Man who smuggled nearly 4,000 migrants jailed for 25 years
Ahmed Ebid was at the helm of an operation that trafficked nearly 4,000 people in fishing boats across the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy, in an operation worth more than £12 million.
At sentencing, the judge said he had ruthlessly and cynically exploited desperate people.
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ITV News
05-08-2025
- ITV News
Failed asylum seeker drowned attempting to jump onto cargo ship at Southampton Docks, inquest told
A failed asylum seeker from Egypt drowned after he attempted to jump onto the ramp of a vehicle-transporter ship at Southampton docks in a bid to travel to Canada, an inquest has heard. Walid Gomaa, who was denied asylum status when he arrived in the UK in 2021, had told a friend that he intended to travel across the Atlantic having lived illegally in the UK for four years. The 36-year-old Egyptian national was spotted by members of the crew of the 200-metre MV Tannhauser, attempting to reach the ramp's finger-flaps, articulated extensions at the end of the vessel, as it was being raised ahead of sailing, the Winchester inquest was told. The operator paused the raising and saw Mr Gomaa walk away but as they started lifting up the ramp again, Mr Gomaa ran and jumped towards the ramp despite a crew member of the ship which was due to set sail to Halifax, Canada, shouting at him to stop. The inquest heard that Mr Gomaa then hit his head and fell into the sea at Empress Dock at the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal, where he drowned before a rescue boat could reach him on April 28 this year. Coroner Jason Pegg said: 'Mr Gomaa attempted a second time, warnings were shouted to Mr Gomaa but he continued despite the warnings. 'Mr Gomaa jumped off the jetty towards the vessel. On this occasion Mr Gomaa was not able to grab hold of anything and fell towards the water between the jetty and the vessel itself.' Mr Pegg said a post-mortem examination found the cause of death was drowning which resulted from a head injury and a fall into the water. The coroner said a friend had contacted police after Mr Gomaa had not been in contact and said Mr Gomaa had told him that he planned to travel to Canada. Mr Pegg said that when the friend asked how he was going to get there, Mr Gomaa replied: 'Do not worry about it.' The coroner added: 'Mr Gomaa came to the UK in 2021 and was not given status in this country and disappeared for a period of time. 'He initially claimed asylum but that was denied in 2021 and it was not until April 2025 that Mr Gomaa raised his head again.' In a message to Mr Gomaa's family in Egypt who did not attend the hearing, Mr Pegg said: 'I do give my condolences to Walid Gomaa's family and friends and they have my best wishes.'
Times
29-07-2025
- Times
Giora Epstein obituary: Israeli Air Force's ace fighter pilot
Guiding his Mirage fighter jet a mere 50ft above sand dunes near the Egyptian city of El-Arish, Giora Epstein stalked his target at a speed of more than 800mph, raised the trigger cover, flicked the cannon switch and fired. His volley struck the Soviet-made Sukhoi Su-7 and the tail of the plane exploded, while the front flipped over and smashed into the ground. No pilot, Epstein concluded, could have ejected in time. He returned to his base in Israel knowing he had achieved his first kill. Many were to follow. After this success in his French-built plane during Operation Moked (Focus), a surprise attack on Egyptian air force facilities in 1967 in what came to be known as the Six-Day War, Epstein downed another 15 Egyptian jets and a helicopter. His career tally of 17 kills made him ace of aces in the Israeli air force and top globally in the supersonic jet fighter era. 'I remember each one,' he wrote in his 2020 autobiography, Hawkeye. 'Every detail, every pressing of the trigger or firing of the missile. I vividly recall the pursuit, the aerial manoeuvres, the moment when I saw the plane ahead of me crash and burn on the ground.' He reached ace status with his fifth kill in 1970 during the War of Attrition and was promoted to head the departments of photography and long-range airstrikes. Egypt and Syria suddenly attacked Israel on October 6, 1973, while Epstein was at air force headquarters. He turned on the national warning siren system that announced the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War to the country but had no interest in remaining in the command and control bunker. Returning to the cockpit, he claimed 12 kills in the space of a week. Flying a Nesher fighter plane, he was lured into an ambush and outnumbered 20 to one by Egyptian MiGs but shot down four of them during a nine-minute dogfight that left him exhausted and shaking from exposure to extreme G-forces. Physical and mental advantages, he later mused, helped to make him a remarkable pilot. A calm personality kept him clear-headed under pressure, his tolerance for pain was unusually high, his small stature helped him to withstand G-forces and his eyesight was exceptional. 'The average range of vision for a fighter pilot is eight to twelve miles,' he wrote. 'I could spot fighter jets that were as much as 24 miles away.' Giora Epstein was born in 1938, to Polish parents, Hillel and Chaya, who met at a Zionist camp. He later added the Hebrew word Even, meaning 'stone', to his surname. His father was a docker and construction worker while his mother looked after children on the kibbutz where the family lived: Negba, a Jewish settlement founded in the south of what was then Mandatory Palestine. He was evacuated at the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War only hours before the Egyptian military attacked the kibbutz after Israel's declaration of independence. When he returned two years later, he had developed a fascination with aircraft and was a voracious reader, especially of American Wild West stories and books about RAF pilots. 'I knew by heart all the tales of the battles of Douglas Bader,' he said. He would later meet the Second World War ace. When informed of Epstein's combat record, Bader was said to be 'quite impressed'. Drafted into the Israeli military at 17, Epstein volunteered for the pilot course but was made to train as an aircraft mechanic after medical tests indicated a heart condition. Still, he negotiated his way into a paratroop unit and discovered a love of free-falling. He made hundreds of jumps, twice breaking a leg in hard landings. In 1962 he competed for Israel's skydiving team in the World Sport Parachuting Championships in the United States and recalled the folk musician Pete Seeger giving a concert for the competitors. 'I knew all of his songs by heart and at the end of the evening, I taught him to sing Hava Nagila,' he said. The persistent Epstein was finally cleared for pilot school in 1963 after more medical tests and graduated top of his class. Two missions did end in failure: attempts to assassinate Yasser Arafat. In 1968 a pair of suspicious Mercedes cars, one black, one blue, were spotted on a road in Jordan and Epstein was ordered to fire at the blue vehicle. 'When I landed, I was told, 'Idiot, Yasser Arafat was in the other Mercedes!' ' In 1972, Epstein strafed a building in Lebanon where the Palestinian political leader was believed to be holding a meeting, but he survived. Unwilling to accept a desk job as he approached his forties — he protested that he 'didn't want to fly Parker pens' — Epstein joined the Israeli commercial airline El Al in 1977. He flew Boeing aircraft until the mandatory retirement age of 65, remaining an air force reservist until his 59th birthday. He flew Israelis and Iranian Jews out of Tehran in 1979 on a chaotic rescue mission during the Iranian Revolution. In 1967 Epstein married Sara, an operations secretary in his squadron. She survives him along with two daughters, Adi and Dana, and a son, Guy. All worked in the air force: Guy as an officer in an anti-aircraft missile unit and Adi and Dana as operations officers. In his seventies, Epstein was diagnosed with heart failure and fitted with a mechanical pump. He was honoured by the Israel Defence Forces in 2018 with a special promotion to brigadier general. Though he appreciated the attention, his reserved nature meant that he did not ostentatiously celebrate his triumphs in the manner of his fellow pilots. 'With me, there were no buzz flights [low-altitude passes over the airfield] or whoops of victory after each kill,' he said. 'But I let nothing stop me on my way to victory.' Giora Epstein, ace fighter pilot, was born on May 20, 1938. He died on July 19, 2025, aged 87
Reuters
29-07-2025
- Reuters
18 migrants die in shipwreck off eastern Libya, 50 missing
TRIPOLI, July 29 (Reuters) - At least 18 migrants died in a shipwreck off the city of Tobruk in eastern Libya over the weekend, and 50 are still missing, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday, citing reports. Ten survivors have been accounted for so far, the IOM said. Tobruk is a coastal city near the border with Egypt. A diplomatic source from the Egyptian consulate in Benghazi in eastern Libya told Reuters by phone that the migrants are from Egypt. The diplomat said 10 bodies were identified and transferred back home, while the survivors were being held in an anti-illegal migration facility. A Libyan Coast Guard official said the bodies of migrants were found in Alaghila Beach, some 25 kilometers east of Tobruk. Since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has become a transit country for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty across the desert and over the Mediterranean to Europe. "This latest tragedy is a stark reminder of the deadly risks people are forced to take in search of safety and opportunity. Libya remains a major transit point for migrants and refugees, many of whom face exploitation, abuse, and life-threatening journeys," the IOM said.
