There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which occurred Tuesday in Swabi, a city in the troubled northwest. Thehas in the past vowed to target, among others, health workers involved in campaigns to wipe out polio.

Last year, 15 health and aid workers were killed in , making the country one of the most dangerous in the world for aid workers, according to the British-based consultancy Humanitarian Outcomes. Most were women. Development sector experts now express concerns that those working on the ground will shy away from assignments.

In the past, local volunteers, be they teachers, medical workers or social mobilizers, considered themselves safe and worked hand in hand with foreign aid workers and paramilitary personnel in even the most dire of circumstances, says Hassan Belal Zaidi, a development and communication specialist, based in . But now, it would not be unreasonable for them to think twice and even refuse to travel to remote parts of the country if they know there is a chance they may get shot.

The six women and one man were traveling in a van when gunmen on motorcycles stopped it Tuesday afternoon after it left a children's community center, according to Abdur Rasheed Khan, chief of the Swabi police force. The four gunmen took a 4-year-old boy belonging to one of the women from the van, and then raked the vehicle with gunfire, he said. The child was unharmed and was later turned over to police by bystanders, he said.

These murders come a few weeks after nine health workers with national polio campaign were killed in different parts of the country in what police said was a coordinated attack. That prompted the Pakistani government and theagencies to suspend their vaccination drive for the disease, which has seen a uptick in cases in recent years.

Pakistan is one out of the three countries where polio persists; at least 57 cases were registered in 2012. The that it could face travel and visa restrictions and sanctions imposed by other countries if polio continues to spread.

Distrust of public health initiatives like the polio campaign is particularly strong in districts of Pakistan where religious extremists have tightened their grip. That sentiment deepened in 2011 after theraid that killed . A -led operation to confirm Mr. bin Ladens location in the city ofused a hepatitis B vaccination campaign to gather DNA evidence on bin Laden.

The recent attacks are likely to further frighten people from working with foreign and Pakistani aid and development organizations, says Bushra Arain, chairwoman for the All Pakistan Lady Health Workers Welfare Association, which counts more than 100,000 registered members.

We are the backbone of Pakistani health sector. If the attacks continue, with the state showing the inability it currently is demonstrating in stopping us from being targeted, we will stop working, Ms. Arain says.

and affiliated groups are targeting aid workers for several reasons, says Khadim Hussain, who heads one of the largest private charity school networks in the northwesternprovince. First, the militants think aid groups have an anti-Muslim agenda, spying on the local population, a suspicion that was deepened by the raid on bin Laden. Secondly, the groups equate health campaigns with modernizing society, in opposition to some fundamentalist tenets for Islamic radicals. Some groups also believe the vaccine is intended to sterilize Muslim children.

If the attacks by the Taliban continue, there will be widespread de-motivation amongst aid workers, which I am already witnessing, Mr. Hussain says.

While some development advocates say there needs to be a coordinated, public response by Pakistani and foreign NGOs to the attacks, others say the government should stop public education campaigns altogether and just allow aid workers to operate quietly.

The less attention we get, the less vulnerable we will be as targets for the terrorists, Ms. Arain says.

We are involved with anti-polio drive, infant health awareness programs, family planning, etc. and if the government does not pull its act together, many deadly diseases can spread rapidly in Pakistan, she says. The situation can get out of hand.

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A lawyer for Eli Lilly told the jury there is no evidence the synthetic estrogen known as DES causes breast cancer in the daughters of women who took it. In addition, no medical records show the mother of the four women in the Boston case took DES, he said, or that if she did take it, that it was made by Eli Lilly. DES was not patented and was made by many companies at the time.

The sisters' case is the first to go to trial out of scores of similar claims filed in Boston and around the country. They are seeking unspecified damages. A total of 51 women have DES lawsuits pending in U.S. District Court in Boston against more than a dozen companies that made or marketed the drug.

DES, or diethylstilbestrol, was prescribed to millions of pregnant women over three decades to prevent miscarriages, premature births and other problems. It was taken off the market in the early 1970s after it was linked to a rare vaginal cancer in women whose mothers used DES.

Studies later showed the drug did not prevent miscarriages.

The Melnick sisters, who grew up in Tresckow, Pa., say they all developed breast cancer in their 40s after their mother took DES while pregnant.

Their lawyer, Aaron Levine, told the jury that their mother did not take DES while pregnant with a fifth sister, and that sister has not developed breast cancer.

"What are the odds of that happening in nature, if DES wasn't the culprit?" Levine said.

Levine said Eli Lilly urged doctors to prescribe DES without proof that it was safe or that it prevented miscarriages and other reproductive problems.

"You don't expose people to a risk unless there's a benefit, and there was no benefit," Levine said.

The companies that make DES argue that no firm link has been established between breast cancer and the drug.

James Dillon, a lawyer for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, told the jury that the doctor who treated the Melnick sisters' mother is now dead, and there are no records of him prescribing DES. Dillon said Eli Lilly at the time recommended DES for women who had had three or more consecutive miscarriages. Mrs. Melnick, he said, did not have consecutive miscarriages, so prescribing it to her would have gone against the company's recommendations.

Dillon said leading researchers at the time recommended that DES be used for pregnant women.

"In the 1950s, no one thought this drug was unsafe," he said.

Dillon told the jury that while it is "terribly unfair" that the four sisters got breast cancer, it is a common disease and doctors still don't understand what causes it. He said it "wouldn't be unreasonable" for jurors to have sympathy and empathy for the sisters, but asked them to keep their minds "open to the facts."

All four Melnick sisters had miscarriages, fertility problems or other reproductive tract problems long suspected of being caused by prenatal exposure to DES. They were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2003 and had treatments ranging from lump-removal surgery to a full mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy.

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed alleging links between DES and vaginal and cervical cancer, as well as fertility problems. Many of those cases were settled.

With Novak making five-of-seven attempts from beyond the arc to total 15 points and Carmelo Anthony adding a game-high 23, the Knicks snapped the Spurs' seven-game winning streak in rampant style.

There were further stellar contributions from the New York bench with J.R. Smith weighing in with 20 points and Amare Stoudemire 10 as the home team outshot San Antonio by 44.4 percent to 26.5 from behind the three-point line.

The Atlantic pacesetting Knicks broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter, starting out with a 15-2 run, to improve their record to 22-10.

"After a great start this season defensively, the last 10 games we went down," Knicks reserve point guard Pablo Prigioni, an NBA rookie at the age of 35, said courtside after finishing with six points and nine assists.

"The coach showed clips to us and showed us how we were playing now and how we played then. Today we came back to that level."

STIFLED SPURS OFFENSE

All-Stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 11 points for the Southwest leading Spurs, who had been averaging 111.7 points per game this season until their offense was stifled by the Knicks on Thursday.

"We played great tonight," Knicks coach Mike Woodson told reporters. "We beat a damned good ball club. It took a total team effort."

New York had conceded more than 100 points a game for each of their last 10 games, but restricted the high-powered Spurs with an intensive defensive effort.

"When you play defense at a high level like we did tonight, you put yourself in position to win games," Woodson added.

"They are going to have to continue to play that way. The ball moved ... Novak got some great looks, J.R. had great looks ... the ball was moving."

The Knicks ended a closely contested first quarter with a 22-19 lead and they padded that to 37-29 midway through the second quarter when Novak made his second three-pointer.

However the Spurs steadily clawed their way back and successive free throws by Duncan cut the deficit to 42-40 at halftime.

New York, who outshot San Antonio by 47.6 percent to 36.4 from the field throughout the game, built a 67-60 advantage by the end of the third quarter before breaking the game wide open in the final period.

"We started out the game sticking to our script, being the more aggressive team," Anthony said.

"They were double-teaming, triple-teaming me. It was just a matter of us making shots when I swung it out.

"Novak made shots, J.R. made shots. Pablo came in and led our team from the point guard position.

"Everyone contributed in their own way, made some great passes. It was just a matter of getting it to the open man."

In a bizarre moment, Spurs forward Stephen Jackson exited the game with a sprained right ankle after playing just three minutes off the bench, suffering the injury when he crashed into a waitress working in front of courtside seats.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

[More from BGR: ]

This article was

Hambrecht, who left the CEO post in 2011, has sought to get a seat on BASF's board of directors, a body known in Germany as the supervisory board.

German law prohibits an immediate move from management to the board of directors, demanding that executives undergo a two-year "cooling off" period.

"BASF has a very good supervisory board. New appointments will take place in 2014," Hambrecht told the paper. "I have cooled off for almost two years, so it doesn't make much difference if I do it for three," he further said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

None of them had been diagnosed with heart disease before deployment, researchers said.

"This is a young, healthy, fit group," said the study's lead author, Dr. Bryant Webber, from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

"These are people who are asymptomatic, they feel fine, they're deployed into combat," he told Reuters Health.

"It just proves again the point that we know that this is a clinically silent disease, meaning people can go years without being diagnosed, having no signs or symptoms of the disease."

Webber said the findings also show that although the U.S. has made progress in lowering the nationwide prevalence of heart disease, there's more work that can be done to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and reduce their risks.

Heart disease accounts for about one in four deaths - or about 600,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new data come from autopsies done on U.S. service members who died in October 2001 through August 2011 during combat or from unintentional injuries. Those autopsies were originally performed to provide a full account to service members' families of how they died.

The study mirrors autopsy research on Korean and Vietnam war veterans, which found signs of heart disease in as many as three-quarters of deceased service members at the time.

"Earlier autopsy studies... were critical pieces of information that alerted the medical community to the lurking burden of coronary disease in our young people," said Dr. Daniel Levy, director of the Framingham Heart Study and a senior investigator with the National Institutes of Health.

The findings are not directly comparable, in part because there was a draft in place during the earlier wars but not for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn. When service is optional, healthier people might be more likely to sign up, researchers explained.

Still, Levy said the new study likely reflects declines in heart disease in the U.S. in general over that span.

Altogether the researchers had information on 3,832 service members who'd been killed at an average age of 26. Close to 9 percent had any buildup in their coronary arteries, according to the autopsies. And about a quarter of the soldiers with buildup in their arteries had severe blockage.

Service members who had been obese or had high cholesterol or high blood pressure when they entered the military were especially likely to have plaque buildup, Webber and his colleagues reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More than 98 percent of the service members included were men.

"This study bodes well for a lower burden of disease lurking in young people," Levy, who wrote an editorial published with the report, told Reuters Health.

"Young, healthy people are likely to have a lower burden of disease today than their parents or grandparents had decades ago."

That's likely due, in part, to better control of blood pressure and cholesterol and lower rates of smoking in today's service members - as well as the country in general, researchers said.

However, two risks for heart disease that haven't declined are obesity and diabetes, which are closely linked.

"Obesity is the one that has not trended in the right direction," Levy said.

"Those changes in obesity and diabetes threaten to reverse some of the dramatic improvements that we are seeing in heart disease death rates," he added.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/JjFzqx Journal of the American Medical Association, online December 25, 2012.

Two of the four major leagues were won by teams with the supersized moniker, with the New York Giants capturing the National Football League's Super Bowl and the San Francisco Giants landing Major League Baseball's World Series.

The Los Angeles Kings finally lived up their regal nickname when they won National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the first time while LeBron James silenced his critics by winning a first National Basketball Association title with the Miami Heat.

The New York Giants set the tone for a year of comebacks when they reclaimed the greatest prize in North American sports with a nail-biting 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Indianapolis.

Inspired by their dynamic quarterback Eli Manning, named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second time in four years, the Giants stole victory with a last-minute touchdown from Ahmad Bradshaw.

"The greatest feeling in professional sports is to win the Super Bowl," said 65-year-old Tom Coughlin after becoming the oldest coach to land the prize.

What made their victory remarkable was the Giants had looked to have no hope of even competing for the title after losing four consecutive games late in the regular season, putting them in danger of missing the playoffs.

They needed to win their last two games to make the playoffs and then won four straight to claim the Super Bowl in early February and cap a fairytale run that captivated America's biggest city.

For the Patriots, losing to fierce rival New York in the championship game for the second time in four years was unpalatable.

"You don't feel good after you lose this game," said New England head coach Bill Belichick.

WILD RIDE

San Francisco, led by MVP-winning catcher Buster Posey, also endured a wild ride through the playoffs before winning the World Series in late October for the second time in three seasons.

The team won six elimination games, three against the Cincinnati Reds and another three against the St Louis Cardinals, before sweeping the talent-packed Detroit Tigers in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.

"It just so happens we got kind of hot and scored some runs at the right time," said Matt Cain who pitched the first perfect game in Giants history during the regular season.

Cain was not the only who achieved a rare feat in 2012 with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera becoming the first player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown, leading the American League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI).

The Venezuelan-born slugger had a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI and was the 15th player to accomplish the feat, and the first since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

'LOWEST MOMENTS'

The Kings also timed their run to perfection after scraping into the playoffs as the Western Conference's lowest-ranked team and going on to win the first Stanley Cup in the franchise's 45-year existence.

They upset the top three seeded teams, the Vancouver Canucks, the St Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes, to win the Conference before beating the battle-hardened New Jersey Devils 4-2 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals.

"At our lowest moments the biggest thing is nobody ever turned on someone else, everybody stuck with it," said goaltender Jonathan Quick, named MVP in the finals in June.

"You just can't say enough about the resiliency that it took to get through those times during the season and still make the playoffs."

After losing the first three games of the series, the Devils clawed their way back with two straight wins but that momentum was swiftly undone by a game-changing penalty that led to three first-period goals in less than four minutes as the Kings cruised to victory.

For hockey fans it was the last real action they would see for the immediate future with a labor dispute between owners and players indefinitely delaying the start of the 2012-13 season.

Despite his incredible talent and athleticism, James has been derided by American sports fans since he walked out on his hometown team two years ago to join the Miami Heat.

His rationale for deserting Cleveland, a city battered by unemployment, high taxes, lousy weather and poor sports teams, was that he wanted to win a championship to help cement his place among the game's greats.

But in 2012 James proved that in a sport played by giants, he towers above everyone else, cleaning up the four biggest team and individual honors in the sport.

In addition to winning his first NBA title against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was named MVP during the regular season for the third time.

James also won the MVP award for the finals in June and a gold medal with the United States at the London Olympics in August. Only Michael Jordan, the player LeBron is constantly compared with, has completed the same grand slam.

"It was definitely a journey," James said. "I can finally say I'm a champion and I did it the right way. I didn't shortcut anything.

"I put a lot of hard work and dedication in it and hard work pays off. It's a great moment."

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football", beat out Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein at the swanky ceremony in New York.

"This is a moment I've dreamed about since I was a kid running around the backyard pretending I was Doug Flute throwing 'hail marys' to my dad," the first-year player Manziel said.

"To be invited into this fraternity, what a pleasure it really is.

"I wish my whole team could be up here with me tonight especially my whole offensive line."

The Texan Manziel finished the regular season with 3,419 passing yards and 1,181 rushing yards to set a new total offense record for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 12 games.

Manziel, who is not eligible for the NFL draft for at least another year, also broke the 1969 record held by Archie Manning, father of Peyton and Eli Manning, for total offense in a game with 557 yards against Arkansas.

He later bettered that with 567 yards against Louisiana Tech.

Marqise Lee from USC was fourth and Braxton Miller from Ohio State was fifth.

(Reporting by Ben Everill in Los Angeles; Editing by Ian Ransom)

With leading scorer Carmelo Anthony already sidelined with a hyper-extended left leg, Felton has been diagnosed with a broken pinkie finger on his right hand, the Knicks said on Thursday.

Felton told reporters on Wednesday he could be out of action for up to six weeks because of the injury, which he suffered battling for a loose ball in Tuesday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Felton had started all 28 games for the Atlantic Division leaders before missing Wednesday's win at Phoenix. He is averaging 15.8 points and a team-high 6.3 assists.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina)

In the first of his two All-Star seasons, the right-hander posted back-to-back saves for the Pittsburgh Pirates with perfect ninth innings against the Red Sox in June 2011. He struck out Adrian Gonzalez, who entered the series batting .359, to end the second game.

"When people look back on me as a Pirate, that's the one that stands out the most to them," Hanrahan said Wednesday after being obtained in a six-player trade.

People such as Red Sox assistant general manager Brian O'Halloran.

"It definitely made an impression on me," he said. "It was not fun to be in the batter's box against Joel Hanrahan."

Now American League hitters will see what it's like.

Boston completed the deal Wednesday, also receiving infielder Brock Holt. The Red Sox gave up right-handers Mark Melancon and Stolmy Pimentel, infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and first baseman-outfielder Jerry Sands.

The Red Sox also announced the signing of free agent shortstop Stephen Drew, who agreed to a one-year contract early last week. The reported $9.5 million deal was contingent on Drew passing a physical. The former Oakland Athletic and Arizona Diamondback broke his ankle in 2011.

"We feel that he's going to be fully healthy for us," O'Halloran said.

The acquisition of Drew and Hanrahan are the latest in a series of moves designed to improve on a 69-93 record and a last-place finish in the AL East. The Red Sox already have obtained right-handers Ryan Dempster and Koji Uehara, outfielders Shane Victorino and Johnny Gomes and catcher David Ross.

Over the past two seasons, Hanrahan had 76 saves, fourth most in the National League, and a 2.24 ERA. Last season, he was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 36 saves.

The six-year veteran will take over the closer's role that Alfredo Aceves struggled in most of last season before giving way to Andrew Bailey, who had missed most of the season with a right thumb injury.

In his first season with Boston, Bailey was 1-1 with a 7.04 ERA and six saves in nine opportunities over 19 games.

Manager John Farrell has talked with Hanrahan and Bailey and told them that Hanrahan will be the closer, although "we see Andrew as playing a very important role," O'Halloran said.

The Red Sox's search for a closer began when Jonathan Papelbon signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies after the 2011 season.

Hanrahan figured he was part of that quest when he heard his name in trade rumors involving the Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I got excited" when he learned of the trade, Hanrahan said. "Obviously, the Red Sox have a great history and tradition and it's a huge sports city."

In six seasons, 2 1/2 with the Washington Nationals and 3 1/2 with the Pirates, he's 22-17 with a 3.74 ERA and 96 saves in 117 chances. His best season was 2011 when he went 1-4 with a 1.83 ERA, 40 saves in 44 opportunities and just 16 walks in 68 2-3 innings. His control slipped last season when he walked 36 in 59 2-3 innings.

Hanrahan said hamstring and ankle problems affected his pitching mechanics.

"I don't think the walks are going to be a concern," he said. "I feel good going to spring training."

Hanrahan said he's never been to Fenway Park, but O'Halloran doesn't think he'll have trouble adjusting to the American League.

"Joel Hanrahan has the stuff to pitch anywhere," he said.

Holt spent most of last season at Double-A Altoona, then hit .292 in 24 games with the Pirates, all in September.

Melancon was 0-2 with a 6.20 ERA in 41 relief appearances in his only season with Boston. Pimentel spent the season at Double-A Portland. Sands and DeJesus were obtained in a trade that sent Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers on Aug. 25.