Alarm as Migrant Vessel Deaths in the Mediterranean Nears 1,000 in 2026

Authorities are sounding the alarm over the increase in migrant deaths at sea in 2026 (IOM photo)

Published Apr 10, 2026 6:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) is sounding the alarm over rising numbers of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. It highlights that 2026 is becoming one of the deadliest starts to a year in more than a decade, based on the number of reported deaths.

Across the Mediterranean, at least 990 deaths have been recorded this year as more people try to cross the rough waters, making it the deadliest start to a year since 2014. In the Central Mediterranean alone, which is considered the world’s deadliest and most dangerous migrant route, around 765 people have died this year, over 460 more than during the same period last year.

IOM is sounding the alarm over the rising number of deaths for immigrants trying to cross the deadly waters from North Africa to Europe using unseaworthy and overloaded inflatable boats after 180 people were reported dead or missing in at least five shipwrecks over the past two weeks.

In the latest incident on April 5, more than 80 migrants went missing when a boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean. The boat is said to have departed from Tajoura in Libya with around 120 people on board and took on water in rough weather before overturning.  A merchant vessel and a tugboat managed to rescue a total of 32 survivors, who were later brought to Lampedusa by the Italian Coast Guard. Two bodies were also recovered.

A few days earlier, on April 1, 19 people were found dead aboard a vessel off southern Italy near Lampedusa, with 58 people, among them women and children, being rescued. The vessel, which survivors said left Zuara in Libya overnight between March 28 and 29, was adrift in the high seas for three days due to engine failure and fuel shortages.

In another incident on the same day, at least 19 migrants died in the Aegean Sea near Bodrum, Turkey, after a rubber boat capsized en route to Greece, with several others rescued. In other cases in recent days, at least 22 people died off Crete after departing from eastern Libya, while another 19 died near Sfax, Tunisia, with around 20 people also reported missing.

“These tragedies show, once again, that far too many people are still risking their lives on dangerous routes,” said Amy Pope, IOM Director General. “Saving lives must come first. But we also need stronger, unified efforts to stop traffickers and smugglers from exploiting vulnerable people, and to expand safe and regular pathways – so no one is ever forced into these deadly journeys.”

IOM reports that while fatalities are rising, the year has so far recorded a sharp decline in the number of migrants managing to make the perilous journey to Europe. This year, Italy has recorded about 6,200 arrivals compared to 9,400 over the same period last year.

While the tiny island of Lampedusa remains the main entry point to Europe for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, non-governmental organizations continue to accuse Italian authorities of frustrating their rescue operations through vessel detentions and hefty fines.

In late March, Italian authorities imposed a 20?day detention order and a €10,000 ($11,600) fine on Sea-Watch e.V, which operates the Sea?Watch 5 vessel, after it rescued 93 people and docked at Trapani, Sicily, instead of proceeding to a port more than 1,100 kilometers away as ordered by authorities.

A month earlier, the 58-meter rescue vessel had been detained for 15 days and fined €7,500 ($8,700) after rescuing 18 people. But, in this case, the detention order was annulled by an Italian court.

The Mediterranean has gained notoriety as the deadliest migration route worldwide, with at least 2,108 people reported dead or missing in 2025. Over the period between 2014 and 2025, more than 33,000 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean.

Wordpress.comselforganizedseminar.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/hardt_negri_multitude.pdf

multitude - war and

Hardt, Michael. Multitude: war and democracy in the Age of Empire /. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. p. cm. Sequel to: Empire. Includes index. ISBN 1-59420 ...

Monoskop.orgmonoskop.org/images/9/95/Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf

EMPIRE - Monoskop

Empire / Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. p. cm. Includes bibliographical ... 4.3 The Multitude against Empire. 393. Notes. 415. Index. 473. Page 11. PREFACE.

 

Satellites capture the glowing pulse of human civilization

The COVID-19 lockdowns and energy-saving measures resulting from the war in Ukraine have clearly dimmed the lights across much of Europe. This is shown by a new analysis of satellite data.

Ruhr-University Bochum

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The final accumulated nighttime light change area: A night-time view of Earth, capturing human activity across the eastern hemisphere of the planet through the emissions of artificial light. Derived from satellite images taken daily over the past decade, the image maps the dynamics of the human night-time activity, with golden areas experiencing brightening, purple areas featuring dimming, and white areas experiencing both.

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Credit: © Michala Garrison/NASA Earth Observatory

An analysis of data from the VIIRS DNB satellite instrument covering the years 2014 to 2022 finds that nighttime lighting is increasing globally by about two percent per year. “Although there has been a total increase of 16 percent worldwide, that does not mean that lighting is increasing everywhere,” explained Christopher Kyba. “In areas where lighting increased, we found global emissions rose by 34 percent. This was offset by an 18 percent decrease in emissions from other areas.” These local changes in lighting were much more dynamic than previously assumed. While China and India became increasingly brighter due to urbanization during the analysis period, measured emissions from other industrialized nations tended to decrease, for example because they switched to LED lighting or introduced regulations to curb light pollution.

A dramatic decline in lighting was observed in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. France also dimmed significantly at night (down 33 percent), as many municipalities there turn off streetlights after midnight to save energy and reduce light pollution. “In Germany, light emissions remained almost constant overall despite local variations,” Kyba reports. “While light emissions rose by 8.9 percent in brightening German regions, they fell by 9.2 percent in dimming areas.” Overall, nighttime light emissions observed by the satellite in Europe declined by four percent—though this small decrease may not reflect the human experience, as there are differences between the sensitivity of this satellite instrument compared to human vision.

First global analysis at full resolution

These findings were made possible by analyzing data from each individual night. Previous observations were based on monthly or annual composites, which due to instrumental factors made it more difficult to detect and measure changes. “Until now, no global analysis had been conducted using the full-resolution nighttime data,” Kyba emphasizes. The researchers also made use of an algorithm that incorporates information about the satellite’s viewing angle into account. For example, residential areas usually appear brighter when viewed from an angle than when viewed from directly above, but the opposite is usually the case in city centers. The new analysis accounts for such differences for the first time.

The Satellite

The data analyzed in the study were obtained from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) instrument aboard the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites operated by the U.S. agencies NOAA and NASA. The satellites observe after midnight, typically between 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. local time. They image the entire planet nightly between 70° North and 60° South. A single satellite pixel covers an area of approximately 0.5 square kilometers. In this analysis, only areas with artificial light were examined; forest fires and auroras are detected by the satellite but were excluded from the analysis.

A new satellite for Europe

“Artificial light is a major consumer of electricity at night, and light pollution harms ecosystems,” says Christopher Kyba. “It is therefore important to understand how both of these are changing.” Kyba is leading a team that is proposing a state-of-the-art satellite for observing night lights to be selected for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) “Earth Explorer 13” mission. This new satellite would be able to see much fainter lights than existing satellites and, thanks to its high resolution, would greatly reduce the current uncertainty about exactly what is changing. “While the U.S. and China each have multiple satellites that observe nighttime light, there is currently no European satellite designed for this purpose,” says Kyba.

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DOI

10.1038/s41586-026-10260-w 

Article Title

Satellite imagery reveals increasing volatility in human night-time activity

Article Publication Date

8-Apr-2026

 

What if dark matter came in two states?

A study published in JCAP proposes a new model that can be tested by observing dwarf galaxies

Sissa Medialab

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The constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear) is home to Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. Messier 101 is one of the biggest and brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky. Like the Milky Way, Messier 101 is not alone, with smaller dwarf galaxies in its neighborhood.

NGC 5477, one of these dwarf galaxies in the Messier 101 group, is the subject of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Without obvious structure, but with visible signs of ongoing star birth, NGC 5477 looks much like an typical dwarf irregular galaxy. The bright nebulae that extend across much of the galaxy are clouds of glowing hydrogen gas in which new stars are forming. These glow pinkish red in real life, although the selection of green and infrared filters through which this image was taken makes them appear almost white.

The observations were taken as part of a project to measure accurate distances to a range of galaxies within about 30 million light-years from Earth, by studying the brightness of red giant stars.

In addition to NGC 5477, the image includes numerous galaxies in the background, including some that are visible right through NGC 5477. This serves as a reminder that galaxies, far from being solid, opaque objects, are actually largely made up of the empty space between their stars.

This image is a combination of exposures taken through green and infrared filters using Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 3.3 by 3.3 arcminutes.

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-views-a-dwarf-galaxy/

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Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The absence of a signal could itself be a signal. This is the idea behind a new study published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP), which aims to redefine how we search for dark matter, showing that it may not be necessary to find the same “clues” everywhere in order to interpret it.

In particular, the study suggests that even if we observe a certain type of signal at the center of our galaxy — an excess of gamma radiation that could result from the annihilation of dark matter particles — failing to detect the same signal in other systems, such as dwarf galaxies, is not enough to rule out this explanation.

Dark matter, in fact, may not consist of a single particle, but of multiple slightly different components, whose behavior varies depending on the cosmic environment.

The galactic center gamma-ray excess

Dark matter: we know it exists and is abundant, but we have never observed it directly and therefore we still do not know what it is. For decades, it has been a major focus for cosmologists and astrophysicists trying to understand its nature. Its presence is inferred mainly from the gravitational effects it exerts on visible matter, but so far none of the proposed hypotheses has received definitive confirmation from data. The search therefore continues.

Many leading dark matter models describe it as being made of particles. In some of these scenarios, when two particles meet, they can annihilate, producing high-energy radiation such as gamma rays, which astronomers attempt to detect.

“Right now there seems to be an excess of photons coming from an approximately spherical region surrounding the disk of the Milky Way,” explains Gordan Krnjaic, a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in the United States and one of the study’s authors. This excess of gamma-ray photons observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope could be due to dark matter annihilation. However, there are also alternative explanations, in which the gamma-ray emission would be produced by astrophysical sources such as a population of pulsars.

To resolve this question, it is necessary to look elsewhere. “If certain theories of dark matter are true, we should see it in every galaxy, for example in every dwarf galaxy,” explains Krnjaic.

Dwarf galaxies

Dwarf galaxies are very small and faint systems, but extremely rich in dark matter. They have very little astrophysical background — fewer stars and less ordinary radiation — and therefore represent ideal environments in which to search for “clean” signals.

Standard theories that describe dark matter as made of particles generally predict two possibilities for how these particles annihilate. In the simplest case, the annihilation probability is constant and does not depend on the particles’ velocity: in this scenario, if we observe a signal at the center of our galaxy, we should also expect to see it in other dark matter–rich systems, such as dwarf galaxies.

In the second case, the annihilation probability depends on the velocity of the particles. Since dark matter particles in galaxies move at very low velocities, this type of interaction makes annihilation extremely rare, and therefore the signal effectively invisible everywhere.

Within this framework, the absence of a signal in dwarf galaxies would make it difficult to interpret the excess of gamma radiation observed at the center of our galaxy as being due to dark matter.

Krnjaic and collaborators, however, describe an alternative, more complex scenario that could explain the absence of a signal in dwarf galaxies while still maintaining the interpretation of the signal observed in the Milky Way as a possible effect of dark matter.

Two different particles

“What we’re trying to point out in this paper is that you could have a different kind of environmental dependence, even if the annihilation probability is constant in the center of the galaxy,” explains Krnjaic. “Dark matter could straightforwardly be two different particles, and the two different particles need to find each other in order to annihilate.”

The probability that the two components of dark matter meet and annihilate would also depend on the ratio between these two particles within each astrophysical system. This ratio could be different in galaxies like our own — where the two types of particles might be present in similar proportions — and in dwarf galaxies, where it could instead be strongly unbalanced.

“In this way, you get very different predictions for the emission,” explains Krnjaic.

The model proposed by Krnjaic and colleagues therefore represents a more flexible alternative to the simplest standard scenario, as it allows for the possibility of explaining the absence of a gamma-ray signal in dwarf galaxies without ruling out a dark matter origin for the signal observed in the Milky Way.

In the future, the Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope may provide more precise data on dwarf galaxies — currently still limited — helping to clarify whether these systems emit gamma radiation or not. In principle, the observation of a signal would be compatible with a similar distribution of the two components also in dwarf galaxies, while its absence could suggest that one of the two is less abundant. However, this interpretation is not unique and depends on additional astrophysical factors, making it necessary to compare the model with a wider range of observations.

The paper “dSph-obic dark matter” by Asher Berlin, Joshua Foster, Dan Hooper and Gordan Krnjaic is now available in JCAP.

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Journal

Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Article Title

dSph-obic dark matter

Article Publication Date

9-Apr-2026

 

Influenza frequently missed in winter deaths, new study finds

A new study, published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection and due to be presented next week at ESCMID Global 2026, has found that influenza was detected in 11% of winter deaths, yet only 17% of these infections were diagnosed before death.

Beyond

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(Thursday, 9 April 2026, Munich, Germany) A population-based study, published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection and due to be presented next week at ESCMID Global 2026, has found that influenza was detected in 11% of winter deaths, yet only 17% of these infections were diagnosed before death.1

The study tested 857 deceased persons across four influenza seasons in Spain, regardless of the reported cause of death.

The research was conducted during periods when deaths were around 12% higher than expected, a gap long associated with seasonal respiratory viruses. Postmortem swabs were obtained within 24 hours of death and tested by PCR for a broad panel of respiratory viruses.

Of the 94 individuals who tested positive for influenza in postmortem testing, only 41.5% had been hospitalised and just 17% had received a confirmed influenza diagnosis within 30 days before death.

Only 1.4% of deaths in the study population were recorded as influenza on death certificates, highlighting a substantial gap between detection and official mortality records. Together, these findings suggest influenza may play a larger role in winter mortality than routine surveillance captures.

"The findings were surprising," said Lucía Argente-Colás, lead author of the study. "The high proportion of infections not detected before death or recorded on death certificates underlines how much we are missing. Many people who die from infectious diseases do so at home, where testing is less likely to take place. Respiratory viral infections can also develop suddenly and in some cases, death may occur at an early stage of illness, before medical attention is sought."

The researchers identified several reasons why respiratory viral infections often go unrecognised at the time of death. In older people and those with underlying conditions, symptoms can be less pronounced or masked by existing illness. Where a respiratory infection contributes to death, the pre-existing chronic condition usually takes precedence as the recorded cause.

"Clinicians managing patients with chronic conditions typically focus on the underlying disease and a viral trigger may go unsuspected and untested," said Argente-Colás. "Respiratory viral infections rarely cause death in healthy people, but they can trigger deaths in those with severe chronic conditions and advanced age, and it is these conditions that are usually registered as the cause of death."

Influenza was not the only virus found to be underrepresented in mortality records. At least one respiratory virus was detected in over a third (36.4%) of all participants, with rhinovirus (11.4%), coronavirus (7.1%) and respiratory syncytial virus (6.9%) also commonly identified. The prevalence of any respiratory virus remained consistently high across all four seasons studied and was particularly elevated among residents of long-term care facilities, highlighting the vulnerability of this population, even in settings with high vaccination coverage.

"While detecting a virus postmortem does not automatically imply causation, respiratory viral infections are thought to trigger deterioration and death in older people with chronic comorbidities," added Argente-Colás. "In this study, older adults with underlying conditions comprised the large majority of the study population. In these patients, a viral infection may have played a role in death even where the underlying chronic condition appears on the death certificate."

Looking ahead, the researchers emphasise the need to rethink surveillance strategies, particularly for high-risk populations such as older adults. While routine testing remains essential in clinical settings, additional methods may be needed to capture the full burden of disease.

“Healthcare systems are missing an important proportion of deaths associated with respiratory viruses,” Argente-Colás concluded. “To better understand and respond to these infections, we need to complement existing surveillance with new approaches that include deaths occurring outside the healthcare system.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors:

A reference to ESCMID Global and/or Clinical Microbiology and Infection must be included in all coverage and/or articles associated with this study. The study is due to be presented at ESCMID Global on Sunday, 18 April 2026.

For more information or to arrange an expert interview, please contact the ESCMID Press Office at: communication@escmid.org

About the study author:

Lucía Argente-Colás is a last year microbiology resident in University Hospital of Navarre. She graduated in Biotechnology from University of Valencia in 2020. Currently, she is also pursuing a PhD focused on dermatophyte fungi.

About the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases:

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is the leading society for clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe. ESCMID is proud to unite over 13,500 members as well as 45,000 affiliated members through 77 national and international affiliated societies. ESCMID’s mission is to champion medical progress in infection for a healthier tomorrow and plays an important role in emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance education and research.

Website: www.escmid.org/

References:

1. Trobajo-Sanmartín, C., Navascués, A., Olazábal-Arruiz, M., Argente-Colás, L., Iniesta, I., Casado, I., Guevara, M., Castilla, J., & Martínez-Baz, I. (2026). Prevalence of influenza and other respiratory viral infections in deceased persons: a population-based observational study over four influenza seasons. Clinical Microbiology and Infection. Volume 32, Issue 3 p474-481, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2025.11.019

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Journal

Clinical Microbiology and Infection

DOI

10.1016/j.cmi.2025.11.019 

Article Title

Prevalence of influenza and other respiratory viral infections in deceased persons: a population-based observational study over four influenza seasons

 

Native bacteria may break down dioxins without genetic modification

Scientists employ decoy molecules to enable soil bacteria to degrade persistent pollutants

Nagoya University

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By introducing "decoy molecules," scientists can trick the bacteria's natural enzymes into breaking down stubborn, toxic chemicals like benzene and dioxins.

 

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Credit: Osami Shoji

Aromatic compounds, such as dioxins and benzene, are major soil pollutants. Their high chemical stability makes them resistant to microbial and chemical degradation, leading to toxic accumulation in the soil.

Previous studies have used genetic engineering to enhance the capacity of microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants. However, strict ecological regulations restrict the use of genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) in natural environments.

In a study published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Nagoya University researchers demonstrated that native soil bacteria, when treated with decoy molecules, can degrade non-native compounds, including persistent pollutants such as dioxins, without genetic modification.

"In other words, we can effectively give these bacteria capabilities they do not naturally have, while keeping them in their original state," said Professor Osami Shoji, the study's lead author.

Shoji and doctoral students Fumiya Ito and Masayuki Karasawa at Nagoya University's Graduate School of Science investigated the application of cytochrome P450, a widely distributed group of enzymes that degrade and convert substances in living organisms.

Cytochrome P450BM3, derived from the soil bacterium Priestia megaterium, naturally hydroxylates fatty acids but does not interact with pollutants such as dioxins. This substrate selectivity arises from the lock-and-key mechanism, which allows only molecules with a specific shape to bind to the enzyme.

While the GEM approach introduces mutations to alter enzyme binding sites for target molecules, the team instead used decoy molecules that mimic fatty acids to induce the enzyme to degrade pollutants.

"In our previous research, we successfully induced otherwise unlikely reactions by deceiving enzymes with decoy molecules," said Shoji.

Decoy molecules bind to enzymes in a manner similar to fatty acids; however, their shorter chain length prevents them from reaching the active site. This configuration creates a confined reaction space that allows molecules to enter and undergo hydroxylation. Because decoy molecules are not themselves hydroxylated, they maintain their function and continue to facilitate the enzymatic reaction.
 

Assessment of decoy molecules in soil bacteria

Researchers evaluated the biochemical responses of 10 bacterial strains, each harboring cytochrome P450BM3 or closely related enzymes, using a set of 76 decoy molecules.

The results showed that benzene hydroxylation occurred only with particular strain-decoy combinations. The tested strains included P. megaterium, which contains cytochrome P450BM3, as well as other common soil bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, which possess closely related enzymes.

Gene-knockout experiments further confirmed the involvement of cytochrome P450 in these bacteria.

These bacteria also successfully hydroxylated other aromatic compounds, including toluene, xylene and naphthalene.

Surprisingly, in the presence of decoy molecules, B. subtilis completely degraded dioxin model compounds within two hours at 45 degrees Celsius. Computational simulations demonstrated that cytochrome P450 in B. subtilis has sufficient binding capacity to accommodate both a decoy molecule and dioxin, which is a larger pollutant than benzene.

The findings indicate that the decoy molecule-induced hydroxylation activity in these bacteria increases the solubility of pollutants and facilitates their degradation. This mechanism could accelerate the removal of soil pollutants by supporting faster and more efficient microbial degradation.
 

Conclusion and future perspectives

Systematic screening of diverse soil bacteria, combined with various decoy molecules, enabled the identification of highly active combinations. Notably, multiple bacterial species responded to these molecules, suggesting that this approach could be broadly applicable rather than limited to a specific organism.

Shoji concluded, "Our study provides a generalizable chemical strategy to unlock latent catalytic potential in ubiquitous environmental microbes, establishing a new paradigm for scalable, regulation-compatible bioremediation technologies."
 

Paper information:

Fumiya Ito, Masayuki Karasawa, and Osami Shoji (2026). Chemical activation of native cytochrome P450s in soil-derived bacteria by external molecules enables biodegradation of aromatic pollutants, Journal of Materials Chemistry A. DOI: 10.1039/d5ta09218c
 

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Journal

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

DOI

10.1039/d5ta09218c 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Chemical activation of native cytochrome P450s in soil-derived bacteria by external molecules enables biodegradation of aromatic pollutants