News
Vietnam Opens World’s ‘First’ Gold-Plated Hotel
The world’s first self-proclaimed gold-plated hotel is open for business — and the Vietnamese owners insist they have the Midas touch despite the cramping of global travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
The hotel cost $200 million to construct with a 24-carat plating across lobbies, an infinity pool and rooms with even cutlery, cups, shower heads and toilet seats receiving the golden treatment.
The hotel wants “ordinary people to the super rich… to check-in” both physically and on social media, said Nguyen Huu Duong, chairman of Hoa Binh group that owns the hotel.
A gold-plated infinity pool overlooks the city, while meals at the 25-storey hotel in downtown Hanoi may be mixed with a mysterious “gold substance”, according to the owners.
So far, the smattering of customers appear to be delighted with Hanoi’s flashiest new digs.
“When I arrived here… I felt like a king, you know, the Pharaoh… the king of Egypt,” joked Phillip Park, a South Korean guest.
“I really enjoyed the luxury atmosphere,” added Vietnamese guest Luong Van Thuan, saying he felt his status had automatically been “raised”.
The relatively modest construction price tag was achieved by sourcing the gold plating locally — significantly reducing costs.
“Our group has a factory that can do gold-plated stuff, so the cost for our equipment and furniture here is quite cheap,” Duong said.
And the pandemic which has strafed global tourism has not put him off opening, with Vietnam winning praise for its swift lockdown which has contained the coronavirus spread.
“For sure next year, we will make money,” he added.
News
OpenAI chief, Sam Altman, debunks sister’s sexual abuse accusations
Open AI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday denied allegations from his sister Annie Altman, who has filed a complaint accusing him of childhood sexual abuse.
“…Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, especially Sam,” the boss of the California startup said in a letter co-signed by his mother and two brothers, and published on social platform X.
“Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult,” they wrote.
One of Silicon Valley’s more charismatic figures, Altman shot to global fame with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, which ignited a race to advance AI research and development.
A prolific entrepreneur and already a billionaire, Altman, 39, has set himself the mission of developing a so-called “general” AI, with cognitive abilities similar to those of humans and which “benefits all of humanity”.
The Altman family said that they have tried to help their daughter and sister, covering her expenses and guaranteeing her “monthly financial support, which we expect to continue for the rest of her life”.
“Despite this, Annie continues to demand more money from us,” they said, pointing out that they have decided to respond publicly following Anne’s legal complaint filed on Monday, and after years of tension.
“The worst allegation she has made is that she was sexually abused by Sam as a child,” said the family.
“Her claims have evolved drastically over time. Newly for this lawsuit, they now include allegations of incidents where Sam was over 18.
“All these claims are utterly untrue.”
According to the complaint, Annie — who is nine years younger than Sam Altman — alleges the assaults took place from 1997, when she was three, until 2006.
In a report for New York Magazine in 2023, a journalist who met Annie in Hawaii described her as an artist suffering from depression and the growing rift with her family and supporting herself mainly through online sex work.
News
ICPC files money laundering charge against el-Rufai’s ex-commissioner
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has charged Muhammad Sa’idu, a former commissioner during the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna, to court over alleged money laundering.
TheCable reported that the Kaduna police command arrested Sa’idu over a petition for alleged diversion of public funds.
Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the ICPC’s assistant legal officer, filed the case against the former commissioner on Tuesday at the federal high court in Kaduna.
Sa’idu served as the commissioner of local government affairs, chief of staff, and commissioner of finance during the administration of el-Rufai.
The ICPC dismissed an earlier claim that Saidu had been exonerated of all charges after 10 months of investigation.
The former commissioner is charged alongside Ibrahim Muktar, a staff in the ministry of finance.
According to the suit No. FHC/KD/IC/2025, the defendants are charged on a two-count charge of money laundering.
“Sometime in March 2022 or thereabouts, Alhaji Muhammad Bashir Saidu, who at that time commissioner of finance, did accept cash payment of the sum of N155m from one Ibrahim Muktar exceeding the amount authorised by law, which sum you received in cash through proxy to wit: Muazu Abdu, your Special Assistant and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section2(a) and punishable under the Section 19(d) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022,” the charge sheet reads.
The ICPC also alleged that within the same period, Saidu “indirectly took control of the sum of N155m received in cash for and on behalf of you by one Muazu Abdul from Ibrahim Muktar, which he reasonably ought to have known, formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: corruption and you hereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering(Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.
The anti-graft agency noted that section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 states that “any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection(2) is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both”.
News
NBS website still down three weeks after hack
The website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) — www.nigerianstat.gov.ng — has remained inaccessible for three weeks after it was hacked.
Checks by TheCable on Monday showed that the website can not be reached according to feedback from the landing page.
Efforts to reach Ichedi Sunday, head of communications at the NBS, were unsuccessful.
The website breach was confirmed by the NBS on December 18, 2024, in a post published on X.
In the post, NBS asked members of the public to ignore any report published on its website until it recovers the website.
The hack was reported a day after the NBS published its crime experience and security perception survey.
In the report, the NBS said Nigerians paid N2.23 trillion as ransom in one year between May 2023 and April 2024.
NBS indicated that an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across Nigerian households during the period.
The report said the north-west recorded the highest crime incidents estimated to be over 14 million, while the south-east has the least with over six million cases.
According to the publication, the crime incidence in the rural area (26,526,069) was higher than that of the urban area (25,360,963).
On December 19, reports emerged that the Department of State Services (DSS) invited Adeniran Adeyemi, statistician-general of the federation, for questioning on the report.
However, NBS denied the report, saying that no invitation or arrest had occurred.
Since the bureau confirmed the hack, NBS has not provided further updates on the restoration of its website or any progress in addressing the hacking incident.
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