German frigate’s forthcoming transit comes as Western allies step up ‘freedom of navigation’ passages in disputed sea
German Sachsen-class frigate the Hamburg (Bundeswehr photo)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A German frigate will traverse the South China Sea this summer for the first time since 2002, German officials confirmed Tuesday (March 1).
Officials in the country’s defense and foreign ministries told Reuters that the frigate, scheduled to embark on a trip to Asia in August, will traverse the South China Sea on the return leg of its journey.
On 21 January 2021, the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority of Vietnam (EREA) submitted Report No. 20/BC-DL to the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade in charge. The report requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)’s internal approval of the draft of the Prime Minister’s decision on the selection of investors for grid-connected solar power projects in Vietnam (“Draft Decision”).
This Draft Decision would apply the selection mechanism on a long-term basis. Bidding rounds will be conducted based on a so-called Renewable Energy Development Plan formulated by the MOIT for each five-year period. A more specific plan will be circulated on a biannual basis.
A “superhero” delivery driver in Hanoi has saved a two-year-old girl who fell from a 12th-floor balcony.
Nguyen Ngoc Manh, 31, was sitting in his car waiting to make a delivery at 5pm on Sunday when he heard a child crying, he told the Anninhthudo news organisation. A woman started screaming and he stuck his head out of the window to see what was going on.
He told local media in the Vietnam capital that he first thought it was a child having a tantrum, but quickly realised it was something else. The child was nearly 50 metres above ground.
“I saw a girl climbing out of the balcony,” he said. He jumped out of his car and climbed up on to a nearby building to get closer should the child fall.
Standing on a metallic roof used to store generators, he lost his footing as the child began to fall, he told VN Express International. But he flung himself forward to catch her, landing so hard that he left a dent in the roof.
“I tried to reach out my hand and took the maximum effort to catch the girl,” he said, hoping that at the very least he might be able to prevent her from falling straight to the ground.
In a video of the incident taken from a nearby apartment building, the child can be seen climbing over the balcony railing and on to a thin ledge. Neighbours in a building opposite can be heard crying out to her. The child holds on for a few moments before losing her grip and falling.
“Luckily, the baby fell into my lap,” Nguyen said. “I hurriedly embraced her then saw blood leaking from her mouth, I was very frightened.”
The child was taken to the National Children’s Hospital where doctors told local media she had dislocated her hip but suffered no other injuries. Le Ngoc Duy, a doctor at the hospital, said she was in a cast and being monitored.
Beijing’s South China Sea moves have ramped up with the passing of a law allowing the China Coast Guard (CCG) to fire on what it identifies as illegal foreign vessels in waters under its jurisdiction. By virtue of China’s nine-dash line claim, this law applies to the entire South China Sea. Given that China’s claims are opposed by other South China Sea claimants as well as numerous non-claimant countries, the law has proven controversial and raises concerns over whether it will increase the risk of confrontation and conflict in the disputed waters.
The Law
On January 22, the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress passed a new law empowering the CCG to employ “all necessary means” to stop or prevent threats from foreign vessels and specifying the circumstances under which different weapons, “handheld, shipborne, or airborne,” can be deployed, as well as allowing it to demolish structures built by other claimants in areas China considers its own. This new law is another manifestation of the CCG’s expanding role. The roles and practices of the CCG have generally been in line with those of other coast guards around the world. This specific law, however, lays out the powers and duties of the CCG in so called “jurisdictional waters,” which include the highly contested areas in the South China Sea. For now, the law amounts to a figurative shot across the bows of other claimants—but that shot could soon be literal.
Washington [US], March 1 (ANI): Raising concerns over the dipping water-levels of the Mekong River and upstream dams in China, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Ambassador Atul Keshap points out that upstream dams in China that exacerbate droughts are hurting the communities and ecosystems that have relied for countless generations on the Mekong River’s natural flood pulse.
Speaking at the Indo-Pacific conference on Strengthening Transboundary River Governance, Keshap on Saturday (local time) said the conference report launched at the event is excellent and summarizes our work examining the challenges facing the Mekong River basin and its ties to the economies, livelihoods, and culture of nearly 70 million people.
“We remain concerned just as we were in October during the conference–that record droughts and the upstream dams in China that exacerbate them are hurting the communities and ecosystems that have relied for countless generations on the Mekong River’s natural flood pulse,” he said as reported by the Frontier Post.
[TĐH: Jane Fonda was an anti-Vietnam-War activist]
Washington [US], March 1 (ANI): At this year’s Golden Globes, American actor Jane Fonda received the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award.
According to Variety, the honour recognises Fonda’s illustrious career in film, one that saw her top the box office and cement her name in movie history by starring in such classics as ‘Klute,’ ‘The China Syndrome’ and ‘9 to 5.’More recently, Fonda has appeared in the Netflix series ‘Grace and Frankie’ as well as ‘Book Club’ and ‘Youth.’ The 83-year-old star’s other films include ‘The Electric Horseman,’ ‘Barefoot in the Park,’ ‘Coming Home, and ‘Julia.’One of her biggest commercial successes was the 1982 release of her first exercise video, ‘Jane Fonda’s Workout,’ which went on to sell 17 million copies and spawned several follow-ups.
Fonda has been equally well known for her political stances – protesting the Vietnam War, campaigning for civil rights, and advocating for feminist causes. Currently, Fonda is leading Fire Drill Fridays as part of a national movement to raise awareness about the climate crisis.
The Cecil B. DeMille Award is the highest honour given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organisation behind the Globes. Past recipients include Robert De Niro, Sophia Loren, Sean Connery, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, Steven Spielberg, and Meryl Streep. Last year’s honouree was Tom Hanks.
A 15-time nominee, Fonda has been awarded Golden Globes for seven-times.
The 78th Golden Globe Awards is taking place nearly two months later than normal, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema and television.
This is the first bi-coastal ceremony, with Tina Fey hosting from the Rainbow Room in New York City, and Amy Poehler hosting from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The nominees for Golden Globes were announced on February 3. (ANI)
Alexander Hamilton had no illusions about what would happen to Americans if the United States collapsed.
If the newly drafted Constitution wasn’t ratified, he warned in Federalist No. 8, a “War between the States,” fought by irregular armies across unfortified borders, was imminent. Large states would overrun small ones. “Plunder and devastation” would march across the landscape, reducing the citizenry to “a state of continual danger” that would nourish authoritarian, militarized
VNE – By Minh Son February 24, 2021 | 08:00 pm GMT+7Shoppers look at fruits at the Central Group Vietnam’s Big C supermarket in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham.
Though Thailand is not the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, its companies dominate a number of sectors like retail, beverage, packaging, livestock, and solar energy.
VNE – By Nguyen Quy February 19, 2021 | 02:00 pm GMT+7An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.
HCMC received inward remittances worth $6.1 billion last year, a record high and up 12 percent from the previous year, despite the economic slump caused by Covid-19.
Key officials engaged in United States relations with Pacific Islands countries discussed expanding presence and engagement in the region from development, military, and congressional policy perspectives. They explained how these moves position the United States to deepen strategic partnership with Pacific Island nations in support of a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. Opening comments followed by moderated discussion covered the development trajectories of Pacific Island countries, COVID-19’s impacts on the region, and US-China dynamics.
TTXVN – Under Decision 06-QDNS/TW on Feb. 18, 2021, Nguyen Trong Nghia is assigned to be the head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education.
“Ngày thành lập ư, có thật quan trọng không?”, tôi đã nghĩ thế… Nhưng hôm nay, chợt nhớ về 20 năm trước, kỷ niệm lần lượt hiện về.
Lần đầu tiên tôi “nhìn thấy” Internet là vào năm 1998, nửa năm sau khi Việt Nam chính thức kết nối. Ấn tượng đầu tiên là hầu như không có gì bằng tiếng Việt để đọc. Đang làm biên tập viên báo Lao Động, tôi nhận ra đây sẽ là phương tiện phát hành mới, mảnh đất chưa khai phá cho báo chí. “Mình có thể là người đầu tiên làm điều đó?”, từ lâu tôi mong ước làm một tờ báo thực sự hữu ích cho người dùng.
VOV.VN – The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam has assigned Politburo member Vo Van Thuong to hold the post of the permanent member of the Party’s Secretariat of the new tenure.
Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong (R) on February 6 hands over the Politburo’s decision to assign the new post to Vo Van Thuong
Thuong, 51, was re-elected to the Party’s Political Bureau at the freshly-concluded 13th National Party Congress in Hanoi.
He used to work as the First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Secretary of the Quang Ngai provincial Party Committee, and the Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. Tiếp tục đọc “Party Secretariat has new permanent member”→
Two sand-mining boats with dredgers extract sand from the Tra On River, only 100 meters away from the shore, in Vinh Long Province, Vietnam, February 23, 2021. Photo: Chi Hanh / Tuoi Tre
Despite facing furious opposition from local residents, a big barge equipped with dredgers is publicly extracting sand off the Tra On River in Vinh Long Province, located in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
The barge has mined sand on the river for a few days, residents of My An Village in the province’s Binh Minh Town, said in a report to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday.
As witnessed by Tuoi Tre, a massive boat numbered LA-07135 appeared at the junction of the Hau River and the Tra On River.
It was accompanied by another boat with registration number BTr-7402, with a perceived load capacity of hundreds of cubic meters of sand.
On the morning of May 21, 2000, I woke up to a scene I had never witnessed before.
Nguyen Trong Binh
An endless stream of people driving motorbikes and cars from various provinces in the Mekong Delta like Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and An Giang flooded the roads near my sister’s house in Vinh Long Province: They had come to see the inauguration of the My Thuan Bridge.
I was one of them.
Excited at the prospect of seeing the country’s first cable-stayed bridge, one that spans the Tien River, a major branch of the Mekong, to link Vinh Long and Tien Giang, I had gone to my sister’s house, eight kilometers from the bridge, the previous day, and got up early the next day for the inauguration.
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Shoppers look at fruits at the Central Group Vietnam’s Big C supermarket in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham.
An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.
CVD 