On Monday, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, defended the decision to hold the summer games in China.

Jacques Rogge: “It was right to award the games to China for two reasons. One is that we cannot deny one-fifth of mankind of the advantages of Olympism and the Olympic games. It’s just not fair to do that. And secondly, we believe that the games are a great catalyst for change for China itself. The games will open up China to the scrutiny of the world, thanks to the 25,000 media being present.”

Meanwhile, the Tibetan government in exile says the death toll from the demonstrations in Tibet has now reached about 140.