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Full title: Forging of the Mandarin mermaid: How Chinese children are taken away from their families and brutalised into future Olympians Ye Shiwen-Forging of the Mandarin mermaid: How Chinese children are brutalised into future Olympians Watching the new ‘Mandarin Mermaid’ glide to another suspiciously easy victory yesterday - the prelude to what will doubtless be her second gold medal of these Games - my thoughts returned to the disturbing interview I conducted with another swimming sensation many years ago. Just like China’s Ye Shiwen, East German Petra Schneider had astonished the world in winning the 400 metres medley - this...

NBC wants viewers to know: The kickoff of the London Olympics was just too complicated to watch live. The network is fighting back against intense criticism of its decision to black out the opening ceremony on Friday, instead offering a taped version hours later in prime time. Viewers reacted with disgust when they tried to watch live coverage of the event on TV or online but could only find a few bootlegging sites carrying the feed in the U.S. "We are live streaming every sporting event, all 32 sports and 302 medals," an NBC spokesman wrote in an email to...

Watching the start of the Olympics in London......Anyone else?

London's Olympics got off to an embarrassing start when North Korea's women footballers refused to play after a mix-up over their national flag, in one of a series of blunders. ...The incident -- involving two countries still officially at war -- ensured a nightmare debut for the 19-day Games, where the hosts' capabilities are on show as thousands of athletes compete for 302 gold medals until August 12.

SNIPPET: "I. When considering the matter of jihadis online, remember that most of what we think we know is based on analyses of the comments made by an handful of vocal activists. The vast majority of jihadis online, be they on forums or social networking sites[i], say nothing. Skillful translations and insightful analyses by definition tell us little about this potentially lethal yet silent majority."

USA BEGINS OLYMPIC GOLD DEFENSE AGAINST FRANCE: The U.S. Women’s National Team begins its quest for the fourth Olympic gold medal in the program’s history when it opens the 2012 London Olympics against France on Wednesday, July 25, at the famed Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The match, which kicks off at 12 p.m. ET, will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

Boris Johnson welcomes the world to the London Olympics.

As chief executive of a security firm, Nick Buckles ought to be used to hostile encounters. But the embattled head of G4S looked startled, and at times confused, as he faced questions before Parliament in London on Tuesday morning, in the aftermath of revelations that his company has failed to train sufficient security personnel for the London Olympics. Members of Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee didn’t attempt to bite their tongues. With just 10 days to go before the Olympics, they seemed to channel the embarrassment of millions of Britons and their leaders, who have had to call in 3,500...

SNIPPET: "Google removed 640 videos from YouTube in the second half of last year amid fears they promoted terrorism. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) made a request for five user accounts to be closed for allegedly promoting terrorism. Google agreed and deleted the 640 videos."

LONDON -- Britain's national terror threat will remain at a severe level during the 2012 London Olympics, the country's national counterterrorism minister said Thursday. The current threat was raised to the second highest classification in January, meaning an attack is highly likely in Britain. To test the country's preparedness to cope with a major incident, a series of national counterterrorism simulations will be conducted in the run-up to the opening ceremony on July 27, 2012. "We must work on the assumption that (the threat) will remain as it is," counterterrorism and security minister Pauline Neville-Jones told an Olympic security conference....

For Immediate Release SNIPPET: “Enforcement action threatened at Tablighi Jamaat mega-mosque site Newham Council “doing the right thing at last” says Cllr Alan Craig. “Compulsory purchase of site must be next step” Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), some of whose supporters in Walthamstow were convicted of planning airline terrorist atrocities last week (see note below), has been threatened with enforcement action by Newham Council over its continued unlawful use of the ‘mega-mosque’ site at West Ham, close to the London 2012 Olympic stadium. TJ has erected a temporary structure on site and has been using it daily without planning permission...

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic organisers are "very alive" to the threat of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympics, made more challenging because of its evolving nature, senior Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday. Ticketing systems, the transport network and hotel bookings as well as security are among potential targets. Olympic security officials are also planning for the possible diversion of aircraft to protect airspace around the venues from terrorist attacks, the officials said. The greatest threat to security at the Games is international terrorism, the government's latest "Safety and Security Strategy" report said.

London’s proposed ‘mega-mosque’ has been allowed to complete its application for planning permission, despite calls from one councillor to remove the “illegal and irresponsible” mosque. At Newham Council meeting last Monday night, Cllr Alan Craig asked the Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, to enforce a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to reclaim the site from the Abbey Mills Mosque Trust, members of Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat. Cllr Craig said: “Tablighi Jamaat intend that the mega-mosque will be their new international headquarters, yet the current temporary mosque on the Abbey Mills site has now been operating illegally and irresponsibly without planning permission for...