GAZA CITY (AP) ― Egypt has mediated a cease-fire between Palestinian militant factions and Israel after four days of violence, an Egyptian security official said.The official told the Associated Press that a cease-fire went into effect at 1 a.m. Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. It was not immediately clear when a formal announcement of a cease-fire would be made.The official said that after hours of talks, the Palestinians agreed to stop launch

LONDON (AP) ― In a case that challenges Britain’s definition of murder, a severely disabled man who says his life has no “privacy or dignity” will be granted a hearing on his request that a doctor be allowed to give him a lethal injection.Tony Nicklinson suffered a paralyzing stroke in 2005 that left him unable to speak or move below his neck. The former rugby player and corporate manager requires constant care and communicates largely by blinking, although his mind has remained unaffected.“I am

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s real estate tycoon Minoru Mori, whose family name is found on major upscale buildings in central Tokyo, has died at the age of 77, his company said Monday.Mori, chairman of Mori Building Co. since 2011, succumbed to heart failure last Thursday after being treated for an unspecified illness, the real estate developing and management firm announced in a statement.Immediately after graduating from Tokyo University in 1959, he joined the company newly-founded by his father Taik

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Apple said that shipments of its new iPad to customers who order it online may take two to three weeks but that the tablet would still be available in stores on Friday.Apple, which has set March 16 as the launch date for all sales of the third-generation iPad, said online pre-orders of the device had been going on since March 7.However, a notice seen Monday on the Apple website for the new iPad said: “Ships: 2-3 weeks.”Apple last Wednesday unveiled the third-generation iPad, enh

(123rf image)A woman in Russia's Far East was found living with the mummified body of her late husband, police said Sunday.Investigators said the bizarre discovery was made earlier this month when medical personal visited the 72-year-old woman's apartment in Khabarovsk and called police.Russia's RIA

ALKOZAI, Afghanistan (AFP) ― President Barack Obama promised a speedy investigation into the “shocking” killing of 16 Afghans by a rogue U.S. soldier, which fuelled tensions after the burning of Korans at a U.S.-run base.Obama telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to convey his condolences after the soldier gunned down civilians, including women and children, in their homes in a pre-dawn rampage in the southern province of Kandahar.The U.S. Embassy in Kabul sent out an alert to its citizens i

PARIS (AFP) ― Airbus and six European airlines have written to four EU leaders attacking the carbon tax imposed by the European Union, a source close to the dossier told AFP Sunday.Plane maker Airbus, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Berlin and Iberia have written to the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Spain to warn them about its economic consequences, said the source.They argue the tax could cost them billions of dollars in lost orders and lead to the loss o