Spanish football Cup slips, falls under bus

Spain's most treasured football trophy, the King's Cup, slipped from the hands of a Real Madrid player, fell under the team bus and was reportedly crushed into pieces. Defender Sergio Ramos held the 15-kilo (33-pound) trophy above his head in an open-top bus as the triumphant team were about to enter Madrid's central Cibeles Square, packed with fans partying throughout the night. But he lost his grip and the Cup, which Real Madrid got their hands on just hours earlier for the first time since 1993 after a 1-0 victory over Barcelona, fell in front of the bus. The team bus then ran over the silver trophy before stopping. Police rushed to retrieve the Cup and gave it to the bus driver but it was not displayed to the public again. Emergency...

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Posted in: Sport

Massage service goes online for real business

“Huong, a home masseuse, with attractive appearance, 1.62m tall, weighing 52kg, understanding people, expecting to be a friend of older men who are serious and like massage.” Surfing local Vietnamese websites, one can easily find many advertisements like the one above, offering door-to-door female massage services. The information provided often includes a phone number for contact, and more often than not, a description about her physical attractiveness and pleasing personality. Massage, the ancient art of kneading and touching to promote relaxation and well-being, has gone online, seeking to meet the needs of an untapped, undeveloped market segment. Massage: extra service anyone? A masseuse offering home service via text message When...

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam

Indo bomb targeted church

A massive 150-kilogram bomb buried beneath a gas pipeline in Serpong, Tangerang, on Thursday morning was targeting the nearby Catholic Church in a Good Friday attack, Indonesian officials said. National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the arrest of 19 suspects on Thursday led police to the gas pipeline near a church in Serpong, where they found the massive bomb just about a hundred meters from the church. Ansyaad Mbai, head of Indonesia’s National Counter-Terrorism Agency, added that the men “were arrested in relation to the book bomb attacks, and it was discovered that they were also planning to bomb the church.” Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said he believed Islamic militants had been plotting the attack...

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Posted in: Health,Society

Japan Expands Evacuation Zone Around Nuclear Plant

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station An evacuation advisory for areas near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was widened on Friday because of concerns about long-term radiation exposure. The move comes a day after Japan began legally enforcing a 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the power station. The new advisory covers several towns northeast of the mandatory exclusion zone. Residents have been asked to leave the area within the next month.Government officials say the danger is the gradual build-up of radiation that has been happening since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.Residents could exceed the annual safe dose if they stay in the area.Prime Minister...

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Posted in: Health,Japan,Society

China’s pork-to-beef technology on sale in Vietnam

Beef stock sold at Dong Xuan market China’s scandalous additives that can turn pork to beef can now be found everywhere in the country’s northern markets. At Dong Xuan, Hanoi’s biggest wholesale market on Hang Buom Street, many shop owners are now offering Chinese additives that “can help you cook your beef better.” “If you want your pork to smell and look just like beef, a little bit of this can do the job,” C.T.L, the owner of a spice shop in Dong Xuan, said as she was showing us a pack of ivory powder. C.T.L declared the powder, which didn’t have any label identifying its origin or ingredients, was “made in Vietnam.” This powder is also available at many other shops. Costing VND500,000 (US$24)...

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Modi wanted Muslims to be taught a lesson: Gujarat cop

AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court might finally have got its first piece of direct evidence against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his role in the 2002 riots. An IPS officer from Gujarat, Sanjiv Bhatt, who claimed to have attended Modi's meeting on the evening of February 27, 2002, after the Godhra carnage, has filed an affidavit before the apex court alleging that Modi told government officials that it was time to let Hindus vent their anger. Fifty-nine passengers, mostly kar sevaks, were killed on the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express that day, sparking riots throughout the state. Bhatt, who was superintendent of police (intelligence) then, says in his affidavit that Modi insisted that the bodies of those killed on the Sabarmati Express be brought to Ahmedabad, against...

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Posted in: Society

Foreign policy along party lines

Russia's foreign policy may be made by the United Russia party, but that doesn't mean there is no debate. Russia’s complex, contradictory and at times even somewhat confused reaction to the events in Libya reflects fundamental differences in how various political forces in Russia define the country’s interests in North Africa and around the world. The most visible—and inevitably inflated—indication of opposing foreign policy philosophies among Russian elites was the reactions offered by President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to UN Security Council Resolution 1973. While Putin called the resolution, which established a no-fly zone over Libya, “moronic” and likened it to a “medieval call to crusade,” Medvedev defended...

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Posted in: Politics

Dollar rises above black market rate

The official exchange rate for the US dollar rose above the black market rate yesterday for the first time, following recent moves by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to fix the forex market. Commercial banks yesterday quoted the dollar buy/sell prices at VND20,880/20,930 each while forex vendors on Ha Trung and Hang Bac were quietly trading at VND20,850/20,940. The black market rate used to be VND1,000-1,500 higher than in banks, causing numerous problems for monetary policy makers. The SBV in recent weeks has raised the USD/VND exchange rate on the interbank market every day in line with market moves, instead of leaving it unchanged as before. Yesterday, the interbank exchange rate was set at VND20,723 per dollar. Many banks reported that they had already bought dollars from...

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Private business rises against the Goliaths of graft

 When entrepreneur Yana Yakovleva resisted police extortion attempts, she went to jail for seven months on principal. Now free again, she is a champion of business against corruption. In 2006, Yana Yakovleva was an ambitious co-owner of chemical company Sofex. By all accounts a savvy executive, she was still shocked when a special police drugs unit came to her offices looking for kickbacks. Young and principled, Ms Yakovleva refused to pay up – a noble stance that got her arrested and thrown in jail. Before she knew it, she was teaching exercise classes to down-and-out women in a female detention centre. “Some government officials consider businesspeople in Russia to be criminals in the first place,” she says. “They can approach...

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Posted in: Business,Society

Protecting Russia’s orphans

 A new agreement between Russia and the United States on adoptions will be signed in May, but real hope for Russia's orphans can only begin with changes at home. The Russian government is finally tackling the problem of adoptions by foreign citizens in earnest. A watershed event is scheduled to take place in May: the signing of a bilateral agreement on adoptions between Russia and the United States. The signing will take place at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The agreement was prepared by the staff of Pavel Astakhov, Children Rights Commissioner for the president of the Russian Federation. The need for such an agreement has long been apparent. Over the last 20...

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Posted in: Politics,Society

The sauna comes to you

“If you don’t have time for the sauna, the sauna will come to you!” reads the message on the business card. In addition to a phone number, the card contains the image of a sauna switch of birch twigs and a wooden bucket. It’s not an entirely new invention – Russians in the Urals long ago became adept at converting almost anything that has four wheels for their sauna needs. In addition to mobile saunas, in this region there are also mobile banyas. These are literally small huts on wheels pulled by tractors. Taking into account the unique conditions of Russian back roads, staying on the bench in the sauna must be about as easy as riding a bull at the rodeo. This particularly challenge would be considerably less difficult in Moscow, where the...

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Posted in: Business,Society

Binh Duong timber smuggler jailed

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Tuesday sentenced the mastermind of a timber smuggling operation to 16 years in jail. Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy director of Kim Loi Limited Company based in neighboring Binh Duong Province, along with seven other defendants were found guilty of smuggling 93 containers of protected timber to China. The company and its executives were operating under the cover of business that exported products to China. Four executives of companies in Binh Duong were sentenced to a jail term between 4 and 13 years. Two custom officers found guilty of corruption received 9 years and a year of probation. According to the indictment, Hoa bought the illegally-logged wood and conspired with Kim Loi...

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Pope’s diplomatic representative visits Vietnam

Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, non-resident pontifical representative to Vietnam, paid a courtesy visit to leaders of the Foreign Ministry in Hanoi on Thursday. At the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed the consistent policy of the Party and State of Vietnam of respecting the right to freedom of belief of people and ensuring the equality among religions. He valued the Vietnamese Catholics’ role in Vietnam in the past and at present and acknowledged recent encouraging progress in relations with the Vatican. Deputy FM Son expressed his wish that the non-resident pontifical representative to Vietnam would guide the Vietnam Catholic Church to implement Pope Benedict XVI’s teachings...

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Posted in: Politics,Society,Vietnam

Pregnant mothers' diet linked to child obesity: study

A chubby baby is smiling in front of a portrait of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. An expectant mother's diet during pregnancy can alter her baby's DNA in the womb, increasing its risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in later life, an international study has found. Researchers said the study provided the first scientific evidence linking pregnant women's diet to childhood obesity, with major implications for public health. "This a major breakthrough because for the first time it gives us the potential to work out the optimal diet a mother should eat," Professor Peter Gluckman from Auckland University's Liggins Institute told AFP. "That's likely to vary slightly from mother to mother, but it could be a major tool...

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Posted in: Health,Science

Reports: 73 Killed After Syrian Security Forces Open Fire

Protesters hold a Syrian flag during a demonstration in Zabadani, near Damascus, April 22, 2011 Rights groups and activists say at least 73 people were killed in Syria on Friday, after security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters who rallied across the country. The toll would make Friday the deadliest single day of protests in the country since the anti-government uprising began in March. Witnesses and activists say security forces used live ammunition and tear gas on protesters, who poured onto the streets after Friday prayers and called for President Bashar al-Assad's immediate departure. The deaths were reported in areas including the southern Daraa region, the central city of Homs and communities...

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Posted in: Politics

Gold isn’t your source of nutrition

Gold mask has become popular in many Vietnamese spas In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, people are eating and using gold in skincare products because of its alleged health benefits, though doctors disagree. For instance, a gold wine brand called G. is said to contain 22 carats of pure gold to help increase ion levels in blood, decompose stones inside organs and increase energy. Each 500ml bottle is sold for VND1.5 million (US$75). At the same price, consumers can buy a set of three bottles of Korean gold wine. “My husband bought during his business trip in Korea,” said a gold wine seller in Ho Chi Minh City. “Drink one glass before meal and you’ll see the effect in a week.” This seller said...

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Posted in: Business,Society,Vietnam

Coming Home to Chernobyl’s Desolation Zone

A view of the abandoned village of Redkovka, April 2011 Ira Khvostyk is home. In the small Ukrainian village of Redkovka, her 92-year-old grandfather lives alone in his wooden farmhouse that was once home to three generations. For Khvostyk, the village, a three-hour bumpy drive from the capital, Kyiv, was a safe place where the world drifted by harmlessly until the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened."This was considered one of the central villages," she says pointing to a stretch of now abandoned homes. "It was home for me.  Now I don’t even recognize it."Khvostyk was 14 years old when the then world’s worst nuclear power plant explosion happened on April 26, 1986, in Chernobyl, just 35 kilometers from Redkovka. She remembers...

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Posted in: Science,Society

US Senator Visits Libyan Rebels in Benghazi

US Republican senator John McCain (R) walks with Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa, spokesman of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), during his tour to the rebel headquarters in their eastern stronghold city of Benghazi , April 22, 2011 U.S. Senator John McCain arrived in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi Friday to meet with opposition leaders and to assess the situation on the ground.McCain told reporters the rebels are his "heroes", after his arrival in the eastern city that serves as the headquarters of the Libyan opposition.The veteran Republican lawmaker was one of the strongest advocates for a military intervention in Libya, where rebel fighters are battling forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi.His visit comes a day after...

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Posted in: Afica,Politics,Society

More Agribank officials arrested in massive loan scam

Police in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested two officials and a staff of Agribank for alleged involvement in a scam that misappropriated VND120 billion (US$5.73 million) from the state-owned bank. Vo Duc Hung, head of assessment office, and Ngo Duc Tai, credit staff, both from Agribank’s Tan Binh District branch, as well as Nguyen Minh Hoa, an auditor of the bank’s southern representative office, are accused of violating loan regulations. It is alleged that together with five other officials of Agribank, including Nguyen Tam, director of the Tan Binh District branch, the officials allowed Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa, former  deputy sales manager of Reetech Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint-stock...

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Thailand and Cambodia in fresh border clash

At least six soldiers are reported to have been killed and several wounded in fighting between Cambodia and Thailand over their long-disputed border. The clashes erupted near Ta Krabey temple, which both sides claim. More than 5,000 local people are to be evacuated, officials say. It is the worst incident since at least 10 people were killed in clashes at another disputed temple in February. Until Friday, an informal truce had appeared to be holding. Indonesia, which has been facilitating talks on behalf of regional bloc the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and expressed "profound concern". The scene is now said to be calm, after several hours of fighting. Fragile ceasefire ...

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Posted in: Politics,Society

Gym in Spain's Basque region offers naked workouts

A gym in Spain's Basque region has come up with an eye-catching way of battling the recession. It has begun offering naked workouts, for nudists. Easy Gym in Arrigorriaga is the first of its kind in Spain, pioneering the peculiar practice of stripping while keeping fit. "With the crisis we noticed there were fewer people using the gym," owner Merche Laseca explained to the BBC. "I'm not a nudist myself, though I have no problem with it. But this initiative is about the money." Naked enthusiasm The gym did its research before opting to chase the nudist euro. It discovered that two local swimming pools already offered popular monthly sessions for bathing in your birthday suit. Every year,...

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Posted in: Entertainment,Society

Train hawkers risk death to earn livelihood

None of the women in Kim Lien village in Da Nang can remember when they began to earn their living as hawkers by jumping from a bridge on top of moving trains. But their grinding poverty means despite neighbors and friends getting killed, they cannot give it up. Women hawkers jumps from a bridge on the top of moving trains so that they can sneak in to sell stuff as food, eggs, and local specialties Tran Thi Cuc, an old woman with a tanned face and scars on her cheek, has been a “train jumper” for 25 years. The oldest of her five children, now 20, has been doing it together with her for three years. “My husband is a construction worker whose income is not enough to feed himself. So my eldest daughter and I have to jump on the train...

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam