More than a dozen missing after tourist boat sinks off Egyptian coast, officials say
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(CAIRO) — More than a dozen tourists were feared missing after a diving boat sank off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, authorities said on Monday.
The boat, The Sea Story, sank off the southeastern Egyptian town of Marsa Alam, near the Shaab Satayah area, which is popular for its coral reefs, the Red Sea Governorate said in a statement.
Sixteen of the 44 people on board were still missing Monday afternoon, officials said. The other 28 had been rescued, officials said.
The boat had 31 tourists of various nationalities and at least a dozen crew members on board when it sank, officials said. Two Americans were on board, a local council source told ABC News on Monday.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo told ABC News it was not aware of any U.S. citizen fatalities in the incident.
“We are aware of the incident that occurred and are in touch with the authorities to provide assistance as necessary. At this time, we are not aware of any U.S. citizen fatalities or unaccounted for U.S. citizens,” spokesperson Gina Cabrera told ABC News.
Some passengers were trapped inside cabins on the tourist boat and were unable to escape, the Red Sea Governate said.
The search-and-rescue operations have stopped for the day, the governate added.
Gov. Amr Hanafy had said earlier that some tourists were rescued, without revealing how many remained missing. A search-and-rescue helicopter airlifted some survivors from the Wadi el Gemal reserve area to receive treatment, and a frigate was dispatched to assist with the ongoing rescue efforts.
The Sea Story set sail from the port of Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday for a diving trip and was scheduled to arrive at Hurghada Marina on Friday.
A crew member sent a distress signal at 5.30 a.m. on Monday before the ship dropped off the radar, officials said.
Egypt’s Red Sea resorts are popular with tourists for their beaches and diving spots.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
Climate funders say they will cover US climate obligations after Paris Agreement withdrawal
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the U.N.-backed international climate treaty. Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Thursday that they, along with a coalition of climate charities, would step up and ensure that the U.S. meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement, including any financial and reporting requirements.
“While government funding remains essential to our mission, contributions like this are vital in enabling the UN Climate Change secretariat to support countries in fulfilling their commitments under the Paris Agreement and a low-emission, resilient, and safer future for everyone,” said Simon Stiell, United Nations climate change executive secretary, in a press statement.
This is the second time Trump has withdrawn the country from the Paris Agreement. During his first term, Trump justified backing out of the treaty by claiming that participating in the agreement would result in the loss of jobs and cost the U.S. trillions of dollars. In reality, in 2023, clean energy jobs grew at more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. labor market and accounted for more than 8.35 million positions, according to a Department of Energy report. In terms of spending, the U.S. has committed several billion dollars to the effort, not trillions.
Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and a U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said he also plans to continue supporting a coalition of states, cities and businesses that are working to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035.
“More and more Americans have had their lives torn apart by climate-fueled disasters, like the destructive fires raging in California. At the same time, the United States is experiencing the economic benefits of clean energy, as costs have fallen and jobs have grown in both red and blue states. The American people remain determined to continue the fight against the devastating effects of climate change,” Bloomberg said.
(LONDON )– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned allies that the defense of his nation is a litmus test for broader Western resolve, after Russia fired at least 117 missiles and drones in an overnight attack on the country’s energy infrastructure facilities.
“It’s the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector,” Zelenskyy wrote in a statement posted to Telegram. “Among the targets are gas infrastructure and energy facilities that ensure normal life for people.”
Air alerts sounded across the country. “Ukraine is currently under a massive attack of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones from Russia,” U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink wrote on X. “Thanks to Ukraine’s brave air defenders for their relentless and heroic work.”
Zelenskyy described the attack as “massive,” with Ukraine’s air force tallying 43 missiles and 74 drones crossing into national airspace. Thirty of the missiles and 47 of the drones were shot down, the air force said, with another 27 drones lost in flight.
“Thanks to our air defense and all the units involved, we are maintaining the operation of our energy system,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday morning.
“But we constantly need to strengthen the existing capabilities of the Ukrainian air shield,” the president added. “Partners at the NATO summit in Washington and in the Ramstein format made promises that have not yet been fully implemented.”
“We also talked about licenses for the production of air defense and anti-missile systems, which can become one of the effective security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is also realistic and must be fulfilled,” Zelenskyy continued.
“We are grateful to everyone who helps our state,” he wrote. “But it is not only about our state. Right now, the defense of Ukraine is proving whether Europe and the democratic world in general are capable of stopping wars — reliably and for a long time.”
Zelenskyy and his top officials have repeatedly demanded that NATO allies do more to bolster Ukraine’s air defense umbrella, with the country struggling through a third consecutive winter of massed Russian attacks on the national energy grid.
Though allies have provided significant numbers of advanced systems, Zelenskyy has said the number is not sufficient to protect vital targets.
At a Sept. 6 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the president told Western partners, “The world has enough air defense systems to ensure that Russian terror does not have results, and I urge you to be more active in this war with us for the air defense.”
The latest Russian barrage came after a record-breaking night of Ukrainian drone attacks in Western Russia, in which Kyiv’s forces said they hit a chemical plant in Tula region, ammunition warehouses at the Engels airfield in Saratov region, an oil refinery in Saratov and a chemical plant in Bryansk.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine told ABC News that Ukrainian forces are continuing to “work on enemy military facilities and enterprises that work for the Russian military-industrial complex.”
“Every hit, ammunition depot, refinery, oil depot, or chemical plant is a painful blow to the Russian Federation’s ability to wage war in Ukraine,” the source said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles, eight British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, one U.S.-made HIMARS missile and 180 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles, 146 of which were intercepted outside of occupied Ukraine and the front lines.
(LONDON)– Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Negotiation team returning after ‘significant week’: Israeli PM office
The Israeli negotiation team will return to Israel from Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after a “significant week of conducting negotiations” regarding a ceasefire and hostage deal, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
“The team returned for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of negotiations for the return of our hostages,” the statement continued.
-ABC News’ Anna Burd
IDF ‘besieging’ 3 Gaza hospitals, health ministry says
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement Tuesday that Israeli forces are “intensifying” their attacks on three hospitals in the devastated and depopulated northern portion of the strip.
Israeli troops, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said, are “besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours and insisting on putting them out of service.”
The ministry said Israeli troops were “forcing the wounded and patients to evacuate the Indonesian Hospital,” while bombing “all departments of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surroundings around the clock without stopping.”
“Shrapnel is scattered inside the hospital yards, causing terrifying sounds and serious damage,” the ministry said.
“We appeal to all international and UN institutions and concerned parties to urgently intervene to protect the health system in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry wrote.
On Monday, Palestinian officials said 20 people were injured when Israeli forces detonated a “robot bomb” in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The IDF has not commented on the latest developments around Kamal Adwan or the other north Gaza hospitals.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
3 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that three soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza.
Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, were all killed by an explosion during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area, which has been a focus of Israel’s intense recent offensive in the northern part of the strip.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and the border zone is now 391.
Health officials in the Hamas-run territory say more than 45,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Ellie Kaufman
20 injured after bomb detonates near Gaza hospital
Twenty people were injured among the medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Monday evening after a “robot bomb” was detonated in the hospital’s vicinity, according to medical sources.
ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for a comment.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara
Israeli forces kill Hamas operative in Gaza City, IDF says
Israeli forces killed the head of the national security directorate of Hamas’ security mechanism during an attack on Sunday in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The Hamas operative, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec, was “operating in a command and control center” that was embedded in a “compound that previously served as the ‘Musa bin Nusayr’ school” in a neighborhood in Gaza City, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
Hamas has yet to comment on the IDF’s statement.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
‘Certain progress’ made in hostage negotiations: Netanyahu
“Certain progress” has been made in ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech at the Israeli parliament on Monday.
“I can carefully say there has been a certain progress” made in the ongoing negotiations, Netanyahu said, adding that he “doesn’t know how long it’s going to take.”
“We will continue to operate in any way and without a pause until we bring them all back home from the enemy’s land,” he said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Hamas reports Israeli attack on Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp
Hamas on Monday said the Israel Defense Forces killed or wounded at least 50 people in an air and ground assault on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
An IDF airstrike was followed by an incursion into the camp supported by 17 heavy vehicles, among them tanks and bulldozers, Hamas said.
Israeli forces also attacked Nuseirat camp two weeks ago, killing at least 33 people according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
The IDF is yet to comment on Monday’s operation.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Tomek Rolski
Netanyahu says Israel will act against Houthis after missile strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his nation would “act forcefully” against the Houthis in Yemen after a weekend missile attack on Tel Aviv injured 16 people, according to Israeli emergency authorities.
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis — the result will be the same,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.
Since October 2023, the Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, as well as long-range drone and missile attacks towards Israel.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted a Houthi missile but that debris destroyed a school building in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis — which have close ties with Iran and are part of the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance” — are demanding an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration attack into southern Israel.
The U.S. and U.K. — supported by other allies — have launched a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January. Israel has also launched significant strikes in Yemen in recent months, most recently on Thursday.
At least 7 dead after IDF strikes humanitarian area in Gaza
At least seven people were killed after an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip.
The strike hit a collection of tents within what had been designated a humanitarian area, where displaced people were sheltering.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the strike on Sunday, saying in a statement it was “an intelligence-based strike on a Hamas terrorist.”
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.
– ABC News’ William Gretsky
21 killed in Gaza, IDF northern offensive continues
The Gaza Ministry of Health said Saturday that 21 people were killed and 61 injured in three separate Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours in the Hamas-run territory.
A total of 45,227 people have been killed since the start of the war, health officials said.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces continued intense operations in northern Gaza, particularly around the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia.
The director of the hospital said there is shooting “around the clock” nearby, adding that on Friday the third floor and the hospital entrance were shelled.
The director said the IDF is blocking the entry of all requested medical supplies. Nine people need urgent evacuation for surgery in Gaza City and the hospital is currently treating over 70 people, he said.
