Russia's state-controlled Gazprom natural gas giant acknowledged for the first time Saturday that it had briefly reduced gas supplies to Europe amid a spell of extreme cold.

Gazprom deputy chief Andrey Kruglov reported to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that the cuts lasted for several days and reached up to 10 percent, but supplies are currently back to normal. Officials in Austria and France, however, have reported cuts of as much as 30 percent, and Italy said supplies were down by 24 percent Thursday.

Trading jokes and swapping leads, investigators from the FBI and Scotland Yard spent the conference call strategizing about how to bring down the hacking collective known as Anonymous, responsible for a string of embarrassing attacks across the Internet.

Unfortunately for the cyber sleuths, the hackers were in on the call too — and now so is the rest of the world.

Apple Inc. has temporarily blocked Motorola Mobility's attempt to have it withdraw several iPhone and iPad models from its Internet store in Germany, the latest twist in an extended legal duel over patents between the companies.

The sale of the devices was briefly halted after Libertyville, Ill.-based Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. enforced a ruling it won against Ireland-based Apple Sales International Inc., from a court in Mannheim, Germany.

Last year was the deadliest on record for Afghan civilians with 3,021 killed, a rise of 8 percent from the year before as insurgents ratcheted up violence with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, the United Nations said Saturday.

Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011, the fifth year in a row in which the death toll went up, the U.N. said.

The Afghan Taliban on Saturday denied that their leader Mullah Omar had written to President Barack Obama last July.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said reports that Omar had sent a letter indicating an interest in talks key to ending the war in Afghanistan were "baseless allegations."

Inter Milan's match at Roma on Saturday has been postponed due to a rare snowstorm in the capital.

It began snowing near midday Friday in Rome and the cobblestone streets in the capital were covered with slush, prompting the local police chief to call off the match.

The Football Association announced that John Terry has been removed as England captain after his trial for racist abuse was delayed until after the European Championship.

The FA said the Chelsea defender will still be available for team selection.

Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard will be out of action for as long as six weeks because of ankle ligament damage.

United manager Alex Ferguson says that the 27-year-old Lindegaard will be on the sidelines for "at least four weeks, maybe five or six."

Ferrari unveiled its completely overhauled Formula One car in a low-key Internet presentation Friday after the full launch was canceled due to a snowstorm.

The car was named the F2012, which marks a return to the team's traditional jargon after last year's car was called the F150 in honor of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification.

Oil prices hovered above $96 a barrel Friday in Asia as traders awaited a key jobs report for evidence about the strength of the U.S. economy.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 13 cents at $96.49 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.25 to settle at $96.36 on Thursday.