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Olympics

Ping-pong diplomacy ... with a basketball

When China and the US get ready to face off in their first Olympic basketball match, you may see one player firing up his iPod and bumping Kanye West's "Stronger" as he laces up his pair of Nike Hyperdunk sneakers - but it might not be Kobe Bryant.

US knows the score now: China game will be huge

When Charles Barkley was asked in 1992 if he knew anything about Angola, the US basketball team's first Olympic opponent, he famously replied: "I don't know anything about Angola, but I know they're in trouble."

Argentina banking on Ginobili factor

A fit-again Manu Ginobili has given Olympic men's basketball champion Argentina a huge morale boost before the start of the Beijing Games.

Black eyes, split lips in store for women

Any misconceptions about women's basketball have been crushed by Australian superstar Lauren Jackson, who warned of black eyes and broken bones when the Olympic competition starts.

Head-to-head match-ups

More women want to carpool with Obama than McCain

Women would rather carpool or go on vacation with Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama than with his Republican rival John McCain, a new poll of US women voters showed on Tuesday.

Once is enough to hook smokers: Study

For some people, one cigarette is all it takes to become hooked on nicotine, while others are repelled by it.

Australia's birth rate at 25-yr high

Australia's birth rate has hit a 25-year high, but government urgings to "have one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country", and cash payments for newborns have had little impact, a new study has found.

'Unfinished Canvas' of Berlin draws artists of all colors

If you're an artist and you dream of honing your skills alone in a tiny garret, hungry and cold but filled with inspiration, then Berlin may not be for you.

News Makers

Fuel-cell industry pioneer dies at 76

Hiroshima atomic bomb anniversary remembered

Tens of thousands bowed their heads at a ceremony in the Japanese city of Hiroshima yesterday, the 63rd anniversary of the world's first atomic attack, as the city's mayor hit out at countries that refuse to abandon their bombs.