London:
For a couple steadfast allies, President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron aren't always in sync.
The two leaders, both lefties, had their hands full playing table tennis with a couple of London school boys on Tuesday. The game was part of a visit to a school in the Southwark neighborhood of London that specializes in math and performing arts.
Both leaders doffed their jackets and rolled up their sleeves. Obama, playing the diplomat, offered a defense for Cameron's play: "Tennis is his sport." Then, reacting to an aggressively missed shot by the prime minister, he suggested not so helpfully: "You just don't know your own strength."
Their competitors, two students in their early teens, used a variety of spin serves to unnerve their opponents.
Obama at one point observed with amusement that one of the boys was playing with his hand in his pocket.
Eventually Obama and Cameron got a rhythm, winning a few points. But it was an uphill match.
"They're up five?" Obama asked at one point. "More than five? Goodness?"
Reporters were ushered out before the game ended.
Ahead of the ping pong, Obama and Cameron visited a science classroom where they were shown a design-winning pliable plastic box. When the teacher suggested finding a sponsor to help develop and market the design, Cameron proposed a British investor. Obama had his own mischievous idea.
"Donald Trump in the United States," the President chimed in. "I have some connection with him."