In brief: Indonesian fishermen rescue hundreds of migrants

SIMPANG TIGA, Indonesia – A flotilla of Indonesian fishermen rescued more than 430 migrants who were stranded at sea and brought them ashore to safety today, the latest victims of a humanitarian crisis confronting Southeast Asia. Hoping to find a solution, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia held an emergency meeting to address the plight of the migrants who are fleeing persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh.

The migrants were rescued early today by more than a dozen fishermen’s boats, said Herman Sulaiman, from East Aceh district’s Search and Rescue Agency.

It was unclear if the migrants were on one boat or had come from several, but an initial batch of 102 people were the first brought to shore in the village of Simpang Tiga in Indonesia’s eastern Aceh province, Sulaiman and other rescuers said.

“They were suffering from dehydration, they are weak and starving,” said Khairul Nove, head of Langsa Search and Rescue Agency in Aceh province. Among the 102 passengers were 26 women and 31 children, he said.

One of the migrants, Ubaydul Haque, 30, said the ship’s engine had failed and the captain fled, and that they were at sea for four months before fishermen found them.

Syrian troops retreat from military base

BEIRUT – Insurgents in Syria captured the last military base and several small villages in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, marking the latest collapse of government troops in the region now almost entirely in opposition hands, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said factions – including al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, and the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham – captured Mastoumeh base after days of fighting. It said government forces left the base and withdrew to the nearby town of Ariha.

The Local Coordination Committees said the Islamic militants targeted the government forces as they were retreating, heading toward Ariha.

In an implicit acknowledgement of defeat, state-run Syrian TV said army units in Mastoumeh base were moving to reinforce defenses in Ariha farther south. Ariha is one of the last government holdouts to remain in Idlib.

Prince Charles meets Sinn Fein leader

DUBLIN – Prince Charles offered a historic handshake Tuesday to Gerry Adams, longtime leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party and reputedly an Irish Republican Army commander when the outlawed group killed the prince’s great-uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1979.

The peacemaking gesture marked the first time that Adams, Sinn Fein’s leader since 1983, had met a member of the British royal family.

The two men, both 66, clasped hands for several seconds in a crowded reception hall at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A cruise ship carrying nearly 3,500 passengers and crew spent the early hours today anchored off Bermuda after being grounded on a reef close to the British island.

Norwegian Cruise Line said a rising tide helped free the ship and push it into deeper water late Tuesday after being stuck for nearly 6 1/2 hours, but the company added that the ship dropped anchor and would wait for an inspection for any damage.

“All guests and crew are safe and there were absolutely no injuries,” a company statement said.

The ship had just set off for Boston on Tuesday when it ran aground after a temporary malfunction in the steering system forced it slightly off course, the company said.

TORONTO – Canadian police arrested 10 youths at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport last weekend who are suspected of wanting to go to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State group, said a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later issued a statement confirming that 10 young Montreal residents had been arrested at the airport. The statement said the youths were “suspected of wanting to leave the country to join jihadist groups.”

The RCMP said no charges have been brought at this time.