Tag Archives: Mediterranean

At least seven migrants drowned after a boat carrying them capsized five miles off the Italian island of Lampedusa early on Wednesday, ANSA news agency reported. Another nine were still missing – but 46 people were rescued and were being brought to the Mediterranean island, the agency added. Hundreds of …

Two passengers on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean have tested positive for Covid-19. The pair were traveling on the MSC Seaside cruise ship and disembarked with their families in Syracuse, Sicily, on Tuesday, MSC said on Wednesday. The two passengers were asymptomatic. The cruise had previously docked in Malta …

Malta registered no new COVID-19 cases for the first time in 11 months on Monday, but the Mediterranean island’s health minister urged people to remain careful to prevent any resurgence. “Today is the first day with zero cases since last summer,” minister Chris Fearne wrote on Twitter. “It is essential …

At least 57 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunis as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy and 33 were rescued, humanitarian organization Tunisian Red Crescent said on Tuesday. In recent weeks, drowning incidents have occurred off the Tunisian coast, with an increase in the frequency …

Seven boats packed with hundreds of migrants arrived on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday, and officials said more people were expected as the weather improved. More than 1,000 people got off the vessels at Lampedusa, one of the main landing points for people trying to get across …

High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on Sunday urged Turkey to immediately end renewed drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. “I call on the Turkish authorities to end these activities immediately and to engage fully and in good faith in a …

The French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces off the southern island of Crete on Thursday, defence sources said, as tension persisted with Turkey over disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Thursday’s exercise was the first manifestation of French President Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to temporarily reinforce his country’s presence …

France will increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, calling on Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters that has heightened tensions with Greece. The French leader voiced concern over “unilateral” exploration by Turkey in a call with Greek Prime …

Egypt and Greece on Thursday signed a maritime deal that sets the sea boundary between the two countries and demarcates an exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling rights. The deal is a response to a similar agreement between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based government last year that has spiked …

France’s president on Thursday said it would be a serious error by the European Union to not respond to provocations in the Eastern Mediterranean and said he wanted more sanctions on those who violated Greek and Cypriot maritime space. Emmanuel Macron’s comments come after Turkey’s navy on Tuesday issued an …

Turkey on Wednesday rejected claims by Greece that its oil-and-gas research vessels were encroaching on Greek waters in the eastern Mediterranean and said it would continue to defend its legitimate rights and interests in the region. A Foreign Ministry statement, however, also renewed a call by Ankara for dialogue to …

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence has announced that large-scale naval exercises off the Libyan coast will take place soon. According to the official statement, the expected maneuvers will be called “Naftex”, adding that the maritime exercises will take place off the Libyan coast in three different regions: Barbaros, Turgutreis, …

Italy has authorised charity vessel Ocean Viking to disembark 180 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean in Sicily, ship operator SOS Mediterranee said on Sunday. “We have received instructions from the Italian maritime authorities to disembark those on board in Porto Empedocle,” a spokesman for the charity told AFP, which has …

France is temporarily pulling out of a NATO naval operation in the Mediterranean, in a move that indicates there was not enough support from the alliance following an aggressive encounter with Turkish ships last month. French Ambassador to NATO Muriel Domenach sent a letter on Tuesday to NATO Secretary-General Jens …

More than 400 migrants are living aboard pleasure cruise vessels bobbing in the sea off Malta, many of them for weeks now. But for them, it’s no pleasure, only uncertainty over their fate and they aren’t cruising anywhere. Rescued from human traffickers’ unseaworthy boats in several operations in the central …

Turkey has become a primary destination for plastic waste from richer European countries after the garbage was rejected by China and India. An environmental and health crisis is now in the making in Turkey, locals say. In 2018, China banned the import of plastic waste, citing the environmental damage the …

France has sent warships to the eastern Mediterranean to lend support to Greece against Turkey’s quest for energy reserves in the region, according to the Middle East Monitor news website. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was on a visit to the French capital of Paris to gather support, has …

Four refugees have died and up to 16 more are missing after trying to cross into Europe from North Africa on a small raft, Spain’s coastguard says. Rescuers saved 58 people from the raft, which was found drifting around 37 miles off the coast of Morocco on Tuesday night. Three …

About 40 people are feared dead or missing after the latest wreck of a boat carrying migrants bound for Europe off the coast of Libya, while about 60 people may have been rescued, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday. “Terrible news coming in of potentially large loss of life …

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday he was working to prevent two rescue ships operated by French and Spanish charities from bringing more than 500 migrants to Italy in the latest Mediterranean stand-off. The Ocean Viking, which is run by French non-governmental groups (NGOs) Doctors Without Borders and …