Ships in the Mediterranean Sea have rescued over 1,100 people struggling to reach Europe in smugglers' boats.
The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the last five years, the top U.S. military officer said Sunday.In separate operations, the German charity Sea-Watch said it rescued 444 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean on overcrowded, rickety smugglers’ boats. The Sea-Watch 3 vessel carried out the five operations over 24 hours, and said the rescued included a pregnant woman and a man who had suffered severe burns.
The charity is asking for permission to bring the rescued people to a safe port, as the rescue ship is unable to accommodate so many people. In addition, the European charity SOS Mediterannee said its rescue ship Ocean Viking had saved 87 people, including 57 unaccompanied minors, from an overcrowded rubber boat off the Libyan coast. None had life jackets, the charity said.
Migrant arrivals in Italy are up by nearly one-quarter from 2021, with 34,013 recorded through Friday. While still notably fewer than in the 2015 peak year, the crossings remain deadly, with 1,234 people recorded dead or missing at sea by the U.N. refugee agency this year, 823 of those in the perilous central Mediterranean.