Some airlines have canceled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid heightened fears that an invasion by Russia is imminent despite intensive weekend talks between the Kremlin and the West.

In an hourlong Saturday call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said that invading Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering" and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but "equally prepared for other scenarios," the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.

From his small music shop on Beirut's Hamra Street, Michel Eid witnessed the rise and fall of Lebanon through the changing fortunes of this famed boulevard for more than 60 years.

Hamra Street represented everything that was glamorous about Beirut in the 1960s and 1970s, with Lebanon's top movie houses and theaters, cafes frequented by intellectuals and artists, and ritzy shops. It saw a revival the past decade, with international chain stores and vibrant bars and restaurants.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is flying to Ukraine and Russia this week in an effort to help defuse escalating tensions as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent and Germany has called on its citizens to leave Ukraine as quickly as possible.

Ahead of his first visits as chancellor to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Scholz has renewed his warning to Russia, as well as his advocacy of continuing diplomacy in multiple formats.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Russia's Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering" and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but "equally prepared for other scenarios," the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.

Biden also said the United States and its allies would respond "decisively and impose swift and severe costs" if the Kremlin attacked its neighbor, according to the White House.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are to hold a high-stakes telephone call on Saturday as tensions over a possibly imminent invasion of Ukraine escalated sharply and the U.S. announced plans to evacuate its embassy in the Ukrainian capital.

Before talking to Biden, Putin is to have a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with him in Moscow earlier in the week to try to resolve the crisis.

Diogo Jota is squeezing every moment out of his understudy role in the Liverpool attack.

Even with Egypt striker Mohamed Salah back available after a month away at the African Cup of Nations, Jota still started and scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over Leicester on Thursday.

A Ukrainian skeleton athlete ended his third run at the Beijing Olympics on Friday night by revealing a small sign to the cameras urging peace in his homeland.

The message from Vladyslav Heraskevych read: "No War in Ukraine." The sign was printed on a blue-and-yellow piece of paper, matching the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Formula One extended its contract to continue racing in Bahrain until 2036, saying Friday that the Middle Eastern country holds a "very special place in our sport."

The Sakhir-based circuit has held F1 races since 2004 and will stage the season-opener next month.

Russia could invade Ukraine during the current Beijing Winter Olympics so Americans should leave the Eastern European country immediately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

Blinken did not detail the reasons behind the State Department's latest security alert that calls on all American citizens to leave Ukraine.

Hugh Jackman is playing one of musical theater's greatest con men on Broadway these days but he's not fooling anyone: He's the real deal.

As Harold Hill in a glorious and exuberant new revival of "The Music Man," Jackman is like a coiled spring, effortlessly leaping onto desks, two-stepping with kids, tossing books into the air and pounding out a rhythm on his thighs. He's even magnetic in a romantic clinch.