China denies Trump’s accusations of hacking Clinton’s email, Vladimir Putin softens pension policy in Russia.
China enters ‘5G sprint period’, goes all out to become world network powerhouse
China is among the countries that have entered the “sprint period” for the launch of breakthrough 5G technology, which is expected to hit the mainstream next year, Global Times reports.
The 5G network is 100 times faster and quicker than fibre-optic cables, and could help make remote diagnoses and surgeries possible, Zhang Yong, president of the China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute, said.
China’s three biggest telecom operators — China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom — will build standalone 5G networks, which will separate from 4G networks that can be used in such situations as Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous driving.
“By the end of August, telecommunications enterprises will have finished tests for both indoor and outdoor non-standalone 5G networks,” said Wang Zhiqin, vice-president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
China denies Trump’s claims it hacked Clinton’s mail
China has denied US President Donald Trump’s accusations that it hacked the emails of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, Al Jazeera reported.
On Wednesday, the President tweeted, “Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China.” He said the affair ought to be investigated by the FBI or the US Department of Justice.
He tweeted:
Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Trump presented no evidence for his claims
On Wednesday, an FBI spokesperson told The Washington Post that the investigative agency “has not found any evidence the servers were compromised”.
Stating that this wasn’t the first time that the nation has faced such accusations, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing, “China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity. We firmly oppose and crack down on any form of internet attacks and the stealing of secrets”
Writing about the strained US-China trade relations of late, The Independent noted, “Relations between the US and China have been strained since Mr Trump accused Beijing of predatory trade policies, and placed billions of dollars worth of tariffs on Chinese goods. China responded with matching tariffs on American imports.”
Putin lowers women’s retirement age after outrage
Russian President Vladimir Putin has softened the country’s new pension policy after widespread protests in the country. Introduced during the FIFA World Cup, the policy sought to increase the retirement age for men by five years, to 65, and for women by eight years, to 63, the BBC reported.
Putin announced the rollback on national television, saying they would cap women’s retirement age at 60. He added that women with three or more children could retire earlier.
Russia to hold its biggest war games in four decades. China to join in
Russia is all set to hold its biggest war games in four decades next month, Al Jazeera reports.
According to Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu, the drill, which is scheduled for 11-15 September, will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies. It will have 3,00,000 troops, more than 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia’s naval fleets, and all its airborne units.
Shoigu said the drills “are on an unprecedented scale both in terms of the area covered and in terms of the numbers” of military forces.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “The country’s ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means [it] is justified”.
Russia has invited military attaches from NATO countries based in Moscow to monitor the war games.
According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Beijing plans to send 3,200 troops and about 900 weapons units for the exercises.
Aung San Suu Kyi will not be stripped of Nobel Peace Prize
Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Peace Prize committee has said, CNN reported.
The statement follows a UN report where she was indicted for not using her position as de facto head of state or her moral authority to stem the Rohingya “genocide” carried out by military leaders.
Stating that there was “no provision” within the Nobel statutes to strip winners of their prize, Norwegian Nobel Institute Director Olav Njolstad told CNN, “We continue to call on all involved in Myanmar to ease the suffering of the Rohingya and cease their persecution and suppression.”
Suu Kyi, a celebrated human rights activist until her spell of silence on the Rohingya crisis, was awarded the Nobel prize in 1991. She has been stripped of at least several honours for failing to rein in human rights abuses against the stateless minority, including the ‘Freedom of Edinburgh’ last week.
No regrets, says Israeli soldier filmed shooting a wounded Palestinian
Elor Azaria, an Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting an incapacitated Palestinian at point blank range, has said in his first interview since release that he has no regrets, reported The Independent.
The former Israel Defence Forces medic was 19 when he shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif at West Bank in 2016.
In the interview, Azaria said he would do it again because “that is how he’s supposed to act”. Azaria served 14 months of the 18 he was sentenced to, as the military chief reduced his term by four months.
Although the nation was divided about his conviction, he said he felt the military had “abandoned” him.
9-year old US boy kills self after getting bullied for being gay
Jamel Myles, a nine-year-old student at a school in the US city of Denver, has committed suicide after getting bullied in school, reported NBC News.
Four days earlier, he had come out as gay in a video. “My son told my oldest daughter the kids at school told him to kill himself. I’m just sad he didn’t come to me,” his mother Leia Pierce was quoted as saying.
While coping with her loss, Pierce has also started working to spread awareness against bullying.
Public Schools in Denver have sent out letters to parents that they’re going to provide extra social workers and continue providing support to the bereaved family.
Contributors: Sankalita Dey, Soniya Agrawal and Anagha Deshpande