3 skiers killed, 5 hurt in avalanche in Italian Alps

Italian alpine rescuers say three skiers have been killed in avalanche in the northern Italian Alps near the French border that injured another five people.

Milan Walter of the national alpine rescue corps says the group was back-country skiing when the avalanche was triggered at Plan de la Gabba, 5 kilometers (3 miles) southwest of Courmayeur, around midday. The dead included an Italian, a German and a Belgian, according to police.

At least 57 al-Shabab extremists killed in Somalia assault

At least 57 members of the al-Shabab extremist group were killed Thursday as African Union and Somali forces attacked one of its camps, the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia announced. It was one of the deadliest assaults on the al-Qaida-linked group by the joint forces.

The multinational force said on Twitter that vehicles and equipment were destroyed in the morning assault on the al-Shabab camp outside Afmadhow and "a large cache of weapons" was captured. The statement said helicopter gunships supported the attack.

AP Explains: What to know about China's legislative sessions

Governing Chinese-style will go on display when the country's rubberstamp legislature, the National People's Congress, and its advisory body open their annual sessions in Beijing over the next few days.

The largely ceremonial events come months ahead of an even more momentous gathering, the twice-a-decade national congress of the ruling Communist Party that will usher in changes to the top leadership as president and party chief Xi Jinping embarks on his second five-year term in office.

Tiny tubes in Canadian rock may be oldest known fossils

Tiny tubes and filaments in some Canadian rock appear to be the oldest known fossils, giving new support to some ideas about how life began, a new study says.

The features are mineralized remains of what appear to be bacteria that lived some 3.77 billion to 4.28 billion years ago, the scientists said. That would surpass the 3.7 billion years assigned to some other rock features found in Greenland, which were proposed to be fossils last August.

10-country summit in Pakistan ends on call for closer ties

A regional economic summit in Pakistan on Wednesday concluded with participants pledging to collectively fight the "challenge of terrorism" and push for greater collaboration in areas of trade, energy and infrastructure development.

Islamabad hosted the day-long 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization summit that finalized a "Vision 2025" plan for expanding trade and prosperity among member nations.

From LOL shirt to bulletproof vest, hit suspects go to court

Because of a grainy security camera photo that went viral online, she is now known to many as the LOL assassin.

But as Doan Thi Huong left a courthouse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after being formally charged with the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother two weeks ago, she had a very different look — red, puffy eyes and a bulletproof vest.

The strange life, and sudden death, of a North Korean exile

The heavy-set man got out of a taxi one night last September and headed for the lobby bar of the swank Wynn Macau — a quiet place, where women are often in evening dresses and gamblers can relax with $300 Cuban cigars. He was dressed casually. There were no bodyguards, no flashy women.

It wasn't what you'd expect of a man once tipped to be the next dictator of North Korea.