LESBOS, Greece (AP) — The latest in the odyssey of hundreds of thousands of people crossing Europe in search of a new life. All times local.
11:30 a.m.
Spanish sea rescue teams have found the bodies of four migrants and are searching for 35 people missing from a boat that ran into trouble while trying to reach Spain from Morocco.
The Marine Rescue service said on its official Twitter account that 15 migrants were found alive on the boat Thursday in the Mediterranean Sea south from the Spanish port of Malaga.
The service said the search for the missing migrants resumed Friday.
African migrants seeking a better life in Europe often try to reach Spain by crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco.
Tens of thousands of migrants also try to make it to Italy and Greece from north Africa and the Middle East each year.
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11:10 a.m.
Germany’s vice chancellor is blasting what he describes as irresponsible bickering in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc over the migrant crisis.
Bavaria’s Christian Social Union, part of Merkel’s Union bloc but often an awkward ally, has criticized Merkel’s approach for weeks. Leader Horst Seehofer has demanded moves by Sunday to limit the migrant influx. Merkel has argued there’s no way to instantly stop the influx.
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, a center-left Social Democrat, said the infighting “would appear bizarre in normal times.” He told the Spiegel Online news portal in comments published Friday: “In view of the great challenge for our country from the high immigration of refugees, the argument … is now threatening the government’s ability to act.”
Merkel, Seehofer and Gabriel are to meet Sunday.
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10:50 a.m.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has expressed “endless grief” at the new migrant tragedies in the Aegean Sea, saying they put Europe to shame.
Tsipras accused the European Union of inability to effectively address the humanitarian crisis, and said Western countries that took part in military interventions in the Middle East bear responsibility for the mass migrant flows.
Speaking in parliament Friday, Tsipras said that the Aegean is washing up “not just dead children, but the very civilization of Europe.”
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