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CAIRO (AP) — Just hours remain before the latest 72-hour cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is due to expire. And Palestinian negotiators are considering an Egyptian proposal to end the month-long war between Hamas and Israel. According to Palestinian officials at the talks in Cairo, the proposal calls for easing parts of the Israeli blockade of Gaza. But other areas of disagreement -- including the Hamas demand for a full lifting of the blockade, and Israeli demands that Hamas disarm -- would be left for later negotiations.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister is vowing not to give up power until a court rules on what he says was a "constitutional violation" by the country's president. Nouri al-Maliki is challenging the decision to replace him with a member of his own party. Amid increasing international support for a political transition in Iraq, troops have been imposing heightened security today in the capital.
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s human rights office says the number of people who have been killed in eastern Ukraine appears to have doubled in the last two weeks. A spokeswoman says the U.N.'s "very conservative estimates" show the death toll has risen to nearly 2,100 people in the fighting since mid-April. She says that on average, more than 60 people a day have been killed or wounded as part of "a clear escalating trend" of violence.
PARIS (AP) — At least five French climbers are dead after a fall on Mount Blanc in France, after a night of snow and wind on the tallest mountain in Western Europe. A sixth climber was spotted at the bottom of a crevasse. Searchers say recovery efforts are underway, and that there's no word on the climber's condition -- other than that the person is unconscious.
ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) — It will be like scuba diving -- from your computer. U.S. government scientists are learning to use specialized fisheye lenses underwater in the Florida Keys this week. Their goal is to put online a 360-degree view of coral reefs and other underwater wonders, similar to what you can now get through Google Street View on just about any street in the United States. Some of the images will be available online as early as this week. It's the first time the technology has been used in U.S. waters.
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