Global weekly news: American, Russian emails rock the world

Emails and more emails

WE have got our eyes glued on the amazing turns this US presidential race is taking. Of course it’s democracy in full swing and this is so meaningful to freedom-loving folk around the globe.

Friday’s bombshell announcement that the FBI has recently uncovered emails related to its investigation of Hilary Clinton sent stocks down because, as many analysts mentioned, the markets were pricing in a Clinton victory, and according to CNBC this now appears less likely.

Clinton said she was “confident” that the FBI would not recommend charges, and she called on the bureau to provide more information about the emails it is probing.

Donald Trump of course seized the opportunity, brandishing this as something “bigger than Watergate.”

Then again, Mitt Romney a few days earlier expressed his disappointment at the state of the presidential race while joking that he often asks himself why he stayed out of the 2016 bid for the White House.

“I’ve watched the presidential debates and looked at the give and take,” he said, adding that “there’s been almost no discussion” of policies, such as the growth of entitlement programs, income inequality and the national debt.”

We are eagerly awaiting the November 8 election result!

And Russian emails

ALSO embroiled in email problems is Russian President  Vladimir Putin because a Ukrainian group calling itself  Cyber Hunta has release over a gigabyte of these digital letters and notes from the office of one of his top aides, Vladislav Surkov, showing Russia’s fingerprints all over the separatist movement in Ukraine.

According to a Reuters report, despite Kremlin denials, the emails show in great detail how Russia controlled virtually every detail of the separatist effort in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, which has torn the country apart and led to a Russian takeover of Crimea.

And unlike the reported Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee, the Ukrainian hack reached deep into the office of the Russian president.

“This is a serious hack,” said Maks Czuperski, head of the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council (DFRL), which has searched through the email dump and placed selected emails online.

“We have seen so much happen to the United States, other countries at the hands of Russia,” said Czuperski. “Not so much to Russia. It was only a question of time that some of the anonymous guys like Cyber Hunta would come to strike them back.”

We call this email karma.

The tiniest home ever in Hong Kong

TINY homes are called coffin apartments in Hong Kong and it seems the coffin just got smaller because last week ten “space capsule” units came on the market offering just 2.2-square-meters of living space for HK$5,100 or 23,036 baht a month.

The listing by the leaseholder, surnamed Wang, says each pod comes with a television, air-conditioning and a memory foam mattress. It also has special lights which “create the feeling of being in space.” A kitchen and a toilet will be shared by the occupants of the 292-square-meter (960-square-feet) apartment.

BBC News contacted Mr Wang, who said he’s the husband of Ms Wang, and that they are only subletting the “space capsule and are not seeking a big profit.”

However netizens are furious and branded the landlord as unscrupulous.

“This is not a space capsule. This is sleeping in a coffin before your death,” said Facebook user Ralf Cheung.

Jeri Lee said: “It has a fancy name ‘space capsule’, but this is nothing but an enlarged dog house. Asking for HK$5,100 has gone too far.”

Hong Kong’s property prices are among the highest in the world. Housing has become a hot-button political issue, and housing issues are in almost every politician’s campaign platform.

Bob Dylan calling

IT’S a dream come true to win the Nobel Prize in literature but mysterious Bob Dylan just kept quiet after the news broke on October 13 that he has won this most prestigious prize which baffled people across the world.

There was a sigh of relief when the superstar American singer-songwriter said a couple of days ago that he would accept this prize. He explained that the honor left him “speechless.”

This came after BBC quoted a member of Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel prizes, as describing his silence as “impolite and arrogant.”

But on Friday, the Nobel Foundation said Dylan had called Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, telling her: “The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless. I appreciate the honor so much.”

Although the statement said it was unclear if Dylan would attend the prize-giving banquet in Stockholm, UK’s Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying: “Absolutely. If it’s at all possible.”

Prize or no prize we will always enjoy listening to Dylan’s famous songs.

CAPTIONS:

Top: Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump are battling hard in the last few days to the November 8 election. Photo: Thefiscaltimes.com

First inset: It’s Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s turn to be hit with a hacking scandal. Photo:The Guardian

Second inset: Hong Kong netizens are riled by these space capsule homes. Photo: BBC

Below: After keeping quiet for days Bob Dylan finally says he is accepting the Nobel Prize. Photo:Thegreektheatreberkeley.com

 

 

 

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