TOP STORIES:
SOC--ENGLISH ROUNDUP
LONDON — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes charge of Manchester United for the first time when his new club visits Cardiff, while second-placed Manchester City looks to close the gap on leader Liverpool to one point with a home victory against Crystal Palace. By Tony Jimenez. UPCOMING: 650 words by 1730 GMT, photos. With separates on Saturday's eight EPL games.
SKI--WCUP-WOMEN'S SLALOM
COURCHEVEL, France — Mikaela Shiffrin has written more World Cup history, winning a slalom Saturday for a women's record-equaling 35th career victory in the discipline and 50th win overall. SENT: 130 words, photos. Will be updated.
SKI--WCUP-MEN'S SLALOM
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy — Defending champion Marcel Hirscher is the favorite for a night slalom on the steep Canalone Miramonti course. UPCOMING: 350 words by 1830 GMT, photos.
SOC--SPANISH ROUNDUP
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona hosts Celta Vigo looking to protect its three-point lead of the Spanish league, while third-placed Atletico Madrid welcomes struggling Espanyol. By Joseph Wilson. UPCOMING: 130 words by 1715 GMT, 600 words by 2200 GMT. Photos.
SOC--CLUB WORLD CUP
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Real Madrid plays host club Al Ain FC in the final of the Club World Cup. Madrid has won the competition for the last two years. UPCOMING: 400 words by 1830 GMT, photos.
SOC--ITALIAN ROUNDUP
Serie A leader Juventus hosts crisis-hit club Roma with all 10 Serie A games taking place Saturday. Juventus has an eight-point lead over second-placed Napoli, which hosts Spal. By Daniella Matar. UPCOMING: 600 words by 1600 GMT, photos.
SOC--GERMAN ROUNDUP
BERLIN — Second place in the Bundesliga beckons for Bayern Munich as it bids to stay six points behind Borussia Dortmund with a win at Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday's late game. By Ciaran Fahey. UPCOMING: 500 words by 2000 GMT, photos.
SOC--FRENCH ROUNDUP
PARIS — Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain looks to head into the midseason winter break unbeaten when it hosts Nantes. At the other end of the table, 19th-placed Monaco desperately needs a win against last-placed Guingamp to take pressure off coach Thierry Henry. By Jerome Pugmire. UPCOMING: 600 words by 2300 GMT, photos.
OLY--RUSSIAN DOPING
MOSCOW — World Anti-Doping Agency inspectors are leaving Moscow empty-handed after Russian authorities prevented them from accessing key doping data that the country's authorities had agreed to hand over. SENT: 350 words, photo.
AS--AUSTRALIA-THAILAND-REFUGEE
SYDNEY — Human rights groups along with current and former soccer players on Saturday called on FIFA and the Australian government to intervene to stop Hakeem al-Araibi, a Melbourne-based refugee and semi-professional soccer player, from being extradited from Thailand to Bahrain. By Trevor Marshallsea. SENT: 530 words, photo.
BBO--SALARIES
The average major league salary dropped this year for the first time since 2004 and for only the fourth time since record-keeping started 50 years ago, according to the players' association. The union said Friday its final average was $4,095,686, down $1,436 from $4,097,122 last year. By Ronald Blum. SENT: 330 words.
BKN--NBA CAPSULES
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 22 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-104 on Friday night. SENT: 960 words, photo.
HKN--NHL CAPSULES
WASHINGTON — Tom Wilson broke a tie with seven minutes left, Braden Holtby made 36 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Friday night. SENT: 300 words, photo.
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