USA
For the second time since just before her feeding tube was removed March 18, Terri Schiavo was given last rites of the Roman Catholic Church Sunday at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., where she also received Easter communion, with the consent of her husband and guardian. Protesters, however, grew increasingly frustrated that her parents' legal fight to keep the woman at the center of a national right-to-die debate has ended. Two demonstrators were arrested after they tried to break through police lines to deliver water to Schiavo, whose brother urged people to avoid confronting the police. Two priests who visited Schiavo, who has been kept alive in a "vegetative state" for 15 years, said her death is "imminent."
The Supreme Court let stand, without comment, a lower court ruling that struck down an Idaho law requiring females under 18 to get parental consent for abortions except under the most dire conditions. The justices were also to hear arguments in the case of José Medéllin, a Mexican gang member convicted of rape and murder who says he was improperly denied legal help from the Mexican consulate in 1994. The case is viewed as a litmus test of the effect of international law in US death penalty cases. Texas, which tried Medéllin, argues that he didn't raise his claims at his state trial, and therefore is not entitled to consular help, as specified by international law.
Commander Leroy Chiao and his Russian crewmate, Salizhan Sharipov left the International Space Station empty for the second time in two months, as they installed antennas and released a baby Sputnik during a 4-1/2-hour spacewalk. The pair has spent the past several weeks dealing with a variety of breakdowns. They will be relieved next month.
Truck drivers who transport hazardous cargoes will begin to undergo security screening in the months ahead as they renew their credentials, the FBI and Transportation Security Administration announced. Until now, screening was left to the companies that employ them. About 3 million drivers will be fingerprinted and put through background checks.
Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, the most dominant golfer on the women's professional tour, overwhelmed the field at the annual Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., finishing 15-under-par Sunday. The win was her fifth in a row over two seasons, tieing a record set by Nancy Lopez in 1978.