The year 2012 is already behind us, but for many, some events will leave lasting imprints – both in the positive and negative ways. So what happened in 2012?

The world is not ending at least for now and let the new 2013 be full of more happiness, joy, and good news.

Image Courtesy : KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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“The eyes of the world are on Brazil” is an expression often used to represent the popularity of the country and its appearances in the media, for reasons such as the World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2016. The country’s image in regards to violence and poverty is still really strong, and the government is trying to prepare for these big upcoming events. Rio de Janeiro is the city where are lot of the events will take place, and what is often emphasized is the contrast between nature and the city. There is another contrast, the one between the upscale neighborhoods and the favelas, or slums of the city.

Because of the favelas’ factors, which involve a highly populated area with the poorest people of the city living on top of the Rio de Janeiro Mountains, for many years it has been the perfect place for drug dealers and criminals to hide themselves. The police has had a lot of trouble trying to get inside, and the government is trying to change this reality through “pacification” actions. Many favelas have already gone through this process and nowadays provide a safer life and better infrastructure. But this is not the case with the Maré Complex, formed by 16 slums and located between the main access routes to the city. More than 130,000 people live there. This makes up to 2.3% of the total population of Rio de Janeiro.

One big problem has to do with children and the youth of the community. They don’t see opportunities outside of the favela and crime is for them a chance to get some money or status inside the community. As the government still hasn’t brought the pacification process to the Maré Complex, one good initiative offering good possibilities for its inhabitants is created by non-governmental organizationsn such as CEASM (Centro de Estudos e Ações Solidárias da Maré, in english: Centre for Studies and Solidarity Actions of Maré). This NGO is focused on contributing to the value of the slums and poor communities as an expression of the plurality of the city, changing ideas and guiding public policy. Since 1998 the NGO offers support courses helping young people get into the public universities. Entrance is based on a highly competitive test that usually favors people who can afford a good basic education.

These days, CEASM offers 14 different projects involving education and cultural emphasis. The population faces low self esteem issues, and many people think that there is no way out of the violence. CEASM wants to change this.

It already offers a library, computer rooms, journalism rooms and classrooms. Everything was built with the support of donations and community help. CEASM has about 100 volunteers, both paid and unpaid. Lourenço Cezar da Silva (pictured above) is the oldest brother of five siblings, and was one of the first students who was able to get into one of the most competitive universities of Brazil: PUC-Rio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro).

The economic support is based on donations and funding, but in the past year help has been cut for different reasons. The NGO is facing many problems to keep offering a better chance to the community. The CEASM volunteers usually try to apply to get some help from the government but say that lately many has been direct to culture and not to education.. He started as a student of the support course for university applications and today is proud and eager to help others starting out like he did.

Of course, the eyes of the world cannot easily see everything that happens in the daily life of poor communities in the big city of Rio de Janeiro, but maybe looking inside it will make it possible to change from the outside, instead of trying to hide the problems. CEASM and the Maré Community Complex need help in order to change from inside; it needs eyes to look where it matters. The number of young people who cannot benefit from the services is increasing, and consequently, so is the number of them who engage in crime and violence.

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Oxford, England — With the Games well under way this summer, businesses have been given a unique opportunity to evaluate the way they communicate internally and externally in the face of challenging outside influences. It has been reported that some of the busiest commercial districts in London have been unrecognisable during the last week – not because of increased footfall but because they are so much quieter than usual.

This is down to an improvement in the way companies in the capital have dealt with important communications in adverse conditions – such as the hosting of a major international sporting event. A large number of businesses trading in the capital have made full use of the technology supplied by telecommunications experts like MeetingZone Ltd.

In the run-up to the Games inquiries came flooding in to meetingzone.com from companies eager to assess how their in-house communications systems could be enhanced using cutting edge technology in preparation for a testing time in the capital. The solutions supplied have enabled many businesses to keep operating at the optimum level in spite of the forecast difficulties many have had to face in terms of travel and logistics.

Improved communications in the form of web conferences and telephone conference calls make it possible to gather a team in order to solve problems, meet with partners, clients and suppliers and discuss strategies, even when external conditions make it very difficult for businesses to succeed in this capacity, especially when they are limited to less up-to-date modes of communication.

How well businesses have dealt with the unique conditions supplied by London’s hosting of the Games is likely to determine how they move forward with their own communications strategies in the future.

In order to deliver solutions to more businesses in need of advice in the field of communications, Meeting Zone has teamed up with Cheshire SEO agency Just Search – the aim being to enhance the online presence of the company so that more enterprises can make use of their individually-tailored packages and services.

Image Courtesy of   Bikeworldtravel / Shutterstock.com

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Once again the Olympics are fraught with controversy. In this case, eight badminton players from four double teams have been expelled from the Games for “not doing everything possible to win their matches.” The International Federation of Badminton announced on Wednesday its decision after investigating two South Korean couples, a Chinese couple and an Indonesian couple.

The ones involved are world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang from China and their South Korean opponents Jung Kyun Eun and Kim Ha Na, along with South Korea’s Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung and Indonesia’s Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.

The International Badminton Federation found the players guilty of “not using one’s best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport” in Tuesday night matches.

Both China and South Korea had two teams in the tournament, so their idea was to lose on their games so they could avoid playing against their other national teams in the next rounds. By doing this, they would just play their national opponents in the final, so a medal would have gone to their country for sure.

On the other hand, Indonesia did not put all the effort in the match because their opponents were not trying either, which is now why they are also being kicked out from the badminton competition.

When it was announced that the athletes were being expelled, both South Korea and Indonesia appealed the decision, while China accepted the federation’s decision.

The latest news says that the Badminton Federation has announced it had rejected the Korean appeals and that Indonesia had withdrawn its appeal.

London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe, also condemned the players attitude: “It’s depressing,” Coe said. “Who wants to sit through something like that. It is unacceptable.”

The International Olympic committee spokesman Mark Adams told the Associated Press that he is happy with the decision taken by the Badminton Federation: “We applaud the federation for having taken swift and decisive action. Such behavior is incompatible with the Olympic values,” he said.

Image Courtsey of  Dan Thomas

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Britain’s men won a surprising bronze medal in the team gymnastics competition, and were unlucky to not claim the silver medal after an appeal from the Japanese team meant the home nation were downgraded from second spot.

The result was completely unexpected – Britain’s men have not even qualified for the final since 1924 and just making the final itself was seen as a big achievement.

They shocked competition favourites such as the USA, Russia and Germany and took the bronze in controversial fashion, perhaps marking a change in fortune for Team GB.

A strong all round performance from Louis Smith, Sam Oldham Kristian Thomas, Max Whitlock and Dan Purvis  saw them battling with Ukraine for third place as they went in to their final apparatus, the floor.

Whitlock, Purvis and Thomas landed every move of their floor routines to secure Britain the bronze.

But a surprising twist of events saw Japan, who looked comfortable in second place, make a succession of errors on the pommel horse.

Japan moved down from second place to fourth, leaving Britain and Ukraine in the medals, but they questioned the points awarded to their final gymnast on the horse and made an official inquiry.

Their successful appeal put them back into their deserved silver medal spot as China comfortably won the gold.

But it was Britain’s medal that was the biggest talk of the day and the home nation will look to gain from the result which could spur on the rest of the team after a start which many have perceived as slow.

Cyclist Lizzie Armitstead won Britain’s first medal, a silver, in the women’s road race on day two, after favourite Mark Cavendish missed out on the men’s equivalent on Saturday.

Rebecca Addlington added the second medal on Sunday with a bronze in the 400m freestyle, the event she won four years ago in Beijing.

But it had been anticipated these medals would be just two of many by this stage in the Games for Britain, who had high hopes as they chase a demanding target set by UK Sport.

With a few medal hopes not living up to expectations thus far, many believe Team GB have not risen to the challenge, but the pressure of a home Olympic Games cannot be overstated.

It felt like Cavendish had won the Olympic road race before the Tour de France was even completed, whilst Tom Daley was expected to bring back a medal – no questions asked - in the diving, an event which can be swung with one tiny error.

Daley came fourth in the 10m synchronized diving as he partnered Pete Waterfield on Monday, but still has a chance in the individual event.

Elsewhere the sailors seem to be struggling for form in an event the home team was looking to dominate and a few medal prospects, especially in the swimming, have not made the most of their opportunities.

The triumphs of the home nation are vital to the success of the Olympics and these Games have the potential to be one of the greatest the world has ever seen so the nation will be hoping that the unexpected success in the men’s team gymnastics result will be the much-needed boost for the rest of Team GB.

Image Courtesy of   Sergei Bachlakov / Shutterstock.com

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Wearing their national uniform has always been a source of pride for athletes. However, this will not be the case for the Spanish athletes during the London 2012 Olympics Games. The reason for this is the style of their uniforms, which has created a lot of polemic between the athletes. One look at the uniform and you will understand why there has been so much talk about the style.

The people of Spain seem ashamed about the uniform, specially those who will be in London, competing for Spain in the Olympics. A lot of athletes have made their feelings known, specially through Twitter, where they have posted tweets criticizing the uniform, which, by the way, is not even designed by a Spanish brand, but by the Italian and Russian company Bosco.

“At home trying on the Olympic clothes. Best I don’t comment, I will leave it up to you…” canoeist Saul Craviotto posted on his Twitter account while posing with full kit including baseball, cap and backpack.

Other athletes have also mocked the uniform. Tennis player Anabel Medina joked, “With this uniform we are going to look like the Singapore Airline stewardesses.”

Famous handball goalkeeper, Jose Javier Hombrados also did not miss the chance to joke about this: “No one of us is gonna get lost in the Olympic Village with these clothes,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Looking forward to seeing Feliciano Lopez wearing the official Olympic uniform. He’ll never have worn anything so ugly in his life,” former tennis world number one Carlos Moya also wrote on Twitter.

Jose Luis Saez, the Spanish Basket Federation president, made a statement to a local newspaper where he said that the decision to choose this uniform was “terrible.”

The Spanish Olympic Committee president, Alejandro Blanco, has replied to the animosity with anger, especially towards Jose Luis Saez: “In any case a directing should criticize the national team uniform. This is something that I have not seen anyone ever, I believe these statements to be from a leader should left over.”

Blanco has defended the decision to select this uniform by arguing that Spain will not pay anything for it, since Bosco trademark will produce it for free, and even pays for the sportsmen and women to wear it. Blanco said that “in other circumstances Spain would have to paid around € 1.7 millions, which would have been responsible in the actual financial situation.”

Image Courtesy of   Igor Marx / Shutterstock.com

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The Olympic Games started on Wednesday 25 with women soccer games despite the inauguration will not take place until Friday 27. And it did not start off on the right foot. The organization confused the Korean national flag with the one from their South Korean neighbors during the pre-match ceremonies.

When the North Korean players came out the tunnel to play against Colombia and realized the mistake, they refused to jump onto the field. Tension arose and the Koreans players were adamant on not playing the game. They accused the organization of having made the mistake intentionally.

Finally, after a public apology was made and the flag changed, the Colombian players asked for 30 extra minutes to perform their exercises needed to warmup. Therefore the game started one hour later than it was scheduled, constituting the first bump of this year’s London Olympic Games.

The final score for the controversial match was 2-0 for North Korea, with two goals scored by Song Hui.

During the post game press conference, Gun Sin Ui North Korean coach showed his irritation about the flag issue and was skeptical about the committee apologies: “I will ask the Organizing Committee if this was premeditated. We consider this incident as something impossible to forget”.

Very serious throughout his appearance, he remembered that he could have boycotted the game, and also showed their rivalry with his Southern neighbors: “It was clear that we would not have played if the incident was not resolved. We do not want our players to go with other flags, especially the South Korea one.”

Not even the 2-0 victory seemed to calm down the North Korean coach: “Winning the game can not compensate for what happened. They are two different things,” said Gun Sin Ui.

The representative of the Organizing Committee Andy Mitchel apologized about what happened and promised that nothing similar will happen during the Olympics: “We have apologized to the team and to the Olympic Committee. It was a mistake and we have taken measures to prevent more similar cases.”

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Even though the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympics takes place on Friday 27 when 10,000 athletes from 205 countries will make the inauguration, the Games already started on Wednesday July 25 with a women’s soccer match between the host nation Great Britain and visiting New Zealand.

A goal-kick from Stephanie Houghton, Arsenal player, handed the victory to Britain 1-0 in the first Olympic match, played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

A solitary goal of Houghton, with a precise shooting in a fault that came to the right of goalkeeper Jenny Bindon. Coach Hope Powell was, as would be expected, pleased.

The host team, who alongside Brazil are the favorites to dominate in Group E, was evidently superior to New Zealand.

However, the game between Great Britain and New Zealand was not the only premature match. The national U.S. women’s soccer team started in the best possible way with a 4-2 victory against France at Glasgow’s Hampden Park stadium. The beginning was not easy and France took advantage of the first minutes. By minute 14, France was already winning 0-2 and playing comfortably. But the U.S. did not give up; Abby Wambach in minute 19 shortened the distance, and a pair of goals from Alex Morgan and one from Carli Lloyd secured victory to the U.S.

Other games played on Wednesday 25 were Japan’s victory against Canada (2-1), Brazil showing their superiority against Cameroon (0-5) and Sweden defeating South Africa (4-1).

The medals will be in play between 12 teams divided into three groups of four teams each. The United States is in Group G, along with Colombia, Korea DPR, and France. The next game for the U.S. team will be against Colombia on Saturday 28.

U.S. is favorite for winning the gold medal, but they will have to take care of the other potential aspirants such as Brazil with veteran Marta, or the recent world champions Japan, with the illustrious Homare Sawa (player of the year for FIFA). France and Britain are also prime contenders for the gold.

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A triple jump Olympic athlete from Greece, Voula Papachristou, was withdrawn from the London Olympics on July 25 after she made an racist comment on her personal Twitter account that talked about African immigrants in Greece. She posted the tweet on July 22 and it said: “With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!”

With this post, Papachristou was making a reference to a crisis in Greece caused by a virus from the Nile that has caused one death and at least five infections.

Papachristou’s tweet has caused so much controversy around, that the Greek Federation has not doubted about the reprisal made. The respond was not letting her defend the Greek colors during the Olympic Games.

Isidoros Kouvelos, who is in charge of the Greek delegation, showed his anger on Greek SKAI TV: “She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out. She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes.”

A decision that her coach, George Pomaski, has not understood, and assesses it as harsh, especially for someone that has apologized. “It’s too much, the penalty should not have been so strict,” he told Reuters.

The triple jump athlete showed her repentance on her personal Facebook page, but this has not helped her to achieve forgiveness and compete in London: “I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.”

“My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races. I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family,” she wrote.

The athlete’s comment has caused a lot of controversy on social media, specially in Twitter. Two groups have been made: those that support her and those that agree she should have been expelled from the Olympics.

With the social media being so present in everyone’s life, some coaches, such as Spain soccer national team coach, are advising their athletes to not use social media during competitions in order to avoid these type of problems.

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Edinburgh, United Kingdom — Olympic soccer games in the men’s and women’s tournaments will feature teams such as France and the USA and take place at Scotland’s national soccer stadium, Hampden Park from 25 July to 3 August. Scotland’s Olympic showpiece will also see Men’s World and European Champions, Spain play Japan on 26 July.

Beyond soccer fever, this exciting and creative city has many surprises in store for those looking for an Olympic city break that combines culture and style with the sporting event of the summer. 2012 is the Year of Creative Scotland and Glasgow, a UNESCO City of Music, is the perfect place to visit with its internationally-acclaimed museums and galleries, stunning architecture, fabulous shopping and wonderful dining.

On July 18th, Glasgow celebrated welcoming the games to the city with American piper Megan Canning and French Drummer Iona Sicard-Cras from Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival and The World Pipe Band Championships. Supporting their respective countries, who will be playing each other at the first game at Hampden, Iona and Megan are two of the 8000 musicians who will be playing as part of the world’s biggest week of piping in Glasgow from 6-12 August as the two events take place. Like the Olympics, the events bring thousands of musicians and competitors from across the globe to Glasgow, and are enjoyed by audiences in excess of 30,000.

Piping Live! will see over 150 events take place in Glasgow over the week and showcases the experimental energy of today’s newest talent such as Niteworks and Rura, as well as the accomplishment of established musicians from around the world. This year the festival will host performances from bands and musicians from 10 European countries including, Rotoro (Estonia), Lyra (Bulgaria), Dram (Sweden) and Franco Calanca (Italy). The event programme also includes everything from workshops to masterclasses, ceilidhs to concerts and street performances, there are almost 150 free and ticketed events taking place morning, noon and night.

The World Pipe Band Championships or ‘The Worlds’ have been held in Glasgow for almost 70 years and is known as ‘The Olympics of the piping world’ as pipe bands from across the globe compete for the coveted title of Champion on 11th August at Glasgow Green.

Glasgow, itself, has a great pedigree of sporting links, from hosting the UEFA Champions League Final in 2002 and the UEFA Cup Final in 2007, while the city will also host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said:

“The Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event on the planet and, as the host of 8 Olympic football matches, Glasgow is set to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of a global audience. It will be incredible for Glasgow to showcase the best young football stars of tomorrow and the buzz surrounding the Olympic presence in the city is sure to contribute to the excitement building for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

“In addition to being internationally renowned as one of the top 10 sporting cities in the world, Glasgow is also firmly established as one of Europe’s most exciting destinations. The city has so much to offer tourists and locals alike, from its wealth of cultural attractions and year-round programme of events and festivals, to its world-class architecture and fantastic shopping.”

Mike Cantlay, VisitScotland Chairman, added:

“This is an excellent opportunity to showcase Glasgow and Scotland to a massive global audience and will undoubtedly create a buzz and raise the excitement of what is to come during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“We’re in a great position to change the face of tourism with a plethora of events all highlighting Scotland. The Olympics, The Ryder Cup, Disney Pixar’s Brave and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games will provide an ideal platform to bring economic growth and to grow the tourism industry, these really are the Winning Years.”

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London, UK – London & Partners launches new SMG Insight / YouGov research which shows London fever has spread around the world.

London is set to inspire the world over the next 4 months in the run up to London 2012 according to new research launched by London & Partners which shows the extent of international excitement about the Olympics and the host city, London.

In central London, outside the Olympic Park, a celebration of cultures will be hitting the streets, with National Olympic Committees creating a festival atmosphere by offering opportunities for fans from around the world to show their support for their athletes. Over 40 nations will be represented through official NOC Houses situated around London. The NOC houses will offer fans an opportunity to experience the national entertainment and culture, watch sports on big screens and join in celebrations during athlete appearances.

London 2012 is also creating a lasting global sporting legacy with over one-in-four people from sampled nations inspired to take up swimming and one-in-five considering taking up cycling this year. To capitalise on this interest plans are already in place to launch a new world-class cycling event in the city following the Games – cycling’s equivalent of the London Marathon.

Such is the excitement about the Games in China that two-thirds of the Chinese population, the hosts of the 2008 Olympics, are inspired to participate in Badminton during 2012 and over half intend to take up table tennis.

Music, culture and outdoor spaces are also important for international visitors to London. London’s river, squares and parks are an important attraction for visitors with almost 6-in-10 stating that they intend to visit London’s famous outdoor spaces. In these spaces, BT will be hosting BT London Live sites where medal events will be shown on the big screen and a daily schedule of cultural and arts showcases from around the world will be shown.

Retail will also experience a significant boost with over 40% of visitors planning to go to world famous shopping locations such as Harrods, Selfridges and Oxford Street.

Iain Edmondson, Head of the Major Events team at London & Partners, said: “During the Games, there will be a festival atmosphere filling the streets of London with numerous opportunities for the public to experience the spirit of the Games even if they don’t have tickets. After 2012 people will be able to turn the inspiration of the Games into participation, by entering London’s world-class mass-participation events such as the London Marathon, London Triathlon and new road cycling event.”

Key results from the London Sport Global Inspiration Survey show that:

•   28% of adults are inspired to take up swimming during 2012. 20% inspired to take up cycling.
•   Both modern and historic sporting locations are the most inspiring Olympic venues. 23% want to see the Olympic Stadium, 18% Olympic Aquatic Centre and 18% Wimbledon
•  23% of those surveyed favour watching Rafael Nadal and Michael Phelps. Rising stars such as basketball player Jeremy Lin (20%) and cyclist Mark Cavendish (13%) also feature as inspirational figures around the world. Usain Bolt is the most popular athletes for UK residents, with 28% stating that they are inspired to watch him.
• 69% of the Chinese population are inspired to watch basketball during 2012. Nearly a third (30%) of the international survey is inspired to watch athletics/running.
• Half of visitors to London are inspired to visit a museum or historic building. Slightly more (53%) will visit a tourist attraction such as Madame Tussauds and 57% will visit a park, river or public space.

The full report can be viewed and downloaded from here:

http://vlstatic.com/l-and-p/assets/events/london-sport-global-inspiration-survey-report.pdf 

For the full list of NOC houses available to the public and what’s going on in London throughout 2012 go to http://www.visitlondon.com/2012 

Image Courtesy of   Pete Niesen / Shutterstock.com

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“This will be the year Britain sees the world and the world sees Britain,” UK Prime Minister David Cameron said in his New Year’s speech to the British nation.

Many believe that 2012 will be a year of economic uncertainty for the United Kingdom. Indeed, with the rising unemployment rate and the European financial crisis, nothing is certain. “There are fears about jobs and paying the bills,” the prime minister said in the New Year video message. “I know how difficult it will be to get through this — but I also know that we will.” This year seems to be a critical year for the global economy as the euro enters its most vital year to date.

Recently, Mr.Cameron vetoed a proposal to issue an EU financial transactions tax, saying that “Unless the rest of the world all agreed at the same time that we are all going to have some sort of tax then we are not going to go ahead with it.” However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the Prime Minister said that the government’s plan to lessen the country’s budget deficit will result in some protection from the current euro-zone debt crisis, stressing that changes need to be made in order to seize growth opportunities outside of Europe.

The Guardian reported that the economy is expected to expand by merely 0.7% this year. Tony Dolphin, the chief economist of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said,

“If the economy does find itself back in recession, it is likely to have to find its own way out of it. There are ultimately only three solutions: the government decides to increase public spending or overseas demand for UK output increases substantially, or UK households and companies are given some reason to spend more.

The first is not going to happen, the second is extremely unlikely, and so we are left with the third. But with no prospect of tax cuts or lower interest rates, it is not clear what in the short term the catalyst for more spending by the private sector will be.”

Despite the current economic situation, there are still several reasons to be hopeful. London will be hosting the Olympic games from July 27 to August 12. The Britons will also be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this June, marking Queen Elizabeth II’s reign of 60 years.

The Prime Minister believes that regardless of the struggles the country is facing, 2012 will be a turning point for the UK. He said, “It must be the year we go for it—the year the coalition government I lead does everything it takes to get our country up to strength.”

Rosli Othman / Shutterstock.com

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