Negotiators failed Friday to reach an agreement on whether Iran should be invited to Syria peace talks in Switzerland next month, but Tehran is not yet "off the list", global peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said.

"On Iran, we haven't agreed yet. It's no secret that we in the United Nations welcome the participation of Iran, but our partners in the United States are still not convinced that Iran's participation would be the right thing," Brahimi told reporters after talks with U.S. and Russian officials.

Finding a knockoff version of the fur you want under the Christmas tree would ordinarily be a disappointment.

Not this year.

San Antonio's Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2.1 seconds left to give the Spurs to a 104-102 victory over Golden State on Tuesday, taking a valuable win that came in the absence of their experienced star trio.

In the day's other game, Oklahoma City extended its winning streak to eight games with a 107-95 win over Chicago.

German sprinter Andre Greipel will start his ProTour cycling season at the Tour Down Under in January, hoping to add to his 14 stage victories in an Australian race that he has already won twice.

Tour director Mike Turtur said Friday that Greipel will ride for Belgian team Lotto Belisol. Greipel won the race in 2008 and 2010, and claimed three stage wins this year — including his 100th stage victory as a professional.

Brazilian authorities have detained 19 people for their alleged involvement in fan violence that marked the final round of the Brazilian league this month, with some of them likely to be charged with attempted murder.

Police in three states had arrest warrants for nearly 30 people in a joint operation being called "Red Card," with detentions made throughout the day on Thursday.

Barcelona says forward Gerard Deulofeu, who is playing on loan at Everton this season, will spend 6-8 weeks at his home club recovering from a leg injury.

Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Everton's 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday.

An international human rights organization has urged Lebanon to rein in sectarian tensions that have been on the rise amid a spillover of Syria's civil war.

Human Rights Watch said Friday that authorities should better protect minority Alawites — members of an offshoot Shiite sect — who are increasingly coming under attack by Sunnis in the northern city of Tripoli.

Singing star Adele has been honored at Buckingham Palace, being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Prince Charles.

The 25-year-old with the soulful voice has become a worldwide star since her debut album topped the charts in 2008.

A Vincent Van Gogh painting that has been hidden away at a Virginia estate for decades will have a new home at the National Gallery of Art.

The rarely seen 1890 painting, "Green Wheat Fields, Auvers," depicts a landscape in bright greens and blues from northern France when Van Gogh was living just north of Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise. The painting was given to the museum by philanthropist and art collector Paul Mellon, and it has been kept in his family's home in Upperville, Virginia, since 1955.

A trove of 85 works by Spanish surrealist master Joan Miro acquired by the Portuguese government from a failing bank is up for auction with an estimated value of 30 million pounds ($49 million).

Christie's auction house said Friday the collection is "one of the most extensive and impressive offerings of works by the artist ever to come to auction," and covers seven decades of Miro's career.