LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch in history, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

"The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow," it added, indicating her son, Prince Charles, has now become Britain's new King. (UK-Queen-Death)

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- At least 14 people died and 26 were missing after a boat sank Thursday morning near the Brazilian city of Belem, capital of northern Para state, official sources reported.

The boat was traveling between Camara, on the island of Marajo, and Belem when it sank near Saudade Beach on the island of Cotijuba. (Brazil-Boat)

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LOS ANGELES -- A deadly wildfire in southern California that killed two people and injured a third has at least tripled in size in around 24 hours, exploding from about 5,000 acres (20.23 square km) to over 18,600 acres (75.27 square km) as of Thursday morning, authorities said.

The fast-moving Fairview Fire started Monday afternoon near the city of Hemet in Riverside County amid a brutal heat wave. It was only 5 percent contained so far, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. (US-Wildfire)

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TUNIS -- At least eight illegal immigrants died and 15 others went missing after an Italy-bound boat sank off the Tunisian coast on Thursday, State Monastir Radio reported.

The Maritime Guard rescued 14 people on the boat, which capsized off the coast of Chebba town in the eastern Mahdia Province, the radio quoted a security source as saying. (Tunisia-Illegal Immigrants-Death Toll)

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NAIROBI -- The escalating crisis of forced migration in the Horn of Africa region, driven by climate change, civil strife and poverty, has undermined stability, peace and sustainable development, a senior official at the United Nations migration agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.

Muhammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, said there was an urgency to promote safe human mobility in the region, to achieve stability, inclusive growth, and cohesion. (IOM-Horn of Africa-Migration) Enditem

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