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`China Covered Up Melamine Outbreak due to Olympics` OCTOBER 01, 2008 03:00 A Taiwanese daily said yesterday that the Chinese government knew about melamine-tainted milk power before the Beijing Olympics, but covered it up. United Daily News said the Chinese weekly Southern Weekend found in late July infants who contracted kidney stones by eating the milk powder products of San Lu, the infamous company which triggered the melamine scare. The weekly was about to report the case. The central propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party, which controls the media, issued a gag order and banned the publication. The department...

An Iraqi soccer player from the community of Abu T'shir tries to maneuver past a defender from the Risalah community during the championship soccer match for the Rashid Olympics Sept. 9, 2008 at the Jaza'ir Oil Refinery soccer field in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — The Rashid Olympics in southern Baghdad came to as end as more than 330 teams from 14 neighborhoods competed in friendly soccer games spanning the course of the summer. The Rashid District Sports and Youth Committee hosted the championship soccer match...

Toilet facilities are being built at London's Olympic Park so Muslims will not have to face Mecca while sitting on the loo. The Olympic Delivery Authority has said it wants to produce an ideal venue for people of all cultures, faiths, ages and abilities for the 2012 Games and beyond. The Islamic religion prohibits Muslims from facing the Kiblah - the direction of prayer - when they visit the lavatory.

Toilet facilities are being built at London's Olympic Park so Muslims will not have to face Mecca while sitting on the loo. The Islamic religion prohibits Muslims from facing the Kiblah - the direction of prayer - when they visit the lavatory.

Toilet facilities are being built at London's Olympic Park so Muslims will not have to face Mecca while sitting on the loo.

LONDON (AP) -Olympic organizers issued detailed design rules for the 2012 London games Wednesday, including a mandate that at least some toilets in the Olympic park do not face the holy Islamic city of Mecca.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has yet to solicit Ozzie Guillen's help or advice in relation to fulfilling his ongoing quest of bringing the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Not unlike the shoot-from-the-lip manner Guillen has operated under since taking over the White Sox in 2004, the opinionated manager recently offered up his own solution to clinch the bid. It involves the Cubs and White Sox and a special postseason meeting that has not taken place since 1906, which astonishingly also marks the last time both teams qualified for the playoffs during the same season. "Like I said two...

Any curlers out there?

Eleven people came here to the capital on Monday, bent on protesting property losses. They were experienced, having been to Beijing before to petition the central government. They were familiar, all coming from the same town and having been locked up in the same jails. They were crafty, flying up on two planes from a third city, rather than taking the train from their own, and lying low for two days before trying anything. But they never had a chance. Some of the group left their hide-out, an apartment in a northern neighborhood, on Wednesday to carry out a protest...

We cannot say farewell to the 2008 Olympics without offering a 21-gun salute to the fine U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, based at Fort Benning. (Not to be confused with the three-volley salute common at funerals, the 21-gun salute is typically reserved for the president as part of the "Hail to the Chief" ceremony, and for other heads of state.) The unit brought home two gold medals: Spc. Walton Eller III for the double trap competition and Pfc. Vincent Hancock for the skeet. Eller set two Olympic records with a score of 145 in the qualifying rounds and 190 in the...

After attending the spectacular closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympics and feeling the vibrations from hundreds of Chinese drummers pulsating in my own chest, I was tempted to conclude two things: “Holy mackerel, the energy coming out of this country is unrivaled.” And, two: “We are so cooked. Start teaching your kids Mandarin.” However, I’ve learned over the years not to over-interpret any two-week event. Olympics don’t change history. They are mere snapshots — a country posing in its Sunday bests for all the world too see. But, as snapshots go, the one China presented through the Olympics was enormously...

LONDON: British and American activists arrested by the Chinese for protesting about Tibet during the Olympics have said that they were locked to their chairs for marathon interrogation sessions and deprived of sleep. The activists, including eight Americans, a German and Amanda McKeown, a mother of two from Bristol, were sent home on Sunday during the games closing ceremony. They said they were kept in cells and allowed to leave only for interrogations, which dragged on for up to 16 hours at a time, The Telegraph reported. With lights shining on them, prisoners were locked into high-backed metal chairs with...

The Olympics demonstrated again what competition, hard work and determination can produce, as numerous world records were shattered. American swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Nastia Liukin gave us much to cheer. But U.S. athletes won in spite of Title IX regulations, which impose gender quotas on sports for institutions that receive any federal money. Title IX has crippled our national competitiveness. Title IX regulations have forced educational institutions to eliminate men's teams until the number of men and women on sports teams is the same ratio as the number of men and women enrolled in academic classes. In the numerous...

As Britain's magnificent Olympians returned home on Monday, they left behind a fierce debate in China over London's eight-minute contribution to Beijing's glittering ceremony - and in particular, the performance of Mayor Boris Johnson. While some Chinese media and bloggers praised the creativity of London's segment, others were damning with Johnson described as 'arrogant, rude and disrespectful' when accepting the Olympic flag. 'Unlike the Chinese custom which tends not to reveal their weakness to the outsiders, the British seem to like to laugh about their stupidity in a funny way,' it said. Columnist Hi Yang continued : 'Perhaps due to...

Fidel Castro says corrupt judges are to blame for Cuba's sub-par showing at the Beijing Olympics. Castro alleges that judges blatantly stole semifinal fights from two Cuban boxers, and that a judge must have been bribed in the case of Angel Matos, who kicked a referee in the face after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal taekwondo match.

As Britain's magnificent Olympians returned home on Monday, they left behind a fierce debate in China over London's eight-minute contribution to Beijing's glittering ceremony - and in particular, the performance of Mayor Boris Johnson. While some Chinese media and bloggers praised the creativity of London's segment, others were damning with Johnson described as 'arrogant, rude and disrespectful' when accepting the Olympic flag. There were mixed opinions too about the cameo performance featuring a London bus, David Beckham, singer Leona Lewis, rock guitarist Jimmy Page, dancers and singers which was very different from the rest of the spectacular show staged by...

BEIJING -- If anybody feels a pang of jealousy over China's haul of Olympic gold medals, they need only pause to consider what the athletes went through to get them. The only mother on China's team, Xian Dongmei, told reporters after she won her gold medal in judo that she had not seen her 18-month-old daughter in one year, monitoring the girl's growth only by webcam. Another gold medalist, weightlifter Cao Lei, was kept in such seclusion training for the Olympics that she wasn't told her mother was dying. She found out only after she had missed the funeral.

Athletes sacrificed dearly -- one was separated from her toddler, one was banned from eating dinner, one missed a parent's funeral. While Americans spoke of fun, the Chinese were on a 'sacred mission.' If anybody feels a pang of jealousy over China's haul of Olympic gold medals, they need only pause to consider what the athletes went through to get them. The only mother on China's team, Xian Dongmei, told reporters after she won her gold medal in judo that she had not seen her 18-month-old daughter in one year, monitoring the girl's growth only by webcam. Another gold medalist,...

Two Faces of China by: Irene Warren, August 25, 2008 As China hosted the 2008 Olympian competitors for this year’s games, in far Western Xinjiang a series of attacks have claimed the lives of 19 police officers and 15 civilians, and left a number of others with serious injuries, according to experts who spoke at the Heritage Foundation on August 21. Since the Olympic Games opened the Turkistan Islamic Party has taken responsibility for killing three civilians in two separate bus bombing incidents, and also fatally-wounding the 19 policemen and 15 civilians inside the Yunnan province. The Chinese Government still...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klj12Z_ARow

Georgian born Khatuna Lorig will carry the US flag.U.S. team picks Georgian to lead them in closing ceremony

BEIJING (AP)—The United States said Sunday it was disappointed the Olympics had not brought more “openness and tolerance” in China and pressed for the immediate release of eight American protesters as the games ended.

CHINA, THE world's largest dictatorship, ruthlessly represses freedom at home while abetting the vilest tyrannies abroad. Letting such a regime host the Olympic Games, many people warned, would prove a mockery of the Olympic charter, which is dedicated to the goal of "promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But Beijing and its supporters insisted that the Olympics would make China better. The Games would "foster democracy, improve human rights, and integrate China with the rest of the world," promised Liu Jingmin, Beijing's vice mayor and a senior member of its Olympic organizing committee "By allowing...

The closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Sunday night has drawn worldwide attention and Beijing's successful hosting of the Games has earned global applause. Pakistan's national TV station, and the private GEO, EXPRESS, NEWS and AAJ stations gave live coverage of the entire ceremony. Their commentators congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Games, saying that Pakistan is happy to see China won most gold medals. The Kyodo news agency said in a story that "The Beijing Olympic theme of 'One World, One Dream' turned out a success despite predictions of gloom and doom, including whispers of terrorist plots...

The investigation goes on, so does the wait, yet the IOC indicated Sunday that a reshuffling of Olympic gymnastics medals isn't likely. Yes, this competition really was and probably will remain one for the ages. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said paperwork appears to support what China has been saying all along: that all six members of its gold medal women's gymnastics team were old enough to compete at the Beijing Games. Gymnastics officials were still poring over the documents submitted by the Chinese in response to a request for more information on the birthdates of He Kexin, Yang...

Why must everything be America's fault? An article published at the UK Times Online, brought on a firestorm of commentary from readers. In the literally hundreds of comments, many were in agreement that if there is any question of the girl’s age, an investigation is warranted. There were also those who thought that even if she were underage, she should still be allowed to keep her medals. Yet in addition to the comments arguing whether age should matter or not, there were a fair number of those that suggested the only reason this investigation has commenced is that the U.S....

On Friday night, the U.S. team entered the political fray again by choosing archer Khatuna Lorig, who was born in what is now the country of Georgia, to be the U.S. flag bearer in Sunday's closing ceremony.

CHINA, THE world's largest dictatorship, ruthlessly represses freedom at home while abetting the vilest tyrannies abroad. Letting such a regime host the Olympic Games, many people warned, would prove a mockery of the Olympic charter, which is dedicated to the goal of "promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But Beijing and its supporters insisted that the Olympics would make China better. The Games would "foster democracy, improve human rights, and integrate China with the rest of the world," promised Beijing's vice mayor. "By allowing Beijing to host the Games, you will help in the development...

THOUSANDS of Chinese farmers face ruin because their water has been cut off to guarantee supplies to the Olympics in Beijing, and officials are now trying to cover up a grotesque scandal of blunders, lies and repression. In the capital, foreign dignitaries have admired millions of flowers in bloom, lush, well-watered greens around its famous sights. Just 90 minutes south by train, peasants are hacking at the dry earth as their crops wilt, their money runs out and the work of generations gives way to despair, debt and, in a few cases, suicide. The water scandal is a parable of...

The U.S. men’s basketball “Redeem Team” ended a frustrating eight-year stretch and regained international basketball prominence by beating Spain 118-107 and winning the gold medal on Sunday. After winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Games, the Americans missed the podium entirely at the 2002 world championships and settled for bronze after they were knocked out of the semis at the 2004 Athens Games and the 2006 worlds. Spain made things difficult for the Americans. They came out strong, led for most of the first quarter, and fought to keep within reach for the entire game. But the Americans managed a...

The 'Redeem Team" does it, beating Spain in a close game tonight.

BEIJING -- The U.S. men's volleyball team won the Olympic gold medal Sunday, defeating defending champion Brazil to complete a perfect run through a tournament shadowed by a grisly attack at a Beijing tourist site. The Americans captured their third gold medal in the sport with a 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 victory in the final. Top-ranked Brazil, a two-time gold medalist, settled for the silver medal. The U.S. surge to the title came after coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law was fatally stabbed the day before competition started. McCutcheon missed the team's first three games to be with his wife, a former...

Cuban athlete banned for life after kicking taekwondo referee BEIJING (AP) -- A Cuban taekwondo athlete and his coach were banned for life after Angel Matos kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification. Cuban coach Leudis Gonzalez offered no apology for Matos' actions during the men's over-80 kg (176 pounds) match. Matos was winning 3-2, with 1:02 in the second round, when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov. He was sitting there, awaiting medical attention, when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one...

After listing the total medal count by the highest number of medals won, Yahoo now lists China first due to more Gold medals.

It turns out that the Greco-Roman wrestler who was stripped of his bronze medal for dropping it in disgust on the mat had reason for being angry, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

BEIJING -- Cuba's Angel Matos deliberately kicked a referee square in the face after he was disqualified in a bronze-medal match, prompting the World Taekwondo Federation to recommend that he be banned for life. "We didn't expect anything like what you have witnessed to occur," said WTF secretary general Yang Jin-suk. "I am at a loss for words." Yang also recommended Matos' coach be banned.

BEIJING — After a week of notable stumbles, the United States track team fully asserted itself in the last two events on the track at the Beijing Olympics. Sanya Richards and Jeremy Wariner ran the anchor legs Saturday night at the Bird’s Nest as the women’s and men’s 4x400-meter relays won gold medals — the sixth and seventh of these Games for the United States, more than any country with only the men’s marathon remaining on Sunday morning. LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville and Wariner set an Olympic record in 2 minutes 55.39 seconds. Bahamas was second 2:58.03, and...

South Korea surprises defending champion Cuba for baseball gold South Korea finished Olympics with 9-0 record Cuba's only two losses in '08 Games came to S. Korea Bases loaded double play in ninth inning sealed win BEIJING (AP) -- Campeones no more. There's a new champion in Olympic baseball: the surprising, gutsy South Koreans. South Korea captured gold and capped a perfect and improbable Olympic run with the country's biggest win yet in international baseball, a 3-2 victory over defending champion Cuba on Saturday night in the final of the Beijing Games.

BEIJING – Across the Chinese media, the story has hit saturation coverage. China, once mocked as “the weaklings of Asia,” is going to win what it calls the total medal count for the Beijing Games.

Taekwondo athlete Angel Matos of Cuba received a lifetime ban after kicking the referee in the face following his disqualification in a bronze-medal match Saturday at the Beijing Games.

I think this is the biggest moment in Icelandic sport history." - Iceland President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. It's hard to explain just how monumental was Iceland's win over Spain was in today's men's handball semifinals. Spain--with more than 40 million residents--had probably played stronger than any team in the tournament. Iceland has 300,000 residents, and has never won Summer Olympic gold. And yet Iceland never trailed in a 36-30 win, and breezed into Sunday's final against France. But that's too dry. When we asked Iceland's Sigfus Sigurdsson to explain what the scene would be like back home right now, he...

BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Rodel Obreja of Romania, deputy technical delegate of the Beijing Olymic boxing competition, has been suspended from his post over attempts of manipulating the competition, according to an official communication by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Friday. The communication was issued hours after Obreja accused that the refereeing selection and judging system was manipulated. However, AIBA said they had obtained information regarding a possible attempt, "both within the organization and within the competition officials", to manipulate the competition two months prior to the start of the Olympic boxing events. "As additional information regarding possible...

With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid even the slightest shock of controversy. On Friday, it was struck by lightning. In a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the 80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader, Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)...

Everyone is playing sleuth over whether China cheated in women's gymnastics. The hope is that the officials who govern Olympic competition will conduct a straightforward investigation, but regrettably, such a thing seems to be beyond their scope and spine at this point. Who are you going to believe, the Chinese government, or the Chinese government? The authorities at the Beijing Games have considered the question, and for the moment have decided to believe the Chinese government. A stack of available documentation shows that China apparently altered the ages of some of its female gymnasts, who won six medals here, including...

"The big news from China is that the adorable little girl who sang the National Anthem for the opening ceremony was lip-syncing. This is outrageous. If you can't trust an oppressive, totalitarian dictatorship..." --Craig Ferguson "China is getting ready for the Olympics. The official motto for the Olympics is 'One World, One Dream.' Restrictions Apply. Tibet Not Included." --Jay Leno "There's excitement in the air over the Olympics...also lead, arsenic, benzene." --David Letterman "Beijing skies are so polluted that Chinese authorities are planning emergency measures for the Olympics. For example, protesters will now only be run over with hybrid...

With the parents growing indignant and the Beijing Games winding down, the International Olympic Committee wants to “put to rest” persistent questions about the age of China’s gold medal women’s gymnastics team. The IOC said Friday there is still no proof anyone cheated, though it asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate “what have been a number of questions and apparent discrepancies,” spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. However, all the information the Chinese gymnastics federation presented supports its insistence that its athletes were old enough to compete.

<p>BEIJING (AP) - Despite persistent questions about the ages of several members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team that won the gold medal, the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is still no proof anyone cheated.</p> <p>The IOC asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate "what have been a number of questions and apparent discrepancies," spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.</p>

BEIJING -- Torri Edwards' screeching expression said it all on a night of rain-soaked relay calamity on the Olympic track Thursday. Think about the famous Edvard Munch painting, "The Scream," and you get general idea of back-to-back disasters unfolding for the U.S. relay teams within about 30 minutes. There was disqualification for the men in the preliminaries of the 400-meter relay, followed by the same for the women, a huge dose of Olympic-size ignominy. This wasn't a whisper to a scream. It was a scream to a scream at the Bird's Nest. And, on top of it all, the botched...

Excerpt - BEIJING (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into allegations Chinese authorities covered up the age of a double gold medal winning gymnast because she was too young to compete. ~ snip ~

Insurgents attacked his family's compound and killed everyone there. Athletes often are targeted because they are considered un-Islamic or supportive of the U.S.-backed government. BAGHDAD -- As athletes in Beijing vie for medals, fame and fortune, Iraqi distance runner Mahmoud Kamil Ahmed competes thousands of miles away for a different reason: to forget. A year ago, while Ahmed trained in Cairo, Sunni Muslim insurgents surrounded his family's homestead in Diyala province, machine guns and rockets blazing. All 27 of his relatives inside were killed, including his mother, father and two brothers. Now, the 27-year-old lives in a Baghdad University dorm,...