When he is not lighting gun powder on rice paper or suspending a set of nine automobiles from the ceiling of the Guggenheim museum in New York city, Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-qiang will be preparing for his highest profile art event yet at the Beijing Olympic Games on August 8.  As part of CNN's Olympics 2008 coverage, this weekend's TALK ASIA travels to Beijing where host Anjali Rao speaks to the man behind the planned fireworks displays for the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.  Cai tells Rao about some of the artistic elements involved in the much anticipated fireworks display. 

Arguably the most internationally successful and recognized athlete that China has ever produced, Yao Ming joins CNN's TALK ASIA as part of the network's focus on the Beijing Olympic Games.  Viewers follow TALK ASIA to Houston, Texas to see Yao in training and he discusses the Olympics, how much he was personally affected by the Sichuan earthquake, life in the U.S and even his amusing take on his newlywed status.  Also see why the NBA star's fractured left foot has left millions of fans in China and around the world concerned for his Olympic chances.

Taiwan's new president Ma Ying-jeou has been in office for only two months and already he is being credited with breathing new life into the stagnated relationship the island shares with mainland China. This weekend, TALK ASIA gets exclusive access to the President as he discusses with host Anjali Rao the move to build closer ties with the mainland, his views on their leadership and his emergence and rise to power as Taiwan's leader. He then invites Rao and the crew to join him as he celebrates his 58^th birthday on Taiwan's Air Force One.

On this week's TALK ASIA, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks frankly with CNN's Tokyo-based correspondent Kyung Lah on world's efforts to fight climate change, the situation in Zimbabwe, dealing with North Korea and the growing global food crisis. Sitting down with Lah on the sidelines of the recent G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Ban also finds time to discuss his upbringing, the rapturous welcome he received during his recent home visit, and maintaining a work/life balance in what he calls "the most impossible job on the earth'.

In a unique off-air initiative to highlight its week of special environmental programming, CNN has invited well-known contemporary Indian artist Suryakant Lokhande to create a work of art using recycled rubbish.  He created a life-size sculpture of a tiger, pictured left.

May was a record-setting month for CNN.com in terms of international traffic as well as the number of online video streams, with more than 116 million reaching global users. Continuing its No. 1 ranking in total minutes for the 11^th month in a row, the CNN Digital Network maintained the top spot in May among all U.S. News and Information properties.