Rescuers overnight found the bodies of six migrants who died trying to reach the Atlantic island of El Hierro. They had set out in two of four boats to arrive in the Spanish Canary Islands from Mauritania in recent days.

Many Syrians who fled their country's nearly 14-year civil war have begun to return to their homeland. In Damascus, Syrian rebels have announced Mohamed al-Bashir as new interim prime minister.

Carabinieri police have dismantled an alleged criminal network accused of exploiting migrants in the central Italian seaside resort of Rimini.

Thousands of Syrians are beginning to return to their country from neighboring Lebanon and Turkey following the ousting of Bashar Al Assad by a collection of different militias and rebel forces at the weekend.