One of Sepp Blatter's deputies fears goal-line technology could undermine the authority of referees as football's rulemakers prepare to sanction the next round of testing on Saturday.

FIFA's president hopes to have high-tech aids in place by the 2014 World Cup after a high-profile mistake at the 2010 tournament persuaded him to end his long-standing opposition to the technology.

Cyprus police have summoned a 98-year-old and about 40 other elderly women to court to face gambling charges after raiding their weekly poker party.

The women, mostly in their 70s, were stunned to receive a court summons this week, more than two years since the raid, said Yioula Diakantoni, the daughter of the 98-year-old.

Spain's Labor Ministry says the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose by 112,269 in January, raising the overall figure to a rounded 4.7 million.

Spain's jobless rate stands at a 22.9 percent, the highest in the 17-nation eurozone.

Oil prices fell slightly to near $108 a barrel Friday in Asia after Saudi Arabia denied an Iranian media report of an explosion at a Saudi pipeline.

Benchmark oil for April delivery was down 41 cents to $108.43 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The leaders of 25 European states have signed a new treaty designed to prevent the 17 euro countries from running up huge debts in order to prevent a repeat of the current crisis afflicting the single currency zone.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who oversaw the drafting of the accord, said the treaty will bring an "economic and monetary union that is finally walking on two legs."

Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday it plans to sell its online photo service business to online photo publishing company Shutterfly Inc. for $23.8 million.

Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in January and said it is narrowing its focus to its core printer businesses.

The soldier on the fringes of an explosion. The survivor of a car wreck. The football player who took yet another skull-rattling hit. Too often, only time can tell when a traumatic brain injury will leave lasting harm — there's no good way to diagnose the damage.

Now scientists are testing a tool that lights up the breaks these injuries leave deep in the brain's wiring, much like X-rays show broken bones.

Three of Christopher Hitchens' most contentious books are coming back into print, and debuting in digital form.

Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, announced Thursday that books on three of Hitchens' favorite enemies — Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Mother Theresa — will be reissued on paper and as e-books on April 10. Hitchens, the author and polemicist who died in December after an 18-month battle with cancer, would have turned 63 on April 13.

The head of Taiwan's top research group says the island's budding biotechnology industry is facing a tough new rival — Samsung Electronics Co.

The South Korean electronics giant already poses a threat to Taiwanese chip and computer makers.

Two-thirds of China's cities currently fail to meet stricter air quality standards that the government wants to phase in over four years to combat notoriously smoggy skies, a senior Chinese environmental official said Friday.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, on Wednesday issued new limits on pollutants to go into effect nationwide by 2016. It also said major cities must launch programs this year to regularly monitor additional kinds of pollutants for the first time, including fine particles associated with health problems.