Spotlight on Sochi security

The International Olympic Committee has dismissed the latest perceived terror scare to the Sochi Winter Olympics after several Olympic Associations said they had received a suspicious e-mail on Wednesday.

Federations from the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia were among those that indicated they had received e-mails or letters with similar content, which were passed to the IOC security advisers for inspection.

In a swift reply, the IOC said: "We have been in close contact with Sochi 2014 on this matter and our line is as follows: the IOC takes security very seriously and passes on any credible information to the relevant security services.