A BP drilling rig heading to an oilfield in the British North Sea has been forced to turn away twice over the past two days as a Greenpeace vessel protesting climate change tries to hamper its progress.The high-sea chase is the latest step in Greenpeace's nine-day effort to stop the 40,000 tonne Paul Loyd JNR rig from reaching the Vorlich oilfield to start its drilling campaign.
A charity rescue ship carrying 134 migrants, mostly Africans, was stranded off the coast of Italy on Friday as a political battle in Rome stopped it from docking and even the medical conditions of those on board were disputed.The migrants, picked up off Libya over the last two weeks, are waiting to disembark on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa
The British government said on Thursday its navy will accompany British-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz to defend freedom of navigation, after previously saying it did not have the military resources to do so.Tensions have spiked between Iran and Britain since the Islamic Republic last Friday seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait.