Three survivors of a disastrous mountaineering expedition are recovering in a Pakistan hospital.
Eleven climbers perished after an ice-fall during the party’s descent of K2, the second highest peak in the world.
Aerial rescue attempts were hindered earlier this week due to poor visibility and high altitude, leaving one survivor to hobble his way to base camp on frostbitten legs.
Bell tolls for Hiroshima
Thousands bowed their heads in the city of Hiroshima on Wednesday to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the world’s first atomic attack.
A bell tolled at 8:15 a.m. to mark the exact moment the bomb was dropped on the Japanese city in 1945, killing tens of thousands instantly.
During the ceremony Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda called for world nuclear powers to abolish all weapons of mass destruction.
“Drive me Obama”
American women want Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama in their driver seat.
A new poll shows women in the US would rather carpool or go on vacation with Obama than with Republican rival John McCain.
The poll also showed Obama holds a strong lead among all women voters but McCain ranks better with white women, seniors and stay-at-home mums.
Olympic News
Torch comes home
The Olympic Torch marched through Tian’anmen Square this week as it began its final leg in Beijing.
The flame’s three-day tour in the Olympic host city is passing to 841 torchbearers, including basketball star Yao Ming and the country’s first astronaut Yang Liwei.
The relay has lasted 129 days and travelled 137,000 km through six continents, the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition began at the 1936 Berlin Games.
Premier player
China’s Premier dribbled and dunked with the best of them on Monday at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium.
Wen Jiabao visited a number of training venues this week to show his support for China’s Olympic team.
He joined the Chinese men’s basketball team in shooting hoops and thanked all Olympic participants for their efforts in preparing Beijing for the Games.
Teens ready to camp it up
More than 400 teens arrived in Beijing on Thursday as part of the Olympic Youth Camp program.
The campers hail from 205 countries and regions, and were chosen for the program based on their achievements in sports, environmental protection, Olympic movement and volunteer activities.
The 12-day event will send the teens to the opening ceremony, Olympic matches and the Olympic Village, as well as well-known tourist attractions.
In a first, physically challenged youths are also participating in this year’s camp.
Opening Ceremony News
Diva duos in Beijing
World pop-opera diva Sarah Brightman will join China’s Liu Huan in singing the Olympic theme song tonight at the National Stadium.
The duo will take to the stage near the end of the three-and-a-half hour spectacular with a song still shrouded in mystery.
Brightman is no stranger to the Games having performed with tenor Jose Carreras at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Rain, rain, staying away
The only thing drowning the audience at tonight’s opening ceremony will be the music.
Latest forecasts foresee favourable weather conditions for the extravaganza that kicks off at 8pm local time.
According to China’s Meteorological Administration, Beijing will experience only cloudy skies this evening with average temperatures ranging from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title="">Meghan Peters is a foreign language expert at China Daily’s Web site. A recent graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle, Meghan has written for The Seattle Times, the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Seattle Weekly, where she also worked on various multimedia projects.
" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title="">Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts working on various projects in theatre, television, online, radio, print and film. Marc spent three months with the China Daily last year leading the online video news initiative. He returns to chinadaily.com.cn as Senior Editor and Producer for the website’s Olympic media news coverage.
" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title="">Meghan Peters is a foreign language expert at China Daily’s Web site. A recent graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle, Meghan has written for The Seattle Times, the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Seattle Weekly, where she also worked on various multimedia projects.
" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title="">Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts working on various projects in theatre, television, online, radio, print and film. Marc spent three months with the China Daily last year leading the online video news initiative. He returns to chinadaily.com.cn as Senior Editor and Producer for the website’s Olympic media news coverage.