Saudi-led airstrikes have destroyed "most" missile capabilities of the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies, coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri said on today.
	"We believe that we have destroyed most of these capabilities, but we will continue targeting these missiles wherever" they may be, he told reporters in Riyadh.
	Before the Huthis seized power in Sanaa in September, the Yemeni army had various "kinds of missiles... Ballistic missiles," which could hit targets as far as 500 kilometres (310 miles) away, he said.
	A Gulf diplomatic official said earlier that the three-day-old campaign had been successful so far, destroying targets including 21 Scud missiles.
	The same source has said Yemen's army has 300 Scuds.
	"Since we started operations we are continuing to target this kind of missile," Assiri said. "We target their storage."
	Witnesses said coalition forces on Saturday targeted an air base in the western province of Hodeidah and two rebel bases in the Huthis' northern ..

Arab coalition 'has destroyed most of Yemen rebels' missiles'

PTI Automatic

A bomb wounded four civilians and four policemen outside Cairo University today, Egyptian police and health officials said, in an attack by a militant group that has previously targeted the campus.
	There have been several explosions outside the university since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Five policemen were wounded in an explosion there in November.
	All of the attacks, including Saturday's, have been claimed by Cairo-based Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt).
	The rudimentary bomb was placed at the exit of a metro station that serves the university, a police official said.
	Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said the wounded were "in stable condition".

Militant bomb near Cairo University wounds 8

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on today, the United States Geological Service said. There were no immediate reports of damage.
	The USGS said the quake hit at 1:36 pm (1636 GMT) at a depth of 109 kilometers (68 miles) around 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Calama.
	The epicenter was north of the Atacama region, where rare torrential rains have caused deadly flash floods that killed at least 10 people and injured 19 more in recent days.
	Chile's National Emergency Bureau said there were no initial reports of injuries, "or changes to basic services and infrastructure."
	It added that the earthquake did not meet the criteria necessary to create a tsunami off the Chilean coast.
	Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. In 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country's south, leaving more than 500 people dead.
	In April last year, an 8.2-magnitude quake struck the northern city of Arica, killing six.

6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Chile

Problems with new technology today forced a 24-hour extension to the presidential election in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, and renewed Boko Haram violence hit the knife-edge vote.
	The Islamist militants were suspected of killing seven in separate attacks in northeastern Gombe state, including at polling stations, while on Friday, 23 people were beheaded in Borno.
	President Goodluck Jonathan was the most high-profile victim of the glitches with handheld readers, which scan biometric identity cards to authenticate voters to help cut electoral fraud.
	The 57-year-old, who is seeking a second term of office, was forced to abandon his attempt to accredit for the ballot in his home town of Otuoke, Bayelsa state, after the device repeatedly failed.
	He was then accredited by hand and later voted but said afterwards: "As head of state, I don't blame anybody... I think the problem is national."
	The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accepted there had been ...

Technical problems, Boko Haram hit Nigerian general election

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen beheaded 23 people and set fire to homes in Buratai, northeast Nigeria, on the eve of today's general elections, a federal lawmaker representing the area said.
	"There was an attack on Buratai late Friday by gunmen suspected to be insurgents....They beheaded 23 people and set homes on fire," said Mohammed Adamu, who represents the town some 200 kilometres from Borno's capital Maiduguri.
	"At least half the village has been burnt," he added.
	A nurse at the nearest major hospital, in Biu, said the 32 injured who were receiving care also reported that many were decapitated during the attack.
	Further details of the violence were not immediately available, but the attack is consistent with Boko Haram's past strikes in the area in the south of the state, where defenceless civilians have been repeatedly targeted.
	It was not clear if the raid late Friday was linked to Saturday's polls, but Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had vowed to disrupt the ...

23 'beheaded' in NE Nigeria on eve of election: lawmaker,nurse

A Liberian woman who last week became the country's first Ebola patient in more than a month has died, a senior official said today, adding that two new suspected cases had been identified.
	The woman, who was diagnosed with Ebola on March 20, is the wife of a cured patient. The case was a setback to hopes that Liberia, once the worst-hit country, would be free of the epidemic soon.
	"The last Ebola case died yesterday. She did not make it," Francis Karteh, the head of Ebola Incident Management Team in Liberia told AFP.
	"Beside that, we have no confirmed case now in the country. Only two suspected cases for now. We are surveying 80 persons who were in the vicinity of the lady who died," he said.
	Liberia has recorded more than 4,300 Ebola deaths but was at an advanced stage of recovery, expecting to be declared Ebola-free by mid-April before the latest case in the capital Monrovia.
	Since the outbreak began in December 2013, more than 24,000 people in nine countries have been ...

Liberia's first Ebola patient in over a month dies: official

A summit between top European Union officials and Ukraine's leaders will take place in Kiev at the end of April, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko announced on today.
	During a phone conversation with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, "the parties... Confirmed that the Ukraine-EU summit would be held on April 27," a statement on Poroshenko's official website said.
	The holding of annual summits was set down in the association agreement signed by the EU and Kiev's pro-western government after it came to power in June 2014.
	That followed the fall of the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, who left the country following three months of bloody protests sparked by his decision to suspend preparations for the signing of the EU agreement.
	Juncker was due in Kiev on Monday, but has cancelled the trip due to "unforeseen health conditions," Poroshenko's office said.
	The April summit is expected to address Poroshenko's request for European peacekeepers .

EU-Ukraine summit to take place on April 27: Poroshenko

German police have found medical treatments for psychological illness at the home of the co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a jet into the French Alps, killing 149 people and himself, a German newspaper said today.
	Investigators made the discovery in a search of the home of Andreas Lubitz in the western city of Duesseldorf and seized a number "of medicines for the treatment of psychological illness", Welt am Sonntag weekly said.
	"The 27-year-old has been treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists," it quoted an unidentified high-ranking investigator as saying, in excerpts released ahead of Sunday's edition.
	It said no evidence that Lubitz had a drugs or alcohol dependency problem had been found.
	It added that the Germanwings co-pilot was suffering from being overstressed and was severely depressive, according to personal notes found.
	Questioned by AFP, French and German investigators declined to confirm or deny the report.
	German prosecutors believe Lubitz hid an 

Medicine for psychological illness found at co-pilot's home:

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and its allies seized today the city of Idlib, only the second provincial capital to be lost by the regime in more than four years of war.
	The capture came as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed anger and shame at the world's failure to stop the conflict.
	More than 215,000 people have been killed since anti-government protests, which erupted in March 2011, were brutally repressed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime civil war followed.
	The country has been ravaged by warring factions, including jihadist groups.
	The coalition that seized Idlib city is made up of Al-Nusra Front, the official Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda, and several Islamist factions.
	"Al-Nusra Front and its allies have captured all of Idlib," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	"There is still a group of soldiers fighting in the security quarter of the city, but they will not be able to reverse the situation," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman ...

Qaeda, allies seize Syria's Idlib city in blow to regime

UN staff were evacuated from Yemen's capital today after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes, as President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi urged his Arab allies to bomb Iranian-backed rebels into submission.
	The impoverished and deeply tribal Arabian Peninsula state, on the front line of the US battle against Al-Qaeda, is the scene of the latest emerging proxy struggle between Middle East powers.
	A Sunni Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies, is battling to avoid having a pro-Iran regime on its doorstep, as Shiite Huthi rebels tighten the noose around Hadi's southern stronghold Aden.
	"I call for this operation to continue until this gang surrenders and withdraws from all locations it has occupied in every province," Hadi told an Arab League summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
	"I say to Iran's puppet and whoever is with him, you are the one who destroyed Yemen with your political immaturity," Hadi said.
	Hadi later flew to Saudi Arabia with King ...

UN staff flee Yemen as Hadi urges decisive air war

Before the altar of a French Alps cathedral, 150 candles today burned brightly for all those who perished in this week's Germanwings crash and their families.
	Hundreds of parishioners came from around the region to attend a special mass at the Notre-Dame-de-Bourg cathedral in Digne-les-Bains, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away from the remote mountain crash site.
	The archbishop of Digne spoke to people's feelings of grief and confusion about the tragedy apparently deliberately caused by the plane's co-pilot.
	"We are in deep distress, plunged into sadness, unable to understand, and have strong feelings of unfairness," archbishop Jean-Philippe Nault, told some 500 faithful.
	He said they had come "to express their friendship" for the families and friends of those killed on board the Airbus A320 traveling from Barcelona to Duesseldorf when it went down on Tuesday.
	The residents of the Alpine area have extended the hand of friendship to the families, mainly Spanish and German, who ...

French Alps faithful pray for crash vicitms

Tortuous negotiations aimed at ending fears that Iran will acquire nuclear arms shifted into top gear today, with the Iranian foreign minister saying he was confident the outstanding hurdles blocking a deal could be overcome.
	"We're moving forward," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters after meeting separately with his German and French counterparts, who he said were both "serious" about reaching an agreement.
	"I think we can in fact make the necessary progress to be able to resolve all the issues and start writing them down in a text that will become the final agreement once it's done," Zarif said as the clock ticked down to Tuesday's deadline for the broad outlines of a deal.
	France's top diplomat Laurent Fabius, the most hawkish in the P5+1 group of countries negotiating with Iran since late 2013, was the first European minister to fly in for the crucial talks saying he wanted to reach a "robust deal".
	France was "insisting" any deal included mechanisms .

Iran FM confident as nuclear deal deadline looms

Malaysian police arrested three leading opposition politicians in a bid to thwart a protest march today demanding the release of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, his party said.
	The protest went ahead anyway, however, with several hundred people taking to the streets of the capital Kuala Lumpur to denounce the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
	The arrests are the latest in an growing tally of sedition charges levelled at government opponents amid anger over Anwar's jailing last month on a sodomy charge.
	"This is an abuse of the sedition law, and an abuse of everything. The government is acting maliciously," said Tian Chua, a member of parliament and vice president of Anwar's People's Justice Party, shortly before he was arrested today.
	Police had banned the rally and said participants faced arrest.
	Demonstrators staged a short march through the city towards its convention centre, where participants had vowed to disrupt wedding celebrations for Najib's ...

Malaysia arrests opposition figures to thwart protest

Nigeria's electoral commission on today said polling in the country's presidential and parliamentary election had been suspended in some places because of glitches with new voter ID card readers.
	The Independent National Electoral Commission said there had been "challenges" with the technology in "many" places, without specifying a number, that had led to the suspension of the accreditation process.
	"In polling units where accreditation was suspended to the following day in accordance with the existing guidelines, arrangement will be made for voters to vote on Sunday," information commissioner Chris Yimoga told reporters in Abuja.

Voting suspended in some places in Nigeria: electoral

At least 61 people have been killed in three days of fighting between Shiite rebels and loyalist militia in Yemen's main southern city Aden, a senior health official said today.
	"There are at least 61 people dead and 203 wounded," Aden health department director Al-Kheder Lassouar told AFP, raising an earlier toll of 54 killed.
	The situation has become increasingly tense in Aden, with supporters of Huthi rebels, under fire from a Saudi-led coalition elsewhere, clashing with "popular committees" -- an anti-Huthi militia controlling parts of the city.
	Saudi warships evacuated dozens of foreign diplomats from Aden hours before the kingdom launched air strikes Thursday on the advancing rebels Thursday, state television reported today.
	The official Saudi news agency SPA said 86 people had been pulled out Wednesday.
	The announcement was delayed until their arrival today aboard to vessels at a naval base in the Saudi Red Sea city Jeddah.

61 dead in 3 days of clashes in Yemen's Aden: health official

Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi left an Arab summit in Egypt for Saudi Arabia today, but will not return to his country "for now," his foreign minister said.
	Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin said Hadi had flown back to Riyadh with Saudi King Salman.
	"Not for now, when the situation settles first," he said when asked if Hadi would return to the battle-torn southern city of Aden, which had been his base until earlier this week.
	"He will return to Aden once the chaos there comes under control," Yassin told AFP.
	"The Huthis are trying to take it by any means to impose a new reality on the ground before the summit ends," he said, referring to the Iranian-backed rebels who have seized control of much of the country.
	The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Yemen's Hadi will not return to Aden 'for now': FM

At least 200 UN staff and other expatriates were evacuated from the Yemeni capital today, as an Arab coalition pressed a bombing campaign against Shiite rebels in the city, aid workers said.
	"More than 200 staff of the United Nations and foreign embassies and firms left through Sanaa airport on Saturday afternoon," one aid worker told AFP, without specifying their destination.
	Another source confirmed the evacuation of UN staff, saying that only "personnel necessary for emergency humanitarian missions" remained in Yemen.
	UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar was also leaving Sanaa, sources close to him told AFP, adding that he would travel to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to attend an Arab Summit.
	A Saudi-led coalition bombing targets in Yemen has announced that the war-torn country's airspace is completely under their control.
	Coalition forces have bombed Huthi rebel targets near Sanaa's airport, controlled by the Shiite militia.

UN staff evacuated from Yemen capital: aid workers

Turkey should adopt a presidential system, the country's Prime Minister has declared, refuting claims that he and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were at loggerheads over the idea.
	The statement comes after a major rift between Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the run up to the June 7 parliamentary election where the AKP will seek to change the constitution to give Erdogan's office more executive powers.
	"If the president was elected by a public vote, it would be correct for this system to switch to a presidential one," Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with private Haberturk television late yesterday.
	"A presidential system is the right thing for Turkey," he said.
	Davutoglu said the current system was causing confusion over power sharing and it should either be a clear parliamentary system or a clear presidential one so that whoever has power is held accountable.
	"Our president is right: it shouldn't be half- parliamentary or half-presidential," he 

Turkey PM denies rift with Erdogan

Hong Kong's iconic skyline dimmed and the sails on Sydney's Opera House went dark today, as lights on landmarks across Asia were switched off for the global climate change awareness campaign Earth Hour.
	Millions are expected to take part around the world in the annual event organised by conservation group WWF, with hundreds of well-known sights including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Seattle Space Needle set to plunge into darkness.
	"It's almost like the thing vanished," said Tony Jennings from Earth Hour after standing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the lights went off at 8:30pm (local time).
	Hong Kong's signature high-rise skyline along the Victoria Harbour was a shadow of itself, with usually lit-up skycrapers standing dark -- among them were the city's tallest building, the 118-story International Commerce Centre.
	In Taiwan the lights went off on the Taipei 101 tower, the world's tallest building before it was overtaken by Dubai's Burj Khalifa, while in Kuala Lumpur ...

Lights out as Earth Hour kicks off

Peerless Lewis Hamilton waited out a torrential downpour before snatching pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix in a wet and wild qualifying session on Saturday.
	The Mercedes driver and reigning world champion set a fastest time of 1min 49.834sec, ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, after rain halted qualifying for 35 minutes.
	The commanding drive from Hamilton, hit by mechanical problems this week, will fuel his charge towards a second race win after he dominated the season-opener in Australia.
	Vettel was the day's other big winner and he whooped and hollered to his team as he seized second place from Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in the dying seconds.
	Rosberg was relegated to third on the grid, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, with 17-year-old Max Verstappen starting from sixth in Sunday's race.
	"It was a fantastic job for the team to have us both (Hamilton and Rosberg) up here again," a delighted Hamilton said.
	Thunder rumbled overhead, lightning was seen .

Pole-sitter Hamilton stings in the rain

UN staff were evacuated from Yemen's capital today after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes, as President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi urged his Arab allies to bomb Iranian-backed rebels into submission.
	The deeply tribal and impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, on the front line of the US battle against Al-Qaeda, is the scene of the latest emerging proxy struggle between Middle East powers.
	An Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf monarchies, is battling to avoid having a pro-Iran regime on its doorstep, as Shiite Huthi rebels tighten the noose around Hadi's southern stronghold.
	"I call for this operation to continue until this gang surrenders and withdraws from all locations it has occupied in every province," Hadi told a regional summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
	"I say to Iran's puppet and whoever is with him, you are the one who destroyed Yemen with your political immaturity," Hadi said.
	Hadi later flew to Saudi Arabia with King Salman 

AFP

AFP

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