Man cycles from China on a rickshaw for London 2012

In two years Chen Guanming has travelled thousands of kilometres through 16 countries, overcoming floods, war zones, mountain passes and temperatures of -30C.

His aim, he said, was to "spread the Olympic spirit".
BBC London reporter Matthew Morris went to London's Chinatown to meet the remarkable Mr Chen and John Beeston, who encountered him when he finally arrived in the 2012 host city.
Let us know your personal London Olympics story.

Confusion as people turned away from Olympic archery event

Between 50 and 100 spectators have been left disappointed, after arriving to watch the first stage of the Olympic archery at Lord's cricket ground.
The event was advertised by games organisers as "unticketed", meaning the public would not be allowed in.
But, as the BBC's Joe Wilson explains, a number of people were left angry after interpreting the phrase differently.

First Lady scores penalty against SpongeBob SquarePants

First Lady Michelle Obama has urged youngsters to stay healthy and active at an event at the US Ambassador's residence in London.
Around 1,000 American and British children attended "Let's Move!" taking part in sporting activities and meeting US and UK athletes, including David Beckham.
Mrs Obama scored against an unconventional goalkeeper, SpongeBob SquarePants, but appeared less adept at tennis and tug of war.

Spectators arriving for Olympics opening ceremony

Thousands of people are gathering at the Olympic Park as excitement builds for the official opening of the London 2012 Games

Thousands of people are arriving at the Olympic Park ahead of the £27m opening ceremony of the London Games.

The three-hour spectacle in the Olympic Stadium will be viewed by a global TV audience of around one billion people.
The Olympic flame is at City Hall ahead of its ceremony appearance, on the last leg of its 70-day nationwide journey.
Details of the ceremony remain a closely-guarded secret. Its artistic director, Danny Boyle, has dedicated it to the 15,000 volunteers taking part.
Mr Boyle has spoken of his "excitement" for the ceremony, as well as feeling "nervousness" for all the volunteers participating in it.
The chairman of London 2012, Lord Coe, told the BBC he was "as excited as hell".
Crowds of people, many of them dressed up in their nation's colours, are gathering in large numbers at the Olympic Park. There have been no reports of any major transport problems.
The day of celebration began at 08:12 BST (07:12 GMT) with a mass bell ringing. Big Ben rang for three minutes for the first time since King George VI's funeral.

China claims thousands of cybercriminal arrests

A woman views the Chinese social media website Weibo at a cafe in Beijing on April 2, 2012.

(Credit: Getty Images)

(CBS News) There are estimated to be more Chinese people using the Internet right now than there are inhabitants of the North American continent, so the possibilities for cybercriminals in the country are profuse. Additionally, in China, there is almost certainly a longer-than-average list of online activities considered to be criminal, as the Communist government there considers speech against it to be a serious, punishable crime.
So when state media reports, as it did Wednesday, that 10,000 alleged cybercriminals have been arrested, the reasons for which they have been arrested must be taken with a grain of salt.
The Xinhua news agency wrote: "Chinese police have busted more than 600 criminal gangs for Internet-based crimes such as spreading lewd content, arms dealing and illegally collecting citizens' personal information since a special campaign was launched in March."
In addition to the detained suspects and busted gangs, Xinhua wrote: "3.2 million 'harmful' online messages had been deleted."
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China's Internet censored, but not silent For its part, the government admitted in a statement that there was only so much they could do against the problem: "Although illegal and harmful information on the Internet has been reduced sharply through intensified crackdowns, fraudulent messages are still seen occasionally ... and some telecom service providers are not strict enough when managing websites."
The state media report on the crackdown dovetails with local reports of Internet crackdowns. The BBC reports 5,007 people suspected cybercriminals were arrested in Beijing recently, and 263 internet cafes were closed as part of the city's efforts to "protect the physical and mental health of young people."
The chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, Fu Zhenghua, said users faced being severely punished if they "attacked" the country's leaders online, the BBC reports.
"It's increasingly difficult for the authorities to control what people are saying bearing in mind the rise of 'netizens' - individuals sharing their opinions over the internet," Oliver Barron, from the investment bank NSBO, told the BBC. "People have felt that they could speak out because of the anonymity the net offered, which is why the government is now cracking down on this, demanding that people register their accounts with their real names."

Raul Castro says Cuba is ready sit down with U.S.

Cuban President Raul Castro (C) salutes, on April 16, 2011, in Havana, during the military parade to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs and the beginning of the Cuban Communist Party 6th Congress. (Getty Images)

(CBS/AP) HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that his government is willing to mend fences with bitter Cold War foe the United States and sit down to discuss anything, as long as it is a conversation between equals.

At the end of a Revolution Day ceremony marking the 59th anniversary of a failed uprising against a military barracks, Castro grabbed the microphone for apparently impromptu remarks. He echoed previous statements that no topic is off-limits, including U.S. concerns about democracy, freedom of the press and human rights on the island, as long as it is a conversation between equals.

"Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels," Castro said. "If they want to talk, we will talk."

Washington would have to be prepared to hear Cuba's own complaints about the treatment of those issues in the United States and its European allies, he added.

"We are nobody's colony, nobody's puppet," Castro said.

Washington and Havana have not had diplomatic relations for five decades.

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The 50-year-old U.S. embargo outlaws nearly all trade and travel to the island, and Washington insists Cuba must institute democratic reforms and improve human rights before it can be lifted.

CBS News' Portia Siegelbaum reports Castro addressed that issue in his speech, hitting out at the U.S. and its western European allies for "inventing" the issue of human rights, before adding that Cuba is ready to discuss everything with the U.S.
Days after prominent dissident Oswalo Paya died in a car crash, Castro had harsh words for the island's opposition, accusing them of plotting to topple the government.

"Some small factions are doing nothing less than trying to lay the groundwork and hoping that one day what happened in Libya will happen here, what they're trying to make happen in Syria," Castro said.

Castro also reminisced about the 1959 Revolution, promised that Cuba will complete a trans-island expressway halted years ago for lack of funds, empathized with islanders' complaints about meager salaries and said once again that his five-year plan to overhaul Cuba's socialist economy will not be done hastily.

The July 26 national holiday was often used to make major announcements when Castro's older brother Fidel was president, but there were none on Thursday.

The main celebration kicked off at sunrise with music and speeches at a plaza in the eastern province of Guantanamo, home to the U.S. naval base of the same name.

The American presence in Guantanamo is a sore point for Havana, which demands the base be shut down and accuses the U.S. of torturing terror suspects held in the military prison.

"We will continue to fight such a flagrant violation. ... Never, under any circumstance, will we stop trying to recover that piece of ground," first Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said in the keynote address.

Musicians sang the song "Guantanamera," and a young girl read a speech paying homage to the revolution and resistance to "Yankee" imperialism.

"We will be like 'Che,'" she said, repeating the mantra taught to schoolchildren across the island. Argentine-born guerrilla Ernesto "Che" Guevara is held up as a model of personal conduct in Cuba.