North Korea may test hydrogen bomb in Pacific: Foreign Minister

 
North Korea has shrugged off numerous sets of sanctions aimed at crimping its nuclear and missile programmes, and this month unveiled what it said was a working hydrogen bomb. (Photo: AFP/STR)

 

NEW YORK: North Korea may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean, its foreign minister said on Thursday (Sep 21).

Ri Yong Ho was asked what leader Kim Jong Un might do after President Donald Trump warned that the United States would “totally destroy North Korea” if it was forced to defend itself or its allies. Tiếp tục đọc “North Korea may test hydrogen bomb in Pacific: Foreign Minister”

Chinese-Russian naval drills begin off North Korea

vietnamnews

South Korea and the US also stage exercises in the Korean Peninsula, conducting a joint bombing drill.

The naval drills are being conducted near Vladivostok and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk [STR/AFP/Getty Images]

China and Russia have started joint naval drills in the waters near the Russia-North Korea border, local media reported.

The exercises, which began on Monday off Russia’s southeastern port of Vladivostok, are the second part of China and Russia’s ‘Joint Sea-2017’ programme that started in June. Tiếp tục đọc “Chinese-Russian naval drills begin off North Korea”

Hằng continues an endless journey

vietnamnews

Update: September, 17/2017 – 09:00

Friend of the war dead: Ngô Thị Thúy Hằng, Founder and Vice director of Centre of Legal Consultancy and Assistance for Families of Martyrs (MARIN). — Photo courtesy of CSIP

Viet Nam News by Nguyễn Hữu Phùng Nguyên

Ngô Thị Thúy Hằng gave up her stable, high-paid job in Hồ Chí Minh City to move to Hà Nội, almost 1,800 kilometres away. She has seemingly forsaken her youth in the quest for martyrs’ remains, leading the Centre of Legal Consultancy and Assistance for Families of War Martyrs (MARIN) through a long development journey of trials and tribulations.

The stable present

Ten years after we first met, Hằng is still a slim woman, but wrinkles have appeared in the corners of her eyes. I was startled to realise that this woman really had spent all her youth on MARIN, forsaking marriage and wealth. Hằng still lives in a rented apartment, with recognition certificates and profiles covering the walls. I know Hằng will never stop that journey. Tiếp tục đọc “Hằng continues an endless journey”

Tit-for-Tat in a Tete-a-Tete: Cambodia Stops US MIA Searches After Visa Ban

Cambodia has shut down Pentagon programs in the southeast Asian country searching for the remains of US Vietnam War soldiers after Washington denied visas for senior Cambodian foreign ministry officials and their families – a response to Phnom Penh’s refusal to accept dual-Cambodian/US citizens who have been convicted of crimes in America.

Reacting to a new set of visa sanctions slapped on Phnom Penh by Washington on September 13 for the southeastern nation’s refusal to accept people deported by the United States, Cambodia has announced that it will no longer support US missions in the country searching for remains of Vietnam War combatants claimed to be missing in action.

According to a Thursday statement by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Phnom Penh has cancelled Pentagon MIA missions in the country, a move reported by Cambodia’s Fresh News media outlet and later confirmed by government spokesman Phay Siphan, cited by APnews.com. Tiếp tục đọc “Tit-for-Tat in a Tete-a-Tete: Cambodia Stops US MIA Searches After Visa Ban”

Violence can erupt in Cambodia without warning: US warns citizens

channelnewsasia

The US Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a security warning to Americans about possible violence in Cambodia amid the government’s anti-American rhetoric.

 
Cambodian police man a barricade outside a prison in Trapaing Phlong in Tbong Khmum province on Sep 11, 2017, where opposition leader Kem Sokha is being held after being detained last week. (Photo: AFP)

PHNOM PENH: The US Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a security warning to its citizens late Wednesday (Sep 13) about rising tensions in Cambodia following the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, the expulsion of an American NGO and anti-American rhetoric by Cambodian officials. Tiếp tục đọc “Violence can erupt in Cambodia without warning: US warns citizens”

Vietnam’s efforts to internationalize higher education achieves a milestone

By Minh Vu —


Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang speaks at the ceremony for the licensing of Fulbright University Vietnam on May 25, 2016. Source: State Department’s flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.

Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) has attracted much attention because it was born out of Vietnam-U.S. bilateral engagement. However, as the university welcomes its first class in September, FUV will become more than just a diplomatic achievement. It will mark another step in the ongoing effort by the government to lift Vietnam’s higher education to international standards through collaboration with the private sector and foreign governments. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s efforts to internationalize higher education achieves a milestone”

Cambodia tells US to back off after charging opposition leader

channelnewsasia

The prosecution of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is a message from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government for the United States, one that says “stop interfering with Cambodia’s internal affairs”.

 
File photo of Cambodia’s Kem Sokha when he talked exclusively to Channel NewsAsia about living in self-exile, his protest plans and whether he would be PM. (Photo: Jack Board)

“We’re not a slave but, like them, an independent country. We want to stand on our own feet. We don’t need someone to tell us to do this or do that,” said Cambodian government spokesperson Phay Siphan. Tiếp tục đọc “Cambodia tells US to back off after charging opposition leader”

55 Years After Agent Orange Was Used In Vietnam, One Of Its Creators Is Thriving Here

Monsanto is expanding in a country it once helped destroy.

KUNI TAKAHASHI VIA GETTY IMAGES
A Vietnamese soldier guards the contaminated site at the edge of the Da Nang Airfield on July 1, 2009 in Da Nang, Central Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military stored more than four million of gallons of herbicides, including Agent Orange, at the military base that is now a domestic and military airbase.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam ― Fifty-five years ago this month, the U.S. Army began spraying millions of gallons of the toxic defoliant known as Agent Orange over large swaths of southern Vietnam. Today, however, instead of resentment and isolation from the U.S., the country is awash with Americanophilia. Tiếp tục đọc “55 Years After Agent Orange Was Used In Vietnam, One Of Its Creators Is Thriving Here”

Transforming war into peace: Artist turns devastating historic photos of children ravaged by violent conflict and famine into happy illustrations – Bộ ảnh: Biến Chiến tranh thành Hoà bình:

  • Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, titled his series of illustrations ‘Imagine’, showing what the lives of the children could have been like
  • He re-creates iconic photos such as ‘Napalm Girl’ from the Vietnam War and ‘The Vulture and the Little Girl’ from the Sudan famine
  • Some people have praised the artist for the ‘hopeful’ images, while other have found them ‘distasteful’ and offensive 

dailymail.co.uk_An artist is raising awareness about the horrific effects that warfare and poverty have on children in an arresting series of illustrations titled ‘Imagine’, which sees him transforming some of the world’s most iconic war-torn images into a picture filled with peace and love

Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, re-creates iconic photographs of children suffering in world conflicts, such as ‘Napalm Girl’ from the Vietnam War and a famous picture of child brides in Afghanistan, turning the devastating images into cartoons of the kids playing innocently and laughing.

The illustrator takes the horrific 1972 photo of a nine-year-old girl crying and running through the streets of Trang Bang, Vietnam, after she was severely burned by a napalm attack, and turns the image into a joyful cartoon which sees the girl holding a Statue of Liberty balloon with a smile on her face.

Art: Cartoonist Gunduz Aghayev, 34, of Azerbaijan, re-creates iconic photographs of children suffering in the world conflicts, such as 'Napalm Girl' from the Vietnam War (above), into happy illustrations

Tiếp tục đọc “Transforming war into peace: Artist turns devastating historic photos of children ravaged by violent conflict and famine into happy illustrations – Bộ ảnh: Biến Chiến tranh thành Hoà bình:”

Trump’s push to quit South Korea trade pact would mark latest swerve in region on edge

Analysis: As tensions swirl between US and North Korea, president’s reported effort to exit 2007 deal may bring stunning development in twisting tale

Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, in August.
Donald Trump shakes hands with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, in August. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump has asked aides to prepare for US withdrawal from a free trade agreement with South Korea, it was reported on Saturday – a potentially stunning development at a time of tense confrontation with North Korea.

Asked during his trip to Louisiana on Saturday if he was talking with advisers about the idea, Trump said: “I am. It’s very much on my mind.” Tiếp tục đọc “Trump’s push to quit South Korea trade pact would mark latest swerve in region on edge”

Donald Trump’s policies worry Muslims at Hajj

Al Jazeera

Pilgrims say people are irritated, angry, and worried about US president’s policies targeting Muslims.

Hajj is a five-day ritual retracing the journey the Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago [Reuters]

American, Canadian and British pilgrims in Mecca this week for the annual Hajj say they are worried about the policies of US President Donald Trump targeting Muslims.

“People are irritated, angry, sombre, a little bit worried,” said Yasir Qadhi, an Islamic scholar who travelled from Tennessee for his fourteenth pilgrimage. Tiếp tục đọc “Donald Trump’s policies worry Muslims at Hajj”

US government funds training center for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces

The facility has 15 training rooms with a total capacity of 600 peopleBy Tuoi Tre News

August 29,2017, 11:15 GMT+7

​US government funds training center for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces
The dedication ceremony for the peacekeeping training center is organized in Hanoi on August 28, 2017. Photo: Vietnam People’s Army
The United States government has handed over a center that focuses on peacekeeping missions by the Vietnamese military, marking the two nations’ cooperation in the preservation of peace.A dedication ceremony was organized in Hanoi on Monday to mark the transfer of the peacekeeping training center from U.S. ownership to Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense.

The facility, along with relevant equipment, is designed to facilitate the training of peacekeeping forces. Tiếp tục đọc “US government funds training center for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces”