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A28 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 15 april 2020
Armed men seize, release tanker off Iran by Strait of Hormuz

By JON GAMBRELL oil is traded. Oil tankers pre- it knew the information. The are not known to have Iran and the United States
Associated Press viously have been a target SC Taipei's satellite tracking previously attacked ship- remain locked in retaliatory
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- during the tensions. beacon showed it off the ping. The ship's tracking pressure campaigns that
ates (AP) — Armed men The incident happened coast of Iran in the general data suggested the armed now view the outbreak as
boarded a Hong Kong- near Iran's Ras al-Kuh vicinity of the warning, ac- men took the vessel to Ban- just the latest battleground.
flagged tanker ship Tues- coast. The United Kingdom cording to data from the dar Jask, which the Guard Online video and Iranian
day off the coast of Iran Maritime Trade Operations website MarineTraffic.com. did last year when it took media reports suggest Iran
near the crucial Strait of organization said in an alert The ship's owners could not custody of crew members has deployed Fajr-5 mis-
Hormuz, holding the ship for that the vessel "had been be immediately reached, from a Norwegian-owned sile batteries on beaches
a short time before releas- boarded by armed men though a United Nations oil tanker hit by an explo- along the Strait of Hormuz.
ing it amid heightened ten- while at anchor." database listed a mail- sion the U.S. blamed on an Dryad Global previously re-
sions between Tehran and "All vessels in the vicinity forwarding address for Iranian mine. ported maritime incidents
the U.S., authorities said. are to stay vigilant and to the owners associated The quick release of the in and around the strait. On
No one immediately report any incidents," the with Shanghai-based Aox- ship suggests Iran realized March 27, two boats with a
claimed responsibility for warning said, urging ships ing Ship Management. In only after the fact it had raised ladder approached
the seizure, though suspi- to "exercise caution." March, the U.S. State De- seized a Chinese vessel, a U.S.-flagged container
cion fell on Iran's paramili- The U.K. organization later partment sanctioned Aox- rather than a Western one ship, while Revolutionary
tary Revolutionary Guard. said the ship had been re- ing Ship Management for as in previous incidents. Iran Guard vessels approached
Iranian officials and state leased and was underway "knowingly engaging in a has increasingly relied on a ship on April 2, the firm
media did not immediately under its captain's control, significant transaction for China amid U.S. sanctions said.
acknowledge the incident without elaborating. the purchase, acquisition, over its nuclear program. "The detention of a vessel in
and the U.S. Navy's Bah- Dryad Global, the private sale, transport or marketing "At a time when China the Strait of Hormuz would
rain-based 5th Fleet did not maritime intelligence firm of petrochemical products still buys Iranian oil, and fit comfortably within previ-
respond to a request for that issued the first warn- from Iran" despite Ameri- Iran has few international ous Iranian intent and ca-
comment. ings about suspicious inci- can sanctions. friends, such a move would pability ... and would pro-
The incident comes after dents, identified the ship That area of Iran is near be highly irregular and vide an opportune 'open-
a private maritime intel- as the Hong Kong-flagged the country's restive Sistan would not further Iran's in- ing salvo' in an Iranian at-
ligence firm warned of SC Taipei bound for Saudi and Baluchistan province, terests," Dryad Global said. tempt to release the pres-
suspicious incidents in re- Arabia. It said the 22 crew where Islamic militant at- Even as both face the sures the country currently
cent days near the strait, members aboard were tacks have happened in same invisible enemy in faces," Dryad said Tuesday
through which a fifth of all Chinese. It did not say how the past. However, they the coronavirus pandemic, night.q

Israeli police use drones to check in on virus patients

By JOSEPH KRAUSS closed down schools and
Associated Press businesses and imposed
JERUSALEM (AP) — The strict stay-at-home orders.
drone glides up toward a Those who test positive for
high-rise until it reaches an the new coronavirus are
apartment window where required to isolate them-
a woman waves from in- selves, and anyone flout-
side, proving to police that ing regulations face fines or
she is self-isolating after even arrest.
testing positive for the coro- Police have used drones to
navirus. enforce lockdowns in other
Israeli police are deploying countries, including Italy,
drones as part of efforts to France, Spain and China.
stem the outbreak, allow- They have been used to
ing officers to keep a safe enforce social distancing
distance from infected in New York City and New
people. Israel has also ap- Jersey. India has also used
proved the use of phone- drones to monitor its lock-
spying technology that was down. In Saudi Arabia,
previously used against Pal- drones have reportedly
estinian militants. been used in some public
Israel and other countries places to check people's
have rapidly come to see Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray a morning prayer at their house as synagogues are closed following the temperatures.
such methods as crucial government's measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, in Bnei Brak, Israel, Tuesday, Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, an
tools to prevent the spread April 14, 2020. expert on technology and
of the virus, which has in- Associated Press. privacy laws at the Israel
fected nearly 2 million peo- go to curb the pandemic. firm that people with the recover within a few weeks. Democracy Institute, says
ple worldwide, killed more The drone used outside the coronavirus are in isolation" But it is highly contagious it would be a violation of
than 120,000 and prompt- apartment complex in the in accordance with Health and can cause severe ill- constitutional rights if the
ed economically devastat- Tel Aviv area was deployed Ministry regulations. ness or death, particularly police used drones to look
ing lockdowns. by police checking in on "Units on the ground are in older people or those into private homes. Israeli
But the increasing use of patients who have been using drones in high-story with underlying health security forces are also
such technology against ordered to self-isolate. buildings and making visual problems. barred from using facial
civilians has raised priva- Police spokesman Micky confirmation," he said. Israel has reported more recognition technology,
cy concerns and difficult Rosenfeld says police are The virus causes mild to than 11,800 cases and except to surveil Palestin-
questions about how far using drones across the moderate flu-like symp- at least 117 deaths. Like ians in the occupied territo-
authorities can or should country to "find and con- toms in most patients, who many other countries, it has ries. q