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G7 leaders turn gaze to Africa, hold talks on migrant crisis, war on terror The Star, Kenya However, Italian proposals to highlight the positive impact of migration and to promote a major initiative on food security were both shot down in pre-summit talks, with the Trump administration unwilling to play up any benefits of human mobility, a ... Trump is expected to clash with other world leaders at the G-7 summitVICE News Trump foreign tour: G7 leaders turn attention to AfricaBBC News Trump refuses to commit to climate change agreement at G7 summitNewstalk 106-108 fm The Australian -Jordan Times -McClatchy Washington Bureau -BBC News all 2,062 news articles »

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(CNN) - World leaders at the G-7 summit on Friday will meet in Sicily -- a promised land for thousands of migrants making the desperate journey from North Africa to Europe.

This week, Italy received 4,513 migrants to the country. It was a 576% increase from the previous week, according to the International Organization for Migration. It could suggest that more migrants are attempting to cross the Mediterranean as the weather gets warmer -- a pattern seen in previous years.

So far this year, Italy has received about 90% of the approximately 60,000 migrants who arrived to Europe by sea, according to the UN High Commisioner for Refugees data, updated this week.

On Wednesday, a wooden boat carrying about 500 migrants was hit by a wave that caused passengers to rush to one side of the vessel, according to the Italian Coast Guard. This tipped about 200 people overboard into the Mediterranean. Thirty-four people died, said the Coast Guard.

Dramatic photos showed people in orange life vests bobbing in the water calling for help.

One man without a life jacket clung to the side of a boat as an Italian Coast Guard boat approached. "Come on, my friend!" one rescuer yelled at him. Rescuers reached out to him and pulled him to safety, as shown in a video released by the Italian Coast Guard. When the man was brought to safety, he sobbed uncontrollably as a rescuer embraced him.

Ships from the Italian Coast Guard, Great Britain, Spain and two NGOs -- Doctors Without Borders and MOAS -- worked to rescue about 1,800 migrants who were attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in four rubber boats and six wooden vessels.

Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) a private humanitarian organization, said that seven children died.

"There are no words for what is happening in the Central Mediterranean right now," said Christopher Catrambone, founder of MOAS, in a statement. "It is a horrifying tragedy that continues to unfold on Europe's doorstep."

"MOAS is doing everything it can but alternative solutions must be found by Europe's leaders if this continuing loss of life is to be mitigated," he said.

Other groups also called for the G-7 to commit to humane migration policies.

Several NGOs and UNICEF are urging leaders of the seven major economies to address the ongoing migrant crisis. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be in attendance in Taormina, Italy.

Dr. Joanne Liu, international president of Doctors Without Borders, also known as Mdecins Sans Frontires, or MSF, called the rising deaths at sea "as a humanitarian failure on their watch."

UNICEF estimates that at least 200 children have died trying to cross the Mediterranean into Italy this year.

"This is their [G7's] moment to show true leadership in adopting a concrete policy plan that will help keep refugee and migrant children safe," Justin Forsyth, UNICEF deputy executive director said in a statement.

In 2015, the number of migrants entering or attempting to enter Europe exploded in the largest migration since World War II. The unprecedented surge brought more than a million migrants and refugees into Europe that year.

In response, European countries began to curb their own refugee programs. Governments have sought to fortify their countries' borders with fences, walls and guards against future mass migrations.

A deadly record was set in 2016 as at least 3,800 migrants died in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, migration into Greece from Turkey largely stopped after a controversial EU-Turkey deal in 2016. Ankara agreed to take back all, new migrants who leave Turkey's shores for Europe including those intercepted in its territorial waters, on the condition that one legitimate Syrian refugee is resettled in Europe for every Syrian returned to Turkey.

After the deal went into effect, arrivals to Greece plummeted in 2016 while arrivals to Italy increased.

This year, Italy made a deal to bolster Libya's coast guard so it could spot departing migrant boats and also house migrants attempting to cross.

Doctors Without Borders has been critical of both the EU-Turkey and Italy-Libya deals, slamming them as "outsourcing migration management to -- often unsafe -- third countries."

Migrants arriving by sea this year has not been at the same level as that in 2015. Two years ago by May, 91,441 refugees and migrants had arrived to Europe by sea.

So far this year, 60,199 sea arrivals have been recorded, according to UNHCR data.

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Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and 'Carne y Arena' cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki attend a Cannes photocall.(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images)

CANNES, France One of the best things at this year'sCannes Film Festivalisn't a movie, at least in a traditional sense.

Carne y Arena("Flesh and Sand") is a groundbreaking virtual-reality exhibit that invites visitors to step into the shoes of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Created by Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu (The Revenant, Birdman), the seven-minute installation drops participantsinto the middle of a chilly desert at dusk, where a group of weary, multi-generational Hispanicfamilies are spotted by helicopters and caughtby U.S. Border Patrol agents.

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The simulation, which runs through Sunday at Cannes before opening in Los Angelesin July, is housed in an airplane hangar 15 minutes away from the festival center. Upon arrival, visitors are escorted one by one into an austere holding room, where the recovered shoes of actual migrants are strewn across the floor. There, theyare asked to remove their own shoes and socks before entering a giant square room filled with coarse, cold sand. Attendants then strap on VRheadsets and backpacks, which are attached to a wire hanging from the center of the room to ensure participantsdon't wander into a wall.

The story that unfolds is equal parts chilling and harrowing. Migrants shriek and scatteras vehicles with blinding headlights close in on them. Border agents armed with machine guns bark orders and force them on the ground, where a dehydrated old woman is cradled by a crying family member. Small children play with toys before they are thrown into a van, just as a teenage boy is pushed onto the hood of a car by a belligerent officer. As the sun rises on the barren desert the next morning, all that remains are their scattered shoes and belongings in billowing dust.

A visitor in a virtual-reality headset explores 'Carne y Arena' at Cannes Film Festival.(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

Part of what makes the immersive film so affecting to watch is thatIrritu asked undocumented immigrants not professional actors to recreate their actual experiences of trying to cross the border illegally. Real-world elements also add authenticity: Cold gusts of air hit visitors'cheeks as they trek barefoot through the gritty sand, with sounds of sirens and helicopters droning. The photorealistic avatars walk right alongside participants, and in one especially unsettling moment, a border agent yellsin their faces, demanding that they geton theirknees withhands up.

Carne y Arenaviscerally, and emotionally, puts a human face to the plight of illegal immigrants. But it isn't the only project at Cannes this year to spotlight migrant stories.

In her heartfelt documentarySea Sorrow, actress/activist Vanessa Redgravemakes an impassioned pleafor developed nations to open their borders to refugeesfrom war-torn Middle Eastern nations such as Syria and Afghanistan. Hungarian drama Jupiter's Moon is an unconventional superhero fable, about a Syrian refugee (Zsombor Jger) who discovers he can fly after getting shot crossing the Serbian-Hungarian border. Although met with boos at Cannes, the ambitious filmpoignantly illustrates how people fear and often violently react to those who are seen asdifferent.

Syrian refugee Aryan (Zsombor Jger) gets the power to levitate in the divisive 'Jupiter's Moon.'(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

Then there's the final scene of Michael Haneke's French-language dramaHappy End, in which the guilt-ridden Pierre Laurent (Franz Rogowski) bargesinto his mother, Anne's(Isabelle Huppert), bougie seaside weddingparty with a group of unassumingAfrican refugees.

Disgusted byhis family's prosperous construction firm, and condescending treatment of their Moroccan live-in servants, Pierre attempts to sharethe migrants' stories withthe stunned crowd, but is promptly punchedby his uncle Thomas (Mathieu Kassovitz)and dragged out of the room. Afterward, Anne apologizesfor her son's outburstand awkwardly arranges a table for the group of men to stay for lunch.

Cannes breakout 'Florida Project' shows darker side of Disney World

The scene is perhaps the only timein the movie which is competing for Cannes' prestigious Palme d'Or award on Sunday that the self-possessed Laurents are forced to look beyond their upper-class privilege towhat's going on right outside their mansion doors. At a news conference earlier this week, Haneke (the Oscar-winningAmour) expressed his distaste with such a narrow worldview.

"It's hard to talk about contemporary society without referring to how blind some people are to real life," Haneke said."There's a certain bitterness in (Happy End)about the way we liveand how we're so deeply involved in ourselves. That really annoys me. ... We have the impression that we're well-informed, but we really know nothing."

The well-to-do Laurent clan at the heart of Michael Haneke's 'Happy End' gets an unexpected dose of reality when a group of refugees turn up at a family gathering.(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

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Cannes: VR exhibit shines sympathetic light on illegal immigration - USA TODAY

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In a new report by Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), an organization that advocates for more legal immigration and defends illegal immigration, the group alleges that 15 percent of the 4 million illegal immigrants living in just seven southern U.S. states may be eligible for amnesty.

The amnesty for the 600,000 illegal immigrants, CLINIC says, is based on claims from the individuals that they came to the U.S. after facing persecution abroad or because they have family already living in the country.

A research who worked on the report for CLINIC told Reuters that President Donald Trumps administration should not be deporting illegal immigrants to begin with.

As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldnt deport first and then ask questions, University of California at San Diego researcher Tom Wong said.

Wong said the number of illegal immigrants who he believes could get amnesty may be higher, as only states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida were outlined in the study.

There are approximately 11-30 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., costing taxpayers an estimated $113 billion while also putting a strain on public hospitals, public housing, and public education systems.

Most recently, the open borders lobby has been pushing hard to end the Trump administrations enforcement of federal immigration law.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs pro-immigration group, FWD.us, recently stated that enforcing immigration law hurts public safety and demanded an end to deportations, as Breitbart Texas reported.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

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Open Borders Group: 600000 Illegal Aliens Could Receive Amnesty - Breitbart News

USA Today Network Tony Cook and Kaitlin L. Lange, The Indianapolis Star Published 6:39 p.m. ET May 26, 2017 | Updated 6:39 p.m. ET May 26, 2017

Remember that Mike Pence private email controversy? The vice president left behind about two dozen unfilled public records requests most of them for his emails when he left office as Indiana governor. Dwight Adams/IndyStar

Vice President-elect Mike Pence speaks to members of the media while meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016.(Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

INDIANAPOLIS Vice President Mike Pence left two-dozen records requests unfilled most of them for his emails when he left office as Indiana governor.

In all, there are more than 50 pending requests with the governor's office. Nearly half of those date to Pence's time in office. Some are more than 10 months old.

The requests represent an unprecedented backlog, fueled in large part by increased interest in Pence after he became President Trump's running mate last year.

But there is also another reason for the holdup: Pence still hasn't provided all of his emails from private accounts that he used to conduct state business.

Moreover, those Pence has provided to the state were in paper form, making them difficult to search in response to public records requests.

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"We dont have all the responsive records," said Stephanie Wilson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Eric Holcomb, who succeeded Pence in January. "Weve requested all state-related records digitally and theyve indicated they would do that."

Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Pence, released a brief statement Friday: "Documents relating to Governor Pence's official service to Indiana are being preserved by the state in full compliance with the law."

Holcomb's office released the outstanding record requests Friday morning in response to inquiries from The Indianapolis Starand other media outlets.

The requests seek emails on a variety of topics, including Indiana's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the HIV outbreak in Scott County and lead contamination in East Chicago.

Pence's emails became a subject of controversy when the Stardisclosed in March that he had used a personal AOL account to conduct state business, sometimes discussing sensitive security issues. The issue drew comparisons with Democrat Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account and server while secretary of State.

Pence's office dismissed any comparison as "absurd."

Vice President Mike Pence's first 100 days in the Trump Administration have been filled with one major success, one big failure and many trips to Capitol Hill and abroad pursuing the president's agenda. Here's a look at his tenure so far. Wochit

Cyber-security experts said Pence's use of a personal account raised concerns about whether sensitive information was adequately protected from hackers, given that personal accounts like Pence's are typically less secure than government email accounts.

In fact, Pence's personal account was actually hacked last summer.

The personal account also garnered criticism from advocates for open government because personal emails aren't immediately captured on state servers that are searched in response to public records requests.

Attorneys for Pence turned over 13 boxes of emails to the state on the same day the Starsstory broke.

His spokesman, Marc Lotter, said at the time additional emails from Pence's AOL account would also be provided to the state pending a legal review by Pence's attorneys, but so far none have been.

The review is being handled by Barnes and Thornburg, an Indianapolis law firm led by one of Trump's top campaign fundraisers, Bob Grand.

Grand did not immediately return a message from the Staron Friday.

Indiana law requires public agencies to fulfill or reject record requests within a "reasonable time," but that phrase is not defined.

Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said Friday a number of factors, including the size of the request and the staffing level of the agency, determine what constitutes a reasonable time.

Gerry Lanosga, an Indiana University professor and past president of Indiana Coalition for Open Government, said the delays in releasing Pence's emails are troubling.

"Thats a big-time lag and thats not a reasonable time for records request to be fulfilled," he said. I think its pretty clear that there is some foot-dragging going on here."

Follow Tony Cook on Twitter: @indystartony

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