Search for missing after nine drown in capsizing

Alexandria: Rescue workers are searching for at least five people missing after a boat capsized on a lake near Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Nine people, including three children, are already known to be dead, ambulance officials said.

The boat was carrying at least 19 people and capsized late on Monday in the Lake of Mariut, while returning from an entertainment voyage, they said.

Rescue workers retrieved at least nine bodies, including two children aged one and a four-year-old, and were searching for others, the officials said.

At least five people were rescued and were taken to hospitals, said the officials.

Any survivors still in the lake, west of Alexandria, could go into shock as temperatures fall in cold waters.

Tehran: Iran has begun restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities, state TV has reported.

It made the move in a bid to put pressure on European countries and US President Joe Biden’s administration to lift economic sanctions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal.

The state TV report gave little detail beyond confirming that Iran had made good on its threat to reduce co-operation with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

Iran has said it plans to cease its implementation of the “Additional Protocol”, a confidential agreement between Tehran and the IAEA reached as part of the landmark nuclear accord that grants the UN inspectors enhanced powers to visit nuclear facilities and watch Iran’s programme.

It remains unclear exactly how access will be limited.

Tbilisi: Police in Georgia have stormed the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party and arrested its leader.

The arrest of Nika Melia, head of the United National Movement, aggravates political tensions that have been rising since the October parliamentary election that the opposition is demanding should be rerun.

The move by police came hours after parliament named a new prime minister, whose predecessor opposed arresting Mr Melia because of concerns that it would escalate the country’s political crisis.

Mr Melia faces charges of inciting violence during protests in 2019.

He had been released on bail and ordered to wear an electronic bracelet. But the bail was raised in November after he removed the bracelet, and he refused to pay the additional bail.

Farewell Spit: Volunteers in New Zealand were optimistic they could save 28 whales still alive following a mass stranding after refloating them for the second time in two days.

A pod of 49 long-finned pilot whales was first found stranded early on Monday on Farewell Spit, a remote beach on the country’s South Island. Twenty-one of the whales have since died.

Volunteers first managed to refloat the whales on Monday evening’s high tide. But sometime overnight, the whales beached themselves again.

Up to 200 volunteers helped keep the whales healthy and calm while they were beached.