Belgium working with France seized a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the North Sea late Saturday, as Europe ramps up the targeting of Moscow’s fleet of vessels suspected of carrying sanctioned oil or damaging undersea infrastructure.
Armed forces boarded the ship on Saturday evening and were escorting it to the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken wrote on X around 1 a.m. local time Sunday.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said French helicopters participated in the “major blow for the ghost fleet.”
Prime Minister Bart De Wever congratulated Belgium’s armed forces for “last night’s successful operation” and thanked France for its assistance. “Belgium will uphold international maritime law and the security of its territorial waters,” De Wever added in a post on X.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said in a separate post that the operation “was carried out within the International Task Force on the Shadow Fleet, alongside our G7, Nordic and Baltic partners.”
The EU has struggled to stop Russia from exporting oil with the shadow fleet. As of December, it had designated about 600 vessels as part of the fleet.
Operatives of the Anambra State Police Command attached to the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, have arrested a 46-year-old man, Obadigbo Emmanuel Anumudu, for allegedly beheading…
<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/traffic-on-jacques-cartier-bridge-crossing-saint-lawrence-river-in-montreal.jpg?id=56655037&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=45%2C0%2C45%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>If you've ever been stuck on Décarie at rush hour, you might think <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/montreal-traffic" target="_blank">Montreal has the worst traffic</a> in Canada. But new data says otherwise — four other Canadian cities are even bigger gridlock nightmares.</p><p><a href="https://www.tomtom.com/traffic-index/ranking/" target="_blank">TomTom's 2024 Traffic Index</a> ranked 13 <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/quebec-canada-quality-life-montreal" target="_blank">Canadian cities</a> based on real-world GPS data from 737 billion kilometres driven last year. And while Montreal didn't escape the top five, we dodged the worst of it.</p><h2>Canada's worst cities for traffic</h2><p>Vancouver took the top spot, with an average travel time of 27 minutes and 3 seconds per 10 km — meaning commuters lose 86 hours a year just sitting in rush hour. Toronto came second at 25 minutes and 13 seconds, followed by Halifax (23:31) and Winnipeg (23:01).</p><p>With its sea of orange traffic cones and <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/quebec-weather-spring-forecast" target="_blank">heavy snowfall</a>, Montreal landed in fifth place, with an average of 22 minutes and 9 seconds per 10 km and a congestion level of 28%. That adds up to 70 hours a year lost in traffic — frustrating, but still better than the worst offenders.</p><p>To put things in perspective, Canada's most traffic-clogged cities aren't nearly as bad as the world's worst. Vancouver, which holds the title for Canada's most congested city, sits at 69th place globally — a far cry from major gridlock hotspots like London (#5), New York City (#25), and Barranquilla, Colombia (#1).</p><p>Here's how all 13 Canadian cities included in TomTom's 2024 Traffic Index ranked:<br/></p><ol><li>Vancouver — 27 min 3 s per 10 km, 35% congestion, 86 hours lost per year</li><li>Toronto — 25 min 13 s, 31% congestion, 77 hours lost</li><li>Halifax — 23 min 31 s, 30% congestion, 83 hours lost</li><li>Winnipeg — 23 min 1 s, 26% congestion, 74 hours lost</li><li>Montreal — 22 min 9 s, 28% congestion, 70 hours lost</li><li>London — 20 min 22 s, 28% congestion, 60 hours lost</li><li>Edmonton — 19 min 49 s, 21% congestion, 50 hours lost</li><li>Calgary — 18 min 11 s, 23% congestion, 49 hours lost</li><li>Ottawa — 16 min 56 s, 26% congestion, 55 hours lost</li><li>Hamilton — 16 min 46 s, 21% congestion, 39 hours lost</li><li>Quebec City — 16 min 41 s, 25% congestion, 49 hours lost</li><li>Waterloo — 16 min 27 s, 19% congestion, 31 hours lost</li><li>Kitchener — 14 min 50 s, 18% congestion, 26 hours lost</li></ol><p>Interestingly, many Canadian cities ranked worse for traffic than some major global hubs, including Miami (#281), Bangkok (#161) and even Los Angeles (#329).</p><p>TomTom's report factors in both static elements, like road design and speed limits, and unpredictable ones, like accidents, construction, and weather. </p><em>Love this? Check out our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/notices/" target="_blank">MTL Blog noticeboard</a> for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!</em>
<p><br/></p><em>AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/editorial-standards" target="_blank">Editorial Standards page</a>.</em><p><br/></p>
A new poll has found that a majority of Americans don't have high confidence in the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates before November's election.
