London 2012 organisers have apologised to the North Korean Olympic team following an embarrassing mix-up that saw the flag of a rival nation mistakenly displayed at their first sporting event of the Games.

HUNDREDS of thousands of British public sector workers went on strike to defend their pensions, causing widespread school closures in a major challenge to the year-old government.

A strike by up to 750,000 teachers, civil servants and other public sector workers in the UK is set to go ahead after crunch talks with the Government today failed to end a bitter row over pensions and spending cuts.