Syria's President Bashar Assad claimed in an interview published Thursday that countries conspiring against Syria have "used up all their tools" in their campaign to overthrow his regime.

In comments to the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, Assad rejected the idea that what has been happening in Syria since more than two years is a revolution. Instead, he insisted it is a conspiracy by Western and some Arab states to destabilize his country.

Cambodia has joined hands with Australia in an effort to use the Internet to help preserve its fabled Angkor Wat temple complex.

The Australian Embassy announced Thursday that a recently opened website, angkorsunsets.com, will give tourists recommendations for where in the 160-square-mile (400-square-kilometer) complex one can watch spectacular sunsets.

The Bank of England has opted to refrain from pumping more money into the UK economy in its first meeting since new Governor Mark Carney's arrival.

The Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates at 0.5 percent Thursday and decided against expanding its stimulus program.

Nestle SA says it will cut infant formula prices in China by an average of 11 percent starting Monday amid an investigation into alleged price-fixing by several foreign companies.

The price cuts by the company's Wyeth Nutrition unit will be maintained through 2014, and the prices of some products will be cut by up to 20 percent, Nestle spokesman Jonathan Dong said in an email Thursday.

With a 3-D printer, a petri dish and some cells from a cow, U.S. researchers are growing synthetic ears that can receive — and transmit — sound.

The Princeton University scientists send bovine cells mixed in a liquid gel through the printer, followed by tiny particles of silver. The printer is programmed to shape the material into a "bionic ear" and forms the silver particles into a coiled antenna. Like any antenna, this one can pick up radio signals that the ear will interpret as sound.

The billion-dollar sale of navigation company Waze to Google may finally be putting Israel on the map as a major player in consumer Internet innovation.

Israel's high-tech sector has been dominated by firms that made products for other businesses, like computer chips or communications gear. But in recent years Internet and mobile companies have emerged as the majority of Israeli startups, and many have found success in the global market.

Mark Cavendish will never be the greatest Tour de France rider, because he will never win the race five times like Eddy Merkcx of Belgium and Frenchman Bernard Hinault. Still, the sprinter with thighs like thick hams could outdo both of those legends — by winning more stages than them at cycling's premier race.

By Cavendish's warp-speed standards, his 24th stage win on Wednesday was like taking candy from a baby. The teammates who led Cavendish to the finish, sucking him along in their wheels, building up his speed, were toiling like clockwork. Stamping on his pedals, head down, thighs pumping like pistons, Cavendish then whooshed off alone for the last 150 meters (yards), leaving everyone else in his wake.

The Formula One championship goes to this weekend's German Grand Prix on a bankrupt circuit amid concern over tire safety and with three-time champion Sebastian Vettel seeking his first win on home soil.

The race at the Nuerburgring comes a week after a chaotic British Grand Prix in which five cars suffered tire blowouts, including that of leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Brazil has surged to ninth in the FIFA rankings after winning the Confederations Cup.

The five-time World Cup winner and 2014 host fell to an all-time low of 22nd before a five-match victory streak earned the warm-up event title.

When Any Murray dropped the first two sets of his Wimbledon quarterfinal Wednesday, the 15,000 Centre Court spectators were reduced to a silence so complete that birds could be heard chirping.

By the time his five-set comeback was nearly complete, more than two hours later, the fans were greeting each point that went Murray's way with celebrations of the sort normally reserved for a championship. It's been 77 years since a British man won the country's Grand Slam tennis tournament, and thanks to the second-seeded Murray's 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over 54th-ranked Fernando Verdasco, the locals still can hold out hope the wait will end Sunday.