The company focused on how cloud computing will make games for its next-generation Xbox One console more immersive during its Monday presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade show. Microsoft announced last week that the successor to the Xbox 360 must be connected to the Internet every 24 hours to operate, and the system would ideally always be online.

"The platform features and capabilities exclusive to Xbox One allow developers to push the boundaries of creativity and take gaming in completely new directions," Microsoft Vice President Phil Harrison told the crowd at University of Southern California's Galen Center.

The upcoming console's cloud computing capabilities were demonstrated by fleshing out dense environments in third-person open-world games like the zombie-fighting sequel "Dead Rising 3" and cartoony shooter "Sunset Overdrive." The racing simulator "Forza MotorSport 5" introduced a feature called "drivatar," which mimics players' driving styles and allows their "drivatars" to play for them offline.

"There's ability to put things in the cloud that you want to have computed, so you can take some of the computing capability that you might require locally or used to require locally and then have CPUs in the cloud that actually do some background work for the game," explained Phil Spencer, Microsoft Studios' vice president. "You're actually augmenting the power of the box that's sitting right in your living room."

Microsoft revealed the console, which it has billed as an "all-in-one" entertainment solution for living rooms, will be released in November and cost $499. The company debuted the console earlier this year at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The initial reactions to the device have been mixed.

Other games coming to Xbox One include the historical third-person game "Ryse: Son of Rome," hard-knuckled brawler "Killer Instinct," a bigger edition of "Minecraft," terra-forming simulator "Project Spark" and a new installment of the sci-fi shooter series "Halo."

Monday's flashy event concluded with the debut of the mech-heavy multiplayer shooter "Titanfall," the first game from Respawn Entertainment, which was founded by "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" creators Vince Zampella and Jason West.

The company said it was doing away with its Microsoft points system for online purchases with its Xbox Live online service, opting instead for local currency.

Microsoft didn't address concerns at Monday's event over connectivity, used games and privacy issues with the Xbox One, which will feature a new version of its camera-based Kinect sensor. In a blog post on Microsoft's site Thursday ahead of E3, the company outlined more details about the console, including restrictions on how previously played or used games could be shared and how frequently the Xbox One must be online.

"For people who are in a completely disconnected state, I think (Xbox) 360 is definitely a great content base for them and a great console, and we'll continue to invest in that," Spencer said after the event.

Microsoft Corp. kicked off Monday's presentation by revealing the Xbox 360 is getting a makeover with a design inspired by the Xbox One.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's vice president of marketing and strategy, said the updated Xbox 360 is "smaller, sleeker and as quiet as ever." He added it would be available beginning Monday.

The company boasted that hundreds of new games are still coming to Xbox 360, which was originally released eight years ago as the high-definition successor to the Xbox. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has outsold rivals like the Wii and PlayStation 3 from Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp. for the past two years. It has sold more than 76 million Xbox 360 units.

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AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report. Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

___

Online:

http://www.xbox.com

Although I deeply loved her, the time she was with us was very challenging and hard. Do I sign up for a life filled with uncertainty and give this child a shot at stability? Or do I pray that she will find the perfect home to meet all her needs? -- UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE FUTURE

DEAR UNCERTAIN: Only you decide about whether you are up to the challenge of trying to fix this damaged girl. There are no guarantees, and it is no disgrace to admit this is more than you feel you can manage.

However, if you feel that you and your husband can make a difference, it is important that you know you won't be alone in trying to handle her emotional issues. In this country, support systems for children are better than they are for adults. Your county mental health department can guide you, and if there are medical schools nearby, they may sponsor programs to train young psychiatrists who can also help you.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 18 years. Our marriage has had its ups and downs. Last year we separated for eight months. We decided to stay married and are now again living together.

I found out not long ago that he slept with my daughter's best friend. I am horrified that he'd do such a thing, because as a teenager she would hang out at our home. I feel that what he did should have never happened.

Although I would like to think our marriage can be repaired, I still have my doubts. Should I feel this way or let the past stay in the past? -- LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN OKLAHOMA

DEAR LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: Not every woman would forgive an affair that seems this uncomfortably "incestuous." A counselor may be able to help you sort out your feelings, and joint marriage counseling should definitely be considered before you make up your mind.

DEAR ABBY: What is a man's ethical responsibility when he hears of a crime in group therapy?

While attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, I heard a man confess that he had dropped a cinder block on a boy's head when he was 12. The man was never arrested for the crime. I can't stop thinking about the boy who was his victim. Should I tell the police? -- SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH

DEAR SOMEWHERE: It is the group leader's responsibility to contact the authorities if a group member is a danger to himself or others. If this happened when the man was 12, what would it accomplish to report it at this point? Because this has been preying on your mind, you should talk with the group leader about the matter.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

Officials say the new strategy may be having some impact.

In recent private meetings with U.S. officials, Chinese leaders have moved past their once-intractable denials of cyber espionage and are acknowledging there is a problem. And while there have been no actual admissions of guilt, officials say the Chinese seem more open to trying to work with the U.S. to address the problems.

"By going public the administration has made a lot of progress," said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has met with Chinese leaders on cyber issues.

But it will likely be a long and bumpy road, as any number of regional disputes and tensions could suddenly stir dissent and stall progress.

On Wednesday, China's Internet security chief told state media that Beijing has amassed large amounts of data about U.S.-based hacking attacks against China but refrains from blaming the White House or the Pentagon because it would be irresponsible.

The state-run English-language China Daily reported that Huang Chengqing, director of the government's Internet emergency response agency, said Beijing and Washington should cooperate rather than confront each other in the fight against cyberattacks. Huang also called for mutual trust.

President Barack Obama is expected to bring up the issue when he meets with China's new president, Xi Jinping, in Southern California later this week. The officials from the two nations have agreed to meet and discuss the issue in a new working group that Secretary of State John Kerry announced in April. Obama's Cabinet members and staff have been laying the groundwork for those discussions.

Standing on the stage at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference last weekend, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel became the latest U.S. official to openly accuse the Chinese government of cyber espionage as members of Beijing's delegation sat in the audience in front of him. The U.S., he said, "has expressed our concerns about the growing threat of cyber intrusions, some of which appear to be tied to the Chinese government and military."

But speaking to reporters traveling with him to the meeting in this island nation in China's backyard, Hagel said it's important to use both public diplomacy and private engagements when dealing with other nations such as China on cyber problems.

"I've rarely seen that public engagement resolves a problem, but it's important," he said, adding that governments have the responsibility to keep their people informed about such issues.

The hacking issue also featured prominently over two days of meetings between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a leading Chinese trade think tank in Beijing.

"This is arguably the single most consequential issue that is serving to erode trust in the relationship," said Jeremie Waterman, the chamber's executive director for greater China. "Over time, it could undermine business support for U.S.-China relations."

According to Lewis and other defense officials familiar with the issue, China's willingness to engage in talks with the U.S. about the problem even without admitting to some of the breaches is a step in the right direction.

Cybersecurity experts say China-based instances of cyber intrusions into U.S. agencies and programs including defense contractors and military weapons systems have been going on since the late 1990s. And they went along largely unfettered for as much as a decade.

A recent Pentagon report compiled by the Defense Science Board laid out what it called a partial list of 37 programs that were breached in computer-based attacks, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon, a land-based missile defense system that was recently deployed to Guam to help counter the North Korean threat. Other programs whose systems were breached include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-22 Raptor fighter jet and the hybrid MV-22 Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane.

The report also listed 29 broader defense technologies that have been compromised, including drone video systems and high-tech avionics. The information was gathered more than two years ago, so some of the data are dated and a few of the breaches such as the F-35 had already become public.

According to U.S. officials and cyber experts, China hackers use gaps in software or scams that target users' email systems to infiltrate government and corporate networks. They are then often able to view or steal files or use those computers to move through the network accessing other data.

Chinese officials have long denied any role in cyberattacks and insisted that the law forbids hacking and that their military has no role in it. They have also asserted that they, too, are often the victim.

Cyber experts say some of the breaches that emanate from Internet locations in China may be the product of patriotic hackers who are not working at the behest of Beijing's government or military but in independent support of it.

The Chinese government's control of the Internet, however, suggests that those hackers are likely operating with at least the knowledge of authorities who may choose to look the other way.

U.S. officials have quietly grumbled about the problem for several years but steadfastly refused to speak publicly about it. As the intrusions grew in number and sophistication, affecting an increasing number of government agencies, private companies and citizens, alarmed authorities began to rethink that strategy.

They were pressed on by cybersecurity experts including prominent former government officials who argued that using cyberattacks to steal intellectual property, weapons and financial data and other corporate secrets brought great gain at very little cost to the hackers. The U.S. government, they said, had to make it clear to the Chinese that continued bad behavior would trigger consequences.

In November 2011, U.S. intelligence officials for the first time publicly accused China and Russia of systematically stealing American high-tech data for economic gain.

That was followed by specific warnings about Chinese cyberattacks in the last two annual Pentagon reports on China's military power. And in February, the Virginia-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant laid out a detailed report directly linking a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. After analyzing breaches that compromised more than 140 companies, Mandiant concluded that they can be linked to a unit that experts believe is part of the People's Liberation Army's cyber command.

The change in tone from the Chinese leaders came through during recent meetings with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and has continued, according to officials and experts familiar with more recent discussions with Chinese leaders.

Still, experts say that progress with the Chinese will still be slow and that it's naive to think the cyberattacks will stop.

"This will take continuous pressure for a number of years," said Lewis. "We will need both carrots and sticks, and the question is when do you use them."

PARIS (Reuters) - Ask Marko Jankovic whether his sister Jelena has got the passion back for tennis and the answer would be a resounding yes.

Marko, her interim coach, took his place in Chatrier Court at the French Open on Wednesday and was in the firing line as the 28-year-old lost in the quarter-final to defending champion Maria Sharapova despite a stunning first set which she won 6-0.

Former world number one Jankovic is refreshingly quiet when she strikes the ball, but the volume went up as she aimed a non-stop monologue at the elder sibling who encouraged her to take up tennis when she was a nine-year-old.

While the angriest comments were fired his way after a losing point or a Sharapova winner, she sometimes looked daggers towards Marko after coming out on top in rallies.

It was nothing personal, though, as Jankovic explained.

"At one stage I lost the hunger and was just flat on the court, and that showed in my face when I competed," she told reporters after a 0-6 6-4 6-3 loss in her first grand slam quarter-final since 2010.

"Now I think I'm a different person. Even though I'm yelling, whatever I'm doing on the court, this is me. This is what the sport is all about.

"It's about passion, about really enjoying yourself. Even though I'm sometimes getting frustrated I really enjoy being there and competing and putting myself into position to win these big matches in front of a huge crowd on a huge court."

For the 28 minutes it took her to win the first set Jankovic was playing like the player who topped the rankings in 2008.

Sharapova recovered from a rare "bagel" to snatch victory but knew she had been in a scrap.

At 3-3 in the decider the outcome was too close to call but Sharapova contrived to make one audacious angled backhand and another screaming forehand winner to get the decisive break.

"She came up with some winners. That backhand, it was like between a dropshot and an angle, I don't know how she does that, but it was an amazing shot. Even if it was luck or not," Jankovic said of her old sparring partner from their days at the Nick Bollettieri academy.

"Credit to her. At the end she was a better player. I was a bit unlucky, but I fought. I fought hard until the end."

Jankovic, who finished a year outside the world's top-20 for the first time in five years, said the turning-point of her season came after tearing a thigh muscle in January.

"After that I said I really can't take this anymore. I wanted to put myself into great shape and give myself a chance to compete," said the 18th seed.

"I have been beating good players and today I put myself in a position to beat Maria."

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

DUBLIN, Ohio (Reuters) - Ice-cool Matt Kuchar held off a late challenge from fellow American Kevin Chappell to clinch the Memorial Tournament by two shots on Sunday and become the PGA Tour's second multiple winner this year.

Leading by two going into the final round at Muirfield Village Golf Club, the 34-year-old Kuchar was never caught as he fired a four-under-par 68 in the high-profile event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

Kuchar birdied all four of the par-fives on the heavily tree-lined layout to remain in control and rubber-stamped his win by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-four last for a 12-under total of 276.

Chappell, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, birdied four of the last six holes for a bogey-free 68 and outright second place while five-times champion Tiger Woods ended a forgettable week with a 72, finishing a distant 20 strokes off the pace.

American Kyle Stanley, who briefly cut Kuchar's lead to one with a sizzling run of four birdies in five holes on the front nine, faded to a 71 for third place at seven under.

Kuchar, however, reigned supreme on perhaps the easiest day for scoring in easing winds after a challenging week at Muirfield Village where strong gusts and lightning-fast greens had posed all sorts of problems for the players.

Having clinched one of the biggest victories of his career at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, Kuchar emulated Woods as a multiple champion this season and pocketing the winner's cheque for $1.116 million.

"It's a real honor to win this tournament," Kuchar said to 18-times major champion Nicklaus as he was greeted with a handshake by his long-time idol after walking off the 18th green.

"This is such an amazing feeling," Kuchar, who will rise to a career-high fourth in the world rankings on Monday, later told CBS Sports. "This never gets old."

FAST START

Kuchar made a fast start to the final round, sinking a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-four first to move three strokes clear.

However, he succumbed to the lurking danger on the slick greens when he recorded a three-putt bogey at the par-three fourth, missing a three-footer to slip back to eight under.

Scott Stallings, who had reeled off five consecutive birdies from the fourth, briefly closed to within a stroke of the lead when he sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the par-four 10th.

Kuchar countered with two-putt birdies at the par-five fifth and the par-five seventh to regain a three-shot cushion before reaching the turn in two-under 34.

At that point, he was one ahead of Stanley, who had birdied the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth.

Kuchar benefited from a two-shot swing at the par-five 11th where he rolled in a 14-footer for birdie to lead by three after Stanley, who ended up under the lip of a fairway bunker off the tee, bogeyed the hole.

With none of his closest challengers applying any sustained pressure, Kuchar increased his advantage to four with another two-putt birdie at the par-five 15th.

Kuchar bogeyed the par-three 16th after his tee shot ran through the fringe into tangly grass from where his chip ended 14 feet beyond the hole and his lead was cut to two when Chappell sank a 20-footer to birdie the 17th.

Though Chappell struck a superb approach to just two feet at the last to set up his fourth birdie of the round, Kuchar matched him when he stunningly sank his attempt from 20 feet.

Woods, who began the day 16 strokes off the pace after struggling with his putting over the first three rounds, came badly unstuck with a triple-bogey at the par-three 12th, his third hole of the day.

However, five birdies in his last 13 holes gave himself something to build on as he now prepares for the second major of the year, the June 13-16 U.S. Open at Merion

"It wasn't like it was that far off today," Woods said after finishing at wight over 296. "It was just one hole that cost me obviously a few shots.

"It happens. It happens to us all. I go home next week and practise. It's just one of those weeks. It happens. This week I obviously didn't putt well. I had some funky stances."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Julian Linden)

The plan, if implemented, is an attempt to address one of Israel's more pressing issues: what to do with an influx of roughly 60,000 African migrants who have sneaked into Israel from Egypt over the past eight years.

Their arrivals have put Israel in a bind. Many Israelis believe that the Jewish state, founded in part as a refuge for Holocaust survivors after World War II, has a responsibility to help the downtrodden. But others fear that taking in tens of thousands of Africans will threaten the country's Jewish character and question the extent of Israel's moral obligations beyond those of other nations.

Most of the migrants have come from Eritrea or Sudan, some fleeing repressive regimes and others looking for work.

Over the past year, Israel has taken a series of steps to halt the influx. It built a fence along the border with Egypt that has reduced the number of new arrivals from hundreds each month to just a trickle. Since last summer, it has imprisoned new arrivals while officials determine whether they meet the criteria for refugee status. Last year, Israel offered some migrants cash to leave voluntarily, warning they would be expelled otherwise.

Thousands of Africans still live in slums in Tel Aviv and other cities. Israel has been unable to deport most of them because they would face harm if they returned to their countries of origin.

According to the document, a state lawyer told the Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday that a deal was reached with an unidentified country to absorb some migrants and that Israel was in talks with two other countries to secure a similar agreement. The details of the arrangement were not disclosed, although the state's lawyer, Yochi Gnesin, said the return of migrants would be "gradual."

Later Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted in favor of a bill prohibiting migrants from removing money from the country before their final departure.

"We have stopped the infiltration phenomenon into Israel. Last month only two infiltrators entered Israel, compared to more than 2,000 a year ago. Now we are focused on the infiltrators leaving," he said in a statement.

Critics said the deal reflects an abdication of responsibility by Israel and that Israel will not be able to properly monitor the migrants' conditions once they are deported.

Tally Kritzman-Amir, an immigration law expert at the Academic Center for Law and Business in Tel Aviv, said that Israel could neither effectively supervise the conditions of deported migrants nor guarantee they would not be sent back to their home countries in the future.

"It is possible to transfer the migrants to a third country," she said, "but the primary responsibility to the rights of the refugees still lies with Israel."

Under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, states are obligated not to send refugees to countries where they would face physical or political danger. It is not clear whether that obligates signatories, of which Israel is one, to monitor the refugees indefinitely after they are deported.

Few other details on the deal were immediately available. Israeli Army Radio reported the country was in east Africa and did not suffer from any unrest that would harm the migrants. Kritzman-Amir said that would make Uganda and South Sudan, which both have good relations with Israel, likely candidates, but she did not have inside information.

Gnesin said the countries involved in absorbing the migrants were doing so "in exchange for one thing or another," although it was not clear what they would receive in return. The Haaretz daily said that Israel had agreed to provide agricultural expertise as part of the deal.

The Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the government to provide details of the arrangement, including the name of the African country, within seven days.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A new novel about a neo-Nazi plot to assassinate Germany's first Jewish candidate for Chancellor has shed a timely light on the right-wing extremist violence that has plagued the country since 1990 and was swept under the carpet for years.

Political thriller "The Jewish Candidate" by British journalist David Crossland has been published just as Germany's September election campaign is heating up and at the start of a trial of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for a spate of racist murders that went undetected for more than a decade.

Built upon the intriguing notion of a Jewish politician named Rudolf Gutman running for Chancellor as the candidate for the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the fast-paced thriller is told through the eyes of a reporter for a fictional London newspaper who stumbles upon a neo-Nazi plot to kill Gutman.

Set in modern Germany, "The Jewish Candidate" focuses on the surge in far-right violence since reunification in 1990 and on the country's failure to contain it.

Some estimates say almost 200 people have been killed in acts of far-right violence since 1990 that have often been directed at dark-skinned foreigners. Those killings were often downplayed by authorities and German society as isolated acts of random violence mainly in formerly communist eastern Germany.

That complacency was shattered in late 2011 when police accidentally stumbled upon a neo-Nazi cell, the National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose members killed eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman execution-style between 2000-2007 and carried out two bombings in immigrant quarters in Cologne.

"I started writing it back in 2007 before anyone had heard about the NSU," said Crossland, a freelance writer and former Reuters correspondent.

"I was reporting about neo-Nazi violence and was surprised at how lightly the authorities and the general public were taking it despite warnings that parts of the east were 'no-go' areas for anyone who doesn't look German."

The trial of a surviving member of the NSU, Beate Zschaepe, began in Munich on May 6 after two men who founded the NSU in the late 1990s committed suicide following a botched bank robbery in November 2011.

Germans have been closely following the trial and parliament is conducting its own investigation into the failure of police and security services, who neglected the far-right threat and suspected other immigrants were responsible for the killings.

The parallels between the real-life NSU and the fictional neo-Nazi assassins in "The Jewish Candidate" are striking but coincidental. The novel, set in the run-up to an election, includes descriptions of clandestine torchlit neo-Nazi meetings and of their links with the security services.

The novel also raises the interesting question of whether Germany might one day have a Jewish chancellor. It had a Jewish population of 670,000 before the Nazi regime and Holocaust. There was a vestigial community of 29,000 in 1990. Germany prides itself on its growing Jewish population of over 200,000.

Crossland, 46, who has lived in Germany since 1992, said Germany may be ready to elect a Jewish leader.

"But it's an unlikely prospect for now due to a lack of Jewish politicians," he said. "It's clear, though, that neo-Nazis are better armed and better organised than the authorities believed until the NSU came to light."

(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum, editing by Paul Casciato)

PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - If young Americans like Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock are to keep climbing the rankings they will need plenty of the staying power compatriot John Isner demonstrated once again on Friday.

The 28-year-old Isner, who won the longest tennis match of all time at Wimbledon in 2010, delved deep into his fuel reserves to fight off Harrison, 21, from two sets down to reach the third round of the French Open.

While nowhere near as long as the 76-game marathon Isner endured when losing to Paul-Henri Mathieu here a year ago and not in the same league as his 11-hour five-minute match against Nicolas Mahut that entered tennis folklore, Friday's 5-7 6-7 (7) 6-3 6-1 8-6 win was a bruising battle.

Harrison is yet to back up his early promise and languishes 87th in the rankings, still looking for his first ATP title.

Friday's failure to finish off 19th seed Isner will cast fresh doubts over his ability to win the big matches, having now lost his last nine in grand slams to seeded players.

However, he could take inspiration from Isner who had lost his previous six five-set battles, including at every grand slam tournament last year, but keeps coming back for more.

"Winning a five-set match is extremely satisfying ... every single one," Isner told reporters.

"I played well in 2012 but that really was a tough pill to swallow for me. This one helps and I really do think it will help me going forward."

Harrison has never got past the second round at a grand slam,although in mitigation he has suffered with bad draws.

"To say I'm not frustrated by it is a lie," he said of his grand slam record. "I want to be in the later rounds, second week, and doing bigger things than I'm doing now.

"I competed my butt off out there. I came close and we're talking a backhand crosscourt and a tape from being up in the fifth.

"Hopefully I go to Wimbledon and don't have to play Roger (Federer) or Novak (Djokovic) or one of those guys first round."

Qualifier Sock, 20, is still to crack the top-100 and was given a lesson by battle-hardened German Tommy Haas on Friday.

"It was a great learning experience. I kind of know now what I need to do to get to the next level," said Sock, who hails from Nebraska like former world number one Andy Roddick, after his 7-6 (3) 6-2 7-5 defeat. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)

Yuichiro Miura, who also conquered the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) peak when he was 70 and 75, returned to Japan on Wednesday looking triumphant but ready for a rest. He was sympathetic toward an 81-year-old Nepalese climber who on Tuesday abandoned his attempt to climb Everest, and break Miura's record, due to worsening weather.

Min Bahadur Sherchan, the Nepalese mountaineer, faced difficult odds due to the brief climbing window remaining after delays in getting funding for his own ascent, Miura said.

"He is to be pitied," said Miura, who had downplayed any talk of a rivalry.

Sherchan became the oldest Everest climber in 2008 at age 76 and held the record until Miura's ascent last week.

The Nepalese climber said he slipped and fell just above the base camp three days earlier, hurting his ribs, so he was airlifted back to Katmandu, where he saw a doctor.

He plans to try again to regain his record, perhaps next year.

"I still have a few more years to make my attempts. I will try until I reach 84 and then quit," Sherchan said.

Miura and his son Gota, who has climbed Everest twice, said things went well during their expedition because they carefully paced themselves, walking only half-days and resting in the afternoons.

"We just beat the monsoon season, and the typhoons are coming," Miura said. "Thanks to good luck and careful preparation and planning, we all returned without any accidents."

"We took our time. You get tired when you are old," he said.

But Miura said he was dangerously weak at the beginning of his May 23 descent. Though he felt fine after he removed his oxygen mask on the summit to pose for photos and enjoy the view, he suffered for it on the way down.

"I lost strength in my legs," Miura said. "I could not move at all."

Helped down by Gota and others, Miura revived after having some food and water at the team's 8,500-meter (27,887-foot) -high base camp.

"He just wouldn't give up. This is the real strength of Yuichiro Miura," Gota said of his father's recovery and persistence in traveling another 2 1/2 hours later in the day to reach their camp at 8,000 meters (26,247 feet).

Miura was a daredevil speed skier in his youth, and skied down Everest's South Col in 1970, using a parachute to brake his descent. He also has skied down Mount Fuji.

Though he says he does not plan another Everest attempt, Miura says he hopes to do plenty of skiing and to "live life to the fullest."

"Before this mission, we held a family meeting, and I was really afraid they'd say 'No.' But they just said it couldn't be helped and went along with it," he said.

"When my father was 99 years old, we went skiing on Mount Blanc. Three generations of the Miura family. It would have been four, but the youngest was 5 and couldn't come," he said. "I hope to go skiing with three or four more generations of my family."

Miura's advice for his fellow elders?

"It isn't just about staying healthy, but it's about having goals," he said.

"You don't need to climb Mount Fuji or travel overseas. Just get out of the house. Enjoy good food. Those are the things we should do," said Miura, who dined on hot pot and hand-rolled sushi and enjoyed gourmet Japanese green tea during his climb.

Miura expressed sadness over the disappearance Friday of Chizuko Kono, a 67-year-old female climber, while trying to summit Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-highest peak.

"Apparently, Kono just exceeded her limits and lost her strength," he said. "It's a real shame. It only takes one misstep. It's really too bad."

___

Associated Press writer Binaj Gurubcharya in Katmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is near the highest it's been in 13 months. That's giving investors who want steady income an alternative to dividend-rich stocks like utilities.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 106 points to close 15,302 points Wednesday, giving back its gain from the day before. That's a decline of 0.7 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 11 points to 1,648, or 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq composite lost 21 points to 3,467, or 0.6 percent.

Four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.