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Olympic torch relay hit by flash protests

By The Assam Tribune

LONDON, July 22 (IANS): The Olympic torch relay, currently travelling through the British capital after it arrived from Olympia�s Temple of Hera in Greece, has had to face flash protests on the streets.

The protestors are demanding the restoration of cuts in the National Health Services (NHS) that is reeling under massive funding cuts. NHS shares its birth year with the 1948 London Olympics. Londoners, who had rejoiced at opening of NHS and celebrated the arrival of the Olympic torch some 64 years ago, are now divided in their opinion of both.

�We never needed these Games at a time when the country is in a double-dip recession,� Gurjeet Kaur told IANS. She had been waiting for the torch to arrive for more than two hours in Leyton High Road.

�My kids brought me here,� she said while watching her children curiously engaging with street magicians.

Leyton, known for the massive indoor velodrome and a sprawling outdoor racing track, borders the main Olympic venue of Stratford. Largely populated with migrants from Asia and Africa, Leyton is a dense and crowded neighbourhood after World War I Zeppelin raids devastated the entire area.

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