Olympics soccer star Megan Rapinoe hopes her decision to state publicly that she is homosexual will pave the way for more gay athletes to make their sexuality known.

Megan Rapinoe is dating Australia's Sarah Walsh. (Yahoo! Sports)

Rapinoe, one of the most recognizable and popular players on the United States women's team, came out this week in an interview with Out.com and revealed that she has dated Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh for more than a year.

"I feel like sports in general are still homophobic, in the sense that not a lot of people are out," Rapinoe said. "I feel like everyone is really craving people to come out. People want – they need – to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good old U.S. of A."

Rapinoe was outstanding during the USA's run to the final of the Women's World Cup last year, providing a brilliant cross for Abby Wambach's dramatic last equalizer in the team's heart-stopping quarterfinal victory over Brazil.

She is expected to again play a major role as the side seeks to retain the Olympic crown it won with an extra-time victory, also against Brazil, in Beijing four years ago.


As might have been expected, Rapinoe's comments have attracted criticism from some. However, her decision – and her call for more gay athletes to come out – must be applauded.

Lamentably, homophobia has long been prevalent in soccer, and positive role models such as Rapinoe proudly opening up can only be a plus.

Even since joining the national team, Rapinoe has not kept her sexuality, or more recently her relationship with Walsh, a secret. She said the only reason the news did not enter the wider public domain until now, despite being known in soccer circles, was that she had never been asked.

"I think [people] were trying to be respectful and that it's my job to say 'I'm gay" she said. "Which I am. For the record: I am gay."

The elderly owner of an Ohio restaurant where President Barack Obama ate breakfast on Friday died of natural causes just hours after meeting him.

Josephine "Ann" Harris, 70, owner of Ann's Place, where Obama was served eggs, bacon, toast and grits, died at a hospital in Akron, Ohio. The president called her daughter from Air Force One to express his condolences.

A hospital spokesman said Harris had complained of fatigue and a tingling feeling. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Harris apparently had not been well and was believed to have had a heart attack.

The Summit County medical examiner's office said Harris died of natural causes. Hospital spokesman Jim Gorsky said she died five hours after Obama's visit. "The president expressed his sorrow," Carney said aboard Air Force One at the end of a two-day campaign swing through the election battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"Very sad event. He was very honored to meet her this morning and passed on his feelings that the whole family is in his thoughts and prayers," he said.

Harris's encounter with Obama took place outside her diner, where the president ordered two eggs, over medium, with bacon and wheat toast and accepted a waitress' offer of grits.

Harris, a great-grandmother, hugged Obama and posed with him for photographs, local media said.

"I'm sure this was her highlight," Harris' sister, Frankie Adkins of Tulsa, Oklahoma, told the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.

When Nick Miranda began clearing the clutter in the basement of his new home, he likely expected to clean cobwebs and dust, not come across a stack of savings bonds.

But when the 29-year-old pulled up the cover of an old ironing board Monday, that’s exactly what he found –- 15 $100 U.S. savings bonds purchased in 1984, the Buffalo News reports.

The Buffalo, N.Y., resident immediately set out to find the bonds' rightful owners by Googling the names listed on the envelope: Lucille Rinaldo and Michael Ortalano. After making about 50 phone calls, he learned that the pair, mother and son, had died, but he was able to return the bonds to another surviving son, Thomas Ortalano.

"He's a very, very honorable young man," Ortalano, 57, told the Buffalo News. "I won't ever forget him. Not because of the monetary value, just for the honesty of it, just for doing the right thing. Anyone else could have torn them up and thrown them out."

Miranda is just one a few recent "honest" finders who decided not to keep the goods they discovered.

When four Michigan teens stumbled upon a wallet containing $700 in June, they called the police and it was returned to its 18-year-old owner, the Great Falls Tribune reports.

"We decided if we'd lost our wallet, we would want somebody to return it," Kaylee Olson, 14, told the news outlet.

Virender Sehwag, whose differences with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to fore during last year's Australian tour, appeared to take a jibe at the skipper when he said the World Cup was won because India had a strong team.

"Dhoni got a very strong team. When you get a strong team, it is easier to perform well just like Australia did at one point of time. Australia won three World Cups because they had a strong team and not just because of the captain. We believe we have a very strong team and that's why we won World Cup, backed by Dhoni's captaincy," Sehwag said.

He was reacting to questions on Dhoni's strengths that enabled him lead the side to two World Cup victories -- 2007 Twenty20 and 50-over in 2011.

Dhoni and Sehwag's relationship has been a subject intense speculation in the media, particularly after the series in Australia, where there utterances in press conferences made their rift public.

Now it offer unlimited 6 GB usage for only Rs 950 rental or unlimited 11 GB for only Rs 1,200. These 2 unlimited plans also offer cashback of Rs 100 per month for 12 months.

Tata Docomo, the unified telecom brand of Tata Teleservices, has announced the tariff reduction of up to 60 per cent for Tata Photon Plus postpaid and prepaid customers across India.

Under the new plans Tata Docomo Photon Plus postpaid customers have two unlimited data plan options- 6 GB for Rs 950 rental and 11 GB for Rs 1200. Post consumtion of the data limit of 6 GB and 11 GB consumers will be able to consume data but at a reduced speed. These two unlimited plans also offer cashback of Rs 100 per month for 12 months from date of purchase.

Tata Docomo reduces data tariff

On the other hand, prepaid customers can get 2GB dat plan on recharge of Rs 700 and post the 2GB data limit them can continue consuming data but at a reduced speed.

Also, Tata Docomo entry level packs now cost Rs 250 that offers 1GB of data download as compared to Rs 650 earlier. Likewise Rs 450 pack which earlier cost Rs 750 will offer 2GB.

Similar to Airtel's Smartbyte, Tata Docomo has launched reload packs, which allows users to buy extra data if they cross their high speed data limit. There are two plans in this category for Photon Plus postpaid customers with 1GB data for Rs 200 and 2GB data for Rs 350. What this essentially means, that customers can now continue to enjoy uninterrupted high speed internet post consumption of their data limit.

Tata DoCoMo Photon plus service is a CDMA based high speed data service offering speeds up to 3.1 mbps.

If there's one thing James Bond has taught us it's that behind every great spy is a great tailor.

A new exhibition at London's Barbican Centre explores the style of the suave secret agent, displaying costumes, props, set pieces and design drawings from half a century of 007 films.

Assembled with help from the films' producer, EON Productions_ which has a new Bond movie to promote in the fall – the exhibition includes the spy's tuxedos, Bond girl ball gowns and villains' vestments, as well as a selection of props and gadgets. There are also sketches by the films' influential set designer, Ken Adam, whose cavernous lairs and sleek space stations did much to create the movies' modernist luster.

The show is both a reflection of the remarkable staying power of Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent and a tribute to the British, European and American craftspeople and designers who have created the look of the quintessentially British icon.

"The films always attracted the greatest design talent," curator Bronwyn Cosgrave said Thursday. They ranged from the German-born Adam to Academy Award-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming, a Briton who helped put together the exhibition.

"In the beginning they didn't have the money – but they had the ingenuity," Cosgrave said.

The money came later, as the globally successful franchise sent Bond to exotic locations around the world – and eventually, in 1979's "Moonraker," into space.

Clips from the movies are screened throughout the exhibition, which includes items that have become mini-icons, from the white bikini worn by Ursula Andress in the first Bond film, "Dr. No," to the tight blue swim trunks sported by Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale."

Cosgrave said that since "Dr. No" in 1962, "Bond has consistently led the way" in style.

She said Sean Connery's "conduit cut" suit by Saville Row tailor Anthony Sinclair from the 1960s films is "the men's equivalent of a Chanel suit," while a sharply cut tuxedo is so identified with the character i
t has become known as "the James Bond look."

The first time Bond appeared onscreen, in "Dr. No," viewers saw the silk-lined cuff of his tuxedo sleeve before they saw Connery's face.

Cosgrave said the success of the look is simple to explain.

"It's sexy," she said. "When does a man look his best? In a tuxedo."

The exhibition includes tuxes worn by Bonds from Connery (classic Saville Row) to Roger Moore (by designer-to-the-stars Doug Hayward) to Craig, who is dressed by American designer Tom Ford. Ford's lean suits – in neatly circular fashion – draw on the 1960s for inspiration.

Cosgrave said that because actors typically play 007 over several films – apart from one-off George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – "each Bond had an opportunity to forge a relationship with their tailor. As a result, they're impeccably dressed."

All those designer names reveal another Bond secret – 007 is both an international brand himself and a magnet for other luxury labels.

With the 23rd Bond film, "Skyfall," set for release in October, the exhibition gift shop lets visitors purchase a piece of Bond style, from cocktail shakers and martini glasses to silk ties and gold bars made of chocolate.

Jeremy Lin has verbally agreed to sign a four-year offer sheet with the Houston Rockets on July 11, according to a source close to the talks.


The four-year deal is worth $10.2 million over the first two seasons and $9.3 million in each of the last two years. The fourth season is a team option.

The Knicks would have three days to match the offer after Lin, a restricted free agent, signs it July 11.

A report in the New York Post on Wednesday, citing a league source, said the Rockets were planning to offer Lin a backloaded deal worth roughly $30 million. According to the same source, the deal would pay Lin $5 million in the first season and $5.2 million in the second, and then would increase to as much as $10 million per year in the third and fourth seasons.

"Jeremy Lin's an excellent player," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told the Post. "We got to know him firsthand when he was with the Rockets early this season. We think he'd make a fantastic addition to our team."

NBA NBA free agency is under way and ESPN.com has you covered with all the latest deals, trades and potential moves.

The Knicks can offer Lin, a restricted free agent, a four-year deal worth $24.5 million.

In 35 games with the Knicks this past season, Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game.

While both Lin and the Knicks are hoping for a reunion, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard this past weekend that if a club offers Lin a backloaded contract that pays him an eight-figure salary in the third and fourth years, as Houston has done, the Knicks could be given pause about matching the offer.

With the new collective bargaining agreement employing a more punitive luxury tax, beginning in the 2013-14 season, the Knicks are extremely concerned about the financial ramifications of such a deal, sources said.

Passengers say their problem is not with the rules at the airport. They understand why drinks are not allowed through security, but when they buy one while they wait for their flight, they say the TSA should not ask to test it.

Passengers say traveling is a big enough stress, but now some are worried the drinks they are getting are not safe.

The TSA would not say what they are testing for or why they are doing it, but travelers say they have a right to know.

"I'm always glad that my safety is a priority, I just think testing drinks after they've already been bought might be a little extreme," infrequent flyer Jennifer Smart said.

"The water or or the juices or anything you buy here in the airport, TSA is going to come over and look and check and test it? That's just ridiculous," world traveler Thomas Burgard said.

We asked the TSA about the drink testings and they said, "TSA employees have many layers of security throughout airports. Passengers may be randomly selected for additional screening measures at the checkpoint or in the gate at any time."

Passengers we spoke to also said they think the price of drinks are too expensive. If security is going to test them, it should be before they are purchased, so they do not waste their money.

When he first took the national stage, with his electrifying keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 2004, Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, briefly summarized his unusual life story, with its biracial themes and trans-continental setting. "I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story," he said, adding: "In no other country on earth is my story even possible."

That story, of course, would become even more astonishing, and profoundly American, four years later, when its teller would be elected president of the United States. But the first time Obama related his life story -- and in the greatest detail -- was with the publication of his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.

The book, which won wide critical acclaim and rose to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, recounted the complex tale that is by now familiar to most Americans: the young Obama's racial confusion as the son of a white mother from Kansas and a dark-skinned, absentee father from Kenya; his mother's remarriage to, and eventual split from, the boy's Indonesian stepfather, with a spell in a Muslim school in Jakarta; the boy's rearing by white grandparents in Hawaii, who sent him to a private school there; his journeys through Occidental College and Columbia University, marked by a shifting intellectual worldview and numerous romances, some of them inter-racial; his path-breaking stint as the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review; and his exploits as a community organizer and Chicago lawyer with a deepening interest in politics.

In the introduction, Obama openly admitted changing some people's names and compressing both characters and chronology, mostly for the sake of narrative flow. Over the years, the president’s biographers have made inroads piecing together which characters were based on which real-life individuals, and which events were compressed or conflated.

That process has now reached a kind of zenith, with the publication last month of Barack Obama: The Story, a deeply researched, 600-page study of the president's ancestry and early life by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Washington Post editor David Maraniss. The result reflects the hyper-scrutiny that attaches to our chief executives. It also offers a window into how much of the life story of this self-made man may have been made up.

By some counts, The Story presents more than three-dozen instances of material discrepancy where Dreams fails to align with the facts as Maraniss reports them. Case in point: Maraniss confirmed that Mr. Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, left his father, Barack Obama, Sr., a volatile bigamist, and not the other way around, as related in Dreams.

Dreams also related the tale of Obama's paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango, who was said to have been detained and tortured in a prison outside Nairobi for six months because of his brave defiance of British colonialists. But after a half-dozen interviews and other research, Maraniss deemed the tale "unlikely."

Maraniss did not respond to several calls requesting an interview, but Fox News caught up with him outside a Washington book signing.  "I think there's a difference between a memoir and the serious, rigorous factual history of a biography," he said. "Some of what he did was the result of mythologies that were passed along from his family, and some were for the purposes of advancing themes in his book which had more to do with finding his racial identity."

Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson will compete at their seventh Olympics after being placed on New Zealand's five-member equestrian team for the London Games on Wednesday.

Todd won gold medals in the three-day event at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics. He has twice won world championships in the three-day team event and is a four-time winner of the Badminton Horse Trials and a five-time winner at Burghley.

Nicholson won a silver medal in the three-day team event at the 1992 Barcelona Games and a bronze in the same event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He is also a former world champion in the team event.