One of two NGOs behind a new migrant rescue vessel launching missions in the Mediterranean later this month has said it expects the ship to be impounded.
The NGOs Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and Sea-Watch have announced they would resume migrant rescues in the Mediterranean before the middle of August on board the Sea-Watch 4.
No rescue vessels have operated in the sea between Europe and North Africa since the Ocean Viking, now run solely by SOS Mediterranee, docked in Italy last month.
The humanitarian organisations operating the ships have said European governments have been using the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to stymie rescue missions.
Malta and Italy have said their ports are unsafe for incoming migrants because of the public health emergency.
MSF humanitarian affairs adviser Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui told The National she was "confident" and "expected" that the new vessel, Sea-Watch 4, would be blocked from carrying out its mission.
“We know that since February, the four NGO ships that have been involved in rescue operations … were all impounded,” Ms Sahraoui explained.
The reasoning for this, she said, was “surreal” and “grotesque”.
On top of the threat of Covid-19, 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 Mediterranean crossings as more illegal immigrants and refugees attempt to reach Europe from North Africa in fairer summer weather.
SOS Mediterranee has characterised the decision to detain the Ocean Viking for an inspection as "a blatant administrative harassment manoeuvre".
As the tentative date for the launch of Sea-Watch 4 was announced Oliver Behn, MSF director of operations, decried the inaction of authorities in Europe and said the NGO had the capacity to ensure Covid-19 was dealt with properly.
“No human being should be left to drown, to sink beneath the waves,” Mr Behn said. “No human being should be forced to endure torture and suffering. Yet this is the consequence of criminal dereliction of duty by European governments.
“As a medical humanitarian organisation, we at MSF acknowledge the challenges presented by Covid-19. However, we see that recent state measures to discourage or block life-saving activities in Mediterranean – cloaked in public-health rhetoric – are reckless and politically motivated,” he said.
Aside from the treacherous conditions in the central Mediterranean, where 100,000 migrants attempted to cross from North Africa to Europe last year and more than 1,200 died in the attempt, the NGOs have also hit out at the desperate conditions in Libya where the majority of the illegal immigrants are returned.
“Libya is defined as categorically unsafe for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers by international and European institutions, including the UN, IOM and European Commission," MSF said in a statement.
In April, MSF and SOS Mediterranee abandoned a four-year collaboration that had rescued thousands of migrants over a disagreement regarding how best to proceed amid the coronavirus.
MSF's new partner, Sea-Watch, made headlines last year when Italy arrested Carola Rackete, the German captain of the Sea-Watch 3, for forcibly docking on the island of Lampedusa with dozens of migrants on board despite being refused permission.
The Sea-Watch 4, the groups said, was bought with backing from United4Rescue, a humanitarian group funded by the German Protestant Church.
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
RECORD%20BREAKER
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Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Brief scoreline:
Wolves 3
Neves 28', Doherty 37', Jota 45' 2
Arsenal 1
Papastathopoulos 80'
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
The years Ramadan fell in May
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
