Today's links: Baby pandas, water deer and gender determination for Olympic athletes

• This weekend, in just 14 hours, the panda population of China increased by four, as three female pandas at different zoos gave birth. An event worth noticing, since giant pandas in captivity hardly ever seem to mate without the right encouragement.
• Olympic athletes with time on their hands will not have to be bored for long, the Olympic Village provides a training center where athletes can learn basic Chinese, or brush up on their calligraphy skills.
• China's economic growth is likely to rebound in the second half of the year, at least according to BOCOM, the Chinese Bank of Communications who issued a statement on CCTV's website this Saturday.
• In its latest move to ensure that the Beijing Olympics is carried out in a fair manner, Beijing has set up a sex determination lab. The purpose of the lab is to make sure no male athletes compete in female disguise.
• In another Olympics-related move Beijing is also taking steps to ensure that the city's scroungers of scrap are kept away during the games.
• Bambi is back in town: a group of of Chinese water deer have settled in the Shanghai area. This rare species disappeared from the area in the beginning of last century, their return could be a sign that the Shanghai greening projects are actually working.

Photo by loush555