The Open Arms NGO rescues refugees from Africa and Magreb from a boat about 45 nautical miles off Libya's coast in March 2022. AP
The Open Arms NGO rescues refugees from Africa and Magreb from a boat about 45 nautical miles off Libya's coast in March 2022. AP
The Open Arms NGO rescues refugees from Africa and Magreb from a boat about 45 nautical miles off Libya's coast in March 2022. AP
The Open Arms NGO rescues refugees from Africa and Magreb from a boat about 45 nautical miles off Libya's coast in March 2022. AP

At least 50 Sudanese refugees die in boat fire off Libya


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At least 50 people died after a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off Libya's coast on Sunday, the International Organisation for Migration said.

“IOM is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life on September 14. At least 50 lives were lost,” the UN agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that it provided medical support to 24 survivors, calling for an “urgent action” to end such tragedies at sea.

Libya has become a major route for migrants looking to reach Europe, with many fleeing conflict and poverty by trying to cross the Mediterranean.

As of February this year, there were about 867,055 migrants from 44 nationalities residing in Libya, according to IOM data.

The bodies of 19 migrants linked to smuggling networks were found in three graves on farms in east Libya that month. The 19 bodies were uncovered in the Jikharra area, about 440km from Benghazi. Ten bodies were also recovered after a boat sank in the west of the country.

How to apply for a drone permit
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The bio

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France

Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines

Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.

Favourite Author: My father for sure

Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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%3Cp%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Aryan%20Lakra%2C%20Ashwanth%20Valthapa%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20CP%20Rizwaan%2C%20Hazrat%20Billal%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%20and%20Zawar%20Farid.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE squad

Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.

UAE tour of Zimbabwe

All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I

Updated: September 16, 2025, 3:03 PM`