Tokyo governor apologises for remarks on Muslims, Istanbul

Tokyo's outspoken governor, Naoki Inose, who heads the city's bid for the 2020 Olympics, apologised on Tuesday for "inappropriate" comments he made about rival candidate Istanbul and Islamic countries.

The remarks, made in a recent New York Times interview, prompted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate, while Turkey's sports minister said they were "unfair and disheartening" and "did not comply with the spirit of the values of the Olympic Movement".

"Islamic countries, the only thing they share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes," Inose, who was elected Tokyo governor last year, said in the interview.

Shooting in an apartment near Seattle kills five

Federal Way: Five people were reportedly shot dead in a firing at an apartment complex in Federal Way, south of Seattle in America on Monday.

Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said that police was informed of the firing via an emergency call at 9.30 pm.

Reports say that the suspect was killed after the policemen rushed to the site of shooting.

Iraq inspects third Syria-bound Iran aircraft

Baghdad : Iraq has grounded and inspected a third Iranian aircraft bound for Syria in as many days, but found only humanitarian goods, a senior official said today.

The string of searches, the latest of which came yesterday night, follow warnings by Baghdad last month that it would step up such inspections.