GAMES ON FAST-TRACK
A train linking Beijing's airport and the city centre is under construction and will be ready in time for the Olympics. The 27.3km journey, which by car can take well over an hour depending on traffic, will take 16 minutes by rail. The venture will cost 5.4 billion yuan and will be largely funded by five private domestic companies.
TURIN'S TEPID TICKET SALES
Organisers are hoping it's a typical case of Italians doing things at the last minute, but concerns are starting to grow. With four weeks to go to the start of the Winter Olympics in Turin only 585,000 tickets have been sold out of about one million - well below the official target. The organising committee hopes to sell around 850,000 tickets. About 540,000 had been sold by late November and they had been banking on a hike in sales after the Olympic torch began a two-month tour of Italy in early December - but no surge has come. In terms of revenue, sales have netted Euro76 million ($712 million), or 77 per cent of the ticket revenue target for the games.
MEDAL IN BEIJING'S AFFAIRS
The organisers of the Beijing Games have launched a global campaign to solicit design proposals for the medals of the 2008 Games. Designs should be submitted before March 26, 2006, and should highlight the themes of 'glory and dream' and 'faster, higher and stronger'.