The Vietnamese economy will rise to 7.1% this year, before easing back to 6.8% in 2019, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a new report launched on April 11.

“Aided by able macroeconomic management, economic growth will spurt in 2018, with Vietnam becoming one of the strongest performers in the region”, said ADB Country Director for Vietnam Eric Sidgwick.

Vietnam’s robust economic growth will be driven by vigorous manufacturing and export expansion, rising domestic consumption, strong investment fuelled by foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic enterprises, and an improving agriculture sector, he added. 

Vietnam has been able to mobilise an abundant supply of young, well educated workers to attract foreign investment to labour-intensive manufacturing over the last decade. However, as the Vietnamese economy becomes more sophisticated, the gap between worker qualifications and business needs is widening, Sidgwick warned, noting that if not addressed, this skills gap could become a major obstacle to Vietnam’s development aspirations.  

The ADB report showed that robust private consumption is expected to be supported by rising incomes and stable inflation and prospects for private investment are bright. 

By sector, solid FDI should enable the industrial sector to maintain strong growth momentum. Construction is projected to pick up in 2018 and 2019, benefitting from last year’s record FDI commitments and disbursements.

Meanwhile, the service sector is projected to sustain growth in 2018 and 2019, with tourist arrivals forecast to rise by 15-20% this year and bank lending to grow by 17-18%. Agriculture is expected to continue to pick up over the next two years, growing in 2018 broadly in line with the government target of 2.8-3.0%. 

Inflation is projected to edge up but remain broadly stable, averaging 3.7% this year and rising to 4.0% in 2019 as strong domestic demand and high bank lending are partly offset by stable domestic food and transportation costs, along with smaller increases in administered prices for education, health care, electricity and water. 

The current account surplus is projected to narrow to 2.5% of GDP this year and 2.0% in 2019. Merchandise exports are forecast to rise by 15-20% in 2018 and 2019. Remittances are likely to remain strong thanks to improving global prospects and a stable exchange rate.

Alongside continued growth, Vietnam’s economy this year will still be facing risks and challenges. These include the need for state enterprise reform, negative debt, and an increase in global protectionism.

To overcome these challenges, ADB recommends that Vietnam restore its financial sustainability, consolidate its external balance, and control inflationary pressures. Alongside this the country must also narrow the occupational skills gap in its workforce in order to attract FDI and continue to maintain growth momentum.

Since Vietnam’s annual trade turnover has now surpassed 185 per cent of its GDP, the country now finds itself being the second-most commercially viable economy in Southeast Asia, just behind Singapore./.

             Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Chien Thang 

The Vietnamese Government always respects and protects the right to freedom of religion and belief of all citizens, but does not allow abuse of those freedoms or exploitation of a belief or religion to violate the law, said Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Chien Thang.

Regarding reports on activities that run counter to moral standards with close connections to some religious groups called “Hoi thanh Duc Chua Troi” in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Thai Nguyen, Thang said that the reports need to be verify in order to differentiate between those groups and other Protestants groups with similar names.

The committee and relevant authorities have paid special attention to the case and will mete out strict punishment to any individual using religious activities to infringe social order and safety, harm other persons’ health, bodies, lives and assets, and offend other people’s honour and human dignity.

Thang affirmed that after some newspapers reported on the violations, the committee has ordered cities and provinces to enhance communication work to raise public awareness and keep vigilance against false propaganda on apocalypse and seeking the god’s salvation through donations of cash and abandoning of work and family.

Recently, many religious dignitaries have raised their voice to strongly object to those negative activities, he said, adding that this has made contributions to helping the public have proper understanding of such activities./.

In recent years, local authorities have received complaints about their loved ones joining the organization called "The Church of God" or "God Mother ", leaving the loved ones grief, self-closing their own future door.

The reason for the complaints is that when their relatives disregard the daily work that leads to the marriage, divorce, student, student neglect, etc. Worse yet, when people who participated in this organization by being bold, both believing in the "golden words" of the objects, they ignored the fact that they entered and had practices that went against the fine customs. of the people of Vietnam, leaving the worship of grandparents, ancestors, the pursuit of distant, illusory, vague, not true ...

World Mission Society Church of God, is a Christian new religious movement that began in South Korea in 1964. Joo-Cheol Kim is the General Pastor of the Church. After founder Ahn Sahng-hong died in 1985, the Church expanded its activities to other parts of the world and began to use the name World Mission Society Church of God. Its headquarters are located in Bundang, Sungnam City, Kyunggi Province.

The World Mission Society Church of God holds many views differing from mainstream Christianity. The church says it follows the teachings and feasts of the new covenant of the Bible as did some of the early church in the time of Jesus. They also believe that God the Father and God the Mother have come in the flesh in South Korea, according to Bible prophesies. These beliefs have attracted some criticism of the church. The church teaches that this is the same persecution that the early Christians received for believing in Jesus in the flesh at his first coming.

However, a council with representatives of churches in Korea declared the World Mission Society a "pagan" and reminded the faithful of the "heresy".

In Vietnam, the "Mother God" church appeared in the early 21st century. The spread of "heresy" has left many bad issues for themselves and families of participants. , and at the same time bring bad consequences for society. This kind of religion preaches things that are not in line with traditional customs and traditions of  Vietnam.

The "Church of God" or "Church of God Mother" is present in many parts of the country, causing serious consequences for many families and for many of the countryside. Many families crushed their houses; Many people drop out of school, leave to follow the "wrong path", gather seduction, manipulate others, affect security and order and do things contrary to fine customs. The consequences are easy to recognize. However, why can this organization attract many participants and make them confused, so lost reason?

Many families crushed their houses; Many people drop out of school, leave to follow the "wrong path", gather seduction, manipulate others, affect security and order and do things contrary to fine customs. The consequences are easy to recognize. However, why can this organization attract many participants and make them confused, so lost reason?

In short, "God is the supreme authority, creating stars, planets and the earth, creating mankind to govern it. This is the end of the world, God has mercy for mankind, so they are looking for children to save. Who is lucky enough to be saved by God, who will not listen will be destroyed. Whoever wants to be saved comes to pass the ceremony. " Those who believed in it, went to Sion (the gathering place for people to do the activity) for the feast of three times a day offering money for God's forgiveness and blessing, God has forgiven many sins and gave us many blessings. Thanksgiving offering three times a day, offering three times a day to serve Jesus sacrificed himself, hanging nails on the cross.

The subjects also claimed that:

God wants us to take our riches in the kingdom of heaven, that's my heart to be there.

God does not need our wealth, so we have to give one tenth of the monthly income for God to keep. Every money in the right hand to extract 1/10 to a place to Saturday to bring up the "God Mother" (?).

Heard that the argument was unreasonable. The money is spent on what is not known. The money given to "Mother God" will keep who will manage and use it. While the target audience is those who have a stable monthly income source such as retirees, students are sent by their parents to study for a month, business people ...

Those who join in this organization, after becoming lambs with the belief that "when they die, God will transform the ascension into heaven, in the kingdom of heaven, play, dance, do not eat, do not use the money ". So pay a tenth of the income to "God Mother" keep to do while not use the money?

Many people have found signs of ignorance in the collection of money, the myth, blind faithless, gave up, did not participate and wrote a denunciation to the authorities. From there it is possible to see the doctrine of the activity of the "Goddess of Mother Gods" which is deviant, expressing superstition, taking advantage of the teachings for personal gain.

"The Church of God Mother of God" is an organization not recognized by the Vietnamese authorities as religious organizations. Therefore, the participation of this organization is a violation of law. The organizers of activities, entices, seducing others to participate will certainly be handled in accordance with the law.

Therefore, when detecting the activities of the "Goddess of Mother God" in the area, people should timely report to the authorities, actively fighting, exposing deceitful intentions with subjects Propagating, engaging, inciting people to participate in the organization, avoid "money lost, disabled"./.

Many countries have agreed that establishing political dialogue is the only solution to finding a way out of the Syrian crisis after the recent series of air strikes deployed by the United States (US) and its allies aimed at the Middle East country. That every disagreement should be resolved through peaceful means based on international laws and the principle of respecting nations’ independence and sovereignty, is the common viewpoint shared by many nations regarding the complexity of the current situation in Syria.

The tripartite attack on Syria has pushed relations between Russia and the West to a higher level of tension. However, shortly thereafter, a series of diplomatic events and urgent meetings of the UN Security Council were held to seek ways to tackle the crisis and prevent the escalating tensions from threatening peace and security in the Middle East region, which already has too many hot spots of conflict. The preference for dialogue is irreversible in an attempt to relieve tensions between countries. Despite strongly condemning the air strikes, Russia still expressed its willingness to improve ties with Western nations. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would study the UN’s draft resolution on Syria as proposed by the US, France, and the UK, which called for the parties’ return to the Geneva negotiations, under the patronage of the UN, while launching an independent investigation into the claims concerning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee for Foreign Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, affirmed that Moscow “controls the situation and has a clear-cut well-developed strategy for advancing Russia-US ties.” However, he stressed the need for the US side’s willingness to ensure such progress becomes a reality. Many Western countries, including Germany, have acknowledged Russia’s leading role in resolving the Syrian crisis. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Russia and the West need to engage in dialogue to ease the tensions that have reached their highest level since the Cold War. In his view, the Syrian situation will not be improved until the US and Russia exert joint efforts in seeking solutions to the crisis. The recent attacks by the US and its allies on Syria have been said to be more of a deterrent, as the reported damage from the air strikes was not seen as a serious blow. However, as the investigations by international watchdogs into the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria, have just been carried out, the air strikes have caused difficulties for the operations which aim to produce a fair and transparent conclusion to the incident. The Trump administration’s decision on military intervention in Syria has faced strong opposition right inside the US. Protests against the US-led air strikes were held in Los Angeles, Portland, New York, and Washington. The demonstrators called for peace and protested the war. British PM Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron also had to face the angry response of legislators in their countries regarding their decisions to join the US-led air strikes in Syria. Giving an explanation in front of the parliament, the UK PM said her peers were right to question her decision to join the campaign without parliamentary approval. In France, the majority party of the bicameral legislature supporting the Government and the opposition party did not reach a common voice in the matter. The leaders of the right-wing, left-wing, and centre-left parties criticised the air strikes on Syria, stating that President Macron failed to give any evidence that the Syrian administration had used chemical weapons. In other European countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, crowds of people also marched against the war. The demonstrators in Cyprus said the aggression of the US, the UK, and France toward Syria was unjustified, because there was no evidence showing that President Bashar al-Assad’s administration used chemical weapons. Protesters also condemned the use of the island nation in the eastern Mediterranean as a springboard for launching the attacks, as UK fighter aircraft took off from an airbase in Cyprus to launch attacks on the facilities suspected of manufacturing the chemical weapons used in Syria. The powers’ deployment of new and modern military weapons in Syria and throughout the region, together with the unilateral military actions, have triggered concerns about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The international community calls for and hopes for successful diplomatic efforts in the aim of preventing tensions related to the Syrian crisis from being further exacerbated and threatening peace and security in the region.

Miguel Diaz-Canel was elected on April 19 as Cuba's new president, as the successor of Raul Castro who concluded two consecutive five-year terms in office. In his first speech as the new head of state before the National Assembly, Diaz-Canel said that "in this new legislature there will be no space for those aspiring to a capitalist restoration." "Only for those aspiring to continue improving our socialism," said the president.

Diaz-Canel said that "by decision of the people, the only choice we have is to continue the work started by the founding fathers of Cuban revolution in 1959, through the unity of all the generations of Cubans." The leader highlighted the responsibility of taking the presidential office and remarked that he "will fulfill with honour the orders of the people, following the steps of the historic first generation of the revolution." Diaz-Canel, former first vice-president and an electronics engineer was nominated by the National Candidature Commission on April 18 after he was proposed by the 604 National Assembly lawmakers to head the country. After handing over the presidency to his successor, Castro, 86, remains as a lawmaker in the parliament and as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba. Diaz-Canel acknowledged Castro as an elder statesman who after two consecutive terms continues to enjoy trust and affection of the people. "Knowing people's feelings in favor of Raul Castro, he will continue to head the most important decisions regarding the country's present and future," Diaz-Canel said at the plenary session of the parliament. Since taking office as acting president of Cuba in 2006, Raul Castro has led a complex reform process designed to modernize the island's aging socialist model "with serenity, firmness, modesty and without being intractable," said Diaz-Canel. "He will continue as First Secretary because he is an example to every Cuban revolutionary and communist, and because Cuba needs him to offer his ideas, and to warn of any mistakes and flaws," said Diaz-Canel. The new president highlighted some of Raul Castro's main achievements during his 10 years in office, including restoring diplomatic ties with the United States, driving Latin American and Caribbean integration, and helping the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas reach a definitive peace deal by backing and hosting the talks in Havana. For his part, outgoing Cuban President Raul Castro expressed on April 19 his confidence that the new leaders of the island would continue the path of the socialist revolution begun by Fidel Castro in 1959. Speaking about the new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, Castro highlighted his successor's fidelity to the revolution and his political firmness. "The election of Diaz-Canel is not a coincidence. We have no doubt that he will be fully successful in his task due to his virtues, experience and dedication to duty," said Castro, who will remain as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba until 2021. In his speech to lawmakers of the Cuban parliament, Castro stressed Diaz-Canel's work as first secretary of the party in the provinces of Holguin and Villa Clara, as minister of higher education, and as first vice-president. Castro insisted that the new direction of the country had the mission of ensuring this generational relay as well as guaranteeing the continuity of socialism. "They must pay more attention to the young, for them to be better prepared when they have to assume higher positions in the political direction of the country," said Castro.

The activities will contribute to raise people’s awareness and responsibilities in humanitarian work, thus assisting disadvantaged and vulnerable people, helping realize social welfare policies, and educate communities on humanitarianism. 

The month, which will be in pilot implementation in some provinces and cities, covers support of production loans, cows, housing, construction, blood donation, free medical check-ups, and practice on calamity prevention and response. After the pilot implementation, the activities will be expanded nationwide.

Between May 8th-19th, major activities are expected to assist some 50,000-70,000 disadvantaged persons.

As a guideline of the Party Central Committee Secretariat, the month looks to celebrate the 128^th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19^th), and World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day and the birthday of Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant (May 8^th) - the founder of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

With the spirit of assisting poor and vulnerable people, activities during the month will also help confirm Vietnam’s active spirit in realizing the Millennium Development Goals and boosting poverty reduction with international friends./.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial that he described as one that could contain anthrax 

 

Use of the term ‘false flag’ is often met with raised eyebrows and accusations of conspiracism. But false flags are a very real and very present feature of geopolitics — and denying that is simply denying reality.
Last week, the United States, along with the United Kingdom and France, bombed Syrian government targets, ostensibly in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack which was carried out one week before in the city of Douma.

The story we’re told is simple: Syrian President Bashar Assad is an evil maniac who uses poison gas on his citizens for the sheer entertainment value. As neocon think tank the Atlantic Council put it last week, when Assad gasses people, he is simply “indulging an addiction” — an addiction which he seems to have only recently acquired, given the fact that before Syria’s war began, American journalists were busy praising the “educated” and “informed” Assad and marveling at the “phenomenal” levels of peace and religious diversity within Syria.
Anyway, so intense is Assad’s newfound desire for watching Syrian babies foaming at the mouth, that he is willing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by deciding to use these weapons despite knowing it would provoke worldwide outrage and potentially a major US military effort to oust him. So, that’s the story. Assad is a monster and the world must unite to stop him.

There are plenty of people who are less than convinced by this narrative, however. One of them is Peter Ford, the former British ambassador to Syria. Ford told BBC Radio Scotland that “in all probability” the alleged chemical attack never happened and that the video and image evidence used as proof by the US and its allies was falsified. There are others who believe that the attack could have been real, but that the perpetrators were anti-Assad rebels trying to provoke fresh military action from the US — in other words, it was very possibly a false flag event which served its purpose perfectly.

One of the best questions to ask when something like this happens, is: Who benefits? Very clearly in this case, Assad has not benefited at all, but the rebel groups fighting against him have.

Whatever the truth about this alleged chemical attack, the notion of false flag events being used to prompt military action should not be met with such skepticism. The US has a long history of using lies (or ‘fake news’ you might call it) as a pretext for war. It is important to look at recent events in Syria within that context.

Nayirah testimony
Perhaps the most famous of all examples was the heart-wrenching testimony to Congress of a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, identified only as Nayirah, which was used to sell the first Gulf War to the American people in October 1990. An emotional Nayirah told the Congressional Human Rights Caucus that she had witnessed Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators and leaving them on the floor to die.

What Americans did not know, was that Nayirah was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and she had been coached by the American PR firm Hill and Knowlton. But before the details of the stunt and false testimony became widely known, it had already been used to sell America’s war against Iraq in 1991.
Operation Northwoods
In the 1960s, American military leaders devised plans to bomb US cities and blame Cuban leader Fidel Castro in order to manufacture public and international support for a war.

The plan was codenamed Operation Northwoods and what it advocated was nothing short of horrendous. The American military suggested sinking boatloads of Cuban refugees, hijacking planes and bombing Miami. The goal was to convince Americans that Castro had unleashed a reign of terror upon them.

The top brass were even willing to cause US military casualties by blowing up an American boat in Guantanamo Bay and blaming Cuba. Why? Because, as they put it, “casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation” and help manufacture support for war. The plans were quashed by President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated one year later, leading some to speculate on a link between those events.

Gulf of Tonkin
Top US officials also distorted the facts in the lead-up to the Vietnam War and the media dutifully reported the official narrative as absolute fact, helping launch perhaps the most disastrous war in America’s history.

On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the USS ‘Maddox’ while it was on “routine patrol” in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, the US Navy reported a second “unprovoked” attack on the ‘Maddox’ and the USS ‘Turner Joy’ — a second destroyer which had been sent in after the first attack. President Lyndon B. Johnson told the American people on TV that “repeated acts of violence” against the US ships must be met with a strong response. Soon after Johnson appeared on TV, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which pre-approved any military action that he would take from that moment on.

The only problem was, there was no second attack on the US ships at all — and the allegation that the first attack had been “unprovoked” was also a lie. In reality, the USS ‘Maddox’ had been gathering intelligence and providing it to South Vietnamese boats which were attacking North Vietnam. As for the second attack, the US boats had misinterpreted radio signals and radar images and spent two hours firing at nothing. Nonetheless, the “attack” was used to convince the American people to support war.
Soviet aircraft false flags
Recently declassified documents show yet more American false flag plotting, this time against the Soviet Union. A three-page memo, written by members of the National Security Council, suggested that the US government should acquire Soviet aircraft which would be used to stage attacks and provide the pretext for war.

Such aircraft, the memo said, “could be used in a deception operation designed to confuse enemy planes in the air, to launch a surprise attack against enemy installations or in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack US or friendly installations to provide an excuse for US intervention."

The government even considered producing the soviet planes domestically in a massive covert operation. They went so far as to acquire estimates from the Air Force on the cost and length of time such an operation would take.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Is there even any need to rehash the lies which were told in the lead-up to the Iraq war? The media here again swallowed the government’s lies, one by one — and 15 years later, the region is still suffering the consequences and very few lessons appear to have been learned.

These are not conspiracy theories. They are cold, hard evidence that the US has no qualms whatsoever about using false flag events and fake evidence to provide pretext for military action.

Continued lack of critical inquiry from the media, given the severe potential consequences of escalating the conflict in Syria, is tantamount to a crime.

Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups, with the Kinh being the majority and the other groups making up 14% of the national population of 90 million people. The country has ensured human rights, including the right to equality among ethnic groups.

The Vietnamese State has worked to ensure that all ethnic groups in Vietnam are equal and this right is stipulated by laws.

Law on equality for ethnic groups

The right to equality among ethnic groups has been stated in Vietnam’s Constitutions. The 2013 Constitution stipulates “The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a unified nation of all ethnicities living together in the country of Vietnam. All the ethnicities are equal and united and respect and assist one another for mutual development; all acts of discrimination against and division of the ethnicities are prohibited.”

According to the latest Constitution, “the State shall implement a policy of comprehensive development and create the conditions for the minority ethnicities to fully utilize their internal strengths and develop together with the country.”

The right of ethnic equality has been institutionalized. The National Assembly Council of Ethnic Minorities is in charge of giving recommendations to the legislature and overseeing the implementation of ethnic policies, programs, and plans. The government’s Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs is a ministry-level agency.   

In Vietnam, ethnic minority citizens enjoy the right to participate in the political system, state management, candidacy to the National Assembly, and the People’s Councils. The proportion of ethnic deputies among the total number of deputies is always higher than the proportion of ethnic people among the national population.

Over the past 4 National Assembly tenures, the proportion has been between 15% and 17%.

Support for ethnic minority people

Numerous incentives have been adopted to help ethnic people exercise their rights, improve their living standard, and narrow their development gap. The most notable are the Government Action Program 122 on Ethnic Minority Affairs, the 2008 Government Resolution on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, Program 135 on Socio-economic Development in the Most Disadvantaged Communes, and Decision 132 on Investment in Infrastructure and Allocation of Land for Production and Residence.

The government has helped poor families obtain housing and prioritized the training of ethnic cadres. These incentives have paid off. Poor ethnic households now account for only 6% of all ethnic households.

All communes have clinics and medical workers. All districts have medical centers and doctors. The rate of malnourished children under 5 years of age have fallen to below 25%. Diseases which used to plague areas inhabited by ethnic minorities have been prevented.

Citizens of ethnic minorities today enjoy full human rights prescribed by the Vietnamese Constitution and law and better conditions to thrive and contribute to national development./.