• Seven children among 22 dead as boat capsizes off Turkish coast

    Istanbul, Turkey - Twenty-two migrants including seven children have drowned after a boat capsized off the Turkish coast, local officials said on Friday. Two people were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and another two managed to make it out of the water on their own, officials said. The victims' nationalities were...
  • US plan for Gaza aid transfer through sea dismissed by UN expert

    In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, President Joe Biden said the US military would "lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water medicine and temporary shelters."
  • Wind-powered Dutch chemical tanker sets sail for greener future

    Rotterdam, Netherlands - The world's first chemical tanker ship fitted with massive rigid aluminium "sails" has left Rotterdam, its owner hoping to plot a route to bringing down the shipping industry's huge carbon footprint. The MT Chemical Challenger, a 16,000-ton chemicals transporter set sail from Antwerp for Istanbul on Friday, and...
  • WHO says only 24 hours for aid to enter Gaza before catastrophe

    If aid is not allowed into the besieged territory, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients," WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari told AFP. Monday marked 10 days of relentless Israeli air strikes on targets in the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for an October...
  • US to place second aircraft carrier in Mediterranean: White House

    Washington, United States -- The second American aircraft carrier, the Dwight Eisenhower, will be placed in the Mediterranean Sea, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council of the White House John Kirby said at a regular briefing for journalists. "As you also know, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald...
  • Pope says migrants not invaders, urges ‘wise foresight’ on issue

    Migration is "a reality of our times, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise foresight, including a European response," he added. Noting the risk to the lives of migrants if they are not taken to safety, he warned against turning "the...
  • Tunisia bars entry to European Parliament delegation of five MEPs

    "We condemn the decision of the Tunisian authorities to refuse entry for the delegation," the delegation, made up of five MEPs, said in a statement. "This conduct is unprecedented since (Tunisia's) democratic revolution in 2011", it said.
  • Red Cross warns death toll may surge as 10,000 missing in Libya floods

    The death toll from freak floods in eastern Libya is expected to soar dramatically, with 10,000 people reported missing, the Red Cross warned. Officials in Libya have said at least 150 people were killed in the sudden flooding on Sunday afternoon after storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, lashing Bulgaria, Greece...
  • 150 dead in Libya after storm Daniel results in floods

    "At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, the Jabal al-Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al-Marj," Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya, said. "This is besides the massive material damage that struck public...
  • Lebanese army blocks entry of 1200 Syrian migrants

    Millions of Syrians have fled abroad since their country's civil war broke out in 2011 following the government's repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests.
  • Egypt to drill 45 exploratory gas wells with investment of US$1.9bn

    Cairo, Egypt--The Egyptian government plans to drill 45 natural exploratory gas wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta with $1.9 billion in investments until mid-2025, according to a Cabinet statement on Tuesday. The drilling of 10 wells between July 2022 and June 2023 resulted in the huge discovery in...
  • Two dead as Europe bound migrant ship capsizes off Tunisia

    Tunis, Tunisia - At least two Tunisians including a baby died when their Europe-bound boat sank Saturday off the North African country's southeastern shores, the coastguard said, adding five others were missing. The vessel carrying 20 Tunisians went down at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) 120 meters (395 feet) from the beach...
  • Italy calls Med migration conference on Tunisia model

    Italy and the European Commission have sought to step up engagement with Tunisia, promising funding if the country undertakes to stem emigration from its territory. According to the UN, more than 100,000 migrants arrived by sea to Europe -- most to Italy -- in the first six months of 2023,...
  • Climate change tests limits of Mediterranean wildfire strategy

    In the northwest United States they say the average expanse of forest destroyed by wildfires annually doubled between 1984 and 2015 as a result of human-induced warming -- an area bigger than Switzerland. Despite the efficient strategy and a prevention campaign -- most forest blazes are sparked by humans --...
  • Gas export to Europe continues via Greenstream pipeline : Libya

    Vienna, Austria - Mohamed Aoun, Libyan Minister of Oil and Gas, has said that Libya is continuing its gas export operations to Europe through the Greenstream pipeline, local media reports said. He noted that an increase in gas exports is currently unfeasible, but could be considered in the future, after...
  • 15 Tunisian migrants missing after Europe bound boat capsizes

    Tunis, Tunisia - Fifteen Tunisian migrants are missing after their boat sank in the Mediterranean during an attempt to reach Europe, authorities said Wednesday. The boat carrying 19 Tunisians sank Monday night, said a statement by Tunisia's National Guard, which oversees the coastguard. Four migrants were rescued by a fisherman after...
  • Tunisia recovers 14 more migrant bodies after shipwreck

    Tunisia has recovered 14 bodies of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in the Mediterranean, bringing to 24 the number of dead after their boat headed for Europe sank, the coastguard said. The spokesman for the National Guard announced that 41 Tunisian migrants, including five women and nine children, had been "rescued"...
  • Over 1,000 migrants brought safely to Italian ports

    ROME, ITALY - Over 1,000 migrants were brought to safety at two Italian ports on Saturday after the overcrowded boats they were on encountered problems in the Mediterranean, news reports said. The rescues came the same day as a body was discovered of the 74th victim of the deadly shipwreck...
  • Ship stuck in Egypt’s Suez but traffic unaffected, rescue underway

    Ismailia, Egypt--A ship on Wednesday became stuck in Egypt's Suez Canal but traffic through the vital waterway was unaffected, a source from the authority managing the canal said. Connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal accounts for roughly 10 percent of global maritime trade and the majority of...
  • Lebanon seeks to demarcate maritime border with Syria

    Lebanese security officials and politicians have made several visits to Syria in recent years, but almost exclusively in their personal capacity or on behalf of political parties that support President Bashar al-Assad, including the powerful Hezbollah movement, supported by the Iran.
  • Italy allows migrant rescue ship dock for health checks

    Rome, Italy— Italy will allow an NGO ship carrying 179 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to dock so medics can carry out health checks, the country's foreign minister said Friday. Antonio Tajani said that German NGO SOS Humanity's vessel Humanity 1 would head for Catania, Sicily, and "be able to stay...
  • Qatar denounce ‘smear campaigns’ against its human rights record

    European newspapers and rights groups have put a spotlight on Qatar's record in the runup to the tournament that starts November 20 and is expected to attract more than one million fans.
  • Energy firm starts test at sensitive Israel-Lebanon border gas field

    In a statement Sunday, Energean said that "following approval received from the Israeli Ministry of Energy to start certain testing procedures, the flow of gas from onshore to the FPSO has commenced", referring to the Karish floating production storage offloading facility.
  • Libyan Prime Minister defends oil, gas exploration deal with Turkey

    The question of rights to Libya's vast hydrocarbon resources has become more urgent this year as global energy prices have soared. Monday's deal builds on an agreement signed between Ankara and a previous Tripoli-based administration in 2019.
  • 61 dead in migrant shipwreck off Syria coast, says Lebanon

    At least 61 migrants drowned when a boat they boarded in Lebanon sank off Syria's coast, a Lebanese minister said, the deadliest such shipwreck from Lebanon in recent years.
  • Turkey to resume drilling for gas near Cyprus: minister

    Turkey next month will resume drilling operations near the divided island of Cyprus, a top official said Wednesday, threatening to spark a new diplomatic row with the EU. The European Union came close to sanctioning Ankara in 2020 for pushing into contested east Mediterranean waters in search of fresh natural...
  • Festivals, guesthouses breathe life into Old Tunis, boost tourism

    The government has this month begun bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, as its tourism and import-dependent economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic and elevated global food and energy prices.
  • More than 70 migrants missing after boat sinks off Tunisia: coastguard

    More than 70 people are missing in the Mediterranean after a boat crowded with migrants headed for Europe from Libya sank off neighbouring Tunisia, the coastguard said Wednesday. The boat, which was carrying around 100 people when it put to sea, capsized off the Tunisian port of Sfax, with coastguard...
  • 2016 EgyptAir disaster started by cigarette in cockpit: report

    An EgyptAir crash in 2016 that killed 66 people in the Mediterranean was likely caused by a fire that started in the cockpit, according to the conclusions of French experts contained in documents revealed on Wednesday sent to the Paris court of appeal in March and seen by Italian daily...
  • Ferries resume between Morocco and Spain

    A Spanish ferry docked in Morocco's Tangiers port Tuesday for the first time in two years, after a pandemic and a diplomatic crisis had left thousands stranded across the Mediterranean. "It's a great day. We're very happy to come back to the country after two years away," said passenger Hamid...
  • Maritime traffic between Morocco and Spain resumes

    Maritime traffic between Spain and Morocco is set to resume Tuesday following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Rabat's transport ministry said. Embroiled in a dispute with Spain over the territory of Western Sahara, Morocco upheld the blockade between some of the largest ports on the Mediterranean...
  • Environmental issues major cause of health problems globally: WHO

    Environment-related issues are among the major causes of health problems worldwide, the World Health Organization has said. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, environmental risks, including climate change, are responsible for 23 percent of the total burden of disease and as much as 30 percent of the disease burden for children,...
  • Captagon trade tops $5b in MENA, raises health risk concerns

    Exponential growth in the trade of the amphetamine-type stimulant captagon poses an increasing health and security risk to the region
  • Ship rescues 128 migrants, finds two dead In Mediterranean

    Migrants from African countries ravaged by war and poverty, make desperate bids to reach Europe through Mediterranean sea which is the world's deadliest migration route.
  • Number of Italy bound under-18 Tunisian migrants quadruples in four years

    A record number of irregular migrants under 18 years old reached Italy from Tunisia last year, more than quadrupling in four years, a rights group said Wednesday. Tunisia has become a major conduit for migrants seeking to reach European shores, particularly the Italian island of Lampedusa, just 130 kilometers (80...
  • Treat Turkey like Ukraine: Erdogan tells EU

    "Show Turkey the same sensitivity that we are witnessing towards Ukraine," Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara.
  • North Africa-Europe migrant deaths at sea up 155%: UN

    The surge in deaths came alongside evidence of both increased arrivals in at least one key destination and rising interceptions.
  • Israel president heads to Greece to calm ally ahead of Turkey visit

    Relations between majority-Muslim Turkey and the Jewish state froze over after the death of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla carrying aid for the Gaza strip in 2010.
  • Egypt and France begin military drills in the Mediterranean

    Egypt has kicked off joint air and naval drills with France, one of its biggest arms suppliers, in the Mediterranean, the Egyptian army said Monday.
  • Rare Mideast snow brings joy and misery

    Snow carpeted Jerusalem and the eastern Mediterranean as a rare storm turned the Holy City into a winter wonderland but brought misery to the region's Syrian refugees.
  • Turkey pledges to protect Mediterranean Sea

    Turkey, the last G20 country that ratified the Paris climate agreement, faces criticism for how it treats its water.
  • UAE and Bahrain hold first joint naval exercise with Israel: US

    The five-day maneuvers in the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, are intended to "enhance interoperability between participating forces", US Navy said.
  • Despite dangers, Iraqi Kurds crossing borders to reach Europe

    About 3,000 Kurds have left the region in the past three months, of whom 1,600 have gone to Belarus on tourist visas, according to the Kurdistan Refugee Association.
  • Cyprus seeks to suspend asylum applications

    In the first 10 months of the year, 10,868 irregular migrants arrived in Cyprus, 9,270 having illegally crossed the island's dividing line in a "prescribed and conscious policy by Turkey", he said. The current flows added to the more than 33,000 people already illegally residing in the republic, the government...
  • Gaza fishermen struggle for a catch under Israel’s blockade

    Crashing through the Mediterranean waves at sunset, Palestinian fisherman Mohammed al-Nahal leads a convoy of rickety boats out for another risky night under the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
  • Lebanon in blackout as power stations run out of fuel

    State electricity in most places is barely available for an hour a day amid rolling power cuts
  • Donkey milk soap soaking up fans in Jordan

    Although other regions around the Mediterranean produce soap from donkey milk, this is the first for Jordan
  • Israel opens Chinese-operated $1.7bn port in Haifa

    The port, to be operated by Shanghai International Port Group, is expected to bring competition to a sector plagued by delays, and boost Israel’s standing as a regional trade hub.
  • Work starts on Egypt’s $9bn high-speed train

    Work began on Egypt's $9 billion first high-speed train project, connecting the Red Sea coast with the Mediterranean coast, across a length of 660 km, and at a cost of nearly $9 billion.
  • Between the Holocaust and Israel: the Jews jailed on Cyprus

    Between August 1946 and February 1949, more than 52,000 Jews taken off 39 boats were detained in a dozen camps in Cyprus
  • Over 700 migrants saved from Mediterranean this weekend

    SOS Mediterranee said that its vessel, the Ocean Viking, had carried out six separate operations in international waters since Saturday