Mediterranean Sea In Malta

Critics brand the Commonwealth ineffectual, but its incoming chief believes the 53-country organisation can use its strength to achieve miracles -- such as eradicating domestic violence.

More than 700 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East may have drowned in the latest shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, bringing the death toll this year to almost 3,000, the International Organisation for Migration said on Monday.

Critics brand the Commonwealth ineffectual, but its incoming chief believes the 53-country organisation can use its strength to achieve miracles -- such as eradicating domestic violence.

More than 700 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East may have drowned in the latest shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, bringing the death toll this year to almost 3,000, the International Organisation for Migration said on Monday.