Expelled cuban diplomats

The Hanoitimes - Hanoi hopes trade link will support its export-driven economy while London is trying to secure trade deals ahead of the transition period after Brexit. Vietnam and the UK have agreed refresh and strengthen their strategic partnership and set the framework for forging ahead in the next decade. Vietnam and the UK look to forge ahead the partnership in the next decade. Photo: MOFA The two sides adopted a joint declaration at a meeting between Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on September 30 during the British diplomat’s visit to Hanoi, the first by a European politician to Vietnam since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The declaration, which marks a milestone of 10 years of the Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership, outlines the UK and Vietnam’s commitment to further strengthening the bilateral partnership. It includes (1) deepening bilateral trade and investment, and pursuing more open trade through global and regional economic integration; (2) co-operating to support sustainable economic growth, and to combat the urgent challenges presented by climate change; (3) working together on shared security challenges through peace-keeping operations, military healthcare and training and maritime security; (4) enhancing ties in education, vocational training, higher education, particularly in the field of science and technology; (5) enhancing bilateral cooperation in defense and security and to combat serious and organized crime; (6) promoting people-to-people links, equal rights, including promoting gender equality and tackling modern slavery; and (7) committing to a closer coordination through multilateral fora, including the United Nations and within the framework of ASEAN. Trade deal dominates the visit To prepare for partnership in the next 10 years, the two sides highlighted the importance of a bilateral trade agreement that dominates …

[Read more...] about Vietnam, UK set upward trajectory for next 10 years

The Hanoitimes - Both Vietnam and the UK are looking for a trade deal after Brexit. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is scheduled to visit Vietnam from September 29 – 30 to hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh, with a trade deal at the top of the agenda ahead of the ending of the transition period for Britain's exit from the European Union this year, Nikkei Asia reported. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to seek a trade deal with Vietnam in two-day visit. Photo: Reuters. Britain hopes to strengthen economic ties with Asia-Pacific countries and expand trade beyond Europe after Brexit. Vietnam approved a free trade deal with the EU in June and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement came into effect in August. Without a new bilateral trade deal with Vietnam, Britain faces higher tariffs from January 2020. Additionally, Britain is also seeking to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an 11-member multilateral trade pact that Vietnam is a member of. After reaching an economic partnership agreement with Japan earlier this month, UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Nikkei that London would accelerate talks with CPTPP members. "We have not yet confirmed our timeline for formal application, but any final application decision we make will depend on the progress of bilateral negotiations with CPTPP members," she said. The UK is set to engage in individual closed-door meetings with the framework's existing members, which include Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Brunei. Vietnam is also keen to push an FTA with the UK as Covid-19 weighs on the export-driven economy. For this year, the country targets an economic growth of 2.5%, significantly lower than the previous forecast of 5% in May before a resurgence of the virus in July. The two foreign ministers will be discussing collaboration in the fight …

[Read more...] about UK foreign minister seeks trade deal in Vietnam visit

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Lorraine Harvey, an in home care worker, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Rudolfo Garcia at a clinic at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles on February 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. African Americans and Latinos comprise a majority of the South LA community and are dying of COVID-19 at a rate significantly higher than whites. Vaccine equity has also lagged in South Los Angeles relative to some more wealthy areas. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP) Brazil hit 250,000 fatalities -- the second-highest national death toll after the US -- while the worldwide vaccine campaign received the royal endorsement of Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who urged people not to be wary of the injection. President Joe Biden declared the US rollout is now "weeks ahead of schedule" as he celebrated 50 million vaccines administered since he took office on January 20, but he warned Americans to keep masking up. "We're moving in the right direction despite the mess we inherited," Biden said, referring to the program under his predecessor Donald Trump. The United States is the world's hardest-hit country, with coronavirus deaths crossing the 500,000 mark earlier this week. Biden said that there would be "enough supply" for all adult Americans by the end of July. The EU announced Thursday it expected to vaccinate 70 percent of adults by the end of the summer, after months of problems and friction. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said fully vaccinating just under three-quarters of adults by late summer was a "goal that we're confident with." But in Brazil, the grim quarter-million deaths milestone came one year after the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in the country, which is struggling with severe vaccine shortages and a devastating second wave. - Mass graves - The coronavirus has hit especially hard in Brazil's impoverished "favelas," among indigenous …

[Read more...] about US, EU say vaccine programs on track as global deaths hit 2.5 mn