HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — The Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, postponed this year due to the pandemic, will be held in May 2022, the country’s Olympic Committee said Friday. The regional Olympics were scheduled to take place in Hanoi and 11 other locations in Vietnam from November 21 to December 2. But a devastating wave of coronavirus which hit many of the provinces due to be hosting Games events forced the postponement. The event will […]
Tag: Vietnam
Vietnam’s economy suffers record contraction in Q3
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam’s economy suffered its heaviest contraction on record in the third quarter, officials said Wednesday, after a devastating wave of Covid-19 forced the widespread suspension of manufacturing in the export-reliant country. Gross domestic product shrunk 6.17 percent on-year in the July-September period, with the general statistics office (GSO) saying it was the sharpest since the Southeast Asian nation began recording quarterly figures — reportedly in 1986. Vietnam was last year among […]
Vietnam to buy 10 million Cuban vaccine doses
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba agreed Monday to provide Vietnam with 10 million doses of its home-grown coronavirus vaccine, Abdala, for which the Asian nation has given emergency approval. A deal was signed between the two countries during an official visit by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the communist island, the government said. The agreement concerns an initial five million doses, but Vietnam has already authorized the purchase of 10 million doses in total, Cuban […]
UNESCO announces 20 new biospheres in 21 countries
ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) – UNESCO on Wednesday added 20 new sites in 21 countries to its global network of biosphere reserves, the UN agency’s designation for specially protected regions. New biosphere reserves are designated each year to promote sustainable development, protect terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and encourage conservation. For the first time, Lesotho, Libya and Saudi Arabia joined the list. In Lesotho, the Matseng Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 112,033 hectares in the northern […]
Vietnam jails man for five years for spreading Covid
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to five years in jail for spreading Covid-19 after he breached home quarantine rules. Le Van Tri was convicted of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases to other people” after he travelled to his home province Ca Mau from coronavirus hotspot Ho Chi Minh City in July, according to a report on the website of the provincial People’s Court. The 28-year old was accused of breaching a […]
US VP Harris’ trip to Hanoi delayed due to ‘health incident’: embassy
US Vice President Kamala Harris’ flight from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed by three hours Tuesday after an “anomalous health incident” took place in Hanoi, the US embassy said. Harris was due in Vietnam after a two-day stop in Singapore as part of a regional trip. “The Vice President’s travelling delegation was delayed from departing Singapore because the Vice President’s office was made aware of a report of a recent possible anomalous health incident in […]
Beijing continues to coerce, intimidate in South China Sea: Harris
US Vice President Kamala Harris accused Beijing on Tuesday of coercion and intimidation in the hotly disputed South China Sea, as she sought to rally allies against an increasingly assertive China. “Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,” she said in a speech in Singapore, laying out her administration’s foreign policy goals for Asia. “Beijing’s actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and […]
US VP Harris vows ‘enduring engagement’ in Asia
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Vice President Kamala Harris vowed “enduring engagement” in Asia on Monday, offering reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region following the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover. “Our administration is committed to enduring engagement in Singapore, into Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” Harris said on a visit to Singapore, just days after the hardline Islamists seized power in Kabul. “The reason I am here is that the United […]
US VP Harris begins Asia trip amid Afghan debacle
Vice President Kamala Harris began a trip to Asia Sunday where she will offer reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region after the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover. The hardline Islamists’ swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast another shadow over the United States’ status as a global superpower. But on her visit, which includes stops in Singapore and Vietnam, Harris will seek to […]
DFA repatriates 271 Filipinos from Vietnam
(Eagle News) — Over 200 distressed Filipinos arrived in the Philippines this week from Vietnam, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, Aug. 20. According to the DFA, the 271 Filipinos arrived in the Philippines through a chartered Cebu Pacific flight on August 15. Most of the repatriates were distressed due to economic difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, while some of them were stranded in Vietnam due to flight cancellations. The department said […]
Hun Sen declares oil extraction a ‘failure’ for Cambodia
Premier Hun Sen declared Cambodia’s attempt at oil extraction a “failure” on Sunday, just eight months after the kingdom achieved its long-awaited milestone of producing its first drop of crude. In late December the nation announced it had extracted oil from its waters in the Gulf of Thailand which experts believe boasts significant deposits. But the operation, led by Singapore’s KrisEnergy, was endangered after the company was unable to pay its debts and filed for […]
Watch: ASEAN in Focus
NCR shifts to ECQ Aug. 6-20 Travel ban on India, 9 other nations extended to Aug. 15 Duterte, Austin renew PH-US alliance US Defense Secretary Austin says US security commitment to Philippines ‘ironclad’ Bangladesh evacuates 10,000 Rohingya from landslide-hit camps Thai hospitals short of beds as Covid cases due to Delta variant soar Cambodia imposes virus curbs along Thailand border over Delta fears Hero’s welcome for Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Pres. Duterte awards Hidilyn […]
