NBA

SHOTLIST: BEIJING, MARCH 1, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman greeted by awaiting media at Beijing Airport arrivals terminal /// -------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: NKorea-US-basket-NBA-Rodman,2ndlead Rodman lauds N. Korea's 'awesome' Kim Jong-Un ... more 

SHOTLIST: BEIJING, MARCH 1, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman greeted by awaiting media at Beijing Airport arrivals terminal /// -------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: NKorea-US-basket-NBA-Rodman,2ndlead Rodman lauds N. Korea's 'awesome' Kim Jong-Un SEOUL, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman lauded North Korea's new leader as an "awesome kid" on Friday, following an unprecedented meeting with Kim Jong-Un at a basketball game in Pyongyang. At a time of heightened US-North Korean tensions following Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, the man who once dated Madonna has become the most high-profile American to meet the leader of the impoverished, isolated state. Kim "is like his grandfather and his father, who are great leaders, he is an awesome kid, very honest and loves his wife so much", Rodman said while leaving the country, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. While Pyongyang actively promotes the personality cult surrounding the ruling Kim dynasty, many North Koreans remain trapped in poverty and are malnourished or even starving to death, according to aid workers and defectors. "You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim in a speech after Thursday's game less