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Olympic Torch Relay Resumes After Earthquake Mourning Period


The Olympic torch relay has resumed after a three-day suspension to mark the official mourning period for victims of last week's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.

The torch relay resumed Thursday in China's eastern port city, Ningbo, with a minute of silence in honor of the more than 80,000 who are dead or missing. After Ningbo, the torch will travel to Shanghai.

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics say they plan to scale back the celebratory tone of the relay.

The epicenter of the May 12 7.9 magnitude earthquake was in Sichuan, and most of the confirmed deaths from the quake are there.

Organizers say the torch will still travel through Sichuan province, but later than planned to avoid hampering rescue efforts.

The Sichuan leg of the relay was originally planned for mid-June, but has now been put off until early August - August 3 to August 5.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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