If I marry my husband,
I’ll have to marry my husband’s family.
And a husband always considers himself the number one,
although he says wife and husband are equal now.
You know,
talking and doing are always two different things. Continue reading Prayer 661→
Twice in the last six weeks, the same China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel has harassed oil and gas operations by its neighbors in contested waters on opposite sides of the South China Sea. A Chinese state-owned vessel, meanwhile, has been undertaking a seismic survey of oil and gas blocks off the Vietnamese coast. This risks a confrontation between the contingent of CCG and militia boats escorting the survey ship and a group of Vietnamese vessels dispatched to the area. The situation also reveals a double-standard: Beijing appears to be committed to preventing new unilateral oil and gas activities by its neighbors anywhere in the “nine-dash line,” which demarcates its claims in the South China Sea, even as it explores and exploits hydrocarbons in contested waters.
Ethnic minority women from Trang Village listen to the bulletin during their VSLA meeting. — VNS Photo Khoa Thư
HÀ NỘI — Meticulously wrapping a white linen scarf around her head, adjusting a silver necklace, Lý Thị Mai made the final touches before joining her friends.
To the Dao woman, there are few occasions worth dressing in her traditional attire – a black dress with colourful brocade patterns, white scarf and silver jewellery.
The biggest fresh lake in Hoài Nhơn District – Mỹ Bình Lake – had its water level reached the dead level. This means over 5,000 households living in Tam Quan Bắc Area in Hoài Nhơn District is facing risk of water shortage. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyên Linh
BÌNH ĐỊNH — The south central province of Bình Định is experiencing its most serious drought in the last 15 years, with 4,000 households and 3,400ha of crops lacking water.
According to the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department, more than 3,400ha of crops face water shortages and about 200ha of summer-autumn rice has died of the drought.
Urban heat islands make HCM City hotter. — VNS Photo Ngọc Diệp
HCM CITY — Urban heat islands in HCM City and other large cities in Việt Nam are causing heat waves with some of the highest recorded temperatures ever in the country, affecting public health.
The Centre for Regional and Urban Studies said this year is forecast to be the hottest ever since temperatures began to be recorded in 1880.
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A World Bank arbitration court has ordered the Pakistani government pay damages of $5.8 billion to Tethyan Copper, a joint venture between Chile’s Antofagasta Plc (ANTO.L) and Canada’s Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), the Chilean miner said late on Friday.
Tethyan Copper discovered vast mineral wealth more than a decade ago in Reko Diq, at the foot of an extinct volcano near Pakistan’s frontier with Iran and Afghanistan. The deposit was set to rank among the world’s biggest untapped copper and gold mines.
On July 12, 2016, an arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued its ruling in Manila’s case against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea. Convened under the compulsory dispute settlement provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the tribunal’s five arbitrators ruled overwhelmingly in the Philippines’ favor. Beijing refused to participate in the arbitration and rejected the outcome. Meanwhile, the newly-inaugurated president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, downplayed the victory in the hopes of coaxing China toward a more conciliatory policy and, as a result, international pressure on China to comply with the award has evaporated. The ruling clarified important aspects of UNCLOS and customary international law, but there was never much hope Beijing would accept its findings.
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Debris remaining in pond and destruction from 1998 Hurricane Mitch in Savanna Bight village Guanaja Bay Islands Honduras