Missiles, bombs, drones & battleships: London ready for Olympics?

London 2012: Mock Olympic Terror Attack Staged At Disused Tube Station

A mocked-up terror attack on the London Underground is being staged today as part of a massive exercise to test security for the 2012 Games.

The exercise is to test the response to a terrorist incident on the London Underground network during the Olympics.

Some 2,500 people – spanning everyone from constable to Cobra, the top level government committee which sits during national emergencies and crisis, are being put through their paces by the two-day test.

The disused Aldwych station, a stone’s throw from central London’s Royal Courts of Justice, will be the scene of the live test.

Much of the action is taking place behind closed doors.

The test is being staged as if it is August 8 and 9 – two busy days during the Olympics.

London 2012: Olympic Scams, Cons, Flim-Flams And Swindles – And How To Avoid Them

It will be “impossible” to tell how deep the level of fraud will go at this year’s Olympics until the event takes place, an official has told The Huffington Post UK.

There are already 103 known email scams identified by the Olympic organisers, as well as fake lotteries and prize draws.

Fake merchandise has been seized by councils in London, Birmingham, Coventry and other cities, and almost 100 arrests have been made by Scotland Yard in a pre-emptive strike at organised crime networks gearing up for the Games.

So before you get ready to hop out of the door in your Team GB T-shirt – clutching your tickets to the judo semis and a four-night stay at travel tavern – how sure are you that any of those things are exactly what they seem?

“When you actually think about the amount of people that may come to this country, we’re talking 200 plus nations, 17,000 athletes, 500,000 spectators a day. It’s supposed to be giving a £2.1bn boost to the economy. I can’t believe there won’t be someone out there who won’t want to make some money by scamming people,” John Peerless, the lead officer for scams at the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) told The Huffington Post UK.

“A lot of times people aren’t going to realise they’ve been scammed until the Olympics come along,” he said. “Determining the scale of the problem is virtually impossible.”

Anti-scam officials have cited a need for a more aggressive use of statistics and data to stop con artists in their tracks.

“We seem to be one step behind people,” Peerless added later. “The organised network don’t have organised processes and procedures to follow under Data Protection rules and things like that.

London 2012: 100 Arrests Ahead Of Olympics As May Says Tents Should Be ‘Banned’ From All Games Sites

All these because we farmed war and not love:

Almost 100 people have been arrested ahead of the Olympics and all tents and encampments should be banned from the Games, the home secretary has said.

But the Olympic organisers have not yet imposed a total ban, saying only that they will work with the Home Office to prevent encampments “if necessary”.

The Occupy protests seen at St Paul’s Cathedral and other sites around the UK, in which large amounts of tents are pitched for long periods of time, have raised concerns that similar tactics could be used at the London Games.

The Home Office is keen to avoid such scenes at the Olympics, and on Wednesday May suggested that tents and other similar items should be banned from the Games.

In her speech on Olympic security planning at the Royal United Services Institute, Theresa May said that with six months until the Games police and security teams were preparing for “all eventualities” and work was continuing behind the scenes.

Calling out “encampment protests” as a specific new threat that would be tackled before the games, May said she was confident police were taking a “robust attitude” to organised crime.

The Met’s anti-crime push ahead of the Olympics is led by Operation Podium.

Elite Olympic Security Forces Stage Tests On River Thames

Elite British security teams have taken to the River Thames as part of a massive security rehearsal to foil terror disaster at the Olympics.

Scotland Yard and the Royal Marines had joined forces on Thursday afternoon for a string of “familiarisation exercises” to avoid catastrophe in London this summer.

The Metropolitan Police’s Marine Policing Unit and army members will gave a rare glimpse of Britain’s top secret security plan as they took to the water.

The drills “[were] designed to make sure that everyone has the same level of knowledge about how the river operates and how our tactics work together,” police said.

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, head of the force’s security operation for the Games, said: “All of our planning is designed to mitigate against potential risks during the summer of 2012, and this is an example of where we will be using specialist military capability to support us.

Rumours Of A Spice Girls Reunion For The London Olympics – Is This A Good Thing?

Ever since Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh split to concentrate on their solo projects back in 2000 there have been rumours of a reunion on the cards and even their actual worldwide reunion tour in 2007 didn’t put a stop to those rumours but one that just won’t go away says that the Spice Girls are to give a nostalgic performance at the London Olympics this year.

The five girls are currently in contact as they are working on putting together a West End musical featuring the band’s iconic tunes and the girls have been chatting about another Spice performance.

Speaking to Star magazine, Mel B said: “I would never say never. I think it’s possible. I’d love it if we got back together and got to go on tour.”
She added: “We’re doing a musical about the Spice Girls right now, so we’re in contact quite a bit. But I can’t really tell you much about it.”

On each other’s careers and the girls working with each other, Mel said: “We’re very supportive of anything each other does. Anything that any of us does – we’re very supportive. That’s that.”

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

London 2012 Olympics To Be Protected By 13,500 Armed Forces Personnel

Around 13,500 armed forces personnel will deployed to defend the London Olympics, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Thursday that he expected 7,500 soldiers to be stationed around the Olympic venues in the capital itself, while the remainder provide security across the rest of the country at various events.

“This defence contribution is on a similar scale to that deployed at other recent Olympic Games and will contribute to ensuring a safe, secure and enjoyable 2012,” he said.

“Olympics. Defence will continue to be able to support current and contingent operations during the Games and my priority will remain the troops we have deployed on operations, including in Afghanistan, before, during and after the Olympics.”

There are currently between 9,500 and 10,000 British armed forces personnel deployed in Afghanistan.

There will also be a 1,000 strong rapid-reaction force ready to respond to emergency situations.

Hamond said the total venue guard-force would likely be around 23,700. The funding for security operations at London 2012 was recently doubled raising overall security costs for the 2012 games to more than 1 billion pounds

In addition to the troops, the Royal Navy’s largest warship HMS Ocean will be stationed in the Thames near Greenwhich as a helicopter landing platform and to provide security on the river.

HMS Bulwark meanwhile will patrol Weymouth Bay, providing security for the sailing competitions.

RAF Typhoon jets will also patrol London’s skies supported by helicopters from HMS Ocean and ground based air defence systems.

In November it was reported that the United States was considering sending 1,000 security agents, including 500 from the FBI, to protect its athletes and diplomats at the games.

According to the Guardian, Scotland Yard’s response to the summer riots undermined US officials’ confidence in the ability of Britain to police the Games.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Cyber Spies Boost For London Olympics

London will get a boost of cyber spies right in time for the Olympics. The digital spooks will be on the look out for fraud against ticket sellers, hotel booking systems, and flights during London 2012.

Peter Ricketts, the government’s National Security Advisor told The Times that the security services are “ready for everything” and are bolstering the UK’s cyber defences to “unprecedented levels”.

A cabinet spokesperson told The Huffington Post that the GCHQ is expecting cyber criminals to focus on fraudulent attacks on Olympic ticketing, accommodation and travel.

“The Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) has dedicated staff for this risk, and we are focusing on enterprise, on ticketing, and bookings,” said the spokesperson.

“We have established relationships with business and financial institutions, and we are working with them to target fraud during the Olympics,” they said.

GCHQ currently works with businesses that could be under threat to during the Olympics and recommends that businesses use the information available through Get Safe Online.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

London Olympic HMS Belfast Poster: 2012 Organisers Reveal Truth Of ‘Simple Mistake’

London Olympic 2012 organisers are performing a world class sprint of their own after a mistake worthy of gold medal status.

New posters promoting the London 2012 Festival have appeared across the capital with one of the most recognisable landmarks air-brushed out.

World famous battleship HMS Belfast was mysteriously missing from promotional posters – prompting some to even question the games’ sense of loyalty to Remembrance Sunday.

Now organisers are ripping down the offending posters after admitting it was caused by a “simple mistake.”

“We are very sorry about this mistake in the advertising production process, and we apologise if this mistake has caused offence. The mistake has been rectified and posters without HMS Belfast in are being removed,” they said in a statement on Wednesday.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Man Arrested After Claims Spurs Spied On Olympic Officials

A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraud after allegations that Tottenham Hotspur FC spied on Olympics officials during its stadium bid.

News of the arrest came as Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) chairwoman Baroness Ford claimed the north London football club had all 14 members of her board monitored by private investigators.

The suspect was being questioned as officers conducted a string of searches in Sussex, Sutton, south west London, and Westminster.

Spurs denied putting officials under surveillance.

Detectives, who have been investigating the claims since August 2011 “following allegations by West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company in respect of the unlawful obtaining of information”, said the suspect was arrested at an address in Sussex.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Olympic Torch Route Confirmed By The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

 

More than 95% of the population will be within 10 miles of the Olympic torch next year as it makes a snaking journey to London’s Olympic Stadium.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) confirmed all the communities through which the Olympic flame will be carried by torchbearers during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay.

[CLICK HERE TO SEE IF YOUR TOWN IS ON THE TORCH RELAY ROUTE]

On parts of the journey it will go via horseback, bicycle, tram and steam train.

Organisers said the torch will go through 1,018 villages, towns and cities and will be within an hour’s journey of 95% of the UK population. The relay will also take in hundreds of landmarks including Snowdon, Stormont, Loch Ness and Stonehenge.

The street by street detail of the route will be confirmed next year.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost