Carlos Abascal

MEXICO CITY (AP) _ Former Mexican Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal, a proponent of putting Christianity back into the nation's politics, died Tuesday. He was 59.

He died of stomach cancer, his conservative National Action Party said.

Abascal was a controversial figure in a country with strong anti-clerical traditions. Reform President Benito Juarez in the 1860s had passed laws aimed at breaking the economic and social domination of the church in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation.

Following the 1910-17 revolution, the government passed ever-stricter anti-clerical laws, leading to an armed uprising by militant Catholics in the late 1920s, an event that further widened the breach between politics and religion.

Abascal served as labor secretary under former President Vicente Fox from 2000-05, when he took over the interior department, Mexico's top national security post, for about a year.

"A Christian has to transform the world, precisely because he knows how to do it," a visibly frail Abascal said at a ceremony honoring him just a week before his death. He called on the audience to "carry out the work of the Evangelists in politics, in the economy, in society, always with happiness."

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Giulio Bertola

MILAN, Italy (AP) _ Giulio Bertola, who directed the choir at Italy's famed La Scala theater in 1983-91, died Sunday. He was 87.

Bertola died after a long illness, the opera house said Tuesday.

Bertola directed the choir for eight La Scala opera premieres, including Verdi's "Guglielmo Tell" and Rossini's "I Vespri Siciliani" under artistic director Riccardo Muti.

Before joining La Scala, Bertola directed the choir for Muti's May 1983 concert for Pope John Paul II.

Bertola also worked in theaters including the Fenice, in Venice, and the Academy of Santa Cecilia, in Rome, according to La Repubblica newspaper and other local media reports.

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Raymond F. Lederer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Raymond F. Lederer, a former Democratic congressman who was imprisoned for taking a bribe in the FBI's Abscam investigation more than a quarter-century ago, died Monday. He was 70.

Lederer, whose family has been involved in Philadelphia politics for decades, died of lung cancer at his home in Philadelphia, said his son, Miles.

Lederer was videotaped on Sept. 11, 1979, at a New York motel accepting a $50,000 bribe from two FBI undercover agents. Authorities said Lederer accepted the payoff in return for promising to help two fictitious Arab sheiks enter the United States.

In all, six House members and one senator were convicted in the Abscam sting.

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Ted Rogers

TORONTO (AP) _ Ted Rogers, owner of the Toronto Blue Jays, died Tuesday. He was 75.

The founder of Rogers Communications Inc., Canada's largest cable television and mobile phone company, was treated in October for a heart condition, the company said in announcing his death.

Rogers Communications owns the Blue Jays and their home at the Rogers Centre, several television stations and an array of other media properties including Maclean's and Chatelaine magazines.

Rogers, one of Canada's wealthiest people, had earlier handed over his corporate duties.

He bought the Blue Jays in 2000. This year, he arranged for the NFL's Buffalo Bills to play eight games over five years in Toronto.

After making an early investment in wireless technology, Rogers' company eventually became Canada's largest cell phone company. Rogers Communications is worth about $18 billion and has 24,000 employees.

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German Skurygin

MOSCOW (AP) _ Former champion race walker German Skurygin, who won the silver medal in the 50-kilometer race at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, has died. He was 45.

Skurygin died Friday night of a heart attack, the Russian athletics federation said. Media reports said he died in his hometown of Izhevsk.

In 1999, Skurygin won the gold in the 50-kilometer event at the 1999 worlds in Seville, Spain, but was later stripped of the medal after failing a doping test.

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Otto Spoerri

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Otto Spoerri, dubbed "the ultimate arbiter of industry power" because he determined seating at the Oscars, died Saturday. He was 75.

Spoerri died in his hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The academy did not reveal the cause of Spoerri's death.

He served as the academy's controller from 1978 to 2002. Though he oversaw accounting, he was better known for seating scores of movie stars and industry executives at the Academy Awards.

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Joseph B. Wirthlin

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ Joseph B. Wirthlin, the Mormon church's oldest living apostle, died Monday. He was 91.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wirthlin died at home of old age.

Wirthlin was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1986, about a decade after being called to full-time church service.

The quorum is the second tier of church leadership and is charged with various management responsibilities.

Wirthlin's other church posts included serving as a counselor to the Sunday school president, director of the church military relations committee, director of the church curriculum department and as an editor of church magazines.

He also led church operations in continental Europe, Britain, Ireland and Africa.