This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

After seven years of preparations, the Summer Olympic Games have opened in Beijing, China. An opening ceremony and lighting of the Olympic cauldron marked the official start of the games on Friday.

More than ten thousand athletes will compete in the summer games.  They will take part in more than three hundred events in twenty-eight sports. About twenty-five thousand members of the media are reporting on the games.

Fireworks highlighted Beijing Olympic's opening ceremony, 8 Aug 2008

Chinese President Hu Jintao welcomed leaders from around the world to a special celebration meal. He said the Chinese government and people have been fulfilling promises made to the international community when Beijing was chosen to host the games.

This year's theme is "One World, One Dream." The idea is to unite the world in the spirit of the Olympics.

China is promising a safe and peaceful Olympics.

China has spent more than forty billion dollars on structural improvements for the Olympic games.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. You can read and listen to our reports on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  I'm Steve Ember.