Aretha Franklin is already a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this fall, she'll be honored by the hall once again, as part of its American Music Masters series.

The Queen of Soul will be the subject of a week-long celebration by the hall and Case Western Reserve University. It kicks off Oct. 31, includes an all-day symposium and ends with an all-star tribute concert on Nov. 5. Performers for that show have yet to be announced.

Three suspected Mexican drug smugglers have found out the hard way that unlike their boat, marijuana floats.

Mexican marines say they rescued three suspected smugglers whose boat was sinking on the Pacific Ocean and then arrested them after finding bales of marijuana floating around the vessel.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's armored train arrived Tuesday in an eastern Siberian city for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The North Korean leader stepped out of his train in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal, Russian news agencies reported. Kim's motorcade left town in the direction of Turka, a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal, the Russian ITAR-Tass news agencies reported.

Lil Wayne is hoping his performance on the MTV Video Music Awards will be so good, fans will rush out and get his new album: The rapper is making it digitally available at midnight after Sunday's show.

"Tha Carter IV" will be available on iTunes, Amazon.com and other digital outlets. The physical album will hit stores Aug. 29.

Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng has reason to be thrilled about the upcoming Venice premiere of "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," his four-hour epic about a 1930 aboriginal uprising against Taiwan's Japanese rulers.

A decade in preparation, the $24 million production is stirring hopes that the island's film industry is set to stage a comeback, after flaming out in the 1980s following a series of groundbreaking efforts, many about young romance in rural locales.

Barcelona sport director Andoni Zubizarreta says the Spanish Supercup winner will not lodge a formal complaint against Real Madrid following a game-ending brawl between the bitter rivals last week.

Zubizarreta says the decision was taken after discussions with club president Sandro Rosell, coach Pep Guardiola and assistant Tito Vilanova, who was the recipient of an apparent eye poke from Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.

World leaders said Monday the end is near for the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and called on the Libyan leader to relinquish power, as hundreds of Libyans living abroad celebrated in the streets after rebels took control of most of the Libyan capital.

With events unfolding quickly and clashes reported Monday near Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, leaders across European capitals urged Gadhafi to avoid a bloodbath of his own people and turn himself in to the International Criminal Court.

Animals across the world are fleeing global warming by heading north much faster than they were less than a decade ago, a new study says.

About 2,000 species examined are moving away from the equator at an average rate of more than 15 feet (5 meters) per day, about a mile per year, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Science which analyzed previous studies. Species are also moving up mountains to escape the heat, but more slowly, averaging about 4 feet a year.

Novak Djokovic's remarkable winning streak ended with a grimace, one that puts a new spin on the U.S. Open.

The world's top-ranked player was forced to retire in the second set Sunday because of a sore right shoulder, giving Andy Murray the championship at the Western & Southern Open.

Cuba's version of the New York Yankees, the powerhouse Industriales, won the country's 2010 baseball championship with lights-out pitching by Armando Rivero and Joan Socarras and stellar hitting from Leguim Barroso.

All three players have since defected, along with four other members of the championship squad, leaving the punchless team struggling to a losing season this year.