The 16 potential host cities have been presenting their plans to ‘England 2018′ officials this week and, along with Wembley, the Emirates and Tottenham’s planned new stadium, the team in London believe the Olympic venue could boost the overall bid.

As well as the kudos of including an Olympic Stadium alongside such iconic grounds as Wembley and Old Trafford, it has been argued that there are sound practical reasons for using the £547 million development.

The Olympic Park in Stratford will be the largest urban park to have been created in Europe for 150 years and could provide a vast focal point for fans to congregate and watch matches on giant television screens. There would also be no issue with having an athletics track around the pitch for World Cup matches.

By: telegraph.co.uk     Read more >>

British band Madness are to play their first street gig on one of London’s principal shopping streets to celebrate their 30th anniversary next month.

The free concert will take place on Regent Street, which will be closed to traffic during the eight-hour event.

“It’ll be a giant outdoor party so we will play music people want to hear,” said the band’s frontman Suggs.

Absolute Radio, which is also celebrating its first anniversary, will be giving away tickets on air.

Only 1500 tickets will be available, but pedestrians will still be able to watch the gig on big screens.

Other acts will also appear, as part of the annual Regent Street Festival, although none have been confirmed yet.

By: news.bb.co.uk       Read more >>

The £34billion link, also serving Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, will whisk passengers from the capital to Glasgow in just two hours 16 minutes, Network Rail said.

The route is considered the best solution to overcrowding on Britain’s busy West Coast Main Line, which will be full to capacity by 2020.

But at a cost of more than £20million for every mile of track, passengers will not be buying tickets until 2020 at the earliest. The scheme involves 1,500 miles of new railway line and 138 bridges over existing roads and rail tracks.

Another eight new stations will have to be built, 34 miles of tunnels will be dug and 73 high-speed trains will need to be bought.

By: mirror.co.uk         Read more >>

Golden girl Jessica Ennis insists she can handle the pressure of being The Face of British athletics heading into the London Olympics. Heptathlon glory in Berlin has catapulted the Sheffield star with the winning smile into the public eye.

Her heroics make Ennis a surefire bet to be named BBC Sports personality of the Year in her home city in December. And no less a figure than Olympic heptathlon legend Denise Lewis reckons she has what it takes to lift the sport to new heights.

Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown emailed his congratulations yesterday, saying the 23-year-old had done the Steel City proud.

By: mirror.co.uk       Read more >>

Forget regenerating one of the most rundown areas of the capital, finding a lasting use for the Olympic stadium or delivering a sports participation legacy for London. Mayor Boris Johnson has set himself the bigger challenge of persuading International Olympic Committee officials to forgo their favoured form of transport – whizzing down cordoned-off lanes in chauffeur-driven cars – in favour of London’s oft-maligned public transport network.

Following the successful first run of the Olympic Javelin train last month, which will zip visitors from King’s Cross to Stratford’s Olympic Park in seven minutes, Johnson has written to the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, in the first step in a campaign to persuade the “Olympic family” to give up cars.

In the letter, a copy of which has been seen by Digger, he recognises that while athletes and some officials will have to use roads, as many as possible should travel by rail. The media and other staff will also be encouraged to use “our great public transport system”, allowing them to “sample everyday London life”.

By: guardian.co.uk         Read more >>

A swan-like Lord Coe tried out a few plies and jumps with the English National Ballet as Britain was encouraged to take part in something cultural, creative, sporting or artistic this weekend.

Hip-hop stars Ms Dynamite, Akala and some beach volleyball players also tried the warm-up.

Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman and a double Olympic champion, said: “There are all sorts of things happening this weekend. It is a way of marking three years to go to the start of the London Games.

“It is an exciting moment. It also shows that the Games are not just about sport – it is about getting people to do things they would not normally have done before.”

By: telegraph.co.uk       Read more >>

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt blew away the field with a time of 9.91sec in the 100m at the London Grand Prix in Crystal Palace.

Running into a slight headwind, the 100m world-record holder and Olympic champion got off to a slow start but quickly recovered with his trademark pick-up to finish way ahead of second-placed compatriot Yohan Blake, who clocked a time of 10.11sec.

By. guardian.co.uk      Read more >>

Expectant mothers and parents with children under five are being advised to avoid crowds and unnecessary travel to reduce the risk of swine flu.

The government guidance is being re-issued after a woman with the virus died shortly after giving birth.

Meanwhile the National Childbirth Trust has been accused of “scaremongering” for suggesting women delay pregnancy.

The Royal College of General Practitioners told the Observer it was a “disproportionate reaction”.

Alan Johnson, the former health secretary, agreed it was an “overreaction” to say women should not have babies at this time.

Concern over the effects of swine flu on new and expectant mothers has heightened since the death of Ruptara Miah, 39, in London’s Whipps Cross Hospital on 13 July. Her baby is said to be very ill in intensive care.

By: news.bbc.co.uk       Read more >

Last week’s 24-hour walkout in 20 Royal mail offices is due to be followed by three days of industrial action in London beginning this Saturday.

A further 450 delivery offices in towns and cities across Britain are now being balloted by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

If, as the union expects, they join the strike it could mean up to 30,000 workers walking out next month in a significant escalation of the dispute over modernisation, job cuts and working practices.

The new ballots are mainly taking place in the eastern counties and England, the South West and Scotland, said Kevin Slocombe of the CWU.

By: telegraph.co.uk       Read more >>

Tyson Gay will continue his build-up to next month’s World Championships by running at the London Grand Prix, which takes place on 24-25 July.

American Gay, 26, who won 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold at the World Championships in Osaka two years ago, will race over 200m at Crystal Palace.

Gay has competed in the 200m only once this year but set the third fastest time ever with a time of 19.58 seconds.

Triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt will run in the 100m and 4x100m.

The 22-year-old will race on both days in London later this month before the World Championships begin in Berlin on 15 August.

And he will start as firm favourite for the 100m, with Gay opting to compete only in the 200m.

By: news.bbc.co.uk        Read more >>