The Los Angeles Clippers arrested their four-game losing skid while their city rivals the Los Angeles Lakers provided a rare bright spot in their dire season by beating the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.

The Clippers were again without star guard Chris Paul but this time his teammates picked up the slack and beat the Portland Trail Blazers 96-83.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo warmed up for their teams' upcoming Copa del Rey clash with high-scoring displays on Sunday to help Barcelona and Real Madrid cruise to comfortable wins against helpless Spanish league opponents.

After Ronaldo hit his 20th career hat trick in an 11-minute span to help Madrid rout Getafe 4-0, an insatiable Messi did him one better by netting four times in Barcelona's 5-1 thrashing of 10-man Osasuna.

Cape Verde joined host South Africa in the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations on Sunday after the small island nation scored two late goals to secure advancement in its first appearance in the tournament.

Cape Verde netted an injury-time winner through Heldon Ramos to come from behind and advance with a 2-1 victory over Angola, preventing the Angolans from stealing through from last place in the group.

Japan launched two intelligence satellites into orbit on Sunday amid growing concerns that North Korea is planning to test more rockets of its own and possibly conduct a nuclear test.

Officials say the launch Sunday of the domestically produced HII-A rocket went smoothly and the satellites — an operational radar satellite and an experimental optical probe — appear to have reached orbit.

He's acted, danced and sang his way through movies, television and the stage, making Dick Van Dyke an entertainment triple-threat long before Hollywood used such hyphenates.

The 87-year-old actor, best known for the 1960s hit comedy "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and Disney's big-screen musical "Mary Poppins," can now add lifetime achievement honoree. He added that honor to his resume at Sunday night's 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Mourners at a U.S. fast-food fan's funeral wanted him to have it his way, so they arranged for his hearse — and the rest of the procession — to make one last drive-thru visit before reaching the cemetery.

David Kime Jr. "lived by his own rules," daughter Linda Phiel said. He considered the lettuce on a burger his version of healthy eating, she said.

At least 232 people died early Sunday when a fire tore through a nightclub packed with university students in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria, police said.

Shocked survivors described a frantic rush to the exits as flames swept through the crowded club in the university town, with scores of young people getting trampled and passing out from smoke inhalation.

Hillary Clinton has been a noted trailblazer in her lengthy political career -- but now she's joining the growing fashion for cool nerd glasses.

Many have been surprised to see the U.S. top diplomat sporting black, thick-framed glasses since she returned to work from an illness, concussion and blood clot at the beginning of January.

It's official. The force is with J.J. Abrams.

The Walt Disney Co. issued a statement Friday night confirming reports that had been circulating for two days that Abrams, Emmy-award-winning creator of TV's "Lost" and director of 2009's "Star Trek" movie, has been pegged to direct the seventh installment of the "Star Wars" franchise.

Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.

The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.