A close encounter with the Thai Olympic weightlifting team reminds one TIME reporter that most of the world's best athletes are not mega stars

Paris Plage turns two miles of the Seine into a white sand beach every year, but not all Parisians are celebrating

Anti-bullfighting activists in France are trying to ban a 10-year-old boy from taking part in the bloody sport

A Kuwait-based entrepreneur wants to expand the reach of his Islamic comic-book series -- and its positive Muslim role models

A former Red Brigades terrorist is freed by France. Let the recriminations begin

ANC president Jacob Zuma, frontrunner to lead the country, is facing renewed corruption charges

A court strikes down a ban on smoking in small bars, making Germany Europe's unlikely champion of a bad habit

The incident will undoubtedly cast a pall over the beginning of the Olympic Games and has also underlined fears of further such events taking place

Sprinters, swimmers and leotard-clad tumblers may drive ratings in the U.S., but here are five lesser-known Olympic disciplines that draw rabid fans globally

Facing criticism over reneging on its promise to relax censorship for visiting media, Olympic officials announce that China has agreed to relax curbs on Internet access