Serena Williams' dominating run at the majors ended in a painful loss to American teenager Sloane Stephens.

After the biggest and most unexpected victory of her life, 19-year-old Stephens is headed to the semifinals of the Australian Open.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stamped itself as the team to beat this season by winning 109-97 at their nearest NBA rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Detroit pulled away to beat undersized Orlando, Milwaukee's improvement under its new coach continued with a win over Philadelphia and Cleveland won back-to-back home games for the first time this season by defeating Boston.

A prominent Thai activist and magazine editor was sentenced to a decade in prison Wednesday for defaming Thailand's monarchy, a verdict rights groups condemned as the latest affront to freedom of expression in the Southeast Asian country.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk was convicted of publishing two articles in an anti-establishment magazine that made negative references to the crown.

Google eked out slightly higher earnings in the fourth quarter, despite a financial drag caused by the Internet search leader's expansion into device manufacturing and a decline in digital ad prices as more people gaze into the smaller screens of smartphones.

The results announced Tuesday pleased investors, helping to lift Google's stock by nearly 5 percent in extended trading.

Alan Parker, the much-lauded British director whose work includes "Midnight Express," ''Fame" and "Mississippi Burning," is receiving the British Academy Film Awards' highest honor.

The 68-year-old will collect the BAFTA Fellowship at the London ceremony next month. While known for being outspoken, Parker said Tuesday that he'll be "gracious and thankful" on the big night rather than political.

The Dalai Lama is set to headline India's Jaipur Literature Festival to speak about faith with one of his biographers, Pico Iyer.

The Tibetan spiritual leader will hold a session on the festival's first day, Thursday, titled: "Kinships of Faiths: Finding the Middle Way."

The first Russian citizens evacuated from Syria arrived in Moscow overnight via the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

The evacuation of 77 Russians was the first organized by Russia since the start of the Syrian conflict nearly two years ago, and it may be the beginning of what could become a difficult and dangerous operation to rescue tens of thousands of Russians living in Syria as rebels gain momentum in their fight to oust President Bashar Assad's regime.

Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has confirmed that the Giro d'Italia is his main priority this year.

"The Giro d'Italia is my new challenge, my inspiration, the new fire burning inside me," Wiggins told race organizer Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday. "I think winning it, for certain aspects, will be more difficult than winning the Tour."

An official says Nepal's government will begin issuing citizenship certificates with the category "third gender" for people who do not wish to be identified as male or female.

Activists hailed the decision, saying it was an achievement for gay and transgender rights.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted in an interview in Germany's top-selling newspaper saying he's still in love with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver.

Schwarzenegger is quoted in Tuesday's Bild newspaper as saying that despite their separation he spent Christmas with Shriver and their children.