Bangladesh and Russia signed a deal Wednesday to build a nuclear power plant in the energy-starved South Asian nation.

Bangladesh's junior Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman said he and Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation Director-General Sergei Kiriyenko signed the agreement to build the nation's first such plant at Rooppur in Pabna district, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the capital, Dhaka.

A biology professor has won France's top literary prize for his first novel, which deals with France's colonial wars in Algeria and Southeast Asia.

Alexis Jenni, 48, received the prize Wednesday for "L'Art Francais de la Guerre" — "The French Art of War."

Marni Kotak gave the performance of her life when she gave birth to baby Ajax in a New York City art gallery turned home birthing center last week. Now they're back.

"It's exactly how I wanted it to be," Kotak said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, her first since giving birth. "Most of the people hung around for hours holding the baby, talking about the experience together and getting food and other supplies that we needed" until she went home.

Lionel Messi broke the 200-goal barrier for his Barcelona career with his second straight hat trick in a 4-0 win at Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night that advanced the club to the Champions League knockout stage.

AC Milan also advanced with a 1-1 tie at BATE Borisov, but Arsenal and Chelsea were held to draws and will have to wait until their final two games to earn a spot in the second round.

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy feels like it already has been a long year on and off the golf course. All he cares about now is a sprint to the finish.

Coming off a playoff win at the Shanghai Masters and its $2 million payoff, McIlroy is naturally a favorite at the HSBC Champions that starts on Thursday. It's a World Golf Championship that counts toward the European Tour money list and could go a long way toward helping McIlroy make up ground on Luke Donald.

Lindsay Lohan returns to court Wednesday to learn whether a judge will agree with a prosecutor advocating that the actress be returned to jail for failing to complete a community service assignment at a women's shelter.

Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner revoked Lohan's probation at a hearing nearly two weeks ago, but now must formally determine whether Lohan violated the terms of her sentence. The judge has asked prosecutors to calculate how long of a jail term the actress would have to serve if she is formally found in violation of her probation for misdemeanor drunken driving and theft cases.

Whether sipping beer, wine or whiskey, women who drink just three alcoholic beverages a week face slightly higher chances for developing breast cancer compared with teetotalers, a study of more than 100,000 U.S. nurses found.

The link between alcohol and breast cancer isn't new, but most previous studies found no increased risk for breast cancer among light drinkers. The new research provides compelling evidence because it followed so many women for up to almost 30 years, experts said.

Twin 2-year-old girls who were joined at the chest and abdomen were separated Tuesday during a lengthy, complex procedure at Stanford University's children's hospital.

The operation that gave Philippines-born sisters Angelina and Angelica Sabuco their independence took more than nine hours and a team of more than 40 people.

Boys dressed as an iPad and an iPod were among the young revelers who stopped by the California home of the late Steve Jobs.

The San Jose Mercury News reports dry ice fog enveloped jack-o'-lanterns and thunder rumbled from hidden speakers outside the Palo Alto home where kids seeking treats have been welcomed for years on Halloween.

Freakish weather disasters — from the sudden October snowstorm in the Northeast U.S. to the record floods in Thailand — are striking more often. And global warming is likely to spawn more similar weather extremes at a huge cost, says a draft summary of an international climate report obtained by The Associated Press.

The final draft of the report from a panel of the world's top climate scientists paints a wild future for a world already weary of weather catastrophes costing billions of dollars. The report says costs will rise and perhaps some locations will become "increasingly marginal as places to live."