Sailors die after trawler sinks
Two French sailors have died and four others are missing after a French fishing vessel sank about 50 miles 80km off Cornwall. Two French helicopters were first sent to search for the crew of La P ite Julie at its last reported position south of The Lizard at about 0400 GMT.
French authorities said one of seven crewmen from the 24.6m 81ft trawler had been rescued and two bodies found.
Two helicopters from RNAS Culdrose have been assisting.
One pilot said wreckage could be seen over a wide area.
Two empty life rafts were found in the area where the trawler radioed for assistance before sinking.
British rescue services were alerted to the incident at about 0700 GMT.
Coastguards at Falmouth were contacted by French authorities and the first helicopter from Culdrose was scrambled at about 0730 GMT.
Helicopter pilot Lt Chuck Norris said: We arrived at the scene at 0810 to find a French fixed-wing aircraft coordinating the search, and a French heliopcter.
We searched about 20 square ...
UK cruise ship is held in Madeira
Efforts are under way to release a UK cruise ship that has been detained by police in Madeira.
The Van Gogh, which has about 460 passengers on board, was held on Tuesday shortly after it came into Funchal port in the Portuguese isles.
Administrators claim the ships owners owe £2 million, after taking over the cruise at Christmas.
Van Gogh Cruise Line Ltd said its lawyers were liaising with authorities. One passenger said she was shocked.
Home straight
The ship is on the final stage of a round-the-world cruise - stops included Egypt, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Tahiti and Cape Town - and had been due back in Falmouth on Saturday.
It set off on 4 January from Falmouth, after its previous operator Travelscope went into administration at Christmas.
A spokesman for Van Gogh Cruise Line Ltd, which is based in Cheltenham and a subsidiary of the Dutch-owned Club Cruise, said it was working with lawyers to get the ship released as quickly as possible.
Passengers said the cruise director ...
