Hundreds of thousands of mostly barefoot Roman Catholic devotees joined a raucous procession through the streets of the Philippine capital Wednesday in an annual ritual to demonstrate faith and seek miracle cures for illnesses and a good life.

Police estimated about 500,000 people left from the parade grounds of Manila's Rizal Park for the daylong march that sees a statue of Jesus Christ pulled through the city's central district.

Record temperatures across southern Australia cooled Wednesday, reducing the danger from scores of raging wildfires but likely bringing only a brief reprieve from the summer's extreme heat and fire risk.

Australia had its hottest day on record Monday with a nationwide average of 40.33 degrees Celsius (104.59 degrees Fahrenheit), narrowly breaking a 1972 record of 40.17 C (104.31 F). Tuesday was the third hottest day at 40.11 C (104.20 F). Four of Australia's hottest 10 days on record have been in 2013.

A powerful snow storm has magnified the misery for Syrians who have fled the country's civil war to Lebanon, turning two camps into a swamp in the eastern Bekaa valley.

The two encampments were immersed in water after the Litani River flooded. Dozens of Syrian refugees were left in search of alternate shelter along with their soaked and muddy belongings.

Fourth-tier Bradford pulled off another major surprise in the League Cup on Tuesday, beating Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of their semifinal to move one step away from the club's first major final since 1911.

Bradford followed up its stunning win over Arsenal on penalties by holding its own against another Premier League club, taking a 2-0 lead after goals from Nahki Wells in the 19th and Rory McArdle in the 77th.

Lance Armstrong has agreed to a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey where he will address allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career.

According to a release posted on Winfrey's website on Tuesday, it's the first interview with Armstrong since his athletic career crumbled under the weight of a massive report by USADA detailing allegations of drug use by the famous cyclist and teammates on his U.S. Postal Service teams.

Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament with a left knee injury and the 2012 Australian Open quarterfinalist is in doubt for this year's opening Grand Slam beginning Monday.

The 18th-ranked Nishikori retired from his semifinal match with eventual champion Andy Murray at last week's Brisbane International with the same injury.

Valencia reached the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey after goals by Tino Costa and Roberto Soldado gave it a 2-1 win against Osasuna on Tuesday, putting the club through 4-1 on aggregate.

Valencia led 2-0 from the first leg of the round-of-16 matchup, and midfielder Tino Costa put the team further ahead when he sent a free kick straight into the top of the net in the 34th minute, stranding goalkeeper Andres Fernandez.

The "Twilight" finale had better reviews than the franchise's previous four movies, but you'd never know it from the Razzie nominations singling out Hollywood's worst of the year.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2" led the Razzies lineup late Tuesday with 11 nominations, including worst picture, lead-acting slots for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and supporting-acting nominations for Taylor Lautner and Ashley Greene.

The United States of America set an off-the-charts heat record in 2012.

A brutal combination of a widespread drought and a mostly absent winter pushed the average annual U.S. temperature last year up to 55.32 degrees Fahrenheit (13 Celsius), the government announced Tuesday. That's a full degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) warmer than the old record set in 1998.

Finland's capital is aglow with colorful lights and lasers piercing the black winter skies and lighting up downtown buildings providing a much-needed burst of illumination during the darkest days of the year.

Light and sound installations at the Helsinki Lux Festival brought crowds at the city landmarks joined by lanterns hanging in trees along a path of light bordering the frozen Baltic Sea through parks and on city sidewalks, where the shortest period of daylight in midwinter is about five hours long.