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More than 60 Missing in New Mediterranean Shipwreck

Members of the Libyan security forces carry the body of a baby as migrants who survived the sinking of an inflatable dinghy boat off the coast of Libya are brought ashore in al-Hmidiya, east of the capital Tripoli on June 29, 2018. Mahmud TURKIA / AFP
Members of the Libyan security forces carry the body of a baby as migrants who survived the sinking of an inflatable dinghy boat off the coast of Libya are brought ashore in al-Hmidiya, east of the capital Tripoli on June 29, 2018. Mahmud TURKIA / AFP
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More than 60 Missing in New Mediterranean Shipwreck

Members of the Libyan security forces carry the body of a baby as migrants who survived the sinking of an inflatable dinghy boat off the coast of Libya are brought ashore in al-Hmidiya, east of the capital Tripoli on June 29, 2018. Mahmud TURKIA / AFP
Members of the Libyan security forces carry the body of a baby as migrants who survived the sinking of an inflatable dinghy boat off the coast of Libya are brought ashore in al-Hmidiya, east of the capital Tripoli on June 29, 2018. Mahmud TURKIA / AFP

A new shipwreck off the Libyan coast has left 63 people missing in the latest disaster to hit migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in search for better lives.

The group are feared drowned after the inflatable boat they were on sank, a spokesman for Libya's navy General Ayoub Kacem told AFP, citing eyewitness accounts from survivors.

Kacem said that 41 people wearing life jackets were rescued.

"The coast guards did not find bodies in the area," he said.

According to survivors, there were 104 people on board the vessel, which sank off Garaboulli, east of Tripoli.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said Monday it has rescued another 109 people from the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to reach the country's southern coasts from North Africa.

The rescue service said a crew encountered one vessel in the western part of the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday with 52 migrants on board, while a second one carried 49.

A different rescue boat picked up eight people from a dinghy found further east.

The service reported on Sunday that 160 people were rescued from five boats.

The number of people reaching Europe by the so-called Western Mediterranean land and sea route to Spain has surpassed the number arriving to Italy by boat this year.

More than 1,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean this year sailing from Libya to Europe, with a rush in the past few days to beat an anticipated crackdown by the European Union, the International Organization for Migration said late on Sunday.

IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle said the surge in recent days may be due to factors including weather and the end of Ramadan.

"But also there is a recognition I think worldwide that the European Union is starting to manage the process better so maybe they equally are trying to profit while they can. Smugglers will always put profit before safety.”

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Arab World

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's Houthi-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The militants have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeidah, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeidah port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
“The targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,” the statement said. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the militants “have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.”
“Israel will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,” Hagari said.
Houthi-held Hodeidah, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decades long war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country’s territory.
“Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,” the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeidah again, killing at least four people after a militant missile targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the US military's Central Command said it hit “a key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.