Mayor Bowser will lead a delegation to Beijing and Shanghai from November 7-14.

Mayor Vince Gray and a D.C. delegation are taking the show on the road with a June visit to three Chinese cities, where they seek to expand business opportunities.

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…