World Briefs: 100 feared drowned after migrant boat sinks

100 feared drowned after migrant boat sinks

ROME • Around 100 people were missing, feared drowned, in the Mediterranean after a migrant dinghy capsized off Libya, Doctors Without Borders said yesterday, citing testimony from 27 survivors. Seven bodies have been recovered so far.

Departures from Libya are continuing unabated despite worsening weather in the Mediterranean, with more than 3,200 people rescued from crowded and unseaworthy dinghies since Saturday. The latest tragedy raises the death toll from migrant boat sinkings to more than 340 people this week.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Tram in crash had been speeding: Investigators

LONDON • A tram that overturned in south London a week ago was going at around 70kmh, more than three times the prescribed speed limit, investigators said.

Seven people died and more than 50 others were injured in the crash. The 42-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, then released on bail until May.

The derailment was the greatest loss of life in a British rail accident since seven people were killed when a high-speed train from London came off the tracks in 2002.

REUTERS


Youth to help fight online hate speech

BRUSSELS • Belgium is training youth to patrol against online abuse in a government-backed campaign aimed at combating hate speech.

The No Hate campaign chose 31 people aged between 18 and 35 to be trained under an anti-discrimination and anti-radicalisation programme supported by the Council of Europe. According to Unia, an independent Brussels-based organisation that promotes equal opportunities, there were 365 reported instances of hate speech last year. Of that, 92 per cent were online and 126 occurred on Facebook and Twitter.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 18, 2016, with the headline World Briefs: 100 feared drowned after migrant boat sinks. Subscribe