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REUTERS: While South African athlete Oscar Pistorius attempts to become the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympic Games, scientists are still arguing whether his artificial limbs give him a critical advantage or not. Pistorius, born without fibulas and who had his lower legs amputated when a baby, uses carbon fiber prosthetic running blades and is hoping to qualify …

LONDON: Fighter jets thunder above the English countryside. Missiles stand ready. And Big Brother is watching like never before. The London Olympics are no ordinary games. Not since World War II have Britain and the United States teamed up for such a massive security operation on British soil. Hundreds of American intelligence, security and law enforcement officials are flying across …

LONDON: Britain has refused to grant the head of the Syrian Olympic Committee a visa to travel to London for the Games, the BBC reported on Friday. General Mowaffak Joumaa’s application was refused due to his links to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which has launched a bloody crackdown on protests, said the BBC. The Home Office interior …

IMPHAL, India: At a remote, hillside academy in the far-flung fringes of the country, one of India’s best shots at an Olympic gold medal takes a breather from her own training to trade punches with some students. Mother-of-two Mary Kom, otherwise known here as ‘Magnificent Mary,’ is under all kinds of pressure while aiming, as she is, at winning one …

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says he plans to come to London Olympics in private capacity and watch the judo competition. Putin said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will lead the Russian official delegation at the games. Putin, a judo black belt holder, has often been filmed practicing the sport and even recorded an instructional judo DVD. The …

ATHENS: Amid the gloom of a political and economic crisis, Greece’s gutsy 1-0 win over heavily-favored Russia to advance to the Euro 2012 quarterfinals has at last given the country’s crisis-weary citizens something to cheer about. Thousands poured into Athens’ central Omonia Square on Saturday waving Greek flags, lighting green and red flares and setting off firecrackers amid the din …

LONDON: The IOC was investigating allegations that some national Olympic officials were breaking strict rules on selling tickets for the London Games, following a report in The Sunday Times newspaper. The International Olympic Committee pledged to take the “strongest sanctions” possible if members of national Olympic committees (NOCs) and authorized ticket resellers (ATRs) were found to have broken the rules. …

DUBLIN: The Olympic flame arrived in Dublin on a cross-border peace mission Wednesday to celebrate Northern Ireland reconciliation and strong British-Irish ties. A high-speed convoy sped the symbol of the London Games to the Irish capital after a dawn ceremony at the border between the Republic of Ireland and the British territory of Northern Ireland. There, two Olympic medal-winning boxers …