Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday to deepen cooperation in security and pandemic recovery, after Washington vowed support for Southeast Asian nations embroiled in territorial rifts with China.

Vietnam and the Philippines, Austin’s next stop, are among China’s fiercest opponents in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has ignored neighbors’ protests and has constructed several islands equipped with airstrips and military installations.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is seeking to bolster ties with Vietnam, one of the Southeast Asian nations embroiled in a territorial rift with China, during a two-day visit starting Wednesday.

In a speech in Singapore, his first stop in the region he is visiting for the first time as member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, Austin said Tuesday he was committed to pursuing a constructive, stable relationship with China, including stronger crisis communications with the People’s Liberation Army.

HANOI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The 15th National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam on Monday re-elected Pham Minh Chinh as the Vietnamese prime minister for the 2021-2026 tenure, according to voting results.

Chinh, also a member of the Politburo of the 13th Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), was re-elected with a 95.99-percent approval rate among deputies at the ongoing first session of the 15th NA, according to a statement on the NA's website.

Hanoi (Vietnam), Jul 24 (AP-PTI) Vietnam announced a 15-day lockdown in the capital Hanoi starting Saturday as a coronavirus surge spread from the southern Mekong Delta region.

The lockdown order, issued late Friday night, bans the gathering of more than two people in public. Only government offices, hospitals and essential businesses are allowed to stay open.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam announced a 15-day lockdown in the capital Hanoi starting Saturday as a coronavirus surge spread from the southern Mekong Delta region.

The lockdown order, issued late Friday night, bans the gathering of more than two people in public. Only government offices, hospitals and essential businesses are allowed to stay open.

Hanoi, Jul 18 (AP-PTI) Vietnam put its entire southern region in a two-week lockdown starting midnight Sunday, as confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 3,000 for the third day in a row.

The lockdown order includes the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City metropolis, the country's financial and economic hub with over 35 million people - nearly a third of Vietnam's population.

HANOI, July 16 (Reuters) - Vietnam urged the United States on Friday to end its "hostile policy" and lift its longstanding trade embargo on Cuba, the foreign ministry said, following this week's rare anti-government protests on the island.

"The U.S. needs to take concrete steps in the direction of normalizing relations with Cuba for the benefit of the two peoples, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region and the world," ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.

HANOI, July 10 (Reuters) - Vietnam has received 2 million doses of the Moderna (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine donated by the U.S. government, the American embassy in Hanoi said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country battles its worst outbreak of the pandemic.

The shipment, delivered via the COVAX sharing facility, is part of the 80 million vaccine doses that President Joe Biden committed from U.S. vaccine supplies to support global needs, the embassy said in an emailed statement.

HANOI, July 7 (Reuters) - Anticipation of stricter movement curbs triggered panic-buying in Vietnam's economic hub Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, the epicentre of its coronavirus outbreak, while media reported unrest at a city jail where dozens of inmates were infected.

The health ministry said outbound travellers from the city of 9 million people would be subjected to a week of quarantine and testing at their destinations, a day after dozens of flights were suspended to control the spread.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said Saturday.

Nguyen Thanh Long said scientists examined the genetic makeup of the virus that had infected some recent patients, and found the new version of the virus. He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus.