More than 1,000 university students blocked a main highway in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday as they protested against any agreement that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after a planned transfer of authority in 2014.

An assembly of more than 2,000 tribal elders and dignitaries known as a loya jirga endorsed the idea of such agreement in a conference that ended Saturday, though they also backed a series of conditions proposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai including the end of night raids by international troops and complete Afghan control over detainees.

Residents in the Syrian capital woke up to two loud explosions Sunday amid activist reports that a major building belonging to the ruling Baath party in the capital Damascus had been by hit several rocket-propelled grenades.

There was no immediate confirmation of the report, which would mark the first significant attack on a government building in relatively quiet central Damascus.

Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. returned home Sunday after being summoned to answer questions about his alleged role in a secret memo scandal that could cost him his job and threatens to engulf the country's president.

The controversy centers on a memo that was sent in May to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military official at the time, asking for his help in reining in Pakistan's powerful military after the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town.

The government delivered a blow to some desperate patients Friday as it ruled the blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used to treat advanced breast cancer.

Avastin is hailed for treating colon cancer and certain other malignancies. But the Food and Drug Administration said it appeared to be a false hope for breast cancer: Studies haven't found that it helps those patients live longer or brings enough other benefit to outweigh its dangerous side effects.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire tablet, which started shipping this week, costs $201.70 to make, a research firm said Friday. That's $2.70 more than Amazon charges for it.

The analysis by IHS indicates that Amazon is, at least initially, selling the tablet at a loss that it hopes to cover through sales of books and movies for the device. The manufacturing cost of a new gadget usually comes down over time as chips become cheaper.

"Arrested Development" is coming back to life on the Netflix video streaming service.

Netflix says the quirky TV comedy series is resuming production and will be available for instant viewing by Netflix subscribers in 2013. "Arrested Development" aired on Fox for three seasons from 2003 to 2006.

More than ever, we need a world where a pig can be romantically linked to a frog. A world where no one finds it odd that Jason Segel's little brother is a puppet, and they share a room with twin beds as well as a taste for pastel leisure suits.

"The Muppets" marks a very welcome return for Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the rest of Jim Henson's creations after a 12-year big-screen absence. From start to finish, the movie is a healthy, dizzy dose of childlike bliss, the songs campy but catchy, the humor corny but clever, the cast — both human and Muppet — one of the most lovable gangs you'll ever spend time with at the pictures (another lovable gang, the "Toy Story" playthings, star in a short animated charmer that precedes "The Muppets").

A yacht captain said on national TV Friday that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.

The circumstances of her death remain one of Hollywood's enduring mysteries and continue to create renewed intrigue, with homicide detectives Thursday unexpectedly reopening the case that had long been classified as a tragic accident.

A high school teacher is under investigation after school officials said she was maintaining a pornographic website from her school-issued laptop computer.

Lincoln High School teacher Heidi Kaeslin is on paid leave while the district investigates whether she violated its code of ethics, The Stockton Record reported (http://bit.ly/uka7kA ).

Internet phone service Skype said Thursday that it will let users of its software make video calls to their Facebook friends and receive them, too.

The free feature, released Thursday in a "beta" test version of Skype's software for Macs and PCs, expands on an existing partnership between the companies.