Migrant rescue ships operating in the Mediterranean Sea have been blocked from carrying out their work as their crews are ordered to stay in port by the Italian coastguard.
Aid organisations and charities have reported a series of nuisance inspections from the Italian coastguard that has obstructed the work of the central Mediterranean’s crucial life-saving vessels.
The obstructions come during the seasonal spike in migrants crossing the Mediterranean as more illegal immigrants and refugees attempt to reach Europe from North Africa in fairer summer weather.
A official for SOS Mediterranee, which operates the Ocean Viking rescue vessel, confirmed to The National that the ship had been forced to stay in port since July 22 following orders from the Italian coastguard.
The organisation has characterised the decision to detain the ship for an inspection as “a blatant administrative harassment manoeuvre”.
The inspection was ordered because the ship had arrived outside Porto Empedocle in Sicily carrying a number of passengers that exceeded its safety limits. The 180 migrants on board had been plucked from the sea.
“What is clear to us now is that, over the past three months, the same argument over safety has been systematically used by Italian authorities to detain four NGO ships conducting search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean,” Frederic Penard, SOS Mediterranee’s director of operations, said.
Similarly, the Sea Watch vessel operated by Sea-Watch International was put under administrative block on July 9 by the Italian coastguard.
“The Italian authorities are once again using a technical inspection as an excuse to block rescue ships,” the organisation said in a tweet.
“They argue with the lack of safety of rescued persons on board, but they themselves make sure that people are in distress for days and no rescue ships are on scene,” it added.
Rescue ships in the Mediterranean have seen further waiting times added between missions since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.
Ships regularly have to be disinfected and quarantined to ensure that the disease is not spread between the crew, rescued migrants and local people.
Malta and Italy have said their ports are unsafe for arriving migrants because of the public health emergency.
The convergence of these factors has meant that days of waiting for refugees and migrants, often in unseaworthy boats, remains commonplace. Two hundred and seventy people have died making the crossing since January.
On Monday Malta's armed forces rescued a group of 95 migrants found in distress on a dinghy north of Libya, eventually bringing them ashore 33 hours after an initial distress call.
A volunteer organisation, Alarm Phone, said on Sunday morning the dinghy was overcrowded and taking on water. It said the boat was located within Malta's search-and-rescue region.
A Maltese patrol boat rescued another group of 63 migrants and brought them to Malta on July 17. One of those migrants later tested positive for Covid-19 and medical authorities put the whole group in quarantine.
A steady stream of migrants has been arriving from Tunisia to the tiny southern Italian island of Lampedusa, too.
Tunisians are now the biggest single national group reaching Italy by sea, and in a sign of concern, Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese flew to Tunis on Monday for a meeting with her Tunisian counterpart.
Hours earlier two vessels carrying 18 Tunisians arrived in Lampedusa, a tourist destination about 100 kilometres from Tunisia and 200km from Sicily.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group 1 (PA) Dh119,373 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Brraq, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Taamol, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Turf) 1,800m
Winner: Eqtiraan, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial (TB) Dh183,650 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Soft Whisper, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner: Etisalat, Sando Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
