Lance Armstrong is looking to make a splash with a return to competition.

The disgraced cyclist is signed up to swim three events this weekend at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas. Armstrong spokesman Mark Higgins said Wednesday that Armstrong, 41, will compete in the 40-44 age group in the 500-, 1,000- and the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Japan is making a sweeping shift in its monetary policy, aiming to spur inflation and get the world's third-largest economy out of a long, debilitating slump.

Bowing to demands from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for more aggressive monetary easing, the Bank of Japan announced Thursday a policy overhaul intended to double the money supply and achieve a 2 percent inflation target at the "earliest possible time, with a time horizon of about two years."

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after just nine minutes as Real Madrid swept to a convincing 3-0 victory over Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Ronaldo's delicate chip shot was followed 20 minutes later by a close-range strike from Karim Benzema as a dominant Madrid moved effortlessly through the gears.

Malaga held on for a 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund thanks to an inspired performance by goalkeeper Willy Caballero on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.

Dortmund's high-paced attack led by Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski produced several scoring chances for the German champions, but their lack of finishing touch and Caballero's saves let the hosts keep their seventh clean sheet in 11 games.

Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol scored three goals in a 15-minute span to remain unbeaten after three matches in the Asian Champions League, while the Central Coast Mariners kept pace with their first win in Group H.

In Group D, Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates maintained its good run of form, beating Qatari club Al Rayyan 2-1 to improven its chances of advancing to the knockout stage.

It is one of the cosmos' most mysterious unsolved cases: dark matter. It is supposedly what holds the universe together. We can't see it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there.

Led by a dogged, Nobel Prize-winning gumshoe who has spent 18 years on the case, scientists put a $2 billion detector aboard the International Space Station to try to track down the stuff. And after two years, the first evidence came in Wednesday: tantalizing cosmic footprints that seem to have been left by dark matter.

Animal Planet wants to help you tap into your inner wild.

That's the network's message as it unveils 11 new shows along with 20 returning favorites in the season ahead.

In a worrisome sign, a bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday.

So far the flu has sickened nine people in China and killed three. It's not clear how they became infected, but there's no evidence that the virus is spreading easily among people.

One of the world's most celebrated short story writers has received a top prize for his art form.

George Saunders has won the PEN/Malamud Award, named for short story master Bernard Malamud. The honor is worth $5,000. It was announced Wednesday by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez was ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service after admitting Wednesday to driving with his license suspended and without insurance.

The Argentina international was also handed a fresh six-month driving ban and ordered to pay costs of 1,145 pounds ($1,730) after pleading guilty to the offenses in court near Manchester.