Alexandre Paulikevitch put on his white dress and wig and danced his way to center stage, knowing that the extremist groups who had threatened him before his controversial recital might be waiting for him outside the theater.

The Lebanese dancer's sold-out performance to a cheering crowd at a popular Beirut venue had angered fundamentalist movements ranging from the right-wing Christian Soldiers of God to Sunni Islamists.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Qatar's prime minister Friday ahead of a visit to Israel this weekend, showing how the Trump administration is trying to balance relations between key Middle East allies days after Israel targeted Hamas leaders in a strike on Doha.

The Netherlands added itself Friday to a number of countries pressuring organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest to drop Israel from the contest because of its war in the Gaza Strip.

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said it would not take part in next year's competition in Vienna if Israel participates "given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza."

Dozens of Ukrainians and their supporters have demonstrated outside the Royal Opera House in London to protest a performance by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko.

Protesters outside Thursday's opening night of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" held Ukrainian flags and signs saying "While Netrebko sings, Ukraine bleeds" and "Stop glorifying Russian aggressor culture."

A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia infections, which are causing infertility and death in the iconic native species that is listed as endangered in parts of Australia.

Every time humans cut into the Amazon rainforest or burn or destroy parts of it, they're making people sick.

It's an idea Indigenous people have lived by for thousands of years. Now a new study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment adds to the scientific evidence supporting it, by finding that instances of several diseases were lowered in areas where forest was set aside for Indigenous peoples who maintained it well.

The Champions League final is going back to Atletico Madrid's Metropolitano Stadium in 2027.

A tradition-busting plan to play domestic league games for Barcelona in the United States and AC Milan in Australia failed to make key progress Thursday with fans promised more say in the decision.

The UEFA executive committee said it needed more time to weigh proposals by the Spanish and Italian leagues and talk more with fan groups. Fans overwhelmingly oppose taking competitive games outside Europe which soccer's world body FIFA previously blocked.

Former English Premier League stars could make the difference in the Asian Champions League that begins Monday. Ivan Toney, Jesse Lingard, Riyad Mahrez and Darwin Nunez all have a chance of winning Asian soccer's premier club tournament.

Saudi clubs dominated last season, providing three of the semifinalists before Al-Ahli won the final in front of 60,000 spectators at Jeddah in May. Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal are also back and expected to challenge again for the title.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is willing to adapt the team's approach following the signing of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and will not expect the Italian to offer the same ball-playing abilities as the departed Ederson Moraes.

Ederson, who ended his trophy-laden eight-year spell at City by joining Fenerbahce last week, revolutionized the goalkeeper position in English soccer with his distribution and technical skills.