Egyptian-brokered Hamas-Israel ceasefire takes hold

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip agreed on Wednesday to an Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire to halt an eight-day conflict that killed 162 Palestinians and five Israelis. Both sides fought right up to 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) when hostilities were due to stop, with several explosions shaking Gaza City and rockets hitting the Israeli city of Beersheba....

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Smartphone shoppers: watch for online tricks

WASHINGTON: Attention smartphone shoppers: watch for cyber criminals using phony apps or messages in an effort to hijack your device or steal your data.Law enforcement and security experts say that as more people use their mobile devices in stores and on open Wi-Fi networks, the risks are increasing as well.The FBI-backed Internet Crime Complaint Centre is warning consumers to be on the...

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Kasab execution: Mostly ‘thumbs-up’ on foreign sites

NEW DELHI: A foreign news agency story headlined 'Mumbai attacks gunman Ajmal Kasab hanged' drew over 150 comments by 7pm on Wednesday on the web site of prominent Pakistan daily Dawn. Interestingly, several of the comments were posted by Indians, or so they claimed. Most, cutting across borders, appeared to be on the same page on the hanging. Many felt a terrorist deserved the harshest punishment....

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US abortions fall 5 pct, biggest drop in a decade

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. abortions fell 5 percent during the recession and its aftermath in the biggest one-year decrease in at least a decade, perhaps because women are more careful to use birth control when times are tough, researchers say.The decline, detailed on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, came in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Both...

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Jesse Jackson Jr. to Resign From Congress

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the embattled Illinois congressman who has been on medical leave from Capitol Hill for months undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder, resigned from Congress Wednesday. Aides to House Speaker John Boehner said they have received a letter of resignation from Jackson Jr.The news was first reported by ABC's Chicago affiliate WLS and two Chicago newspapers.Jackson...

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Clinton in Jerusalem as Gaza truce still elusive

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Jerusalem for talks on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as expectations rose of a ceasefire soon to end a week of fighting around the Gaza Strip. However, Gaza's rulers, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, revised a statement that a truce would start overnight, saying it was still waiting...

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Gaza militants wait for Israel to approve truce

JERUSALEM: Gaza militants said on Tuesday they were awaiting Israeli approval of a Cairo-brokered truce to their seven-day conflict as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the region to make an urgent push for peace.The emerging signs of a deal to end seven days of violence that have claimed the lives of 136 Palestinians came as the Israeli army confirmed its first two fatalities...

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Cabinet to discuss amendment to Indo-Bangla boundary pact

NEW DELHI: A Constitutional Amendment Bill for implementing the India-Bangladesh boundary agreement signed last year is expected to come up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The additional protocols for the Land Boundary Agreement 1974, signed during PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September, 2011, require a Constitutional amendment for ratification as these involve exchange of land — 111...

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New push for most in US to get at least 1 HIV test

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new push to make testing for the AIDS virus as common as cholesterol checks.Americans ages 15 to 64 should get an HIV test at least once — not just people considered at high risk for the virus, an independent panel that sets screening guidelines proposed Monday.The draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are the latest recommendations that aim to make...

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Hopes Rise for Gaza Ceasefire

Hopes for a ceasefire between between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza rose today as Hamas declared that a ceasefire would be announced and Israel indicated that a deal was possible.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told ABC News the news would be announced at a press conference in Cairo where Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been trying to broker an end to the fighting.An...

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