With 10 months remaining until the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 62nd Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York City today adopted the Olympic Truce Resolution. Entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal,” the Resolution was introduced by China on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was sponsored by the 182 Member States of the Assembly.

Presenting the Resolution to the UN has in recent years been a way of inviting its Member States to observe and promote peace during and beyond each Olympic Games. It underscores the importance of making a contribution through sport to find peaceful and diplomatic solutions to the world’s conflicts.

“Today’s endorsement reflects the universality shared by the United Nations and the Olympic Movement. The presence of the UN as a force for good is felt in more countries than ever before. So it is with the Olympic Movement,” said Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, in a speech delivered to the General Assembly after a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon this morning.

In his speech, President Rogge added, “Today, athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees compete in the Olympic Games. And today the IOC provides more assistance to developing countries than ever before, often in collaboration with many UN agencies and other international partners. That is why I hope the widespread support for this resolution speaks not only for its symbolic value, but also for its practical potential. Sport alone cannot enforce or maintain peace. But it has a vital role to play in building a better and more peaceful world.”

Rogge continued, “In China, the Beijing 2008 Summer Games have already delivered important social, legislative and economic benefits. It is better to open a new door to China than to leave it closed at this point in its modern evolution.

In a world where values can change with circumstances, ours do not. Fair play and good sportsmanship show our respect for sport in its purest, cleanest form. In a world where commitment to social responsibility wavers, it has always mattered to the IOC. In a world too often torn apart by war, environmental degradation, poverty and disease, we see sport as a calling to serve humanity. That is why this resolution is so important.”

Liu Qi, the President of the Organising Committee for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) said at the Assembly, “Beijing 2008 is heartened by the overwhelming support and endorsement given to the Olympic Truce by the international community at the United Nations. Their solidarity reinforces the global desire for peace and a cessation of all acts of hostilities during the Olympic period.”

Guided by the principles of the Olympic Movement, including education, sustainability, non-discrimination, universality, humanism and solidarity, the IOC and UN have created an impressive record of collaboration. The two organisations have worked together to find solutions to a wide range of social, economic and environmental problems, including:

•Running an important prevention campaign against HIV in collaboration with UNAIDS;

•Launching a pilot project in Zambia to train and educate young people through sport;

•Providing grassroots-level support including sports equipment and recreational activities to tens of thousands of people in impoverished and rural areas in many countries;

•Donating sports and casual clothing to refugees and internally displaced people;

•Supporting victims of disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding and the Indonesian tsunami in collaboration with the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement;

•Working with UNEP to reduce the environmental impact of the Olympic Games.

* * *

Friday 16 November on E22 at 9pm, Sunday 18 November on E22 at 10am (RPT) and on TVM at 525pm, and Monday 19 November on E22 at 2.30pm (RPT) will feature the following:

Featured event – Mini Basket tournament

The Malta Basketball Association over the past weekend held a Mini Basket Tournament at Naxxar. This is one of the series of tournaments which are being held for various categories. This week’s tournament was open for the Under 11 Category.

Highlighted events – Optimist dinghy event/equestrian

With the departure of the British forces, new sailing clubs appeared on the scene, together with the Royal Malta Yacht Club, which grew out of the Malta Yacht Club.

The Vikings Sailing Club, the Birzebbuga Sailing Club, the Malta Young Sailors Club, the Malta Laser Class Association, and the Malta Model Boating Association appeared on the scene.

These six clubs today form the Malta Sailing Federation, the National Authority for the Sport of Sailing in Malta, which was formed in 1975 in order to coordinate the activities of the various clubs and in order to ensure compliance with international racing rules set by the International Sailing Federation. During the past weekend the Optimist Dinghy event was held at St. Paul’s Bay.

The Maghtab Riding Club held the Malta Junior Championships during the past weekend. The Equestrian is an elegant sport which is also gaining momentum on our islands. The Dressage and the Jumping were the two main events last Saturday.

One may watch more on these events during the MIA Olympic Special.

MOC section – Promising athlete

MIA Olympic Special will start giving you an interview with a promising athlete in order to get to know more about the individual, his or her preparation, plans and much more. An interesting section worth watching. This week we will meet one of the promising sailors.

Olympic archive section

In this interesting Section MIA Olympic Special takes us down memory lane and relives the interesting moments of the previous Olympic Games as a build up for the Beijing 2008 Games.

Schedule available every week on

www.nocmalta.org and on the Malta Independent newspaper every Tuesday. Produced in collaboration with E22.

* * *

2008 Olympics: China building database with profiles of foreign reporters

The Chinese government is creating a database with profiles on the thousands of foreign reporters who will be covering next summer’s Beijing Olympics, a top official said in comments published yesterday.

The database will contain information on nearly 30,000 reporters and was designed to prevent people from posing as journalists to trick or blackmail interview subjects, Liu Binjie, minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication, was quoted as saying in the state-run China Daily newspaper.

“Disguising as reporters to threaten and intimidate others to collect money is cheating and very dangerous to society,” Liu was quoted as saying.

In China, people sometimes pose as reporters to extort money from corrupt officials or demand payment for false promises of favourable news coverage. A nationwide campaign launched in August netted 150 fake reporters and 300 unregistered publications, China Daily said.