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Asia: The Panama-registered oil tanker, Sanchi, which collided last week with the Hong Kong-registered CF Crystal freighter, finally sank this past Sunday (Jan. 14) in the East China Sea.
The accident, which occurred about 300 kilometres off China’s coast near Shanghai, reportedly took the life of Sanchi’s entire crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.
Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of highly flammable ultra-light crude condensate, worth US$ 60 million, from Iran to South Korea.
Vessels and fishing boats from China and South Korea participated in the search and rescue operation. The United States Navy also sent a P-8A Poseidon airplane from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan.
The National Iranian Tanker Company, who owns and operates Sanchi, blamed China for not attempting to rescue the sailors, nor extinguish the blaze, which happened after the initial collision.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs disputed this account, saying that 12 vessels were searching for the missing sailors while cleaning up the spill.
For more we go to euronews:
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Korea: South Korea has talked with North Korea about the idea of forming a joint women’s ice hockey team during next month’s Winter Olympics.
The Pyeongchang Games will begin on February 9th.
The two governments have also discussed other protocol issues, including whether athletes from both countries should march together at the opening ceremony.
North Korea has not yet confirmed if it has accepted the joint-team proposal, which is seen to be an opportunity to ease the recent tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s missile launches and development of nuclear weapons.
If both sides agree, it would be the first time since the 2007 Asian Winter Games in China where athletes from the Koreas paraded together at the opening and closing ceremonies of major international games.
It will also be the first time since 2005 that North Korea sent its female cheerleaders to those occasions.
For more we go to NBC News:
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Technology: Eastman Kodak announced on Tuesday (January 9) the launch of the cryptocurrency KODAKCoin which allows photographers to manage the rights of their works.
The one-time industry leader, and a household name for photography film, Kodak is trying to reinvent itself with the blockchain technology after having missed out the digital photography wave which led to its downfall more than a decade ago.
The image rights management platform, launched with WENN Digital in a licensing partnership, will create an encrypted, digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers to register both new and archived work that they can then license within the platform, according to Kodak.
Photographers can receive payment for licensing their work and sell their work confidently on a secure blockchain platform.
Shares of Eastman Kodak Co soared more than one fold to close at $6.80 on Tuesday.
The initial coin offering will open on January 31 and is open to accredited investors from the U.S., UK, Canada, and other select countries.
For more we go to Fox Business:
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Lead-In Image Courtesy of Everett Historical / Shutterstock.com – “Reporters in telephone booths in White House press room, ca. 1937.”
