Italian PM Matteo Renzi condemns 'new slave trade' in Mediterranean

Hundreds of people are feared to have drowned after a boat carrying up to 700 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian coastguard has said.

A major rescue operation is under way after the vessel capsized in Libyan waters south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Speaking through a translator at a news conference, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the trafficking of migrants amounted to "a new slave trade".