The countdown is on for skydiver Felix Baumgartner.

In just two weeks, Baumgartner will attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 23 miles over New Mexico. Project managers announced Tuesday the feat will take place Oct. 8.

Australian officials, under pressure to protect beach-goers after a string of deadly shark attacks, have approved a plan to kill sharks that venture too close to people in the water.

The plan, which was announced by Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett on Thursday, has infuriated conservationists and marks a sharp reversal of the current policy that permits the killing of sharks only after they have attacked.

Spain is set to reveal how much trouble its banking system is in when it releases the results of audits of 14 lenders.

The results will also help the country decide how much money it will tap from a €100 billion ($128 billion) loan facility to prop up the country's financial sector.

One of the world's largest cruise ships, its foreign passengers primed for onshore spending, was supposed to dock in Egypt this month. The port call, however, was scrapped because of security concerns surrounding Mideast protests against a film made in the U.S. that denounces Islam's holiest figure.

Once again, Egyptian tourism, an engine of the national economy and a flagship of the regional industry, has taken a hit. It was another setback for a business that had plummeted in parts of the Middle East and North Africa last year during the uprisings known as the Arab Spring, then moved toward recovery this year.

Lewis Hamilton is moving to Mercedes, replacing seven-time Formula One champion replacing Michael Schumacher in a major shakeup that also sees Sergio Perez going to McLaren.

Hamilton has been at McLaren throughout his F1 career but the British team had been unwilling to match a lucrative offer from Mercedes, where he will team up with Nico Rosberg next season on a three-year contract.

Kaka is back in the Brazilian national squad for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.

The playmaker was selected Thursday despite being used sparingly by Real Madrid recently. Coach Mano Menezes picked Kaka in a squad for friendlies last year, but the player didn't join the team because of an injury.

With his camera-ready good looks, quirky catchphrases and funky fashion choices, swimmer Ryan Lochte parlayed the five medals he won at the 2012 Olympic Games into a burgeoning media career.

But the 28-year-old athlete says he's back in the pool training for future competitions and only embraced Hollywood to raise his sport's profile.

Kenya's national track federation is investigating claims of doping among its famed distance athletes and said Thursday it had asked the World Anti-Doping Agency and police for help.

Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat told The Associated Press that his organization was looking into allegations by a German reporter and Kenyan athlete that performance-enhancing substances were being made available to runners by people posing as doctors.

FIFA has selected kick-off times for 2014 World Cup group games, with several matches scheduled in early afternoon in tropical climates.

FIFA announced the north-east coastal cities of Natal, Recife and Salvador each have two of their four group-stage matches starting at 1 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Thursday called the new Windows 8 operating system scheduled for release next month "a very exciting new product" and "a very big deal" for the world's largest software maker.

Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press that he is already using Windows 8 "and I'm very pleased with it."