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First Post
33 minutes ago
- General
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Four women, three girls killed after overcrowded migrant boat capsizes in Spain's Canary Islands
Spain's maritime rescue service, which located the boat some six nautical miles from shore, said it was carrying 159 people, including 49 women and 32 minors read more A boat carrying immigrants capsized off the coast of Spain's Canary Islands. Image used for representational purpose Four women and three girls drowned on Wednesday after migrants disembarking an overcrowded boat in Spain's Canary Islands accidentally capsized the vessel, rescuers said, in the latest tragedy on the perilous route. Emergency services in the Atlantic archipelago confirmed the seven deaths 'after the capsizing of a vessel' in La Restinga port on the island of El Hierro. They said on X that one of the girls was aged five and another 16. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Spain's maritime rescue service, which located the boat some six nautical miles from shore, said it was carrying 159 people, including 49 women and 32 minors. Authorities said it was not immediately clear where the boat had departed from or the nationalities of those on board. Juan Miguel Padron, mayor of El Pinar, north of La Restinga, told local television that some migrants were trapped in the boat and others died during the rescue when the vessel capsized upon reaching what he called 'the promised land'. 'It's terrible, just terrible,' he added. A three-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl almost drowned and were transported by helicopter to a hospital in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, the emergency services added. Two three-month-old babies, a pregnant woman and three minors were in hospital on El Hierro, they said. Spanish broadcaster RTVE aired footage of rescuers throwing lifebuoys to people clinging onto an overturned boat and treading water off El Hierro. The maritime rescue service told AFP in a statement that a rescue ship found the boat and accompanied it to La Restinga. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'During the disembarkation, some of the people travelling on the boat crowded on one of the sides, which caused it to tilt and capsize,' the service said. 'The transfer of people is the most delicate moment of the operation and, with the vessels being overloaded and with precarious security conditions, the difficulty increases notably.' Alpidio Armas, head of El Hierro's local government, questioned how the migrants could be saved on the high seas but die in the apparent safety of a port. 'We are doing something wrong,' he told reporters. 'Question of humanity' Each year, Spain takes tens of thousands of Europe-bound migrants who arrive in the Canary Islands from west Africa – with Mali, Senegal and Morocco the most common nationalities. Strong ocean currents and ramshackle vessels make the long crossing dangerous. According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea from January 1 to December 5, 2024. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The central government's representative in the archipelago, Anselmo Pestana, explained that the migrants' fatigue complicated the emergency response in the water. 'If the rescue was not immediate, they probably sunk very quickly,' he told journalists on the island of Gran Canaria. Local authorities have consistently warned of unsustainable pressure on their resources and complained about a lack of solidarity. 'We ask for decisive action from the European Union,' the Canary Islands' regional leader Fernando Clavijo told journalists. 'This is unfortunately what we experience… those who are very far away in offices are incapable of understanding it.' Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that the deaths 'should move us all'. 'Lives lost in a desperate attempt to find a better future,' he added. Almost 47,000 irregular arrivals reached the Canaries in 2024, breaking the annual record for the second year running, as tighter controls in the Mediterranean pushed migrants to attempt the Atlantic route. But numbers are down so far this year, dropping 34.4 percent between January 1 and May 15 compared with the same period in 2024, according to interior ministry figures. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
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First Post
an hour ago
- Politics
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Is Trump about to share a plan for Gaza ceasefire? Here's what his top aide says
'The president is going to review it. And I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution, of that conflict,' read more Trump is expected to present a Gaza ceasefire plan as early as Wednesday. Reuters The Trump administration is preparing to finalise a new written agreement that could lay the groundwork for a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a senior aide said. This deal could come as early as Wednesday. 'We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today,' said Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy. 'The president is going to review it. And I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution, temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution, of that conflict.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Witkoff made the remarks during a briefing at the White House, standing alongside Trump. Trump said his administration is also working to speed up humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. 'We're dealing with the whole situation in Gaza. We're getting food to the people of Gaza. It's been a very nasty situation,' Trump told reporters.
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First Post
2 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
India rewrites its security doctrine: Terrorism is now first step on an escalatory ladder
The challenge before India is to raise global consciousness about Pakistani terrorism so that it is pressurised to control it read more India's foreign policy and strategic planners have to take note of Pakistan's persistent efforts at building an anti-Indian narrative both at home and abroad, especially in the Islamic countries. The main planks of their story are: India is engaged in fomenting terrorism in Pakistan through its proxies the Balochi insurgent groups and the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan. This is being emphasised especially by the Pakistan army. (More on this later in this article) India did not give any proof to Pakistan or the world about the links to Pakistan about those who undertook the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Despite that it launched unprovoked military action against Pakistan. (This is incorrect. India has named 'The Resistance Front' an outfit of the Lashkar-e-Toiba to be responsible for the attack). Pakistan's defence forces got the better of India in the military engagement; hence, India approached the US to intervene to end the conflict. Pakistan agreed to do so in the interests of peace. (This is false. It was Pakistan that sought the cessation of hostilities0. Any military confrontation between nuclear countries carries with it the extreme danger of escalation to the level of a nuclear war with all its unimaginable consequences. (More on this later in the article) India's holding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance is contrary to its treaty obligations and is unacceptable to Pakistan which is critically dependent on the waters of the Indus Rivers system. (Pakistan cannot have it both ways; take advantage of the IWT and seek to damage India continuously). Pakistan wishes to have a dialogue with India which will have to include the Jammu and Kashmir issue, the Indus Waters trade and terrorism. This is the line being taken by Pakistan's civilian leadership. (India has made it clear that the dialogue will be on terrorism and Pakistan's return of Indian territory under its illegal control0. India is in a grip of war hysteria which is being promoted by the anti-minorities (especially the Muslims) BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Behind the government is the BJP's parent organisation the RSS which has always been virulently hostile towards Muslims and Islam. (India has countered these allegations but more needs to be done on this account). The international community must compel India to address the root causes of India-Pakistan problems so that international peace and security is maintained. These points are surely being made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on his ongoing visit to some Islamic states. He has already been to Turkey and Iran and Azerbaijan and will be in Tajikistan on May 28-29. The recently and farcically promoted Asim Munir to the Field Marshal rank is accompanying Sharif on this trip. The clear object of his accompanying Sharif (though in terms of Pakistani reality it should be said to be the other way around) is to show that the country's military and civilian leaderships are on the same page on India, even if there are some differences in focus of the two, on issues of war and peace with India. In accompanying Shahbaz Sharif, the newly minted Field Marshal is perhaps setting a precedent because Pakistani army chiefs do not accompany Prime Ministers during their visits abroad. These points will also be made by the Parliamentary delegations that Pakistan has announced it will send to major world capitals. While some of these points are oft repeated by Pakistan, India has to focus especially on the stress the Pakistani army has been giving to India's so-called involvement in terrorism. It is essential to turn to the joint the media briefing held by Pakistan's Interior Secretary and the Director General of the Inter Services Press Relations (DG ISPR) on May 23 after the Khuzdar attack in which some children died to understand Pakistani propaganda against India on terrorism. The actual briefer was DG ISPR though the Interior Secretary made some points to show that military and the civilian government hold the same views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Interior Secretary said inter alia, 'Our initial findings confirm that this attack [Khuzdar] is in continuity of wider pattern of violence sponsored by India through the Fitna al Hindustan operation under the tutelage and patronage of Indian agency RAW.' There are two points that need to be made straightaway. First, the Pakistani allegation that India is behind the Baloch insurgency is sheer nonsense. This is fifth insurgency since Pakistan amalgamated the state of Kalat and, in doing so, merged Baluchistan with it in 1947. The majority of the Baloch people have never accepted Pakistan and view the Pakistani army as an occupying force which has facilitated the massive exploitation of Baluchistan's natural resources especially for the benefit of Pakistan's only province that matters—Punjab. Second, the use of new term for the Baloch insurgent groups that has been coined by Pakistan is 'Fitna al Hindustan'. The word Fitna is of Arabic origin and has different meanings. It has been used in the Koran in different contexts. One of the connotations of Fitna is rebellion against legitimate political authority, including by heretics. By using this term for the Baloch insurgent groups Pakistan is seeking to give a religious colour to what is essentially a political matter. It is seeking to convey that the Baloch insurgent groups are heretics (those who have abandoned Islam) and are acting at the behest of India which, as noted earlier, the Pakistanis are propagating, is under the control of an anti-Muslim government. Clearly, Pakistan wishes that the Baloch insurgents and India are discredited in the eyes of the Islamic ummah. The term Fitna al Hindustan is also directed at the Afghan Taliban for Pakistan accuses it of permitting the Baloch groups the use of Afghanistan's territory as sanctuaries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In this context it can be mentioned that since last year Pakistan has begun to call the TTP as 'Fitna al Khawarij'. Most Muslims use the Khawarij as a pejorative for those who, according to them, have deviated from the path of true Islam, and have rebelled against legitimate state authority. Thus, the connotation again is that the TTP consists of heretics who are taking the help of India. At least till now the use of this term for the TTP has not made any change in the interim Afghan Taliban government towards it. The DG ISPR used the media briefing which stretched for more than an hour and a half to try to make the point that India, after being frustrated by the 'failure' of its Operation Sindoor, had activated its proxies to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan and it was now targeting innocent and small children too. He claimed that Pakistan had given irrefutable evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan to the Indian government. All this is of course Pakistani propaganda but Indian policymakers have to devise methods to refute this propaganda if and when they feel that it is beginning to make some impact in the major powers and Islamic countries that are well disposed towards India. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The international community recognises that Pakistan is engaged in using terror. However, terrorism does not resonate in a world which is pre-occupied in dealing with the upheavals caused by President Donald Trump in global geo-politics and geo-economics since he assumed office on January 20 for the second time. The challenge before India is to raise global consciousness about Pakistani terrorism so that it is pressurised to control it. The point made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will not be cowed down by Pakistan's nuclear blackmail has to be co-related to its terror activities so that nuclear doctrine begins to recognise that the first step on an escalatory ladder is a terrorist attack and not a kinetic response to it. India's strategic thinkers and diplomats must emphatically spread this idea. The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as India's Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
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First Post
2 hours ago
- Business
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Storyboard18's Marquee Nights returns - an evening of exclusive candid conversations, creativity, global insights
Storyboard18's 'Marquee Nights' returns on June 2 with an exclusive evening featuring Yannick Bolloré - global media magnate, industry visionary and one of the most influential voices shaping the future of communications read more May 28, 2025: Storyboard18's Marquee Nights is back - and this time, it promises an evening of sharp ideas and soulful stories. The invite-only series, known for its unplugged conversations with some of the world's most influential minds, returns on June 2 at The Oberoi, Gurgaon with a marquee name in global business, media and marketing: Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO, Havas. From the future of creativity in an AI-powered world to the evolving business landscape between India and France, this special evening will open a rare window into the mind of one of the most visionary leaders in the global media and communications arena. It's more than a fireside chat - it is a front-row seat to the forces shaping global commerce, culture and content. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The previous editions have seen the likes of Carl Pei, Read Hastings and William Dalrymple engage in meaningful and impactful conversations on technological innovations, streaming, newest trends in consumer technology, and much more. More from Business How Indian fintech startups are driving Malaysia's UPI-like digital payments revolution Yannick Bolloré Yannick Bolloré co-founded the production company WY Productions in 2002. In 2006, he joined his family group, the Bolloré Group, to launch and develop its media division. Within five years, Bolloré Média became a leading independent French TV group and was subsequently sold to Canal+, making the Bolloré Group a shareholder in Vivendi. He then joined Havas in 2011 and became Chief Executive Officer of Havas S.A. in 2013. Upon his arrival, he began an in-depth transformation of the group through the 'Together' strategy, making Havas the most integrated group in the industry. He also orchestrated the repositioning of the group around the mission 'Make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people,' for meaningful, committed and responsible communications. In June 2024, Bolloré unveiled Havas' new strategic plan, Converged, aiming to supercharge the integration of the group's expertise in creativity, media, production, and technology through a unified operating system. In December 2024, he orchestrated the group's return to the stock market, now listed on Euronext Amsterdam. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Bolloré was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vivendi in April 2018. In connection with the Vivendi Spin-Off, in October 2024, he was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Canal+ SA and Director of Louis Hachette Group. Bolloré was named a Young Global Leader in 2008 by the World Economic Forum. He has received numerous honors and awards from international associations and the business press. He is also a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Bolloré graduated from Paris-Dauphine University in 2001. So come, be part of a night where ideas are uncorked, perspectives are reshaped and the spotlight is not just on success, but the stories that built it.
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First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Andrew Tate charged with rape & human trafficking in UK
Internet personality Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist, and his brother Tristan Tate have been charged with rape, human trafficking, and actual bodily harm in the United Kingdom. They are currently believed to be in Romania where they have been separately charged with rape and abuse of women. read more Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, February 1, 2023. (Photo: Reuters) Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been charged in Britain with rape and other crimes, prosecutors said Wednesday. The charges were authorised last year and news media at the time reported on arrest warrants issued against the Tates, dual US and British citizens who moved to Romania in 2016. But the Crown Prosecution Service said this was the first time it confirmed they had been criminally charged in Britain. Andrew Tate, 38, faces charges related to three women that include rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain. Tristan Tate, 36, faces charges related to one woman that include rape, human trafficking, and actual bodily harm. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Tates were arrested in Romania in late 2022 and formally indicted last year on charges that they participated in a criminal ring that lured women there, where they were allegedly sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. ALSO READ: UK police can seize £2 mn from Andrew Tate in unpaid taxes case, rules court They deny all of the allegations against them. Romanian courts have issued an order to extradite the two to the UK once their court case is concluded in there, British prosecutors said. The warrant issued by Bedfordshire Police for the siblings dates back to between 2012 and 2015. The whereabouts of the brothers was not immediately clear. They were photographed a week ago outside a police station in Voluntari, Romania, where they have to report regularly while facing charges there. (This is a wire copy. Except for the headline, the copy has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
