Vladimir Putin, rugged outdoorsman and tough-guy Russian president, promoted a cuddly image Tuesday as his Olympics drew near.

Putin checked in at a preserve for endangered Persian leopards and visited a group of cubs born last summer in the mountains above the growing torrent of activity in Sochi for the Winter Games.

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said Monday that a midstage study of its experimental drug for advanced breast cancer, palbociclib, met the main goal.

The world's second-biggest drugmaker said the drug, combined with another medicine called letrozole, increased the time patients survived without tumors growing, compared with women just getting letrozole.

Spanish government figures show that the number of people registered as unemployed rose by 113,097 in January as temporary job contracts created over Christmas came to an end.

The Labor Ministry said Tuesday that the reduction put the total number of those registered in unemployment offices at 4.81 million. Year-on-year, the figure was down 166,343.

The United States will play Turkey in the group stage of this summer's World Cup of Basketball in a rematch of the 2010 final.

The rest of the opposition in Group C looks a lot easier, with the Americans also drawn on Monday to play the Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand and Ukraine.

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant strengthened his claim to the MVP crown by leading the Thunder to an 86-77 win over Memphis on Monday, extending their home winning streak to seven games.

The Thunder also boosted their lead in the Northwest Division to four games as nearest rival Portland lost at Washington. Among other games, Denver beat the Los Angeles Clippers thanks to a Randy Foye 3-pointer on the buzzer, and San Antonio rallied from a big deficit and overran New Orleans.

To say Anita DeFrantz has waited 34 years for this moment would not be an exaggeration.

The American rower missed out on the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the U.S. boycott. She led a passionate — though fruitless — campaign against President Jimmy Carter's decision to snub the games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Chelsea delivered a potent mix of defensive resilience and effective counter-attacking in a 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Monday, neutralizing the Premier League's most rampant attack to provide a new twist in the title race.

Branislav Ivanovic lashed home a fierce 25-yard shot in the 31st minute to end City's 100 percent winning record at home in the league and earn Chelsea the double over most pundits' favorites for the title. The visitors could have won by more, hitting the goal frame three times and threatening almost every occasion they broke forward.

Wladimir Klitschko knows he has an image problem with fans in the United States, who for the most part pay the heavyweight champion little attention.

He wants to change that, though not at the expense of his decade-long winning streak or his collection of heavyweight titles.

A judge says Chris Brown should remain in a rehabilitation facility and turned down a prosecutor's motion to have the R&B singer jailed over an arrest in Washington, D.C. last year.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Brandlin says Brown appears to be making progress in a treatment facility and should remain there.

Portugal is hoping a master of surrealism can help taxpayers recoup some of the millions they lost rescuing a failed bank.

The government is selling 85 works by Spanish artist Joan Miro that became public property when Banco Portugues de Negocios was nationalized in 2008.