The world in brief

55 people killed in Yemen clashes

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni medical officials say fighting outside the capital between Shiite rebels and forces loyal to an internationally recognized government has killed more than 55 people on both sides.

The officials said Saturday that the clashes took place in Nihm district, about 30 miles northeast of the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. Dozens were also wounded over the previous 24 hours, they added.

They also said fighting killed at least 25 people on both sides along Yemen's west coast, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The rebels, known as Houthis, seized Sanaa in September 2014 after they drove out the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Last male of white rhino species walks

JOHANNESBURG -- Old and sick, the world's last male northern white rhino has surprised his keepers by getting up and walking around at a wildlife area in Kenya.

The 45-year-old rhino named Sudan moved during the night and took a "delicious mud bath" after long-awaited rains fell, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy said Saturday on Twitter. It noted that Saturday was U.N. World Wildlife Day and that it had received many messages of concern for the ailing Sudan, who could be euthanized if he continues to suffer from a deep infection on his back right leg.

"He is now resting again and will be attended by the vet team and his keepers throughout the day," said the conservancy, which is also home to the last two female northern white rhinos -- Sudan's daughter and granddaughter.

While the rhino subspecies is on the verge of extinction because of poaching, scientists hope to use southern white rhinos as surrogates to carry northern white rhino embryos and give birth. The in vitro process would be conducted using sperm from dead rhinos that is stored in Berlin and eggs extracted by surgery from the females at Ol Pejeta, according to the conservancy.

Modi's Hindu party wins in Indian state

NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party on Saturday ended the 25-year uninterrupted rule of a communist party in a northeastern state.

An impressive win is expected to boost the prospects of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party when it seeks a second term in national elections next year. The party has been riding a wave of rising Hindu nationalism in the country.

With results announced for all 59 seats in Tripura's state legislature, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won a big majority to form a government on its own in the state, replacing the Communist Party of India.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 35 seats in Tripura's state legislature against the Communist Party of India's 16 seats, according to India's Election Commission. The remaining eight seats went to a regional group, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura.

Ex-Vatican bank chief, lawyer indicted

VATICAN CITY -- Vatican prosecutors have indicted the former president of the Vatican bank and his lawyer on embezzlement charges, holding them responsible for losses of more than $62 million from real estate sales.

The trial of Angelo Caloia and his lawyer, Gabriele Liuzzo, begins March 15. A third suspect died while under investigation.

The Institute for Religious Works said late Friday that Caloia and his lawyer were charged with embezzlement and self-laundering between 2001 and 2008.

The scam allegedly involved the suspects selling Vatican-owned real estate at under value prices to offshore companies that then resold the buildings at market rates, with the suspects profiting from the difference, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The Institute for Religious Works is joining a civil case alongside the criminal trial to try to recover some of the losses.

The Vatican announced the criminal investigation into Caloia, the Institute for Religious Works president from 1989-2009, attorney Liuzzo and the late bank director general, Lelio Scaletti, in 2014 after bank officials discovered irregularities in accounts and operations.

The suspects have denied wrongdoing.

A Section on 03/04/2018

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