2008 Olympic torch arrives in London

Saturday, April 5, 2008 

The 2008 Olympic Torch has arrived in London today, with the delegation being met by Chinese ambassador Fu Ying and Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell at Heathrow Airport. The torch had just arrived from St Petersburg, Russia.

Tomorrow, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will give a welcoming speech, which has already drawn criticism from other politicians for being "wholly inappropriate".

After the speech the torch will be taken on a 31 mile relay around London, beginning at Wembley stadium, and finishing at the O2 Arena, being carried by 80 athletes, dignitaries and entertainers, after initially being carried by five time Olympic gold medal winner Sir Steve Redgrave.

It is expected that the relay route will be lined by hundreds of people, however around 500 people are also expected to protest against the current human rights issues in the country, which has already taken place along the route. 4 people were also arrested today, 2 of which were on Westminster Bridge, after un-furling banners on the bridge.

Around 2,000 Metropolitan Police are expected to be present tomorrow at the relay, and Tessa Jowell told the BBC that she hoped the protests would be peaceful.

The arrival of the torch comes on the same day that Chinese security forces fired on Tibetan protesters, killing 8.

The torch, which has come from Greece, will make its way around the world, being transported by thousands of people, and end in China on August 8th, 2008, to light the flame during the opening ceremony.

Learn more about 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay on Wikipedia.

• "Olympic flame arrives in London" — BBC News Online, April 5, 2008
• "London protest over Olympic torch" — The Press Association, April 5, 2008
• Tini Tran. "Police Fire on Tibetan Protesters; 8 Die" — The Associated Press, Arpil 5, 2008
  

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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.