The effort identified the ships by name and tracked their movements. The ships either entered ports in North Korea and transported what U.S. officials concluded was illicit cargo to Russia and Vietnam or made ship-to-ship transfers at sea.
According to the U.S., which presented the information to a U.N. sanctions committee, the ships also made extensive maneuvers designed to disguise their violations of the U.N. sanctions. In August, the Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal, iron ore, lead and seafood, which have generated an estimated $1 billion a year in hard currency for North Korea.
A review by The Wall Street Journal of corporate records and shipping databases shows that the six vessels identified by the U.S. are owned or managed by Chinese companies or firms that are registered in Hong Kong and have shareholders who are Chinese nationals and have used addresses in mainland China.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia has said Turkish forces have fired about 70 shells at Kurdish villages in the Afrin region of north-western Syria, as Ankara said its threatened military assault was “de facto” under way.
The bombardment from Turkish territory began at around midnight and continued into Friday morning. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish militia as an extension of Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey and has vowed to attack their Afrin enclave, massing troops and tanks on its border for several days.
Military action, however, risks further inflaming relations with the US, which allied with the Kurdish-led Syrian Defence Force in its campaign against Islamic State.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-19 21:31:31
Romania braced for huge protests amid 'big step backwards' on rule of law
Romania is taking the biggest step backwards on the rule of law since it joined the European Union, a former justice minister has warned before what could be the biggest street protests in a year this weekend in Bucharest.
Dragnea is barred from the premiership because of a conviction for ballot-rigging that led to a two-year suspended prison sentence. He also faces charges of abuse of office, but the case against him would be dropped if current legislative proposals are passed.
Under a draft bill, abuse of office would no longer be a criminal offence if the sums involved were less than €200,000 (£176,000). The final text has not been adopted by the senate, following its adoption in the lower house earlier this month.
Other changes being debated include decriminalising the offence of taking a bribe on behalf of someone else, as well as lower sentences for the bribe taker. Prosecutors would face restrictions on using wiretaps, CCTV footage or digital evidence as part of changes to the criminal code that have been sharply criticised by Romania’s anti-corruption prosecution unit, the DNA.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-19 23:40:56
German rapper-turned-jihadi Denis Cuspert reportedly killed in Syria
Denis Cuspert, a former rapper known in jihadi circles as "the German," has been killed in Syria, a pro "Islamic State" (IS) website reported.
SITE intelligence group, a US-based company that tracks online extremist media, reported that pro-IS Wafa Media announced the death of the Berlin-born former rapper who used to go by the stage name "Deso Dogg."
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 00:28:51
Germany's far-right AfD targets refugees in first bill before parliament
Thursday marked a historical moment for the Reichstag. It was the first time since the old parliament building burned down in 1933 that a far-right party has been able to present a draft law in the venerable Prussian-era edifice, a building revamped and reopened for the new democratic age in reunified Germany during the 1990s.
Unsurprisingly, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) chose to present a bill to the chamber that reflected the key policy that has elevated them to the third-largest political force in the Bundestag: stopping immigration. Specifically, their bill was an alteration to Germany's Residence Act that would permanently ban refugees with "subsidiary protection" status from bringing over their close relatives from war-torn countries.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 11:58:59
Shutdown imminent after Senate blocks funding bill
The federal government is on the brink of a shutdown after the Senate rejected a patchwork funding measure just hours before a midnight deadline and lawmakers instead teed up a partisan blame game.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 12:27:22
What closes if the government shuts down? What doesn’t?
Nearly all federal agencies would be temporarily but dramatically pared back should a shutdown occur, with thousands of employees likely furloughed, almost certainly resulting in reduced or slowed services government-wide. In the past, national parks have closed entirely, as have the Smithsonian Institution museums. Passport services and IRS processing, among other services, would likely slow substantially if not stop entirely.
The U.S. Postal Service, which operates in part based on its own revenue, will continue to function and deliver mail, and Social Security checks, Medicare checks and food stamps will still be distributed. In an interview last April, with another shutdown threat looming, Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin told CBS that a shutdown would pose “no risk” to veterans because the “VA is in a fortunate situation in that we have what’s called an advanced appropriations, so we get our money a year ahead of time because I think Congress understands that the VA can’t shut down, that we are there for the safety of our veterans.”
Who gets furloughed?
Non-essential employees — referred to by the government as non-exempt employees — would be furloughed, meaning they cannot come to work. Top officials at agencies are generally in charge of deciding who is considered essential and who is not.
y4t7sds12
2018-1-20 13:02:13
Shutdown 正式啟動
:^(
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 13:13:08
BREAKING NEWS:Government agencies' funding exhausted as deadline passes for spending bill
The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night to extend funding until next month, but the measure failed to pass the Senate by a margin of 50-49.
Five Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke ranks to support it.
y4t7sds12
2018-1-20 20:03:31
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
#AMERICA FIRST!
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 20:55:57
Turkey's Erdogan says ground offensive on Syria's Afrin has begun
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that a military operation against the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin, held by US-backed Kurdish militias, "has de-facto been started on the ground."
"This will be followed by Mabij," he added, referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town to the east.
Both Afrin and Manbij are under the control of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara classes as a terrorist group allied with the Kurdish People's Party (PKK), a group that is waging a long-running insurgency in Turkey.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 21:33:31
New Pentagon strategy takes aim at Russia, China
The Pentagon’s new defense strategy calls for aggressive steps to counter Russia and China, directing the military to retrain its attention on great-power competition after nearly two decades of focusing primarily on Islamist militants and "rogue" nations.
The emphasis of the new National Defense Strategy, unveiled Friday by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, contrasts starkly with the last time the Pentagon developed such a blueprint — in 2014, before Russia joined the Syrian civil war and hacked U.S. political organizations.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-20 21:46:26
Jamaican authorities declare state of emergency over crime
Amid a rise in violent crime, authorities in Jamaica have declared a state of emergency in several areas including the popular tourist town of Montego Bay.
Local police said on Friday that they will take a zero tolerance approach to crime in the parish of St. James, where Montego Bay is located, and nearby communities that have seen an increase in killings that officials blame on gangs and lottery scams.
According to the police, businesses and recreational areas are under a temporary curfew. The state of emergency allows them to search areas without a warrant.
Authorities also have imposed a curfew in parts of St. Catherine parish located just west of the capital of Kingston.
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Filibuster_HK
2018-1-21 01:21:57
North Korea says to send delegation to prepare for Olympics on Sunday: South Korea ministry
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea will send a delegation to South Korea on Sunday to prepare for a trip by an art troupe during next month’s Winter Olympics, pushing the visit back a day after earlier cancelling it, South Korea’s Unification Ministry has said.
Filibuster_HK
2018-1-21 01:23:05
Gunmen 'attacking major Kabul hotel'
Tens of thousands of Romanians marched through heavy snow in Bucharest on Saturday in protest against proposed laws that critics say will make it harder to prosecute crime and high-level corruption.
An estimated 50,000 people marched towards parliament, blowing whistles, waving flags and chanting, “thieves”. Protesters briefly scuffled with riot police as they massed in the capital’s University Square, while thousands more demonstrated in cities across Romania.
The left-wing government pushed through a judicial overhaul through parliament in December, despite criticism from the European Commission, the US state department, thousands of magistrates and the centrist president, Klaus Iohannis.
Critics say the bills would weaken judicial independence and they have been challenged in the constitutional court, where they await a ruling.
俄系 Assad 聯軍
美系 Kurds
美系反對派
Al Quada 恐怖組織1號
Isis 恐怖組織 2號
TIP 即係東突革命軍既簡稱,宜家走左同1號恐怖分子打Assad