A hundred refugees and migrants crammed into a small dinghy that started taking in water in the Mediterranean endured an agonising 30-hour wait before they were rescued, a maritime log passed to the Guardian has revealed.

The incident happened over the Easter weekend, the unofficial start of the “sailing season”, which sees increased numbers of people attempting the crossing from Africa to Europe as the weather improves. Twenty children and 10 women, one of them pregnant, were among the passengers on the overcrowded dinghy.

The log was passed to the Guardian by Watch The Med’s Alarmphone network, an NGO which passes distress calls from migrant boats to the Italian coastguard so that a rescue can be coordinated. It details the passengers’ rising panic as more and more time passes without a rescue ship arriving.

Watch The Med was first alerted to the fact that the rubber boat was in trouble at 7.19am on Saturday morning, when it immediately alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome, providing a satellite phone number and the GPS position so that the stranded people could be rescued.(theguardian)…[+]

Donald Trump set the stage for a global fight over steel on Thursday, announcing an investigation into whether cheap imports are a threat to national security. At an Oval Office ceremony, surrounded by US steel executives, Trump signed an executive order calling for the commerce department to assess effects of steel imports on US defense at a time when he has ordered a military buildup“Steel is critical to both our economy and our military. This is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries,” Trump said in what he dubbed a “historic day for American steel”.The president said he had promised to take action on behalf of American workers, which was “one of the primary reasons I’m sitting here today as president”.(goal)…[+]

Russia’s supreme court has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted justice ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.Borisova also said Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian healthcare laws.(guardian)…[+]

Argentina believes Brexit might cost Britain the support of European allies for its control of the Falkland Islands and is watching developments closely, the Argentinian foreign minister said in Brussels.

Visiting the EU capital for trade talks on Thursday, Susana Malcorra stressed it was too soon to say whether Britain quitting the bloc might soften EU backing for London against an 18th-century claim to the South Atlantic islands that Buenos Aires has maintained despite losing a brief war there in 1982. “The European Union, through its agreements, is connected very closely and strongly to the United Kingdom,” Malcorra told reporters when asked if Brexit could have an impact on the Falklands dispute, on which the 16-month-old administration of President Mauricio Macri has taken a more conciliatory approach. “It could be that things change there. But I think it is still quite early. Brexit is just starting and there are many issues. We are following it carefully.(the guardian)…[+]