RUSSIAN SHIPS STILL SELLING OIL TO NORTH KOREA & VIOLETS UN SANCTIONS.

REUTERS | London | Moscow :

Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, according to two senior Western European security sources, providing an economic lifeline to the secretive Communist state.
The sales of oil or oil products from Russia, the world's second biggest oil exporter and a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council, breach U.N. sanctions, the security sources said.
The transfers in October and November indicate that smuggling from Russia to North Korea has evolved to loading cargoes at sea since Reuters reported in September that North Korean ships were sailing directly from Russia to their homeland.
"Russian vessels have made ship-to-ship transfers of petrochemicals to North Korean vessels on several occasions this year in breach of sanctions," the first security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

A second source, who independently confirmed the existence of the Russian ship-to-ship fuel trade with North Korea, said there was no evidence of Russian state involvement in the latest transfers.
The two security sources cited naval intelligence and satellite imagery of the vessels operating out of Russian Far Eastern ports on the Pacific but declined to disclose further details to Reuters, saying it was classified.
Russia's Foreign Ministry and the Russian Customs Service both declined to comment, The owner of one ship accused of smuggling oil to North Korea denied any such activity.
The latest report came as China, responding on Friday to criticism from President Donald Trump, denied it had illicitly shipped oil products to North Korea.
North Korea relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning. It also requires oil for its intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear program that the United States says threatens the peace in Asia.
"The vessels are smuggling Russian fuel from Russian Far Eastern ports to North Korea," said the first security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Reuters was unable to independently verify that the vessels had transferred fuel to North Korean vessels, whether the Russian state knew about the sales or how many Russian vessels were involved in the transfers. It was also unclear how much fuel may have been smuggled.
Ship satellite positioning data consulted by Reuters and available on Reuters Eikon shows unusual movements by some of the Russian vessels named by the security sources including switching off the transponders which give a precise location.

The security sources said the Russian-flagged tanker Vityaz was one vessel that had transferred fuel to North Korean vessels.
The Vityaz left the port of Slavyanka near Vladivostok in Russia on Oct. 15 with 1,600 tons of oil, according to Russian port control documents.
Documents submitted by the vessel's agent to the Russian State Port Control authority showed its destination as a fishing fleet in the Japan Sea. Shipping data showed the vessel switched off its transponder for a few days as it sailed into open waters.
According to the European security sources, the Vityaz conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the North Korean Flagged Sam Ma 2 tanker in open seas during October.
Reuters could not independently verify the transfer as ship tracking data showed that the Sam Ma 2 had turned off its transponder from the start of August.
The owner of the Russian vessel denied any contact with North Korean vessels but also said it was unaware that the vessel was fuelling fishing boats.
Yaroslav Guk, deputy director of the tanker's owner, Vladivostok-based Alisa Ltd, said the vessel had no contacts with North Korean vessels.
An official at East Coast Ltd, the vessel's transport agent, declined to comment.

Two other Russian flagged tankers made similar journeys between the middle of October and November, leaving from the ports of Slavyanka and Nakhodka into open seas where they switched off their transponders, shipping data showed.
In September, Reuters reported that at least eight North Korean ships that left Russia loaded with fuel this year headed for their homeland despite declaring other destinations, a ploy that U.S. officials say is often used to undermine sanctions.

Comments

CUBA CLAIMS CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER IS FIDEL CASTRO'S SON.

The suicide note left by Fidel Castro’s eldest son has rocked the Cuban nation this week, with the most astonishing revelation being the claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his half-brother and the son of the late Fidel Castro. The handwritten note left by Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, the eldest of Fidel Castro’s children, appears to confirm the longstanding rumor in Cuba that Fidel Castro fathered Justin Trudeau after a public tryst with Margaret Trudeau in 1970. “ Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning ,” Cubadebate website reported. The death of the high-profile government nuclear scientist, also known as “Fidelito”, or Little Fidel, because of how much he looked like his father, stunned the nation, however it is his “ explosive ” suicide note that has set tongues wagging in Havana. Amid a wide-ranging barrage of compl...

WHY CHINA'S DOG-MEAT MARKET HAS EXPANDED.

Every year during the summer solstice, a dog-eating festival takes place in Yulin, a city in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi. This year’s event ended with the usual controversy. Photographs of dogs being fried or treated cruelly went viral. The Jinhua Hutou Dog Meat Festival, as it is called, was abruptly canceled last week. Animal-rights activists and American congressmen demanded that China ban the eating of dogs and cats, as Taiwan did in April. Yulin’s local government took modest steps to restrain or hide some of the more contentious activities, such as selling dogs in food markets. Still, the festival was packed. Why has the controversial culinary habit become so popular in China? Contrary to cliché, dog meat has not always been a common item in the Chinese diet. Unlike in the West, eating dogs has never been taboo, but it appears to have been rare in the past. Government accounts single out butchers who sold dog meat, suggesting it ...

MINERS IN NAMIBIA DISCOVER SHIPWRECK LOADED $13 MILLION WORTH OF GOLD.

Image: Dieter Noli. Diamond miners working off the coast of Africa were beyond surprised when they discovered a 500-year-old shipwreck teeming with gold worth $13 million and other treasures. The ship, aptly named ‘Bom Jesus’ or ‘Good Jesus,’ was like a miracle to the miners. Bom Jesus was first identified and discovered by geologists working for the mining company De Beers in 2008. It was found off the coast of Namibia near Oranjemund. Image: Dieter Noli. According to experts, Bom Jesus is from the Golden era of Portuguese explorers who set sail in all directions in search of new lands to colonize. The ship left Lisbon in 1533 under the supervision of Sir Francisco de Noronha. But on its way to India, it mysteriously vanished. Before the discovery, the miners were draining an artificial salt lake. As the lake dried out, many lost ships were found at the bottom of the lake. Bom Jesus was among them, and it is considered the oldest of all ...

MALARIA VACCINE PROVES HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN BURKINA FASO.

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World Health Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries. Prof ...

SWAZI KING DIRECTS MEN TO MARRY MORE WIVES OR RISK JAIL TERMS.

Mbabane, ESWATINI: King Mswati III of eSwatini has without mincing words stated that men will be required to marry at least two or more wives or be jailed if they fail to do so starting in June 2019. Mswati III (born as Prince Makhosetive on 19 April 1968) is the King of eSWATINI(SWAZI). He was born in Manzini, Eswatini, to King Sobhuza II and one of his younger wives, Ntfombi Tfwala . He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland , on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, thus becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at that time. Together with his mother, Ntfombi Tfwala, now Queen Mother ( Ndlovukati), he rules the country as an absolute monarch. The king, who has 15 wives and 25 children, and his father and predecessor having more than 70 wives and 150+ children revealed that eSwatini is facing a very serious problem as there are more women than men in his country - husband scarcity. In a statement, king Mswati called for all men in the countr...

PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA'S SON TO MARRY UGANDAN EX-PRIME MINISTER'S DAUGHTER.

Kampala, UGANDA: Former Uganda Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi is set to become an in-law at the Mahlamba Ndlopfu, the home of the new President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa. John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, SC (simply known as Amama Mbabazi , born 16 January 1949) is a Ugandan politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of Uganda from 24 May 2011 to 19 September 2014. Image: NP. Mbabazi’s niece, Ms. Bridget Birungi Rwakairu who he raised after her father was killed in the 1980s, will soon be exchanging vows with the South African First Son Mr. Andile Ramaphosa, Mbabazi’s family announced yesterday. The wedding will be preceded by a traditional function known as “Okushaba” which will be held this weekend at Mbabazi’s home on Saturday. 36 year old Bridget Birungi Rwakairu is daughter to Shadrack Rwakairu and Peace Ruhindi. Rwakairu was murdered in 1983 by the UNLA soldiers just five years into his marriage with Mrs Ruhindi. In a statement, Mbab...

MODEL INVADED UEFA FINAL PITCH TO PROMOTE HER BOYFRIEND PRANK GROUP.

Madrid, SPAIN: Champions League final pitch invader Kinsey Wolanski has explained exactly why she opted to disrupt the huge game between Tottenham and Liverpool in Madrid. Play had to be momentarily halted in the first half after the scantily clad blonde bombshell jumped over the advertising hoardings and sprinted across the Wanda Metropolitano pitch. She was hauled off by stewards and remanded - but she appears to have been released after breaking her silence on social media. Wolanski, who was promoting her boyfriend's adult prank group, Vitaly Uncensored, offered a 12-word explanation as to her dramatic interruption of the biggest game in European club football. Vitaly Uncensored is an X-rated site , vowing ‘wild pranks, t*** and a**, no rules’, launched by Zdorovetskiy, 27, who is Kinsey Wolanski's boyfriend. He labels his content as “pranks on another level, something you’ve never seen before, way to explicit for YouTube.” Vita...

WOMAN WHO HAD 44 CHILDREN BY 36 YEARS-OLD BANNED FROM HAVING MORE BABIES.

Kampala, UGANDA: Mariam Nabatanzi had her first set of twins when she was just 13 and has since had another five sets, three sets of quads and four sets of triplets Mariam Nabatanzi suffers from a rare genetic condition and had given birth to 44 children by the age of 36. Tragically, Mariam has been left to raise her massive family alone after her husband walked out on her almost four years ago. Now 40, doctors have taken action to stop Mariam having more children after it emerged her father had 45 children with several different women. Mariam has three sets of quadruplets, four sets of triplets and six sets of twins and incredibly manages to care for and feed them all on her own. The fertile mum was just 12 when she was married to her husband, who at 40 was 28 years her senior. Just a year later she gave birth to her first set of twins. Now, she and all of her kids have no choice to live in appallingly cramped conditions in just four ...

9 BUTCHERIES CLOSED BY SELLING MEAT PRESERVED BY VAMALIN (CHEMICAL FOR PRESERVING DEAD BODIES).

Kampala Capital City Authority law enforcement team have carried out an operation in which two people have been arrested and 9 butcheries closed over poor hygiene and use of toxic chemicals to preserve meat. The operation was carried out this morning in Kalerwe and Ntinda following the several complainants from the public. Peter Kauju the Kcca spokesperson says 9 butcheries were found unhygienic and two people were arrested after they found them with some deadly chemicals believed to be used to preserve dead bodies. Kauju warned that the operation will continue in the entire city to avoid any elements where people are using deadly chemicals to preserve meat. Kauju adds that the two people arrested will appear in court of law. Recently, there was a public outcry after reports came out that meat sellers in Kampala are using Vamalin used to preserve dead bodies in preserving meat. This followed after a pregnant mother recently lost battle in one of the city...

DEAD SWAZILAND QUEEN LAID TO REST.

Senteni Masango, the eighth wife of Swaziland’s King Mswati, laid to rest yesterday in line with the Royal Swazi rites. Masango was found dead early Friday morning. She is said to have committed suicide after overdosing on amitriptyline, used in treating chronic pain and depression and related disorders. READ THIS ALSO: KING MSWATI III 8TH WIFE COMMITS SUICIDE FOLLOWING 'ABUSE' The late queen died barely a week after burying her sister Nombuso Masango on Sunday, April 1, at her parent’s home. Reports indicate that King Mswati had barred her from attending her sister’s funeral. Tributes to the queen have started flowing in, led by Swaziland’s Prime Minister Dr. Sibusiso Dlamini who sent government’s condolences to the King, the queen mother and the royal household. “Death is a sad moment for anyone and this one which affects Their Majesties is shared by the country as a whole and as a nation, we are deeply touched at the news of her passing on,” ...

Kioo17 Journal

Search This Blog