Tyler Thompson is an unlikely star in the world of Chinese opera.

The black teenager from Oakland has captivated audiences in the U.S. and China with his ability to sing pitch-perfect Mandarin and perform the ancient Chinese art form.

The federal government has put Google, Microsoft, Apple and other technology companies on notice: Give consumers a way prevent advertisers from tracking their movements across the Web — or face regulation.

Yet for all its innovative know-how and entrepreneurial spirit, the technology industry has yet to agree on a simple, meaningful solution to protect consumer privacy on the Internet.

As the surgeons cut into her neck, Marianne Marquis was thinking of the beach.

As she heard the doctors' voices, she was imagining her toes in the sand, the water lapping.

Wearing dark suits, black dresses and the occasional beehive hairdo, friends and family said goodbye to Amy Winehouse with prayers, tears, laughter and song at an emotional funeral ceremony.

"Amy was the greatest daughter, family member and friend you could ever have," said her father, Mitch Winehouse, in a section of the eulogy released by a family spokesman.

A blast of heavy rain sent landslides barreling through South Korea's capital and a northern town Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including 10 college students doing volunteer work.

The students died as mud and debris engulfed them as they slept in a resort cabin in Chuncheon, about 68 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of the capital Seoul, said Byun In-soo of the town's fire station. A married couple and a convenience store owner also died.

Olympic silver medalist Jeret "Speedy" Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide.

One of the world's most risk-taking and innovative freestyle skiers, the creator of the one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" called 911 before shooting himself, police said. The 29-year-old Peterson had been cited for drunken driving Friday in Hailey, Idaho, and had pleaded not guilty.

Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, boosted by a weaker dollar as talks among U.S. leaders made little progress ahead of next week's deadline to raise the government debt limit.

Benchmark oil for September delivery was up 42 cents to $99.62 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude lost 67 cents to settle at $99.20 on Monday.

Michael Jackson's mom and four of his siblings announced plans Monday for a tribute concert later this year in Wales, but two of the late singer's brothers say they oppose the timing of the show.

The pop singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, and siblings La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson and Tito Jackson said the show is scheduled for Oct. 8 at Millennium Stadium but did not reveal any performers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is now renting and streaming movies online, many the same day they come out on DVD, in a second bid for a share of popular movie rental and streaming website Netflix Inc.'s business.

The world's largest retailer bought video-streaming service Vudu.com 18 months ago and Tuesday started offering 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from PCs to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players.

A sentence in which tiny birds and the English language are both slaughtered took top honors Monday in an annual bad writing contest.

Sue Fondrie of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for her sentence comparing forgotten memories to dead sparrows, said San Jose State University Prof. Scott Rice. The contestant asks writers to submit the worst possible opening sentences to imaginary novels.