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NEWS ABOUT: 2008 Beijing Olympics

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Herbal Remedies Won't Compete at Beijing Games

Officials stress that athletes taking traditional medicines aren't doping

(Newser) - Chinese herbal medicines bear no resemblance to banned substances, say Beijing Olympics officials, but just in case, athletes won’t use them. "We know there is no relationship with doping and Chinese traditional medicine,” says one doctor, but because the remedies have not been used in previous Games,... More »

Beijing Tix Scalping Rampant

After an initial buying round, Olympic seats re-sell for 10X face value

(Newser) - Tickets for 2008’s Beijing Summer Olympics are already being illicitly re-sold over the Internet for ten times their original price, the BBC reports. An initial offering in which consumers were able to buy 50 tickets per person is being blamed for kick-starting the scalping frenzy, and that allotment has... More »

IOC Delays Call on Jones' Medals

Doping cloud shadows disgraced ex-champ, other competitors

(Newser) - The International Olympic Committee decided today to await more info before awarding Marion Jones' medals to other competitors from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Jones will still be formally stripped of her medals for admitting to doping, but the IOC wants to talk to her relay teammates to determine whether they... More »

Beijing Olympics Displacing 1.5M

13,000 a month evicted as Beijing prepares for Games

(Newser) - Construction projects under way for the Beijing Olympics have led to a massive number of displaced citizens—13,000 people each month, reports the AP. The Switzerland-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions predicts that by the time the Games open next summer, 1.5 million Chinese will have been... More »

US Marathon Runner Dies in Olympic Trials

Ryan Shay collapsed 5 miles into the race

(Newser) - Four-time US long-distance champion Ryan Shay died today during Olympic marathon trials in New York City, the AP reports. Shay, 28, collapsed about 5 miles into the 26.2-mile race and could not be revived. The cause of death remains unclear. “It cuts a knife through everybody's hearts,”... More »

Athletes Urged to Tackle China

New Republic wants sportsmen to condemn Olympic hosts

(Newser) - US athletes have a moral imperative to take a stand at the Beijing Olympics, the New Republic’s editors assert: The American delegation should follow Lee Bollinger’s example of “spectacular rudeness” next summer, condemning the Chinese for their brutal human rights record. It’s unethical to be hosted... More »

Taiwan Sits Out Olympic Torch Relay Over China Tiff

Stop in Taipei canceled thanks to disagreement with China

(Newser) - Add the Olympic torch route to the list of things China and Taiwan can’t agree on. After a month of debate, officials have canceled a stop in Taipei because the sides could not agree on the route, or the use of Taiwan’s national anthem and flag. Beijing said... More »

A Few Words of Mandarin Go Far in Sydney

Opposition leader upstages hosts, score huge points with Chinese at summit

(Newser) - The man tipped to be Australia's next prime minister has scored a major diplomatic coup at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, upstaging PM John Howard. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd spoke to delegates in fluent Mandarin and so impressed Hu Jintao that the Chinese president issued a personal invitation to... More »

8-Year-Old Marathoner's Father Denies Abuse

Chinese girl ran 2,212 miles to honor Olympics

(Newser) - The father of the Chinese girl who ran more than 2,000 miles in honor of the Beijing Olympics is being accused of child abuse. Experts say her grueling schedule--more than 40 miles a day--was dangerous even for an adult, but the girl's father is defiant. "She is always... More »

In This Corner, a Boxer Jabbing at a Dream

Having won citizenship, champ aims for spot on US Olympic team

(Newser) - As a Dominican native, Fernando Guerrero had to fight for US citizenship. This week, the middleweight boxer is saving his jabs for the ring, where he hopes to earn a spot on the US Olympic squad headed for Beijing. The 20-year-old champ, whose career detoured because he wasn’t a... More »

Rookie Gymnast Vaults Her Rep

Shawn Johnson steals the spotlight

(Newser) - The USA Gymnastics team is rolling out a new megastar for Beijiing 2008: Shawn Johnson, a 4'10" 15-year-old who's been racking up gold medals at national and international championships even while finishing high school. But Johnson has only been on the national team for 10 months, and she's still getting... More »

Beijing Smog May Postpone Olympic Events

With exactly 1 year to go, China scrambles to reduce pollution

(Newser) - The air pollution in Beijing is so bad that some 2008 Olympic events may have to be postponed. IOC president Jacques Rogge is worried about participants in endurance events like cycling because air quality remains dismal despite government efforts, such as shutting down factories, to improve it. Construction for the... More »

In Countdown to 2008 Olympics, Beijing Besieged

Pollution, human rights, food safety issues all draw fire

(Newser) - As the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics begins tomorrow, activists and Olympic organizers alike have been vocal in their concerns about the host city. The government is under fire for press harassment: journalists were detained for several hours yesterday after a Reporters Without Borders conference, and six Free Tibet... More »

LeBron Will Host SNL Premier

King James will be live from New York

(Newser) - NBA superstar LeBron James will host this September's premier of Saturday Night Live, NBC said yesterday. The 22-year-old, who took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a franchise-first NBA Finals last season, got good reviews recently for co-hosting the ESPYs with comedian Jimmy Kimmel. More »

Runner Blasts Olympics for Indecision

Amputee sprinter says IAAF should help, not hassle him

(Newser) - Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee fighting to run in the 2008 Olympics, finished seventh in a British 400m trial yesterday, and was then disqualified for running out of his lane. But his performance, substantially off his best, wasn't what was bothering him afterwards. Pistorius lashed out at the... More »

China Shoots Down Bad Weather

High-tech program controls climate, plays rainmaker.

(Newser) - China has a solution for its unpredictable weather: create its own. The county is toying with the world's largest weather modification program in terms of size, budget and equipment. The original idea was to ease droughts and improve harvests with man-made rain, but the program has evolved uses in fighting... More »

Olympic Schedule Caters to US

International broadcasters fume over odd times

(Newser) - Some marquee events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will air live during US prime time, and the schedule is giving international TV execs a scorching case of jet lag. But complaints from outside North America are falling on deaf ears, the Wall Street Journal reports, because money talks: NBC paid... More »

China Curbs Executions as Olympics Loom

Executions down 40% in runup to 2008

(Newser) - Capital punishment is on the decline in China, a country responsible for more than half of the world's executions. Beijing doesn't release figures, but human rights watchers say death penalty cases are down as much as 40% over the last six years. Sinologists reckon much of that drop represents an... More »

China Eases Up Slightly on Tiananmen Anniversary

Government allows memorials for the first time

(Newser) - As part of its campaign to attract Western visitors to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China allowed Tiananmen Square memorials this year for the first time since the protests of June 4, 1989. The government maintains that the uprising was a counterrevolutionary riot and refuses to release details; a security crackdown... More »

Hollywood Shapes China's Darfur Policy

Stars use Olympics as leverage to get China to protest genocide

(Newser) - China is finally joining the international outcry over genocide in Darfur—and it’s down to Hollywood clout, not Washington’s. Long one of Sudan’s closest protectors, China is suddenly calling on the government to accept UN peacekeepers. The reason, reports the Times: Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg are... More »

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