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1. A deadly stabbing has cast a shadow over the Olympic Games in Beijing. A suicidal man stabbed two tourists from Minnesota. Todd Bachman was killed, his wife Barbara hospitalized. Their daughter is a former Olympian, Elizabeth Bachman. She's married to Hugh McCutcheon who coaches the US men's volleyball team.

2. The president of the former Soviet¹ Republic of Georgia is calling for a ceasefire. This comes as the conflict with Russia escalates² in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia's foreign minister says 1,500 people have been killed so far.

3. Actor and comedian³ Bernie Mac has died. He passed away Saturday morning at a Chicago area hospital. His publicist says he had complications due to pneumonia⁴. Mac was 50 years old.

4. Michael Phelps breezed through his first day of Olympic competition, swimming in a preliminary heat for the 400-meter individual medley⁵. Phelps sweep(s) the field by almost one and a half seconds.

WORDS IN THE NEWS:

1. cast a shadow/cloud over sth
literary to make people feel less happy or hopeful about something.

2. pneumonia:  n. 【医】肺炎
a serious illness that affects your lungs and makes it difficult for you to breathe.

3. breeze through:  phr v.
If you breeze through something such as a game or test, you cope with it easily.

4. heat:  n.
a part of a race or competition whose winners then compete against each other in the next part.

5. medley:  n. 混合泳
In sport, a medley is a swimming race in which the four main strokes are used one after the other. 

6. sweep:  v.
To win overwhelmingly in.