Queen Elizabeth II visits Olympic Park to inspect preparations for London 2012 Games

October 29th, 2009 LONDON - Visiting Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was on Thursday handed over the Queen's Baton by Queen Elizabeth II, signaling the formal launch of the Commonwealth Games that is to take place in New Delhi in October next year. The handing over of the Queen's Baton was done in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.

October 26th, 2009 First building completed on 2012 Olympic Park siteLONDON — Construction has been completed of the first building on the Olympic Park site for the 2012 London Games. The Olympic Delivery Authority says an electricity substation in the west of the park has been fully built and will start supplying energy to the site next month.

October 16th, 2009 London unveils pictograms for 2012 OlympicsLONDON — Organizers of the 2012 London Games have unveiled the 38 Olympic pictograms — the visual representations of each sport. The pictograms will be used on merchandise, signs and tickets, helping spectators find their way to their sport of choice when the Olympics begin in three years.

October 13th, 2009 London 2012: Badminton, gymnastics move to WembleyLONDON — The badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events for London 2012 will be held at Wembley Arena instead of constructing a temporary Olympic venue. The venue in north London will be visited this week by international gymnastics officials and next week by badminton's world federation.

October 7th, 2009 IOC says its concerned about London Olympic venuesCOPENHAGEN — The International Olympic Committee is concerned that organizers of the 2012 London Games have yet to finalize plans for all the sports venues. The IOC's chief coordinator for the London Games says Wednesday that organizers are making "encouraging progress" overall in their preparations.

October 7th, 2009 IOC concerned about London Olympic venuesCOPENHAGEN — The International Olympic Committee is concerned that organizers of the 2012 London Games have yet to finalize plans for all the sports venues. The IOC's chief coordinator for the London Games says Wednesday that organizers are making "encouraging progress" overall in their preparations.

September 9th, 2009 British businesses benefit from London OlympicsLONDON — Olympic contracts have benefited British businesses by more than $8.3 million ahead of the 2012 London Games. The Olympic Delivery Authority says of about 1,000 suppliers, almost half are from outside London.

August 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Britain's Queen Elizabeth is a secret West Ham fan, the Sunday Mirror can reveal. Until now she's always been tight-lipped about which team she supports.

August 14th, 2009 London Marathon to manage 2012 Olympic courseLONDON — London 2012 officials have appointed the London Marathon organizers to manage and help design the course for the Olympic event. The London Marathon will provide the organizing committee with free staff and equipment, including start facilities, race vehicles and feeding stations, for both the Olympic and Paralympic events.

August 10th, 2009 Villa Park withdrawn from 2012 Olympic plansLONDON —London 2012 organizers have decided against using Aston Villa's stadium for the preliminary stages of the Olympics because the club cannot guarantee that planned building work will be completed in time. Villa plans to renovate Villa Park stadium to expand its capacity from 42,640 to about 50,000 but does not have a firm time scale for the work.

July 20th, 2009 Work starts early on London 2012 handball arenaLONDON — Construction work on a handball venue for the London Games has begun two months early, meaning all permanent venues for the 2012 Olympics are under way, organizers said Monday. The copper-clad arena in Olympic Park will host qualifying matches in the handball competition, the fencing discipline in modern pentathlon and goalball during the Paralympics.

July 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth is hoping to visit the Wimbledon Centre court for the first time in 32 years to see British tennis star Andy Murray take on Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the men's final on Sunday, but before that the 22-year-old Scott will have to beats Andy Roddick in today's semi final. Murray has already received a letter of congratulations from Her Majesty after his recent win at Queen's, and now it has been revealed the Queen is set to grace Wimbledon with her presence, the Daily Express reports.

June 27th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth has cleared her appointments book in a hope to visit Wimbledon court to see British tennis star Andy Murray take on Roger Federer in the men's final on July 5. Murray has already had a letter of congratulation from Her Majesty after his win at Queen's two weeks ago, and now it has been revealed the Queen is set to grace Wimbledon with her presence for the first time in 32 years, the Daily Express reports.

June 22nd, 2009 London 2012 organizers seal Olympic Village dealLONDON — London 2012 organizers have completed a deal to sell almost half of the housing units in the Olympic Village after the games. The agreement with Triathlon Homes will allow them to sell 1,379 out of 2,800 homes in the east London development.

June 1st, 2009 Holiday Inn signs up as London 2012 sponsorLONDON — Holiday Inn has signed up as the 19th domestic sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics. The London organizing committee said Monday that Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express will be the official "hotel services provider" for the games.