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The Bush campaign insists that it is on very firm legal ground in their depiction of the olympics in their ad, reports ABC News Ann Compton. When the olympics are over, the campaign will take the ad down, as scheduled.

ATHENS (Reuters) - The U.S. Olympic Committee has asked the campaign to re-elect President Bush to pull an ad that refers to the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday. The ad has angered Olympic officials because they feel it hijacks the Olympic brand -- a registered trademark -- even though it does not display the Games logo. The U.S. Olympic Committee had asked the Bush election "campaign to withdraw the advertisement they are running," International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Giselle Davies told reporters. The television advertisement, ahead of the presidential elections in November, does not feature the five...

The year is 2005, the city is Kiev and the event is the Eurovision Song Contest. Between the Danish and Albanian participants, a Palestinian quartet from Jenin belts out a foot-stomping number, "Bind, Bond, Band, This Ain't Your Land". They didn't even have to qualify. The year is 2006, the city is Berlin and the event is the 2006 World Cup. On day three, the Palestinian team, aptly named after one of their many "freedom fighters" (homicide bombers), emerges from the gloom of the tunnel into the bright sunlight. They are all set to play Chile in their opening match....

President Bush's re-election campaign will continue to run a TV ad that mentions the Olympics by name, despite objections from the US Olympic Committee, a spokesman said Friday.

International Olympic Committee officials began a two-day inspection visit of Athens on Wednesday, one of their last such reviews before the games begin next month. The visit by Denis Oswald, Athens games coordinator, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli, comes at a time of euphoria among Greek Olympic officials buoyed by their country's stunning victory in soccer's European Championship. "The Greek national football team's victory in Portugal proves we are working hard and systematically as a team — just as we are working to organize the Olympic Games," Athens organizing committee chief Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said late Tuesday. It will be...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Transsexuals were cleared Monday to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Under a proposal approved by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they have gone through a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy. The decision, which covers male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in August. The IOC had put off a decision in February, saying more time was needed to consider all the medical issues. Some members had been...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Transsexuals were cleared Monday to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Under a proposal approved by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they have gone through a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy.   The decision, which covers both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in August. The IOC had put off a decision in February, saying more time was needed to consider all the medical issues. Some members...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Baseball, softball and modern pentathlon were assured Monday they will remain on the Olympic program at least through the 2008 Beijing Games. The International Olympic Committee said, barring serious ethical violations or failure to uphold anti-doping rules, no sports will be dropped before the games of 2012. The decision, announced by IOC president Jacques Rogge at the opening of a three-day executive board meeting, gives endangered sports more breathing space as they try to preserve their Olympic status. Rogge said the IOC will review all the sports after this summer's Athens Olympics and decide on the 2012...

The International Olympic Committee is reported to be seeking a £100m insurance policy as fears grow over this year's Olympics in Athens. Concerns over construction and security have led many to believe the Games will not take place late this summer. And the Times reports that the IOC is in negotiations for a deal to cover the cancellation of the Games. But insurance experts doubt whether such high cover can be found so close to the 13 August start date.

Feb 27, 3:10 PM ESTIOC Clears Iraqi Flag for Athens Olympics By LISA ORKINAssociated Press WriterATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Iraqi athletes will march under their national flag at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics.After being suspended 10 months ago, Iraq's national Olympic committee was reinstated Friday by the International Olympic Committee."It's a great moment for the Iraqi athletes and Iraqi people," said Ahmed al-Sammarai, the Iraqi committee's chief. "This helps to prove the Iraqis can rule themselves. Just give them the chance.""We are starting from zero," he said. "This is the first step. It's a hard job but we...

Male athletes aiming to win Olympic medals without resorting to banned drugs could soon have a new, legal way of gaining an advantage over their rivals - wear a dress for two years and then compete as a woman. This week the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the leading body of world sport, will decide whether to amend its rules to allow transsexuals who have undergone a sex change to compete under their new gender. That proposal is controversial enough, since most sex changes are man-to-woman and critics say those transsexuals will retain unfair advantages of height and strength over female...

Thief Takes Briefcase From IOC Member at Security Talks The Associated PressPublished: Nov 28, 2003 ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A thief stole a briefcase belonging to an Israeli International Olympic Committee member visiting Athens for discussions on security for the summer games, police said Friday. The briefcase containing committee documents, cash and credit cards was taken Tuesday from a limousine used by IOC member Alex Gilady. Gilady went to a police station to report the theft, which occurred while he was visiting the Greek Olympic Committee building. He was in Athens during a visit by IOC President Jacques Rogge, who...

LONDON - Athletes who have undergone sex change operations will be eligible to compete in the Olympics for the first time under new rules being finalized by the IOC (news - web sites). The International Olympic Committee convened a meeting in Sweden last month of medical experts in the field and will announce its policy in the next few weeks. "We will have no discrimination," IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The IOC will respect human rights." Details are still being worked out, but Schamasch said transsexual athletes will be eligible for the Olympics once...

Winds of change: Olympics open to transsexualsLONDON (AP) — Athletes who have undergone sex change operations will be eligible to compete in the Olympics for the first time under new rules being finalized by the IOC. The International Olympic Committee convened a meeting in Sweden last month of medical experts in the field and will announce its policy in the next few weeks. "We will have no discrimination," IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The IOC will respect human rights." Details are still being worked out, but Schamasch said transsexual athletes will be eligible for...

It will happen again and again. Throughout our lifetimes and probably our children's, Jews will be murdered simply for their Jewishness. They will be slaughtered in the future, as they have been slaughtered for so many uncountable years in the past, for the look of their faces or the language of their mouths. Or they will be lacerated by insults so unspeakably vicious that it will be murder by contempt. Every time Jews are assaulted - by mass pogroms, by the single bullet in one victim's head or by hideous blows against the pride and dignity of their souls -...

Thursday, September 25, 2003 1:17PM EDT IOC praises Athens organizers By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - Organizers of the 2004 Athens Olympics received another vote of confidence from the IOC on Thursday for staging successful test events and making progress in venue construction. "While the schedule remains quite tight, a lot of positive things are being accomplished in Athens right now," IOC director general Francois Carrard said after Greek officials presented a progress report to the IOC executive board. The seven test events held last month received high praise from the international federations, IOC executive games director Gilbert...

<p>Cuba will bid for the 2012 Olympics, a decision that will place Havana as the long-shot candidate in a strong field that already features New York and Madrid, Spain.</p> <p>The Cuban Olympic Committee will hold a news conference Monday to discuss the bid, the group said Tuesday.</p>

Heavy artillery fire in east Baghdad BAGHDAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Heavy artillery fire hit the residential area of Zayouneh in east Baghdad on Sunday, near to an Iraqi Olympic Committee building of President Saddam Hussein's son Uday, a Reuters witness said. Correspondent Samia Nakhoul said the sound of artillery and anti-aircraft fire could be heard from the area for several minutes. "It sounds like quite a big battle," she said. The Zayouneh area is largely residential but Iraqi artillery batteries are believed to be stationed there. It also houses the homes of some Iraqi officers. Earlier on Sunday reporters...

DAVE KRIEGER: IOC ignores Iraq's atrocities Scripps Howard News Service (March 27, 2003 4:10 p.m. EST) - You might think the United Nations leads the mealy-mouthed parade, but the U.N. is a beacon of moral courage next to the International Olympic Committee. Institutional neutrality is generally a good thing for the IOC - its mission is to bring the world together, and it overlooks all sorts of grumbling, grievances and grudges to do it. But neutrality is not far from indifference, and the IOC is straddling this distinction as it continues to permit its most precious asset - the Olympic...

Filed at 5:08 p.m. ET LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Olympic chiefs handed Athens a blunt reprimand about their organization of the 2004 Games on Friday, just 18 months away from the opening ceremony. ``It is a serious situation,'' International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. ``It is getting really urgent. ``Six weeks ago I was in Athens and delivered a positive message. I regret to say that since then there has been a slippage in deadlines. ``There is (now) a sense of urgency which needs to be found. ``We expressed our concerns and have sent a message to the prime...