KABUL, Afghanistan — Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday.

read more

RCMP, Axemen on ice to support centre

WINDSOR — RCMP officers from southwest Nova Scotia will be lacing up their skates today to play an exhibition hockey game against the Acadia Axemen in support of the New Boundaries organization.

read more

BRAINTREE, Mass. — George Esper, the tenacious Associated Press correspondent who refused to leave his post in the last days of the Vietnam War, remaining behind to cover the fall of Saigon, has died. He was 79.

read more

Kevin Bieksa played impromptu goalie and goal-scorer in the final seconds to save the Vancouver Canucks.

read more

Facebook IPO announced

Facebook at last began the process of launching its initial public offering, in the most eagerly awaited stock market flotation in years. The world’s biggest social networking site is seeking to raise $5 billion in its IPO. That is about half the amount that analysts had speculated it would aim for, but the figure could rise. Facebook revealed some financial data for the first time in its filing: Its revenue last year was $3.7 billion, up from $2 billion in 2010, and it made a profit of $1 billion, up from $606 million.

Censorship dismays Tweeters

Users of Twitter expressed disappointment at its decision to censor content in countries where such content breaks local laws. The microblogging site said it was doing this because as it continues to grow it will operate in countries “that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression.”

Sony gets new CEO

read more

KENTVILLE — A travelling exhibition of editorial cartoons from around the world has opened at the Nova Scotia Community College Kingstec Campus.

read more

HAVANA, Cuba — Fidel Castro spent six hours presenting a two-volume memoir to an audience at a Havana convention centre, state media said Saturday. It was a rare appearance for the retired and increasingly reclusive former Cuban leader.

read more

BEIJING — An environmental protection director and six other officials have been fired after a spill of toxic cadmium in a river in southern China threatened drinking water supplies for millions of people, news reports said Saturday.

The spill in January prompted residents of Liuzhou, a city of 3.2 million in southwestern China’s Guangxi region, to stock up on bottled water. Officials said efforts to neutralize the cadmium were keeping its levels in river water within safe limits.

read more

Dalhousie’s drive to claim the sixth and final playoff berth received a huge boost Saturday evening as the host Tigers edged the league-leading UNB Varsity Reds 3-2 in a shootout in Halifax.

read more

INDIANAPOLIS — In this new NFL age of throw first and throw again, it’s easy to forget the first rule of football: Defence wins championships.

read more

Downtown Halifax eateries and watering holes say the Metro Transit strike isn’t keeping customers away this weekend.

read more

NEW YORK — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in films, on television and on Broadway in the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, has died at age 81.

read more

LAWRENCE TYNES hated football. Too much hitting, too much pain.

The native of Scotland preferred soccer when he was growing up in Florida, which was the latest stop for his military family. A lot of his friends spent their time tugging on helmets and lacing up shoulder pads, but he didn’t want anything to do with it.

read more

Darcy Gillis scored twice to lead the Brookfield Elks to an 8-5 upset of the league-leading Bay Ducks in Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League play in Upper Tantallon Saturday night.

Nic Jessome, Shawn Wright, Justin Smith, Nick Carroll, Drew McNutt and Connor Baker had singles for the Elks, while Todd Martin and Doug Hore each scored twice for the Ducks and Scott Bowness chipped in with a single.

read more

WOLFVILLE — Brandon Davidson and Joe Welton were completely engulfed in fine tuning their robotic vehicle.

read more

CHAMONIX, France — Through six knee surgeries and debilitating back problems, Jan Hudec never lost faith.

read more

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran began ground military exercises Saturday and defiantly warned that it could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations as tensions rise over suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

read more

MUNICH, Germany — Italian Premier Mario Monti said Saturday that the eurozone must avoid stoking deeper resentment among its members as it tackles the debt crisis, while philanthropist George Soros said German-backed austerity measures risk pushing Europe into “a lost decade” or worse.

read more

It may not sound like a call to revolution, but it has come to symbolize Mario Monti’s campaign to reshape Italy as a modern economy, as the reformist premier takes on powerful lobbies that have stifled economic growth by keeping swaths of the economy in the hands of insiders.

These groups have long behaved like medieval guilds — regulating standards, working hours and prices — and Monti now has a lengthening list of enemies that include bakeries, taxi drivers, pharmacists, lawyers, notaries, railroad workers and newsstand dealers.

read more

ROME — Romans bewildered by their city’s first big snowfall in 26 years used government-issued shovels to clear sidewalks, and kitchen utensils to clear windshields Saturday.

read more