Billings and Beirnes score two goals each as Toronto Rock beat Edmonton Rush 10-9

EDMONTON - Garrett Billings and Kasey Beirnes had two goals and two assists apiece as the Toronto Rock won 10-9 over the Edmonton Rush on Sunday in the National Lacrosse League.
Josh Sanderson and Scott Evans also had two-goal games while Stephan Leblanc and Rob Hellyer added each for the Rock. Toronto improved to 2-0 despite a difficult back-to-back start on the road, including a 13-11 win over the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday.
Rookies Mark Matthews and Curtis Knight each had hat tricks and added two assists for the Rush, who were playing their season opener. Corey Small, Ryan Ward and Zack Greer also scored for Edmonton.
Matthews, the first overall pick from the 2012 NLL entry draft at six-foot-five, 230 pounds, made an immediate impact with a goal on his first shot of his pro debut, scoring less than two minutes in on the power play. The Oshawa, Ont., product then assisted on a goal less than a minute later on another power-play marker by second-round pick Knight, also making his pro debut for the Rush.
The two teams traded goals before the Rock made it 3-2 with a power-play goal by Billings.
Edmonton took a two-goal lead into the second quarter on a late goal by Ward.
The Rush went up by three on Knight’s second of the game on the power play, but Toronto came right back on goals by Beirnes, Sanderson and Billings to tie the game midway through the second.
The Rush went into the locker rooms at the half with a 6-5 lead on Matthews’ second of the match.
Greer gave the Rush back a two-goal edge early in the third and his long shot beat Toronto goalie Nick Rose.
However, Toronto came roaring back with three quick goals, two from Evans and one from Sanderson to take their first lead of the game, up 8-7 halfway through the third quarter.
Edmonton equalled things up with eight seconds remaining in the third on Knight’s hat trick goal.
The Rock’s Beirnes scored the only goal through the first 12 minutes of the fourth quarter to put Toronto up 9-8.
Toronto got a big insurance goal with three minutes left as Hellyer picked the top corner.
Edmonton got back into the game with two minutes left as Matthews scored his third goal on a diving play in front of the net, but the Rush could not force extra time.
The Rock return to Toronto for their home opener against Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Rush are in Washington to face the Stealth on Sunday.
Notes: Last season the Toronto Rock entered the playoffs atop the East Division with a 9-7 record. After defeating the rival Buffalo Bandits in the first-round of the 2012 playoffs, the Rock saw their season end with the 17-13 loss to the Rochester Knighthawks. ... The Knighthawks also ended the Rush’s season, albeit in the National Lacrosse League championship game. The Rush placed fourth in the West at 6-10 but caught fire in the post-season with wins over Calgary and Minnesota. ... Toronto came into the game with a 10-3 all-time record against Edmonton. ... It was the pro debut of not only first overall pick Matthews for the Rush, but also highly-touted second round pick Curtis Knight, also from Oshawa, Ontario… Canadian Football League star quarterback Ricky Ray dropped the ball for the ceremonial face-off. Ray won the Grey Cup championship with the Toronto Argonauts this season after being traded by the Edmonton Eskimos.

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Acceleration, not speed, behind BMW diesel launch in U.S.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, New Jersey (Reuters) - BMW has a message for the incorrigible speed freaks looking for a more politically correct set of wheels in this era of energy efficiency: switch to a diesel.
The German luxury carmaker is rolling out a new range of sporty new diesel sedans in the United States this year to complement its sole diesel on offer - the X5 xDrive 35d sport utility vehicle - and believes the hitherto unloved powertrain will find greater acceptance in an age of downsized engines.
Diesels boast roughly 25 percent improved fuel consumption versus conventional cars, but their renaissance in the U.S. market long prophesied by German automakers such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz has been an uphill battle due to a poor image, higher fuel prices relative to gasoline and a spotty filling station infrastructure.
"The X5 diesel is selling like hot cakes, so we know from the X5 how strong customer acceptance can be as long as you have the right product," said Ludwig Willisch, president of BMW of North America, during an interview at its Woodcliff Lake headquarters on the outskirts of New York City.
"The next step then is launching a four-cylinder diesel in the 3 Series and a six-cylinder diesel in the 5 Series in the market this year," he continued, speaking prior to this week's North American auto show in Detroit.
Roughly a quarter of the 56,800 X5 SUVs that BMW sold last year were equipped with a diesel engine rather than a conventional gasoline engine, which Willisch said makes the SUV the second-best-selling diesel in the United States after the much cheaper Volkswagen Jetta TDI.
A German national, Willisch previously headed up the group's sales activities for Europe, where diesel penetration steadily rose from over 20 percent in 1997 to 56 percent last year, due partly to a more beneficial tax treatment in many countries.
Luxury carmakers like BMW also tend to be more dependent on diesels than their mass-market peers. Fuel bills would make the total cost of owning a large sedan or a heavy SUV much higher in Europe were the vehicles powered by gasoline. Two-thirds of BMW brand cars sold in Germany last year were diesels.
Diesels traditionally aren't found in high-revving sports cars because they already generate at lower engine revolutions the maximum amount of force they can apply to the wheels, or torque, which is so crucial to quick acceleration. Their power curve tends to drop the faster the engine runs, making diesels ideal for towing heavy loads.
Yet BMW for the first time last year rolled out its first diesel-powered line of tuned M performance cars such as the M550d to send a statement - diesels are every bit as sporty.
CONSTRAINED OPTIMISM
"Torque is especially important to Americans. Flat-out top speed doesn't really count anymore," Willisch said.
"So I cannot imagine that the advantages of a diesel in terms of both torque and fuel consumption will not find appeal with customers in the U.S."
Whereas half of the new cars in Europe run on diesel, Americans have long eschewed the alternative powertrain due to the widespread image that stuck from the 1970s of loud, smelly cars that often could not start in the cold, and when they did, clouds of black soot would belch out of the tailpipe.
Diesels are, however, often better equipped to handle the long commutes typically driven in America than the densely congested areas of Europe, where a gasoline-electric hybrid is often more suitable.
A Toyota Prius operates more efficiently in stop-and-go traffic, for example, since it depends on recouping kinetic energy otherwise lost when the brakes are applied.
Mercedes currently plans to add diesel versions of the C-Class sedan and GLK mid-size SUV in addition to those on offer for its larger M-Class and GL-Class SUVs.
Despite its expansion plans, sales of Mercedes BlueTEC diesels rose 7.4 percent to just 15,416 vehicles last year, lagging the brand's overall growth rate in the U.S. market. VW saw its U.S. penetration rate of diesels drop one full percentage point to 20.6 percent last year.
In an attempt to rebrand the technology, the industry has taken to calling them "Clean Diesels". Sales did increase some 25 percent in 2012 in the United States, but this still lagged the near-68 percent gain in hybrid sales, according to data cited by industry group Diesel Technology Forum.
In an interview on Tuesday, the U.S. head of Mercedes said he had only a "constrained optimistic" view on diesels.
"The U.S. market is just not going to develop like Canada or Europe, period. There is nothing on the horizon that would indicate any strong movement either from a supply or a consumer demand standpoint that is going to move us towards diesel," Stephen Cannon told Reuters.

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UK finance job sackings and suspensions at five-year high: law firm

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of financial services staff sacked or suspended in Britain last year for reasons such as wrongdoing reached the highest level in five years, law firm Pinsent Masons said on Monday.
Citing figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request, Pinsent Masons said 1,373 individuals were dismissed or suspended from financial services jobs - as distinct from those who lost their jobs through general redundancy programs - a 56 percent increase on the previous 12 months.
The finding comes after a succession of financial scandals and efforts by regulators to clamp down on misdemeanors.
Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulator, due to be replaced later this year, has for instance beefed up its efforts to tackle market abuse over the last few years, successfully prosecuting a number of high-profile insider dealing cases.
Last year also saw a string of bank scandals, including mis-selling of financial products and the manipulation of global benchmark interest rates, as well as the prosecution of former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli for the biggest fraud in British history, which cost the Swiss bank $2.3 billion.
"The FSA has increasingly shown that it is cracking down on financial crime and market abuse. Financial services firms are operating under increased scrutiny and as a result employers are imposing industry rules more strictly," said Helen Farr, a London-based partner at Pinsent Masons.
"Enforcement activity has clearly had an impact on firms' willingness to tolerate wrongdoing. Firms now appear much more likely to discipline employees for offences," Farr said.
The law firm said the 1,373 total was based on changes to the employment status of individuals who have to be authorized by the FSA, and included people disciplined for poor performance or sacked for other reasons, as well as for wrongdoing.
It also said the overall number of job losses in the financial sector had reached its highest level since 2008, with 36,868 people losing their jobs last year.
That took the total number of people who had left their posts over the past five years to 177,697, it said.
Banks worldwide are shedding jobs as stricter regulations and euro zone worries take their toll on trading income and investment banking operations.
"The total number of job losses in the sector is striking," Farr said. "While it should be kept in mind that many of these people may have been re-employed and some will have simply transferred internally, the numbers certainly tell a story."

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Ivory Coast New Year's death toll rises to 64

 Ivory Coast's health minister says the death toll in the New Year's stampede has risen to 64.
Health Minister Raymonde Goudou, speaking to the press, said three more people died in addition to the 61 who were killed from being trampled when thousands left a New Year's fireworks display. She said 26 people who had been missing after the chaos of the stampede were located in various hospitals in Abidjan.
Goudou said Thursday afternoon that the government will close its investigation into the tragic stampede on Friday and will issue a report later.
The Front Populaire Ivorien, the opposition party of former President Laurent Gbagbo, issued a statement criticizing Interior Minister Hamed Eakayoko for not taking adequate security measures for the fireworks display in central Abidjan on New Year's Eve.

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Mali's Ansar Dine: Islamists to resume hostilities

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An Islamist group in northern Mali says it's suspending its pledge to halt hostilities less than a month after it agreed to do so.
The group Ansar Dine said negotiations with the Malian government are ultimately aimed at a military intervention to oust the Islamists, and are not true peace talks. Still, the group said that it remains committed to a dialogue with the Malian government in Bamako even though it is withdrawing its pledge to halt hostilities.
The original offer had drawn skepticism from some observers, who noted the group's links to al-Qaida's North Africa branch.
Ansar Dine also has been behind public executions, amputations and whippings in northern Mali. The group on its website says it seeks autonomy for northern Mali.

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Nigeria police: Hyundai paid $187K to free workers

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. paid about $187,000 to free four abducted South Korean workers and their local colleague, a lucrative ransom showing the continuing allure of kidnapping in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, police said Friday.
South Korean officials declined to say whether they paid a ransom when announcing the hostages' release on Dec. 22, following the pattern of other foreign governments and companies operating in the Niger Delta when dealing with abductions. However, cash payments often represent the only safe way of getting back expatriate workers in the region since militants began attacks there in 2006.
Police learned of the kidnapping payment after arresting one of three suspected kidnappers, Bayelsa state police spokesman Fidelis Odunna told The Associated Press on Friday. The man claimed that several gangs involved in the kidnapping received 30 million naira ($187,500), Odunna said.
"The real reason for the kidnapping is for financial interest," the spokesman said. "The company didn't want to endanger the lives of the workers and paid secretly."
While the workers were safely released, Odunna said the cash payment likely would further embolden the criminal gangs and militant groups — some often one in the same — that operate in the delta, a region of mangroves and swamps about the size of Portugal.
On Dec. 17, gunmen ambushed workers for the Korea-based company at a construction site in the Brass region of Bayelsa state. Six people were initially taken, though kidnappers let one Nigerian go an hour after the attack, likely because he came from the area, authorities had said.
Foreign companies have pumped oil out of the Niger Delta for more than 50 years, making Nigeria one of the top crude suppliers to the U.S. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria's government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living amid polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or jobs. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blew up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.
That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty program that offered ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and sporadic kidnappings and attacks continue. Pirates operating in the region also routinely kidnap foreign sailors off vessels in the Gulf of Guinea.
Middle- and upper-class Nigerians now routinely find themselves and their family members targeted by kidnap gangs. The end of the year in Nigeria usually sees an uptick in criminal activity as well, as criminal gangs target the wealthy returning to the country to celebrate the holidays.
Most workers taken hostages are released after a few weeks when their employers pay a ransom, typically around a $100,000 or higher, depending on negotiations, experts say.

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Attacks on Ivorian military kill 1 in Abidjan

 Authorities in Ivory Coast say at least one person is dead after two simultaneous attacks on Ivorian security forces.
Cherif Moussa, chief of communications for the army, said Friday that the attacks took place overnight in the commercial capital of Abidjan.
The United Nations said it "firmly condemns" the latest violence against members of the Ivorian armed forces.
In a statement, the U.N. special representative, Bert Koenders, said he "deplores these violent acts which were carried out at a time when the political situation was becoming more hopeful."
President Alassane Ouattara's government alleges that fighters who support former President Laurent Gbagbo are behind recent attacks on military positions in the West African nation.
Since early August, more than a dozen such attacks have been carried out throughout the country.

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EU to re-launch aid to Guinea after vote date set

 The European Union says it has agreed to re-launch €174.3 million in development funds to Guinea.
The move comes after the West African nation finally set a date for long-delayed legislative elections.
The announcement on Friday said Guinea's government had "presented a credible timetable for the organization of legislative elections."
The head of Guinea's electoral commission announced earlier this month that the vote will go ahead in May, though 10 members of the 25-member body later released a statement criticizing the move.
The West African country has not had a functioning parliament for four years, and only held its first democratic presidential election in 2010.

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Mali militants seek peace after UN backs force

The al-Qaida-linked group that controls much of northern Mali and other rebels agreed Friday to cease hostilities in the areas they control, a day after the United Nations backed a regional plan to oust the Islamists from power in a military intervention next year.
Ansar Dine, which controls the northern cities of Timbuktu and Kidal, and a secular rebel group known as the NMLA made the concessions following talks in neighboring Algeria.
The two groups vowed "to refrain from all actions that would cause confrontation and hostilities in the areas that they control."
They also vowed to work to free hostages in northern Mali, where al-Qaida's North Africa branch has made millions of dollars through ransoms and is currently holding seven French nationals captive.
The U.N.'s most powerful body on Thursday authorized an African-led force, but made no mention of size and set no timeline for military action.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said recently he does not expect a military operation to begin until September or October of next year.
Ansar Dine had previously met with government representatives in talks that were facilitated by the government of Burkina Faso. As a result, other militants in the north have sought to join Ansar Dine recently including members of the secular NMLA group.
Malians living under the grip of al-Qaida-linked militants expressed dismay Friday that it could be nearly a year before a regional military intervention to oust the Islamists from power.
"We want rapid military action to liberate our cities," said Alphadi Cisse, who lives in Timbuktu. "There is no school, there is no work and no money. We are fed up with this situation."
The mayor of Timbuktu, which is controlled by the Islamist group Ansar Dine, has described conditions there as "a living hell." The al-Qaida-linked militants have imposed their version of strict Islamic law known as Shariah.
They have stoned to death a couple accused of adultery, hacked off the hands of thieves and have recruited children as young as 12 into their ranks. Heavily armed men also have attacked bars that sell alcohol, and banned men and women from socializing in the streets.
The turmoil has decimated the economy of Timbuktu, once a thriving tourist town.
Thursday's resolution adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council welcomes troop contributions pledged by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS and calls on member states, including from the neighboring Sahel region, to contribute troops to the mission.
Council diplomats say the best-trained African troops in desert warfare are from Chad, Mauritania and Niger.
The resolution stressed that there must be a two-track plan — political and military — to reunify the country, which has been in turmoil since a coup in March. Islamist groups were able to take hold of northern Mali, an area the size of Texas, after the March coup created a power vacuum.
Coup members created new political turmoil earlier this month when they arrested the country's prime minister and forced him to resign — a move that raised new concerns about the ability of the Malian military help regain control of the north.
The U.N. resolution also emphasizes that further military planning is needed before a force could be sent and it asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "confirm in advance the council's satisfaction with the planned military offensive operation."
France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters Thursday that it's premature to say when the military operation will take place because African and Malian troops must be trained and much depends on the political process and the country's extreme weather.
Northerners in Mali say the longer the world waits, the more entrenched the militants are becoming.
Hamadada Toure, a teacher from the city of Gao, urged the international community to follow through swiftly on its pledges to help free the north.
"If the resolution is not acted upon to chase the Islamists out of towns, all the comings and goings of diplomats and the mobilization of the international community are a bluff," he said from southern Mali where he sought refuge earlier this year.

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Mozambique highway collision kills 14

Police in Mozambique say 14 people died when a tire burst on a speeding minibus, causing the driver to lose control and collide with an oncoming vehicle.
Radio Mozambique cited police as saying 11 people were also injured in the accident on Friday. It happened 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the capital, Maputo.
Police say all of those killed were on the minibus that had been going too fast, and that the driver was among the injured. Some passengers in the other vehicle, also a minibus, had minor injuries.
Traffic on some highways in Mozambique is heavy at this time of year as people working in South African mines return home for the Christmas season. Many South African tourists also visit Mozambique over the holiday period.

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South African president visits Mandela in hospital

 South Africa's president has visited former leader Nelson Mandela in a hospital, and the presidency says Mandela continues to respond to treatment.
The office of President Jacob Zuma says he saw Mandela on Saturday morning in Pretoria, the capital, and assured the anti-apartheid icon that he has the support of all South Africans and the world.
Mandela, who is 94, has been hospitalized since Dec. 8. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and also had gallstone surgery.
Zuma said Thursday that Mandela had been seriously ill but had steadily improved.
Zuma is urging South Africans to continue praying for Mandela, who was imprisoned for 27 years for his role as a leader of the struggle against white racist rule. He served one five-year term as president.

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Russia welcomes any offer to give Assad refuge

BEIRUT (AP) — Russia would welcome any country's offer of safe haven for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has no plans to make one of its own, Moscow's foreign minister said in the latest comments to suggest a growing distance between the two allies.
Sergey Lavrov's remarks on Friday night were among the clearest signs yet that Russia could be preparing for a Syria without Assad, as rebel pressure on the embattled leader intensifies. Over the past four weeks, fighting has reached Damascus, his seat of power, and rebels have captured a string of military bases.
Up to now, Russia has vetoed three Western-backed resolutions aimed at pressuring Syria's government to stop the violence that has killed more than 40,000 people over the past 21 months. While Russian leaders have given no concrete signs that stance has changed, their tone has shifted as rebels advance on the outskirts of the capital.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin distanced himself further than ever from the Syrian president, saying Russia does not seek to protect him and suggesting his regime is growing weaker.
Speaking to reporters late Friday, Lavrov reiterated Moscow's position that "it doesn't invite President Assad here," although he said other countries had asked Russia to convey their offer of safe passage to Assad.
While he would not name the countries, Lavrov said Russia had responded by telling them to go directly to the Syrian leader.
"If there is anyone willing to provide him guarantees, they are welcome!" Lavrov said on board a plane returning from Brussels, where he attended a Russia-EU summit.
"We would be the first to cross ourselves and say: "Thank God, the carnage is over! If it indeed ends the carnage, which is far from certain."
Syria's conflict started in March last year as an uprising against Assad, whose family has ruled the country for four decades. But the bloody crackdown that followed led rebels to take up arms, and the ensuing fighting transformed into a civil war.
The regime has come under added condemnation in recent weeks as Western officials raise concerns Assad might use chemical weapons against rebels in an act of desperation.
Syria refuses to confirm or deny if it has such weapons but is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas. It also possesses Scud missiles capable of delivering them.
Lavrov said the Syrian government has pulled its chemical weapons together to one or two locations from several arsenals across the country to keep them safe amid the rebel onslaught.
"According to the information we have, as well as the data of the U.S. and European special services, the government is doing everything to secure it," he said. "The Syrian government has concentrated the stockpiles in one or two centers, unlike the past when they were scattered across the country."
Lavrov added that U.N.-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, would visit Moscow for talks before the year's end.
The conflict's sectarian dimension looked set to deepen at the weekend, as rebels threated to storm two predominantly Christian towns in a central region if residents do not "evict" government troops they say are using the towns as a base to attack nearby areas.
A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, who identified himself as the commander of the Ansar Brigade for Hama province, calling on locals in Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh to rise up against Assad's forces or prepare for an assault.
"You should perform your duty by evicting Assad's gangs," said Abdul-Fidaa, who wore an Islamic headband and was surrounded by gunmen. "Otherwise our warriors will storm the hideouts of the Assad gangs."
He also accused regime forces of taking positions in the two towns in order to "incite sectarian strife" between Christians and the predominantly Sunni opposition. Assad belongs to the Alawite minority sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.
The threat comes just two days after a U.N. team investigating human rights abuses in Syria accused anti-Assad militants of hiding among the civilian population, triggering strikes by government artillery and the air force.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the activist group which reported the rebel ultimatum on Saturday, said such an attack by rebels could force thousands of Christians from their homes.
Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups.
Clashes between troops and rebels in the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, have already displaced tens of thousands of Christians, most of whom either fled to the relatively safe coastal areas or to neighboring Lebanon.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said some Christians and Alawites have also left Hama province in the past several days to escape violence. He said some of them found shelter in the coastal city of Tartus.
In Damascus, the new head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch said that Christians in Syria had deep roots in the country and were not part of the conflict. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Patriarch John X. Yazigi urged rival factions to negotiate a settlement.
Violence continued unabated on Saturday, particularly in the capital.
The Observatory said a car bomb went off in the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, killing at least five people and wounding others. A Syrian official confirmed the blast but had no immediate comment regarding casualties.
Elsewhere, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state-run TV that it had repelled a rebel attack on a military base that killed a regimental commander in the Damascus suburb of Chebaa.
Also in Damascus, the state-run news agency SANA said gunmen assassinated a cameraman for the government's TV station, the latest such killing in recent months.
In another development, 11 rebel groups said they have formed a new coalition, the Syrian Islamic Front.
A statement issued by the new group, dated Dec. 21 and posted on a militant website Saturday, described it as "a comprehensive Islamic front that adopts Islam as a religion, doctrine, approach and conduct."
Several rebel groups have declared their own coalitions in Syria, including one calling itself an "Islamic state" in the embattled northern city of Aleppo.
The statement said the new group will work to avoid differences or disputes with the other Islamic groups.

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Bombing at political rally kills 9 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a provincial government official at a political rally held Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said.
The rally in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was held by the Awami National Party, whose members have been repeatedly targeted by the Taliban.
Among the dead was Bashir Bilour, the second most senior member of the provincial Cabinet, said Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the politician's brother and federal railways minister.
Over 20 others were wounded by the blast, said local police officer Sabir Khan.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing in a statement, reiterating the United Nations' support for Pakistani efforts "to combat the scourge of terrorism."
Bilour was leaving the rally after delivering the keynote speech when the attack occurred, said Nazir Khan, a local Awami National Party leader.
"There was smoke and dust all around, and dead and wounded people were lying on the ground," he said.
The suicide bomber was on foot, said another police officer, Imtiaz Khan.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister and a member of the Awami National Party, said both he and Bilour had repeatedly received threats from militants. He condemned the attack and said the government needed to intensify its battle against the Taliban.
"Terrorism has engulfed our whole society," said Hussain. "They are targeting our bases, our mosques, our bazars, public meetings and our security checkpoints."
Ten Taliban militants attacked the military area of an international airport in Peshawar with rockets and car bombs a week ago, killing four people and wounding over 40 others. Five of the militants were killed during the attack, and five others died the next day in a gunbattle with security forces.
Also Saturday, police said a mob in southern Pakistan stormed a police station to seize a mentally unstable Muslim man accused of burning a copy of Islam's holy book. The crowd beat him to death, and then set fire to his body.
The case is likely to raise further concerns about the country's harsh blasphemy laws, which can result in a death sentence or life in prison to anyone found guilty. An accusation or investigation alone can lead to deaths, as people take the law into their own hands and kill those accused of violating it. Police stations and even courts have been attacked by mobs.
Police arrested the man on Friday after being informed by residents that he had burned a Quran inside a mosque where he had been staying for a night, said local police official Biharud Deen.
An angry mob of more than 200 people then broke into the police station in the southern town of Dadu and took the accused man, who they say was under questioning. Deen said police tried their best to save the man's life but were unable to stop the furious crowd.
Police have arrested 30 people for suspected involvement in the attack, said Deen. The head of the local police station and seven officers had been suspended, he said.
Past attempts by governments in predominantly Muslim Pakistan to review these laws have met with violent opposition from hardline Islamist parties.
In southwestern Pakistan, gunmen late Friday killed 11 Pakistanis and Afghans who were trying to cross into neighboring Iran to travel on to Europe as illegal immigrants, said local government official Zubair Ahmed. The shooting took place in Sunsar town in Baluchistan province, he said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but hundreds of Pakistanis and Afghans are captured by Iranian border guards every year for illegally trying to travel to Europe to find better jobs.

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No new vote in Venezuela if Chavez sworn in late: official

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will not call fresh elections if Hugo Chavez's cancer prevents him from taking office by January 10, the head of Congress said on Saturday, despite a constitutional mandate that the swearing-in take place on that date.
Chavez is recovering in Cuba from a six-hour cancer operation that followed his October re-election. The socialist leader has not been heard from for nearly two weeks, raising doubts as to whether he will be fit to continue governing.
Opposition leaders may pounce on the issue of the swearing-in date to demand that authorities call fresh elections because of Chavez's apparently critical state of health due to an undisclosed type of cancer in the pelvic region.
A constitutional dispute over succession could lead to a messy transition toward a post-Chavez era in the South American nation with the world's largest oil reserves.
"Since Chavez might not be here in on January 10, (the opposition) hopes the National Assembly will call elections within 30 days. They're wrong. Dead wrong," said Diosdado Cabello, the National Assembly's president and one of Chavez's closest allies, during a ceremony to swear in a recently elected governor.
"That's not going to happen because our president is named Hugo Chavez, he was reelected and is in the hearts of all Venezuelans."
He suggested Chavez may need more time to recover from his surgery. Officials in recent weeks have recognized his condition was serious, and the garrulous leader's unusual silence has built up alarm even among supporters.
The constitution says "the elected candidate will assume the Presidency of the Republic on January 10th of the first year of their constitutional term, via swearing-in by the National Assembly."
It says new elections are to be called if the National Assembly determines a "complete absence" of the president because of death, physical or mental impairment or abandoning the job.
The opposition believes it would have a better shot against Chavez's anointed successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, than against the charismatic former soldier who for 14 years has been nearly invincible at the ballot box.
Chavez allies want to avoid a public debate over the president's health because his cancer has been treated as a state secret. His treatment in communist Cuba has helped keep his condition under wraps, and the Venezuelan government has given only terse and cryptic statements about his post-operation recovery.
Constitutional lawyer Jose Vice Harold said he expects the Supreme Court, which is controlled by Chavez allies, will rule that Chavez may extend his existing term without having to be sworn in with the expectation that he will eventually recover.
"What they are doing is taking the debate over succession from the National Assembly, which is where it belongs, and moving it to the Supreme Court where behind closed doors they can decide the next steps are," said Harold, a Chavez critic and constitutional law professor as the Universidad Catholic Andres Bellow.
Chavez has vastly expanded presidential powers and built a near-cult following among millions of poor Venezuelans, who love his feisty language and oil-financed social welfare projects.
Opposition leaders are smarting from this month's governors elections in which Chavez allies won 20 of 23 states. They are trying to keep attention focused on day-to-day problems from rampant crime to power outages.

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3-day trip becomes 3-week ordeal for 2 Jamaicans

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — It was supposed to be a three-day fishing trip at most. It turned into a three-week ordeal, drifting under an intense sun for hundreds of miles in the Caribbean in a small boat with a broken motor.
The two Jamaican fishermen survived by eating raw fish they caught and drinking water from melted ice they had brought to preserve their catch. The Colombian navy finally plucked them from the sea a week ago and delivered them home Saturday after treating them for severe dehydration, malnutrition and hypothermia.
Everton Gregory, 54, and John Sobah, 58, recounted their story in a telephone interview from Jamaica, while the boat owner and the men's employer also provided details.
The men set off from Jamaica's southeastern coast on Nov. 20. The water was glassy, the wind was calm and their boat was laden with 14 buckets of ice, 16 gallons of water and several bags of cereal, bread and fruit.
They headed to Finger Bank, a nearby sand spit 8-miles-long (13-kilometers) that is known for its abundance of fish like wahoo, tuna and mahi mahi. The owner of the 28-foot (8-meter) boat said she usually joins them on fishing trips, but she couldn't go that afternoon.
After spending a couple of days around Finger Bank, the two men set off for home with their catch. But the boat's engine soon died. The water was too deep to use the anchor and the current too strong to use the oars, so the boat slowly drifted away from Jamaica.
At first, the men got by on sipping the water and eating the food they brought with them. But days turned into weeks, and they began to eat the fish they had caught and drink the melted ice that had kept it fresh.
Gregory and Sobah kept eating raw fish and used a tarp to try to collect water, but the rain clouds remained at a distance.
Back home, friends and family called police and used their own boats to search the area where the men were last seen. The two fishermen work for the Florida-based nonprofit group Food for the Poor, which chartered a plane to search along Jamaica's coast.
Marva Espuet, the owner of the boat, said she knew she had packed it with more food and water than needed for a three-day trip, but the thought provided little relief.
"If I had gone, there would have been two boats going," said the 52-year-old woman, a longtime friend of both fishermen.
With searches proving fruitless, Sobah's niece grew frantic, recalled Nakhle Hado, a fishing manager for Food for the Poor who helped lead the search. She "begged me that she wanted John back for Christmas," Hado said.
Hado said some people believed the two men would never be found, but he and others didn't give up. "My gut was telling me that they were still alive," he said.
Hado said he had trained Gregory and Sobah on how to survive at sea.
"In case something happens, they don't have to think twice. They know how to react," he said. "It's very important, their mental state."
Gregory and Sobah finally ran out of fresh water and went several days without drink. A healthy human being can die from dehydration anywhere from three to five days without water.
Then on Dec. 12, a Colombian navy helicopter patrolling off the coast of that South American country spotted the men near Lack of Sleep cay, more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) from where they started. It took two days for a navy vessel to reach them because of bad weather. The men were hospitalized for several days at the Colombian island of San Andres before boarding a plane back home to Jamaica.
"It feels good," Sobah told the AP in a brief phone interview after arriving.
Gregory said he had lost hope, but Sobah tried to keep him positive that they would be rescued. "I just had that belief," Sobah said. "I believe in the Creator."
Yet it is Gregory who plans to keep fishing despite the ordeal because he needs the job.
Sobah said he's done. "I'm not going to go fishing again. No way."

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AP PHOTOS: Images from Egypt's constitution vote

Egyptians returned to the polls to vote on a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution.
Preliminary results released by the Muslim Brotherhood show that the disputed constitution has received a "yes" majority of more than 70 percent in the second and final round of voting. The referendum was held over two days, on Dec. 15 and 22.
Here's a look at AP photos from Egypt's election.

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