Australia

Hugh Jackman, a resourceful, good-humored star with the Old School knack for playing rugged and courtly, has just been named People's Sexiest Man Alive. Nicole Kidman, who can be an imposing woman of action (see the thriller Dead Calm), has become a critical favorite for her daring and accomplishment. For my money she was the Sexiest Woman Alive, if only for a few brief moments, in the Baltimore-shot Invasion. These gifted Australians should have been sensational together as lovers in the sprawling Australia.

* Archery: Neither the top seed nor the defending world champion reached the medal stand, as Viktor Ruban of Ukraine won the men's individual gold by beating Park Kyung-Mo of South Korea. Bair Badenov of Russia got the bronze when he beat top-seeded Juan Rene Serrano of Mexico. The lone American archer, Vic Wunderle, beat defending world champion Im Dong-hyun of South Korea but lost in the quarterfinals to Serrano. * Badminton: The first medals went to China. In women's doubles, Du Jing and Yu Yang beat Lee Hyojung and Lee Kyungwon of South Korea.

thestonesoup.com This cooking blog features spare, elegant photography and recipes from a thirtysomething food lover and winemaker in Australia.

My friend Betsy called me from in front of her stove, where she has been cooking for her four children for too many years to count. "What's wrong with this picture?" she asked. "I have one child headed to Colorado, another child headed to Israel, another one on her way to Mexico and the fourth is planning a trip to Norway." Her children are just about out of college and almost on their own, and Betsy thought she would be the one doing the traveling at this time in her life. "I know just what you mean," I said.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The difference in 12 months was easy to see. Serena Williams, wearing fuchsia bicycle shorts and headband, a short white dress and dangling, chandelier-inspired earrings, found her form quickly and beat Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-3, 6-3, today in the first match in the Australian Open. Last year, Williams was unseeded, ranked 81st and coming off one of her worst losses on tour - in a Tier 4 event at Hobart - yet she beat six seeded players en route to the title at Melbourne Park.

Laura Ann Spivak, daughter of Wendy and Jerry Spivak of Roland Park, and Patrick Michael Ryan, son of Patrick and Violet Ryan of Melbourne, Australia, were married on August 26, 2007 in Portland, Oregon. Laura is a graduate of the Baltimore Friends School, University of Pennsylvania, and Temple University School of Medicine. She is now working at Oregon Health and Science University and the the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center. Patrick completed his education in Australia and is a Director of Information Technology in Portland.

SYDNEY, Australia -- They started lining up at 4:15 a.m. at deserted Singapore Changi Airport, 45 minutes before the ticket counters opened and four hours before the hulking jet would glide into the morning sky. They came from all around the world, all walks of life, drawn by the chance to be the first paying passengers to fly on the first all-new jumbo jet to be developed in decades - and maybe the last. They splurged, from Julian Hayward, who ponied up $100,380 to win the first suite auctioned on the flight, to Artemis Shamari, who paid nearly $4,000 to claim a seat made available by a late cancellation.

Broadcom Corp. Shares rose $2.17 to $39.47 after the chip maker said Samsung Electronics Co. is shipping mobile phones using Broadcom chips to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and elsewhere.

Someone in Australia browsing an Internet chat site in November spotted a disturbing image: a live video showing a man molesting a child who was sitting in his lap. The unidentified Web user quickly notified the chat site, which called the Australian Federal Police, who, using computer addresses, traced related images on the site to a man halfway around the world on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The international investigation culminated yesterday in a federal courtroom in Baltimore where Roderick Gene Parks, 42, was sentenced to 30 years in prison without possibility of parole.

In the Cal Ripken 12-and-under World Series' five years in Aberdeen, the one constant has been Mexico playing in the International championship game. Mexico, which has won the previous four International titles here, advanced again yesterday, surviving a scare from Japan (2-3) for a hard-earned 3-1 victory at Cal Sr.'s Yard. Mexico (5-0) will face the Dominican Republic (4-1) in the International final today at 3 p.m. Southeast Lexington, Ky. (4-1) will play Tampa, Fla. (4-1) in the U.S. title game today at 5:30 p.m. The International and U.S. winners will meet tomorrow at 5 p.m. for the championship.