Wikileaks website founder Julian Assange won leave from the English High Court on Monday to ask the country's Supreme Court to examine his bid to avoid extradition from Britain to Sweden, where authorities want to question him about sexual assault charges raised by two women.Wikileak founder Julian Assange addresses the press after being granted permission to petition the UK Supreme Court, outside the High Court in London, Britain, Dec. 5, 2011. Assange won the right to petition the UK Supreme Court in his fight against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex offences on Monday, after losing his High Court appeal last month. Assange, the 40-year-old Australian who runs the wikileaks website which has angered the U.S. authorities by publishing millions of secret diplomatic cables on the Internet, has been fighting a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by authorities in Sweden for a year. The Swedish authorities want to question Assange about an allegation of rape raised by one … [Read more...] about Wikileaks founder Assange wins latest round of legal battle to appeal extradition
Written appeal
Barcelona to appeal Pique red card
Barcelona will appeal against the red card shown to Gerard Pique in Saturday's La Liga match against Sporting Gijon, a club spokesman said on Monday. Pique was shown what appeared from television replays to be a harsh straight red early in the second half of the 3-1 win at the Nou Camp when he tangled with Gijon's Miguel de las Cuevas on the edge of the Barca area. The Spain international was quoted as saying in local media that the referee's decision looked to have been pre-meditated, comments condemned by the head of the referees' technical committee, Victoriano Sanchez Arminio, who said he would be making a formal complaint. Toni Freixa, spokesman for Barca's board of directors, told a news conference the club had "not been having much luck" with refereeing decisions this season. They had also written to the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) to ask under what circumstances the head of the referees committee is able to make formal complaints to the federation's disciplinary … [Read more...] about Barcelona to appeal Pique red card
Single-motherhood begins to appeal to urbane Vietnamese women
Tu Du, a leading obstetrics hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, processes an IVF for a woman wanting to be a single mother. Photo by Doc Lap … [Read more...] about Single-motherhood begins to appeal to urbane Vietnamese women
Whatever happened to the written word?
I'm a bookworm and proud to admit it. It was a habit formed in my early years, and when I was a student, I regularly visited the book shops on Ngo Thi Nham and Nguyen Xi streets to escape the demands of a heavy curriculum. On a recent visit to one of my old haunts, I was taken aback by the number of "best-sellers" on display. On closer inspection I realised, almost without exception, they were all potboilers. In an attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator, themes such as sex, love, betrayal abounded. To underscore this dumbing down of literature, they were poorly written, full of spelling mistakes and poorly bound, as if the publishers themselves didn't care about the dross they were churning out. Speed was clearly paramount, low-brow appeal the name of the game with a bid to rake in as much money as possible. It seems sensationalism has become the mantra of the publishing in general, and the old adage that sex sells is as true today as ever. Whatever happened to the likes of … [Read more...] about Whatever happened to the written word?
Bo’s appeal rejected, original judgment upheld
The Shandong Higher People's Court on Friday rejected Bo Xilai's appeal and upheld the original sentence of life imprisonment for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. Fallen Chinese political star Bo Xilai goes on trial China court gives Gu Kailai suspended death sentence: lawyer The Jinan Intermediate People's Court sentenced Bo, former secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and former member of the Political Bureau of the party's Central Committee, to life imprisonment on Sept. 22. According to the original verdict, Bo was found guilty of accepting bribes totaling more than 20.44 million yuan (about 3.3 million US dollars), embezzling 5 million yuan and the circumstances of his abuse of power were described as "especially serious." He was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes, with his political rights deprived for life and all personal assets confiscated. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzlement and … [Read more...] about Bo’s appeal rejected, original judgment upheld