More than 4,000 years ago, Dilmun merchants traveled from Mesopotamia to the Indus River, titans of trade and culture before rise of the empires of the Persians or the Ottomans

Over a millennia, the civilization that Dilmun created on the back of trading in pearls, copper and dates as far as South Asia faded into the encroaching sands. It wasn't until an excavation by Danish archaeologists in the 1950s that its past was rediscovered.

A congenital heart ailment that had gone undetected in numerous physical examinations killed star 27-year-old Ecuador striker Christian Benitez, the national team's physician said Friday.

Dr. Patricio Maldonado said a second autopsy performed after Benitez' body was flown home from Qatar found that the athlete died due to problems "that cannot be detected even with very sophisticated exams."

On a night when Missy Franklin finally lost, Ryan Lochte turned in an epic performance at the pool.

Lochte swam three races in less than two hours at the world championships Friday, coming away with two gold medals and the top time in an event he's competing in for the first time at a major international meet.

Spain beat Australia 8-6 Friday to become the first host country to be crowned world champion in women's water polo.

Spain, which won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, never trailed at Barcelona's Bernat Picornell pool in front of their raucous home fans.

IndyCar has updated its rulebook following a series of late-race issues last month in Toronto.

The new rules will go into effect this weekend at the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

Brazil is sending a message to everyone who plays rugby out there: You want to participate in the Rio Olympics? Come talk to us!

Hoping to put on a good show when rugby sevens debuts in the 2016 Games, the Brazilian federation has announced that it will go hunting for players abroad, looking for anyone with at least some experience in the game and a Brazilian link that would allow them to represent the country.

The Food and Drug Administration says an outbreak of stomach illnesses in Iowa and Nebraska is linked to salad mix served at local Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants and supplied by a Mexican farm.

The outbreak of cyclospora infections has sickened more than 400 people in 16 states in all. The agency says it is still working to determine whether the salad mix is the source of illnesses in the other 14 states.

Scholars, campaigners and lawyers can for the first time readily access more than 2,200 documents from a largely unknown archive housed at the United Nations that documents thousands of cases against accused World War II criminals in Europe and Asia.

The unrestricted records of the United Nations War Crimes Commission were put online in early July by the International Criminal Court after an agreement with the U.N., a move spurred by British academic Dan Plesch, who has been leading the push for greater access to the archive. The documents relate to more than 10,000 cases.

Facebook's resurgent stock has closed above its IPO price for the first time since the online social networking leader made its debut on Wall Street more than 14 months ago.

The shares gained 56 cents to finish Friday's session at $38.05. That's the stock's highest closing price since ending its first day of trading at $38.23 in May of last year.

Parliamentary officials in Britain want lawmakers to keep their hands off Margaret Thatcher's toes.

Authorities are considering roping off statues of former prime ministers, including Thatcher and Winston Churchill, because they are suffering wear and tear from legislators rubbing their toes for luck.