Health officials in the Dominican Republic say a mosquito-borne virus has spread widely since making its first appearance in the country.

The Health Ministry says it has documented about 3,500 suspected cases of chikungunya virus since it was first detected in March. Most cases have been near the capital, but Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo said Tuesday there have been some isolated cases in northern provinces.

Newspapers in the United Arab Emirates are reporting that the American drummer for the rock band Scorpions has been sentenced to one month in jail after being convicted of offensive behavior in Dubai.

The government-backed National newspaper reported Tuesday that James Kottak was convicted of insulting Islam, raising his middle finger and being under the influence of alcohol while in transit at Dubai airport.

"Star Wars: Episode VII" finally has its stars. May the Force be with them.

After months of carefully guarded secrecy and endless Internet speculation, the cast of the latest incarnation of the space epic was unveiled Tuesday on the official "Star Wars" website by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Co.

NBC says Gwen Stefani will be a coach on "The Voice" next season.

The network said Tuesday that Stefani will join Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and another previously announced new coach, Pharrell Williams, on the singing contest's seventh edition.

Everything has been stolen — including the kitchen sink — from the kitchen of a model house in Kansas.

Police say thieves stripped the kitchen of the Clayton Homes unit in south Wichita, taking all the upscale appliances, the wooden cabinets from the walls and, of course, the sink.

The embodiment of an Alaska cliche is for sale.

The massive urethane igloo that's a must-stop for summer tourists heading up the Parks Highway en route to Denali National Park and Preserve can be had for $300,000.

More than a decade of work financed with American tax dollars is at stake if bribery and theft are left unabated in Afghanistan, according to a quarterly report released Wednesday by the top auditor of U.S. reconstruction spending in the impoverished nation.

Widespread corruption hampers the government's ability to collect revenue and hinders economic development and the effort to promote accountability, the 260-page report by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction said.

Japan's central bank kept its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged in a policy meeting Wednesday, despite data suggesting the economic recovery is weaker than expected.

The Bank of Japan is still monitoring the impact of an April 1 tax hike that is expected to sap growth as consumers adjust to higher costs.

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has admitted he was at fault as the holders suffered an historic 4-0 drubbing in the Champions League semi-final, second leg to Real Madrid.

The holders suffered their worst European home defeat on Tuesday as two goals each by Madrid's Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo saw the Bavarian giants crash out 5-0 on aggregate.

Researcher Leonid Moroz emerges from a dive off the Florida Keys and gleefully displays a plastic bag holding a creature that shimmers like an opal in the seawater.

This translucent animal and its similarly strange cousins are food for science. They regrow with amazing speed if they get chopped up. Some even regenerate a rudimentary brain.