News Headlines - 09 March 2019

▽UN Panel Says North Korea Obtained $670 Million in Crypto and Fiat via Hacking: Report

North Korea has reportedly amassed $670 million in fiat and cryptocurrencies by conducting hacking attacks, Asia-focused financial newspaper Nikkei Asian Review reports on Friday, March 8. The publication cites a U.N. Security Council report.
The report, prepared by a panel of experts, was presented to the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee ahead of its annual report. According to the documents obtained by Nikkei, the hackers attacked overseas financial institutions from 2015 to 2018 and purportedly used blockchain “to cover their tracks.”

▽Hyundai Heavy signs formal deal to take over Daewoo Shipbuilding | Yonhap News Agency

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. on Friday signed a formal deal with the state-run Korea Development Bank to buy its smaller local rival Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., heralding the world's largest shipbuilding group with a some 20 percent market share.
Hyundai Heavy became the sole bidder for Daewoo Shipbuilding after another local shipyard, Samsung Heavy Industries Co., turned down an offer to bid for Daewoo Shipbuilding.

▽UK, Japan scientists study radioactive Fukushima particles | Reuters

Eight years after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan, radioactive particles collected from the site are undergoing new forensic investigation in Britain in an effort to understand the exact sequence of events.

▽IHI finds 211 cases of improper engine inspections - NHK WORLD

Japan's IHI Corporation says it has found more than 200 cases of improper inspections of aircraft engines over the past two years... IHI President Tsugio Mitsuoka offered his apologies on Friday. He said the company examined about 40,000 inspection records from the past two years, and found 211 cases of misconduct... The misconduct involved 32 employees. IHI managers had received a whistle-blower report in April last year, but failed to confirm the wrongdoing.

▽Hello Kitty headed for Hollywood after years of talks on film rights | The Japan Times

Sanrio announced on Wednesday that it will team up with New Line Cinema and FlynnPictureCo. to create an English-language Hello Kitty film for global audiences, with Warner Brothers as distributor.
The iconic cat, first designed in 1974 with a trademark pink bow, will be turned into a movie character after nearly five years of talks to secure the film rights. The new partnership also includes film rights to Sanrio’s other creations, including the pink rabbit My Melody and Gudetama, a slouching egg-shaped cartoon character.