Latest Mediterranean Sea News

Pope Francis insists Europe doesn't have a migrant emergency and challenges countries to open ports

Sep. 23, 2023 12:31 PM EDT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn't facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments...

Surgeons perform second pig heart transplant, trying to save a dying man

Sep. 22, 2023 16:15 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Surgeons have transplanted a pig’s heart into a dying man in a bid to prolong his life – only the second patient to ever undergo such an experimental feat. Two days later, the man was cracking jokes and able to sit in a chair, Maryland doctors said Friday. The...

Pope Francis arrives in French port city of Marseille to urge Mediterranean countries in Europe to welcome migrants

Sep. 22, 2023 10:09 AM EDT
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Pope Francis arrives in French port city of Marseille to urge Mediterranean countries in Europe to welcome migrants.

Pope goes to Marseille to talk migration, but will Europe listen as it scrambles to stem an influx?

Sep. 20, 2023 03:50 AM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Ten years after Pope Francis made a landmark visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to show solidarity with migrants, he is joining Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean this weekend in France to make the call more united. The question is whether anyone in...

Libya was mired in chaos and corruption. For years, warnings the Derna dams may burst went unheeded

Sep. 18, 2023 09:44 AM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — The warnings were clear but went unheeded. Experts had long said that floods posed a significant danger to two dams meant to protect nearly 90,000 people in the northeast of Libya. They repeatedly called for immediate maintenance to the two structures, located just...

Biden's national security adviser holds two days of talks in Malta with China's foreign minister

Sep. 17, 2023 23:59 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's national security adviser met with China's foreign minister over the past two days on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta in an effort that the White House said Sunday was intended to “responsibly maintain the relationship” at a time of strained...

Flooding death toll soars to 11,300 in Libya's coastal city of Derna, aid group says

Sep. 14, 2023 21:27 PM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — The death toll in Libya's coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday. Marie el-Drese, the aid group's secretary-general,...

AP PHOTOS: Satellite images show flood devastation that killed more than 11,000 in Libya

Sep. 14, 2023 20:34 PM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Images taken by satellite show the physical devastation from a flood that killed at least 11,300 people in the eastern Libyan city of Derna. Two dams above Derna burst early Monday under the pressure from rain dropped by a storm. The pent-up water swept blocks...

Searchers race to recover bodies in Libyan city where 5,100 died in flooding after 2 dams collapsed

Sep. 13, 2023 22:34 PM EDT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — Search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea Wednesday to look for bodies in a coastal Libyan city where the collapse of two dams unleashed a massive flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people. The Mediterranean city of Derna has struggled...

Intensified clashes between rival factions in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp kill 5

Sep. 13, 2023 14:26 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Clashes intensified Wednesday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, leaving at least five people dead and more than a dozen wounded, Lebanese state media and security officials said. Scores of civilians have been forced to flee to safer areas. The latest...