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Chinese paramilitary police unload equipment on a road on the outskirts of Hutiaoxia, southeast of Zhongdian, in China's Yunnan province Thursday March 20, 2008. Hundreds of paramilitary troops were setting up camp in the town, which is on the road to Zhongdian, a city in a Tibetan area of Yunnan known as Shangri-La. (AP Photo/Greg Baker) BEIJING (AFP) — Thousands of soldiers were seen in Lhasa on Thursday amid reports of a huge military build-up, as the Dalai Lama expressed fears China's crackdown on Tibetan protesters had caused many casualties. Long military convoys were on the move in Tibet while...

Last Updated: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 11:21 GMT US to take own food to Olympics By James Reynolds BBC News, Beijing China's Olympic food China has expressed regret that the US has decided not to trust its food during this summer's Olympic Games. The US delegation has said it is planning to bring its own food for American athletes. At a news conference in Beijing, a senior official, Kang Yi, said it was a pity that the US had apparently decided not to trust China's food. Ms Kang insisted that the food served to athletes at the Olympics would exceed...

China has expressed regret that the US has decided not to trust its food during this summer's Olympic Games. The US delegation has said it is planning to bring its own food for American athletes. At a news conference in Beijing, a senior official, Kang Yi, said it was a pity that the US had apparently decided not to trust China's food. Ms Kang insisted that the food served to athletes at the Olympics would exceed international health standards. For China, a good Olympic Games means cheering spectators, record-breaking performances and athletes and fans all sitting down to enjoy some...

The Genocide Games Using China's pride in the 2008 Olympics as a weapon against its shameful support of the Darfur nightmare by Nat Hentoff May 8th, 2007 10:39 AM April 25 was a characteristically murderous day in Darfur. Rwandan Harry Soko, an officer stationed in Sudan with the African Union—whose small, underequipped "peacekeeping force" is increasingly endangered—made a complaint to António Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees. Soko charged that, as usual, the Arab Janjaweed (which translates as "devils on horseback") were murdering and raping black Africans while Sudanese police merely looked on. Many of the more than 400,000...

A fascist regime plans to host the Olympic Games. Critics call for a boycott, but the Games come off as planned. And on the field of world opinion, the hosts score an enormous victory. Berlin in 1936? No, Beijing in 2008. Now that the Winter Olympics are over, all eyes will soon turn to the Summer Olympics. And that's just what the Chinese want. Like the Germans before them, they will use the Olympics to showcase their booming economy - and to hide their repressive behavior. But the rest of us don't have to help. Lest we repeat the errors...

TURIN, Italy Epochs pass, governments fall, but Russians still win figure skating medals. And Evgeni Plushenko is a thorough Russian. Russians skate like they own the ice, and others skate like they're afraid of falling on it. The difference between the Olympic gold medalist and everybody else in the world was this simple: He was Russian, and they weren't. The martial, cymbal-clashing Russian anthem boomed through the Palavela, just as it does at every Winter Games. Skaters from the former Soviet Union have now won five straight men's gold medals, and no one will challenge them in this sport any...

Was it just me ?? - Did anyone else get the impression some of the Olympic opening ceremonies- the big sun and moon floats, the Victoria's Secret on the Half Shell-with floating ambiguities overhead,the flouncy waving of banners,the poseurs on trapezes ; Did anyone else think they had a certain "Brokeback Mountain" ambiance ? As if a feature event this year might be "Brokeback Bobsledding" ?

Standing up for a free press, President Bush appealed to Muslims to stop inciting violence over depictions of the one they worship. He met with Jordan's King Abdullah in the Oval Office today. Bush spoke to the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire in Manchester, and today signed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (don't understand the 2005 title, just quoting it from Yahoo). Defense Secretary and top military brass testified before the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007 budget. Laura Bush and daughter Barbara departed for four days in Italy to meet with Pope...

Beijing delays work on Olympic rail link By Mure Dickie in Beijing Published: June 20 2005 22:04 | Last updated: June 20 2005 22:04 Beijing has delayed the start of initial construction work for a Rmb5bn ($604m, €498m, £331m) rail link between its airport and the city centre that is one of the most high-profile projects planned as part of the Chinese capital's preparations to host the 2008 Olympic Games. The company responsible for the 27km line had intended to begin work at its terminus in Beijing's Dongzhimen area on June 1, but could not because China's powerful National Development...

The 2004 Athens Games has cost Greece more than seven billion euros making them the most expensive Olympics of all time, the Greek government warned on Sunday. The final cost of bringing the Olympics back home will not be known until the end of the month, but Greek Economics minister Georges Alogoskoufis was preparing the ground on Sunday for some painful news. "The total will be greater than forecast," he predicted in an interview with Ethnos. The last official estimate given by the Greek finance minister Petros Doukas in August put the cost at over seven billion euros compared to...

ATHENS (AFP) - Robert Korzeniowski of Poland walked himself into the history books as he won his fourth Olympic title by sauntering home in the 50 kilometre walk in what was his final race at this level. The 36-year-old timed 3hr 38min 46sec to beat home Russia's world record holder Denis Nzhegorodov, 3hr 42min 50sec, while another Russian Aleksey Voyevodin stole third late off China's Yu Chaohong in a time of 3:43.34. "That was my last step as a walker," said Korzeniowski, who had been badly affected by the serious injuries suffered by Irish training partner Jamie Costin in a...

ATHENS – Like all the American athletes who have come here for the Olympic Games, Michael Anti has made enormous sacrifices for his country. Unlike all but a handful, though, there is a chance that one day he could be called on to make the ultimate sacrifice. As one of the 17 athletes who is also an active member of the US armed forces, Mr. Anti came to these Games with a unique perspective - and a peculiar fire. When he peers down the barrel of his rifle Sunday morning in the opening round of the 50-meter three-position competition, the...

Poland's first Olympic swimming champion Otylia Jedrzejczak said she plans to sell her gold medal to raise money for sick children. A household name in Poland, Jedrzejczak has won three of the central European country's four medals so far in Athens, including the only gold - for Wednesday's 200 metres butterfly. "After returning home I plan to auction off my gold medal and donate all of the money to children afflicted by leukaemia," she told heavyweight daily Rzeczpospolita, which like other Polish newspapers splashed her success across its front page. "It will be difficult to part with it, but...that is...

Otylia Jedrzejczak won two silver Olympic medals for Poland, on Sunday - the first one in women’s 100 m butterfly, and the second one in women’s 400 m freestyle. In the latter race Otylia beat her life record with result of 4.05,84. It was a risky move to take part in two strenuous races within one hour. Yet, as Otylia’s coach emphasizes Polish swimmer has never been that strong, which she proved o Sunday. On Wednesday Otylia will face another chance to win a medal in her key race of 200 m butterfly.

Athens, Greece, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Poland delivered an instant upset in the men's Olympic volleyball tournament Sunday, beating defending champion Serbia-Montenegro in straight sets. Poland recorded a 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 victory in the first match of the tourney. The Poles are ranked 10th in the world while Serbia-Montenegro came into the Games as the decided favorite to repeat as gold medalist.

August 13 Opening Ceremonies of the 28th Olympiad Athens Greece NBC at 8:00pm ET/PT For those that can receive the Canadian CBC the ceremonies will be shown live starting at 1:00pm ET

The long-dreaded 2004 Olympics in Greece will be the ultimate crossroads for sports and politics in this new and vicious century. The recent photos of cruelty at the Abu Grahaib all-american prison in Baghdad have taken care of that. Yes, sir. We have taken the bull by the horns on this one, sports fans. These horrifying digital snapshots of the American dream in action on foreign soil are worse than anything even I could have expected. I have been in this business a long time and I have seen many staggering things, but this one is over the line. Now...

Millions of holidaymakers going to Greece this summer have been warned they could be jailed for buying pirated CDs after a buyer was imprisoned. A man was jailed for three months by an Athens court for buying illegal CDs in the country's first case of its kind. He had been arrested as he bought two CDs from a vendor in Athens last week, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI). The group gave a clear warning it would target buyers of counterfeit CDs. IFPI spokesman Ion Stamboulis said: "This is not a symbolic measure. We are determined to...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - New York bid leader Dan Doctoroff showed no signs of nerves as he awaited Tuesday's selection of the finalists vying to host the 2012 Olympics. With nine cities in the running, the International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) executive board is expected to keep as many as six candidates and as few as four. "I've heard everything from A to Z," Doctoroff said, calmly surveying the lobby scene Monday in a busy Olympic convention hall. "I've heard everything from four to nine. Nobody seems to know what's going to happen. I'm not going to worry about...

1) Greece is a leftist hellhole: Over there, if you're not a Socialist, you're a Communist, and that country is still capitalist in spite of herself. 90% of Greeks hate us, and they're set on making the lives of our athletes a living hell: Booed, heckled, jeered, being yelled at on the street, and being general assholes towards the US athletes. Conversely, many of the Games spectators will come from the assorted European Socialist reichs, so it will compound to the general misery our athletes would have to endure. 2) Greece hasn't got its act together in regards of security....