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Six foreigners, all believed to be Americans associated with Students for a Free Tibet, were detained after protests in Beijing earlier this week. Today news came that the protesters had been sentenced to 10 days in jail, rather than deported as has been the more standard practice during the Olympics.

Among the detainees is James Powderly, founder of the Graffiti Research Lab. He hoped to use a "laser stencil" to draw "FREE TIBET" on the side of a Beijing building -- but before he could, he was arrested by Chinese police when he and other protesters held up an LED sign with the same message within view of "The Nest." The banner was only seen for about 20 seconds.

Brian Conley, of the popular Alive in Baghdad videoblog, was also detained and is believed to be demonstrated in Beijing's "Ethnic Park," where a large exhibit on Tibetan culture is on display (video here).

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama said he'd received word today that Chinese troops fired on demonstrators Tibet and some people may have been killed -- possibly as many as 140. All of this comes as the Olympic Games give China a huge opportunity to show a positive face to the world; these crackdowns are a smudge that will be difficult to hide.