News in Brief
Assad blames Turkey for violence in Syria
AP – Syria’s President Bashar Assad slammed Turkey in comments published Wednesday, blaming Ankara for the uptick in violence in his war-torn country and insisting on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria.
Assad spoke in an interview with Sky News Arabia, his first interview with a foreign media outlet in months. The interview is to be fully aired later on Wednesday but Sky News Arabia released some excerpts ahead of the broadcast.
41 migrants missing after new Mediterranean shipwreck
AFP – Forty-one migrants including three children are feared dead after being shipwrecked last week in the Mediterranean, UN agencies said, citing four survivors brought to the Italian island of Lampedusa Wednesday.
Their metal boat overturned in bad weather during the night of Thursday to Friday after setting off from the Tunisian port of Sfax, said a joint statement from the UN agencies for refugees, children and migration.
The survivors – a 13-year-old boy on his own, a woman and two men – drifted for days before being rescued by a merchant ship on Tuesday, they said. They were finally brought to Lampedusa by the Italian coastguard on Wednesday.
In a separate statement, the Italian Red Cross, which manages the migrant reception centre on the island, said the four were generally in good health.