International

At least three dead in the fishing vessel sunk in the Falkland Islands with Galician crew members

At least three crew members have died in the accident of the fishing boat ‘Argos Georgia’, which sank in the Malvinas Islands on Monday, according to the Government Delegation in Galicia.

According to information transferred by the maritime authorities of the Falklands to the Spanish ones, the fishing boat ‘Puerto Toro’ has recovered two corpses and the ‘Robin M. Lee’, based in Cangas (Pontevedra), has rescued a survivor and a lifeless body.

Currently, operations are being carried out to recover the survivors of another life raft.

The bad weather conditions in the area have prevented the takeoff of helicopters for the rescue, a decision that is reviewed every hour in case there is a possibility of the aircraft operating, and have also hindered the tasks of the fishing vessels that have come to the aid of the crew of the ‘Argos Georgia’.

In the area, in addition to the two fishing boats, a patrol boat and a plane are deployed.

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The ship, as it has transpired, would carry Russian, Indonesian, Uruguayan and Peruvian crew members.

The Maritime Authority of the Falkland Islands received information on Monday afternoon that the fishing boat, with 27 people on board, requested assistance about 200 miles east of Stanley.

Ten Spaniards were on board the fishing boat Argos Georgia which, with 27 crew members, including the captain, has sunk in the early hours of the Falkland Islands, the Government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, has confirmed.

As he told reporters on a visit to Redondela (Pontevedra), he specified that among the ten Spaniards are the captain of the ship, the fishing skipper, the cook, the two machine operators and two oceanographic observers.

Blanco has specified that by the surnames “it seems that there are Galicians” on board, although he is pending to determine how many.

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Knowing the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established “permanent contact” with its consulates in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and London (United Kingdom) to follow the rescue operation of the crew of the sunken fishing vessel. This was confirmed by Minister José Manuel Albares at a press conference.

In addition to the ten Spanish crew members, 8 Russians, 2 Uruguayans, 2 Peruvians and 5 Indonesians were traveling on the ship, according to local media.

The Falkland Islands Maritime Authority received information on Monday that the fishing vessel Argos Georgia requested assistance when it was about 200 miles east of Stanley, the capital of the archipelago.

According to the Malvinas authority, after the ship’s alert and despite the difficult maritime conditions, a rescue operation was carried out with aerial and surface means, including the BFSAI A-400, BFSAI search and rescue helicopters, FPV Lilibet, as well as two fishing boats.

Among those trawlers who have come to the rescue, in fact, there is one from Cangas (Pontevedra), although belonging to a mixed society, according to sources from the Government Subdelegation in Pontevedra.

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Blanco added in his appearance that the crew members made use of the lifeboats.

According to this statement from the Falkland authorities, communications were quickly established between the Government of the Islands, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the headquarters of the British Forces in the South Atlantic Islands, the United Kingdom Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, the fishing vessel company and other vessels.

The Argos Georgia, built in 2018, belongs to the British-Norwegian shipowner Argos Froyanes, with more than 30 years of experience in the fishing sector.

After the first operation, the Government of the Falkland Islands announced that it will resume the rescue of the 27 crew members of the sunken ship when the weather improves.

According to a statement, the BFSAI A-400M Atlas helicopter was the first to come to the scene and was able to “monitor and report” the position of the lifeboats.

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Meanwhile, the fishing vessel FPV Lilibet and two other boats arrived “at the highest speed” at the location last night to begin the “rescue operations.”

Similarly, operating in adverse conditions, a search and rescue helicopter (SAR) of the British military contingent in the Falkland Islands tried to recover the personnel from the scene during the night of Monday “without success”, due to “extreme weather conditions and limited time.”

The helicopter returned to Stanley airport to refuel before a second attempt, “but the weather got even worse” and the rescue operations were then suspended, according to the note.

The weather conditions on Tuesday imply that the area is still “out of the limits” of helicopter operations, but “the situation is being reviewed regularly with a view to resuming operations as soon as possible.”

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International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.