Canadian-led team finds ship that polar explorer Shackleton died on
Ottawa, Canada Reuters A team of divers in Atlantic Canada has found the Quest, the ship on which renowned polar explorer Ernest Shackleton died in 1922, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society said on Wednesday. In a statement, it said the Quest, a schooner-rigged vessel, lay at a depth of 390 metres off the coast of […]
A year after Greece migrant boat tragedy, answers and justice still out of reach
Athens, Greece/Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Egyptian electrician Mahmoud Shalabi was the only person from his hometown to survive when a fishing trawler crammed with migrants capsized off Greece a year ago, killing hundreds in one of the deadliest recorded boat disasters in the Mediterranean. Sixteen friends from Shalabi’s neighbourhood outside Cairo were never found. Today, their […]
Three castaways rescued after a week on remote Pacific islet, US Coast Guard says
Reuters Three castaways stranded for a week on a desert island in the western Pacific Ocean were rescued after a US Navy aircraft searching for them spotted palm fronds that the trio used to spell out the word “H-E-L-P” on a sandy beach. The US Coast Guard’s logo is seen on an helicopter on the […]
Wreck of ancient Roman cargo ship found off the coast near Rome
Rome, Italy Reuters The wreck of an ancient Roman cargo ship from more than 2,000 years ago has been found off the coast near Rome, the arts squad of Italy’s Carabinieri police said on Friday. A view of amphorae found by Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in a wreck of an ancient […]
EU probes border agency’s rescue role after migrant shipwreck killed hundreds
Brussels, Belgium Reuters The EU rights watchdog on Wednesday announced a probe into Europe’s deadliest shipwreck in years and whether the bloc’s Frontex border agency fulfilled its rescue duties when the boat sank off Greece last month killing hundreds of migrants. An undated handout photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows migrants onboard a […]
UN human rights chief urges clamp-down on people smugglers after shipwreck
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Friday for countries to clamp down on people smugglers and human traffickers after at least 78 migrants were killed in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Witness accounts suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed a fishing boat that capsized […]
Greece scours shipwreck site; hundreds feared drowned in boat’s hold
Kalamata, Greece Reuters Rescuers scoured the seas off Greece on Thursday following a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned inside the crowded vessel’s hold. Reports suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed the fishing boat that capsized […]
Stop human traffickers, Pope Francis says after Italy’s migrant shipwreck
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis on Sunday called on authorities to stop human traffickers operating in the Mediterranean, as he expressed his sorrow over last week’s migrant boat disaster off Italy’s Calabrian coast, in which dozens of people were killed. “I renew my appeal to prevent such tragedies from happening again. May traffickers of human […]
Archaeologists find well-preserved 500-year-old spices on Baltic shipwreck
Lund, Sweden Reuters Archaeologists say they have uncovered a “unique” cache of well-preserved spices, from strands of saffron to peppercorns and ginger, on the wreck of a royal ship that sunk off Sweden’s Baltic coast more than 500 years ago. The wreck of the Gribshund, owned by King Hans of Denmark and Norway, has lain […]
Italy’s Meloni urges EU to do more to halt people smuggling after tragedy
Crotone, Italy Reuters Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday called on fellow European Union leaders to do more to halt illegal immigration and prevent further tragedies at sea, after dozens of people were killed in a shipwreck off Italy. Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition, said criminal gangs and people traffickers should not be […]