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Oman says oil tanker’s entire crew missing after ship capsized off coast
Muscat, Oman — An oil tanker capsized off the coast of Oman Monday, the sultanate’s Maritime Security Center (MSC) said, adding that a search was under way for its missing crew of 16. The MSC, which is run by the Omani defense ministry, did not specify the cause of the capsize.
In a post on social media platform X, it said a “Comoros-flagged oil tanker capsized” 25 nautical miles southeast of Ras Madrakah, near the port town of Duqm on Monday.
Search and rescue operations were “initiated with the relevant authorities,” it added, without providing further details.
In a statement on Tuesday, the MSC identified the vessel as the Prestige Falcon oil tanker, saying it had 16 crew on board — 13 Indians and three Sri Lankans.
“The crew of the ship are still missing,” it said, noting that the search continued.
The vessel had been headed for the Yemeni port city of Aden, according to shipping website marinetraffic.com, which said it departed from the port of Hamriya, in Dubai.
Aden is the last major Yemeni city held by the country’s internationally recognized government, which has been engaged in a civil war since 2014 with the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement.
The war in the already impoverished nation has left tens of thousands of people dead and created one of the most dire humanitarian crises on the planet. It is viewed largely as a proxy war between two regional powers — Shiite Muslim-ruled Iran, backing the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy.
The Houthis have waged a damaging campaign of missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the strategic waters of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from Oman. There was no indication that the Prestige Falcon had been caught up in the Houthi bombardment, which included strikes targeting ships more than 1,000 miles away in the Red Sea as recently as Monday.
The Yemeni rebels say the attacks are in support of the Palestinian people amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The strikes have targeted not only commercial vessels — including one deadly attack — but U.S. and allied warships in the region.
U.S. and British forces have targeted Houthi missile and drone launch sites in Yemen with missile strikes for months, but the joint operations have had little impact on the rebels’ ability to launch attacks.
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9/17: The Daily Report with John Dickerson
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”
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Pennsylvania struggling with low energy prices amid 2024 fracking focus
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