JERUSALEM (AP) ― A Palestinian rights group said Monday that half of about 5,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are on a hunger strike, demanding an end to imprisonment without trial as well as better conditions.Ehteram Ghazawneh of the Palestinian group Addameer said prisoners object to “administrative detention” that incarcerates some of them for months or years without charges.More than 300 Palestinians are held in administrative detention, where an Israeli military court allows impriso

Thousands rally for higher wages at Asia’s May Day marches, Europeans to protest austerityMANILA, Philippines (AP) — May Day moved beyond its roots as an international workers’ holiday to a day of international protest Tuesday, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage increases and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed austerity measures.Europeans will take to the streets to protest against the measures that are being blamed for a big increase in the number of unemployed, part

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Muslim majorities in an arc of five countries from Egypt to Pakistan have little good to say about al-Qaida one year after American commandos killed the Muslim terror group’s leader, a poll shows.Most of the views expressed by Muslims in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Pakistan were overwhelmingly negative in the poll conducted as part of the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, released Monday.The organization cautioned that findings in Pakistan, where U.S. Navy

YANGON (AFP) ― U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon met Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday for talks about the country’s political future after a surprise climbdown by the Nobel laureate in her boycott of parliament.The talks at the opposition leader’s lakeside mansion in Yangon, where she was locked up by the former junta for much of the past two decades, come a day after Ban became the first visiting foreigner to address Myanmar’s legislature.It is the first meeting between Suu Kyi and Ba

U.S. college dropout has turned a mathematics genius after being brutally attacked by a group of street robbers.Jason Padgett, 41, was ambushed outside a karaoke club and repeatedly kicked in head, causing brain damage.But since the attack, Padgett he sees mathematical formulas wherever he looks, turning them into intricate diagrams he can draw by hand.He is the only person who can visually depict infinite pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.Experts say the transformat

Members of a Russian Orthodox organization used holy water to disperse dozens of protesters supporting jailed punk band Pussy Riot in downtown Moscow.Members of the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers dumped holy water on the protesters Sunday at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow while chanting "no Sodom," RIA Novosti reported Monday.The unsanctioned demonstration was in support of members of

An overcrowded river ferry broke in two and sank in northeast India during a severe storm on Monday, leaving at least 105 people dead and almost as many missing, police said.As rescuers struggled in heavy rain to find survivors weeping relatives lined the shores of the fast-flowing Brahmaputra river in Assam state, desperate for news of family members on board the vessel.It was carrying around 350

MADRID (AFP) -- Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded the ratings of the top Spanish banks, including Santander and BBVA, after slashing the country’s credit standing because of worsening deficit and growth problems.The banks affected include Santander and its subsidiary Banesto, BBVA, Banco Sabadell, Ibercaja, Kutxabank, Banca Civica, Bankinter and the local unit of Barclays.S&P on Friday cut Spain’s sovereign debt rating by two notches to "BBB+" and said Monday that the bank downgrades follow