The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on October 31 calling for truce during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The resolution, submitted by China and co-sponsored by 186 countries, urges UN member states to observe the Olympic Truce individually and collectively during the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing and the Paralympic Games that follow.

The 192-member world body unanimously approved the resolution, "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal."

The resolution urges member states to observe truce during the Beijing Games that will take place from August 8 to 24 next year, and the Paralympic Games from September 6 to 17.

It welcomes the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to mobilize international sports organizations and its members' Olympic committees to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony based on the spirit of the Olympic Truce.

It also calls on all member states to cooperate with the IOC in its efforts to use sport to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Truce has its origin in the Olympic truce treaty signed by Greek city-states that took part in the ancient Olympic Games.

The IOC revived the concept of Olympic Truce in 1992 and relayed it to the UN. Since 1993, the UN General Assembly has appealed for truce by adopting a resolution a year before the Olympic Games.

President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) Liu Qi said the resolution not only captures the "quintessential elements of the previous resolutions, but also features the three main concepts at the core of the Beijing Games: 'Green Olympics, High-Tech Olympics and People's Olympics' and their vision to achieve harmonious development of society".

"Sport unites the principles that the Olympic Movement holds dear -- education, sustainability, non-discrimination, universality, humanism and solidarity," IOC President Jacques Rogge told the General Assembly.

The 7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment, held from October 25-27, passed the Beijing Communique on Sport and the Environment and acknowledged the environmental efforts made by BOCOG.

The Beijing Communique acknowledged the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, "Beijing 2008: An Environmental Review," which pointed out that the staging of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games "is proving to be a catalyst for accelerating environmental improvements across the city."

The Communique noted with appreciation that the Olympic city has cut greenhouse gas emissions by emphasizing energy efficiency, encouraging the use of renewable energy, adopting environmentally friendly commuting policies and practices, and the widespread afforestation and greening of the city.

The Communique also acknowledged BOCOG's Technical Report, "BEIJING 2008: Environmental Protection, Innovation and Improvement," which presents in detail the scope of the "environmental and sustainability actions and legacies in regard to the Games and the improvements made in policy and practice of environmental protection."

The conference calls on the sports world to take actions "to ensure sustainable and ecologically responsible sports events and activities."

Liu Jingmin, Vice-Mayor of Beijing and BOCOG Executive Vice-President, said that the conference not only further enriches the connotation of sports, the environment, and sustainable development, but also provides a useful guide to help the organizers implement the Green Olympic concept.

He said the organizers would continue with their effort in environmental protection to create a fine ecosystem for the success of the Games, and with the opportunity of the Games, the organizers would incorporate sports and environmental protection into the harmonious development of the society.

Over 400 representatives from more than 80 national and regional Olympic committees (NOCs), 20 International Sports Federations (IFs), the UNEP and other UN entities, NGOs, and other organizations attended the conference.

Bringing to a close its penultimate meeting before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games begin, the IOC Coordination Commission marked an important milestone in its review of preparations for August next year duirng the ninth Coordination Commission meeting from October 23-25. The three-day meeting with BOCOG was the opportunity to fully appraise the results of the pre-Games events held over the past months.

"The BOCOG team has once again shown us that they have understood what is needed to organise top quality Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Hein Verbruggen, Chairman of the Coordination Commission. "The feedback that we have been receiving from the International Federations and athletes alike, specifically from their experiences at the pre-Games events, shows us that BOCOG has been able to translate that understanding into an operational reality. However, in these final months the need for continuous action is imperative."

With less than ten months remaining until the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony, presentations at the meeting gave Commission members details on Games preparations as well as status reports on how BOCOG and the local Beijing authorities plan to address matters such as air quality, ticketing and the Olympic Torch Relay.

Addressing the meeting, BOCOG Executive President Liu Peng conveyed Beijing's commitment to doing an outstanding job as host of next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games. Liu, who is minister of the General Administration of Sports and President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said that the foundation for a successful Olympic Games was already in place. He also emphasised that BOCOG would continue to work with the IOC and its Coordination Commission to step up the level of preparations.

The final Coordination Commission meeting before the 2008 Olympic Games will be held in April next year. By then all preparations will be largely completed.

"Even with the challenges we face, BOCOG and local authorities have carefully assessed what needs to be done," Verbruggen said. "They must continue to act quickly to resolve any issues and maintain their current level of effort. With less than ten months remaining, a particular focus on detail will be required, as this will ultimately make a major difference to the success of the Games but we are confident that they will have everything in place to allow the Games to be held at the highest standards and in the best possible conditions – for athletes but also everyone else who will come to Beijing."

This meeting also brought IOC Athletes' Commission representatives to Beijing for a review of service levels for athletes at Games time, including a look at the Olympic Village. Their review is a regular part of Games preparations to ensure that the needs of the athletes are met and conform to high standards expected from the Olympic Games.

"Our working group was impressed by everything we saw, and we're sure that our fellow athletes will be very happy next summer with the accommodation and services that BOCOG is planning to provide," said Sergey Bubka, Chairman of the IOC Athletes' Commission, who was joined in Beijing by Olympians Robert Ctvrltik (Volleyball), Rania Elwani (Swimming) and Deng Yaping (Table Tennis). They were selected by the Commission to independently represent athletes' interests.

Before arriving in Beijing, a delegation from the Coordination Commission also visited the co-host city of Hong Kong, where the Beijing 2008 Equestrian events will be held. Members visited both venues in Beas River and Sha Tin. They also held meetings with the Hong Kong Equestrian Company, representatives of the local government and sport authorities. Following the visits and meetings, the Commission members were all highly impressed by the facilities and services that will await the equestrian community in August 2008.

The second stage of Olympic ticket sales will revert to a lottery draw, the Games organizers said on November 5.

The announcement comes days after sales -- meant to be on a first-come, first-served basis - were suspended on October 30 when the booking system crashed as a result of overwhelming demand on the first day.

The change aims to reflect a people-oriented policy and to adhere to "the principles of fairness, impartiality, and convenience to the public", BOCOG said on its official website.

Ticket applications will be accepted from December 10 to 30.

But BOCOG stressed that those who registered last Tuesday at designated Bank of China branches and through the BOCOG Ticketing Call Center still have priority in purchasing tickets.

The purchase guidelines for those buyers will be announced later. About 43,000 tickets were sold before the service was suspended at 6 pm on October 30 and BOCOG had promised that those tickets orders remain valid.

The cap for the number of tickets in the lottery will also be modified -- the original limit was 50 each. The new ticket limit and the date for the lottery draw will be announced later.

The 1.6 million tickets sold during the first stage between April and August were allocated by lottery.

The second stage of the sales had about 1.85 million tickets on sale through websites, a hotline and designated Bank of China branches.

According to the Beijing Olympic Ticketing Center, the official ticketing website (www.tickets.beijing2008.cn) saw 8 million hits in the first hour starting 9 am, while the ticketing hotline received 3.8 million calls.

BOCOG officials said they have held a series of discussions on the technical problems and taken proper measures.

A total of 7 million tickets are available for the Beijing Games.