Its going to hurt

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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At 6 a.m. Friday, the 15th day of the first lunar month, Ly A Ton, 62, woke early to prepare offerings, including fresh flowers, fruit, incense, boiled chicken and fried cakes ( jian dui ) in front of his house on Tran Hung Dao Street in District 5. Instead of flocking to a Chinese-built pagoda with his offerings and burning incense to the gods as in previous years, Ton stayed home and set up a table to worship the deities for fear of gathering in crowds amid the new Covid-19 outbreak that began in the country in late January. He then hung red pieces of paper bearing Chinese characters on his walls to pray for peace and good fortune. "This is the most important ritual during Tet Nguyen Tieu ," he said, referring to the Lantern Festival, known as the biggest and most important festival of the year for ethnic Chinese, marking the final day of the traditional Lunar New Year ( Tet ) celebration. It is observed on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the first Full Moon day of the Lunar New Year. " Tet Nguyen Tieu to us is even more important than Lunar New Year’s Eve and Chinese like us always light incense to deities at pagodas and temples to pray for the removal of bad luck and a year of peace and happiness," Ton noted. "But the Covid-19 outbreak forced us to celebrate on a smaller scale this year. I am old and scared of contracting the virus or spreading it to my family members. Therefore, I limit going out and gathering in crowds." He also had to cancel a reunion party with his relatives and could not visit his friends during the festival, which is an occasion for reunited families to eat dumplings and floating rice cakes made of glutinous rice flour wrapped around a sweet filling. Inside the 250-year-old Lady Thien Hau Temple, which is dedicated to worship the Goddess of the Sea, the devout convey their prayers by lighting spiral incense sticks that can burn for weeks. Photo by VnExpress/Phong Vinh. Ton is one of thousands …

[Read more...] about Covid-19 wave forces Chinese Vietnamese to celebrate Lantern Festival in silence

The Saigon football club has confirmed that its players Cao Van Trien and Tran Danh Trung will join Ryukyu FC in J-League 2. Cao Van Trien will play football in Japan "It is expected that in early July, Cao Van Trien and Tran Danh Trung will go to Japan to play for FC Ryukyu. We will arrange a team of Japanese experts to support them with their skill and Japanese language training programs so that they will be able to adapt to the new environment as soon as possible," said Saigon FC Chairman Tran Hoa Binh. Cao Van Trien is one of the prominent players of Saigon FC, who was summoned to the national team by Coach Park Hang Seo in late 2020. Trien left a good impression with coach Park during his debut. Meanwhile, Tran Danh Trung used to a member of U19 and U22 national squads. Saigon FC plans to send more players to Japan under a cooperation program. After goalkeeper Dang Van Lam, striker Cong Phuong, Tuan Anh, Cong Vinh, Vietnam will have more football players coming to Japan. On February 24, Saigon FC announced that it will replace coach Vu Tien Thanh with Japanese coach Masahiro Shimoda. Thanh will then become Director of Football Division of the Vietnam Professional Football (PVF), in charge of training young football players. Dai Nam …

[Read more...] about Two Saigon FC members to play football in Japan