A fresh look at fossilized remains has turned up a surprise: the earliest modern people in Europe.

From stone tools and other artifacts, scientists have long suspected that the earliest populations of Homo sapiens, or modern humans, settled the continent between 42,000 and 44,000 years ago.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday monitored the waters off Santa Cruz, where a pod of whales has settled unusually close to shore drawing crowds and threatening the safety of kayakers and other boaters trying to get a look at the creatures.

The humpback whales, each measuring about the length of a school bus, have come about a mile from land in search of food.

Rapper Snoop Dogg gave props on Twitter to an ad for the Toyota Sienna minivan. Actress Tori Spelling linked to a website for rental cars. And reality TV stars Khloe Kardashian soliloquized about the brand of jeans that accentuates the famous Kardashian derriere.

"Want to know how Old Navy makes your butt look scary good? Ask a Kardashian," the reality TV star wrote, or tweeted, on the social media website. Of course, she capped off the reflection with a smiley face.

Dermatologists will soon get some high-tech help deciding which suspicious-looking moles should be removed and checked for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a first-of-its-kind device, called MelaFind, that makes detailed, digital images of skin growths and uses a computer to analyze them for signs of cancer, offering a sort of second opinion to doctors.

The only company in Britain using hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas from shale rock said Wednesday that the controversial technique probably did trigger earth tremors in April and May.

But a report commissioned by Cuadrilla Resources, which is drilling for gas in the area outside the northwestern English coastal resort town of Blackpool, cautioned that the tremors, measuring 1.9 and 2.8 on the Richter scale — were due to an unusual combination of geology and operations and were unlikely to happen again.

A bronze sculpture of a young ballerina by French Impressionist Edgar Degas has failed to find a buyer at Christie's New York auction of impressionist and modern art.

"Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" had a pre-sale estimate of $25 million to $35 million. The auction was Tuesday night, but there were no bids.

Egypt's ruling generals have announced the pardon of 334 civilians who were sentenced in military tribunals since the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Wednesday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the move was to support "the continued communication with the great Egyptian people and the youth of the revolution."

Lenovo Group, one of the world's leading personal computer manufacturers, reported Wednesday that its profit in the first half of the year nearly doubled on strong emerging market sales.

Net profit for the half-year period was $252 million, or 2.52 U.S. cents per share, up 92 percent from $131 million a year earlier.

Italy striker Antonio Cassano will have "minor" heart surgery that will likely enable him to play again in a few months, AC Milan said Wednesday.

Cassano has been at the Policlinico facility since Saturday, when he was taken for tests after suffering what the club described as a brain problem on the team plane following the team's 3-2 victory over Roma.

Bangladesh and Russia signed a deal Wednesday to build a nuclear power plant in the energy-starved South Asian nation.

Bangladesh's junior Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman said he and Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation Director-General Sergei Kiriyenko signed the agreement to build the nation's first such plant at Rooppur in Pabna district, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the capital, Dhaka.