More Than 200 Feared Dead After Mediterranean Boats Capsize
A Spanish group that went to the aid of two capsized boats off the Libyan coast says it fears that more than 200 people died in the shipwrecks.
Proactiva Open Arms discovered two inflatable rubber boats sinking, about 13 miles (21km) north of the Libyan town of Sabratha on March 23. They recovered the bodies of five African men aged between 16 and 25 who appeared to have drowned.
Proactiva’s spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said each inflatable would hold around 120 people, while noting that smugglers often overfill the boats.
“We brought on board five corpses recovered from the sea, but no lives,” the group wrote on Facebook. “It is a harsh reality check of the suffering here that is invisible in Europe.”
U.S. Cables Order ‘More Vetting’
United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson issued a series of cables this week to diplomatic missions on their security checks for visa applicants, Reuters reported.
The cables give some indication of what the U.S. administration might mean by the “extreme vetting” that Donald Trump pledged during his presidential campaign.
Yet some consular officials told Reuters the new guidance contained few changes from the rigorous security checks that are already in place.
The final cable issued by Tillerson asked diplomatic missions to identify “populations warranting increased scrutiny” and imposed a “mandatory social media check” for anyone who has been in territory controlled by Islamic State.
An earlier cable outlined security checks for visa applicants from six countries banned under President Trump’s executive order, including questions about their travel and work history dating back 15 years. Those instructions were later rescinded after the executive order was blocked by U.S. courts last week.
Germany Relaxes Media Rules on Reporting Suspects’ Ethnicity
Germany’s press regulator issued revised guidance to media on reporting someone’s ethnicity or religion if they are suspected of a crime.
The German Press Council’s previous rules stated that this information should be reported only where there is a link between the crime and the person’s religious or ethnic background.
German media argued that the advice was difficult to interpret and fueled conspiracy theories that the media were covering up crimes by migrants.
The new guidance states that a suspect’s ethnicity should not be reported “unless there is a justified public interest in doing so.”
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