Albania's Parliament has lifted the immunity from prosecution of a Christian Democrat lawmaker convicted of murder in Belgium.
	The parliament voted overwhelmingly today to lift immunity for Mark Frroku following an international arrest warrant issued for him by Belgian prosecutors.
	A Brussels court sentenced Frroku and three other Albanians in absentia to 10-year prison terms in 2010. Frroku has appealed and a fresh trial is due to start in October.
	The vote means Frroku could now be extradited to Belgium. Prosecutors believe that Aleksander Kurti's murder in 1999 was the result of clashes between gangs involved in prostitution in the Belgian capital.

Albania Parliament lifts lawmaker's immunity

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A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier today during an arrest of Palestinians who had sneaked past the West Bank separation barrier on their way into Israel, the military said.
	The soldier was stabbed in the West Bank alongside the barrier. He suffered light injuries and was evacuated to the hospital, the military said.
	Israel says its West Bank separation barrier is meant to prevent Palestinian attackers from entering Israel.
	Palestinians without Israeli entry permits frequently sneak past the barrier, often looking for work.
	Also today, Israel arrested a Palestinian lawmaker from a left-wing militant group for disobeying an Israeli order restricting her movement in the West Bank.
	The Israeli military said it arrested Khalida Jarrar, a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, early today in the West Bank city of Ramallah due to "substantial concerns about the safety and security of the region."
	Last year, the military confined her movement 

Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier in West Bank

Investigators have found cellphones amid the debris of the German jet crash in the French Alps, but the phones have not yet produced any clues about what happened.
	Lt Col Jean-Marc Menichini said today that the phones that have been found had not yet been thoroughly examined. He would not elaborate.
	Investigators believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed the Germanwings A320 into a mountainside, based on recordings from the cockpit voice recorder. Special mountain troops continued searching the area today for personal belongings and the second black box flight recorder.
	French magazine Paris-Match and German tabloid Bild reported this week that they had seen a cellphone video from the final moments of the flight. Authorities have said investigators have no such video.

Investigators find cellphones amid German crash debris

Israel has arrested a Palestinian lawmaker from a left-wing militant group for disobeying an Israeli order restricting her movement in the West Bank.
	The Israeli military says it arrested Khalida Jarrar, a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, early today in the West Bank city of Ramallah due to "substantial concerns about the safety and security of the region."
	Her husband, Ghassan Jarrar, says she was arrested from their Ramallah home. She had long flaunted the Israeli ban.
	Last year, the military confined her movement to the city of Jericho and its surroundings. The army said the restraining order was based on her "incitement and involvement in terror."
	The military says it is questioning her but has not yet decided whether to press charges.

Israel arrests female Palestinian lawmaker

The wife of an imprisoned former Greek defense minister escaped from a psychiatric hospital where she was serving her sentence on the same corruption charges as her husband, police said today.
	Vicky Stamati, wife of former Socialist Party stalwart Akis Tsochatzopoulos, was found missing from her guarded cell in the Dromokaitio state psychiatric institution in the early hours of today morning.
	Police said they were searching for the woman in Athens, and an investigation was ordered into how Stamati escaped.
	Her escape came the day after another of her multiple appeals to be released from prison was rejected, one of the lawyers who represented her, Alexis Cougias, told local media.
	Stamati was initially imprisoned in 2012 and was convicted in 2013 along with her husband, step-daughter and more than a dozen others in a military procurement corruption case against Tsochatzopoulos.
	Stamati was deemed to have known about bribes her husband accepted. She was sentenced to 12 years for ...

Wife of imprisoned Greek ex-defense minister flees hospital

An Afghan official says the police chief of a volatile district in the country's south has been killed by a roadside bomb.
	Helmand provincial police chief Nabi Jan Malakhail, says the explosion happened early today, as Hikmatullah Akmal was heading toward a Taliban attack on a checkpoint in Gereshk district.
	Says Akmal's car hit a bomb planted by insurgents on the road leading to the checkpoint.
	A major military operation is underway to drive Taliban insurgents from the poppy-rich valley of the Helmand River.
	The insurgents, fighting to protect supply routes and a major source of funding from the opium produced in the province, have stepped up attacks on police checkpoints and other government targets.

Afghan official: Police chief killed by roadside bomb

A super typhoon blamed for the deaths of at least four people on islands in the western Pacific Ocean has weakened after entering Philippine waters and is expected to further lose strength as it approaches the country's northeastern coast.
	Esperanza Cayanan, an official of the government's weather bureau, said as of this morning Typhoon Maysak was 915 kilometres northeast of Borongan city, packing winds of 175 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 210 kph.
	It is moving northwest at 19 kph.
	Officials have positioned rescue teams and relief goods to prepare for Maysak's landfall Saturday or early Sunday in northeastern Aurora or Isabela provinces and warned tourists headed to beaches for the Easter holidays to exercise caution.

Super typhoon weakens after entering Philippines

Gunmen attacked Garissa University College early today, shooting indiscriminately in campus hostels, killing at least two people and wounding four others, police said.
	Police and military surrounded the buildings and were trying to secure the area in eastern Kenya, police officer Musa Yego said.
	Kenya's National Police Service said in a written statement that armed attackers forced their way onto the campus by shooting at guards, triggering a "fierce shootout" with police guarding student hostels.
	However the attackers managed to get into the hostels.
	The statement, which did not mention a death toll, said police and members of other security agencies were "engaged in an elaborate process of flushing out the gunmen from the hostels."
	Kenya's northern and eastern regions, which are near the Somali border, have suffered many attacks blamed on al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab.
	Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops into Somalia to fight the ...

Police: Gunmen attack university in eastern Kenya, killing 2

Serena Williams abused her racket, scolded herself and even made angry faces at the sun. In the end, as usual, she took out her frustration on the ball.
     The seven-time Key Biscayne champion overcame her annoyance and shaky play Wednesday for her 700th career victory, beating Sabine Lisicki 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open.
     Williams won despite an unreliable serve, a poor second set and 51 unforced errors. She looked flatfooted and listless at times, and seemed especially vexed when playing on the side looking into the sun.
     "It's always tough on that side," she said. "You just don't see. You just have to adjust."
She did, earning her 16th consecutive victory on Key Biscayne, where she's the two-time defending champion.
     "I know today wasn't my best day," she said. "I just told myself, I'm not serving the way I normally serve and hitting the way I normally would hit, so at this point all I can do is just fight and try to give 200 percent ...

Serena Williams earns 700th win to reach Miami Open semis

A freezer trawler with an international crew of 132 has sunk in the Sea of Okhotsk off of the Kamchatka Peninsula and at least 43 crew members have been killed, rescue workers said.
	The emergency services in Kamchatka, citing the head of the rescue operation, said 63 crew members were rescued and the fate of the remaining 26 from the Dalny Vostok trawler was unknown.
	More than 25 fishing boats in the area were helping to rescue the crew members, the emergency services said in a statement on their website.
	No cause for the sinking, which occurred late last night, was given. The Interfax news agency said shifting ice in the waters may have played a role.
	Besides Russia, Interfax said crew members came from Latvia, Ukraine, Myanmar and Vanuatu.

Russian trawler with 132 crew sinks, at least 43 dead

A human rights group says Gambia has sentenced three soldiers to death after a secret trial in which they were convicted of participating in an attempted coup.
	Amnesty International said yesterday that the death sentences were handed down Monday, along with life sentences for three other soldiers.
	The rights group called the death sentences a "cruel violation" and said they should be commuted to prison terms. It also called for a new trial.
	Lt Malick Sanyang, a spokesman for the Gambian Armed Forces, declined to comment when asked about the sentences yesterday.
	The Dec 30 power grab was put down by forces loyal to President Yahya Jammeh, who himself came to power in a coup in 1994.

Amnesty: Gambia sentences 3 to death for attempted coup

More than 750 plaintiffs are suing the Johns Hopkins Hospital System Corp. Over its role in a series of medical experiments in Guatemala in the 1940s and 1950s during which subjects were infected with venereal diseases.
	The lawsuit in Baltimore seeks USD 1 billion in damages for individuals, spouses and children of people infected with syphilis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases through a US government program between 1945 and 1956.
	The suit claims Johns Hopkins officials had "substantial influence" over the studies, controlling some advisory panels, and were involved in planning and authorising the experiments.
	An attorney for Hopkins calls the suit "baseless."
	It's the latest in a series of lawsuits over the studies. A federal judge in 2012 dismissed a lawsuit against the US government involving the same study.

Johns Hopkins sued over sexually transmitted disease study

Negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme headed for double overtime today, beset by competing claims and recriminations after differences forced diplomats to abandon their March 31 deadline for the outline of a deal.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry postponed his departure from the talks in the Swiss town of Lausanne for a second time and will remain until at least tomorrow morning to continue negotiations, the State Department said.
	Tomorrow, the latest round of talks will hit the weeklong mark with diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany scrambling to reach a framework accord with Iran.
	"We continue to make progress but have not reached a political understanding," spokeswoman Marie Harf said in announcing Kerry's decision.
	German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said negotiators were still facing a "tough struggle," indicating the talks were not likely to end anytime soon. "Tonight there will be new proposals, new ...

Iran nuke talks extended once again after faltering

Three foreign tourists two Austrians and an Italian have died in an avalanche in the French Alps, and a fourth tourist has been taken by helicopter to a hospital in Grenoble with unspecified injuries.
	Hautes-Alpes department officials said that the snow slide took place mid-afternoon today in the Ecrins massif, near the town of Briancon, as a group of skiers all non-French nationals were travelling along a mountain.
	Officials say that seven of the skiers are currently holed up in a refuge building nearby at an altitude of about 3,500 meters (11,500 feet), and will stay there overnight until emergency services are able to rescue them.

French officials: Alps avalanche kills 3 tourists, injures 1

Israeli officials announced today that a joint US-Israeli missile-defense system has successfully passed a new test and is expected to be operational next year a development that would provide an important tool in protecting the country against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
	The Defense Ministry said the David's Sling system had successfully intercepted targets in a series of tests conducted with the US Missile Defense Agency, calling it a "major milestone."
	"We believe that next year it's going to be operational," Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told journalists at an appearance with visiting US House Speaker John Boehner. With Boehner nodding in agreement, Yaalon said the project was an example of strong US-Israeli relations.
	David's Sling is meant to counter medium-range missiles possessed by enemies throughout the region, most notably Hezbollah. The militant group, which battled Israel during a monthlong war in 2006, is believed to possess tens of thousands of rockets and ...

Israel reports successful test of missile-defense system

Sierra Leone says it found 10 new Ebola cases during a three-day countrywide shutdown and an official says the West African nation is now at the "tail end" of the epidemic.
	Alfred Palo Conteh, head of the country's Ebola response, said today that hundreds of sick people were identified during the door-to-door operation that also aimed to remind people how to prevent Ebola. But only 10 of those people eventually tested positive for Ebola.
	That figure indicates that there are not hordes of hidden Ebola cases as some had feared. By contrast, during a shutdown in September, when the epidemic was raging, more than 260 new cases were found.
	The current Ebola outbreak has killed around 10,500 people, the vast majority in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

10 Ebola cases found during Sierra Leone's shutdown

Islamic State militants infiltrated a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus today and were clashing with a Palestinian group, the deepest foray yet by the extremist group into the Syrian capital, seat of President Bashar Assad's power, according to opposition activists and Palestinian officials.
	Jordan, meanwhile, closed its only functioning border crossing with Syria, following heavy clashes on the Syrian side between rebels and government forces.
	Islamic State fighters, who control large swaths of territory in northern Syria, entered the Yarmouk camp from the nearby Hajar Aswad neighborhood.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the IS group took control of large parts of the camp. If they gain full control, they can potentially threaten the heart of the capital.
	The Observatory reported heavy clashes in the camp between IS fighters and members of an anti-Assad Palestinian faction called Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis.
	Anwar Raja, the spokesman for the pro-Assad ...

IS enters Palestinian camp in Damascus; Jordan closes border

Thousands of doctors in Nepal stayed away from work at clinics and hospitals today to support a colleague who has been on a hunger strike for 10 days demanding reforms in medical education and services.
	More than 5,000 doctors took part in the action and only emergency services were open in hospitals across the Himalayan nation, said Nirmal Rimal of the Nepal Medical Association.
	The strike left most people in Nepal without access to doctors.
	The physicians are supporting Govinda KC, who is demanding that the government make medical education affordable to more students and medical services available to all citizens.
	Only three of Nepal's 20 medical colleges are run by the government. The private colleges charge huge fees and are unaffordable for the majority of the population.
	KC is also alleging widespread corruption among officials in granting permits to private medical colleges and is demanding that the officials be dismissed and punished.
	The government formed a committee ..

Nepal doctors stay away from work to support colleague

A Roman Catholic priest has been criticised in Poland for showing high school students in a religion class the uncensored video of Egyptian Christians being beheaded by Islamic State militants.
	The Polish broadcaster TVN24 reported today that both the school and church authorities in the northern Polish city of Szczecin reprimanded the priest for subjecting his 10th grade students to such disturbing images.
	The priest, Krzysztof Jeruzalski, played the video as part of a lesson on Christian martyrdom before Easter.
	Polish media reported that some parents complained, though one student quoted by TVN24, Alicja Rucinska, defended the priest, saying he had given students the option of leaving the room.
	The gruesome video shows black-masked militants beheading 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya in February.

Polish priest shows beheading video to high school class

A couple from northern England has defied the odds again by winning a million pounds (USD 1.5 million) in the lottery for a second time.
	David and Kathleen Long won the money and a car in the EuroMillions Mega Friday Draw, having already scooped up 1 million pounds in 2013.
	Lottery operator Camelot said today the couple beat odds of 283-billion-to-1.
	David Long says he played his usual numbers and watched in amazement as they came up. His wife, Kathleen, had to verify them. Since then, it's all been a blur.
	The retired truck driver says the win means he'll probably take his wife on a cruise as he's run out of excuses not to go now. A party is also planned.

British couple win a million in lottery for 2nd time

The United States has put forth its contribution to a global climate treaty, relying entirely on a set of emission cuts ordered by President Barack Obama that may not survive beyond the end of his presidency.
	Environmental groups and like-minded governments hailed the US pledge as substantial and ambitious, and Obama's aides waxed hopeful that the US announcement would spur other countries to follow America's lead.
	Yet with Obama's actions at home facing serious legal challenges and intense political opposition, the Obama administration conceded that many foreign capitals are dubious the US will live up to its commitment.
	Todd Stern, the US special envoy for climate change, said the pollution rules Obama is counting on to achieve the US goal are on solid legal ground, pushing back on Republicans who have pledged to repeal them or stop them before they can take effect.
	"Undoing the kind of regulations we are putting in place is something that is very hard to do," said Stern. ...

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