Vietnam

Tonga establishes diplomatic ties with Vietnam

The foreign ministers of both countries formalised the joint communiqué with a signing ceremony in New York.

It occurs as leaders from all over the world gather in New York for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

Vietnam's foreign minister Bui Thanh Son says his government proposed cooperation in areas of trade and tourism.

     

Biden denies Cold War with China during historic Vietnam visit

More than 50 years since the last American soldier left Vietnam, Biden travelled to Hanoi to sign the agreement that will bring the former foes closer than ever before.

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam is a major relationship upgrade for the US. It is the culmination of a relentless push by Washington over the past two years to strengthen ties with Vietnam, which it sees as key to counter China's influence in Asia.

COVID: Vietnam detects new UK-Indian variant, health officials say

Vietnam's Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long described the latest mutation on Saturday as "very dangerous".

Viruses mutate all the time and most variants are inconsequential, but some can make a virus more contagious.

Since COVID-19 was first identified in January 2020, thousands of mutations have been detected.

"Vietnam has uncovered a new COVID-19 variant combining characteristics of the two existing variants first found in India and the UK," Mr Nguyen told a government meeting, according to Reuters news agency.

Teen dead after rolling on to iPhone cable in her sleep

Le Thi Xoan, from Vietnam, was exposed to the live wires of the damaged cable which was on her bed, while she was sleeping.

The teenager was found unconscious by her parents and rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead later that day.

The iPhone 6 cable was found on her bed as the girl always charged her phone next to her while she slept.

The cable was broken and had tape trying to keep it together.

The cause of death has been ruled as electrocution.

Russia 'considering military bases in Cuba and Vietnam'

Nikolai Pankov announced a review of the decision to close the two bases more than a decade ago.

The two served as pivots of Soviet military power during the Cold War.

It comes amid growing tensions between the US and Russia, and as Russia's parliament approved a longer term military presence at a Syrian airbase.

Mr Pankov told the Russian parliament on Friday they were "dealing with the issue" of the two bases, Russian news agencies reported.

He declined to go into detail.

Rio Olympics 2016: Vietnam win first ever Games gold

Hoang scored 202.5 points to edge out home favourite Felipe Wu who recorded 202.1 points to clinch silver and Brazil's first medal of the Games.

Wu took the lead after the penultimate shot but Hoang denied him with a brilliant final effort.

Pang Wei scored 180.4 to win bronze for China, while South Korea's defending champion Jin Jongoh came in fifth.