Latest news with #Deba
The Sun
23-07-2025
- General
- The Sun
Killer whales strike AGAIN off Spain as bloodthirsty ‘White Gladis' pod smashes yacht sparking frantic rescue mission
A PACK of killer whales have struck again in the Atlantic after nearly capsizing a yacht and leaving a helpless crew fearing for their lives. The terrifying encounter, said to be linked to the bloodthirsty White Gladis pod, took place two miles north of the Spanish town of Deba. 4 4 4 Shocked witnesses first reported the dangerous scenes after several orcas surrounded the 30ft boat which was stranded out at sea. At least two of the beasts then attacked and left the ship severely damaging with the rudder shredded. A frantic rescue mission was quickly launched by Maritime Rescue for the two men on board. Miraculously the boat stayed intact and above water for long enough for the pair to be saved and towed back to port. The entire mission took a staggering three hours to complete from the moment the men first raised the alarm. Posting a picture on the social networks, the relieved duo said: "NOTICE TO SAILORS!! Yesterday afternoon at the height of Deba, the group of ORCAS that sail through our waters, attacked this sailboat. "Maritime Rescue of Getaria had to come to the rescue." The boat was French registered and both occupants are thought to be from France. One was aged 60. This type of situation involving orcas has already occurred on other occasions in waters of southern Spain and in Galicia. I joined Orca team searching for White Gladis & trying to solve mystery of why her pod are sinking yachts off Gibraltar Killer whales have previously sunk one boat in the Straits of Gibraltar and caused damage to numerous others off the coast of Spain. Orcas even disrupted a sailing race last year, when a boat travelling from the Netherlands to Italy had a 15-minute encounter with the animals. This prompted the crew to drop their craft's sails and raise a clatter to fend them off. The latest attacks have prompted warnings for Brit sailors. Professor Volker Deecke, an academic at University of Cumbria in the conservation of marine mammals and behavioural aspects of conservation biology, told the Daily Telegraph: "UK sailors transiting the hotspots should definitely familiarise themselves with the guidance. "The same guidance applies for sailors encountering any killer whales in Cornish waters." Earlier this month, wildlife experts confirmed they had spotted Iberian orcas in Cornish waters for the first time. And in July of last year, a Brit yachtsman posted video footage of his boat sinking after it was attacked by orcas. Robert Powell and two others on the Bonhomme William had to be rescued by coastguards after their vessel capsized in the Strait of Gibraltar. Last year, Brit couple Janet Morris, 58, and Stephen Bidwell, 58, from Cambridge, were involved in a whale attack that lasted for an hour. The orcas off the Iberian coast often average between 16ft to 21ft in length. They are considerably smaller than orcas in Antarctica who can reach over 29ft. The attacks tend to happen between May and August but researchers don't believe they are often aggressively commited. Instead, some orcas may disrupt boats out of sheer boredom. Other experts fear that one main culprit may be teaching other orcas how to strike. A majestic beast, named White Gladis, has been terrorising sailors around the coast of Gibraltar over the past four years. Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, and member of the Atlantic Orca working group believes a 'critical moment of agony' made White Gladis aggressive towards boats. Why do orcas attack boats? WHILE researchers are unsure exactly why killer whales have been attacking boats so often lately, many theories have been put forward. Some experts suggest it could be a playful manifestation of the animals' curiosity. But others fear a "critical moment of agony" such as a collision may have sparked aggression towards boats. Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, told LiveScience: "That traumatized orca is the one that started this behaviour of physical contact with the boat." Some even speculate White Gladis may now be spurring fellow killer whales on. Orcas are the largest members of the oceanic dolphin family. Although they never attack humans, the apex predators can take down large groups of whales, hence the name killer. What makes them a unique marine mammal is that they often hunt in lethal pods and family groups of up to 40 individuals - and feast on fish, dolphins, seal lions, seals, sharks and stingrays. The carnivores can grow up to 32ft long and weigh up to six tons - and are immediately recognizable by their distinctive black-and-white colouring. 4
Morocco World
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Fez Sacred Music Festival Opens with a Spellbinding Tribute to Renewal, Sacred Beauty
Rabat – The 28th edition of the Fez Festival of Sacred Music opens this Friday with an ambitious creation that promises to leave a lasting impression. This year's theme is all about 'Renaissances, From Nature to the Sacred', and it conveys more than just the start of a globally acclaimed cultural event. A lyrical journey into what it means to be human, to evolve, and to reconnect with the sacred awaits those who will attend. This year's opening act brings together dozens of musicians, dancers, narrators, and visual artists from across Africa and beyond. At the heart of it all stands Fez's Bab Makina, the monumental gateway that has become a canvas for the festival's now signature projection mapping. As night falls, its ancient walls will light up with vivid visuals, wrapping audiences in a unique performance. What will bind all performances together is the idea of Renaissance in all its splendor and depth, and not just as a historical period or artistic style, but as a living force. Fez embodies that force. It once gave birth to Al Quaraouiyine, the oldest existing university, and for centuries shaped religious and intellectual life across Africa. Today, it continues to inspire, drawing a line from its multilayered legacy to the rebirths, spiritual, artistic, and cultural, that still define our age. The show draws from its depth and diversity: from the hypnotic rhythm of Burundi's drummers to the ritual dance of the Ivorian Leopards, from the poetic chants of Senegal's Mouride brotherhood to the sacred feminine voices of Mayotte's Deba tradition. Each performance speaks to a different expression of the sacred. Sometimes solemn, sometimes playful, always alive. The stage will also welcome voices from beyond the continent. Omani Sufi chants will echo alongside the mystical Sama dance of Meknes. Corsican mezzo-soprano Battista Acquaviva will breathe new life into Renaissance hymns. Malian actor and storyteller Habib Dembelé will guide audiences through the evening as narrator, grounding the spectacle in the power of spoken word. The result is a carefully crafted narrative, one that moves from elemental nature to spiritual awakening. This opening night stands as a continuation of that effort and as an invitation. Fez does not just host a festival; it opens a space where cultures meet, where memory breathes, and where the soul finds room to rise. The sacred music event will welcome the public on Friday, May 16. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., close at 7:15 p.m., and the show begins shortly after at 7:30 p.m. At its core, the Fez Festival of Sacred Music has long acted as a living platform for South-South dialogue, and the organizers plan for this year's edition to deepen that commitment. The inclusion of spiritual traditions from Mayotte, Oman, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Mali is no mere happenstance. It shows a deliberate effort to foreground connections between southern societies whose sacred practices often intersect and echo across borders.
CBS News
21-04-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Check the Boston Marathon 2025 results for winners, times, prize money and more
The 2025 Boston Marathon's four professional races are underway on Marathon Monday . The men's and women's wheelchair races were the first to take off on the course , followed by professional runners a short time later. Stay with CBS News Boston and WBZ-TV throughout the day for complete details on how the top athletes finished. The winner of the men's wheelchair was not much of a surprise. Switzerland's Marcel Hug, known as "The Silver Bullet" for his trademark silver helmet, crossed the finish line first on Monday to win the 2025 Boston Marathon men's wheelchair division for the eighth time. Hug spent much of Monday's race all alone, minutes ahead of the nearest competition. Hug has become a staple of Marathon Monday. He won for the first time in 2015, and has become a regular frontrunner since. In addition to winning Boston eight times, the Silver Bullet has also won nine Berlin Marathon titles, the New York Marathon six times, and Chicago Marathon five times. Winners are rewarded financially for their efforts on the course. In total, there is a pool of $1,214,500 in prize money. The top Boston Marathon finishers of the men's and women's divisions receive $150,000 each. Runners that finish in second place earn $75,000, followed by $40,000 for third place. In the wheelchair division, there is an increased prize for the 2025 race. The top winners will receive $50,000, up from $40,000 in recent years. The second and third place finishers will take home $30,000 and $15,000, respectively, in the wheelchair division. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia led wire-to-wire and broke the tape with a time of 2:06:17 to win the 2024 Boston Marathon men's division. That was good for the 10th fastest time in Boston history. Fellow Ethiopian Mohamed Esa was second across the finish line at 2:06:58, while 2023 champion Evans Chebet was not far behind at 2:07:22. In the women's division, Hellen Obiri of Kenya pulled away late to claim her second straight Boston Marathon women's race in a time of 2:22:37. She became the first back-to-back Boston Marathon winner since Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won in 2004 and 2005. Sharon Lokedi finished second in 2024 at 2:22:45 while Edna Kiplagat placed third at 2:23:21 to give Kenya the top three spots in the 2024 women's race. Hug took home a seventh Boston win in 2024 with a time of 1:15:33 during the 2024 race. Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women's wheelchair division in 2024, becoming the first from Great Britain to accomplish the feat with a time of 1:35:11. It was the first World Marathon major win of the 22-year-old's career. The men's record time for the Boston Marathon is 2:03:02, set by Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya in 2011. Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba holds the women's record from the 2014 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:19:59. Originally, Kenya's Rita Jeptoo held the record after beating Deba that year with a finish of 2:18:57. In 2016, however, Jeptoo was stripped of her title because of doping. As a result, Deba was later awarded the 2014 win and record, but not the prize money. For the men's wheelchair division, Hug's 2024 time of 1:15:33 didn't just set the course record. It also broke his own record that he had set the previous year with a time of 1:17:06. Manuela Schär of Switzerland set the women's wheelchair record in 2017 with a finish of 1:28:17.
