NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Migrants missing: At least 97 African migrants are missing and believed drowned after their Europe-bound boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, the Libyan coast guard said. Spokesman Ayoub Gassim said 23 migrants were rescued around 6 miles off the Libyan coast after authorities received a distress call. Fifteen women and five children are among those still missing. He said the boat, which was packed with African nationals seeking a better life in Europe, “completely collapsed.” Chaotic Libya has become a major avenue of migration, with thousands braving the dangerous sea crossing to Europe. Smugglers use often rickety vessels to ferry thousands of migrants from the north African country to Europe each month. Mass drownings are common when the overloaded boats capsize or sink. The German government on Thursday said it would support a ban on the export of boats from the European Union to Libya as part of measures to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean.
2 Antigovernment protests: Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets in wealthy eastern Caracas Thursday amid a tropical downpour to support a protest movement that is gaining steam even as it turns more deadly. Venezuela officials confirmed earlier in the day that a fifth person had died in the wave of antigovernment protests now entering its third week. The public prosecutor’s office says it will investigate the death of 36-year-old Miguel Colmenares. He was shot at a protest in the central city of Barquisimeto on Tuesday. Gruseny Calderon was killed during the same protest. Congressman Alfonso Marquina says the 32-year-old protester was injured by rubber bullets that pierced his lung and liver. The protests have also claimed the lives of two college students and a 13-year-old. The Caracas rally was peaceful until the end, when young men clashed with hundreds of riot police who lobbed tear gas to break up the crowd. More protests are planned for the coming days, leading up to a major April 19 demonstration.
3 Haiti mission ending: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to end its 13-year-long peacekeeping mission in Haiti and replace its blue-helmeted soldiers with police. The mission, often a source of embarrassment to the world body, landed in Haiti in 2004, after a rebellion led to the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It became arguably best known for introducing a deadly cholera strain to the country — and then refusing for years to take responsibility for it. The mission has recently been beset by allegations of sexual abuse. A sex ring, operated by Sri Lankan soldiers who were posted there from 2004 to 2007, exploited at least nine children, according to an internal U.N. report.
4 Genocide alleged: South Sudan’s civil war is now genocide, with violence perpetrated along tribal lines, a senior British official said, urging African leaders to do more to end the conflict in which tens of thousands of people have been killed. Priti Patel, the United Kingdom’s secretary of state for international development, said in Entebee, Uganda, that there are “massacres taking place, people’s throats being slit” amid what she called a “scorched earth policy” in South Sudan’s three-year war.
5 Marijuana bill: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation in Ottawa Thursday to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Canada. Many nations have either decriminalized marijuana, allowed it to be prescribed medically or effectively stopped enforcing laws against it. But when Trudeau’s bill passes, as expected, Canada will become only the second nation, after Uruguay, to completely legalize marijuana. “Criminal prohibition has failed to protect our kids and our communities,” said Bill Blair, a lawmaker and former Toronto police chief whom Trudeau appointed to manage the legislation.