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Arsenal have a golden chance to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League this weekend with Manchester City distracted by the FA Cup as the scramble to avoid the drop intensifies.

Co-hosts New Zealand and Australia on Friday welcomed FIFA's announcement that Saudi Arabia's tourism board will not sponsor this year's Women's World Cup.

Hollywood made the Cosa Nostra famous, but Italy has other organised crime groups, the youngest of which -- the "Fourth Mafia", based in Foggia in the southeast -- is making a violent name for itself.

It took a loaded pistol pointed at Lazzaro D'Auria's head for the Italian landowner to finally say yes to the country's newest and most violent mafia.

Marauding attacks by gang members in northeast Brazil continued for a third night despite a beefed up presence of security forces, authorities said on Thursday.

Retired NBA legend Michael Jordan is in talks to sell his majority stake in the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, but no deal is imminent, ESPN reported on Thursday.

The death toll in Malawi from Cyclone Freddy has risen to 326, the country's president said Thursday, bringing the total number of victims across southern Africa to more than 400 since February.

Ryan Brehm, with missed cuts in 14 of 17 starts this season, aced the par-3 17th hole to share the lead after Thursday's opening round of the PGA Valspar Championship.

Sporting Lisbon sent Arsenal crashing out of the Europa League with a penalty shoot-out triumph after Pedro Goncalves's stunning equaliser, while Manchester United and Juventus eased into the quarter-finals on Thursday.

World number one Iga Swiatek swept past Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday to line up an Indian Wells semi-final grudge match against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Australian Blake Johnston on Friday smashed the world record for the longest continuous surfing session, saying he felt "pretty cooked" after catching waves for more than 30 exhausting hours.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was suspended one game without pay by the NBA on Thursday after being whistled for his 16th technical foul of the season.

Sporting Lisbon knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League with a 5-3 victory on penalties after Pedro Goncalves scored an incredible equaliser for the Portuguese side in Thursday's last 16 second leg.

Canada coach John Herdman says his team need to embrace their new elevated status in the CONCACAF region when they return to action in this month's Nations League games.

World number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek powered past Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Wells combined WTA and ATP Masters 1000 hard court tennis tournament.

Frustrated American winger Christian Pulisic wants US Soccer to speed up the appointment of a new national team coach and labelled the row that surrounded teammate Gio Reyna and World Cup coach Gregg Berhalter as "childish."

French President Emmanuel Macron's government on Thursday rammed a controversial pension reform through parliament without a vote, sparking angry protests in Paris and other cities as well as tumult in the legislature.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced on Thursday it would cut the US price of its most prescribed insulin by 78 percent, falling in line with two other major drug makers.

Wall Street rallied Thursday after a consortium of US private banks announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic, while European stocks jumped on a European Central Bank's interest rate decision that was called a "dovish hike."

Paris' storied Moulin Rouge cabaret venue said Thursday it would stop immersing non-aquatic snakes in water after the controversial stage act provoked outcry from animal rights activists.

Credit Suisse rallied on the stock market Thursday after grabbing a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence but analysts remain wary about the major lender's future.

One mudslide after another finally destroyed the house of Elvis Palomino in Chaclacayo, east of Peru's capital Lima, where others are stacking sandbags they hope will save them from a similar fate.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina out-lasted 76th-ranked Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 at Indian Wells.

Israeli protesters returned to the streets Thursday to rally against proposed judicial reforms, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a compromise plan touted by the country's president.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said on Thursday recent off the field issues with rugby in Wales have cast a shadow over the sport.

Marcus Rashford's swerving strike from distance earned Manchester United a 1-0 win at Real Betis on Thursday and passage to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

Serbian 3-point sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic has agreed on a four-year contract extention worth $68 million with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, according to multiple reports on Thursday.

Lewis Hamilton was wary about safety in this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah a year after a missile attack near the track.

America's largest banks moved Thursday to shore up First Republic, easing fears that the regional lender could be the next domino to fall after two collapses including Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

Marcus Rashford's swerving strike from distance earned Manchester United a 1-0 win at Real Betis on Thursday and passage to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet passed a decree Thursday relaunching a controversial project to build a huge, multibillion-euro bridge linking Sicily to the mainland.

Lacking sniffer dogs and armed just with shovels, rescuers in storm-ravaged Malawi on Thursday made a grim hunt for buried bodies after Cyclone Freddy struck the southern African country, killing more than 300 people.