.: © Vasily Shaposhnikov

Residents of Imeret lowland, which has been chosen to as a construction site for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, clashed with bailiffs and police yesterday, July 22, 2008. Armed with sticks and bottles of incendiary mixture, 200 locals defended their houses.

Residents in Hackney Wick have protested at the dust and noise being produced from the Olympic Park. The statement reproduced below was sent on Sunday 6th July to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA and Sebastian Coe, along with other relevant officials and representatives, by Sona Abantu-Choudhury on behalf of the Leabank Square Residents Association about the disturbance being caused by work on the Olympic site.

The British Olympic Association is to review its athletes' contract for the Beijing Games after criticism of a clause which had prevented competitors from making political statements in China. The clause, which appeared to go beyond the requirements of the Olympic charter, will be softened although athletes who engage in overt political demonstrations or statements could still risk being sent home.

With a brash young lawyer-lawmaker named Dick Lamm leading the way, residents said they didn't want the 1976 Winter Olympics. And they said it in a big way. The landmark vote on Nov. 7, 1972, wasn't even close -- 514,228 to 350,964. A 59.4 percent majority said they weren't willing to spend tax dollars to have the Games in their state.

A few days ago, about 30 police officers broke into the home of Chinese activist Hu Jia and took him away. His wife, fellow activist Zeng Jinyan, is now under house arrest. At least 10 security personnel guard her home. Mr Hu's arrest comes as China celebrates the start of one of its most important years in recent history.

A group of pensioners who are refusing to pay the Olympic Games levy placed on their council tax have taken their protest to Parliament. The south-east London pensioners handed in a petition with more than 8,000 signatures demanding the weekly 38p is paid by everyone, not just Londoners.

The current obsession with winning the right to host sporting events has resulted in the 2014 Commonwealth Games being awarded to Glasgow. The news was greeted by the media with unalloyed joy. Politicians from all sides hugged one another, athletes proclaimed this as yet another opportunity for aspiring sporting types to win medals, the site of the proposed athletes’ village was declared to be an industrial wasteland and the project was described by one politician (does it matter which?) as ‘irresistible’. The watching media failed to debate the issues or provide any detailed information

Photos by: Sam Strickland