The Daily Populous

Tuesday September 27th, 2022 night edition

image for Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Snowden

Sept 26 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, nine years after he exposed the scale of secret surveillance operations by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Snowden's name appeared without Kremlin comment in a Putin decree conferring citizenship on 72 foreign-born individuals.

Snowden later issued a message, essentially an updated version of a November 2020 tweet, saying he wanted his family to remain together and asking for privacy.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the state media outlet RT and a vocal Putin supporter, wrote with dark humour on her Telegram channel.

"I am familiar with the fact that he has in some ways denounced his American citizenship.

Russia granted Snowden permanent residency rights in 2020, paving the way for him to obtain Russian citizenship.

Putin, a former Russian spy chief, said in 2017 that Snowden, who keeps a low profile while living in Russia, was wrong to leak U.S. secrets but was not a traitor. »

Russia: man shoots officer drafting residents for war in Ukraine

Authored by theguardian.com
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A draft officer was shot in Ust-Ilimsk, a town of about 85,000 people in the Irkutsk region in Siberia.

According to a witness, the man shot the draft officer after he had given a “clumsy” pep talk for the men to go and fight in Ukraine.

In Ryazan, a man set his clothing on fire while yelling that he did not want to participate in Russia’s war in Ukraine, a local outlet reported, citing witnesses. »

Cuba legalizes same-sex marriage and adoption after the Cuban referendum

Authored by zeenews.india.com
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Cubans voted in a landmark referendum on Sunday, 25th September to decide whether to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, allow surrogate pregnancies and give better rights to non-biological parents.

Political scientist Rafael Hernandez said the referendum on same-sex marriage is the "most important human rights legislation" in Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in 30 years due to a collapse in international tourism and ongoing US sanctions. »

Mum left in hospital for days after dog pooed in her face as she slept

Authored by walesonline.co.uk

A woman spent three days in hospital - after her daughter's dog accidently did a poo on her face while she was asleep.

She ran to the bathroom to be sick but later ended up in hospital with a gastrointestinal infection - passed on from the pooch.

"I was kept in hospital for three days until they'd flushed the infection out through a drip. »

India develops its first cervical cancer vaccine

Authored by reuters.com
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Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

"The indigenously developed vaccine will make our country self-sufficient in curbing female mortality caused by cervical cancer," SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said in a statement.

He told reporters the vaccine would be out for sale in a few months, first for the Indian market and then the world. »