Vietnam court convicts Catholics in land dispute

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese court convicted eight Catholics on Monday on charges of disturbing public order and damaging property during a series of prayer vigils to get back confiscated church land, but gave them light sentences.
One defendant received a warning while the others were given suspended sentences ranging from 12 to 15 months. [...]

Catholic protesters face court in Vietnam

ANOI (AFP) — Eight Vietnamese Catholics went on trial Monday charged with disturbing public order and destroying property in the communist country during rallies over a land dispute.
The defendants were among thousands who joined prayer vigils and peaceful rallies over the past year in the capital Hanoi demanding the return of Catholic church land seized [...]

Vietnam Catholics protest at land dispute trial

HANOI (Reuters) – Hundreds of Vietnamese police and riot police sealed off streets leading to a government building on Monday as eight Catholics went on trial over their attempt to claim a plot of disputed land in the capital.
More than 1,000 Vietnamese Catholics turned up at the People’s Committee offices in a Hanoi district to [...]

Coal mine blast kills 7 in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A blast Monday at a coal mine in northern Vietnam killed at least seven workers and injured 15, a company executive said.
Rescue workers pulled their bodies from a 750-foot-deep (230-meter-deep) tunnel in Quang Ninh province and were still searching for another victim following the methane explosion early Monday morning, said Nguyen [...]

Vietnamese Catholics on trial in land dispute case

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Eight Vietnamese Catholics went on trial Monday on charges of disturbing public order and damaging property while holding prayer vigils to demand the return of confiscated church land.
The Catholics are accused of knocking down a brick wall surrounding property near the Thai Ha church in Hanoi’s Dong Da district during several [...]

Vietnam’s market economy leaves the poor behind

Bill Snyder, Chronicle Foreign Service
Monday, December 8, 2008
(12-08) 04:00 PST Ho Chi Minh City — At 16, Xuan Phuong left her home in central Vietnam to join the Viet Minh’s struggle against the French in 1946. She marched barefoot through the mountains, manufactured explosives and acted in propaganda plays for more than a decade before [...]

U.S. – Vietnam Partnership

07 December 2008
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment, and Science Claudia McMurray visited Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City, Lam Dong Province, and Dong Nai Province November 18 to 22 to promote environmental and scientific cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. Two specific goals of her trip were [...]

Water buffalo rampage leaves 2 dead in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A water buffalo went on a rampage in central Vietnam, killing two villagers and injuring four others before soldiers shot the beast dead, police said Sunday.
The ordeal started Saturday when the buffalo suddenly charged 64-year-old Tran Cam and gored him in the stomach, killing him instantly, said Tran Ngoc Yen, a [...]

Test for Vietnam government: free-speech bloggers

By BEN STOCKING
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Last fall, when police clashed with Catholic protesters over confiscated church land, the Vietnamese public didn’t need to rely on the sanitized accounts in the government-controlled media. They could read all about it on the blogs.
The photos and translated Western news reports about last September’s outlawed prayer vigils [...]

Vietnam far from a modern economy

Duncan Mavin in Ho Chi Minh City, Financial Post Published: Friday, December 05, 2008
Vietnam was supposed to be the lair of the next Asian Tiger. Ripe for development, open for business, and with a young population eager for the homeland to emulate the economic miracle of its giant neighbour China.
There were all the [...]