Report: NFL Film's Sabol recovering from seizure

NFL.com is reporting that NFL Films president Steve Sabol is in a Kansas City hospital recovering from a seizure he had Saturday night.

The 68-year-old Sabol was in Kansas City to accept an award on behalf of NFL Films when he became ill.

Sabol was taken to a hospital, underwent a series of tests over the weekend, and was awake and alert Monday.

Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday wished him well on Tuesday.

"We hope Steve Sabol is doing much better. Our prayers are with him," Saturday said before heading into labor negotiations between the NFL and the players' union in Washington.

Steve's father, Ed, is the founder of NFL Films and was selected for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last month.

Steve Sabol began working for his father in 1964. He has won multiple Emmy Awards for writing, cinematography, editing, directing and producing.

Kuwait police block square amid protest calls

Police barricaded a main square in Kuwait's capital Tuesday before planned protests for greater political freedoms that could bring another Gulf state into the surge for reforms around the Arab world.

The police cordons around Kuwait City's central Safat Square were a high-profile warning to demonstrators, but organizers used social media to point to alternative sites in attempts to keep a step ahead of the crackdown.

Although the calls for protests would mark the first in Kuwait since the stunning Arab uprisings, the oil-rich Gulf nation is no stranger to political showdowns. Kuwait has the region's most powerful parliament and opposition lawmakers have waged open battles against the ruling system, including nearly bringing down the prime minister two times with no-confidence votes.

One of the protest slogans: "Leave! We Deserve Better!"

The planned rallies were timed to dovetail with the return of parliament from a nearly monthlong recess.

One of the first acts was the swearing-in of the new interior minister, whose predecessor was dismissed in January following an uproar when a suspect accused of illegal liquor sales was beaten to death in police custody.

Author Greg Iles injured in traffic accident

Author Greg Iles is hospitalized in serious condition after being injured in a traffic accident in southwestern Mississippi.

Patrice Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, says Iles was admitted Monday night. She said privacy issues prevent her from giving out any other information.

Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield says Iles, who lives in Natchez, was injured when his car collided with a pickup truck in U.S. Highway 61.

Iles has written a number of books including "The Devil's Punchbowl."

AP source: Obama to name Locke as China ambassador

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is getting a new assignment: President Barack Obama plans to nominate him to become the next U.S. ambassador to China, making Locke the first Chinese-American to hold that post.

An announcement was expected this week, administration officials said. They requested anonymity to speak freely before Obama makes the nomination official.

If confirmed by the Senate, Locke would succeed Jon Huntsman, a Republican who is ending his stint as ambassador in a Democratic administration at the end of April.

Huntsman is seen as a potential GOP challenger to Obama in the 2012 presidential contest.

Locke, 61, is the first Chinese-American to serve as commerce secretary, and the Commerce Department said he would likewise be the first Chinese-American ambassador to China. Locke's father and grandfather were born in China and settled in Washington state after emigrating to the U.S.

Man who killed ex-girlfriend gets 23 years to life

A New York man has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for killing his former girlfriend while she was home from college for Thanksgiving break.

Steven Pieper of Liverpool was sentenced Tuesday morning in Onondaga County Court in Syracuse.

The 21-year-old Pieper pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the November slaying of 20-year-old Jenni-Lyn Watson. Pieper admitted strangling and suffocating Watson inside her parents' home in the town of Clay on Nov. 19 and dumping her body in a wooded area in a nearby park.

Watson had returned home from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., for Thanksgiving the day before she was killed. Her body was found eight days later.