Category Archives: Vietnam

All the president’s millions: how the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches

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From Vietnam to the Balkans, Donald Trump’s family has launched a global dealmaking blitz since his re-election

A crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case. Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon.

All have one thing in common: they appear to be connected to the Trump family’s campaign to amass riches around the world. Since Donald Trump’s re-election a year ago, warnings that his use of presidential power to advance personal interests is corroding American democracy have grown ever louder. What is less understood – and perhaps even more dangerous – is the damage this is doing everywhere else.

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Vietnam flooding death toll reaches 90 amid landslides and relentless rain

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Environment ministry says most of the deaths were in the mountainous central province of Dak Lak

The death toll from major flooding in Vietnam has risen to 90, with 12 more people missing, the environment ministry said on Sunday after days of heavy rain and landslides.

Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding.

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Vietnamese arrivals in UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation, says No 10

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Starmer signs agreement with visiting Vietnamese leader after surge in clandestine arrivals from country

Vietnamese people who arrive in the UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation under a new agreement, Downing Street has said.

After a surge in clandestine arrivals from the south-east Asian country last year via small boats and in the back of lorries, the deal is supposed to cut red tape and make it faster and easier to return those with no right to be in the UK.

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BBC journalist barred from leaving Vietnam and interrogated repeatedly

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BBC ‘deeply concerned’ for journalist’s wellbeing after Vietnamese police withhold their ID card and passport

Vietnamese authorities have barred a BBC journalist from leaving the country and ​subjected them to days of interrogation, in a press freedom case that comes to light during a high-profile visit by Vietnam’s leader to the UK.

The journalist, a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand, had returned to their home country in August to renew their passport, according a source with knowledge of the situation.

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Typhoon Bualoi death toll rises to at least 30 across Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines

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Vietnamese authorities say typhoon was the most devastating storm to hit the country this year

The death toll from Typhoon Bualoi in south-east Asia has risen to more than 30 as heavy rains continued to lash the region.

In Vietnam, authorities said 19 people had been killed and 21 were missing, making it the most devastating storm to hit the country this year. Heavy rain on Tuesday raised the risk of more flooding and landslides in northern regions.

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Super Typhoon Ragasa rampages through Taiwan, Hong Kong and southern China

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Peak winds of 165mph bring 17 deaths in Taiwan, while Storm Bualoi threatens to strengthen into typhoon on its way to the Philippines

Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded Taiwan, Hong Kong and China before moving into Vietnam on Thursday night, though as a much-weakened storm.

At its peak Ragasa had mean wind speeds of 165mph as it moved to the south of Taiwan, where it brought significant heavy rain resulting in 17 deaths as a barrier lake burst.

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Weakened Super Typhoon Ragasa heads towards Vietnam after battering China and Hong Kong

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Huge clear-up efforts start after storm leaves trail of destruction, with 25 reported dead in Taiwan and the Philippines

Huge clear-up operations were under way in southern China and Hong Kong on Thursday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa battered the region, causing widespread flooding and damaged roads.

Ragasa, the most powerful tropical cyclone so far this year, left a trail of damage across Hong Kong, which resumed international flights on Thursday but kept kindergartens and some schools closed. In the economic hub of Guangdong province in mainland China, where more than 2 million people were evacuated ahead of the super typhoon, crews used excavators to clear thousands of toppled trees and unblock roads.

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US warships patrol South China Sea after two Chinese ships collide

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USS Higgins and USS Cincinnati sailed near Scarborough Shoal after Chinese tried to drive away Philippine vessel

The US has briefly deployed two warships in a disputed South China Sea shoal where two Chinese ships collided earlier in the week while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine ship in a high-seas accident that raised alarms about maritime safety.

Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay overlapping claims in the contested waters.

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Farmers displaced by $1.5bn Trump golf course reportedly being offered rice and cash

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White House denies suggestions resort in Vietnam presents conflict of interest amid row over compensation rates

Villagers whose farms in Vietnam will be bulldozed to make way for a $1.5bn golf resort backed by the Trump family have reportedly been offered rice provisions and cash compensation of as little as $12 for a square metre of land by state authorities.

Thousands of villagers will be offered compensation based on land size and location, according to a report by Reuters. The agency spoke to elderly farmers who said they feared they would struggle to find a stable livelihood.

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At least 38 dead after tourist boat capsizes in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam

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Rescue workers save 12 people with seven still missing after vessel overturns during sudden thunderstorm

A tourist boat capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, killing 38 people and leaving seven others missing.

The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members on a sightseeing the tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors, state media reported.

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South Sudan says eight deportees from the US are under government care

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Deportees include two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico

War-torn South Sudan has said it is holding a group of eight men controversially deported from the United States.

Only one of them is from South Sudan. The rest comprise two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico.

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Is Trump tariff deal really a win for Vietnam – or a way of punishing China?

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US exports account for third of Vietnam’s GDP and 40% tariff on so-called transshipments – products with Chinese input – means uncertainty for manufacturers

As news spread that Vietnam would become just the second nation to reach an initial tariff agreement with Washington, shares in the clothing companies and manufacturers that have a large footprint in the country rose with optimism.

Just hours later though, they declined sharply, as it became clear that the devil would be in the detail, and the most striking part of the deal might in fact be aimed at Vietnam’s powerful neighbour China.

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Vietnam scraps two-child policy as it tackles falling birthrate

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Authorities seek to increase number of births amid fear ageing society could threaten economic growth plans

Vietnam has scrapped a longstanding policy limiting families to two children, as the communist-run country grapples with a declining birthrate.

State media announced on Wednesday that couples could make their own decisions about how many children to have, and how much time to wait between births, reversing a decades-old preference for one- or two-child families.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Hanoi bans The Economist’s issue featuring Vietnam’s leader on its cover, reports say

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Media quoted unnamed distributors who said they could not obtain copies of the magazine or that it had been banned

The latest print edition of the Economist, which features Vietnam’s top leader on its cover, has been banned in the country, the latest instance of media censorship in the communist, one-party state.

The magazine carried an image of the Communist party General Secretary To Lam with stars on his eyes, alongside the headline “The man with a plan for Vietnam”, with an article carrying the subheading: “A Communist party hard man has to rescue Asia’s great success story”.

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Emmanuel Macron says video of wife pushing him shows them ‘joking around’

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French president denies quarrelling with Brigitte Macron after footage is seized on by Russia and far-right accounts

Emmanuel Macron has denied he and his wife, Brigitte, had an altercation after a viral video promoted by Russian state media and French far-right accounts appeared to show her pushing him in the face as they prepared to get off a plane in Vietnam.

The video, shot by an Associated Press camera operator, shows the French president appearing in the doorway of the plane at the start of a visit to Hanoi. His wife’s hand appears to shove him, causing him to step back before recovering and waving.

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‘Napalm Girl’ may be work of different photographer, World Press Photo says

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Photo from Vietnam war is now at centre of controversy after documentary claimed it was taken by someone else

The World Press Photo group has suspended the attribution of authorship for one on the most famous press photographs ever taken, after a new documentary challenged 50 years of accepted journalism history.

The photo, officially titled The Terror of War but colloquially known as Napalm Girl, remains one of the most indelible images of the US war in Vietnam. Since its publication in June 1972, it has been officially attributed to Nick Ut, a Vietnamese photographer working with the Associated Press in Saigon.

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Celebrations in Ho Chi Minh City mark 50 years since end of Vietnam war

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Thousands gather to see parade featuring marching troops and an air show of Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters

Thousands of Vietnamese people have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, in what the country’s communist leader said was a “victory of justice over tyranny”.

Celebrations culminated in a grand parade in Ho Chi Minh City with thousands of marching troops and an airshow featuring Russian-made fighter jets and helicopters, as Vietnamese waved red flags and sang patriotic songs.

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‘Bombs and bullets were like rain’: 50 years on from the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam war

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Xuan Phuong, a war correspondent who is now 96, recalls her entry into the city after South Vietnam’s surrender

The day that Saigon fell, Xuan Phuong, a war correspondent, could only hear shouting and commotion. It was 30 April 1975, and helicopters were frantically lifting personnel and civilians from the US embassy.

Phuong, who had travelled down from the north, was initially held back by troops who said fighting was still continuing. When she was finally able to reach the centre of the city the following day, 1 May, she found chaos. Clothes and luggage were scattered and discarded along the streets. Buildings were being looted.

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‘No winners’ in a trade war, says China’s Xi as he heads to Vietnam on charm offensive

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Xi Jinping expected to present China as reliable partner in contrast to US, which imposed – then suspended – tariffs over 40% on some countries

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned there would be “no winners” in a trade war and that protectionism “leads nowhere”, as he began a three-nation trip to south-east Asia, starting in Vietnam on Monday.

Xi’s tour, which started in Hanoi, also includes rare visits to Malaysia and Cambodia and will seek to strengthen ties with China’s closest neighbours amid a trade war that has sent shock waves through global markets.

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Xi Jinping seeks to strengthen economic ties during tour of south-east Asia

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President’s first stop is Vietnam as China urges US to end trade war and return to ‘right path of mutual respect’

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will visit Vietnam on Monday as he begins a tour of south-east Asia where he will seek to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries amid an escalating trade war.

Xi will visit Vietnam from Monday before travelling to Malaysia and Cambodia, a high-profile tour that Chinese officials have described as being of “major importance”.

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