Putin to attend Olympics launch

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, his spokesman confirmed.Putin, formerly Russia's president, joins a host of world leaders including US President George W Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy who have confirmed their participation in the ceremony on August 8.Leaders are expected to hold talks during the Games, although Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that plans were still being worked on.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are among those who have said they plan to stay away.A spokesman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could not immediately confirm his plans.Officials in many EU states have called for a boycott over China's human rights record, which was recently highlighted by a brutal crackdown in Tibet.In March, Russia said mixing politics with the Olympics was "unacceptable."Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi is to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Many saw Putin's participation in the bidding process as key to securing those Games and Putin has made it his personal project.