Over 100,000 crossed Mediterranean since Jan

GENEVA • More than 100,000 migrants and refugees have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe since the beginning of the year, and 2,247 have died trying, the United Nations said yesterday.

Between Jan 1 and Monday, more than 85,000 migrants landed in Italy, nearly 9,300 arrived in Greece, nearly 6,500 arrived in Spain and more than 270 landed in Cyprus.

The numbers are far below last year's figures for the same period, after a European Union deal with Ankara stemmed the flow from Turkey to Greece.

But the UN refugee agency has warned that Italy cannot continue absorbing the tens of thousands of migrants landing on its shores on its own.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Italy cracks down on crime, mafia in south

ROME • Italy has launched a crackdown on organised crime in the south of the country, deploying more than a thousand policemen in a hunt for members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia.

It targeted 116 individuals from 24 crime families, sought for criminal association, extortion, fraud, illegal possession of arms and other offences. Helicopters, sniffer dogs and teams specialising in detecting bunkers and other hideaways joined the operation yesterday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Rise in far-right violent acts in Germany last year

BERLIN• Violent acts by neo-Nazis and other far-right groups in Germany rose 14 per cent to 1,600 last year, reflecting a steady increase in anti-immigrant sentiment triggered by the arrival of large numbers of migrants since 2014.

The annual report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency also estimated that some 12,100 people with far-right views in Germany were considered ready to commit acts of violence, an increase of 2.5 per cent from 2015.

The report said the use of social media sites had sharply increased the proliferation and impact of such groups.

REUTERS