World

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will visit Vietnam starting Sunday, her ministry has announced. Coming at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, she is expected to hold discussions on fostering the Vietnam-Australia strategic partnership and the ASEAN-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, and regional and global issues …

Ukraine became a candidate to join the European Union on Thursday, a bold geopolitical step triggered by Russia’s invasion that Kyiv and Brussels hailed as a “historic moment”. Starting on the long path to EU membership will be a huge boost to morale in the embattled country, as Russian assaults …

The World Health Organization will decide whether to declare monkeypox a global emergency, stirring criticism from African scientists who say it has been a crisis in their region for years. The deliberations and scrutiny of the WHO’s response to the outbreak follows concerns over how the United Nations agency and …

Teams will be able to select up to 26 players for this year’s World Cup after global soccer’s governing body FIFA increased the maximum squad limit by three on Thursday. FIFA said the change was due to the unusual timing of the tournament as well as the impact of Covid-19 …

Almost a month since Shanghai lifted strict Covid-19 lockdowns, fashion retailers are stuck with piles of unsold stock as cautious consumers stay away from the commercial hub’s glitzy shopping districts. Curbs to stop the virus in Shanghai, China’s fashion capital, ground the city of 25 million to a halt in …

The southern Binh Phuoc Province requires all adults who refuse to take booster Covid-19 vaccines to sign a form to “take responsibility if they cause the disease to spread.” The Department of Health said only 54 percent of people have got a third shot and 7 percent a fourth. Some …

China’s drills on Vietnam’s Paracel Islands are a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty that complicates the South China Sea situation, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said Thursday. Hang said that China’s actions “have severely violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands, gone against the spirit of the Declaration on the …

Authorities have told 23 families living in a ramshackle apartment block in HCMC’s District 5 the building could collapse and to move to a skyscraper a few kilometers away. The city government has given permission to District 5 authorities to knock down the apartment complex on 440 Tran Hung Dao …

A teenager in central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province was arrested for organizing and brokering illegal emigration, local police said Thursday. In March, former casino employee Tran Ngoc Chung, 19, brought four people from his hometown across the border to Cambodia, selling them to casino owners for $650 per head. He …

Macau extended its Covid-19 restrictions including the closure of bars, cinemas, hair salons and outdoor parks from Thursday, its chief executive said as the world’s biggest gambling hub battles to curb a rise in locally transmitted cases. Casinos are allowed to remain open while theaters, fitness centers, and leisure facilities …