boat

Feb. 9 (UPI) — A rubber boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea last week after taking on water, leaving 53 people migrating from North Africa presumed dead, a United Nations-affiliated migration organization said Monday.

The boat capsized off the coast of Libya, north of the city Zuwara, on Friday while traveling along a migration route through the Central Mediterranean that has potentially claimed the lives of nearly 500 people since Jan. 1.

In coordination with Libyan authorities, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it provided emergency medical care to two Nigerian women who were the only survivors of the when the vessel flipped — one who reported losing her husband and the other losing her two babies.

“In January alone, at least 375 migrants were reported or missing following multiple ‘invisible’ shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean amid extreme weather, with hundreds more deaths believed to be unrecorded,” IOM said in a press release.

“These repeated incidents underscore the persistent and deadly risks faced by migrants and refugees attempting the dangerous crossing,” the organization said.

The boat that capsized Friday left Al-Zawiya, Libya, around 11 p.m. local time on Jan. 5 heading north but started to take on water and, six hours into the journey, the rubber craft capsized, the survivors told IOM officials.

Libya has over the past decade and a half been used as a stopgap for migrants to leave African nations for Europe, though the United Nations has reported torture, forced labor and extortion, among other abuses, by trafficking and smuggling networks offering opportunities to travel.

From Libya, migrants can reach Italy, which is less than 200 miles away across the Mediterranean. Other paths through the sea, which have been no less deadly, include those between Turkey and Greece and Morocco and Spain.

IOM’s director general, Amy Pope, met with leaders in Libya in December to discuss efforts to combat trafficking through the Central Mediterranean, as well as to enhance safe and voluntary return and migration methods.

“Every life lost on this route is a tragedy — one that we can prevent,” she said after the mid-December visit. “Saving lives requires shared responsibility and real cooperation.”

Since 2014, IOM reports that nearly 34,000 people are believed to be dead or missing while attempting to migrate to Europe from the northern coast of Africa.

FAR away from the Venice of Europe, is the ‘Venice of the desert’ with highs of 25C in February.

The Pearl Doha in Qatar is an artificial island that boasts homes, tourist spots and sandy beaches.

Construction started way back in 2004, with the first residents being welcomed in 2009 and today, the island features a variety of different neighbourhoods, each with their own identity.

The island, which has just under 20 miles of coastline. features 10 districts including the Qanat Quartier, which is often dubbed as the ‘Venice of the desert’ thanks to its canals and pastel-coloured buildings.

Visitors can head on boat rides to discover the pretty canals and a number of arched bridges, like the replica of the Rialto Bridge.

Another tourist-favourite is the Piano Stairs, where you can jump on different stairs to make musical notes.

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Or for some proper fun and games head to Megapolis, where you will find virtual reality games, karaoke, bowling and racing simulators.

One recent visitor said: “Qanat Quartier is one of the most beautiful and unique places I’ve visited in Qatar.

“The colorful buildings, quiet canals, and charming bridges give you the feeling of walking through a mini Venice right in the heart of Doha.

“The area is peaceful and perfect for a relaxing walk, especially in the evening when the lights reflect on the water.”

equally popular is the Abraj Quartier, which is known as the gateway to The Pearl Island.

This neighbourhood is home to two towers offering panoramic sea views.

In the Porto Arabia neighbourhood, there is an open-air shopping area that has a French Riviera lifestyle feel.

The shopping area also overlooks Qatar‘s largest and award-winning marina, which is the ideal place to catch a glimpse of the many luxury yachts moored up.

Along the colourful waterfront, known as La Croisette (just like in Cannes), there is a two-mile promenade where more shops and restaurants can be found.

It is also in Porto Arabia where you will find the Four Seasons Resort and Residences.

The resort features a spa, private beach, two outdoor infinity pools, an indoor lap pool and a kid’s area.

There are plenty of beaches to chose from on The Pearl, with one popular option being Bahriya Beach.

One recent visitor said: “[It] has pristine sandy shores, perfect for lounging and swimming.

“A must visit when in Qatar.”

Another visitor added: “Soft sand that is raked every day to make sure it is well kept and flat.

“The water is also Lovely and no jet ski’s or boat allowed close by so very safe for swimmers and children.

“Great for paddle boarding or canoeing.”

On the beach is also Plt Cafe, where you can grab a flat white for 21 Qatari Riyal (£4.23).

The cafe also serves an array of sandwiches for around 30 Qatari Riyal (£6.04).

The cafe is noted by visitors as having a “wonderful atmosphere” perfect for “short, cosy visits” with views across the beach.

Right next to The Pearl, is Gewan Island, where visitors can explore the Crystal Walk, which is Qatar’s longest climatised outdoor walkway with a temperature of around 22C year-round.

As you walk along the 450-metre walkway, 45 crystal structures light-up.

When you are out and about looking for a bite to eat, you can expect to pay around 300 Qatari Riyal (£60.36) for a mid-range three-course meal for two.

You may have to stick to soft drinks though, as alcohol is only allowed for non-Muslims at licensed hotel bars and restaurants.

Hotel prices vary in Doha depending on the area of the city you stay but, for example, you can find a Premier Inn for £31 a night or stay at the five-star Andaz Doha by Hyatt for £66 a night.

Return flights from London to Doha in April cost from £468, alternatively you could fly from Birmingham from £531, Edinburgh from £608 or Manchester from £615.

If you want to head to the real Venice in Italy, one reporter who recently visited said that the Italian city is better in winter with wine bar tours and Miami-like hotels.

Plus, there is an unusual UK attraction people say is like being in Venice following £19million transformation.

Greece’s coastguard says 26 other people have been rescued from Aegean Sea as search-and-rescue operations continue.

A boat carrying migrants and asylum seekers has collided with a Greek coastguard vessel in the Aegean Sea near the island of Chios, killing at least 14 people, the coastguard says.

The incident occurred around 9pm local time on Tuesday (19:00 GMT) off the coast of Chios’s Mersinidi area, Greece’s Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) reported.

The coastguard said 26 people were rescued and brought to a hospital in Chios, including 24 migrants and two coastguard officers.

It said it was not immediately clear how many others had been on the speedboat.

Seven children and a pregnant woman were among the injured, Greek media reported.

A search-and-rescue operation involving patrol boats, a helicopter and divers was under way in the area, AMNA said.

Footage shared by Greece’s Ta Nea newspaper appeared to show at least one person being brought from a boat docked next to a jetty into a vehicle with blue flashing lights.

An unnamed coastguard official told the Reuters news agency that the collision occurred after the migrant boat “manoeuvred toward” a coastguard vessel that had instructed it to turn back.

Greece has long been a key transit point for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa ‌and Asia trying to reach Europe.

In 2015 and 2016, Greece was on the front line of a migration crisis, with nearly one million people landing on its islands, including in Chios, from nearby Turkiye.

But arrivals have dropped in recent years as Greece ‌has toughened its asylum seeker and migrant policies, including by tightening border controls and sea ‌patrols.

The country has come under scrutiny for its ⁠treatment of migrants and asylum seekers approaching by sea, including after a shipwreck in 2023 in which hundreds of migrants and refugees died after what witnesses said was the coastguard’s attempt to tow their trawler.

The European Union’s border ‌agency said last year that it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece, including some allegations that people seeking asylum were pushed back from Greece’s ‍frontiers.

Greece has denied carrying out human rights violations or pushing asylum seekers from its shores.

WASHINGTON — Families of two Trinidadian nationals killed in a Trump administration boat strike last October sued the federal government on Tuesday, calling the attack a war crime and part of an “unprecedented and manifestly unlawful U.S. military campaign.”

The lawsuit is thought to be the first wrongful death case arising from the three dozen strikes that the administration has launched since September on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The complaint will test the legal justification of the Trump administration attacks; government officials have defended them as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the United States but many legal experts say they amount to a brazen violation of the laws of armed conflict.

The complaint echoes many of the frequently articulated concerns about the boat strikes, noting for instance that they have been carried out without congressional authorization and at a time when there is no military conflict between the United States and drug cartels that under the laws of war could justify the lethal attacks.

“These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification. Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command,” the lawsuit says.

The Defense Department said in an email that it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit was filed by the mother of Chad Joseph and the sister of Rishi Samaroo, two Trinidadian nationals who were among six people killed in an October 14 missile strike on a boat traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad. The men were not members of any drug cartel, the lawsuit says, but had instead been fishing in the waters off the Venezuelan coast and were returning to their homes in Trinidad and Tobago.

The two had caught a ride home to Las Cuervas, a fishing community where they were from, on a small boat targeted in a strike announced on Truth Social by President Trump. All six people aboard the boat were killed.

“These killings were wrongful because they took place outside of armed conflict and in circumstances in which Mr. Joseph and Mr. Samaroo were not engaged in activities that presented a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury, and where there were means other than lethal force that could have reasonably been employed to neutralize any such threat,” the lawsuit says.

The death toll from the boat strikes is now up to at least 126 people, with the inclusion of those presumed dead after being lost at sea, the U.S. military confirmed Monday. The figure includes 116 people who were killed immediately in at least 36 attacks carried out since early September, with 10 others believed dead because searchers did not locate them following a strike.

The lawsuit is the first to challenge the legality of the boat strikes in court, according to Jen Nessel, a spokesperson for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts on behalf of the families, along with the ACLU and others.

Nessel said in an email that the center also has a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the release of the legal justification for the strikes.

Tucker and Finley write for the Associated Press.