Human Tide: The Italian Coast Guard today was responding to distress calls from two boats loaded with as many as 450 people in the Mediterranean.

After the drowning of as many as 1,100 African migrants in just the past week, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is leading calls for action by the European Union to stop the flow of human smuggling out of Libya. Renzi described the trafficking of desperate immigrants fleeing Africa for Europe as “a plague in our continent.”

Last year about 170,000 migrants made it to Italy, but hundreds died on the way.

French President Francois Hollande called for “more boats, more over flights and a more intense battle against people trafficking.”

Terror Bust: Authorities in Minneapolis say they have arrested six people in connection with an investigation into volunteers travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State army. Arrests were made in Minneapolis and San Diego. No further details were released.

Bad Rap: FBI forensic experts who testified in criminal trials gave flawed and sometimes inflated testimony over a 20-year period, according to a study to be released today by The Innocence Project. Out of 28 examiners with the microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated the evidence in favor of the prosecution in 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed. Thirty-two of the defendants in those cases were sentenced to death and 14 have since been executed or died in prison.

The FBI issue a statement saying it is “committed to ensuring that affected defendants are notified of past errors and that justice is done in every instance.”

Jumpers: Another White House fence jumper was arrested last night. The Secret Service did not release the person’s identity. After several breaches in the past year or so, security officials are considering putting spikes on the top of the fence.

The Marathon: About 30,000 runners were entered to take part in the Boston Marathon today where security is tight. Tomorrow Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted of the 2013 Marathon bombing, enters the penalty phase of his trial in which a jury will decide whether he gets death or life in prison. Tsarnaev was tried in Federal Court, but the state of Massachusetts has no death penalty and the majority of residents are against it.

QB: The talented but unemployed quarterback Tim Tebow is expected to sign today with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to several news outlets. Tebow led Denver to the playoffs in 2011 but was dropped when they hired big gun Peyton Manning. Tebow played some for the Jets and was dropped by the Patriots before the 2013 season. He’s been sidelined since.

MegaDry: The California drought has scientists wondering whether the Southwest is entering a period of what is historically known as “mega drought.” Climate change aside, studies of tree rings and other indicators show that over the past 2,000 years the West has experienced droughts lasting 10 to 20 years. Two droughts lasted about 100 years each.

Most of these events happened when few humans were around to notice, but California now has 39 million residents and a water-intensive agricultural industry. Gov. Jerry Brown recently ordered a statewide cutback of water use by 25 percent. Heading into the summer, California’s biggest reservoir, Shasta Lake, is only at 60 percent capacity. Lake Mead, just east of Las Vegas, is at 39 percent.

The New Coke: Kraft Foods announced that it is removing the chemical preservatives and fake color from its ubiquitous macaroni and cheese. In a world that’s going gluten-free and pro-biotic, Kraft says it is trying to respond to customer demand for healthier and more natural food. Although, there’s nothing more unnatural than healthy macaroni and cheese.

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