The Apollo 16 capsule is dusty all these decades after it carried three astronauts to the moon. Cobwebs cling to the spacecraft. Business cards, a pencil, money, a spoon and even a tube of lip balm litter the floor of the giant case that protects the space antique in a museum.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant a break in the normal routine of cleaning the ship's display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, located near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. But workers are sprucing up the spacecraft for the 50th anniversary of its April 1972 flight.

They said he should play football. They said figure skating was for girls. They said winter sports made no sense in temperate Guadalajara.

But none of those naysayers deterred Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo, the rare Latin American athlete at the Winter Games, who has now become an even more rare Beijing Olympics success story – however relative – from that part of the globe.

The Russian ice hockey team has started its defense of the Olympic men's gold medal with a 1-0 win over Switzerland in Beijing.

It wasn't the convincing start to the tournament the Russians may have hoped for as they were outshot 33-30 by a Swiss team not expected to contend for a medal.

A rare, two-volume Quran owned by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson found itself carefully packed away Wednesday for a return flight to America after being on display at Dubai's Expo 2020, a sign that the pandemic-affected world's fair is beginning to wind down.

The Quran, along with an insert map of Arabia, had been in a climate-controlled display at the U.S. pavilion at the Expo. The book had been under 24-hour guard as part of its first trip outside of America since a young Jefferson purchased the tome as a law student in 1765.

A Syrian soldier was killed and five others were wounded in an Israeli attack near the capital Damascus, Syrian state media said. The Israeli military said it attacked targets in Syria shortly after an anti-aircraft missile was fired from the Arab country into northern Israel early Wednesday.

Israel said the Syrian rocket exploded in the air and was not intercepted by Israeli air defenses, but it activated warning sirens in northern Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage there.

A fire struck downtown Abu Dhabi early Wednesday, with authorities initially blaming a gas cylinder for an explosion caught on camera in social media.

The blast struck Hamdan Street in the capital of the United Arab Emirates as it hosts the FIFA Club World Cup. Journalists from Brazil covering Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras' win against Egypt's Al Ahly initially reported on the explosion.

China has ordered inhabitants of the southern city of Baise to stay home and suspended transportation links amid a surge in COVID-19 cases at least partly linked to the omicron variant.

Classes have been suspended, non-essential businesses closed and mass testing of residents ordered. Restaurants are only permitted to serve take-out. Traffic lights have been switched to red only to remind drivers to stay home.

Two American-born athletes competing for China. Two radically different reactions from Chinese social media to their performances at the Winter Olympics.

As freestyle skier Eileen Gu won her gold medal in the big air competition on Tuesday, praise for the San Franciscan quite literally overwhelmed the Chinese internet.

Israel's police commissioner cut short an official foreign trip Tuesday and rushed home to deal with a growing scandal over reports of illegal spying, including on members of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle.

Under mounting pressure, Kobi Shabtai returned early Tuesday from the United Arab Emirates, where the police forces were to establish professional ties during a longer visit. The decision came a day after a local newspaper reported that police illegally used spyware, including on the phones of Netanyahu's son and others, prompting a high-level investigation and upending the opposition leader's corruption trial.

Actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan are announcing the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards live on multiple platforms, including Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the academy's social media accounts and on ABC's "Good Morning America."

The nominees for best supporting actress are: Jessie Buckley, "The Lost Daughter"; Ariana DeBose, "West Side Story"; Judi Dench, "Belfast"; Kirsten Dunst, "The Power of the Dog" and Aunjanue Ellis, "King Richard."