Six Killed as Tourist Submarine Carrying Russians Sinks Off Egypt's Hurghada

An ambulance and a police vehicle stand in front of The Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada, Egypt, 27 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
An ambulance and a police vehicle stand in front of The Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada, Egypt, 27 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
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Six Killed as Tourist Submarine Carrying Russians Sinks Off Egypt's Hurghada

An ambulance and a police vehicle stand in front of The Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada, Egypt, 27 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
An ambulance and a police vehicle stand in front of The Egyptian Hospital in Hurghada, Egypt, 27 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER

Six foreigners were killed on Thursday when a submarine carrying Russian tourists sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the local governor's office told Reuters.

The Russian consulate in Hurghada said the submarine, named "Sindbad", had 45 Russian tourists on board in addition to crew members. It said four people had died, but did not specify if they were Russian.

"Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada," the consulate said, adding that the fate of several tourists was still being clarified.

Local media reported that rescue teams had saved 29 of the 45 passengers.

The Red Sea, renowned for its coral reefs and marine life, is a major hub for Egypt's crucial tourism industry, in which Russian tourists play an increasingly large part.



Israel Approves Controversial Project in West Bank

A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
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Israel Approves Controversial Project in West Bank

A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)

The Israeli security Cabinet approved on Sunday the construction of a road for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Critics say it will open the door for Israel to annex a key area just outside Jerusalem, further undermining the feasibility of a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the project is meant to streamline travel for Palestinians in communities near the large Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group, said the road will divert Palestinian traffic outside of Maaleh Adumim and the surrounding area known as E1, a tract of open land deemed essential for the territorial contiguity of a future state.

That will make it easier for Israel to annex E1, according to Hagit Ofran, a settlement expert with the group, because Israel can claim there is no disruption to Palestinian movement.

Critics say Israeli settlements and other land grabs make a contiguous future state increasingly impossible. Several roads in the West Bank are meant for use by either Israelis or Palestinians, which international rights groups say is part of an apartheid system, allegations Israel rejects.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for their future state. A two-state solution is widely seen as the only way to resolve the decades-old conflict.