Billiionaire Submarines from Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson Richard Branson Introduction to DZTV Richard Branson Plans Deep-ocean Submarine Dives Richard Branson launches Virgin Oceanic to explore the ocean's … Sir Richard Branson may have already branded his Necker Nymph aero submarine with the ‘Virgin Oceanic’ moniker, but he’s now finally taken things to. Richard Branson And Google To Map Ocean Floor – Clare O'Connor … Apparently, for billionaire adventurer Richard Branson , space is no longer the final frontier. Today, he announced his next ambitious project: Virgin Oceanic, which will see the mogul pilot a special ‘flying’ solo submarine to the … Sir Richard Branson Launches Virgin Oceanic, Will Explore the … When Sir Richard Branson unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, he noted that “More men have been to the moon than have been down further [underwater] than 20000 feet.” To that end, he and an explorer pal will take the submarine to the … Richard Branson takes on the deep-sea with Virgin Oceanic – TNW Media Richard Branson , one of our favorite entrepreneurs has conquered the skies with Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic, and is heading to space upon Virgin Galactic, the world’s first privately funded space mission. … Richard Branson unveils deep-sea submarine plans Virgin Group founder Richard Branson , known for such exploits as trying to balloon around the world, ALLANBOYLE says: RT @shipspotterCT : Richard Branson to also explore ocean depths http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/virgin-oceanic-launch/
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Germany and Italy named by OECD among countries which have missed G8 targets – with Africa suffering most from shortfall Rich western countries have failed to meet aid pledges to the world’s poorest countries made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in Scotland six years ago, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Wednesday. In its annual review of development assistance , the Paris-based OECD said donors had increased aid by $30bn (£18.5bn) since 2005 but had fallen $19bn short of the promises made in 2005. Under pressure from Tony Blair when he was British prime minister, the G8 also agreed at Gleneagles to increase aid to Africa by $25bn by 2010, but the OECD said only $11bn had been delivered. The OECD, a club of rich developed countries, said the financial constraints imposed by the global recession were only marginally to blame for the broken pledges. “Only a little over $1bn of the shortfall can be attributed to lower than expected gross national income levels due to the economic crisis. The remaining gap of $18bn was due to donors that did not meet their Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) commitments,” the review says. Britain’s aid rose to 0.56% of gross national income (GNI) after increasing by almost 20% between 2009 and 2010, according to the report, but many other European countries – including Germany and Italy – fell well short of the Gleneagles commitment to raise aid spending to 0.51% of GNI by 2010. The OECD warned that a comprehensive survey of donors’ future spending plans pointed to slower aid growth ahead. Development assistance is planned to grow by an inflation-adjusted 2% per year between 2011 and 2013 compared with 8% on average over the last three years. In 2010, total aid reached a record $128.7bn, an increase of 6.5% when adjusted for inflation. Bilateral aid to Africa rose by 3.6% overall, but fell by 0.1% when debt relief grants were excluded from the calculations. The OECD said the failure to meet the $25bn target for African aid had been caused by the “poor performance” of several donors who provide a large chunk of their financial help to the world’s poorest continent. “When countries make aid pledges, they must do the political, budgetary and planning work needed to sustain them,” said Brian Atwood, who chairs of the OECD’s development assistance committee. “Too often, donors commit without the backing that will enable these promises to be kept. We are promoting a new code of good pledging practice to ensure that promises are backed by plans. “The volume of aid is a crucial factor, but there are other forms of assistance that are not classified as ODA, such as some loans and guarantees, that provide critical support to low income countries. And the contribution of new donors is important as well. We are building broader and deeper global partnerships – sharing collective know-how to alleviate poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals.” Aid G8 Economics Poverty Economic policy Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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Former deputy prime minister speaks out in House of Lords after arrest of two senior News of the World journalists Lord Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, has called for News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB to be delayed until the police inquiry into phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World is complete. Prescott was speaking in the Lords on Wednesday, the day after two senior News of the World journalists, chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson, were released on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept mobile phone messages . The former Labour MP and cabinet minister, who has been named as a potential victim of phone hacking by the News of the World, accused the paper’s owner, News Corp, of being “actively involved at all levels in criminal acts”. Prescott also said Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News Corp’s UK newspaper publisher News International, had admitted a “criminal act” – that police were paid for information. “Is the government aware, in giving this decision on BSkyB, that it would be totally unacceptable for a company like this that is actively involved at all levels in criminal acts to be given control of BSkyB?” he asked. “Will they now delay the decision until all these investigations are completed?” Prescott also asked Lord Wallace, a government spokesman in the Lords: “Are you aware of the decision yesterday following the imprisonments of two employees of Murdoch press [Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire] that the new inquiry has now arrested two senior employees of the Murdoch press? “And we’ve learned yesterday that in the parliamentary committee of the [Commons] there was conflicting evidence given by the director of public prosecutions [Keir Starmer QC] and Mr Yates [acting Metropolitan police deputy commissioner John Yates], who was in charge of the original inquiry.” Wallace said he was aware of the “very strong feelings” on the issue. He told Prescott: “You raised the issue of payments to the police, which clearly would have been illegal, and I know some of these have now been admitted. “It’s necessary, of course, for the police to have a close relationship to the media because the media can help in solving crime but payments for information received are clearly illegal.” Prescott’s comments came in Lords question time after former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Fowler asked the government what assessment it had made of the evidence of phone hacking by newspapers. Wallace said this was a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service and it would be “inappropriate to comment or speculate on any particular aspects of that active investigation pending its outcome”. Fowler added: “Leaving aside the two arrests yesterday, isn’t it already clear that there has been a total abuse of power involving some parts of the press in this area? “Have we not also seen a five-year delay in the investigation, a public dispute now taking place between the DPP and the Metropolitan police, and the utter failure of any system to prevent such wrongdoing? “Will you give an assurance that once criminal proceedings are complete, there will be an independent inquiry into what has happened and how scandals of this kind can be prevented?” Wallace said he had raised broad issues about the relationship between the press and politics. “I think it’s fair to say that we will need to return to those questions once current investigations are complete,” he added. “The relationship between the press and the government rests upon the idea that a free press in a democracy is free but should be responsible – just as bankers in a free market ask for light regulation with the expectation that they will also behave responsibly. Newspapers, like bankers, have not always been as responsible in relationship to their obligation as they might have been in recent years.” In March the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recommended regulatory approval for News Corps acquisition of the 61% of Sky it does not already own, after the company gave an undertaking to spin off Sky News into a separate listed company. Following a period of consulation, Hunt is due to deliver a final verdict on the proposed takeover towards the end of April , after parliament returns from its Easter break. •
Continue reading …Former deputy prime minister speaks out in House of Lords after arrest of two senior News of the World journalists Lord Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, has called for News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB to be delayed until the police inquiry into phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World is complete. Prescott was speaking in the Lords on Wednesday, the day after two senior News of the World journalists, chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson, were released on police bail after being arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept mobile phone messages . The former Labour MP and cabinet minister, who has been named as a potential victim of phone hacking by the News of the World, accused the paper’s owner, News Corp, of being “actively involved at all levels in criminal acts”. Prescott also said Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News Corp’s UK newspaper publisher News International, had admitted a “criminal act” – that police were paid for information. “Is the government aware, in giving this decision on BSkyB, that it would be totally unacceptable for a company like this that is actively involved at all levels in criminal acts to be given control of BSkyB?” he asked. “Will they now delay the decision until all these investigations are completed?” Prescott also asked Lord Wallace, a government spokesman in the Lords: “Are you aware of the decision yesterday following the imprisonments of two employees of Murdoch press [Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire] that the new inquiry has now arrested two senior employees of the Murdoch press? “And we’ve learned yesterday that in the parliamentary committee of the [Commons] there was conflicting evidence given by the director of public prosecutions [Keir Starmer QC] and Mr Yates [acting Metropolitan police deputy commissioner John Yates], who was in charge of the original inquiry.” Wallace said he was aware of the “very strong feelings” on the issue. He told Prescott: “You raised the issue of payments to the police, which clearly would have been illegal, and I know some of these have now been admitted. “It’s necessary, of course, for the police to have a close relationship to the media because the media can help in solving crime but payments for information received are clearly illegal.” Prescott’s comments came in Lords question time after former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Fowler asked the government what assessment it had made of the evidence of phone hacking by newspapers. Wallace said this was a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service and it would be “inappropriate to comment or speculate on any particular aspects of that active investigation pending its outcome”. Fowler added: “Leaving aside the two arrests yesterday, isn’t it already clear that there has been a total abuse of power involving some parts of the press in this area? “Have we not also seen a five-year delay in the investigation, a public dispute now taking place between the DPP and the Metropolitan police, and the utter failure of any system to prevent such wrongdoing? “Will you give an assurance that once criminal proceedings are complete, there will be an independent inquiry into what has happened and how scandals of this kind can be prevented?” Wallace said he had raised broad issues about the relationship between the press and politics. “I think it’s fair to say that we will need to return to those questions once current investigations are complete,” he added. “The relationship between the press and the government rests upon the idea that a free press in a democracy is free but should be responsible – just as bankers in a free market ask for light regulation with the expectation that they will also behave responsibly. Newspapers, like bankers, have not always been as responsible in relationship to their obligation as they might have been in recent years.” In March the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, recommended regulatory approval for News Corps acquisition of the 61% of Sky it does not already own, after the company gave an undertaking to spin off Sky News into a separate listed company. Following a period of consulation, Hunt is due to deliver a final verdict on the proposed takeover towards the end of April , after parliament returns from its Easter break. •
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Rising oil prices and increasing investor confidence have encouraged US clean technology market, says report by Cleantech Group Global investment in US clean technology has reached its highest level since 2008, while investment in UK companies has dropped sharply, quarterly figures show. Increasing investor confidence and rising oil prices have helped investment in North American companies more than double compared with the previous quarter, according to a report by Cleantech Group , an international firm that works to accelerate the development and market adoption of clean technologies. Sheera Haji, CEO of Cleantech Group, said: “I absolutely think rising oil prices have had some important impacts. We’ve seen decent uptake in transportation.” He added: “We’re seeing a good rebound as public markets are doing well, companies are doing well, and investors are raising funds and investing them. We’re also seeing a real skew towards bigger deals.” While North America flourishes, investment in companies in Europe and Israel dropped by 60% compared with the previous quarter. Investment in British companies has plummeted to its lowest level since 2003, with only nine deals secured all year. Haji described the period as a “very weak” quarter for the UK. He said: “I have not been following the UK closely, but there’s been some uncertainty around what’s happening in the UK – around the economic recovery and growth – and that has impacted on the vibrancy of the start-up economy.” The news comes a week after a report from the US Pew Environment Group showed that Britain’s private investments in green energy projects fell by 70% last year, causing it to fall from third to 13th place in the league of countries developing clean technology. Haji said Japan’s nuclear crisis could have a “pretty significant impact” on the next set of quarterly figures, and that it may boost investment in clean technology and coal. He added: “We think it’s a setback for the building of new reactors.” Green economy Oil Energy Fossil fuels Oil Commodities United States Technology sector guardian.co.uk
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Journalists are shown cleared site, emptied rebel graves and hospital on tour orchestrated by Libyan government minders A mosque that became a focal point of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion during fierce fighting in the western town of Zawiya has been razed by city authorities loyal to the Libyan leader. Rubble from the demolition of the mosque, which was badly damaged during battles that raged for more than a week, has been cleared leaving a vast expanse of bare earth in central Zawiya. Evidence of fighting remains in the shelled and bullet-pocked buildings lining the central square, their windows blown out and gaping holes in their walls. The Zawiya Jewel hotel has been abandoned along with many other buildings. In a small park opposite the site of the mosque the bodies of about 20 rebel fighters have been removed from their makeshift graves. A huge loyalist green flag flies from the post where rebels had raised their tricolour. On a government-organised trip to the town, 30 miles west of Tripoli, with journalists accompanied by a large group of minders, it was impossible to find a consistent explanation for the mosque’s destruction – an unusual act in a Muslim society. One bystander said the structure had become unstable and was razed for safety reasons. Another said it was destroyed because it had become a haven for al-Qaida. “There were drugs, alcohol and dirty women inside,” the man said. Journalists were shown the carcass of a police station – the minders said it was shelled and burned by rebel forces looking for weapons. In one blackened room, amid a pile of charred documents, lay photographs that appeared to show detainees injured and possibly tortured. Papers covered with fingerprints were scattered on the floor; broken glass crunched underfoot. In the teaching hospital on the outskirts of Zawiya, where most beds appeared unoccupied, staff spoke of treating the injured and dying from the battle. Rebel fighters and government soldiers had been treated equally, most insisted. But Mohammed al-Araby, a consultant surgeon, said he had heard rumours that some doctors refused to treat wounded soldiers loyal to Gaddafi. He himself had abided by the Hippocratic Oath to practise medicine ethically, but he had seen clear reluctance in some doctors’ faces. Reliable numbers of the dead and wounded were impossible to obtain, although Massoud Edeeb, head of surgery, cautiously said that up to 100 people may have died. According to Araby, opposition forces had removed their wounded after initial treatment for fear that they would be taken by loyalists. As government forces gained ascendancy in Zawiya a final group of injured rebel soldiers were removed from the hospital by the military for investigation, he said. A group of white-clad female medics mounted a noisy pro-Gaddafi demonstration for the benefit of the visiting foreign media. In the central square traffic was held up as loyalists clad in Gaddafi-green scarves and bandanas chanted and sang their support from cars and pick-up trucks. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Halifax’s three-month house prices figures show a 0.6% decline in March, and its yearly forecast is for further falls House price surveys: who publishes what and when House prices fell by 0.6% over the past three months, and by 2.9% over the past year, according to latest figures from the Halifax . Prices actually inched ahead by 0.1% in March to take the average house price to £162,912, but economists believe the three-month index is a better indicator of trends because it smoothes out blips in price movements. Martin Ellis, housing economist for the Halifax, said: “The overall decrease in prices in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the previous quarter was a little lower than the quarterly falls recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2010. The recent increase in employment, particularly those in full-time jobs, may have been an important factor supporting the market. “Our forecast remains for a 2% decrease in house prices in 2011 as a whole. Uncertainty over the general economic outlook and individual financial circumstances are likely to constrain housing demand, resulting in some modest downward pressure on prices.” Ellis added that measures announced in the budget – including a shared equity scheme for first-time buyers purchasing new-build property – should increase the supply of new homes and boost the number of properties for rent, helping to reduce the swings in house price movements. The Halifax results are slightly more encouraging for first-time buyers than last week’s Nationwide figures, which showed a monthly rise of 0.5% , and 0.6% increase over three months. Howard Archer, chief economist for IHS Global Insight , took a more negative view on future house price movements: “Despite the modest rise in March, we maintain the view that house prices will fall by around 5% overall in 2011 and end up losing around 10% from the peak levels seen in the first half of 2010. “We suspect the tighter fiscal policy really kicking in from April and likely gradually rising interest rates will exert downward pressure on the housing market. On top of that, high and likely to rise unemployment, negative real income growth, elevated debt levels and still significant difficulties in getting a mortgage (particularly for first-time buyers) do not bode well for house prices.” He added: “Meanwhile, although there are signs that housing market activity has stabilized recently, it is still at a very low level that historically has been associated with falling house prices. Indeed, current very low consumer confidence will make many people reluctant to risk buying a house” The Halifax said that only 1.1% of residential property sales would be affected by this month’s increase in the stamp duty rate from 4% to 5% for homes worth in excess of £1m. London would be the most affected because it has the highest proportion – 4.7% – of million-pound homebuyers. House prices Property First-time buyers Housing market Jill Insley guardian.co.uk
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Lonely Planet ‘s Tom Hall puts you on the right track to Italy by train, Iceland on a budget, island-hopping in the South Pacific and ‘something a bit different’ in Athens My boyfriend and I are going to Iceland in June and we need to do it as cheaply as possible in two weeks. What would be the best way to travel through Iceland, and is it a good place to hitchhike? We’ve already looked into couchsurfing and are considering bringing a tent. Anna Fenton I trust you’re trying to do your visit as cheaply as possible rather than genuinely travelling with hardly any funds to draw on, which would be difficult. Iceland remains one of Europe’s more expensive countries to visit, though you may find that in June you escape the worst of the peak season. You should be able to arrange a couchsurfing.com place to stay in Reykjavik, where the network has good coverage, but elsewhere in the country you’ll often need to make more traditional accommodation arrangements, such as hostels, farms or campsites. Take a sleeping bag – using your own always costs less than made-up beds in hostels. You should also consider booking ahead. Buses are the cheapest way to get around the country, unless there are enough of you to bring the cost of hiring a car down which will cost around 20,000 Icelandic Krona (£108) a day. For bus passes and timetables, see sterna.is/en/bus-passport and re.is/IcelandOnYourOwn/Passports . A daily budget of under 5,000IKR (£27) is possible, but doesn’t account for special trips like whale-watching, horse riding or a snowmobile tour. You could save, though, by giving the iconic Blue Lagoon a miss (£25); instead visit the much cheaper, but still thermally heated, municipal baths across Iceland. Laugardalslaug , an Olympic-sized swimming pool with hot tubs and a long water slide in Reykjavik, costs £2.50 to get into. One significant expense that you can save on is food and drink. Supermarkets won’t feel noticeably more expensive than at home – as long as you don’t buy alcohol – and self-catering is possible. You could bring pasta and other camping-friendly food with you. We (myself, my girlfriend and our seven-year-old son) are hoping to go to visit my Italian relatives, who live in Cuneo (in Piemonte, south of Turin), during my son’s half-term holiday in early June. We were hoping to go by train and on the way also meet up with friends from Rome somewhere in northern Italy. What is the cheapest way of doing this? Is it Eurostar to Paris and then an Interrail pass, or are there more cost-effective alternatives? We took trains from Rome to Geneva during last year’s Ash cloud fiasco and found it a very agreeable way to travel. Mark Agreeable is the right word for a journey like Rome to Geneva, and I’m sure your son will prefer the train to flying. The best resources for planning a rail journey in Europe remain Deutsche Bahn ( bahn.co.uk ) for time-tables, The Man in Seat 61 ( seat61.com ) for information and tips, and Rail Europe ( raileurope.co.uk ) when it comes to booking. There are plenty of other rail travel agencies around, including European Rail ( europeanrail.com ). The trick is not finding sites offering cheap fares – fares are structured and fixed within the various available ticket types – but booking at the right time. Most European tickets go on sale 90 days in advance, with Eurostar services on sale 120 days before travel. As you might expect, the cheaper tickets, especially at busier times, go fastest. For this journey I’d get two tickets: a London-Paris Eurostar return, and a Paris-Cuneo return, via Turin. The Artesia ( artesia.eu ) daytime TGV from Paris to Turin, with onward connection for Cuneo, costs around £153 return for an adult and a child for various dates I tried in June, travelling via Lyon and Modane. Eurostar tickets cost from £69 return, £49 for children under 12, but you may need to be flexible with dates to find these fares – £59 each way is more usual. A rail pass is worth it only if you’re doing plenty of travelling, so put your energy into securing the best fare. I’ve got six months off work and I’m really keen to travel around the Pacific Islands – but on as tight a budget as possible. What would you recommend as the best way to get around? Ideally I would like to fly into New Zealand/Australia and work across to Easter Island and South America. Is this a well rehearsed route or is it not really possible to do independently? evansjig The Pacific islands don’t lend themselves well to an international island-hopping itinerary like you outline. Many popular destinations across the South Pacific tend to be connected to hubs and outlying settlements rather than to each Pacific nation or group of islands. The reason, rather boringly, is lack of demand. Not many people want to travel from Vanuatu to Samoa or Fiji, but considerably more people in all these places want to go to Sydney, Brisbane or Auckland. Easter Island, for example, is linked by air only to Santiago in Chile, which is a domestic flight, and then to Papeete in Tahiti and, as a recent addition, Lima in Peru. Flights between Pacific destinations, where they exist, tend to be expensive. What is more than possible, and the way many people explore the region, is to see one or two south Pacific nations on the way between the US and New Zealand/Australia. This is how I visited Easter Island and French Polynesia, and a friend who I parted company with in Papeete, Tahiti, went on to Fiji and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands before we met again in Australia. Round the World Flights ( roundtheworldflights.com ) has a selection of popular routes which allow you to do this. Travellers usually visit Fiji, the Cook Islands or Tahiti this way. You can always venture to remoter areas once you’re in a particular group of islands. Moorea is one of several islands that can be reached by ferry from Tahiti, and Fiji has several archipelagos that can and are travelled independently. Another economical option (given we’re talking about travelling as far from the UK as is geographically possible) is to get as cheap a ticket as possible to Australia and have a look at budget flights offered by Pacific Blue ( flypacificblue.com ) to various Pacific destinations. South Pacific Organizer ( southpacific.org ) and this Lonely Planet noticeboard are good resources for planning a trip. We’re off to Athens to visit my boyfriend’s family in May. It is his birthday while we’re out there and I’m after some advice on something special we can do on the day. I expect we’ll be with the family in the evening, so if there’s anything quirky, fun and not too formal you can recommend, I’d be really grateful. He’s been to Athens many times, so something a bit different but special would be great. KMayBe Even for the Athens buff there are always fresh aspects of the city to discover. I’d recommend John Freely’s Strolling through Athens as a great way to find new spots to visit on foot. It’s hard to know what you’ve yet to see, but the new Acropolis Museum ( theacropolismuseum.gr ) may have become fully operational since you were last here and is one of the city’s must-sees. At night you may enjoy visiting the area of Gazi at Kerameiko metro: there is a big art centre called Technopolis housed in a former industrial complex. There are lots of bars and cafes for all tastes and budgets and it has a marvellous, car-free atmosphere long into the small hours. Exploring neighbourhoods in detail that you may not know as well, such as the cafe culture and shopping in well-to-do Kolonaki or edgier Exarchia – see here for a good profile – is likely to be your best bet to finding a different side to the city. Iceland Turin Rail travel Athens Tom Hall guardian.co.uk
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Up to 150 north African migrants feared dead after vessel sinks off Lampedusa Up to 150 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants from north Africa to Italy capsized in stormy seas, according to the coastguard. The vessel, believed to have been transporting 200 people, sank at about 4am local time (3am BST) 40 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. A total of 48 people were rescued, and 20 bodies have been recovered, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported . Rescue boats and a police helicopter are searching the area, but efforts have been hampered by rough conditions and high winds. Coastguards say the chance of finding more survivors is diminishing, particularly as they are unlikely to have lifejackets. More than a dozen bodies have been spotted in the sea. “We fear that many people may have died,” a rescue official in Lampedusa said. The route to Lampedusa, less than 100 miles from the coast of Tunisia, has long been popular for those seeking a new life in Europe. The numbers involved have increased greatly since the collapse of the Tunisian government in mid-January. Almost 20,000 people, mostly young men from the country, have arrived on the island since the start of the year. This week a UN official said more than 400 migrants had died after two vessels that left Libya in late March disappeared en route to Italy . The influx of migrants into Lampedusa has seen thousands of new arrivals based temporarily in tent encampments, with many then moved elsewhere in the country on ferries chartered by the Italian government. On Tuesday the interior minister, Roberto Maroni, signed an agreement with the Tunisian government to try to halt the flow, promising aid, police co-operation and the possible compulsory repatriation of illegal immigrants. Italy Tunisia Europe Protest Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Up to 150 north African migrants feared dead after vessel sinks off Lampedusa Up to 150 people are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants from north Africa to Italy capsized in stormy seas, according to the coastguard. The vessel, believed to have been transporting 200 people, sank at about 4am local time (3am BST) 40 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. A total of 48 people were rescued, and 20 bodies have been recovered, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported . Rescue boats and a police helicopter are searching the area, but efforts have been hampered by rough conditions and high winds. Coastguards say the chance of finding more survivors is diminishing, particularly as they are unlikely to have lifejackets. More than a dozen bodies have been spotted in the sea. “We fear that many people may have died,” a rescue official in Lampedusa said. The route to Lampedusa, less than 100 miles from the coast of Tunisia, has long been popular for those seeking a new life in Europe. The numbers involved have increased greatly since the collapse of the Tunisian government in mid-January. Almost 20,000 people, mostly young men from the country, have arrived on the island since the start of the year. This week a UN official said more than 400 migrants had died after two vessels that left Libya in late March disappeared en route to Italy . The influx of migrants into Lampedusa has seen thousands of new arrivals based temporarily in tent encampments, with many then moved elsewhere in the country on ferries chartered by the Italian government. On Tuesday the interior minister, Roberto Maroni, signed an agreement with the Tunisian government to try to halt the flow, promising aid, police co-operation and the possible compulsory repatriation of illegal immigrants. Italy Tunisia Europe Protest Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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