Israel regrets deaths of four Palestinians

JERUSALEM -- Israel expressed regret Thursday for the deaths of four Palestinian civilians in army shelling -- a bloody incident that jeopardized shaky steps toward reducing tensions in Gaza.

The need for a peace breakthrough got reinforcement from a U.N. report that said Palestinians are suffering from ever-worsening economic deprivation and the threat of malnutrition as a result of two years of Palestinian-Israeli fighting.

Violence continued Thursday. In Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Palestinians said. Residents said Israeli forces opened fire after children threw rocks and bottles at Israeli tanks that were tearing down structures.

Norwegian police charge 150 after child porn raids

OSLO, Norway -- More than 150 Norwegians were charged with possession of child pornography after raids during a nationwide crackdown, police said Thursday.

Norway's National Crime Police seized computers, video tapes and photographs from locations across the Scandinavian nation of 4.5 million people that showed the sexual abuse of children.

They said some suspects may have sexually abused children and more arrests could be made, but it would take time to catalog and analyze the material.

"Large quantities of child pornographic material have been seized in what was the largest such coordinated action in the country," a police statement said, adding that the raids were launched after a comprehensive investigation and analysis.

The statement said that a large percentage of those charged admitted having had child pornography during interrogations.

Authorities exhume Mexican actress' body

MEXICO CITY -- Officials exhumed the body of Mexican movie star Maria Felix on Thursday, cloaking her grave in a black tarp and conducting a makeshift autopsy to investigate claims that she may not have died of natural causes.

The star's brother, Benjamin Felix, requested the exhumation, saying he believed someone may have poisoned or given his sister medications to hasten her death. It was unclear who or why someone may have tried to kill Felix.

The film icon died in her sleep at her Mexico City home on April 8, her 88th birthday. Family members originally announced that a heart attack had claimed her life.

As a sassy, raven-haired bombshell, the star charmed Mexican movie audiences for decades, starring in 47 movies from 1942 to 1966. Few were shown widely outside Spanish-speaking nations.

Passenger tries to choke airline flight attendant

PODGORICA, Montenegro -- A passenger on a charter flight from Germany to Kosovo province was subdued Thursday after attempting to strangle a flight attendant with a shoelace, an official said.

The Montenegro Airlines charter was carrying ethnic Albanians from Duesseldorf to Pristina, the Kosovo capital, said airline official Zoran Djurisic.

"Members of Montenegrin police escorting the flight quickly arrested the assailant, and the stewardess, Irena Radonjic, suffered only slight injuries," Djurisic said.

The aircraft landed on schedule in Pristina. Officials had no information about a possible motive for the attack.

Montenegro Airlines is Montenegro's national air carrier.

Russian plane carrying 17 goes missing in Far East

MOSCOW -- A small plane carrying 17 people disappeared Thursday in the Far East region of Khabarovsk, Russian authorities said.

The An-28 plane left Khabarovsk, about 3,800 miles east of Moscow, on Thursday morning headed for the village of Ayan, on the Okhotsk Sea, about 514 miles to the north, said Viktor Beltsov, spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry.

The plane, carrying 14 passengers and three crew members, last made contact with air traffic control about 12 minutes before it was due to land at the Ayan airport. Officials said the landing strip borders the sea.

--From wire reports