More than half of the 60 migrants who died after their boat sank off Turkey’s west coast on Thursday were children, a district official told Reuters.

Syria’s refugee exodus is growing and up to 200 000 people could settle in Turkey alone if the conflict worsens, adding pressure for a buffer zone.

Turkey has told Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down for the sake of his people, tightening regional pressure on Damascus.

Rescuers pulled a two-week-old baby girl alive from the arms of her mother buried under a collapsed building as the search continued for survivors.

Over 260 people are dead with the casualty count set to rise after a quake brought ruin to parts of Turkey, destroying homes and injuring thousands.

A group of about 100 Afghan members of Parliament demanded on Monday that President Hamid Karzai inaugurate the assembly by December 19.

Afghans want responsibility for the country’s security by 2014, President Hamid Karzai told an international donors’ conference on Tuesday.