Sri Lanka repatriates 238 Iranian sailors stranded after US torpedo attack
More than 200 Iranian sailors left stranded in Sri Lanka after a US torpedo attack are returning home after being stuck in the country for more than a month, BBC reported.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister, Aruna Jayasekara, confirmed 32 sailors rescued from the Iris Dena and 206 from Irins Bushehr, had left the country.
The Iranian warship, Iris Dena, sank on 4 March about 40km (25 miles) from Sri Lanka's southern coastline after it was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine, killing 104 sailors.
Canada, UK, Australia and Japan call for 'urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon'
Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, and six other countries condemned the killings of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling "for an urgent end to hostilities" in the country where Israeli attacks have killed over 2,000 people since March, Reuters reported.
"Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom remain deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in Lebanon," the countries said in a joint statement.
"We condemn in the strongest terms actions that have killed U.N. peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon," the 10 countries said in the joint statement.
Strait of Hormuz traffic barely affected on first day of US blockade, data shows
The first full day of a U.S. blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports made little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic on Tuesday, with at least eight ‌ships including three Iran-linked tankers, crossing the waterway, shipping data showed, BBC reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the U.S. and Iran failed to reach a deal.
The blockade has created even further uncertainty for shippers, oil companies and war risk insurers. Traffic remains at only a fraction of the 130-plus daily crossings before the U.S. and Israel's war on Iran began on February 28, industry sources said on Tuesday.
250 missing after migrant boat sinks in Indian Ocean
About 250 Rohingya and Bangladeshis, including children, are missing after their boat capsized last week in the Andaman Sea, according to the United Nations' refugee and migration agencies, BBC reported.
The trawler, which had departed from Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia, "reportedly sank due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding", the agencies said.
The Bangladesh Coast Guard told AFP news agency one of its ships rescued nine people from the vessel on 9 April. It is unclear when exactly the boat capsized.
