The American administration will likely determine its strategy towards the Lebanese government during the upcoming weeks based on Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s handling of the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, revealed official American sources to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday.

They added that the U.S. is adopting a “calm tone” in tackling the Lebanese file “seeing as it has other foreign priorities in the Arab world, such as the peace process and the situation in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen.”

"The Hangover" star Bradley Cooper will appear as Lucifer in a movie version of the classic poem "Paradise Lost" to be filmed in Sydney.

The government of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, announced Wednesday that the movie will be directed by Australian Alex Proyas, who also directed "I, Robot" starring Will Smith and "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage.

Nepal's government has ordered a new measurement of Mount Everest to determine exactly how high the world's highest mountain is, an official said Wednesday.

Nepal has continued to recognize the decades-old measurement of 29,028 feet (8,448 meters). However, there have been other claims recently by China and western climbers.

Yao Ming has made it official Wednesday, telling a packed news conference in his hometown that a series of foot and leg injuries have forced him to retire from basketball.

"I will formally end my career," said Yao, the 7-fooot-6 center who became a household name in China before starting his NBA career with the Houston Rockets as the top draft pick in 2002.

A United Arab Emirates player whose backheeled penalty in a friendly against Lebanon has become an Internet sensation, faces possible sanctions for being "disrespectful."

Video of Theyab Awana's goal in UAE's 7-2 win on Sunday has become popular on YouTube.

Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti has won a photo contest hosted by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap said Tuesday that Morenatti's photos of cholera victims in Haiti last year earned him a $30,000 prize.

American Express is jumping into the daily deals arena.

The card issuer on Monday night will launch a Facebook application that offers personalized coupons based on a cardholder's likes, interests and other profile information. The announcement marks a significant entrant into the daily deals market, which has exploded in the past year.

Toyota's electric-gasoline hybrid car technology will be utilized to help ease power shortages in Japan's disaster-struck northeast, part of a set of measures the automaker hopes will underline its commitment to the region.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will donate emergency power supply systems linked to its Prius hybrid cars to prefectures (states) in the Tohoku region ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer-networking gear, is reducing its work force by about 9 percent to reduce costs and raise profits as the company tries to become more competitive.

Monday's announcement to cut 6,500 of its roughly 73,000 worldwide employees follows up on a plan disclosed in May to eliminate thousands of jobs. Two-thirds will come through layoffs, and the rest through an early-retirement plan. The company said 15 percent of employees at or above the level of vice president are being eliminated.

A prosecutor in Australia filed charges Tuesday against one of four men accused of breaking into a Sydney man's home late at night, holding him down on his bed and whipping him 40 times with a cable as a religious punishment.

Tolga Cifci, 20, appeared in court Tuesday charged with aggravated breaking and entering and committing an indictable offense. He did not enter a plea.