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Thousands of police patrolled central New Delhi, guarding against anti-China protests for today's Olympic torch relay. India is home to about 100,000 Tibetan exiles, the world's largest community.

A blacktop road leading to the Mount Everest base camp was completed Wednesday to be used for the Olympic torch's relay, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Workers spent 10 months widening the 67-mile road, changes that environmentalists argued would damage the permafrost in the ecologically fragile area. Xinhua said the $21.5 million project did not damage the environment.

NEWS SERVICES