelps racing clear to touch down after a delayed pass from Clarke with barely three minutes on the clock.
But a succession of penalties soon put Widnes on the back foot, and the Londoners profited when Craig Gower charged over from close range to bring the teams level.
Paul McShane came close to giving the Vikings the lead again on 17 minutes, only for some strong London defence to hold him up as he attempted to wrestle over the line.
The hosts themselves were growing into the game, but handling errors from both sides were stopping them gaining any momentum.
The Broncos were showing a severe lack of creativity though, and that was allowing the Vikings to stay on level terms despite the hosts bossing possession and territory.
Tug back: Jamie O'Callaghan of London Broncos has his shirt pulled by Paddy Flynn
Gower thought he had struck again on 30 minutes, only for referee Rob Hicks to adjudge him short of the line.
But London did take the lead shortly after, wing Omari Caro crossing in the corner after some neat hands from Dan Sarginson and David Howell.
As has so often been the case this season though, the Broncos were unable to take that lead into half-time, Winterstein muscling over to bring the sides level right on the hooter.
And things got even better for the away side moments after the interval when Phelps took advantage of Gower's slip to race through for his second try and push Widnes back into a six-point lead.
Collection: Julien Rinaldi
London were quick to answer that though, Tony Clubb bulldozing through to level things up on 48 minutes.
It was the Broncos who were on top, but they were unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck as Widnes held firm.
But as the chances went begging the Vikings rallied themselves, and then showed London how it should be done when Winterstein crashed over for his second and Patrick Ah Van maintained his 100% record with the boot this afternoon with the conversion attempt to push the visitors 24-18 ahead.
Back came the Broncos, Sarginson setting up a grandstand finish when he wriggled over with seven minutes to play, only for Shane Rodney, who had added the extras to the previous three tries, to hit the post with his conversion attempt.
The game looked up but Kaufusi changed all that, with Kieran Dixon adding the extras to seal a narrow win.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London 2012: London bus drivers vote to strike over bonuses - BBC News
Bus workers in London have voted to take strike action in a row over their workload during the Olympics.
Nearly 40% of Unite members working for 21 bus companies voted 94% in favour of strike action. No dates have been set.
The union, which is asking for a £500 bonus, says bus workers are the only London transport staff not in line to receive an Olympics bonus payment.
Transport for London (TfL) said bus workers were employed by private firms who set their pay.
Dates for strike action could be announced early next week.
Unite says it expects 800,000 extra passengers to travel on buses during the Games.
It said workers on London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railways, Network Rail and Virgin would all receive between £500 to £900 in extra payments.
In May, a survey of 2,955 London bus and rail passengers commissioned by the union found that 88% were in favour of Olympic bonus pay.
'Completely reprehensible'Peter Kavanagh, Unite regional secretary for London, said: "It's a disgrace that London's mayor, Boris Johnson, and the bus companies have allowed this dispute to get this far.
"Our members are only asking for an extra £17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics.
"Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out."
Leon Daniels, TfL's managing director of surface transport, said: "I am not surprised that 70% of London's bus drivers did not vote for strike action.
"That is because about 70% of London's local bus services are not affected by the Olympic Games.
"The whole country is really entering into the spirit of the Games and the overwhelming responsible majority are pulling out all the stops to make it a huge success.
"Only Unite appears to want to exploit it by adding a further multimillion-pound burden to the hard-pressed fare-payers and taxpayers of London."
Mr Daniels added that Unite had already negotiated binding deals for pay and conditions with each of the bus companies for this year.
"Attempting to tear up those agreements and get a new one with less than 50 days to go before the Games is completely reprehensible and out of step with every other provider of services in this city this summer."
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London seal landmark triumph - Belfast Telegraph
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Goals from Martin Finn and Tony Dunne helped them to a 2-11 to 0-8 interval lead, before Wicklow staged a revival with the help of an 11 points tally from Jonathan O'Neill.
But the Exiles finished strongly, two goals from Jonathan Maher sealing a convincing 10 points success.
Armagh won the Nicky Rackard Cup final with a 3-20 to 1-15 defeat of Louth.
All the goals came in the first half, two of them from Declan Coulter. Conor Corvana scored the other Armagh goal, while Brian Corcoran netted for Louth.
It was 3-13 to 0-8 at half-time, and while Shane Fennell tried to revive the Louth challenge with a nine points haul, the Orchard men finished strongly with points from David Carville (0-6) and Paul McCormack.
Tyrone came out on top at the end of a Lory Meagher Cup final that went to extra-time, winning by 2-24 to 3-20.
Conor Grogan was the hero who sent the game to added time with a late equalisers, and also shot the winner.
Fermanagh had first half goals from Shea Currna, Declan McGarry and Sean Corrigan, but trailed by 1-12 to 3-4 at half-time, after Sean Og Grogan had hit a Tyrone goal.
Justin Kelly scored Tyrone's second goal, and they held their nerve to close out a game that had had been level on 10 occasions.
Source: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
London 2012: bus drivers vote to strike during Olympic Games - The Guardian
Thousands of London bus workers have voted to go on strike during the Olympics if they do not receive a bonus of £500.
Members of the Unite union voted for industrial action by a ratio of nine to one. The union is seeking the bonus for the 20,000 bus workers it represents, claiming that other transport workers have been paid a premium for working during the event.
The ballot allows the union to name the date for a strike but they have not yet named a date. Unite said it was giving the bus companies a final opportunity to consider the "landslide" ballot result before announcing possible strike dates early next week.
At least 800,000 extra passengers are predicted to use London's buses during the Olympics.
Unite official Peter Kavanagh said negotiations had been going on for a year.
"Our members are only asking for an extra £17 a day which will just about buy you a pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics. Our members want the Games to be a success but their patience has run out," he said.
"We have given Transport for London and the bus operators almost a year to resolve this issue. Every single London transport worker in London will receive a reward to recognise their major contribution to this historic occasion except for London's bus workers."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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