The number of American mosques has increased dramatically in the last decade despite post 9/11 protests aimed at Muslim houses of worship, according to a new study.

The new Islamic centers serve Muslims who moved into the suburbs and newer immigrants from Africa, Iraq and elsewhere.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip will open the 2012 Olympics this summer, Buckingham Palace said Monday.

The royal couple will perform this ceremonial role at the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium when the games begin on July 27.

NBC's new drama "Awake" has the kind of intricate, high-concept premise that can test viewers. But that's nothing compared with what its producers face.

Howard Gordon, a master at juggling challenging plots ("24" and "The X-Files" among them), puts it flatly: "I learned nothing, and nothing I experienced prepared for me this."

Soul singer Erykah Badu said Wednesday she holds no grudge against Malaysia's government for barring her from performing after a photograph of her body art offended some Muslims.

More than 1,500 people had bought tickets to watch the Grammy-winning American singer at a Kuala Lumpur auditorium Wednesday, but Malaysia's information minister announced on the eve of the concert that it could not proceed because a promotional photo of Badu with the Arabic word for Allah painted on her bare shoulders was "an insult to Islam."

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has returned to training as he battles his way back from a serious eye injury.

Gattuso has not played since colliding with teammate Alessandro Nesta in the Serie A opener on September 9.

A former professional wrestler is suing his opponent and the Indiana-based promoter who arranged their bout last year, claiming his foe was supposed to lose their match but had other ideas and kicked him so hard in the crotch that one of his testicles ruptured and had to be removed.

John Levi Miller, 23, contends in his lawsuit filed Monday that Clinton Woosley was the "heel," a term used to describe the designated villain or loser, of their match last June, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, reported.

A five-year search by a Czech author has discovered that 16 paintings in the Czech Republic were once owned by Adolf Hitler.

The art works, which Hitler bought in Germany during World War II, had been moved to Czechoslovakia after it was occupied by the Nazis to prevent them being damaged by Allied attacks.

Interpol said that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.

The international police agency said in a statement Tuesday that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol's Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.

With its own fortunes sinking, Yahoo is angling for a windfall from rising Internet star Facebook.

The effort will hinge on the latest in a series of high-tech tussles over intellectual rights. Yahoo and Facebook are sparring over whether Facebook's eight-year-old social network relies on some of the innovations that Yahoo has patented or acquired since it launched its website in 1994.

The judges will be watching — were the competitor's knees locked? Were the wrists straight? Did the forehead and the knee connect? If not, points are going to be lost.

Seeking the perfect pose will be the order of the day at the National Yoga Asana Championship, being put on March 2-4 by an organization that wants to see yoga asana, or posture, competition become an Olympic sport.