Isaac, a 35-year-old from Tanzania, waits in a makeshift camp in northern France, preparing for a dangerous English Channel crossing.

At least 21,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since January, putting 2025 on course to be a record year. Many of those crossing are fleeing war, extreme poverty and persecution in their home countries.

Saskatoon native and long-distance swimmer Aerin Bowers recounts the moment she completed a 16-hour swim across the English Channel.

The U.K. Royal Navy recently monitored a surfaced Russian submarine as it sailed through the North Sea and English Channel, the service announced this week. Offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey (P283) and a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and a Merlin anti-submarine warfare helicopter from 824 NAS were dispatched to monitor Russian Navy submarine RFS Novorossiysk (B-61) and tug boat Yakov Grebelski as the ships sailed west through the waters.