NEWS OF THE DAY

_1 Egypt crackdown: A court in Cairo sentenced 18 suspected militants Saturday to life in prison for forming a “terrorist cell” affiliated with the Islamic State group. The court sentenced 12 other defendants to 10 to 15 years on charges that include plotting attacks on the country’s Christian minority in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, assaulting security forces and disrupting public order. Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, but the insurgency gained strength after the 2013 military overthrow of a freely elected but divisive Islamist president. Since then, courts have held mass trials and sentenced hundreds of people to death. Rights groups have repeatedly criticized such mass sentencings. _2 Afghanistan attack: A Taliban assault on a police checkpoint led to the deaths of four students Saturday in eastern Ghazni province, a provincial official said. Arif Noori, a spokesman for provincial governor, said that 17 others, including 15 students and two teachers, were wounded when an explosion, probably caused by rocket fire, hit the school in Andar district. He said provincial officials are investigating who fired the projectile hitting the school during the standoff between security forces and Taliban militants.

_3 Nicaragua unrest: An opposition group says police arrested anti-government demonstrators Saturday and three were wounded by gunfire just a day after official negotiators promised to release people detained in earlier protests. The National White and Blue Union said riot police arrested 10 demonstrators. On Friday, negotiators for President Daniel Ortega signed agreements ratifying commitments to release and drop charges against hundreds of people considered political prisoners by the opposition. They also promised freedom to demonstrate. The opposition says more than 640 people are being held for political causes. _4 Indonesia pollution: Air quality in Indonesia has deteriorated from among the cleanest in the world to one of the most polluted over the past two decades, shaving five years from life expectancy in some regions, researchers say. The study by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago says an increase in coal-fired power stations, burning of land for agriculture and rising car ownership are responsible for the worsening pollution in the world’s fourth most populous country. According to the researchers, sustained high concentrations of particulate matter in the air people breath will cut 2.3 years from lifespans in the capital, Jakarta. On the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, both of which suffer land fires every year, the expected reduction in lifespans is four years on average. _5 Refugee camp: An internal United Nations document says Kenya is seeking to close the Dadaab camp that hosts more than 200,000 refugees from neighboring Somalia. The U.N. refugee agency document obtained by the Associated Press says it “appreciates” Kenya’s suggestion, made on Feb. 12, to close the camp within six months. But it notes that security remains “precarious” in Somalia, where the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab extremist group is based, and says returns must be voluntary. Kenya calls the refugee camp near the Somalia border — one of the largest such camps in the world — a source of insecurity. Some officials have argued that it has been used as a recruiting ground for al-Shabab and a base for launching attacks inside Kenya.