Libyan authorities say a Russian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas exploded and erupted in flames before sinking in the Mediterranean Sea off the North African country's coast.

The captain of an oil tanker intercepted by the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea is in custody for questioning.

Officials say that France’s navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.

Pro-Palestinian Protesters have approached the gates of the Italy soccer team's training center to demand its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Israel is not played because of the war in Gaza.

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights have ruled that Italy can't be held liable for the actions of the Libyan Coast Guard.

A neutrino detector submerged in the Mediterranean Sea has sniffed out the most energetic ghost particle yet.

A humanitarian rescue group says its sailboat plucked from the central Mediterranean an 11-year-old girl believed to be the only survivor of a shipwreck in stormy seas.

Russia’s top military officer called his U.S. counterpart to give advance warning of Russia’s drills in the Mediterranean Sea.

An aid group that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean says one of its missions has been interrupted by armed bandits.

The Italian coast guard has recovered 14 more bodies from last week's shipwreck in the Ionian Sea off the southern Italian coastline, bringing to 34 the number of known victims from the sinking.

Italy's coast guard is searching by sea and from the air for dozens of people missing when a boat capsized and partially sank in the perilous central Mediterranean off the Calabrian coast.

U.N. agencies say 64 people are missing after a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea and several were rescued by the Italian coast guard.

The United Nations’ refugee and migration agencies are criticizing Greece’s failure over the past year to shed light on one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea that left hundreds dead.

Tensions in Tunisia have ratcheted up as demonstrators seeking better rights for migrants staged a sit-in before European Union headquarters, capping a week in which Tunisian authorities targeted migrant communities from the coast to the capital with arrests and the demolition of tent camps.

Skies over southern Greece have turned an orange hue as dust clouds blown across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa engulfed the Acropolis and other Athens landmarks.

Two Associated Press journalists aboard an American aid flight to Gaza observed the wreckage to the strip's north as the plane delivered much-needed food aid to Palestinians below.

A humanitarian rescue group says survivors aboard a deflating rubber dinghy rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea have reported that some 60 people who departed Libya with them more than a week ago perished during the journey.

Ukraine’s military says it sank a Russian landing ship in the Black Sea using naval drones, a report that has not been confirmed by Russian forces.

The year has gotten off to a slow start for a charity-run rescue ship that typically plies the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrants and refugees in distress.

The U.S. military says three commercial ships in the Red Sea were struck by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen, and a U.S. warship shot down three drones in self-defense during the hourslong assault.

Matteo Garrone's migration odyssey “Io Capitano” played at the Marrakech International Film Festival this weekend, returning to the country where pivotal scenes were shot.

U.S. officials say five U.S. service members were killed when a military helicopter crashed during training over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

U.S. European Command says a U.S. military aircraft has gone down over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Thousand of migrants reached the Italian island of Lampedusa on more than 100 boats this week.

Lebanese Cabinet ministers say an offshore drilling rig has arrived at its destination in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast and will start its search for gas in the coming weeks.

Now that July’s sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin.

Ministers from Germany and France tasked with regulating migration are joining forces to try to curb deaths on dangerous routes across the Mediterranean Sea.

Nine survivors from a migrant boat that sank were arrested on suspicion of smuggling as hope faded for hundreds of missing passengers and attention turned to Greece’s failure to act before the ship capsized.

Scientists say that sea urchins in Israel's Gulf of Eilat in the Red Sea are dying at an alarming rate, threatening the sea's prized coral reef ecosystems.

An unexpected visitor spotted sunbathing on a beach in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv is turning heads and causing a media buzz.

The U.N. human rights chief is calling for an expansion in regular migration channels and search-and-rescue operations after a “steep increase” in the number of migrants and asylum-seekers making risky attempts to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe.

The migration agency of the United Nations says the first three months of 2023 were the deadliest first quarter in six years for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ boats.

Pope Francis is seeking to promote legal migration routes to Europe as an alternative to smuggling operations that he says have turned the Mediterranean into a “cemetery.”.

Japan’s lower house of parliament has approved a 114 trillion yen ($836 billion) budget for the next fiscal year.

Japan’s Cabinet has approved record defense spending next year in preparation for the country deploying U.S.-made Tomahawks and other long-range cruise missiles as part of a more offensive security strategy.

European Union interior ministers have weighed proposals to ease tensions between France and Italy over migrants arriving on their shores without authorization.

Israel is blazing forward with a plan to protect sections of its 118-mile Mediterranean coastline, a measure experts say is crucial to maintain biodiversity and shield ecosystems from humanity.

Italy’s new government has blocked humanitarian rescue ships from accessing its ports, resulting in a standoff with charities that patrol the deadly central Mediterranean Sea, used by people desperate to reach Europe for a new life.

Greece's prime minister says U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil is poised to start a delayed gas prospecting project off southwestern Greece.

Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people are waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily.

Italy’s new far-right led government has adopted a measure formalizing the closure of its ports to rescue ships run by humanitarian groups as four vessels with more than 1,000 migrants continue to press for a safe port.

Humanitarian groups caring for 1,000 rescued migrants aboard three ships in the central Mediterranean are sounding an alarm about deteriorating conditions on board.

The German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch is accusing the Libyan coast guard of threatening to shoot down their monitoring plane that helps documented the interception of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

Italian authorities are scrambling to relieve overcrowding in shelters after scores of boats carrying migrants reached Italy's southern shores and tiny islands over the weekend.

Climate scientists are warning of dire consequences for the Mediterranean Sea's marine life as it burns up in a series of severe heat waves.

The European Union’s top court says maritime authorities cannot impound ships involved in search-and-rescue work just because they think the vessels might be overloaded due to the number of migrants aboard.

Lebanon's Hezbollah is airing drone footage of Israeli gas production barges in a disputed gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Italy's Foreign Ministry says the first of some 300 Afghan refugees have arrived in Italy along a new humanitarian corridor organized by the Italian government and other groups.

Ships in the Mediterranean Sea have rescued over 1,100 people struggling to reach Europe in rickety smugglers' boats and found five bodies.

Over a dozen endangered sea turtles that were rescued after suffering major injuries in the Mediterranean scuttled their way over a beach in Israel after months of medical care.

Rescue teams searched for dozens of people reported missing after a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia’s coast.

The U.S. says it shared intelligence with Ukraine about the location of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva before the strike that sank the warship.

Far from the icy battlefields of Ukraine, Russia President Vladimir Putin is busily advancing Russia's footholds and influence in Africa and the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group to stay in the Mediterranean Sea region rather than move on to the Middle East, amid worries about the buildup of thousands of Russian troops near the Ukraine border.

The European Union's border and coast guard agency says that the number of people trying to enter Europe without authorization has risen significantly this year.

An F35 jet from a British aircraft carrier has crashed in an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean Sea.

Greece's coast guard says a small cargo ship with about 400 migrants on board that suffered engine problems in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Greek island of Crete is to be towed to a safe anchorage in Greece.

Survivors of a 2013 capsizing have joined residents of a tiny Italian isle to honor 368 migrants who perished on the anniversary of the offshore tragedy.

The U.N. refugee agency says Libya’s coast guard has intercepted a wooden boat carrying more 550 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s shore.

An Italian offshore supply vessel has rescued 65 migrants, including women and children, fleeing Libya to Europe on a crowded, wooden boat.

Officials say a major crackdown in western Libya has resulted in the detention of 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children.

Charities say two humanitarian vessels have rescued around 190 Europe-bound migrants, including women and children, off the coast of Libya.

A U.N. migration agency official says she's concerned about the disappearance of thousands of Europe-bound migrants who were intercepted and returned to Libya.

A wildfire near the French Riviera has killed two people and is still burning out of control.

A German charity boat carrying 257 rescued migrants has docked in Sicily after Italian authorities granted permission.

A U.N. official says Libya’s coast guard has intercepted four boats in the Mediterranean Sea carrying migrants trying to reach Europe.

A France-based migrant rescue organization will be getting assistance aboard its charity ship in the Mediterranean.

The Russian military has launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes armed with hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea.

The Israeli military says it has successfully tested an airborne high-power laser that can shoot down drones, technology it hopes to deploy on a larger scale in the coming years.

British Royal Navy commanders say the U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is helping to take on the “lion’s share” of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Two Italian ports are facing an influx of hundreds of migrants.

Rescue groups and the Vatican are decrying the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean on unseaworthy boats, even as more lives were reported in danger in rough seas.

The head of the U.N. refugee agency says he has urged Italy not to unnecessarily impede NGOs that operate migrant rescue ships in the central Mediterranean, as warmer weather is expected to bring the usual seasonal uptick in the departure of smugglers’ boats from Libya.

Italian journalists and lawmakers are protesting the wiretapping of reporters' phone calls during Italian investigations into Libya-based migrant traffickers.

But deaths and disappearances on sea routes remain alarmingly high with only a small fraction of bodies recovered and victims identified. Arrivals in the Canaries, considered part of the Schengen area, increased by 750% last year. The International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project has confirmed the death or disappearances of nearly 2,300 people last year. This number is higher than in 2019 when 2,095 victims were recorded and slightly lower than in 2018 which had 2,344. The Associated Press has most recently come across an example of uncounted deaths after interviewing two survivors who reached the Canary Islands last November.

A dog smells pieces of tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea, on a beach in the Gdor Nature Reserve near Michmoret, Israel, Monday, March 1, 2021. The cleanup from the disastrous oil spill that has blackened most of the country's shoreline is expected to take months. Over 90% of Israel’s 195 kilometer (120-mile) Mediterranean coastline was covered in more than 1,000 tons of black tar, the result of the mysterious oil spill in international waters. Iranian oil tankers increasingly have been accused of smuggling oil out of the country and selling the lucrative crude abroad after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers nearly three years ago. Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry had kept the particulars of its investigation into the incident under close guard and obtained a court issued gag-order on all details about the case.

A 6-month-old green sea turtle is cleaned from tar after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea at Israel's Sea Turtle Rescue Center, in Michmoret, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Only six sea turtles were rescued and survived after a disastrous oil spill that has blackened most of the country's shoreline and reached beaches of neighboring Lebanon. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)MICHMORET – When it comes to saving sea turtles, Israeli rescuers have discovered that mayonnaise is a miracle. Employees at Israel's National Sea Turtle Rescue Center are treating endangered green sea turtles affected by a devastating oil spill that has coated Israel's coast with thick black tar. Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, north of Tel Aviv, said 11 turtles are being treated.

Migrants stand on the deck of the Ocean Viking rescue ship, in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. A rescue ship with 422 migrants aboard, some of whom tested positive for COVID-19, is heading to Sicily. SOS Mediterranee, the humanitarian group which operates the rescue ship Ocean Viking, told The AP on Sunday that Italy granted the vessel permission to enter the port of Augusta. Border pushbacks and collective expulsions are illegal under international refugee treaties, which allow people fearing for their safety to apply for protection. Greece and even the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex are among those accused of pushbacks or complicity in them.

Migrants stand on the deck of the Ocean Viking rescue ship, in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. A rescue ship with 422 migrants aboard, some of whom tested positive for COVID-19, is heading to Sicily. (Hippolyte/SOS Mediterranee via AP)ROME – A rescue ship with 422 migrants aboard, a small number of whom tested positive for COVID-19, was headed to a port in Sicily on Sunday. AdEight of the rescued migrants have COVID-19, according to tests administered by the crew, and were being isolated on board despite the difficulties of crowded conditions on deck. “But although strict COVID-19 mitigation protocols apply on board the Ocean Viking, this is a vessel of 69 meters (228 feet) in length,” Albera said.

Italy has allowed a Spanish-flagged charity ship with 265 rescued migrants aboard to anchor off Sicily on Monday. But migration from outside the EU requires the bloc’s members to stand together, and “solidarity cannot be voluntary,” the statement said. Finding consensus for a common EU policy on migration has eluded the bloc for years. Portugal also wants to reach a comprehensive migration agreement with countries along the Mediterranean Sea’s southern rim, from where many migrants cross to the EU. Legal migration can help some EU countries find answers to low birth rates and aging populations, it said.

Migrants from Eritrea, Egypt, Syria and Sudan, rest on board the Spanish NGO Open Arms vessel after having been rescued in the Mediterranean sea, about 110 miles north of Libya, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)ROME – Italy allowed a Spanish-flagged charity ship with 265 rescued migrants aboard to anchor off Sicily on Monday. The Open Arms vessel had brought the migrants safely aboard in separate rescues last week in the central Mediterranean. Open Arms said 96 of those rescued had been adrift two days in a wooden boat without life vests in international waters. In an earlier, separate operation, Open Arms had taken aboard 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, where many human traffickers are based.

Migrants from Eritrea, Egypt, Syria and Sudan, are assisted by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, after fleeing Libya on board a precarious wooden boat in the Mediterranean sea, about 110 miles north of Libya, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)ROME – A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship on Sunday was seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days. The Open Arms charity tweeted that its vessel on Saturday had safely brought aboard 96 migrants who had been adrift in a wooden boat with without life vests in international waters. In a separate operation two days before that rescue, Open Arms took aboard 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, where many human traffickers are based. The traffickers launch vessels, many of them flimsy rubber dinghies or rickety fishing boats, crowded with migrants who hope to reach European shores to seek asylum.

Tunisian authorities say 20 African migrants have been found dead after their boat, which was trying to reach Europe, sank in the Mediterranean Sea. Five survivors were rescued Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020 and authorities are searching for up to 20 others believed missing. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios, File)TUNIS – About 20 African migrants were found dead Thursday after their smuggling boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, Tunisian authorities said. Five survivors were rescued and the Tunisian navy is searching for up to 20 others still believed missing. According to survivors, the migrant smuggling boat was carrying about 40 or 50 people heading toward Italy, Ben Zekri said.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks, in Istanbul, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called for negotiations over energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean, days ahead of a European Union summit where leaders could decide to impose sanctions on Turkey. The leaders are meeting Thursday in Brussels and will address Turkish missions to explore gas reserves in waters claimed by EU members Greece and Cyprus. At a summit in October, European leaders warned Turkey to withdraw its energy research ships or face punitive measures. Late last month, the Turkish seismic survey vessel Oruc Reis returned to port, as it had done before October’s EU meeting.

In a tweet Monday, Turkey’s energy ministry said the Oruc Reis had returned to port in Antalya after completing seismic research in the Demre field. Ship tracker MarineTraffic showed the survey ship had docked. Tensions between the two neighbors and nominal NATO allies escalated over the summer with a military build-up after Turkey sent the survey ship, escorted by navy frigates, into disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. The Oruc Reis was pulled back to port in September for maintenance and resupply. Greece and Cyprus have signed separate maritime border agreements with Egypt and all three countries have condemned Turkey's actions in the Mediterranean.

The Open Arms rescue ship had been searching for the boat in distress for hours before finally finding it Wednesday morning in international waters north of Libya. Another 257 rescued migrants and five bodies remain on the Open Arms ship as it waits to be assigned a port for disembarkation. In total, 263 migrants who had fled Libya hoping to reach Europe on unseaworthy boats were rescued by Open Arms between Tuesday and Wednesday from three different shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. Despite efforts by medics, a 6-month-old boy from Guinea named Joseph, passed away shortly after being rescued Open Arms said, bringing the number of dead to six. So far this year, more than 575 migrants and asylum-seekers have perished in the Central Mediterranean trying to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The Open Arms rescue ship had been searching for the boat in distress for hours before finally finding it Wednesday morning in international waters north of Libya. The Open Arms rescue ship had been searching for the boat in distress for hours before finally locating it Wednesday morning in international waters north of Libya. But one of the two infants, a six-month-old girl, died after being brought on board the rescue ship, Open Arms tweeted on their official account. Lanuza said the NGO had already rescued 88 migrants the night before and was headed to a third distress call. Wednesday's shipwreck was the second recorded this week in waters north of Libya, a key transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East.

(Aris Messinis/Pool viaAP)ATHENS – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed support Tuesday for talks between Greece and Turkey, NATO allies whose relations deteriorated to the point where both had warships facing off in the Mediterranean Sea. His comments, however, angered Ankara, where a senior official accused Pompeo of not being impartial on the second day of a five-day regional tour. EU leaders are set to discuss this week potential sanctions against Turkey, which is not a bloc member. Turkey last month sent a research vessel, accompanied by warships, to prospect for energy resources in an area where Greece claims exclusive rights. The tensions at sea eased recently, with Athens and Ankara announcing they would hold exploratory talks on relaunching stalled negotiations.

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a press conference at Corsica's prefecture in Ajaccio, Corsica island, Thursday Sept.10, 2020. Turkish leaders have lashed out at France and the EU for siding with Greece and Cyprus in the dispute. We Europeans need to be clear and firm" with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about its inadmissible behavior," he said. The leaders also plan to discuss EU and NATO operations in the Mediterranean and their relation to Turkey. EU Council President Charles Michel will travel to Greece, Cyprus and Malta next week for talks with leaders.

FILE - In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, Turkey's research vessel, Oruc Reis, center, is surrounded by Turkish navy vessels as it was heading in the west of Antalya on the Mediterranean, Turkey. (IHA via AP)ATHENS Greece's navy and air force will conduct military exercises beginning Tuesday in the eastern Mediterranean near a contested area where Turkey is prospecting for oil and gas, authorities said, drawing an angry response from Turkey. The tensions between the two NATO members over Mediterranean Sea rights have echoed across Europe. Erdogan vowed Monday not to abandon the search for energy in the eastern Mediterranean. EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the crisis in the eastern Mediterranean at an informal meeting in Berlin this week.

ROME Italy produced 10% less garbage during its coronavirus lockdown, but environmentalists warn that increased reliance on disposable masks and packaging is imperiling efforts to curb single-use plastics that end up in oceans and seas. But the pandemic dealt a blow to efforts to move away from single-use plastics in many places where they were just beginning to become mainstream. U.N., Greenpeace, Italys Marevivo environmental organization and other such groups are warning that continued reliance on single-use plastics will pose longer-term risks to the environment. The Italian National Consortium for the Collection and Recycling of Plastic Packages said the increase in online shopping and its related packaging led to an 8% increase in plastic waste, even within an overall decrease in garbage production. Environment Program has warned that the increased use of single-use plastics in protective equipment could lead to uncontrolled dumping and add to marine pollution, and it has urged countries to develop adequate disposal plans.

(Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)ANKARA A Turkish seismic research vessel has begun surveying for energy resources in contested areas of the eastern Mediterranean, Turkeys energy minister said Wednesday, amid an escalation of tensions between rivals Greece and Turkey over oil and gas exploration rights. Turkeys seismic surveying ship, Oruc Reis, was taking the x-ray of our seas, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said on Twitter. Turkey dispatched the Orus Reis and two support vessels to undertake seismic research for energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean in an area Greece says is on its continental shelf. The move reignited tensions between NATO allies Greece and Turkey, both of which have warships shadowing the Turkish research vessel. Turkish officials said the deal came as Turkey and Greece were making progress in informal talks brokered by Berlin.

In this taken Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, Turkey's research vessel, Oruc Reis, center, is surrounded by Turkish navy vessels as it was heading in the west of Antalya on the Mediterranean, Turkey. Tension remains high between Greece and Turkey, whose warships are in the eastern Mediterranean where Turkey has sent a research vessel to carry out seismic research for energy resources in an area Greece says is on its continental shelf. (IHA via AP)ATHENS Tension remained high Tuesday between Greece and Turkey, both of which have warships in the eastern Mediterranean after Turkey sent a research vessel to carry out seismic research for energy resources in an area Greece says is on its continental shelf. Mitsotakis spoke with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou Tuesday to inform her of the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, his office said. We will continue to implement our own plans in the (eastern Mediterranean) and in the field of diplomacy until common sense prevails in this regard.