Israel

A teenage Palestinian girl who was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank accepted a plea deal on Wednesday under which she will be sentenced to eight months in prison, her lawyer said. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the Dec. 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. The soldiers had deployed during a weekly Palestinian protest in the village against Israeli policy on settlements in the West Bank, one of the most heated issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tamimi was 16 at the time of the offence. Her trial began last month and she faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault. "No justice under occupation!" Tamimi, handcuffed and shackled, shouted out to reporters at court in the Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Tamimi's attorney Gaby Lasky said that under the deal approved by the court, Tamimi will plead guilty to a … [Read more...] about Palestinian teen on trial for striking Israeli soldier agrees plea deal

The U.N. Human Rights Council will meet Friday to decide whether to send international war crimes investigators to probe the deadly shootings of Gaza protesters by Israeli forces. The special session of the U.N.'s top rights body will consider a draft resolution calling for the council to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry," the U.N.'s highest level investigation. The special session comes after a month and a half of mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border, calling for Palestinian refugees to be able to return to their homes now inside Israel. The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill some 60 Palestinians, pushing the overall toll well over 100. Israel has justified its actions, saying they are necessary to stop mass infiltrations from the blockaded Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas. The draft resolution discussed … [Read more...] about UN mulls sending international war crimes probe to Gaza

Members of the Vietnamese team at the 50th International Physics Olympiad in Israel. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education and Training) The gold medalists are Tran Xuan Tung, a student at Hanoi-Amsterdam High School, Nguyen Xuan Ung from University of Science’s High School for Gifted Students under Vietnam National University, Hanoi and Nguyen Khanh Linh from Thanh Hoa province's Lam Son High School. The silver medal winners are Le Viet Hoang from Bien Hoa High School for Gifted Students in Ha Nam province and Trinh Duy Hieu from Bac Giang High School for Gifted Students in the northern province of Bac Giang. All the medal winners are 12th graders. The IPhO is an annual competition in physics for high school students which involves individual theoretical and experimental contests. The 50th IPhO was organised and supported by the Ministry of Education of Israel and the School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel Aviv … [Read more...] about Vietnam wins three golds at 50th International Physics Olympiad

Spotify arrives in Vietnam more than two years later than its competitor Sweden-based music, podcast, and video streaming service Spotify has become available to users in Vietnam since Monday, in its expansion to 64 markets worldwide. Limited songs and features are available for free with advertisements, while additional features such as improved streaming quality and downloads are offered via paid subscriptions. In Vietnam, customers can upgrade to a premium account for VND59,000 (US$2.60) a month, after a 30-day free trial. Vietnam was among three countries involved in Spotify’s market expansion on Monday, which also saw the Swedish company expanding its reach to South Africa and Israel. The combined population of the three countries is approximately 160 million, making it Spotify’s biggest international expansion since it became available in Thailand in August last year, Music Business Worldwide reported. Monthly premium subscriptions in … [Read more...] about ​​Spotify challenges Apple Music in Vietnam’s streaming market

"Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel Islands. Vietnam requests that relevant parties respect the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction rights of Vietnam," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet. She said Vietnam also asks all parties to seriously obey international law and make responsible contributions to maintaining security, safety, peace and stability in the East Sea, she said. The waters is also known as the South China Sea. Hang was responding to an inquiry regarding China's suspected illegal deployment of an aerostat on Mischief Reef in Vietnam’s Spratly Islands. A satellite image of November 18 showing an aerostat-shaped object flying above the Mischief Reef was posted on the Twitter account of Israel’s geospatial data firm ImageSat International (ISI) on November 24. China has started building an early warning system utilizing aerostats since 2017, according … [Read more...] about Vietnam reiterates sovereignty over Spratly, Paracel archipelagoes