Greece Seizes Russian Oil Tanker With 19 Crew Members: Report

Greek authorities have seized a Russian oil tanker near Karystos, a small coastal town on the island of Euboea in the Aegean Sea, according to officials. The seizure is part of the EU’s new sanctions imposed against Moscow.

“It has been seized as part of EU sanctions,” a Greek shipping ministry official said.

The new sanctions, designed to pressure the Russian economy over Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, have barred ports in the 27-nation bloc from accepting vessels flying the Russian flag to enter.

The 817-feet-long crude oil tanker dubbed Pegas was seized off the coast near Karystos on Tuesday, the shipping ministry said. The tanker had 19 Russian crew members on board.

The coast guard noted that the order to impound the ship only concerned the vessel itself, and not the crude oil it was transporting.

U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic through ship and satellite tracking, said the Pegas loaded around 700,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran’s Sirri Island in August 2021.

Pegas was headed to the southern Peloponnese peninsula to offload its cargo onto another tanker but rough seas forced it to moor just off Karystos, Athens News Agency reported. It subsequently tried to unload the cargo at a Turkish port before heading to Greece, UANI said its analysis showed.

According to the vessel-tracking website Marine Traffic, Pegas was built in 2003 and has a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 115,500. The ship is valued at $15.9 million.

In the United States, the Biden administration also considered barring Russian-flagged ships from entering ports under international sanctions over Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In March, the U.S. banned oil imports from Russia, stopping about 500,000 barrels per day of new crude shipments from entering U.S. seaports.

Following additional sanctions against Russian tankers, vessels transporting crude oil and other petroleum products are increasingly going dark—the practice of switching off the ship’s transponders—and vanishing from tracking systems.

Ever since the Russia–Ukraine war began on Feb. 24, there has been a 600 percent spike in dark activity among Russian oil tankers.

International maritime law requires commercial vessels to have the ships’ automatic identification system (AIS) switched on while at sea. The U.S. Treasury Department has classified the disabling or manipulation of AIS as a top deceptive shipping practice.

https://www.ntd.com/greece-seizes-russian-oil-tanker-with-19-crew-members-report_768142.html

CNN+ marketing funds paused, CNN chief financial officer let go as streaming service struggles

The CNN+ rollout is being bogged down significantly by the merger of CNN parent company WarnerMedia and Discovery.

CNN+ looks like it's in trouble.

Following a rocky April launch, Warner Bros. Discovery has reportedly suspended all external marketing efforts for the new streaming service and relieved CNN's longtime chief financial officer of his duties.

At present, CNN+ has about 150,000 subscribers. Executives for the cable network have been calling the launch a success, while Discovery executives feel differently. Discovery's current CFO for streaming and international, Neil Chugani, is replacing CNN CFO Brad Ferrer, and will decide what to do with the subscription service moving forward, Axios is now reporting.

CNN executives are reportedly frustrated that new leadership is moving so quickly to dismantle what they believe will eventually be a profitable service. The original plan was to pump $1 billion into CNN+ over the next four years before reaching profitability.

Discovery executives have repeatedly said that they are interested in returning CNN to its journalistic roots, and pivoting away from perspective programming, like the 9 p.m. hour formerly anchored by Chris Cuomo. CNN+ features, in the estimation of Discovery, is too soft and without enough hard, breaking news.

Because of potential regulatory scrutiny, WarnedMedia parent company AT&T, and Discovery avoided direct communication about business strategy for CNN until the merger officially closed.

CNN executives evidently did not therefore feel any sort of public pressure from WarnerMedia to place a hold on the CNN+ rollout.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/cnn-marketing-funds-paused-and-cnn-chief-financial-officer-let-go-streaming

Border Town USA: Migrants Busted in Michigan with Mexican Cartel’s 20K Fentanyl Pills

Police in Sterling Heights, Michigan, arrested two illegal immigrants following a vehicle pursuit. The officers found more than 20,000 fentanyl pills allegedly transported for a Mexican cartel.

Sterling Heights police attempted to stop a BMW on April 8. The driver refused to yield, Fox2 Michigan reported this week.

The chase ended when the driver pulled into a dead-end road and fled on foot. Officers arrested him not far from the vehicle.

During a search of the BMW, the officers found more than 20,000 fentanyl pills disguised as OxyContin. In addition, the officers found more than 500 grams of powdered fentanyl.

In addition to the driver, the officers also arrested a female passenger. Both allegedly told the officers they were Mexican nationals in the U.S. illegally and were working for an unidentified drug cartel, WDIV Detroit reported.

Officials estimated the street value of the drugs to be in excess of $350,000. They said there was enough fentanyl to kill “thousands of Michiganders.”

The CDC reports that fentanyl is now the leading cause of death between the ages of 18 and 45, according to Families Against Fentanyl.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott initiated Operation Lone Star to counter the influx of the deadly substance amid border policy shifts by the Biden Administration.

“When you look at the fact that we’ve apprehended enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child in Texas, and the fact that fentanyl is the leading cause of death in the United States for people between the age of 18 and 45,” Abbott said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart in March. “In Texas, more than 1,300 people lost their lives last year because of fentanyl,” the governor added.

“The Texas Military Department said that from March 2021 through earlier this month, its troops near the border confiscated more than 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of fentanyl,” the governor said in an AP interview reported by Breitbart. “By comparison, federal authorities reported confiscating about 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) in 2021 — still a fraction of what entered the country.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2022/04/19/border-town-usa-migrants-busted-in-michigan-with-mexican-cartels-20k-fentanyl-pills/

News Corp settles on bookmaking launch with Tripp partnership

News Corp Australia is finalising plans to launch a bookmaking outfit this year in partnership with a consortium linked to gambling entrepreneur Matthew Tripp, and has picked the former boss of BetEasy to serve as its chief executive.

Rupert Murdoch’s news and media giant has been working on a local wagering strategy for more than a year, which has involved negotiating with several potential wagering industry joint venture partners.

That search has now finished, according to several well-placed sources, who said News Corp had settled on an equity partnership with a group of investors associated with Australian online wagering pioneer Matt Tripp, and the Las Vegas-based online gambling investment fund Tekkorp.

It is unclear when the deal will be formally inked or when the new bookie will launch, but sources said News Corp had recently told top sports editorial staff that it could start advertising in the next month.

The launch of a new bookmaker with the backing of News Corp’s enormous media reach is set to shake up Australia’s wagering industry, which has consolidated in recent years. Major digital players Sportsbet and BetEasy merged in 2019 while the ASX-listed incumbent Tabcorp has continued to lose market share to online rivals.

Tripp is one of Australia’s most successful bookmakers, having built Sportsbet into the country’s second largest bookie behind the TAB and then establishing BetEasy in 2014 before selling it to Canadian gambling giant The Stars Group.

The industry sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters, said the new company was expected to appoint Andrew Menz as its chief executive. Menz was CEO of BetEasy and then chief commercial officer at Sportsbet when the two group’s parent companies merged. Menz left Sportsbet in May last year, fuelling speculation he would join a new venture being established by Tripp.

News Corp believes the betting venture will be a major driver of revenue to offset declines in its traditional print media assets. The strategy is thought to involve capitalising on the reach of its news mastheads, which include the Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph, and its 60 per cent ownership of pay TV provider Foxtel, which broadcasts sporting codes including the AFL, NRL and Australian cricket.

Tie-ups between broadcasters and bookmakers have become common in the burgeoning United States sports betting market, with broadcasters typically taking an equity stake in the betting outfit in exchange for sponsorship rights and brand promotion during live sports events.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/news-corp-settles-on-bookmaking-launch-with-tripp-partnership-20220419-p5aeja.html

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1516503898168692747

BIDEN: "I had the great pleasure of being listed as the poorest man in Congress for 36 years. I still had making a helluva lot more money than anybody else because I was getting a Senator's salary. No kidding. I didn't think you should make money while you're in office."

HHS Secretary Becerra Claims COVID Vaccines ‘Kill ‘People Of Color’ At ‘Twice The Rate Of Whites,’ Vows To ‘Work’ Harder To Get More People Vaccinated

After the months of mandates issued by the federal government forcing people to get two and three doses of COVID-19 vaccines to keep their jobs attend, school, travel and enter indoor venues, the federal government admits the experimental gene modification shots are killing people.

While vowing to ramp up biomedical tyranny and the effort to get more Americans vaccinated, U.S. Health and Human Services Director Xavier Becerra Experimental claimed the “safe and effective” mRNA shots are killing people with dark skin at a much higher rate than those with light skin.

“By the way, we know that vaccines are killing people of color — blacks, Latinos, indigenous people — at about two times the rate of white Americans,” Becerra explained during a digital “White House Convening on Equity” seminar on April 14.

After acknowledging the lethality of COVID shots, Becerra explained that approximately 80 percent of the American public is vaccinated.

But the government needs to “work” harder to vaccinate Americans who have refrained from getting inoculated, he argued.

“So, on vaccines, last year, we saw that about two-thirds of white American adults had received at least one shot of vaccine,” Becerra said. “That was just barely over 50 percent for black Americans and Latinos at that particular time. So, again, we’ve got to work.

“Today, a year later, over 80 percent of white American adults have received at least one shot. Over 80% of black American adults have received at least one shot. Over 80 percent of Latino Americans have received at least one vaccine shot.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/hhs-secretary-becerra-claims-covid-vaccines-kill-people-color-twice-rate-whites-vows-work-harder-get-people-vaccinated/