There's a form of extra-sensory perception called psychometry, whose practitioners claim to learn things about objects by touching them. Smartphones set to be released this month by Samsung and Sony will have some of that ability: they'll learn things when you touch them to pre-programmed "tags."

For example, you can program a tag with your phone number, and stick it on your business card. When someone taps their phone to the card, the phone would call you. Or you can put a tag on your night stand. Place the phone there, and it goes into "alarm clock" mode, holding your calls until the morning.

UEFA has given German referee Wolfgang Stark his second top assignment at the European Championship, working the Spain vs. Croatia match on Monday.

Some Italian commentators have suggested Spain and Croatia could orchestrate a 2-2 draw in Gdansk to ensure both advance to the quarterfinals and eliminate Italy.

A Lebanese-born inmate is too mentally ill to be executed for the killings of his wife and brother-in-law, a U.S. judge ruled Friday in a decision that comes just a week after the governor issued a reprieve hours before the man was set to die.

"Abdul Awkal presently lacks the capacity to form a rational understanding as to the reason the state intends to execute him," county Judge Stuart Friedman said. "Abdul Awkal may not be executed unless and until he has been restored to competency."

Watching Spain play is a lot of fun for Germany striker Mario Gomez, and it will be even more enjoyable if he can beat the land of his father at the European Championship.

Germany was beaten by Spain at the last two major tournaments — in the final of Euro 2008 and in the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup.

New Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova says the Spanish club is looking to reinforce its defense and hopes to hold on to Dani Alves and Seydou Keita.

Vilanova, who signed a two-year contract Friday to take over from Pep Guardiola, said "we want to add to our defense. We have had problems and have been forced to adjust at both left back and center back."

Mario Balotelli has lost his place in Italy's starting lineup after two disappointing performances at the European Championship.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli says he wishes the 21-year-old forward well, "but he needs to improve and this is a change I have to make."

Italian veteran Gennaro Gattuso has signed for Swiss club FC Sion after 13 seasons with AC Milan.

Sion presented 34-year-old Gattuso at a news conference Friday and says he signed a two-year contract.

The Warsaw Chamber Opera raises the curtain Friday on the 22nd edition of its celebrated Mozart Festival, which could be its last, given the opera's shaky financial situation, according to officials.

The small opera house in Poland's capital has been in the "globally unique" position of presenting all of Mozart's stage works every summer for the last 21 years, according to director Stefan Sutkowski.

Yelp is feeding its online reviews of restaurants and other local merchants to Microsoft's Bing search engine in a move to compete against Zagat ratings on Google.

Beginning Thursday, people using Bing to search for information about neighborhood businesses will be able to see excerpts from Yelp reviews.

Fewer motorcyclists die in states that require helmets, and the costs to society are lower too, according to a new federal study released Thursday.

About five times as many no-helmet biker deaths occur in states with less restrictive laws, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found.