Skeleton of mysterious sea beast that was washed up on Scottish beach by Storm Ciara baffles locals
By James Wood For Mailonline
10:24 12 Feb 2020, updated 11:01 12 Feb 2020
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7995301/amp/Japan-rattled-5-2-magnitude-earthquake-near-Fukushima.html?__twitter_impression=true
Japan is rattled by 5.2-magnitude earthquake near Fukushima
By Tim Stickings For Mailonline
11:35 12 Feb 2020, updated 11:37 12 Feb 2020
12:58 | 02/12/20
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KREMLIN SAYS TURKEY IS NOT UPHOLDING ITS AGREEMENTS ON SYRIA
https://m.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Kremlin-says-Turkey-is-not-upholding-its-agreements-on-Syria-617365
To break Warsaw Jewish museum impasse, elected director agrees to give up post
Dariusz Stola ran afoul of Polish authorities for criticizing their policies, including controversial Holocaust speech law; says willing to cede his right to head POLIN institution
https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-break-warsaw-jewish-museum-impasse-elected-director-agrees-to-give-up-post/
Activities to Prevent Covid-2019
Date: 12/02/2020 | Source: KCNA.kp (En) | Read original version at source
Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) – The DPRK Red Cross Society (RCS) is conducting brisk activities to soundly prevent Covid-2019.
It works out timely measures for thoroughly implementing emergency countermeasures taken by the Party and state against the epidemic.
After putting into full operation the disaster control teams of the RCS and its branches, it organized training courses for Red Cross volunteers and sent them to relevant areas.
In cooperation with medical workers in charge of households, the RCS volunteers are actively performing such hygienic information services as informing people of the danger of the epidemic, its symptoms, preventive measures, etc.
They also take active part in the observation on families to find out suspected cases with the symptoms of fever, cough, snivel and respiratory trouble.
And they are conducting information activities in various forms and by various methods at public places to introduce common medical knowledge about the epidemic and encourage people to give fuller play to the noble moral traits of helping and leading each other forward.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society pushes ahead with the work for cooperation with Red Cross organizations in different countries and international bodies to remove the danger of Covid-2019 that rapidly spreads worldwide. -0-
https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1581506163-420404872/dprk-red-cross-society-conducts-brisk-activities-to-prevent-covid-2019/
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/american-businessman-who-ran-houston-based-subsidiary-chinese-company-sentenced-prison-theft
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
American Businessman Who Ran Houston-Based Subsidiary of Chinese Company Sentenced to Prison for Theft of Trade Secrets
The head of a Houston-based company that was the subsidiary of a Chinese company that developed stolen trade secrets was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $330,000 by U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the District of Columbia.
Shan Shi, 55, of Houston, Texas, had previously been found guilty of conspiracy to steal trade secrets by a jury on July 29, 2019. Evidence admitted during a three-week trial showed that Shi had signed an agreement with Taizhou CBM Future New Material Science and Technology Co. Ltd (CBMF), to develop the manufacture of syntactic foam, which is a buoyancy material that aids in offshore oil and gas drilling. The defendant specifically pledged to “digest/absorb” the relevant technology in the United States. The defendant then set up a U.S.-based corporation, CBM International Inc., (CBMI) and hired ex-employees of a victim company that manufactured syntactic foam, located in Houston, Texas. These employees had access to trade secrets developed by the victim company, and the defendant was aware that they had signed agreements with the victim company not to disclose proprietary information. The other employees then transferred proprietary information to CBMI and the defendant, who used the information to create a syntactic foam manufacturing process in China.
The defendant was arrested along with five other individuals in the United States after he and CBMI attempted to market related-technology in the District of Columbia. An additional Chinese national living in China, Hui Huang, was also charged. The trial was solely of defendant Shi.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-texans-one-new-yorker-arrested-conspiracy-sell-sanctioned-iranian-oil-refinery-china
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Four Texans, One New Yorker Arrested for Conspiracy to Sell Sanctioned Iranian Oil to Refinery in China for Huge Profit
The Department of Justice today announced that the following defendants were arrested and charged by Complaint on charges of conspiracy and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) based on their attempt to transact in sanctioned Iranian oil:
Nicholas Hovan, 33, of New York, NY;
Zhenyu Wang, a/k/a “Bill Wang,” 39, of Dallas, TX;
Robert Thwaites, 30, of Dallas, TX;
Nicholas James Fuchs, 26, of Dallas, TX; and
Daniel Ray Lane, 38, of McKinney, TX.
The defendants are each charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of violating IEEPA, based on allegations that from July 2019 to February 2020 they conspired in Philadelphia and elsewhere to arrange for the purchase of oil from the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of United States economic sanctions imposed on Iran, for sale to a refinery in China.
The Complaint alleges that defendants Nicholas Hovan, James Fuchs, Robert Thwaites, and Daniel Ray Lane arranged to purchase the oil and sell it to a refinery in China represented by defendant Zhenyu Wang, a/k/a “Bill Wang.”
According to the Complaint, defendant Lane offered to further the conspiracy by laundering money through his company, STACK Royalties. The charges further allege that the defendants agreed to use a Polish shell corporation as a straw seller of the illicit oil, and that they planned two shipments of oil per month going forward, all for great profit. In addition, the charges allege that defendants Fuchs and Thwaites agreed to apply for foreign passports in order to set up offshore accounts that would not be reported to U.S. authorities.
“With the goal of illegally enriching themselves, the defendants conspired for over eight months to devise a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran, particularly the ban on foreign oil sales,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “The sale of oil is the lifeblood of the Iranian economy. At the same time the United States was increasing its sanctions in order to pressure Iran to stop its malign activities, these defendants put greed ahead of country. I commend the efforts of the agents and prosecutors who investigated and uncovered this brazen evasion of U.S. law.”
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