Journalism Awards: Reporters Without Borders honors journalists who fear for their lives

Three female journalists, from Malta, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam have received this year's press freedom prizes awarded by the NGO Reporters Without Borders. Two were not allowed to travel to collect their award.

Only Caroline Muscat was able to appear in person to collect her "Prize for Independence." Vietnamese blogger Pham Doan Trang, who won the "Prize for Impact," and Saudi Arabian women's rights activist Eman al-Nafjan, winner of the "Prize for Courage," both remain barred from leaving their countries, their websites blocked, and under constant threat of detention and harassment.

Read more at: Reporters Without Borders honors journalists who fear for their lives | News | DW | 12.09.2019

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EU signs landmark trade deal with Vietnam

The European Union has signed a landmark free-trade deal with Vietnam, the first of its kind with a developing country in Asia, paving the way for tariff cuts on almost all goods.

The EU has described the deal as “the most ambitious free trade deal ever concluded with a developing country”

The free trade agreement will eventually eliminate 99% of tariffs, with some items cut over a 10-year period and other goods, notably agricultural products, limited by quotas. It is also expected to open up the public procurement and services markets, such as for the postal, banking and maritime sectors.

The deal still needs the approval of the European parliament, which is by no means a certainty given some lawmakers’ concerns over Vietnam’s human rights record.
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The agreement was signed in Hanoi, three-and-a-half years after trade negotiations ended in December 2015.

Read more: EU signs landmark trade deal with Vietnam | World news | The Guardian

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North Korea - US Meeting: China's shadow looms large over second Trump-Kim summit - by Katrina Yu

As North Korea's main ally, Beijing is keen on concrete results in upcoming vietnam meeting between North Korea and the US.

Read more at: China's shadow looms large over second Trump-Kim summit | China News | Al Jazeera

Geopoliitical maneuvering: Russia Strives to Cover Its Bases

 Moscow is looking to extend its global military reach. Citing Defense and Foreign Ministry officials, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported Monday that Cairo and Moscow are negotiating a deal that would grant Russia access to military facilities in Egypt and refurbish a former Soviet air base in the Mediterranean town of Sidi Barrani. In fact, Russia has been talking a lot lately about basing rights in strategic spots around the globe, from Egypt to Vietnam to Cuba to Iran. The intent behind these explorations is fairly straightforward: When locked in a multi-theater confrontation with the United States, what better way for the Russian bear to trample the U.S. security umbrella than with a growing military footprint?

Basing can be a misleading term, however, conjuring Cold War-era assumptions of permanent basing on a large scale. People could easily conclude that new bases mean major shifts in Russia's ability to project power or in host countries' strategic alliances. After all, hosting another country on sovereign territory is no small favor. But all basing arrangements are not created equal. A state can take the route of Japan or South Korea, which host troops from various branches of the U.S. military in large numbers, tilting an entire region's strategic balance in one direction. Alternatively, a state can host another country's ship at port a few times a year for repairs and refueling, a relationship that does not necessarily imply big swings in force projection or alliances.

That said, strategic military relationships can grow from even seemingly inconsequential arrangements if the geopolitical climate is ripe for it and if both parties can find enough mutual benefit. Take Russia's Tartus port, for example. For many years, it languished as a backwater repair and refueling depot on the Mediterranean Sea with little or no strategic relevance. But the Syrian civil war — and Russia's deepening involvement in it — raised Tartus to new levels of prominence for its role as a logistical hub critical to supporting loyalist and Russian forces. Though Tartus has not yet risen to the status of a Mediterranean naval power projection hub, it represents a burgeoning dependency between Damascus and Moscow and could evolve into a more strategic naval node. Last week, the Russian government approved permanent basing for its troops in Syria, in keeping with its plans to make Tartus a more robust and permanent port.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Russia may have to check its basing ambitions. Though Iran relies heavily on Russia's support in the proxy battle it is waging in Syria, Tehran is not about to welcome its troops onto Iranian territory in any permanent or semi-permanent fashion. In August, the Islamic republic revealed its sensitivities to foreign militaries claiming base rights when Russian aircraft flying sorties over Syria from Iran's Hamadan air base incited outrage among Iranian leaders. The Russian public relations coup was short-lived; Iranian officials were turned off by Moscow's "ungentlemanly" grandstanding and publicly rescinded its access to the air base. As the Iranian defense minister put it, the arrangement was not basing but "merely a form of assistance whereby we provided them with the facility to land, takeoff and refuel … a kind of operational cooperation." Despite Russia's attempts to pressure Iran into enhancing Hamadan's infrastructure to accommodate more bombers, Tehran will be wary of offering even token assistance to Moscow, especially since Russia already has a more substantial basing presence nearby in Syria.

Russia Strives to Cover Its Bases | Stratfor

America’s great mistakes: Has everyone forgotten that the Vietnam and Iraq wars were unnecessary, stupid and destructive? - by David Masciotra

tt is always equally nauseating and amusing to see America, an individualistic country, get in touch with its inner Marx and transform into a nation of collectivists whenever discussion of war rises to the level of unavoidable noise pollution. “The pursuit of happiness” mutates into “give your life for your country” with little scrutiny of the nobility or necessity of the military misadventure at hand.

Ever since Donald Trump, in an act of stupidity and indecency now becoming characteristic, spoke ill of the Khan family, whose son died in the Army during the Iraq War, the entire country has communicated a pro-military mindset that papers over the truth regarding America’s foolish and lethal wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

It is basic courtesy and kindness to express sympathy for anyone who has to bury a child, and to demonstrate respect for anyone who suffers injury or dies in war, but in an understandable and natural urge to honor the grief of the Khans, the Democratic Party, major media figures and Republicans desperately trying to distance themselves from the traveling disaster of Donald Trump have dragged out the big, rancid words “service” and “sacrifice.” These words act as censors against honest evaluation of American foreign policy. Throughout the rush to give the Khan family the regard they deserve and that Trump could not offer, it is disturbing to see almost no acknowledgement of the reality that their son, along with 4,485 other Americans, died in a war that should have never taken place. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also died, and many more sustained life-altering wounds and trauma, but Americans are never much for counting the casualties their country creates, rather than endures.

As much as Trump should apologize to the Khan family for his rude and thoughtless remarks, shouldn’t the architects and administrators of the war that killed Humayun Khan also apologize?

The failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the lack of any operative connection between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, and the creation of a terrorist playground in place of a once stable, albeit oppressive and miserable, country has led the overwhelming majority of Americans to view the war as a “mistake” and “not worth it.” The Iraq War, like the Vietnam War before it, was unnecessary, stupid and destructive. A rational observer who just awoke from a coma the week before the Democratic Convention would have little awareness of the blunder and crime of the Bush administration, given that for the past week, the entire country has spoken about the optional failure of policy as if it was World War II.

When the words “serve” and “sacrifice” populate political dialogue, it becomes crucial to ask, serve what and sacrifice for what?

Read more: America’s great mistakes: Has everyone forgotten that the Vietnam and Iraq wars were unnecessary, stupid and destructive? - Salon.com

Vietnam celebrates 40 years since the fall of Saigon

Vietnam is marking 40 years since the end of a war which killed at least three million of its citizens.
The country’s political and military powers attend a colourful parade in Ho Chi Minh City.

Formerly known as Saigon, the then capital of South Vietnam fell to the north in 1975, setting the wheels in motion for the nation’s reunification under Communist rule.

The Vietnam War was fought over more than two decades, following the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1954, which divided the country in two.

Guerillas in the US-backed south fought against the separation, helped by the Communist north.
US bombs were launched in 1964, followed by the arrival of its ground troops in ’65. They would continue fighting for a decade.

Some 58,000 American troops died during the conflict, dividing opinion on the country’s involvement.

The Paris Peace Accords officially ended US involvement in 1973, although fighting continued between the north and south until North Vietnamese troops rolled up to the presidential palace in Saigon, ending the war.

Read more: Vietnam celebrates 40 years since the fall of Saigon | euronews, world news

Insurance Industry - SURE: International Insurance Highlights With A Special Focus On Europe

Check out the Spring 2015 edition of Sure!   

Sure! is a compilation of press reports as well as market research conducted by Koster Verzekeringen BV, in order to gain more insight into the developments concerning the insurance industry as it relates to the overall global economic climate, social structure and the political environment.

In the Spring 2015 edition of Sure! Solvency II remains on top, as more and more effects of it's impact are felt around the European Union, radically changing the way insurance companies used to conduct their business. The objective of Solvency II, as aspired by the European Commission, is to create additional transparency and a more harmonized insurance industry throughout the European Union.

The Spring 2015 edition of Sure! also provides insight on how some specific EU member states are being affected by Solvency II , including France, Germany, Italy, Britain, in addition to recent developments in Greece and the Netherlands related to the insurance industry.  

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Produce: Vietnam walking a tightrope with EU produce exports

Vietnamese produce exporters are edging dangerously close to the maximum amount of phytosanitary interceptions allowed in Europe this year.

According to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, three shipments of Vietnamese basil and bitter melon were stopped by European authorities as they were contaminated with harmful bacteria.

Earlier this year, the European Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DGSANCO) said it would only allow for five interceptions from the Southeast Asian country before February, 2015.

If the authority delivers on its promise, that means just two more interceptions and Vietnam will be kicked out of the market,

Read more: FreshFruitPortal.com » Vietnam walking a tightrope with EU produce exports

Censorship Internet: Online surveillance threatens Internet freedom

Iran and China are both - once again - among the "State Enemies of the Internet" by Reporters Without Borders. Bloggers from the two countries tell DW about online filtering and censorship in their home countries.

Authoritarian regimes continue to engage in a variety of surveillance and censorship activities against the media and rights activists. The human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) named Bahrain, China, Iran, Syria and Vietnam "State Enemies of the Internet," on Tuesday (12.03.2013), the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship.

RSF said the five countries’ governments "are involved in active, intrusive surveillance of news providers, resulting in grave violations of freedom of information and human rights."

"Increasingly widespread cyber-censorship and cyber-surveillance are endangering the Internet model that the Net’s founders envisaged: the Internet as place of freedom, a place for exchanging information, content and opinions, a place that transcended frontiers," the Paris-based NGO said in a statement.

Read more: Online surveillance threatens Internet freedom | World | DW.DE | 12.03.2013

CleanTech: Finland, Vietnam launch fish fuel project

For the complete report from Cleantech click on this link

Vietnam launch fish fuel project

Espoo, Finland-based VTT Technical Research Center, the largest applied research organization in Northern Europe, launched a three-year project to produce biodiesel from waste generated by a Vietnamese fish processing plant. For the project known as ENERFISH, VTT is working with organizations in France, Germany, the UK and Vietnam to construct a biodiesel facility next to the Hiep Thanh Seafood JSC processing plant in southern Vietnam, which produces 120,000 kilograms (264,555 pounds) of processed fish waste daily. The fish waste is currently sold to the feed industry.

Earlier this year, Finland's state-controlled Neste Oil announced plans to build a $1 billion biodiesel facility in the Netherlands. Last year the company announced plans to build an $810 million biodiesel facility in Singapore that is expected to be operational in 2010

Vietnam Economic Times: Vietnamese companies buy 30 Airbus planes

For the complete report from Vietnam Economic Times click on this link

Vietnamese companies buy 30 Airbus planes

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and the Viet Nam Aircraft Leasing Company (VALC) signed a contract in Ha Noi on December 21 to buy 30 Airbus planes. Vietnam Airlines will buy 10 A350s and 10 A321s, while VALC will take another 10 A321s. A memorandum of understanding had been reached in early October under the witness of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his official visit to France . Airbus plans to hand over the first A321 to Viet Nam in 2012 and an A350 in 2016.