At least 12 migrants died off the coast of Libya Wednesday after they put to sea in stormy weather, the Italian coastguard said, adding that many others might have died in the incident. Some 29 people were rescued when their rubber dinghy started to take in water 25 miles (40 km) north...

 ISIS is forcibly gathering people in and around Mosul for possible use as human shields against advancing Iraqi forces, residents said Wednesday, confirming U.N. fears. ISIS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground,...

An EU mission to train the Libyan coast guard hopes to diffuse tensions between the crisis-hit country and migrant rescue boats off its shores, and stop attacks by rogue vessels, its chief said Wednesday. Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, who heads up Operation Sophia, admitted NGOs...

Belgium's immigration minister is refusing to grant humanitarian visas to a family in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo despite being fined 4,000 euros ($4,438) a day for defying an appeal tribunal. A lawyer for the family, Olivier Stein, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the...