Briefly

NORTH AFRICA

75 migrants drown in Mediterranean sea

The United Nations' migration agency said 75 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya last week as they attempted to reach Italy by boat. The International Organization for Migration attributed the information to 15 survivors who were rescued by fishers and taken to the port of Zuwara in northwestern Libya. It provided no further information. Also on Saturday, the Italian coast guard rescued more than 420 migrants, including dozens of minors, from boats in difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea. Seventy people were taken safely by a coast guard motorboat to the Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, the service said.

INDIA

Heavy rains in south kill 17, dozens missing

At least 17 people have died and dozens are reported missing in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh after days of heavy rains, The Associated Press quoted authorities as saying on Saturday. The state has been hit by intense torrents since Thursday, sparking massive floods in at least five districts. The death toll rose to 17 late on Friday after three people were killed when a building collapsed, police said. Ten people trapped under the debris were rescued but two were said to be missing. Earlier on Friday, at least a dozen people died as heavy floods washed away the bus they were on. Search and rescue efforts for missing passengers continued on Saturday.

SUDAN

PM freed from house arrest, his office says

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been freed from the house arrest imposed on him since last month's military takeover, a member of his office told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. Hamdok had been under armed guard since the military on Oct 25 dissolved the government led by Hamdok. "The house arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been lifted and the forces guarding his house have withdrawn," the official said. The move came after mediators earlier on Sunday announced that the military had reached a deal to reinstate Hamdok as premier.

Agencies via Xinhua