NDO/VNA – Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has urged the Special Working Committees of the Vietnamese and Lao Governments to continue their close coordination in searching and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives during the wars in Laos. At a reception in Vientiane on June 26 for Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Le Chiem, who is head of the Vietnamese Government’s Special Working Committee, PM Sisoulith expressed his hope that the search and repatriation work will be completed as soon as possible. The Lao Party, Government and army appreciated achievements recorded by the two committees, he said, stressing that such outcomes are of significance as they have contributed to enhancing the long-standing relationship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. Chiem informed the Lao PM about the results of the earlier 22nd meeting of the two … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has suggested that Vietnam and Laos ought to step up medical cooperation with more diverse and effective activities in the time ahead to match with the special solidarity enjoyed between the two countries. The Vietnamese Government and people always create favourable conditions for cooperation programmes and activities held between Vietnam and Laos in all fields, including healthcare, Deputy PM Dam said while receiving Lao Health Minister Bounkong Syhavong in Hanoi on June 26. The Deputy PM noted the outcomes of bilateral medical cooperation over the past time, particularly in medical education, training, check-ups and treatment. The Vietnamese and Lao Ministries of Health should review collaboration achievements and put forth a specific plan for closer cooperation in the coming time, he said. Deputy PM Dam also underscored the need for the two sides to instruct relevant units in the construction and operation of the … [Read more...]

NDO – Dai Doan Ket (Great Unity) Newspaper and the contact board of former Giai Phong (Liberation) Newspaper’s officers held a ceremony on June 25 at Tan Binh commune, Tan Bien district, Tay Ninh province, to unveil a stone stele commemorating Giai Phong Newspaper. The event was attended by Politburo member Truong Hoa Binh, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister; Chief of the Party Central Committee's Office Nguyen Van Nen; Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Education Committee Vo Van Phuong; and Secretary of Tay Ninh Provincial Party Committee Tran Luu Quang; along with former officers of Giai Phong Newspaper. Addressing the event, Politburo member Truong Hoa Binh spoke of the great contributions of Giai Phong Newspaper’s officers, who helped make the newspaper such a remarkable success through their revolutionary spirit, love, wisdom, sweat and blood. On December 20, 1964, the Giai Phong Newspaper, the mouthpiece of the National Liberation Front of … [Read more...]

NDO/VNA – Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong hosted a reception for visiting Chairman of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee, Saysomphone Phomvihane in Hanoi on June 25. The Lao guest, who is currently on a visit to Vietnam to attend the third conference of Presidents of the front organisations of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, highlighted the significance of the conference, affirming that the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), along with the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the National Council of Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodia Motherland, will focus on implementing the tri-lateral cooperation programme for the 2017-2020 period signed among the three sides at the event. Saysomphone reported recent cooperation activities between LFNC and VFF to the Vietnamese Party chief, along with plans to boost links between the two organisations in the coming time. He said he believes that the relations between the … [Read more...]

Berlin (VNA) – An international workshop on the East Sea was held at the Asia-Africa Institute under Hamburg University in northern Germany, drawing many leading scholars and researchers on Asia, Southeast Asia and East Sea, as well as about 100 guests from various countries such as Germany, the US, Japan, Russia and India. Addressing the event, Prof. Dr. Thomas Engelbert from the Asia-Africa Institute said that sovereignty disputes in the East Sea is a current global matter that attracting many countries' attention. Over the past years, many international conferences were held in various countries to discuss the issue, aiming to reflect the objective truth and the real situation of the disputes, he said. Prof. Engelbert said that the workshop is expected to update participants and German people on information of the East Sea issue, thus voicing support to the justice and historical truth as well as protesting activities contrary to international law, especially the 1982 United … [Read more...]

Vientiane (VNA) – As many as 300 former Lao students, who studied in military schools in Vietnam, met at a get-together in northern Luang Prabang province, Laos, on May 19. The event was part of activities to celebrate the Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Solidarity Year 2017. Speaking at the meeting, Major General Sonethong Phomavong, deputy head of the General Politics Department of the Lao People's Army, underlined the significance of the event, saying it offered a chance for former Lao students to reminisce unforgettable memories of Vietnamese teachers, officers and people, who helped them during the time they lived and studied in Vietnam. Those who studied in Vietnam have been holding important duties and positions, and many of them became senior officers, commanders in the Lao People’s Army. They are playing a vital role in strengthening and nurturing the special solidarity and time-honoured relations between the two countries. Former Lao military students are very proud … [Read more...]

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government will facilitate conditions for Japanese enterprises to land their investment in Vietnam, making contributions to promote friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The PM made the statement during his meeting in Hanoi on May 20 with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko who is in Vietnam for the 23rd Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT 23) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Lauding Japan’s role in Asia-Pacific region, the Vietnamese leader believed that Japan will make active contributions to the success of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting. Prime Minister Phuc also spoke highly of the exchange activities between the two countries, especially the first visit to Vietnam made by Japanese Emperor and Empress that marked a milestone in cooperation and friendship between the two sides. As part of activities to … [Read more...]

'Jupiter's Moon' cannot be put into a box easily, its director says. A Syrian refugee is gunned down by border police but instead of dying he finds he can fly, in "Jupiter's Moon", a film about the European migration crisis that baffled audiences at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Kornel Mundruczo, from Hungary which has taken a particularly hard line on immigration, called it a "provokingly political movie" but also "happily playful". "It’s definitely not a movie which you can put into a box easily – you need time after the movie to find your own answers," Mundruczo told a news conference on Friday. In competition for the Palme d'Or, the film's title refers to one of the moons orbiting Jupiter that, it is speculated, may harbour life. The moon is called Europa - Europe - the place millions of migrants are trying to reach. "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a satire on anti-refugee paranoia? Is it a religiose parable of guilt and redemption? Is it a Euro-arthouse … [Read more...]

The film's director said he made film impossible to categorize A Syrian refugee is gunned down by border police but instead of dying he finds he can fly, in "Jupiter's Moon", a film about the European migration crisis that baffled audiences at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Kornel Mundruczo, from Hungary which has taken a particularly hard line on immigration, called it a "provokingly political movie" but also "happily playful". "It’s definitely not a movie which you can put into a box easily – you need time after the movie to find your own answers," Mundruczo told a news conference on Friday. In competition for the Palme d'Or, the film's title refers to one of the moons orbiting Jupiter that, it is speculated, may harbour life. The moon is called Europa - Europe - the place millions of migrants are trying to reach. "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a satire on anti-refugee paranoia? Is it a religiose parable of guilt and redemption? Is it a Euro-arthouse … [Read more...]

President Donald Trump has not named Comey's replacement. U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed naming a replacement for fired FBI director James Comey, despite expectations he would pick former Senator Joe Lieberman before leaving on a week-long overseas trip. Ten days after firing James Comey as FBI director, President Donald Trump left for an overseas trip without naming his replacement. And as the New York Times reported, Trump told visiting Russian officials that firing Comeyhad relieved great pressure on him, calling the former FBI chief a nut job. For Trump, they're the latest in a week of setbacks that also saw the appointing of special counsel Robert Mueller to probe his campaign's ties to Russia, and bombshell allegations Trump pressured Comey to stop the probe and may have shared U.S. Secrets with Russia in the Oval Office. The FBI post remains unfilled despite Trump's own prediction of a quick nomination. A storm of reports has named former senator Joe Lieberman … [Read more...]

HÀ NỘI - The National Assembly's first meeting session this year will be focused on scrutinising and voting on 13 draft laws, announced NA Deputy General-Secretary Lê Bộ Lĩnh yesterday. The 3rd meeting of the 14th NA will kick off next Monday, May 22 until June 21 with 23 working days, Lĩnh said in a press conference. "The NA will focus its attentions on legislative work during its first meeting of the year," he said. The laws that will be brought to the table for approval include the draft law on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the law on planning and the amending law on State compensation liability. The NA will also discuss five other laws including amendments to the law on public debt management and the law on denunciation. A change for this upcoming NA meeting is more time for Q&A sessions. The cabinet will be questioned for three days instead of two and a half as in the last NA meeting, according to Lĩnh. Pending protest law NA General-Secretary Nguyễn … [Read more...]

The information was announced by NA General Secretary Nguyen Hanh Phuc at a press conference yesterday in which he announced the scheduled programme for the upcoming third session of the 14th NA. Accordingly, the NA will spend more time on law making work, while also focusing on deciding on important issues relating to national socio-economic development. At this meeting, the NA will spend 6.5 days to review, discuss and decide on the Government reports regarding the supplementary assessment of results on socio-economic development plans and the State budget in 2016, the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the State budget for the first months of 2017, the approval of the State budget settlement in 2015; compensation and resettlement during construction of Long Thanh International Airport, and adopting the resolution on the NA monitoring programme in 2018, whilst also conducting a Q&A session. In addition, in order to create favourable conditions for voters … [Read more...]

The National Politics Truth Publishing House (NPTPH) has announced its publications in the first six months of 2017. Accordingly, it has launched nearly 200 valuable publications of politics - society, history, culture, law, building the Party and the socialist legitimate state in our country. Besides, NPTPH also produced a number of publications on the political, ideological, and theoretical fronts to fight against the wrong views of hostile forces, contributing to protecting and developing Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought; firming the socialist line and maintaining and strengthening the leadership of the Party, the management of the State, raising the sense of revolutionary vigilance among officials and the Party members and the people A lot of important publications, including: "Work Modification" and "New Life" by President Ho Chi Minh; "Party building and rectification is key task to build the country" by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; "Comrade … [Read more...]

Present at the awarding ceremony were General Ngo Xuan Lich, member of the Politburo, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense; Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong, member of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, permanent member of the Central Military Commission, and Director of the General Department of Politics (GDP) of the Vietnam People's Army; Lieutenant General Pham Hong Huong, Deputy Chief of the General Staff; Major General Le Hien Van, GDP's Deputy Director and the President of the Military Creative Youth Awards Council; among others. General Ngo Xuan Lich and delegates visit booths at the event. This year's movement attracted the participation of 741 groups and individuals from 33 units under the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense with 405 projects and initiatives. Many projects and initiatives have been effectively applied in training, combat … [Read more...]

Assange has denied the rape allegations which could see him extradited to the U.S. and tried over leaking U.S. classified information. Swedish prosecutors Friday dropped a seven-year rape investigation into Julian Assange, a legal victory for the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012. But British police said they would still arrest Assange if he tried to leave the embassy, saying he had breached the terms of his bail by refusing to turn himself in when an arrest warrant was issued in 2012. Friday was the deadline for the public prosecutor's office to either renew the pan-European arrest warrant or lift it. "Director of Public Prosecution, Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape by Julian Assange," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Shortly after the announcement, Assange posted on Twitter a picture of himself smiling broadly, without comment. A lawyer on Assange's legal … [Read more...]

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria Pham Quoc Tru briefed participants on the life and career of the late leader as well as his role and influence in the struggle for national liberation and on international workers’ movements. President Ho Chi Minh is an example for all Vietnamese people to follow, the ambassador said. He called on the Vietnamese community in Algeria to learn and follow the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh as well as uphold traditions to build Vietnam into a country of civilisation, prosperity, peace and stability in the new context on the international and regional arena. Earlier, Ambassador Tru and the overseas Vietnamese offered incense to the former President at his alter at the Embassy. The same day, staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia laid flowers at the Ho Chi Minh statue in Moscow to mark the late leader’s 127th birthday. The event drew representatives from Vietnamese representative offices, the Vietnamese … [Read more...]

Hang made the statement on May 19 in reply to reporters’ questions on Vietnam’s reaction to the latest test-firing of a ballistic missile in the Democratic People Republic of Korea (DPRK). “Vietnam is concerned in relation to recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK’s missile launch on May 14,” Hang stated. She stressed that the action violated relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. Maintaining peace, stability and prosperous development in the region is a common responsibility of all countries, she affirmed. Vietnam calls on countries to strictly abide by relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, and take constructive and practical actions, contributing to maintaining peace, security and stability in the region and the world. … [Read more...]

Defence officers of Vietnam and the UK pose for a photo (Photo: Defence Attaché Office at the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK) London (VNA) – UK military officers have pledged to facilitate the transfer of a level-2 field hospital in South Sudan to Vietnamese control while meeting with Vietnamese officers who are visiting the UK from May 16-20. The Vietnamese delegation, led by Sen. Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, had working sessions with the UK Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the British Armed Forces, and visited the Army Medical Services Training Centre in York. The two ministries agreed to strengthen cooperation in peacekeeping. At the Permanent Joint Headquarters, Chief of Joint Operations Lt. Gen. John Lorimer affirmed that leaders of the General Staff of the British Army and the army’s medical department will support the transfer of the UK’s level-2 field hospital in South … [Read more...]

HÀ NỘI - Việt Nam hopes to forge stronger co-operation with Belgium in higher education, green economy and climate change responses, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ told Belgian Ambassador to Việt Nam Jehanne Roccas during their meeting in Hà Nội on Thursday. The Belgian diplomat noted that Belgium's co-operation and investment projects in Việt Nam focus on higher education, a green economy and vocational training, with a total investment of some 600 million euro. Along with consolidating and developing traditional areas of collaboration, Belgium wishes to beef up investment partnerships with Việt Nam in the future, she said. Deputy PM Huệ held that 2.2 billion euros in two-way trade is a modest figure, expressing the wish that Belgium will open its doors for Việt Nam's farm produce, while supporting Việt Nam in accessing advanced technology from Belgium and Europe. He also stressed his hope that Belgium, a founding and prestigious member of the EU, will help speed up the … [Read more...]

HÀ NỘI - APEC member economies strongly concur with the need to maintain the forum's role as a driving force of regional economic growth and incubator of co-operation initiatives for the common prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn at a press conference held at the closing of the second Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM2) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in Hà Nội on Thursday. SOM2 agreed to keep promoting the completion of the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the region by 2020, said Sơn, who is also APEC 2017 SOM Chair. "Participants reached a consensus that the implementation of Bogor Goals must be associated with creating equal opportunities for every citizen and enterprise to contribute to, and benefit from, achievements of regional economic growth and linkage, and to contribute to global efforts for sustainable development," said Sơn. "In parallel, APEC needs to enhance response … [Read more...]