A Chinese province where authorities have removed hundreds of rooftop crosses from Protestant and Catholic churches has proposed a ban on any further placement of the religious symbol atop sanctuaries.

The draft, if approved, would give authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang solid legal grounds to remove rooftop crosses.

Seattle's mayor and environmentalists have vowed to block Royal Dutch Shell PLC from parking two Arctic offshore drilling rigs on Seattle's waterfront, an effort to thwart the new frontier in oil exploration and spark a national debate about fossil fuels and climate change.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

Spain's football federation is suspending all league and cup matches from May 16 in protest at a proposed law on the sale of television rights and the division of the income earned.

The federation said the decision had been taken by its board of directors on Wednesday.

Two-time Olympic champion Tina Maze of Slovenia has announced a one-year break from ski racing before deciding about continuing her career.

The 32-year-old Maze said on her website, "I feel that my body and my mind need a longer rest than usual. I will allow myself a one year break before taking any further decision."

Cleveland's LeBron James rediscovered his headband and his peak form to lead the Cavaliers to a 106-91 victory over Chicago on Wednesday to square their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series at 1-1.

All four semifinal series across the two conferences stand at 1-1, after Houston beat the Los Angeles Clippers to square that match.

Top-seeded Roger Federer made an early exit from the Madrid Open on Wednesday after a narrow, second-round loss to Nick Kyrgios.

The 20-year-old Australian ended Federer's hopes of a fourth title at the Spanish tournament by rallying for a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (12) victory.

Lionel Messi scored two outstanding goals and set up Neymar to add another in injury time as Barcelona handed Bayern Munich and former coach Pep Guardiola a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.

Not even the coach who helped Messi become one of the best ever to play the game could find a way of stopping the prolific forward from scoring his 76th and record 77th goals in the competition.

A man snorkeling in the Colorado River near the Arizona and California border was terrified — and later embarrassed — when he came across two fake skeletons sitting in lawn chairs about 40 feet underwater.

The man reported the skeletons to the La Paz County Sheriff's Office on Monday, launching a hunt for what authorities believed could be real bodies.

Following a solid start to the year, signs emerged Wednesday that the 19-country eurozone economy is losing some traction.

While a closely-watched survey indicated that economic activity grew at a steady pace in April, a separate report pointed to a sharp drop in retail sales in March.

Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" and Henry Moore's "Archer" are among some of the world's most iconic sculptures competing for space at a new museum exhibition where one of Alberto Giacometti's signature figurines appears to stride boldly into the room.

It would be a world-class show if the pieces weren't copies made of Styrofoam, using the same techniques for making the floats in Rio's Carnival parades.