Vietnam from a Briton’s perspective

Tuoi Tre News

Updated : 03/16/2017 16:00 GMT + 7

Editor’s note: Helen Major from the UK is sharing several of her personal observations of Vietnam since relocating to the Southeast Asian country with her Vietnamese husband.

I’m British. I’m married to a Vietnamese man. For the first few years of our marriage, we lived in Britain – where my poor husband had to deal with an intensely curious public whose only real knowledge of his country came from American war films. Recently, however, my husband, our two children, and I moved back to Vietnam. I’ve been to Vietnam before, of course, to visit my in-laws and see where my husband grew up, but actually living here has been quite an eye opener! My children have immediately become Vietnamese, apparently – but I (to my husband’s great amusement) am frequently confused. Here, for your delight, is my bewildered outsider’s perspective on this wonderful nation. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam from a Briton’s perspective”

Chairman of northern Vietnam province intimidated for putting brakes on sand exploitation

Tuoi Tre News

Updated : 03/16/2017 16:45 GMT + 7

The chairman of the People’s Committee in the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh has been the victim of threats since launching a campaign to end harmful sand exploitation in a local river.

Nguyen Tu Quynh, chairman of the provincial administration, has sent a letter notifying the prime minister that he and other officers had been threatened for ending a sand dredging project in the Cau River, an 83 kilometer long waterway snaking through Bac Ninh and Bac Giang Provinces.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday, Chairman Quynh stated he had asked the Ministry of Public Security to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the investors behind the detrimental project. Tiếp tục đọc “Chairman of northern Vietnam province intimidated for putting brakes on sand exploitation”

Managing Security in the South China Sea: From DOC to COC

Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

Mingjiang Li


Hailed as a milestone document between ASEAN and China in 2002, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) has not fulfilled its mission in building greater trust between the claimant states and preventing the dispute from escalating. It has merely played the role of imposing moral constraints on relevant parties. One could argue, however, that it has at least served as both a reference point when problems and tensions emerged and the grounds for negotiations of a formal code of conduct (COC).Now that ASEAN countries and China have just started the COC process, it is important for all the participating parties to address the loopholes of the DOC when they discuss and negotiate the COC. Tiếp tục đọc “Managing Security in the South China Sea: From DOC to COC”

Australia urges South China Sea ruling as basis for ‘code of conduct’

MANILA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations should use an international court’s rejection of China’s claims to almost all the South China Sea as basis for a code of conduct, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Thursday.

Australia did not take sides in the South China Sea disputes, Bishop said, but it wanted to see “de-escalation of tension”, reiterating its opposition to China’s militarisation of man-made islands in the waters.

China and the 10-member ASEAN have been discussing for almost 15 years a set of rules aimed at avoiding conflict among rival claimants in the South China Sea. Tiếp tục đọc “Australia urges South China Sea ruling as basis for ‘code of conduct’”

Dutch Leader Claims Victory Over ‘Wrong Kind of Populism’ in Election

Updated: Mar 15, 2017 1:47 AM ET

(THE HAGUE, Netherlands) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday claimed a dominating parliamentary election victory over anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, who failed the year’s first litmus test for populism in Europe.

Provisional results with over half the votes counted suggested Rutte’s party won 32 seats in the 150-member legislature, 13 more than Wilders’ party, which took only third place with 19 seats. The surging CDA Christian Democrats claimed 20.

Following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, “the Netherlands said, ‘Whoa!’ to the wrong kind of populism,” said Rutte, who is now poised for a third term as prime minister.

Tiếp tục đọc “Dutch Leader Claims Victory Over ‘Wrong Kind of Populism’ in Election”

Rodrigo Duterte impeachment papers filed in Philippine Congress

Opposition lawmaker formally calls for president to be removed from power, accusing him of high crimes

Rodrigo Duterte should be impeached over a host of offences, says an opposition MP.
Rodrigo Duterte should be impeached over a host of offences, says an opposition MP. Photograph: Erik de Castro/Reuters

An opposition lawmaker filed an impeachment complaint in the Philippine Congress on Thursday against President Rodrigo Duterte, calling for his removal for what he said were high crimes, betrayal of public trust and abuses of power. Tiếp tục đọc “Rodrigo Duterte impeachment papers filed in Philippine Congress”

Iraqis Threaten to Sue U.S. for War Crimes

Freebacon

9/11 bill removing sovereign immunity rights will open U.S. to flood of international lawsuits

Iraq Training Troubles

U.S. army soldiers, alongside their Iraqi counterparts, provide security at a marketplace in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib suburb / AP

BY:
September 26, 2016 3:25 pm

An advocacy organization representing scores of Iraqis killed or wounded by U.S. forces has threatened to sue the American government for war crimes, according to a recent announcement that cites a new bill as opening a pathway for citizens to sue foreign governments over terror attacks.

The Iraqi National Project, a group that advocates on the behalf of Iraqi nationals, says that it is laying the groundwork to sue the United States for its war effort in the country. Tiếp tục đọc “Iraqis Threaten to Sue U.S. for War Crimes”

Iraq Will Use Sept 11 Bill To Sue US Government For 2003 Invasion, Demand Compensation

Tyler Durden's picture

As reported on Saturday, a September 11 widow was the first American to take advantage of the recently passed Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism (JASTA), aka the “Sept.11” bill courtesy of Congress which for the first time in Obama’s tenure overrode his veto, by suing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Stephanie Ross DeSimone alleged the kingdom provided material support to al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden leading to the death of her husband, Navy Commander Patrick Dunn, who was killed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2009, when Stephanie was two months pregnant at the time with the couple’s daughter. Her suit is also filed on behalf of the couple’s daughter. She sued for wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Tiếp tục đọc “Iraq Will Use Sept 11 Bill To Sue US Government For 2003 Invasion, Demand Compensation”

World War II started in 1937 in Asia, not 1939 in Europe, says Oxford historian

Professor Rana Mitter tells Conversation With why the war began with Japan’s conflict with China, not when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the date most history books use.

However, using recently-released documentation, Oxford University professor of history Rana Mitter argues that the real start of the global conflict was 1937 – when Japan attacked China in what has been called the Marco Polo Bridge incident, outside of Beijing.

Prof Mitter’s book, The Forgotten Ally, points out that the terrible eight-year-long conflict took a massive toll on China, with more than 14 million Chinese dead.

By comparison, military and civilian casualties for the US and United Kingdom combined totaled around 900,000. Tiếp tục đọc “World War II started in 1937 in Asia, not 1939 in Europe, says Oxford historian”

These angels bring warmth into the lives of Hanoi’s homeless elderly

Students and young professionals are among the volunteers stepping in to help the sick and homeless elderly, who otherwise die alone and uncared-for on the streets

The street is poorly lit and dirty, but it is this man’s only refuge and home on some nights.

Huddled against the wind chill, Mr Nguyen, who is wrapped up in three layers of clothes, grumbles about how his hands are sore, and his back painful from repairing bicycles. Without hesitation, Ms Chu reaches across and gently massages his knobby fingers.

Along with other volunteers of the Ấm Volunteering Club, the young woman has been providing free weekly health screenings and medical supplies for the homeless elderly. Tiếp tục đọc “These angels bring warmth into the lives of Hanoi’s homeless elderly”

Thailand charges activist who mocked PM’s song

Al Jazeera

Campaigner took to Facebook to rate military leader’s song on ‘returning happiness’ and could be jailed three years.

Prayuth Chan-ocha has written several emotion-filled ballads since seizing power that get a lot of radio play [Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters]

A Thai activist who made fun of one of leader Prayuth Chan-ocha’s ballads on Facebook has been charged with cyber-crime for publishing material critical of the government.

Veera Somkwamkid was charged with “importing false computer data” for a post saying most Thais lacked confidence in the military government, which took power in a 2014 coup in the name of ending more than a decade of political unrest. Tiếp tục đọc “Thailand charges activist who mocked PM’s song”

Không khóc ở Mỹ Sơn

  • VHNA  INRASARA Thứ ba, 28 Tháng 2 2017 08:29

Nhà thơ Kiều Maiy ở Mỹ SơnNhà thơ Kiều Maiy ở Mỹ Sơn

 Tùy bút

1. Trưa 24-2, Kiều Maily khởi hành từ Sài Gòn đi theo đường Đak Nông, lên Ban Mê để vòng xuống Hội An. Chụp ảnh miễn phí cho người bạn thơ Trần Hiếu cùng vị hôn thê cho lễ thành hôn sắp tới. Miễn phí, để có cơ hội một lần trong đời làm được một chuyến “Mỹ Sơn đường về”. Cũng đáng!

Sáng hôm sau, xe từ từ lăn bánh trên con đường từ Hội An dẫn lên thánh địa. Tiếp tục đọc “Không khóc ở Mỹ Sơn”