Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Chinese automaker that bought Sweden's Volvo Cars in 2010 has acquired the British manufacturer of the distinctive London cab.

Geely Holding Group said Friday it bought Manganese Bronze Holdings out of bankruptcy court administration. Geely said it paid just over 11 million pounds ($17.5 million).

Official figures show unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro steady at 11.7 percent in December.

The rate reported by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, is a record high for the eurozone after November's original 11.8 percent estimate was revised down. Unemployment in the eurozone has been 11.7 percent now for three months.

Cape Verde coach Lucio Antunes pretended to be on the phone with Jose Mourinho on Friday after telling reporters the Real Madrid coach would help him in the African Cup quarterfinals.

Antunes could have been joking and engaging in Mourinho-like mind games when he smiled widely when answering a question on whether his good friend Mourinho had helped him guide the underdog team to the last eight.

Diego Costa scored two penalties to give 10-man Atletico Madrid a 2-1 home win over nine-man Sevilla on Thursday in an incident-packed first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal that featured three penalties from handballs.

The Brazilian forward filled in nicely for injured top scorer Radamel Falcao, who has been out since January 20, by triggering both of Sevilla's dismissals in addition to taking his brace.

David Lee finished an assist short of a triple-double and Klay Thompson scored 27 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 100-97 Thursday.

Lee had 15 points, a season-high 20 rebounds and nine assists, while Jarrett Jack scored 13 points, including two free throws with 2 seconds left to help the Warriors win their third straight. Harrison Barnes also had 15 points.

David Beckham lit up a subdued transfer deadline day in Europe by securing perhaps the final move of his globetrotting career, a surprise short-term deal with ambitious French club Paris Saint-Germain.

Mario Balotelli, a headline-grabber at the opposite end of his football career, finalized his switch from Manchester City to AC Milan for €20 million ($27 million). Otherwise, there was plenty of speculation but precious little activity as another January window closed for business on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused on Thursday Iran and Hizbullah of playing an increasingly prominent role in the Syrian war.

The U.S. is "disturbed by increasing Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah activities" in Syria, Clinton told reporters on the eve of her last day as secretary of state.

The death toll in an explosion at the headquarters of Mexico's state-own oil giant Pemex rose to 32 on Friday as rescuers dug through the rubble while the cause of the blast remained a mystery.

Hundreds of firefighters, police and soldiers toiled through the night after the blast ripped through an annex of Pemex's 54-floor tower on Thursday, leaving huge pieces of broken concrete on the ground and injuring 121 people.

A truck carrying fireworks ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations exploded and destroyed part of an elevated highway Friday in central China, killing at least 26 people as it sent vehicles plummeting 30 meters to the ground, state media said.

The huge blast destroyed an 80-meter stretch of highway outside the city of Sanmenxia in Henan province, and was powerful enough to shatter windows of a nearby truck stop.