A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars is in safe mode after it detected a problem.

The Mars Odyssey, which has been circling the red planet since 2001, noticed something odd with one of its gyroscope-like devices that helps control its orientation and entered standby mode as a precaution Thursday evening.

Players from European clubs have long complained about midweek trips to the extremes of the continent for a Champions League game and then a return home for weekend action but such air miles and hours pale into insignificance compared with those being clocked up by the national teams of Asia.

As the final round of qualification for the 2014 World Cup kicks off, there are three games in nine days for some of the 10 nations still in contention for spots in Brazil. With the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) spanning over 9,000 miles (14,480 kilometers), acclimatization techniques can become just as important as tactics.

Israel's deputy military chief has warned that Syria has the biggest chemical weapons stocks in the world and missiles and rockets that can reach any point in Israel.

Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh also said if Syria had the chance, it would "treat us the same way it treats its own people."

Reclusive singer Lauryn Hill said in an Internet posting Friday that she hasn't paid taxes since she withdrew from society to guarantee the safety and well-being of herself and her family.

The eight-time Grammy Award winner and South Orange, N.J., resident was charged this week with willfully failing to file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Federal prosecutors said she didn't pay taxes on more than $1.5 million earned in 2005, 2006 and 2007 from recording and film royalties.

A fire that broke out in Robert De Niro's Manhattan apartment has been extinguished.

A Fire Department spokesman said no residents were injured in the Friday afternoon fire on Central Park West. The fire was contained within an hour, and the cause was under investigation.

Lebanon drew 1-1 with Uzbekistan on Friday in the second match of the final Asian qualifying round for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Jasur Hasanov gave Uzbekistan a 1-0 lead just 11 minutes into the match both sides needed to win to get their campaigns for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil back on track.

NASA killed a new X-ray telescope mission on Thursday, two years before its planned launch.

The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer mission, or GEMS for short, was supposed to blast off in 2014 to study black holes and neutron stars. But external reviews found the project would likely come in considerably over budget.

Sara Errani of Italy beat sixth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 at the French Open on Thursday to reach her first Grand Slam singles final.

The 21st-seeded Errani won for the second time in a row against a top-10 opponent after starting her career 0-28 in such matches.

The National Stadium in Poland, built for the 2012 European Championship, rises in the shape of a wicker basket over one of Warsaw's most popular neighborhoods: Saska Kepa, an enclave of towering trees and architectural gems dating back to the 1920s.

To some, the colossal stadium — with a retractable fiberglass roof and a shimmery red-and-white facade in the colors of the national flag — is a source of pride, a symbol of a capitalist surge that has remade the country since it threw off communism in 1989.

Global markets rose on Thursday, boosted by hopes that Europe is preparing to give Spain financial aid to help it cope with the cost of saving its banks and that the Federal Reserve will consider additional support for the U.S. economy.

Spain's government cannot afford to rescue its banking sector but is reluctant to accept a full-fledged bailout from its eurozone partners, as that would mean giving up control over some of its domestic policies.