What happened in October 2013: news and events relating to Vietnamese at home and in the diaspora.
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Viet Kieu in the news
• Vietnamese American politician and former Assembly member Van Tran is making a comeback to run for the State Board of Equalization.
• A BBC correspondent interviews Vietnamese-Canadian Rita Nguyen, co-founder of Burma’s first-ever social networking site. Her business, SQUAR, opened in June 2013.
• In 1975, 330 South Vietnamese and Cambodian orphans arrived in Los Angeles.
News about Vietnam
• In Hanoi, a small group of foreign entrepreneurs offer visitors a taste tour of the capital’s eclectic sidewalk eats.
• General Vo Nguyen Giap, who led the Vietnamese to victory against the French at Dien Bien Phu and ousted the U.S. from Vietnam, dies. [TNN]
• Vo Nguyen Giap’s legacy remains divisive, but Vietnamese in the diaspora “should appreciate the role the general played in fighting colonialism.” [
• A humanitarian non-profit organization helps Vietnamese victims of unexploded ordnances.
•Political activist Le Quoc Quan is sentenced (on false charges) to a 30-month prison term.
• In the villages in Central Highlands, as the case in many other areas, the government tightly controls religion. [Photo: Chris Brummitt]
• The United States and Vietnam signed a pact that would allow Vietnam access to nuclear technology and open the way for U.S. investment in the burgeoning energy market. [NEI][WNN]
• Vietnam’s current laws are not strong enough to protect underage working children.
Other News
• View some iconic AP photos taken during the Vietnam/American War. [Photo: Horst Faas/AP]
• During the “American war,” the U.S. applied a double standard in regard to human life, in which with “horrific spasms of violence” it massacred millions of Vietnamese civilians.
• A global analyst discusses “conventional wisdom” and Vo Nguyen Giap.
• China’s need for water and “unhelpful” plan for a dam will negatively impact downstream countries, including Vietnam.
• Studies reveal individuals with extra abdominal fat develop memory loss and dementia later in life.
• Have you been jetting here and there and drinking water with poop in it? Eew.
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP
