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NEW YORK (AP) — Property from the estate of noted horticulturist, philanthropist and heir to the Listerine fortune Rachel "Bunny" Mellon is going on the auction block this fall.

Over 2,000 paintings, jewelry, furniture and decorative objects are estimated to bring more than $100 million, according to Sotheby's.

The proceeds will benefit The Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, which supports The Oak Spring Garden Library in Upperville, Virginia. The library houses Mellon's collection of rare books, manuscripts and works of art related to landscape design, horticulture and natural history that is visited by scholars worldwide.

Mellon was the widow of philanthropist Paul Mellon. She died in March at 103.

The auction house did not provide details but said the objects were drawn from the couple's homes in the United States and abroad and would be offered in a series of sales in the fall.

Mellon was a self-taught botanist and close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 1961, she redesigned the White House Rose Garden and later created another White House garden that was named for Kennedy after her death.

A private person, Mellon was thrust in the spotlight when John Edwards was indicted in 2011 for using what prosecutors alleged was campaign money, including $750,000 from Mellon, to hide his mistress during his 2008 presidential bid. He was later acquitted. Mellon was never accused of breaking any laws.

During their lifetimes, the Mellons donated hundreds of important artworks to museums, including the National Gallery of Arts. The Washington, D.C. museum was founded in 1937 by Paul Mellon's father, the Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Mellon.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's prime minister on Saturday defended his government's decision to introduce a steep rise in fuel prices, saying energy subsidies have over the past decade cost the treasury a staggering 687 billion pounds (nearly $100 billion) that could have been used to bolster essential services.

The fuel price hikes of up to 80 percent came into force early on Saturday and follow promises to cut subsidies that eat up nearly a quarter of the state budget. They also come after an increase in electricity prices that were put in effect at the start of July.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, addressing a televised news conference, said it would have been a "crime" if his government did not move to start lifting subsidies. He argued that 26.3 percent of Egypt's estimated 86 million people live in poverty and that overall unemployment stands at 13.6 percent, reaching above 50 percent for Egyptians aged between 20 and 30.

"There will have to be political, social and economic reforms," vowed Mahlab. "Debts are mounting and the question we must ask ourselves is whether we want to leave this legacy for future generations."

Mahlab said the partial lifting of energy subsidies would free 51 billion pounds (about $7 billion) to be spent on education, health care, pensions and raising wages.

Newly elected President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has said he would need to tackle the tough issue of subsidies and asked every Egyptian to be ready to sacrifice to help the country's battered economy after three years of turmoil.

The former military chief also asked the government to amend the largest budget in Egypt's history — at $115 billion — to reduce its deficit from 12 to 10 percent.

The fuel price rise was highest for 80 octane gasoline, used mostly by old vehicles that still fill Egyptian streets, with the price jumping 78 percent to 22 cents per liter. Diesel fuel, used by most of Egypt's public transport and trucks, increased 64 percent to 25 cents a liter. Gasoline that is 92 octane increased by 40 percent to 37 cents a liter.

Successive Egyptian leaders have balked at reducing energy subsidies, fearing unrest.

The decision to hike energy prices caused a rush on gas stations, with long lines forming and many motorists frustrated by the increase. Some drivers of microbuses used as communal taxis said they planned to hike fares, but Mahlab warned that authorities will intervene to stop them from introducing random increases.

Waiting in line on Saturday at one Cairo gas station, taxi driver and father of five Ebeid Ibrahim directed his frustration at the president. "When el-Sissi came to office he said he did not have a magical wand to make people's lives better. We do not want anything form anybody, but at least the status quo should have been left as it is. Where am I supposed to get money from?" said the 56-year-old Ibrahim.

In a separate development, judicial officials said a Cairo court on Saturday upheld death sentences against 10 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced 37 others to life, including the spiritual leader of the Islamist group. All 10 Brotherhood members whose death sentences were confirmed were tried in absentia, meaning there will be a retrial if they are arrested or turn themselves in.

Prosecutors had charged the defendants with rioting, murder, attempted murder, attacking security forces and blocking a main road north of Cairo last year, a statement from the prosecutor's office said.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The verdicts are part of an ongoing crackdown against Islamists that began after the military, then led by el-Sissi, ousted President Mohammed Morsi last year.

Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, along with the group's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie and most of its leadership are in detention and face multiple trials.

BERLIN (AP) — Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France meeting in Berlin agreed Wednesday on a series of steps for a resumption of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine to de-escalate a conflict that has taken over 400 lives since April.

The steps include reopening talks no later than Saturday "with the goal of reaching an unconditional and mutually agreed sustainable cease-fire" to be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In the declaration issued after the evening talks, the ministers said they welcomed Russia's readiness to grant Ukrainian border guards access to Russian territory to take part in controlling two border crossings once the cease-fire is in place.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has increased since the much-violated 10-day cease-fire expired late Monday. On Wednesday, four Ukrainian troops were killed as government forces carried out more than 100 attacks on rebel positions, a military official said.

National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said three troops died in rebel attacks on government vehicles and checkpoints and 10 were wounded. The federal border guards said one guardsman was killed when the Novoazovsk crossing point came under attack by rebels with mortars in the Donetsk region.

Donetsk is one of two eastern regions that have declared independence from the government in Kiev. Ukrainian officials said pro-Russian rebels had been forced out of three villages.

Border posts have become a key issue, since Ukraine and the United States say military equipment and reinforcements are flowing across the border from Russia. Moscow denies arming the rebels and describes Russian citizens fighting with them as volunteers.

Ukraine said it recaptured a key border post Tuesday at Dovzhanskiy, which rebels had mined with explosives.

Another main border crossing at Izvaryne was closed Wednesday because of fighting and an AP reporter saw plumes of black smoke rising above it. Ukrainian officials said rebels shelled Ukrainian troops in the area and a Ukrainian armored vehicle was destroyed by a mine.

At the small Sjevernyi border crossing to the north, Ukrainian border guards had abandoned their post, leaving three Russian border guards to process the several dozen Ukrainians who passed through Wednesday afternoon.

Fresh black caterpillar tread marks from two armored vehicles that had crossed the border were clearly visible on the one-lane road. It was impossible to determine which direction they had traveled, but there have been no reports of armored vehicles moving from Ukraine into Russia.

Fighting also was underway Wednesday in Luhansk, the other eastern region where separatists have declared independence. In the city of Luhansk, a stray missile hit a school near a rebel position but no injuries were reported.

To the north, a steady, deep rumbling could be heard from shelling near the town of Metalist.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she "cannot rule out that we will have to go further" in imposing sanctions on Russia.

The EU and the United States have already imposed targeted sanctions mostly hitting individual officials in Russia and have held off on more costly sanctions on entire industries.

"We will not let up ... in seeking diplomatic solutions to the conflict, but we are still far from where we would like to be," she said after meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, prior to the foreign ministers' meeting.

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Associated Press writer Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin and Balint Szkalo contributed from Luhansk.

Jean Kwok, the award-winning writer of Girl in Translation, has written a new book called Mambo in Chinatown, a Cinderella story about a 22-year-old Chinese-American torn between two cultures.