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3 Drown, Dozens Feared Missing in Migrant Shipwreck Off Greece

A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
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3 Drown, Dozens Feared Missing in Migrant Shipwreck Off Greece

A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS

Three people drowned and two dozen are believed to be missing in the second migrant shipwreck off Greece this week, authorities said on Tuesday.

The coast guard said 16 people were rescued in a operation that began in the early hours of Tuesday after an inflatable rubber boat was spotted on rocks along the coast of the island of Lesbos, near Türkiye, Reuters reported.

Survivors told authorities about 41 people were on board the dinghy that had sailed from the Turkish coast. Two coast guard vessels and a Super Puma helicopter were assisting in the search operation amid strong winds, the coast guard said.

Greece has long been one of the main entry points into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Most cross on inflatable boats from Türkiye, a short but perilous journey during which thousands have died.

Four migrants, including three children, died after their boat sank off the island of Leros in the southeastern Aegean Sea on Sunday.

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China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the US intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the US intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.