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An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale hit Lai Chau province in northern Vietnam at 03:37:09 (GMT) (10:37:09 local time) today, according to Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). The earthquake occurred off the East Sea at a depth of 4km, with the epicenter 14km northeast of Lai Chau town or 26km away [...]
Misrata has come under attack by Libyan government forces attempting to retake the besieged city. Three people were reportedly killed as missiles slammed into the city’s port, a lifeline for those seeking to escape to the rebel stronghold Benghazi. Nato is enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians in Libya amid a two-month revolt inspired [...]
The leaders of France and Italy have said Europe’s Schengen open-border treaty should be revised. The move by President Nicolas Sarkozy and PM Silvio Berlusconi comes after they met to discuss the recent rise in North African migration to Europe. Italy has angered France by granting visas to thousands of migrants, allowing them to travel [...]
French troops have taken over the airport in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, the AFP news agency reports. France is also sending an extra 300 soldiers to Ivory Coast, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told AFP. Fighting has raged in Abidjan since Thursday night as forces loyal to the UN-recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, are battling those [...]
The bodies of two workers killed by the tsunami which wrecked Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant more than three weeks ago have been recovered. Their remains were found last Wednesday but had to be decontaminated before they could be returned to the families. Meanwhile, officials are still struggling to stop contaminated water leaking into the [...]
The offshore drilling firm responsible for running the Deepwater Horizon rig has given its top executives bonuses for its “best year” for safety. Transocean was blamed along with BP and Halliburton after last year’s massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers, nine of whom worked for Transocean, died when the Deepwater Horizon exploded [...]
Fighting has resumed in Libya with rebel forces continuing to battle for control of the eastern oil town of Brega. Rebels have captured the university on the outskirts of the city, AFP says. Overnight, shelling resumed in Misrata, Libya’s third biggest city and the last big rebel stronghold in the west, which has been besieged [...]
A Mexican human rights organisation says thousands of people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006. Mexico’s human rights commission, CNDH, said 5,397 people had been reported missing since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels. A United Nations study has suggested the security forces may have played a part in the disappearance of [...]
Yesterday, Hanoi police arrested a woman for “appropriating” VND6 billion (US$287,287) in a curious case where the money was mistakenly transferred to the accused, who then spent it all rather than gave it back. Nguyen Thi Thuy, 52 is facing charges of illegally holding money belonging to Hanoi-based Vincom which by mistake transferred VND6 billion [...]
Tran Khang Thuy, Director of the Economic Science Research Center under the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, told Tuoi Tre that Vietnam could certainly afford wind and solar power. In the following interview, Thuy said it wasn’t money that prevents Vietnam from switching from thermoelectricity plants using fossil fuels to wind and solar power [...]