Europe’s main center-left political group has kicked out the party of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Protesters in Slovakia have formed a human chain around the country’s public television and radio building in anger over a takeover plan by the government whose populist, pro-Russia prime minister recently labeled several private media outlets his enemies.

The Montreal Canadiens have selected Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick in the NHL draft.

Slovakia is headed to the semifinals after shocking the U.S. men's hockey team with a shootout victory in the Olympic quarterfinals.

Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova will stick to her reduced World Cup schedule this season.

Petra Vlhova got the better of Mikaela Shiffrin for the second time in two days by winning another women’s World Cup slalom in Finnish Lapland.

Pope Francis says he doesn't understand why people refuse to take COVID-19 vaccines.

Pope Francis has honored Slovakian Jews killed in the Holocaust as he seeks to promote reconciliation with the Jewish community.

U.S. shooters Maddie Brenau and Brian Burrows took bronze in the first-ever Olympic mixed team trap event Saturday.

Pope Francis' first foreign trip after undergoing intestinal surgery is going to be a grueling one.

Slovakia coach Stefan Tarkovic says defender Denis Vavro and a member of the team’s coaching staff have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the European Championship match against Sweden.

Novak Djokovic has warmed up for the French Open by beating Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 to take his 83rd career title, coming on home soil at the Belgrade Open.

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, World Cup women's giant slalom in Jasna, Slovakia, Sunday, March 7, 2021. '”While Shiffrin acknowledged interruptions are a common part of the sport, she said the lengthy delay was not necessary this time. Vlhova finished 10th and 12th in the last two giant slaloms on the World Cup, and 12th at the world championships last month. Jasna is not a regular stop on the women’s World Cup circuit. The result gave Bassino a lead of 148 points over Worley with only the season-ending GS at the World Cup Finals in Switzerland remaining.

(Frantisek Ivan/TASR via AP)PRAGUE – Slovakia has become the nation with most COVID-19 deaths by size of population in the world amid a surge of cases from a highly contagious coronavirus variant. AdEarlier this month, the Slovakian government announced the fast-spreading coronavirus variant first found in southern England had become dominant in the Central European country. Researchers have also found that the variant dominant in the U.K. is also more deadly than the original virus. AdAnother 111 people died in Slovakia of COVID-19 on Monday for a total of 6,063 in the nation of 5.4 million. Majdan said mathematical models suggest that between 9,000 and 11,000 might die of COVID-19 in Slovakia by June, if the current trend continues.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Michigan’s men’s basketball game Thursday against Illinois has been postponed. That came after several positive tests for a new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate. Michigan said it expects to resume the men’s basketball season Feb. 14 at Wisconsin. ___The Boston College women’s basketball team is going back into a COVID shutdown for the second time in a month. The Atlantic Coast Conference postponed BC’s next two games after a positive test and contact tracing within the program.

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova celebrates as she arrives at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)ZAGREB – Shortly after winning the first women's World Cup slalom of 2021 on Sunday, Petra Vlhova kneeled with her face down, torn between relief and disbelief. Leading after the first run, Vlhova thought she had squandered her chances in a rough final run with several mistakes on the deteriorating course. After Vlhova and Shiffrin dominated women's slalom racing in recent years, Liensberger and Gisin seem to have closed the gap. The women's World Cup continues with speed races in St. Anton, Austria, next weekend.

In preparation for European Union summit this month, the meeting is to discuss situation in Belarus, ties with Russia and fighting COVID-19. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)WARSAW – The prime ministers of four central European countries said Friday that a new election should be held in Belarus to allow the country's voters to decide the course of its future. Belarus has seen a month of street protests against the results of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election, which is widely believed to have been rigged. Orban said that fast-growing central Europe could be an engine of a pickup in the economy. Poland, the largest of the four and aspiring to take a leadership, currently holds the rotating presidency of the so-called Visegrad 4, central Europe's political and economic cooperation group.