Tanzania boat victims' burials begin
UKARA ISLAND, Tanzania -- Relatives wept Sunday at the mass burial in Tanzania of many of the 224 people who drowned when a ferry capsized on Lake Victoria.
Colorfully painted coffins were lined up to go into graves on Ukara Island. Grieving family members placed wreaths of flowers on the coffins.
The overloaded boat tipped over Thursday as it got to about 55 yards from the island's dock.
Identifications have been made for 172 people who died in the boat tragedy, according to Isack Kamwelwe, Tanzania's minister of works, transport and communication. The bodies of 37 others have not yet been identified. At least 40 people were rescued, officials said.
Tanzania's Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa led mourners at the funeral service.
"Our country has been hit by a big tragedy. We lost brothers, relatives and friends. Our call is for us to be united during this hard time and understand that our countrymen have been left by beloved parents, brothers, sisters, children and friends in this big tragedy," he said.
Germans OK plan to remove spy chief
BERLIN -- Leaders of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition reached a deal Sunday to resolve a standoff over the future of the country's domestic intelligence chief, a dispute that has further dented the image of their fractious six-month-old alliance.
The center-left Social Democrats have insisted that Hans-Georg Maassen be removed as head of the Bundesamt fur Verfassungsschutz spy agency for appearing to downplay recent violence against migrants, but conservative Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has stood by him.
Last week, coalition leaders agreed to replace Maassen as head of the spy agency but give him a new job as a deputy interior minister, a promotion with a hefty pay increase. The move prompted a backlash from furious Social Democrats, prompting party leader Andrea Nahles to call for the deal's renegotiation.
On Sunday, coalition leaders agreed instead to make Maassen a "special adviser" at the Interior Ministry with responsibility for "European and international issues," Seehofer said. He will remain at his current pay level.
"I think it is a very good signal that we took the criticism of our decision on Tuesday evening seriously and were able to correct it," Nahles told reporters.
Groups reject Syria demilitarized zone
BEIRUT -- Two insurgent groups rejected a deal reached this month between Russia and Turkey to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib region, with one saying Sunday that the agreement aims to "bury the revolution."
The rejection by some jihadi groups of the Russia-Turkey deal highlights the problems that the agreement may face in the coming weeks, as the demilitarized zone is scheduled to be established by mid-October.
Horas al-Din, Arabic for Guardians of Religion, called the deal to establish the zone that will be 9-12 miles deep, with troops from Russia and NATO-member Turkey conducting coordinated patrols, a "great conspiracy."
The group is made up mostly of al-Qaida fighters who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee, the largest militant group in Idlib province.
Another jihadi group, Ansar al-Din Front, issued a statement Sunday carried by Syrian opposition social media pages calling on all insurgent groups in Idlib "during this critical period to overcome their differences because of the existential battle since our enemy does not differentiate between us."
Spain rescues 447 people from boats
ROME -- Spain's maritime rescue service said Sunday it rescued 447 people from 15 small boats, most of them off the country's southern coast, while humanitarian groups lamented that the sole private rescue boat operating near the deadly central Mediterranean human trafficking route risked being put out of action by Italy's anti-migrant leaders.
Panama's maritime authority said in a statement that it has begun procedures to remove the registration of Aquarius 2. It said Italy contends that the captain of Aquarius 2 defied instructions to return migrants to Libya that it had rescued from unseaworthy vessels launched by Libyan-based traffickers.
But SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, the humanitarian groups jointly operating Aquarius 2, say violence-wracked Libya doesn't meet international standards for safe harbor. On Sunday, they asked European governments to reassure Panama that Italy's contentions are unfounded or issue a new flag so Aquarius 2 can keep operating.
A recent spike in migrant arrivals in Spain has strained public services, and the Spanish government has faced further pressure since Italy refused to let humanitarian boats dock with migrants they have rescued from the sea.
Aquarius 2 was carrying 58 migrants it rescued in the last few days, and where they would be taken was unclear Sunday.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/24/2018