Gold prices dominate last week
New record gold prices and public reaction to the US credit rating downgrade dominated the news over the past week.
Public shows belief in 13th National Assembly
After half a month of work, the first session of the 13th National Assembly (NA) concluded successfully on August 6, leaving many good impressions.
The people have high hopes for the new State, NA and Government leaders as well as great expectations for the NA’s new policies to curb inflation, ensure social welfare and defend national sovereignty.
A series of regional and international news agencies including the BBC, Reuters, AP, Asia Times, Boston Globe, Xinhua and Prenxa Latina published articles about Vietnam’s newly elected leaders, commenting that they received high numbers of votes.
Gold prices set new records
The domestic gold price jumped from VND40 million per tael to VND45 million per tael early this week, reaching peak of VND46.3 million/tael.
To cope with the sudden increases, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) officially announced it would allow the import of five tonnes of gold, which eased the “hot” markets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The SBV warned people to be cautious about buying gold to avoid unanticipated losses.
50 years of the AO catastrophe in Vietnam
The Vietnam Association of Victims for Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), in co-ordination with its Hanoi branch, organised a meeting in Hanoi on August 10 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Agent Orange (AO) catastrophe in Vietnam (1961-2011).
From 1961 to 1971, the US military sprayed around 80 million of litres of toxic chemicals containing 61 percent AO and 366 kg of dioxin over one quarter of southern Vietnam, affecting almost all the ecosystems.
As many as 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO, with more than 3 million falling victim to effects of the chemical, including some in the second and third generations after exposure.
Many families have multiple victims who still suffer terrible pain and illness that leaves them unable to work and puts them in very difficult circumstances.
In addition to the Vietnamese people, soldiers involved in the American war in Vietnam from the US, Korea, Australia and New Zealand also suffered from exposure to AO.
Over the past years, the Party and State have adopted numerous policies to help the families of AO/dioxin victims deal with the difficulties in their lives.
Many social organisations and individuals are joining hands with international friends to support AO victims who continue to suffer the lingering pain of exposure to the toxic chemical.
Yingluck elected new Thai PM
Ms. Yingluck was voted the new Prime Minister of Thailand, gaining the support of 296 MPs of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and coalition partners in a lower House meeting on August 5.
An inaugural ceremony was held at 6:40 pm in the party building soon after the royal command arrived. At the ceremony, freshly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that she would try her best to bring the country reconciliation and peace.
His Majesty the King endorsed the appointment of Yingluck Shinawatra as Thailand's 28th Prime Minister on August 8 following an audience with the House Speaker.
Although her political experience has been questioned, the 44-year-old business woman is the youngest and first female minister in the history of Thai politics. She was instantly catapulted into political arena as the sister of the ousted ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and rose to the top post within 49 days.
She is the third Prime Minister from the Shinawatra family after her brother Thaksin and brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat.
US loses AAA credit rating as S&P slams debt levels and political process
The Standard & Poor credit rating agency downgraded the US AAA credit rating for the first time, slamming the nation’s political process and criticizing lawmakers for failing to cut spending or raise revenue enough to reduce record budget deficits.
S&P lowered the US one level to AA+ while keeping the outlook at “negative” as it grows less confident that Congress will end the Bush-era tax cuts or tackle entitlements. The rating could be lowered to AA within two years if spending cuts are below the levels agreed, interest rates rise, or “new fiscal pressures” result in higher overall government debt, the New York based firm said.
According to a July report, S&P has given 18 sovereign entities its top ranking, including Australia, Hong Kong and the Isle of Man. The UK, which is estimated to have debt to GDP ratio this year of 80 percent, 6 percentage points higher than the US, also has the top credit rating. In contrast with the US, the UK's net public debt is forecast to decline before or by 2015, S&P said in its statement.
New Zealand is the only country besides the US that has a AA+ rating from S&P and an AAA grade from Moody’s. Belgium has an equivalent AA+ grade from S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.
43rd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting
The 43rd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM-43) and related meetings opened in Manado, Indonesia on August 10.
At the two-day conference, economic ministers reviewed the recent results of trade in goods, services and investments during the economic integration process.
ASEAN economic ministers reached a consensus on focusing resources to develop the third pillar for equal development in the ASEAN Economic Community master plan, paying attention to programmes in the ASEAN Integration Initiative (IAI), as well as developing and assisting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), boosting cooperation in protecting intellectual property rights and devising policies on competition, consumer protection and trade statistics.
The ministers acknowledged the ASEAN Free Trade Agreements between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, including China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India. They also discussed resolving related existing issues and measures to maintain ASEAN’s central role in the shaping the region.
The 25th ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) Council Meeting and the 14th ASEAN Investment Area Council Meeting also took place on the sidelines of the 43rd AEM.
Riots spread in London
Violence first flared up in London on August 6 after a peaceful protest in Tottenham. The riots were sparked by anger over the police shooting of a 29-year-old man, Mark Duggan, in the disadvantaged district of Tottenham in north London.
Shops were looted and buildings set alight as police clashed with youths. The trouble also spread north to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol.
In London, at least 225 people have been arrested and 36 charged following the riots over the past three days.
An extra 1,700 officers were deployed across the capital on August 8. The City of London Police, British Transport Police and nine police forces from other parts of the country were also providing support.
On August 11, Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled new measures to end the country's worst riots in decades, and said that the government could call in the army to quell the violence.
Cameron added that, a year before London hosts the 2012 Olympics, Britain needs to show a more positive face to the world after the riots in which four people died and dozens of buildings were torched.
Thousands riot in southwest China
Thousands of residents of a town in southwest China took to the streets and smashed police vehicles on August 11 in the latest protest by citizens angered about rough handling by local officials, according to news reports.
The protest in Qianxi county, Guizhou province, was the latest of thousands of brief, local riots and demonstrations that occur in China every year, and like many recent outbreaks, this one pitted residents against urban administration officials in charge of enforcing law and order.
According to the website of China National Radio (http://cds.cnr.cn), the "clash broke out between urban administration officials and the owner of an illegally parked vehicle, drawing in thousands of onlookers and sparking incidents of crowds smashing law enforcement vehicles and blocking roads."