Clashes along Olympic torch route

Thirty-five arrests have been made after clashes between pro-Tibet protesters and police as the Olympic torch made its way through London.

Protests over China's human rights record began soon after the relay began at Wembley, and prompted an increasing police presence through the city.

One protester tried to snatch the torch from former Blue Peter host Konnie Huq.

After an unpublicised change to the route, the Chinese ambassador carried the torch through Chinatown.

It later made an unscheduled move onto a bus.

A protective ring of 10 Chinese flame attendants and fluorescent-jacketed police officers surrounded the torchbearers at all times, with additional uniformed officers joining at potential flashpoints along the route.

Police decided the torch should travel along Fleet Street to St Paul's Cathedral by bus, rather than held by a runner, after it was surrounded by a large group of protesters.

A contingent of pro-China supporters also tried to make their voices heard along the route, waving Chinese and Olympic flags and calling for "one China".

I always said my taking part in the procession doesn't mean I condone China in any way

Outside Downing Street there were chaotic scenes as former Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis took the flame to No 10.

Gordon Brown greeted the torch outside Number 10 despite coming under pressure to boycott the parade and the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. However he did not hold it.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the prime minister's involvement was "wholly inappropriate" until China opened talks with the Dalai Lama.

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:lmao: It is like watching a slapstick movie, so many people trying to put the flame out, one even used an extinguisher! I'm seeing more police than the actual torch :lol2:

tibet needs to be nuked

Trying to manhandle a former presenter of Blue Peter! Is nothing sacred anymore?

:lmao: the world has lost it's innocence

I think I'm switching sides and be pro Tibet, the protests looked spectacular!

I'm loving this!

And loving people going crazy over something that really matters!!! :wub:

GO TIBET!
the olympic torch route is such nonsense, anyway. i can't believe an idea set by hitler and the nazis has been embraced by the western world. i guess it's way too profitable of an event to be sacked.

Olympic protests spread to Paris



Protests against the torch relay ahead of the Beijing Olympics have spread to France's capital, Paris.

Four people were arrested, including two who were taking part in demonstrations critical of Chinese rule in Tibet, AFP news agency said.

Officials twice extinguished the torch and put it on a bus for safety reasons.

Earlier, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, expressed concern over unrest in Tibet and the torch protests.

The French protests come after 37 people were arrested during pro-Tibet protests which disrupted Sunday's relay in London.

Security in Paris was extremely tight, with some 3,000 police on duty, riding motorcycles, jogging or on skates.

About 500 protesters were reported to be involved in the demonstrations, mainly near the Eiffel Tower.

Several hundred demonstrators waving banners gathered on the Trocadero esplanade where the relay got started at 1235 local time (1135 BST).

A member of the French Green party was restrained by police after attempting to grab the torch from the first of Paris's 80 torch bearers, former world 400 metres hurdles champion Stephane Diagana, Reuters news agency said.

Police twice carried the torch onto a bus amid the demonstrations.

On the second occasion, the flame was being relayed out of a Paris traffic tunnel by an athlete in a wheelchair when it was taken onto a bus because protesters booed and began chanting "Tibet", the Assoicated Press reported.

fuckin ghippirs

hipprd

HIPPIEHS

I never knew that.

If one edition had to be boycotted it would have been the 1936 one. :hurt:

Still after all those years an eerie sight:

The Nazis' uniforms were quite chic. They were made by Hugo Boss.

I'm a sucker for uniforms, the German uniforms were the best! Did you see The Pianist? When Thomas Kretschmann discovers Adrien Brody and the zoom in on his uniform, I melted! :drama:

Thomas Kretschmann is HOT! :drama:

China vows to keep torch on track

Beijing has said no force can stop the world relay of the Olympic flame as it faces new protests on the Californian leg of its journey.

Seven Pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in San Francisco after tying anti-Chinese banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The flame is due to arrive in the city on Tuesday following a troubled relay through Paris and London.

The torch was put out three times in Paris because of pro-Tibetan protests.

But the flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern.

The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and is being relayed through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games on 8 August.

Demonstrators are protesting at China's security crackdown in Tibet after recent unrest against Chinese rule.

Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.

Protest climb

Condemning the disruption to the relay in Paris and London, Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters the torch relay would continue as planned.

"No force can stop the torch relay of the Beijing Games," he said in Beijing.

Chinese state TV said the protesters in London and Paris were a "handful of Tibetan separatists".

Police in San Francisco, where the torch is due to be relayed on Wednesday, arrested seven people and charged them with conspiracy and causing a public nuisance.

The three climbers among them faced additional charges of trespassing.

They had scaled the bridge to perch 150 feet (46m) above traffic, attaching "Free Tibet" banners and a Tibetan flag.

One of them, Laurel Sutherlin, spoke by mobile phone to reporters.

"If the IOC [International Olympic Committee] allows the torch to proceed into Tibet they'll have blood on their hands," he said.

US Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called on President George W Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics unless China improves its human rights record.

Black banners

The Paris relay started to go wrong almost from the start, despite the presence of 3,000 police along the route.

It was cut short with the torch finally carried by bus to the relay's end point.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe cancelled a ceremony to welcome the torch relay after Green party activists hung a Tibetan flag and a black banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from the city hall.

Activists also hung Tibetan flags or black banners from several other Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral.

On Sunday, 37 people were arrested in London as protesters disrupted the torch relay there.



Torch lit in Olympia on 24 March and taken on five-day relay around Greece to Athens

After handover ceremony, it is taken to Beijing on 31 March to begin a journey of 136,800 km (85,000 miles) around the world

Torch arrives in Macao on 3 May. After three-month relay all around China, it arrives in Beijing for opening ceremony on 8 August