Italy puts captain of migrant-rescue ship under investigation

Italian prosecutors have put the German captain of a rescue ship under investigation for allegedly aiding people-smugglers, raising the stakes in a standoff that is preventing the boat coming ashore with 40 rescued migrants from Africa. After two weeks stranded at sea off southern Italy, captain Carola Rackete, 31, has become a symbol of defiance in Italian media for challenging Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's policy of closing ports to non-government rescue ships.

A prosecutor in Sicily, southern Italy, said on Friday that Racket had been put under investigation as a formality, under recently beefed-up laws that seek to prevent rescue ships from disembarking migrants in the country. Asked about the investigation, Rackete said she had not been advised of that and she could not comment on "rumours".

Salvini says Rackete and her crew of the Sea Watch are "pirates" who are helping criminal gangs to smuggle Africans into Europe. The migrants set off in flimsy boats from Libya in the expectation they will be rescued and taken to nearby Italy. Asked about the Italian minister's criticism, Racket responded sharply: "To be honest I haven't read the comments, I really don't have time. I have 40 people to take care of ... Mister Salvini might just get in line."