France's prime minister assured a German audience on Thursday that his country is committed to getting its debt under control, and said that is essential to preserving France's sovereignty.

Jean-Marc Ayrault's first visit in Germany since taking office in May comes as concerns grow that France's economy, the eurozone's second-largest, is weakening just as the government has to slash spending to reduce its deficit. France is Berlin's most important ally in fighting Europe's debt crisis.

Spain has passed a decree curbing evictions of lower income homeowners unable to pay their mortgage, a bid to ease a trend that has seen hundreds of thousands of people lose their homes because of the brutal economic crisis.

Thursday's decree stops evictions for two years of people who are unemployed or who earn less than €1,200 ($1,527) a month after tax. It also suspends evictions of the elderly or disabled residents.

Superstorm Sandy drove the number of people in the U.S. seeking unemployment benefits up to a seasonally adjusted 439,000 last week, the highest level in 18 months.

The Labor Department says applications increased by 78,000 because a large number of applications were filed in East Coast states damaged by the storm. People can claim unemployment benefits if their workplaces close and they don't get paid.

A California lawyer is suing Microsoft Corp., claiming the Surface tablet he bought doesn't have all the storage space the company advertised.

Andrew Sokolowski, a lawyer in Los Angeles, claims that he bought a Surface with 32 gigabytes of storage last week. But he quickly ran out of space after loading it with music and Microsoft Word documents.

One teenager made offensive comments about a murdered child on Twitter. Another young man wrote on Facebook that British soldiers should "go to hell." A third posted a picture of a burning paper poppy, symbol of remembrance of war dead.

All were arrested, two convicted, and one jailed — and they're not the only ones. In Britain, hundreds of people are prosecuted each year for posts, tweets, texts and emails deemed menacing, indecent, offensive or obscene, and the number is growing as our online lives expand.

Country music star Shania Twain arrived on horseback Wednesday for a two-year headline gig at Caesars Palace, parading up the Las Vegas Strip with a herd of 40 horses.

Promoters called the event a stampede, but hooves were kept to a steady, slow gait by nine wranglers who escorted Twain to a reception crowd of several hundred people in front of the famous Caesars fountains. Dozens more people watched from the sidewalk of the Flamingo resort across Las Vegas Boulevard.

Jon Bon Jovi's 19-year-old daughter was hospitalized and facing drug charges Wednesday after overdosing on heroin in a dorm at her college in upstate New York, authorities said.

Stephanie Bongiovi was found unresponsive by an ambulance crew sent to Hamilton College early Wednesday after a report that a female had apparently overdosed in Dunham Hall, the school's largest dorm.

When the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science opens, visitors will be able to feel the ground shake beneath them in an earthquake simulation, program a robot to navigate a maze and even test their speed against a virtual Tyrannosaurus rex.

"It's just going to be an incredible hands-on learning experience for people interested in nature and science," said Nicole G. Small, the museum's chief executive officer.

Scientists have identified a new gene variant that seems to strongly raise the risk for Alzheimer's disease, giving a fresh target for research into treatments for the mind-robbing disorder.

The problem gene is not common — less than 1 percent of people are thought to have it — but it roughly triples the chances of developing Alzheimer's compared to people with the normal version of the gene. It also seems to harm memory and thinking in older people without dementia.

A Brazilian hospital says Pele is undergoing physiotherapy following surgery on his right hip.

Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo said Wednesday that Pele remains in good condition and is already walking around his room.