Lebanese navy rescues distressed boat carrying migrants

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon says its navy has rescued a boat carrying migrants that had left the country heading west across the Mediterranean Sea, but broke down off the coast. It’s the latest case of desperate people — mostly Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians — sailing toward European Union member Cyprus, and sometimes Turkey, seeking to escape Lebanon’s worsening economic meltdown. Some 75% of Lebanon’s population now lives in poverty. The prime minister’s office said the migrants had left Lebanon illegally, and that the navy was towing the boat shoreward. It did not say how many migrants were aboard but said some were children.