Data of hundreds of German politicians leaked; US House passes budget bill
(Baonghean.vn) - The US House of Representatives passed a budget bill to reopen the government; The UK is worried about its citizen accused of spying in Russia; Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is on trial with 1MDB leaders; Huawei demotes and fines employees who used iPhones to post New Year's greetings... are the world's top news in the past 24 hours.
US House passes budget bill to reopen government
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| A maintenance worker rearranges barricades outside the US Capitol on January 3. Photo:New York Times. |
The US House of Representatives on January 3 approved two new bills to end the nearly two-week partial government shutdown. The bills agree to provide budgets for the US Department of Homeland Security, the Departments of State, Commerce, Agriculture, Labor, Treasury and several other agencies to maintain operations through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.Reutersreport
The House bill, which is controlled by Democrats, does not include money for President Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico. Before the bill was passed, the White House said President Trump would not sign the bill unless additional funding was provided for the border wall. The Trump administration has demanded at least $5 billion for the wall.
Shocking revelation of personal data of hundreds of German politicians
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| Chancellor Angela Merkel is on the list of people whose personal information was leaked by hackers. Photo: Reuters |
AFP quoted German government spokeswoman Martina Fietz as saying on January 4 that personal data and documents of hundreds of politicians and celebrities in the country had been leaked online. Hackers stole addresses, phone numbers, letters, and copies of identity documents of the above figures and spread them on Twitter in December 2018, but the German government only discovered it this week.
Among the "victims" were Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, members of the German Bundestag, the European Parliament and regional parliamentarians, Fietz said. Most of the leaders of political parties with seats in parliament were affected by the leaks. In addition, many celebrities and journalists were also affected.
UK concerned about citizen accused of spying in Russia
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| British citizen Paul Whelan arrested in Russia. Source: EPA |
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on January 4 that the country was extremely concerned about Paul Whelan, a dual US-UK citizen who was accused of spying in Russia. Mr. Hunt emphasized: "The UK is extremely concerned about Paul Whelan, we have requested the support of the British consulate in Russia. The US is leading this issue because Whelan is a dual US-UK citizen."
On the same day, TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that British officials had requested consular access to Paul Whelan.
New Brazilian president considers possibility of stationing US troops
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: AFP |
President Jair Bolsonaro said Russia's support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has increased tensions in the region and is a cause for concern. Asked if that meant he would allow a US military presence in Brazil, Bolsonaro said he would certainly be open to discussing the possibility.
Mr. Bolsonaro himself has repeatedly expressed his admiration for President Trump and called the American leader “a role model for me.” For example, Mr. Bolsonaro announced that he would move the Brazilian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with the South American country’s long tradition of supporting Palestine.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on trial with 1MDB leader |
| Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and former CEO of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Arul Kanda Kandasamy will be tried together in a trial related to allegations of tampering with audit reports on the fund, the New Straits Times reported.
The decision was made by the Kuala Lumpur Magistrates’ Court on January 4, following a request from the prosecution. The trial is expected to take place in early March. If convicted under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, Arul Kanda faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
EU imposes heavy tax on steel imported beyond quota
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| Steel coil products at a factory in Shandong, China. Photo: AFP/VNA |
The European Commission (EC) has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imported beyond quotas into the European Union (EU) from February 2, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
In the announcement on January 4, the EC stated that the amount of imported steel exceeding the quota but not exceeding 105% of the ceiling allowed in the period 2015-2017 will be exempted from tax until 2021. Imported steel exceeding the above level will be subject to a 25% tax.
Türkiye continues to crack down on networks linked to cleric F.Gulen
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| Turkish police raid terrorists in Adana. Photo: AFP/VNA |
On January 4, Turkish police launched a nationwide sweep to arrest nearly 150 people, including many soldiers, suspected of being linked to the network of supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being behind the failed coup in July 2016.
Prosecutors in Istanbul, Konya and Ankara have ordered the arrest of 137 people in separate investigations into the network of supporters of US-based cleric Gulen, who Ankara accuses of masterminding last year's coup, according to the Anadolu news agency and NTV television. The raids took place in more than 30 provinces across Turkey, with Ankara alone ordering the arrest of 35 navy petty officers, including 10 who are still on active duty.
Huawei demotes and fines employee who used iPhone to post New Year greetings
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| Huawei mistakenly posted New Year greetings using an iPhone. |
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), at 11:31 p.m. on December 31, 2018, Huawei's official Twitter account posted a congratulatory message, "Happy 2019." However, the problem was that the message had a small line of text, "Twitter for iPhone," in the lower right corner of the message, revealing that the company was using Apple products to post the message. Although Huawei immediately deleted the tweet and replaced it with a new status, a screenshot of the message spread quickly, in the context of Huawei and Apple competing for the second-best-selling smartphone brand in the world.
On January 3, Chinese media published the content of Huawei's internal disciplinary email to two employees of the company for "mistakenly" tweeting using an iPhone. The two employees responsible for the mistake were demoted by one rank and had their salaries cut by 5,000 yuan (16 million VND).
