Egypt army operation kills 16 jihadists
CAIRO, Mar 11: Egypt's military said on Sunday 16 jihadists, an officer and a soldier were killed in the past four days during a major military operation against Islamic State group jihadists in Sinai. The army launched a sweeping campaign after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is standing in elections for his second term this month, gave them a three-month deadline to crush IS in Sinai. — AFP
Japan marks 7th anniv of tsunami
TOKYO, Mar 11 (AP): They bowed their heads, hands clasped or palms firmly pressed together. They stood in grassy areas or roadsides overlooking the choppy sea. In Japan's capital, they lit candles and offered flowers. Some dabbed at tears. Japanese marked the seventh anniversary Sunday of a tsunami that took more than 18,000 lives on the northeast coast and triggered a nuclear disaster that turned nearby communities into ghost towns. Residents along the coast gathered outdoors to remember the tragedy as sirens wailed at 2:46 p.m., the moment the magnitude-9.0 offshore earthquake that set off the tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. — AP
Lightning strikes Rwanda church: 16 dead
KIGALI, Mar 11: At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda, a local official said Sunday. Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on Saturday, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP over the phone. Two others died later from their injuries, he said. He added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres, but that many had already been discharged. — AFP
Libyan navy rescues 335 immigrants off coast
TRIPOLI, Mar 11: The Libyan navy on Saturday night rescued 335 illegal immigrants off the country's western coast, a navy spokesman said. The coast guard picked up the immigrants including at least seven children during three rescue operations dozens of kilometers west of the country's capital Tripoli, navy spokesman Ayob Qassem told the news agency. All of them were provided medical treatment and were well cared for, Qassem said, without mentioning if there were any casualties. — Xinhua
Researchers find 16,000-yr-old fossil human skull in China