- Wrestlers’ protest: Committee gives May 21 deadline for arrest of Brij Bhushan; protest not hijacked by farmers, says Vinesh The Tribune India
- India’s female wrestlers threaten to hand back Olympic medals in harassment row The Guardian
- Wrestlers Protest: Will Hang Myself If Found Guilty, Says Brij Bhushan Hindustan Times
- WFI protest: The delay in filing FIRs by the police is demoralising — and illegal The Indian Express
- Women farmers from Punjab to join protesting wrestlers in Delhi The Tribune India
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Hijacked
Russia Wants to Trade 36 Hijacked Satellites for Soyuz Rocket
The Russian space agency may be willing to return 36 satellites it’s been keeping hostage in Kazakhstan in exchange for parts of its Soyuz rockets that are being held in French Guiana.
According to a report by Russian Space Web, French aerospace company Arianespace might be looking into a deal with Roscosmos to swap components of the Russian Soyuz rocket for 36 OneWeb satellites that have been held at its Kazakhstan launch site since March. Roscosmos’s newly appointed head Yuri Borisov is reportedly open to negotiations with Arianespace, a source told Russian Space Web.
Arianespace and OneWeb did not immediately respond to our request for confirmations of the Russian Space Web report. We’ll update this post should we hear back.
Under the helm of former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, the space agency severed ties with Europe in retaliation for Western-imposed sanctions against Russia. That included an ongoing deal it had with British company OneWeb to launch its internet satellites to orbit aboard the Soyuz rockets. OneWeb refused to agree to a list of unreasonable demands put forward by Roscosmos in March, prompting Russia to hold on to the company’s 36 satellites and store them indefinitely at its launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. OneWeb eventually forged new partnerships with SpaceX and India’s space agency to launch its remaining satellites to orbit, but its 36 lonesome satellites remained out of reach.
Roscosmos also halted its cooperation with Europe on Soyuz rocket launches from French Guiana and withdrew 87 employees from the launch site. But with Russian involvement in French Guiana terminated, the Soyuz rocket components were left abandoned, as Anatoly Zak writes at Russian Space Web:
On orders from Roskosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, dozens of Russian specialists were abruptly withdrawn from French Guiana in early March 2022, leaving behind the rocket stages, containers with propellant, support hardware and documentation. The Paris-based Arianespace company, which contracted Roskosmos to provide and support Soyuz launches with European and most non-Russian commercial payloads, took custody of the stored equipment until its expected return to Russia. However, due to the severe breakdown in diplomatic relations and economic activities between Europe and Moscow, the Russian hardware remained in French Guiana for the rest of 2022.
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With Russia gone from French Guiana, the European Space Agency is turning to U.S. company SpaceX to launch its upcoming Euclid telescope to orbit instead of launching it on board a Soyuz rocket.
Following Rogozin’s dismissal from his position at Roscosmos, the space agency could be taking a more diplomatic approach to its space partnerships. But it could still take some time. Russian Space Web’s source said some logistical hurdles still need to be addressed, which are causing negotiations to advance at a slow pace. For example, Russian specialists would need to obtain new visas to enter French Guiana and retrieve the rocket parts, a process made more difficult on account of Russia’s severed ties with Europe.
The previous year was tumultuous for both the Russian and European space industry; Russia lost key space partners while Europe scrambled to find ways of reaching orbit without access to Soyuz rockets. Whether or not this will change this year remains to be seen, but an ongoing swap agreement may be a good step for now.
More: Europe Has Few Options to Reach Space After Vega-C Rocket Crash
Hijacked Muni bus careens through S.F.’s Mission District in wild ride
San Francisco police say they have arrested a man who assaulted a Muni bus driver, hijacked the vehicle and hit several cars while driving it in the Mission District on Friday night.
Police identified the suspect as Rickey Dancy, 36.
Just before 8 p.m. Friday, Dancy allegedly assaulted the Muni driver and commandeered the vehicle at Cortland and Mission streets. From there, he drove more than a mile north to 19th and Guerrero streets, hitting several other cars along the way, said San Francisco police public information Officer Robert Rueca.
Officer Raj Vaswani tweeted Friday night that about 10 cars had been hit by the bus. There were no passengers aboard at the time.
Video of the incident obtained by KRON4 shows the empty Muni bus swerving in the middle of the street, crossing over into the opposite lane, and cutting off cars as it made wide right turns.
Delaney Rua, who was working at Delfina in the Mission on Friday night, said that from the restaurant she saw several sirens and six to eight police cars parked along 18th Street up to the intersection with Guerrero, as well as two or three more blocking the intersection from the Guerrero side.
The bus, she said, was parked diagonally across that intersection with “EMERGENCY CALL POLICE 911” flashing on the display above the windshield that would normally identify the line.
Rueca said police took Dancy into custody after the bus was stopped. Police did not provide any possible motive for the hijacking.
An ambulance responded to the scene to treat the bus driver and another motorist for what Rueca said appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. The incident is under investigation.
By 10 a.m. Saturday, there were no signs of damage at 19th and Guerrero, witnesses said.
Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
MTA Bus Hijacked in Queens – NBC New York
A man armed with a fake gun hijacked an MTA bus in Queens early Thursday — and crashed the vehicle into a utility pole after the driver jumped out a window a few blocks later, according to police.
Authorities say the suspect ran in front of the Q4 bus holding what appeared to be a firearm at 199th Street and Linden Boulevard in Cambria Heights around 7:30 a.m. and boarded the bus. The driver then opened all the doors to let the roughly two dozen passengers off, and they escaped, leaving the bus driver alone with the hijacker, officials said.
Cops said the hijacker made statements about being chased and ordered the driver to keep driving. He did, for another 30 or so blocks, cops said.
Once the bus neared 232nd Street and Linden Boulevard, the driver jumped out of the driver’s side window and the hijacker leaped into the driver’s seat. He grabbed the wheel and started driving, officials said.
The hijacker only made it a block or so before he crashed into a utility pole between 233nd and 234th streets. The 44-year-old suspect got off the bus, which was crushed under the pole, and was taken into custody across the street, police said. The bus driver who jumped out the window was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
No injuries were reported to any passengers on the bus, though the fallen utility pole triggered power outages for dozens of customers in the area.
Charges are pending against the suspect, who also was treated at a hospital for minor injuries, officials said. His name has not been released. The weapon was recovered. Police said it appeared to be a BB gun.
They shared a photo of it at the news briefing (below).
A top MTA official said the agency was thankful no one was seriously hurt in the chaos and said the bus driver had been with the MTA for 21 years. He was said to be at the hospital with MTA management and union representatives into the early afternoon hours. No details on the nature of his injuries were immediately available.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who was on the bus or has additional information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Suzanne Somers’ Makeup Live Stream Hijacked by Home Intruder
Suzanne Somers and her husband learned a scary lesson Friday during a live stream at their home … Three’s NOT company.
Suzanne was doing a Facebook Live makeup tutorial for her fans at her Palm Springs home when an intruder somehow made it up their private driveway and into their house. The 74-year-old “Three’s Company” star was visibly startled when she noticed him and then tried to figure out his intentions … all the while as fans watched.
As her husband, Alan Hamel, looked on, Suzanne engages the intruder, who says he’s terrified and claims ghosts were following him. She asks his name and he obliges … Aaron Carpenter.
She tells Carpenter he should not be in her home … and Alan echos the sentiment.
You gotta watch Suzanne’s reactions as she turns off-camera to talk to Carpenter and gives a dramatic, frightened look into the camera as she glances back.
The intruder clearly seems off but non-threatening as he apologizes for interrupting her show.
Suzanne tells Carpenter he shouldn’t be in her home and asks Alan for help in getting him the heck out.
It’s not quite over. The intruder says he has a gift, but Suzanne says she’s not interested.
TMZ.com
He eventually leaves the home and Suzanne says she’s calling the cops. We contacted the PD and they said no one reported the incident.
As the “Three’s Company” song goes … Come and knock at my door, but don’t just barge in.