LONDON (Reuters) – Mayor of London Boris Johnson said on Wednesday next year’s Olympics would help take Britons’ minds off the country’s economic woes, saying he had no regrets about 9.3 billion pounds having been spent on the Games.

Britons, currently struggling with rising prices, also have to cope with tax hikes and unprecedented cuts in public spending as the Conservative-led government attempts to cut a record budget deficit.

LONDON (Reuters) – Olympics minister said he could not guarantee all the tournament’s soccer stadiums would be full in 2012 after a sluggish start to sales compared with all the other events which sold out more than a year ahead of next summer’s Games.

Soccer is traditionally one of the biggest Olympic revenue spinners, with sell-out crowds having been treated in the past to glimpses of the world’s leading young players including Argentina’s World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in Beijing in 2008.

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – Britain’s Olympics minister said
he could not guarantee all the tournament’s soccer stadiums
would be full in 2012 after a sluggish start to sales compared
with all the other events which sold out more than a year ahead
of next summer’s Games.

Soccer is traditionally one of the biggest Olympic revenue
spinners, with sell-out crowds having been treated in the past
to glimpses of the world’s leading young players including
Argentina’s World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in Beijing in
2008.

LONDON (Reuters) – Once known as “Stinky Stratford” because of its noxious industries and slaughterhouses, one of Britain’s most economically deprived areas will act as the main gateway for spectators entering the Olympic Park at the 2012 Games.

As the 12-month countdown begins, many local residents remain skeptical about the coming of the Games, saying promised new jobs have gone to foreign workers and new homes are beyond their reach.

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) – Once known as “Stinky Stratford”
because of its noxious industries and slaughterhouses, one of
Britain’s most economically deprived areas will act as the main
gateway for spectators entering the Olympic Park at the 2012
Games.

As the 12-month countdown begins, many local residents
remain sceptical about the coming of the Games, saying promised
new jobs have gone to foreign workers and new homes are beyond
their reach.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Olympic minister said security planning for next summer’s Games would not be disrupted by this week’s resignations by London’s two top policeman over the phone-hacking scandal engulfing the now defunct News of the World.

On Sunday, Britain’s most senior policeman Commissioner Paul Stephenson resigned in the face of allegations that police officers had accepted money from the paper and had not done enough to investigate hacking charges that surfaced as far back as 2005.

LONDON (Reuters) – Teenager Tom Daley will provide one of the enduring moments of the London Olympics if he wins diving gold at the dazzling, new Aquatics Centre in a year’s time. How long the venue itself endures is another question.

An operator for the Zaha Hadid-designed centre, one of London’s most striking new venues, is still being sought amid fears that it may need significant subsidies to keep it open once the Olympics have left town.

LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) – Teenager Tom Daley will provide
one of the enduring moments of the London Olympics if he wins
diving gold at the dazzling, new Aquatics Centre in a year’s
time. How long the venue itself endures is another question.

An operator for the Zaha Hadid-designed centre, one of
London’s most striking new venues, is still being sought amid
fears that it may need significant subsidies to keep it open
once the Olympics have left town.

LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s Olympic minister said
security planning for next summer’s Games would not be disrupted
by this week’s resignations by London’s two top policeman over
the phone-hacking scandal engulfing the now defunct News of the
World.

On Sunday, Britain’s most senior policeman Commissioner Paul
Stephenson resigned in the face of allegations that police
officers had accepted money from the paper and had not done
enough to investigate hacking charges that surfaced as far back
as 2005.

LONDON (Reuters) – Faulty signals and crowded carriages are just part of the daily grind for London commuter Nick Maggs, even on a good day; this time next year, things could only get worse, he fears.

Maggs, who travels by train and underground services to his job in the City financial district, despairs for sports fans hoping to get to events at the 2012 Olympics on London’s busy transport network.