South Korea seizes second ship suspected of providing oil to North Korea

By Yuna Park and Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.
The seizure was the second to be revealed by South Korea within a few days, as the United Nations steps up efforts to squeeze essential oil supplies to the reclusive North following its nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
The ship, KOTI, was seized at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin port, the official told Reuters, without elaborating, due to the sensitivity of the issue. The port is on the west coast, south of Incheon.
A marine official also confirmed the seizure, which he said was done "recently".
The KOTI's estimated time of arrival at the port was Dec. 19, according to VesselFinder Ltd., a tracking service provider,
The ship can carry 5,100 tonnes of oil and has a crew mostly from China and Myanmar, Yonhap News Agency reported, adding that South Korea's intelligence and customs officials are conducting a joint probe into the vessel.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the probe, declining to provide details.
"The government has been in close consultations with related countries and ministries to thoroughly implement the sanctions by the U.N. Security Council," the spokesman said.
PROPOSED BLACKLISTING

On Friday, South Korea said that in late November it seized the Hong Kong-flagged Lighthouse Winmore, which is suspected of transferring as much as 600 tons of oil to the North Korea-flagged Sam Jong 2.
The U.N. Security Council last month unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea for a recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, seeking to limit its access to refined petroleum products and crude oil.
The United States has also proposed that the United Nations Security Council blacklist 10 ships for transporting banned items from North Korea, according to documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The Lighthouse Winmore is one of the 10 ships proposed to be blacklisted. The KOTI does not seem to be included on the list.
On Thursday, China blocked a U.S. effort at the United Nations to blacklist six foreign-flagged ships, a U.N. Security Council diplomat said.
China's Foreign Ministry, responding to a question from Reuters on the blocking, said Beijing always fully and strictly implemented Security Council resolutions.
"At the same time, any measures taken by the Security Council must have a basis in conclusive and actual proof. China will continue to participate in the work of the relevant Security Council sanctions committee on this principle," it said in a short statement, without elaborating.
China also denied reports it had been illicitly selling oil products to North Korea in defiance of U.N. sanctions, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unhappy that China had allowed oil to reach the isolated nation.
Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, breaching U.N. sanctions, sources told Reuters.

(Reporting by Yuna Park and Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Kim Coghill and Richard Borsuk)

Here’s What U.S. Businesses Want Trump to Accomplish on China Trip

President Donald Trump will arrive in China on Nov. 8 and spend two days meeting with President Xi Jinping. On the agenda are a couple of hot issues: cooperation on North Korea and the bilateral economic relationship between the United States and China.

Regarding that second topic of the economic relationship, U.S. businesses would love for Trump to gain some ground on what is perceived as a trade deficit between the two countries in favor of China. Trump is expected to be tough on trade talks with Xi, CNBC reported.

The two leaders have different objectives. Trump will seek to drive home the point that the United States will no longer tolerate imbalanced trade, while Xi will attempt to protect the status quo. The outcome of this meeting will heavily affect the trajectory of the two countries’ relations moving forward, Brookings reported.
Trump referred to his upcoming trip in a pair of recent tweets:

Donald Trump Heats Up Feud With Iran By Praising Anti-Government Protests

The Iranian government denounced President Donald Trump on Saturday after he escalated his support for the anti-government protesters who have been holding demonstrations in the country for three days.

Trump tweeted Friday his praise of the “peaceful protests” in Iran, calling protesters “Iranian citizens fed up with regime’s corruption & its squandering of the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism abroad.”
On Saturday, the president tweeted two video clips of his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September, in which he called the Iranian government an “oppressive regime” and suggested that Iran’s leaders are afraid of their own citizens.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi responded to Trump’s amped-up support in a state television report Saturday by insisting that “Iranian people give no credit to the deceitful and opportunist remarks of U.S. officials or Mr. Trump,” according to The Associated Press.
Protests first broke out in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, earlier this week when demonstrators swarmed the streets in protest of rising food and gas prices, high unemployment and the declining economy, according to The Washington Post and CNN.
The rally sparked more protests, drawing thousands of protesters in cities across Iran, including its capital, Tehran. News reports and videos that purportedly showed the demonstrations suggest that some of the rallies have turned violent.
It is the largest display of civil unrest in the country since the protests after Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election.
After Trump tweeted Friday that the Iranian government should respect its people’s rights to express themselves, Iran’s state-run TV service addressed the widespread protests with a message Saturday.

“Counterrevolution groups and foreign media are continuing their organized efforts to misuse the people’s economic and livelihood problems and their legitimate demands to provide an opportunity for unlawful gatherings and possibly chaos,” state TV said, according to AP.

Bhandari appointed NA spokesperson

Dec 30, 2017-Brigadier General Gokul Bhandari has been appointed as the spokesperson of Nepal Army (NA) on Saturday. He will assume the office within a couple of days.
Bhandari has been appointed as the NA spokesperson after current spokesperson Brigadier General Nainraj Dahal was appointed as the western region force commander under the UN peace keeping mission in South Sudan. 
 

Biratnagar Warriors clinch EPL title

Dec 30, 2017-Biratnagar Warriors defeated Bhairahawa Gladiators by one run to clinch the Everest Premier League (EPL) twenty20 cricket tournament title at the Tribhuvan University Grounds in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Elected to bat first by winning the toss, Biratnagar scored 149 runs at the cost of seven wickets in allotted 20 overs.
Anshuman Rath scored 41 runs for the team. Skipper Paras Khadka contributed 27 runs and Anil Kumar Sah added 22 runs on the board.
Bhairahawa Gladiators, however, failed to reach the target of 150 runs. They required nine runs to win the title in the last over but could only make seven runs in the thrilling match.
Bhairahawa Gladiators' skipper Sharad Vesawkar scored 52 runs while opener Pratham Salunke contributed 30 runs and Arif Sheikh made 27 runs.
Anil Sah of Biratnagar claimed three wickets, Karan KC and Paras Khadka took two and one wickets respectively.
In the last over, Bhairahawa required nine runs but scored only seven runs by losing three wickets.

Terry Crews gets into fiery Twitter debate about race and sexual misconduct

Terry Crews recently got into a social media debate about how men should react in the face of sexual misconduct, and how race factors in.

One person started the debate when he appeared to question the actor's masculinity earlier this week by tweeting, “Some men actually defend themselves,” tagging an article about actor Jason Priestley recalling punching Harvey Weinstein at a party.

Weinstein, who is accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, has acknowledged inappropriate behavior, but has denied any allegations of nonconsensual sex or retaliation against women for refusing his advances.

Read: Terry Crews files lawsuit against agent he alleges groped him

Related: Terry Crews names alleged sexual assaulter: 'I will not be shamed'

After a slew of Twitter users slammed the person in question, Crews also replied, “White people in America can do a lot of things I’d be arrested for.”

This started a back-and-forth debate in the thread and on Crews' social media page lasting almost two days into late Wednesday night.

Regarding the suggestion that Crews should have physically defended himself from his alleged assaulter, agent Adam Venit -- whom he is now suing for sexual battery, emotional distress and negligence, among others -- one person replied, “There is factual evidence that black people are given harsher sentences than white people for the same crimes committed. Public perception of black people is very negative, and if Terry had reacted with violence, it would've just reinforced the stereotypes about us."PHOTO: Terry Crews speaks out on 'Good Morning America' about an alleged incident in which he says a 'high-level Hollywood executive' groped him at a party. (ABC)

Hundreds of people replied, with comments split.

Some people brought up Crews' wealth being more important than race, while another person commented, "I think you're a great guy and very talented ... please don't fall into the anti-white cesspool ... you're better then [sic] that!"

As the comments became heated, Crews admitted that he is privileged, writing, "No one should feel shamed for being privileged. I’M PRIVILEGED. But people confuse privilege with VALUE. No one is more valuable than anyone else." But he didn't back down.

Fans continued to support Crews by telling him to never back down from online trolls that try to bait him into this type of argument.

Crews then spoke out about his ongoing lawsuit.

"My first attorney told me I should sue for charity because of the 'perception.' I let him know white men sue for money all the time. Then I fired him," he wrote.

Crews named his alleged accuser as Venit last month on "Good Morning America" and claimed the agent groped him last year at a party. He then filed a suit against Venit and his employer, William Morris Endeavor, earlier this month. Venit was suspended by WME earlier this year.

Ryan Seacrest reacts to Mariah Carey's planned return to New Year's Eve special

Mariah Carey will perform one of her classic songs, "Hero," just before the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, one year after a televised performance mishap that left the singer "mortified."

Carey will perform the song and more of her hits on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" on ABC, Seacrest said today on "Good Morning America."

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"New year [is] about new beginnings," Seacrest said. "She’s a legendary, iconic artist so we’re excited to have her back to do it again."

During last year's "Rockin Eve" show in Times Square, Carey struggled to sing her song "Emotions" while a set of prerecorded vocals played in the background.

After Carey left the stage, she tweeted that "s--- happens."

Her camp later claimed that the TV production staff dropped the ball when it came to making sure her in-ear monitors worked; a rep for Dick Clark Productions denied any implication that the company would "intentionally compromise the success of any artist."

"I’m of the opinion that Dick Clark would not have let an artist go through that," Carey told Entertainment Weekly at the time. "He would have been as mortified as I was in real time."

Seacrest called Carey an "old friend" and said, though he didn't have the idea to bring her back, he is glad she is returning to the show.

"It’s not my idea but it’s a good idea," Seacrest said. "I think people are excited to see her back. People love her. She’s beloved."

"I think it’s going to be an amazing moment with her," he said.

Carey will be joined on the televised show by other musicians, including Britney Spears, Joe Jonas and Imagine Dragons, performing in at various sites across the country.

Seacrest, who will share hosting duties again this year with Jenny McCarthy, said he is mostly worried about the near-record low temperatures expected in New York City on Sunday night.

Revelers could be in store for the coldest ball drop since 1962 in Times Square. ABC News is forecasting a temperature of around 10 degrees with a wind chill of minus 4 when the calendar turns to 2018.