Make It Rain

It is estimated that there is a 50/50 chance of it raining on the opening day of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and a further 50/50 chance of it raining on the closing day.

China does not intend to take any chances with the weather, and is going to attempt to make it rain in the period before the games; thus reducing the chances of precipitation on the opening and closing days. Rain will also help clean up the air, in one of Asia most polluted atmospheres.

Chinese meteorologists believe that they can force rain in the days before the Olympics, via the unreliable "science" of cloud-seeding.

Good luck.

Olympic Protesters Detained

Three Americans and a Tibetan-American were detained by Chinese authorities on Mount Everest yesterday, as they called for independence for Tibet and protested against the Beijing Olympics.

The protest was organised by Students for a Free Tibet, which said three people were detained for holding up a banner at a base camp on the Tibetan side of the mountain that read:

One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008.

The fourth person detained by Chinese authorities was a camera person.

"One World, One Dream" is the slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Torch To Ascend Everest

The Olympic torch for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will ascend to the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, and pass through Taiwan according to the organising committee.

Wang Wei, executive vice-president and secretary-general of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, said that the torch would cross Mount Everest.

Wang also said Taiwan had agreed that the island would be on the Olympic torch relay programme.

Taiwan had previously indicated that it was not agreeable to the torch entering the island via China's mainland or Hong Kong and Macao, which are special administrative regions of China.

Wang said the route of the relay was still under discussion with interested cities.

Olympics Threat To The Arts

The London Olympics juggernaut has been accused of crushing funding to the arts. A grouping of the UK's senior arts and sports administrators warned that the lottery money being diverted from the arts to the Olympics would damage the arts, and reduce participation in sport.

The Voluntary Arts Network, the Central Council for Physical Recreation, Heritage Link and the National Council for Voluntary organisations have also written to MP's; warning them that lottery cuts will jeopardise the legacy of the games at community level. They have asked for an urgent meeting with Tessa Jowell (culture secretary), claiming that arts, heritage and sports charities will lose more than £100m.

Jowell intends to divert an additional £675m from the National Lottery, to fund the Olympics behemoth (the budget for which has spiralled out of control).

Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, said:

"There is a spectacular lack of logic in using money earmarked for the arts to plug the holes in the Olympics bills. The money raided from the lottery will largely affect small, innovative, experimental organisations and individuals who are the lifeblood of creativity in the UK. Pulling the carpet out from under them and nobbling their money is undermining the future of our major arts institutions."

Tim Lamb, chief executive of the Central Council for Physical Recreation, said:

"If there is to be a real legacy of increasing participation in sport, it seems ironic, if not perverse, for money to be taken away from community sport to fund the Olympics."

Jowell claims that the diversion of funds will not begin until 2009; a cynic might note that by 2009 Labour will have been kicked out of office, and can therefore wash their hands of the entire sorry affair.