FIGHTING GRADUATES TO JOIN ANTI-TERRORISM UNIT
Beijing police have announced they will be recruiting 135 riot policemen and women from this year's batch of graduates to bolster their crowd-control capabilities for the Beijing games. The candidates are expected to be experts in a martial art and will have to pass IQ and psychological tests. Police said they will join the team to combat violent crime and acts of terrorism.
CHINA TO GO IT ALONE ON SECURITY arrangements
China would rely on its own security forces to defend the country's borders and airspace during the Olympics, officials said. Athens organisers were given support by NATO surveillance planes in 2004 at the first summer games since the September 2001 attacks against the United States. Yu Zaiqing, vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said China would not seek outside assistance. 'With Greece there was a lot of coastline so it was very difficult to keep it secure. Asking for NATO to help was necessary, but with Beijing we think that China's security forces will be fully capable of keeping the games safe,' he said.
WATER CUBE TAKES SHAPE
The main structure of the Olympic swimming venue, the National Aquatics Centre, has been completed. The 'Water Cube' has a seating capacity of 17,000, including 11,000 temporary seats. It was funded entirely by donations from people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
