sinks

At least 51 people rescued as search operation continues off the island of Gavnos near Crete.

One person has died, 25 are missing and 51 people have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off a Greek island near Crete, according to the country’s coastguard.

“Fifty-one were picked up by two boats that were in the area,” a coastguard spokesman said on Monday.

He said survivors had reported that 77 people were on board when the boat went down near the island of Gavdos.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, with four ships, boats, Frontex aircraft and a coastguard helicopter operating in the area, Greece’s public broadcaster ERT News reported.

The 51 rescued people were due to be brought to Crete, “where the prescribed procedures will be followed”, ERT reported.

After arriving in Crete, undocumented migrants generally face immediate arrest and temporary confinement before being transferred to closed detention camps on the Greek mainland. Under Greek law, individuals are subject to extended administrative detention, severe penalties and fast-track deportation.

Strong winds blowing through the area have been hampering the search operation, ERT said.

Crete and Gavdos, about 320km (200 miles) from the Libyan coast, have become the main point of entry for asylum seekers in Greece.

In late August, Greece’s ANA news agency published figures from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum that indicated that migrant arrivals in the country fell from about 61,000 in the year to August 2025 to 42,000 in the following 12 months – a decline of about 31 percent.

Greece’s conservative government in July suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months, a move it argued helped deter crossings.

The ban passed in parliament amid a surge in asylum seekers reaching Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were cancelled in July.

The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island. It is preparing draft legislation that would mandate imprisonment for people whose asylum claims are denied and require ankle monitors during a 30-day compliance period before deportation.

Authorities in Europe have tightened their immigration rules over recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant political parties have won increasing support throughout the continent.

Greece has been in discussions with Germany and several other European Union countries on setting up “return hubs” outside the bloc for processing migrants’ claims.

Search and rescue are ongoing after Virgo Transport 8, with 243 people on board, lost contact with its operator.

Rescuers are searching for 140 people from an Indonesian passenger ship that sank in the Java Sea after 103 others were evacuated, one of whom has died, a search and ‌rescue agency official said.

The Virgo Transport 8, with 243 people on board, lost contact with its operator in the early hours of Sunday, according to Indonesia’s search and rescue agency.

It had sailed from Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java on Saturday and was heading for Banjarmasin, a port city on Borneo.

Rescuers are searching for the remaining passengers and crew.

The ship encountered rough weather, said I Putu Sudayana, head of the local search and rescue office in Banjarmasin.

The ferry’s last known position was in the Java Sea, about 81 nautical miles (150km) from Banjarmasin, the AFP news agency reported.

Rescue ships and a helicopter have been searching the area, where Sudayana said waves as high as 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) have hampered the operation.

“It is extremely risky for vessels. Even our Basarnas vessel, which is 40 metres [131 feet] long, is at great risk,” Sudayana told reporters, referring to the country’s search and rescue agency.

Last month, a fire on a ferry sailing between Bali and Lombok killed one person and left five missing. In July, a ferry carrying more than 70 people sank near Selayar Island, south of Sulawesi.

One person has been confirmed dead and more than 30 remain missing after the MV Matui ferry sank off the coast of Vanuatu, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Jotham Napat. The incident occurred on Sunday, with dozens of crew and passengers on board, the statement said.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing in Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation located approximately 1,750 km (1,090 miles) east of Australia. The Prime Minister’s office stated on Facebook that 15 individuals have been accounted for alive. The ferry sank in adverse weather conditions on Friday between the islands of Ambae and Santo, according to New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ. The search has shifted from open waters to the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors, RNZ reported.

Investigation into causes

The statement from the Prime Minister’s office indicated that strong winds and marine warnings may not have been heeded, and that potential negligence, including overloading of the vessel, is being investigated. Authorities have announced that a formal investigation will be conducted to determine the causes of the incident.

“To the survivors, we pray for your strength and recovery. To the families of those missing and those we have lost, please know that the nation stands with you in this time of grief,” the statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

Rescue operations and official response

Matai Seremaiah, a representative of the Luganville area in Vanuatu’s Parliament, stated that rescue efforts began after a crew member of the MV Matui swam ashore and raised the alarm. “He alerted us that the ship has capsized, we went out for the search,” Seremaiah said in remarks broadcast by RNZ.

The Vanuatu police, the Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority, and the ferry’s operator, Tui Shipping Agency, have not yet responded to requests for comment. The search and rescue operation continues as authorities work to locate the missing passengers and crew.

Rescuers continue searching for survivors as the government scales back operations in open waters.

At least one person has died and more than 30 remain missing after a ferry sank off the coast of Vanuatu, Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s office has said in a statement.

The MV Matui, an inter-island ferry, sank in bad weather on Friday while sailing between the islands of Ambae and Santo, in Vanuatu’s north, according to New Zealand’s public broadcaster RNZ.

Of the dozens of crew members and passengers on board, 15 have been accounted for alive, Napat’s office said in a statement posted on Facebook, with search and rescue operations continuing.

The Pacific nation’s government said search efforts “in open waters” were being scaled back “whilst efforts move toward a search along the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors”.

It said the sinking “appears to be the result of strong winds and marine warnings not being heeded, and possibly of negligence including overloading of the vessel”, adding that a full investigation would follow to establish the facts and prevent a repeat.

Vanuatu police, the country’s Maritime Safety Authority and the ferry’s operator, Tui Shipping Agency, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the Reuters news agency reported.

RIYADH: With a FIFA Intercontinental Cup clash against Mamelodi Sundowns looming on Sept. 19, Al-Ahli fans have been plunged further into an alarming state of concern.

Just seven days after losing 3-0 to Al-Hilal in their first top-six clash of the season, on Tuesday night Marino Pusic’s side once again conceded three goals, this time to Brendan Rodgers’ Al-Qadsiah.

Al-Ahli have now lost three of their last four games, but even during the four-game winning streak (in all competitions) with which they began the season, many had started to feel the writing was on the wall; Pusic inherited the team late in the preseason and brought with him a football philosophy that often looks like a complete departure from that of outgoing manager Matthias Jaissle.

The 3-2 scoreline away to Al-Qadsiah might not look too worrying on paper but it was the nature of the defeat that will give Al-Ahli much to think about. They were simply outclassed by their opponents in the first 45 minutes, before Ivan Toney led a second-half rally that reduced the deficit but in the end was not enough to rescue a point.

Al-Ahli started the game with only one holding midfielder, Valentin Atangana, allowing Al-Qadsiah’s midfield trio of Julian Weigl, Tijjani Reijnders and Musab Al-Juwayr to overload the center of the pitch on several occasions, leaving the home side with a free player in the final third a number of times.

Such a situation was what led to Al-Qadsiah’s first goal when, in the 14th minute, Reijnders found himself in between Eduard Spertsyan and Galeno in the right half-space. The Dutch international only needed a few touches toward goal before he unleashed a belter of a shot toward the far corner, beating Edouard Mendy.

As Al-Qadsiah’s midfield trio continued to control the game, the wing-backs, Christopher Bonsu Baah and Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat, became the main beneficiaries of Al-Ahli’s narrow defensive focus. As the game entered added time at the end of the first half, Al-Juwayr released Bonsu Baah down the left and he delivered a low cross into the box that found Abu Al-Shamat, who was unmarked inside the Al-Ahli box and finished cleanly to extend the lead.

A third followed two minutes later, with that Al-Juwayr-to-Bonsu Baah connection once again tormenting Al-Ahli. This time they switched the ball to the right flank, where Abu Al-Shamat received the ball and delivered a dipping cross towards Reijnders, who headed home to complete his brace. Al-Ahli mixed things up with a number of substitutions in the second half, including the introduction of Saleh Abu Al-Shamat for Galeno.

And it was Saleh, facing off against his brother Mohammed on the left flank, who injected a renewed spirit into Al-Ahli’s attack with his movement. This ultimately led to Al-Ahli’s revival of sorts in the second half, spearheaded by the league’s top scorer, Toney.

In the 63rd minute, he got on the end of a diagonal cross from Francisco Trincao to finally beat goalkeeper Koen Casteels — who had made four saves up to that point — with a header.

Toney scored again in the 82nd minute, this time latching onto a through ball from Abu Al-Shamat before cutting inside and curling his effort beyond Casteels. The humidity in Dammam clearly had an effect on Al-Qadsiah, who by now had shifted their high-pressing 3-4-1-2 formation into a compact 5-3-2.

This was ultimately enough to hold off Toney and his teammates, and claim a fifth victory from their first six games, their best-ever start to a Saudi Pro League season. In Jeddah, Al-Ittihad followed up on their 2-1 home win against Al-Nassr on Saturday with an identical result, this time against visiting Al-Fayha.

Continuing his fine run of form, George Ilenikhena opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when he headed home the rebound from a Steven Bergwijn shot after it twice struck the crossbar. It was canceled out by Jason just before the half-time whistle, who redirected an Ahmed Bamasud cross with a deft backheel.

Al-Ittihad claimed the victory after Jason handled the ball inside the area in the 68th minute, prompting the referee to award a penalty following a review by the video assistant referee. Substitute Youssef En-Nesyri slotted the ball into the right corner.

Elsewhere, Al-Ettifaq were held to a goalless home draw by Al-Faisaly in what was an underwhelming evening for Arthur Papas’ side, while visiting Al-Taawoun were beaten 1-0 by Al-Hazem, after a mistake by goalkeeper Mailson gifted Aboubacar Bah an open goal in the third minute.

On Wednesday, Al-Kholood host Al-Shabab at 6:55 p.m., then Al-Fateh face visiting Diriyah and Al-Nassr are at home to Abha, with both matches kicking off at 9 p.m.

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Searches have been carried out for a second day for two crew members after a French fishing boat sank in the English Channel, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

A coastguard rescue helicopter, fixed-wing plane and RNLI lifeboats began searching an area south-west of Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth, Devon, after the crew of the trawler the Maranello made a distress call at 18:00 BST on Saturday.

The intensive multi-agency search continued on Sunday before it was “suspended pending further information”, coastguards said at 20:20 on Sunday.

HM Coastguard said three people rescued from the boat and taken to hospital were “currently travelling back to France”.

The French authorities said the stricken fishing vessel had contacted another trawler, the Stradale, to say it had a problem with its fishing gear.

The Stradale managed to recover three of the five crew members before the Maranello sank, the French naval prefecture for the Atlantic added.

One of the rescued sailors was evacuated by helicopter and treated in hospital in Truro, Cornwall, while the other two were taken to Plymouth for medical attention.

RNLI lifeboat crews from Falmouth and Newlyn in Cornwall, as well as from Plymouth and Salcombe in Devon, have been involved in the operation.

A large number of civilian vessels had also assisted in the “intensive search” for the two remaining crew members, a UK coastguard spokesperson added.

They said a coastguard aircraft “equipped with the latest technology including a multi-function search radar and high resolution cameras” was also involved, and that mayday relay broadcasts had been sent out, “requesting vessels in the area to keep a sharp lookout.”

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