Vietnam village starts over with climate defenses after landslide

Vietnam village starts over with climate defenses after landslide
Above, the new site of Lang Nu village in mountainous Lao Cai province after the old one was devastated by Typhoon Yagi last year. (AFP)
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Updated 23 April 2025
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Vietnam village starts over with climate defenses after landslide

Vietnam village starts over with climate defenses after landslide
  • Last year, Typhoon Yagi’s rains unleashed a landslide that engulfed much of Lang Nu village in mountainous Lao Cai province

LAO CAI, Vietnam: Nguyen Thi Kim’s small verdant community in northern Vietnam no longer exists, wiped away in a landslide triggered by Typhoon Yagi’s devastating heavy rains last year.
She and dozens of survivors have been relocated to a site that authorities hope will withstand future climate change-linked disasters, with stronger homes, drainage canals and a gentler topography that lessens landslide risks.
It is an example of the challenges communities around the world face in adapting to climate change, including more intense rains and flash floods like those Typhoon Yagi brought last September.
Kim lost 14 relatives and her traditional timber stilt home when Yagi’s rains unleashed a landslide that engulfed much of Lang Nu village in mountainous Lao Cai province.
The storm was the strongest to hit Vietnam in decades, killing at least 320 people in the country and causing an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses.
It is unlikely to be an outlier though, with research last year showing climate change is causing typhoons in the region to intensify faster and last longer over land.
Climate change, caused largely by burning fossil fuels, impacts typhoons in multiple ways: a warmer atmosphere holds more water, making for heavier rains, and warmer oceans also help fuel tropical storms.
Kim remains traumatized by the landslide.
She says everything is painful, especially the memory of the moment a torrent of mud swept away her and her two-year-old daughter.
“This disaster was too big for us all,” she said recalling the moment the pair were pulled from the mud hours later.
“I still cannot talk about it without crying. I can’t forget,” the 28-year-old said.
Yagi hit Vietnam with winds in excess of 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour and brought a deluge of rain that caused destructive flooding in parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
In Lang Nu, 67 residents were killed, and authorities vowed to rebuild the homes of survivors in a safe spot.
By December, 40 new houses were ready at a site around two kilometers away.
It was chosen for its elevation, which should be less impacted by adjacent streams, and its relatively gentle slope gradient.
“Predicting absolute safety in geology is actually very difficult,” said Tran Thanh Hai, rector of Hanoi University of Geology and Mining, who was involved in choosing a new site.
But the site is secure, “to the best of our knowledge and understanding.”
Lao Cai is one of Vietnam’s poorest areas, with little money for expensive warning systems.
However, a simple drainage system runs through the new community, diverting water away from the slope.
This should reduce soil saturation and the chances of another landslide, scientists who worked on the site said.
The village’s new homes are all built of sturdier concrete, rather than traditional wood.
“We want to follow our traditions, but if it’s not safe any longer, we need to change,” Kim said, staring out at the expanse of mud and rock where her old village once stood.
Months later it remains frozen in time, strewn with children’s toys, kitchen pans and motorcycle helmets caught up in the landslide.
Like Kim, 41-year-old Hoang Thi Bay now lives in the new village in a modern stilt house with steel structural beams.
Her roof, once made of palm leaves, is now corrugated iron and her doors are aluminum glass.
She survived the landslide by clinging desperately to the single concrete pillar in her old home as a wall of mud and rocks swept her neighborhood away.
“I still wake up in the night obsessing over what happened,” she said.
“Our old house was bigger and nicer, with gardens and fields. But I sleep here in the new house and I feel much safer,” she said.
Even at the new site, home to around 70 people, there are risks, warned Hai.
Development that changes the slope’s gradient, or construction of dams or reservoirs in the area could make the region more landslide-prone, he said.
Building more houses or new roads in the immediate area, or losing protective forest cover that holds earth in place, could also make the site unsafe, added Do Minh Duc, a professor at the Institute of Geotechnics and Environment at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi.
Yagi wiped out large areas of mature natural forest in Lao Cai and while private companies have donated trees for planting, it is unclear whether they can provide much protection.
“In terms of landslide prevention, the only forest that can have good (protective) effects is rainforest with a very high density of trees, so-called primary forest,” explained Duc, an expert on disaster risk maps who also helped choose the new site.
Leaving the old community was hard for Kim, whose family had lived and farmed there for nearly half a century.
But she is grateful that she and other survivors have a second chance.
“I believe this is the safest ground for us.”


US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions

US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
Updated 21 sec ago
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US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions

US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
  • Experts say that this had put the B-2s in a position to operate in the Middle East

WASHINGTON: The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials told Reuters on Monday. The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.
Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers.
The Pentagon said it did not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned. The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks. Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen’s Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.


UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts

UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts
Updated 30 min 23 sec ago
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UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts

UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts
  • The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO)

UNITED NATIONS, United States: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday said reforming the global body will require “painful” changes, including staff reductions, to improve efficiency and deal with chronic budget constraints exacerbated by Trump administration policies.

In March, the secretary-general launched the UN80 initiative to streamline operations.

“Our shared goal has always been to make our organization more efficient, to simplify procedures, eliminate overlaps, and enhance transparency and accountability,” Guterres said Monday during an update to member states.

“The liquidity crisis we now face is not new. But today’s financial and political situation adds even greater urgency to our efforts.”

He warned “we know that some of these changes will be painful for our UN family.”

The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).

“I believe we’ll be able to eliminate 20 percent of the posts of the two departments,” he said, adding that the level of reduction outlined for DPPA and DPO “must be seen as a reference for the wider UN80 exercise.”

Guterres also raised the possibility of relocating positions from New York and Geneva to less expensive cities.

Member states will have to decide on their own changes.

The internal workload has also stretched the capacity of the UN system “beyond reason,” Guterres said.

“It is as if we have allowed the formalism and quantity of reports and meetings to become ends in themselves. The measure of success is not the volume of reports we generate or the number of meetings we convene,” he said.

Guterres called on member states to make tough decisions.

“Many of you have agreed that this must be the moment to be bold and ambitious. That is what our Organization needs — and that is what our times demand,” he said.

“Make no mistake — uncomfortable and difficult decisions lie ahead. It may be easier — and even tempting — to ignore them or kick the can down the road. But that road is a dead end.”

In a memo seen recently by AFP, an internal working group in charge of the UN80 initiative suggested some major reforms, including merging UN agencies.

Guterres did not directly address those changes but indicated that “clusters” working on similar issues would propose reforms, and potentially some structural changes.


Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees
Updated 13 May 2025
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Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees
  • South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country

DULLES, Virginia: The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.

The decision to admit the Afrikaners also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why they were admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who have gone through years of vetting.

Many in the group from South Africa — including toddlers and other small children, even one walking barefoot in pajamas — held small American flags as two officials welcomed them to the United States in an airport hangar outside Washington. The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various US destinations.

A group of 49 Afrikaners had been expected, but the State Department said Monday that 59 had arrived.

“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said.

President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he’s admitting them as refugees because of the “genocide that’s taking place.” He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.

That characterization has been strongly disputed by South Africa’s government, experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum, which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the government.

South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country.

The view from South Africa

Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that he spoke with Trump recently and told him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as victims because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa’s previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation, which oppressed the Black majority.

“I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he asked me, ‘What’s going on down there?’ and I told him that what you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true,” Ramaphosa said.

Afrikaners make up South Africa’s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid government, which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly 50 years before ending it in 1994. While South Africa has been largely successful in reconciling its many races, tensions between some Black political parties and some Afrikaner groups have remained.

The Trump administration has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.” No land has been expropriated.

Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale as far back as 2018 during his first term.

Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers, and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that some politicians in the country are “actively promoting white genocide.”

South Africa has extremely high levels of violent crime, and white farmers have been killed in rural Afrikaner communities. It has been a problem for decades. The government condemns those killings but says they are part of the country’s problems with crime.

“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular who are farmers,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans who do get affected by crime. So this is not factual, it is without basis.”

Trump administration says white South Africans have been targeted

Landau said many of those who arrived Monday experienced “threatening invasions of their homes, their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation.”

They all had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture, Landau said. Critics of the refugee program suggest that refugees aren’t properly vetted, though supporters say they go through some of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America.

Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement program — which historically had widespread bipartisan support — on his first day in office. A month later, he announced a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.

Supporters of the refugee program question how the administration can justify admitting this small group while keeping out others from conflict zones around the world.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, called it an effort to “rewrite history.”

“The Administration must clarify why these individuals qualify for refugee status and resettlement in the US and why they have been prioritized over refugees like Afghans, Burmese Rohingya and Sudanese who have fled their homes due to conflict and persecution,” she said in a statement Monday.

Who can come from South Africa under Trump’s order

According to the US Embassy in South Africa, applicants have to be South African citizens who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority, and they have to be able to show a history of or a fear of persecution.

Afrikaners, who are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers, number around 2.7 million among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80 percent Black.

The US refugee program was created by Congress in 1980, and groups have sued to restart it after Trump’s halt.

Traditionally, to qualify as a refugee, applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugees are distinct from asylum-seekers because refugees must be outside of the US to qualify.

A network of resettlement agencies generally helps refugees settle in their new homes, and they get 90 days of federal assistance for things like rent. The Episcopal Church’s migration service, however, is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle the white South Africans, citing the church’s longstanding “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”


Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday

Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday
Updated 12 May 2025
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Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday

Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday
  • Defense ministers to discuss support for Ukraine
  • They will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense

ROME: Defense ministers from five major European military powers will meet in Italy on Friday to discuss support for Ukraine, the host country said.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto will host his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Poland, his ministry said Monday in a statement.
The announcement came after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said Monday he was “thinking” about flying to Turkiye for the talks but Russia did not indicate whether Putin would take part.
Aside from Ukraine, the European ministers will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense — a priority for them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The five will hold a joint press conference at the end of their meeting at 1245 GMT on Friday, the Italian statement said.
Kyiv and its European allies called on Saturday for a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday — calling it a prerequisite for direct peace talks between the two countries.
Moscow rejected their call on Monday, despite threats of “massive sanctions” in case of refusal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing that “the language of ultimatums is unacceptable to Russia.”
He later said that Moscow wanted “serious” negotiations to achieve peace in the conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead.


Police probe fire at UK PM Starmer’s former home

A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
Updated 12 May 2025
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Police probe fire at UK PM Starmer’s former home

A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
  • Starmer still owns the property in Kentish Town, north London, British media said, but he has since moved into the prime minister’s official residence in Downing Street

LONDON: Police in London on Monday said they had launched an investigation into a fire that caused damage outside the former family home of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer still owns the property in Kentish Town, north London, British media said, but he moved into the prime minister’s official residence in Downing Street after his Labour party’s election victory last year.
At 1:35 am (0035 GMT) on Monday “police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property’s entrance, nobody was hurt. The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue.”
London Fire Brigade described the incident as “a small fire outside a property in Kentish Town.” “The brigade was called at 01:11 and the fire was under control by 01:33,” it added.
Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So, I can’t comment further.”