Both London and the Olympics were irrevocably altered.

And so were the lives of those who live here. Sam Kato, 12, practices with the Newham All Star Sports Academy, an oasis in east London from the crime, gangs and drugs that helped fuel last summer’s riots. The program helps keep kids out of trouble and teaches them the value of teamwork.

“It’s like a family to me,” the 6-foot-1 Kato said as the gym reverberated with basketballs rhythmically hitting the wooden floor. “If there were more programs like this, I doubt there would be riots.”

Newham hosts the Olympic Park, center of the 2012 games.

Complex security plans for the Olympics have been altered after the riots, which shocked Britain and damaged London’s image abroad. Those plans were also updated after student demonstrations in London that included a spontaneous attack on Prince Charles and wife Camilla and the “Occupy London” encampment near the city’s financial district.

The riots exposed the limits of what police could handle in terms of dramatic and unforeseen events. After a weak initial response, thousands of police officers were brought in to help swamp London’s streets in a show of force, discouraging further trouble.

The Olympics will already keep 12,000 officers occupied on the busiest days, so any riot repeat will push resources further still.

“(Planners) are learning the lessons from the riots,” said Margaret Gilmore, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a respected think tank. “Some demonstrations and protests are almost inevitable and they are likely to take a tougher line and use more officers in dealing with riots.”

Fears over street unrest come alongside the biggest Olympic worry: terrorism. Security has been an intricate part of the games since a terror attack at the 1972 Olympics in Munich killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. London has not been immune from terror attacks — four suicide bombers targeted the city’s transit network in 2005, killing 52 commuters.

But the advent of riots was a late addition to the planning mix, which has been under way for years. Even now plans are still being refined.

“What you have to remember is that in the last Olympics people were worried about al-Qaida threats,” said Ellis Cashmore, a professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University. “What the riots have done is alert people to the fact that London may not be such a safe city after all.”

Tough economic times in Britain mean underlying tensions aren’t getting better any time soon. Unemployment this year passed the 1 million mark for young people for the first time since the mid-1980s.

Austerity measures meant to put the country back in the black have cut support for many programs geared at helping young people, and Britain’s youth unemployment rate has risen to about 20 percent. Youth workers say the desperation and hopelessness felt by many British teens and young adults is likely to be even worse next summer than this year.

Olympic officials have declared themselves unconcerned about any legacy from the riots. Denis Oswald, head of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission for London, told reporters recently that he was in London during the unrest and believed the situation was “quite quickly under control.”

Oswald looked at the bright side, noting that many people showed up for impromptu work crews to help hard-hit merchants clean up after the looting.

“I don’t think this has put any negative image on London or on the games,” he said.

The riots were triggered by the fatal police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in the working-class London district of Tottenham. Duggan’s death, under disputed circumstances, touched off anger, quickly followed by thrown bricks, burning cars and looting. An interim report on the unrest concluded this week that the slow police response to the looting led people to believe they wouldn’t get caught.

Between 13,000 and 15,000 people took part in the riots and the report said more than three-quarters were 24 or younger.

But there were 460 notable exceptions — the members of Newham basketball club. Director Natasha Hart and her coaches quickly organized a training camp to give them somewhere to go for several days.

“No one was involved,” she said. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

Newham is one of the poorest areas in Britain, with 25 percent of its households below the poverty line. A primary stopping point for new immigrants, dozens of languages are spoken in its schools. Many immigrants are also transient, fraying any sense of community cohesion.

Kids here worry about gangs, for gang territory is strictly defined. A block or two in any direction can become a no-go zone.

But on the basketball court, everyone is welcome.

Hart, a Russian emigre, is the daughter of an Olympic basketball player and a professional boxer who simply wanted to share her love of basketball with her two sons. The single mother started by organizing pick up games and practices at a local park.

Seven years later, she listens to the hooting and hollering in the sparkling gym at Rokeby school and shakes her head. There are little kids running around, big little kids like Kato refining their moves, teenage girls who dream of playing at American powerhouses like the University of Tennessee, and young men without jobs who just want to play.

The abbreviation of the club’s name — NASSA — evokes the U.S. space program and its reach for the heavens, something the kids joke about.

“These children, they want to belong to something,” Hart said. “I think we deserve it. Don’t you?”

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A young Black male who was dressed in a blue sweatshirt and holding a 6-inch hunting blade was photographed running from the scene, as his victim stood dazed and bloody.

New York Daily News reports:

The man’s shirt is soaked in blood, and he looks pale and on the verge of unconsciousness.

Paramedics treated him at the scene before he was rushed to a central London hospital and treated for wounds to his stomach and hands, the Telegraph reported.

He was said to be in stable condition on Tuesday. His name was not released.

Cops at the scene nabbed four men, all in their early 20s, for questioning, the Telegraph said.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday, but it wasn’t clear if any of the five suspects was the stabber from the photo.

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His shooting at the hands of police while he was riding in a cab is when this story began.

Operation Trident, which is a unit of the London Police Department that monitors the city’s Black neighborhoods, stopped the cab Duggan was in to arrest him and soon after, shots were fired. Duggan, who is a father of three, was fatally wounded and died.

What happened next is what hasn’t ended to this day — continuous rioting.

Various reports have an exchange of gunfire between police and Duggan that eventually ended in his death. Other reports have police shooting Duggan repeatedly in the head while he was face down execution style. Forensic and ballistic reports have yet to be released.

The protests began early Saturday morning when his family and over 100 protesters went to the Tottenham Police Department demanding answers. Two hours later, several youths began looting, rioting, and vandalizing public property in Tottenham.  The rioting has spread to other parts including Brixton and Enfield.

The last huge race riot in London happened in 1985 when Floyd Jarrett, who was of AfroCaribbean origin, was stopped by police on suspicion of driving with a forged tax disc. A few hours later officers raided the nearby home of his mother, who collapsed and died during the raid. Rioting erupted shortly afterwards.

But what many fail to believe is the huge part social media has played in this as Twitter and Facebook have been means of organizing, according to police.

An investigation is currently being done on the death of Duggan.

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Beyonce had an amazing escape when she opened her car door — and it got ripped off its hinges by a London taxi.

Beyonce with hubby Jay-Z was about to step out of the car and enter Harrods for some quick shopping, but the cab missed her by inches as it collided with their Mercedes.

A source said:

“It was terrifying to watch. It all happened so quickly, the taxi came out of nowhere. She seemed very shaken and was lucky to be alive. A couple of seconds difference and God knows what could have happened.”

Beyonce was out for a romantic evening in London with her husband.

SOURCE

PHOTOS: Beyonce And Jay-Z Dine And Run

PHOTOS: Beyonce Steps Out In London

We recently told you about Whitney Houston and her first concert in London in more than a decade that left her fans disappointed and asking for refunds.  Well Houston returned for another performance and to her credit, the singer, 46, knew she was disappointing the crowd, and she shook her head and tried to reassure the audience.

“Oh, it’s going to come,” Houston announced mid-song. “I wanna do it – but [my voice] just doesn’t want to. I have long talks with her. Well, tonight she’s getting a little temperamental.

Watch the video:

VIDEO: Whitney Booed By UK Fans

Whitney blames cancellations on allergies

When Mariah Carey reportedly requested that she be surrounded by 20 white kittens and 100 white doves while lighting a Christmas tree at a British shopping center, local health and safety officials had to put their foot down.

According to London’s Daily Mail, an insider said: “We did manage to source the doves that we were going to release into the sky, but the kittens proved terribly difficult. In the end, it was made clear that due to health and safety, there was no way we could have the animals at Westfield.  We do not allow pets into Westfield – that rule would apply for everyone.”

Carey’s rider also asked for a Rolls Royce to drive her along a pink carpet and up to the pink podium – where she is to wave a wand to turn on the lights. She also reportedly asked for confetti shaped like butterflies to shower over her at the end.

She has also requested an entourage of 15 along with about 80 security guards, the Daily Mail reported.