'Wow!' The eye surgery marathon that restored sight for some South Africans

TSAKANE, South Africa (AP) – Gladys Khoza had missed being able to see her family. Not because they couldn’t visit, but because the 84-year-old had vision problems. Now that has changed. Khoza is one of 133 people whose sight was restored during a “marathon” of free cataract surgeries conducted by doctors in South Africa at two hospitals over two weekends last month.

 

Wall Street closed for Good Friday, but US futures inch lower

U.S. futures were trading modestly lower early Friday following surprisingly strong jobs data from the federal government. Equities markets are closed for Good Friday, but futures markets were trading into Friday morning, albeit quietly. Futures for S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.4%.

Congo says its mpox outbreak is over after 2 years and more than 2,200 deaths

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – Congo on Thursday declared the end of a two-year outbreak of the mpox disease that’s believed to have caused more than 2,200 deaths in the country. Health Minister Roger Kamba told journalists that the government had made the determination that the outbreak was over and no longer a national emergency.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

ITTEFAQ, Afghanistan (AP) – For several minutes after the earthquake struck, he could hear their screams. Then there was silence. Mohibullah Niazi, a neighbor who helped in the rescue efforts, said Saturday that the eight people killed on the outskirts of Kabul after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan.

Paramilitary forces in Sudan kill at least 10 people in hospital drone attack

CAIRO (AP) – Sudan ‘s paramilitary forces killed at least 10 people on Thursday in a drone attack that hit a hospital, said a medical group. Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, launched two drone strikes on al-Jabalain Hospital in the White Nile province, hitting an operating theater and a maternity ward.

US service member missing after Iran shot down jet rescued

U.S. President Donald Trump said that a U.S. service member who was missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been found in a rescue involving “dozens of aircrafts.” The crew member had been missing since Friday, when Iran downed a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. A second crew member was rescued earlier.

 

Immigrants seeking asylum are ordered to countries they've never been to

The Afghan man had fled the Taliban for refuge in upstate New York when U.S. immigration authorities ordered him deported to Uganda. The Cuban woman was working at a Texas Chick-fil-A when she was arrested after a minor traffic accident and told she was being sent to Ecuador.

Editorials from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

A rare school in Kenya is empowering teenage mothers with education and child care

KAJIADO, Kenya (AP) – Valarie Wairimu has no time to rest during break time at Kenya’s Greenland Girls School. The teenager grabs a snack and goes straight to what makes this school unique: its nursery.