Amazon is refreshing its line-up of tablet computers with new devices called Kindle Fire HDX, which are significantly faster and lighter than the previous generation.

The 7-inch and 8.9-inch versions also have sharper, more colorful displays than older models, and both have more pixels per inch than the latest iPad.

A 28-year-old British adventurer became the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska, arriving late Monday at a small town in the Aleutian Islands after 150 days at sea.

"I have had some of the most intense and memorable months of my life out on the Pacific, it has been brilliant and brutal at the same time," Sarah Outen said in a statement. "And it has been a privilege."

Consider this the sequel you never knew you were waiting for, but will be very glad it arrived.

Thirty-six years after introducing readers to Danny Torrance and a precognitive ability he came to call "the shine," Stephen King is back with another creepy tale featuring the now adult Dan, a young girl named Abra and a mysterious group of soul-sucking creeps known as the True Knot.

The old man couldn't control his diabetes, no matter how closely he followed his doctor's instructions. A nurse visited him to find out why the insulin wasn't working, only to watch the nearly blind man inadvertently inject himself with a syringe filled with nothing but air.

It sounds simple to track a patient outside of office visits. But the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation found the idea genius.

Extolling the virtues of Harlem's rich cultural history, Michelle Obama hosted a luncheon for the spouses of foreign dignitaries Tuesday in the historic New York City neighborhood she described as "quintessentially American."

The first lady spoke to about 50 spouses of chiefs of state and heads of government who are attending the U.N. General Assembly.

Miss Piggy is finally joining her love, Kermit the Frog, in the Smithsonian Institution's collection of Jim Henson's Muppets, and Bert and Ernie will have a place in history, too.

Henson's family, including his daughter, Cheryl Henson, donated more than 20 puppets and props Tuesday to the National Museum of American History to accompany the earlier donations of Kermit, Oscar the Grouch and early Henson creations.

The Las Vegas Strip's newest concert space will open its doors just before the new year with a performance by pop star Bruno Mars

Mars will play shows on Dec. 29 and 31 at a new Eastern European glass factory-themed venue at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, and then return six more times during 2014, casino management announced on Tuesday.

NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will be paying tribute to its ripped-from-the-headlines heritage this season, the drama's executive producer said.

The show returns for its 15th year at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday, picking up on last season's cliffhanger finale that had New York City police Detective Olivia Benson (series star Mariska Hargitay) held at gunpoint by a rapist.

President Michel Suleiman said Tuesday that Lebanon was struggling under the weight of at least a million Syrian refugees as the U.S. pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid to offset the costs of the war spillover.

Suleiman spoke of the crisis in his address to world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Hours earlier, he met with President Barack Obama, who praised Lebanon for its generosity in welcoming refugees fleeing the crisis in neighboring Syria.

There will be no rose ceremony for a 430-pound bachelor gorilla that failed to form any meaningful relationships with fellow apes during an 18-year stay at the Dallas Zoo.

Patrick, the 23-year-old Western lowland gorilla known for being gregarious with zoo staff and the public, while being ambivalent toward his female counterparts, has been handed his walking papers. The silverback will be transferred to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, S.C. where he'll be allowed more solitude, according to a statement issued Monday by the Dallas Zoo.