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Divers have entered the sunken superyacht as they continue to search for the bodies of six missing people, but face “significant challenges” during the rescue operation.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are among six missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Italy. One person has already been declared dead and Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are also among those missing.

Nick Sloane, an engineer who led the salvage operation for the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2013, says rescue divers looking for survivors have entered a “critical” 24 hours – with some possibly trapped in air pockets inside the ship, but that time is running out to save them if that is the case.

Marco Tilotta, a diver from Vigili del Fuoco di Palermo who is coordinating the search and rescue, said the teams have been diving continuously since 11.30pm last night.

He said they always hope to find people alive, but the conditions below the water are clearly “prohibitive”.

When asked about the conditions that caused the boat to sink, he said: “Of our entire career as divers, however, these are events that are clearly difficult to prevent and therefore truly unlikely and difficult to manage, so I don’t dare think of what the people who were there on board experienced.”

The British-flagged superyacht Bayesian is still largely intact on the seabed, but the 50m depth makes it difficult to access, and the time window divers have make searches is incredibly tight, according to another diver.

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Among those diving are two cave divers, who will have experience navigating through tight areas.

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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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The interior of the yacht. Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

“They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down,” emergency responder Luca Cari told Italian daily Giornale Di Sicilia.

“So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.”

Mr Tilotta told reporters: “We plan… to search centimetre by centimetre.”

The vessel was lying on its right side, Mr Tilotta said. Divers had not been able to determine whether the 72-metre-long mast had snapped somewhere along its length.

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

Divers have entered the lounge via a ladder, Mr Cari said, and are now trying to find the best access point to enter the rest of the yacht.

And Italian paper Il Messaggero said they had also been able to open a hole in the side.

Mr Cari explained that divers had identified a glass window of the Bayesian through which they could enter, though it had to be removed in order to gain access. The window is 3cm thick, making removal difficult.

From the outside it is impossible to see inside the yacht, further hampering the search.

Pic: Perini Navi/ The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/ The Italian Sea Group

Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group
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Pic: Perini Navi/The Italian Sea Group

The rescue team already searched the command bridge, which “is full of electrical cables”, but did not find anyone in the area.

“The spaces inside the sailing ship are very small and if you encounter an obstacle it is very complicated to move forward, just as it is very difficult to find alternative routes,” he added.

Hatches and doors left open overnight on the superyacht Bayesian may have caused it to sink in Italy, a sailing expert also said.

Sam Jefferson, editor of magazine Sailing Today, believes the vessel’s huge mast would have acted like a sail to pin the boat down, and is also likely to have contributed to the deadly event.

Mr Jefferson said “I would have said that the boat got hit very hard by the wind, it was pinned over on its side.

“I imagine all the doors were open because it was hot, so there were enough hatches and doors open that it filled with water very quickly and sank like that.”

Read more:
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Lynch’s co-defendant dies before yacht sinking

Mr Lynch, known as the “British Bill Gates”, has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.

In June, he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

His wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 people already rescued.

Among others said to be missing are lawyer Christopher Morvillo, a Clifford Chance partner and Mr Lynch’s co-counsel in his US trial, Mr Morvillo’s wife, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, who is also chair of UK insurer Hiscox, and his wife Judy.

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Man arrested over wildfire that triggered ‘major incident’ in Northern Ireland

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Man arrested over wildfire that triggered 'major incident' in Northern Ireland

A man has been arrested by police investigating a “significant” wildfire that triggered a major incident in Northern Ireland.

More than 100 firefighters and 15 fire appliances were deployed on Saturday to Sandbank Road, Hilltown, to tackle the blaze which is believed to have been caused deliberately, fire chiefs said.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire had a front of approximately two miles “including a large area of forestry close to property”.

It was extinguished at 2.53am on Sunday and the major incident status lifted, the NIFRS said.

“The cause of this fire is believed to have been deliberate,” chief fire and rescue officer Aidan Jennings said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Sunday that a 25-year-old man had been arrested “on suspicion of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, and non-related driving offences”.

“He remains in custody at this time as enquiries continue into the circumstances surrounding the fire,” the force added.

A wildfire broke out in Northern Ireland. Pic: Sky Watch NI
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The wildfire on Sandbank Road, Hilltown. Pic: Sky Watch NI

A wildfire broke out in Northern Ireland. Pic: Sky Watch NI
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More than 100 firefighters were at the scene of the fire. Pic: Sky Watch NI

Various fires erupted across England this week amid uncharacteristically warm and dry conditions for the time of year.

On Saturday, helicopters were deployed to tackle Scotland’s fourth wildfire this week, with police saying a blaze “which started in the Newton Stewart area has spread northwards and is expected to reach the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire around 12am on Sunday”.

Police Scotland added: “As a precautionary measure members of the public are asked to avoid the Loch Doon area and anyone who may be camping in the area is advised to leave.”

Dorset wildfires
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Moors Valley Country Park blackened by fires this week

Elsewhere in England, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were assisting the fire service with temporary road closures on the A30 in the Bolventor area as they tackle “a number of fires” on moorland.

In Dorset, Moors Valley Country Park was forced to close after multiple wildfires broke out there on Wednesday.

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Wildfires spread across nature reserve

Separate incidents were then reported at Upton Heath in Poole on Wednesday, and nearby Canford Heath in the early hours of Thursday.

Friday was officially the warmest day of the year so far – with temperatures in the south of England reaching 23C (73.4F) – the highest since 21 September last year, according to the Met Office.

The weather conditions triggered a “severe” wildfire rating for parts of the UK on Tuesday.

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UK

Man shot dead in Stanley, County Durham

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Man shot dead in Stanley, County Durham

Police are investigating after a man was shot dead in County Durham.

Officers were called to an address in Elm Street, Stanley, at about 5.20pm on Saturday after reports of a “disturbance”, Durham Constabulary said.

A man in his 50s was found to have been shot and despite the efforts of paramedics he was pronounced dead at the scene.

His family have been told and are being supported by specially trained officers.

Specialist crime scene investigators are at the scene, and officers are carrying out house-to-house enquiries.

A cordon is in place and is expected to stay there for some time.

Detective Superintendent Neil Fuller said: “This is a truly shocking incident in which a man has been shot and has sadly died.”

He added: “Residents may see an increased police presence in the area. I would like to thank them for their support while we carry out this investigation.

“Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this time.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Durham Constabulary has urged anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam footage or CCTV to contact the force.

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Furious row after Labour MPs denied entry to Israel – as Lammy criticises ‘disgraceful’ Badenoch response

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Furious row after Labour MPs denied entry to Israel - as Lammy criticises 'disgraceful' Badenoch response

A furious political row has broken out after two Labour MPs were denied entry to Israel and deported after being accused of planning to “spread anti-Israel hatred”.

Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were rejected because they were suspected of plans to “document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred”, according to a statement from the Israeli immigration ministry.

Ms Yang, who represents Earley and Woodley, and Ms Mohamed, the MP for Sheffield Central, both flew to the country from Luton on Saturday – and later said they were “astounded” by their treatment.

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The Israeli immigration ministry said the MPs were accompanied by two assistants on the trip and during questioning, they claimed they were visiting Israel “as part of an official parliamentary delegation”.

But Israeli officials said immigration officers found “no evidence to support the claim… they were travelling as part of an official delegation”. “No politicians or government officials were aware they were coming,” they added.

The Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) contradicted Israeli officials, saying the women were part of a “parliamentary delegation” on a trip organised by them and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips she was “not surprised” the MPs were detained and that “every country should be able to control its borders, and that’s what Israel is doing, as far as I understand”.

She said she was “very concerned” about the “rhetoric” on the Middle East from Labour MPs and six independents, and claimed there is “a lot of repeating of misinformation, repeating of conspiracy theories” during Prime Minister’s Questions.

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Tory leader backs Israel over deported MPs

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy criticised Ms Badenoch’s comments, writing in a post on X: “It’s disgraceful you are cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs. Do you say the same about Tory MPs banned from China?.”

Ms Badenoch retorted, saying: “Unlike China, Israel is our ally and a democracy. A good Foreign Sec would be able to make that distinction.”

One of Ms Badenoch’s ministers Richard Fuller appeared to contradict her, however, telling Times Radio: “Any member of Parliament who goes on an official trip should be, I would think, welcomed in any country.”

Chair of the foreign affairs select committee Emily Thornberry MP described Israel’s treatment of the two women as an “insult to our country and to Parliament”.

In a joint statement, Ms Yang and Ms Mohamed said they were “astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities”.

“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness, first-hand, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory,” they said.

“We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in Parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law. Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

They said they had travelled to “visit humanitarian aid projects and communities in the West Bank” with “UK charity partners who have over a decade of experience in taking parliamentary delegations”.

Israel’s UK embassy said the MPs were denied entry because they had “accused Israel of false claims, were actively involved in promoting sanctions against Israeli ministers, and supported campaigns aimed at boycotting the state of Israel”.

It said the women “chose not to exercise their right under Israeli law to petition the court to reconsider the decision”.

As a result, they were “offered hotel accommodation, which they declined” and their return flight was covered by the Israeli state.

“The visit was intended to provoke anti-Israel activities at a time when Israel is at war and under attack on seven fronts. Its purpose was to harm Israel and Israeli citizens and spread falsehoods about them,” the statement added.

“The state of Israel has both the authority and the duty to prevent the entry of individuals whose presence in the country is intended to cause harm to its citizens – just as such authority exists in the United Kingdom.”

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Earlier in a statement to Sky News, Mr Lammy said it was “unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities”.

“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.

“The UK government’s focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”

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Emily Thornberry says Israel has to ‘stop being so thin-skinned’ about criticism over its Gaza war.

In an interview with Sky News, Dame Emily Thornberry said her two colleagues are “highly intelligent, well informed” and “really well respected”.

“They speak on behalf of a lot of people,” said the Labour MP, warning Israel that instead of “alienating” and “humiliating” them it should “engage” with them.

She confirmed the women have landed back in the UK and that “they’ll be okay”. But she added: “I am so angry.”

Labour Friends of Israel said it was “wrong and counterproductive for Israel to refuse entry to British members of Parliament”.

“Over the years we’ve taken hundreds of MPs to Israel and Palestine; it’s vital parliamentarians are able to visit and understand the situation on the ground,” it said.

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