boat

Some of 16 survivors treated for suspected shark bites, US coastguard says.

The search continues for 11 people still missing after a boat capsized off Mexico’s Baja California coast on Friday, as multiple survivors have been treated for suspected shark bites, according to the US coastguard.

“Several of the individuals rescued were suffering from severe injuries consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid while en route [to] San Diego,” the coastguard said in a statement on Saturday.

Sixteen Mexican nationals were rescued on Friday. Survivors told officials there were 27 people on board.

The coastguard and US Navy used multiple aircraft and boats, along with assistance from the Mexican Navy, to search the area for the remaining passengers. An additional helicopter will be deployed later on Saturday, according to the coastguard.

A Mayday call was transmitted from someone on the boat at about 1am on Friday, coastguard Lieutenant Santiago Tamburini said on the day.

A rescue helicopter reached the site about two hours later. It took about 90 minutes for the crew, which included a rescue swimmer, to pull the 16 people from the water, he added.

The boat went down about 225km (140 miles) west of Ensenada, Mexico, an area popular with fishing and leisure boats, but that is also frequented by smugglers.

Although the incident did not happen in US waters, coastguard official Charlie Valor said on Saturday they “were able to help, and that’s why we launched our assets”.

Fatal attempts to transport refugees and migrants from Mexico to the US have occurred in the past.

In May 2025, at least three people died when a boat flipped off the coast about 56km (35 miles) north of the US-Mexico border.

In 2023, eight people were killed in one of the deadliest maritime smuggling accidents off the US coast, when two boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog, and one capsized in the surf.

At least 11 people believed to still be missing, with rescue operations underway.

The US coastguard has said it rescued 16 people from the Pacific Ocean after a boat sank off Mexico’s Baja coast.

The coastguard said on Friday it responded to a Mayday call reporting that a boat was sinking. The search is ongoing for 11 people believed to be still missing.

The boat went down about 225km (140 miles) west of Ensenada, Mexico.

A rescue helicopter reached the site about two hours after someone on the boat transmitted the Mayday call at about 1am (08:00 GMT) on Friday, said coastguard Lieutenant Santiago Tamburini.

It took about 90 minutes for the coastguard crew, which included a rescue swimmer, to pull the 16 people from the water, Tamburini said.

The people rescued were Mexican nationals, according to the Mexican consulate.

One survivor was being treated for a suspected shark bite and two were in critical condition, authorities said.

The rescued were flown by helicopter to San Diego, California, and transported to hospitals. The Mexican consulate in San Diego said it offered consular assistance.

The coastguard and US Navy are continuing to search the area with two helicopters, a fixed-wing plane, a cutter and a navy combat ship.

The boat sank in an area frequented by smugglers transporting migrants to the US. It is also popular with fishing and leisure boats.

Details about the boat’s origin, destination and what it was doing are not clear. No vessel, only debris, was found, and it was unclear what type of boat was involved, the coastguard said.

“Boats in that area can be for fishing, leisure, personal recreation. We just don’t know what they were doing out there. We all know it’s a suspected smuggling route,” Tamburini said.

At least 109 migrants including 15 children have died and dozens more are still missing after a boat sank off the coast of Djibouti, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

The boat was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen with 350 people on board, when it capsized near the port town of Obock on Thursday night. Around 80 people were rescued, the IOM said.

IOM’s Djibouti mission chief Alexandre Coissac called the tragedy a “stark reminder” of the dangers migrants face while seeking a new life elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa make the perilous journey each year hoping to reach Gulf countries for safety and work, according to the UN agency.

In a statement on Friday, the organisation said 52 men, 42 women, nine girls and six boys were among the bodies recovered.

“This is a devastating loss of life,” Coissac said.

“Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or remain without news of their relatives,” he added.

Local authorities are also arranging burials for those who have died, while the survivors – all Ethiopian nationals – have medical care readily available to them.

Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war which has lasted more than a decade. Despite this conflict – and growing instability across the wider region – migrants still cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen driven by poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change.

Since 10 September, the IOM said its Displacement Tracking Matrix has observed more than 20,000 “movements” from Ethiopia to Djibouti.

Midcentury pop culture expert Charles Phoenix thinks Long Beach gets a bad rap.

“It is very underrated in the grand scheme of all of Southern California, but there is a lot to see and do there,” says the Ontario native, who uses the word “time-honored” repeatedly when describing his favorite attractions in the seaside community. “I often refer to it — under my breath — as the New Jersey of Los Angeles. It doesn’t get much respect, yet it’s loaded with attractions.”

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

When he isn’t gushing over Long Beach, the humorist and author hosts nostalgic slideshows and double-decker open-air bus tours of Midcentury architecture during Modernism Week in Palm Springs. His next event, “LosAngelesland,” is a lively retro slideshow featuring vintage Kodachrome slides taken by Los Angeles locals and tourists in the 1950s and ’60s. The show is scheduled for Oct. 17 during Modernism Week’s October festival in Palm Springs and a Halloween-themed version on Oct. 24 at the Anaheim Fall Festival. Phoenix will also present “Disneyland: Live Retro Slide Show Celebrating the Original Magic Kingdom in the 1950s & ’60s!” at the Hilbert Museum in Orange on Oct. 18.

Phoenix lives in a Midcentury Modern home in Claremont, but he’s always happy to spend a day in Long Beach. His ideal Sunday includes eating clam chowder-topped biscuits at a floating restaurant, shopping for vintage treasures along 4th Street Retro Row, cruising around Naples in an electric Duffy boat and ending the day at a classic diner from 1939.

“There’s more to do in Long Beach,” he says. “I could keep going, but there’s only so much space in this column.”

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

8 a.m.: Wake up early and say thanks

When I wake up, I usually have nonfat yogurt, chopped walnuts and one or two types of fresh fruit. Then I walk through my house, and whatever room I walk in first — either the living room or the den and say, “I love you, house.” Those are the first words I speak out loud.

10 a.m.: Drive to the coast for lunch on a floating restaurant

We’re going to start at the only floating restaurant I know of in the Western United States, the Chowder Barge. It stands out on its own, although it’s a bit tricky to find, so it’s a good thing we have GPS or we might never get there. It’s a little bit tiki, a little bit pirate and a little bit seafarer. There’s always an old wizard-like man sitting in the corner with a long beard that reaches the floor. When you’re on the barge and a boat passes by, you can feel it. The best thing there is their fried clams and clam chowder, which you can eat in a bowl or use the chowder as gravy. For breakfast, you could have biscuits topped with clam chowder instead of gravy. It’s the best clam chowder ever. If you want fried clams on top of the biscuits, that’s incredibly delicious. They also have an open-faced hamburger covered with clam chowder and fried clams or just clam chowder.

The place has a deep soul, and everything there is unique and time-honored.

1 p.m.: Go vintage shopping on Retro Row

Next I would go shopping on 4th Street, a.k.a. Retro Row, which is absolutely, in no uncertain terms, the best vintage shopping street in the Western United States — probably the Eastern and Midwestern as well. There are three stores there that I concentrate heavily on. The first is Sneaky Tiki Boutique, which is the destination of all destinations for what I wear all spring and summer and fall — vintage Hawaiian shirts from the ’50s and ’60s. They’re not Hawaiian shirts unless they’re made in Hawaii. Nobody has a better supply than Sneaky Tiki. I mean nobody.

A couple of doors down is another world-class vintage store, Meow. Meow is an institution in the world of vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. And it’s absolutely a spectacular themed environmental extravaganza, as is Sneaky Tiki. There are all kinds of vintage in there. So it is a feast for the senses and your wardrobe and accessory needs.

And then for your Midcentury home decor needs, there’s Xcape Modern. They’ve been there for probably 30 years, and it’s a little mumbo jumbo as far as the way it’s all laid out. It’s a little messy, but they have incredible Midcentury furniture and home decor, including patio items. It’s a spectacular, well-curated collection.

3 p.m.: Explore Rancho Los Alamitos

After that, I’d take a quick late-afternoon scamper around Rancho Los Alamitos. It’s really special, and it’s free, F-R-E-E, free. It’s this gorgeous, time-honored place; basically, you’re walking back into time. The family started building it in 1790 and finished in 1834. I love to look around and walk through the layers of time. The house is beautiful. The barn is beautiful. There are animals there too. It reminds me a little bit of old-timey Knott’s Berry Berry Farm. Chickens walk around, and it just has, again, this deep soul, layers of time, mature garden. And it’s impeccably kept, impeccably groomed. You can spend 20 minutes walking around there or you could spend four hours. And of course, the garden is absolutely out of this world.

It’s its own little world. It doesn’t know the rest of the world exists, which is the kind of place that I really, really love — a place that’s true to itself, time-honored and lost in its own wonderland. You know, it’s just so special to be able to escape to such a rarefied environment.

5 p.m.: Go for a ride on a Duffy Boat in Naples

From there, get ready for my favorite thing to do in Southern California: taking a Duffy Boat ride around Naples. I always rent from Anchors Away. The boats remind me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. Most are white and blue, but a couple of years ago, around the time of the Barbie movie, they added some bright pink ones. You can pay a little extra for the pink boats, but the blue and white ones are just as fun. The boats seat about eight to 10 people, and you rent them for two hours and just cruise around. The canals are much bigger than those in Venice. They give you a map and two hours to enjoy the water. I usually drive the boat while my friends bring drinks, cookies, snacks and whatever they want to drink. I had no experience before my first time, but it’s easy and relaxing. It’s never crowded, the homes are beautiful, and of course, I always wear a captain’s hat.

8 p.m.: Late–night snack at a 1939 diner

After that, even if we’ve already had plenty to eat and drink, we usually end up at one of my favorite diners, Harbor House Cafe, on Pacific Coast Highway in Sunset Beach. It’s been open since 1939. So we drive a couple of miles down PCH, pile into the Harbor House and finish the day with whatever we want — dessert, more dessert, onion rings or a milkshake. It’s our spot to unwind. The onion rings are especially good. It’s an easy, time-honored place, just like everywhere I love to go. I like to soak in the history. After we leave, everyone heads home, and I drive back up the 605 Freeway to Claremont.

The latest attack brings the death toll from US military boat strikes to at least 235 from 70 maritime strikes across the region.

The United States has conducted another strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing four, according to the US military.

US Southern Command said late Sunday that it struck alleged drug traffickers operating along “established narco-trafficking routes” in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, following its standard reporting pattern for military operations of suspected cartels across the multinational maritime zones.

The latest attack brings the death toll from US military boat strikes to at least 235 deaths across 70 attacks, since the administration of US President Donald Trump first launched its counter-narcoterrorism campaign, termed Operation Southern Spear, in September of last year.

At the time, Trump characterised the fight against cartels in Latin America as an active “armed conflict” while defending the strikes as a necessary escalation to curb illicit drug trafficking and reduce fatal US overdoses.

The move comes as United Nations experts warn that the strikes violate international law and could amount to crimes against humanity.

Despite releasing footage on X showing the explosion that destroyed the moving vessel, the US military has offered no evidence that the targeted boat was ferrying drugs.

The Trump administration has been actively seeking regional security agreements across Latin America to expand joint military operations against what it has designated as criminal cartels.  The deals come under the US-led Shield of the Americas coalition, launched in March. The president has pledged the undertaking will use “unmatched military might” to dismantle drug cartels while simultaneously countering Chinese economic influence in the Western Hemisphere.

During a visit to Panama in August, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to joint counter-crime military operations on their soil, a statement Guatemala quickly disputed to clarify its sovereignty and boundaries within the 19-member alliance.