Five cities, five continents: The Youth Olympics torch's travel tale

Flame to travel to all five continents

Like all Olympic events, the Youth Olympic Flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, in July, before it is transported to five cities across the five continents, each of which will hold their own celebrations.

According to Today Online, the first stop will be the German capital Berlin, where youths from the 49 European NOCs are expected to take part as torch-bearers. The flame will next be flown to Mexico City, followed by the Senegalese capital Dakar, then onward to Auckland before it arrives in Seoul, Korea.

Its final leg will be Singapore, which will hold a six-day island-wide torch relay involving over 2,000 torchbearers. The journey will climax with the lighting of the Games' cauldron on Aug 14, 2010.

In other news

Merlion in Sentosa undergoes massive cleaning: The 37-meter tall Merlion in Sentosa is currently undergoing a massive cleaning, which will take an estimated 240 man-hours to complete. The last time it had a good old fashioned scrubbing was in 2006.

Casino crime squad ready: Cheaters and cardsharps, beware. The newly-formed Casino Crime Investigation Branch has been officially launched and is ready to jump into action. For the past six months, they've been learning how casino games are played and how scams may be pulled off.

World Cities Summit in June: Singapore will be hosting the second World Cities Summit from June 28 to 30 this year. The theme for the Summit is "Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future," which will focus on issues of urban leadership, governance, and eco-friendly cities.