Flame of Hope arrives in London

The Special Olympics World Summer Games Flame of Hope, which was lit in Athens a week ago, has arrived in London on its way to Ireland.

At noon today, the Special Olympics flame arrived at London's Waterloo station on the Eurostar train from Brussels. Tomorrow, it goes to Glasgow and it will be in Northern Ireland on Friday.

This final leg of the torch run is being supported by over 130 police officers from various countries, including Gardaí and members of the PSNI.

The flame's first stop in London was the House of Commons, where it was met by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

Doubts over some teams' arrival

It is now almost certain that athletes from Mali will not be attending this year's Special Olympics.

According to the organisers, every effort was made the accommodate the team, including offers of financial assistance and extending the closing date for entries.

However, it seems unlikely the Mali delegation, which was made up of less than ten athletes, will be here.

The athletes were supposed to be staying in Kanturk and the organisers say they are trying to find another team to take their place.

A question has also been raised about the attendance of the team from Guadeloupe, although a spokesperson for the organisers said they hoped the difficulties would be resolved very shortly.

The spokesperson also said he was very confident that the Palestinian delegation will be taking part.

There are some problems with the athletes and their support staff getting exit visas from the Israeli authorities but the organisers of the Special Olympics say they expect the Palestinian team to arrive in time for the event.