Australian athletes have asked the Chinese authorities to allow them permits so they can take, what some might say, is their secret weapon for success at this year's summer Oympics - Vegemite.

With just under 100 days to go until the August games, a directive that the Australian Olympic team must source all food supplies within China has been dubbed the "vegemite ban" by local media.

This little issue got me thinking -- is Australia's national spread, a dark, savory paste made from yeast extract, that good that we need it to help our athletes with Olympic Gold? Would the British government ask for a similar directive for the English equivalent, Marmite?

As the resident antipodean in the London office, I thought such a directive from the Australian Olympic Commitee was right. But my arguments however, that Vegemite was light years ahead of Marmite was met with howls of protest. My Pom mates also disagreed with my thoughts on their sacred spread.

So the question remains, who is right? Which is better? Is it the case that the two are that different or it is a battleground of Ashes' proportions?

The road just got rockier for Hillary Clinton in her battle to win her party’s presidential nomination after Barack Obama’s victory in North Carolina and her slim win in Indiana.

“It’s full speed on to the White House,” Clinton said at a victory rally in Indianapolis, with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, standing behind her. “We’ve got a long road ahead, but we’re going to keep fighting.”

But Clinton made some conciliatory noises. “I can assure you as I have said on many occasions, that no matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party … and I know that Senator Obama feels the same way,” she said.

Should Clinton drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination?

For many bankers and traders, the days of company perks such as sleek limos, cushy business seats, and fat steaks are gone.

Credit Suisse has reduced some cell phone subsidies and done away with car vouchers. Merrill Lynch has banned business class travel for some divisions. Goldman Sachs has pulled free soda and JPMorgan has upped the requirements for free meals and car rides.

Has your company scaled back on perks? Share your experience.

For more on the economy, click here.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton want to suspend the gas tax for the summer to offer drivers some relief from record fuel prices. President Bush said this week that he was willing to consider a fuel tax holiday.

Barack Obama opposes the idea, saying it would not amount to much. House Democratic leaders have also shown little support for suspending the gas tax. Some experts say that a gas tax holiday wouldn’t help drivers much if service stations don’t pass on the savings to consumers.

Do you support a gas tax holiday this summer?

“Sex and the City” fans and entertainment bloggers such as Perez Hilton are peeved that the premiere of the much-anticipated flick, based on HBO’s hit television comedy about single women in New York, is going to be in London — two whole weeks before the New York debut on May 30.

The film’s producers downplayed the decision after coming under fire from New Yorkers.

London will be much smaller,” a New Line Cinema spokesman told New York’s Daily News. “The whole cast isn’t even going.”

“It was simply a question of logistics and scheduling. We’re still planning the big premiere to be in New York,” he said.

Do you think New York “Sex and the City” fans have a right to feel snubbed?

Sir David Attenborough has accused the BBC of chasing ratings and overloading the schedules with too many makeover programmes and celebrity chefs.

Where, he asks, are the programmes about science for example like the long-defunct "Tomorrow's World?"

"Do we really require so many gardening programmes, makeover programmes or celebrity chefs," he asks. "Is it not a scandal in this day and age that there seems to be no place for continuing series of programmes about science, or serious music or thoughtful, in-depth interviews with people other than politicians?"

Attenborough joined the BBC in 1952 so he's been around the corporation a long time. Do you think he's right or has he had his day?

"We make games for the people that play them. We don't make them for the Daily Mail."

So says Dan Houser, the producer who co-created the Grand Theft Auto computer game series, one of the most successful of all time.

While sales have gone through the roof, the gangster game has attracted waves of criticism from newspapers, parents' groups and politicians, including Hillary Clinton.

She says the series demeans women and contributes to a "silent epidemic" of sex and violence in the media that could harm children.

"They're playing a game that encourages them to have sex with prostitutes and then murder them. You know, that's kind of hard to digest," she said in a speech in 2005.

With the fourth instalment finally here, Houser is unrepentant about its trademark mix of fights, car-jacking and bad language and says computer games are unfairly singled out for criticism.

Violent TV shows like "The Sopranos" or films like "The Godfather" win handfuls of awards, while games with adult themes come under intense fire, he says.

"Most of it's just Ludditism and people having a fear of things they don't understand," he said in an interview. "We see games as being an emergent art form...that will eventually supplant or challenge movies."

Supporters say there is no established link between computer games and violent behaviour.

And anyway, games with adult content are given a rating which means shops can't sell them to children.

Do you think there should be stricter controls on violent video games or is the focus on games rather than TV, films and the Internet unwarranted?

It used to be a feminist mantra: you can do it all, successfully raise a family and have a career.

Meg Wolitzer , the author of “The Ten-Year Nap,” a new novel about women who leave the workplace to care for their children, says the one-time noble goal doesn’t always work out in real life — and that is not a bad thing.

“Having everything is one of those cringe worthy concepts that sound better than they actually are,” Wolitzer told Reuters.

“Is the point of life to amass a big jackpot? I think the point is the stuff that happens along the way.”

Do you think women should strive to “have it all” — a career and a family — or is that feminist ideal overrated?

Click here to read the full story on Meg Wolitzer’s book.

Three New York City Police offers were found innocent of all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, an unarmed black man on his wedding day.
State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman said the charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. “Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums,” Copperman said.

The case has generated outrage in New York’s black community.

Share your thoughts on the verdict.

The red and white flag of England will be flying above 10 Downing Street on Wednesday alongside the Union Flag to mark St George's Day.

It will be the first time in recent history that the two flags will have flown above the Prime Minister's official residence to commemorate England's national day.

Other government departments are being encouraged to follow suit under constitutional reforms aiming "to give British people a stronger sense of what it means to be British".

Whitehall will also for the first time be able to fly the national flags of Scotland and Wales on their buildings on St Andrew's Day and St David's Day.

The changes to protocol were introduced at the end of March, while restrictions on the number of days a year that government buildings could fly the Union Flag were lifted last year.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has even published detailed guidance on the arcane British rules of flag flying.

Only buildings with two poles can fly the flag of St George on Wednesday because the Union Flag takes precedence.

Single-masted establishments must stick to the Union banner.

Has the government gone flag-crazy? Is it really British to fly the flag?