Latest Mediterranean Sea News

Canada's Penny Oleksiak to miss world swimming championships because of injury

Jun. 01, 2023 11:52 AM EDT

TORONTO (AP) — Seven-time Olympic medalist Penny Oleksiak will miss the world swimming championships in July while she continues rehabbing from injury. Oleksiak had been coming back from left knee surgery since last August when she developed an unrelated shoulder issue. ...

Rescue groups say Malta coordinated the return of 500 migrants to Libya instead of saving them

May. 29, 2023 14:11 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A group of non-governmental organizations dedicated to rescuing migrants in the central Mediterranean is accusing the European island nation of Malta of coordinating the return of around 500 people to Libya where they were subsequently imprisoned, in violation of...

No trace of boat with 500 migrants, rescue group says after an alarm sparked Mediterranean search

May. 26, 2023 12:32 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — A day after searching a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea, an Italian humanitarian group said Friday that its rescue vessel found no trace of a boat said to be in distress and carrying 500 migrants, including a newborn. The vessel “Life Support found no wreckage of...

Red Sea corals threatened by mass sea urchin die-off, Israeli researchers say

May. 24, 2023 11:03 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Sea urchins in Israel's Gulf of Eilat have been dying off at an alarming rate, researchers announced Wednesday — a development that threatens the Red Sea’s prized coral reef ecosystems. According to Tel Aviv University scientists, an unknown pathogen is...

Israelis protest government's plans to weaken Supreme Court amid talks for compromise

May. 20, 2023 15:03 PM EDT

TEL AVIV (AP) — Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday against contentious plans by their hard-line government to overhaul the judiciary, as the protest campaign showed no signs of abating nearly five months on. The main protest took place in Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub...

US Navy commander: No real change in Russian military's conduct toward Western warships in east Med

May. 17, 2023 15:03 PM EDT

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — A U.S. Navy commander said Wednesday there is “no significant change” in the conduct of Russian aircraft and warships toward Western naval and air assets in the eastern Mediterranean as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds on. Cmdr. Peter C. Flynn said that...

Minister: 2 major gas companies keen on Israel-Cyprus plan for pipeline, gas processing facility

May. 16, 2023 12:27 PM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Two major international oil and gas companies have so far expressed interest in Israeli-Cypriot plans to build a pipeline that would convey offshore natural gas from both countries to Cyprus where it would be liquefied for export by ship, a Cypriot official said Tuesday. ...

Cyprus, Israel working on deal for natural gas pipeline, processing plant in Cyprus

May. 15, 2023 09:12 AM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus and Israel are working on a deal to build a pipeline that will convey natural gas from both countries to the east Mediterranean island nation, where it will be liquefied for export by ship to Europe and potentially elsewhere, the Cypriot energy minister said Monday....

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it's no longer emergency

May. 07, 2023 20:48 PM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. The...

WHO says COVID emergency is over. So what does that mean?

May. 05, 2023 14:53 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization downgraded its assessment of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, saying it no longer qualifies as a global emergency. The action reverses a declaration that was first made on January 30, 2020, when the disease had not even been named COVID-19 and when...