Beijing's Olympic bid under scrutiny

An inspection team from the International Olympic Committee has arrived in the Chinese capital, Beijing, to examine the city's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

The seventeen-member team is due to inspect Beijing's sports facilities, infrastructure and its planning for the Olympics.

Beijing's mayor, Liu Qi, told the delegates: "We're ready." Armies of workers have scrubbed and polished the city to prepare for inspection, drab apartment buildings have been painted in bright colours and Olympic banners flutter from every lamp post.

The BBC Beijing correspondent says China is desperate to get the Games -- and city officials have urged the media not to use what he called the excuse of human rights to try to foil Beijing's bid. The IOC team goes on to inspect the the four other contenders for the 2008 Olympics -- Osaka, Toronto, Paris, and Istanbul -- before the final decision is taken in July.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service