Sunday, March 16, 2014
Gunmen kill 6 Egyptian soldiers
CAIRO
Gunmen stormed an Egyptian army checkpoint outside Cairo early Saturday morning and killed six soldiers, including some still in their beds, officials said, in what amounted to an escalation by militants on military targets near the capital.
Just days earlier, masked men opened fire on a busload of military police inside city limits, another rare attack on soldiers this far from the restive Sinai Peninsula, where the army is fighting a counter-insurgency campaign.
The military blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the attack.
Man buys record life-insurance policy
SAN FRANCISCO
An unidentified Silicon Valley billionaire has purchased the world’s most-valuable life-insurance policy.
The man who cobbled the deal together said Saturday that it took seven months and 19 insurance companies to put together a deal that surpasses a $100 million policy sold to Hollywood mogul David Geffen in 1990.
“No one company can afford to take a $201 million hit,” said Dovi Frances, the financial adviser who represents who he calls a “well-known billionaire.”
The Guinness Book of World Records announced the surpassing of Geffen’s record Thursday. Guinness officials spent about three months reviewing records, Frances said.
Workers reach basement at site
NEW YORK
Emergency workers sifted through debris Saturday from the site of a deadly explosion at two New York City apartment buildings as they worked to clear the way for investigators to search for clues that might reveal what caused the blast.
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said rescue workers reached the rear of the basement Saturday but that investigation of the piping and meters in the front of the basement that will help explain what caused the blast that killed eight people likely will start today.
He said that the National Transportation Safety Board should be able to start pressure-testing the pipes today.
Fiat recalling 18K 500L cars in US
DETROIT
Chrysler Group is recalling 18,092 Fiat 500L cars in the U.S. because the transmission shifter can be delayed or stop working.
Fiat 500Ls from the 2014 model year are affected. The cars were made between April 5, 2013, and Jan. 22, 2014, at the company’s plant in Serbia.
According to documents posted Saturday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, low temperatures can affect signals sent between the car’s main computer and the gear shifter. If that happens, the shifter may not shift out of park or the response may be delayed, increasing the risk of a crash.
Chrysler says no accidents or injuries related to the defect have been reported.
Fiat dealers will replace the shifter module and update the software starting next month. The company will notify owners.
Syria conflict marks third anniversary
BEIRUT
Syrian troops advanced in a major rebel-held town near the Lebanese border amid heavy bombardment from warplanes, artillery and tanks as the country’s bloody conflict marked its third anniversary Saturday, state media and activists said.
The conflict, which began amid Arab Spring protests across the region, started off as protests that turned into an armed insurgency and eventually became a full-blown civil war that activists say has killed more than 140,000 people and has seen 2 million people flee the country.
Associated Press