Rhode Island authorities say a 71-year-old man with Alzheimer's disease and dementia had lived with his dead wife's body for at least two days before officials entered the home this week.

Police in Johnston say the man's 67-year-old wife died a few days ago and he wasn't aware that she had passed. Authorities say there were no signs of foul play.

Officials at an upstate New York school district say a kindergartner spent a day at the wrong school after getting on the wrong bus.

Schenectady (skeh-NEHK'-ta-dee) city school district officials say the series of mistakes began Wednesday morning when the 5-year-old girl boarded the wrong bus, which was driven by a substitute driver.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who led the regime's negotiating team at failed peace talks this year, underwent a successful heart operation in Lebanon on Friday, Syrian television reported.

Muallem, the chief diplomat of President Bashar Assad's regime throughout the three-year civil war, had undergone tests for a suspected blocked coronary artery, a medical source in the Lebanese capital told Agence France Presse.

Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa will be sidelined for nearly two months by a knee injury, putting the Spain international's participation at the World Cup in jeopardy.

Arbeloa said his right knee "is worse than thought but if everything goes well, I'll be out from six-to-eight weeks."

Arsenal could be without Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil until the end of April in another blow to the Gunners' hopes of winning the English Premier League title.

Manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday the club-record signing will be sidelined "a minimum of three and a maximum of six weeks" with a hamstring injury.

Saudi Arabia says a man has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 63 the deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.

The Health Ministry said Friday the latest victim, a 19-year-old, died in the city of al-Kharj, southeast of Riyadh. Two of his sisters are in hospital on suspicion they have been infected with the virus. If they prove to be positive, it would further raise the number of people infected.

Uli Hoeness won't appeal against his prison sentence for tax evasion, and said on Friday he's quitting as president of Bayern Munich to prevent damage to the European champions.

Hoeness, one of the most prominent figures in German football, was convicted on Thursday of evading millions of euros (dollars) in tax through an undeclared bank account and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. The verdict drew a largely positive response in a country where tax evasion is deeply and increasingly frowned upon.

Mercedes confirmed its status as favorite to win the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix by setting the fastest two times in Friday's practice sessions, with Lewis Hamilton edging his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton failed to complete a lap in the opening practice session due to a malfunctioning oil pressure sensor that shut down his engine, but recovered to set a time of 1 minute 29.625 seconds in the second session around the Albert Park circuit, 0.157 seconds ahead of Rosberg.

Roger Federer beat Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, continuing his strong play at the tournament where he has yet to drop a set in four matches.

Anderson failed to break Federer's serve in the match, which lasted just over an hour. The South African had 21 unforced errors, while Federer hit 17 winners and won 79 percent of his first serve points.

Benfica and Valencia secured convincing away wins to take a giant step toward the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday while Real Betis surprisingly beat Sevilla 2-0 in a fierce Spanish derby played for the first time on the European stage.

Brazilian defender Luisao scored two second-half goals to help Benfica beat Tottenham 3-1 and cap a good night for Portugal's top clubs in the last-16 first legs, with Porto defeating Napoli 1-0 at home.