Sydney  - With Australians now buying more bicycles than cars, you would think that cycling to work would be accelerating at a similar rate.

It's not.

Of the commuting done in Sydney, only around 1 per cent is by bike. In comparison, in some Scandinavian cities the proportion of those cycling to work is around one-third.

Statistician and avid cyclist Dorothy Robinson has pondered this conundrum. She reckons that repealing laws passed in the 1990s requiring cyclists to wear helmets would get bikes out of garages and onto the roads.

Adelaide, Australia  - A crash Thursday midway through the third stage of the Tour Down Under dashed the hopes of German sprinter Andre Greipel, making it two in a row in the Australian classic.

The Rostock-born Columbia Team rider withdrew from the 802-kilometre event after being taken to an Adelaide hospital and being diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder.

Melbourne  - Russian Elena Dementieva charged Thursday to her 12th-straight victory in a stunning season start, powering into the third round of the Australian Open with 6-4, 6-1 ease over Iveta Benesova.

Fourth-seeded Dementieva, the Olympic champion, has won both of her WTA events this season in Auckland and Sydney to stand a perfect 12-0.

Melbourne, Australia  - Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian fans have threatened to ignite a Balkan boilover during early rounds at the Australian Open.

After a mini-riot on opening day in 2007, when 150 people were ejected from Melbourne Park and a police capsicum spray attack in the stands in 2008, this year's trouble was tame.

Tensions spilled over later at the beer tent with a few punches being thrown and several participants frog-marched out of the grounds by police officers.

Melbourne, Jan 21 : Gun-toting Digital heroine Lara Croft is heading for a makeover, and will be showing even more skin in her next adventure.

Considering the waning popularity of the video game protagonist and economic downturn, rumours are abuzz that the next Tomb Raider game will be rated M rather than T
(for teen) - meaning it will be either sexier or bloodier, which may see efforts to make her more female-friendly.

Sydney - Frogs face extinction because humans have developed a taste for their legs, Australian researchers said Wednesday.

Up to 1 billion frogs are dying each year to satisfy a craving for frogs' legs fried with garlic in countries as diverse as Indonesia and France.

"Frogs are already in a bad way throughout most parts of the world," Adelaide University's Corey Bradshaw said.