One thing about season 13 of "American Idol" is that unlike last season, the judges seem to be getting along.

At an audition stop in Atlanta on Wednesday, Jennifer Lopez said she's excited for people to see how funny Harry Connick Jr. is and how much he knows about music.

When Hugh Jackman decided to marry the daughter of a woman who's dedicated her life to fighting cancer, he became part of the fight as well — it was a package deal.

The "X-Men" actor said that when he asked his mother-in-law Fay Duncan — president of the Fight Cancer Foundation in Australia — for her blessing when he proposed to Deborra-Lee Furness, she told him that supporting the fight against cancer was one of the requirements to get that blessing.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that almost 7 percent of imported spices over a three-year period were contaminated with salmonella.

In a report released Wednesday, the FDA says testing of imported spices between 2007 and 2010 showed that spices were twice as likely as other inspected foods to be contaminated with the pathogen. More than 80 different types of salmonella were detected.

Smokers younger than 21 in the nation's biggest city will soon be barred from buying cigarettes after the New York City Council voted overwhelming Wednesday to raise the tobacco-purchasing age to higher than all but a few other places in the United States.

City lawmakers approved the bill — which raises from 18 to 21 the purchasing age for cigarettes, certain tobacco products and even electronic-vapor smokes — and another that sets a minimum $10.50-a-pack price for tobacco cigarettes and steps up law enforcement on illegal tobacco sales.

The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, a newspaper reported, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

A secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, indicates that NSA sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency's Fort Meade, Maryland, headquarters, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Gareth Bale finally made his mark at Real Madrid on Wednesday, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to upstage his two-goal performance with a hat-trick in a 7-3 victory over Sevilla.

The Welshman celebrated his first league start at the Santiago Bernabeu by scoring twice and setting up two more.

Allen Iverson's highlights played one more time on the big screen, diehard Philadelphia 76ers fans and Julius Erving all part of the crowd catching one more glimpse of No. 3 in his prime.

His killer crossover in his rookie season that dusted Michael Jordan.

Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko scored in extra time to send Manchester City into the League Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday, while Tottenham needed a penalty shootout to earn a place in the last eight.

Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th.

Victories for Napoli and Juventus kept the pressure on Serie A leader Roma on Wednesday, while Kaka scored his first goal since returning to AC Milan in a 1-1 draw against Lazio.

Jose Maria Callejon and Dries Mertens scored to help Napoli to a controversial 2-1 win at Fiorentina. U.S.-born forward Giuseppe Rossi had leveled from the penalty spot with his ninth goal in 10 games.

Brazilian football wants Diego Costa's Brazilian citizenship voided because the striker chose to snub Brazil and play for Spain.

The federation's legal department told local media on Wednesday it has grounds to ask the justice ministry to strip Diego Costa of his citizenship because of his rejection of the national team.