Migrant Boat Flips Off Italy, 7 Dead

Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
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Migrant Boat Flips Off Italy, 7 Dead

Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

A migrant boat overturned Wednesday off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa just as rescue crews were arriving, and seven bodies were pulled from the sea, authorities said.

Another 46 people were rescued and the search is continuing for any others. An estimated 60 people were packed onto the 8-meter (25-foot) boat, The Associated Press quoted Italy's coast guard as saying in a statement.

Two coast guard ships had responded to a distress call from a migrant boat 7 miles off Lampedusa. As the rescuers neared, the passengers “suddenly shifted” their positions, likely causing the boat to flip, the statement said.

Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland, is one of the main destinations of Libyan-based human traffickers.

Nearly 20,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, three times as many as this time last year and nearly 10 times as many as in 2019, according to Interior Ministry statistics.



Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich to Meet US Treasury Secretary Next Week

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich to Meet US Treasury Secretary Next Week

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a right-winger kept at arms length by Washington under former President Joe Biden, will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington next Wednesday, Smotrich's spokesman said on Thursday.

Smotrich went to Washington in March 2023 to meet with leaders of Israel's US-based government bonds program but did not meet any officials from Biden's administration.

The pro-settler Smotrich had clashed with Biden officials, including then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, over aid and banking arrangements for the Palestinian territories.

Smotrich has praised President Donald Trump, including over a decision to lift sanctions imposed under Biden against Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.