BBC news with David Austin.
Another boat carrying hundreds of migrants has sunk between Sicily and Tunisia with dozens of people reported dead. The Italian coastguard says that many of the estimated 250 on board have been rescued. Matthew Price reports from the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Just before sunset, way out in the Mediterranean another migrant boat sank. Some reports say the people on board were trying to attract the attention of an aircraft flying overhead. They had crowded to one side of the boat and it capsized. The Italian navy had several vessels in the area. They managed to get their helicopters to the scene quickly as did Maltese forces. They began hauling people out of the water. Many were saved, many were not. Others also perished in the Mediterranean today off the coast of Egypt and more people were rescued from flimsy craft elsewhere in the sea.
The Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has accused an unnamed political party in the country’s parliament of carrying out his brief abduction on Wednesday. Mr Zeidan said his captors had made clear who was behind their action, which he described as an attempted coup. From Tripoli, Rana Jawad.
Describing his political opponents as a dangerous minority within the country’s elected national congress, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan stopped short of naming them. In an address to the nation with members of his cabinet standing staunchly around him, Mr Zeidan shed light on an internal political struggle that has long been seen here as the source of Libya’s lack of progress since the end of the war in 2011. He said his government’s plans to rebuild institutions have been opposed and that his opponents within the country’s legislative body make sure they failed or never happened. He blamed the unnamed political bloc within congress for his abduction.
The African Union says it will increase its force in Somalia by around a third to step up its fight against militants from the Islamist group al-Shabab. The AU said its mission in Somalia, Amisom, would have more than 6,000 additional troops,taking the total number to 24,000. The request must be approved by the UN Security Council.
President Obama has held more talks with Republicans.