Hundreds of migrants feared dead
The bodies of five people were found near two capsized dinghies off the coast of Libya on Thursday, and the aid organization that recovered the bodies said it feared that more than 200 migrants may have drowned.
Laura Lanuza, a spokeswoman for the organization, Proactiva Open Arms, said that a search was underway for another migrant vessel believed to have run into trouble in the same part of the Mediterranean.
She said that boats of that type often get overloaded with 120 to 140 migrants hoping to reach southern Europe.
Since the start of this year, 559 people have died or disappeared while crossing the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration. Around 20,000 migrants have already arrived in Italy.
Manafort probe extends
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government investigation of President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, extended to Cyprus, once known as a haven for money laundering by Russian billionaires.
Treasury agents in recent months obtained information connected to Mr. Manafort’s transactions from Cypriot authorities, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously. The request was part of a federal anti-corruption probe into Mr. Manafort’s work in Eastern Europe.
Mr. Manafort was Mr. Trump’s unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year. He’s been a leading focus of the U.S. investigation into whether Trump associates coordinated with Moscow to meddle in the 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Manafort, in a statement, characterized the transactions as a normal practice.
Scandal in Japan
TOKYO — The head of a Japanese educational foundation at the center of a real estate scandal told parliament he received a donation from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe via his wife, prompting a fresh denial from the top government spokesman.
Speaking under oath Thursday, school principal Yasunori Kagoike said Akie Abe handed him an envelope containing $9,000 in cash during her September 2015 visit to a kindergarten operated by the nationalist group. “She told me it was from Shinzo Abe,” Mr. Kagoike said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reiterated previous denials.
The allegations have dented Mr. Abe’s popularity and may prompt him to delay calling an election by the end of next year.
Egyptian soldiers killed
CAIRO — Ten Egyptian soldiers and 15 militants were killed during a raid on an Islamist insurgent base in the Sinai Peninsula, a military spokesman said Thursday.
The deaths underscored the strength of the Sinai insurgency, led by an Islamic State affiliate, despite almost four years of Egyptian counterterrorism operations.
Also in the world ...
Almost three years after the Sewol ferry disaster that killed 304 people and led to calls for then-President Park Geun-hye’s resignation, South Korean authorities have raised the sunken ship to the surface. ... The family of Robert Levinson, the Florida man taken hostage overseas a decade ago, has filed a lawsuit against Iran, saying the country has lied about its role in his disappearance.