The head of Taiwan's top technical institute says economic downturns in the West and Japan provide the island an opportunity to lure talent from abroad to develop its high-tech sector.

Industrial Technology Research Institute Chairman Tsay Ching-yen says his institute will try to recruit recent graduates and experienced tech company workers to come to Taiwan.

For British director Steve McQueen, there was no better place than Manhattan to film "Shame," his new film that portrays the life of a 30-something sex addict, played by Michael Fassbender in often graphic detail.

"Excess and access. New York is the place," McQueen said Sunday ahead of his second film's world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Al Pacino's movie "Wilde Salome" is a complicated examination of Oscar Wilde's once-forbidden play about illicit love and revenge.

But his inspiration was simple: Jessica Chastain.

The Black Widow of eating contests has scarfed down 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes to break her own world record set last year in Buffalo, New York.

Sonya Thomas took home first place Sunday at the 10th annual National Buffalo Wings Festival. She beat eating marvel Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, who came in second with 174 wings.

Rescuers and search parties scoured central Japan on Monday as the death toll from the worst typhoon to hit the country in seven years climbed to 26, adding more misery to a nation still reeling from its catastrophic tsunami six months ago.

Typhoon Talas, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, lashed coastal areas with destructive winds and record-setting rains over the weekend before moving offshore into the Sea of Japan. In addition to the 26 dead and 52 missing, thousands were stranded as the typhoon washed out bridges, railways and roads.

Roger Federer reached the fourth round at a 30th consecutive a Grand Slam tournament by beating 27th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on a blustery Saturday at the U.S. Open.

The third-seeded Federer improved his career record at Flushing Meadows to 59-6, including five championships.

If anyone still harbored any doubts about whether Serena Williams is back at her best, she put on a pretty persuasive performance during the first 17 minutes of her third-round match Saturday at the U.S. Open.

That's how long Williams needed to build a 5-0 lead en route to a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory at Flushing Meadows over one of the best players the women's field had to offer: fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, a Wimbledon semifinalist two months ago.

In the 21st century, parenthood and paranoia often walk hand in hand.

For some, the blessed event is followed by high-tech surveillance, a monitoring system that tracks the baby's breathing rhythms and relays infrared images from the nursery. The next investment might be a nanny cam, to keep watch on the child's hired caregivers. Toddlers and grade schoolers can be equipped with GPS devices enabling a parent to know their location should something go awry.

Six cities from Europe, Asia and the Middle East are competing to host the 2020 Olympics.

Submitting bids to the International Olympic Committee by Friday's deadline were Rome; Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

Four NASCAR stars will take a pass on meeting President Obama at the White House.

It doesn't have anything to do with politics.