Crew
FEC probe demanded after SBF ‘admitted’ making dark money donations
A watchdog group has demanded an investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations, claiming the former FTX CEO admitted to donating tens of millions of dollars to Republicans under the table, in violation of federal law. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Dec. 8, citing comments made by Bankman-Fried in a Nov. 16 interview with cryptocurrency vlogger Tiffany Fong released via YouTube on Nov. 29. CREW suggested in its complaint that wealthy donors often take advantage of the Citizen United ruling to evade federal disclosure laws by using intermediaries and claiming they were unaware of where the funds ended up, but that Bankman-Fried’s admission negates this plausible deniabil...
Sri Lanka launches probe after burning ship pollutes beaches
Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a huge container ship fire that has swamped the island nation’s coast with plastic pollution causing probably one of its worst marine disasters in history. Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country’s famed beaches in Negombo, a popular tourist destination, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been smoldering on the horizon for 11 days after a blaze broke out as it was heading to Colombo from the Indian state of Gujarat. The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday after a complaint was lodged by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority, police said. Last week, authorities said t...
Belarus’s forced landing of Lithuania-bound Ryanair plane sparks outrage
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania to land on Sunday in Minsk, where a Belarusian opposition activist on board was detained, prompting international condemnation. EU member Lithuania urged the European Union and NATO to respond, Germany called for an immediate explanation and Poland’s prime minister called it a “reprehensible act of state terrorism”. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said Belarus’s action was “utterly unacceptable”. The aircraft, flying from Athens to Vilnius, had almost reached Lithuania when it changed direction and was escorted to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, after reports that it had explosives on board, according to an online flight tracker and BelTA state news agency. Belarusian law e...
SpaceX launches its third astronaut crew, the first on a used Crew Dragon capsule
SpaceX launched its third crew of astronauts to the International Space Station early Friday morning, reusing a Crew Dragon space capsule to fly humans for the first time. The mission, dubbed Crew-2, is the latest flight under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and will add four more astronauts to the orbital space station. A used Falcon 9 rocket, last flown for SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission last year, lifted off at 5:49AM ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying Endeavor, the same Crew Dragon capsule that first launched SpaceX’s debut astronaut mission nearly one year ago. For this flight, the Endeavor capsule carried four astronauts from three different countries — SpaceX’s most diverse NASA-managed crew yet. “Off the Earth, for the Earth, Endeavor is ready to go,” NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough,...
Navy’s newest offshore survey vessel begins homeward voyage to Nigeria
The Nigerian Navy (NN), says its newest offshore survey vessel, NNS LANA, has began her homeward journey to the country. This is contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Naval Headquarters, Commodore Suleman Dahun. He, however, said the ship will visit ports in Lisbon, Las Palmas, Banjul and Tema-Ghana, before heading to Nigeria on May 17. According to Dahun, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Awwal Gambo, had addressed the ship’s company. The CNS noted that the foremost desire of every littoral state is to have a fleet with the right mix of platforms to meet its operational objectives. Gambo acknowledged that the homebound voyage of NNS LANA was another milestone in the NN’s fleet recapitalisation efforts. He added that the induction of N...
US workers enticed with bonuses, time off to get coronavirus vaccine
As Covid-19 vaccination drives get into gear across the United States, some businesses are offering transportation, paid time off and bonuses of up to $500 to encourage workers to get the jab. Labor-intensive industries like slaughterhouses, supermarkets, and farms, whose workers are at higher risk of contracting the virus, have taken the lead, with several large grocery chains offering two to four hours of paid leave time for employees to get vaccinated. “Providing accommodations so employees can receive this critical vaccine is one more way we can support them and eliminate the need to choose between earning their wages and protecting their well-being,” Jason Hart, CEO of supermarket chain Aldi, said in January. Others have taken advantage of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention re...
NDLEA rues over shipment of illegal cargoes through Nigeria’s seaports
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has said some ships and their crew bring in illegal consignments from the port of origin into the country. NDLEA also hinted that the shipments are perfected by at the Nigerian end of the transaction by collaborators on arrival at the nation’s ports. Disclosing this in Lagos at the Joint Vessel Boarding Meeting held in Lagos, Assistant Area Commander, NDLEA, Mercy Thompson, noted that the recent drug seizure made at Tin-can Island Port by the Agency was also brought in the same way. She, therefore implored ship crew members to cooperate with representatives government agencies boarding vessels, while complaining that most times the ship captains and their crew refuse to come out to meet them while other times the crew are very uncooperative....
Nigerian Airforce jets kill more bandits in Kaduna forests
Several armed bandits were neutralized as air platforms carried out armed reconnaissance missions over locations in Kaduna state. The Air Force jets hit at bandits in Rahama, Tami, Sabon Birni, Galadimawa, Ungwan Farinbatu, Sabuwa, Kutemeshi, Gajere, Sabon Kuyello, Dogon Dawa, Ngade Allah, Kidandan, and adjoining settlements in Birnin Gwari and Giwa local government areas. Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, said on Wednesday, that operational feedback to the Kaduna State Government revealed that although thorough scans were conducted over the general area, no suspicious activities were observed. The forest west of Gajere was nonetheless strafed with probing shots. The crew conducted further missions over Sabon Madada, Babban Doka, Gwa...
Several dead as freight ship sinks off Turkey’s Black Sea coast
A Palau-flagged freight ship has sunk off the coast of Turkey’s Black Sea province of Bartin, killing at least three crew members, according to Bartin Governor Sinan Guner. Guner had said earlier on Sunday that the ship, the Arvin, was a Russian dry freight vessel that sank off the coast of the Inkumu region in poor weather, but later corrected that. “The Arvin ship attempted to take refuge at the Bartin port due to poor weather conditions as it carried cargo from Georgia to Bulgaria,” Guner was quoted as saying by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. The coastguard said the ship had sunk after taking in water amid poor weather. Six crew members had been rescued and efforts were under way to rescue others, it said in a statement. Anadolu said that all of them were hospitalised and were ...
Indonesian plane crashes after take-off with 62 aboard
A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. The plane was on a domestic flight with 62 people on board and their fate was not known. The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) – 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain. Indonesian Transport Minister, Budi Karya, told a news conference that 62 people had been aboard Flight SJ 182, including 12 crew. The detik.com website quoted him as saying the plane crashed near Laki Island, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the airport. Rescue agency Basarnas said in a statement it would send a team to the Thousand Islands area to help in the search for victims “after th...
British Airways suffers multiple bird strikes at Lagos airport
A Boeing 777-300, registration G-STBE belonging to British Airways, performing flight BA-75 from Heathrow airport, London to Lagos, suffered multiple bird strikes on December 30, 2020. A bird strike is a collision between an airborne animal and a vehicle, usually an aircraft. The flight was on final approach to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos’ runway 18R when the aircraft received a number of bird strikes in the flare causing a hydraulic leak. However, the aircraft touched down safely, rolled out and vacated the runway and was taxing towards the apron when the aircraft lost nose wheel steering, hydraulic C system indicated zero quantity and smoke was seen from the main landing gear. The crew stopped the aircraft on the taxiway. A ground observer reported that the crew dec...
British Airways suffers multiple bird strikes at Lagos airport
A Boeing 777-300, registration G-STBE belonging to British Airways, performing flight BA-75 from Heathrow airport, London to Lagos, suffered multiple bird strikes on December 30, 2020. A bird strike is a collision between an airborne animal and a vehicle, usually an aircraft. The flight was on final approach to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos’ runway 18R when the aircraft received a number of bird strikes in the flare causing a hydraulic leak. However, the aircraft touched down safely, rolled out and vacated the runway and was taxing towards the apron when the aircraft lost nose wheel steering, hydraulic C system indicated zero quantity and smoke was seen from the main landing gear. The crew stopped the aircraft on the taxiway. A ground observer reported that the crew dec...
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