In brief: Kim son likely to gain new post

Seoul, South Korea – North Korean legislators gathered in Pyongyang today amid speculation that leader Kim Jong Il may appoint his son to a post that would make him the nation’s second most powerful man.

As the Supreme People’s Assembly convenes a spring session, attention is focused on whether Kim Jong Un will be elected to the National Defense Commission – a move that would further solidify the young man’s standing as North Korea’s next leader.

The parliamentary meeting is North Korea’s first major national meeting since Kim Jong Un made his political debut in September by taking on a key leadership post in the ruling Workers’ Party. Since then, he has appeared regularly at Kim Jong Il’s side, his father’s clear choice as heir apparent.

250 missing after boat capsizes

Rome – A boat carrying as many as 300 migrants from Libya capsized in rough seas off the Italian coast early Wednesday, leaving 250 people unaccounted for.

Survivors told of desperately trying to reach rescue boats as those unable to swim screamed in the darkness and pulled one another under the water.

If the number of dead is confirmed, it would prove the deadliest crossing to Italy in recent memory, and the worst refugee disaster since a wave of migrants began arriving on Italian shores in January following popular revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.