Passengers and crew were taken from the stricken vessel, the Coast Guard said in a statement, and 27 sustained minor injuries

International News via Reuters:

All 267 people on board a South Korean passenger ferry that ran aground off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday were rescued, in an incident that revived memories of the major ferry disaster in 2014 in which 300 people died.

Passengers and crew were taken from the stricken vessel, the Coast Guard said in a statement, and 27 sustained minor injuries.

Most will be transported to the coastal city of Mokpo while 21 crew members will remain on the ship.

A mistake by the captain or a navigating officer might have caused the accident, but the Coast Guard will conduct a thorough investigation, the organisation’s Commissioner General Kim Yong-jin said.

President Lee Jae Myung, who is travelling in the Middle East, ordered details of the rescue operation to be made public as they occurred, Yonhap News Agency reported.

RESCUE BOATS DEPLOYED

The 26,000-ton ferry Queen Jenuvia 2 was travelling from Jeju Island to Mokpo. The boat’s Mokpo-based operator, Seaworld Ferry, lists the vessel as having a capacity of 1,010 passengers, as well as lower decks for large vehicles and passenger cars.

A Coast Guard official said the ferry had struck a rocky island near Jindo.

A loud bang had startled passengers during the night, causing panic and confusion, said passenger Kim Namhyun.

“I thought I might die. The sound was too loud,” said Kim, 51, a diving instructor on Jeju Island.

“But having seen the Sewol ferry, I knew that in situations like this, you have to stay calm, move outside, wear a life jacket, and wait,” said Kim, referring to the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014.

Footage showed passengers wearing life vests awaiting transfer to rescue boats.

The vessel’s bow appeared stuck on the edge of a small island, but looked to be upright and the passengers seemed calm. Weather conditions were reported to be fair with light winds.

2014 FERRY SINKING ONE OF COUNTRY’S WORST DISASTERS

Memories are still fresh in South Korea of the sinking of the Sewol ferry carrying many children on a school trip to Jeju.

The Sewol was sailing from the west coast port of Incheon when it sank near the site of Wednesday’s incident, though further off the island of Jindo.

The ferry, later found to have been overloaded with cargo and illegally modified to carry more than it was designed for, went into a turn too fast and began listing.

It lay on its side as passengers awaited rescue before sinking as the country watched on live television.

Many victims were found in their cabins, where they had been told to wait while the captain and crew members were rescued by the first Coast Guard vessels to arrive at the scene.

Reporting by Heekyong Yang, Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee, Jack Kim and Heejung Jung; Editing by Ed Davies, Aidan Lewis and Ed Osmond

The two-week U.N. summit in the Amazon city of Belem has brought nearly 200 countries together to try to ratchet up multilateral action to limit climate change

International News via Reuters:

Brazil’s president was set to meet key negotiators at the COP30 summit on Wednesday as part of a drive to land a deal ahead of schedule on some of the most divisive issues in the global climate talks, including fossil fuels and climate finance.

The two-week U.N. summit in the Amazon city of Belem has brought nearly 200 countries together to try to ratchet up multilateral action to limit climate change, despite the absence of the United States, the top historic greenhouse gas emitter.

Host Brazil is hoping to buck the trend that has seen recent climate summits run well past their deadline by seeking to endorse a package of agreements later on Wednesday, and the outstanding issues on Friday.

FRESH DRAFT EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY

The COP30 presidency was expected to land a fresh draft of the initial deal early on Wednesday, but no announcements had been issued by late morning.

The first version of the deal published on Tuesday had presented a range of options that split opinion.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived back at the conference on Wednesday, according to Brazilian officials, giving renewed political impetus to the talks. He was expected to meet key negotiators as well as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.    

Brazil and around 80 other supportive nations want to agree something that helps spur action on a 2023 agreement made at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels. 

However, the idea of creating a roadmap to help guide that transition had so far been rejected by others, Brazil’s COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago said on Tuesday. 

‘WE’VE GOT BLOCKERS,’ VANUATU SAYS

Pacific island nation Vanuatu’s climate minister Ralph Regenvanu told Reuters Saudi Arabia was one of those opposed. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult … because we’ve got blockers,” Regenvanu said.

Other contentious issues in the package include pinning down how rich countries will provide finance to poorer countries to switch to clean energy, and what must be done about a gap between promised emissions cuts and those needed to stop temperatures rising.

Poorer countries already bearing the impacts of global warming are rallying for a strong outcome.

“We want ambition on finance. We want ambition on adaptation. We want to see ambition on the transition,” Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone’s climate minister, told Reuters. “And we want to ensure that we live here on a path that is sustainable, not just for this generation, but for future generations.”

Plans to launch a U.N.-backed global market for trading carbon offset credits, meanwhile, have hit a snag as governments dispute over funding to get the market up and running, five sources told Reuters.

Additional reporting and Eriting by William James; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Alison Williams

A spate of environmental and anti-government protests prompted by a worsening economic crisis and disruptions in public services has posed the biggest challenge to President Kais Saied

International News via Reuters:

Thousands of young doctors went on strike across Tunisia on Wednesday to demand higher pay and warn of an impending collapse of the health system, part of a broader wave of social unrest convulsing the country.

A spate of environmental and anti-government protests prompted by a worsening economic crisis and disruptions in public services has posed the biggest challenge to President Kais Saied since he seized all power in 2021.

“We are exhausted, underpaid and working in a system that is breaking down,” said Marwa, who declined to give her surname, while attending a protest rally in the capital Tunis with hundreds of other doctors.

“If nothing changes, more doctors will leave and the crisis will only deepen,” she added.

The protesters, wearing white coats, brandished placards that read “Dignity for doctors” and “Save our hospitals” as they gathered near Tunisia’s parliament.

As well as low wages, the protesters complained of outdated equipment and shortages of essential medical supplies, factors which they said were fuelling a growing exodus of young health professionals to Europe and the Gulf.

“As long as the authorities ignore our demands, we will continue to escalate, resist and lead the social movement in the country,” Wajih Dhakkar, head of the Young Doctors’ Organisation, told Reuters.

The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Saied has accused what he describes as conspirators and infiltrators of fabricating crises in various sectors in order to undermine the state.

Tunisia has seen strikes over pay by transport workers and bank employees in recent months, while the southern city of Gabes has been a focal point of protests over a pollution crisis blamed on a state-owned chemical plant.

Reporting By Tarek AmaraEditing by Gareth Jones