KIMIHIRO HOSHINO

After tweeting criticism of NBC and Olympics.

Twitter suspended a British reporter’s account after he tweeted the email address of NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel—and also tweeted criticism of the Olympics, which has a nonfinancial partnership with Twitter to promote content. Guy Adams, a Los Angeles–based reporter for London’s Independent, vented his frustration over NBC’s tape-delayed coverage of the opening ceremony, and then tweeted “the man responsible at NBC for pretending the Olympics haven’t started yet is Gary Zenkel. Tell him what u think: Gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com.” After receiving a complaint from NBC, Twitter “suspended” Adams and sent him a letter saying he had violated Twitter rules that prohibit posting personal information, which includes “private email addresses, physical addresses, telephone numbers, or financial documents.”

Read it at Reuters

Claims to have little knowledge of dressage.

Take that, elitists! Mitt Romney may have spent huge chunks of change on his wife Ann’s dressage horse, which is set to compete in the Olympics, but he sure as hell won’t be watching it when it does. That’s what he told Brian Williams on Friday, at least. “I have to tell you,” Romney said in the interview, “this is Ann’s sport. I am not even sure what day the sport goes on. She will get the chance to see it. I will not be watching the event. I hope her horse does well.” This despite the fact that Romney has talked about picking out music for the horse’s competitions in the past, and was caught on-camera talking to Sean Hannity about the finer points of equine ownership before taping an interview with him in February.

Read it at Los Angeles Times

Harry How / Getty Images

What makes the Olympics so special? From medalist Shawn Johnson to former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, watch these insiders reminisce about just what makes the Games so magical.

Tom Brokaw The longtime NBC anchor and Olympics host wasn’t at the Los Angeles Coliseum when he witnessed his favorite Olympic moment—he was in a hotel. Sitting in front of a TV like the majority of Americans, Brokaw recalls breaking down when he watched his friend and former colleague, Rafer Johnson, the 1960 decathlon gold medalist, light the Olympic flame in Los Angeles in 1984. Shawn Johnson: The Champion In the summer of 2008, you could find Shawn Johnson standing on a podium in Beijing with a medal around her neck.

Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

Zara's performance leaves UK in silver position

Royal fever swept the Olympics today as Zara Philips, the Queen's granddaughter who is 13th in line to the throne, put in a perfect performance in the challenging and dangerous cross-country round of the equestrian competition.She was cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd which included all the young Royals: Wiliam, Kate, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.Her outstanding ride leaves her in joint tenth place overnight individually, and leaving the UK team int he silver medal position.

Ryan Pierse / Getty Images

Mark Perryman, author of ‘Why the Olympics Aren’t Good for Us and How They Can Be,’ busts the myth of economic regeneration.

On July 6, 2005, at the 117th International Olympic Committee Session in Singapore, London made its final presentation for its bid to host the 2012 Summer Games. Mayor Ken Livingstone, who used to be the firebrand known as “Red Ken,” had previously shown little or no interest in sport in the capital. But he was now older and cuddlier, his sharp edges smoothed by the responsibilities of mayoral office. As he made his bid, he dubbed London 2012 “The Regeneration Games,” his enthusiastic support informed by his belief that they would deliver for East London much needed economic renewal.

Gregory Bull / AP Photo

England wins first medal in event in 100 years.

China has taken the men's gymnastics gold, with Japan getting silver, and Great Britain winning bronze. At first, England was awarded silver and Ukraine won bronze, but the judges updated the scores after Japan appealed. It's the first medal for England in men's gymnastics in 100 years. The U.S., which took home the bronze in 2008, finished the qualifying rounds with the highest team score, but finished in fifth place after struggling on the pommel horse. They later regained some momentum on the rings, but it wasn't enough to keep them in the running for the podium. All eight teams compete in six gymnastics events: floor, horizontal (high) bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, and vault.

Read it at The New York Times

David Goldman / AP Photo

From buses that run on time to semi-naked women playing beach volleyball, London Mayor Boris Johnson on why he’s cheerful about the 2012 games in London.

By Boris Johnson I am not going to count my chickens. I fully recognize that there are all sorts of pitfalls in the days ahead. But here are just 20 reasons to be cheerful and proud about the way our London 2012 Olympics are going so far—and the first is ... 1. Yaaay! Team GB has won some medals, as Lizzie Armitstead gets silver in the cycling road race and Rebecca Adlington wins bronze in the 400 meters freestyle. There must be every chance that we will win a few more in the next couple of weeks—in cycling, rowing, sailing, and riding, all sports at which British athletes seem to excel and all of which involve sitting down.

Maja Hitij, dapd / AP Photo

Eyes gold in 200m butterfly.

Michael Phelps redeemed himself Monday after an awful showing this weekend, making his way into the 200-meter butterfly semifinals. “I was pretty happy with that this morning,” Phelps said of finishing third in his heat and fifth overall. “That’s all I needed to do, basically.” The swimmer is really looking forward to Tuesday night’s finals, hoping he can become the first male swimmer to win three consecutive Olympic events. He just has to finish in the top eight in Monday’s competition.

Read it at USA Today

Paul Ellis, AFP / Getty Images

Children and soldiers get free tickets to Olympics.

Olympic organizers have resorted to giving soldiers and schoolchildren free tickets to the London Games in order to fill many empty seats. Locals watching the games from home over the weekend were none too pleased to see rows left vacant at some of the most popular sporting events, sparking controversy over the use (or lack thereof) of the tickets given to corporate sponsors. London’s culture secretary announced that the Olympic organizing committee was “doing a full investigation into what happened.” Meanwhile the International Olympic Committee’s communications director has made sure to place blame for the open seats on no one in particular. “I think it is wrong—completely wrong—to say this is a sponsor issue,” he said.

Read it at The Washington Post

From Ryan Lochte to Queen Underwood, can you pair the Olympic athletes with their decorative ink?

Fabrice Coffrini, AFP / Getty Images

Ryan Lochte’s diamond teeth nearly cost him an Olympic gold medal. From Heidi Klum to Kanye West to Lana Del Rey, see stars with heavy-metal smiles.

Olivia Arthur / Magnum Photos

Two Saudi women are competing for the first time in London. Thousands are daring to challenge the status quo at home.

A Remarkable thing happened this past May in Riyadh. Officers belonging to Saudi Arabia’s ever-zealous religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, ordered an abaya-clad young woman out of a shopping mall for wearing nail polish. That in itself wasn’t so unusual. The surprise was what came next: the young woman stood her ground. She told the men they had no right to harass her, filmed the confrontation on her cellphone, and posted it on YouTube, where it quickly went viral.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

In last quarter of relay

C’est la vie. In Sunday’s men’s swimming relay, the French team came out for a surprising win over the U.S.—who had come out on top in 2008. With a clear lead in the first three legs, it seemed the Americans would take gold, but French swimmer Yannick Agnel overtook American Ryan Lochte—who beat Michael Phelps on Saturday—by exactly a second to give France the win. "I gave everything in the last 50 until he cracked," Agnel said. "In the last 10 meters, I saw that he was really cracking." The Americans took silver and Russians took bronze, while Australia, the favorite to win, was shut out of the medals.

Read it at NBC

Jae C. Hong / AP Photo

By 27 points.

In the first day of the men's basketball tournament, Team USA beat France with a final score of 98-71. With Michelle Obama looking on, Kevin Durrant led the game with 22 points and 8 assists to mark his Olympic entrance. "We know everybody else expects us to win by 40 points," said Carmelo Anthony. "For us, a win's a win. We expect every game to be like this one."

Read it at NBC

Gregory Bull / AP Photo

Fails to make final of all-around competition.

All hope isn't lost for U.S. gymnastics. The women's team topped Russia and China on Sunday, bouncing back from the devestating blow of star gymnast Jordyn Wieber's failure to qualify for the all-around competition finals in London. The 17-year-old American, overcome by tears, was favored to win the gold medal in the event. While Wieber didn’t make any major errors, she failed to score better than her two teammates, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, and only the top two from each team advance.

Read it at The New York Times