التصنيف: أخبار

The world’s largest cruise ship has begun its maiden voyage.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas set sail from Miami in Florida on Saturday with a capacity for up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members.

The ship runs nearly 1,200ft (365m) from bow to stern and is divided into eight neighbourhoods across 20 decks.

The vessel features six waterslides, seven swimming pools, an ice skating rink, a theatre and more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges.

It has begun its first seven-day island-hopping voyage in the tropics.

Icon of the Seas was officially christened on Tuesday with the help of football legend Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates.

The ship is powered by six dual-fuel engines, which can be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), a fuel alternative the Cruise Lines International Association says reduces sulfur and greenhouse gas emissions.

However, environmental groups have raised concerns LNG-powered ships increase harmful methane emissions.

“It’s a step in the wrong direction,” Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Program at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), told Reuters.

“We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil.”

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Methane is 80 times worse over 20 years than carbon dioxide in terms of warming effects. Cutting the emissions is seen as key to keeping down global temperature warming.

Royal Caribbean says every kilowatt used on the Icon of the Seas “is scrutinized for energy efficiencies and emission reductions.”

The head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) has said the decision by nine countries to pause funding for the aid agency is “shocking”.

The suspension of funding by countries including the UK and US followed allegations UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.

“These decisions threaten our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip,” commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said.

Follow live: ‘Ironclad’ intel shows UN agency staff links to Hamas

“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” Mr Lazzarini said.

“Some 3,000 core staff out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to report to work, giving their communities a lifeline which can collapse anytime now due to lack of funding,” he added.

He suggested UNRWA would be “forced to suspend its humanitarian response” if funding was not reinstated.

On Friday the agency said it had opened an investigation into several employees and severed ties with those people.

In the wake of the allegations, the Foreign Office said it was “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations”.

It said it was “appalled” by the claims, adding: “We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.”

‘Just the tip of the iceberg’, senior adviser to Israeli PM says

It comes after a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “documented, clear and ironclad” information showing 12 UNRWA staff members were part of the Hamas force that broke into Israel and killed 1,200 civilians.

Mark Regev said a lot of the information that led to the accusations was shared by Hamas on social media.

“Hamas went live on social media and boasted a lot of the material, so you actually see the faces and the people involved in a lot of the crimes,” he told Sky News.

Mr Regev added the alleged UNRWA staff involvement in Hamas’s operations was “not an aberration” and that this investigation was “just the tip of the iceberg”.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said UNRWA should be replaced once fighting in the enclave dies down.