• Nearly two-thirds of applicants were unsuccessful • Next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June Nearly two thirds of the 1.9m people who applied for London 2012 Olympics tickets missed out in the first round of sales. Figures show that a total of 1.2m people ended up with nothing, with only 700,000 – 36% – being successful. Those who missed out will be given the first opportunity to buy those tickets still available when the next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June. Some 3m tickets were bought in the first round, and a further 2.3m will go on sale, though 1.7m of these are for Olympic football matches and 600,000 for other sports. The London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe, told reporters: “We recognise that a lot of people who have as yet been unsuccessful in that application are clearly disappointed. That’s why we are absolutely determined to do everything we possibly can to get tickets to those people who missed out in the first application. “Our commitment is to get two thirds of that 1.9m people to buy a ticket for the 2012 Games if they want to – and we know they want to be there, they were involved in the application process and are mad sports fans.” All applicants will find out by email today whether they have been successful or not. Those told they have been successful will not be able to find out exactly which tickets they have until 24 June when they will be able to do so via their baskets in the online ticket system. The emails to the 1.2m unsuccessful applicants say: “We would like to invite you to take advantage of an exclusive opportunity to purchase some of the remaining tickets, in advance of those customers who were allocated tickets in the initial application phase. “From 6am on 24 June until 6pm on 3 July 2011 you will be able to request some of the remaining tickets on the London 2012 ticketing website.” Olympic Games 2012 guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Nearly two-thirds of applicants were unsuccessful • Next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June Nearly two thirds of the 1.9m people who applied for London 2012 Olympics tickets missed out in the first round of sales. Figures show that a total of 1.2m people ended up with nothing, with only 700,000 – 36% – being successful. Those who missed out will be given the first opportunity to buy those tickets still available when the next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June. Some 3m tickets were bought in the first round, and a further 2.3m will go on sale, though 1.7m of these are for Olympic football matches and 600,000 for other sports. The London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe, told reporters: “We recognise that a lot of people who have as yet been unsuccessful in that application are clearly disappointed. That’s why we are absolutely determined to do everything we possibly can to get tickets to those people who missed out in the first application. “Our commitment is to get two thirds of that 1.9m people to buy a ticket for the 2012 Games if they want to – and we know they want to be there, they were involved in the application process and are mad sports fans.” All applicants will find out by email today whether they have been successful or not. Those told they have been successful will not be able to find out exactly which tickets they have until 24 June when they will be able to do so via their baskets in the online ticket system. The emails to the 1.2m unsuccessful applicants say: “We would like to invite you to take advantage of an exclusive opportunity to purchase some of the remaining tickets, in advance of those customers who were allocated tickets in the initial application phase. “From 6am on 24 June until 6pm on 3 July 2011 you will be able to request some of the remaining tickets on the London 2012 ticketing website.” Olympic Games 2012 guardian.co.uk
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• Nearly two-thirds of applicants were unsuccessful • Next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June Nearly two thirds of the 1.9m people who applied for London 2012 Olympics tickets missed out in the first round of sales. Figures show that a total of 1.2m people ended up with nothing, with only 700,000 – 36% – being successful. Those who missed out will be given the first opportunity to buy those tickets still available when the next sales window opens at 6am on 24 June. Some 3m tickets were bought in the first round, and a further 2.3m will go on sale, though 1.7m of these are for Olympic football matches and 600,000 for other sports. The London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe, told reporters: “We recognise that a lot of people who have as yet been unsuccessful in that application are clearly disappointed. That’s why we are absolutely determined to do everything we possibly can to get tickets to those people who missed out in the first application. “Our commitment is to get two thirds of that 1.9m people to buy a ticket for the 2012 Games if they want to – and we know they want to be there, they were involved in the application process and are mad sports fans.” All applicants will find out by email today whether they have been successful or not. Those told they have been successful will not be able to find out exactly which tickets they have until 24 June when they will be able to do so via their baskets in the online ticket system. The emails to the 1.2m unsuccessful applicants say: “We would like to invite you to take advantage of an exclusive opportunity to purchase some of the remaining tickets, in advance of those customers who were allocated tickets in the initial application phase. “From 6am on 24 June until 6pm on 3 July 2011 you will be able to request some of the remaining tickets on the London 2012 ticketing website.” Olympic Games 2012 guardian.co.uk
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Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Locals ban Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains For a film-maker, getting lost in the jungle can be a source of amusing sketches, which can turn even more humorous if it’s a German tourist stumbling upon a makeshift cocaine lab run by fictional drug-traffickers. But coca growers in the Yungas region of Bolivia do not see the funny side. They have banned the screening of Adán Sarabia’s Los Gringos No Comen Llajua (Foreigners Don’t Eat Spicy Sauce) because it portrays them as narco-villains. In the movie, the German tourist is kidnapped by drug traffickers who believe he is worth a lot of money. It’s all fiction, says the Bolivian filmmaker, but the coca growers are not convinced. They have even intimidated those who try to show the film. “The house of one of the people who helped us was burnt down,” said Sarabia. “They’ve threatened the actors who live in the Yungas that they’ll throw them out of their community, and they’ve called them persona non grata.” The young director protests that his comedy, while filmed in the Yungas, could be set in any jungle area of Latin America. “I was surprised that one of the leaders of the coca growers wanted to know who gave us permission to film a cocaine lab,” said Sarabia. A scene in the movie shows mean-looking men stumping their feet on coca leaves, the traditional maceration process in the production of illegal cocaine. “This person believes that what he’s seen in the movie is true but, in reality, that cocaine lab was our artistic recreation.” For the director, this is not just laughable but also an implicit confirmation that some of the coca legally grown in the Yungas for traditional and medicinal uses goes to drug traffickers. “This comment implicates the coca growers, that they do have maceration pits,” said Savadria. “He put his foot in his mouth.” The director, however, is pleased about the controversy because it has given the film very good publicity. “We now plan to launch it again. People now want to see it.” Bolivia Comedy Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
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Harmondsworth under spotlight for holding detainees as long as three years at a cost of £110 a night, says IMB report Ministers have been warned by an official immigration watchdog of the “excessively long” periods, including cases of more than three years, that detainees are being held at Europe’s largest removal centre. A “snapshot” taken last December showed that 35 detainees at Harmondsworth removal centre, near Heathrow airport, had been waiting more than 12 months to be deported, including seven who had been waiting more than two years. Harmondsworth’s officially appointed independent monitoring board (IMB) said one man had been held in detention for three years and seven months at a cost of £110 a night. The bill is already more than £144,000. “This is not only emotionally costly to detainees but expensive for the taxpayer,” says the IMB’s annual report to the immigration minister, Damian Green. It adds that the latest national figures show that as of 3 March, 170 detainees around the country have been held more than two years waiting for their removal. The watchdog raises the problem of “hidden children” being held in immigration detention centres despite the coalition’s pledge to end the practice. The IMB’s annual report reveals that six children who were held last year at Harmondsworth were removed by social services when it had been established they were children. The watchdog said they were part of the problem of young people being detained by the UK Border Agency as adults despite claiming to be under 18. “Arrangements should be made for the rapid assessment of those claiming to be under 18,” the IMB reported. Harmondsworth, which is run by a US private security company, GEO, became the largest immigration detention centre in Europe last year when four prison-style wings were opened, trebling the total capacity to 615 people. The report was published as a freedom of information request revealed a surge of complaints last year against the security company G4S over its running of four immigration removal centres. In 2010 the company received 773 complaints from detainees – 240 more than the previous year. Nearly 130 of the complaints were fully or partially substantiated. Most concerned lost property, poor quality food or poor communication but 25 of the complaints that were substantiated involved the conduct of individual members of staff. They included two complaints of serious assault by staff on detainees at Harmondsworth and at Tinsley House, near Gatwick. A third case of assault at Harmondsworth is still being investigated. G4S lost the contract to carry out immigration deportations last year. A police investigation continues into the case of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan who died after being restrained by three G4S guards on a flight . A spokesman for G4S said: “Anyone detained within our immigration facilities is given every opportunity to raise concerns about either the treatment they receive from our staff or the services we provide. “The level of substantiated complaints against our employees over the last three years, at 25, is extremely low and of a minor nature, albeit we take each one very seriously. “The vast majority of upheld complaints relate to issues at Brook House IRC, which houses some of the UK’s most challenging detainees, including a number of convicted criminals, prior to their deportation.” David Wood, head of criminality and detention at the UK Border Agency, said: “The way that complaints are processed and recorded has been made simpler in recent years, which has led to a rise in recording. “Complaints range from issues about the food served at mealtimes to more serious issues. Importantly these figures show a decrease in substantiated complaints and that the majority of complaints are minor and relate to availability of facilities at the centres.” Immigration and asylum Human rights Jimmy Mubenga Children Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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