With tens of thousands of athletes and fans in attendance and a projected four
billion spectators expected to watch on TV, the London Games officially kicked
off  Friday night  with a celebration at the Olympic Stadium. The event, which
featured appearances by Queen Elizabeth II and Muhammad Ali, culminated in the
lighting  of  the  Olympic  cauldron  by seven  young  torchbearers  and  Paul
McCartney  leading the crowd in a singalong to the Beatles classic "Hey Jude."
One  fact  that did cause a  bit of controversy  was that the ceremony did not
include  a moment of  silence to mark 40 years since the killing of 11 Israeli
athletes  by  Palestinian guerrillas  at the 1972  Munich Olympics. The London
Games will conclude in 16 days with the closing ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 12.

>>U.S. Women's Basketball Seeks Fifth Straight Gold Medal

(London)  --  The U.S. women's basketball team begins its quest for a fifth straight Olympic gold medal today.  The Americans play Croatia in a Group A match at 11:45 a.m. Eastern.  The U.S. squad enters London with a 33-game Olympic winning streak dating back to their bronze medal triumph over Cuba in 1992.  Team USA is 50-and-3 with a record six gold medals since women's basketball became a medal sport in Montreal in 1976.  This year's team is anchored by WNBA leading-scorer Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream.  Fellow WNBA'ers Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and Sylvia Fowles are also part of a roster that includes six former UConn players and head coach Geno Auriemma.