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New US President Joseph R. Biden was sworn in with his wife Jill Biden by his side, photo: AFP Last Wednesday many Americans breathed a sigh of relief as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US President without any further incident from those who believe the election was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump. Instead of attending the ceremony as is tradition, Trump and his family took one last trip on Air Force One to Florida, where he will be based until the former reality TV star decides whether to run for president again in 2024 – or perhaps even endorse a family member for the post. Alongside Biden, Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president, becoming the first woman in American history – as well as the first woman of African-American and South Asian descent – to take on the role. “Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more difficult than the time we’re in now,” Biden said in his inauguration speech. He vowed to dedicate his “whole soul” to rebuilding a country battered by disease, economic turmoil, racial inequality, and political division. The 78-year-old certainly has his work cut out for him, but he rushed into action to put his stamp on the presidency by signing a raft of executive orders within hours of entering the White House. Biden signed a letter retracting Trump’s decision to leave the World Health Organization, which would have been effective in July. There was widespread criticism and an almost complete lack of international support last year for Trump’s move in the midst of a pandemic. In the most noteworthy but also most unsurprising move, the US is to be reinstated to the Paris climate agreement. The accord, which looks to curb the heating of the planet, will be much boosted by the return of second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Biden has previously warned that climate change poses the “greatest threat to the country”, which was battered by record wildfires and …

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"We will follow FIFA’s verdict in this case," Pham Nguyen Hong, director of Thanh Hoa Province Culture, Sport and Tourism Department and chairman of Thanh Hoa Football Federation, said. After being sacked by Thanh Hoa for underwhelming results at the start of V. League 2020, Lopez brought the arbitration to FIFA. The 47-year-old coach claimed Thanh Hoa had violated the two-year contract he signed with the club previously by not compensating him following its termination. After nearly a year, FIFA awarded the case to Lopez and his assistant, forcing Thanh Hoa to pay them $187,000. The club will have to complete the payment within 45 days or be banned from signing any new players, domestically or internationally and in the worst case, demoted. Thanh Hoa will not bring this case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since their winning chance is thin. If the club fails to make a case, they would have to pay another $30,000 in court fees. Previously, they filed an appeal against Senegalese player Idrissa Sega Cisse but lost. As a result, Thanh Hoa still had to pay Cisse $58,420 in compensation and $20,000 in court fees. Thanh Hoa is currently waiting on Lopez to provide them the necessary details in order to complete the transaction. The club’s new sponsor stated it would not pay for this case since it happened before it came on board. Therefore, the responsibility belongs to Thanh Hoa Football Federation. Before coaching Thanh Hoa, Lopez had managed many academy squads for Italian clubs like Atalanta and ACF Fiorentina as well as clubs in Eastern Europe and Asia. …

[Read more...] about V. League club agrees to compensate Italian coach

Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – More than 30 consultants and social workers, on February 26, began a three-day Australian-funded course that helps them improve their work toward abused women and children during the current time of pandemic. Sponsored by the Australia n Government, the course is co-organised by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and Vietnam’s Centre for Women and Development (CWD) as part of a project on emergency response to violence against women and children amid COVID-19 . Participants are currently working at the CWD in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, as well as hospitals and social centres in the two cities. During the training session, they will be provided with knowledge and skills to identify symptoms of stress and types of psychological trauma as well as practice some first aid and psychological care methods. Statistics showed that, in the context of the pandemic, the rate of violence against women and children in Vietnam and in the world has increased by between 30 and 300 percent. Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, a social worker at CWD, said amid surging number of calls to a CWD hotline for abused women and children in conjunction with the pandemic happening, knowledge from the course will help her better approach and support the victims to soon ease their trauma./. VNA …

[Read more...] about Australian-funded course helps improve social work for abused women, children amid COVID-19