Day: February 24, 2021

On 24 February, Rferl released a short video saying that, despite US sanctions that had halted construction, Russian ships are now getting closer to completion of this pipeline.  What is it and why do the US and others want to stop it being built?

https://www.rferl.org/a/things-to-know-about-nord-stream-2/31119247.html

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 24 February, Shine reported that customs in Shanghai had discovered over 400 illegally imported live ants in an imported package said to contain dentistry materials.  The 406 ants, each 2 cm long, were in small plastic tubes along with moist cotton and air vents.

https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2102245047/

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 23 February, the Brisbane Times reported that Russell Waugh, a former senior executive of infrastructure giant Leighton Holdings, has been charged with conspiring to pay up to $4 million in bribes to high-ranking Tanzanian officials to win an $84 million contract for the Australian company.  The businessman was charged in November over separate allegations that he masterminded a bribery plot on behalf of Leighton in Iraq.  The latest charges are the result of the Australian Federal Police’s longest running and most important corporate bribery probe and which, since 2011, has been targeting Leighton’s offshore business and its suspected payment of multimillion-dollar bribes in the Middle East and Africa.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/companies/australian-former-executive-charged-with-bribery-offences-over-african-plot-20210222-p574ru.html

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 23 February, Reuters reported that South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has agreed to pay $148.56 million in a leniency deal with Brazilian authorities to settle corruption investigations.  The deal was part of a global negotiation between the company and US and Brazilian authorities to settle alleged crimes over contracts with state-owned oil maker Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) in Operation Car Wash.

https://www.reuters.com/article/samsung-heavy-brazil-corruption/update-1-south-koreas-samsung-heavy-settles-brazil-graft-probe-for-149-mln-idUSL1N2KT0E1

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 24 February, OCCRP carried an article about the report from The Sentry saying that more than $4 billion in conflict-affected or high-risk gold from Central and East Africa gushes every year through world gold centres like Dubai to permeate international markets. 

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13923-report-4-billion-in-african-conflict-gold-floods-world-markets

The report is at –

https://thesentry.org/2021/02/22/5525/report-4b-conflict-gold-hits-us-international-markets/

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 24 February, Global Trade Review reported that the Libyan central bank’s letter of credit (LC) system may have been exploited for “fraud on a large scale”, researchers believe, after finding LC-based transaction volumes were far higher than actual imports.  The national LC system was, at that time, the only way to import certain food, medicine and other goods.  The LC system effectively works as a mechanism to free up central bank foreign currency reserves, as importers are forbidden from buying dollars on the open market.  The LC system was suspended at the end of September, after the National Oil Corporation stopped making funds from oil sales available to the central bank, accusing it of a lack of transparency.

https://www.gtreview.com/news/mena/libya-letter-of-credit-system-abused-for-rampant-fraud-report-claims/

I would be grateful for any modest contribution for my time and ongoing costs of computer, relocation, and (still ongoing) removal costs, I have a page, where contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y