Scarred Giant by Chris Harman.

its 500 day countdown to the Beijing games with yet another diving win...

A dominant China snatched the final two diving world titles Monday for a massive confidence booster in their hunt for all eight gold on home soil at the Beijing Olympics next year.

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia won China its fourth consecutive 3m synchronised springboard gold medal while Lin Yue and Huo Liang took the men's synchronised 10m platform crown to give the powerhouse nation nine out of 10 gold here.

The victory made Guo the most successful diver in world championships history with eight gold and one silver.

...and a loss to the embarrassingly named "Socceroos"...

The Qantas Socceroos recorded an impressive 2-0 win over China in their international match played in Guangzhou tonight.

The Australian team were without the services of a number of key personnel including Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Harry Kewell and Craig Moore with coach Graham Arnold only having eight of the 23-man FIFA World Cup squad available for the match.

The Qantas Socceroos started in dynamic fashion and held a two goal margin within the opening half hour. Brett Holman scored his first goal for the senior team after just eight minutes, with Mark Bresciano scoring the second goal 20 minutes later.

Ouch.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong is still not ready for democracy, the leaders say:

Tsang promised during the campaign to produce a timetable for full democracy in Hong Kong, which has functioned as a semiautonomous territory since its British colonial era ended in 1997. It was the first time a post-handover leader has made such a specific pledge to deliver democratic reforms.

Lawmakers were allowed to vote, but some pro-democracy legislators protested the event.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, or Basic Law, says the city should eventually be fully democratic. China's Communist leaders have said Hong Kong is not ready for full democracy, and they have declined to say when the time would be right.

Looks like it could get politically messy. But not nearly as messy as what happened in that other island China claims as its own:

TAIPEI - Residents of Tainan learned a lesson in whale biology after the decomposing remains of a 60-ton sperm whale exploded on a busy street, showering nearby cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours.

There are, uh, photos at the link.