Thousands of people around the world took part in anti-China demonstrations as Beijing launched the 2008 Summer Olympics with a dazzling opening ceremony.
China kept tight control on demonstrations in Beijing Friday, but protests were held in India, Nepal, Turkey, England, France, Belgium, Thailand and Hong Kong.
A pro-Tibet group says three American activists have been detained after trying to protest near the venue for the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
Students for a Free Tibet executive director Lhadon Tethong says the trio were grabbed by police as they traveled to the Beijing National Stadium.
In the Turkish capital, Ankara, a man set himself on fire outside the Chinese embassy during a protest by ethnic Uighurs against China's human rights record.
In Nepal, police detained more than one thousand Tibetan exiles gathered outside the Chinese embassy to protest China's crackdown on anti-government protesters in Tibet.
In India's capital of New Delhi, more than a thousand Tibetan exiles braved heavy rains outside the Chinese embassy, shouting "Free Tibet" and "Stop the Olympics." Heavily-armed police later stopped protesters from storming the embassy.
Activists have planned demonstrations in other foreign capitals today such as Paris, London, Brussels and Berlin.
Earlier today, the Paris-based human rights group, Reporters Without Borders, took over a Chinese radio frequency. The group broadcasted in various languages, saying China's efforts to control freedom will fail.