Qianlong's seal up for sale

A white jade seal of the Emperor Qianlong in the QIng Dynasty was presented recently in Hong Kong in the run-up to the Sotheby's auction scheduled on October 8. The color and texture of the jade is considered the top quality of its kind. The 12.5 sqcm seal is the largest one among all the seals by Qianlong. Its estimated auction price is HK$50m.

Chavez to invest in sports

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will open an office of competitive sports to train
athletes after a lackluster Olympic performance, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday.
Venezuela's delegation of more than 100 athletes won only a bronze medal in Beijing.

Beijing Olympics asteroid

The Minor Planet Center Sunday approved an appeal from China's Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory that the No. 23408 asteroid it discovered on October 12, 1977 in the Taurus constellation be christened "Beijing'aoyun", or Beijing Olympics, in honor of the concluded Games. Though the 29th Olympics are over, the Beijign Olympics asteroid will stay in the sky.

Wei to sell gown for charity

Chinese singer Wei Wei said Monday she planned to auction the dress she wore at the Olympics closing ceremony on August 24 while singing "To Overcome" and hopes to donate the earnings to schools in quake-hit Sichuan. Wei said it took her European designer 3 days to make the dress. Two of Wei's sons also performed in a children's chorus at the ceremony.

Japan unveils Games Beauties

Russian pole vault queen, Yelena Isinbayeva, who won a gold medal in the Olympics with a new world record of 5.05m, leads the Top 10 Olympic Beauty List released by a Japanese magazine. Artistic gymnast Anna Bessonova from Ukraine ranked 2nd, and 3 Chinese athletes, Guo Jingjing, He Wenna and Xie Xingfang, also made the list.

Highlights of Ceremony

Chen Weiya, director of the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony, explained the artistic performance Sunday. The ceremoney consisted of 3 chapters, themed as "reunion," "memory - extinguishing the Olympic flasme" and "carnival." The first chapter featured a first-ever procedure at Olympic closing ceremonies when the 4 newly-elected members of the International Olympic Committee Athletes Commission thanked volunteers.

Dream Team grabs gold

The US won the Olympic men’s basketball gold by beating Spain 118-107 Sunday. The US team’s last gold came at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and Kobe Bryant added 20 for the US. Rudy Fernandez had 22 and Pau Gasol 21 for Spain. The bronze medal went to Argentina.

Memory man breaks records

British man Ben Pridmore, a 31-year-old accountant, has won the UK Open Memory Championships, smashing 3 world records by recalling a row of 930 zeros and ones in 5 minutes, 7 pack of playing cards in just 10 minutes and an 818-digit number also in a short amount of time. The man has an IQ of 159.

Athlete turns to finding love

Zimbabwe's Young Talkmore Nyongani lost his 400m competition at the Bird's Nest, but the 25-year-old continued walking the Beijing streets with delight. He is trying to find romance with a Chinese woman with the help of a local newspaper. Nyongani said he became almost obsessively interested in Chinese women. He added that his revenue could guarantee a good life for his family.

Russia may push independence

Russia is signaling that it may back the independence of 2 breakaway Georgian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, although the US and its European allies insist on a UN resolution that would affirm the “territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders,” Russian media reorted. The UN and Russia had always agreed on Georgia’s sovereignty over these 2 regions before the war.

Phelps bombed by SMS

US swimming star Michael Phelps has been besieged by journalists and sponsors, and his black berry has received about 5000 text messages since his historical triumph at the Beijing Games. US President George W. Bush also called the swimmer to give his congratulations. The 23-year-old said he would not retire, but continue to swim at the 2012 London Olympics.

Bolt explains slowdown

Usain Bolt of Jamaica, who dashed 9.69 seconds for the Olympic men's 100m title and broke the world record on Saturday night, said that he just aimed to win before the finish line and this related to his 20m slowdown. Bolt expained when he felt certain of grabbing the gold medal in the final he involuntarily began to celebrate and ran the last 20m slower.

Relay World Record Canceled

The IAAF Decided to cancel the 4*400m relay world record set on July 22, 1998 by the US as one of the team members, Antonio Pettigrew, confessed to doing, Xinhua reported Tuesday. The US 48400m relay team was stripped of the gold they won in 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. This means that the world record will now be 2 minutes and 54.29 seconds, set by the US team during the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart.

2010 expo tickets go on sale

Tickets for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai will be put on sale from September 28, priced at RMB160 a set, Expo organizers said Wednesday. Collective tickets, advanced tickets and special groups such as the elderly the disabled, student, children and active duty soldiers are eligible for discounts. In order to avoid traffic congestion, evening time tickets will also be provided.

Celebrations come naturally

A North American study says gestures like fist-pumping by victorious athletes come naturally. The study's lead author Jessica Tracy, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, found that all athletes in the 2004 Athens Olympics tended to respond to success in the same way: expanded chests, tilted heads and outstretched arms, leading her to conclude that such exuberant celebrations of victory are instinctive traits.

Georgia to pull out of CIS

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Tuesday that his country will withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS), Russian news agencies reported. He also proposed that "other countries leave this body run by Russia." The Georgian government will lodge a suit against Russia at the International Criminal Court in Hague.

Free Rail Ride for Abhinav

Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra will get a free lifetime railway pass, which allow hime ride in the first-class air-conditioned carriages, the Indian Ministry of Railways announced soon after the shooter totaled 700.5 points to win the men's 10-meter air rifle title Monday. It was India's first individual title in Olympic history.

1m bananas for Olympic meal

More than 3.5m meals will be served to athletes, coaches, media and officials at the Athletes Village, media villages and media centers in 2 months, in total, 936000 bananas are expected to appear on the Games' menu, Aramark, food supplier for the Games wrote on its fact sheet. Aramark has provided catering services at 13 previous Olympic Games.