London mayor invites Murdoch to Games

London Mayor Boris Johnson said Wednesday he had invited Rupert Murdoch to watch the Olympic Games, despite the controversy that the media baron faces over Britain's phone-hacking scandal.

News Corporation boss Murdoch, 81, has been at the centre of a political storm in Britain over the past year following the eruption of the scandal at his now-defunct News of the World newspaper.

Johnson defended his decision to invite the Australian-born tycoon and his wife Wendi Deng to watch the Olympic swimming finals at the Aquatics Centre on Friday.

The Conservative mayor is openly trying to capitalise on the Games by promoting London to leading business figures in a bid to encourage investment and growth. AFP

Obama backs ending Olympic 'medal tax'

The White House on Monday backed legislation designed to spare triumphant Olympic athletes a nasty surprise -- a tax on medals they bring home from the London Games.

President Barack Obama “supports that bill. If it were to get to his desk, he would support it,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“The president believes that we should support efforts ... to ensure that we're doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic games.” Senator Marco Rubio, a rising Republican star, has introduced legislation following a report by the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), which warned that athletes could be required to pay up to $9,000 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service for each gold medal. AFP

Official photo no favor to Phelps

Michael Phelps wasn't going for the mug-shot look when he posed for his official Olympic photo, but even superstars can get stuck with cringe-worthy ID pictures.

Phelps's tousle-headed look, complete with scraggy beard, rumpled clothing and an almost-menacing glare, prompted comparisons to a police booking photo.

“It seems honored Olympic stars and criminals have one thing in common,” wrote Bleacher Report. “(H)orrible head shots.” Phelps said the scowl was simple -- new rules forbid ID pictures with smiles that show the subject's teeth.

“Not allowed to, that was the rule,” Phelps said, who had to have a quick re-take. AFP

Sudan athletes seek asylum in UK

Three Sudanese athletes training with the country's Olympic squad in Britain have applied for political asylum, the head of Sudan's Olympic Mission said .

Chef de Mission Elfatih Abelaal accused Sudanese communists and Darfur rebels of encouraging the athletes to apply while they were based at a training camp in northeast England. A report in The Independent newspaper named the three athletes as Al-Nazeer Abdul Gadir, Sadam Hussein and Osman Yahya Omar, but a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy was unable to confirm the names to AFP.

AFP