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.
The Netherlands’ gold medalist Jutta Keerdam (C) takes a selfie with teammate Femke Kok (L) and Miho Takagi of Japan after winning the women’s speed skating 1000 meter final during the 2026 Winter Olympics on February 9, 2026. Kok took silver while Takagi took Bronze. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo
The body of Lil Jon’s son Nathan Smith, who performed as DJ Young Slade and went missing Tuesday night, was recovered Friday from a pond near his home in Milton, Ga., according to local police. The rapper’s son was 27.
“I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother [Nicole Smith] and I are devastated,” Lil Jon and his ex-wife wrote Friday on social media.
“Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet. He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted — he loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest.”
They said their son was “amazingly talented” as a music producer, artist and engineer. Nathan Smith was a graduate of New York University, his parents said.
Nathan Smith, a.k.a. DJ Young Slade, performs with his father, Lil Jon, at the Hollywood Palladium in March 2014.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images )
“We loved Nathan with all of our hearts and are incredibly proud of him. He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together we’re comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him,” the parents concluded before thanking the many local authorities and rescuers who helped search for their son.
The Milton Police Department said Tuesday on social media that Nathan Smith hadn’t been seen since he “ran out of his house” at 6 a.m. that day.
“Subject left on foot and does not possess a phone. He may be disoriented and in need of assistance,” the statement said. “Family and friends are concerned for his safety.”
On Friday, Milton police said in a statement that teams had expanded the search to include the pond in a nearby park after failing to find Smith elsewhere. Divers with the Cherokee County Fire Department recovered a body from the water shortly before noon local time Friday, the statement said.
“The individual is believed to be Nathan Smith, pending official confirmation by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office,” police wrote, adding there was no indication of foul play. However, the official cause and manner of death were still to be determined.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Smith family during this difficult time. The department respectfully asks the community and members of the media to honor the family’s request for privacy as they grieve and navigate this tragedy,” the statement concluded.
Lil Jon and Nicole Smith expressed gratitude in their post confirming their son’s death. The two married in 2004 after welcoming Nathan in 1998 but split up amicably in 2022.
“Thank you for all of the prayers and support in trying to locate him over the last several days,” they wrote Friday.
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
Movies that had limited awards releases last year are seeing their full-fledged openings this week. Top among them is “Pillion,” the debut from British writer-director Harry Lighton, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling as two men who become engaged in a dominant-submissive relationship.
Alexander Skarsgård, left, and Harry Melling in the movie “Pillion.”
(A24)
In her review, Amy Nicholson writes of the film, “This fetishy adventure is a minimalist romantic comedy in which submissive meets dominant, and submissive explores his physical and emotional vulnerabilities. Marriage and a baby carriage are off the table; the journey matters, not the destination. … Lighton’s biker BDSM rom-com might sound niche, but free yourself to see it and you’ll discover it’s a universal romance.”
Emily Zemler asked Skarsgård about what has been guiding his decisions lately when choosing roles. As he said, “People think there’s this invisible ladder and you have to get to the next rung of the ladder. It’s easy to forget to check in with yourself and ask, ‘Well, what do I want to do?’ You can get swept away. I’m trying to get down the ladder to the ground.”
For most of the month of February, the New Beverly will refashion itself into the Eros, the adult movie theater it was called throughout much of the 1970s. (There’s even a commemorative T-shirt.) Married film dudes throughout the city are presumably coming up with inventive rationales and/or excuses as to why they simply must attend some of these screenings.
The programming leans into what was referred to in The Times as “porn chic” — movies that were meant to work as cinema, even appealing to couples, while also fulfilling the needs of the raincoat crowd. This Friday and Saturday will be a double bill of Just Jaeckin’s 1974 “Emmanuelle,” starring Sylvia Kristel, and Bitto Albertini’s 1975 “Black Emmanuelle,” starring Laura Gemser.
When The Times’ Charles Champlin reviewed “Emmanuelle” after it opened in 1975 at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, he noted, “It may be the first porno film designed for people who don’t really want to see one.”
Other notable titles during the New Bev’s Eros month include “The Opening of Misty Beethoven,” directed by Radley Metzger under the pseudonym Henry Paris, Russ Meyer’s “Vixen” (with star Erica Gavin in-person), Ingmar Bergman’s “Summer With Monica,” Roger Vadim’s “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” “The Fireworks Woman,” directed by Wes Craven (credited as Abe Snake), Nagisa Oshima’s “In the Realm of the Senses” and Gerard Damiano’s “Deep Throat.”
Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” will be playing on Fridays at midnight, which includes a knowing line about the Eros when Margot Robbie asks, “What’s happening at the dirty movie place?”
A 1976 article in The Times by Barry Siegel states that there were then 47 adult theaters operating within the city limits of Los Angeles, even while charting the rapid rise and quick decline of porn-chic movies in the wake of the success of “Deep Throat” in 1972.
‘sex, lies and videotape’ with starLaura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo in the movie “sex, lies and videotape.”
(Criterion Collection)
The Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. continues its 50th anniversary series at the Egyptian Theatre on Tuesday with a screening of Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 debut feature “sex, lies and videotape,” a key title in kicking off the independent filmmaking scene of the 1990s. Actor Laura San Giacomo, who won LAFCA’s New Generation Award for her performance, will be there for a Q&A moderated by Lael Loewenstein.
Soderbergh was all of 26 years old when the film premiered at what was then called the U.S. Film Festival (the precursor to Sundance), where it won the audience award before heading to Cannes, where it won the Palme d’Or. (James Spader picked up an acting prize there too.) Among the film’s many other accolades, Soderbergh would also be nominated for an Academy Award for original screenplay.
Spader plays Graham, an enigmatic wanderer who inserts himself into the lives of his old friend John (Peter Gallagher), his wife Ann (Andie MacDowell) and her sister Cynthia (San Giacomo), drawing out all manner of confessions and revelations.
In her original review of the film, Sheila Benson called the film an “electrifying psycho-sexual comedy … the funniest and saddest American movie since Jim Jarmusch landed straight in the middle of our consciousness, and it’s possibly the most compelling.”
Benson added, “What is not apparent from a thumbnail description is the film’s lacerating wit, its beautiful look and sound, and the bravura quality to each performance. Or the terrible vein of melancholy that Soderbergh touches.”
‘In the Soup’ in 35mm
Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassel in the movie “In the Soup.”
(Factory 25)
Winner of the Grand Jury prize at 1992’s Sundance — the same year “Reservoir Dogs” premiered there — is “In the Soup.” Directed and co-written by Alexandre Rockwell, the film follows an aspiring filmmaker (Steve Buscemi) who falls in with an irresistibly charming gangster (Seymour Cassel, who won Sundance’s first acting award) as his erstwhile producer. A recently restored 35mm print of the film will be playing in L.A. for the first time Sunday at Brain Dead Studios.
The cast of the film also features Carol Kane, Jim Jarmusch and Jennifer Beals, the last married to director Rockwell at the time. Reviewing the film in November 1992, Kenneth Turan called it “a charming pipsqueak of a movie, a playful film of ragged and shaggy appeal.”
Director Michael Almereyda on the ’90s vampires of ‘Nadja’
Elina Löwensohn in the movie “Nadja.”
(Arbelos Films)
As much a survey of late-night diners, bars and 3 a.m. conversations, Michael Almereyda’s “Nadja” is very much a vampire film. It is also a wonderful example of the creative freedom of the ’90s indie boom — everything from its cast to its look to its deadpan humor.
Executive produced by David Lynch (who paid for the film out of his own pocket and appears in a small role), “Nadja” combines the 1936 horror film “Dracula‘s Daughter” with Andre Breton’s 1928 surrealist novel “Nadja.” In the movie, a New York City vampire (Elina Löwensohn) looks to avenge the death of her father at the hands of Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Fonda) while also dealing with a complicated swirl of relationships involving her brother (Jared Harris), his nurse (Suzy Amis), Van Helsing’s nephew (Martin Donovan) and his wife (Galaxy Craze).
Re-released by Grasshopper Film and Arbelos Films with a streaming and home video release to follow, the new 4K restoration of the film’s original version that premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival is a few minutes longer than what played at Sundance just a few months later. (It was there that Almereyda also made the documentary “At Sundance,” interviewing filmmakers for their thoughts on the future of movies.) This new “Nadja” is playing on Feb. 6 and 8 at the Philosophical Research Society, then at Vidiots on Feb. 21 and 22 and Frida Cinema on Feb. 25 and 26.
On the phone from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he is prepping an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 2016 novel “Zero K,” the thoughtful and reflective Almereyda shared some of his memories of making the film.
Peter Fonda, left, Jared Harris, Martin Donovan and Galaxy Craze in the movie “Nadja.”
(Arbelos Films)
How did you get the idea of combining “Dracula’s Dracula” with Breton’s “Nadja”?
Michael Almereyda: It was fairly spontaneous. David Lynch had offered to help me make a movie if I could come up with something that was definably genre. And I went to [NYC movie theater] Film Forum at a time when — do you remember [film historian] William K. Everson? He would show up at Film Forum unannounced to start talking before the movie. This was one time when I showed up late and he was talking and they read a raffle ticket and there was silence. And I reached in my pocket: I had won the raffle. And that was to get a book of William K. Everson’s about horror movies. And so it was kind of a gift that I read about “Dracula’s Daughter.” I’d never seen it and I liked the outline of the plot and I chased it down and it felt like I could retrofit a number of ideas I had about New York with that story. It felt like the two things talked to each other.
One thing about vampire movies is that the best ones are always about something else. For you with “Nadja,” what’s the something else?
Almereyda: It’s not really a scary movie and it wasn’t really designed to be. It’s certainly atmospheric but the emotion of it, when I saw it again recently, had to do with both the comic aspects of being in love and the miserable aspects. It’s kind of a side-winding answer, but that’s partly what it’s about. It’s about family ties, obviously. I think I made or wrote enough scripts about tangled families that I began to sort of get over it. But we all come from these families.
David Lynch in the movie “Nadja.”
(Arbelos Films)
Did David Lynch‘s presence impact the tone at all? Do you feel the movie became in any way Lynchian?
Almereyda: Well, David’s impact on me and my whole generation of filmmaking and the generation behind us is vast. And I wouldn’t want to pretend it’s not, but direct influence is kind of minimal. It might be more fair to say that David’s art school background rhymes with mine. And that we had similar influences. People don’t really talk about how much David did or didn’t know about Maya Deren and Cocteau, but it’s kind of hard to miss. And there was just a certain sensibility and attitude. I felt close to David’s Midwestern-ness, and you combine that with some fondness for and knowledge of French culture, including surrealism, and you’re halfway to David Lynch without specifically thinking about it.
I really haven’t addressed this question much, but when he died, I ended up writing a fair bit of my memories and it’s moving to me how much impact he had when he died. There was such a wave of mourning and celebration, too, that it felt more phenomenal than he could have anticipated. It was clear how famous he was — how recognizable he was — within the time I knew him. But the love of David Lynch is really moving to me and it’s still something we’re swimming in, I hope, in a dark time.
For all the difficulties of being an independent filmmaker, what keeps you doing it?
Almereyda: I’m stumped. I was just going through my head and I know you just interviewed Ethan Hawke and he’s a true comrade that I’ve been lucky to work with a few times. And he was in the interview with Rick Linklater when we did our “At Sundance” movie. They had “Before Sunrise” at the festival and Rick started by quoting Truffaut, talking about the future of film is the personal film.
Even if it’s a fantasy, even if it’s a vampire movie, you’re still relating to your experience and your sense of an emotional reality. So that feels like a candle that doesn’t go out for me. And despite all the derailments and dead ends, I don’t question continuing. It just feels like a natural path, even if it’s winding and difficult.
In other news
Timothée Chalamet, tributee
Timothee Chalamet in the movie “Marty Supreme.”
(A24)
I will leave the ins and outs of this year’s awards campaigns to my trusted colleague Glenn Whipp at The Envelope, but one event jumped out as worth noting: Announced this week and immediately selling out is an eight-film American Cinematheque retrospective of Timothée Chalamet‘s movies, with the actor in person for all screenings.
Chalamet is currently an Oscar nominee as both actor and producer for “Marty Supreme.” And he has an impressive roster of collaborators who will be appearing with him to show their support, including Edward Norton with “A Complete Unknown,” Denis Villenueve with “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” Christopher Nolan with “Interstellar” and Elle Fanning with “Beautiful Boy.”
If there were some murmurs last year that Chalamet didn’t do enough conventional campaigning to win for his turn as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” this year he seems to be pulling out all the stops.
Explosion took place at an unregulated mine in the northeastern East Jainta Hills area.
Published On 5 Feb 20265 Feb 2026
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An explosion at an illicit coal mine in northeast India has killed at least 18 people, according to local authorities.
Police on Thursday said they had pulled 18 bodies from the blast site, located in a remote part of East Jainta Hills district.
Eight others were wounded in the incident, said local official Manish Kumar. It is unclear how many workers were at the site during the explosion; others may still be trapped, said police.
Kumar said rescuers paused operations at sundown Thursday and planned to resume Friday with support from state and federal personnel. He described the site as an “illegal rat-hole mine”, referring to a deep, narrow shaft where workers risk hazardous conditions to extract coal and other minerals.
District police chief Vikash Kumar said dynamite likely triggered the blast, but investigations were ongoing.
“It is likely that the workers died either from burn injuries or breathing issues because of the release of noxious fumes,” said Kumar in a statement carried by The Indian Express. “But because there is no one who has come out in a condition to tell us exactly what happened and how many workers were there in total, we do not have an estimation of how many more may be trapped.”
Prime Minister Modi announces compensation
Conrad Sangma, chief minister of the Indian state of Meghalaya, where the incident occurred, pledged that authorities would hold those responsible accountable and urged against illegal mining.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “condolences” to the families of the deceased workers and announced a 200,000 rupees ($2,216) compensation package for each family. “Pained by the mishap in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya,” his office wrote in a post on X.
Unregulated coal pits are common in India’s east and northeast regions, with workers earning between $18 to $24 for a day-long shift.
Lee and Alana got engaged last September – just months before he proposed to Katie Price in exactly the same wayCredit: Click News and MediaAlana has been speaking out about her experience with LeeCredit: InstagramShe has now accused him of sending her a very vile emailCredit: Instagram
Fitness enthusiast Alana has been speaking out about her experience with Lee, with her now seemingly sharing a vile email he sent her ‘wishing her dead’.
Alana, 32, took to Instagram to share the correspondence she allegedly received from Lee.
In an Instagram post, Alana said: “Also anyone who knows me will know that I went through a really tough time with someone that was not only my partner but also my best friend that sadly took his own life when we were younger.
“This impacted me so massively I was in hospital for a whole of my life and had a huge impact on my mental state and health and still does,” she explained.
Alana continued: “This is something I told Lee Andrews out of confidence about what I had been through and he sent me this email, along with many more, wishing me dead.”
In the screen grab of the email, Lee allegedly said: “Now go join Carl in the fucking ground where you both belong!”
Also on her Instagram page, Alana shared another slew of accusations.
She said: “It makes me so sad when I look at this all now and I realise how much Lee put me through and how many people I cut off and ignored when I should have listened!!”
Alana then proceeded to share an extensive list of “things I felt throughout” her relationship with Lee.
The list was long and included “financial abuse” as well as “controlling behaviour” and “constant lies to maintain dominance”.
Speaking to The Sun last week in an exclusive interview, Alana issued a stark warning to Lee’s new wife Katie.
“Once I tried to leave him, he told me had a heart condition and was living on borrowed time.
“Lee doesn’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction.
“It’s worrying because I think he believes his own lies.”
Also in the exclusive chat, Alana said Lee showered her with gifts, and she recognises the significance of Katie and Andrews’ matching 11:11 handtattoos.
She said: “I’ve never had someone basically tell me that they love me the way he does.
“That 11:11 thing with Katie, that was our thing. He’d ring me at 11:11, he even bought a horse I called 11:11. He puts 100 per cent effort into you. He bought me Cartier bangles, Cartier rings, and clothes.
“He sent a Louis Vuitton handbag to my office. He would transfer me cash — £5,000, £2,000, it was a lot.”
Katie got married to Lee last monthCredit: wesleeeandrews/InstagramHe proposed to Katie in an identical way as he did to AlanaCredit: Click News and Media
Hollywood actor Gerardo Taracena, who starred in Mel Gibson’s 2006 drama Apocalypto has died suddenly at the age of 55, but no cause of death has been announced as yet
Sly, whose real name was Lowell Fillmore Dunbar, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.
He started out playing on tin cans – getting inspiration from Lloyd Knibbs and the Skatalites on television.
The star previously said in a 1997 interview: “I saw [Knibbs] playing and I thought, ‘I want to be a drummer’ because he’s the hardest worker in the band.
“He’s my idol! In some ways, I’m self-taught but I got a lot of help from other drummers by watching them play.”
When he was a teenager, he founded the rhythm section of the band the Revolutionaries alongside bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who died in 2021.
They became one of the most renowned backing bands in Jamaican reggae in the 1970s.
Sly became known for his shuffling “rockers” drum pattern, which put more emphasis on syncopation and energy.
Throughout the decade they also worked with major reggae acts like Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Barrington Levy.
The rhythm section also toured in the US with Peter Tosh.
In the hopes of saving enough cash to found their own production team, the pair lived on bread and water during this period, according to legend.
They founded Taxi Records in 1980, before helping a whole new generation of Jamaican artists such as Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, Skip Marley, Beenie Man and Red Dragon refine their art.
The pair also provided beats on Grace Jones’s hit 1981 album Nightclubbing.
This paved the way for them to work with some of rock and pop’s biggest stars – from Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker, to singers like Marianne Faithfull, Madonna and Sinead O’Connor.
Sly’s heartbroken wife told local media: “I went to wake him up and he wasn’t responding, I called the doctor and that was the news.
His exact cause of death is unknown, but he is understood to have been ill for an extended period of time.
“Yesterday was such a good day for him,” Thelma told Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper.
“He had friends come over to visit him and we all had such a good time. He ate well yesterday… sometimes he’s not into food.”
She added: “I knew he was sick… but I didn’t know that he was this sick.”
Tributes poured in for the late musician, with British DJ David Rodigan, calling him a “true icon” and “one of the greatest drummers of all time”.
Portrait of famous reggae rhythm section and producing team Sly Dunbar and Robbie ShakespeareCredit: Getty
