Take one name off the list of Olympic athletes with ties to the D.C. area. The Associated Press via ESPN.com is reporting that 20-year-old boxer Gary Russell Jr., who was born right here in D.C. and lives in Capitol Heights, Md., collapsed in Beijing while trying to make weight, and will no longer be competing in the Olympic games. Russell, who was not hospitalized, collapsed while running. He had been trying to drop from 125......

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing are less than two weeks away, and we're definitely starting to feel some Olympic fever. We know we're just supposed to blindly support anyone representing Team USA No Matter What, but are there any local athletes to whom we can throw a little extra love? (Baltimore doesn't count). A quick perusal of of the USOC athlete roster says, why yes! Keep in mind, a lot of Team USA still......

>> Sometimes you get a craving, and sometimes that craving is for fish somewhat pre-digested in citric acid. MMMMMM! Start your summer right and get your weekend-only ceviche at Taqueria Distrito Federal. [Counter Intelligence] >> United Airlines flight 897, scheduled to leave Dulles for Beijing today, had an engine flame-out soon after it took off at 12:55 p.m. The plane returned to the airport and landed safely The flight had 330 passengers and 19 crew......

Good morning, D.C. Thanks to all of you who came out to the Voting Rights Happy Hour last night. We had a great time meeting everyone and chatting about the future of full voting rights for D.C. Our friends and co-hosts at DC Vote were thrilled to be able to sign up so many new interested members and volunteers for their upcoming Voting Rights March on April 16, so thanks to them for coming out......

MONDAY Have you ever found yourself sizing up the state of contemporary education and thought to yourself, "Saints be praised that I got out when I did?" You’re sure to feel that way after hearing from David Berliner, author of Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 7 p.m. TUESDAY Whether you're a civil war buff or someone who, much like our editor-in-chief Sommer Mathis, enjoys stealing......

Buck up, D.C. Of course we're all still reeling from the Justin Timberlake-Cameron Diaz split confirmation, but there's plenty to be cheerful about this Friday before a holiday weekend (especially one that's shaping up to at least be mild temperature wise, if rainy). Why, even a few of this morning's headlines seem downright cheery. New Taxi Zone Map in the Works: Even while the new District government is considering making the switch from zones to......

Okay, okay — we know, this is a Nats town now. But it'd be churlish not to congratulate Cal Ripken Jr. on his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Many Washingtonians regularly made the trek to Camden Yards during his streak, and to them Cal felt as much like a hometown hero as any athlete. So it's good (if unsurprising) to see Ripken receive the nod. And he did it in style: Ripken's name......

This week's top quote got us to thinking about what a shame it is that the rest of the world is so in the dark about our country. Yes, I know that the Washington Post pointed out this morning that that there is a Bubba's Texas-Style Bar-B-Que and Saloon in Hongqiao, China, but surely that must be an isolated case. With a culture that offers as much depth and richness as our own, why is......

We've known since before he was born that, like all panda cubs born in the U.S., eventually our beloved little Stick 'o Butta would have to return to China. But honestly, stories like this make us a little wary of letting the little guy go. A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal's back, state media......

Damn it. The Post beat us to the punch on a witty title for this story. In an article entitled "District Adopts a Seoul Sister," the Post today reports that the District's family of city siblings has grown by one -- Seoul, South Korea was designated a sister city yesterday, bringing the tally so far to 10. During a ceremony at the John Wilson Building yesterday, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-Bak......

All this month, the Kennedy Center is hosting the Festival of China, with a full schedule of concerts, exhibits, and other events. Although many do not really fall under the rubric of our Classical Music Agenda, we are leading off our suggestions for you with Chinese concerts. FESTIVAL OF CHINA: >> There are some interesting dance companies performing at the Kennedy Center this week, beginning with the National Ballet of China, in the Kennedy Center's......

Good morning, Washington. The weather should be fair with temperatures near 60 degrees. More Details on Fiery Suicide Attempt Outside White House: DCist thought that self-immolation was a tactic limited to Beijing and the most hard-core Falug Dafa protesters. Now, just steps from the White House an FBI terror informant from Yemen set himself on fire out of despair, just days Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the executive residence was reopened to pedestrian traffic. The......

D.C. Mayor Wowed by Beijing: Telling a member of the Post's foreign service in an interview near Tienanmen Square, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams says D.C. has much to learn from the Chinese capital. "It's almost the brashness. You're overwhelmed by the vitality of the place," he said. Williams is on a mayoral delegation to China and Thailand. Gang Vote New for Virginia: Officials in Northern Virginia say that they have encountered something new with the......

There are shocking charges of espionage along the banks of the Potomac. A former State Department official is in a whole host of trouble for making secret trips to Taiwan (something that is sure to irk Beijing because of Foggy Bottom's official One-China policy), but also passing documents to Taiwanese agents in Washington. The Post's front page story indicates that the FBI observed Donald Keyser, "one of the nation's leading experts on China" passing government......