Several thousand protesters have joined a demonstration in central Athens after the Health Ministry ordered the closure of the country's entire state-run outpatient clinic network for one month to reorganize the health system.

The protest organized by a Communist labor union ended peacefully Tuesday outside the ministry.

The "Ducktona 500" in Sheboygan Falls and the "Lucky Ducky Derby" in Menomonee Falls may soon be able to operate in Wisconsin without fear of breaking the law.

The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill legalizing rubber duck races in Wisconsin. The measure cleared the Assembly last week. It now heads to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.

A mother upset about "indecent" T-shirts on display at a Utah mall found a quick if not especially convenient way to remove them: She bought every last one.

Judy Cox and her 18-year-old son were shopping Saturday at the University Mall in Orem, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, when she saw the shirts in the window of a PacSun store.

Reports from tens of thousands of bird-counting volunteers show a southern invasion of Arctic-dwelling snowy owls has spread to 25 U.S. states, and frigid cold is causing unusual movements of waterfowl.

Results are still coming in from the four-day annual Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada. Sponsors say the event, which ended Monday, drew participants from a record 127 countries, surpassing last year's 110. Most were from the U.S. and Canada.

One of three works by the elusive British street artist Banksy has sold at a Miami auction for $575,000.

An anonymous buyer purchased "Kissing Coppers," spray-painted in 2005 on the Prince Albert Pub in Brighton, England, at the Fine Art Auctions Miami on Tuesday night. The piece was expected to sell anywhere from $500,000 to $700,000.

For the United States, Syria's civil war is threatening to start hitting closer to home.

Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition are faltering. President Bashar Assad's military is on the offensive and the rebels are in disarray. Most distressing to the Obama administration, U.S. officials say al-Qaida-linked militants are squeezing moderates out of the insurgency and carving out havens for potential terrorist plots against the United States.

LeBron James cannot currently envision a scenario where he leaves the Miami Heat this summer, though he still plans to assess his needs and his future at the end of the season.

James made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with NBA TV. The Heat star can choose to become a free agent after this season by exercising an option in the contract he signed when he arrived in Miami during the summer of 2010.

Thanks to that memorable shootout loss to the U.S., Russia must win four games in six days to bring home its first Olympic men's hockey gold medals in 22 years.

Alex Ovechkin and his teammates begin attempting this daunting task Tuesday against Norway when elimination games begin in Sochi.

Pierre Vaultier of France held off hard-charging Nikolay Olyunin of Russia to win gold in men's Olympic snowboardcross on Tuesday.

Vaultier fended off several advances by Olyunin in the final, drawing clear over the final jumps to victory. The 26-year-old Vaultier won all four of his races in the midst of a steady drizzle that created plenty of the chaos — the signature of snowboarding's answer to auto racing.

The men were always going to be overshadowed by the women leading into the ski jumping competition at the Sochi Olympics. After all, male athletes had flown off the jumping hill for 80 years at the Winter Games before women were finally allowed to compete.

Once in Russia, though, more than one intriguing story line developed: Kamil Stoch won both the normal and individual hill for Poland, overcoming illness in the first event. Germany won twice — Carina Vogt, an historic first-ever gold in the women's normal hill; and another gold in the men's team event in a close, final-jump win over two-time defending gold medalists Austria.