Brazilian organizers have reiterated they have no intention of canceling the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the outbreak of the Zika virus, with Sports Minister George Hilton saying the topic "is not in discussion."
Hilton issued a statement Thursday saying he "lamented material and opinions in the press" speculating that South America's first Olympics might be called off.

It may not be the mighty legs of Cam Newton or the beautiful mind of Peyton Manning that will decide who wins Sunday when the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos meet in the Super Bowl.
It could come down to the big right toe of either Brandon McManus or Graham Gano.

Toronto extended its lead in the NBA's Atlantic Division by ending Portland's winning streak at five, beating the Trail Blazers 110-103 on Thursday as Kyle Lowry led the way with 30 points.
The Raptors have won 13 of their past 14 games and moved 5-1/2 games clear atop the Atlantic, and are now a dozen games clear of third-placed New York, which came back from a big deficit at Detroit only to be beaten by three late 3-pointers.

The Czech Republic's justice minister has decided that a Lebanese national cannot be extradited to the United States to face weapons charges, a Prague official said on Thursday.
Prague's Municipal Court allowed the extradition in September but the minister, Robert Pelikan, has the final say and said "no" Thursday.

A 7-year-old Syrian girl suffering from a rare form of cancer arrived in Italy on Thursday, the first of an estimated 1,000 refugees who are being brought here on humanitarian grounds in a pilot project aimed at dissuading people from embarking on deadly sea crossings.
Little Falak al Hourani, her parents and 6-year-old brother landed on a commercial flight at Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci airport thanks to the "humanitarian corridor" project launched by the Rome-based Catholic Sant'Egidio Community and the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy.

Napoli and Juventus delivered club record winning streaks to maintain their Serie A title challenges on Wednesday, while Hellas Verona finally recorded its first victory of the season.
Gonzalo Higuain netted his 23rd goal in as many league games to help Napoli win at Lazio 2-0, and match the club record of seven successive league victories, set in 1987-88.

Luis Suarez scored four goals and Lionel Messi a hat trick as Barcelona defeated 10-man Valencia 7-0 on Wednesday to move into position to reach the Copa del Rey final for the third straight season.
Suarez scored in the seventh and 12th minutes, and Messi got on the board in the 29th, 58th and 74th before Suarez closed the scoring in the 83rd and 88th minutes.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored again as Paris Saint-Germain beat Lorient 3-1 to set a new French league record of 33 consecutive games unbeaten on Wednesday.
After creating the opening goal for strike partner Edinson Cavani early in the first half, Ibrahimovic grabbed his league-leading 20th of the season shortly after the break as PSG eclipsed the record set by Nantes 21 years ago.

For a guy who loved a good party, it's hard to imagine Ken Stabler ever thought he'd be crashing one this week.
Not at this Super Bowl, the 50th anniversary version that has been carefully choreographed to be a celebration of all things NFL. Not in the Bay Area, where Stabler has long been a cult hero of sorts for leading the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl win 39 years ago.

The NHL barred Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman 20 games on Wednesday for cross-checking a linesman last week, the second-longest suspension in NHL history for abusing an official.
Wideman was suspended for violating the league rule on physical abuse of officials after he knocked down linesman Don Henderson during the Flames' game against Nashville on Jan. 27. The league cited Rule 40 in handing out the harsh penalty.
