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NEWS ABOUT: 2008 Beijing Olympics

China's Great Firewall Back Up

Censorship, relaxed during Olympics, on rise again as economy slows

(Newser) - China has quietly reinstated the web censorship lifted during its Olympics image cleanup, the New York Times reports today. As in the past, the tightening comes as growing unemployment raises the government’s fears of social unrest. The government defended its right to censor sites that violate Chinese secession laws,... More »

Google Taps Zeitgeist, Finds Palin a Winner

Alaska governor went zooming up search charts in '08

(Newser) - Every year, Google releases its analysis of the global zeitgeist based on billions of searches around the world. Newsweek reports the highlights:
  • Sarah Palin: "Obama" was the most searched for term overall, but the Alaska governor grabbed the top spot on the fastest-rising list.
  • Beijing 2008: The world was
... More »

Phelps' Gal Pal Meets Mom

Girlfriend spends Thanksgiving with fam

(Newser) - Olympic champion Michael Phelps brought his latest prize home: his girlfriend spent Thanksgiving with the family in Baltimore, People reports. The pair met in Vegas, where Phelps is practicing for the World Series of Poker and his gal pal works as a cocktail waitress. The Olympic sensation says the card... More »

Football Goes Mobile on Sprint Phones Tonight

NFL games head to tiny screen

(Newser) - Sprint is about to score big with football fans with the first-ever live broadcast of an NFL game on mobile phones. The debut phone-cast will be tonight's Cleveland Browns showdown with the Denver Broncos. Eight more games from the NFL television network will be available over 7 weeks as part... More »

China Cracks Down on Internet Cafes

Users must be photographed for national database of Web surfers

(Newser) - China has resumed a strict crackdown on Internet users less than two months after the Olympic Games, ending the more relaxed regulations that accompanied the international spotlight, reports the Times of London. All visitors to Internet cafes in Beijing will be required to have their photograph taken, reports the Times... More »

China's Great, Baffling Failure: Public Relations

Beijing completely misses 'crass value of cultivating the press'

(Newser) - It’s no secret that China is moving into position as a global superpower, writes James Fallows in the Atlantic, and this only further highlights its leaders’ baffling inability to understand how the country is viewed from the outside—and how to change those opinions for the better. Officials just... More »

IOC to Retest 5,000 Samples From Olympics

New drug found in Tour de France cyclists prompts probe

(Newser) - The International Olympic Committee will retest samples from Olympic athletes for traces of a new drug, the BBC reports. Cera, a new version of a blood-oxygen-boosting drug, was found in a second look at samples from two Tour de France cyclists this week. Olympic policy allows additional testing for 8... More »

Officials Clear Chinese Gymnasts

But some of the 2000 competitors were too young, FIG says

(AP) - China's 2008 gold medal gymnasts are in the clear, after international gymnastics officials said today the documentation provided confirms the women were old enough to compete. But the Chinese team that won the bronze medal 8 years ago still faces questions about the age of two competitors. More »

US Olympic Medalist Details Sex Abuse

Swimmer Hoelzer goes public in hopes of helping other victims

(Newser) - Olympic medalist Margaret Hoelzer was sexually abused, she tells the AP in the hopes of helping other victims. The abuse by the friend of a father started when she was 5 years old, the swimmer says, and did not stop until the family moved 2 years later. The abuser was... More »

Carl Lewis Hints at Bolt Drug Connection

US great says Jamaica's testing policy puts Olympic feats in question

(Newser) - US Olympic great Carl Lewis says Jamaica needs to toughen its drug policy before he’ll take Usain Bolt’s sprinting feats seriously. “I think there are some issues,” Lewis tells Sports Illustrated. “No one is accusing anyone. But don’t live by a different rule and... More »

Pistorius Wins Paralympic Gold

South African who sued for right to compete in Olympics takes 100 meters; more to come

(AP) - One gold medal down and two to go for sprinter Oscar Pistorius at the Beijing Paralympics. Despite a slow start on a wet track, the South African won the most difficult of his three races, taking gold today in the 100 meters in 11.17 seconds. Jerome Singleton was second... More »

Coke Bids $2.4B for Chinese Juice Company

Soft-drink giant looks to capitalize on Olympic afterglow

(Newser) - Buoyed by its highly visible sponsorship role at the Beijing Olympics, Coca-Cola has made a $2.4 billion offer for a Chinese juice and nectar company, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal would be the second-largest acquisition ever by the company, which has been expanding into non-carbonated beverages in... More »

Jamaican Hurdlers Linked to Steroids

Drugs sent through Internet network, Sports Illustrated discovers

(Newser) - Two Jamaican Olympic hurdlers received shipments of banned performance-enhancing drugs in 2006 and 2007, according to documents obtained by Sports Illustrated. The drugs were sent to addresses linked to Delloreen Ennis-London and Adrian Findlay, both members of the Jamaican team in Beijing. Findlay denied using steroids, while Ennis-London was unreachable.... More »

Phelps to Kick Off SNL Opener

Gold medal star makes comedy debut as host next month

(Newser) - Super swimmer Michael Phelps will be trying his hand at making comedy gold as host of the season premier of Saturday Night Live, E! Online reports. The 23-year-old Olympic champ will be making his acting debut when the program's 34th season kicks off September 13. The swimmer will be joined... More »

Swimmer Torres Set for Shoulder Surgery

41-year-old won three silvers in pain during Beijing Olympics

(Newser) - Dara Torres will finally get some relief after swimming to three silver medals with a damaged shoulder, CNN reports. The 41-year-old is scheduled today for a surgery she put off before the Olympics. Torres went to Beijing armed with anti-inflammatories, but started having intense pain while there. She plans to... More »

Sydney Olympics Also Featured Fake Performances

In 2000, city's orchestra mimed to backing tape—by ensemble from Melbourne

(Newser) - The world was shocked to learn that Chinese singer Lin Miaoke was really just a pretty lip-syncher, but fakery seems to be par for the Olympic course: the Sydney Symphony has disclosed that its performers mimed to a backing tape during the 2000 opening ceremony. "It's correct that we... More »

Castro Backs Cuban Athlete Who Kicked Ref

Accuses Matos' opponent of trying to fix fight

(Newser) - An ailing Fidel Castro expressed "total solidarity" today with a Cuban martial artist who kicked an Olympics referee in the face, the AP reports. Castro supported a claim by the taekwondo athlete's coach that the contest was fixed and marred by a bribery attempt. "They had tried to... More »

After Beijing Pageantry, London 2012 Tries ... a Bus

Brits less than thrilling in Olympic preview

(Newser) - The Beijing Olympics' closing ceremony was predictably stupendous, with thousands of acrobats and "more orthodontically screened children," writes Guardian columnist Marina Hyde. It certainly ran over the 8-minute tableau promoting the 2012 Games in London. While China spent years preparing its "deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial,... More »

China Faces Rocky Road in Keeping Up Growth

The gains of the past 30 years will be hard to maintain as workers age

(Newser) - The opulence of the Beijing Olympics highlighted just how far China has come since opening its economy 30 years ago—it soon will be the world’s third largest. But with the success comes a plethora of challenges, reports the Wall Street Journal. And chief among them is how to... More »

Communist Party Basks in Olympic Afterglow

Olympics strengthen ruling party after decade of planning

(Newser) - For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has made the Olympics the nation's first political priority, writes Jim Yardley in the New York Times. Hopes that the international spotlight would lead to democratization and human-rights reforms in China didn't materialize, as the triumph of the Games instead underscored the... More »

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