As Oscar Pistorius awaits sentencing for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, it's uncertain if the fallen sports icon will ever race again. What's clearer is that the Paralympic leadership will not be encouraging any comeback by the double amputee sprinter.

Next month, the judge in South Africa could hand Pistorius anything from a suspended sentence and a fine to as much as 15 years in prison. Should Pistorius subsequently be in a position to compete, the International Paralympic Committee would be powerless to stop "Blade Runner" returning to the track if he achieves a qualifying time.

A North Korean female gymnast on Wednesday was banned and stripped of all her results since 2006 in a case of age cheating.

The International Gymnastics Federation said the North Korean team "is blamed for submitting a fake passport for Cha Yong Hwa."

The scores of new features in Apple's software update for mobile devices can be boiled down to one word: unity.

Many iPhone owners also have iPads and Mac computers, and family members are likely to have Apple devices, too. With the new iOS 8 software for iPhones and iPads, those devices start to act like one. Apps on those devices start to unite, too.

"NBA 2K15" is angling for a slam dunk with an innovative new way to put players in the game.

The developers of the interactive basketball franchise are adding the option for gamers to digitally graft lifelike 3-D renditions of their faces onto virtual players in the series' latest installment, set for Oct. 7. The process uses the camera for either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One game consoles to create faces for wannabe Kobe Bryants and Kevin Durants.

Control over Alibaba Group will stay in the hands of founder Jack Ma and other company veterans after the Chinese e-commerce giant goes public on the New York Stock Exchange in a record busting share sale.

A group of 27 managers dubbed the "Alibaba Partnership" will have the power to nominate a majority of board members, a structure that was unpalatable to Hong Kong's stock market and resulted in Alibaba deciding to list in New York.

A Michigan man is apologizing for trying to throw a football loaded with drugs and cellphones into a state prison yard.

Christen D. Moore on Wednesday called the June attempt "a thoughtless and immature decision." The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports (http://bit.ly/1qYsTLj ) the 22-year-old's comments came during his sentencing hearing, where he got 17 to 60 months on two counts of furnishing contraband to a prisoner.

Police in Philadelphia say a man used a banana he swiped from a convenience store counter to simulate a gun while he robbed the place.

Police on Wednesday posted surveillance video (http://bit.ly/1thASUL ) of the holdup reported in the East Parkside neighborhood.

It's like Florida's version of The Blob. Slow moving glops of toxic algae in the northeast Gulf of Mexico are killing sea turtles, sharks and fish, and threatening the waters and beaches that fuel the region's economy.

Known as "red tide," this particular strain called Karenia brevis is present nearly every year off Florida, but large blooms can be particularly devastating. Right now, the algae is collecting in an area about 60 miles wide and 100 miles long, about 5 to 15 miles off St. Petersburg in the south and stretching north to Florida's Big Bend, where the peninsula ends and the Panhandle begins.

Pope Francis has signed off on Sri Lanka's first saint, bending Vatican rules to bypass confirmation of a miracle.

Francis is expected to canonize the Rev. Giuseppe Baz, a 17th century missionary, during his January visit to Sri Lanka.

Real Madrid started the defense of its Champions League crown with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Basel on Tuesday, while Liverpool celebrated its return to Europe's top club competition with a dramatic 2-1 win against Bulgarian side Ludogorets.

Madrid's win should end talk of crisis following a poor start to the club's domestic season.