A United Nations-appointed expert is urging Vietnam's government to close down rehabilitation centers for drug users and sex workers following criticism of abuses by an international rights group, calling them "counterproductive."

Anand Grover, a special rapporteur for the U.N. Human Rights Council, said Monday at the end of a 10-day visit to Vietnam that the centers violate drug users' rights and are ineffective. He said the government should instead expand alternative treatments for drug users.

In a dramatic shift, British Olympic officials doubled the funding Monday to protect venues at the 2012 London Games, raising overall security costs to more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion).

Olympics minister Hugh Robertson insisted that the London Games remained financially on track — and within contingency planning. But the new figures are certain to become a sensitive issue in Britain, as tough economic times and bleak forecasts for the future raise questions about the wisdom of hosting the Olympics.

Scientists have found the biggest black holes known to exist — each one 10 billion times the size of our sun.

A team led by an astronomer at the University of California at Berkeley discovered the two gigantic black holes in clusters of galaxies 300 million light years away. That's relatively close on the galactic scale.

Clarence Pfundheller was standing in front of his locker on the USS Maryland when a fellow sailor told him they were being bombed by Japanese planes.

"We never did call him a liar but he could stretch the truth pretty good," Pfundheller said. "But once you seen him, you knew he wasn't lying."

South Korea says it has decided to resume sending aid to North Korea through the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

It's another sign that animosities between the two Koreas are easing. Diplomats are seeking to restart long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks and South Korean religious and cultural delegations are visiting the North.

Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a new interface for its Xbox game console users — one that allows you to navigate through music, movies, TV shows and games with the wave of your hand or the sound of your voice.

The interface, first demonstrated by CEO Steve Ballmer in September, is set up similarly to Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows 8 operating system with a series of large panes showing content options.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Greek political leaders Monday his government is "standing with you in solidarity," at the start of a crucial week for the future of the debt-saddled eurozone.

Biden, who traveled from Turkey, met with President Karolos Papoulias before starting talks with new Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and leaders of the main parties backing the country's new coalition government.

A court in the Philippines charged six Chinese fishermen with poaching endangered sea turtles in proceedings Monday aimed at protecting threatened wildlife along the country's coastline.

Authorities discovered a batch of giant green turtles after intercepting the fishermen's speedboat in waters off the western province of Palawan on Friday, said military spokesman Maj. Niel Estrella.

Copyrights and images from Marilyn Monroe's first photo shoot sold for $352,000 at an auction that included also items from Lady Gaga and John Lennon.

Julien's Auctions spokeswoman Caroline Galloway tells The Associated Press on Sunday that the Monroe photos — taken in 1946 when she was still Norma Jeane Dougherty — were the highlight of the Beverly Hills auction known as "Icons & Idols"

Chelsea hosts in-form Valencia in the Champions League on Tuesday in what could turn out to be the most crucial match of Andre Villas-Boas' debut season as Blues coach.

With Chelsea 10 points off the Premier League lead and eliminated from the League Cup, defeat to Valencia would effectively leave Villas-Boas with only the FA Cup to aim for.