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Kevin Rudd reveals Bush-Putin argument at Opening Ceremony

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd witnessed a heated discussion between US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over Russia's invasion of a tiny neighbouring country as athletes paraded before them in the Opening Ceremony on Friday night.

Apple investigating iTunes block in China

According to the Associated Press, the Art of Peace Foundation announced on Sunday the release of "Songs for Tibet," a digital album comprised of music by popular artists such as Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette, as well as a 15-minute speech by exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama. One day later, iTunes users began complaining on the official iTunes support forum that they were unable to login and purchase music from the Apple download service. Instead, they were greeted with an error message that said: "iTunes could not connect to the iTunes store. An unknown error occurred.(-4) Make sure your network connection is active and try again."

Amanda Beard Nude Olympic Anti-Fur Protest Shutdown

Olympic swimming gold medalist Amanda Beard had to launch her naked, anti-fur campaign poster outside the Athletes' Village on Wednesday after Chinese authorities canceled a planned unveiling, citing safety concerns.

Two Women Sentenced to ‘Re-education’ in China

These Olympics are an ongoing human rights embarrassment: Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of "re-education through labor" after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.

Hacker Uncovers Chinese Olympic Fraud

A new chapter in the ongoing controversy surrounding China's women's gymnastics team opened today, as search engine hacker stryde.hax found surviving copies of official registration documents issued by China's General Administration of Sport of China. The incriminating documents, expunged by censors from the official site and from Google's document cache, still appear in the document translation cache of Chinese search giant Baidu, here (1) and here (2), showing the age of one of China's gold medal winning gymnasts to be 14 instead of 16, the minimum age for competition presented on her government-issued passport. Now that official government documentation is available, how long will the IOC be able to keep a lid on this scandal?

After the Games, Tibet

The Chinese leadership and the Tibetan government in exile have delicately discussed a possible visit by the Dalai Lama to China, nominally to commemorate the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province in May. That would be the first meeting between the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders in more than 50 years and would give enormous impetus to resolving the Tibet question.

Part of Olympic display altered in broadcast

While the dramatic fireworks display actually happened as portrayed on television, members of the Beijing Olympic Committee said it was necessary to replace live video with computer-generated imagery because the city's hazy, smoggy skies made it too difficult to see, according to The Beijing Times, which first reported the story.

Pelosi Calls on President Bush to Secure Entry of Joey Cheek to Beijing Olympic Games

The Chinese government's decision to bar Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek from attending the Olympics because of his advocacy for Darfur is reprehensible. This action by Beijing's leaders is part of an orchestrated campaign to deny entry to individuals because of their political views, beliefs, writings, association, religion, and ethnicity.

Olympics: Britons held in Beijing for protests over Tibet

Four protesters including two Britons have been detained in the Chinese capital after hanging Free Tibet banners close to the main Bird's Nest stadium. The demonstration underlined the clash between competing views of the Olympics in Beijing, as thousands of euphoric spectators cheered the arrival of the torch in Tiananmen Square while foreign activists launched a series of small protests around the city.

The IOC is Now Officially an Accomplice to the Communists in China

Beijing, which has constantly complained about its precious Games being politicized, is itself politicizing the Olympics every time it censors a website. By not allowing reporters to access sites like Amnesty International or the Chinese version of the BBC, the Chinese government is attempting to shield itself from international criticism and arbitrarily filter out political viewpoints that it deems harmful to its image. This action of censoring the Internet in Beijing is a powerful political statement...

IOC admits Internet censorship deal with China

Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive Web sites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday. Persistent pollution fears and China's concerns about security in Tibet also remained problems for organizers nine days before the Games begin.

China: Bloggers take stand against web activist’s arrest

Following his apprehension last month as he was pitching in with the earthquake relief in his native Sichuan province, web activist Huang Qi was this weekend formally arrested for "illegal possession of state secrets".

Gordon Brown aide a victim of honeytrap operation by Chinese agents - Times Online

Aide to the UK PM gets picked up by hot girl at a nightclub in Shanghai; wakes up to discover his Blackberry is missing. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

China Clamps Down After Bjork's "Tibet" Chant

China will ban all entertainers from overseas, Hong Kong and Taiwan who have ever attended activities that "threaten national sovereignty", the government said on Thursday, after an outburst by Icelandic singer Bjork. Earlier this year, Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at a Shanghai concert having performed her song "Declare Independence", which she...