BELGIUM: The top administrative court today overturned a government decision to refuse to provide shelter for single men seeking asylum, saying the plans contravene the country’s migration laws.

The decision last month came after the government said there was a shortage of asylum housing and they had to prioritise children.

But the court said it did not respect the rights that all asylum-seekers should enjoy while their application for international protection is being examined.

MOROCCO: Bulldozers, rescue crews and first responders continued to dig through the wreckage and recover bodies today, four days after the deadly 6.8-strength earthquake struck.

The death and injury counts continue to rise, some 3,000 reported, as more remote villages are reached, bodies get dug up and people are sent to hospitals.

Morocco’s government has faced criticism for rejecting assistance from some countries, including France and Germany, despite its own rescue teams falling short in the crisis.

BAHRAIN: The daughters of an imprisoned prominent human rights activist said that Abdulhadi al-Khawaja resumed his hunger strike today after being denied medical care.

Mr Khawaja is among hundreds of prisoners at the at the Jaw Rehabilitation and Reform Center who launched a hunger strike on August 7 to protest the conditions of their incarceration.

The prisoners had suspended the strike on Tuesday after authorities agreed to improve conditions.

ITALY: The Italian Red Cross sounded the alarm on humanitarian conditions on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa today after more than 5,000 people in more than 100 different migrant boats arrived in one day.

At least one baby died near shore as a boat capsized, state radio reported.

The charity urged the Italian government to quickly transfer the migrants to the mainland, as the island’s only migrant centre — which has a capacity of about 400 — overflowed.