Lebanon has requested the arrest of the foreign owner and captain of the ship which brought material which blew up at Beirut port causing devastation. The judge leading the probe into the blast asked international police organisation Interpol to detain the two men, without publicly identifying them. Some 190 people were killed when the improperly stored ammonium nitrate cargo exploded on 4 August. The blast left 6,000 others injured and inflicted huge amounts of damage. The captain of the ship, the MV Rhosus, has previously been named as a Russian national, and its owner a Russian national based in Cyprus. The MV Rhosus had docked in Beirut in 2013 after suffering technical problems while sailing from Georgia to Mozambique. Some 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were offloaded the following year and stored in unsafe conditions in a warehouse at the port, where it eventually exploded with catastrophic effect. The ship itself, which was in poor condition, sank at the port in February 2018.(BBC)…[+]
Nieuws volgens datum: 2 Oct, 2020
US airlines lay off thousands of staff as federal relief ends
US airlines have begun laying off thousands of workers after efforts to negotiate a new economic relief plan in Congress stalled. American Airlines says it shedding 19,000 workers and United Airlines 13,000. The carriers – badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic – say they are ready to reverse the decisions if more financing is found.
The airlines have received billions of dollars from the federal government. Congress agreed the aid agreed earlier in the year as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act [Cares Act]. It was conditional that the carriers did not lay off workers until 1 October. Airlines worldwide have been hit by a massive fall in demand caused by the pandemic. In a letter to staff announcing the layoffs, American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said: “I am extremely sorry we have reached this outcome. It is not what you all deserve.” On Wednesday United Airlines, in a message to its employees, said it was imploring “our elected leaders to reach a compromise, get a deal done now, and save jobs“.(BBC)…[+]
