Some socio-cultural, literary, and political news and events in September 2013 relating to Vietnam and to the Vietnamese diaspora (Việt Kiều).
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Viet Kieu in the news
• U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia endorses candidate Hung Nguyen for the Virginia House of Delegates, District 67.
• Veterans and their Amerasians children search for each others. [Photo: Lance Murphey]
• The visa fraud story continues as the U.S. government has arrested Vietnamese American Vo Tang Binh on charges of bribery, visa fraud, and conspiracy.
• Vietnamese American painter Luong Van Ty wants to donate his paintings to a museum. [Photo: Ha Giang]
• OneVietnam Network had their charity gala, Street Eats.
News about Vietnam
• Super-storm Wutip hits Vietnam’s central coast. [VNN]
• Increasing numbers of tourists, including Vietnamese, go to clinics in South Korea for cosmetic surgery. [Photo: Woohae Cho]
• A journalist reports on how eating dog became big business in Vietnam.
• Vietnam shows signs of economic improvement. [Bloomberg][TNN]
• A report shows the rich in Vietnam got richer.
• Vietnamese authorities have confined a jailed activist’s wife and their children to their home.
• Vietnam’s population is nearing 90 million, making it the 3rd most populous country in Southeast Asia. But, according to officials, there is a gender imbalance in Vietnam with fewer women than men. [TT]
• Over 100 Vietnamese reform-seeking intellectuals signed a petition calling on the government to end one-party rule, which suppresses political dissent.
• General Electric Co. won the bid to supply engines for Vietnam Airlines Corp.’s fleet of 787 Dreamliners.
• A new study reveals Vietnam is one of the biggest markets for illegally poached rhino horns.
• Researchers say arsenic is contaminating a major drinking-water aquifer that serves Hanoi.
Other News
• In England, “pho” is a legal matter. [Photo: Alamy]
• Newly declassified documents show the NSA spied on critics of the Vietnam War. [BBC]
• The PEW Research Center reports on how people in the U.S. uses their cell phones.
• Psychotherapy is losing ground to medications. [Image: Tim Lahan]
• A breakthrough in bio-engineering has allowed human thoughts to control a robotic leg.
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP