Huffington Wires | AP

TORA, Afghanistan — Working underground in an old Soviet bunker, a group of Afghan civilians and French Foreign Legion officers busy themselves with a couple of laptop computers and microphones until someone shouts for silence.

"We're on air!" a sergeant chief warns, as a sweet tune of flutes and chirping birds rises from a sound box.

PASADENA, Calif. — Alabama has been voted the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, earning its seventh AP title after beating Texas 37-21 in the BCS championship game.

Only Notre Dame has more AP national championships, with eight. Oklahoma also has seven.

HONG KONG — Chinese box office revenue surged 44 percent to 6.2 billion yuan ($908 million) in 2009, a movie publicist said Friday.

China also added 600 screens, bringing its total to 4,700, including 1,800 digital and nearly 800 3-D screens, Weng Li, spokesman for the state-run China Film Group, said in a phone interview. He said the figures were from China's Film Bureau.

PASADENA, Calif. — Greg McElroy stayed perfect as a starting quarterback by staying out of the way while Alabama won the national title.

McElroy was the very definition of a good game manager in the Crimson Tide's 37-21 victory Thursday night, making no huge plays and no big mistakes. That's exactly what Alabama needed from the unassuming quarterback who led this history-laden program to its first 14-win season.

PASADENA, Calif. — Hold off on the houndstooth hat. Put the genius label on another coach.

But pay Nick Saban his $200,000 bonus so he can buy a whole truckload of his favorite Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies.

LOS ANGELES — Rookie Jimmy Howard made 27 of his career-high 51 saves in the second period, Darren Helm scored with 18 seconds left in the third period, and Dan Cleary scored in the final second of the first to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Howard stopped the first 51 shots he faced before Ryan Smyth tied it on the Kings' final drive with 4:22 left. Smyth's power-play tally extended his goal streak to four games.

PASADENA, Calif. — Mark Ingram didn't let any Heisman Trophy jinx tackle him.

The Alabama tailback instead did what he's done all season, turning in a workmanlike performance with a few timely plays. Ingram carried 22 times for 116 yards and two scores in Thursday night's 37-21 victory over Texas in the BCS national title game.

PASADENA, Calif. — Marcell Dareus was the menacing presence on the field for the Crimson Tide during the BCS title game and it's guaranteed Texas fans won't forget him anytime soon.

Not only did Dareus knock Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy out less than five minutes into the game, he picked off a bad shovel pass by McCoy's replacement and rumbled 28 yards for a touchdown.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Alex Burrows scored three goals for his second straight hat trick and Roberto Luongo made 31 saves for his 50th NHL shutout as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 on Thursday night.

Henrik Sedin assisted on each goal by Burrows to move atop the NHL scoring race, three points ahead of San Jose's Joe Thornton. Luongo has three shutouts this season.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's central bank left its key interest rate at a record low for an 11th straight month Friday amid government concern that a solidfying economic recovery could be derailed by higher borrowing costs.

The Bank of Korea's widely expected decision to keep its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate at 2 percent came at a monthly policy meeting.

BEIJING — China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by subscribers, said Friday it has dismissed its vice chairman, who a business magazine reported is being investigated for misconduct when he worked for another carrier.

Zhang Chunjiang, a prominent figure in China's state-owned telecoms industry, was earlier fired as an executive of China Mobile's parent company and secretary of its Communist Party committee, according to state media.

PASADENA, Calif. — Colt McCoy had 60 minutes left to cap his incredible career with the only accomplishment he really ever cared about, a national championship.

Four minutes into the big game, he was done – KO'd by a shoulder injury. By the time he returned to the sideline, his Texas Longhorns seemed out of it, too – trailing by three scores in the third quarter.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Matt Belesky scored the go-ahead goal with 2:40 left and the Anaheim Ducks beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Thursday night.

After Belesky scored off a rebound of Corey's Perry shot, Todd Marchant followed it up with an empty-net goal at 19:17 to give the Ducks their second straight win.

DETROIT — As competition heats up in the subcompact car segment, Chevrolet is giving its value-priced Aveo a bolder design and more powerful engine.

Chevrolet will introduce the Aveo RS show car at the Detroit auto show next week. It's meant to hint at the new, European-inspired styling of the 2011 Aveo, which will go on sale next year.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission staked out new ground nearly three months ago when it began drafting rules that would require Internet providers to give equal treatment to all data flowing over their networks.

Now the FCC hopes to use a dispute with the nation's largest cable TV and Internet provider to establish its legal authority to adopt such "network neutrality" regulations. The rules would aim to prevent phone and cable companies from abusing their control over the market for high-speed Internet access.

— Today is Friday, Jan. 8, the eighth day of 2010. There are 357 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — All bets are off on the New Jersey Nets' team plane.

A team spokesman confirms the Nets have decided to ban gambling on their flights, not long after it apparently led to the locker room incident involving Gilbert Arenas and his guns.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Kristian Huselius and R.J. Umberger had a goal and an assist apiece and the Columbus Blue Jackets snapped a four-game losing skid with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

Antoine Vermette and Jan Hejda also scored for the Blue Jackets, who had lost 13 of 14 and ended a franchise-record, 13-game road losing streak.

PORTAGE, Ind. — A fire official says an explosion at a steel plant in Indiana has killed one worker and injured another four.

Portage Fire Chief Bill Lundy says the blast at the Beta Steel plant in Portage Thursday evening may have happened because water somehow met with molten steel.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Kenneth Faried paced four Eagles in double figures, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead Morehead State to a 77-64 win over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night.

Faried, who posted his ninth double-double on the season, also added three steals and two blocks for Morehead State (9-6, 4-1 Ohio Valley Conference). Morehead State won its fifth straight, posting its 1,000 victory in program history.

SHREVEPORT, La. — Maxx Nakwaasah scored a career-high 22 points and Centenary defeated IPFW 75-62 on Thursday night.

The Gentlemen (6-9, 2-3 Summit League) trailed 54-53 with 7:42 left, before Roman Turner and Nakwaasah hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 10-2 run.

TIJUANA, Mexico — A human rights activist has been killed in Mexico's violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, authorities said Thursday.

Josefina Reyes, who belonged to the National Front Against Repression, a rights group that mainly investigated police and army abuses, was killed on Jan. 3 in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Billionaire Ted Turner's bid to get 74 wild bison from Yellowstone National Park is drawing stiff opposition from those who say the animals are being given up for private profit instead of conservation.

Turner is offering to take the bison at the request of Montana's Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer after state officials warned that the animals could soon be slaughtered.

PASADENA, Calif. — Colt McCoy returned to the sideline but not to the game for No. 2 Texas and his backup, Garrett Gilbert, gave the Longhorns hope for a comeback with a touchdown pass that cut No. 1 Alabama's lead to 24-13 going into the fourth quarter of the BCS national championship game Thursday night.

After Gilbert hit Jordan Shipley down the middle for a 44-yard score with 1:31 left in the third quarter, Texas got the ball right back with an onside kick. But the Crimson Tide defense responded by forcing a three-and-out.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Wes Channels scored 21 points to lead four players in double figures as Austin Peay rolled to a 90-72 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Thursday night.

Anthony Campbell scored 19, Caleb Brown had 14 and John Fraley added 11 points for the Governors (9-8, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak.