World

A 62-year-old French sailor has been rescued in the Atlantic Ocean off Spain after surviving for 16 hours in a tiny air bubble under his capsized sailboat, the Spanish coastguard said Thursday.

Laurent Camprubi fired a flare after his boat, the Jeanne Solo Sailor, ran into trouble at around 8:30 pm on Monday when it was 14 miles (22 kilometres) from the Sisargas Islands off Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, the coastguard said in a statement.

A rescue ship and three helicopters were immediately dispatched and the search team found the boat overturned in the darkness.

A diver was lowered onto the ship’s hull and banged on it, seeking signs of life. Camprubi began knocking from inside and crying out for help.

But due to the rough seas, rescuers then had to work “frantically” to stop the boat from sinking before they could reach the stricken French sailor.

They attached buoys to its hull, and the following day two divers equipped with torches swam under the boat and saw Camprubi, who was wearing a neoprene survival suit. The divers extended a pole to Camprubi who immediately grabbed it.

“A face appeared with the eyes open,” the coastguard statement said. “He rushed towards us… we pulled him to the surface.”

Once on the surface Camprubi — an experienced sailor who has won several regattas — was airlifted to hospital by helicopter for checks. He escaped uninjured.

“I knew that they were there and that they would rescue me, that they would not abandon me. It was a question of time, I had to survive for me and my family,” Camprubi was quoted as saying in the statement.

The coastguard said Camprubi was rescued at around noon on Tuesday, so he spent 16 hours under the boat with “just 30 centimetres (12 inches) of air”. It described the rescue operation as “verging on the impossible”.

Juan Ferrer, head of the Spanish coastguard’s rescue operations, said the neoprene suit Camprubi was wearing prevented him from getting hypothermia. 

He also praised the French sailor for “calmly awaiting our arrival”.

Rescuers raced Thursday to free 10 workers trapped in a coal mine after a cave-in in northern Mexico, where desperate relatives spent a sleepless night waiting for news.

Dozens of military personnel, emergency workers and rescue dogs were deployed after flooding caused the collapse Wednesday in Sabinas in the state of Coahuila, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

“What I want with all my soul is that we rescue the miners,” he told reporters.

“We must not lose faith. We must not lose hope,” he added.

Five miners managed to escape alive and were taken to hospital, civil defense national coordinator Laura Velazquez said, adding that two had been discharged.

“Time is crucial here,” she said.

“To get to the mines you have to go down three shafts. It’s complicated but we’ve been managing to do it, pumping out water… to rescue the miners as soon as possible,” Velazquez added.

– ‘Not much hope’ –

Anxious relatives gathered to wait for news, with some crying and comforting each other at the site, about 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) north of Mexico City.

“Unfortunately, there’s not much hope,” Jose Luis Amaya, whose cousin and brother-in-law were among those trapped, told Milenio TV on Wednesday night.

The mother of one of the workers wept inconsolably, unable to answer questions from the press.

Through tears, another woman at the scene said two of her children worked in the mine, though one of them had managed to escape after the accident.

As night fell hours later, the families gathered under tents outside the mine in silence as state police, the national guard, medical teams and other rescuers worked to find the trapped workers.

Coahuila’s state government said that the miners had been carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water, causing the shaft to collapse and flood.

“The mine began operating in January of this year and until now there have been no reports of any type of anomaly,” it said in a statement.

State governor Miguel Riquelme said he had asked labor authorities and the local prosecutor’s office to prioritize the rescue and investigation.

Coahuila, the country’s main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining accidents over the years.

The worst was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

Last year, seven miners died when they were trapped after another accident in Coahuila.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged restraint Thursday as China launched massive military drills off Taiwan, warning the situation risked spiralling into “open conflicts”.

A furious Beijing kicked off its biggest-ever exercises around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit this week to the self-ruled island.

Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Phnom Penh warned against “provocative action”.

The situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”, the ministers said in a joint statement published Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is attending the talks along with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, though they are not expected to hold a one-on-one meeting.

At a meeting with ASEAN ministers, Blinken said the United States had contacted China “at every level of government” in recent days to call for calm and stability.

“I hope very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” Blinken said.

“We and countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests including ASEAN members and including China.”

Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of its territory to one day be reclaimed, by force if necessary, was enraged by the trip by Pelosi — the highest-profile elected US official to visit the island in 25 years.

It vowed “punishment” and state TV said it began military drills, including live-fire exercises, at 0400 GMT in several areas encircling Taiwan.

Late Thursday, Japan’s foreign minister Hayashi called for an “immediate stop” to the exercises.

“China’s actions this time have a serious impact on the peace and stability of the region and the international community. I once again demand the immediate stop of these military exercises,” Hayashi told reporters.

His comments came after the Japanese defence minister said five Chinese ballistic missiles fired during the exercises were “believed to have landed within Japan’s (exclusive economic zone)”. 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, also in Phnom Penh, condemned the Chinese response.

“There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally,” he tweeted.

Kung Phoak, Cambodia’s deputy foreign minister and ASEAN spokesman, urged both sides to stabilise the situation. 

“We hope de-escalation happens… and normalcy returns to the Taiwan Strait,” he told reporters.

– ‘Miscalculation’ fear –

ASEAN is split between countries with close ties to China, such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and others that are more wary of Beijing and its growing international assertiveness. 

But no ASEAN country formally recognises Taiwan and none has shown an appetite for backing Taipei against China.

The ministers’ statement — which avoided referring to Taiwan by name — said ASEAN “stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue”, though it is not clear either side is interested in outside mediation.

While Wang and Blinken are not scheduled to meet bilaterally, they will both attend a meeting Friday of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a 27-member body set up to discuss security issues that also includes Russia and the EU.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who will also join the ARF gathering, said the fragile status quo in the Taiwan Strait must be maintained.

“All parties should consider how they can contribute to de-escalating current tensions,” Wong told AFP.

“One of the risks the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”

Pelosi’s visit and the flare-up over Taiwan have overshadowed the ASEAN meeting, which had been due to focus on the violent political crisis in Myanmar.

ASEAN has spearheaded so far fruitless diplomatic efforts to ease the turmoil that has flowed from last year’s military coup.

Several members are growing increasingly angry at the junta’s stonewalling tactics.

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– US ratifies Finland, Sweden NATO membership –  

The US Senate ratifies the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, strongly backing the expansion of the transatlantic military alliance in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With the agreement of all 30 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization needed before hitherto non-aligned Finland and Sweden can join, the United States becomes the 23rd to give the nod.

Of the seven member countries which have yet to formally agree, only Turkey has raised a challenge, demanding certain concessions from both countries to back their memberships.

These include the extradition of dozens of government opponents it labels “terrorists” from both countries in exchange for its support.

Ankara has said a special committee will meet Finnish and Swedish officials in August to assess if the two nations are complying with its conditions.

– Deadly bus stop shelling –

Russian shelling of a bus stop in the frontline east Ukraine town of Toretsk kills eight people and injures four, the regional governor says. 

“According to preliminary information, there was artillery fire. They hit a public transport stop, where there was a crowd of people at that time,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Ukraine-run Donetsk region administration, writes on Telegram. 

The attack comes as Kyiv orders civilians to leave the war-torn Donetsk region which is bearing the brunt of Moscow’s gruelling eastern offensive.

Ukrainian officials say Russia also continues to pound towns and cities across the sprawling front line, notably in Mykolaiv in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast.

– Ukrainian forces endangering civilians: Amnesty –

Rights group Amnesty International accuses Ukrainian forces of violating international law and endangering civilians by establishing bases in residential areas, including in schools and hospitals.

Their tactics “in no way justify Russia’s indiscriminate attacks”, it says in a new report, and some Russian “war crimes” including in the city of Kharkiv are not linked to the tactics.

But it lists incidents when Ukrainian forces appeared to have exposed civilians to danger in 19 towns and villages in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions.

Ukraine slams the report as “unfair”.

“This behaviour of Amnesty International is not about finding and reporting the truth to the world, it is about creating a false equivalence — between the offender and the victim, between the country that destroys hundreds and thousands of civilians, cities, territories, and a country that is desperately defending itself,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says in a video posted on Facebook. 

– UN to seek ‘truths’ on prison bombing –

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres announces he will launch a fact-finding mission to uncover the “truths” about a jail where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war died in a bombing strike last week.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other over the strikes on the prison in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka in eastern Ukraine, which killed over 50.

Moscow said that among the dead were Ukrainian forces that had laid down their arms after weeks of fighting off Russia’s brutal bombardment of the sprawling Azovstal steel works in Mariupol.

– Accused grain ship leaves Lebanese port –

A Syrian ship leaves the Lebanese port of Tripoli after being cleared for release after it was seized over allegations it was carrying flour and barley stolen from Ukraine.

Investigations have failed to prove The Laodicea carried stolen goods, officials say.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow’s forces of ransacking its grain warehouses since Russia invaded on February 24.

Ukraine says it is “disappointed” by the decision, which it argues will encourage Russia to “continue thefts in the temporarily occupied southern Ukraine with a sense of impunity.”

burs-jmy/eab/gw

South Sudan’s leaders have announced they will remain in power two years beyond an agreed deadline, sparking criticism from foreign partners.

Here’s a look at the tragic history of the world’s newest nation.

– 2011: New nation –

On July 9, South Sudan proclaims itself independent from Sudan following six years of autonomy and decades of war.

The president is Salva Kiir, with Riek Machar as his deputy. The rivals, who belong to two different ethnic groups, led the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) that spearheaded the push for independence.

– 2013: Civil war –

Kiir fires Machar and all government ministers, their deputies and several police brigadiers on July 23.

After a night of fighting in the capital Juba, Kiir says on December 16 his forces had thwarted an attempted coup by Machar, who denies the claim.

The fighting spreads beyond the capital, fuelled by rivalries between Kiir’s Dinka group and Machar’s Nuer.

It sets off tit-for-tat massacres, spiralling into five years of war.

– 2016: Leader in exile –

Machar and Kiir sign a peace accord in August 2015.

Machar returns to Juba and is sworn in as vice president on April 26, 2016.

But fighting between supporters of both leaders breaks out again in July. Machar goes into exile, accusing Kiir of trying to have him killed.

– 2018: Peace deal –

Kiir and Machar meet for the first time in two years on June 20. 

On September 12 they sign a new peace agreement to end a war that has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced roughly four million.

The deal paves the way for a power-sharing government which, after much delay concerted international pressure, is eventually installed in February 2020, with Machar reinstated as vice president.

– 2021: Violence continues – 

However, armed violence remains widespread, with recurring bloodshed beween rival ethnic groups, and an insurgency in the country’s south displacing hundreds of thousands of people. 

The UN several times extends its peace mission, as well as an arms embargo.

A UN report in April warns that the slow pace of implementing the peace accord risks a relapse into “large-scale conflict”.

On May 8, after a delay of more than a year, Kiir includes opposition lawmakers in a new parliament. 

– 2022: Extension of power –

In March, the UN accuses the government of rights violations amounting to war crimes over attacks in the southwest last year, calling for investigations against dozens of individuals, including for abuses against children.

The same month, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warns that over 70 percent of South Sudan’s 11 million people will face extreme hunger this year because of natural disasters and violence.

In April, Kiir and Machar agree on the creation of a unified armed forces command, a key provision of the peace deal after years of deadlock.

Four months later, they announce that the transitional government will remain in power two years beyond the agreed deadline, in a move foreign partners warned lacked legitimacy.

Martin Elia Lomuro, the minister of cabinet affairs, says the decision was taken “to address the challenges that impede the implementation of the peace agreement”.

But the United States, Britain and Norway boycott the announcement, expressing concern that the extension did not involve consultations with civil society or international partners, among other groups.