Japan's government has approved a plan to reduce the seating and slash the construction cost of the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after public opposition to the initial design.

The cabinet approved the revised plan Friday, which would cap the price tag at 155 billion yen ($1.3 billion), down from the plan for a 252 billion yen stadium that the government abruptly scrapped in July.

Australia Olympians for next year's Rio Games will be banned from taking sleeping drugs from the time they're selected for the national team.

In a bid to avoid repeating the controversies of the 2012 London Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has tightened restrictions on the use of what it called "hypnotic medications."

It's just water, and far from the cleanest you could find. Raw sewage often flows in the Godavari River, bringing with it high bacteria levels. Residue from sand mining can cloud the water. Farm pesticides leech through the soil.

But to the millions of Hindus expected at the Kumbh Mela festival, held this year along the Godavari, touching that water is reverential. It's a way to cleanse themselves of sin, to come close to God, to immerse themselves in a tradition that reaches back into antiquity. They have come to this city from across India and around the world. Entire villages arrive together, and their parties often last through the nights. Thousands of mystics gather.

President Barack Obama held out the people of New Orleans on Thursday as an extraordinary example of renewal and resilience 10 years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, while visiting residents on tidy porch stoops and sampling the fried chicken at a corner restaurant,

"There's something in you guys that is just irrepressible," Obama told hundreds of residents assembled at a bustling new community center in an area of the Lower 9th Ward that was once under 17 feet (5.2 meters) of water. "The people of New Orleans didn't just inspire me, you inspired all of America."

Samsung's new smartphones and tablets might not offer enough to entice current iPhone and iPad users to switch, but they keep Samsung at the head of the class among Android gadget makers.

The new Galaxy devices come weeks before comparable updates from Apple are expected. In a sense, if Samsung can't beat the competition in sales, it can at least beat it to store shelves.

When Robert Redford first acquired the film rights to Bill Bryson's memoir "A Walk in the Woods," he knew exactly who he wanted to play his Appalachian Trail hiking comrade: Paul Newman.

Not only were the two men responsible for some of cinema's most iconic duos — they were lifetime friends as well.

Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer aren't just riding jet skis together. They're making a movie.

A representative for Lawrence confirms Wednesday that Lawrence and Schumer are writing a screenplay.

Rapper 50 Cent's bankruptcy attorney says he'll try again to sell his 50,000-square-foot Connecticut mansion.

The Hartford Courant reports (http://cour.at/1hH14pW) Pat Neligan spoke at a court hearing Wednesday. 50 Cent didn't attend.

Justin Bieber will be back on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards.

MTV announced Wednesday that the 21-year-old singer will be performing the song "What Do You Mean" from his forthcoming album at Sunday's extravaganza at the Microsoft Theater.

Manchester United had double reason to celebrate on Wednesday — the team is back in the Champions League group stage and star striker Wayne Rooney is scoring again.

Rooney ended a drought of 10 games without a goal stretching back to April 4 with a hat trick in United's 4-0 win at Bruges, helping the English club to a 7-1 victory on aggregate.