ATHENS, Greeece (AP) — A speedboat carrying migrants capsized Friday morning off the eastern Greek island of Rhodes, leaving eight dead, Greek authorities said.
The coast guard said the incident occurred while the speedboat was carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” to try and evade a patrol vessel, causing migrants to fall into the sea. Eighteen of the migrants were rescued.
Rescue workers on three coast guard vessels and a helicopter were working near the resort area of Afantou Beach in the northeast of the island. It was unclear whether other passengers were missing, authorities said.
Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides said a child was among the dead. Authorities confirmed that two of the survivors were arrested on people smuggling charges.
“Tragically, once again, the ruthless trafficking network has sacrificed eight human lives today, including a young child, in pursuit of illegal profit,” he said. “We are determined to resolutely address the major problem of illegal migration that has exceeded the European Union’s capacity to cope.”
Eight of the survivors were hospitalized, local officials said, with one of them in critical condition, according to state-run television.
Rhodes, one of several large Greek islands located near the coast of Turkey, is on a busy illegal smuggling route in the eastern Mediterranean.
At the main port of the island, police and ambulance workers held up sheets of gray tarp as the recovered bodies were carried into an ambulance.
Authorities in Athens are bracing for a spike in migrant arrivals as a result of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. The coast guard said 120 migrants were rescued in three separate incidents off Greek islands in the past 24 hours.
The sinking off Rhodes was the second deadly incident involving migrants in the past week.
Seven migrants were killed and dozens are believed to be missing after a boat partially sank south of the island of Crete over the weekend – one of four rescue operations during which more than 200 migrants were rescued.
The search south of Crete around the tiny island of Gavdos was called off Wednesday.
The number of migrants traveling illegally to Greece is expected to top 60,000 this year, with Syrians making up the largest number, followed by Afghans, Egyptians, Eritreans and Palestinians, according to government data.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Coast guard officers cover the bodies after a speedboat carrying migrants has capsized, in the southeastern Aegean Sea island of Rhodes, Greece, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Friday to trim their losses in what had been one of the market's roughest weeks of the year.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% and was on track for its best day in six weeks after erasing an early drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 515 points, or 1.2%, as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.
Eli Lilly was one of the strongest forces lifting the market after a rival, Novo Nordisk, gave an update on a potential weight-loss treatment that analysts said fell short of expectations. That could benefit Eli Lilly, whose Zepbound helps treat obesity, and its stock climbed 4.9%.
But the biggest push upward came from superstar stock Nvidia, which rose with the broad market after a report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. It’s an encouraging signal following recent reports suggesting inflation may be tough to get all the way down to the Fed’s 2% goal from its peak above 9%.
The threat of higher inflation was one of the reasons Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave this week when the central bank hinted it may deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier expected.
That warning sent a shock through the stock market, which had run to all-time highs on the widespread assumption that the Fed would deliver a string of cuts to rates in 2025. Now traders are largely betting on one, two or perhaps even zero, according to data from CME Group.
“When optimism is rising and market multiples are expanding, it just takes a little fear to take the veneer off a market rally,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
Friday's better-than-expected inflation data pushed traders to trim their bets for zero cuts in 2025, which they collectively see just a 15% chance of.
Critics had been warning stock prices were vulnerable to drops after running so high, and they likely needed everything to go correctly to justify their stellar gains for the year so far. Besides the diminished hopes for several rate cuts next year, Wall Street got another reminder late Thursday that everything may not go as expected.
The House of Representatives resoundingly rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to keep the U.S. government fully running ahead of a potential shutdown. It’s unclear what the next steps will be, but the failure indicates Washington may not run smoothly even with Republicans in charge of the House, Senate and White House.
The U.S. stock market has lost much of its gain since Trump’s win on Election Day raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations on companies, which would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade.
“Next year will be a time of huge challenges to the world economy,” High Frequency Economics’ Carl B. Weinberg wrote in a note to clients, citing U.S. political uncertainty, expected global trade wars and geopolitical uncertainty. “We do not look forward to these changes.”
On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which sank 3.1% after saying its fourth-quarter results will likely come in below its earlier forecast. CEO David Burritt said steel prices remain depressed.
Novo Nordisk's stock that trades in the United States lost roughly a fifth of its value, 20.6%, after the update on its CagriSema for adults with obesity.
Nike fell 1.3% despite reporting a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Analysts said changes by Nike’s new CEO, Elliott Hill, to turn around the company will likely cut into financial results in the near term to drive better long-term growth. The company is likely to cut prices to clear its warehouses of old products, for example, and open space for a new wave of innovation.
On the winning end of Wall Street were cruise lines after Carnival steamed past analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter.
CEO Josh Weinstein said it’s seeing strong demand and expects growth to continue into 2025 thanks in part to higher fares. Carnival climbed 3.7%, and rival Royal Caribbean rose the same amount.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.51% from 4.57% late Thursday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Asia and Europe.
AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.
Trader John Romolo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
