Day: January 30, 2016

    Up to 40 migrants, including at least five children, have drowned in the Aegean Sea after their boat capsized off the Turkish coast. The vessel, which was en route to the Greek island of Lesbos, sank near the resort of Ayvacik - and Turkish officials have said they expect the death toll to rise, as more bodies are believed to be inside the boat. According to the Anadolu agency, 75 passengers survived and were rescued - including people from Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar. Some of the survivors have been hospitalised with symptoms of hypothermia, and divers are continuing to search the area. It is believed the boat hit rocks soon after leaving Canakkale, which lies about five miles north of Lesbos. Distressing pictures from the scene showed the bodies of women and children ...

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their left-leaning Social Democrat (SPD) coali-tion partners agreed on Thursday to tighten asylum rules, reaching a compromise on how to stem an influx of migrants that topped one million last year. The new measures include a two-year ban on family reunions for asylum seekers who are granted lim-ited refugee protection and speeding up the deportations of failed applicants, said Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, announcing the deal. A dispute over tighter immigration rules has been straining the ruling coalition, which includes Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, as well Gabriel's SPD. All three parties are eager to show voters that, despite deep divisions, t...

    Almost 1,400 civilians have died in Russian air strikes in Syria since the bombing raids began last September, it has been reported. The aerial attacks have also killed at least 965 Islamic State fighters and 1,233 others from different insurgent groups, according to UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It comes as UN-brokered peace talks are being held in Geneva, Switzerland, to try to end Syria's five-year-old civil war, which has claimed the lives of over 260,000 people and displaced more than half the population. The main Syrian opposition group heading to the discussions, the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC), has demanded a halt to Moscow's bombing campaign, which is aimed at helping Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Moscow says it is targeting ...