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According to state media reports, Vietnam will abolish the death penalty for eight serious crimes, including embezzlement, attempts to overthrow the government, and sabotaging state infrastructure.

The National Assembly unanimously approved a criminal code amendment that would abolish the death penalty for eight criminal offenses, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

Bribery, embezzlement, producing and trading counterfeit medications, illegally transporting narcotics, espionage, “the crime of destroying peace and causing aggressive war,” as well as sabotage and attempts to topple the government will no longer be the death penalty.

According to the news agency, life in prison will now be the maximum sentence for these crimes.

According to the report, those who were previously sentenced to death for capital offenses but have not yet been executed will receive a life sentence commute.

According to the report, the death penalty will apply to ten additional criminal offenses that are prohibited in Vietnam, including child molestation, treason, terrorism, and murder.

The most contentious topic at the National Assembly debate over the proposed criminal code amendment was last month’s one regarding the elimination of the death sentence for drug trafficking.

The harm caused by drug transport, whether it’s a few grams or a few tons, is enormous, according to one legislator, while removing the death sentence for drugs would send the wrong message at a time when the number of drug cases were rising across the nation.

Vietnam’s death row death penalty data is a state secret, and it is not known how many people are currently there.

After defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the first round of voting, 33-year-old state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City.

It always seems impossible until it is finished, Nelson Mandela said. It’s over, friends, done. And it was done by you. I’m honored to be your Democratic nominee for New York City’s mayor, Mamdani tweeted early on Wednesday morning.

Mamdani won 43.5 percent of the vote, while Cuomo won 36.4 percent, while Mamdani won the majority of the votes in Brooklyn, Queens, and other parts of Manhattan, while Cuomo won the Bronx and Staten Island.

Mamdani was largely unknown before the primary election, but he gained popularity as a self-described “democratic socialist” as a result of Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States.

His story echoes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’, a different democratic socialist who gained notoriety in the US congressional elections in 2018 with a surprise victory, but the primary election is still ongoing.

It never seems possible until it is finished, according to Nelson Mandela.

It’s over, friends, done. And it was done by you.

I’m honored to be your Democratic choice for New York City’s mayor. pic. twitter.com/AgW0Z30xw1

Because of the primary voting process in New York, the five top candidates must be ranked, so the non-first-choice picks must still be cast in the coming days.

According to The Associated Press news agency, experts predict that Mamdani will likely surpass the 50% threshold as a result of strategic alliances with other candidates who will support him as a “second place” candidate.

If Mamdani defeats incumbent incumbent Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who has a high chance of becoming the city’s first mayor of Asian heritage and first Muslim mayor.

Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents, who later immigrated to the US. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University, and his mother, Mira Nair, an award-winning director, is also a professor there.

Mamdani’s public support for the Palestinian cause attracted anti-Semitism accusations from some New Yorkers during his campaign, but he attracted the support of progressive and younger voters who oppose US support for Israel’s occupation of Gaza.

Israel is committing a genocide, and I will always be clear in my language and in my data. pic. twitter.com/KFt223ZVjA

The obligation to uphold international law

The Israel-Palestine conflict has particular resonance with voters even during municipal elections because New York has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel and also has a sizable Muslim population.

In an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show in the days leading up to the election, Mamdani directly addressed some of these issues.

A well-known American comedian named Colbert emailed Mamdani, who stated that while Israel had the right to exist, it also had the obligation to uphold international law.

He also suggested creating a Department of Community Safety in New York and increasing funding for anti-hate crime programming by 800 percent, as well as acknowledging the rise in anti-Semitic violence in the US.

Mamdani’s campaign also advocated for rent freezes, free buses, and city-owned grocery stores, and addressed cost-of-living issues facing New Yorkers.

Cuomo, 67, was initially viewed as the party’s front-runner, but Mamdani received a boost from the controversy surrounding his campaign.

In response to allegations of sexual misconduct, Cuomo was forced to resign as governor of New York in 2021, and his campaign for mayor attempted to refinish his reputation.

Despite securing a $25 million super PAC, or independent expenditure-only political action committee, and the support of some of New York’s wealthiest people, including billionaire and ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the former governor, was unable to get past his previous scandals, according to The New York Times.