52% of homosexual-heterosexual marriages end in divorce

52% of marriages between homosexuals and heterosexuals in Vietnam end in divorce, the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) announced on May 14. Titled “Same-sex relationships in Vietnam,” the study was carried out with the participation of 2,500 people, 23% of whom were homosexuals, bisexuals, transgender and people of unknown gender from 2012 to early 2013. Homosexuals seen in a photo of the collection The Pink Choice of Vietnamese photographer Nguyen Thanh Hai, aka Maika Elan According to the study, most homosexuals agree to marry heterosexuals due to pressure from their family, their wishes to have a marriage like other people, and to have children, or their filial duty. Half of the 52% who divorced said...

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Posted in: Society

IRS targeting of conservative groups intolerable - Obama

US President Barack Obama has said the federal tax agency's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny was "intolerable and inexcusable". The treasury department's inspector general will release a report on the matter this week He said those who carried out the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) actions would be held responsible. Mr Obama spoke after a treasury department report placed the blame on "ineffective management" at the agency. The US attorney general earlier ordered an FBI inquiry into the IRS conduct before the 2012 presidential election. Eric Holder told a news conference that agents would determine if any laws had been broken. The actions of tax officers, if not criminal, were "certainly outrageous and unacceptable",...

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Posted in: Business

Money-mad teens will do anything for money

Suggestive pictures are seen on a community page on Facebook Imagine you are a father or mother relaxing at home believing that you are safe in the knowledge that your two teenage girls are upstairs, having harmless fun with friends on social networking sites. But you have had a nagging doubt for a while and decide to keep an eye on them once in a while. They are impressionable young girls after all who can get themselves into trouble with amorous young males, if they are not careful. You have managed to secretly join their friends’ list and decide to see what is going on. You log on to your smartphone and there standing before you is your worst nightmare. Your daughter - nude. Now that is bad enough but not only is she naked but she...

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Posted in: Society

Taxi driver sacked for fleecing Irish couple

A Hanoi taxi firm has fined and sacked a cabbie who has been found guilty of overcharging an Irish couple, said its inspector. James Murtagh and his wife Tran Duc Tri, inspector of Thanh Nga taxi firm, Saturday confirmed with Tuoi Tre that Pham Van Linh, 38, the accused cabbie, has been fined VND5 million ($250) and sacked. Linh has also been summoned to local police station for further investigations, Tri added. As previously reported, James Murtagh and his wife from Ireland were asked to pay VND480,000 ($23) for a distance of two kilometers from a hotel on Hang Bong street to a restaurant on Ma May street. The maximum fee should have been VND40,000 ($1.9). According to Murtagh, he handed the driver a 500,000 banknote but...

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Posted in: Society

National Observers Note Irregularities in Pakistan Elections

Pakistani election staff count ballots at a polling station in Islamabad, May 11, 2013. Sharon Behn May 12, 2013 ISLAMABAD- Pakistan’s Election Commission on Sunday endorsed the country’s landmark elections that will see the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power via the ballot box in the country's history. It declared the country’s elections for a new national assembly and government leadership as “largely free and fair.” But Pakistani non-governmental observers noted voting irregularities and terror attacks in parts of the country meant that not everyone’s voice was heard.Free and Fair Election Network CEO Muddassir Rizvi says there were serious incidents of voting irregularities, fraud and intimidation in areas such as in the...

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Posted in: Politics

Vietnam Politburo Selects First U.S.-Educated Member

Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing, May 10, 2013. Reuter- 12 May 2013. HANOI — Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has appointed for the first time a U.S.-educated official to its powerful politburo, a landmark decision as pressure mounts to reform an economy stagnating after years of boom growth. The top decision-making body of the party that has ruled Vietnam since 1975 voted to increase its membership and bring in Nguyen Thien Nhan, a deputy prime minister overseeing education, health and technology, it said on its website (dangcongsan.vn). Nhan, 59, has a master's degree in public policy from the University of...

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Posted in: education