Google's Schmidt urges Internet openness in NKorea

BEIJING (AP) — Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Thursday it's up to North Korea to shed its self-imposed isolation and allow its citizens to use the Internet and connect with the outside world, or risk remaining way behind other countries.
Schmidt was returning from a private trip to North Korea with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that was not sanctioned by the U.S. government and has been criticized for appearing to boost Pyongyang's profile after its widely condemned rocket launch put a satellite into space last month.
"As the world is becoming increasingly connected," Schmidt said, "their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth. It will make it harder for them to catch up economically. We made that alternative very, very clear."
The nine-member delegation, which also included Jared Cohen, director of the company's Google Ideas think tank, was greeted at the Beijing airport by a throng of reporters at the end of their four-day trip.
"The government has to do something," Schmidt said. "It has to make it possible for the people to use the Internet. It is their choice now. It's in my view time for them to start, or else they will remain behind."
During the trip, Richardson said they also urged Pyongyang to halt all missile and nuclear tests, which have incurred U.N. sanctions, and sought fair treatment for an American who has been detained in North Korea.
Schmidt, CEO of the U.S.-based Internet giant until 2011, has been a vocal proponent of Internet freedom and openness around the world. He and Cohen are publishing a book in April about the power of global connectivity in transforming people's lives, policies and politics.
Cohen doesn't typically accompany Schmidt on Google-sanctioned trips, so his inclusion in the delegation may be a sign that the two men may have mainly been interested in gathering material for their book.
In Pyongyang, Schmidt's group visited a university computer lab and met with students and North Korean officials. They toured the frigid brick building in central Pyongyang that is the heart of North Korea's own computer industry, where Schmidt asked pointed questions about a new homegrown tablet computer as well as its Red Star operating system. He briefly donned a pair of 3-D goggles during the tour of the Korea Computer Center.
Many experts see the country as one of the least connected in the world, where few people have any access to computers, and even those who do are typically able to connect only to a domestic intranet that does not connect with the World Wide Web.
Global broadband Internet is available in North Korea, as well as a 3G mobile network that can't currently connect to the Internet. But few have unrestricted access, though "it would be very easy for them to turn that on," Schmidt said.
The State Department has criticized the trip as "unhelpful" at a time when the U.S. is rallying support for additional U.N. Security Council action against Pyongyang. Schmidt advised President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign and was once considered a potential candidate for a Cabinet-level appointment, though he has repeatedly said that he has no plans to leave Google for a government job.
Richardson said the message about expanding the use of technology in North Korea was very "well received."
He said the delegation strongly urged the government "to proceed with a moratorium on ballistic missiles and a possible nuclear test" and that they had "very frank discussions" with North Korean officials about the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Richardson said the North Koreans were encouraged by recent statements by the new South Korean leader, President-elect Park Geun-hye, who has said she will make efforts in her five-year term to boost aid and engage with the North.
Richardson said they also expressed concern about an American detained in North Korea, and were told his health was good and that judicial proceedings would start soon. Pae Jun Ho, who is known as Kenneth Bae in his home state of Washington, is a 44-year-old tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested in November in the northern city of Rajin.
"The delegation's trip to North Korea was productive, was successful," Richardson said at the airport in Beijing, adding that the group was invited to return. "We do expect to go back."
There are no major U.S. firms operating in North Korea, which fought against the United States in the Korean War of the 1950s. The foes signed a truce in 1953 to end the fighting, but never a peace treaty, and the two countries still do not have diplomatic relations.
Even if Schmidt wasn't officially representing Google in North Korea, the company stands to benefit if the country's leadership loosens its Internet restrictions. For years, the Mountain View, California, company has pushed for more accessible and affordable Internet connections and Web-surfing devices on the premise that its business ultimately will make more money if people spend more time online.

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Bill Richardson says didn't meet detained American on North Korea trip

BEIJING (Reuters) - Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt failed to secure the release of a Korean-American held in North Korea during a controversial trip to the secretive state that ended on Thursday.
Richardson told a media briefing at Beijing's airport he was unable to meet Korean-American Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old tourist who was detained late last year and has been charged with unspecified crimes against the state.
Richardson said he was told that judicial proceedings against Bae would start soon, although he gave no details. North Korean authorities assured him of Bae's good health, he said.
"That is encouraging," Richardson said of Bae's condition, adding he was also given permission to "proceed with a letter from his son, and that will happen shortly".
It was unclear if Richardson had left such a letter with North Korean authorities or if it would be sent later. Bae is being held in a location far from Pyongyang, Richardson said.
The timing of the trip by Schmidt and Richardson was criticized by the U.S. State Department. It came after North Korea carried out a long-range rocket launch last month, which Washington considers a provocative test of ballistic missile technology.
Schmidt said his visit to Pyongyang was private and was to talk about a free and open Internet.
"As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth", Schmidt said in brief remarks.
"The technology in North Korea is very limited," Schmidt said, with a 3G cellphone network for about a million phones run by Egypt's Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding SAE that does not support the Internet.
Access to the Internet is available to the government, the military and to universities but not the general public and users are supervised, he said.
"The government has to do something. They have to make it possible for people to use the Internet", he said. "It's their choice now, and time, in my view, for them to start or they will remain behind."
"They showed up and listened to us and asked us a lot of questions", he said.
"NOT PRODUCTIVE"
There was no immediate comment from North Korea about the visit by Richardson and Schmidt other than a report on the official KCNA news agency to say the delegation had left. The trip was met with skepticism across the border in South Korea.
"It wasn't productive on humanitarian grounds", said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University.
The trip came as the United States, South Korea, Japan and their European allies were pushing at the United Nations to expand long-standing U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the North's December 12 rocket launch.
Richardson said the North Koreans he met, including a vice foreign minister and other foreign ministry officials, maintained their missile activity was scientific and peaceful.
"I must say I personally disagree", said Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "I don't think it is science-based, and it is a violation of the United Nations moratorium."
Pyongyang, according to satellite imagery, is continuing work on its nuclear testing facilities, potentially paving the way for a third nuclear bomb test.
Chang said North Korea would not be budged easily.
"It is possible North Korea will take action after watching to see if the United States changes its policy", Chang said. "It tells us that North Korea is confident and not in a rush; it is going on its own way unyieldingly."
Tensions on the tinderbox Korean peninsula could be reduced following the election of new leaders in South Korea, Japan, and a new secretary of state in the United States, Richardson said.
"The North Koreans were encouraged by the recent statements of the new south Korean president", he said, referring to President-elect Park Gyeun-hye.

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Lowered UK flag sparks Protestant fury in Belfast

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — At Belfast City Hall, the flagpole is bare — and the streets are filled with nighttime fear and fury.
These are dangerous times in Northern Ireland, a long-divided corner of the United Kingdom that is supposed to be at peace after decades of unrest thanks to its hard-won cease-fires and a Catholic-Protestant government. But the lowering of a single Union Jack has exposed a society still split between two competing identities.
Last month, Catholics who narrowly outnumber Protestants on the council voted to reduce the flying of the flag to just 18 official days a year, ending a century when the British national symbol favored by Protestants flew uninterrupted year-round.
Catholics billed the move as a compromise, since they wanted the flag removed completely. On Wednesday, the flag fluttered for the first time since the vote to mark the 31st birthday of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, but was taken down again at sunset.
Protestant hard-liners have responded with nightly illegal street blockades that often have degenerated into street battles between riot police and masked protesters armed with everything from sledgehammers to snooker balls. Police say 66 officers have been wounded, including six this week, and more than 100 rioters arrested.
Nobody seems to know how, or when, the strife will end. While Northern Ireland suffers intercommunal conflict each summer because of traditional Protestant marches, this is the first time that Northern Ireland has suffered a month straight of angry civil disturbances in the winter.
Some analysts, reflecting on how past Northern Ireland crises have unfolded, suspect that the extremists won't stop until someone is killed.
"The quickest end looks like it would be in an atrocity. I fear that," said Duncan Morrow, a University of Ulster lecturer and former chief of Northern Ireland's Community Relations Council, a group that tries to bridge the persistent divide between Irish Catholics and British Protestants.
At the heart of the resumed conflict is the rapid change in Northern Ireland's population balance and political system.
Northern Ireland was created as a Protestant-majority state in the U.K. shortly before the overwhelmingly Catholic rest of Ireland won independence in 1922. But the days of Protestant domination of politics and the police are distant memories.
The latest census published last month shows Catholics in the majority in Belfast and gaining throughout Northern Ireland. The peace process has produced a new system in which a former Irish Republican Army commander now jointly leads the government, and a decade of preferential Catholic recruitment has produced a more Irish-oriented police force that Protestant militants increasingly view as the enemy.
For many Protestants, the change has overwhelmed the senses. Stripping "their" flag from City Hall has brought their central fear into focus — that they could become the minority in a land that eventually could fly the green, white and orange flag of the neighboring Republic of Ireland.
"The vote on the flag was a touchstone. It transformed Protestant and unionist frustration into outright anger," said Mike Nesbitt, leader of the No. 2 Protestant-backed party, the Ulster Unionists. "Even if you put the flag back up 365 days a year — and I accept it's not going to happen — that would not fix the anger on the streets."
Many shop and restaurant owners in downtown Belfast are fuming, too — about scared-off customers, bills they can't pay and a political culture that wreaks economic havoc over matters of symbolism. They blame Catholic politicians for picking a needless fight right before Christmas, and blame Protestants for inflaming mobs with no ability to rein them back in.
But Peter Robinson, the Protestant first minister of the government who still backs the protests so long as they remain peaceful, insists he's done all he can.

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PGA Tour opener delayed _ again _ by wind

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — On the third attempt at starting the PGA Tour season, Matt Kuchar stepped to the 10th tee at Kapalua and could barely hear his name through the wind. When he finally steadied himself, a gust blew his golf ball off the tee. And then it happened again.
"We had a powwow and took us five or six minutes to laugh it off and say, 'We're really going to go through with this?'" Kuchar said. "Made the best of it."
But not for long.
Just more than one hour after the Tournament of Champions finally got under way, it was scrapped again with all the scores erased.
Most golf tournaments end on Sunday. This one couldn't even get started Sunday.
The wind came roaring down the Plantation Course at Kapalua again, and it left officials no choice but to stop play and try to start again. With more manageable wind in the forecast, the plan was to play 36 holes Monday and finish with 18 holes Tuesday.
That was good news for Ben Curtis. He had birdie putts on the first two holes and was 5-over par.
"It's crazy. That's the only way to describe it," Curtis said. "I've never hit two greens in regulation at the start and walked away at 5 over. But hey. At least we had to try."
And they will try again.
Rickie Fowler will hit the opening tee shot of the 2013 season on Monday — for the third time this week.
For those wondering why this tournament keeps getting postponed, an hour of television Sunday was all the evidence they needed.
Ian Poulter posed over his 4-iron shot to the 13th green and was so stunned to see it come up short that he looked at his small gallery for the longest time, repeating loud enough for them to hear that he was only 138 yards from the front of the green. Off to his right, Charlie Beljan had a search party stomping through high grass to the right of the 10th fairway looking for both his tee shots. He had a 15-foot putt for triple bogey when play was stopped.
Moments later, a call came over the radio for a ruling on the 12th green. Scott Stallings was trying to tap in a 2-foot putt when a gust blew his ball 8 feet away.
"We need to try to put the show on," Poulter said. "Hyundai spent a lot of money. We want to play. Fans want to see us play. TV wants to see us play. We're backed into a corner. I don't think they understand how windy it really is. Now they've seen it."
It was comical from the start, with Kuchar having to tee it up three times before he could hit, and removing his cap the rest of the way. Jonas Blixt had a 1-foot par putt on the 10th hole and took about two minutes. He had to wait as a cup and someone's hat blew across the green.
Blixt has played 10 holes over two days in these conditions in 1-under par. None of it counts, but the Swede learned one thing.
"There's no instruction book for this," Blixt said. "You just go by instincts."
The Tournament of Champions was supposed to finish on Monday, the day it now hopes to start. The tour insists on a 54-hole tournament, no matter how complicated that will be with the next tournament, the Sony Open, starting on Thursday in Honolulu.
Andy Pazder, the tour's chief of operations, said television and operational equipment can only be transported to Oahu on a barge that takes 16 hours on a good day. The plan was to televise the final round at Kapalua, and go with a limited TV production for the opening round of the Sony Open.
Defending champion Steve Stricker lounged on a sofa in the dining room watching the NFL playoffs with Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker. Along with Bubba Watson, they have yet to tee off all week. Fowler made it through eight holes Friday and five holes Sunday.
But what a wild hour of golf that turned out to be.
"It seems like the first day was a cake walk compared to today," Webb Simpson said. "But you know, they're trying to get us to play some golf. Matt and I were hanging in there, and it was fun. But you don't want to see stupid things happen. I think that was what they were starting to see."
Carl Pettersson began his round by hitting his tee shot into the native grass for a lost ball and a triple bogey. Kyle Stanley had 88 yards to the 10th green and went with a punch 9-iron that sailed over the green. Curtis felt hopeless from the start.
After a four-putt double bogey, he hit the green on the par-3 11th.
"We're walking halfway down and my caddie said, 'Hey, your ball is moving.' And it rolled about another 5 feet," Curtis said.
Before he had a chance to putt, a gust blew the ball to the left some more and went down a slope. He chipped up to about 15 feet and four-putted again.
Poulter had to back off six times on a 10-foot birdie putt at the 11th hole. Two holes later, he had hit a beauty of a 4-iron, starting out to the right as the wind brought back toward the flag — and it landed short.
"That's not golf," Poulter said. "I don't know what that is. You saw it. You can't pull a trigger. You're taking 20 practice swings because you can't stand up. I guess what we've done is shown everyone it's unplayable. In some respect, at least we hit a couple of shots. Three days of sitting in the hotel is not good. At least I've warmed up for something. I'm just not sure what I've warmed up for."
Beljan is one of the biggest hitters in golf who never hits a hook, unless the wind blows him off the ball as he says it did on the 10th hole. At least he found his second shot. After the five-minute search ended, a woman found his original tee shot. When she went to show him, she couldn't find it — that's how deep the grass was. Beljan played his provisional, took a whack and whiffed. He hammered at it again and moved it back to the fairway, then hit 8-iron from 102 yards.
"I hit it 170, 175 on a normal day," Beljan said.
This was not a normal day. And when they headed back to the hotel on a gorgeous day in Maui, it wasn't even an official round. So they will try again on Monday. When asked the possibility of 36 holes on Tuesday if the wind doesn't cooperate, Pazder paused and said, "Can we save that question for tomorrow?"

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AP Source: Browns moving on from Oregon's Kelly

CLEVELAND (AP) — Chip Kelly wouldn't jump. So the Browns bailed.
Oregon's visor-wearing coach isn't coming to Cleveland.
A person familiar with Cleveland's coaching search said the team is no longer considering Kelly for its coaching vacancy after the offensive mastermind nearly reached an agreement with the Browns on Friday. The 49-year-old Kelly was indecisive about making the leap to the NFL and the team decided to move on to other candidates, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because of the sensitivity of the search.
The Browns questioned whether Kelly "was committed to coming to the NFL," said the person. And because of his hesitation, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner returned to Cleveland to continue searching for the club's sixth fulltime coach since 1999.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen was the first to report Kelly wasn't signing with Cleveland.
It's possible Kelly used the Browns to get a better deal from another NFL team or a raise in Oregon.
Whatever the case, he's not joining the Browns.
Kelly turned down Tampa Bay's job deep into negotiations last season. He could accept a job with Philadelphia or Kelly may steer away from the pros again and return to Oregon, where he has built the Ducks into a national powerhouse. Oregon has gone 46-7 the past four seasons and made four BCS bowl games under Kelly .
With Kelly gone, the Browns will now consider some of the candidates they've already met with or maybe begin a second wave of interviews. Haslam and Banner spent most of last week in Arizona and are known to have spoken to former Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton, Syracuse's Doug Marrone and Penn State's Bill O'Brien.
Marrone accepted Buffalo's coaching job Sunday, three people familiar with the negotiations told The AP. O'Brien decided to stay with the Nittany Lions.
The Browns aren't confirming any of their interviews or commenting on any candidates.
Haslam could still make a run at Alabama coach Nick Saban following Monday night's BCS title game. Saban has not given any indication he wants to take another stab at coaching in the NFL, but it's possible the 61-year-old could be persuaded by Haslam with the promise of power and a monstrous contract.
A former NFL player, Whisenhunt, who went 45-51 in six seasons and led the Cardinals to a Super Bowl, spent one year as a special teams coordinator with Cleveland. The 50-year-old coach served as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator from 2004-06, and that connection could serve him well with Haslam, who had a minority share in the Steelers before he bought the Browns.
Horton spent seven seasons on Pittsburgh's staff before joining the Cardinals in 2011.
Haslam and Banner fired Pat Shurmur last week, one day after the Browns finished a 5-11 season with a loss in Pittsburgh. Shurmur went 9-23 in two seasons for the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and have changed coaches four times since 2002.
Before embarking with Banner on the coaching search, Haslam said there was no set time frame on finding a coach. He promised to wait as long as necessary to "bring the right person to Cleveland."
"Our goal is to get the best person and if we happen to find that person within a week, that's great and if it takes a month, that's great also," Haslam said.
Haslam and Banner are focused on hiring a coach first before turning their attention to a personnel executive. Tom Heckert, who overhauled Cleveland's roster in the past three years, also was fired last week. It's not known if the Browns have interviewed any GM candidates.
Cleveland's courtship of Kelly turned into a two-day fling with no shortage of drama.
After Kelly met with the Browns for seven hours Friday, it appeared he was headed to Cleveland. The Eagles left Arizona after they were informed a deal between the Browns and Kelly was imminent. Kelly, though, kept his commitment for an interview with the Eagles and reportedly spent nine hours with him on Saturday, preventing the Browns from a second meeting
Kelly also met Friday with the Bills, but that was nothing more than a cursory interview for both sides.
The pursuit of Kelly created an interesting subplot between the Browns and Eagles. Banner spent 19 seasons in Philadelphia before leaving the team last year amid a power struggle. Banner is longtime friends with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, and the two of them potentially squaring off in a bidding war for Kelly was straight out of a screenplay.
It's not known what kind of offer the Browns made for Kelly, who earned a base salary of $2.8 million last season at Oregon and has five years left on his contract.
Kelly's high-octane, hurry-up offense has raised his profile and made the Ducks, with their splashy array of colorful Nike uniforms, more than a curiosity. Several NFL teams, including New England and Washington, are using elements of Kelly's schemes.
The Browns were intrigued enough to see if they could work something out with Kelly.
But in the end, they felt he didn't feel the same way.

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Column: Wilson stands tall as only rookie QB left

This was always going to be one of those once in a decade quarterback classes, even before Russell Wilson announced his arrival from what is arguably the loneliest outpost in the NFL.
Everyone expected big things out of Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck. Wilson was more of a pleasant surprise, catapulted from third-round obscurity to what passes for football stardom in a city far removed from the media spotlight.
Now he's the only rookie quarterback left in the playoffs. Next thing you know, he'll get some Subway commercials of his own — or maybe something even better.
A rookie quarterback winning a Super Bowl? The way Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks have been playing, the notion is no longer so unimaginable.
On a Sunday that was painful for RG3 and brutal for Luck, it was the undersized and once-unappreciated Wilson who emerged a star. He played with the calmness and efficiency of a veteran, rallying the Seahawks from a 14-0 deficit against the Washington Redskins almost before he had a chance to fasten his chin strap.
And if you didn't know enough about him before, one look at Wilson racing downfield to block for Marshawn Lynch on the go-ahead touchdown should get everyone excited about this kid.
"Marshawn always tells me, 'Russ I got your back,'" Wilson said. "I let him know I have his back, too."
What was billed as a matchup of young stars turned into a mismatch of sorts when Griffin reinjured the knee he sprained a month ago and limped noticeably from the first quarter on. He wasn't coming out, and coach Mike Shanahan wasn't taking him out, a pair of decisions that will be debated.
Football is a game of pain, and Griffin played on. But a running quarterback who can't run is not exactly a recipe for playoff success, and he struggled mightily.
When the night finally ended for him late in the fourth quarter, he lay crumpled on the turf at FedEx Field after fumbling and then collapsing with his leg twisted around him in a frightening moment for anyone watching. Among those who were watching was Wilson, who went to a knee and prayed for his fellow rookie.
"He's a tremendous football player," Wilson said. "I just prayed he was all right."
Just how bad the injury is won't be known until Griffin gets an MRI on Monday. He said after the 24-14 loss that he wasn't sure himself whether he had further injured it.
But the dreadlocked rookie star made it clear that standing on the sideline watching the game wasn't an option. He carried the Redskins into the playoffs, and they weren't going to play without him.
"I had to go out there and do what I could to help the team win," he said. "Period."
It was a disconcerting end to a spectacular season for Griffin, whose personality and promise got him sandwich shop commercials even before he started winning games for the Redskins. He and Luck started the year as the most talked about pair of quarterbacks coming into the NFL in years, and both lived up to their billing by carrying their teams into the playoffs.
Luck, though, couldn't overcome a Baltimore defense fired up by the pending retirement of Ray Lewis. Luck was pressured all day, and his receivers dropping six passes didn't help as Indianapolis was eliminated 24-9 by the Ravens.
And while Griffin looked as though he would pile up some points for the Redskins by opening the game with two touchdown drives, he felt the knee go while planting to pass on the second drive and was never the same. By halftime, his team was barely clinging to the lead, and he faced a talk with Shanahan about his immediate future.
On that, both agreed. He had gotten them this far, and deserved the chance to take them even further.
"He said, 'Trust me, I want to be in there. I deserve to be in there,'" Shanahan said. "I couldn't disagree with him."
Almost lost in the debate over whether Griffin should have stayed in was that Wilson still had some work to do to bring the Seahawks back. He did it on a fourth-quarter drive that Lynch capped off a 27-yard, broken-field run — with Wilson barreling ahead of him to block at the goal line.
That's hardly surprising because the quarterback that even Seattle didn't really seem to want when training camp opened — the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn to a lucrative offseason deal to be their No. 1 — always seems to flourish when it matters most. Wilson doesn't play with the proverbial chip on his shoulder because he felt slighted in the NFL draft, but the whole team plays that way because Seattle wasn't even in the postseason discussion when the year began.
"I don't know," Wilson said when asked if he had felt left out of the rookie quarterback discussion. "The goal is to win a lot of games and help my football team win games. That's all I know."
Something else Wilson should know is he's two wins away from being the first rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl. The Seahawks will have to do it on the road, but they're peaking at just the right time and are just slight underdogs in Atlanta next Sunday.
Who knows, soon there may be a lot of people ending their sentences with a "Go 'Hawks!" the way Wilson likes to end his. If it sounds a bit collegiate, just remember he is still a rookie quarterback.
Only now there's something different. He's the only one left.

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More French troops go to Central African Republic

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — As rebels advance in Central African Republic, France has deployed an additional 180 troops to protect its interests.
The French reinforcements arrived Sunday from nearby Gabon, bringing the total French military force in the capital, Bangui, to nearly 600, Col. Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press Sunday. The troops are to protect French residents in the capital, which many fear will be attacked by the rebels.
As fears mounted that the rebels would attack Bangui, a city of 600,000, President Francois Bozize imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Bozize earlier appealed to France for help against the rebels, but French President Francois Hollande's government said it would only protect French interests and would not prop up the Bangui government.
The African Union is attempting to set up negotiations in Gabon between the Bozize government and the rebels.
The rebel forces have seized at least 10 cities across the sparsely populated north of the country. Residents in the capital now fear the insurgents could attack at any time, despite assurances by rebel leaders that they are willing to engage in dialogue instead of attacking Bangui.
On Saturday the rebels seized the city of Sibut, 185 kilometers (114 miles) from Bangui.
Sibut, a key transportation hub, fell without a shot being fired because the Central African Republic army and forces from neighboring Chad had pulled back to Damara, 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Bangui on Friday, said Minister of Territorial Administration Josie Binoua.
Neighboring African countries have agreed to send more forces to support the Bozize government.
Representatives from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, agreed at a meeting in Gabon Friday to send forces to CAR, but did not did not specify how many troops would be sent or how quickly the military assistance would arrive.
The ECCAS states, with more than 500 soldiers via their regional peacekeeping force in Central Africa, over the weekend warned the rebels to halt their advances.
"ECCAS forces are on high alert, and the city of Damara is the limit not to cross," said Antonio Di Garcia, the ECCAS representative in Bangui. He urged the government forces and the rebels to hold to their current positions and to begin dialogue.          
 The ongoing instability prompted the United States to evacuate about 40 people, including the U.S. ambassador, from Bangui on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya, said U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the operation.
The United States has special forces troops in the country who are assisting in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of another rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army. The U.S. special forces remain in the country, the U.S. military's Africa Command said from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
The evacuation of the U.S. diplomats came after criticism of how the U.S. handled diplomatic security before and during the attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11. The ambassador and three other Americans were killed in that attack.
French diplomats have remained in Bangui despite a violent demonstration outside its embassy last week. Dozens of protesters, angry at France's lack of help against rebel forces, threw rocks at the French Embassy in Bangui and stole a French flag.
This landlocked nation of 4.4 million people has suffered decades of army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence in 1960 and remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The current president himself came to power nearly a decade ago in the wake of a rebellion in this resource-rich yet deeply poor country.
Bozize's government earlier reached out to longtime ally Chad, which pledged to send 2,000 troops to bolster Central African Republic's own forces.
The rebels behind the most recent instability signed a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army, but insurgent leaders say the deal wasn't fully implemented.
The rebels say they are fighting because of their "thirst for justice, for peace, for security and for economic development of the people of Central African Republic." The rebels also are demanding that the government make payments to ex-combatants.
Despite Central African Republic's wealth of gold, diamonds, timber and uranium, the government remains perpetually cash-strapped.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the violence and reiterated its demand that the armed groups "immediately cease hostilities, withdraw from captured cities and cease any further advance towards the city of Bangui."

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African Union head visits Central African Republic

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The leader of the African Union, Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, has proposed a government of national unity to resolve the rebel conflict in Central African Republic.
Boni Yayi arrived here Sunday to try to find a negotiated resolution to the country's crisis. The president of the African Union met with President Francois Bozize and then made an appeal to the rebels.
"I beg my rebellious brothers, I ask them to cease hostilities, to make peace with President (Francois) Bozize and the Central African people," said Boni Yayi at a press conference in Bangui, the capital. "If you stop fighting, you are helping to consolidate peace in Africa. African people do not deserve all this suffering. The African continent needs peace and not war."
Boni Yayi said that Bozize had pledged to have an open dialogue with the rebels with the goal of establishing a government of national unity, which would include representation from the rebels and the Bozize government.
Bozize also addressed the conference and said, although he plans to stay in power until his term ends in 2016, he is not against having the rebels enter a coalition government with him.
"We'll probably be able to set up a national unity government. I apologize to the suffering Central African people," said Bozize. "It is a message of peace to my brothers of Central African Republic, "said Bozize.
The African Union's leader arrived in Bangui when many feared there would be a fight over the capital, Bangui, a city of 600,000.
According to several families in Bangui, members of the Presidential Guard have kidnapped people suspected of supporting the rebels who have seized 10 cities in the country's north over the past three weeks.
A rebel spokesman, Col. Juma Narkoyo, warned Bozize: "We warn the head of state and his family to stop abducting our parents. They have nothing to do with it. If he wants to solve its problems, he comes to meet us on the ground. We expect firm feet. " H0e said that a dozen people have already been arrested in Bangui.
On his arrival in Bangui, Yayi Boni had a private meeting for more than two hours with Bozize in the VIP lounge of Mpoko airport, which is secured by French troops.
So far Boni Yayi has no meetings scheduled with rebels or with the democratic opposition.
Boni Yayi's diplomatic effort comes as France has deployed an additional 180 troops to protect its interests.
The French reinforcements arrived Sunday from nearby Gabon, bringing the total French military force in the capital, Bangui, to nearly 600, Col. Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press Sunday. The troops are to protect French residents in the capital, which many fear will be attacked by the rebels.
As fears mounted that the rebels would attack Bangui, Bozize imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m.
Bozize earlier appealed to France for help against the rebels, but French President Francois Hollande's government said it would only protect French interests and would not prop up the Bangui government.
As the rebels have made a rapid advance across the country's north, residents in the capital now fear the insurgents could attack at any time, despite assurances by rebel leaders that they are willing to engage in dialogue instead of attacking Bangui.
On Saturday the rebels seized the city of Sibut, 185 kilometers (114 miles) from Bangui.
Sibut, a key transportation hub, fell without a shot being fired because the Central African Republic army and forces from neighboring Chad had pulled back to Damara, 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Bangui on Friday, said Minister of Territorial Administration Josie Binoua.
Neighboring African countries have agreed to send more forces to support the Bozize government.
Representatives from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, agreed at a meeting in Gabon Friday to send forces to CAR, but did not did not specify how many troops would be sent or how quickly the military assistance would arrive.
The ECCAS states, with more than 500 soldiers via their regional peacekeeping force in Central Africa, over the weekend warned the rebels to halt their advances.
"ECCAS forces are on high alert, and the city of Damara is the limit not to cross," said Antonio Di Garcia, the ECCAS representative in Bangui. He urged the government forces and the rebels to hold to their current positions and to begin dialogue.          
 The ongoing instability prompted the United States to evacuate about 40 people, including the U.S. ambassador, from Bangui on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya, said U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the operation.
The United States has special forces troops in the country who are assisting in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of another rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army. The U.S. special forces remain in the country, the U.S. military's Africa Command said from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
The evacuation of the U.S. diplomats came after criticism of how the U.S. handled diplomatic security before and during the attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11. The ambassador and three other Americans were killed in that attack.
French diplomats have remained in Bangui despite a violent demonstration outside its embassy last week. Dozens of protesters, angry at France's lack of help against rebel forces, threw rocks at the French Embassy in Bangui and stole a French flag.
This landlocked nation of 4.4 million people has suffered decades of army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence in 1960 and remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The current president himself came to power nearly a decade ago in the wake of a rebellion in this resource-rich yet deeply poor country.
Bozize's government earlier reached out to longtime ally Chad, which pledged to send 2,000 troops to bolster Central African Republic's own forces.
The rebels behind the most recent instability signed a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army, but insurgent leaders say the deal wasn't fully implemented.
The rebels say they are fighting because of their "thirst for justice, for peace, for security and for economic development of the people of Central African Republic." The rebels also are demanding that the government make payments to ex-combatants.
Despite Central African Republic's wealth of gold, diamonds, timber and uranium, the government remains perpetually cash-strapped.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the violence and reiterated its demand that the armed groups "immediately cease hostilities, withdraw from captured cities and cease any further advance towards the city of Bangui.

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AU warns of sanctions if rebels take over CAR

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Rebels advancing to the capital of the Central African Republic of will face sanctions and the country suspended from activities of the African Union if they seize power, an AU official warned Monday.
Chairwoman of the Commission of the AU Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the AU rejects any attempt to seize power forcefully. Any attempt to seize power unconstitutionally will result in sanctions against the perpetrators and their total isolation, Zuma said.
Central African Republic President Francois Bozize said Sunday during a press conference after talks with the head of the AU, Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, that he is not against forming a coalition government with the rebels.
Rebels accuse the president of kidnapping people suspected of supporting the rebels who have seized 10 cities in the country's north over the past three weeks.
The impoverished nation has suffered many army revolts, coups and rebellions since gaining independence in 1960.
Zuma urged CAR armed groups to put an immediate end to their military offensive and to commit to dialogue with the view to finding a lasting solution to the recurring instability experienced in the country.
The rebels behind the most recent instability signed a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army, but insurgent leaders say the deal wasn't fully implemented.
The rebels have made a rapid advance across the country's north and residents in the capital, Bangui, now fear the insurgents could attack at any time, despite assurances by rebel leaders that they are willing to engage in dialogue instead of attacking Bangui.
On Saturday the rebels seized the city of Sibut, 185 kilometers (114 miles) from Bangui. Sibut, a key transportation hub, fell without a shot being fired because the Central African Republic army and forces from neighboring Chad had pulled back to Damara, 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Bangui on Friday, said Minister of Territorial Administration Josie Binoua.
Neighboring African countries have agreed to send more forces to support the Bozize government.
Representatives from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, agreed at a meeting in Gabon Friday to send forces to CAR, but did not did not specify how many troops would be sent or how quickly the military assistance would arrive.
The ECCAS states, with more than 500 soldiers via their regional peacekeeping force in Central Africa, over the weekend warned the rebels to halt their advances.
The ongoing instability prompted the United States to evacuate about 40 people, including the U.S. ambassador, from Bangui on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya, said U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the operation.
The United States has special forces troops in the country who are assisting in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of another rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army. The U.S. special forces remain in the country, the U.S. military's Africa Command said from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
The evacuation of the U.S. diplomats came after criticism of how the U.S. handled diplomatic security before and during the attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11. The ambassador and three other Americans were killed in that attack.
French diplomats have remained in Bangui despite a violent demonstration outside its embassy last week. Dozens of protesters, angry at France's lack of help against rebel forces, threw rocks at the French Embassy in Bangui and stole a French flag.
CAR is a landlocked nation of 4.4 million people is one of the poorest countries in the world. The current president himself came to power nearly a decade ago in the wake of a rebellion in this resource-rich yet deeply poor country.
Despite Central African Republic's wealth of gold, diamonds, timber and uranium, the government remains perpetually cash-strapped.

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Nigeria president likens nation's unrest to Syria

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has likened attacks by a radical Islamist sect in his West African nation to the ongoing civil war in Syria, an unlikely acknowledgment from the seat of power about the violent unrest gripping the country.
Jonathan's comments Sunday are widely viewed here as hyperbole because the estimated 45,000 people killed in the Syrian uprising is far more than those killed by Nigeria's extremist sect. But Jonathan's remarks offer a glimpse into the worried leader's mind as his weak government remains unable to stop attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram. Though government and security officials have sought to downplay the sect's guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings, the group is blamed for killing at least 792 people in 2012 alone, according to an Associated Press count, the worst year of violence yet.
And with Jonathan also referencing the apocalypse before parishioners at a church in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, it offers a bleak assessment of Nigeria heading into the New Year.
"We have challenges, no doubt, especially the recent terrorist attacks on all of us and the church is one of the main targets," Jonathan said. When the preacher "was making reference to the bombings ... I was just wondering, could this be a clear way of telling us that the end times are so close?"
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, continues to attack civilians and government forces at will, despite a heavy presence of soldiers and police officers there. The sect wants the multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people to enact strict Shariah law and release its imprisoned members. It also has loose connections with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Somalia's al-Shabab, according to Western military officials and diplomats.
Just in the last few days, gunmen suspected to belong to Boko Haram attacked a village in Nigeria's arid northeast, rounding up men, women and children and killing at least 15 by cutting their throats.
Speaking Sunday before an EYN church in Abuja, Jonathan acknowledged the sect killed people this holiday, but said his government had stopped the group from committing more killings.
However, his speech offered stark comparisons to the situation in his country, comparing it to Syria and the Central African Republic, which now faces rebel attacks that threaten the nation's stability.
The CAR rebels "were quite close to taking over the capital city just as Boko Haram is taking over Abuja (and wanting) for me and those working in government to run and hide somewhere else," Jonathan said. "Let me agree with you that we have challenges. ... No part of the country is free."
This isn't the first time Jonathan, who sometimes fumbles through public speeches, has made dire pronouncements about security in Nigeria. On Jan. 8, 2012, speaking before another church service, Jonathan said the threat of Boko Haram was worse than the nation's 1960s civil war, which killed 1 million people. The president also suggested Boko Haram had infiltrated the government and the nation's security forces.
"Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won't even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house," Jonathan said at the time.
Jonathan never elaborated on his comments, though a high-ranking senator was later arrested for alleged ties to the sect. Nigeria's dysfunctional intelligence community also has freed suspected radical Islamist terrorists out of religious sympathies in the past, including one later implicated in Boko Haram's August 2011 suicide car bomb attack on the United Nations headquarters in the nation's capital that killed 25 and wounded more than 100 others.
As the attacks continue, soldiers have killed civilians and the government faces growing criticism from human rights groups over alleged indefinite detention, beatings and killings of Boko Haram suspects in custody. However, Jonathan promised Sunday that the government ultimately would stop the sect.
"If the idea of Boko Haram is to stop Nigerians from worshipping God, they will not succeed. If the idea of Boko Haram is to stop government from providing the dividend of democracy they will not succeed," Jonathan told those at the church. "God willing and with our commitment, the excesses of Boko Haram and other criminal organizations will be brought to a reasonable control.

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South Africa: Mandela convalesces, legacy secure

 South Africa's agonizing past swept over Alex McLaren, who stepped into sunlight with tears in his eyes after a tour of the Apartheid Museum, an unsparing study of white minority rule and the costly fight against it.
Yet South Africa-born McLaren, an American citizen, also found inspiration in the museum's exhibition about Nelson Mandela, former prisoner, South Africa's first black head of state and one of the great, unifying figures of the 20th century.
Mandela, now 94 years old and ailing, was a special figure in the anti-apartheid struggle because of "his perseverance, his ability to forgive and to reconcile, and the fact that he appeared when he did, him and others. But mainly him," said McLaren, a retired engineer.
"There will be a lot of wailing, gnashing of teeth, when he goes," he said, anticipating the grief of South Africa and the world.
The delicate health of Mandela, now convalescing behind the high walls of his Johannesburg home, came under scrutiny and speculation during a 19-day stay in a hospital in December. He was treated for a lung infection and had gallstones removed. Regardless of when the end comes, his burnished legacy was written years ago, even if the country he led from the long night of apartheid still struggles with poverty and other social ills.
Mandela's place as South Africa's premier hero is so secure that the central bank released new banknotes in 2012 showing his face, a robust, smiling image of the icon who walked out of a prison's gates on Feb. 11, 1990 after 27 years in captivity. He is a Nobel laureate, the recipient of many other international awards, the subject of books, films and songs and, when he was active, a magnet for celebrities.
In part, what elevated Mandela was his charisma, his ability to charm through humor and grace, and an extraordinary capacity to find strength in adversity.
"People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones; such as honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity and an absence of variety," Mandela says in one of the many quotations on display at the Apartheid Museum. "You learn to look into yourself."
Just four years after being released from prison, Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994. His successes include the introduction of one of the world's most progressive constitutions and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that heard testimony about apartheid-era violations of human rights as a kind of national therapy session.
McLaren, the visitor to the Apartheid Museum, grew up in South Africa and recalled witnessing injustices of apartheid: blacks being arrested or stopped in the street, a black woman being pushed off a bus and a view among many whites that blacks were "somehow inferior."
Now a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, 66-year-old McLaren said: "South Africa is such a mixed place now. Some of it is falling apart, some of it is really good, some of it is really bad. But you know, it's much better than it was, much better than it was."
An imperfect country, but one that Mandela, whose clan name, Madiba, means "reconciler," guided elegantly through a painful transition.
In "Mandela: The Authorized Portrait," a collection of accounts about Mandela, lawyer and human rights advocate George Bizos described how Mandela joked about his age (he was 86 at the time) and said he would join "the nearest branch of the ANC in heaven."
Bizos related in the book how he once told Mandela about Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher who was sentenced to death and said he hoped to meet Homer, Sophocles and other giants for eternal discussions in the afterlife.
According to Bizos, Mandela replied:
"But assume that there is no such thing. Have you ever had a night's sleep when you were not disturbed at all — no dreams, no fears — you just slept throughout the night? Didn't you feel very much happier? Can you imagine if there is this eternal sleep it's also all right? So what's there to be afraid of?"

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McLemore's 22 gives Kansas huge road win, 74-66

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — It's not supposed to be this easy for a kid playing his first collegiate road game. Kansas' Ben McLemore, a redshirt freshman surrounded in the starting lineup by seniors, didn't let the raucous crowd, the travel or sleeping in a strange bed bother him. McLemore scored 22 points and No. 9 Kansas proved it was more than just a bully at home by beating seventh-ranked Ohio State 74-66 on Saturday. "This was great. It was my first time playing in an away game," McLemore said with a slight smile. "You go up and down the court a little bit, and you get into the game. I kept my intensity, I just played my game." For that matter, none of the Jayhawks had yet played a true road game this season. Kansas, which has won nine in a row since losing to Michigan State 67-64 on Nov. 13 in Atlanta, came in 7-0 at home, with two other games played before friendly fans in nearby Kansas City. They had barely heard a boo all season. No wonder coach Bill Self was a little worried. "I had concerns, for sure," Self said. "Our seniors are good and quality and they've been through some things, but against a team that pressures man-to-man and you're playing with one primarily (ball) handler? That was my biggest concern." But the Jayhawks (10-1) weathered a 14-0 run by the Buckeyes (9-2) in the first half that turned the volume up in Value City Arena to 11 on a scale of 10. Then, down in the second half, they held cold-shooting Ohio State without a field goal for more than 10 minutes to take control. The Buckeyes, who were led by Deshaun Thomas' 16 points and a career-best 15 by Shannon Scott, hit just 9 of 36 shots from the field in the final 20 minutes. For the game, they ended up making only 31 percent of their shots from the field. No wonder coach Thad Matta looked so stunned when he spoke after the game. "There was one point in the second half where I turned to the bench and I said, 'Hey, let's call a play where we score,'" he said, heavy on the irony. "A lot of it just comes down to you've got to put the ball in the basket in a game like this and we couldn't do it. It became contagious." Sixty percent of the starting lineup — star defender Aaron Craft, usually reliable Lenzelle Smith Jr. and post man Evan Ravenel — was a combined 5 of 24 from the field. Credit the Jayhawks, who play withering man-to-man defense and then are backed up by the incredible wingspan of 7-foot Jeff Withey underneath. Or blame the Buckeyes, who frequently were all alone when they bricked a shot off the rim. But no matter the reason, Ohio State couldn't buy a bucket for most of the second half. It was the third victory for the Jayhawks in little more than a year over the Buckeyes (9-2). Kansas won a 64-62 thriller in last year's NCAA semifinals. "Today's probably the best we've played against Ohio State in the three games," Self said. "We were really good except for about a 3-minute stretch in the first half when they went on a (14-0) run. Other than that stretch, that was a pretty good 35 minutes we played out there." Withey added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks. Elijah Johnson had 13 points and Travis Releford 11. They weathered Ohio State's first-half tear by relying on the seniors. "We have a good group of vets and we've been in tough situations before," Withey said. "We just bounced back. We just had to kind of breathe a little bit." Ahead 56-52 with 7 minutes left, Kansas pulled away thanks to its McLemore. He hit a pair of foul shots and then flipped in a 15-foot jumper that bounced not once, not twice, but three times before falling through. Off an inbounds pass, McLemore then came off a back pick and dunked to push the lead to 62-52 with 5 minutes left. The Buckeyes never got closer than six points again. Self said he found out a little more about McLemore in the game. "There's a lot of stuff I'm curious about Ben," he said. "He's still trying to figure out how to play. You can tell in late-game situations, he's played less basketball than anybody that's as old as him and as good as him around. It's all new to him. When it all comes naturally to him, he's going to become terrific." In his first road game, he already was.

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AP source: Pirates, Red Sox near deal for Hanrahan

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Boston Red Sox are pursuing another burly right-hander to shore up their bullpen. A person familiar with the talks said the Red Sox and Pirates are close to completing a trade that would send All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston for a handful of prospects. Pittsburgh would ship Hanrahan and another player to the Red Sox in exchange for four players, including outfielder-first baseman Jerry Sands and minor league pitcher Stolmy Pimentel. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the trade was pending physicals and had not been finalized. The deal was previously reported by several media outlets. The 31-year-old Hanrahan has been one of baseball's best closers the last two years, saving 76 games from 2011-12 and making the NL All-Star team in both seasons. He made $4,135,000 this year and is eligible for arbitration, putting him in line for a hefty raise. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Hanrahan and his 96 mph fastball gave the Pirates stability at the back end of the bullpen after he took over the closer's role full-time in 2011. He helped the Pirates post a 22-game improvement from 2010 to 2012. Pittsburgh went 79-83 this year, tied for the franchise's best record in two decades — though it was still the team's 20th straight losing season. Jason Grilli, re-signed by the Pirates this month, would likely step into the closer role next year. The Red Sox hope Hanrahan will be able to give their beleaguered bullpen an identity. Boston slumped to a 69-93 record in 2012 thanks in part to a bullpen that struggled after closer Jonathan Papelbon left for Philadelphia in free agency. Fill-in Alfredo Aceves went 2-10 with a 5.36 ERA and eight blown saves in 33 chances as the Red Sox finished last in the AL East. Hanrahan would team with 28-year-old righty Andrew Bailey to give the Red Sox a potent 1-2 punch in the late innings. Bailey was expected to be the closer last season but he missed most of the year with an injury. He finished 1-1 with six saves and a 7.04 ERA in 19 games for the Red Sox after spending 2009-11 as the closer in Oakland. The move could also be a one-year experiment if the Red Sox don't sign Hanrahan to a new contract. He can become a free agent after the 2013 season. The Pirates would get a potential slugger in the 25-year-old Sands, who hit 296 with 26 home runs and 107 RBIs at Triple-A last season. He came to the Red Sox in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and his bat and versatility could make Pittsburgh first baseman-outfielder Garrett Jones expendable. Jones hit a career-high 27 home runs in 2012, when he made $2.25 million, and he will be eligible for arbitration after next season. The Pirates already have a first baseman in place in Gaby Sanchez, who came over in a trade with the Miami Marlins last season. The proposed trade caps a busy few days for the Pirates, who have agreed in principal to sign former Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox left-hander Francisco Liriano. The $14 million, two-year deal is pending a physical. Liriano would give Pittsburgh four experienced starters heading into 2013, joining A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and James McDonald. The 29-year-old Liriano is 53-54 with a 4.40 ERA in seven major league seasons. He went 6-12 with a 5.34 ERA in 2012 while splitting the season between the Twins and White Sox.

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Ross, Diamondbacks agree to $26 million, 3-yr deal

PHOENIX (AP) — Cody Ross and the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a $26 million, three-year contract Saturday that includes a club option for 2016. Ross, who turns 32 on Sunday and lives in nearby Scottsdale, adds to the abundance of outfielders on the Arizona roster, leading to speculation a trade might be coming. Ross batted .267 with 22 home runs and 81 RBIs last season for the Boston Red Sox. He's a .267 career hitter in nine big league seasons with six teams. "Could not be happier to be in the Dbacks family! Truly Blessed!" Ross posted on his Twitter account. The addition gives the Diamondbacks four veteran outfielders — Ross, Justin Upton, Gerardo Parra and Jason Kubel — along with two youngsters the organization has deemed ready for the majors: Adam Eaton and A.J. Pollock. That would indicate a trade could be in the works, with Kubel the center of that speculation. In his first season with Arizona last year, the left-handed slugger hit .253 with 30 home runs and 90 RBIs. He was hitting .300 on July 22 but batted .176 with 19 RBIs the rest of the season. Ross, who throws left-handed and bats right-handed, was a fourth-round draft pick of Detroit out of Carlsbad, N.M., High School in 1999. He had brief major league stints with the Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati before becoming a full-time big leaguer with the Florida Marlins. Ross was claimed by San Francisco off waivers in August 2010 and was MVP of that year's NL championship series, hitting .350 with three home runs and five RBIs against Philadelphia. He also homered against Texas in the World Series and batted .294 (15 for 51) with five homers, five doubles and 10 RBIs in 15 postseason games for the champion Giants. He committed one error in each of the last two seasons. The Diamondbacks also announced that infielder Gustavo Nunez cleared waivers and was returned to Detroit, opening a spot for Ross on the 40-man roster. Nunez was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh in October after the Pirates selected him from the Tigers in the 2011 Rule 5 draft.

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AP source: Ibanez, Mariners agree to $2.75M deal

NEW YORK (AP) — Raul Ibanez and the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a $2.75 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday night. The deal allows Ibanez to earn an additional $1.25 million in performance bonuses, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced. Ibanez returns to the team he began his big league career with from 1996-00, then rejoined from 2004-08. Now 40, Ibanez spent the past season with the New York Yankees and became popular with fans for his late-game home runs. He had hoped to remain with New York, but the Yankees have moved slowly during the offseason. Ibanez hit .240 with 19 homers and 62 RBIs in 384 at-bats, his pull swing making him a natural for the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium. He batted just .197 with five RBIs in 61 at-bats against left-handers. Including the playoffs, Ibanez hit five home runs that tied the score for the Yankees and eight that put New York ahead, according to STATS. He homered twice after entering as a pinch hitter on Sept. 22 in a 10-9, 14-inning win over Oakland. And with New York fighting for the AL East title, he delivered a tying, pinch-hit homer against Boston in the ninth on Oct. 2 and then singled in the winning run in the 12th. Then in Game 3 of the division series against Baltimore, he became the first player in major league history to homer twice in a postseason game he didn't start. He pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning and hit a tying home run, then hit a winning shot in the 12th. Three days later his two-run homer in a four-run ninth inning tied the AL championship series opener against Detroit, a game the Yankees lost 6-4 in 12 innings as the Tigers started their way to a four-game sweep. Ibanez had a $1.1 million base salary last season and earned another $2.05 million in performance bonuses. He joins a Seattle team that added power-hitting Kendrys Morales earlier in the week in a trade that sent left-hander Jason Vargas to the Los Angeles Angels. Former Yankees prospect Jesus Montero started 77 games at designated hitter last season for the Mariners and 55 behind the plate, so Ibanez's acquisition by the Mariners could make catcher John Jaso expendable. Jaso made 39 starts behind the plate and 44 at DH. In 17 major league seasons that also included time with Kansas City (2001-03) and Philadelphia (2009-11), Ibanez has a .278 career average with 271 home runs and 1,116 RBIs. With Ichiro Suzuki likely to see most of his time in a corner outfield spot because New York hasn't attempted to re-sign Nick Swisher, Ibanez's departure leaves the Yankees searching for a left-handed bat for a part-time designated hitter role. New York's priority before filling that spot appears to be a right-handed bat because Andruw Jones left for Rakuten in Japan after a subpar season and all three starting outfielders — Suzuki, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner — are left-handed hitters.

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Heat beat Jazz to break clear atop Eastern Conference

(Reuters) - LeBron James jammed home 30 points as the NBA champion Miami Heat silenced the Utah Jazz 105-89 on Saturday to move past the New York Knicks atop the Eastern Conference. Miami turned a four-point lead at intermission into a double-digit cushion by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter helped by a pair of three-pointers by Shane Battier. The lead was stretched to 20 points but Utah battled back to close the gap, getting as close as eight in the fourth quarter, though the Heat were never seriously threatened. The Heat won every quarter, building their lead behind the all-round brilliance of James and an equally well-rounded effort by his running mate Dwyane Wade to lift Miami's record to 18-6, and push past the fast-starting New York Knicks (19-7). James shared the team lead with nine rebounds and seven assists, while Wade scored 21 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists. Miami shot a blistering 52 percent from the floor, including 11-for-24 from three-point range in improving to 13-2 on their home court. The Jazz, who were paced by Marvin Williams with 16 points, continued their road struggles, falling to 5-12 away from home. James has scored at least 20 points in all 24 Heat games this season, matching the longest such streak to start a season since former Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone in the 1989-90 campaign. Miami, winners of four straight games, will put their streak on the line on Christmas against the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (21-5) in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

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Chavez back in Venezuela after Cuba treatment

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived back home early Friday after 10 days of medical treatment in Cuba, but his failure to attend a regional meeting in Brazil raised new questions about his health.

State television showed Chavez arriving at Caracas' airport and walking down the steps from the presidential jet wearing a track suit. He smiled and laughed heartily as he chatted with Vice President Nicolas Maduro and members of his Cabinet.

Chavez, who has been fighting an unspecified type of cancer during the past year and half, didn't explain why he skipped a Friday meeting in Brasilia with leaders of the South American trade bloc Mercosur. The Brazilian government said Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez represented his country at the meeting — the first since Venezuela became a full member.

Chavez traveled to Cuba on the night of Nov. 27 after announcing plans to undergo hyperbaric oxygen treatment in Havana. The Venezuelan leader has spent much of the past 18 months battling cancer in the pelvic area, and he said in July that tests had shown he was cancer-free.

While in Cuba, he kept a low profile and did not speak on television. Chavez last appeared publicly during a televised meeting Nov. 15 in Caracas, and his long absence renewed speculation among some Venezuelans that his health might be taking a turn for the worse.

Chavez appeared vigorous as he spoke on television upon his arrival at Caracas' airport after 2:30 a.m. Friday. He didn't mention his health. Chavez, who travels on a presidential plane, often arrives in Venezuela very late at night or early in the morning.

"I'm very happy, as you all can see, to be arriving here again," Chavez said. "Very happy."

Chavez noted that Thursday marked two months since his Oct. 7 re-election. Addressing Maduro and recalling other election victories, Chavez said: "Look at how we've come, Nicolas, from victory to victory."

Chavez hasn't given details recently about the hyperbaric oxygen treatment, during which patients breathe pure oxygen while in a pressurized, sealed chamber. The treatment's value is well-established for treating burns and some other medical conditions and for aiding wound healing and helping repair bone and tissue damaged by radiation treatments.

The 58-year-old president first underwent cancer surgery in Cuba in June 2011 and later underwent another surgery last February. He has also undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Hyperbaric oxygen is regularly used to treat infections that can develop after radiation treatment, said Dr. Igor Astsaturov, a gastrointestinal cancer specialist who is not involved in Chavez's treatment.

"I would speculate that this is not directly related to the cancer process itself but maybe an infectious complication of pelvic radiation," said Astsaturov, an assistant professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He said that such oxygen treatment "is used to treat infections but not tumors."

Throughout his treatments, Chavez has kept many details of his illness secret, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors that were removed.

Chavez said his departure from Cuba had been delayed by a conversation with Fidel Castro, with whom he had been discussing poetry and reciting verses.

The Venezuelan leader also referred to the country's upcoming state gubernatorial elections Dec. 16, saying: "We're eight days away from the next victory."

The government launched a hashtag phrase on Twitter, "BienvenidoComandante," or Welcome Commander, which became a top trending topic in the country Friday morning.

During Chavez's absence, the government had announced that the president appointed new ambassadors in various countries, and he released a couple of written statements. But no messages have been posted on Chavez's Twitter account since Nov. 1.

The uncertainty sparked a rally in Venezuelan government bonds during the past week as investors speculated about the possibility that Chavez's health might be worsening. Bond prices dipped after the president's return. Even as bond prices declined by as much as two percentage points Friday, though, they were still trading about 10 percentage points higher than when Chavez abruptly announced his return to Cuba on Nov. 27, said Russell Dallen, a securities trader at Caracas Capital Markets.

Despite the lack of information about Chavez's condition, some say they think Venezuelans haven't seemed particularly concerned lately.

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Lawyer: McAfee better, hopes to stay in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A lawyer for software company founder John McAfee  said Friday that the self-styled fugitive is feeling better after suffering chest pain and that he has filed three separate legal appeals in hopes his client can stay in Guatemala, where his political asylum request was rejected.

Attorney Telesforo Guerra told reporters outside the detention center where McAfee is being held that the creator of the McAfee antivirus program is in good health.

Guerra said he filed an appeal for a judge to make sure McAfee's physical integrity is protected, an appeal against the asylum denial and a petition with immigration officials to allow his client to stay in this Central American country indefinitely.

Police in neighboring Belize want to question McAfee in the fatal shooting of a U.S. expatriate who lived near his home on a Belizean island. McAfee has denied involvement in the killing and says Belizean authorities are persecuting him because he knows about official corruption.

The appeals could take several days to resolve, Guerra said. He added that he could still use several other legal resources but wouldn't give any other details.

Fredy Viana, a spokesman for the Immigration Department, said that before the agency looks into the request to allow McAfee to stay in Guatemala, a judge must first deal with the appeal asking that authorities make sure McAfee's physical integrity is protected.

"We won't look into (allowing him to stay) until the other appeal is resolved," Viana said. "The law gives me 30 days to resolve the issue."

McAfee went on the run last month after Belizean officials tried to question him about the killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November.

McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them, but denies killing Faull. Faull's home was a couple of houses down from McAfee's compound in Ambergris Caye.

McAfee has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company that is named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

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After long disdain, Jamaica gets 1st patois Bible

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — When English teacher Faith Linton  first proposed translating the Bible into Jamaica's patois tongue in the late 1950s, most people who heard the idea shook their heads.

Some on the deeply Christian island believed it was sacrilegious. Others opposed it because the unique mixture of English and West African languages was widely disdained by the elites as a coarse linguistic stepchild to English, which is the only official language in this former British colony.

"There was shock at the mere suggestion," said Linton, now 81, a longtime board member of the Bible Society of the West Indies. "People were deeply ashamed of their mother tongue. It was always associated with illiteracy and social deprivation."

Decades later, Linton's vision is becoming a reality: After years of meticulous translation from the original Greek, the Bible Society is releasing in Jamaica print and audio CD versions of the first patois translation of the New Testament, or "Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment."

The battle lines have softened somewhat, but there is still substantial opposition to patois in the pulpit. Critics say it will dilute Scripture and undermine the already weak hold many poor Jamaicans have on standard English. Advocates see it as a bold, empowering move that will finally affirm the indigenous tongue as a distinct language in Jamaica.

For patois expert Hubert Devonish, a linguist who is coordinator of the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies, the Bible translation is a big step toward getting the state to eventually embrace the creole language created by slaves.

"We've now produced a major body of literature in the language, whatever people may think about it one way or the other. And that is part of the process of convincing people that this thing is a serious language with a standard writing system," Devonish said.

The Rev. Courtney Stewart, general secretary of the regional Bible society, said there is a widespread conviction that Scripture is best understood in a person's spoken tongue.

He predicts many Jamaicans will be inspired to hear and read the translation in which the shortest verse — "Jesus wept," following the death of Christ's friend Lazarus in the Gospel of John — becomes "Jiizas baal."

In the depiction of the angel Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary that foretold the birth of Jesus, the New King James Bible's version of Luke reads, "And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.'"

The patois version says: "Di ienjel go tu Mieri an se tu ar se, 'Mieri, mi av nyuuz we a go mek yu wel api. Gad riili riili bles yu an im a waak wid yu aal di taim.'"

"It's extremely powerful for people to hear Scripture in their own language, the language they speak and think in. It goes straight to their hearts and people say they are able to visualize it in a way they've never experienced before," Stewart said.

On the other side, some religious leaders, Anglophiles and other critics characterize Jamaican patois as a rowdy, ever-changing vernacular or "lazy English" that is fine for the playground or market but entirely inappropriate in a place of worship.

"Patois is not potent enough to be able to carry the meaning of the Gospel effectively. It just does not have the capacity to properly reflect the word of God," said Bishop Alvin Bailey, who leads the evangelical Holiness Christian Church in the southern city of Portmore.

While most words in Jamaican patois have English origins, much of its grammar derives from the languages of West Africa, so it can be nearly incomprehensible to foreigners. The language was created by slaves who were brought to the island by European colonizers, and some say it was designed to prevent slave masters from understanding their words.

Despite the low view some Jamaicans hold for patois, nearly all islanders, regardless of class, can speak and understand it. Those who speak standard English fluently, mostly people from the middle and upper classes, tend to use patois for emphasis, to affect a down-to-earth persona or to talk to someone of a lower class.

The New Testament translation was recently released in Britain, where there is a large Jamaican diaspora.

"The reaction was curiosity at first, mixed with some skepticism, surprise and amusement when the words were spoken, but quite quickly replaced by enthusiasm and admiration," said Matt Parkes, fundraising director for the Swindon, England-based Bible Society.

In the central England town of Northampton, the Rev. Dennis Hines of the New Testament Church of God said the patois Bible has been received well, especially in prisons where he works as a chaplain and inmates of Jamaican heritage are clamoring for a copy.

"Just to know that there was a Bible in their native tongue has made people feel really proud and excited," said Hines, who was born in Jamaica but moved to Britain when he was a boy.

The translation is a touchier subject in Jamaica, where activists are pushing for patois to be granted official status alongside English and used in classrooms.

"It will be a process of years, probably, in which some will like it and some won't, and then an increasing number will eventually accept it over time. That's the trajectory I see," Devonish said.

Clive Forrester, who teaches the Jamaican tongue at Canada's York University, said the biggest obstacle to launching a patois Bible on the island has always been a psychosocial one, not a linguistic one.

"The language can handle any concept or idea in the New Testament. It's the average Jamaican speaker who has a hard time accepting Jamaican Creole in written contexts and especially one as formal as the Bible," he said.

Most words in Jamaican patois, like other English Caribbean patois, are English words filtered through a distinct phonetic system with fewer vowels and different consonant sounds. Patois is written phonetically to approximate these differences. So in patois, the English "girl" becomes "gyal."

A small amount of patois words, between 5 percent and 10 percent, are of African origin, like "nyam" for "to eat." But the greatest divergence from English is in grammar, which has origins in the languages of West Africa.

An example of West African grammar in Jamaican patois is the way verbs are formed in the past tense. Instead of using a suffix like "ed," as in "walked," a patois speaker puts a word before a verb, like "deh." The English "I walked" becomes "me deh walk" in patois. The same is done in Haitian Creole by adding "te" before a verb to indicate past tense.

Over the years, the Bible has been translated into hundreds of obscure languages and dialects, among them the Ga language of Ghana, the Mi'kmaq spoken mostly by Indians in eastern Canada, and Gullah, which is largely spoken by African-Americans in isolated coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia.

The advocates of Jamaican patois are thrilled to see their day finally arrive, particularly with the island marking its 50th anniversary of winning independence.

"I am convinced this will have an impact on Jamaican people in every way - academically, psychologically, spiritually," said Linton, who spoke nothing but patois for the first 12 years of her life.

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Puerto Rico governor to push for statehood

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor will call a special legislative session to push for approval of a resolution urging the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama to honor the results of a recent referendum on changing the island's political status.

Gov. Luis Fortuno, who backs seeing statehood, said Saturday that Puerto Rican voters embraced statehood and rejected the current U.S. commonwealth status in the Nov. 6 ballot. He said Congress and Obama pledged to respect the results.

In the first question of the two-part referendum, more than 900,000 voters, or 54 percent, said they were not content with the commonwealth status.

The second question asked what status was preferred. Of the about 1.3 million voters who made a choice, nearly 800,000, or 61 percent, supported statehood. Some 437,000 backed sovereign free association and 72,560 chose independence. However, nearly 500,000 left that question blank, complicating analysis of voter sentiment.

Another complication is that voters rejected Fortuno for another term, electing as governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla. His Popular Democratic Party wants to keep Puerto Rico as a semi-autonomous U.S. commonwealth.

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