A lethal new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month appears to jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.

Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far to show the virus can spread easily from human to human.

If at first you don't succeed, wipe the slobber off and try again.

Just ask 4-year-old pup Huckleberry, who was crowned Monday as this year's "Beautiful Bulldog."

You can learn a lot from a zombie.

At least that's what a University of Michigan professor hopes her 31 graduate students took away from Tuesday's bizarre, albeit bloody, "zombie apocalypse." The classroom exercise was designed to get School of Public Health students thinking about what the appropriate response should be during a disaster.

A former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden got a strong rebuke from a judge Tuesday as he was sentenced to life in prison for a second time after claiming the Sept. 11 attacks and Superstorm Sandy were "God's punishment" for injustice against himself and others by the United States.

"You sir, in my judgment, are a committed terrorist who has betrayed his country," U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told Wadih El-Hage after listening to the claims of the Lebanese-born man who became a U.S. citizen.

The U.N.'s climate chief says talks in 2015 to secure a global warming pact will not fail as they did at the 2009 Copenhagen summit where world leaders, including President Barrack Obama, could not reach an agreement.

Speaking ahead of a climate meeting in Bonn next week, Christiana Figueres told reporters in a teleconference that much had changed, giving her optimism that a global climate pact can be reached in Paris in 2015. Figueres says climate change is worsening and governments have already committed to reaching a deal.

The University of Nevada's world-renowned earthquake laboratory has launched a nearly $4 million research project aimed at making nonstructural parts of buildings more earthquake proof.

Engineers at the school's Large-Scale Structures Lab cranked up three 50-ton capacity shake tables on the Reno campus Monday to simulate a quake as part of the groundbreaking project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Luis Suarez found himself in the familiar position of being an outcast on Monday, charged by the Football Association, fined by Liverpool, and rebuked by the government for biting an opponent a day earlier.

In a Premier League match broadcast globally on Sunday, Suarez bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic's arm. Although he escaped punishment during the game, Suarez now faces a lengthy ban.

Borussia Dortmund's preparations for Wednesday's Champions League semifinal match against Real Madrid have been hit by news that its player is transferring to Bayern Munich at the end of the season.

On the eve of what it calls "the most spectacular home game in Borussia Dortmund's history," the first leg has been overshadowed by Mario Goetze's decision to join Bayern on July 1.

With 75,000 delirious Manchester United fans chanting "champions, champions" at full voice, Rio Ferdinand tugged the back of Robin van Persie's shirt bearing his squad number and shouted: "No. 20, No. 20."

Twenty was the number at Old Trafford on Monday.

Chris Paul's running jump shot with a tenth of a second left gave the Los Angeles Clippers a 93-91 victory over Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Earlier at New York, Carlos Boozer had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Joakim Noah played his way through a foot injury to make three fourth-quarter baskets as the Chicago Bulls downed the Brooklyn Nets 90-82 to level their series at 1-1.