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Pregnant women dead, missing in Italy migrant boat sinking

The Italian coastguard said Monday it had recovered the bodies of 13 women, some of them pregnant, after a small boat carrying around 50 migrants capsized off Lampedusa.
Around a dozen people, reportedly including eight children and other pregnant women, are still missing after the overloaded boat sank off the coast of the southern Italian island, the coastguard said.
The coastguard and a customs vessel on Monday saved 22 of the people who fell in the water as the rescue ships approached around six nautical miles (around 11 kilometers) from Lampedusa.
They had rushed to the aid of an “overloaded and already listing boat” shortly after midnight on Monday, a statement said.
As the rescue vessels approached, “the adverse weather conditions and the sudden displacement of the migrants” caused the boat to capsize, it said.
Italian media reported that the boat had left Tunisia with Tunisians and sub-Saharan Africans on board.
“People can't die like this,” said Lampedusa's mayor Toto Martello.
“We must identify the smuggling networks and encourage actions to make the Mediterranean safer,” he said of Monday's disaster, the latest in a series in the central Mediterranean.
Italy on Thursday marked the sixth anniversary of the sinking off Lampedusa of a boat carrying around 500 African migrants on October 3, 2013.
A total of 366 people died in that disaster. It plunged Italy into mourning and prompted the vast naval rescue exercise Mare Nostrum, before further sinkings led the European Union and charities to send their own rescue vessels.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that at least 19,000 migrants have drowned or gone missing while making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Europe since 2016.
Since the start of 2019, 1,041 migrants have died at sea, the IOM said.
AFP
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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