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Vietnam seeks support for maritime freedom

2018-06-27T04:42:49Z

Marita06H52:

France and other [http://Www.Lifebeyondtourism.org/?header_search=countries countries] should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam's president told AFP Wednesday, as unease grows over China's increasingly muscular approach in the key waterway. China claims most of the sea where it has built up reefs capable of hosting military equipment, sparking ire from competing claimants, including Vietnam, and raising fears of potential armed conflict. Speaking to AFP ahead of a visit by French leader Francois Hollande next month, Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang said he hopes France and others will help to diffuse regional tensions in the waterway, which it calls the East Sea. Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang speaks during an interview with AFP at the presidential palace in Hanoi on August 24, 2016 �Hoang Dinh Nam [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] (AFP) "We highly welcome the cooperation from France and other nations in the process of maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world and on the East Sea," he said, speaking from the presidential palace, the former residence of the Indochina governor during French colonial rule. Hanoi and Beijing have traded diplomatic barbs over disputed island chains and waters in the South China Sea and in 2014 China moved a controversial oil rig into contested territory, prompting riots in Vietnam. The strategic waterway, also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, is rich in energy reserves, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] [http://Search.about.com/?q=fishery%20resources fishery resources] and is a busy shipping route. Quang's comments come after French Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in June he would ask European countries to conduct coordinated patrols in the South China Sea. France and the United States have sent naval ships to the sea in recent months and have vowed to send more, angering Beijing. The Vietnamese president, whose role is mostly ceremonial, said Hollande's visit would help to boost military ties between the former colonial foes, as Hanoi has rapidly increased its defence budget in the last decade. "Several directions for cooperation will be strengthened and opened, like... ensuring security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation," Quang said in a statement to AFP after the interview. He added that Vietnam wants more unity in the regional 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has failed to forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation in the sea. "We have been active together with countries in the ASEAN community to increase unity, considering this an important structure to contribute to maintaining regional peace," he said. Last month Manila won its case against Beijing at a UN-backed tribunal in the Hague which rejected China's claims to most of the sea. Beijing boycotted the hearing, and has refused to recognise the ruling, and ASEAN has sidestepped the issue, failing to comment directly on it at a meeting of ministers last month. Diplomats say Beijing has deftly courted Laos and Cambodia to split the bloc and blunt unified criticism. France and Vietnam signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2013, which included boosted defence cooperation. Filipino and Vietnamese protesters display anti-China placards during a call on China to respect their rights in the disputed South China Sea, in front of the Chinese consular office in Manila on August 6, 2016 �Ted Aljibe (AFP/File) Advertisement

Today in History April 21

2018-06-20T16:52:10Z

Marita06H52:

HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE 753 BC - According to legend, the city of Rome is founded by Romulus. 1526 - Babur, an Uzbek prince, defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat north of Delhi, leading to Mughal rule over India. 1809 - Napoleon's army [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Landshut in Germany. 1856 - Stonemasons in Melbourne strike and march on state parliament, demanding an eight-hour day. They soon win their claim. 1861 - Australian [http://www.Purevolume.com/search?keyword=explorers explorers] Robert Burke, William Wills and John King arrive back at Cooper Creek to find only a few provisions and tree marked "Dig, 21st April, 1861". Base camp party had left seven hours before. Burke and Wills died; King was saved by Aborigines. 1910 - Death of US author Mark Twain. 1918 - Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the Red Baron, is killed in action during World War I, apparently shot down by Australian troops. 1945 - Last German troops leave Bologna, Italy, in World War II; on the same day Russian troops reach suburbs of Berlin. 1954 - US flies a French battalion to Indochina to defend Dien Bien Phu. 1960 - Brazil's capital moves from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia. 1961 - A French army revolt led by General Maurice Challe begins in Algeria. 1967 - Military coup in Athens establishes the regime of the Greek colonels. 1975 - South Vietnam's President Nguyen van Thieu resigns and names successor to seek negotiations with Communist forces sweeping across country. 1979 - Queensland National Party-dominated [http://rt.com/search/everywhere/term/Government%20demolishes/ Government demolishes] Brisbane's historic Belle Vue Hotel. 1989 - Thousands of students, shouting for democracy and human rights, march from campuses to converge on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. 1991 - Soviet hardliners launch a petition drive for a Parliament session to impose a national state of emergency and take President Mikhail Gorbachev to task over worsening ethnic and economic troubles. 1993 - The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis Garcia Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution. 1995 - FBI arrests former soldier Timothy McVeigh in connection with the deadly Oklahoma City bombing two days earlier. 1995 - Australian Rugby League launches Federal Court damages claim against Super League for interference in the game. 1997 - The first Chinese Army soldiers march into Hong Kong, in preparation for the handover of the British colony to China on July 1. 1997 - The ashes of 1960s LSD guru Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry are blasted into space in the world's first space funeral. 1998 - France announces an accord on the future of New Caledonia, easing more than a decade of tension between pro and anti-independence forces. 1998 - South Korea drops efforts to get compensation from Japan for women held as sex slaves during World War II, and says it will pay surviving women. 1999 - NATO warplanes attack Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's party headquarters in Belgrade. 2002 - French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen shocks France and the world by coming second in the first round of a presidential election, qualifying for the run-off with the incumbent Jacques Chirac. 2004 - Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is freed from prison in Israel after 18 years, saying he is proud of revealing secrets that exposed Israel as an atomic power. 2006 - Australian soldier Jake Kovco dies in Iraq after his gun accidentally discharges. The wrong body is sent back to Australia. 2009 - European researchers say they not only found the smallest exoplanet ever, Gliese 581 [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] e, but also realised that a neighbouring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habital zone for potential life. 2010 - Airlines tote up losses topping $2 billion and struggle to get hundreds of thousands of travellers back home after a week of crippled travel as recriminations erupt over Europe's response to the volcanic ash cloud. 2011 - Japan seals off a wide area around the radiation-spewing Fukushima nuclear power plant to prevent thousands of residents from sneaking back to the homes they had been forced to evacuate. 2012 - An infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars will give the International Monetary Fund a badly needed boost to tackle Europe's prolonged debt crisis. 2013 - Australian singer and Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett dies in New York, aged 53, after battling cancer. 2014 - Syria calls for a presidential election June 3 to give President Bashar Assad a veneer of electoral legitimacy in the midst of a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people and driven a third of the population from their homes. 2015 - As the worst storms in a decade hit NSW, three people die as water surges through the Hunter Valley town of Dungog. 2016 - US singer-songwriter Prince dies at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Minnesota, aged 57. TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS Charlotte Bronte, English novelist (1816-1855); Anthony Quinn, Mexican actor (1915-2001); Queen Elizabeth II (1926-); Russell Boyd, Australian cinematographer (1944-); Iggy Pop, US singer (1947-); Tony Danza, US actor (1951-); Andie MacDowell, US actor (1958-); Michael Franti, US rap singer (1966-); James McAvoy, Scottish actor (1979-); Princess Isabella of Denmark, daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary (2007-). THOUGHT FOR TODAY I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. - Stephen Leacock, Canadian economist and humourist (1869-1944). Advertisement

Amazing Halong Bay

2018-06-18T09:54:09Z

Marita06H52:

�� We chose the Valentine since the pictures of the boat, rooms, and common areas looked stunning. At least they did in the pictures. We were told that some boats [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] the look nice in the pictures are very old but they use the pictures from when they first sailed. We also liked that this boat only had 5 cabins for a maximum of 10 people when some alternatives had as many as 25 cabins and 50 people. One other positive was that the boat supposedly would be away from other boats when it was time to sleep and that it had it's own private dock away from the hoards. When we first [http://Rt.com/search/everywhere/term/boarded/ boarded] the boat I was in awe. The boat was just as promised and only a couple of months new. We took a small boat to reach the Valentine and I thought it was a little bizarre that no one else was on this boat. It turns out that Stacy and I were the only guests on the entire boat (there was also a travel agent inspecting the boat). As a result they gave us the Presidents suite which we were told was the biggest cabin in all of Halong bay. It was huge with a Jacuzzi tub and separate marble bathroom and rain shower. The walls were made of thatched bamboo and dark wood that glistened in the sun. The ceiling was almost high enough for a second floor! The top deck had 6 gorgeous teak loungers that we had to ourselves. Soon after we arrived on the boat the ship began to sail and we sat down to our 5 course lunch. I only wish I knew it was 5 courses so I could have paced myself. Delicious soup, papaya salad that looked too good to eat, perfect lemongrass shrimp, thai chicken, and dessert were some of the items. After lunch we [http://www.Blogher.com/search/apachesolr_search/visited visited] an island that had several steps leading up to a sweeping view of Halong Bay. After snapping too many pictures we were soon back on the boat sailing some more and then off to a secluded bay for a little kayaking. Nearly the entire time sailing we only saw the 3 other boats the company owned (Ginger, Jasmine, Indochina) but at this bay it was just our boat. It was so great to be the only guests, they completely worked around our schedule and asked us what we wanted to do of all the options. Kayaking was a highlight of the trip. No one else around and the water so still that it looks like glass. The reflection of the rock formations and trees looked [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] nearly identical whether looking at them straight on or it's reflection in the water. Back on the boat for [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] some relaxation and then we had dinner. Another meal with too many courses, this time we joined the travel agent (Simon) and an employee of the company. Later after dinner we took the small speed boat to the Indochina sails to listen to some live traditional Vietnamese music and eat squid that was caught just 15 minutes before we arrived. May have been the best I have ever tasted. When we got back on our boat, I grabbed a fishing pole and tried my best at catching some squid. This is more fun than normal fishing because you can see the squid in the bright light that was shining on the water and once you see the squid close to the lure you pull up to catch it. I caught one but surprisingly it was during one of the only times I wasn't actually trying to catch one. It was nearly 12:30P when I went back to the cabin to sleep. I didn't want to go to bed since I knew that I would wake up with the main part of the trip already over. Plus, I wanted to make it to the 6:30A kayaking adventure. Source: TravelPod

User:Marita06H52

2018-06-18T09:54:04Z

Marita06H52: Created page with "Hello from Denmark. I'm glad to came here. My first name is Marita. I live in a small city called Allinge in nothern Denmark. I was also born in Allinge 31 years ago. M..."

Hello from Denmark. I'm glad to came here. My first name is Marita. I live in a small city called Allinge in nothern Denmark. I was also born in Allinge 31 years ago. Married in May year 2009. I'm working at the college. My website - [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội]