Wednesday, July 01, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on an Iranian-based firm for its alleged ties to North Korea’s missile proliferation network.The firm, identified as Hong Kong Electronic, located in Iran’s Kish Island, provided support to North Korea’s Tanchon Commercial Bank and Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID).Those two North Korean entities had been designated by the United States and the United Nations Security Council for nuclear proliferation activities.“North Korea uses front companies like Hong Kong Electronics and a range of other deceptive practices to obscure the true nature of its financial dealings, making it nearly impossible for responsible banks and governments to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate North Korean transactions,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.The Treasury Department said that Hong Kong Electronics has since 2007 transferred millions of dollars of “proliferation-related funds” on behalf of the two North Korean entities and has “facilitated the movement of money from Iran to North Korea on behalf of KOMID.”It said that Tanchon had been involved in financing ballistic missile sales from KOMID to Iran’s Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, which is the Iranian organization responsible for developing liquid-fueled missiles.Tanchon has also maintained an active relationship with Iran’s Bank Sepah, said the Treasury Department. “The U.S. has reason to believe that the Tanchon-Bank Sepah relationship has been used for North Korea-Iran proliferation-related transactions.”
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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