Americans are buying record numbers of hybrid and electric cars as gas prices climb and new models arrive in showrooms, giving the vehicles their greatest share yet of the U.S. auto market.

Consumers bought a record 52,000 gas-electric hybrids and all-electric cars in March, up from 34,000 during the same month last year.

Some nail polishes commonly found in California salons and advertised as free of a so-called "toxic trio" of chemicals actually have high levels of agents linked to birth defects, state regulators said Tuesday.

A Department of Toxic Substances Control report determined that the mislabeled nail products have the potential to harm thousands of workers in more than 48,000 nail salons in California, and their customers.

Just months after joining the team, striker Nicolas Anelka has been appointed as a coach with struggling Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.

The club has won just one of its first five games in the Chinese Super League, a disappointing start after signing the former Real Madrid and Chelsea star on a contract that reportedly made him the highest-paid player in the world.

Michael Schumacher may be closing in on his first pole position in six years after setting the fastest practice time at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday.

The Mercedes driver's time was a tenth of a second faster than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who took back-to-back poles to start the season at the Australian GP and Malaysian GP.

After the death of their spiritual leader, more than 2,000 Egyptian Copts have poured into the Holy Land for the Easter holidays, defying a ban he imposed on visiting Jerusalem and other Israeli-controlled areas.

The influx — after decades when Egyptian pilgrims were a rarity — adds a new element to the already diverse mix of languages and faiths in Jerusalem's Old City during the holy season. The pilgrims are clearly distinguished by the Egyptian accent of their Arabic and long cotton robes worn by many of the men.

C.J. Watson scored 16 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away in overtime to beat the Miami Heat 96-86 on Thursday night.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 19 points and Kyle Korver added 17 points for the Bulls, who outscored Miami 12-2 in overtime to boost their lead in the Eastern Conference to four games.

Barnes & Noble Inc. said Thursday it is tackling one of the shortcomings of black-and-white e-readers with a screen that lights up so it can be read in the dark.

E-readers with black-and-white screens, made by Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Sony and others, are easily readable in bright light but don't come with their own light sources and can't be read in darkness. The ones with color screens, such as the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, do have their own light sources but are barely legible in sunlight.

Madonna says she's happy that Malawi's former vice president is now leading the country.

Joy Banda became president Saturday and is the country's first women leader. Former president Bingu Wa Mutharika died of a heart attack on April 5.

Clashes between the Syrian army and rebel fighters broke out Friday for the first time since a hard-won U.N.-backed ceasefire came into force a day earlier, a monitoring group said.

"Fighting with heavy machineguns took place in Khirbet al-Joz, located on the Turkish border, between regime soldiers and (army) deserters," Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France Presse.

North Korea's much-anticipated rocket launch ended quickly in an embarrassing failure early Friday, splintering into pieces over the Yellow Sea soon after takeoff.

Within minutes of the early morning launch, the U.S. and South Korea declared it a failure. North Korea acknowledged that hours later in an announcement broadcast on state TV, saying the satellite had failed to enter into orbit.