How does a tabby cat earn its stripes? With the right DNA.

Scientists say they've found the gene that sets the common tabby pattern — stripes or blotches.

Capitalizing on low water levels in Warsaw's Vistula River, police are teaming up with archaeologists to recover gigantic marble and alabaster treasures that apparently were stolen from royals in Poland by Swedish invaders in the mid-17th century.

A police Mi-8 helicopter hovered over a riverbed on Thursday, lifting ornaments such as the centerpiece of a fountain with water outlets decorated with Satyr-like faces.

Teenage girls may prefer the pill, the patch or even wishful thinking, but their doctors should be recommending IUDs or hormonal implants — long-lasting and more effective birth control that you don't have to remember to use every time, the nation's leading gynecologists group said Thursday.

The IUD and implants are safe and nearly 100 percent effective at preventing pregnancy, and should be "first-line recommendations," the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in updating its guidance for teens.

The nation's largest cancer center is launching a massive "moonshot" effort against eight specific forms of the disease, similar to the all-out push for space exploration 50 years ago.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston expects to spend as much as $3 billion on the project over the next 10 years and already has "tens of millions" of dollars in gifts to jump start it now, said its president, Dr. Ronald DePinho.

Tottenham had two goals disallowed in a 0-0 draw at home to Serie A joint leader Lazio in their opening game of the Europa League group stage on Thursday, while defending champion Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 win at Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

United States international Clint Dempsey had a goal ruled out for offside halfway through the first period, before Steven Caulker saw his header struck off for his push on Lazio's Stefano Mauri.

European Union sports ministers sought Thursday to forge a united front against match-fixing to combat what they consider one of the most serious threats to modern sports.

At a meeting in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, they called for "dissuasive, effective and proportionate" criminal and disciplinary sanctions against offenders, especially in serious, cross-border cases.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has taken legal action against one of Marca's journalists over an article published this week, the Spanish newspaper said on Thursday.

The Spanish champions followed that by announcing they were studying their own legal case against a former Barcelona vice-president who tweeted Mourinho was a "psychopath."

Google Inc. says it plans to close a music download service in China due to a disappointing response from users.

The move announced Friday will further reduce Google's presence in the world's most populous Internet market two years after it closed its mainland search engine in a dispute over censorship and computer hacking.

Nearly two years after President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to tamp down the escalating Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country, U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday.

Panetta said the "surge did accomplish it objectives of reversing the Taliban momentum on the battlefield and dramatically increase the size and capability of the Afghan national security forces."

Formula One leader Fernando Alonso and title contender Mark Webber of Red Bull said this week's Singapore Grand Prix could be the turning point of the season, ending McLaren's recent dominance.

McLaren has won the past three races, but both Ferrari and Red Bull are hoping the nature of the circuit in Singapore and upcoming races should negate McLaren's advantages.