News headlines for today

Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Though Phan Văn Đức only received a last-minute call-up to the national U23 side and wasn’t a first choice of his head coach at the start of this year, the striker has proven a key player for a national team on the cusp of silverware in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup this weekend. Đức has been a star man for the unbeaten team, with two goals and assists in the tournament. The Nghệ An Province-born striker notched both the assists in the 2-2 draw in the first leg of the final away to Malaysia. The 22-year-old has had a long journey to where he stands today. Like many kids, Đức fell in love with football and dreamed of one day playing for the national team. He was picked for the Yên Thành District team competing in a provincial championship as a skinny youth and was spotted by Sông Lam Nghệ An FC scouts. Đức then left his small village for Sông … [Read more...] about Humble Đức plays a key role in Việt Nam’s success

Viet Nam News NEW YORK — The New York Daily News, the century-old tabloid known for its provocative headlines, made its own news Monday by slashing half its editorial staff, in the latest retrenchment in the newspaper sector. The daily owned by the media conglomerate Tronc said in an email to employees that the move sought to address the newspaper’s "significant financial challenges." A source familiar with the matter said the cuts represent "nearly 50 per cent" of newsroom staff. Tronc declined to comment on the cutbacks or confirm precisely how many staff were affected, but the rival New York Post said the Daily News had some 85 editorial staff before the layoffs. The editorial staff will slashed be as the newspaper looks at a fundamental restructuring to focus on breaking news, mainly in areas of "crime, civil justice and public responsibility," according to the note to staff, which was widely circulated on Twitter. "The decisions being announced today reflect the … [Read more...] about NY Daily News slashes half its newsroom staff

by Thu Vân “Your pens are the sharp weapons in the cause of telling the truth…” Thus began a letter that President Ho Chi Minh wrote to intellectuals and journalists in the southern part of the country on May 25, 1947. He also said in the same letter that “journalists should act like brave soldiers in the revolution to gain back unity and independence for the country.” One cannot imagine loftier ideals for this profession. Today, the lofty ideals may remain, but there are times I feel these are gathering dust in the shelves of our memory as the profession goes through one existential crisis after another.  More than seven decades after President Hồ Chí Minh wrote the famous letter, it is fair to say journalism has gone through many changes, all over the world. Today, the profession is wedded, one could even say welded, to technology and business, and this creates a host of challenges in terms of the profession succeeding in the … [Read more...] about Some good news, some bad news, some hopeful news

Viet Nam News March 2018 was a big month for LGBTQ visibility in Việt Nam. Singer Nguyễn Hương Giang was crowned Miss International Queen at the world’s largest and most prestigious pageant for transgender women. Then the drag queens who have recently started performing at regular drag nights in Hà Nội’s Tây Hồ District made headlines around the world.  “If we dare to be pioneers, soon this art will be accepted in Việt Nam,” a drag queen named Betty told Agence France-Presse.  Today, it can be difficult to appreciate just how unthinkable this kind of public celebration of queerness was a decade ago. VietPride, Hà Nội’s pride festival, took place for the first time only in 2012. As recently as 2002, state-run media described homosexuality as a “social evil”. As Việt Nam’s economy has grown and globalised, attitudes have changed: while in 2001 over 80 per cent … [Read more...] about Việt Nam LGBTQ visibility

Viet Nam News RIYADH — Jean Paul Gaultier and Roberto Cavalli are in Saudi Arabia — headlining the kingdom’s first ever Arab Fashion Week, an event that opened Tuesday to equal parts excitement and controversy. Two weeks later than initially planned, the Saudi Arabian edition of Arab Fashion Week joins designers from Europe and the Arab world over the course of four days — including the kingdom’s own Arwa Banawi, whose The Suitable Woman line is adored by fashionistas across the region, and Mashael Alrajhi, the eponymous gender-inclusive label of a rarely-seen Saudi sheikha. Princess Noura Bint Faisal Al-Saud, honorary president of the Arab Fashion Council in Riyadh, joined designers, influencers, and industry insiders from Ukraine to Lebanon for the inaugural season of fashion week at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, the hotel now infamous as the holding place of hundreds of royals and businessmen arrested in a state-sponsored corruption crackdown. … [Read more...] about Saudi Arabia hosts its first Arab Fashion Week