Washington, Sept 7 : With United States getting the most Olympic medals and China winning the most golds, it might seem difficult to rank the nations. But, according to a leading statistician, both the countries are ‘dead even’.

“Every four years, the question of how to rank countries comes up,” said Knut Wittkowski, the Rockefeller University statistician who performed the analysis.

“The large number of conflicting rankings attests to the fact that it’s not easy to present an answer. This year, some rankings show the U. S. on top while others show China,” Wittkowski added.

Beijing  - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on winning Pakistan's presidential election and promised that China would maintain its "all-weather friendship" with its neighbour and long-term ally.

"China and Pakistan are friendly neighbours that are joined by common mountains and rivers, and the peoples of the two countries have developed an all-weather friendship," the government's Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying in a message of congratulation to Zardari.

"In the new historical period, China is willing to join hands with Pakistan to carry forward the traditional friendship," Hu said.

New Delhi, Sept 7 : While the Nuclear Supplies Group waiver at Vienna on Saturday has been a major breakthrough for India, there is concern here that China chose to join the group of six like-minded countries that expressed reservations in granting India-specific waiver at the last minute in the NSG meeting.

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan told reporters on Saturday that India would take up the issue with China. The Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jienchi is visiting India next week and Narayanan said that the subject will be discussed with him.

Beijing - China is preparing to launch its Shenzhou VII spacecraft on a mission this month to include the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut, state media reported Sunday.

"All the major systems involved in the launching are now in the final preparation," the official Xinhua news agency quoted a spokesman for the space programme as saying.

"The main tests for the spacecraft, the Long March-2F rocket, suits for the spacewalk and a satellite accompanying the flight have also been finished," the unidentified spokesman said.

Beijing - Rescuers were search

Beijing - The 2008 Paralympic Games opened on Saturday night with fireworks and spectacular performances before 91,000 people in Beijing's "Bird's Nest" national stadium.

The 4,000 athletes from 48 Paralympic committees paraded around the track in the vast new arena, which also hosted last month's Olympic Games.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Philip Craven led the celebrations at the start of the three-hour event.