Olympic news items are like buses, or decent Boris Johnson policies: you wait for ages then two come along at once. This week we've heard about the package of security measures announced for the Games, while the International Olympic Committee popped by to check up on how we're doing. The announcement in July 2005 of London's Olympic triumph came just hours before the worst terrorist atrocity the city has ever seen, so from the......

Now, stories from the IT world ordinarily don’t do much for Londonist besides make our eyes glaze over. (We’re sorry, IT people, we’re sure you’re lovely, that your jobs are fascinating, and that we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you. It’s just that we can’t understand what you’re saying.) So when we noticed this story about a new website created to help IT companies bid for contracts for the 2012......

This weekend, Rowan Walker wrote in the Observer of her torturous but strangely addictive experience of training at the Islington Boxing Gym to raise awareness of the fierce campaign to get female boxing recognised as an Olympic Sport for the 2012 Games in London. According to the International Olympic Committee, "Boxing ranks among the Olympic Games' most illustrious sports" yet only for men, to date. As Walker's article indicates, the number and calibre of......

(Actually, they’re not. We’re feeling all pretentious this morning and wish to demonstrate our superior education in the Classics.) Turns out the 2012 Olympic venue for canoe slalom, Spitalbrook in Hertfordshire, is tainted with muck. Heavy pollution has forced the Olympic Delivery Authority to seek a new location six miles further south. The proposed move has yet to be approved by the International Olympic Committee. We think shifting the event to cleaner waters is......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 2nd July 1865: One-time Methodist minister William Booth preaches to a large crowd at an open-air ‘mission’ in Whitechapel, founding the ‘East London Christian Mission’, which would later be renamed ‘The Salvation Army’. Tuesday – 3rd July 1981: A punk concert at the Hamborough Tavern in Southall, West London, leads to fighting between skinheads and Asian youths. The riot is just one of many violent ‘uprisings’ to......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

Tessa Jowell and Ken Livingston sat smiling professionally side by side today at a presentation to members of the International Olympic Committee whilst the press carried gleeful stories about their respective divergent opinions of the infamous logo. Tessa Jowell declared herself, rather touchingly, "unusual" on the Today programme this morning because of her view that the logo is "terrific". Ken, on the other hand, was denouncing the team responsible for the epilepsy inducing brand......

Today sees the launch of the new brand for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Two 'sneak preview' videos have just been uploaded and are now online. The 'brand video' one isn't really a brand video at all - but at a time when the recent media focus has been about escalating costs, it's a strong reminder of the inspiration behind the bid. The 'brand animation' video looks more at the logo/emblem which......

Yes it's everyone's favourite wildly powerful sporting body the International Olympic Committee. The IOC are back in town to have a little look round for the first time since they awarded London the 2012 Olympics...over France...who lost...and we won. While they're here the IOC won't actually be visiting any of the sites designated for development, instead they'll be examining all our organisational....erm, stuff. Basically they're just making sure what happended in Athens doesn't happen......

We just got the following press release: People’s Question Time-Londoners’ opportunity to question the Mayor and the London Assembly The Mayor of London and the London Assembly are inviting Londoners to come to Hendon Police College on Wednesday 23 November at 7pm, to take part in People’s Question Time. Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: 'People’s Question Time is an opportunity for Londoners to raise their concerns about life in the capital. Since the last......

- Today's Mirror has an exclusive story claiming that the four July 7 bombers were watched by intelligence officers a year previously, but were judged to pose no threat. - Vicar stabbed in Stanmore manages to crawl to a nearby house and ring the doorbell. He's now in a "serious but stable condition". - Party an No 10 for the 2012 Olympic bid team. According to former president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio......

Face it, it's what London is missing. Ever since the dawn of the new millennium the capital city has been crying out for some sort of overblown countdown ceremony...thank God then for the Olympic bid. As it stands there are 75 days left until the International Olympic Committee decides who we will go to war with next who will host the next Olympics, so just to ensure that no one sleeps in that day......

London received a slap on the wrists yesterday by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge for a possible ethics violation of the bid process by offering "£25m of inducements to athletes, national Olympic committees and international sporting federations". Not so says London as all of the offers are covered by the bidding rule book, and they helpfully handed over a nicely cross referenced clarification of the offers, stopping just short of repeatedly jabbing at......

OK - we admit it - we were had. Pitpass.com's April Fool story completely...well, fooled us. In our defence it was pretty early in the morning and we were a bit overexcited about the thought of celebrities in Minis! The website Pitpass.com (not a site we visit that often, granted) is claiming today that a "non-championship F1 race, to be held in central London" will be announced in the next few weeks. Yes, Ken......

It must be great to be on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission, travelling around the world having entire cities queuing up to kiss your arse, you'd probably never see a homeless person the entire time, not to mention the kind of buffets on offer. Think of the buffets. Anyway, all snacking aside, it's London’s turn to put on it's best fake smile, and collectively take one for the team as the IOC......

Any attempt to bring the noble sport of darts to the Olympics was probably set back eight years this morning through the publication of this Bloomberg report. BSkyB plans to charge viewers £9.95 to watch the two darts world champions — Andy Fordham of the BDO and Phil Taylor of the PDC — meet in a showdown. Barry Hearn's ubiquitous Matchroom Sport put the deal together, with the fact that the Circus Tavern in......

You thought you were dong a good thing. You particpated in the ill-fated Guardian letter writing campaign. You sent off for the John Kerry campaign pack and stuck the stickers on your fridge. And you even try and watch the Daily Show via satellite telly. But now you're told that a vote for John Kerry is a nail in the coffin for London's 2012 Olympics bid. What is a woolly-liberal Limey supposed to do? The......