China - Beijing —China’s He Kexin won a tiebreaker over all-around champion Nastia Liukin of the United States for the uneven bars gold medal Monday at the Beijing Olympics.

Both scored 16.725, but He got the nod because her execution marks were closer to a perfect 10 than Liukin’s.

Liukin would not criticize the scoring system that does not award dual gold medals.

“It’s nothing I can control, and honestly, I can say it has been very fair to me, and I got the biggest gold medal of them all,” said Liukin, winner of the women’s all-around gymnastics gold.

He, at the center of an age-eligibility controversy throughout the games, was fast and furious on the bars. Her twists and flips went by in the blink of an eye, and she won by about that short a margin. Read more » »

Cristiane scored twice to lead Brazil to a 4-1 win over Germany on Monday to reach the Olympic women’s soccer final for the second time in a row.

After Birgit Prinz gave world champion Germany a 10th-minute lead—becoming the first player to score in all four Olympics since the introduction of women’s soccer—the Brazilians hit back with goals from Cristiane, Formiga and Marta. Germany had not conceded in 10 previous games in major championships.

In Thursday’s final in Beijing, Brazil will face either defending champion United States or Japan, which meet later Monday. Four years ago, Brazil lost to the Americans in the final.

A blunder by Brazil defender Erika gifted Germany the opening goal. She lost control only 30 meters from her own goal and Prinz was left with just goalkeeper Barbara to beat.
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A pro-Tibet group says five activists staged a “peaceful protest” in Tiananmen Square, breaching heavy security that has surrounded the heart of Beijing for the Olympic Games.

Lhadon Thetong, executive director for Students for a Free Tibet, said the protesters draped themselves in Tibetan flags and lay down in the square on Saturday.

It wasn’t immediately clear if they were stopped by authorities.

The action came a day after three Americans from the group were detained while displaying Tibetan flags near the entrance to the National Stadium, where the opening ceremony for the games were held.ap

China - Police shut down the bustling bazaar in the capital of China’s restive Muslim region of Xinjiang on Friday amid threats from an Islamic group that attackers might target buses, trains and planes during the Olympics.

A sign at the entrance of the bazaar in Urumqi did not explain why the area, surrounded by mosques with minarets, was off limits as the country prepared to kick off the Summer Games thousands of miles away in Beijing.

Even a KFC restaurant in the shopping area—filled with touristy shops selling carpets and jade—was closed, and a guard sitting on the steps shooed people away.

The sprawling, far-flung western region of Xinjiang has long been a source of trouble for China’s communist government. The rugged, mineral-rich territory is populated by the Uighurs, a Turkic Read more » »

THE TALKS on a new national pay deal broke down in the early hours of Saturday morning after unions rejected proposals which would have seen wages rise by 5 per cent over a 21-month period.

However, a deal would also have involved a six-month pay pause for most private-sector employees, an 11-month pay pause for more than 300,000 staff in the public services and a 12-month pause for those in the construction sector.

The unions believed that at a time of rising food and fuel prices this deal would have done nothing for low-paid workers, and that the annualised increase of 2.8 per cent was much less than the expected rate of inflation. Read more » »

DAVID O’BRIEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The non-waiver trade deadline passed Thursday without the Braves getting either the power-hitting outfielder they sought or the solid prospect they wanted in exchange for reliever Will Ohman.

But general manager Frank Wren said he still was satisfied after a week in which the out-of-contention Braves turned their attentions toward the future and acquired a first baseman, Casey Kotchman, they could afford to keep for at least a few seasons.

“Up until 10 minutes before the deadline, we were in discussions [for trades] that didn’t materialize,” said Wren, who acknowledged the Braves discussed a trade last week that would have brought outfielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh. Read more » »

By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer

The strongest earthquake to strike a populated area of Southern California in more than a decade rattled windows and chandeliers, made buildings sway and sent people running into the streets on Tuesday. But there were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.

The 5.4-magnitude quake — considered moderate — was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and as far east as Las Vegas, 230 miles away. Nearly 30 aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at 3.8.

The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County city of 80,000 built mostly in the early 1990s with the latest in earthquake-resistant technology.

Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds, leading to the evacuation of some offices. Read more » »