Reporters without borders and Nguen Thi Thanh Van’s family voice fears for french journalist held in Vietnam

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24576
The husband and sister of French journalist Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, her lawyer and the secretary general of Reporters Without Borders today told a press conference of their anxiety about the plight of French journalist and activist who is in the hands of the Vietnamese government.
The 51-year-old, from Haÿ les Roses in [...]

Chinese police detain two suspects over trafficking Vietnamese babies

 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/29/content_7168105.htm
NANNING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese police have detained a Vietnamese woman and a Chinese man who allegedly smuggled four babies from Vietnam into China, local police said Thursday.
The woman was caught holding two babies in arms on the China-Vietnam border in Dongxing City of southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Tuesday night, when she illegally [...]

Czech labour shortage forces Skoda to recruit workers from Vietnam

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article2964036.ece
Skoda has begun to recruit workers from Vietnam for its factories in the Czech Republic as it struggles with a labour shortage.
The Czech carmaker is having to search further afield for employees amid increased migration of Eastern European workers and a booming domestic automotive industry.
Skoda, which is owned by VW, has used [...]

Vietnamese strike at Nike plant

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7118902.stm
Thousands of workers have gone on strike at a Vietnamese plant that makes shoes for Nike, demanding higher pay.
Workers, who produce about 10% of the 75 million pairs of shoes made for Nike in Vietnam annually, want more pay, bonuses and cost of living allowances.
Strikes have become more common in Vietnam, as inflation – now [...]

Vietnam caught between repression and reform

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IK30Ae01.html
By Shawn W Crispin – swcrispin@atimes.com
Vietnam’s ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy groups has entered a volatile phase with the recent imprisonment of a group of foreign nationals, an unexpected move that has strained bilateral relations with former battlefield adversary and present pivotal trade and investment partner the United States.
On November 17, Vietnamese police arrested and detained [...]

Report: Vietnam investigates 6 democracy activists for terrorism

Report: Vietnam investigates 6 democracy activists for terrorism

The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
 

HANOI, Vietnam: Police seized pro-democracy leaflets during the arrest of six dissidents earlier this month, and they were investigating the group for terrorism, state media reported Wednesday.
Three of the detainees were members of Viet Tan, a California-based pro-democracy [...]

Chickens die en mass in S Vietnam

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/28/content_7160040.htm
HANOI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — Some 6,400 chickens in Vietnam’s southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province have died of unidentified causes since early this month, while the country’s poultry flock is being hit by bird flu and Marek disease.
Specimens from the dead poultry of two farms in the province’s Tan Thanh districts are being tested, [...]

Vietnam officially chosen to host Miss Universe 2008

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/28/content_7159856.htm
HANOI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — Vietnam has been officially chosen to host the 57th Miss Universe in central Nha Trang city of Khanh Hoa province next July, local newspaper Youth reported Wednesday.
The contract on holding the event was signed Tuesday between the Vietnamese main partner, the Hoan Vu company, and the pageant’s organizer under the [...]

Vietnam dissidents defiant in court despite jail term reductions

 
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j-TD4n3_RdXpeOjT_1taCAfKH2lQ
16 hours ago
HANOI (AFP) — A Vietnamese court on Tuesday cut the jail terms of two pro-democracy activists in an unusually charged appeal hearing in which the dissidents remained defiant against the one-party communist state.
The Hanoi court reduced the prison sentence of human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, 38, from five years to four, and [...]

Vietnam Sees More Abortions Than Live Births in Ho Chi Minh City

http://www.lifenews.com/int541.html
by Steven Ertelt
Hanoi, Vietnam (LifeNews.com) — The number of abortions has declined in Ho Chi Minh City, but the large Asian city still sees more abortions there than live births. Vietnam has long had one of the highest abortion rates in both Asia and the world and the United Nations recently said sex-selection abortions are [...]