US audit inspectors unveil $7.9mn fines on China-based firms
WASHINGTON: US inspectors announced fines against China-based firms Thursday, as part of a broader effort to hold US-listed Chinese companies up to American auditing standards amid simmering geopolitical tensions. These included PwC affiliates in Hong Kong and China, alongside a Chinese audit company. The $7.9 million in penalties unveiled by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) represent some of the…
US sanctions financial network tied to Iranian oil sales
WASHINGTON: The US on Wednesday said it imposed a new round of sanctions on a group of 20 people and firms allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. The Treasury Department sanctions impact firms and people spanning Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates. Included in the sanctions package are employees, brokers and…
Shopify Files Fresh Lawsuit over DMCA Takedown Harassment
At the peak of the online shopping season, Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify filed a new lawsuit to take a stand against DMCA abuse. The company filed a complaint at a Florida federal court, accusing an Orlando resident of filing dozens of false takedown notices, allegedly to advance their own commercial interests. Signed into law a quarter century ago, the Digital…
Finland to shut entire border with Russia over migrant concerns
HELSINKI: Finland will close its entire border with Russia to travellers for the next two weeks in a bid to halt the unusually large flow of asylum seekers to the Nordic nation, which the government and its allies say is an orchestrated move by Moscow. Finland last week shut all but one of its border posts to travellers from Russia,…
China investors face tens of billions in losses over shadow bank Zhongzhi Enterprise Group
As China’s embattled shadow banking giant Zhongzhi Enterprise Group faces a criminal probe, lawyers and analysts are assessing the damage to investors. One estimate puts that at about US$56 billion (S$74.9 billion). More than three quarters of investor cash would be lost, with just 100 billion yuan (S$18.7 billion) being recovered from debt of as much as 460 billion…
Saudi Arabia urges all nations to halt weapon exports to Israel (BRICS Joint Meeting)
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia‘s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday urged all nations to cease weapon exports to Israel, according to Al Arabiya Post. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Price made this request during an extraordinary BRICS Joint Meeting, which was being held virtually to address the Israel-Hamas conflict. South Africa is hosting the BRICS groups of nations to convene the virtual…
Hacktivists breach U.S. nuclear research lab, steal employee data
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) confirms they suffered a cyberattack after ‘SiegedSec’ hacktivists leaked stolen human resources data online. INL is a nuclear research center run by the U.S. Department of Energy that employs 5,700 specialists in atomic energy, integrated energy, and national security. The INL complex extends over an 890-square-mile (2,310 km2) area, encompassing 50 experimental nuclear reactors, including…
China decries Canada’s ‘hypocrisy’: Espionage “endangering China’s national security”?
Beijing has defended its prosecution of two Canadians for espionage, after The Globe and Mail reported that Michael Spavor blames intelligence work done by Michael Kovrig for their nearly three-year-long detention. Mr. Spavor is seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement from Ottawa, two sources told The Globe, alleging he was arrested in China in late 2018 because he unwittingly provided intelligence on…
Canadian government discloses data breach after contractor hacks
The Canadian government says two of its contractors have been hacked, exposing sensitive information belonging to an undisclosed number of government employees. These breaches occurred last month and impacted Brookfield Global Relocation Services (BGRS) and SIRVA Worldwide Relocation & Moving Services, both providers of relocation services to Canadian government employees. Government-related information stored on compromised BGRS and SIRVA Canada systems dates…
Cyprus lit up with oligarch transactions after Russia invaded Ukraine -leaks
With Russian tanks and troops descending on Ukraine in early 2022, Cyprus became a hotbed of financial activity. The island country has long been known as an offshore transit point for the fortunes of Russian billionaires, and as sanctions loomed over many of them last year, Cyprus financial services firms fielded a series of urgent demands to transfer funds and…
Italy Deals a Blow to WEF and Bill Gates with Historic Ban on Cultivated Meat
Italy has just delivered a devastating blow to the controversial agenda of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and billionaire magnate Bill Gates for global food control, with the historic approval of a ban on the production and sale of cultivated meat. The Chamber of Deputies voted 159 in favor, 53 against, and 34 abstentions in support of the bill presented by Minister…
Operator of Central California Bio-Lab Indicted for Distributing Adulterated and Misbranded COVID-19 Tests and Lying to Authorities
U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, November 16, 2023 FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Jia Bei Zhu, aka Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He, 62, a citizen of China who formerly resided in Clovis, charging him with distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices in violation of…
France issues arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
PARIS: France has issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of complicity in crimes against humanity over chemical attacks in 2013, a judicial source and plaintiffs in the case said Wednesday. The judicial source told AFP Assad was also suspected of complicity in war crimes for the attacks, blamed by the opposition on the regime, that…
Pro-Israel Group Paid Students $250 Each to Attend ‘March for Israel’ Event in DC
The “Israel on Campus Coalition” offered college students $250 “microgrants” to attend the “March for Israel” event in Washington, DC on Tuesday. “The ‘Israel on Campus Coalition’ is funded by ‘pro-Israel’ billionaires such as Bernie Marcus, founder of Home Depot, and Jan Koum, founder of WhatsApp,” Michael Tracey reported. A group called “Israel on Campus Coalition” gave “microgrants” for people…
WAPO Investigation: Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack
A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation. The officer’s role provides the most direct evidence to…
Boeing Faces Cybersecurity Crisis: Lockbit Ransomware Attack Exposes Sensitive Data Amid Citrix Vulnerability Concerns
Boeing, a prominent aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, found itself targeted by the Lockbit ransomware group at the end of October. This cybercriminal organization claimed responsibility for infiltrating Boeing’s systems and asserted that it had obtained a substantial amount of sensitive data. The group threatened to disclose this information unless Boeing engaged with them before the initial deadline, initially set…