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75 Migrants Rescued from Crippled Boat Crossing from North Africa to Europe

A fisherman reaches the small harbour on the small island of Antikythera, on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
A fisherman reaches the small harbour on the small island of Antikythera, on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
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75 Migrants Rescued from Crippled Boat Crossing from North Africa to Europe

A fisherman reaches the small harbour on the small island of Antikythera, on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
A fisherman reaches the small harbour on the small island of Antikythera, on September 17, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

A group of 75 migrants crossing to Europe from North Africa has been rescued from a crippled boat south of the island of Crete, Greek authorities said Friday.
The coast guard said the migrants, who are believed to have set off from eastern Libya, were picked up in the Mediterranean Sea by a merchant ship after issuing a distress call. Their nationalities were not immediately known. The vessel, escorted by a coast guard patrol boat, was taking them to a port in southern Crete, The Associated Press reported.
The long voyage from Libya to Crete has emerged this year as a new route for people from Africa, the Middle East and Asia to seek a better life in Europe. People who have completed the crossing told Greek authorities they paid smuggling gangs up to 9,000 euros ($9,800) each for the passage.
More than 3,500 people have made the crossing so far this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, out of a total of 42,000 who entered Greece illegally — mostly reaching the eastern Aegean Sea islands in small boats from Türkiye.
The crossing from Libya takes at least two days, while a fast smuggling boat from Türkiye can reach the eastern islands in well under an hour, provided it can dodge frequent coast guard patrols.
Italy remains the main European destination for illegal migration, with more than 51,000 arrivals so far, and is followed by Spain.

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North Korea Accuses South Korea of Flying Drones to its Capital and Threatens to Attack Next Time

A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean army soldiers, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean army soldiers, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
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North Korea Accuses South Korea of Flying Drones to its Capital and Threatens to Attack Next Time

A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean army soldiers, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean army soldiers, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea has accused rival South Korea of flying drones to its capital to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets and threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that South Korean drones were detected in the night skies of Pyongyang on Oct. 3 and Wednesday and Thursday this week.

The ministry accused the South of violating North Korea’s “sacred” sovereignty and threatening its security, and said its forces will prepare “all means of attack” and respond without warning if South Korean drones are detected in its territory again, The AP reported.

“The safety lock on our trigger has now been released,” the ministry said. “We will be prepared for everything and will be watching. The criminals should no longer gamble with the lives of their citizens.”

South Korea’s government and military didn’t immediately comment on the North’s statement.

Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated in recent months as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ramped up weapons tests and threats and South Korea has responded by strengthening its joint military exercises with the United States.

Since May, North Korea has also sent thousands of balloons carrying paper waste, plastic and other trash to drop on the South, in a bizarre psychological warfare campaign that worsened the animosity between the nations.

On Wednesday, North Korea said it will permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures to cope with “confrontational hysteria” by South Korean and US forces.

North Korea’s military said in a statement on state media that it will “completely cut off roads and railways” linked to South Korea and “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures.”

North Korea called its steps a “self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security” of the country and accused its rivals of “getting ever more reckless in their confrontational hysteria.” North Korea cited what it called various military exercises in South Korea, the deployment of US strategic assets and its rivals’ harsh rhetoric.