U.S. fails to pick up Mars probe signal on fourth try

LONDON -- Space scientists failed in two more attempts Friday to confirm if Europe's first probe to Mars had safely reached the Red Planet. The efforts by a NASA spacecraft and later by a British observatory were the third and fourth attempts to track the tiny Beagle 2 lander since it was to have arrived on Mars shortly before 10 p.m. EST Wednesday. The probe -- designed to search for signs of life -- should have opened its solar panels and called home within a few hours. That didn't occur and scientists have tried ever since to locate it. The Stanford University radio telescope in California might be able to listen for a signal today.

Israeli military chief says cease-fire may come soon

JERUSALEM -- Hamas, the Islamic group responsible for most suicide bombings during three years of violence, has called off attacks inside Israel, and a full cease-fire could come in a matter of weeks, Israel's military chief said in comments published Friday. In response, Israel will hold off targeting Hamas leaders but will still go after other Palestinian militants in retaliation for a suicide bombing this week, security sources said. Since the start of fighting in September 2000, Israel has routinely hunted down and killed militant leaders.

One bomber identified in attack on Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- At least one of the three suicide bombers who tried to assassinated President Pervez Musharraf was a foreigner, raising the specter that international terrorists had a hand in the attack, investigators said Friday. The attack -- the second attempt in 11 days to kill Musharraf by bombing his motorcade on a road into the capital -- was carried out by "a mix of local and international terrorists," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

Divers retrieve bodies from Benin plane crash

COTONOU, Benin -- Mourning relatives watched from a debris-littered shore Friday as divers retrieved bodies from a jet that crashed off the West African nation of Benin with 161 people on board. More than 20 people, including the pilot, survived the Christmas Day crash. Dozens of others were still missing and feared dead, officials said. The Boeing 727, carrying mostly Lebanese, clipped a building at the end of the runway and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, scattering bodies and debris along the beach and into the sea.

Fox hunters, protesters face off over Boxing Day

LONDON -- Thousands of scarlet-clad fox hunters rode out Friday for traditional post-Christmas hunts, defying the boos and jeers of protesters demanding an end to blood sports. The pro-hunting Countryside Alliance said up to 275,000 riders and supporters attended 350 Boxing Day hunts around the country. Enthusiasts pledged to fight any attempt to ban the sport, which has polarized Britain in recent years and created a dilemma for the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

-- From wire reports