The United States said on Monday it would expel 60 Russian diplomats, joining governments across Europe in punishing the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain that they have blamed on Moscow. It was the strongest action that U.S. President Donald Trump had taken against Russia since coming to office. He has been criticised by Democrats and members of his own Republican Party for failing to be tough enough on Russia over U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. electoral system, including the 2016 presidential campaign. British Prime Minister Theresa May, welcoming the show of solidarity, said 18 countries had announced plans to expel Russian officials. Those included 14 European Union countries. In total, 100 Russian diplomats were being removed, the biggest Western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the height of the Cold War. Australia later confirmed it was expelling two Russian diplomats identified as undeclared intelligence officers, citing … [Read more...] about US, EU to expel more than 100 Russian diplomats over UK nerve attack
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Social Headlines January 17
Two murderers receive death penalty The People's Court of the southern province of Dong Nai sentenced two men to death yesterday. The verdict said that Ngo Van Tam, 21, and Tran Tu Dien, 25, killed their roommate on Christmas Day last year for failing to give Tam VND500 million (US$23,500) as promised. They chopped up the victim's body and disposed of it. They also stole money and a mobile phone from the deceased before stealing a motorcycle in An Binh market. Tam and Dien were arrested on December 26. More arrests made in hacking scandal Police have arrested two men who hacked websites and stole foreigners' credit card information to buy luxury goods abroad and sell them later in Viet Nam. The two men, Nguyen Quang Nhut, 35, of HCM City, and Nguyen Van Hoa, 23, of central Quang Tri Province, were part of a group operating through an internet forum that offers instructions on how to hack websites. The forum is open to anyone free of charge, but once an individual pays a US$100 fee, … [Read more...] about Social Headlines January 17
In India, a specter for us all, and a resistance coming
Common Indian takes to the streets as neoliberalism impoverishes vast majority, Pilger says University students from All India Students Association (AISA) and All India Progressive Women Association (AIPWA) shout anti-government slogans during a protest in New Delhi on January 4, 2014, after an Indian teenager was gang-raped in two separate attacks and then died after being set on fire in the eastern city of Kolkata. Photo: AFP In five-star hotels on Mumbai's seafront, children of the rich squeal joyfully as they play hide and seek. Nearby, at the National Theatre for the Performing Arts, people arrive for the Mumbai Literary Festival: famous authors and notables drawn from India's Raj class. They step deftly over a woman lying across the pavement, her birch brooms laid out for sale, her two children silhouettes in a banyan tree that is their home. It is Children's Day in India. On page nine of the Times of India, a study reports that every second child is … [Read more...] about In India, a specter for us all, and a resistance coming
Social Highlights for November 4
Shop blaze kills four family members The victims are a couple, their 15-year-old son and 74-year-old father. The cause of the blaze remains unknown. Rescue teams failed to save the victims because it took time to break down the family's automatic rolling door, which was tightly closed, when the blaze occurred at 1am. The case is under investigation. Dozens survive passenger bus fire Dozens managed to escape a passenger bus with bunk beds after it was on fire in Ha Tinh province early on November 4. The North-South express bus caught fire when it was travelling past Phu Viet commune, Thach Ha district, at 04.00am. The blaze was said to break out at the rear-end of the bus and quickly spread across the vehicle. Passengers managed to get out of the bus before local fire fighters put out the roaring fire within 30 minutes. Investigation into the cause of the incident is under way. Students win American Academy scholarships As many as 28 students in the central city were … [Read more...] about Social Highlights for November 4
Social highlights for October 25
Men jailed for master-minding public disorder Ngo Van Khoi, 53, was sentenced to seven months in prison, while 43-year-old Nguyen Van Hai was given six months. The jail terms began from June 27, 2013. According to the Nghe An provincial People's Procuracy, from May 22-23, Khoi and Hai incited others to detain and assault on-duty policemen from Nghi Loc district and Nghe An province, as well as destroy the property of officers and the State. They also called on others to surround the house of Dau Van Son, the communal official in charge of military affairs in Nghi Phuong, before vandalising the property and threatening his family. The incident began on May 22 when Priest Dang Huu Nam of Binh Thuan parish, Nghi Thuan Commune, gathered hundreds of Catholics at Trai Gao church to pray for eight people about to stand trial at an appeals court in Vinh City, having been charged with conducting subversive activities. The incident is reported to have begun when parishioners attacked five … [Read more...] about Social highlights for October 25