Italy rescues 400 migrants off Sicily

ITALIAN authorities have rescued more than 400 asylum seekers off the coast of Sicily.

About 80 children are among those rescued overnight.

The Italian government has stepped up sea patrols in the Mediterranean this month after 366 boat people trying to reach Europe from Africa drowned on October 3.

More than 36,000 refugees have reached Italy by sea this year. The October tragedy prompted calls for a unified EU response to the influx of people.

Thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East attempt to reach Europe by sea each year.

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Somali journalist dies after shooting

A SOMALI journalist has died after being shot six times by unidentified gunmen as he drove to work.

Mohamed Mohamud's death brings the number of journalists killed in Somalia this year to seven.

The 26-year-old died in hospital on Saturday night, fellow journalist Ahmed Nor Mohamed said on Sunday.

"We have lost a precious life once again. Doctors were not able to save our colleague," he said.

Mohamud was buried on Sunday.

Mohamud, who also was known as Tima'ade, had undergone surgery after being shot six times in the neck, chest and shoulder, said the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

Unidentified gunmen in a car shot at Mohamud as he drove to work early on Tuesday in the Wadajir district of the capital, Mogadishu, the journalists' group said, citing local reports.

Mohamud reported for the private UK-based Universal TV, which covers news for the Somali diaspora, said the CPJ.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries for media workers.

At least 18 journalists were killed in Somalia last year.

It's not entirely clear who has been targeting journalists. But militants, criminals, and even state agents all could have reasons to want journalists killed in Somalia, according to the CPJ.

The killings often happen in the government-controlled areas that journalists generally consider safe.

The CPJ says reporters have to watch their backs for attacks from extremists and criminals as well as possible hostility from the government.

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Mother, four children killed in NY home

A MOTHER and her four young children, including a toddler, have been killed in a late-night stabbing rampage at their home in New York.

Police say a man has been taken into custody.

Officers who arrived at the scene late on Saturday found all five victims unconscious and unresponsive.

Two girls and a boy were pronounced dead at the scene, while another boy and the woman were taken to Brooklyn hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.

The victims were identified as 37-year-old Qiao Zhen Li and her children, nine-year-old Linda Zhuo, seven-year-old Amy Zhuo, five-year-old Kevin Zhuo, and one-year-old William Zhuo.

A man identified by police as a person of interest has been taken into custody, but no charges have yet been filed.

Fire department spokesman Jim Long says emergency workers responded just before 11pm, local time, to a call from a person stabbed at the home in Sunset Park, a working-class neighbourhood of adjoining two-storey brick buildings.

Neighbour May Chan told the Daily News it was "heartbreaking" to learn of the deaths.

"I always see (the kids) running around here," Chan said.

"They run around by my garage playing. They run up and down screaming."

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Five killed opposition rally in India

FIVE people have died and 83 have been injured in a series of explosions in the eastern Indian city of Patna, where the country's main opposition party was holding a rally.

Police say seven blasts went off - one at the railway station and six near the venue of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally.

Three of the injured are in a critical condition, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said at a press briefing on Sunday.

"The timing of the incident - on a day the BJP was holding a widely publicised rally - clearly indicates the aim was to vitiate the atmosphere in Bihar," Kumar said.

"Political parties may have differences but we must work together for calm."

Bihar police say the blasts were caused by low-intensity improvised explosive devices.

Four unexploded bombs have been found near and at the venue of the rally.

One person has been arrested and one of the critically injured may also have links to the blast, police say.

The BJP leadership went on with the rally, which drew more than 300,000 people, local television channels reported.

Narendra Modi, the party's prime ministerial candidate for general elections scheduled in 2014, addressed the crowd.

Television footage shows plumes of smoke behind the rally even as Modi and other BJP leaders gave their speeches.

Teams of federal investigators and explosive experts have been sent to Patna to help local police investigate the incident.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and called for those responsible to be identified.

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Thousands protest about ETA ruling

TENS of thousands of people have protested in Madrid against a European Court of Human Rights ruling that frees dozens of imprisoned members of the Basque separatist group ETA.

The Spanish Association of Terrorism Victims, the organiser of the demonstration on central Madrid's Plaza Colon, says about 200,000 people have taken part.

Two ETA prisoners have been released from prison in recent days after the Strasbourg court ruled on Monday that a Basque separatist sentenced to more than 3800 years in prison for involvement in 24 killings and imprisoned since the late 1980s had been jailed too long.

Ines del Rio had had her sentence reduced, but a Spanish policy said reductions in prison terms must be deducted from the full length of the term and do not automatically lead to freedom, which meant Del Rio stayed in prison.

However, she took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, which said the Spanish policy violated the European Convention of Human Rights.

The decision applies not only to Del Rio but also 60 other ETA members, seven members of the violent far-left group GRAPO and 14 common criminals.

The ETA's campaign for a sovereign Basque state began in 1968 and has left about 850 people dead.

It renounced violence in 2011, but the government refuses to negotiate with it, insisting it must dissolve first.

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Don't boycott UN rights meet, Israel told

GERMANY has warned Israel against boycotting a UN review of its human rights record scheduled for Tuesday if it wants to avert "severe diplomatic damage", an Israeli newspaper reports.

The warning came in a letter from German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz reported on Sunday.

UN member states periodically undergo human rights reviews.

The West is worried that Israel's refusal to attend could encourage other states to do the same.

On January 29, Israel became the first country to boycott a council review of its human rights record.

It has since been negotiating with "friendly countries" about re-engaging with the body. Israel has long complained that it is being singled out by the council, which criticises its policies toward the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Haaretz says Israel wants to limit the use of the rights council's Article 7, which stipulates that every conference must include a separate discussion of the Jewish state's human rights record - a requirement made of no other UN member.

Netanyahu's office wouldn't comment.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor says Israel has yet to decide whether it will attend Tuesday's session in Geneva.

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