Last year there was hardly any action in the days leading up to the NBA's trading deadline, yet a staggering avalanche of deals were consummated.

When the dust settled, 12 trades involving 39 players clogged the league's approval process for hours after the deadline passed. So even though this week has been fairly quiet, there is still time leading into final buzzer on Thursday afternoon U.S. time.

Formula One team Manor has appointed Indonesia's Rio Haryanto as one of its race drivers for the coming season.

The 23-year-old Haryanto will become the first Indonesian to compete in F1 and joins Germany's Pascal Wehrlein in an all-rookie lineup for the season that begins in Melbourne, Australia, on March 20.

UEFA on Wednesday charged Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitry Tarasov with improper conduct after he stripped off to reveal a t-shirt supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin in a politically charged gesture after a match in Turkey.

Tarasov revealed the t-shirt of Putin wearing a Navy cap above the words "the most polite president" in Russian after his team's 2-0 Europa League loss against Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Tuesday, as Moscow and Ankara are locked in a fierce dispute following the downing of a Russian fighter jet last year.

Rio Ferdinand has said comments from Cristiano Ronaldo that the Portuguese forward did not speak to him during Manchester United's Champions League-winning season were "unbelievable".

Both Ronaldo and the now retired Ferdinand were key players for United when the Old Trafford club completed a Premier League and Champions League double in the 2007/08 season.

The tennis coach father-in-law of Britain's Andy Murray has suggested a "dodgy" piece of sushi was behind his dramatic collapse at last month's Australian Open.

There were fears that Nigel Sears had suffered a heart attack when he lay immobile courtside in Melbourne three weeks ago.

Paris Saint-Germain's Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi has signed with Hebei China Fortune, his new club said Wednesday, making the 30-year-old the latest European-based footballer drawn east by jaw-dropping sums.

Hebei described him as "the next Maradona" on a verified social media account. It did not disclose a transfer fee, but previous British press reports said Lavezzi would earn 23.5 million pounds ($33.6 million) over two years.

Struggling striker Edinson Cavani came off the bench to score the winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Chelsea 2-1 in a pulsating first leg in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Cavani, who has lost his place in the side in recent weeks, latched onto a superb pass over Chelsea's stretched defense from winger Angel Di Maria and slotted through the legs of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from a narrow angle in the 78th minute.

Juan Martin del Potro was stuck with too much idle time the past two seasons, limited to 14 matches in that span because of a series of wrist injuries.

So when the 2009 U.S. Open champion was asked about his second-round opponent in the Delray Beach Open, del Potro shrugged his shoulders and deadpanned: "I don't know him. For two years I was at home, watching 'The Simpsons.'"

When Omri Casspi was 13, his family took him on a Bar Mitzvah trip to the United States, the highlight of which was a visit to New York City where the Israeli youngster stood in front of Madison Square Garden and boldly vowed he would one day play there.

"It was more of an illusion. I'm sure thousands of other Israeli kids did the same thing," Casspi recalled, "but it's a dream that somehow came true."

Los Angeles has unveiled its logo for the city's bid for the 2024 Olympics, displaying it on a digital screen on the 30th floor of a downtown skyscraper shortly after sunset on Tuesday.

The logo is a figure of a soaring angel with outstretched arms and legs illuminated by the rays of the sun, which emanate from a point of light at the figure's heart in a palette of purple, red, orange and yellow, colors often seen in the city sky at sunrise and sunset. The city's slogan for the bid is "Follow the Sun."