Meeting for the first time since the Beijing Games, the IOC has a new set of issues to discuss -- the world economic crisis, doping cases and preparations for the next three Olympics. The International Olympic Committee executive board opens a three-day meeting Wednesday in a global financial climate that has deteriorated dramatically in the months since the closing ceremony in Beijing on Aug.

(Adds resignation from National Express)

London 2012 organizers are concerned companies building the $1.5 billion Olympic Village could go broke because of the global economic downturn. The athletes' village in London has already been scaled back from 4,200 apartments to 3,300 for the 17,000 athletes and coaches because of the fall in the housing market.

Anani Matthia, an IOC member for 24 years who drew a warning in the Salt Lake City bid scandal, has died. He was 81. The International Olympic Committee announced his death Tuesday but did not give further details. He was elected as a member for Togo in 1983 and was made an honorary member in 2007. In 1999, Matthia received a "serious warning" from the IOC following an investigation of members'...