Gaza City/Cairo - Negotiators from rival Palestinian factions were due to resume talks in Cairo aimed at establishing a "national unity" government on Wednesday, representatives of the factions and Egyptian officials said.

Delegates from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, arrived in Cairo Tuesday night and had preliminary talks ahead of a wider meeting including representatives from other factions.

Washington, April 1 : A new study by researchers in California and Colorado has suggested that the global market for rocket launches may require more stringent regulation in order to prevent significant damage to Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer in the decades to come.

The study, which includes the University of Colorado at Boulder and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, provides a market analysis for estimating future ozone layer depletion based on the expected growth of the space industry and known impacts of rocket launches.

Kuala Lumpur  - A 9-year-old boy said to be suffering from a central nervous system disorder died after he was caned by his teacher at school, official news reports said Wednesday.

The boy complained of dizziness after he was disciplined and caned by the female teacher at a school in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan, said state police chief Osman Salleh.

His parents were alerted, and they immediately sent the boy to a hospital for treatment, Osman was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Melbourne - Toyota have decided against appealing the 25- second penalty imposed on driver Jarno Trulli after the Italian was deemed to have overtaken under safety car conditions during Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Trulli slid off the track in the safety car phase which forced Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren-Mercedes to pass him. Trulli then moved ahead of the world champion again, but the stewards deemed this move illegal under safety car conditions.

The decision moved Hamilton up to third while Trulli was demoted to 12th.

Washington, April 1 (ANI): Scientists at Newcastle University, UK, have worked out a mathematical formula that could be used to give advance warning of where a tsunami is likely to hit and how destructive it will be.

The research, led by Newcastle University's Professor Robin Johnson, was prompted by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami disaster which devastated coastal communities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Karachi, Apr. 1 : While Shoaib Akhtar may have declared himself fit for national duty, Pakistan team selectors have made it clear that he should be 100 percent match fit to be considered for the scheduled one day international series against Australia in the UAE.

According to a team official, all the players would have to clear the test to be able to qualify for the April 22-May 7 series. All eyes would be on controversial speedster Akhtar, who has declared himself fit.

The selectors and team management, however, are not convinced by Akhtar’s claims.