In February 2017, Italy and Libya signed an agreement to try to slow the arrival of migrants across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe, with Italy giving logistical and financial support to Libya's coast guard. Since then, migrant sea arrivals in Europe have declined, and so have drownings, but many migrants returned to Libya face abusive detention.
An Italian appeals court has tossed out most of the convictions in the case involving earthquake scientists and a public official in L'Aquila, Italy. They had earlier been found guilty of failing to warn the public about risks right before a deadly quake hit, killing more than 300 people.
The government of Italy has collapsed. But nobody is hitting the panic button. A new government could be formed in the next couple of days — and voters are unlikely to get a say. Again.
Some 500 African migrants piled into a boat in Libya this week, headed for Italy and, they hoped, asylum. But the boat sank, killing dozens with many more still missing.
There's another government besides the US in danger of shutting down: the one in Italy, where the government is on the verge of collapsing because of the failure of politicians on the left and the right to find a compromise.