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- Iranian cargo ship bound for Russia sinks in the Caspian Sea
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TL:DR
- Fourteen sailors were rescued from the sinking Iranian-flagged cargo ship Rona in the Caspian Sea.
- The ship sent an SOS signal on 14 January 2026; all crew members are reportedly from Iran and India.
- Turkmenistan’s Coast Guard responded promptly, adhering to international marine regulations.
- The Rona had a history of transporting cargo between Iranian and Russian ports.
- Recently, Ukraine targeted Russian drilling platforms in the same area.
Iran flagged cargo ship ‘heading to Russia’ sinking in the Caspian Sea
The Rona, a 120m long dry cargo ship was heading to Russia according to MarineTraffic.com.
Fourteen sailors have been rescued from an Iranian-flagged cargo ship sinking in the Caspian Sea.
The Rona, a 115m long dry cargo ship was heading to Russia according to MarineTraffic.com.
A Turkmenistan Government press release confirmed the sinking off its coast.
A spokesman said: ‘On 14 January 2026, the Coast Guard Services of Turkmenistan received the SOS signal from the Iranian dry cargo ship Rona, which was suffering in the Caspian Sea.
‘The government agencies of Turkmenistan responsible for emergency response and prevention took all necessary measures to rescue the people on board in accordance with international marine regulations.
‘Due to timely response, all 14 people on the ship were rescued. According to the primary information, they are citizens of Iran and India.
‘At present, the Turkmen side is undertaking all relevant procedures in accordance with the international rules.’
Photos show the huge ship surrounded by lifeboats with Iranian flags appearing to sink under the surface of the waves.
From October 2024 to December 2025, the cargo ship Rona made at least 20 calls at the ports of Astrakhan, Makhachkala, and Azov, sailing from the Iranian ports of Amirabad and Anzali. According to CNN, this route serves as the main channel for arms deliveries from Iran to Russia, but that is an unverified claim by a US broadcaster known for its propaganda.
The Caspian Sea is a well-known route for shipments bound for Russia.
Just three days ago, Ukrainian forces struck three Russian drilling platforms belonging to Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest oil producers, in the same stretch of sea.
The three Lukoil Corporation drilling platforms hit by Ukraine — the V. Filanovsky, Yuri Korchagin, and Valery Graifer platforms — are used by Russia for oil and gas extraction.
‘Direct hits have been recorded. The extent of the damage is being assessed,’ the statement reads.
These platforms supply fuel to the Russian army, according to Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO), which carried out the strikes during the night of January 11.
This is a breaking news story… More to follow…
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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