Prince William's fiancee was on Sunday celebrating her last birthday before she officially becomes British royalty.

Royal officials said this week that Kate Middleton would be marking her 29th birthday privately, giving no further details.

Mark Twain was the kind of man who might tell an off-color joke, then grievously apologize, who wrote stories and essays he knew would offend and kept others private for the same reason.

A century after his death, Mark Twain remains censored, and uncensored.

With Arjen Robben set to return from injury, Bayern Munich officials can't wait for the Bundesliga and Champions League to resume after Germany's winter break.

Robben hasn't played since the Netherlands' World Cup final loss to Spain because of a hamstring injury, but is back in training at a camp in Qatar and is expected to play in the team's friendly against local club Al-Wakrah on Saturday.

Terry Anderson says he rarely recalls the anniversary of being kidnapped and held captive in Lebanon for nearly seven years, a crisis that he revisits in a new National Geographic special.

Instead, he's reminded of the date by others who call or e-mail when it rolls around.

Jordan’s Transport Minister said Thursday that Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey have moved closer to economic integration.

The official Petra agency said that the countries signed an agreement establishing a committee to unify their legislation to enhance economic integration.

Everyone curses the tax man, but Romanian witches angry about having to pay up for the first time are planning to use cat excrement and dead dogs to cast spells on the president and government.

Also among Romania's newest taxpayers are fortune tellers — but they probably should have seen it coming.

Russian investigators say Boney M singer Bobby Farrell died of heart disease.

Farrell, a 61-year-old native of Aruba, was found dead Dec. 30 in his hotel room in St. Petersburg, where the group had come for a performance.

A bodyguard who prosecutors say was ordered by the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death to conceal syringes and other items before calling 911 is expected to shed light on the chaotic efforts that failed to revive the King of Pop.

Alberto Alvarez will testify Wednesday at a preliminary hearing against Dr. Conrad Murray about the doctor's attempts to revive the singer on June 25, 2009, his attorney said.

A cigar lounge in suburban Detroit is decorated with paintings and photos of famous people with a stogie: John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, even the 1950s Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

"We have only one thing in common," said owner Ismail Houmani, a U.S. war veteran, who immigrated to Toledo, Ohio, from Lebanon when he was 18, pointing at a cigar in the fingers of Guevara, a Marxist rebel.

The Tehran government confirmed on Tuesday that it has invited world powers and its allies in the Arab and developing world to tour Iranian nuclear sites before a high-profile meeting late January on its disputed nuclear program.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the invitation went to "the EU, the non-aligned movement and representatives from 5+1 countries."