Europe migrant crisis: Dozens die in hold of Libya boat

At least 40 migrants have died in an overcrowded boat in the Mediterranean, the Italian navy has said.

Some 320 others were rescued when the vessel was intercepted off Libya.

The dead were found in the fishing boat's hold. It is thought they died after inhaling fumes from the engine, the rescue vessel's captain said.

European officials say the plight of migrants, almost 250,000 of whom have crossed by boat to the continent this year, is "beyond urgent".

So far this year, more than 2,000 migrants have died trying to cross the sea to Europe, the UN says.

The BBC's James Reynolds in Rome says it has become the world's most dangerous migrant journey.

Refugees and migrants continued to arrive on the Greek island of Kos - these Iranians had paddled a dinghy across from Turkey

Govt was never serious with doctors – GMA explodes

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has asserted that the on-going strike was necessitated by government’s lack of seriousness during negotiations over members’ conditions of service.

The doctors also accused government of failing to properly mandate representatives capable of taking any decision on its behalf at negotiations table.

A press statement issued at the end of GMA’s 4th National Executive Council (NEC) in Koforidua yesterday, disclosed that the chairmanship position of the government team, for instance, was never stable as it kept changing from time to time.

“It must be said that it was only on the day that the roadmap as stipulated by the GMA was supposed to come into force that the government team showed some signs of seriousness with the negotiations. The GMA therefore had no option than to roll out the roadmap on the 29th of July 2015, when no COS (conditions of service) document had been negotiated and signed as was demanded by the General Assembly of the GMA.”

The statement signed by GMA President Dr. Kwabena Opoku-Adusei and General Secretary Dr. Frank Serebour bemoaned government’s resort to “propaganda and lies with the aim of turning/swaying public opinion against the doctors despite the fact that it was the government that had not shown good faith at the negotiation table.”

Government was also accused of releasing “several altered and fallacious documents” into the public domain to make it appear as if government was making concessions while the GMA was being recalcitrant.

The striking doctors have set an August 14, 2015 date to either to call off the two-week old strike or resign en masse.

Afghanistan: Suicide bomb near Kabul airport

Police in Afghanistan's capital say a suicide bomber has attacked a checkpoint near the entrance to Kabul's international airport.

A health ministry spokesman said seven civilians were injured in the blast, which happened shortly after midday local time (07:30 GMT).

Security officials at the scene said the attack appeared to target a convoy of armoured cars.

The incident is the latest in a series of recent deadly a