The Beijing Games draw to a close on Sunday after what many have described as one of the best Olympics ever held.
China, having beaten the United States to top the medals table, will hand the Olympic flag to the 2012 hosts London at a closing ceremony from 1300 BST. Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru won the men's marathon on the final day.
Let’s see how long it will take till we find out what really happened in this Olympic games of fraud, drugs, corruption and deception!
Chinese climbers bearing the Olympic flame have reached the summit of Everest, the world's highest mountain.
Chinese television showed the team of climbers, carrying special high-altitude torches, reaching the summit at 0920 local time. Huddled in the snow they unfurled flags and cheered for the cameras. Correspondents say China is hoping the dramatic feat will counter some of the damaging publicity from the protests during the torch's international relay.
So the Chinese brought the Olympic flame where there is no air, no freedom to move and breath …just like Tibet!
Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a five-day state visit to Japan, the first such trip in a decade.
He is expected to discuss trade, security and a dispute over undersea gas fields with Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda - and play him at ping-pong. Mr. Hu said before he left Beijing on Monday he hoped the visit would herald an "everlasting warm spring of friendship" between the two neighbors. Correspondents say there has been a deep chill during the past few years.
China suspended high-level contact with Japan from 2001 to 2006 during the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, after he made repeated visits to the Yasukuni war shrine; a place most Chinese believe glorifies militarism. Mr. Fukuda has tried to repair the damage by promising not to visit the shrine while he is in power and by calling for Japan to be humble about its past.
In the temple of the Olympics the Chinese are willing to do anything, even meet with the Japanese!
Chinese state media has renewed its criticism of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as two of his envoys prepare to meet Chinese officials.
The Tibet Daily repeated accusations that the Dalai Lama had masterminded anti-Chinese riots in Tibet in March. This is a charge he denies. The Tibetan government-in-exile said his envoys would convey his suggestions for bringing peace to Tibet.
Sunday's talks will be the first such contact since the protests. Western governments have been pressing China to renew dialogue with the Dalai Lama. There have been six meetings between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys since 2002, but no breakthrough.
The Tibetan envoys "will convey His Holiness the Dalai Lama's deep concerns about the Chinese authorities' handling of the situation and also provide suggestions to bring peace to the region," a statement from the Dalai Lama's office in Dharamsala, India, said.
There has been no official comment from China about the talks. A spokesman for the Dalai Lama told Japan's Kyodo News agency that the envoys had arrived in Hong Kong and that the meeting would take place in the southern city of Shenzhen.
That’s for the ones who believed that the Olympic Games will change something in China!
The latest leg of the Olympic torch relay is well under way in South Korea with protesters vowing to disrupt its run through the capital Seoul.
The 24-km (15-mile) route from Olympic Park to City Hall is heavily guarded by 8,000 police officers. Human rights groups have said thousands are preparing to protest over China's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and its crackdown in Tibet.
But flag-waving Chinese supporters have so far vastly outnumbered protesters. Police have warned anyone trying to disrupt the relay would be severely punished.
This Olympic torture …sorry Olympic torch will be in familiar …democratic ground soon …North Korea!!!
The Olympic torch has met with more protests and scuffles on the latest leg of its troubled relay in the Japanese city of Nagano.
With security tight along the route, two demonstrators tried to seize the torch and a third threw eggs at the flame. All were arrested. But correspondents say the relay passed off without serious disruption.
The streets were lined with thousands of Chinese supporters, as well as dozens of protesters. A sea of well-wishers greeted the torch as the final runner completed the relay at a city park. Officials said four people were slightly injured in separate incidents, and a smoke-emitting tube was thrown at the relay without effect, according to reports.
Is getting closer to China, let’s see if anybody will dare to demonstrate inside China now!
Xinhua news agency quoted an official as saying a meeting would take place "in coming days". Beijing has consistently blamed what it termed a "Dalai clique" for fomenting unrest in Tibetan areas of China.
But the Tibetan spiritual leader insists he has no political role and played no part in the protest. Xinhua quoted an unnamed official as saying the government had taken into account "requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks".
They are definitely trying to stop him from his earthly activities …permanently!
The official Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, said patriotism should be expressed rationally. The protesters have been angered by disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris and London.
They also accuse the West of supporting Tibetan separatists, and the Western media of bias. The official Xinhua news agency said more than 1,000 people carrying banners had gathered in front of a Carrefour store in the city of Xian, and there were also protests in Harbin and Jinan. Xinhua added that police were monitoring the demonstrations in the three cities, which remained peaceful.
I love it when they say …rational. I suppose there are some things you can do ‘rationally’ in China …breath!!!
Finland's P.M. Matti Vanhanen said he will not boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in China. Vanhanen said Finland has a policy of keeping politics and sports separate.
I’m sorry Mr. Vanhanen for the cynicism but what do you believe will hurt the Chinese more, if you don’t go or if George W. Bush, Sarkozy or Brown don’t go? Actually if you do go and the above don’t you will become their alibi!
Protesters in several Chinese cities have gathered to demand a boycott of French products and denounce campaigns for Tibetan independence.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Hefei, Kunming, and Qingdao - often outside stores of the French chain Carrefour. Passions ran high, but the protests were closely patrolled by police. Protesters say they are angry at the scale of protests that accompanied the Olympic torch relay in Paris.
They have also denounced French President Nicolas Sarkozy's refusal to confirm whether he will attend the opening ceremony of the Games. Pictures from the central city of Wuhan showed large crowds congregating outside a Carrefour supermarket.
It must be the hour difference otherwise there is no other explanation to how they found out so ….late!!! Perhaps after the Olympics they will demonstrate for the San Francisco events!!!
A major Buddhist temple has withdrawn from plans to host Japan's opening stage of the Olympic torch relay.
Zenkoji Temple, in the city of Nagano, had been due to serve as the starting point for the parade on 26 April. An official said the monks were worried about safety but also linked the decision to concern over recent unrest in Tibet.
Meanwhile the torch has arrived in Thailand in preparation for a parade through the capital city, Bangkok. The relay has been dogged by protests over Tibet, with chaotic scenes in London, Paris and San Francisco.
What more do they need to understand that Tibet must be free?
The Olympic flame has reached the Indian capital Delhi from Pakistan amid tight security on the latest leg of its troubled tour before the Beijing Games.
Many Tibetans live in the country and they have announced plans to hold a parallel protest in Delhi. Some 15,000 police and commandos have locked down the heart of the city where the torch relay will be held.
The flame's journey has so far seen chaotic scenes in London, Paris and San Francisco amid pro-Tibet protests.
Is it going to go through Tibet as well? It is close!
The Heavenly Stone "Why are the Chinese putting jade onto the Olympic medals?" I asked my colleague as we sat in a weekly planning meeting. She gaped at me in surprise. "Haven't you ever heard the Chinese saying, 'Gold is valuable but jade is priceless'?"
Borgnine's brilliant butcher
I am now ready to fulfil my original plan of reviewing 'Marty', the sleeper hit of 1955 that gave Ernest Borgnine his first and only Academy Award.
Transferencia de competencias da administracao central para a local
Ao longo das ultimas decadas, os estados tem vindo a perder o largo controlo economico e financeiro que detinham nos seus territorios.
Austrian report
A busy policeman, the Olympic spirit in the Chinese embassy in Vienna and a dirty vicar are in the latest report from Austria.
Jesus in Guantanamo If Jesus Christ returned to Earth today, would He get through US immigration? After all, Jesus is a bearded, Middle-Eastern man, who wants to die as a religious martyr. And he has just walked out of a cave.
Olympic race to the White House
Barack Obama made recent news headlines by urging President George W. Bush not to go to attend the Opening Ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games.
"By Example"
"You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you." - Joseph Joubert
Slovenian report
A report for Happy people in Europe and that is the Slovenians!
Authorities are mounting a major security operation, keen to avoid the disruption that marred the flame's progress through the UK, US and France. Several thousand police and marshals have lined the 13km (8-mile) route the torch will follow through Buenos Aires.
But anti-China activists protesting against the Beijing Games have promised "entertaining surprises". Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri lit the torch and held it aloft on Friday as hundreds of sporting enthusiasts applauded. But activist Jorge Carcavallo unfurled a giant banner on the torch route reading "Free Tibet". And members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned in China, lit their own "human rights torch" and marched along the route the flame was to take.
Every new city shows what the people of this world think about the embarrassment Olympics, so Mr. Rogge how do you feel now? It was your choice!
The International Olympic Committee is ending a week of meetings overshadowed by violent protests against the torch relay for the Beijing Games.
With the Olympic flame in Argentina, IOC officials were discussing how future relays should be handled. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told China he will not attend the Games opening ceremony in Beijing in August.
The IOC president said protests at the relay in London, Paris and San Francisco had created a "crisis". Speaking on Thursday, Jacques Rogge also urged China to respect its "moral engagement" to improve human rights. But Beijing told the IOC to keep politics out of the Games.
Indeed, but what happens with politics entering the Olympics? And they have done so for the last …let me see 70 years when Nazis organized the Olympic games in 1938.
My god or better my Buddha …he woke up! UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, an aide has said. The decision was due to "schedule issues" and had been made months ago, said UN spokeswoman, Marie Mukabe.
Meanwhile, Buenos Aires is braced for Friday's Olympic torch relay after anti-China protests in other cities. Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai has withdrawn from the torch relay's Tanzanian leg, due to concerns over human rights in China.
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan said the UN was anxious not to give the impression that Mr. Ban's absence was a boycott of the Games. Ms Mukabe said Mr. Ban "had conveyed to the [Chinese] government some months ago that he may not be in a position to accept the invitation to attend this important event due to schedule issues".
This means the decision was made before violent anti-Beijing protests in and around Tibet last month that were suppressed by a heavy security presence.
Late as always to everything I have to admit Ki-moon surprised me with this decision even though I would expect him to be more …UN and say why he really doesn’t go, emphasize that whatever UN stands for there is one country member of the security council that ignores and violates them!
The Democratic presidential hopeful made his call a day after a similar appeal by his rival, Hillary Clinton. The US stage of the Olympic torch relay passed off amid confusion and tight security in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The route was totally changed at the last minute and the closing ceremony took place on a motorway fly-over. Throughout the route, the torch-bearers were immersed in a cocoon of security, surrounded by dozens of police officers and track-suited Chinese guards.
Is it just me or has anybody else notice that this man makes announcement that he knows will bring controversy and votes after he makes sure that a lot of voices have said the same from all the sides?
Beijing has said no force can stop the world relay of the Olympic flame as it faces new protests on the Californian leg of its journey.
Seven Pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in San Francisco after tying anti-Chinese banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge. The flame is due to arrive in the city on Tuesday following a troubled relay through Paris and London.
The torch was put out three times in Paris because of pro-Tibetan protests. But the flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern. The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and is being relayed through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games on 8 August.
Demonstrators are protesting at China's security crackdown in Tibet after recent unrest against Chinese rule. Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.
Keep the torch on track? Which torch? The one that talks about human rights or the one that tortures?
Officials twice extinguished the torch and put it on a bus for safety reasons. Earlier, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, expressed concern over unrest in Tibet and the torch protests. The French protests come after 37 people were arrested during pro-Tibet protests which disrupted Sunday's relay in London.
And more capitals in Europe to follow!
