One by one the Russian teen figure skaters took the ice for the free skate at the Beijing Games, and one by one they attempted the four-revolution jumps that are common in the men's competition.

Beijing may be the last Olympics any woman attempts a quad.

LGBTQ representation on scripted TV series has grown along with the footprint of streaming services, according to an annual study by the advocacy group GLAAD.

"TV is leading entertainment in telling LGBTQ stories," Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, said in the "Where We Are on TV" report on the 2021-22 season that was released.

Peter Paul Rubens' 17th century masterpiece "Portrait of a Lady" is set to go up for auction in Poland next month, the DESA Unicum auction house said.

The Flemish master's oil-on-canvas portrait of a dark-haired woman in a rich black velvet dress has an estimated value of 18 million to 24 million zlotys ($4.5 million- $6 million).

When Kylian Mbappe took center stage again for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this week, it must have been a rather strange feeling for Neymar.

Returning from his latest injury, the world's most expensive player was among the admirers as Mbappe slalomed through Real Madrid's tiring defense for yet another last-gasp winner.

Canada's House of Commons canceled its work on Friday amid rapidly increasingly signs police were about to begin breaking up the three-week protest by hundreds of truckers angry over the country's COVID-19 restrictions.

Ottawa police made it clear on Thursday they were preparing to end the siege near Parliament Hill and remove the more than 300 trucks. The city's interim police chief warned that "action is imminent."

The first African countries selected to receive the technology necessary to produce mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, a summit meeting of European Union and African Union nations heard on Friday.

The six countries have been chosen to build vaccine production factories as part of a bid the World Health Organization launched last year to replicate what are believed to be the most effective licensed shots against COVID-19.

The Associated Press said that it is assigning more than two dozen journalists across the world to cover climate issues, in the news organization's largest single expansion paid for through philanthropic grants.

The announcement illustrates how philanthropy has swiftly become an important new funding source for journalism — at the AP and elsewhere — at a time when the industry's financial outlook has been otherwise bleak.

Millions of people in the U.K. were urged to cancel travel plans and stay indoors Friday as the second major storm this week prompted warnings of high winds and flying debris across northern Europe.

Britain's weather service said Storm Eunice, known as Storm Zeynep in Germany, was likely to cause significant disruption and dangerous conditions, with gusts that may exceed 90 miles per hour in highly exposed coastal areas.

After dropping out of the Champions League, Barcelona now faces a difficult task just to qualify for the round of 16 in the Europa League.

In its first appearance in the second-tier European competition in nearly two decades, the Catalan club was held 1-1 by Napoli at Camp Nou Stadium on Thursday in the first leg of one of eight playoffs between third-place finishers in the Champions League groups and Europa League group runners-ups.

Experts say you may be paying more for your avocado toast in the short term, and the effects of the U.S. temporary ban on imports of the fruit is already being felt by avocado pickers in Mexico.

Mexico is negotiating security guarantees for U.S. inspectors who certify Mexican avocados for export. The inspections were halted last week after one of the U.S. inspectors was threatened in the western state of Michaoacan, where growers are routinely subject to extortion by drug cartels.