More than 1,100 asylum seekers have been rescued off the coast of Italy, the nation’s navy said in a statement.
Patrol choppers saw the overcrowded rafts, and four navy vessels rescued those on board Wednesday.
Officials believe the asylum seekers were from sub-Saharan Africa. About 50 children were on board.
All of the passengers are en route to the port of Augusta, were they are expected to arrive Friday.
Israel’s 90-year-old president, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has added another title to his extensive repertoire: holder of a Guinness record.
Guinness official Marco Frigatti says President Shimon Peres won the record when he taught the largest online civics class in the world on Thursday.
Frigatti says Guinness liked the idea “because it combines civics, technology and a teacher who has seen the country from its origins to today.”
Peres reached out to 9,000 students nationwide. He gave the class from the office of Cisco Systems Inc. in the northern city of Netanya.
Despite his age, Peres has a busy daily schedule. He has kept on top of the latest technology, embracing social media and backing high-tech industries.
France is crushing more than 3 tons of illegal ivory in Europe’s first destruction of a stockpile of the banned elephant tusks.
Thursday’s pulverization is intended to send a message to poachers and traffickers that preservationists hope will help stem the illicit trade that endangers the species’ survival. Other countries to do the same recently include the United States, Gabon and China, ivory’s biggest market.
The market price of ivory is more than $1,000 a pound ($2,200 per kilogram) and has more than doubled in the past five years, said Ginette Hemley, vice president of species conservation at the World Wildlife Fund. Henley acknowledged that simply destroying seized stocks will not be enough to tamp down demand, which she said has grown exponentially since 2009.
Botanical Name: Setcreasea pallida ‘Purple Heart’set-KREE-see-ah PAL-ih-duh
Synonyms: Setcreasea purpurea ‘Purple Heart’, Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’, T. pallida ‘Purple Heart’
‘Purple Heart’ is a trailing, tender perennial with purple stems and violet-purple leaves that produces pink flowers in summer. This plant is mainly grown for its foliage (leaves can reach 7 inches in length); best color is achieved in bright sunlight and a dry, cramped root zone. It is excellent as a groundcover or in containers or hanging baskets. It grows 8-12 inches tall and 16 inches wide.
Noteworthy characteristics: Foliage may irritate skin.
Care: Provide moist soil in part to full sun. Pinch to encourage bushiness and cut back flowering stems after blooming. Water moderately and fertilize monthly during active growth.
Propagation: Insert 2- to 3-inch-long stem-tip cuttings in soil mix or water and pot up in soil-based mix.
Problems: Viruses, aphids, spider mites.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of eight workers trapped in a South African gold mine after an underground fire this week, the company said Thursday.
One more worker remains unaccounted for, Harmony Gold Mining Co. said in a statement. The company owns Doornkop mine, where the fire erupted Tuesday.
A day before the bodies were found, emergency workers rescued eight other workers and brought them to the surface of the mine west of Johannesburg.
The miners rescued were unharmed, but will be kept under medical observation as a precaution.
Seismic activity triggered the fire 1,733 meters (5,700 feet) underground, officials said.
Operations other than essential services have been suspended at the mine.
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A blood drive, “Have a Heart, Save a Life,” was organized at the U.S. Embassy by the Hematology Center. Ambassador John A. Heffern, Deputy Minister of Health Sergey Khachatryan, and Director of the Hematology Center Smbat Daghbashyan took part in the event, offering congratulatory words.
“Giving blood is a normal part of life in the United States”, the Ambassador said. “We are proud to partner with the Hematology Center so that Armenian organizations and businesses can also take part in giving the gift of life.”
Volunteer donations of blood are not common in Armenia yet. Only 4% of blood donations are from volunteers. 51% of donations are from relatives, and 45% of donations are from people who are paid.
“This was a common practice in the United States until the 1960’s”, said Ellen Dempsey, Health Practitioner at the U.S. Embassy. “It eventually became clear that paying for blood was not a good use of resources. The volunteer movement started, and more resources were available for things like research, diagnosis and patient care,” she said.
The current system of blood donation in Armenia involves asking a relative to donate when blood is needed. If a relative is unable to donate for some reasons, then a previous donor is contacted and asked to donate. These donors are paid.
The Hematology Center has sufficient supplies of blood, however the share of blood from voluntary donors is not enough, and they would like to see a significant increase in the number of voluntary donors. This is an approach practiced in all developed countries and is recommended by the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization.
The blood collected today will be set aside for use by children and the needy at no charge. If there is enough interest, the Hematology Center would be willing to organize blood drives for Armenian businesses and organizations on-site or at the Hematology Center.
“We are very happy to start this initiative in Armenia,” said Professor Smbat Daghbashyan . “Our supply of volunteer blood is low, there is always need for blood and efforts should be made towards supplementing the supplies mostly through voluntary blood donations.” Anyone interested in organizing a blood drive can call the center at 010 283823.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates may actually hold ingredients that could be used to construct a bomb aboard a plane, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
A federal law enforcement source said the information is largely intended for foreign carriers and the generic threat is not directed at the U.S. homeland. The Russian government has been informed, the source said.
Security in Sochi, Russia, where the Olympics are scheduled to start Friday, has been high for months due to the threat posed to the Games by Islamic militants in the region. Last month Russian authorities announced no liquids would be allowed on planes to Sochi.
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