12 DEAD IN MIGRANT BOAT SINKING: GREEK COASTGUARD

AFP, Athens

At least 12 people died yesterday when a boat loaded with asylum-seekers sank in the Ionian Sea, the Greek coastguard said. “So far 12 bodies have been recovered. The search and rescue operation continues,” the coastguard said, adding that over 20 people had been found alive. The boat, with around 50 people on board, took on water near the island of Paxi during an apparent attempt to reach Italy.

N KOREA SAYS WILL RESUME US TALKS IF DEMANDS MET

AFP, Seoul

North Korea said yesterday it had received Donald Trump’s letter wishing a happy birthday to leader Kim Jong Un, but warned it would only return to nuclear talks if Washington fully accepts its demands. The US president and Kim have held three meetings since June 2018 but negotiations over denuclearisation have been largely deadlocked since the breakup of a summit in Hanoi last February.

POPE APPOINTS NEW ENVOY TO FRANCE AFTER ABUSE CLAIMS

AFP, Vatican City

Pope Francis appointed a new ambassador to France on Saturday, following the resignation of an archbishop who has been questioned by police on sexual assault claims. The new envoy is Italian Archbishop Celestino Migliore, 67, who had been serving as the Holy See’s ambassador to Russia, the Vatican said. Migliore takes up the post left empty by Luigi Ventura, who resigned in December after reaching the age limit for his post.

FIRE KILLS 6 AT CROATIAN OLD PEOPLE’S HOME

AFP, Zagreb

At least six people died early yesterday in a fire at an old people’s home in northwestern Croatia, police said. “The fire broke out in the around 5:00 am (0400 GMT) and killed six people,” apparently residents of the home in the northwestern town of Oroslavlje, police spokesman Zoran Loncar told AFP.